She was banking on the depth of that false security. Though they were not particularly happy about having to come to her because of the inconvenience it caused them, none of the assembled even gave a second thought to the wisdom of meeting with her in this West Coast city that was far different from their usual meeting places. Even with the shift in protocol, they all showed up. An invitation issued and accepted. As the old saying went, they all had a horse in this race and wanted to be there when it was time to cash in their winning ticket. Little did they know that she held the only winning ticket in this competition.
They had just spent the last hour discussing the strategic strikes in North America, ranging from Miami and San Diego to Seattle and Boston, as well as most of the major cities in between. Canada had seen hits in Vancouver and Toronto. It was truly a thing of glory. Planning this all had been one thing. Seeing it in reality was orgasmic.
Imre stared at her over the rim of his goblet. He wore an expression she knew well, had seen so many times over the centuries. Of all the Elders, he was the one she had to watch. A long life and a brilliant mind made him dangerous.
They’d been close since the moment they met. On the day she’d been introduced to him, she’d instinctively understood he was the key to her ultimate success. He was the vampire all looked up to. If he was her ally, they would all fall in behind. She used every skill she possessed to get close to him. She was his friend, his lover, his confidante. It didn’t mean she liked him. On the contrary, she loathed him.
The woman who had been her mentor and maker had firmly believed in keeping friends close and enemies closer. During Katrina’s years of captivity, she had watched and learned. When she’d demanded the gift that granted her immortality, she’d taken the knowledge those prior years had given her and used them. The lessons had stood the test of time. She might have hated her maker with an intensity that still carried heat, but her mentor had been a master manipulator and Katrina a stellar student. She smiled at Imre and held up her goblet in a mock salute.
Imre smiled also and winked at her. When no one was looking, he’d whisper in her ear that they should celebrate in the bedroom. Not bloody likely. “Let us toast our impending victory.” He held up his glass, as did everyone else in the room except Eli. Imre didn’t give her individual credit for pulling the trigger that had put all of this into motion. Not that she expected him to acknowledge her. If nothing else, he was predictable and consistent. He took credit for everything she’d ever accomplished. She’d always believed he was the one who had given birth to the term “narcissist.” What he didn’t realize tonight as he sat there with his self-satisfied grin was that this would be the last time he would ever slight her.
The assembly of vampire Elders was toasting with the warm, fresh blood of the housekeeper who didn’t quite make it to the other rooms on her assignment sheet. Her absence wasn’t an issue, for the hotel would experience a great many no-shows tonight. Her services in the housekeeping department were no longer needed, whereas she was providing Katrina a very valuable service.
Eli had prepared the feast for her guests to her exact specifications. Tonight their blood had a little extra kick, and it wouldn’t take long now to witness the beauty of that kick. She truly wished this send-off could be more spectacular. Unfortunately, this would have to do. Even without the fanfare, it would have the same result, and she’d be free once and for all from their condescension and control. Imre’s perpetual smirk would finally be wiped from his face. As the humans liked to say, soon there would be a new sheriff in town. Maybe she’d even have a pretty gold badge made. She smiled, sipped, and waited.
She cut her gaze to Eli who, as usual, was staring at his laptop screen. He wasn’t paying attention to any of them; he was focused on the reports coming from the battlefields. A smile that really wasn’t joyful played at his lips. It was the expression she was waiting for. “Eli?”
“Yes.” He didn’t take his eyes off the screen. She would like to be standing behind him and watching as the genius of their plan reached fruition. At the moment, he had the best ringside seat.
Instead of moving over to Eli where she could also watch the laptop, she continued to stand near the windows and sip where she could keep one eye on her guests. They were so full of misplaced greatness as they too drank and congratulated themselves. They talked of their plans and the glory that awaited them on the other side of this war. They talked of how they would rule over both the lesser vampires and the humans who survived. She wanted to scream. Instead she smiled.
“All is well?”
Eli nodded without looking up. “Everything is perfect.”
Eventually, their glasses nearing empty, the terrible truth started to dawn on her guests, one at a time. Eyes were beginning to glaze, and complexions, already pale, were becoming blizzard white. Much like those silly game shows on television, it was like someone slowly pulling back a curtain to reveal what was behind it. As much as she’d like to be out there already tracking down the mouse she sought, she didn’t want to miss this event. It was actually better than she’d imagined. It was so good to be her.
She held her goblet close to her face and inhaled the scent of untainted blood while watching them spiral down to the damnation they deserved. Mouths opened in silent screams, another beautiful side effect of the tasteless compound Eli had slipped into the blood he’d poured into each of the crystal goblets. The beautiful and expensive stemware had been brought in especially for this meeting. Some might treasure the hand-blown goblets, but Katrina planned to smash each one. She could almost feel her rush of excitement as she broke them into hundreds of pieces. Unfortunately, her glorious plan was thwarted. Glasses began to drop to the marble-tiled floor as they slipped from hands that had lost all muscle tone. They shattered as they fell, also shattering her final reward for this part of the plan. Oh, well. That would have been icing on a cake that was already fantastic.
Imre’s gaze met hers, and she caught the dawning realization in his eyes. “You bitch,” he said as blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth. She smiled.
She held up her goblet still half full of the untainted blood and tipped it slightly in a mock toast. “I think you mean, you brilliant bitch.”
“You won’t get away with this.” His teeth were now as red as the blood flowing from his mouth.
“Oh come now, Imre. You’re smarter than that.” She raised a single eyebrow. “I’ve already gotten away with it.” She waved three fingers at him. “Nighty night, you bastard. May you burn in hell forever.”
The whole thing was over in less than ten minutes. Eli had finally left his station at the laptop and now stood behind her with one hand on her shoulder. She wanted to shrug it off. “It worked even better than on our test subjects.”
Indeed it had. They’d tried it no less than five times, using those they’d turned especially for this project. Lab rats, so to speak. It worked quicker and more efficiently on the old ones, which made her smile. This plan had come together even better than she pictured. It was glorious.
They were gone. Every last old one. Every single pompous ass who’d stood in front of her and blocked her path to greatness. Everyone who had treated her like nothing instead of the master she’d become. They had underestimated her one time too many. Well, now she’d just taken care of that, hadn’t she?
“Come on. Pick up all their cell phones and let’s go,” she said as she turned toward the door of the suite. As much as she’d like to stand around and revel in the success of her plan, it was in reality only a tiny piece of the bigger picture. She still had much to do. “We need to find that little bitch and then get out of this place. I want to be home when the final glory comes to me.”
Eli gathered up the cell phones he found in pockets and bags, tucking each of them into a messenger bag that he slung over his shoulder. They were important and would prove very useful in marshaling the resources of the dead masters. They were no longer in charge, she was, and all their co
ntacts would now be hers.
“Are you ready?” She glanced back at him. All of a sudden she was anxious to get out there and experience the revolution for herself. She thought of another revolution a hundred years ago and thousands of miles away. She’d been on the inside of that one too, a private guard of a different kind of royal family ousted from their tsarist autocracy and sequestered under house arrest. She hadn’t cared about the collapse of the old regime or the Bolsheviks, and she sure as shit didn’t care about the infamous Rasputin. No, all she cared about was the rush of excitement the civil war gave her and the chance to seduce the beautiful princess who in the end captured her heart and her body. For almost twelve months every night was filled with excitement and the gentle touch of a woman who made her heart pound. She’d wanted it to go on forever, and in a perfect world it would have. It was all a long time ago, and this was a war that would have a completely different ending.
Another time and another place, and no one would ever capture her heart again. Outside the doors of the hotel a revolution of her making was rolling through the night, and she wanted to step into the middle of it, throw her arms wide, and let the force of it fill her. Her focus was on the days ahead, and once she made her final peace with the past, the future was hers.
Eli adjusted the strap of the bag and nodded. “I’m locked and loaded.” He was smiling as he spoke. The success of what had just occurred seemed to have infected him as well. He appeared to stand taller, his expression more focused. Good. She needed him to be on his A game for the rest of what was to come.
Katrina ran a hand through her hair, squared her shoulders, and walked on four-inch, four-thousand-dollar heels out of the hotel room toward the bank of elevators at the end of the hallway. She could hardly wait to get out of there. It was going to be a magnificent night.
Chapter Sixteen
Sasha hadn’t given much thought to her companion as she’d run from Rodney’s bunker. Vaguely she’d been aware of Dee’s labored breathing and heavy-footed gait, clear signs of someone who wasn’t a seasoned runner. Given that the woman made her living sitting in front of a computer, her huffing and puffing was a good clue that she didn’t push away from it as often as she should.
Still, once they were in the car, and despite Dee’s audible effort to get her breath back, she remained ready and willing to stay right with Sasha. That both surprised and impressed her. In her long years, experience had taught her that few were very comfortable in the company of vampires. The humans who were aware of their existence seemed to be fine in short stretches, but if exposure to them went beyond half an hour or so, they grew nervous and fearful. Probably afraid they’d become dinner, which in many cases was a legitimate concern.
Rodney and Prima were exceptions, of course. They had been friends of hers for some time now, and she could be with them all night and never notice even a twitch. They trusted her and it went both ways. She was seeing the same thing in Dee tonight. Perhaps that’s why Prima had been so quick to introduce them. At first Dee had displayed that same expression of disbelief that every human had once they learned the truth about their preternatural counterparts, and that was expected. For Dee, it passed quickly, replaced by something else that wasn’t easy to define. Interest? Respect? She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Whatever it was, she liked it.
Just as she liked having Dee in the car with her now. Sasha had help out in the city, as she’d called in the troops, so to speak. Or more accurately, called them via text. It was the twenty-first century, after all. The key vampire players were unresponsive, and that was deeply concerning. She couldn’t dwell on that and had to shift to Plan B. While not the old and experienced ones, those she was able to reach out to were armed and ready to help. It was also useful to have a human ally. Or, in her case, allies. Sheer vampire power couldn’t win this battle. It would take cooperation between vampires and humans like the world had never before seen to stop what was being put into motion. It meant coming out of the shadows once and for all. She really hoped she could pull it off and that the human population was ready to accept what they’d been denying since the beginning of time.
No, she refused to think that way. She was going to pull it off, and that was that. Her own people might have betrayed her, but no one knew that she too had a rabbit in a hat, and tonight she planned to pull that rabbit out. She had to. She didn’t have any other choice.
That was okay. Perhaps it was time. Actually, as she thought about it, there was no perhaps about it. It was time and probably had been for a long while. This whole disaster in the making had to end. It couldn’t be allowed to happen. Beyond that, justice was due her, and she intended to grab it with both hands. She would relish it even as she hated that thing inside her that drove her to seek it out. Justice had been denied her in many ways, and she’d moved on in this altered existence, spurred by the belief that one day the scales would once more be in balance.
She cut her gaze over to Dee, who stared out the windshield into the night. No clouds blocked the stars that sparkled like Christmas tree lights in the velvet-black sky. If things in the world were normal, it might be a romantic drive. Normal wasn’t anywhere in the equation, and tension etched Dee’s face, signaling an alertness she would need in the coming hours.
When Sasha had driven through the woods without lights, she’d been aware of Dee’s anxiety. She could almost feel her fear as she waited for impact with a tree. It never came, and yet the tension had not left her body. She remained as tight as a tuned cello.
Even after they reached the highway, for Sasha, lights weren’t necessary. She could have driven right into the heart of the city without needing them. Nonetheless, she turned had them on and immediately felt their calming effect on her companion. It was odd that she had even considered doing something like that. Normally, those around her simply had to deal with her decisions. So what if they couldn’t see through the darkness? It wasn’t about them. Growing up in a royal family wasn’t conducive to considering the feelings of others. She didn’t mean that in a nasty way either. It simply was what it was. She didn’t accommodate, yet that’s precisely what she’d just done. What was she thinking?
Easy. She was thinking that this beautiful and interesting woman next to her was risking her life to help her and, in a larger sense, the world. To risk her life for people she didn’t know and never would. Complete strangers, some good, some bad, and yet without hesitation, she had run with Sasha into a night promising danger. It was impossible not to respect that action, not to find it fascinating and, frankly, alluring. She had never known anyone like Dee, had never been drawn to anyone like her.
“Where are we going?” It was the first thing Dee had said in at least ten minutes. They’d been riding in a somewhat easy silence. As easy as it could get, considering what they were driving into.
“To the city.”
A text had come in not long after she’d plugged the phone into the car charger. It was still building up to a full battery, but it was getting there, making her feel connected once more. The car was doing its part, and the small portable charger Rodney had given her made sure she would stay in contact. No more dead smartphone battery. The text she’d received had been brief, which was fine. In a few succinct words it told her everything she needed to know. Those words would guide her journey forward. She smiled.
“I pretty much got that. What else is going on here?”
She didn’t realize Dee had turned her attention from the highway and was now watching her. A ripple of something she couldn’t quite define, or didn’t want to, flowed through her. It wasn’t unpleasant. She didn’t have to be evasive. It was easy to be truthful with Dee. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this day.”
“It’s night.”
She actually laughed. “I know, I know. The writer in you pays attention to all the minute details. I’ll amend that to say I’ve been waiting a long time for this night.”
“How long?”
She glanc
ed over at Dee, who was watching her intently. In the dash lights, her eyes glittered. “You don’t pull punches, do you?”
“I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s my writer’s curiosity that makes me focus on the details that gets me into trouble all the time. You don’t have to answer. I’m pushing for personal information that’s none of my business.”
Sasha didn’t hesitate. “I’ve been waiting a hundred years.”
“Wha…” Dee slapped a hand over her mouth. When it dropped, she asked in a hushed voice, “How old are you?”
“About a hundred and twenty, give or take. You know, in my day, a lady didn’t give away her true age.”
“No shit?”
“I shit you not.” Why was she finding this conversation so entertaining and so easy to roll with? They were heading into a war zone, and this was no time for levity.
“Wow. You look fantastic.”
She wasn’t expecting that. “For a hundred and twenty?”
“For any age.”
Warmth flowed through Sasha, reminding her of another time when sweet words had gone to her head and ultimately to her heart. Her youth and inexperience had made her vulnerable, and she’d fallen hard for a pretty face and even prettier words. She’d paid a hefty price for letting her first love fool her. She had never made that mistake again, and she wouldn’t now.
“I appreciate your kindness.” That’s all it was. Another woman being charitable to her, helping the vampire retain a touch of humanity.
Dee was shaking her head. “Not kindness. I just call it as I see it.”
Sasha detected an honesty in her voice she hadn’t heard in a long time. Dee’s words weren’t like the ones spoken by the voice in her past. She’d been too young and naïve to understand back then, to hear their shallowness, and her weakness had undone her. What she heard now with the clear understanding of an experienced woman was night-and-day different. Dee was true. Her past was lies.
Drawing Down the Mist Page 17