Page 1 of The Curse of Eternity
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Forged in Blood
A sharp chill climbed my spine, and I spun—my blade raised against the monster at my heels. The human face was an illusion in the darkness, but the undead man’s sharp canines aimed at my jugular ruined any chance of mercy from me. My machete sliced across flesh and sinew, right through the spinal cord.
With its nerves disconnected, the vampire dropped like deadweight. Returned to the corpse it was meant to be—for now. Except there wasn’t time to cart the sucker off to a big bonfire and roast s’mores over the dusty remains. Because he wasn’t the only checkbox on our to-slay list.
Shouts followed a loud bark to my right, and I turned. My sandy-haired older cousin had his machete stuck in the crook of another vampire’s arm. Unphased by the sharp instrument causing clotted blood to drip down her elbow, the vampire raised her arm. The action pulled Andrew closer despite his attempt to plant his boots and pull back. Instantly, I advanced.
A pale hand with a silvery hue reached for my older cousin’s face, and I brought my blade down on its wrist. Growling in frustration, the vampire turned to me, and I swung. Her hairswished across her shoulders right before her head promptly parted ways with her torso. Flecks of dark blood splattered my face, but Andrew ducked away just in time to avoid the gore. A high-pitched familiar cry snapped my attention to the other side of the shadow-drenched room.
The tension in my shoulders eased when Olivia swung her machete down onto her opponent’s exposed neck, the undead’s previously severed hamstrings preventing it from standing to retaliate. Andrew’s younger sister, still a year older than me, looked up from her task with the terror of the hunt shining from her wide blue-gray eyes. Golden blonde hair in a pixie cut framed her oval face, as splattered in vampire blood as my dark brown curls pulled back into a ponytail.
Our hunting dog, Stake, tore the head from the shoulders of Olivia’s felled vampire, ripping through the connecting sinews. Thankfully, the sturdy Jack Russell Terrier was trained to keep the head as far as possible from the dismembered bodies. I stopped midstep when Andrew darted in front of me on his mad dash toward the fight ongoing at the center of the room.
By the time he got there, it was over. Johann Harker slashed across two vampires’ throats in quick succession.That’s what they got for underestimating my old man’s lightning reflexes.The blue-gray eyes I’d inherited met mine as the thump of the final vampire hit the abandoned building’s dusty cement floor. Exhaling slowly, I lowered my machete and wiped the sweat from my brow.
Between the four of us—and Stake—we took down five vampires in the span of a few minutes. Hence why hunting was a group affair, even in the best of circumstances. The afterglow of victory brought a smirk to my lips.
“What’s our inventory?” Andrew asked, his back straight and eyes scanning the room. He counted over the corpse-like bodies twice.What a kiss-ass.
“That’s what I was about to check,” Johann said, huffing as he unlatched the walkie-talkie on his hip. “Checking in on dingo squad—over.” His voice came out muffled on the devices attached to Andrew, Olivia, and myself. Silence answered us for several moments. Anxiety squeezed my chest, until a crackling rough voice replied.
“Small skirmish, got six pieces of tinder to burn.” Uncle Alaric’s jovial tone made me grin, and the whooping of a baritone voice followed in the background before he finished, “Over.”
“That’s about what I expected.” Johann sighed the words, and gestured with his machete for the rest of us to get a move on. Andrew promptly jumped into action, but Olivia and I took the time to sheathe our weapons before following his lead in moving the undead heads further from the bodies.
The problem with vampires was that they struggled to stay dead—although the struggle was mostly on our part. With enough time, the magick keeping them animated would glue their heads back to their bodies. I’d never seen it happen, but I wasn’t keen to, either. While we piled them up face-down in the corner of the grimy room, Johann gave Uncle Alaric and the Tsosies his overall take.
“The building’s been scoured between the eight of us. Can’t imagine there’s any more still lurking. A colony of eleven is massive as it is. Over,” Johann said, and sheathed his machete.
“Seems more like two separate colonies that decided to share a haunt,” Elias Tsosie replied over the walkie, pausing to exhale what I imagined to be cigar smoke before it cut out.
While I envisioned Johann’s long-time family friend standing around in his blue jeans and gallon hat, puffing on a stogie over a pile of corpses, my combat boot skidded on a slow-forming puddle of congealed blood. Unbalanced, I landed on my ass, and caught a snide look from Andrew.
Restraining myself from flipping him off, I settled for a grimace and hauled myself up. The keychain on my belt loop jingled as I patted the dust off my jeans. Great, now I felt stickyandgrimy. Olivia offered me a sympathetic smile, but my returning expression was more pained than pleasant. Stake’s damp nose nudged my hand, and I patted his side before he bounded off to his true master.
“That would make more sense,” Johann answered into the receiver as he inspected the piles, probably counting the heads to make sure we didn’t miss one. Apparently satisfied, he turned his back on the corpses and started for the door, still hanging off its hinges from when we’d busted in earlier. “I’ll head to the truck for a wheelbarrow and the tarp. Want to send Caleb out to bring in your barbecue? Over.”
“He’s already on it—Alaric went with him. Figured a white man at his side would keep him from getting harassed this late at night. Can’t be too careful this deep into Albuquerque,” Elias said, and his booming sardonic laugh followed. If I strained to listen hard enough, I swear I could hear it from the other side of the empty building.
“Radio back when we’re loaded up, if we haven’t crossed paths by then. Over and out.” Johann hitched the walkie-talkie to his hip, and not a peep sounded from the other end. My father turned to the three of us, his gaze weathered, but the creases around his eyes deepened when they landed on me. Frustrated, my fingers twitched, and I bit the inside of my mouth to keep it shut.
“You kids stay here. Keep the room secure until I get back, and if there’s trouble, you work as a unit.” His unwavering tone left no room for argument. Not that any of us would have bothered.
“We know the drill, Dad,” I said, frowning. Even when I was eighteen and fresh on the hunt, he never needed to tell us whatwas common sense. That was three years ago. Really, I’d only been hunting for two and a bit years…until more recently.
“Reminders never hurt anyone,” Andrew muttered, and my teeth clenched. Of course, he justhadto say something.
“Stay sharp, I’ll be back.” Johann raised a hand in parting as he turned to walk out, Stake on his heels. Their steps were silent through the empty corridor beyond, leaving an eerie stillness behind until Olivia broke it with a gentle sigh. Posture stiff, I counted to ten before whirling on Andrew.
“What the hell was that? ‘Reminders never hurt anyone,’” I mocked, and Andrew rolled his eyes.
“Andy…” Olivia’s inflection turned cautionary, and my jaw tightened. Like usual, he ignored her, instead striding to the corner to stand possessively beside the pile of heads. His gaze met mine, unrepentant. I was in for it.
“You realize thatthingalmost sunk its teeth into you tonight, right?” he accused, and before I could so much as take a breath, he was already spouting off whatever idiocy his brain could come up with. “It’s hard enough bringing you along the last few weeks when you’re sloppy, butnoneof us want to deal with the consequences if you get turned into one of those monsters.” Andrew’s boot nudged the slackened jaw of a head, and I seethed.
“Itgot behind me. It happens!” I shot back, struggling to keep my voice down. “Besides, I wasn’t the one whose arm almost got crushed!”
