Two Polluted Black-Heart Romances Read online

  “Hurry, pal.”

  Cade ran to the bathroom and quickly poured the slime down the toilet. Then, with the tip of his boot, he pressed the handle down.

  WOOSH.

  “You will not survive this day! The Tainted will know what happened here!”

  Cade watched the slime struggle to escape as it was sucked down into the swirling water of the toilet. When every last yellow drop of it was gone, he felt a twinge of remorse.

  “You did the right thing, buddy.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Look, we better get outta here.”

  Cade snapped back to his most pressing concern: Where were Moselle and Jackson? “I need to find my friends. If you know where they are, now would be a good time to tell me.”

  “I know they ain’t here. I know they left.”

  “Where did they go? Tell me.”

  “I’ll do better, man. I’ll show you,” the slime said. “Just first, you and me, pal, we need to exit this building before it comes down on both of us. I mean, I would probably survive it but you—”

  “Comes down?” Cade did not like the sound of that.

  “Yeah, the plan. I didn’t tell you?”

  “No.”

  “Kill them all. Remove all proof.”

  Cade knew it. “The wraiths.”

  “No, pal. Worse.”

  The building started to shake slightly. Had Cade been human, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t have noticed it. “We’re swaying.”

  “Told ya.”

  “My friends are not here? Not inside the building?”

  “Nope.”

  He reached into his jacket pocket and squeezed a handful of the slime-it oozed through his fingers. “Swear it, slime. Swear that they’re not here. Give me your word, or I’ll flush half of you along with your buddy.”

  “I promise, pally.”

  Cade took one last look around the room. It would be hard to track anyone out of such a mess. He did not know what else to do, so he dialed Moselle’s cell one more time.

  There was no answer.

  The Dawn of Pollution

  Cade ran down the same stairs he’d taken up, but on reaching the next-to-last landing, he stumbled and fell to his knees. You should be underground, the voice said in a thick Russian accent, returning to his head. He knew who it belonged to and she was right; he should have been underground.

  “You pull a hammy, pal?”

  “No,” Cade grunted through his clenched teeth.

  “Then stand up and keep moving.”

  “I’m trying.” The pull was getting stronger. Cade had never felt it this intense before.

  “What’ve you got, lead in your pants?”

  “It’s the pull. I’ve been gone too long.”

  “Oh, right,” the slime said. “You need to get back underground soon, don’t you? It’s bedtime for vamps.”

  Cade stood with a moan. He knew the best way to avoid feeling like he weighed a ton was getting fresh blood in his system. Sabrina… The mere thought of her made his mouth water. No, I need to stay away from her for now. I’d drink her dry feeling the way I do.

  The building shook harder. Cade could hear the metal supports groan. More frightening was the noise underneath him—a sound he could only compare to sand moving through a funnel. The building was sinking.

  Cade shook himself, making his body move again, and then jumped down the stairs until he reached the lobby. There were voices. More people had arrived at the hospital. The police were there; he could hear their radios squawking.

  “Police,” Cade whispered.

  “Pigs, oh man, buddy, not good. I know how you bloodsuckers feel about them.”

  Cade weighed his options as he peeked out of the stairwell. He could sneak out the rear exit, or he could sprint out the front. Do I warn them or not?

  “What’re we doing here, pal? Shit or get off the pot,” the slime said.

  “Someone very important to me once said, ‘You may be whatever you resolve to be,’” Cade said, quoting Stonewall Jackson. “I resolve to be…” He raced toward the exit, where four policemen stood. As he drew near, he shouted and waved his hands. “The building’s collapsing! Run!”

  “Halt!” one policeman responded. “Hands up! Stop moving now!”

  Cade kept running, and as he passed by, he covered his face with his hands.

  “Stop now, or you’ll force us to fire!”

  A police-issued stun gun discharged behind him, but Cade had heard and smelled that particular device before and he knew he would outrace the barbs.

  A sudden shifting of the ground nearly caused him to stumble; the draining sound was getting louder by the second.

  Cade’s mind filled with the memories of the many battlefield hospitals he had visited—several of them had come under enemy fire. Sorrow filled him. Is there no place safe left in this world?

  The police followed him out and were calling for backup. He knew they had seen the dead bodies in the hospital and that was enough reason for the high-strung LAPD to discharge their weapons. He couldn’t risk being shot. The slugs wouldn’t kill him, but the consequences of the human authorities witnessing him shake off a bullet could. Cade did not want the wraiths after him—if they weren’t already.

  “I should’ve parked closer.”

  “Yeah? Well, buddy, you’re gonna need more than a handicap parking permit if you don’t hurry.”

  Cade growled with frustration. The slime was right. A single shot rang out and Cade ducked behind a van. He had no choice but to stay low and weave in and out of the parked cars.

  The police were shouting at him, but the rumbling swallowed up their words. It felt like an earthquake, but Cade knew the outcome would be much more violent. It felt the same as when his old friend Gayte, the ancient earth spirit, had leveled Kintner’s home.

  Cade dashed to his bike and the satchel strapped to its side: his sniper rifle. I’ll do what I must to protect my kind’s secret. He frantically unzipped the leather case as he straddled his bike.

  “If that’s what I think it is, we ain’t got time,” the slime said.

  Cade looked up at the hospital collapsing in on itself. A plume of dust and smoke rose up as high as he could see. The slime was right, there was no time for anything apart from escape.

  “Retreat,” he agreed as he inserted the key and turned it.

  “Smartest thing you’ve said all night.”

  Cade gunned his bike, lurching into full speed. He watched as the hospital crumbled. It was not the first time he had witnessed a building fall. He had seen many turn to ash and pebble during the early stages of the Battle of Stalingrad. However, there was something different here. The thing had fallen in on itself as much as it had seemed to be sucked into the ground.

  The street and pavement around the building suffered too, deteriorating at an alarming rate and spreading away from the site quickly. Cade tilted his handlebars. If I don’t distance myself now, I may never have the chance.

  He glanced over his shoulder as he sped away. One by one, the policemen vanished into the thick cloud of dust. He caught a glimpse of the last one standing, being sucked down into the growing pit.

  “A horrible fate for human or otherworldly,” Cade said to the slime, who was still seated in his jacket pocket.

  “Those coppers didn’t make it?”

  “No.”

  “It’s for the best, pal.”

  Cade nodded and frowned. “No witnesses.”

  “Yeah. Well…there is you and me, buddy boy.”

  Cade understood the underlying meaning—whatever was happening here, he was better off not knowing. Still, a vampire’s curiosity was even worse than his desire to feed, and it was the one thing Cade could not control.

  “Tell me: if not the wraiths, what was all that? The gas buildup, the earthquake and sinkhole-that all there was no natural disaster.”

  “Sure wasn’t. That was Pollution.”

  “Pollution?”
<
br />   “Yeah, buddy. Pollution. A problem for both humans and nonhumans alike,” the slime said. “Get us someplace safe, then pull over. I’ll show ya.”

  “Interface?” Cade guessed.

  “Best way to show ya.”

  Nicodemus had once interfaced with a slime. The old man had been restless and bored, as they’d been trapped in a foxhole, unable to move for days during a lull in combat.

  All Cade knew was that the results of the interface had been bad. Nicodemus never fully explained what he had seen, but Cade remembered the old man raving like a lunatic, like he had been stuck on a bad acid trip.

  When Nicodemus had finally recovered, he’d made Cade swear he would never do it. I’ll never interface with a slime or its likes. I swear. But now he was seriously considering breaking his word.

  More Than Meets the Eye

  It was a good five miles before Cade pulled over and parked in an empty lot behind a fast food place. He wanted to make sure he was far enough away from the scene. Additional police and other emergency responders would be there any minute—not a good spot for a vampire or any otherworldly to be caught.

  Cade stepped off his bike and stretched his stiff limbs. He needed to feed.

  “Hey, let me outta here so I can breathe!” the slime shouted.

  Cade reached into a different pocket instead, for his cell phone. “I should call her.”

  “Buddy, you best not be talking to no one, capisce?”

  Cade felt the pull getting worse, so he scooped the slime out of his jacket and let it drop to the pavement only a second before he did the same.

  “Whoa, pally. You ain’t looking good.”

  Cade tried to push himself off the weathered concrete, but he couldn’t. The pull was so strong all he could think about was digging—burrowing his fingers in the stony cracks and pulling them apart until he found dirt.

  “I shouldn’t be awake.”

  “You need to eat.”

  “I need to sleep. I need to—”

  “I think I can help. But then we gotta move. We’re still too close.”

  Cade heard the slime; he was nearly eye-to-eye with the thing—if it had possessed eyes. But its words were lost within hers. No matter how hard Cade tried, he could not shut his sire, Dunyasha, out. She wants me back where I belong. I should be with her…

  “Help?” Cade muttered.

  “Hold right there.”

  The slime began to vibrate like a bowl of Jell-O. Cade hated Jell-O—just the thought of its taste and texture made him sneer. However disgusted as he was by the thought, the sight of the little puddle of slime transforming was fascinating. He was so captivated, he nearly forgot the weight that pulled his bones down into the earth.

  “Here’s an easy one. I’ve done it many times before. You remember the late nineties, right?” the slime asked as it morphed. “Best way to get the chicks.”

  In the matter of seconds, the slime had turned a pale brown and was in the shape of a Chihuahua. Cade wanted to commend the thing on its transformation, but all he could muster was another, “Help.”

  “¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!” the dog said in response.

  The little dog shook, as if shaking off water, and scampered off.

  Slime, what are you doing? Cade placed his forehead to the ground. His teeth hurt, his stomach twisted, and he smelled something delicious.

  The Chihuahua scampered back soon, barking the whole way. Cade could not see it, but its tiny feet on the concrete sounded like bombs being dropped—and then came a voice.

  “Oh my gah, is that your master? Did your master get hurt?”

  Although her voice sounded like a million banshees wailing in his ears, it was as sweet as honey. Cade understood now—the slime had brought him a meal.

  With the last of his strength, Cade pushed up from the ground, turned, and pounced on the woman.

  “You like that, pally? I found you a hot one. Look at the tits on her, mamma mia!”

  Cade tore out the woman’s throat with his first bite; she was dead before she knew it.

  So much for finesse. So much for control. No. I need this. Just this one time, Dunyasha. Let me feed like a savage…let me feed like our ancient ancestors did, back before they feared humans—before they cared.

  The woman’s blood was hot, and like fresh coffee, it coated his throat, warmed his chest, and shocked his system. He felt stronger and more awake by the moment…but he needed more.

  Cade sunk his fingers into the woman’s puffy, white vest, then tore it and her shirt open.

  “See, I knew you were a breast man, just like me.”

  Cade looked at the slime and sneered. The thing must have understood the message because it quickly backed off.

  “Okay. Just hurry up, bud.”

  When Cade’s eyes turned to his hands, he had already buried his fingers knuckle deep in the flesh between the woman’s large breasts. He struggled with the decision, but only for a moment—and then he tore the woman’s chest open, her broken sternum and ribs now in plain view.

  I need more.

  “Whoa…guy, you need to relax. You’re making a real mess here,” the slime said, following its statement with a series of yipping barks.

  Cade pushed his hand between the dead woman’s ribs. Her heart felt hot in his cold hand and oozed warm blood down his wrist. This is what I want. He gripped the heart carefully…and then yanked it right out of her. He was staring longingly at it when he heard Dunyasha’s voice in his head again. Her disappointment soured his hunger.

  You should be underground, my brave soldier. You disobey me. And now look at you. Look at what you have become. Return to me. Return and lay with me until it is our time, our time to return—our time to rule.

  “No!” Cade shouted before heaving the heart across the parking lot. “What have I done?”

  “You went all Joe Pesci, man. Like in Casino. The pen scene.”

  Cade made the connection as his mind cleared. “Joe Pesci…that’s who you sound like.”

  “Hey, I’ll take it. Now, can we get the hell out of here?”

  Cade looked around. No cameras. I’m lucky. “We need to talk, slime.”

  “No kidding. But not here. Not now.”

  “Agreed, but I’m not leaving until you tell me something.”

  “I’ll tell you this: we got to get farther away from the hospital. Farther away from Pollution.”

  “We’re already miles away.”

  “Not far enough, pal.”

  Cade shook his hands, spraying blood on the ground and his pants. He had made a mess and was disgusted with himself. “Are you telling me that everything between the hospital and here is gonna get swallowed up?” he asked, trying to distract himself as much as get information.

  “No. Maybe. Look, I’m telling you, they can still hear me—”

  “Slimes are hive minded?”

  Cade wiped his hands clean, then reached down and picked up the slime, that had yet to shed his disguise. Cade had owned dogs before, but not like this. His were hunting dogs, coon hounds. Holding a Chihuahua felt like holding a malnourished rat.

  “Yeah, pally, we are. Not so unlike you vampires, are we?”

  Cade nodded as he engaged the engine of his bike. The slime was right; they weren’t so different.

  “Just tell me what’s happening here, slime.”

  “Call me, Joe.”

  “Look, Joe, we both want to leave this spot, so tell me what I’m up against and I’ll help you—help us both. Okay?”

  “Put me on your head. I’ll show you.”

  Cade did not like the sound of that, but given his choices, he decided to comply.

  “I’ve seen what you slimes can do to vampires when interfaced.”

  “I’m not gonna juice you, buddy, just show you what’s what.”

  “Don’t pee on me either.”

  “Did you seriously think I was gonna sit on your head looking like this?” the slime said as he changed back to his ori
ginal form.

  “I—”

  The slime laughed. “Imagine that, a blood-soaked vampire sitting on a crotch rocket with a Chihuahua on his head. You slay me, pal.”

  “You’re testing my patience, Joe.”

  Cade raised the slime over his head and let it ooze down over his hair. It felt like he’d cracked a large egg over his head. Disgusting.

  “Good. Now hang on. I’m gonna take shape so we can do this and then get moving.”

  Cade heard voices; they were distant but growing closer.

  “Hurry up.”

  The slime vibrated as it oozed down his cheeks. Cade fought the urge to wipe it off, but the more it covered his face, the more he wanted it gone.

  “What do you like, a full-face helmet or a rad pair of vintage-looking racing goggles?”

  His answer was fast. “I left my helmet back at Sabrina’s.”

  “Then helmet it is.”

  Cade felt a small jolt of electricity—no more than getting a shock from a shorted household appliance, but then there was another and another at several dozen points along the crown of his skull. His head shivered uncontrollably, and soon his whole body followed. When he reached up to touch his face, he found his hand blocked by a motorcycle helmet. To his surprise, before he could say anything, the helmet’s visor slid down over his eyes.

  “Here it comes, baby. Don’t blink,” Joe said.

  Sights and sounds flashed in his brain, transmitting through receptors the slime had attached to his scalp. Cade saw everything the slime had—every event from the past few days, leading up to that very moment. The last thing Cade saw was himself through the slime’s eyes; he watched himself savagely feed on and tear apart an innocent woman. The sum of the information was too much to handle at once; he would need time to process it. However, Cade now understood why the slime wanted more distance between them and the hospital.

  “Pollution…”

  “Exactly.”

  “We best get moving,” Cade said, as he turned the bike around. “I’m gonna need help.”

  The Unthinkable

  The sound of her cell phone ringing woke Sabrina. She had not slept well that night. She’d tossed and turned, checking the clock every fifteen or twenty minutes. Her bed had felt empty, and Cade had never come home.