Chapter 185

In the meantime, the redhead had thrown herself in front of Black Betsy. As Burr ran to Hamilton’s aid, Christian assessed the situation. The rest of the Hunters seemed frozen in fear, afraid the fog and wild animals would contribute to their demise as well. The Guardians sprang into action, alongside the redhead who was the only one brave enough to take her chances. She grabbed hold of the horse’s bridle, slowing the steed, but Betsy brought her black boot around, striking her in the head and knocking her across the open ground. She hit a tree. Hard.
Taking matters into his own hand, Christian sprang at the horse from behind. He landed behind the saddle, his legs squeezing its flanks. The beast seemed calmed somehow from the sensation and it stopped its erratic behavior just long enough for Christian to grab Betsy by the throat.
She was strong, unbelievably so, but then, so was he. Deciding the first task at hand was to remove her from the horse, he held onto her throat and tossed himself backward onto the ground, pulling her down with him. All of the air immediately exited his lungs, and he groaned with the pain of the contact, but he didn’t need to breathe regularly anyway. He kept his grasp on her, even when her elbows began to fly, and she started kicking at him.
Other members of the team hurried over then. Jess had that knife out, the one he’d used to kill the woman who’d attacked Christian. Repositioning his hands so that he still had a tight grasp on her, but so that he was out of the way, Christian held her down as Jess began to cut.
It was odd, having a Vampire’s head removed while she lay on top of him. There was something slightly erotic about it. Perhaps it was the fact that he could see straight down the black bodice she wore. Vampire breasts were not particularly appealing to him, but watching her chest heave as she fought against Jess’s knife was better than watching the blade work its way through her neck.
Eventually, Jess won out, and the woman turned into a mass of black ash. Christian closed his eyes and tried not to inhale as she exploded on top of him, letting out that annoying Vampire shriek. Despite his best efforts, ash filled his nostrils and coated his eyelashes. He began to sputter. Someone was dusting him off, but he didn't dare open his eyes to see who it was until he sat up. The redhead. Perhaps he should learn her name after all. “Thank you,” he managed.
“Are you well?” she asked, still dusting his chest once they were standing.
“I am.” Once Christian’s eyes were fully open, he surveyed the field. The other three Vampires were down as well, one of them nearly decapitated at the hand of the other woman who was astride him, sawing at his neck the same way Jess had done. One found its demise from a shot to the chest at Stephen’s hand, and the other was having its head twisted from its neck by Robert as another team member he didn’t know held him down. It would all be over in a matter of moments.
Burr was sitting on the ground, Hamilton’s head in his lap, his handkerchief pressed to the wound, which was near Hamilton’s hip, low in his belly. Tears were streaming down the Hunter’s face as he did his damndest to stop the bleeding. The handkerchief wasn’t going to help, though.
Christian never knew what to say in times like this. In his experience, it was best to hang back. If his help was needed in lifting Hamilton, then he’d do so. Otherwise, he stood back and let the others handle the situation.
The redhead moved over first, inspecting the wound. She looked at Burr and shook her head before leaning toward Alex. “It’s fine. You’ll be just fine. We’ll just get you to town, have a doctor examine it.”
“It’s not fine, Moira….” The Guardian’s voice was weak already. “It’s… mortal.”
“No, don’t be silly,” the redhead, Moira, insisted. “It’s bleeding a bit, but we’ll get it under control.”
“I knew this was a mistake,” Burr was saying, shaking his head. “I shouldn’t have ever fired with you before me.”
“No, it’s my fault,” Hamilton insisted. “You were right. We needed a plan. I had no plan. We shall need a plan to cover this up, when I pass.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not going to die,” Moira was telling him.
Hamilton continued. “I’ve already written those letters about meaning to duel you, so as to cover up where we stand in reality. Perhaps… you can build on that.”
Christian was somewhat familiar with what Hamilton was talking about, but he wasn’t invested in discovering what was going on in the political scene, so he’d blocked a lot of it out. It would make sense to cover this up as a duel, if possible. In the meantime, the sounds of gunfire were likely to draw people who lived nearby. They needed to move Hamilton, and do it quickly.
Stephen had a carriage. He went to fetch it while the others prepared to lift Hamilton. Christian helped out with the lifting and carrying so that he wouldn’t be jostled. They loaded him up swiftly. Stephen mentioned a friend who had their confidence, and it was agreed he’d be taken to the nearby home of Bill Bayard, who lived in Manhattan.
Christian didn’t want to go. He didn’t dislike Hamilton, but whether the man lived or died was of little consequence to him. He also couldn’t care less about Burr, though it was a pity to see a full-grown man crying. Jess gave Christian that stern look, the one he must’ve learned from Christian’s own father, and he decided he would go along. If nothing else, perhaps he’d get a chance to see Moira some more.
They made the journey into town. By the time they reached Bayer’s home, Hamilton was unconscious, but not expired. They moved him inside while Stephen went for the doctor.
Rumors began to swirl almost immediately. The duel story seemed to make the most sense since Burr and Hamilton seemed to hate each other so.
Christian lingered in Manhattan because Jess insisted he stay. When Hamilton passed away the next day, Christian was somewhat relieved, thinking it would mean he could leave, but then, Jess insisted he stick around for the funeral and all of the other nonsense that went into burying someone. By then, he was as angry with Hamilton as he had been with Burr. There were other things he needed to do; sitting around a Manhattan hotel room was not on his list, especially after he’d propositioned Moira, and she’d slapped him in the face.
A few days after Hamilton died, Jess finally gave Christian permission to leave. He intended to leave leave this time, too, to head west, to find his parents. Jess planned to stay behind for a while and possibly catch up later. He said he’d been out there before and seen all that the frontier had to offer. It wasn’t for him. Perhaps someday when more settlers moved that way, he’d try again. Christian could see that, too, but he hadn’t seen his parents in so long, it was time to reunite with them. Jess didn’t disagree.
Christian was saddling up Trigger Finger outside of the hotel where he’d been staying, getting ready to leave, when Aaron Burr found him. He’d been lurking around in the shadows since the papers went wild with the accusations that Burr had shot Hamilton on purpose in a duel. Why they hadn’t come up with a different story, Christian wasn’t sure. There had to be something they could’ve said to make it sound like a complete accident, but Hamilton had mentioned the duel plan before he passed out, never to open his eyes again, so Burr had gone along with it. How it had not dawned on anyone else that listening to Hamilton was what got them into this situation to begin with, Christian couldn’t say.
“Henry,” Burr said, wearing a disguise that made him look like an older, middle-class man, not the high class society figure he was. “May I ask you a question?”
Christian sucked in a deep breath. “As long as it’s not a favor.” The last thing he needed was to be forced to help Burr with some outlandish plan to clear his name.
“No, no, nothing like that,” the Vice President assured him. He glanced over his shoulder a few times. “It’s just… have you ever heard talk of a portal?”
“A… what?” The word was not familiar to Christian, which surprised him. There weren't too many words he was unfamiliar with.
“A portal. A way to bring someone back. From the dead. An older Guardian mentioned to me, after Hamilton’s funeral, that he’d heard tell of a way to bring a Guardian back from beyond. He said there are older Guardians, possibly in Europe, though he didn’t know for sure, who might know how it could be done. I just wondered…. You’re intelligent. I thought, perhaps you may have heard of it.”
As difficult as it was for Christian to admit he had never heard speak of such a thing, he had to tell Burr he didn’t know anything about it. “Why would you go looking for a way to bring him back anyway?” Christian asked. “Hamilton went into a hunt with a poor plan and ended up paying the price for it. It really is too bad, don’t misunderstand me. I wish it hadn’t happened. But what is done is done.”
“Perhaps you wouldn’t say that if you had been the one who pulled the trigger,” Burr shot back, folding his arms across his chest.
Shrugging, Christian continued to tighten his saddle. “If I had been the one to pull the trigger, nothing would’ve happened to Hamilton because I can’t kill a fellow Guardian. Also… I wouldn’t have missed the Vampire.”
Burr glared at him. “All right then. Thanks so much for your time. Do have a nice trip west. Be careful.”
Christian realized he’d been rude. It was something he often recognized after the fact--like when Moira was crying about the loss of Hamilton, and he’d asked her if she’d like to have sexual relations with him. He should’ve foreseen that coming. Now, he had a chance to attempt to make amends with Burr. Grabbing hold of his arm as he turned, he said, “Burr, wait. I apologize. If I hear anything, I’ll send word. In the meantime, if you discover anything, if you need my assistance, do let me know.”
Burr nodded. “Thank you.” He managed a small smile, which Christian returned. Then, he climbed into the saddle and headed out, hoping his next location would be more full of adventure and opportunity than this place. If he continued to go into battle with mediocre teammates, he’d never reach the position of Guardian Leader, and that simply wouldn’t do.