Imperium (Caulborn) by Nicholas Olivo Read Free Book Online Page B

Transmission
    “Oh, Leonardo,” one of the voices behind the leader said. “You never let us have any fun anymore. Look at the blonde, she’s too scrumptious to just feed on.”
    One of the other vampires stepped up to the leader. This one was shorter with a wiry frame. They were about six feet away from us. The new speaker’s eyes flickered red and he spoke to Megan. “Come here, darling, let me show you the bliss of the Night.”
    Evidently lover boy didn’t realize he was dealing with people who were immune to mental compulsion, because he was most surprised when Megan’s 9mm flashed out and shot him twice in the chest. He staggered backward and fell against the dumpster in a heap.
    To my surprise, the other vampires started laughing. “Pete, you totally deserved that. Honestly, ‘bliss of the Night?’”
    Pete grumbled as he stood up. “Bitch,” he hissed at her. “You’re going to regret that.”
    “Actually, she’s not,” I said. “You are going to leave here right now.” I readied the Urisk’s faith in me. I might be able to take one or two vampires in a straight-up fight, but six? No, for six I’d need some special effects.
    The leader, Leonardo, sounded amused. “Is that so? Or else what, tough guy?”
    I smiled. “Remember you asked that question, Leo.” I tapped the Urisk’s faith in me, letting it flow along my body. It radiated out as a pool of shimmering blue light, encasing Megan and me. The vampires shied back. All except for Pete, that is.
    “Oh, come on,” Pete said. “It’s just light.”
    “Pete,” Leo warned.
    “Don’t try to stop me, Leo,” Pete said. “The bitch is mine.” I was guessing Pete was a recently made vampire; it’s the only reason he’d be so brazen and ignorant of holy light. He lunged forward and Megan produced a second gun. No idea where this one came from, but it looked like a ray gun out of a 1950’s sci-fi flick. She never fired it, though, because as Pete came into contact with my light, he burst into flames. That’s the great thing about being a god; I’m a living holy symbol. None of the vampires could get close to us.
    Pete’s shrieking, burning form staggered away from the light and collapsed to the ground. Blue flames wound around his body and the scent of burned, rotted meat filled the air. A few moments later, a charred skeleton was all that remained of him. Now, with the pool of light encasing us, I got my first good look at our assailants. They were dressed like they were going out to some goth club. I rolled my eyes.
    “You guys are way too full of yourselves, you know that? So now, if I were you, the next question I’d ask is, ‘Can I outrun the expanding pool of blue light?’” I willed my faith radius to widen, and the vampires hastened backward. Then the one farthest away from me screamed. In the dimness, I could see that more forms had dropped from the walls and were killing the Blood Runners.
    Megan brought her ray gun up and I could tell she had targets marked, but she never needed to shoot. The Blood Runners, held at bay by the Urisk’s faith, couldn’t run away. Their only course was through the other vampires, who had stakes and swords. Leo’s little pack was wiped out in just a few moments. In the glow of blue light, I could see headless vampire corpses collapsed in the alley, and other crumpled forms that were crumbling to ash.
    “Caulborn Corinthos? Caulborn Hayes?” a woman’s voice asked.
    “I’m Corinthos,” I said. “Are you with Tom Bruli?”
    “Yes, my name is Lucille. I was sent here to find you when you did not arrive on time. Are you well?”
    “Fine,” I said, releasing the Urisk’s faith. The light vanished and the alley plunged back into darkness. It took my eyes a moment to readjust to the dimness, and let me tell you something, a moment can feel like an eternity when it’s dark and you’re surrounded by vampires.
    “I am relieved to hear that,” Lucille said. I couldn’t make out