Near Dark (Sam Harlan, Vampire Hunter, #5) by Kevin Lee Swaim

Author:Kevin Lee Swaim
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Urban Fantasy, Horror, Vampire, Midwest, thriller, Literary, gritty
Publisher: Kevin Lee Swaim
Published: 2020-11-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Jodie took me aside as we prepared to leave. “We’ll contact you when we get to Thermopolis.”

“Whatever you do,” I said, “do it quietly. If what Seth said is true, the Ancients have spies everywhere.”

Jodie made an unpleasant face. “We’ll be driving several cars, trucks, and vans. How are we supposed to blend in?”

“Good point. I’m making this up as we go.”

She shook her head. “This is insane. If there were an alternative...”

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“We’ll contact you.”

I turned to leave, and she caught my arm. “Sam?”

“Yes?”

“Be careful. This all depends on you.”

My right eye twitched. “Yeah...”

She squeezed my arm, and I left to gather Tommy and Callie, who were talking to Nicky. When I interrupted them, Nicky reached out and hugged me with his sweaty, meaty body. He looked tired and kept blinking. “Remember,” he said. “We’re going to be like the Ninja Turtles.”

“Just like them, buddy.”

He released me and raised his hand, giving Callie and Tommy a chance to high-five him, and then Dawn came, nodded at me, and took him by the arm and led him upstairs. We made our way to the van, and Tommy murmured, “I hope we don’t get them all killed.”

“Have faith,” Callie said, climbing into the back.

“You’re not sitting up front?” Tommy asked.

“You slept most of the way here,” Callie said. “It’s almost dawn. I’m exhausted.”

We headed north on US-105, up and down the gently sloping hills to Monticello. There was a rustling behind me, and Callie handed me a paper bag full of beef jerky.

I chewed the jerky mechanically as we made the curves on the road to Farmer City. By the time we reached I-74, the bag was empty. I wadded it up and turned to see Tommy giving me an odd look. “What?”

“You ate five pounds of jerky.”

I shrugged. “I was hungry.”

We rode in silence. Sometime after Peoria, Tommy said, “I noticed when you were talking to the coven, you didn’t mention the part about killing Beelzebub and making Haagenti the ruler of Hell.”

“Yep.”

“You didn’t mention it to the Fool, either.”

I sighed. “And?”

“Is there anything you’re not telling me?”

“Like what?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking.”

We drove in silence until I finally said, “You understand I’ve changed?”

“I do now.”

“Yeah?”

“When you kill a vampire, it’s ... whatever makes them vampires ... gets inside you.”

“There’s more to it.”

Tommy glanced my way. “It’s bad?”

“If I kill too many vampires, if I get too much of the darkness inside me, I become one of them.”

Tommy grunted. “That’s a big, fat negative. How many vampire kills does it take?”

“I don’t know.”

“You suspect you’re getting close.”

I nodded.

“Is there anything you can do to stop it?”

My voice cracked a little as I said, “Man, I wish there was.”

“Can’t I do anything to help?”

“You’re here.”

“This sucks.”

“Yeah. Tommy?”

“What?”

I glanced in the rearview mirror. Callie was asleep on the center bench, her breathing slow and rhythmic. “If that happens,” I said quietly, “I need you to put a bullet in me.”

“What?”

“I won’t be me anymore. I’ll be ... something else.

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