by Sharon Joss
Great. Caught like a rat in a trap. Cobb and the rest of the vamps were down for the day, but he had no doubt that Ozzie would be back with reinforcements. Adrenaline flooded through him; his mind raced as he tried to figure a way out. I’ve got to get help. I’ve got to get out of here!
In the tomb-like silence, he heard the scratch of claws on stone as a creature approached in the darkness. His heart skittered as he fumbled for the flashlight.
A cold wet nose nudged his arm.
He jumped, and the flashlight clattered to the floor. In the dim reflection of the flashlight, Farley panted and wagged his tail, as if delighted to find him here.
“Dammit, dog. You about gave me a heart attack. Where the hell did you come from?”
The dog trotted back toward the Fae section of the cavern, and paused as if waiting for him to follow.
What the-? He followed the dog until they reached the back wall next to the Nagual’s cage. The dog woofed at him softly, then passed directly through the wall. Well I’ll be. It’s another ward.
Feeling for the edges with his hand, he squeezed his way through the hidden crack. The roof of the tunnel was too low to stand up in so he followed Farley on hands and knees. It was awkward to hold the flashlight, but he couldn’t see where they were going without it. He considered shifting into cat form, but decided against it. The estate was miles from the Sheriff’s office. He’d have a better chance of being believed if he arrived wearing clothes.
The tunnel climbed upward and opened into a shallow cave as they reached the top of the ascent. More of a den, really. Too low to stand up in, it was ten feet across, with the entrance screened by a thick copse of willow. The humid night air smelled as sweet as perfume after the putridity of the cavern. The sky above the horizon was light. The sun would be up soon. They were on a rocky outcropping on the Tor.
He heaved a sigh of relief. He couldn’t see the road, but knew it couldn’t be far. He followed Farley down a narrow game trail to a stream, where the mutt turned south, heading toward the cottage.
“No boy, the road is this way.” He turned west, keeping to the tree line, not wanting to risk being spotted. “We’ve got to get to the road.”
The deerhound ignored him and continued to trot south, without looking back. Stupid dog. No matter. It would be easier to hitch a ride without the mutt, anyway. It was rough going, but the trees could provide cover all the way to the road. Gordon had probably felt him cross the wards. He’d probably report the trespass to Vince. Would the Mage know that it was him?
The thought stopped him cold. Does Vince know about the bestiary? Pack punishment for disobedience was being solitary confinement in Ozzie’s lab. But the lab was nothing like the bestiary. Vince might not know about it. Besides, Vince would never let anyone do something like that to a member of his pack. And Dixon had told him that Ozzie and Vince weren’t close. Mike shook his head. No way. Vince couldn’t know. And Vince’s house was a lot closer than the Sheriff’s office.
He turned northwest, finding the going even tougher, until he stumbled across a game trail. But the moment he stepped onto the trail, he realized his mistake. Thirty feet in front of him stood a man armed with a hunting bow. Tethered to him by a thin cord tied around his waist, Farley wagged his tail, as if to say, ‘Look who I found!’
Before Mike could react, he was grabbed from behind; his arm twisted up his back, and a very sharp knife held to his throat. “If you fight me you will die,” a woman’s voice cooed.
CHAPTER 29: AMBROSE AGAIN
“What do you mean, he got away,” Ambrose snarled. The heat of Gordon’s blood called to him, but he kept the Mage at arm’s length. Gordon’s need for him was at least as strong as his own, but Gordon deserved to feel his anger.
“Bane isn’t one of your pet wolves,” Gordon protested. “I tried to tell you that when you first brought him in. He feels different. And when he crossed the inner wards, I tell you, he felt like full-blooded Fae.”
“You told me no one could pass through the inner wards,” Ambrose answered. He squared off against Gordon in the center of the warming room, while Cobb lounged carelessly on the sofa, watching them argue with a knowing smirk.
Gordon shook his head. “I never said that. The wards cannot prevent anyone from passing through them. Like all the other inner wards, the tunnel exit from the bestiary was heavily warded. I said it should have been impossible for him to find.”
“Yet somehow he did.” Silently, Ambrose fumed. How could this have happened? “What was he doing wandering around the estate in the first place? Are you sure it was Bane?”
“He’s the only one who didn’t show up for his shift tonight,” Cobb answered. “Nobody’s seen him since last night. He’s not answering his phone.”
The blood fever brought on by his hunger and Gordon’s bad news was getting worse. Even his teeth hurt. Ambrose couldn’t put the Mage off much longer or they’d both be hurting. But if Bane had found the bestiary, he wasn’t likely to ignore it. He was an ex-cop; he’d probably make a stink to the local authorities. Unfortunate. It wasn’t the end of the world, but the timing was inconvenient. He would need to do something.
The ache at his temples throbbed unbearably. He’d be useless for the rest of the night if he didn’t feed, and from the sheen of sweat on Gordon’s face, he could see the Mage was also in need. He sighed and held his arms out to Gordon.
The Mage moved into his embrace and Ambrose sank his fangs dug deep into his blood steward’s neck. Hot blood filled his mouth. The feel and taste of Gordon always affected him strongly. Fae blood was truly a wondrous nectar. A pity the Mage was his only full-blooded Fae steward. He drank deeply, keeping the other man from pressing too closely and damaging himself in his eagerness. Something about the combination of Fae blood and vampire saliva created a powerfully heady experience for both predator and prey. His steward’s intoxicating heat spread through his limbs like a flame.
As his hunger subsided, Ambrose retracted his fangs, and carefully cleansed Gordon’s already healing wounds with his tongue. He settled his swooning donor into a recliner. Gordon recovered quickly from his rapture; his cheeks flushed, his eyes bright. Even after all this time, Ambrose marveled that Gordon’s blood could still satisfy him as no other. His fever, fury, and frustration had disappeared along with his headache.
“Alright, Gordon. Carry on. I expect to be informed immediately if you detect any other unusual disruptions in the wards. You may go.”
As soon as Gordon left, Cobb started in again. “I tried to tell you he was dangerous, but you wouldn’t listen. What are we going to do now? Bane could ruin everything. We should have killed him when he had the chance.”
Cobb was always so quick to panic. Ambrose remembered the moment when, as a mortal, Cobb had discovered that his employer of two years was a vampire. He’d fled in terror; using the knowledge as an excuse to go off on a bender of drinking and brawling. When Ambrose finally found him, he was broken and bloodied, left for dead in the alley behind a slaughterhouse. A broken rib had punctured his lung, and pink bubbles frothed from between his mashed lips. Once he recognized that the body belonged to his missing foreman, he almost passed by, but paused to reconsider.
The man had been invaluable to him when he’d first arrived in Baton Rouge. Cobb was well-known, albeit on the seamier side of the city, and had steered several profitable opportunities in his direction. He wasn’t just smart, he was clever. He would not be easily replaced. So Ambrose tossed his foreman’s dying body over his shoulder and took him to his lair beneath the St. Martin’s Hotel and made Cobb his first-born son. In spite of Cobb’s shortcomings, Ambrose had never regretted it.
“Calm down. It’s not the end of the world.” Ambrose took a seat at the puzzle table and put on his glasses. “And after seeing what he’s capable of, I’m not inclined to go up against him.”
“What are you talking about? He wouldn’t stand a chance against all of us. Or if you’re too squeamish, send
the wolves after him.”
“As usual, you’re missing the big picture, Cobb.” The only areas of the puzzle remaining un-pieced were either the brownish-grey pattern of the windmills, or the sky. “We need Bane to get rid of Vince for us. We need to think this through.” He tried placing a sky-blue puzzle piece, but it didn’t fit. “It doesn’t matter if he discovered the bestiary. There are no laws against keeping pets or having a menagerie. It might be awkward if some of the others got wind of it, but it isn’t the end of the world. All we need is a bit of leverage.”
Cobb began to pace the room. “I don’t understand you. You’re willing to risk our future, my future, because you don’t have the guts to handle this. Vince wanted to leave years ago. Why didn’t you just let him go while you had the chance?”
“I cannot tell you how many times I’ve asked myself the same question. Vince Dazak is the finest, most loyal wolf I’ve ever known. He is a credit to his species. When he married Merlene, her political connections were a boon to us. When I made Ozzie my blood steward, my only thought was to keep Vince with us always. As a bonus, we got a veterinarian for the pack. A win-win for everyone.”
“Ozzie’s a frickin’ nut job.”
Ambrose peered over his glasses at his first-born. “Obviously. I made a mistake.”
The admission stung, but it was the truth. He’d never considered how deeply Ozzie hated Vince. Or how badly Ozzie wanted to hurt him. Ozzie’s cruel obsession with the wolves had only grown worse as the years passed and his addiction to his master’s saliva had deepened. It happened that way with some of them. Psychological predilections sometimes bloomed into full-scale psychoses.
The Vampire Minority Political Action Committee, VMPAC, had spent years and millions of dollars to dispel the unreasonable human fear of being fed upon by a vampire. By the Globus’ own secret decree, all blood stewards who exhibited the advanced symptoms of blood steward’s dementia had to be terminated in a manner that could not be traced back to a vampire or result in an autopsy. If humans ever found out that there was a chance of physical impairment or decline from addiction to vampire saliva, the eternally-feared Armageddon of the undead would begin.
For a long time, Ozzie had been satisfied with just one pet. But as the years passed, Ozzie’s demands for more fresh ‘lab rats’, as he called them, had gotten out of control. He’d taken the last two wolves without permission. The physical symptoms of his madness were becoming obvious to all the vampires. Ozzie’s recent decline and corresponding sociopathic moral decay left Ambrose with no other options. He had to go. This wasn’t just a matter of keeping Ozzie out of sight until the end of the summit. One word to the wrong vampire, and the future of the entire nest was at stake.
“I cannot eliminate Ozzie while Vince is Alpha.”
“You’re letting your feelings for your pet wolf get in the way of what needs to be done here. Ozzie’s symptoms are becoming obvious to just about everyone. Even your pet wolves are starting to notice. And Bane knows all about Ozzie’s little playroom now. I say kill them both.”
He rubbed his forehead. “Damn it, Cobb. That’s not the answer. If anything happens to Ozzie, Vince has unrestricted access to every corner of the estate. He and that pack of his will come down to the vault in broad daylight and kill us all.”
Frustration flashed across Cobb’s face. “If Bane goes to the Sheriff, not even Merlene’s connections will keep us safe from an executioner’s stake.”
“Not true,” Ambrose corrected. “We have broken no laws here. There are no humans in the bestiary.”
“Have you been down there recently? It’s disgusting. To be honest, until Gordon confirmed it, I thought that Ozzie made the whole thing up. Why didn’t you tell me there was another exit?”
“It’s been so long, I’d forgotten. Besides, it opens on the Tor. It’s unusable to us.”
“When are you going to listen to me?” Cobb slapped the arm of the couch for emphasis. “You’re going to have to do something. Ozzie and Bane could ruin the summit; and Vince could bring this whole park down around our ears. The idea that you need to depend on a wolf pack for protection is archaic, at best. Vince has always been far too particular about handpicking his weres for the pack. Don’t you see? With all those weres behind him, it’s no wonder he’s gotten so powerful. I‘ve been telling you for years that we should be hiring professional lone wolves to handle our security. I know you don’t like the idea of hiring mercenaries, but it’s the fastest way of getting the personnel we need to support both our territories. I will not be denied my own territory, Ambrose.”
“That is exactly why we need Bane to get rid of Vince for us. Once Vince is out, Felix will arrange for Ozzie to die in a tragic car accident and our hands will be clean. Trick will take over the wolf pack, and the summit will go just as we planned. Once the Puerto Rican bitch accepts him and joins the pack, filling the other empty slots will be easy. The Globus is a traditionalist; he’ll be more impressed by the size of our wolf pack than by hired help. It’s a win-win for everybody.”
“Are you mad? Bane is gone. That were-cat is not going to get rid of Vince for us. We’re running out of time,” Cobb said. “It’s time to call in the mercs.”
“Of course he will. Bane’s godfather, Tom Jolley, is in the hospital recovering from major surgery. All we need to do is pick him up and hold him until Bane fulfills the terms of his contract with us.”
Cobb scowled at him. “Taking wolves is one thing. Kidnapping humans will get us all staked.”
“My dear boy, kidnapping is a term reserved for humans. One way or another, Tom Jolley is going to develop full-blown lycanthropy at the next full moon. Our timing is perfect. A little Glamour cocktail will keep him from retaining any memory of his stay with us, and in two days, we’ll be able to put this all behind us.”
“What about Bane?”
“There’s a bounty out on him,” Ambrose said. “We will give him to Ivey and that Clemente fellow and collect the reward.” He positioned a piece of pale blue sky into place. It fit perfectly.
“Good thinking.” Cobb grinned. “Now you’re talking. I’ll pick up Jolley myself.”
“No, I want Felix to handle it. He understands the situation and delicacy required.”
“Let Felix handle the negotiations with Bane. That’s what he’s good at, anyway. I’ll take care of Jolley. This is more my line of work than Felix’s and you know it. This is my future we’re talking about. I will not allow you or Felix to screw this up for me. If I lose that territory, I swear I’ll take Mythica from you.”
“Watch your mouth, son. Your future depends on me, not the other way around. I could have you chained in your crypt for such insolence, so don’t threaten me.”
“It’s not a threat, Ambrose. It’s a promise.”
CHAPTER 30: THE HIGH TOR FAE
The woman behind Mike held him in a grip like iron. Several more hunters approached from either side, dressed in a muted, patterned fabric that changed to mimic whatever color it touched—perfect camouflage. They held their bows casually, but each had arrows knocked.
Oh great; High Tor Fae. All the warnings he’d ever heard came back to him. The Fae are territorial; stay off the Tor. No humans allowed on the Tor. Beasts only allowed on the Tor. He tried to unfurl the cat, but for the first time in his life, the jaguar wouldn’t come.
“I greet you Xenotchi,” said the leader, as he approached Mike. “I see you Tehuantl. We welcome you and are honored by your presence as guests on our land. Our business is with your host.”
A dozen questions flooded through him as Mike struggled to remain calm. “Who are you? What are you doing with my dog?”
“I know you too, cousin,” the leader answered. “This is not the first time we’ve met, Mike Bane. I am Nixese.”
He had a slender build, skin the color of polished oak, and pale eyes. Not blue, but not brown, either. Grey, maybe.
“This is the second time you have broken our laws. There is no o
ne to take your punishment this time.” He patted the deerhound and Farley panted happily.
Mike bit back a groan. How could I have been so stupid? He tried reaching for Tehuantl, but came up empty. It was as if neither had ever existed. “There are people in trouble back there. Some of them are your people. They need help; they’re being held prisoner.”
“We are not interested in the problems of men,” the woman with the knife snarled. She shoved him forward and he stumbled. “You have no honor.” She horked loudly and spat.
“Enough Daneah,” Nixese said.
Nixese was their leader. “I told you, there are Fae prisoners back there. Help me get them out.”
Nixese remained impassive. “Three hundred years ago, one of our clan agreed to become the blood steward of Ambrose Van Cleve. This traitorous act was bad enough, but he took the daughter of one of our elders with him. Lyra did not go willingly. He then tricked us into signing a blood treaty with the Van Cleve vampires, using her and others of our tribe as hostages. As sometimes happens, once removed from the land of her clan, Lyra lost her will to live and began to weaken and die. Rather than risk losing her beauty and magic, the vampires made her one of them. It is an abomination. The traitor Gordon used our own blood and magic against us when he invoked his dark wards. We cannot cross them without breaking the treaty. If the treaty is broken, the hostages will die.”
“All the more reason to let me get them out of there,” he protested. Why wouldn’t they listen? “They’re being kept in horrible conditions. They’re dying.”
Nixese seemed unperturbed. “Our clan is immortal unless we choose otherwise, cousin. In a war between vampire and Fae, many human lives will be lost. The Van Cleves have surrounded themselves with blood stewards and use them as human shields. We are also bound by a treaty with your American Government to stop taking human life in exchange for our sovereign reservation. If war erupts between the undead and the Fae, your government will destroy us.”