Many Bloody Returns Part 37

"Are you kidding me?" Sebastian snapped out of his funk long enough to let out a rant. "We're stuck in an ice storm with the creature from the black lagoon, and you don't think it's because my parents are sinners and I practiced the dark arts on the holy days?"

"No, I don't. You're suffering because your parents had s.e.x on a night they weren't supposed to? Do you even realize how insane that sounds?" I asked, giving him the she-can-hear-you glare.

"I'm from Norway," Fonn added, sounding only a little put out. I started to giggle at the absurdity of her correction, when she continued, "And I'm not a 'creature'; I'm a demon."

"Oh, well," Sebastian said dryly. "That makes things much better."

I gave Sebastian a little nudge to say Go ahead, idiot, poke the demon.

The wipers smeared ice and slush uselessly across the winds.h.i.+eld. We were surrounded in whiteness. The storm had become a full-on blizzard.

Pulling off to the side, Fonn slowed to a stop. "We need to wait this out."

"Yeah, great," Sebastian muttered.

Even though she'd identified herself as a demon, I still figured a little common courtesy could go a long way. "Thanks for picking

us up," I said, staring out into the s.h.i.+fting white. "We'd be dead otherwise."

Fonn smiled.

Lilith tightened the muscles in my abdomen.

The chill crept along my spine again, like fingers of frost.

"Jesus, it's cold in here," Sebastian said, reaching for the heater.

Sebastian huddled near the vent, hugging himself for warmth. I looked at Fonn and the gleam in her eye.

Fonn pushed a b.u.t.ton on her dash, and suddenly the cabin was filled with the droning voice of some announcer on Wisconsin

Public Radio talking about the stock market and Bulgarian politics or some other esoteric subject. I didn't really listen. I was too busy freaking out. Sebastian looked miserable. He s.h.i.+vered pathetically. I ran my hand along the back of his neck lightly to comfort him. His skin felt cold.

Cold? That wasn't right. Yeah, okay, he was a vampire, and most vampires have cold skin. Not my boy. His magic made him hot-blooded. I pulled my fingers away in surprise.

"Sebastian," I said. "You're cold."

"d.a.m.n right. I'm freezing." He rubbed his arms in the cla.s.sic style, trying to get some heat from the friction.

Wind rattled the windows of the truck. Everywhere was white on night, and where the headlights beamed, it reminded me a bit of the image of hypers.p.a.ce from Star Wars. Sebastian shouldn't be cold; this storm shouldn't be so strong, so soon.

"You're sucking the life from us to make this storm, aren't you?" I demanded of Fonn, who sat smugly watching the snow pile up on the winds.h.i.+eld.

Mids.h.i.+ver, Sebastian glanced up at Fonn. "Hey, I don't have any life," he pointed out.

"Energy," Fonn interjected. "And, if I may say so, you're both loaded."

That would explain why Lilith didn't like Fonn much. An energysnarfing demon would probably consider a G.o.ddess an all-you- can-eat-buffet.

"That's fan-f.u.c.king-tastic," Sebastian said. "Happy birthday to me."

A knock on the driver's side window made everybody jump, even Fonn. She powered-down the window, letting in an arctic blast of wind and snow. I noticed the faint flash of blue lights behind us and the reflective paint at the tip of a snowplow's blade.

"Everyone all right in here?" a male voice asked. I had the impression of a mustache underneath the fake fur of a parka hood

wrapped tightly around his head.

Fonn eyed the newcomer in a way that could only be described as hungry.

"We could use some help," Fonn said, her voice abruptly s.h.i.+fting to that of a feeble older woman's. Fonn was going to eat this unsuspecting stranger, too! I suddenly realized she'd been out trolling for victims and anyone would do. Of course, she'd lucked out and got a G.o.ddess-toting Witch and her supernatural vampire boyfriend. Good day for Fonn; bad day for us.

Lilith pushed against my stomach, like a snake uncoiling. But before I could react, Sebastian spoke up.

"Actually, we're fine. Just waiting out the storm a bit." Sebastian's voice was liquid glamour. For a moment, I swore the cab of the truck smelled faintly of cinnamon toast and hot cocoa-very comforting smells, very homey. In fact, even I was feeling pretty safe and a little bit sleepy.

The snowplow driver nodded, completely duped by vampire charm. "Yeah, this weather sure is a doozie. You take care now."

He disappeared into the snow, and I let out my breath when I heard the plow's engine spring to life behind us.

Fonn did not look happy with either of us.

The temperature inside the cab dropped ten degrees. I could see my breath come out in white puffs. Sebastian took in a ragged breath at the same time, as if he also felt the s.h.i.+ft. The snowy wind coming through the open window tossed Fonn's curls about wildly. Her eyes flashed a stormy gray. Wind howled around the truck like a wolf.

Heat leeched from me in waves. I could see steam lifting from my body, rising to curl around Fonn like smoke. Fonn's expression was pure triumph. She was going to suck the heat from us and make the mother of all blizzards.

So I kicked her.

I'm not usually a big proponent of violence, but I found her self-satisfied grin too annoying to bear.

I'd like to pretend that after my swift kick to the s.h.i.+n Fonn crumpled over in abject pain and suffering, we overpowered her, and that was the end of things, but in reality she gave me a do-that-again-and-I-will-squash-you-like-a-bug frown and continued stealing our life force.

Undaunted, I kicked her again. Harder. With both feet this time.

I must have gotten the angle just right, because she fell backward onto the door latch. Unexpectedly, the door swung open, causing her to lose her balance. She flailed around gracelessly for a second, groping for something to hold on to. Finding nothing, Fonn fell with a whump out of the cab.

I slid into her seat and shut the door.

"Go!" shouted Sebastian, despite the fact that the only thing I could see out of the window was white, white, and more white. "Let's get out of here."

"We can't," I explained. "You saw what she was like with the snowplow driver. She'll just find another person to suck." Rolling up the window, I cranked up the heater a notch.

"Garnet," Sebastian said, "she's clearly some kind of elemental. We're not going to be able to stop her. I'm not even sure Lilith could. Forces of nature are just that.... Part of the natural order of things. You can't just wipe out the one in charge of winter."

Why not? Couldn't I just back the truck up and run over her a few times? b.u.mp-b.u.mp, no more winter! I mean, come on, in Wisconsin winter generally sucks. Here in America's Dairyland it was cold and miserable for nearly half the year. Sure, the first snowstorm with those fluffy, storybook flakes was beautiful, but it took less than a week for all the snow to get dirty from exhaust and other urban detritus.

But I supposed Sebastian had a point. Global warming was already a problem. If we stopped having winter altogether, we'd probably ruin some endangered ecological niche. Walleye population would explode from a lack of ice fis.h.i.+ng. There'd be no annual mosquito die-off and they'd take over the world. So not cool, as it were.

Especially since I try to be so low-impact, you know? I even recycle my toilet paper rolls.

"We have to do something," I insisted. I was starting to feel a bit warmer, more like myself, but not quite. My hands shook where I gripped the steering wheel.

"Yeah, drive," said Sebastian. "Away. Fast."

The snow flurries lessened enough to give me a tad more visibility. I glanced down out the side window, hoping to see Fonn

unconscious on the snow. No luck. She was out there somewhere. Lurking.

I waved my hands in the direction of the sheets of snow still coming down thick and wet. "If I hit the gas right now, Sebastian, we'd ram into a light pole or another car. I can't see a d.a.m.n thing."

"Except that," Sebastian said dryly, pointing.

I gasped. Fonn pressed her face against the winds.h.i.+eld. Rows of sharklike teeth lined an open, hungry mouth. Her hair whipped

like snakes in the wind, blending into the sleet. Claws raked at the gla.s.s.

"Oh, great," I said.

"Did you have a plan to get rid of her?" Sebastian asked as the safety gla.s.s began to show spiderweb cracks. "Because now

would be a great time to let me know."

"So, what do you think?" I asked, jumping in my seat at each slam of her claws on the winds.h.i.+eld. "Could you take her? You've got super-vamp strength, right? How about you jump her?"

"How about I not? For one, I don't think I could take her down, and secondly, what do I do once I have her? I can't bite her;

she might have antifreeze in her veins. How about you unleash Lilith?"

The winds.h.i.+eld was completely cracked and starting to buckle in places. Safety gla.s.s, my a.s.s.

Lilith was more than ready for the fight. It would not be a difficult thing to let Her out; but, She was Queen of h.e.l.l, Mother of

Destruction. What if Lilith not only killed Fonn but also showed her usual lack of discretion and killed Sebastian, too? Then we'd have all that environmental disaster or Ragnarok or G.o.ddess-knows-what-end-of-the-universe kind of stuff, and I'd be out one boyfriend.

Coldness began to seep in. I knew Fonn would be inside in a second.

I hit the gas hard and then slammed on the brakes. She slid off the hood and disappeared into the whiteout.

"Oh," said Sebastian, a little startled. "Good job."

"She'll be back," I reminded him. "We need to think of something slightly more permanent, but not too permanent."

"Not to be unmanly, but I still think running away is a good option."

"Well, it may come to that," I admitted, hating the idea of leaving the next poor sap who happened to be out on Christmas to the

fate of getting chomped by a heat-munching demon. "Are you sure you can't bite her?"

"I could," Sebastian said thoughtfully, then added, "if I want to die. Magical blood will kill me dead. And, like I said, G.o.d knows what's coursing through those veins. You saw her, right? Did she look even vaguely human?"

"No," I agreed. "So, if she eats energy, how do we counter that? She can't be too affected by cold. I mean, she clearly controls it."

"What about antifreeze?" Sebastian asked. "What if we blasted her with hot water and antifreeze straight from the radiator? Maybe, if nothing else, we could overload her.... Yeah, this could work. Turn off the engine. I've got an idea."

Switching the ignition off meant no more heat. In the dangerous snowfall, it made no sense. As I hesitated, I felt someone pull at the truck's door. I had to twist in my seat to double-check that it was locked. Sebastian reached across the seat and pulled out the keys.

"Distract her," he said, opening the pa.s.senger's side door and disappearing into the snow.

"Distract her? With what, my good looks?" I shouted at the open door. Two seconds later it registered: there was an open door.

Slowly taking form, Fonn materialized out of the snow. First, I noticed the black pits of eyes. Next I saw snow-white hair slas.h.i.+ng wildly around her inhuman face. She crawled across the seat toward me, slowly, like a cat stalking its prey. Bitter wind blasted me, freezing the tips of my nose and ears.