I froze in place. Nothing good could come from this, and I ran down a mental checklist of things that could be unleashed upon me with the specific purpose of ruining my meal. Rent checks and an interlude with Annalise Wimple? Wrong week.
I critiqued and discarded several possible punishment for a transgression I was not aware of and simply shrugged and asked, “What did I do now?”
Risa laughed while Wally resumed her impersonation of a buzz saw, assaulting the last of her sandwich with gruesome focus. They both came to sit next to me, and Gyro thumped his tail twice in approval of all of us being in proper range to give him attention, when Risa asked me, “Kevin called us, and he told us about his concerns and how you admirably answered his questions honestly in a way that convinces him we won’t turn into cannibalistic ghouls over the weekend. Well-done, lad.” I saluted her with my cup and stretched my legs. It seemed like this was a serious discussion, and we weren’t going anywhere for a few minutes. I know when to get comfortable and when to sleep. I was in the army, and those habits become second nature. “He’s too smart for his own good.”
“I still don’t like it, but whatever,” Wally groused, and I was thoroughly confused.
“Like what? I asked carefully. Her complaint carried the whiff of jealousy, and I chose to tread lightly.
“Well, he’s a logical guy in addition to being incredibly handsome and devoted to service—” Risa began, only to pause when I shot her a look of disgust. I can admit he’s good-looking. I just don’t like to be reminded of it too often, in case he decides to leave the Church and chase immortals. I can’t stand that type of competition. I can’t help it, I’m sensitive that way. “All right, let’s try this angle. He asked us some questions about simple intelligence gathering, and we found that there were holes in our technique. Then he asked us about using direct observation.”
“You mean like spying?” I asked.
“Sort of, yes. But more directly, because he suggested something that we” and she looked at Wally, then back at me with some contrition, “had not considered, because of our particular prejudices, I guess. So, I think what we’re trying to say, in a way, is that you should—”
“—go to dinner with Delphine, and talk to her,” Wally finished.
I sat quietly for a very long second, and then said, “Seriously? Kevin calls you, asks you about our surveillance tactics, and dinner with Delphine is what you come up with? I need to bottle what he’s selling because it is pure magic. Amazing.” I was stunned. I knew that we were all onboard with Delphine’s role in our lives, for now, but this was a departure that reeked of maturity. I rarely find people dealing with implied sexual transgressions in a state I would consider mature, let alone reasonable.
Wally grunted. “I don’t like it all the way, but yes. You must go to dinner with her, and she will become more of a friend to us because of your charm and because I said so.”
Risa added to my instructions. “Kevin pointed out a massive flaw in our thinking. We want to eliminate Elizabeth, but we’re not tapping the one resource that has experience with her. Well, except you, that is, and on this dinner date, you’re to keep clothed at all times. I want you gathering information, not orgasms, understand?” She glared at me, but her smile was too close to breaking free for me to be in genuine fear of her recriminations.
“No blow jobs. Only dinner,” Wally announced, and then winked at me and padded to the kitchen for more food.
I made a show of thinking over my offer, and then agreed. “I’ll be a good boy. And I really think that she should come here for dinner, don’t you?” I asked, but Risa shook her head no. “Why?”
“Because we’re not screwing around about this. Delphine doesn’t deserve to die, and she doesn’t deserve to be ostracized until we can understand all of her truths. We want her as an ally, and that starts as soon as possible, with you as our point man. After she agrees, or, hell, if she agrees to be on our team, then we can bring her to our home, but not before, because it’s too intimate for something that might end up being a mistake. Yes?”
“Yes. Now, I have a condition,” I said, steel in my voice.
“What’s that?” Risa asked me, ready to counteroffer immediately.
“I want all of the bacon. Now.” I figured that my chances were not very good, and I was right.
32
New Orleans
“This will do,” Elizabeth allowed, and Herr Kreiger felt his legs wobble slightly with the intense relief of a man who has just sidestepped an oncoming train. They were standing in the expanse of a large, well-appointed kitchen that would never be used again, in a house that needed no furnishings and no care. The spacious, two-storied home with polished floors and sparkling, clean surfaces would be blissfully uncluttered, save a single daybed covered in a thick sheet of plastic, and a large, upright refrigerator, which was quietly humming, but oddly placed in the living room. Elizabeth’s heels rattled ominously against the tile as she stepped to the refrigerator and opened it with a single, manicured finger. The previous night, when stocking the appliance, Dieter had removed all shelving from the interior, and Elizabeth gave a rare smile as her eyes traced a lingering glance over the unusual shapes hanging in the frigid space, then closed the door and turned to Dieter.
Earlier, they had investigated one of the other properties Dieter acquired for housing their guests, and it had met with similar approval, even though the parameters for housing an artist were much more specific than this empty husk of a home. For that particular need, Dieter caused a property to go on the market rather suddenly after the owner could not be reasoned with, and then included that address within his larger purchase order given to Owen. With a small but serviceable workshop, which was rare among the expensive Garden district, the house was a brooding, hidden niche that would give quiet space for one of their newfound friends, who were so critical to Mother’s recent interests. This success and the earlier blessing given to Dieter’s efforts meant that two of the six purchases met the exacting standards of Elizabeth and her complexities.
“Well-done. Very well-done, in fact, and on such short notice. You have pleased me exceptionally today.” It was positively effusive for her usually frigid voice, and Dieter allowed himself a curt smile, bowing with his head and remaining mute as he awaited further instructions. He would not risk shattering such a prized moment of his mother’s approval with unwarranted conversation. He was, at heart, a banker, and he knew when to remain silent.
33
Florida
Dinner with Delphine. Actually, it was an approved dinner with Delphine, conjured up from a newfound sense of practicality that my partners seemed to have been infused with over the past few days. Suma’s presence this weekend certainly didn’t hurt my chances of an uninterrupted meal with the woman who still, for outwardly excellent reasons, made Wally and Risa leery of trusting her beyond the barest minimal definition of the term ally. Dinner. With Delphine. I gave this evening a deeper level of consideration than had been possible with my partners in the room. On the surface, and under most types of scrutiny, I could see the logic at work. Delphine had information, millennia of it, in fact, just waiting for the right sort of catalyst to bring it into our lexicon. Previously, this type of interaction would have been—not impossible, that was too static, but highly improbable was accurate. Risa was suspicious of Delphine as a woman and as an immortal. Wally felt exactly the same, but added to the mix was her temper and misgivings about losing control of our household. I could feel those reservations lurking at every turn, and I began to wonder. Doubt crept into my psyche for the first time in years, and I found it distasteful. Leading up to my partners’ collective moment of clarity regarding our stance on Delphine, only one element was new. Suma had been in discussions with Risa and Wally. The three of them, without my knowledge, determined that treating Delphine as a resource was now a necessity.
I began to feel the distinct whispers of anger within my now-whirling mind. Suma’s presence had clarified a previo
usly unknown opportunity for us to use Delphine. I was clearly that opportunity. Suma knew me as a man, but she also knew me as a patient, so my tolerance for systemic assault was something intimately familiar to the scientific side of her intellect. Whatever her reasons, it seemed reasonable to think that Suma believed I could withstand sustained depredations from a succubus who was older than Christianity. My good health, it would seem, became an acceptable risk in the game of prying information away from Delphine. My sexual and moral collapse under the intense seduction of Delphine was a foregone conclusion, according to Suma, and by extension, my partners. Fine. I’ll play along, I mused, knowing that there were glaring issues Risa and Wally had overlooked, but I’d raise those at a later date after my suspicions were confirmed. Delphine was not the same woman I met a year ago, and I had a simple litmus test to prove exactly that.
It was just before sunset, and I was slipping into a dinner jacket Wally had placed on a hanger with the admonition that just because she was making me look my best, I should not for one second think that she wanted me to get lucky. Again, mixed messages, I thought mulishly as I shrugged into the coat, letting it settle over my shoulders as my phone rang. It was Delphine.
“Ring, I apologize for the short notice, but—”she began, sounding contrite. Was she standing me up? This was new, even for me. I had always assumed that Delphine would never let a potential dinner and feeding slip through her grasp, especially with the blessings of her moderately jealous acquaintances.
“Is everything all right? Are we still having dinner?” I was concerned, but tried to sound casual. Frankly, I looked forward to the evening.
“Oh, yes, surely, but I’m in a bit of an unusual spot. Could you pick me up?” She was unfamiliar asking for a ride, as she’d had men waiting on her every wish for centuries. It must have been an uncomfortable thing to ask, but I quickly assured her that I would be happy to do so and told her I would arrive shortly. I grabbed my keys, phone, wallet, and was just slipping out the door after ruffling Gyro’s ears when something clicked into place and I stood, dumbstruck and more than a bit pissed at my own dim reaction to her phone call. Delphine did not drive. She didn’t pour her own drinks or cook or do laundry or peel apples or any of the thousands of mundane things that most people populated the bulk of their days with, and in the short conversation, it hadn’t occurred to me to ask the one question that I would have to answer immediately upon arriving at the slip which held her enormous yacht.
Where was Joseph?
I pulled up at the yacht basin, and to my complete shock, Delphine stood, alone, waiting. She looked small, vulnerable, and tinged with an aura of sadness that danced just at the periphery of my senses. I hadn’t realized how petite she was until that moment, despite having tumbled with her through sexual calisthenics that would make Caligula blush. She hovered a bit, waiting. I opened her door in attempt to be gallant, but the atmosphere between us was permeated with her hesitancy. Hesitant? Delphine? That is completely anathema to everything I know of her.
She slid demurely into her seat with my assistance, and we rode for the first moments in a sort of tentative silence until she put her hand on my arm and said simply, “Thank you.”
The words did not give me pause, but the tone did. It was heartfelt. It was laden with emotion but free from the smug assurance that she had always imbued her conversations with in order to remind everyone of their lesser status while in her orbit. She took a deep breath and let it hiss from her teeth, again, a new element in her personality, and asked me, “Take me to the beach, please? Let’s get a bottle of wine, and just walk. I don’t think I want to be a show pony tonight.”
I turned towards Dania Beach Boulevard and went to a drive-through for wine, with the complimentary classy plastic glasses, and in minutes, we were walking, feet in the moist, still-warm sand that held the day’s sun like a miser’s coins. I opened the bottle of Australian red with a key, punching the cork into the neck where it bobbed in protest, and offered her a drink in what was a highly crude treatment of a good wine. She smiled warmly and took the bottle with her small hand and eschewed the plastic cup. Her brows went up in appreciation when the deep red vintage touched her palate.
“It must be the ocean air; it’s delicious.” Again, her voice was free of judgments, and for a moment, she was utterly, charmingly human. “Joseph is gone.” She announced this without fanfare or any inflection. I nodded. It wasn’t my place to offer anything on the subject. She knew I despised the pompous asshole, and I knew she relied on him for many facets of her life. A stalemate was best served by my silence. She drew a lingering hand across my shoulder and gave me an almost sisterly squeeze, and for the first time in my life, I saw an immortal cry. She waved me off when I instinctively tried to hold her, and I felt that, even for Delphine, this was something—raw. Unwelcome. And above it all, too honest for a woman who had spent so many centuries lying.
“How long?” I asked, thinking that less from me meant more relief for her.
“Yesterday. He gave no warning, and he took very little. I don’t think that he . . . have you had dogs all your life?” She veered the topic suddenly.
I shook my head yes. “All my life, since I was a boy. I’ve never known life without them. They’re more than friends.”
She considered that, and then asked, “Is it true that when they get infirm, near the end, they’ll attempt to go—somewhere, so that they can die? And leave you in peace? Like a given sacrifice?” Her eyes moistened again.
“They do, if you let them. Not always, but they just seem to know. I think it’s a compulsion, to both hide and to do no harm to us, their friends.”
She looked away as I said this, and when her eyes returned to me, there was a flash of anger that rose, unbidden, hot, and steely. “He did not leave to die. If he had, he would not have taken the things he did. No, he left me. And that is not only unforgivable but an act of war.”
My eyes goggled at that. War? “How can you— what? War?”
“It’s Elizabeth.” Her voice had a malignant tone now, subsuming the earlier weakness and delicacy with a type of anger that was incongruous with her beautiful face. It was a violation across her features, and I found myself wanting to recoil. “She has hunted, cajoled, threatened, and even attacked me over the centuries. She has personally killed dozens of my confidantes, my lovers, and my employees, all of them lost to her blood thirst. All of them innocent, or relatively so. She taunts me with my secrets and slaughters my allies; all in the name of her relentless desires for control of something that I am certain will burn her to the ground. She isn’t tough enough to rule. She confuses depravity and silence with will. I know the difference because I have to use my fortitude to still my hand from causing a war that would rend the land around her, just to see her bleed— and damn the costs.”
I held her hand now, partially to quell her temper and also from a need to let her feel kindness, if only in a touch. When I saw the tide of her anger begin to subside, she faced me again, and smiled, bitterly at first, but then she stroked my face in as loving a gesture as I’ve ever known.
“You are a good friend to me, even when I still think of toying with you if only to cross that blonde you seem to like so much.” I laughed aloud; if nothing else, she was being a good sport. “Take me somewhere else, for dinner or just to talk. I’m in the mood to help you, and we can’t do it here if I’m maudlin and vicious in the face of this splendor.”
“I must admit, this is a new side of you. I feel like I should reintroduce myself. I’m Ring, by the way.” I held out my hand, which she took, pulling me close and kissing my cheek.
Her eyes dropped, demure and flirtatious. Some habits die hard. “I’m Andiarka, and it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
34
New Orleans
For a moment, there was genuine warmth on her face, an utterly galvanizing reward that made the uncertainty of the last few days fall away in a flashing second. He stood a bit taller
, and with more confidence, then lowered his eyes in supplication and delicately kissed her proffered hand. She was effusive in her praise of his decision, even looping a companionable arm through his as she led him to a chair in the hotel suite, motioning to him that he should sit, all while beaming like a proud parent who has just declared their love for one sibling over another. It was a heady anodyne to his body and soul, and for the first time in months he felt relaxation begin to suffuse his ripening body.
“This is an inevitable development, but I am still very pleased to see you. I have need of your particular abilities, beginning immediately.” Elizabeth was putting him to work without further fanfare, and he again dipped his head obediently.
His curiosity overcame his better judgment and he blurted, “Abilities? But I have none, none to speak of . . .” Joseph trailed off in confusion. He left Delphine because of his descent. Surely Elizabeth could see that he was becoming something foul?
She patted his arm reassuringly. It would be the last kind gesture he would see from her for some time as she cut her eyes at him in a critical assessment and asked, “Your language skills, do they allow you to speak, as well as read, in other tongues?” All warmth fled from her voice in an instant. Their moment of friendly equality, if it had even existed, was now gone, and he knew intuitively that answering her in the negative would be his end, right here and now.
“Yes, mistress.” Joseph began using the title out of habit. And fear.
“Very good indeed.” She seemed to lose her focus for just an instant, and then returned her piercing gaze to him. “You’ll need some clothing. I’ll select what you will wear. I’ll instruct you as to what role you will be playing. You will need to be conversational in medical terms, and quickly. By tomorrow, in fact. Pay particular attention to terms that pertain to obstetrics and gynecology. You will comport yourself in a manner that inspires trust, and you will do so without fail for two reasons. The first and most important of these is that you will adopt an aura of complete authority, suffuse it with compassion, and make your availability known to the immigrant communities around the city. The people on the fringe are who you will seek, people who are fearful of being seen, but trust authority figures enough to allow your presence at the birth of their children. You will look for women who are pregnant with twins, and you will insinuate yourself into their lives at the earliest possible point. I will inform you why as I deem this necessary, and I will observe you from afar to assure that you are being very . . . convincing. Do you understand?” He voice was cold and tinged with disdain. Oh, Delphine, what have I done? Joseph’s mind raced, completely spinning out of control with the rattle of orders being issued by his new, far more dangerous mistress. He had made a mistake of such proportions that he could not see around it, and the thought of being in the service of this beast made him partially a creature of sin in his own right, feel like a thing so foul that light would surely burn his skin.
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