Dark Tidings: Volumes I & II

by Gregory M. Smith

  Maybe Riordan took him from you as punishment.

  Ignoring that little voice in her head, she went back to honing the edges on her swords. Sitting on her leather couch, legs crossed Indian style, she ran a honing stone slowly along the edge of one sword. She looked over at the window and sighed, seeing nothing through the almost black tinting keeping out the sunlight.

  Don’t you just want to rip that tinting away? But, that wouldn’t please him, would it?

  Frustrated, Lin put the sword aside and got off the couch. She padded across the Persian rug in her boot-clad feet and activated the intercom. It took almost half a minute for Dupree to answer.

  “If you are going to stand in for Duke during his little errands, please be as prompt to answer as he is, Mr. Dupree,” she snorted.

  “Y-yes, Miss Lin,” Dupree’s stammered.

  “Have you heard from Duke?”

  “No, ma’am,” Dupree answered, meekly. “I can’t get an answer on his cell phone either. It keeps going straight to voice mail.”

  She turned the intercom off and went to her bedroom. Along the way, she shed her top and callously tossed it on her chaise lounge. Within seconds, she’d pulled off her boots and leggings. She climbed onto her bed and slid under her silk sheets.

  Reaching over to her nightstand, she grabbed the remote for the flat screen television mounted on the wall. The news was on and she frowned. Nowadays, there seemed to be nothing but news shows on. This particular channel was talking about an explosion near Springtown, something involving drugs or meth or some such nonsense. She could have cared less so she turned the set off.

  She hated being away during the day. But, it couldn’t be helped. She’d promised Riordan that she would deal with Kuster as soon as the sun set, so that he could have something to tell his guests when they all met. That meant preparing her attack plan and weapons in the daylight hours.

  Pleasant dreams.

  “Oh, shut up,” she muttered before pulling the sheets over her head.

  Aurelia Hernandez managed to make it through most of her day off without her cell phone ringing. She was in the middle of a water gun fight with her nieces and nephew, when she heard the familiar ring tone coming from the mantle above the fireplace. Even the children knew to take their play elsewhere when that happened.

  Aurelia sighed and set her water gun on top of the marble island in the kitchen. She moved into the living room, deftly avoiding the furniture that had been moved by the kids to make forts. She got to the phone on the last ring, but did not answer it, instead looking at the Caller ID.

  “Shit,” she moaned.

  It was her least favorite detective at the office. She didn’t want to listen to his smarmy tone. He was another one on Riordan’s payroll, and wouldn’t call unless he had something important for her. She pressed the redial.

  “What is it, Eddy?” she queried. “Hold on a second.”

  She put the phone down, grabbed the earpiece next to it and put it on.

  “Okay, now my hands are free,” she said. “What do I need to write down that you can’t send me in a coded e-mail?”

  She listened for a second, whereupon her demeanor changed considerably. She moved over to her couch, grabbed the remote and turned her television on. She caught the news just as it repeated the story of the car explosion near Springtown. She turned up the sound, hearing the news anchor talk about the car being shot up and exploding from methamphetamine chemicals stored in the trunk.

  “This is outside of our jurisdiction,” Aurelia said. “How does this concern me?”

  She listened and the blood rushed out of her face.

  “Madre Dios,” she whispered. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be in first thing tomorrow.”

  She disconnected and then quickly dialed another number.

  “Ian, this is Aurelia,” she said, quickly. “Meet me at the usual spot in one hour. No excuses, Amigo. We’ve got to get a handle on this first before it goes up the chain. Someone has messed with the wrong person, if we don’t find out who did and deal with them, some serious blood is going to hit the fan. Namely ours.”

  Heidi sipped her cocoa as she listened to Dolores explain what had happened to her. Despite the complicated answer, she seemed to take it amazingly well.

  “I need to puke.”

  Dolores looked at Jesus and sighed. This was turning out to be harder than she thought. She wasn’t used to helping victims, amazing as it sounded, she had very little experience with them. She and Jesus had been killing vampires for years. Oftentimes, they found the vampires during the day when no victims were around or killed the vampire’s prey for being too far into the turn.

  “I’m no good at this, Jesus,” she admitted.

  Jesus was certain he could do no better. Sitting in the compound’s break room, he pondered how to deal with the unique situation. Kelly White Cloud was too raw to offer any real insight and Jessie still had more maturing to do. He thought of Angelica, but she had not returned from a supply mission to Burleson with Marcus.

  “What happens to me now?” Heidi asked.

  “We’re still trying to figure that one out,” Dolores replied. “No doubt the police found your blood under the bridge.”

  “And the body of that guy, the one Ryker decapitated, right?” Heidi asked, with a shudder.

  “Not quite,” Jesus answered. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

  “More complicated? Jeez, what kind of horror show did you bring me into? And you’re surprised I want to kick Ryker in the balls for making me into a guinea pig?”

  At last, something we both agree on, Jesus thought.

  “What about your parents, Heidi?” Jesus inquired. “From our research, we know both of them are still alive. You must want to contact them.”

  Heidi sighed and let her head droop.

  “We haven’t spoken to each other in years,” she said, slowly. “I’d be surprised if they even knew I was in Fort Worth. I love them, but they controlled me for years. They even arranged a marriage for me. Can you believe that? In this day and age?

  “And now I’m still being controlled. By that…that vampire. By Ryker. By that doctor, what’s his name, since you say I still need regular doses of the serum. Are you two going to control me as well?”

  Dolores felt an ache in her heart. Heidi reminded her so much of Evangeline that it hurt. She and Jesus had been far too strict with their daughter and she had rebelled, with terrible results. Dolores could not help but think how different things might have been had they let Evangeline make some of her own decisions. Strangely, though, she wondered if she were being given a chance for redemption.

  “No, Heidi,” she said, pushing back from the table and standing up. “We won’t control you. Not anymore. You’re free to leave.”

  Jesus started to object, but Dolores shushed him.

  “No, Jesus, she’s right,” she explained. “We have no right to keep her here against her will. That would be as bad, if not worse than, what Kane intended.”

  Heidi stared at the Montoyas for a few moments, not sure what to think. Finally, she pushed her cocoa away and got to her feet.

  “Thank you, Dolores,” she said. “Now, tell me how to kill those mothers.”

  “Whoa, Heidi, that’s a big step,” Dolores cautioned. “It’s a lot more…I don’t want to say ‘complicated,’ and sound like a broken record, but it is what it is. It’s not as simple as you might think.”

  “Then teach me,” Heidi retorted. “Everything. For years, I taught women how to protect themselves from predators. Now, it’s time for me to protect myself from a new predator, so I can teach others.”

  Dolores looked at her husband and nodded. It was the outcome she’d hoped for ever since Ryker had dragged Heidi’s body in for Patel’s experiment. She gained a new recruit and had avoided an extremely awkward situation.

  “Well, we can get you started on training soon enough,” Jesus said. “But, please be patient with us. There is still a
lot we have to find out about you, before we expose you to our entire operation.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Heidi replied, a thin smile breaking across her lips for the first time in days. “I won’t let you down. At least not the way I let myself down at the bridge.”

  “Well, let’s get you started with a few basic facts about vampires then,” Dolores said. “Provided it doesn’t make you want to puke.”

  Heidi blushed deeply.

  “Meanwhile, I’ll see if I can’t get Angelica and Kelly to give you some sisterly guidance.”

  “Thank you, both,” Heidi said. “I’m actually glad you’re putting me with Angelica. I’ve followed her career for years. I like how she combines strength with a sense of responsibility, respect and compassion. I’m going to need it, so I don’t end up the wrong way.”

  “Wrong way?” Jesus queried.

  “Cold and emotionless,” Heidi answered. “Like him. Like Ryker.”

  Riordan dozed lightly on the bed in his penthouse suite. It had been a long day, made all the more difficult by his impromptu daylight meeting. Despite the heavy tinting on his window, he couldn’t keep all the sun’s rays out and they had sapped more strength than he dared let on in front of Giancarlo and Jewel.

  It was dusk now and he had set up a reception for the rest of his guests. It delayed his all-important meeting to discuss the Awakening, but, at heart, Riordan was a businessman. He had to gain the trust of his potential new business partners and that meant schmoozing.

  He opened his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn’t need to look at a clock to know it was getting dark. He’d been able to sense the sun’s setting for centuries.

  As he lay, he thought of the night’s activities. He would host the reception. At the same time, his enforcer, Lin, would be taking care of that brackish, upstart Kuster and his ilk. Then, she would join him at the reception, along with her personal security man, Duke.

  His bedside phone chimed and he cursed mildly. He hated being interrupted in the middle of his thoughts, but sat up anyway. Only a few people knew this phone number, and all of them knew that it had to be vitally important to call it.

  “This is Riordan,” he said after activating the speakerphone function.

  “Sir, we have a problem,” Allison’s voice said.

  “Can it wait?”

  When Allison uncharacteristically paused, Riordan straightened up and, out of habit, reached over to pick up the handset.

  “What’s wrong, Allison?”

  He listened closely and slowly hung up the phone.

  “Damn it,” he muttered.

  That nagging feeling from earlier in the day suddenly came back.

  Lin Tang was angry now. She’d suited up in her all-black stalking outfit. She had her scabbards on and both swords sheathed. Everything was ready, except she had yet to solve one puzzling mystery.

  Where was Duke?

  She strode downstairs with a demeanor that told the other residents of her building and, especially, her half-deads to stay out of her way. Only Alex Dupree had no way of avoiding her. She walked up to him on the bottom floor, just as he sent two of his subordinates away. Sweat rolled over his brow even before she reached him.

  “Where is Duke?” she demanded. “Speak before I cut your heart out.”

  Dupree swallowed hard and finally stammered, “Duke’s dead, Mistress.”

  What are you going to do now? Your hand-picked man is dead, Lin. Maybe it was Kuster or maybe it was Riordan?

  “Dead?” she blurted. “How? When?”

  In her heart, though, what she’d felt earlier in the day was true. A sense of loss. And now, her head told her as well. As Dupree explained, she remembered the news report of the car explosion in Springtown. She vaguely heard Dupree say that police had found Duke’s wallet at the scene, along with identification of someone named Avery. Two girls had also been in the car and they had given statements to the police.

  Lin ignored Dupree and went back up to her apartment. She had trouble fathoming the news. It was one thing to lose someone like Kelly White Cloud, because she had Diane to replace her. Finding someone as trustworthy and loyal as Duke would be next to impossible.

  A million questions swirled through her mind. What was he doing all the way down in Springtown – during daylight hours no less? Was it true that he had drug materials in the car? Most important, however, was the identity of his killers.

  Someone had to have a massive set of cajones, to take on anyone connected to herself or Riordan. She imagined that it might be rival drug dealers, if the stories of the drug chemicals were true. She recalled that the other man, Avery. He was Duke’s cousin and had a criminal record for narcotics. But, why would Duke be mixed up in drugs, especially, outside of the protection of Tarrant County?

  She also had to think of Kuster, but she dismissed it quickly. Kuster was uncultured, but not stupid. Sending Kane to go rogue was one thing, but killing a member of a powerful master vampire’s inner circle was like killing a Mafia don’s trusted lieutenant. There would be harsh reprisals, no sane vampire would risk.

  Her clock chimed and she mumbled a curse. She did not have time to grieve. She had her mission from Riordan and she still had to meet him at the reception – straight-faced. That was what he required of her and she never let him down.

  Just like a good little girl.

  She ignored the voice, got up and headed back out, this time to mete out punishment. And the way she was feeling now, she hoped Abel Kuster was as macho and chauvinistic as his reputation implied. She needed something to relieve her stress, and kicking the crud out of him sounded like just the right medicine.

  After that, she would find Duke’s killer and apply the same “cure.”

  Back at the compound, Dolores and Jesus were taking Heidi on a small tour, when Horace Garvey found them. He was out of breath. Jesus had Dolores take Heidi back to the room they’d set up for her, so that he could talk to Horace alone.

  “Who’s on duty in the monitor room?” Jesus asked.

  “Michael and Jessie,” Horace answered.

  “Okay, then what’s so important?”

  Horace pulled out his new cell phone. After touching a few buttons, he brought up the current newscast and held it up. Jesus watched for a moment, nonplussed. His eyes widened in shock. Immediately afterward, his face contorted in abject anger. He stared at Horace and started to ask him something, only to see the answer in his man’s eyes.

  “Son of a bitch!” he snapped, his face turning crimson. “What the hell did he think he was doing?”

  “Should I bring him to the hall for a tribunal review, sir?” Horace asked, his arms crossed.

  “Oh, yes, by all means,” Jesus finally answered when he got his wits about him again. “And handle it personally. Get Elvis to help you. We can’t let this one go, amigo.”

  Horace didn’t like how his boss was talking.

  “And Cantrell better have all the right answers,” Jesus added. “Because, if he doesn’t, I’m going to kill him.”

  Chapter 6

  Abel Kuster spat in disgust. He had arrived in Fort Worth a week earlier and, as of yet, had not been allowed any action. He’d already scoped out several, unwilling females at a local honky-tonk, billed as the world’s largest, that he wanted to add to his personal harem, but Riordan had forbade it. He wasn’t used to being refused anything. He was regretting the choice to abandon Phoenix for this great awakening Riordan had planned.

  Also keeping him in a foul mood was the fact that Kane, his right-hand man, had been killed. He’d sent Kane out on a clandestine to pick off a few choice females for the group, in defiance of Riordan. He knew Kane had turned at least one woman, but the woman hadn’t shown up anywhere. And, someone turned Kane to ash.

  He growled, flicked his long, tangled and unkempt blond hair out of his face, and kicked an empty paint can across the floor of the long empty warehouse a few blocks from Main Street. The six men – four vampires and two famili
ars – who had come with him for the meet with Riordan, paid their boss no mind. They’d seen his moods before and knew not to say anything.

  “Aw, is my poor baby mad?”

  Kuster spun around, trying to find out the source of the female voice. His men jumped up, grabbing the pistols and shotguns they had hidden either on their persons or under the boxes they’d been sitting on. They took defensive positions.

  “Who the hell said that?” Kuster demanded. “Don’t mess with me, lady!”

  He got no answer. Angrily, he motioned for his men to check the doors. Their temporary quarters were small compared to most warehouses, but it was much too large for such a small group to defend. Kuster ordered his men to hurry, knowing they were vulnerable the longer they were separated.

  As ordered, his men split into two-man teams and hurried off into the shadows. Reaching inside his duster, Kuster pulled out a Mac-10 machine pistol. He’d cleaned it several times awaiting word from Riordan and, thus, it was primed and ready for action. Kuster preferred to take out his enemies hand-to-hand, but he was smart enough to know gun action gave him the edge.

  Most of the time.

  “See anything, guys?” he called out. “Is it the bitch that Kane bit? Guys?”

  He heard a strange sound behind him and he spun around, gun at the ready. Something flew at him out of the shadows and clattered to the floor. He looked down and swallowed hard. It was a pistol grip shotgun his man Nance carried, and it had been cut clean in half, despite being made of tempered steel.

  “Fall back!” he ordered, forcefully. “Defensive positions, now!”

  Only four men came out of the shadows, backing towards Kuster and scanning the area for hostiles. Kuster had no time to ask what had happened to Nance and the other man, Linton, probably a moot point considering the state of Nance’s gun. Just then, Lin Tang dropped down from the overhead rafters and landed behind his men so silently they never even turned.

  “Behind you!” Kuster warned.

  Lin immobilized Kuster’s men with kicks to the groins and punches to their solar plexuses. She then snapped the necks of two of them. She pulled a long blade out of one of her boots and slit the throats of the two familiars. It went down so fast Kuster didn’t have time to shoot. Tang twirled around at inhuman speed, hurling the knife across the floor and burying it in his torso, up to the hilt, the thick bone of his chest cavity proved no barrier.