My feet moved before my brain had a chance realize that this was a dangerous and bad idea. Instead of running away from the homicide mentally unstable rampaging vampire that had just thrown Tokyo off him like he was rag doll, I was running towards another hopefully not dead one. What am I expecting to happen when I get to him?
The closer I get to Edge the more bile rises to my throat because I can finally see the extent of the damage. I skid down next to him and I don’t know what to make of this. He had a giant piece of the wall sticking out his chest and behind him he has multiple small pieces piercing him everywhere. One of them was near the base of his spine which must be why he couldn’t get back up.
“Valentine enough!” I heard Gerry yell. “Calm down!” He ordered again and when Valentine started to advance on us Gerry eyes became furious. “I SAID STOP.” Gerry yelled in a voice that almost sounded demonic. I shivered unconsciously.
What I didn’t expect to happen was for Valentine to scream like a banshee and hold onto his chest. “STOP IT!” He cried in fury and I couldn’t react. I didn’t know what was happening. I think I could see smoke coming from under all his clothes. What was happening?
Valentine gathered himself and charged Gerry lifting him clean off the ground and if I could have I would have smiled when I heard the crack Valentines fist made when he punched Gerry in his face with his free hand. It was a true shame that he could be healed instantly by any vampire in here. “Know your place.” He growled at the unconscious man. Sadly, whatever that remote did it was gone now so I had no way out of this. I had no ammo or a silver knife at least.
What do I do now? Check for a pulse on Edge? Preform CPR? Open a vein? I shiver thinking that I may have to let him drink from me right now, but if that’s what I have to do to get my buddy back on his feet it’s time to pull on my big girl socks.
“Edge, what can I do?” Edge lifted his head and his long hair fell away from his face. His eyes looked vacant, but I could see he was listening to me.
“Move.” He gasped. I try to speak when a hand grabs me from the back of my neck and lifts clear of my feet. I wanted to scream from the pain of the pressure that was being put on my neck. A few more seconds and Valentines going to snap my neck like a match stick.
I reach up scratching at his hands, but I couldn’t even manage to dislodge one of his fingers. It was like I was in an iron collar.
“You should have run.” Those dark rumbled words made cold shiver travel down my spine.
“No chance.” I say gasping for air and trying to keep my eyes open through the pain.
I needed to shock him somehow. I needed him to lose his focus and release me.
“Valentine stop please!” As if the Lord had answered my prayers Danni scared voice caught us both off guard. I felt rather than saw his head move in her direction and I was worried he would drop me and chase after her, but he didn’t. What I didn’t expect was the words that left his mouth in a quiet plea. “L – Leave. G- Get a-a-way.” Valentine was warning her?
I don’t know what I was going to do now that his attention is elsewhere, but right now I just need him to let me go so I could breathe. I would worry about what to do after that. I am going to regret this because he might not let me go and instead he is going to rip my throat out.
All I need is for him to just loosen his grip for one second. My vision was getting blurry and passing out in Valentines presence was a big mistake. I bite my lip lightly and take a deep breath before biting down as hard as I could, possibly going all the way through my skin and almost instantly I could taste blood.
Valentine’s body stilled and I suck on the inside on my lip drawing out as much blood as I could and I spit it as far to my left as it would go. I saw Valentine’s head move in the direction of the blood on the floor and with this opportunity I raised my left hand forming a “V” with my fingers.
“Sorry, Valentine.” I cough and I jab my fingers right into his eyes. At first, I thought I missed because he didn’t move, but soon I felt a weird gooey sensation on my fingers. Something wet and thick was dripping down my hand.
I was no longer suspended off the ground, I was dropped with no warming hitting the ground hard and landing on my knees. Valentine doubles over in pain screeching and growling. He started thrashing around grabbing nothing but air. I don’t register the pain in my legs, instead I see the black eye jelly goop on my fingers and without meaning to I let out a loud “Ewww.”
Edge snorts a few feet away from me where he was watching me. I move around him and start yanking out the pieces of the metal out of his back starting with the one that was most likely immobilizing him. I wasn’t paying attention to anything but him again.
“Tokyo and Highlander have him.” Edge’s head touches my shoulder slightly using me to rest and I sigh in relief.
“It’s about fucking time.” My voice was shacking and so were my hands. I was petrified and I only let that emotion wash over me now. If I had let my fear control me before I would have been useless and dead.
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“Don’t be scared. You’re safe now.” Edge whispers in my ear. I pause in my extractions and my shoulders start to shake and my eyes mist slightly from tears I refused to let loose now. I would do that later in my room while I was in the bath with a glass of pure vodka. The fact that Edge and every other vampire in this room could smell that on me now made me feel horrible. This was my job now these situations would become my new normal. I couldn’t afford another mistake like today. Running into danger like I had was stupid and suicidal.
“I’m glad you’re ok.” I mutter and Edge gives me a light peck on the cheek. My shoulder still for a minute and I continue removing the pieces imbedded his back, but I didn’t know what to do about the large piece in his chest.
“Don’t worry. Gerald will be here with bagged blood. I should be able to dislodge myself after that.”
“You just need blood?” I ask cautiously. Edge nods.
“How much?” He smiles already knowing what I was about to offer.
“A lot more than you can give me.”
“I won’t say I am not relieved to hear that.” I sit back on my legs and I look at him.
“You saved me again.” I say smiling and he tries to return it, but flinches in pain.
“We’re even then. You saved my ass too.” I reach for his hand and hold it needing the physical reminder that he was ok.
“I am impaled on a wall. There isn’t any chance we are even.” He jokes and I laugh nervously.
“Fuck, what’s it going to cost me?” I ask him.
“A packet of cigarettes.”
“If you’re a good boy I may even get you two.”
“I’ll be on my best behavior then.” I feel like my lips where shacking while I was trying to maintain my smile.
Three hours later and almost ten litters of blood later, Edge was laying on a bed in the med bay. He finishes off the last bag of blood and I take it off him placing it in the bin next to me.
“Do you always have to drink it? What happens if your throats ripped out?” I ask and Edge cracks his back.
“Depends. Fuck, I think I still have metal pieces stuck in my back. I can feel then stabbing me.” I grimace at the thought.
“Be glad these walls aren’t made of silver.”
“The only rooms with silver walls are the cells bellow and Gerald’s office door which you already saw.”
“Wait, there are cells in this building?” Edge snorts and he steals the bottle of water I was holding out of my hand. He drains the bottle fast and he let out a deep sigh.
“That was mine.”
“I needed it more. All that blood was giving me heartburn.” I burst out laughing and Edge looks annoyed. I was laughing so hard and I reached down to my stomach because the idea of a vampire having heartburn was hilarious. Edge’s arm wrapped around my shoulders and he straightened me up and he pulled me towards his chest so I was standing between his legs. I didn’t know why he was hugging me, but I didn’t move either.
“It’s ok, Ainz. It’s ok.” He whispers into my hair. Why was he telling me that? Did I sound or smell like I needed comforting? “Don’t cry.” He pleads.
I was shacking in his arms and I didn’t realize it. How long have I been crying? I whimper into his chest and he tightens his arms around me and I wrap my arms around his back as well.
“I’m. So. Glad. You’re. Ok.” I say through my silent tears.
I turn my head up towards him and he was wearing a sad smile that was obvious even through my blurry tears. I knew that vampires were immortal, but when Edge didn’t get back up there was a moment in my mind where I saw myself wearing my uniform to his funeral. I didn’t want that. I was starting to like this idiot.
He pulled me back into his embrace and I eagerly returned it. “If you ever pull a stunt like that, I will kill you.” He threatens. My tears had subsided and I wipe them on his shirt.
“Feed me Highlanders blood if that happens. I want semi-local cuisine.” Edge pokes me in the ribs and I laugh.
“It’s my blood that’s brining you back if you die on me. So remember that next time you jump in front of a crazy vampire.”
“I will have to do that many times. And now I know I can immobilize a Type B Vampire like Valentine.”
“He wasn’t thinking straight. You got lucky.” Edge warns.
“Edge, that’s what this job is. The only way you make it to tomorrow is just pure luck.”
“And you do seem to have a lot of it.” I smile victoriously at him.
“I got you that was the luckiest break I could have gotten.” Edge was stunned by my statement.
“Just announcing this, if Jolene was loaded Valentine would have been dead.”
“Probably why she wasn’t.” Edge recovers quickly, but I could have sworn there was a trickle of joy behind in his eyes.
“For fucks sake. You’re acting like he was dying.” Gerry’s voice enters the room. My hands clenched and I refused to look at him. I don’t know if I was supposed to mention it, but I want to know what on earth that switch was.
“How are you doing Edge?” He asks with concern. I had noticed something else lately. Gerry only treated his humans like soldiers, not the vampires. Ironically they were the only ones that were being treated like people. We fragile, disposable humans were treated exactly like that, replaceable.
I wonder, what if I was turned would that make him show me that much decency? Now that would be a sight which would certainly be worth dying for.
“Everything’s almost healed, but there’s still metal under my skin.”
“We will have that taken care of within the hour.” Edge thanks him.
Next it was my turn and Gerry turns to me with anger. “You injured my best vampire. Do you know how hard it is to heal him? He can’t ingest too much blood or he is incapacitated for weeks. I now have to rehabilitate him!” He shouts at me.
Normally, I would have answered, but I wasn’t in the mood. My first very strong instinct was to let my fist hit him straight in the nose in the same spot Valentine has hit him, which sadly now as completely healed. “No answer to that? Well, you just earned yourself an early release from training. You now have to clean up your mess by taking on Valentine’s missions.”
“Gerald, new recruits need months to –” Edge rushes into to defend me.
“I don’t give a fuck! She’s got a week to be prepared to take on Type B level missions and if she isn’t she’s still worth something to me dead.” I salute him, but I don’t answer.
“Now you’re quiet and being obedient.” He hisses at me. Once, again I could speak, but for the first time I finally saw what Gerry was. I saw how little he cared for human life and how easy it was for him to put us in danger. I had no doubt in my mind that he had lost his humanity years ago. So, if he was going to treat me like piece of equipment then I am going to treat him like the child he is and the way you deal with misbehaving children is by ignoring them.
When he left the room Edge sits up and hunches over his knees. “I don’t like this.” I stare at the door Gerry had left open.
You’re playing with the wrong person, Gerry. I silently declare. I don’t need fangs to bite you.