Chapter 1

Luther

“Hey, blondie!” one of the soldier boys called out. The stripes of a colonel decorated his sleeve and, judging by the pain-in-the-ass tone of his voice, he reckoned that still meant something. All afternoon he’d been teasing the other newbies, and now he figured the big fella in the duster was due for some good-natured ribbing. Even a large newbie was easy pickings. Usually. The colonial strolled up with his shit-eating grin and said, “What’s with the—”

Before he could finish his question, the fair-haired giant palmed his face like a grapefruit. His long fingers stretched from ear to ear and nose to scalp. In a single motion, he drew the colonel in and cradled his neck. Yellow fangs, much longer than Nigel’s, dropped below his lip. His gumline was high, like a mare that’d seen more winters than nature intended. He pierced the soldier’s flabby sunburned neck and sucked hard. His eyes immediately widened in horror. He spit out the cold blood, then collapsed to one knee in a coughing fit. Some of it had slipped down his throat and was cutting up his insides like shards of glass.

“Scheisse!” he yelled, then tore open his shirt and began beating on his chest in desperation. Men dove under tables, fearing he might explode.

“I see you have endeavored to sample the local fare, old chap,” a voice teased from the doorway.

“Nigel!” he gasped for air. “So that would mean I’m… Is the dark one here?” he asked nervously.

“No, he is absent. I believe we are just short of his domain—though you may still reach it.”

Nigel suddenly dashed forward, closing twenty paces as if they were one, then hammered his fist into Luther’s chest with a thud that sent him to the floor. The big fella wasn’t down for long. His eyes glowed angrily and he popped to his feet, then charged. He lifted Nigel on his shoulder like a bull between the horns, and the two of them struck the bullet-ridden wall. They broke clear through to the other side and tumbled into the road. As soon as they stood, they began trading blows.

Luther had the advantage with his reach, but Nigel wasn’t weakened from drinking cold blood. He crouched low and worked away at Luther’s midsection. Finally, Luther got fed up and smashed his knee against Nigel’s face, then gripped him by the slack in his shirt and heaved him through the air. His body landed some ten feet away on the boardwalk. Luther quickly grabbed Nigel’s legs and dragged him back to the center of the road to finish him off. Nigel managed to take a piece of wooden plank with him, and when Luther flipped him over, he met with the two by eight. A twisted nail poking out from the board had pierced his forehead, and blood poured over his face.

They both lunged for each other’s throats at once. Nigel’s short powerful forearms were locked inside of Luther’s, both squeezing with all their might as they hissed breathlessly. Neither would release their grip to try to save their windpipe from being crushed. It was clear that whoever could hold on the longest would be the winner.

There was no way of knowing how the outcome would affect the town, if the new fella would be better or worse than Nigel. We’d gone from bastards like Jeremiah Watson running things to worse bastards like Jack Finney. Buddy was about the nicest top gun we’d ever had. Nigel usually let folks be, but this new vampire might be more of the meddling sort. On the other hand, it looked possible that they might both suffocate each other at once.

Just then, the clouds shifted. From the corner of the sky, the blanket of gray slipped back to reveal a sliver of the brightest light I had ever seen. Everyone had to shield their eyes. The years of dusk had made us too sensitive for anything brighter than candlelight. I squinted up, but it hurt too much to examine directly. A single beam shined down on the two vampires. Their clenched hands immediately began to smolder. Then a flicker of blue flames shot across the length of their interlocked arms. They had to release their grasps to pat it out, but it kept spreading over their bodies. The skin on Luther’s cheek melted like lard in a frying pan. He threw his duster over his head for shade. Nigel had already put his arms over his head with his back to the sky. Their closest escape from the light was the saloon. They both bolted for the hole in the wall and dove through it at the same time, breaking off bits of wood to make it even larger. A moment later, the clouds shifted and the sky darkened.

The blisters on Nigel’s face looked like they’d heal, but Luther hadn’t fared as well. Smoke was still rising from his blackened skin. It made his blond hair look even lighter. Much of his jawbone and teeth could be seen where the skin had melted away.

“That was for killing me,” Nigel said after dusting off his singed lapel, then extended his hand. Luther stared at him silently for a moment.

“I suppose I had it coming,” he admitted and took Nigel’s hand.

“Two gins,” Nigel called out. Sal hustled from the back where he’d been hiding and put the bottle and two glasses on the bar.

“Odd, isn’t it?” Nigel remarked. “To feel such pain. Those blows would have been like mosquito bites when I was alive and well fed.”

Luther rubbed his battered ribs. “Also, you put up a better fight than last time. Prost!” He lifted his drink, and they knocked glasses.

The two vampires sat chatting cordially in the room they’d just destroyed. Everyone gave them a wide berth, but I situated myself just within earshot and scribbled some notes with my head down so as not to attract their attention. Luther had a funny way of talking, but not in the same way as Nigel. Wasn’t as proper-like.

“Hear that?” Luther asked.

“What?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

Nigel smiled knowingly.

“These men have no thoughts for me to hear,” Luther said.

“Yes, I find it a welcome silence.”

“It is rather nice,” Luther agreed, “especially for an old vampire like me.”

“If not for the hunger and boredom,” Nigel said, “it might make this place bearable.”

“So none of them have warm blood then?” Luther asked anxiously.

“Tell me,” Nigel changed the subject, “Who finally defeated the Scourge of Saxony?”

“The council turned against me,” he replied bitterly, pushing his yellow hair out of his charred face. “We disagreed on ideology. They wanted to permit mixing with the humans.”

“Still a hardliner, huh?”

“Speaking of that, is your woman here? The one you killed your brother for.”

“No, I suppose she went someplace else.”

“So you’re not going to hold it against me then, what I did to you?” Luther asked.

“Ah, you were just doing your job,” Nigel replied a little too breezily. Luther studied his face. He didn’t have much practice in reading a bluff since he was accustomed to hearing thoughts. “Besides,” Nigel added, “it can get rather boring here when there aren’t any gunfights to watch. The Americans are no great conversationalists. They lack our European sensibilities.”

“Ja,” Luther agreed.

“So why did the council finally decide to allow relations with humans?” Nigel prodded delicately, like he was hunting for something.

“They believe it is inevitable, the next stage in evolution.”

“And you don’t agree?” Nigel was surprised. “I suppose you wish to keep our bloodline pure, not muddied by those human traits you abhor.”

“I don’t abhor humans. In fact, I’m looking out for their best interest. I want to spare them from our offspring.”

“You fear the mixed-breeds’ appetites would cause our kind to be discovered.”

“No,” Luther scoffed. “I fear the hunger of the mixed-breeds could bring about our starvation. They consume too much! If one of them can dispose of an entire town in a matter of hours, what would a dozen do, or a hundred? Let alone thousands! The only way to keep up with their demand would be to farm the humans, keep them caged and continually reproducing. They’d be nothing more than sacks of blood. I wish only for them to remain free as nature intended, and happily ignorant of us!”

“But only one in a thousand mixed-breeds become vampires.”

“It is still too risky. Ah, but now we are both beyond the world where such things matter. So you say the dark one is not here?”

“Not openly, but I’ve sensed his presence,” Nigel said hesitantly. “I was never a believer when I was alive, and the last hundred years have given me little reason to think otherwise, but there have been signs recently.” Nigel became very serious. “Like that blast of light that separated us.”

“The dark one using light!” Luther scoffed.

“I never would’ve thought it possible, but things are different here. Even the human priests kill in Damnation.”

“Is that the name of this place?” Luther bowed his head solemnly and made the sign of the cross in reverse order.

“Oh, don’t get so high and unholy!” Nigel teased. “The name was given in jest. Just after I arrived, some cowboy asked me where he was and I told him Damnation. He got shot the following day, but the name stuck. They have no idea it is the name of our Eden.”

Whiny Pete barged in the saloon just then. He nervously eyed the hole in the wall, wondering if he should scatter. Nigel looked at him expectantly. He nodded eagerly, perhaps a little less subtly than Nigel would have liked. Luther took it all in wordlessly.

“What’s that all about?” Sal whispered to Pete.

“The vampire asked me to move Ms. Parker and Martin to the general store.”

“You think that other vampire can smell the warm blood in Martin?” Sal asked.

“If Nigel can smell it, he probably can, too,” I said.

“Think he’ll wanna drain the child?” Pete asked.

“Why else would Nigel have you move ’em?” Sal barked. “Better get the word out that nobody should mention the kid in blondie’s presence.”

“Ain’t gonna be easy with all the loudmouths around here,” I said.

“Then we gotta put the fear of hell in ’em.”

After it was scrubbed down real good, Luther moved into Ms. Parker’s old room, and Buddy was left in the room between the two vampires. Everyone reckoned the new vampire was going to cause a big hoopla, but nothing much happened right away. Since he wasn’t accustomed to going without warm blood, it made him real tired. For the first few weeks, he slept pretty much around the clock. But there were other things to worry about aside from the new vampire.