“Just leave her two of them,” said a vampire with long, reddish-brown hair as he came up behind Two. He had an Irish accent and was not much taller than Sarah. “She needs them.”
“You’re the original King of Comedy,” Two told him, glancing over her shoulder. “You enjoying yourself?”
Stephen was covered in blood spatters and grinning broadly. He nodded.
“It’s been a while since I saw this sort of action. In a way, I feel like I should thank Aros for the opportunity.”
“Let’s hold off on thanking Aros for anything,” Sarah said. “Two … who is this?”
“Oh, right,” Two said. “Stephen, this is Rhes and Sarah Thompson. Rhes and Sarah, this is Stephen Connelly. He’s been helping me out for the past year or so.”
“I was caught up in the whirlwind that seems to trail behind your friend,” Stephen told them. “I would shake your hands, but …”
“But yours are covered in blood, right,” Rhes said. “It’s uh … nice to meet you.”
“Two … what the fuck?” Sarah asked. “Seriously.”
“It’s not usually like this,” Two said. “I swear to God, it’s mostly totally normal, except the drinking blood part.
Stephen gave a short laugh and turned, wandering over to the other remaining vampires. There seemed to be no Burilgi soldiers left alive. Jakob was talking to a young woman with long brown hair who was clearly thrilled to see him, but also clearly upset about the wound in his side. For his part, Jakob seemed unconcerned and was spending most of his time staring at a tattooed black woman with an expression that looked like awe. There were four more vampires, two male and two female, also standing with the group.
As if sensing the scrutiny, one of the men glanced up at Two and began to walk over. He was tall and thin, lanky but not awkward, with short, dark hair and what looked like light-brown eyes. He was wearing a pair of navy jeans and a white button-down shirt and, unlike Stephen, he seemed to have avoided getting even the merest spot of blood on his clothing.
“This must be Rhes and Sarah,” he said as he came to stand beside.
“Yup!” Two said.
The vampire regarded them for a moment with a calm curiosity, smiling slightly. Rhes thought he seemed familiar but couldn’t identify him immediately.
“Two has told me much about you. Mrs. Thompson – Sarah – I heard you yelling earlier, and I must apologize. This situation is as much my fault as it is hers.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Two said.
“If I had been around—”
“You were dead. It’s not your fault.”
Sarah held up a hand. “Dead? Wait, who is … are you … you can’t be who I think you are, right?”
“My name is Theroen Anders,” the vampire said. “I don’t know if that’s who you think I am, but I’m very pleased to meet you both.”
“You aren’t dead?” asked Rhes, shaking Theroen’s hand.
“Not anymore,” Two said.
“You want to explain that?” Sarah asked. “I mean, I know you guys are different than us, but I had the impression that dead was dead, whether you’re a human or a vampire.”
“It is, for the most part,” Theroen said. “Especially if the body is burned or chopped apart. If it’s intact, and the remaining blood within is powerful enough, the body doesn’t decay immediately. It’s sort of like suspended animation.”
“OK, and so Two brought you back?”
“Like I said, it’s a long story,” Two told her. “This is kind of a once-in-five-thousand-years thing. There was some blood from a couple of ancients, and then the injecting and such, and—”
“Jeeeeesus Christ,” Sarah said, cutting her off. “That’s great. That’s all super great … can we get out of here? I want to find Molly, go home, drink about three bottles of wine, and sleep in my own bed … assuming we’re safe from Aros and his nutcase friends.”
“I believe Peter and Kanene are going to take you home,” Theroen said. “At least, that was the plan we were formulating a few minutes ago. I’m sure you can stop at Sasha’s apartment and pick up your daughter.”
“Where are the rest of you going?” Sarah asked.
“We’ve a bone to pick with Aros,” Jakob told her, as he and the rest of the vampires joined them. Two quickly introduced them all to her friends, and Rhes and Sarah found themselves shaking hand after hand. At last, Jakob continued. “We’re going to go find Aros. You’re going to go home.”
“Are you going to kill him?” Rhes asked.
“We’re hoping to avoid it,” the vampire girl with the brown hair, Sasha, said.
“Don’t try too hard,” Sarah muttered. “Two, why can’t you and Theroen take us home? No offense to your friends, it’s just … you know …”
“You know me, I understand,” Two said. “But I can’t go yet. The whole reason all of this is happening is because of me. Aros wants me, for some reason, and he’s not going to be satisfied until I at least explain to him that whatever he thought he was going to get from me, it’s not happening.”
“He wants your blood,” Jakob said.
Two paused, considering this, eyebrows raised. Finally, she shrugged. “Yeah … not happening.”
“Why does he want her blood?” Theroen asked.
“He believes he can merge his blood with her formerly Eresh-Chen blood, within himself, in order to create some new race of vampire. Supposedly, Abraham gave him the secrets to do it in exchange for this Burilgi army he’s been building.”
“Abraham was almost certainly lying to him,” Theroen said.
Jakob gave him a wry grin. “That’s exactly what I told him, but he wasn’t terribly receptive to the idea.”
“He’s out of his mind,” Sarah said, “and you should stay far away from him, Two. He’s not just looking for a little drink or something. He wants all of your blood. Also, I’m not sure how many you are – I think I counted eight – but he’s got like a hundred guys or more up there on that base.”
“There will be seven of us, when Peter and Kanene have left,” Sasha said. “That should suffice, especially if … well, we believe we can get most of Aros’s guards to stand down.”
“That’d be an accomplishment,” Sarah said.
“Excuse me,” Rhes interjected. “Your name is Sasha, right? Are you the one that helped Molly?”
“Yes, I am. Your daughter helped me, as well. It was through her connections that we found this place.”
“Thank you for taking care of her,” Sarah said. “Is she all right? We were very worried after the attack the other night.”
“She is just fine,” Sasha said, smiling. “She wanted to come along on this little adventure, but we thought it best that she stay home.”
“Yes, thank you, we don’t want her anywhere near here,” Rhes said.
“What connections were you talking about?” Two asked Sasha.
“She took me to see Jerry, a ‘fixer’ who lives—”
“Oh, Jesus, you had to go see that motherfucker?!” Two exclaimed. “I am so sorry. No one should have to deal with that disgusting pedophile asshole, especially not Molly.”
“It was an unpleasant experience,” Sasha agreed. “Molly did very well, and it proved useful. If not for her connection to Jerry, we wouldn’t be here right now.”
“And we’d be dead,” Sarah said. “We’re not, so I guess I can accept that Molly had to go through some tough times for that.”
“All’s well that ends well,” Jakob said. “So let’s end this well. Rhes and Sarah, I believe we can all agree that getting the two of you far, far away from here is an excellent idea. Peter and Kanene are people I would trust with my life, and they will be happy to take you home.”
“There’s no way we can convince you to stay away from Aros, is there?” Sarah asked Two, who shook her head.
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “Seriously, guys, get out of here. Go get Molly and go home, and I promise I’ll visit soon and start
figuring out how I can make all of this up to you.”
“We’ll have you under guard until we’re sure that Aros is no further danger,” Jakob said.
Sarah sighed, nodded, took Rhes’s hand in her own. “OK,” she said. “Yeah. I want my life back. I want to get home before Rhes’s vacation time ends and he gets fired. I want to hug my daughter. Let’s do this.”
Peter and his apprentice Kanene took a few moments to say goodbye to the rest of the group, shaking hands and wishing them good luck. Rhes and Sarah said goodbye to Two and turned to Jakob.
“I am very glad you made it through this,” he said.
“Us, too,” Rhes said. He shook Jakob’s hand, and Sarah hugged him.
“Don’t get yourself shot up anymore,” Sarah told him. The vampire grinned.
“Not planning on it. Rhes, Sarah, take care of yourselves.”
Rhes and Sarah nodded, waved once more to the group, and took their leave with Peter and Kanene. Soon they were gone, and the seven remaining vampires began to make their way back through the tunnels toward Aros’s complex.
* * *
“This is where it gets difficult,” Jakob said. They were standing at the end of a hallway, just past the room where he had fought with The Rat and The Dunce, looking at the doorway that led to the staircase.
“Why’s that?” Two asked him.
“By now Aros must be aware that something has gone wrong, since his Burilgi haven’t returned with my corpse, nor those of your friends. I suspect he will have gathered the rest of his people to him and will be anticipating some sort of attack. Also, I can only guess as to where in the compound he might be found.”
“I may be able to help with that,” Ashayt said. She was standing behind the rest of the group, looking both sad and serene at the same time. “If a large group is together, I should be able to sense it from a distance.”
“Thank you, my lady,” Jakob said.
Two noted the breathless awe still in his voice and was amused by it. I’m never going to get tired of introducing her to new people, she thought. It’s like touring Jesus around the Bible Belt.
With Jakob leading the way and Sasha close behind, they began to ascend the staircase. They had met no resistance since wiping out the Burilgi troops in the warehouse, and they emerged from the stairwell into a dark and empty office building. This seemed to confirm Jakob’s suspicions that Aros had drawn the rest of his people close.
“I feel something to our left,” Ashayt murmured as they descended toward the building’s front door.
“There is a rather large building in that direction,” Jakob said. “I think it was a garage once. Perhaps they’ve gathered there.”
“We just gonna … you know, bust in on them?” Two asked.
“I would strongly prefer a diplomatic approach,” Naomi said. She had spoken little on the trip so far, and Two wondered if perhaps she was regretting coming on an expedition that had already involved so much violence.
“If his guards will let us walk in without a fight, I am happy to do so,” Jakob said. “But, Naomi, I wouldn’t get your hopes up. Aros has been preparing for this day for a long time, and he will have surrounded himself with his most loyal soldiers.”
“If we have to fight, then I will fight with you,” Naomi said. “Forgive me if I hope for the best.”
“No one here is hoping to fight—” Jakob began, but Stephen interrupted him.
“I am.”
“No one here who is sane,” Jakob continued, rolling his eyes, “is hoping to fight. I don’t begrudge you your optimism, Naomi.”
“Is your side OK, Jakob?” Two asked him.
“There’s a bullet stuck in one of my ribs … so it’s been better, but the bleeding stops whenever I’m not fighting, so I think it will be fine,” Jakob replied.
They were making their way across the open courtyard, not trying to hide. There were no other vampires in sight, even in the places where Jakob would otherwise have expected guards. However, they could hear the rumbling of a crowd from the building ahead of them.
“Sounds like a lot of people,” Two said.
“Hopefully fewer than the thousands he could raise if given the time, but we’re about to find out,” Jakob said. He pushed on the large set of double doors and strode into the building, the rest of the group following behind him. A crowd of Burilgi vampires immediately swarmed around them.
“Let them pass!” a voice roared over the general rumble of the crowd, and slowly the mob of surly, angry-looking vampires gave way, forming a sort of corridor that lead to the far end of the large room. Two was not sure exactly how many Burilgi they were facing but thought that three hundred might be a reasonable estimate. There was no possible way that they could fight all of these people and win.
It’d really suck if we just walked into a deathtrap, she thought with a scowl.
The rest of her companions, with the notable exception of Stephen, looked equally concerned. Even Ashayt, who rarely appeared to be in any state other than “serene,” was frowning. She moved up to join Jakob at the head of the group, and they began to make their way through the crowd of staring, grumbling vampires that encircled them. At last, the group reached the end of the room, where a blonde-haired, delicate-looking vampire was sitting on a leather couch, doing his best to look nonchalant.
“So you’re still alive, Jakob,” the vampire commented as they arrived. He stood up, arms crossed, watching them as they made their way forward.
“Surprised, Aros?” Jakob asked him.
So this is the one who wants my blood, Two thought, observing him. He was not what she’d expected; the vampire looked like he’d be more at home wearing an expensive outfit, sipping on luxury vodka, entertaining women in a chic Manhattan nightclub. If Two hadn’t been surrounded by members of the man’s army, she wouldn’t have believed him capable of raising one.
Aros shrugged. “I expected you to fight off the execution squad, but I must admit I’d thought that the group you met underground would have been enough to finish you off and bring the humans back to me. It seems your friends arrived in the nick of time. Is this really all that the council could muster?”
“It’s all that they felt was necessary,” Jakob said.
“They underestimated.”
Ashayt spoke up. “We are not here to fight,” she said. Two could feel her aura once again radiating off of her in waves, and could see in the faces of the Burilgi nearest to them that it was having an effect. Most seemed fascinated by her. Aros, however, seemed to be unaffected. He glanced at the elder vampire, raising his eyebrows, and turned back to Jakob.
“Who is this woman? You can tell her that her transparent efforts to mesmerize me are wasted.”
“You know who this is,” Jakob told him. “You’ve read the scrolls.”
Aros looked again at Ashayt, and Two saw the jolt of recognition run through him, as it had through so many of the older vampires that Ashayt had met. For a moment, just one small instant before he recovered, Aros’s expression betrayed him, and Two saw in it a look of hopeless, helpless fear. Then it was gone, and the casual, arrogant look returned.
“So you’ve dug up an Ovras. How marvelous for you. Hoping to cow me into submission? It won’t work. I spent hundreds of years living by the laws of the scrolls, and it brought me nothing of value. I hold no respect for them or for the elders who wrote them.”
“I am not here to command your respect,” Ashayt said. “I seek only the chance to advise, to—”
“Save it, my lady,” Aros snarled. “I’ve no interest in the senile ramblings of a long-lost ancient.”
Naomi spoke up at this. “Aros, please, be reasonable.”
Aros looked over at her, unimpressed. “Naomi Ames, isn’t it? Yes … I remember you. Weak and servile, enamored with the political games of the council, prone to whoring around with humans … Why should I be reasonable, Naomi Ames? I have more than enough people here to tear you all to shreds, Ovras or no. Do
you have something to offer me in return for being reasonable, or are you simply trying to appeal to the good nature that you’ve surely been informed I do not possess?”
“We’re not here to bargain,” Jakob told him.
“Then what are you here for?!” Aros cried. “Why are you here wasting my time, when you should have died or fled with the humans to huddle in the darkness, awaiting the inevitable?”
Two took a step forward and made her way to Jakob’s side.
“I’m here to find out why you kidnapped my friends,” she said. “Let’s start with that. You wanted me, so here I am. What was the point?”
Aros’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”
“I’m Two Majors.”
“Don’t waste my time with your lies,” Aros said. “You cannot be the Eresh-Chen.”
“Why not?” Two asked.
“Because you’re a vampire, idiot,” Aros snarled. “The Eresh-Chen is a human. My informants in Europe know that she was turned away by the council there.”
“I was,” Two said. “They turned me away and sent me to Ashayt. She gave me what I needed.”
“I don’t know whether to be insulted or amused,” Aros said. “That woman is thousands of years too old to make fledglings. You are not her daughter.”
“Not hers,” said Theroen, and he too made his way to stand next to Two, Jakob, and Ashayt. “Mine.”
Aros stared at him for a moment before saying, “I know you …”
Theroen nodded. “Yes. We’ve met once before, though I didn’t know it until I saw you just now.”
Aros looked taken aback. “This can’t be! I … you can’t be alive.”
“I can’t be, but I am. Shall I prove it was me?” Theroen asked. “It was a night in early summer, perhaps ten years ago. You came to meet with Abraham, a tête-à-tête that didn’t include me, but I let you and your companions in. I also cleaned up the mess after one of your men went wandering, against my recommendation, and Tori ripped him to pieces.”
The II AM Trilogy Collection Page 72