The flight was mostly silent, usually Lisa and I would be chattering when together, but not with Ceara around and while she was on duty. She was almost like a different person then.
I was also thirsty, and craved blood, I’d have to take care of that soon. It felt like I’d just had some, but that was Saturday. It wasn’t too bad though, I knew I wouldn’t start losing it until the third day, and even then I’d managed not to do anything stupid.
Maybe the pilot? He was in his mid-thirties, and in shape. After we landed of course, putting a pilot in a trance seemed like a singularly bad idea.
I put my seat back and closed my eyes, I should catch another hour or so if I could. I was tired after two nights in a row of just four hours sleep. At first I didn’t think it would work, but the drone of the engine, and the slight vibration of the plane put me out…
It was only after I’d fed, and stepped away from the bulge that was against my stomach, that I realized this was the first time I’d fed in front of an audience. I told him to forget it and get on with his day, and felt a little sheepish but not embarrassed. At least I’d stopped wrapping myself around my snacks like a cat in heat, that would have been horribly embarrassing.
Still, it’d felt incredible, and despite just waking up, my whole body tingled with energy and the memory of the pleasure I’d just felt.
Ceara asked, “Still every two days?”
“Yes, that seems to be the trend, I actually start feeling a bit thirsty after thirty-six hours. It’s worth the extra trouble though, to be as fast as a fifty-year-old.”
She looked curious, “I wonder if that will taper off, or if you’ll just continue to grow faster, and keep a two-day schedule.”
“What do you mean?”
She shrugged, “Normally a baby vamp starts to feed once a week at six months or so, perhaps in that time you’ll still feed every two days, but have the power of a hundred-year-old? I’m just curious, you’re something new which isn’t very common at my age.”
I’d have to wait to find out, six months felt incredibly far away. I supposed it was possible though.
We moved for the exit, and there was a car waiting for us as we got out. Lisa and I got in the back seat, and Ceara sat in the front. The driver was a vampire, and I put him a little over four hundred by his aura.
Ceara said, “This is Raymond, Sherry’s head enforcer. Raymond, this is Lisa my head enforcer, and Miku.”
When he turned around, I recognized him from one of the video clips we’d been shown this morning. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and as was usual for vampires, quite attractive.
Raymond smiled genuinely, “Nice to meet you.”
He turned back around and started to drive.
“It’s been a while Ceara, ten years?”
Ceara replied, “Twelve I think. Everything going well?”
Raymond nodded, “Couldn’t be better, so are you here to try and talk her into it in person?”
Ceara chuckled, “Something like that, yes.”
It was kind of a surprise, he had no suspicions at all we were here for the videos, and seemed entirely happy to see Ceara here. There was no fear or suspicion in him that I could detect. There was definitely something strange going on, but I held back my curiosity and didn’t read him yet. Apparently Ceara wanted to get a feel for things first.
I was more than okay with that, the less I had to read people the better, especially if they might become friends. I wasn’t getting any bad vibes off of Raymond at all. I did start to thread his magic with my spirit power though, so I’d be ready if it became necessary. Chances were, that it would be him I’d have to read, if Sherry was twelve hundred her magic would keep me out.
He was only four hundred, but I was surprised at how easy it was. It only took me seconds.
I still wasn’t used to my stronger abilities yet. Four hundred used to be a struggle, just four days ago, but now it was eight hundred or so that was a struggle.
Raymond replied, “I wouldn’t put any money down on you succeeding, but Sherry was pleasantly surprised you were coming for a visit. She’s told me more than a few stories.”
Ceara raised her eyebrow, “Stories?”
Raymond snickered, “Just a few, from a thousand years ago or so.”
Ceara replied archly, “Sherry talks too much.”
Raymond just laughed again, seemingly completely at ease with the ancient vampire. The rest of the trip Lisa and I exchanged startled glances as Raymond just short of flirted with the vampire matriarch. Those must have been some stories.
The Dallas coven house turned out to be a mansion just to the north of the city itself in a nice part of town. It was damned hot out as I opened the door, but high and low temperatures didn’t faze vampires all that much, the air magic would prevent both heat exhaustion or frost bite within reason.
Still, it was like breathing soup.
A quick count told me there were just nineteen vampires here, so the coven might be smaller here than in Seattle. I imagined some of them might be out at work though, it was right around eleven in the daytime. Eighteen of them were all below three hundred, with half of those being a hundred or less. The other of course was Sherry, who was quite a bit older.
Raymond looked at us all and narrowed his eyes.
“No sunglasses?”
Ceara replied, “Sports contacts. They’re non-prescription tinted contacts for sports. Apparently the theory is they won’t fog up from sweat, or be in danger of falling off in extreme or contact sports.”
He nodded thoughtfully, “That’s cool, I’ll have to check it out.”
I smiled, spirit sorceress and trend setter for the vampire world. I shook my head, amused at my own thought.
We followed Raymond into the mansion, which actually had a two story entry room, with double stairs and an open sided second floor hallway. The place was pretty nice actually. Not that big of a surprise, vampires tended to accumulate a lot of money, especially the older ones.
The most startling thought, was that I probably had enough cash to buy it.
There were four security vampires in the entry room, but they ignored us as their boss led us into the hallway between the split stairs toward the back of the house. We entered a fairly large room, maybe twenty by thirty, which was part library, part study, and part lounge.
There were several bookcases full of books along the back wall, and some four foot stacks as well in front of it. To the right there was a large oak desk, with a luxurious looking leather chair behind it, and a few slightly less nice chairs in front of it for visitors. To the left there were two black leather couches, a loveseat, and a coffee table. Against the wall behind the couches, was a sideboard with various drinks and liqueurs on display.
Sherry herself sat on the loveseat, and stood as we entered. She looked just like she had in the video, except not at all crazy. She had long dark brown hair, wide brown eyes, and looked elegant in a dark red skirt suit, and black high heels.
She smiled at Ceara rather openly, like greeting family.
It was definitely the weirdest rogue hunt I’d ever been on. Granted, there’d only been a handful for me so far, but it was rather creepy in a way. Another exchanged glance with Lisa told me she was on the same page.
Sherry said, “Ceara, it’s wonderful to see you. Come in and sit down.”
Then the woman moved forward and gave Ceara a hug, and a chaste kiss on the cheek as if greeting a favorite relative.
Ceara replied, “it’s good to see you too Sherry, let’s sit and talk.”
We all moved toward the couches, but Lisa and I didn’t sit, and neither did Raymond. Instead we took places behind our charges, which was ridiculous. Since either Sherry or Ceara could have killed the three of us easier than polishing their nails. Plus, with the tenets all I could do was read and pass information, I couldn’t actually defend her without being asked, or being directly attacked myself.
So it was just as well that wasn’t why I was
there. Still, appearances demanded I acted like a guard, so that’s what I did.
Sherry looked uncomfortable for a moment.
“I know why you’re here, but I’m afraid my answer won’t change just because you ask it in person. My coven is my life.”
Ceara said, “Actually, I’m here because of the videos of your coven feeding, I’m concerned.”
Sherry laughed, “What for? Humans are foolish and weak, they’ll never figure it out, and even if they did we could just finally rule them.”
Ceara froze in actual shock, and I guessed those words and opinions were not normal to her friend.
“That isn’t like you, and it isn’t acceptable. What is going on here?”
Wasn’t that why I was here? To find that out? Maybe Ceara didn’t want me to read those she considered friends either, and hoped that it wouldn’t be necessary.
Sherry replied, “I’m sorry Ceara, the old regime has fallen, and it’s past time to take the vampires toward a glorious future.”
What she’d said was absurd, crazy, and sounded wrong coming out of her mouth, like she’d been programmed.
I didn’t quite see what happened next, but I felt the slight breeze from the movement. One moment they sat across from each other smiling, and the next Ceara held Sharon in a strangle hold, on the couch Ceara sat on. I can only assume that Sharon attacked first. Sharon’s fangs were out, and she was hissing in anger.
Raymond came towards me like a blur. At four hundred I wouldn’t be able to take him in hand to hand, he was too fast and not even better training would have sufficed to make up for it.
Still, I had my spirit magic, and I released lightning into him as he punched me in the chest. I held the intent to knock out and not kill, so he collapsed at the same time I flew back into the wall. It also saved my life, I had the feeling if my lightning hadn’t hit him and stole some of his momentum, his fist would have hit hard enough to go right through my chest.
My head rang from hitting the wall so hard, and my chest felt like an elephant sat on it. I fed a little spirit magic to my own soul, to speed up my vampire healing.
Lisa was next to me a moment later, holding me up.
“Are you alright?”
I nodded, “I think so yes.”
It hurt a lot, but I’d get over it.
We looked over at Ceara, who looked calm but determined as Sherry’s struggles grew weaker, and then she finally passed out.
Ceara sighed, “I should have had you read Raymond right away, but I hoped to avoid it. Could you find out what the hell is going on here?”
Lisa shuddered, “It’s like the Stepford vampires or something.”
I giggled, and then felt a stab of pain through my chest.
“Damnit Lisa, don’t make me laugh.”
She shot me a guilty look, and then helped me over to the loveseat. I winced in pain when I sat, but it seemed fine, as long as I didn’t breathe too deeply. Breathing was overrated anyway.
“Just give me a second,” I said a little breathlessly, as I thickened the tendril of spirit magic I’d had threaded through Raymond’s air magic.
Then I read him, leaned forward, and dry heaved. It felt like my chest was being ripped apart as all my muscles contracted. Soul memories didn’t usually affect me that badly, even ones as bad as what I’d just seen, but I was feeling rather delicate from the injury.
Thank Inari my vampire stomach already absorbed the blood. I made a face at the taste of bile and stomach acid though.
Lisa walked over to the sideboard, and opened the bottom cabinets until she found a bottle of water, and she brought it over to me.
“Thanks Lisa,” I said gratefully as I took a sip.
I really needed a toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash, but it was better than nothing. After a few sips, I reported what I’d learned.
“A young air sorcerer, named Chris, moved into the coven two weeks ago. He’s an evil little prick.”
Air sorcerers had all the same abilities as the vampire gifts, but much stronger. The soul spell and air magic gave us our gifts, but air sorcerers could actually command the air magic itself. So they could be fast when they wanted, they could heal very quickly, and worse of all, they could mesmerize and control minds, even restructure the way a person thought, all without needing eye contact like a vampire did.
The only thing an air sorcerer would need to connect to another’s mind, would be for his victim to be in range of his own magical reach. Much the same way as I could read a soul from a mile away.
They could do a lot more than that as well, but I wasn’t sure what yet, I hadn’t ever read one. I just had Raymond’s memories to go off of.
“He basically turned the coven into his slaves, and he… played with them. I don’t think he could be much older than twenty or so, at least that was the impression Raymond had. Once he’d gone through all the women at least once, he set it up so they’d make the videos, and tweaked their minds so that they’d believe vampires could rule the world. He’s… puerile, a child drunk on power. Raymond has no memories that indicate where the air sorcerer went next.”
Ceara asked coldly, “Can you fix them, their minds?”
I shuddered, I wasn’t sure they’d even want those memories back, especially the women. He hadn’t just raped them, he’d terrorized them and left their minds helpless and fully aware as he stole their will.
Then again, if they couldn’t be restored to who they were, Ceara would have to kill them all. I knew that’s what she was really asking me, did she have to kill them all. Despite her cold face, or maybe because of it, I knew killing one of her good friends would hurt her a lot.
After all, I had the stories Raymond knew now too, and Ceara and Sherry were truly sisters in a lot of ways. They’d spent a couple a hundred years together travelling through Europe and Asia in the ninth century. I was fairly sure the council hadn’t even existed at that time.
Which was probably a good thing, since they’d gotten up to a lot of mischief.
“It would take an air sorcerer, or maybe a witch to truly undo his changes. I could try something, but it might drive them insane.”
The soul was never affected by mind or air magic, everything I’d read in Raymond had really happened. I was barred by the tenets not to reveal past life memories to the living, but there were no rules against sharing soul memories of a living person’s current life. I could essentially pour all their original and uncorrupted memories and thought processes into their minds.
The problem was, if I did that they would have majorly conflicting thought processes and memories at the same time.
Just restoring Raymond’s normal thoughts and processes wouldn’t erase what the air sorcerer had twisted and essentially added to who they were. They wouldn’t be able to tell which memories were right or wrong either. It would most likely just make them nuts.
Spirit magic couldn’t directly affect the physical mind, but the soul was connected to the body, and I could have the soul pour the memories through that connection. Much how I read others and the spirit magic passed the memories to my mind.
Lastly, I wouldn’t be able to help Sherry at all, her air power was too strong to thread no matter how long I worked at it. Not without help anyway.
Ceara asked, “A witch?”
“If a witch can remove what that sadistic bastard did, I can restore their true memories. As far as Sherry goes, maybe a witch could suppress her power? Like what happened to us at the warehouse I mean. Otherwise I can’t do anything for her.”
Ceara frowned at the unwelcome reminder, but then nodded, “First things first, we need to get them all locked up. Their jail will be crowded. Can you do anything? I don’t want to accidentally kill any of them.”
They were all fairly young, the rest of them I mean. I connected with all the souls and used spirit manipulation. It was too hard to use in a fight, but just standing around the vampires wouldn’t feel anything until it was too late. It wasn’t hard to
make them all snooze, and it just took a few moments. It actually went a lot faster than it had in the past, given my new mile reach.
“They’re all asleep, you don’t mind if I sit here for a while do you?”
I’d started to heal, but my chest was still in a lot of pain. I didn’t want to move around all that much, and just the thought of picking up an unconscious vampire sent twinges of pain through my chest. I was glad Jared wasn’t around to see this.
Lisa snickered, “I’ll handle it,”
Lisa grabbed Sherry and Raymond, and left to gather them all in the jail at vampire speed.
I felt her, or rather her soul, move around the house at high speed, and could tell their lock up must be in the basement, she made over ten trips down there before she came back, all in a minute or two.
I still couldn’t decide what was worse, a coven of rogues, or a coven of victims. Even if I restored their memories, it would take a long time for them to work through what was done to them…
Chapter Eleven
Ceara pulled out her cell phone and started making phone calls while I slowly sipped the rest of my water.
I could practically feel myself healing, while I listened to the calls.
She got in touch with both Melody and Tina, who would apparently be coming down tomorrow. Finally, she hung up and put away the phone.
“Isn’t there a local witch?”
Ceara nodded, “But none I trust with Sherry or her coven. They’re too vulnerable right now. We’ll have to stay the night tonight, there are seven more in the coven we’ll have to take down when they get back to the coven house. Luckily, they don’t run any bars or clubs down here. Hopefully, none of them will be missed.”
I nodded, that would have made things a lot more complicated, or at least, we’d have had to keep the businesses closed for a day.
Lisa shrugged, “Pizza and Netflix?”
I laughed, and then groaned when the pain tore at me, “Damn you Lisa.”
Lisa looked guiltily at me again, but I could tell she was trying not to laugh.
Ceara said, “That’s sounds fine, they have a media room across the hall with a wall sized screen. If I know Sherry the local pizza place should be in her speed dial.”
Sorcerous Rogue: Spirit Sorceress: Book 3 Page 6