The Champion

by H. P. Mallory

  “Hmm. I suppose we could attempt such a ruse.” I bounced my fingers against my chin as I considered the options before us. “Though it would mean we should have to go after him when it is daylight, which would find me at a detriment.” Unless I were to sample the blood of my beloved, in which case the sun would bother me naught.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Sinjin

  “Is he there?” the idiot asked as we lurked outside Varick’s accommodations.

  “How the bloody hell am I supposed to know?” I responded, rather testily.

  “Do ye vampires nae have a way o’ trackin’ each oother?”

  “We are hardly bloodhounds,” I responded.

  “Whit dae we do, then?”

  “Well, we could always try the traditional method of looking in the window.”

  “Ah’m nae lookin’ in,” he said with a pronounced shake of his head, which set his overlong blond tresses to cascade around him as though he were in a shampoo commercial. “He might be in his coffin, naked. Or hangin’ oopside doon like a giant bat… naked.”

  “In his coffin! Upside down!”

  “Aye, Ah’m in nae mood tae see Varick’s old, shrivelled balls.”

  “Jesus,” I grumbled. “Neither am I, for that matter.” The thought of Varick’s old, shrivelled balls quite turned my stomach.

  “Ye look in the window,” he said.

  “Bloody hell,” I grumbled, but proceeded to do just that.

  It was not as easy as it sounded. The sole window into the property was small and criss-crossed with metal bars. To make matters trickier, the glass had not been cleaned in what looked like eons. Still, I could see the edge of Varick’s bed and what looked like a figure lying upon it. I went back around to the front of the house, where Odran waited for me beside the door.

  “Well?”

  “I think he is inside.”

  “Ye think, or ye know?”

  “Well, it is quite dark in there, and the window is filthy, thus making it difficult to decipher just what is inside!” I responded in an irritated tone. If I never had to deal with this behemoth again, it would be too soon. “You try if you think you can do any better.”

  Of course, he did not.

  “So, say he is inside, how do we get tae him? Batter down the door?”

  “Now, now, gentlemen. Is that not a tad extreme?”

  The voice came from directly behind us, and I do not mind admitting that I nearly jumped out of my skin. I witnessed Odran doing the exact same as he exclaimed, “Och, man!” When he reached for his rear end, I worried the bloody ape had just shat himself.

  And that was a situation I could not handle in any capacity.

  Varick stood at the entrance to his property, his front door closed and most probably locked behind him. I cursed myself for my carelessness. It was he who was meant to be losing his edge, not I.

  “You could have just knocked, you know,” he continued as red-hot anger began to burn inside me, owing to his smug smile.

  “Perhaps we could have had a nice cuppa,” he finished.

  “I’ll nae be havin’ a drink wi’ the likes of you, Vampire.”

  For a moment, I cursed Odran for this open display of hostility but gradually I began to again worry he had shat himself for he did not release his bum.

  “Are you quite well?” I whispered to the sot.

  “Aye,” he said, though I was uncertain if perhaps he was just embarrassed to admit to his soiling.

  Of course, I could smell nothing so there was that.

  Then it occurred to me that Varick probably knew why we were here, especially after hearing our discussion about battering down his door. Thus, there was no reason to spare words.

  I faced the vampire and shrunk back at his appearance which was quite shocking. One almost got the impression that one could see right through him, and his clothes hung off his form in a grotesque way. Quite the worse thing, however, was the pallor of his skin, which was an unsavory shade of greyish-green.

  “Whit happened tae ye?” Odran sounded shocked as he took the vampire in from head to toe. “Ye look like ye was eaten by a were an’ shat back out!”

  I could barely keep my snicker to myself, as it was a good description of Varick’s hideousness.

  “Shit happens, my dear Odran, as it so often does,” Varick responded with little interest.

  “I was worried of just the same,” I said as I studied Odran again with narrowed eyes.

  “Whit man?”

  “Nothing,” I responded.

  We all three stared at one another in consternation. Varick was the first to break the silence.

  “Well, gentlemen, I should love to stay and chat, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s the middle of the night, so if you don’t mind …”

  I had had enough of this artifice and pretense.

  “We know you have been conspiring with Luce, Varick,” I announced. “You are a traitor to your people, and you have plotted to depose the rightful queen. Thus, you are under arrest. Come quietly with us now and give yourself up to her majesty’s justice, and things shall go easier for you.”

  Varick emitted a sorry attempt at a laugh. “If you think I’ll cooperate with you, Sinclair, you are sorely mistaken.”

  “So be it.”

  I was ready, but not as ready as I thought, apparently. Varick shot out his hand and fired what looked like a bolt of lightning from his palm. I did not have the opportunity to think, as the bolt hit me right in the abdomen and knocked me six feet backwards. I would have gone much further had my fall not been broken by a stone outbuilding. Nevertheless, I was back on my feet immediately, only to see Odran receiving the same treatment. He landed against the trunk of a horse chestnut, where he lay sprawled out and groaning.

  “Odran!” I called out sternly. “This is no time for lying around!”

  As I had calculated, my words angered him, and he clambered rapidly to his feet, muttering incomprehensible Scottish curses that sounded quite vulgar. Or perhaps that was just the language.

  Varick directed another bolt my way, this time aiming for my head. I ducked just in time, the bolt landing harmlessly on the ground behind me.

  “Trying to ruin my looks, Varick? I always knew you were jealous.” Then, before he had the opportunity to take aim at me once more, I flew at him, knocking him to the ground as I attempted to pin his arms to his sides. I could feel him preparing to dematerialize.

  “Odran!” I called out.

  The King of the Faeries came to my aid, focusing his strength on Varick’s legs to prevent him from kicking out at us. Varick uttered a cry of frustration, and the three of us half-dematerialized.

  We did not arrive at a destination. Instead we flickered back and forth from our now-reality outside Varick’s house to a blank white space, a kind of in-between place. My feeling was that Varick was trying to get somewhere specific, but could not make it. Either he lacked the capacity due to his current weakened physical condition, or Odran and I were literally weighing him down.

  Then, unexpectedly, the wind started to blow. The morning, up until then, had been completely still, with barely the whisper of a leaf. The suddenness and the strength of these gusts convinced me that they were Varick’s doing.

  I glanced at his odious face and saw that his eyes were shut tight. He appeared to be in deep concentration. The gale grew to an almighty proportion. It took all my strength to remain clinging to his body.

  Thirty more seconds and Odran was blown off altogether, and I received a flash of insight as to the powers that Varick had received from Luce in return for his blood. Luce had been imbuing him with the ability to harness the elements. An awesome power, indeed, and one I could imagine Varick being willing to pay for with his life’s blood.

  Relieved of the burden of Odran, Varick attempted once more to dematerialize. This time he succeeded, and I was relocated along with him. I looked around in alarm, the surroundings instantly familiar. We were in one of Luce’s trai
ning camps. It was not possible to tell which one it was, as they were all laid out identically to one another. But there were Daywalkers.

  Lots of them.

  All headed our way.

  Varick smiled his vicious smile, his eyes glowing white.

  “You almost made it, Sinclair, but not quite.”

  The Daywalkers were almost upon us.

  But, no, this would not be my end. I would not allow it to be. I had not survived six hundred centuries to finish my days in this inglorious way.

  I had Bryn now. And the baby.

  I was going back home to them, no matter what. That fact was absolutely non-negotiable.

  Summoning up the last of my strength, I let out an almighty roar and transported Varick and myself back to Kinloch Kirk. Odran awaited us right where we had left him. I can honestly say that I had never been so happy to see the oaf.

  He raised his ham-like fist and catapulted it across Varick’s face, nearly smashing into mine in the process. “Take tha’, ye blood soocking scum!”

  And, with that, he knocked Varick into total unconsciousness.

  The worst was over by then. All that remained was to carry Varick back to the main courtyard. We bound and gagged him while he was still out. I was shocked at the lightness of his form. Lifting him was as easy as lifting a cat. It had not always been this way. When I had first encountered him, a couple of hundred years hence, he had been remarkably strong and solid as an ox. Now he appeared half-dead already. I almost felt a hint of pity for him. But then I recalled what he had attempted to do to Bryn, and I felt nothing but burning hatred towards him.

  A small, exclusive contingent had gathered in the courtyard. The morning was unrelentingly grey, and a steady rain fell slant-ways from the sky. The weather seemed fitting for what was about to occur.

  I looked around at those present, searching first for Bryn, who stood next to Jolie, as if in solidarity. She held herself erect, shoulders back, head high. Her honey hair was pulled back from her face and braided neatly, causing her features to look stark in their beauty.

  Randall stood on the other side of Jolie, his face pale and grim. Mercedes stood opposite, typically inscrutable, her usual sidekick, Mathilda, notable in her absence. I was not surprised, being well aware of the faery woman’s distaste for violence in all its forms.

  Rachel was present, her arm wrapped tightly around the shoulders of her son. The Chevaliers huddled against each other, as if freezing with the cold, with Klassje to the right of them, clad entirely in black, her vivid eyes hidden behind a new pair of shades. She clutched a burning torch in her right hand, sheltered by an enormous black umbrella. Odran and I completed the group.

  Varick knelt in the center, beside a simple wooden block. Jolie stepped forward.

  “Varick. You are accused of high treason. You have plotted against your people and your queen and placed at grave risk the lives of everyone dwelling here. What do you have to say for yourself?”

  Varick raised his bloodshot eyes to Jolie, and his lip curled into a sardonic smirk.

  “I hope Luce slaughters every last one of you and that you all suffer long and painful deaths.”

  Several long seconds passed, and no one spoke a word. My queen met my gaze and nodded. Then she revealed, from within her long, dark cloak, a ceremonial sword. I strode towards her and took it from her outstretched hands.

  This is for trying to force yourself on her, I thought to myself as I glared down at the man who had once mentored me.

  Odran and Randall wrestled Varick to the block and laid his neck across the dipped center. He did not put up much of a fight. I stood above my former teacher and master, legs astride, arms raised. Summoning all my strength, I brought down the blade with one almighty blow.

  Varick’s head was separated immediately. It rolled several feet away and leered up at us eerily. Klassje approached with the torch, setting alight both Varick’s head and body. Each caught ablaze immediately, and within a matter of minutes, all that was left of what once had been a powerful master vampire was a paltry pile of ash. The small crowd gradually dispersed, leaving Varick’s remains smoldering in the rain.

  Bryn

  “Are you okay?” I asked Jolie as I linked her arm in mine and we walked away from the courtyard, a place that would, from now on, always remind me of Varick’s execution.

  She squeezed my arm. “Yes,” she said quietly.

  “Are you sure? It’s not every day you have to order someone’s death.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time, Bryn.”

  “Really, who …”

  “You wouldn’t know them. Before your time.”

  I didn’t press her. It was obvious she didn’t want to talk about it. I guess being Queen of the Underworld wasn’t all fun and games.

  “And what about you? Are you all right?” My twin turned and looked at me.

  The truth was, I was almost ashamed at how all right I was. But there was no point trying to hide that from Jolie, who could read me like a book.

  “To be honest, I’m relieved. Since that confrontation I had with Varick, I’ve felt really uneasy. Not so much for myself, but for every other woman here.” I nodded as I sighed. “Varick was bad news. Not to mention totally ruthless. I know it’s not considered polite to speak ill of the dead, but we’re all so much better off without him.” I paused for a moment or two. “He was evil, Jolie.”

  “Hmm,” she nodded in agreement. “I have to say, finding out what he did to you made my decision so much easier. I know some might find it harsh, but …”

  “Let them say what they want. You and I both know you did the right thing—he was a traitor, a would-be rapist, and who knows how long he’s been calculating behind all of our backs.”

  “Yes.”

  I kissed her on the cheek. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m off to find Sinjin.”

  Except I couldn’t find Sinjin. Anywhere. He’d quite literally vanished. I didn’t like it. I didn’t want him to be alone at a time like this. I knew Sinjin was used to handling everything on his own. He’d been doing just that for centuries. But I wanted him to know he didn’t have to handle everything on his own anymore. He had me now.

  I scoured the coastline, retraced the steps of every walk we’d ever taken. After hours of trying, I had to admit defeat. Which I hated. What I hated more was that I was so worn out and breathless after all my efforts. I was used to operating at the peak of physical fitness, but the pregnancy was already starting to take its toll. And I wasn’t even showing yet! What the heck would I be like when I had to carry around a great big bump?

  I let myself back into my room, relishing the prospect of sinking into my soft, comfortable bed. The room was dark, as I hadn’t bothered to open my blackout blind that morning. I yawned as I eased off my sneakers.

  “Hello, my pet.”

  “Holy shit!” I screamed as Sinjin scared the life out of me. It took me a second to calm my breathing, and that was when I noticed him sitting on the chair in the corner.

  “You scared me half to death!”

  “I do apologize.” He sounded genuinely sorry instead of sarcastic for a change.

  I sat down on the side of my bed, allowing my heartbeat to return to normal.

  “Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

  “Have you?”

  He sounded subdued almost. And I remembered the reason I’d been looking for him in the first place.

  “Are you okay, Sinjin?”

  “Yes. Why do you ask?”

  “Because you just chopped the head off your former mentor, the man who turned you into what you are today.”

  “Oh, that.”

  “Yes, that.”

  I waited for him to reply, but the reply never came, so I changed tack.

  “There can’t be that many master vampires in the world?” I asked.

  He cocked his head to the side. “There are six … were six. Now there are five.”

 
“Including you.”

  “Including me.”

  “That’s one exclusive club.”

  He lifted his hand from where it was resting on his chin and looked over at me. I’d never seen him like this before—thoughtful, but in a very glum sort of way.

  “I would not call it a club, exactly. We do not meet up for Christmas dinner and the like.”

  “Maybe you should. It might make life a little less lonely.”

  “You think my life is lonely?” He spoke abruptly.

  “Well, I don’t know. I have no idea what it’s like to be you. You don’t exactly have many peers. I thought it might be nice for you to be with others of your own kind, who know what it’s like to be so …”

  “Old?” he asked with the start of a smile.

  I returned it. “Well, I was actually going to say powerful.”

  He nodded, looking satisfied.

  A thought suddenly occurred to me. “Are there any female master vampires?”

  “There is one,” he said with a nod.

  “Oh, who?”

  “Her name is Jane Ransom. Last I heard, she was living it up in Bali.”

  “That’s a very … plain name for a vampire.”

  He laughed. “Nothing plain about that one.”

  “Is she very beautiful, then?” I felt a ridiculous stab of jealousy that didn’t make any sense and irritated me thoroughly.

  He appeared to consider it. “Let us just say Jane is… remarkably well preserved for a five- hundred-year-old.”

  Hmm. I decided not to pursue that subject in case I learned something I didn’t want to know.

  “Will the other master vampires know Varick is dead?”

  “They will hear it on the grapevine, no doubt. Might take a while.”

  “So, you don’t have to let them know or anything?”

  He leaned forward in his chair and smiled at me. “I will not be sending carrier pigeons out this evening, no, Bete Noir .” He paused for a moment as he watched me. “Besides, I only answer to my queen.”

  Sinjin then came over and sat on the bed beside me. I felt my heart speed up, and it was annoying to know he was aware of it, too.