Romani Armada (Beloved Bloody Time)

by Tracy Cooper-Posey

“You who have no friends but Marley wouldn’t even begin to understand loyalty to a higher order, boy,” Rhydder growled to Gawain. “Leave it alone.”

  Gawain grinned. “Did he just call me boy?” He pushed through the seats a little further. “What higher order would that be?”

  “Gawain!” Marley warned. “Shut up!”

  “Listen to your only friend, Gawain,” Rhydder rumbled.

  Gawain backed off a little. “Not Freemasons. Too boring. You’re not wearing the ring and I tried the signs on you earlier, and you didn’t acknowledge them. Some sort of order of knights? Nah, Demyan’s from Russia, with a name like Romanov. You’re a Celt of some sort and the knight orders are generally run along racial lines, so scratch that...” Gawain drummed on the surface of his reading board, murmuring to himself.

  Rhydder rolled his gaze to Marley. “Is he always like this?”

  “No, but you’re intimidating him,” she murmured. “It’s how he copes with being scared.”

  “I scare him?” Rhydder sounded startled. “He stepped between me and you today. That’s not something someone does if they’re scared of you.”

  “They do if you’re threatening their only friend.”

  He took a right hand turn in low gear, working through the gears with expert ease, using torque to corner, then settled back to straight driving, one hand on the wheel. “Do I scare you?” he asked.

  Her first instinct was to be polite. Then she mentally shrugged. She was safe for as long as they needed her help with Pritti. “Yes, you scare me,” she said flatly. “And you do it deliberately, I think, to keep people like me away from people like you. Whatever people like you really are.”

  He was silent for nearly a full block. “We’re vampire,” he said.

  “That, I figured out,” Marley said calmly and enjoyed his surprised glance at her. “It’s the everything else you’re holding out on me.”

  “Fuck!” Gawain said. The word was mixed with a deep groan. He pushed through the seats. “She’s a psi-filer, isn’t she? Pritti. That’s why Demyan didn’t want her to have the speed drink. She’s psi and she’s dying.”

  Marley caught her breath as all the symptoms and signs gelled together into one cohesive pattern. “Yes, she’s psi,” she said, her mind racing.

  “You’ve treated psi-filers before?” Rhydder asked.

  “I’ve treated one or two for minor ailments – enough to understand the differences in their physiology from human. But I’ve never treated one for…I’ve never tried to extend a psi’s natural lifespan before. The conventional gene therapies that are used on humans to regenerate and extend their life…they don’t work on psi.”

  “We know,” Rhydder said. “But yours will.”

  She nodded. “I’m almost one hundred percent certain it will. Demyan did his homework, if you knew that.”

  “He did.”

  Marley hesitated. Should she reveal it all? Then she spoke, knowing her conscience would slay her if she didn’t. “I’ve never used the therapy on a psi, Rhydder. I didn’t even reach the point of clinical studies for humans before I was kicked out of Los Angeles. I’m almost certain it will help her, but I can’t guarantee it.”

  Rhydder was silent for another long moment. “I think that Romanov…Demyan…I think he probably knows that, too. Without the therapy, Pritti will die in the next few days. That is a complete guarantee. Anything with better odds than that is worth trying.”

  Rhydder didn’t speak again until they reached Hammerside and pulled up outside their broken-down old apartment block. After Pritti’s luxurious river-side apartment, Hammerside looked more wretched than usual, even in the dim early a.m. light.

  Marley climbed from the car and hesitated. Oswald, the disease-riddled drunk with no teeth, was asleep on the front stoop of the apartment. Most people in Hammerside considered him harmless, but he was delusional and would shout out insults and grab at people when they passed by him, especially if they woke him. Marley could handle nearly all of Hammerside’s more colorful local inhabitants, but Oswald just plain scared her.

  Gawain was waiting for her to get out of the way so he could get out, too.

  Rhydder, though, got out of the driver’s side, strode around the hood and over to the stoop. He bent over Oswald and hoisted the bum up and over his shoulder like he was a sack of potatoes, walked down to the cinema entrance, three shop fronts down, and lowered him down in one corner there.

  Then he came back and slid back into his driver’s seat without comment.

  Marley stepped out of the way so Gawain could get out and go open the door. She bent down to glance at Rhydder.

  He was looking at her. “Don’t fear me,” he said, putting the car in gear.

  She shut the door, trying to think of a response. But he wasn’t expecting one. He took off before she could answer.

  Gawain was waiting for her with the door open, so she went inside.

  She slept until eight a.m. the next morning. Six solid hours without waking once. The first time in two years. A miracle.

  * * * * *

  Chronometric Conservation Agency Headquarters, Villa Fontani, Rome, 2264 A.D.: Cáel studied the man they called Adán Santiago as he stared down at the tabletop, watching the clip play out. Then Brenden backed it up and froze it at the moment when Irena Consuelo was fully in the frame, her delicate burden clear. A small, chubby fist was lifted from among the folds in her arms.

  Cáel had to steel his heart against the fear the image generated. One of Gabriel’s chosen, holding such a precious thing of theirs…his fear and anger boiled just looking at it. He glanced at Tally, Rob and Christian, where they stood halfway down the long side of the table. Neither Rob nor Christian were looking at the clip. Tally was staring at it with a look Cáel had only ever associated with addicts in the presence of their monster. The craving in her eyes was hard to witness.

  Cáel looked away and back down at the tabletop. There were other documents open – reports and clips and more – all associated with this event.

  Adán touched the screen over the clipping. “If this woman really is your Gabriel’s lieutenant, it would seem they are sending you a message,” he said slowly. He lifted his head up and looked at everyone standing around the table.

  “That is our conclusion, too,” Ryan agreed. “But we cannot ignore the opportunity this presents.”

  “Retrieving your…Jack was his name, yes?” Adán asked, looking directly at Tally, Rob and Christian.

  Tally gave him a brief smile.

  “Why me?” Adán asked flatly.

  “It isn’t only you,” Kieren said. “I will be leading the venture and Rhydder, there, will be with us.”

  Adán looked at Rhydder, sizing him up. “A human, a vampire that is temporarily human, and a vampire. What do we have in common that makes us the only ones who can do this?”

  “You don’t know where our base is,” Brenden said. “Not only do you not know, you’ve not been around the agency long enough to pick up any gossip, speculation, hints or ideas. The whole concept of a hidden base is new to you, so you haven’t had time to wonder where it might be.”

  Adán straightened up and crossed his arms. There was a crease between his brows. “These psi-filers…read minds?”

  “Amongst other tricks,” Brenden agreed.

  Adán pointed at Kieren. “You have been a member of the agency long enough to absorb information about the base.”

  Cáel hid his surprise. Adán had been at the agency for a few short hours. He had picked up a lot in that time.

  “I have other skills. The psi will not be able to touch my mind,” Kieren replied.

  Adán raised a brow.

  Kieren smiled, looking at him intensely.

  Adán dropped his arms, his eyes widening and his lips parting. He brought the fingers of one hand up to his temple. “I see….”

  Mariana entered the room, her inevitable reading board in one hand. Cáel marveled again over the woman’s cha
nged appearance. She was still carrying too much weight for someone her height, but considerably less than before she jumped to China. The biggest change, though, was hinted at by the details. Her clothing, hair, makeup and accessories all said that somewhere in the last few weeks, Mariana had had an epiphany. Something had changed her attitude toward life.

  She walked up to Christian’s side and tapped on his shoulder.

  Christian murmured to her then leaned down to listen to her as she murmured back.

  Mariana smiled at him then turned and walked back out of the room. Christian watched her leave, his head tilted and his eyes narrowed as Mariana’s hips and hair swayed gently.

  Rob shoved his elbow into Christian’s ribs and the Southerner straightened up with a rueful grin. He gave a tiny shrug.

  Rob grinned, too, and turned back to the table.

  Cáel saw that Nayara was watching him from her post at the other end of the table. He gave her a smile, simple happiness making his chest expand and his breath to hurry.

  She glanced toward the door Mariana had slipped through and looked back at him.

  Not to your taste?

  The mental query whispered in his mind and he held his breath, waiting for more. Nayara had touched his mind only a few times in the past and the contacts always came with a rush of adrenaline and pleasure. Her presence in his mind was Nia stripped bare. He could see/hear/feel her as she really was; a warm presence dripping with love and the need to cherish.

  He looked down at the tabletop and concentrated on forming the simple message, articulating it with his mental voice, as she had done, to form actual words. Compared to you, all women leave me uninterested.

  Then he looked up at her, to see if she had read the thought.

  Nia dropped her head, a smile playing on her lips. She had read it.

  Cáel had trouble keeping his own smile in check as he took interest in the discussion around the table once more.

  He saw that Kieren was watching him, a crease between his brows. Had he picked up on their thoughts, too? Keiren’s mental abilities were uncharted territory, still. Someone had to sit down with him and figure out what he could and could not do. That list would probably be as much of a surprise to Kieren as anyone else in the agency.

  Ryan paddled the edge of the table, a soft way of gaining everyone’s attention. “Brenden, I think any further discussion about details of the mission should be sub rosa. There are too many people around this table and too many ears in the room. Let’s take this to a more secure location and shave it down to the minimum necessary.” He looked at Rob, Christian and Tally squarely. “I know how much you would prefer to be involved in this discussion, but it’s because you are so emotionally invested that I’m asking you to stay outside the room.”

  Rob’s face creased into a scowl, but Tally rested her hand on his chest and murmured to him. Christian stood with his head down, listening to her.

  Finally Rob crossed his arms and glared at Ryan. “Fine ye are, then, but we want reports.”

  Ryan nodded. “Of course. Mariana can keep you updated as you need.” He looked down the table at Nayara. “Your office or mine?”

  “Yours. I’ve been handed another...issue. I need to deal with it straight away. I’ll report later.” She glanced at Christian. “Can I borrow you?”

  Christian nodded. “Mariana filled me in. Anything to keep me occupied.” He rested his hands on Rob’s and Tally’s shoulders, then walked over to the door.

  “I’ll come with you,” Cáel murmured to Ryan.

  Ryan nodded. “Kieren, Adán, Rhydder. Brenden.” He frowned. “Pritti is not here?”

  Rhydder shook his head. “She’s...not well.”

  Ryan looked around the room once more, frowning. “Is Demyan with her?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Rhydder said flatly. He turned his head to look at Nayara. “I should talk to you about that, too, before we leave.”

  She nodded. “Take a number. I’ll catch up with you as soon as I’ve dealt with this thing.”

  Ryan headed for the rear door to the operations center that gave access to his and Nayara’s offices. Halfway across the open floor space, he staggered sideways, as if his right leg had simply failed to function.

  He thrust his foot out, both hands spread for balance, and recovered. Then he straightened up and kept walking. He didn’t look back.

  Cáel’s heart dropped. He looked to Nayara, sick alarm filtering through to his fingertips. She shook her head in a minute movement.

  He denies it, her voice whispered in his mind and Cáel could feel distress coloring her mental voice.

  He couldn’t concentrate enough to form crisp, clear words in his mind that she would be able to read. His thoughts were ricocheting off one another, blurred by emotion.

  He had to pull it together. He was Cáel Stelios, Worlds Assembly member and power-monger. Falling apart because his lover was ill just made him vulnerable.

  Then he felt Nayara’s mental hug. It was a wash of love and warm regard and he closed his eyes as her soothing touch slowed his heart.

  He turned and followed Ryan to his office. He wanted answers. But his gut clenched at the thought. What if he got answers and didn’t like them?

  I’ll kill Gabriel for this, he promised himself. Gabriel had done this to Ryan. Gabriel would pay. He had no idea how he would pull it off, but he had overcome the world’s worst odds more than once.

  Making sure Adán, Rhydder and Kieren retrieved baby Jack was a step in the right direction. He would do whatever he could to make sure they pulled it off, even if he drove them to Prague himself and held their coats while they did the deed.

  But...he was Cáel Stelios. There was much more he could do beyond holding coats.

  His mind settled, his anger and fear contained, Cáel dropped his face into his best neutral politician’s mask and stepped into the room to plan the first step in his vengeance.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Hammerside, Detroit-Rocktown Supercity, 2264 A.D.: Rhydder and Demyan returned, two interest-filled days later.

  With Demyan’s cash, Marley and Gawain had paid the most urgent of their debts and slowly smuggled a stock of food into the apartment in a way that didn’t alert the neighborhood about their sudden mysterious fortune. Gawain arranged for critical repairs and upgrades to his computer and the reading boards that were always kept synchronized with it and allowed him to work anywhere.

  On the second day, when Marley had been bringing home yet another small bag of groceries inside her backpack, she had walked past the opening to the alley that serviced their apartment block, the cinema, the bar and ended at the shiny silver fence of the sports arena. There was a pack of wild dogs tearing at something with their teeth and paws. The dogs roamed the city and had learned to stay away from anyone still standing, because humans fought back. Anything not standing, that used to have or still did have a pulse, was fair game.

  She looked away quickly, not interested in seeing what they were growling over. But before she turned away she saw the ragged end of wild red hair and a shiny bald dome.

  Marley leaned against the corner of the building, staring at Oswald’s body as the dogs nuzzled it. There were no signs of violence. It might even have been the endless cold nights or one of the diseases that racked his body that finally killed him.

  One of the dogs glanced up and bared his teeth.

  Marley started walking again, her heart hurting and her stomach rolling. Oswald had been fine the other night. The night Rhydder had moved him.

  Gawain wasn’t as ruffled by the news of Oswald’s murder as Marley. “Around here, your sister will pop you for an antique nickel. Oswald might have scored some good hooch that someone wanted to have instead of him. Why are you so jumpy about it?”

  Marley couldn’t voice her fear aloud — that she thought Rhydder had something to do with Oswald’s death. She just couldn’t figure out why.

  Don’t fear me. Rhydder’s quiet words kept repeati
ng themselves for the next few hours, whenever she thought of Oswald.

  Gawain spent two days on his computer, either repairing and rebuilding it with the new parts he had bought, or trying to run Rhydder and Demyan down to earth via the names and little information they had let slip about themselves during the few hours she and Gawain had been in their company.

  He had come up with precisely nothing, which made him bad company to be around. Mysteries were a joy for him to unravel — as long as they unraveled. Unsolvable mysteries were, according to Gawain, not possible.

  When Rhydder and Demyan arrived on the second day, Marley wasn’t sure if she was relieved or dismayed. Gawain had settled for the quick and highly solvable problem of splicing into the building’s wiring and stealing more neural bandwidth. It would make the monitor that came with the apartment run better and would help Gawain maximize his computer speed.

  So he was buried waist deep in a hole in the wall when the pair arrived, oblivious to his audience or the fact that his butt was hanging out.

  Marley tugged on his chucks and Gawain pulled out slowly, cursing softly. “Goddamn softwall fiberboard. Still, could be worse. Could be asbestos. Now there’s nasty for you—”

  He stopped when he saw Rhydder and Demyan. “Second thoughts, I’ll take asbestos with a side order of mercury to go.” He curled his lip. “You’re back. How lovely.”

  “See you didn’t hire a maid with my money,” Demyan said, looking around.

  “Coz that’s just what we wanted, to draw attention to ourselves, d’uh,” Gawain blew back. He tossed the cable wrench onto the table and tried to unsuccessfully brush plaster dust from his hair. It just made the sprinkling of white powder over his hair spread across his shoulders and chest. He was wearing a faded black tank top and his most ragged pair of pants, which had started out life black. The stunning white plaster dust stood out like snow on blacktop and made him look even more grimy and sweaty.

  Rhydder grinned. “I like what you’ve done to your hair.”

  “I’ve got the equipment you asked for,” Demyan told Marley. “Including the genetics lab.”