It was the banshee’s cry. The same sonic cataclysm that had cracked the stone walls of the Great House. Yet, not exactly the same. The first scream, though deadly, had had a sense of purpose and beauty woven into its destructive chords. This second cry held nothing but madness and fury, hatred and death.
A sudden stab of fear chilled Shufah’s heart. Suhail wasn’t just devouring his prey, he was absorbing them. Adding their powers to his own. She didn’t know how many Divine Vampires still existed in the world, but right now, only one mattered.
Jerusa.
The leader of the humans mistook the vampires’ looks of concern. “Bunker busters. Three of them. There’s nothing but an enormous crater where that big ol’ house was.” A hint of a southern drawl curled around the edges of his words.
Shufah turned to face him and was pleased to see that he met her gaze without fear. “I’m sorry to say that you failed. My brother is still alive.”
The man’s dark eyes never faltered. “I know. He wasn’t our target. Frankly, he’s beyond our specialized capabilities. The house, however, along with the caverns below, held too many places for savages to hide. Rather than attempt a sweep, and risk any more of my team, we decided it best to just nuke the bastards.”
“Nuke?” Taos asked with a hint of pleasure.
The man shrugged and flashed a charming smile. “Poetic licensing. Nothing nuclear. Just an incendiary gel somewhat akin to napalm. Nasty stuff, but it gets the job done.”
Shufah saw the same question that flooded her mind, perched upon the faces of her friends. “You seem to know an awful lot about vampires and savages. You’re not the Light Bearers, or the Zealots. So, who are you?”
The man flashed another charming smile, and Shufah couldn’t help but think what a fantastic vampire he would make.
“All in good time, but first, let’s put a few hundred miles between us and your brother. I don’t think he can reach us at this speed or distance, but I’d rather not take the chance.”
Shufah agreed to wait, but she had so many questions swirling inside her head that they threatened to burst through the back of her teeth.
She watched the highly organized humans with a wary hope. They were unlike any she had encountered before. She had met many wonderful, sensitive, intelligent and inspiring mortals over the years, but in her experience, the larger the group of humans, the more decayed their humanity became.
This group seemed so vastly different, so much more in tune with one another, that she almost believed them to be a different species. Still, she would be on guard. A quick glance to the others warned them to do just the same.
The HIP veered to the west, and they continued on for another hour. The sun had started its decent, but still reigned firm in the sky when the thundering engines throttled back. Their pace slowed, and they started their descent back to the earth.
The helicopter touched down with the gentle grace of a bird. The humans closed their computers, stood to their feet and began gathering their weapons and gear without speaking a word.
The team leader approached Shufah. “This is where we get out. We stole this ride, and I’m afraid the Russians want it back. We need to ditch it before the Rooskies can track us any further. The sun’s still up, as I’m sure you’re aware, so if you’ll put the blackout blankets back on, we’ll open the door and move to a quieter location.”
Once the vampires were back under their reflective shrouds, the HIP’s door slid open with a hiss and a bang. Cool air rushed in—nowhere near as freezing as when they had taken off—and the roar of the propellers muffled their hearing.
The humans, once again, surrounded them without even an ounce of concern that the blood drinkers might make a meal out of them. They shuffled forward, guiding the vampires from the HIP, across a field of tall grass, then through a narrow doorway.
A heavy wooden door slammed shut, and a crossbeam dropped into place. The HIP rose into the air and quickly vanished.
“We’re contained,” the team leader said. “No UV. You can take the coverings off now.”
The vampires doffed the blackout blankets and found themselves inside a small log cabin made of rough-cut timbers. The floor space was only four hundred square feet, with one door—the crossbeam barring the door was a smaller version of what made up the walls—and there were no windows. The concrete floor was gray-green, rough and uneven. The ceiling was open, nothing more than the underside of the low-pitched roof, with a single unshielded light bulb hanging from the exposed center rafter.
The team leader shrugged. “It’s not the Hilton, but it’ll do til sundown. Don’t worry; my team is guarding the perimeter.”
He set his gear on the floor, and then sat down cross-legged, as did the other four humans—three men and one woman—who had escorted them into the cabin. The vampires sat on the floor, their backs against the wall opposite the humans.
“I know you have a lot of questions,” the man said after an awkward moment of silence. “I’ll answer what I can, but I’m afraid that it may be fewer than you wish.”
“Do you know how foolish it is to lock yourselves inside this room with us?” Shufah asked. “We can smell the terror in your perspiration. Feel it in the wild thrumming of your hearts.”
The man flashed another charming, yet nervous smile. “Not the first question I was expecting, but okay. Foolish? Yes. Are we terrified? Also, yes. But fear doesn’t relieve one of their duty.”
“Duty is a hollow concept in the grave,” Shufah answered. She didn’t mean to be so coarse with the man, but her head still ached, and the scents of the humans were riling the predator within her.
“My team has this place surrounded, and I suppose, if you were to exsanguinate us, it would force them to blow open the walls and spread a little daylight around. But I doubt either of our teams will indulge in such rude behavior.” The southern drawl made another appearance.
“That will depend on how you answer my questions.”
“Fair enough. Let’s begin.”
“Who are you?”
The man placed both hands upon his chest. “Me, personally? Or my team? This is a two-fer, but I’ll let it slide this time.”
Shufah didn’t smile at his joke, but she was quickly moving from intrigued to fascinated.
“Most people call me Rian. As for who we are, well, in certain circles, we’re known as The Round Table. But my specific team is but an offshoot of that noble tree. This smaller bough—my branch, if you will—is known as Lamorak. Named for—”
“Sir Lamorak,” Shufah interrupted. “We know the stories of Arthur and his knights. How many other knights comprise your round table?”
“Thirteen. That’s counting ourselves, and team Arthur, of course. Each team is responsible for certain regions. This just happens to be our little neck of the woods.”
Shufah didn’t much care for the way Rian kept emphasizing certain words, such as “circles” and “regions”. He hinted at greater mysteries, almost goading her into asking for clarification. But Shufah had had her fill of mysteries, and she didn’t feel much like playing games.
“How do you know about us? And how did you come to be at the Ice Sanctuary just when we needed an escape?”
Rian brought one leg up and laced his fingers together over his knee. “Lamorak has been aware of vampires since forever. No pun intended. How we came about this knowledge is a long, boring story. I’ll spare you the banality. We’ve been attempting to monitor your specific situation, but I hafta admit, you’re a bit of a nightmare to track. The Divine Vampires and those mutations the Light Bearers created, though, are impossible to keep a lock on. Savages, however, have been easier of late. At least, the ones your brother hid away. As for how we were at that frozen mansion just when you needed us… coincidence.”
Shufah’s face flushed hot, but she kept the emotion out of her face. None of the other vampires spoke, allowing her to direct this conversation where she wished, and for that, she was thankful. She
could always count on the Furies and Celeste for discretion, but Taos and Thad were always wild cards.
“Coincidence,” she repeated, thinly veiling her disbelief of that statement. “So you were only at the Ice Sanctuary because you’ve been hunting savages?”
Rian gave a little noncommittal shrug. “Yes. We’ve been doing a city by city sweep, looking for the savages your brother hid away. They’re almost always deposited at the center of a large populace. As you know, they are involuntarily fixed to whatever hole they’re inhabiting, even when we barbecue their twice-dead hides. Makes our job so much easier.”
“But the savages beneath the Ice Sanctuary differ from the ones Suhail has created. Care to explain how hunting the static savages brought you to the Great House?”
Rian leaned forward a bit. “It doesn’t really matter why we were there. Does it? You needed help, and we could assist. Must you have all the answers in order to trust us? Not all groups of well-financed, super-organized humans are working toward some self-serving nefarious purpose.”
“So, what purpose are you working toward?”
“Right the wrongs. Is that so unbelievable?”
Shufah’s face broke with a tiny smile. “I’ll get back to you on that one.” The next few questions seemed to bring a deeper chill to the cabin. “Do you know about Suhail? About what he has become?”
Rian’s dark eyes fixed on her, but seemed suddenly far away. “We saw your brother once before, from a distance, when he was still just a savage. We’ve a vague understanding of what he’s become, but we’ve no idea how he and the other creature managed to fuse.”
There was no deceit in his eyes. Shufah asked her next question. “We met a man about six months ago. This man used the Zealots to help my brother hide his army of savages. By all counts, he seemed to be just any other mortal. More cunning, perhaps, but normal.”
“But he wasn’t, was he?” Rian’s eyes glimmered as a man’s does when he stumbles upon a treasure.
“I’ve met many strange mortals in my long life.” She thought of the Necromancer, but the air of magic and mystery brewing inside the small cabin caused her to keep silent on that viper. “But the closer we came to this man, the less any of us were sure that he was human. More like he was—”
“—wearing a disguise,” Rian finished for her. The other vampires tensed around her, and her back broke out in goosebumps. “What did this man look like?” he asked.
“Upon the left side of his face, from hairline to jaw, was a birthmark. Or maybe a scar. Red, like a fresh burn.”
Rian shot a quick glance at the other humans. They returned the look of concern, but said nothing. Rian returned his gaze to her, his mouth pressed tight, and for a moment, she didn’t think he would say what he was thinking. He had the look of a man in a strait with dangers on both ends, trying to decide which would deal him the less painful death.
At last, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The man you’re talking about sometimes goes by the name Uriah.”
“Who is he? What is he?”
“Would you believe me if I said the devil himself?” Rian asked this with a wry smile, but the vampires didn’t smile back. “He’s a traveler. A troublemaker. Someone not to be taken lightly. The Round Table has crossed his path a time or two. Other knights, that is. This’ll be a first for Lamorak. Is he still here, or has he moved on?”
“I don’t know,” Shufah said. “But I think he’s responsible for what my brother has become.”
“How do you know?”
“I’m a vampire and a woman. I have great intuition.” Rian made a small but pleasant laugh. Shufah had one more question. This one troubled her more than any other because it could throw into motion everything she once believed to be immovable. “When you say, Uriah is a traveler, you mean he’s traveled here from another world, don’t you?”
Rian’s eyes were miniature black holes, devouring the light of the single lightbulb. “Another world. A parallel universe. An alternate dimension. They all amount to the same thing, but yes.”
“Are The Round Table from another world?”
Rian’s face became grave, and Shufah’s grasp on reality slipped a notch.
Chapter Twelve
“The Knights of the Round Table have been known to travel,” Rian said just a notch above a whisper. “Like I said, we go where we are needed.”
This man, who, thus far, held an uncanny steadiness in the presence of the vampires, now shifted side to side with discomfort.
“Are there any other knights, other than Lamorak, in our world?”
“Unfortunately, no. A lot of places need a lot of help. We assist in only the most dire of situations. We’ll do what we can to help you, but we came late to the party, and now…”
“You already told us. Suhail is beyond your power,” Shufah said, unable to keep the disappointment from spilling out. “So, if you can’t help us destroy Suhail, what do you plan to do?”
Rian stood to his feet. He stretched his back, his spine popping. “We’ll continue to do what we have been doing. Hunt down the pockets of static savages. Minimize the damage should Suhail find a way to reconnect with his army. I’m sorry, but for now, it’s the best we can do. We’ll call you if we come up with something better.”
Shufah rose to her feet, as did the other vampires. “Call me? How do you plan on doing that?”
Rian’s charming smile returned. “My team infiltrated your cell phones. Nothing too invasive. I hope you don’t mind. We have your numbers, and now, you have ours.”
“You’re leaving?”
“We won’t go far. Call us if you need us.” He pointed at the blackout cloths piled upon the floor. “I apologize, but you’ll need to put those back on, just for a few minutes. We’ll keep the perimeter of this shack until nightfall.” He went to the door and pulled the rough-cut beam from its holders. “It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Thank you for not feeding on us.”
The vampires couldn’t help but smile. Even the Furies yielded to his charm. Shufah wasn’t sure if she fully trusted Rian or his Knights, but she found it terribly hard not to like him.
“Thank you for the ride,” Shufah said with a tiny bow. “Be careful out there.”
Rian and his team waited until the vampires were safely beneath the reflective cloths before they exited. There came no sound of a returning helicopter, or any other motorized vehicle. Shufah listened to five human hearts arguing just outside the cabin walls, and then, with no explanation, they were just gone.
The vampires removed the cloths and stood in awed silence for a moment, looking from one to another.
Finally, Taos threw up his hands. “I don’t wanna know. There’s a couple more hours til dark. If you need me, I’ll be sleeping in the corner.”
Shufah wanted to stop him. There were important things to discuss, but the weight of the sun pressed heavily upon her, and it had been a long, grueling day. A little sleep might give her the clarity she needed.
After re-barring the door, the vampires nestled in the four corners of the shack. Taos and Celeste in one, the Furies in another, with Shufah and Thad each taking a corner for themselves.
Sleep came fast, like the shockwave of a bomb, knocking Shufah off the steady perch of consciousness, and down into the bottomless pit. She drifted in the dark void, not thinking of her brother, or of savages, or even of Jerusa. She dreamed of Foster, and felt sublimely at peace.
Shufah awoke a half hour after sunset. The Furies were already awake. The four women sat in comfortable silence until the younger vampires awoke.
Celeste woke about an hour later, and then Taos twenty minutes after her. Last, of course, was Thad, who, much like a mortal child, needed all the rest he could get.
Sleep had done them a bit of good, but not as much as Shufah had hoped. Blood would cover the gap. Thad especially needed to feed. The pain of thirst was visible on his face. But blood would have to come later.
Shufah motioned f
or them to gather in close. “Confusing times have come. Our path has been altered, and if we don’t regain our compass, we hold no hope of survival. I believe each of us holds a piece of this puzzle, and we must try to make sense of it. Tell me, what did you see?”
Celeste spoke first. “Suhail is absorbing the abilities of those he devours. He used telekinesis to collapse the walls of the stairwell. He also used telepathy to speak to the savage augurs. My guess is, he can also conjure fire… and more.”
Shufah remembered the demonic scream that bellowed from the Great House after The Round Table bombed it into oblivion. It had come from her brother, but it was the tormented voice of the Divine, Augustus.
“Suhail doesn’t want the Watchtower so they’ll help him activate the savages. He wants to absorb the Watchtower. Releasing his army may no longer be on his agenda.” A fearful smile broke on Celeste’s face. “I think I know where the Watchtower are. Suhail himself told me, though he probably didn’t realize it.”
“The vision,” Shufah said.
Celeste nodded. “Suhail confirmed what I’ve believed all along. The vision came from the Dwarf. Sebastian wanted me to see three fixed spots on that map. I think the High Council split the Watchtower into three, both to protect them but also to weaken them.”
“That gives us a slight advantage,” Shufah said. “We may still be able to destroy the Watchtower before Suhail absorbs them. But that still doesn’t solve the problem of Suhail himself. What else do we know?”
Tisiphone spoke next. Her face pinched with emotion, mirrored perfectly by the faces of Alecto and Megaera. “We three have dreamt for centuries of storming the Ice Sanctuary. To reclaim what Marjek ripped from us.”
Thad shifted side to side, his eyes, rimmed with blood tears, focused intently on his clenched fists resting upon his lap. Shufah knew of what the Furies spoke of, but Thad—who had spent an agonizing time imprisoned in the Ice Sanctuary—had seen it.
The Savage Vampire (The Perpetual Creatures Saga Book 5) Page 13