“Are you giving up?”
Atl squinted as he spoke. She thought of Izel, the turtle, the scent of corpses burning, and raised her head. Nick was coming toward her and she could not summon the strength to fight back.
“No,” she said.
Nick tried to hit her with the electric prod. Atl managed to dodge the blow more by instinct than actual thought, but the exertion caused her to gasp. The pain in her stomach was very bad. She couldn’t stand straight. Nick tried to hit her again and when she stepped back she lost her footing.
And then she saw Domingo hurrying toward them, carrying the long rusty piece of metal that had been impaling Bernardino. Domingo swung it with all his strength, like a bat. It hit Nick in the head. The crunch of bone made her blink.
Domingo let go of the metal bar and stared at her.
Nick rose. There was so much blood pouring from his head. He opened his mouth, showing her his teeth, and turned toward Domingo with a shriek that left no doubt of his intention.
He was going to kill Domingo.
She jumped up in the air, unfurling her wings, tearing her jacket in the process. She pounced on Nick, landing on his back. He tried to shake her off but she dug her nails into his face and flapped her wings, pulling him up into the air. Just a few meters—a few meters was all she could manage—but it bought Domingo enough time to scuttle away.
Nick tried to bite her, his mouth chomping at the air. She released him and he fell down, sprawled upon the floor like a marionette. Atl landed next to him, resting a hand against the ground and wincing, the pain in her body a blinding hot coal.
She really shouldn’t have done that.
Nick stood up on shaky feet. His face was even more butchered than before, a mess of unsettling crimson. But the teeth were still sharp and eager, his maw opening, ready to take a bite of her. Nick shuffled forward.
“I was going to take you back alive, but I changed my mind,” he said.
Atl retracted her wings.
*
Ana groaned. The pain was excruciating. She couldn’t breathe properly. She was dizzy. And yet, she was grateful. The pain was so strong, it suddenly made everything clear. The weight that had been stifling her—the young vampire’s mind control—had broken. A temporary reprieve, she knew.
But enough, she thought.
She watched Nick as he walked toward the girl. He had taken a lot of damage, but he would not stop.
Bastard, she thought. Her hands were shaking.
From the corner of her eye she noticed movement, a shadow unfolding. She didn’t pay it attention, instead focusing on Nick.
She thought about her grandmother’s lessons. The way to hold the gun, how to align the target, how to press the trigger. Breathe, Ana, breathe. She thought of herself younger, glued to the TV set, watching the thrilling conclusion to the midnight movie. The good guy always had time to fire one last, crucial shot.
But Ana was hurting. Ana wasn’t in a movie and she couldn’t keep her hands steady, the weapon seemed to slide from her grasp. For a moment she considered lying there and letting this end without her intervention, without bothering about what happened to that fucking vampire bastard. But she couldn’t. Not when she’d seen what he was planning.
She breathed in.
Ana did what she could, took aim and managed to hit Nick in the chest. The vampire hissed and looked over his shoulder at her.
“Stupid woman,” he growled, and she felt his control over her again.
She pressed the gun against her own chest, her finger slowly finding the trigger even though she didn’t want to. She squeezed the trigger.
Bang.
As she lay dying, the connection from the vampire now forever severed, she smiled.
Because now she could see the shadow. It had contours, a face, and in the shape of that face and the contours of that gaunt body she recognized a vampire, shuffling forward.
Revenant, she thought.
*
Nick was looking at her again, his eyes as red as the blood covering him. Behind him she noticed a figure slowly rising, slowly moving toward them. Bernardino. But Nick had been too busy focusing on Ana to notice him, and now he was too busy looking at Atl.
Atl licked her lips, standing still. “You look pretty banged up,” she said. “I thought your kind was strong.”
“Shut up,” Nick said.
“Of course, you’re not really a full-grown Necros, are you? You’re just a kid playing at being a narco.”
“Look who’s talking,” Nick said.
“I’m better than you.”
“I’ll show you—”
He pounced on her, weighing her down. Atl tore at his neck with her nails while he opened his mouth, ready to bite a chunk of her cheek. She gathered her remaining strength and shoved him off her; it was like pushing away an armored tank.