by B N Miles
Nikki burst out in laughter. She stared at Vargos like he’d gone insane, and Jared couldn’t blame her. It was just about the dumbest offer he’d ever heard. Of course, Nikki wasn’t going to say yes—she’d already given up her position in the hierarchy to help them. She knew how important it was to keep the Accords in place, if not for her people, then for all the other vulnerable Metas and Humans that would be caught in the crossfire as soon as the Accords went down.
Maybe it was because she had Human and Meta family now, or maybe it was the way the Hierarchy abandoned her and stripped her of her power. Jared didn’t know either way, but he saw the pain in her, the anger and the frustration, at being ripped from her position among her people and cast out the way she had. She hated the Vampires for what they did to her and for what they were doing to the world, but she still loved them, because she was one of them.
It was a hard position to be in.
“That’s not going to happen,” Nikki said. “And honestly, Vargos, I should rip your head off for suggesting it.”
He smiled and spread his hands. “No need for that. We’re offering you clemency and your people protection. The Accords are coming down sooner or later, and your people can’t stop it.”
Nikki stepped forward, a horrible smile plastered across her face. “The fact that you’re here says otherwise,” she said. “The fact that you came out here, in the open, with your stupid bodyguard, suggests that we hit a nerve by going to Waters. I think you’re getting desperate, and you’re afraid that we’re going to ruin all your plans.”
Vargos’s smile faltered for only a second, but then he shook his head. “Poor, dear, foolish Nikita. You’re so wrong about that.”
“Oh, I don’t think I am. Go away, Vargos. Go crawl back into whatever casket you spend your day in. I’m not taking your deal, and I hope we meet each other again someday, so I can rip your spine out through your throat and make you watch as I hang you from it.”
Vargos let out a dramatic sigh, backed off, gave her a slight bow with an ironic smile, and stood again. “I suppose you won’t change your mind, but if you do, our Lord says you may return at your leisure and all will be forgiven. But remember what I said here today. Change is coming, and your little band of pests can’t stop it from happening.” He turned then and began to walk away. Muscle-head hesitated, showed his fangs, then followed his boss.
Jared watched them go, shaking his head. “That was strange,” he said.
Nikki turned to him and he saw the worry lines around her eyes. “I agree,” she said, and stepped back through the barrier.
Jared frowned at Lumi, who shrugged and followed Nikki. He joined the girls back on the other side and surveyed the uncomfortable contractors and Bea’s warriors.
“Get back to your posts,” he said. “No fighting tonight.”
Some of them looked relieved, though others looked strangely disappointed. The group disbanded and they wandered back toward the houses.
“I don’t know how they thought that would go down,” Nikki said. “It makes no sense to me.”
“They’re desperate,” Lumi said.
“How much of their blood supply do they get from the families?” Jared asked.
“A lot of it,” Nikki said. “For a long time, the Hierarchy was mostly self-sufficient, but then the families took over hospitals and health care in the 20th century, and their easy access to blood made them our de facto patrons. So we created all these complex trade agreements between our people and the families, all centered around blood and blood donations.” She paced down the street and back, shaking her head. “We set up our own blood collections, but the families were faster and more aggressive about it, so I’d say at least half our blood comes from them.”
“That’s how they control the Vampires,” Jared said, looking at Lumi.
“Makes sense. They don’t want a straight up war, so instead they tie themselves together using economics.”
“Blood instead of money.” Jared laughed. “There’s a metaphor in there somewhere.”
“They’re going to get dangerous,” Nikki said. “If their blood supply is threatened, they’re going to get reckless.”
“We’ll be ready.” Jared took her arm and stopped her. She looked at him and he saw her anxiety, which surprised him—she was normally so cool and level, he had a hard time picturing her like this. And yet their situation clearly bothered her.
“I hope so,” she said.
“Come on. Speaking of blood. When was the last time you fed?”
She smiled a little. “Well, now, darling, I’m not so sure.”
He leaned forward and kissed her. “Come on then. Let’s get you taken care of.”
“No need to tell me twice. Lumi, dear, are you coming?”
“I hope so,” Lumi said.
They walked back toward their house together as a small group, and Jared kept a smile on his face the whole time, trying to keep Nikki distracted and happy—but in the back of his mind, the new threat whirled around in loose, lazy circles as he tried to lock it into place. He knew the Vampires were dangerous, but now they were hungry, blood-starved Vampires, and that made them both dangerous and reckless.
When he was finished with Nikki and Lumi, he would tour their defenses and speak with Bea about what they could do to improve things.
21
Jared received an email from a secure account the next morning. He wasn’t sure what to make of it, but Penny assured him that it was real.
“Sent from a Proton Mail account,” she said. “That’s a serious privacy firm, takes encryption to the next level.”
“This could really be from Mattis Waters himself?” Jared shook his head, making a face at the computer screen. Mattis Waters was the old head of the Waters family and practically a legend in the Magi community. Before him, the Waters family was like all the other top families: filthy rich but falling into decay and ruin. They cared more about holding onto their power and titles than they did about making money and improving the world around them.
Mattis changed all that. He took the Waters family into the business world, primarily working with Meta communities like the Vampires. They bought and sold whatever commodities the Metas needed, sometimes charging outrageous prices and sometimes providing real mutual benefit. Jared could never tell if the Waters family meant well or if they saw the Meta community as just another mark for them to take advantage of.
“Only one way to find out,” Penny said with a shrug.
Jared laughed. “You can’t be serious.”
“He said to come meet him, so you might as well.”
“This is Mattis Waters we’re talking about. It’s not like this is some low-level bureaucrat in the Waters machine. This is the head of the family.”
“And he wants a meeting. So why don’t you go find out what he needs?”
Jared drummed his fingers on the table then closed the laptop lid. “I’ll talk to the others.”
“Don’t talk for long.” She pointed at the computer. “He wants to meet in an hour.”
“I know.” Jared marched out of the house and found Lumi on a nearby roof speaking quietly with a contractor. He realized she was giving him battle advice and pointers on how to create shields and fire.
She looked up and spotted him lingering nearby. After a short exchange, she ended the conversation with a friendly pat on the older and larger man’s shoulder. It was funny watching Lumi teach these Magi how to use their magic sometimes. She was a small girl, a tiny little thing, and it made him smile to watch her school these much larger and often much older men. Jared knew it made them uncomfortable, since they grew up in a generation where women didn’t have power, but the world was changing—and for the better.
“You look spooked,” she said as she approached.
Jared opened up the laptop and showed her the email. “Penny says it’s real.”
Lumi narrowed her eyes and stared at it for a long moment. “Mattis Waters, huh,” she sa
id. “That’s pretty serious.”
“I know. I’m not sure what to do.”
“We don’t have much of a choice now, do we?”
“You think we should go.” He shook his head. “How can you be sure it’s not a trap?”
“It might be, but it’s daytime. The Vampires are powerless right now. They wouldn’t be stupid enough to try and ambush us without their speed and strength. Conventional weapons won’t do shit against me.” She grinned and pounded her chest.
Jared laughed. “Alright, I hear you. What if it’s an ambush by the Waters family then?”
“I doubt it, but we can handle that, too.”
He paced around the roof for a second, trying to decide, and Lumi watched him with that disconcertingly neutral expression. It drove him crazy sometimes, but he knew she’d learned it from living with her psychopathic family—she had to figure out from a young age that showing emotion was dangerous, especially if she was upset or angry in any way. She adopted a neutral, flat affect after years and years of abusive training, and it has become a part of her now. Jared wasn’t sure she even realized she did it anymore.
He finally stopped and looked out over the edge of the roof, down at the block below where a group of Meta girls lounged on a stoop and listened to a radio. They laughed together and seemed so comfortable, although they’d all been strangers until relatively recently. He knew why he was doing this—why he was going out of his way to fight the Medlar, and it was more than just trying to save the world. It was for them, the women down there, and he’d keep going until they were all safe.
“Alright,” he said, turning back to Lumi. “Get Cassie and Jessalene. I want three of the contractors with us, and maybe a team from Bea as well.”
“According to that email, we don’t have long.”
“Then we’d better hurry,” Jared said.
Lumi nodded, turned, and walked quickly back down the steps and into the house.
Jared sighed and stretched his back. He felt like he held all the tension in the world directly in his muscles, and no matter what he did, he’d never work it all out.
But he knew the alternative was worse, and that nobody else would step up—so it was up to him to make a difference.
Jared stood at the head of the group, shifting from foot to foot.
He felt nervous. It was a strange sensation, something he hadn’t experienced in a while. Even when they raided a Medlar facility, and there was a real chance that he might be killed, or get wounded, or watch someone he loved get killed or wounded, he still didn’t feel nervous—because he knew what he was doing was right.
This situation felt more ambiguous. On the one hand, Mattis Waters was a powerful man at the head of a powerful family that seemed like they were beginning to help Jared’s cause. But on the other, it might be a trap, and they might all get murdered.
Really could go either way.
He passed through the wards, followed by Cassie, Jessalene, and then Lumi and three of the contractors brought up the rear. They weren’t exactly battle-hardened men, but they were still Magi and Lumi believed they’d be able to hold their own in a fight, at least if they were attacked by conventional weapons. If any partially-trained Magi decided to step up against them though, then each of those contractors would be ripped to pieces and slaughtered like cute baby lambs.
He hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
“They want to meet near here,” Jared said as Cassie joined him, walking side by side. The afternoon was nice and the street was busy, which felt so strange after hiding inside the wards for days. Their street had become like a tiny paradise city all unto itself, but the real city remained outside their bubble, still teeming, still continuing.
“That’s good, right?” She looked up at him. “I mean, you trust them?”
“Not at all,” he said. “But it’s good we’re close to home at least.”
“What do you know about this Mattis guy?”
“Just that he came to power through very questionable circumstances and that he’s shrewd, one of the shrewder heads of the families.”
“You don’t have much of an opinion of the Magi families though.”
“True, I mean, they’re all a bunch of power-hungry psychopaths with more privilege than sense, but I get the feeling that Mattis is different. While all the other families act as though the world belongs to them by right, the Waters family has been quietly establishing themselves as an economic powerhouse.”
“Seems like something the other families should’ve done.”
“Exactly, and they did, to some extent. But Waters has embraced commerce more than all the others, and they earned a reputation for it.”
“I’m guessing the other families look down on them.”
“Bingo. How’d you guess?” He grinned and put an arm over her shoulders. “They think the Waters are a bunch of sell-out traitors and fools. Or something like that, I haven’t actually talked to them about it. Lumi says the Medlar looks down on the Waters like they’re some kind of bastard second-cousin that lives in a hole in the ground, but I feel like the Medlar look at everyone that way.”
Cassie laughed and shifted up against him. Jared looked down at her and felt his heart flutter a touch, and he marveled at the feeling—even after all of this, he still felt a wild infatuation for her, and he didn’t think that would ever go away.
They cut east and marched north, then slowed as they reached Rittenhouse Square. It was a public park in the middle of the city—barely more than a block wide and long, but it was one of the few large and visible green spaces. Trees sprouted and were crisscrossed by paths with benches on either side. The park was full of people—some buskers playing music or juggling, but mostly couples, friend groups, young kids wandering in wild packs, old men feeding pigeons—and Jared knew the Waters chose this spot exactly for how visible it was. Nobody wanted to make a mess in public. Even though they could be cleaned up pretty easily, it would still be a problem for everyone involved.
“Set up a perimeter,” he told Lumi. “Keep your distance.”
“You’re going alone?”
He shook his head. “Cassie’s coming with me.”
Cassie perked up. “Really? I thought you’d bring Lumi.”
“I figure Mattis wouldn’t want to see anyone from the Medlar,” Jared said. “Although he might find it amusing. Could go either way.”
“I’ll get the perimeter set,” Lumi said. “I’m sick of getting stared at like I’m some kind of exotic zoo creature.”
“Fair enough.” Jared nodded and Lumi set off, dragging the contractors and Jessalene with her.
Jared stepped into the park and slipped his fingers into Cassie’s hand. She squeezed and smiled up at him, eyes sparkling, and he smiled back, trying to mask the rumbling nervous energy he felt bouncing around him. As they walked along the path flanked by benches at even intervals, he realized he didn’t know what Mattis looked like. There were people everywhere, young and old alike, and any one of them could be the Magi.
As he reached the center of the park, it suddenly seemed as though the world fell away. The sound of the city stopped, the clatter of footsteps, the shouts of children, the cars, the engines, the horns, the laughter, it all disappeared. Cassie sucked in a surprised breath and Jared went still, bringing up his power, right on the verge of wrapping them in shields and preparing for battle, when a man stood up from a low retaining wall that wrapped around a gurgling fountain and stepped over.
He was a few inches shorter than Jared and wore a simple black suit with a sleek brown cane, long gray hair pulled into a ponytail, a bushy gray beard, and smiling blue eyes. He looked like a hippie that had gone into banking, and Jared felt his tension lessen ever so slightly, though Cassie still clung to his hand like iron.
“Mattis Waters,” Jared said, nodding at the man.
He beamed. “Hello, Jared Bechtel. I’ve been watching you for a long time now.”
Jared grunted in response and
looked around. He didn’t see any other Magi nearby and couldn’t feel any other magic, and so he had to assume that this was all Mattis’s doing, which was interesting—he hadn’t heard much about the man’s magical abilities. He had a dark Magi mark, but no darker than most he’d seen. Certainly better than the contractors, but nowhere near as deep as Lumi’s or his own. Still, a mark didn’t necessarily translate to strength, and he had to be careful.
“I’m not sure how to take that,” Jared said, and gestured at Cassie. “This is my fiancée. Cassie Grim.”
“Lovely to meet you, Cassie. I’ve heard a lot about you as well, you and your cousin. Fascinating story, you two.”
Cassie’s grip relaxed slightly. “Nice to meet you as well, Mr. Waters.”
“Call me Mattis, please.” He gestured at the fountain. “Shall we sit and speak?”
Jared hesitated, then walked over and sat. Cassie joined him, leaning her hands back on the stone, and Mattis perched a few feet away. It was an odd seating arrangement, especially for a meeting with the head of a Magi family, but Jared had learned that family heads were rarely what anyone expected. He could feel the spray from the gently gurgling fountain behind him and he had the sudden, wild thought that Mattis was trying to drown him.
But of course, that made no sense. He watched the old man settle himself then fold his hands in his lap and smile.
“We’ve managed to piss off the Vampires,” he said.
Jared laughed. He couldn’t help himself. It was so plainly said and such an understatement. “I have to admit that I didn’t expect you to help so thoroughly.”
Mattis tapped a finger on the stone. “I didn’t believe those two idiots when they first came to me, I’ll admit. But we’ve known about the Medlar and their insane Accords plan for some time now, but we never quite believed they’d actually do it.”
“They’re going to.”
“You’re right. The Vampires are proof enough of that. None of the Magi families like the Vampires, mostly because the Hierarchy has enough reach and power to threaten our existence if they ever secured their own blood supply. Fortunately, we have the upper hand in that regard, seeing as we’re the ones that physically produce the stuff, and so we keep them on a tight leash.”