Addictive Blood

Kane actually glared at him, “Bleeding…” he shook his head. “That’s not going to do it Michael. You’re acting more and more like an addict looking for their next fix and it’s her blood you’re addicted to.” Kane steadied his gaze now that he’d figured it out. “That’s why you’re bleeding demons dry. Their blood is doing something to you,” he accused.

Michael’s face contorted with anger and he turned on Kane unaware that his eyes were now solid black. “You kill demons your way and let me kill them my way. Everyone’s killing demons or haven’t you heard about the damned war you started. Stop babysitting me. In case you’ve forgotten, I can handle myself… I did quite well while you were in the ground and nothing has changed.”

Kane’s eyes narrowed but he said nothing as Michael shoved away from him and stepped off the porch. He could overlook the insults but what he couldn't overlook was the blackness of his brother’s eyes. This was the Michael Dean had been trying to warn him about.

Scrappy sat next to Kane’s feet and whined low before looking up at the blonde man.

Kane looked down at the puppy and sighed wearily. “I know, I know… follow brother and spy on him. You and Syn must have a mental link I don’t know about.”

He didn’t want to leave Aurora and Skye alone but he figured they’d be fine since the house was so heavily warded and luckily it looked like Michael had completely forgotten about them… at least for the time being. Deciding he’d given Michael a good enough of a head start, he traced after his brother using the blood he’d given Michael just a couple days ago as a tracker.

It didn’t take Kane long to catch up, but when he did he observed discretely from a distance. What Michael was doing was wrong… well… not the killing demons part but the way he was going about it. He was using their blood like a drug and as with any drug you weighted the side effects to see if it was worth taking the pill. So far, the side effects were not looking so good.

Kane crouched on the apex of a slanted rooftop and glanced down at Michael who had slowed his pace to a brooding stride on the empty sidewalk. He felt a powerful presence behind him and stood up with a sigh.

“Will I need to interfere?”

Kane shook his head, “No papa, I’ve got it covered.”

Soft laughter reverberated around him, “You just don’t want to see Michael killed again, do you?”

“Not really,” Kane sighed and looked over his shoulder. “I owe Michael this much.”

“Sometimes awakening from death puts things in perspective,” Syn mused but he would not take this feeling of redemption away from Kane unless he had to.

“We’ve tried that twice already,” Kane felt the need to point out. “Tell Mom I said hi.”

Syn nodded and vanished, leaving Kane alone on the roof. Turning back to Michael, he saw his brother walking up onto the porch of an old rundown house beside the railroad tracks. Kane tilted his head to the side wondering what Michael was up to.

Chapter 5

Michael was in predator mode, bypassing several low level demons that didn’t grab his interest when he suddenly slowed his pace near an old house. There… he felt it… a demon with a fair amount of power was lurking somewhere inside among the stench of rotting corpses.

A wicked smile appeared on his face. Michael approached the front door and politely knocked.

An elderly man wearing a stained shirt and frayed dress pants opened the door as far as the latch chain would allow. He eyed the well-dressed man up and down. “Whatever you’re selling, I ain’t buying,” he slurred and brought a bottle of cheap liquor to his lips intending to spit it in the salesman’s face.

Michael suddenly hit the door with his palm, breaking the chain lock and reached for the disguised demon. In one fluid movement he jerked him out the door, tossing him into the front yard like a rag doll.

Kane frowned when the old man looking every bit in his late eighties practically cart wheeled across the grass and slammed against the trunk of a tree. When he crumpled to the ground like any senior citizen would have, Kane started to stand up thinking maybe Michael had either lost his mind or made a horrible mistake.

He slowly lowered back into a crouch when the arms and legs of the body reminded him of a contortionist as broken bones righted themselves and popped back into place. The old man persona literally melted away revealing something that looked almost like a human sized bat, minus the wings.

“Gonna do that right here in public are we,” Kane breathed knowing Michael was usually a hell of a lot more discreet than this when fighting demons.

The creature looked like it was made out of worn leather, its skin stretched taut over a wiry body showing a thin but defined muscle structure. The upper body appeared almost too wide for its legs to hold it upright and its fingers and toes sported long black claws. Its head was the worst, no hair whatsoever with two long pointed ears and what appeared to be a pig-like snout above two tiny rows of sharp teeth.

“Holy shit batman,” Kane whispered and almost laughed at his own humor. Yeah, it was an old and cheesy joke but he didn’t care… this was the perfect moment to use it.

Michael arched an eyebrow when the demon leapt at him, pushing him back against the front wall of the house with a bone jarring thud. The brick crumbled around them and Michael smirked in its hissing face.

“You’re just the snack I’ve been looking for,” Michael said and let the smirk widen so the demon could see his elongated fangs.

“We will see who eats who vampire,” the demon’s voice was full of conceit.

Grabbing the demon by the neck, Michael rolled against the wall but had to quickly release it when the demon’s mouth opened and clear liquid began to drip hitting the sleeve of his coat. The liquid burned through the material like acid making Michael hastily discard it. He tossed the coat aside and watched, fascinated when the acid ate huge holes in the thick material.

Michael jerked his gaze back towards his opponent and growled knowing that’s exactly what the demon had been up to when it had started to spit in his face.

The demon laughed and suddenly came at him, this time swiping its sharp claws through the air. Michael winced when they caught him on the arm and he could feel an intense burning where they made contact. Grabbing the demon, they tumbled down the steps and back out into the grass as they rolled, both trying to gain dominance.

The demon’s acid was eating through his skin but he was healing just as quickly as the wounds could start. Michael let himself enjoy the pain and the fact that picking on the more powerful demons was definitely a learning experience and a hell of a lot more fun than the quick kills.

Michael caught the demon by both wrists in a tight grip and twisted until the bone shattered and crunched under his fingers. The demons head snapped forward with intent to bite but Michael beat him to the punch by grabbing the head and sinking his teeth into the demons neck. The demon screamed and tried to scratch at him with its broken hands doing very little damage.

He hadn't had time to completely drain the demon when somewhere below the pitch of the scream he heard a soft whimper from behind him and jerked his head back to look toward the source of the sound. Michael’s black eyes widened and some of the amethyst resurfaced within them when he saw a young boy standing under a street lamp holding a soccer ball and wearing a sport uniform.

Michael relaxed his hold on the squalling demon when he noticed that it was him the boy was staring in horror at… not the deformed monster in his clutches.

Kane quickly rose to his feet glaring at the demon that had reverted back to its human disguise and was now crawling across the grass. “Don’t even think about it ugly,” he hissed softly hoping the demon would hear him.

The kid couldn’t have been more than ten years old and since this was a rather safe neighborhood by human standards, he was probably on his way home from a friend’s house. He regretted the fact that the humans weren’t aware of the demon population. If they were, then they would know to keep better watch over their children this late at night.

A feral snarl erupted from Kane’s throat when the demon ran toward the child obviously deciding the boy would be a good hostage to put between him and the vampire he was losing the fight too. Kane moved at the exact same moment Michael did. He traced from the roof hitting the sidewalk and took up the child just as Michael tackled the demon to the ground and pushed its ugly face into the pavement.

“I don’t think so,” Michael couldn’t control his rage… it was one of the reasons he despised demons. Their need to prey on children was sickening to him and those that had taken the lives of the innocent deserved the most painful death imaginable.

His fury only fueled his blood hunger and Michael bared his fangs in a primal smile before sinking them into the back of the demons neck. He growled in satisfaction when they actually grazed the bone of its spinal cord.

The demon thrashed on the ground, acid dripping from its claws in a vain attempt to get away. They made deep grooves in the sidewalk accompanied by the hissing noise associated with the corrosive substance.

“Shhh, it’s all right. I’ve got you,” Kane murmured softly and pressed the frightened boy’s face against the arc of his neck so he wouldn’t see any more than he already had. Just the sounds that the demon was making was probably enough to give a grown man nightmares… no need to add a visual.