She stared at him, repulsed by the ugly picture he had painted. "What about your friend, Ramsey? Is he like that?"
"Like I said, they're all like that."
"I don't believe it."
"You don't want to believe it because you're in love with Battista."
And that, she thought, said it all.
Vicki grew more anxious with each passing hour. She tried to read. She tried to watch television. She stared out the window at the rain. She played chess with Tom, but she couldn't concentrate on the game and finally gave up. She wondered if he was as cool and calm as he appeared. How could he be?
She fixed lunch, then tried to take a nap, but to no avail. She couldn't relax.
Where was Antonio? How soon would he be able to rise? She needed to see him, to touch him, hear the sound of his voice. Were they doing the right thing? Maybe they should just pack up and go to his villa inItaly. Maybe Falco wouldn't find them there. It was tempting, so tempting, but then she thought of Sharlene and Leslie Ann Lewis and all the other women Falco had killed in the last few weeks. The hundreds and thousands of women he would murder in the future because she was too chicken to do what had to be done. And running wouldn't accomplish anything. He had taken her blood. He would find her no matter where she tried to hide.
Staring into the flames blazing cheerfully in the fireplace, she took a deep breath.
Antonio called her his warrior woman. The good Lord willing, that's what she would be.
She practically jumped out of her skin when Duncan announced it was time to go.
They decided to take the Lexus since it had the most room in the backseat.
"Have you got everything you need?" she asked.
"Yeah, don't worry."
Vicki's hand was shaking so badly she could hardly get the key in the ignition. She patted her jacket pockets, reassured when she felt the two bottles filled with holy water.
She made sure her crucifix was on the outside of her jacket.
She drove to town and stopped at a jewelry store, where she bought a thick silver collar and two silver bracelets. She put them on while inside the store and immediately felt better.
They made one more stop at a toy store, where Duncan bought two squirt guns.
"What are they for?" Vicki asked as they walked back to the car.
"We'll fill them with holy water. That way you won't have to waste time opening the bottles, and your aim will be better."
She grinned. "Where on earth did you get an idea like that?"
"Saw it in a movie once," he said as he climbed into the back seat. "Try to relax. If you're too tense, Falco will suspect something."
"Relax? You're kidding, right?" She covered Tom with a heavy wool blanket, then climbed behind the steering wheel. She touched the squirt guns for reassurance, turned on the ignition, and drove toward the secondary road.
A glance outside showed that they had timed it perfectly.
Surprisingly, she grew calmer as the miles went by. She knew exactly when she reached the place where Antonio and Ramsey were waiting, though she wasn't sure how she knew.
She stopped the car in the middle of the road and left the engine running.
"Do you see anything?" Duncan whispered from the backseat.
"No." It was hard to see more than a few feet in any direction because of the rain.
"I'm going to get out of the car."
"Leave the door open so I can hear what's going on."
"All right."
Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and got out of the car. She stood there a moment, glancing up and down the road, and then lifted the hood and looked at the engine. With a shrug, as if she didn't know what the problem could be, she began walking back and forth alongside the car, as if she were hoping someone would stop and offer assistance.
Where was Antonio? Where was Ramsey?
Where was Falco?
She shoved her hands in her jacket pockets, her fingers caressing the squirt guns for reassurance once more.
She knew he was there before she saw him. A ripple in the air, a sudden sense of menace, she didn't know what warned her, but she turned abruptly and there he was, striding through the rain toward her, a malevolent grin on his face.
"So, we meet again."
She swallowed hard, her courage deserting her now that he was there.
"Nothing to say?" he asked. "No word of greeting?"
He was only a few steps away now, close enough that she could see his fangs, the red glow in his eyes.
"Go away!" she cried, loud enough so that Duncan would be sure to hear. "Go away or I'll scream!"
"And who will hear you?" Falco said, sneering.
He reached toward her.
Panicked at the mere thought of his touch on her skin, she jerked her hands out of her pockets.
He looked at the squirt guns, one a bright pink, the other neon green. Surprise and amusement were reflected in his eyes.
Until she squeezed the triggers.
A harsh cry of pain erupted from his throat as twin streams of holy water struck him full in the face. With a scream of rage, he lunged toward her, his hands like claws, his face contorted.
She reeled backward, desperate to avoid his touch. She squeezed the triggers again and again. And still he came toward her, a harsh wail on his lips.
She screamed as his hand closed over her arm.
And suddenly Antonio was there. He tackled Falco from the side, his momentum carrying them both to the ground.
Duncan scrambled out of the back of the car, a four-foot stake and a mallet in one hand, what looked like a machete in the other.
Ramsey streaked toward them. "More holy water!" he said. "Keep him too weak to change."
Vicki pulled one of the bottles from her pocket and dumped the contents over Falco's face and body. Bucking wildly, he screamed in rage and pain as he endeavored to free himself, but to no avail.
Vicki turned away as Duncan placed the sharp point of the stake over Falco's heart.
There was one last hideous scream, and it was over.
The scent of blood defiled the air and she knew that Ramsey had taken Falco's head.
Moving away from the grisly scene, she dropped to her knees in a patch of wet grass and was violently ill.
"It is over," Antonio said, coming up behind her.
"Here." Duncan passed her his handkerchief.
Vicki wiped her mouth. She could hear Duncan and Ramsey congratulating each other.
Antonio stood beside her, one hand lightly squeezing her shoulder.
"Come," he said. "Let us go home."
"What about the body?" she asked.
"Do not think of that now."
Taking her by the hand, he helped her to her feet.
Careful not to look at what was left of Dimitri Falco, Vicki climbed into the Lexus.
Duncan got into the backseat. Antonio got behind the wheel.
They drove in silence until curiosity got the best of her. "Why did Ramsey stay behind?"
"He is going to dispose of the body," Antonio said.
"How?"
"He will take it deeper into the woods and stay with it until dawn. The sun will take care of the remains."
With a nod, Vicki stared out the window though there was nothing to see.
Antonio glanced at her from time to time. He had been worried that she would be hurt when it was time for him to leave her. Now, he thought she would most likely be glad to see the last of him. Considering all that she had been through since he entered her life, he couldn't blame her. He should have been relieved. Instead, he found himself wishing that things could be different between them. If he lived another six hundred years, he knew he would never forget her, never find another to take her place in his heart.
He pulled into the garage and killed the engine.
Moving like a robot, Vicki let herself out of the car.
Antonio followed her up the stairs and into the house. " Victoria?"
She didn't turn around. "I'm going to bed. Tell Duncan good night for me."
He said nothing, merely watched her climb the stairs.
Duncan entered the room a few minutes later.
Antonio slowly turned around, and they regarded each other warily for several moments, the vampire and the vampire hunter.
"Well," Duncan said briskly. "I guess I'll be going." He glanced around the room.
"Where's Vicki?"
"She has gone to bed."
Duncan grunted softly. "She's a hell of a woman."
"Yes."
"Thanks for putting up with me. I'll just go up and get my things. Tell Vicki I'll see her at the wedding."
Antonio nodded. He waited until Duncan was out of the room, and then he vanished into the night.
Chapter 37
Vicki stood at her bedroom window, listening to the thunder that rolled across the sky.
Now and then, lightning ripped through the clouds, illuminating the yard and the trees beyond. The sound of the rain was steady and soothing.
The nightmare was over. Dimitri Falco had been destroyed. Never again would he terrorize her or kill innocent women. A part of her was glad that she'd had a hand in defeating him. Another part was horrified by what had happened. She told herself he had been evil, beyond redemption, and yet she couldn't help feeling guilty that she had helped take a human life. Although, technically, he hadn't been a human man but a vampire. And he hadn't been alive, but Undead.
She pressed her hands to her throbbing temples. It was over and done. Dwelling on the ugliness of it wouldn't help.
She glanced at the door. She had expected Antonio to follow her to her room. Was he downstairs, waiting for her?
Going into the bathroom, she splashed cold water on her face, then took a couple of aspirin. She returned to her room, changed into her nightgown, and went to bed.
She left the light on, wondering if she would ever again feel comfortable sleeping in the dark now that she knew there were monsters prowling the night. But Falco was dead.
Surely a little backwater town like Pear Blossom Creek wouldn't attract another one for a longtime, if ever.
