Page 91 of A Steeping of Blood
“Enough,” Arthie said, until an idea glinted in her eyes. She racked Calibore again and leveled her aim lower this time, straight for—
“What are you doing?” Matteo sputtered, aghast when he followed her gaze.
“Vampires don’t need their hearts as much as they need blood. How much of it do you reckon flows through the groin?”
“Arthie!” Matteo chided.
“That’s sacrilegious,” Jin said.
“Sacrilegious,” Arthie deadpanned.
“You want to drain a man—or woman, I shan’t discriminate—shoot for the thigh. There’s no time or material for him to tourniquet it off. It’ll siphon fast thanks to gravity.”
With a sigh, Arthie lowered her pistol even more and squeezed out a shot to his right thigh. This time, the vampire stumbled. She fired at the other leg. Jin flinched. Even the guards stopped to stare as the Ripper fell to his knees. Blood squirted out in twin streams. The body only carried so much blood, and gravity demanded much of it. Jin almost pitied the vampire in that moment.
Until he stopped staring at his wounds and his gaze lifted, ever so slowly, back to Jin and the others.
“Is it just me, or does he seem angrier?” Matteo asked, tilting his head. “Imagine how this would have gone if you’d shot his manhood.”
The Ripper rose with stilted movements.
And a groan resonated through the sanatorium. The seal around the vault-like door broke with a hiss of rushing air. His parents had unlocked the door. The relief in the sanatorium was palpable. Jin whirled as the gears above began to turn, slowly at first. Too slowly. The Ripper vampire was getting closer, men continuing to flee from his path.
At last, a breeze rushed through the doorway.
“Go!” Arthie shouted at the vampires.
The vampires rushed through, footsteps loud and thunderous, his parents waving them onward, helping the ones who stumbled on still-lethargic legs. Arthie squeezed off more shots, slowing down the Ripper vampire. Her jaw was tight, teeth clenched.
Jin understood the war within her—they couldn’t reason with the vampire; they couldn’t ask him to stop. He would fight them, kill them if he had the chance, and they had no choice but to fight back.
And to think, his father had—No.Jin could not think about that right now.
“Jin! Arthie!” Matteo shouted. The doors were clear.
Arthie raced through. Jin heard the jangle of heavy chains and saw several guards at the other end of the hall bracing themselves to trap the vampire.
He didn’t know if they would succeed, but he wasn’t going to stay here and find out. He squeezed through after Arthie and Matteo. His parents were at the other end of a short incline in an ornate foyer that Jin had walked through earlier with a sack on his head. The moon lit the dainty space with a white glow. His mother had a scratch on her face. His father’s hair was more unkempt than Jin had ever seen, and—Jin blinked. There was a pistol in his hand.
“You’re all right,” his father whispered, pulling Jin to his side and making him feel like a little boy.
“Close the door,” Arthie said.
“We can’t,” his father replied. “They’re only operational from within.”
“Then we run.” She flung open the outer doors to the fort. The wildlife met them, insects chirping, birds cooing, monkeys screeching. “Oliver, I don’t know you, but take up the rear and make sure no one’s left behind. The rest of you, follow us.”
They rushed into the courtyard, where they were met with the stickyCeylani night. Even without the sun, the warmth clung to him like a weight. Braziers were being lit, gas lamps flickering to life as the fort guards rushed toward the commotion, shouting and tossing weapons.
“Hurry,” Arthie shouted, heading straight for the gates, but Oliver stopped.
Seeing him, the others trickled to a halt too.
Oliver shook his head. “I’m not leaving that place whole for them to do this again.”
At least they weren’t in opposition to what Arthie already wanted to do. Murmurs of agreement spread through the vampires. They weren’t even concerned by the gathering guards. Some fell, injected with green darts. Others tore the men down without hesitance.
“You’re not alone in that sentiment,” Arthie called over them. In the chaos, Jin caught the look in his mother’s eyes. His parents wanted this too. “I’m going to burn it down.”
