At that moment, a car drove up and paced beside them. The trio smiled when the window rolled down and Natalie leaned out.
"Need a ride?"
They all piled into the car and headed to the loft.
**************
"We should have known the Tremeres would start acquiring familiars," Ryan said to Nick, who was now lying on the floor. "My boss was right to put me on the police force. I did get the inside information."
Ryan looked down at Nick and spat at him. "Master Sorin was right. All Tremeres are losers. Can't even pick out decent familiars to protect them." He kicked Nick in the side. Hard. Then, he turned to go, planning on leaving Nick for dead.
That was when Nick couldn't play along anymore. "Who said I was a familiar?" he asked Watkins while rising from the floor. Before Ryan could fully turn to face him, Nick had moved behind him, grabbed him by the hair and pulled him into the kitchen. Then, he proceeded to slam Ryan's head into the wall.
"I'm sick," Bam! "and tired," Bam! "of you people," Slam! "trying," Wham! "to kill me!" One last bash, and Nick threw the mortal clear across the room.
When Ryan was finally able to get up, he found himself face-to-face with Nick, who had let his fangs drop and his eyes turn vibrant orange.
"You're not a familiar!" Ryan gasped, trying to back away.
"No shit, Sherlock," Nick mocked. "And you won't be one for long either."
As Nick moved in for the kill--something he hadn't done in nearly a hundred years--he was surprised when the terrified mortal pulled out a hollow-point filled pistol from under his coat and aimed the gun at him.
Chapter 9
Just as Ryan was about to pull the trigger, the cavalry arrived. Janette was the first to burst through the door, with Jasper, LaCroix and Natalie following closely behind her. Janette grabbed the gun out of Ryan's hand and spun him around to face the group. Every vampire's face was contorted to reflect the demon inside.
"Ryan Watkins," Jasper growled deep in her throat. "I should have known you'd be here. Sorin would never go anywhere without his lackey."
"Master Sorin will have all of your guts for garters!" Ryan screamed, his panic finally setting in.
"Not likely," Nick said, and he stepped forward, grabbed Ryan by the head and twisted it sharply, snapping his neck.
Natalie turned away as Nick let Watkin's corpse slide from his hands. She knew he didn't enjoy killing people, but the look on his face now showed that he had found pleasure in this particular kill, and she worried about that.
But her worry turned to fear when a crash sounded from above. She looked up in time to see a sinister man crash through the skylight and hover above them.
**************
"I had given you until dawn to leave, but I didn't account on you killing my favorite familiar."
Nick knew by the way this figure acted that he had to be Sorin. Already Nick was filled with hatred for the vampire.
"You lost your chance, Tremere." Sorin continued. "You will die now."
Jasper summoned the last bit of energy she thought she had left and muttered a short incantation. A bright flash of red light, and she transformed into a panther again. Before Sorin could draw his sword, Jasper pounced, with claws extended, at his face. She connected, and they both tumbled to the floor.
Sorin back-handed the panther, and Jasper roared with pain. He took this moment to crawl out from under her claws and draw his sword.
Jasper changed back to normal. She couldn't stay in that form much longer.
Sorin smiled his evil grin. "You're weak, child. Your leader was a pathetic fool and you're all losers."
Jasper's eyes changed colors: from feral yellow to bright orange to vibrant red.
"You're all goddamn fuckin' losers!" Sorin exclaimed.
"Not..all..of us," Jasper snarled.
Suddenly, everything went dark. The clouds covered the moon so it cast no light. Every light bulb burst; every candle blew out.
A wind picked up, flowing into the loft through the broken skylight. A light breeze at first, it quickly gained strength.
Natalie ran to Nick, who held her close. LaCroix and Janette watched as Jasper raised her hands upward to the sky.
"Bela mayum, seste victa," she glared at Sorin, who was starting to look worried. The wind picked up speed and small peals of thunder rumbled overhead.
"Crysta vore, sin poru niet." The wind was howling, and the thunder grew louder.
"Seme desde quida, pele nor!" her voice raised. The thunder crashed, and the wind reached gale strength. Natalie had to cling to Nick to avoid being swept up in the gale.
"Dante pesta, IGNAE!" Jasper screamed. With the last word, bright blood-red bolts of lightning shot from her eyes and hit Sorin. As he howled, similar lightning tore through the sky and struck him. With one last scream, Sorin exploded, leaving only a pile of dust. When he did, the wind dies down, thunder vanished, and the moon reappeared.
Jasper turned to the group, eyes still glowing crimson. "It's done," she gasped, then she fell to the floor, unconscious.
Epilogue
When they finally woke Jasper up, her eyes were still blood-red. Try as she might, she couldn't change them back to normal brown. She figured it was just an effect of the spell and would fade back after time, but there was doubt in her voice.
LaCroix promised to help get rid of Ryan Watkins' body. He decided to weigh the body and throw it into a river, and Natalie said she would write it up as a suicide when the authorities found him.
When Nick called Reese to tell him of Watkin's "disappearance," his boss sounded less than pleased. Nick pondered what was going to happen when they found the body.
Despite everyone's request, Jasper decided she could not stay in Toronto. After everyone had taken their eyes off her for one second, they turned back to find her gone. Where she had stood, a letter read:
"Thank you everyone for helping me. You have no idea what it means to know you have friends that will help you through anything. You have given me new found courage and self esteem. I will try to return one of these days. Right now, I must teach the rest of my clan that we don't have to fear the Galen anymore. Until we meet again, I wish you well. Sincerely yours, Jasper DeWhite."
After reading the note, LaCroix and Janette took the corpse and flew off. Natalie said good-day to Nick and went home to sleep. Nick walked to the window and opened the automatic blinds. He could smell the coming sunrise, which would be in about an hour. Nick closed the blinds again and headed upstairs. This 800 year old vampire would dream today, and they would not be nightmares either.
