by Hayden, Sean
"As of last night. The original speaker called out sick. The governor was honored to be considered to be the last minute replacement. With any luck, the bad guys won't have time to plan anything on such short notice."
"I doubt it. Knowing Greer, he's already called a press conference. I'll go put on my stake proof vest."
"That's not funny, Ash. Sanders told me about the mall. You need to be more careful. Tonight, I'm riding point on the governor. You keep an eye out for bad guys."
"Um, I really hate to pull a you're being stupid card, but you just got out of the hospital, and a silver stake through you would most likely be fatal. No, I'll ride shotgun on the governor's ass tonight, but I do promise to be careful. If anybody shoots at us, I'll hold him in front of me," I added trying to make Thompson laugh. It didn't work.
"Fine, but if you get dead, my ass is grass. Remember that, okay?"
"It's a deal. Now seriously, go take a shower. You smell like a burnt hamburger."
"Funny, kid. Real funny."
* * *
I've always wanted to go to college. I was probably one of the few agents at the FBI without a degree. Maybe I would look into getting my degree online, just so I didn't feel like such a schlub. There were plenty of programs out there that took real life experience and applied it toward your degree. With all the screw-ups I've been racking up lately, I could certainly just sign up and get a PHD in screwupenomics.
The California State University Sacramento looked beautiful. Most of the campus looked new. Students lounging around talking and studying gave me a little lump in my throat. Normal kids leading normal lives. Something I would never know. The governor was due to arrive with his contingent of state troopers in half an hour. Thompson and I had to sweep the building before he got there. I found myself wondering if his limo would be attacked before he even arrived.
Thompson pulled out his phone and checked the email giving the details as to the where and when of the speech and led us to the appropriate building. One thing was certain; the university's security left a lot to be desired. We weren't stopped once on our way to the main auditorium.
We walked in and the blast of cold air threatened to blow me back through the entrance. If they had cranked it down to subarctic temperatures, they must have been expecting quite the turnout for the governor's speech. We made our way into the heart of the auditorium. Thousands of seats sat facing a large stage complete with microphone and podium. I looked around at exits, entrances, and windows remembering points of possible danger to the governor. The place wasn't exactly Fort Knox, but it wasn't exactly a target range either. I sighed at the prospect of getting perforated by silver stakes yet again. My stomach did a little flip-flop and I choked it down. What doesn't kill you often hurts like a son of a bitch. I didn't want to get shot again. Ever.
"I'm going to look around," I called out to Thompson as he made his way to the people setting everything up on the stage.
"Good idea, kid," he called back and I tried not to beam too much at his compliment. I could be a good FBI agent, I really could.
I turned and made my way to the stairs leading up to the second level. I took them two at a time and made it up the flight rather quickly. I looked around to see if anybody had caught me showboating, but they all seemed rather distracted setting everything up. The upper level itself was devoid of life as far as I could tell. I could walk around the entire perimeter of the ground floor and keep an eye on everyone and everything from up here. Hell, if somebody tried to pick the governor off with another snuff rifle, it would probably be from up here. Thompson's idea of him guarding Greer sounded a little better. If that son of a bitch who shot me shows up here, I'm going to rip him apart. I don't even care if I get my shoes bloody.
I made my way back downstairs and walked over to Thompson, who appeared to be going over security concerns with a grey-haired gentleman who held himself with an air of authority. You could look at him and know he was in charge. I waited in the distance until Thompson finished and walked over to him.
"What do you think, kid?"
"If they're going to hit him, it'll probably be with a snuff rifle. There will be too many people here to use explosives or incendiaries, or at least I hope they won't. That would just suck beyond belief. Don't roll your eyes, but I think you were right. You take bodyguard duty. I want to sit on the upper level and watch from there."
"You're learning, kid. I'll make you Deputy Director one day."
"Are you going to give me a partial lobotomy? The way I figure, you'd have to be partially brain dead to hold down that job."
Thompson's laughter echoed through the auditorium.
* * *
I watched from above the crowd as Greer entered the stage from somewhere within the bowels of the auditorium. Thompson followed behind the vampire governor and kept a wary eye on the crowd and the people who remained on stage. Luckily, the attending students and supporters of the governor weren't large enough to fill the massive auditorium. We got to close the second level as a result. I stood alone among the sea of empty seats and scouted the auditorium for trouble. Everyone sat and waited eagerly as Greer made his way to the podium amid a thunderous round of applause. The sheer enthusiasm of the crowd shocked me a little. Controversy surrounded the world's first elected vampire official, but you couldn't tell from the heartwarming reception he received.
When he stood before the microphone, the applause stopped and you could feel the eagerness in the silence of the crowd as they waited for the Governor to speak. He smiled to the crowd and waved as he pulled some note cards from his jacket pocket. As he began his speech I noticed one thing about Greer I hadn't before. When he spoke, there wasn't a single flash of his fangs. Some of the older myths from a time when vampires and werewolves didn't walk freely out in the open painted them as human-like creatures whose fangs sprouted forth like a snakes retractable fangs. This just wasn't true. Just like the myths involving holy relics and not casting a reflection in mirrors. Vampires were full of magic, in fact it's what kept them alive, but magic had rules just like science. To hide their true nature, vampires perfected speaking without showing their teeth. The older vampires, who had more practice, did so with minimal difficulty. Greer was a master, and to top it off, his diction didn't suffer at all.
Newer vampires, on the other hand, have a tendency to show a lot of fang when they speak. It takes a lot of practice to master it. I show fang more than any vampire I've ever met. It isn't my fault though. If I lived to be a thousand years old, I'll still show fang when I speak. Not only are mine longer and thicker than the average vampire, mine also curve. They're designed to pierce the flesh of my victims and hang on. I chalk it up to being a predator of predators. If it weren't for bad, I wouldn't have any luck at all.
Lost in my own thoughts, I missed a key point in the governor's speech. The thunderous round of applause snapped me out of my reverie and I saw a shape blocking out the starry sky through one of the windows on the second story. I gasped in surprise. There wasn't any ledge outside the windows up here. I'd checked to make sure they couldn't be used as a possible sniper location. The shadow looked definitely man-shaped, so my previous assumption must have been wrong. I turned and ran around the perimeter of the wall and crept below the windows until I reached where I had seen him.
Standing just before the window and looking out at an angle I could see the shadow was definitely a man. How the hell he managed to hold himself just outside the window however, remained a mystery. It really didn't matter though, once I saw him raise the snuff rifle up and aim it at the stage, I jumped. The window shattered as I went through it, and it all became worth it when I briefly saw the look of utter shock on the vampires face as I grabbed him before my shoulders had cleared the jagged glass.
I got my answer when I tackled him. Apparently, he had used his vampiric strength to dig hand and footholds in the side of the brick and mortar building. He didn't dig deep enough. When I grabbed him he lost his footing and w
e both plummeted the twenty feet to the concrete below. I heard a large crack, and I wasn't sure if my bones had broken, his bones had broken, or we put a serious hurting on the concrete pad outside the auditorium. I landed on top of Mr. Sniper, so I hoped they were his bones. I wanted to break the rest with my hands.
He had other ideas though. I'd hoped to at least have knocked him momentarily unconscious, but his fist connecting with my jaw told me otherwise, and so did the tree I crashed into. He took off as I slid down, almost comically slow. You know when the cartoon characters hit the walls and slowly slide down with the skree noise in the background? That's what I felt like. As soon as my feet hit the ground I took off after him.
I jumped a fire hydrant as his fleeting shadow rounded the corner about a block ahead of me. I could feel the adrenaline, or whatever it is vampires have, surging through my veins, burning as it flowed. I turned the corner and saw him ahead. He had no place to go except straight. The buildings in the area had been built with little or no room between them and I gave silent thanks to older architecture and overcrowding. I gave a burst of speed I didn't know I had left in me, especially after almost becoming one with a tree. I started to close the distance between us, but at the rate of speed we were traveling at, the stretch of road ended shortly and he rounded the corner. I didn't want to lose him, so I strained my limits to follow about fifty feet behind him.
When I rounded the corner, he was gone. Panic welled up within me and I wanted to scream in frustration. I balled my fists and opened my mouth and then saw him scaling the side of the building across the street. My scream of frustration turned into a squee of excitement as I launched myself after the bastard. I crossed the street in less than a second and started jamming my fingers into the concrete surface of the building. I never took my gaze from his back as he scaled the building and within moments I could tell my climbing skills were better than his as I closed the distance between us. If the roof was his goal I would make it right behind him.
I could hear him curse when he saw me right below him as he flipped himself over the side of the building and onto the roof. His foot falls echoed as he started running again. I flung myself over the edge and landed on the roof with my feet already in motion. He looked over his shoulder and gave a little smile as he kept going. He didn't even pause when he jumped.
I can jump about four or five stories and he looked like he could do about the same. I debated jumping after him, but I didn't know where he would land. I paused at the edge of the building to watch his descent and the strangest thing happened. Once he reached the apex of his arc, he didn't come down. I could hear the night winds buffeting him, keeping him aloft above the building tops as he was carried away to safety. A cold chill ran up my spine as I realized he could fly.
Sonofabitch, I thought. Nobody told me vampires could fly. I smiled a little at the thought that I might be able to do the same thing. Then my smile turned back into a scream of rage as I realized he'd gotten away. Again.
Chapter 20
I called Thompson on the way back to the auditorium. After hearing the crash of glass as I jumped through the window, he'd grabbed the governor, shoved him in the limousine, and taken him back to the mansion. Basically, I killed the party, but got kudos from my partner for foiling the attempt before shots were fired. Joy. Thompson left the Suburban at the school, but had the keys in his pocket, where they didn't do me a bit of good. I debated calling a cab, but decided to take a walk instead. With a quick text to Thompson, I let him know I'd wait for him at the college auditorium. Let him worry about getting us back to the hotel.
I hadn't been paying attention while I chased the bad guy, but I vaguely knew the way back to the university. Lost in my own thoughts, I made my way street after street of closed shops without so much as a glance.
The Governor's Ball would be held in two days time. I don't know why, but I had a feeling that if we didn't get the situation under control, Greer wouldn't live through it. For the fiftieth time, I wished the stubborn ass would just cancel the damn thing. Didn't he know he had a death warrant out there on him and he'd signed his own name on it? In a fit of frustration I punched the corner of the building I was rounding and felt a little guilty when a large chunk of concrete shattered into dust. I looked around, but the streets seemed to be deserted, too deserted.
The hair on my neck rose as a feeling of oh shit washed over me. I put my back against the wall and listened. I couldn't hear anything, but I could feel something very, very wrong. I sidled along the length of the building and peered around the next corner. The trouble I felt stood in the middle of the street. He looked ordinary enough, except for the extremely long curls of blond perfectness flowing over his shoulders. I'd seen him only briefly, but every detail of him had been almost burned into my brain. I'd been trained to remember details of everything and everyone around me, but the way the scene around the corner etched itself into my head had a completely different quality.
"Come out, little one." The timbre of his voice slithered over my skin and settled into my limbs. I could feel it forcing my legs to walk and propel me around the corner to him. I closed my eyes and fought with everything I had. It didn't work, not even a little. Not only did my limbs refuse to obey, but they told me to shut the fuck up and do what I was told.
The closer I got to him, the more I could feel his power. I found myself staring at not only his hair, but everything else about him as well. He wasn't pale like a vampire, but he wasn't tan either. He simply had perfect porcelain skin. He definitely didn't look undead. "Who are you?" It took me a few tries to find my voice.
He smiled and stepped closer when my legs stopped propelling me into his presence. I expected him to strike and finish me off as I stood powerless before him, but all he did was walk a circle around me, taking in every inch with his eyes. I knew, because I could feel his gaze on my skin, soft and warm. I shuddered when he finally made his way to my front again.
"We are cousins, you and I, Ashlyn. My name is Raphael. I simply wished to meet the creature I have been hearing so very much about the past few years." He didn't use his commanding voice, the voice that made me do things against my will, but every word he spoke sent a chill up my spine. I was a predator of predators, but I knew without a doubt, if Raphael wanted me dead he would have little or no trouble making it happen. I smelled my own fear before he did.
"What do you want?" I tried to sound as brave as I could. My voice didn't crack, but it was more than a little shaky.
He didn't respond, but he did close the last step separating us. He gave me the tiniest of smiles and raised his hand, slowly sliding his knuckles along my cheek. The gesture made me shiver in its intimacy, and at the same time made my stomach slowly turn inside me. He flexed his index finger and trailed that back up my jaw and over the arch of my brow until it settled on the spot right above the bridge of my nose. The slow build of power sent tingles throughout my head. "Miraculous," he said under his breath as the world began to fade away and then burst in a flash of light.
* * *
I stood on a field of stone as the red clouds above rolled without spilling a drop of rain, and yet showered the tattered landscape below with bolts of yellow lightning. The thunder echoed, but the whole scene sounded as if the entire realm had been made of thin metal. There were echoes where there shouldn't have been and the sounds of battle had a sharper quality than should have come from the ring of sword on sword, and sword on flesh.
I looked down, seeing I wore a shift of the thinnest linen of white. The sun broke through the clouds and beat down from above, yet did not burn. In awe I looked up and for the first time in my life I gazed fully on its fiery brilliance. I knew our sun burned bright yellow, but the one above burned fiery red. Not knowing if I would ever experience it again, I held out my arms and let its warmth flow over my arms and face.
An anguished cry stole my attention from the sky. Below me on the plain a battle raged the likes of which had never been witnessed before by
man or monster. Men the size of giants fought hand-to-hand combat with magnificent swords made entirely out of fire and light. They stood twelve feet tall and as they fought, they utterly devastated the landscape around them. Furrows formed in the dry soil from the sliding of their enormous sandaled feet as they wrestled and fought. I couldn't see as much as feel that those scars in the earth would never heal. Brother fought brother in a war that should never have been. Its very existence threatened the balance of nature itself.
Two of the giants closest to me fought ferociously. They didn't see my approach as walked toward them. How could they? I stood barely to the waist of the shortest of them. I looked up and saw his face. Raphael swung his sword in a downward arc that his foe blocked with a blade of blackened night. Raphael's blade sank into the earth at my feet and both men stopped fighting to stare at the creature below them. The one holding the blade of fiery night placed the tip of his sword into the ground and stopped fighting to gaze at me.
"What do we have here, cousin?" The one I didn't know looked at Raphael.
"I think she might be one of yours, Asmodeus. She smells like you!"
"This might be the one who causes me so much distress so many years from now. I wish I could dispatch her now and be done with it. What say you, daughter? Would you take your own life and save your father some trouble?"
I shook my head and started backing up, one step at a time. "Father," echoed in my head like the metallic thunder around me. I could feel the panic-stricken look on my face as he started to laugh.
I watched wings sprout from both of their backs, Raphael's pure in their whiteness, and Asmodeus' so black, they sucked the light from around them. Raphael said something in a language I'd never heard before. It reminded me of someone singing pure tones of different pitches. Asmodeus understood and let out a discordant bleat in the upper register. The feathers of his wings started to fall with the grace of autumnal leaves from a tree. I expected to see what looked like a featherless bird wing, but stripped from its downy plumage, the wing resembled the stretched skin of a bat wing. His perfect teeth darkened and his canines started to elongate into a fang curved the shape of a sickle. A fang just like mine.