by MJ Kraus
Like many other areas of the city that were controlled by certain clans or species the sanctuary had its fair share of normals that passed through on a daily basis. Wards, telepathic repellents and glamour spells kept some of the areas hidden from most normals, though, ensuring that events like a multi-clan vampire meeting could be held in secret without worrying about a couple wandering in.
As I ran down towards the grotto I could feel the defenses pushing me away but I swatted back at them, pushing them aside to continue forward. In their absence I could feel the intensity of the magical energy again. I had never felt so much energy packed into such a small area before and it was overwhelming to say the least. It blasted out from grotto in waves, each one bringing with it new tastes, sensations and emotions.
At first I wasn’t sure why the energy was coming in waves or why they felt like they did, but as I concentrated on them I realized with no small amount of horror what I was experiencing. Each wave was the energy of another person whose life force had been harvested at the bleed farms. The sum of their fears and horror and pain and suffering at the moment of their death was bound up into the death magic of the book. As the magic built and compounded upon itself I started to feel overwhelmed and pushed it as far from my mind as I could.
Refocusing on the task at hand I slowed to a walk as I entered the grotto. The trees pulled back as I stepped onto the edge of the clearing and I crouched down to take in the full scene. A short stone altar was set up next to a small spring that bubbled away off towards a nearby pond. A ring of brown grass several feet across surrounded the altar, though the rest of the grotto was covered with layers of soft green grass and ferns. As each wave of magic exploded from the grotto the ring of dead grass grew wider. Even the trees around the area seemed to wilt and wither in response to the magic despite the fact that it wasn’t directed at them.
Kneeling in front of the altar was a tall, slender man dressed in black robes. His arms and hands rested on the stone slab and in his hands rested the book. His back was turned to me but I could still hear his whispers as he read from the book, accompanying each name and verse with a phrase in some ancient vampire tongue. Each time he finished a conjuration he paused to let the blast of magic race outward from the book before resuming with the next line.
From my position behind the man it looked like he was halfway through the book and I checked my watch. Five minutes. Damn!
As I stood up, I felt several hands grabbing at me from behind. They pushed me forward and I tumbled down the slight incline, rolling head over heels until I came to rest next to the altar. The man at the alter turned to look at me and raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“A visitor? How delightful.” He looked back at the booth with a smile and read off the next name and spell before turning his head toward me again. “I am surprised that I didn’t sense you, though.”
A stabbing pain lanced through my body as he murmured a series of words in vampire tongue at me. I had been halfway through standing up when his spell hit me and I dropped back down, grabbing at the edge of the altar for support. “Yeah?” I gasped through the pain. “Sorry to disappoint you there, old man.”
The elder spoke another line before addressing me again. “Why are you here, boy? I know you are the one who took my book. I’d recognize your stench anywhere after having to scrub it off of the cover and pages.”
“Oh, you know.” I pulled myself to my knees and took several deep breaths. “Out for a stroll on a lovely afternoon. How about you? What are you up to? Killing innocents? Organizing bleed farms? Kidnapping babies? That sort of thing?”
The elder spoke another line before turning fully towards me. He was dressed in a three-piece suit with an immaculately arranged tie, had slicked back hair and was wearing enough aftershave to drown an elephant. His face was that of a sixty-year-old man, though the deep creases around his eyes and the blackness surrounding his irises spoke to his true age. His accent was virtually nonexistent and his teeth were perfectly white, though when he spoke he was careful to keep his fangs concealed.
“You know who I am?”
I shrugged and looked around. The group of vamps that had pushed me down from where I had been near the trees was a few feet behind me. They were watching me carefully, making escape impossible. “Not particularly. I heard you were going to do some bad stuff, though. Killing a bunch of people. That sort of thing.” Two minutes.
“Are you here to stop me?”
“Would it matter if I was?” That response elicited a chortle from the elder and he smiled as he read his next line.
“Boy, I’m not certain you do know who and what you’re dealing with here. Who are you, anyway?”
The fact that the elder didn’t recognize me was a point in my favor, though I didn’t really have a reason for why he would have recognized me in the first place. I kept out of the limelight on purpose and having an elder vampire not know me was extremely encouraging.
My reaction, of course, was less than encouraging. “No one in particular.” I shrugged at him and smiled. “Just somebody passing through.”
Val’Lithrai stared me dead in the eyes and I screamed at myself internally for not thinking of an answer that was less likely to end with my lifeless corpse on the altar. I could feel the magic pouring out of him as he stared at me, trying to see into my mind. When a confused expression passed across his face I knew then that I had found my out.
I would just have to make sure that I executed my out flawlessly.
Chapter 10
“Who are you?” The elder asked again before reading the next name off of the book.
“Like I said, I’m just passing through.”
“I sincerely doubt that, boy.” Val’Lithrai narrowed his eyes at me and I could feel his mental probes again. They were useless against my defenses—as they would be against any Touched with a modicum of magical abilities. When combined with the fact that I had no aura to detect, though, the entire situation became utterly confusing to him. “You smell like a bleeder. You have no aura. But your mind is… resistant.”
My facial expressions and words were carefully chosen to make what I said next sound even halfway believable. I sighed and allowed my shoulders to slump slightly then stood slowly to my feet. The vamps behind me started chattering angrily but didn’t move towards me. “I was sent by the Council to stop you. Or, failing that—and clearly I’ve failed at that since your vamps managed to get the book back—to parley with you.”
The elder’s response was not what I had expected. Instead of frowning, calling me a liar or simply tearing me apart he laughed. Not a chuckle or a chortle, mind you, but a full-blown belly laugh. It took every ounce of strength in my body to keep from trying to attack him, but I knew that I’d have no chance with a straightforward assault no matter how distracted he was.
“You…” Val’Lithrai wiped a tear from his eye, read the next name from the book and then laughed again. “They sent you? Did they carve the wards into your body to try and hide you from me?” He laughed again and I put on a cross look.
“No, but they clearly did enough to keep you from realizing who I am.”
“And who are you, dear sweet child who has come to stop me?” He laughed again.
“William Silver.”
When the words passed my lips the elder vampire froze and his laughter died on the spot. He turned to look at me again, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Silver? You dare claim to be the eldest of the Silver family name?” He looked me up and down and I suddenly felt like a piece of meat. “You were said to be gone, left for another country and forgoing your family name and fortune alike.”
I shrugged. “Yeah I get that a lot. I’ve been working for the Council for years as a Dealmaker and spy.”
“You? You have the authority of a Dealmaker?” Val’Lithrai’s attention was now fully focused on me, and he only glanced back at the book to read off the next name as an afterthought. His distraction was precisely what I needed to carr
y out the next step in my plan, though I hoped that my lies wouldn’t trip me up before I had a chance to carry it out.
“So what deal do you have to offer, Dealmaker?” Val’Lithrai snorted. “I have to give the Council credit for your unassuming appearance. I would have never suspected they would send someone like you to Deal with me.”
I started moving around the altar, making exaggerated motions with my hands as I tried to make up something that sounded convincing on the spot. I have a natural gift for the gab but I dare anyone to try and make up a pack of believable lies with an elder vampire watching you. “It’s simple. You’re pissed at the Council and, I imagine, the other clans. The Council’s willing to offer you an additional portion of land, but you have to give us something in return.”
Val’Lithrai narrowed his eyes at me. “And what is it you would want in return?”
It was at that moment, as Val’Lithrai was completely and utterly focused on me, that I made my move. It had occurred to me a moment earlier, when my plan was hatched, what Sam had said to me over breakfast that morning about how delicate and precise the bonding spells have to be to bind up so much potential energy in an inanimate object. If the slightest thing was off in the ritual to release the energy, then terrible things would happen.
So I made sure that terrible things would happen.
While waving my right hand in the air I cast a manipulation spell with my left, directing it at the name three places forward in the book. I altered the blood on the page, changing the name of “James Calvin Royce” to “James Calvin Joyce.” You might think that altering a single letter would have no impact on the spell, but if you do…well. You don’t know magic, do you?
“We want your battles with the clans to stop.” I was talking out of my rear end again, hoping that what I was saying had some basis in reality. Val’Lithrai read the next name off of the book before replying.
“Battles? What battles? We have not fought in years.”
Shit. “Come now. We’re not talking about physical battles here.”
Another name. “Then what kind of battles are you talking about?” There was a hint of suspicion creeping into the elder’s voice and I knew that my bluff had almost run its course.
“I think you know what I mean.” I doubled down, narrowing my eyes at him as I stopped pacing in front of the altar. “We want the petty infighting with you and the other clans over and done with.”
“Infighting?” Another name down. The next one would be it. “What kind of Dealmaker are you, boy? Did the Council tell you some pack of lies and expect that I would believe it?” Anger was rising in Val’Lithrai’s voice.
“Hey, we just want peace restored in the city. That’s all. And if we have to give up some land to make it happen, then we’ll do it.” As the words left my mouth I knew the ruse was played out and done with.
“The Council willingly giving up land?” Val’Lithrai laughed again, but it was sinister and full of malice. “They would never do such a thing!”
“What are you talking about?” I sputtered, trying to stall my imminent death long enough for him to have to read the next name. “The Council wants peace among the clans and you’re the best way to achieve it!”
“Peace?” He shook his head scornfully and read the next name off of the list before looking back up at me. “There is no peace so long as the Council still rules. I’ll ensure that doesn’t happen.”
I started to speak but Val’Lithrai turned his hand towards me and I went flying backwards, landing on my back halfway across the grotto. “I don’t know who you are, boy, but you’re no Dealmaker. And if your plan was to try and stop me then you chose the worst possible disguise to take on.”
I sat up slowly and laughed through the pain that was still shooting through my back. “Oh, I don’t know, Val’Lithrai. I think I did okay.”
The elder vampire turned to look at me when a wave of energy burst forth from the book unbidden. The wave seemed to take him by surprised and he glanced down at the book, then up at me. Understanding flashed across his face and his eyes widened in rage. “What did you do to my book, boy?!” He screamed at me as he touched the pages, desperately trying to contain the raw power that was seething inside the book.
Another wave blasted out, staggering him and knocking him back a few paces. More waves followed, one after the other at a rapidly increasing pace. The energy was raw and full of pain, but it seemed to be affecting Val’Lithrai more than anything else due to the fact that he was elbow-deep in it, desperately trying to salvage his ritual.
As I pushed myself back in the grass to try and get away I felt a powerful pair of hands grab my shoulders and pull me up. “Come on, lad!” A familiar voice hissed in my ear. “We’ve got t’get out of here now!”
I turned to see Sully thundering toward the trees and I pursued him, giving Val’Lithrai a final glance as I ran. He was kneeling at the altar chanting at the book, throwing every piece of magic he knew at it to try and slow down the waves of magical energy. His face was bleeding from a dozen cuts he had sustained from the sheer force of the waves and nothing he did seemed to slow them down. In spite of all of his power he was no match for the energy he had built up inside the book, especially when it was directed mainly at him.
“Let’s go, lad!” Sully pulled at my arm and I ran forward, leaving Val’Lithrai behind. Sully and I ran through the trees and out of the sanctuary, emerging into a group of tourists that were walking along wearing “I <3 NY” shirts and hats. Sully and I froze in surprise, though I think the tourists were a little bit more surprised than we were.
“Gas leak!” Sully’s accent was thick and he sputtered the words out at the tourists. They looked confused before I caught on to what he was saying and shouted at them too.
“Gas leak! There’s a gas leak back there! You need to get out! Run! Go!” The tourists panicked and ran like a flock of scared geese, shouting at each other as they nearly tripped over themselves to get away.
Behind us I could still feel the waves of magical energy emanating from the book when they suddenly stopped. I turned to look and saw a bright flash of light from the center of the grotto followed by the muffled sound of a massive explosion. The ground shook under our feet, wind whipped past our faces and the sky above turned black as the clouds roiled and thundered.
“Was that... was that the book?” I looked down at Sully and he nodded.
“Aye, lad.” He patted my arm and nodded approvingly. “I don’t know what y’did, but whatever it was, y’did well.”
We walked back towards the grotto to inspect the damage when a flurry of movement in the trees made us pause. Several bleeding vamps ran out of the grotto, all of them clutching at blackened clothing and nursing burns, bruises, cuts and a few more serious wounds. I started drawing up energy to fight them but Sully put a hand up and shook his head.
“Let ‘em go, lad. Council’s nearly here. They’ll mop them up. Let’s see if there’s anything left of the book before they get here, eh?”
I watched the vamps run away for a few more seconds before turning to follow Sully back into the grotto. When we had gotten halfway through the trees I noticed that most of the leaves were gone and there were black scorch marks on the ground and trailing up the trees. Most of the smaller branches had been snapped off and had been scattered far and wide across the park and surrounding city.
In the clearing the green grass had been turned black, the spring had been clogged up with ash and soot and the only thing left of the altar were a few slivers of shattered stone that had been drive into the ground. There was no trace of Val’Lithrai or the book, and I stepped gingerly around the spot where he had been kneeling.
Sully bent down and picked up one of the pieces of stone and examined it closely before tucking it away in his pocket. “Take one, lad.” He pointed to another sliver and I picked it up. “There’s power in it somewhere.”
I felt the rock carefully, touching it both physically and ethereally. “I d
on’t feel anything, Sully.”
He smiled gamely. “It’s in there, lad. You may not feel it but it’s in there.”
“Huh.” I shrugged and tucked the piece of stone away. In the trees behind me I could hear the sound of voices and people walking quickly toward us and I turned back to Sully. “That’s got to be the Council.”
“Aye.” He nodded. “Let’s go before we have to answer a lot of uncomfortable questions.”
We slipped away from the grotto to the south, hopping over a couple of barriers and ending up on the sidewalk just outside the park. A group of NYPD officers were walking nearby and spotted me and one of them shouted. “Silver!”
“Oh hell.” I mumbled under my breath. “It’s Wilson. How the hell do I keep running into him?” I looked over at where Sully had been standing but he was gone. I whirled around looking for him but there was no sign of him. “Dammit Sully!” I hissed under my breath then turned as Wilson shouted at me again.
“Silver! How is it you always turn up when there’s trouble?” Wilson glowered at me while the other officers milled around behind him.
“Trouble?” I asked, putting on my best innocent smile. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, Silver. You know good and well there was a gas leak explosion here! Now why are you here? Shouldn’t you be sleeping for your shift tonight?”
I snorted and raised an eyebrow. “A gas leak? Seriously? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just out for a walk.”
“Silver!”
A thundering voice came from behind Wilson and he gave me a devious grin before whispering to me. “Oops! Looks like the chief wants to have a word with you!” Wilson turned around and pointed at me while shouting back at the chief. “Right here, sir! He was just out having a walk right near where there was a gas explosion!”
“Silver, what the devil are you doing here?” The chief checked his watch and shook his head. “You’re on shift in a few hours and you’re out here?” He looked me up and down and his eyes grew wide as he noticed my condition. My shirt and jacket were still torn to shreds, I was covered in dirt and grass stains and if I was sure I looked at least half as tired as I felt. “What happened to you, Silver?”