The Hunger - Vampire Huntress Legend 3

by L. A. Banks

  Yes, she had led many a street fight. Sure, she had gone into fights before with Marlene and the guys. But never had one of her inner circle been this close to being lost. The Dee Dee thing was different. That had hurt like hell, but still… Dee Dee hadn't been one of their inner circle. Never had one so close as Marlene, her seer-mother and friend, ever come so near to dying, or had needed her so much. What if she hadn't been able to save Marlene? What if it hadn't been black-magic energy that had dropped Mar; what if it had been an arrow or a bullet? She couldn't save her from that. What if fear paralyzed her and she wasn't able to save anyone? Then what?

  This was so different, this new role in a strange, foreign land. Never had so much been siphoned from her soul in one night… a night when she needed to weep for a significant loss, but couldn't. Those days were over. She'd gone to sleep one night ago a girl and had woken up in a new land as a woman.

  "Do you know where he is, baby?" Marlene's gentle question flitted across the room to Damali.

  Damali didn't even open her eyes to answer as she drifted off to sleep. "No, Mar. It doesn't matter anymore, anyway. He's just another vampire."

  Carlos stared at the remaining vampire from his international squad in disbelief. "What happened?"

  The maimed transporter fell to his knees and hung his head before Carlos. Its hooded robe was in shreds, as was one of its arms. It had been stripped of its battle-axes, and one fang was missing. The eyes in its faceless expanse of blackness flickered dangerously, on the verge of going out.

  "I need to feed," it heaved in a ragged whisper. "I cannot even transmit."

  Begrudgingly, Carlos pushed back the sleeve of his suit and offered his wrist to the dying thing. Disgust filled him as the entity greedily accepted the offering, and immediately slit Carlos's vein and began to feed, making wet, sucking sounds.

  "That's enough," Carlos snapped, pulling his arm away.

  The entity stood slowly, humiliation flickering in its eyes. Shaking its head in a warning, its eyes were solid red and it pointed to them, telling Carlos without words to see for himself.

  Carlos looked into the entity's eyes, nodded, and paced away from the creature. "It was beyond your control." He walked over to the hearth and slammed his fist into it. "Damn!"

  "We protected the Neteru's people at all costs, as you ordered. But the toll was heavy, sir. Were-demons are formidable within their own power boundaries… even though it poaches your territory."

  What could Carlos say? Their word had been their bond. He studied the creature and let his breath out with impatience. "Thank you," he muttered, but meaning it. He'd asked the impossible and these messengers had delivered. But demons against Damali's crew? Why? Her team was nowhere near where the bodies had dropped. Then a deeply disturbing reality hit him; if that whack female vamp had led them to the new Neteru so they could manufacture more essence… Carlos closed his eyes to gather calm. "Let council know what happened."

  The entity sighed and nodded, seeming relieved. "I will transmit the situation to the Vampire Council. The Neteru is safe?"

  "Yes," Carlos said, nodding with caution. "Go ahead and send." He watched the red orbs disappear as his message was transmitted. The muscles in his back coiled with anticipation, as he waited for the messenger to reopen its eyes.

  The chairman stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes closed, and his chin tilted toward the ceiling as he received the topside message. The Vampire Council sat silently, waiting, until the chairman opened his eyes.

  "We have a disaster brewing topside," he said plainly, walking from behind the large pentagram-shaped table. Beyond belief, he shook his head as he spoke, his gaze roving over his council members, suspicion in his countenance. "See for yourself how we lost all but one of the international couriers we sent to protect Rivera's cargo. Pirated by level five were-demons? Impossible! A breach of this magnitude is an attempt to start another war—"

  "While we are knowingly vulnerable," the counselor advised coolly.

  Fury ripped through the chairman, but he remained outwardly calm. "Our world as we know it is changing. We were once a vast superpower, unmatched. But aggressive, weaker nations are utilizing terrorist tactics… they fight a very different war than we are used to."

  "Do not underestimate their formidability, Mr. Chairman," the counselor said, his eyes never leaving the senior vampire. "We must get Rivera out of the hot zone, along with his cargo, before anything happens while they're there."

  Another council member from the far end of the table spoke. "We must come to a decision, as dawn approaches, or adjourn. And we still have the matter of Rivera's missing soul. Our best man topside is in double jeopardy fighting unscrupulous forces such as these."

  "I want his soul, or I want him out of there," the chairman said with a note of concern. "This courageous vampire is so—"

  "We have the matter under control," the counselor interjected. "Mr. Chair—"

  "No!" the chairman boomed. "Enough waiting!" Thick billows of black smoke surrounded his feet as he walked, rising in plumes around him as his robes swished against the marble floor. "You have sent soul searchers on rescue and recovery missions, and they have failed! You handle this personally, Mr. Counselor! Now!"

  The international courier bristled, drawing Carlos to alert status. They both glanced at the horizon, knowing only a few minutes stood between them and certain incineration. Seeming confused, the now weaponless messenger stepped back. Carlos looked at him, hard. The messenger only offered one word.

  "Incoming."

  "The council? Near dawn?" Carlos studied the entity that only nodded. This was not good. He stepped back as a cavern opened within the center of the lair's slate floor and the requisite black plume of smoke screeched in a furious swirl, threatening to suck away the contents of the room with gale-force winds. Slowly, as the room came to a rest, the counselor stepped from the center of the abyss.

  "Counselor Vlak?"

  "Leave us," he said to the courier, ignoring Carlos's question. He stood staring out the deck opening until the entity disappeared, then he turned a sinister gaze on Carlos. He walked the perimeter of the room with his hands behind his back as he garnered enough restraint to speak.

  "Your gates will come down in a few moments, so let us not mince words or play games." The counselor held Carlos's gaze in a lethal stare. "You and I both know your soul is not within the realms." When Carlos opened his mouth to form a protest, the counselor held up his hand. "You may fool that old, doddering idiot. He has become weak and senile with delusions of a return of the old way, but you are speaking to me now, not the chairman."

  Counselor Vlak spit on the floor and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Carlos remained very, very still, ready for an attack.

  "I thought about the options—the strategies available, as soon as my subterranean soul searchers came back with news that your soul could not be found. And that damnable prayer in your heart that you died with kept haunting me. So, we sent a our best searcher to the border of Purgatory as a last resort; a place we rarely go near as the dangers to our kind there are many." He laughed evilly, and shook his head. "Damali Richards's essence within your soul led our searcher right to it. We could not cross, but they were absolutely certain that there was one of ours behind the wall riddled with Neteru trail—and polluted by love. So I watched you… the refusal to traditionally feed on innocents, the refusal to take a life. All the signs, the compassion toward her team—even clerics!" He spat again and circled Carlos. "You even imperiled our best international couriers for her and her human guardians!"

  "She's precious cargo to the Vampire Council," Carlos hedged, still not wanting to corroborate any evidence.

  "My first impulse was to inform the council of your treachery and have them remand you to the Sea of Perpetual Agony," the counselor said, not the least bit fazed by the rebuttal. "But then, all my years as a Roman senator prevailed." He shook a bony finger in Carlos's face and smiled, his fangs leng
thening. "A man so bold as to play three ends against the middle is a worthy competitor. And a man with something of value to lose, is a man who will cut a deal."

  "What do you want?" Carlos whispered. For the first time since this entire travesty began, he felt cornered. He was cold-busted, and dangling by a thread over a precipice, and Damali was endangered from multiple realms.

  "I want absolute power," the counselor said, calmly studying the lower echelon crest on his hooked finger.

  "I don't have absolute power," Carlos said, no ruse in his reply. He opened his arms. "I'm a trapped and hunted man. What can I give you that you don't already have?"

  "A trade," the counselor replied, looking up and holding him without blinking. "A discreet and quiet trade."

  "Talk to me," Carlos said, glancing at the open deck doors. The iron lair seal had begun to lower.

  "Fallon Nuit was a madman, but a brilliant one. His method of escape just needed refinement." The counselor threw his head back and laughed, sending a shrill echo through the lair. "There is nothing better than a double, double cross. He was let out by a variable, a woman who performed a ritual that released a demon above his incarceration lair. Nuit then formed an alliance with the Amanthra he was forced to cohabitate with."

  "I know, I know," Carlos said, becoming nervous that he might be trapped in a lair all day with this lunatic. "But speak quickly."

  "Yes. You are observant." The counselor let his breath out hard and pressed on. "But Nuit was arrogant, impatient, and I knew he would not be able to resist the Brazilian territory. This region is rich and has been one to fuel the demon empires with the atrocities of greed committed over this soil against innocents… and our history shows that the dark realms even claimed a guardian soul, the first and only in history, from here. But the were-demons had that soul in their possession—we had no access to it. We could learn no more about it, other than the fact that it fell from grace… until Nuit did one of his international concert locations here, an error in judgment. He opened a portal, and open portals allow for the passage of things in and out. Haste makes waste. Information is power—during the chaos in the demon realms, much of their information was at risk. My searchers, beholden to me under my council provinces, were able to spy and learn valuable secrets."

  Slapping his hands together, he walked in a mad, gleeful circle, coming close to Carlos, sending his foul breath into Carlos's face.

  "A coup… you'd overthrow the chairman?" Carlos now walked away from him in an agitated circle. He wasn't sure why all of this just didn't sit right with him, but it didn't.

  "The old goat is past his prime," the counselor said quickly, his voice frantic with excitement. "He still holds onto the ways of chivalry and valor from the days up to the end of the Dracula era. He doesn't even believe in contracts to seal a deal. You were witness to that. I have been telling him for years that there are new technologies we can employ, and that the new breed of vampires knows nothing of the old ways, that he must update his methods."

  The gate was half lowered, and panic was settling into Carlos's bones. "Then if there will be a coup, how can I, not even holding a confirmed council thro—"

  "The old man doesn't know about the were-demon's small stash of Neteru. Just like he has no clue that your soul is in the wrong hands, safely stowed away in Purgatory—out of our reach. He thinks the demon realms have hijacked it, thus it's in the dark realms and obtainable."

  The two men stared at each other for a moment. The counselor threw his head back and laughed. "Perfect, isn't it?"

  "What do you want from me?" Carlos asked, now panicking.

  "Take the female were-demon to the vanishing point." He smiled evilly. "She's beautiful, you've seen her."

  "That was a female vamp!" Incredulous, Carlos walked back and forth, raking his fingers through his hair so hard his scalp nearly bled. "And to do that requires a black blood exchange with a were." He stopped and looked at the counselor. "That's illegal."

  Counselor Vlak stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. "I do see why the old man tolerates you. They broke the mold when they made you." He shook his head. "That was a were-demon, young man. And you fed her from your veins. That, also, was not sanctioned." He continued to chuckle. "And I cannot believe that a man of your past is concerned about what is legal. Tell me your moral fiber is not—"

  "She came at me like a vamp! I didn't know!"

  "Older women can be intriguing, powerful, seductive… will lure you from where you should be into realms where you shouldn't go. Especially if they have a little black blood running through them to give them temporary powers of illusion to be all-vamp when they approach a very novice young male." He chuckled and studied his claws.

  "You set me up…" Carlos felt himself about to bulk, but then thought better of it. Power for power and with dawn near, Vlak was an older entity that was not to be tried. "And she lied to me," he said, his voice unnaturally quiet as all of what he was learning sank in. The resistance to his territory, pushing contracts in his face, the counselor acting like, he didn't want him to have South America, blocking his immediate access to a throne and calling for a vote later—all of it was bullshit to keep Vlak looking like the last entity who would collude with him. The game was deadly smooth.

  "Of course she lied to you. She's a demon," he said, triumphant as awareness took hold within Carlos. "And naturally I set you up, that is my nature. Winner takes all. You didn't think I was going to allow you to descend that fast with such a vast territory, and to openly challenge me at council table in front of the others without a strategic response, did you?"

  The two stared at each other for a moment, and then Vlak smiled.

  "Good. We understand each other. The sun is coming, so let me say this quickly." Vlak shook his head. "There is always a variable, and black magic is powerful but unstable—that's why we prefer pure illusion, or moving existing matter. That crazy mother-seer were-demon is starting to have delusions that she is the Neteru… Her mind is easy to compromise." He arched his eyebrow. "One little sip of a dark guardian's blood and she was ready to make an overly compassionate master vampire her life-mate," he said then laughed. "Tragic."

  Carlos rubbed his face with both palms as humiliation scored him, breathing into his hands as they slid past his eyes and over his nose, listening with horror, thinking of how twisted things could get when minds bent and snapped. He felt nauseous as he absorbed it all and as the counselor's voice became more urgent, more excited as he went on unraveling the sordid plot against the chairman.

  "She escaped level five with the small portion of Neteru essence left, and trapped within the demon boundaries, tethered to the moon like the animal she'd become, she was desperate to escape before they found her again… and when one is desperate, one tends to make unwise, hasty decisions. It was perfect. My searcher brought me her proposal to give us access to daylight in the exchange for access to unlimited mobility, and I told her the truth wrapped around a lie; there was a new, very young, inexperienced master vampire with vast territory that shadowed hers—and that he, because he was younger, could take her to the V-point. I calmed her fears of the dangers, and told her that when it was done, however, she would not be consumed into you… I would ensure that for her, since I am, after all, council-level with powers that she couldn't fathom. Then, we struck a deal that with her daylight access, she would bring me the Neteru that we'd lost. I told her you were a small sacrifice and wouldn't be missed and performed the forbidden black blood exchange."

  He laughed again and shook his head as Carlos simply stared at him. He glanced at the grate, which was now half lowered and still closing. "Foolish woman. She didn't know we already had the Neteru in our sights, and that with your soul weight, if you took her to the vanishing point, your dropout is guaranteed. And through you our empire would have access to daylight, plus a vessel that could produce daywalkers seven years from now." He paused and stared at Carlos. "I want that power."

  "If
I take her there, how would that help you? Through a throne transfer? You want me to rush the chairman?" Carlos asked, trying to remain calm.

  Vlak smiled and made a little tsking sound of disapproval. "Silly boy, no. I will be there the moment you come out of the fusion point naked and shaking like a junkie. You'll be weak; will need to feed. You'll barely be able to lift your head. And if you do attempt to fight me, I can easily kill you, bleed myself out, and then drain you dry to recover. But it would be better for us to keep our dirty little secret until I can infect enough of my own army to storm the chambers. That crazy old bastard… He must be insane to believe that I would wait in line to receive the daywalker's bite! I will already be one, long before the Neteru is ready to give birth to them, and the chairman's throne, which goes back to the time of Paradise lost, will be mine."

  He folded his hands behind his back, closed his eyes, and let his voice drop to a sinister whisper. "So, rather than make this messy and public, you'll come to my throat and I'll come to yours, double flat-line, total transfer." He looked at Carlos and tilted his head. "It will be enjoyable, trust me." He chuckled as the color drained from Carlos's face. "Ahhh… while alive, you never went to prison, did you? Shame, having missed so many different experiences. But this one foul act of willingly taking a were-demon to the vanishing point will most assuredly give us your soul. All will be well, and as it should be. Fair exchange, and I'm even allowing you to keep the Neteru."

  Carlos's gaze narrowed on Vlak. Fury sent bile to his tongue as he remembered the subtle threat of violation that had threaded through his system as the demon siphoned his wrist. Yet Vlak's full-fanged smile contained cool confidence in a way that let him know the counselor had somehow trapped him.

  "What if I just say, fuck you?"