by Aya Walksfar
I poured the hot coffee and dealt it out to Nikki and Ariel, keeping the last cup for myself. Lifting the cup, I toasted. “Here’s to our great adventure and our roaring success, Goddess willing.”
Nikki and Ariel lightly touched the rim of their cups to the rim of my cup. “And if not success, I’ll settle for a quick death.” Nikki shot me a macabre grin and gulped half her coffee.
Ariel didn’t offer a toast; just drank her coffee silently.
I nodded. “For all of our sakes, I hope it is success, rather than death.” Coffee finished, I started the van and headed for the road. Ariel scooted into the back and stretched out on a pallet of blankets. Within minutes quiet snores signaled her exhausted sleep.
As we exited the ramp onto Interstate 5 North, Nikki asked, “Are you sure we shouldn’t have kept some of the Warriors with us?”
“We’ll occasionally hook up with the others, but most of what we’ll be doing will be diplomatic missions.”
“What kinds of missions did you set up for the others?”
I grinned. “I didn’t.”
Nikki shot an incredulous look my way. “You didn’t?”
Accelerating, I passed a tractor-trailer rig. “I gave each of them a different list of potential objectives and sketched in a few ideas on how to obtain them. The rest I left completely up to their leaders.”
“That’s insane!” Nikki sputtered. “You can’t fight a war that way!”
“Yes, you can. You can win a war if you have determined, highly motivated small units of fighters aiming for a single overreaching objective, but with each unit self-directing in how to obtain that objective. You pick off the leaders of your opposition while you work on wearing their followers down and destroying their credibility. Then you undermine them by demonstrating to others that your way is the best for everyone and if they aren’t on your side, they’re on the wrong side. Eventually, your opposition doesn’t have any support left.”
“You’re crazy.” Nikki chuckled. “You are absolutely crazy; almost as crazy as a wanton. That’s why I love you. Caine’s Hells, this might even work.”
****
Two days later, Nikki patted the holster beneath her jacket then reached behind her back, most likely checking her sheathed knife. “You do realize this is a vampire we’re meeting, right?”
I adjusted my jacket to camouflage the shoulder holster. “I do. That’s why I took the precaution to choose a restaurant in the heart of Seattle. There are a lot of ways to escape pursuit and disappear in this city. It has the added attraction of being hours away from any large enclave of vampires.”
“Yeah, well, if things go wonky, we’re going to need all the advantages we can get. From what I heard this clan leader is exceptionally loyal.”
“This clan leader is exceptionally loyal to his People and to his deceased clan mother’s memory. That, Nikki, is what I'm banking on.” I pushed open the restaurant door and walked in. Ariel followed close behind me with Nikki maintaining rear guard position.
The host led us to a spacious booth in the rear. An elderly man stood up from his seat as we approached. He held out his hand. “I am Peter, Clan Leader of Clan Dellefore.”
I shook his hand. “I am Alexis Night Runner, Captain of Artemis’ Warriors and the Leader of the Alliance for Artemis.” With a slight wave of my hand, I introduced the other two. “This is Lieutenant Nikki Howitter, my second, and Ariel Morningstar-Longer.”
The old man’s eyebrows rose as he bowed toward Ariel. “It is my great pleasure to meet you, Ariel Morningstar-Longer. It has been rumored that you were kidnapped and in danger.” He shot a sideways look at Nikki and me.
Ariel stepped closer to the table. “You don’t need to bow, Clan Leader Peter. As you can see, I am not in danger. Matter of fact, with these two women, I am as safe as I can be during this time of upheaval. Please, be seated.” She slid into the half-circle booth and the older man resumed his seat on the opposite side of the table.
Nikki slid in next to Ariel. I took the outside seat.
Peter glanced at Ariel. “Obviously, there is much I need to hear, but let us eat first then discuss our mutual concerns.” He inclined his head at Ariel. “If that fits with your schedule, Heir Morningstar-Longer.”
Ariel looked toward me then back at Peter. “Please, I am only one part of the Alliance, and a young, inexperienced part at that. I am here to listen and to learn. Captain Night Runner is the leader of the Alliance and I follow her.”
He tilted his head in acknowledgement. “As you wish, Heir.”
I noted that Peter had taken the seat that put his back to the door, leaving us seats with unobstructed views of the kitchen where an exit existed and of the front of the restaurant. Points for him for showing he wasn’t worried about an ambush while allowing us the more advantageous position. “I’ve heard they serve great lasagna here.”
A small smile graced Peter’s thin lips. “That they do, Captain Night Runner.”
The meal passed in pleasant conversation about inconsequential things. Once our desert plates had been cleared and another round of coffee poured, Peter relaxed against the back of the booth seat. One hand reached up and fingered the silver Clan Mother medallion that hung around his neck. “What did you wish to discuss, Captain Night Runner?”
“I think you know what it is or you would not have agreed to this meeting. I think you have similar concerns.” Shifting forward, I leaned against the table’s edge. “First Councilwoman Longer has contracted an illness that is causing her to act in ways detrimental to the Purpose of Artemis and detrimental to the safety and health of vampires as well as to other Supernaturals and to humans. This comes at a dangerous time for all of us. European vampires seek to overthrow First Councilwoman Longer and to take over the North America Region. These same vampires wish to reinstate the Open Enthrallment Policy which assigns cattle status to any who are not vampire.” I sat back and sipped my coffee as I observed him over the rim of the cup.
“I am hearing stories about this Alliance of Supernaturals, but all I see here are vampires and wantons who became Warriors under the tutelage of vampires. Vampires and other Supernaturals do not easily treat together.”
“You’re right.” I conceded. “In the past, Supernaturals and vampires didn’t play nice together. But now, we all face a common enemy and a lethal threat to our Peoples. It is time to set aside the past, so we might all have a future.” I inhaled and let my breath ease out. “There really isn’t any place in this war for fence-sitters. Are you with us, or not?”
“You are quite blunt, aren’t you?” He cocked his head and openly studied me. “I follow the precepts laid down in the Purpose of Artemis. It is what I vowed to do when Clan Mother Ruby Dellefore Changed me. I will honor my vows to Clan Mother Dellefore until the day of my True Death.” He watched from beneath lidded eyes. “In what way do you believe I can help?”
“Your farm is the one to which Gregory assigned a Guardian and a Warrior, isn’t it? He had them set it up as a mini-fortress, didn’t he?”
He raised one brow. “Yes, he did.”
“We have need of a safe place where we can send wantons who can’t fight and huvams too young to fight. There are other humans who may need asylum as well.”
He turned his attention to Ariel. “Tell me, young Heir, what happened to your mother and why you would side with these rebels against her.” He folded his aged hands together on the table.
Ariel lifted her chin and began to speak. No one spoke as she told the story of the invasion of the island and the flight to the cove beneath. My own heart sped with panic when Ariel spoke of being trapped beneath the surface of the bespelled water and how the oxygen in the air tanks ran low. When she had finished, tears ran freely down her cheeks and she turned her face into Nikki’s side.
Peter waited for her to regain composure. “I smell your pain and your honesty, young Heir. I beg your pardon for the sorrow I have brought back to you. I endeavor to live true to Art
emis’ Purpose. How may I assist you?”
Ariel sat up straighter and held her gaze steady on him. “Protect those who cannot protect themselves. Join our Alliance for Artemis.”
He bowed his head. “As you wish, young Heir.” When he rose, he took her small hand and kissed the back of it. “I am honored to have met you, and for so long as you follow the Way of Artemis, I will remain your humble servant.”
Ariel inclined her head in a regal manner. “I am honored to know of such a loyal and steadfast follower of Artemis. May you and yours be ever strengthened by Goddess Artemis in your quest to follow Her Great Purpose,” Ariel gave the formal reply.
After he left the restaurant, Nikki looked at Ariel. “Okay, I think I missed something. Did he just switch his allegiance from your mother to you? I didn’t think vampires could do that.”
She shook her head. “My mother never asked Peter to switch his allegiance from Clan Mother Dellefore. She made him Clan Leader as long as he cared for his People. And, he didn’t really vow allegiance to me. He said he would be my servant only as long as I follow the Way of Artemis.”
Chapter 27
Serena Longer
I paced the bedroom. The voice in my head had grown louder over the past few weeks. Now, it nearly drowned out my own thoughts. None of my People could know what had happened to Gregory. Carefully, I had brushed his ashes off of his clothes then packed them into a box that I secreted beneath my bed. Somehow, I couldn’t let go of them. Three hundred and fifty years had ended that quickly.
Head pounding, I collapsed into a chair. Hands pressed to either side of my head, I wanted to scream, but held it back. It wouldn’t do to let anyone know of my weakness. Finally, I staggered to my feet and stumbled over to the ancient wood cedar box hidden beneath my clothes. Inside the box on a bed of ocean blue silk, laid my mother’s silver medallion--the one I had inherited and had worn every day for years. I stared at it and tried to recall why I no longer wore it. When had I put it away? Ah, yes, when I regained consciousness from the cave incident. I had had a sudden and overwhelming fear that it might get lost if I continued to wear such a precious item.
Reverently, I removed it from its silk bed. The pain inside my head intensified. I squinted my eyes against it. The night I murdered Gregory, this box had called to me. Unable to resist, I pulled it from its hiding place and opened it. That’s when the second voice entered my head.
Now the voices warred inside me. When the pain reached a crescendo, I dropped the medallion back into its box, and replaced the box before sinking to my knees. Arms wrapped around my head, I bent low, forehead touching the cool hardwood floor.
“Serena, what are you doing, Love? I taught you better than this.”
“You taught her nothing, except how to toady to humans,” this voice growled, harsh, contemptuous.
“Leave her! You have no right....”
“Right?” the male voice bellowed an evil laugh. “I take the right! It is time she earned her place in vampire society.”
“You’re a male; Artemis denies you power.”
“Who cares what She denies when the Gods are on my side.”
“You cannot win. You and They did not win during The Great Fall or during The Time of Hunting. Your gods will fail, yet again.”
In a low snarl, he said, “She belongs to me already. When she took Gregory Trueson’s life, she damned her Soul. Look how the Dark consumes it.”
Coldness seeped into my bones. I shook hard with a shiver that went beyond the cold.
“No,” the female responded calmly, “she did not take Gregory’s life; he gladly and willingly gave it.”
“Ridiculous!” The male thundered his building rage.
“Gregory gave his life that he might save Serena’s Soul.”
Darkness closed around me. A roaring filled my head and drowned out the voices. They faded into nothingness. I welcomed the cold blackness.
For a long time I hung there, in a place of no existence.
“Serena?” This voice seemed vaguely familiar. Who was it and what was she doing here in the Cold-Between?
“Serena!” The voice echoed in the black nothingness.
I tried to hold onto the thread of sound, tried to follow it, but the thread broke and left me drifting. The voice faded farther and farther away.
Gray light seeped through the window as I uncurled from the floor. Showered and dressed, I hurried downstairs. The wantons cooking breakfast ducked their heads as soon as I entered. Good!
In the cold light of morning, I had finally disentangled the voices in my head. The female voice had set out to make me weak, as if I owed Gregory Trueson my Soul, or at least my life. The male had spoken the truth. If my Soul was damned because I dared live true to my vampirism, so be it. I was done hiding and starving.
Too bad Baskell had gotten above himself; I could use a good general right now. With a casual hand I reached out and grasped a server’s arm. Swinging the man in against my chest, I shoved his head to one side and bit. Blood spiced with the burnt sugar taste of fear and the peppery taste of pain flooded my mouth. I sucked hard. When his heart fluttered, I licked the wounds in his neck and let go. He fell to the floor. No one dared run to his side. Let them all fear me.
The other humans present dipped their faces and scurried to put space between them and me. Let the cattle panic; it flavored the meal.
A young serving woman, a huvam by the smell of her, started past and I snatched the girl’s arm. Fear pheromones flooded my nostrils. I inhaled deeply. Delicious. “Serve me in the living room.” I released my hold and the girl stumbled away. I spun and marched out.
After breakfast, I pushed the last plate aside and finished my coffee. I stood up and strapped my sword to my hip. Time to pick a new personal guard. Gregory had fulfilled both the position of First--or personal--Guard and as general of my military. Perhaps, it was time to split those positions. I would decide once I reviewed the soldiers.
****
The assembled Guardians watched as I laid Gregory’s personal short sword on the ground in front of my feet. A savage glee zinged through me as I gazed at them lined up like good little soldiers. “Gregory Trueson is a traitor.”
A low murmur rippled through the assembled men and women. My eyes roamed over their faces, observing and cataloguing their truths. A large number of them held the fires of doubt in their gazes. I needed to stomp those out right away.
Guardian Tracker Janelle had always been a favorite, and sometimes a bedmate, of Gregory’s. The woman practically reeked disbelief.
I stalked to the far end of the line and stopped in front of her. “I smell your doubt. It is so strong that it nearly gags me. Do you question what your First Councilwoman tells you?”
Janelle’s jaw clenched, but her gaze remained steady on mine. “Beg leave to speak freely, First Councilwoman.”
I swung around and marched back to where I had placed Gregory’s sword on the ground. I picked up the sheath and slid the blade from it. Holding its tip skyward, the gold edge caught a drip of sunlight that ran like a droplet of blood down the blade. I strode to Janelle. Without a word, I swung the blade. Janelle’s head began to ash out before the shock had faded from her eyes.
The blood of the Guardian coated the blade with a thin gray ash. I snarled, “The blood of the traitor’s lover coats his blade. How appropriate.” I sauntered along the line of Guardians, briefly catching and holding each one’s eyes. “You stink of fear. Are you vampire or are you humans masquerading?”
At the end of the line I whirled and ambled to a spot where I could easily study the soldiers. “Vampires will take back their rightful places as the superior species. We will no longer bow and starve while living amidst plenty.” My eyes flashed a deep emerald green. “Do not make the mistakes of Gregory Trueson and his acolytes. I will tolerate no traitors. I will not allow those to live who follow traitors.”
The vampires stood with the stillness of the long lived. Anxiety, a he
ady wine, poured from their skin. Why did I ever deny myself?
“On this day I will chose from my most loyal Guardians one who will replace the traitor Trueson as First Guard; one who will wipe away the traitor’s stink from my nostrils!” My voice rose until I shouted the last few words.
Breath heaving, I laid Gregory’s blade and sheath on the ground before my feet. Right fist clenched, I closed my eyes. When I opened them, I knew they no longer glowed the hot emerald green that signaled deep emotion, but a fathomless black.
I caught the barely perceptible flinch of several vampires as they looked into my eyes. It required great control not to let glee seep into my face. Hand fisted at my heart area, I held it there for a long moment then with a sudden movement, I dashed my hand toward the ground as I opened my fingers. A ball of red fire spilled onto Gregory’s blade. It quickly ran like oil across the honed steel. Greasy smoke rose into the gray day and hung in the oppressive thickness of the humid air.
Within a minute, nothing more than a black spot marked where the sword and sheath had lain. Hand held out in front of me, I slowly clenched my fingers into a tight fist. “I will tolerate no traitors.” I sliced them with a look, daring them to harbor unacceptable thoughts.
My hand opened and fell to my side. I allowed the mask of rage to be subsumed by a mask of reasonableness. “I choose Guardian Adele Royce to be my personal guard, my First Guard.” My gaze settled on the willowy brunette with dark almond eyes. “Come, and accept your commission.”
The woman strutted from the ranks then knelt before me. Her dark eyes burned with undisguised lust as she gazed up. Heat flashed in my groin and my nostrils flared. Lust bade me to take my pleasure right then and there, but duty called louder. I looped a chain over Adele’s head. “Let this silver medallion remind you of your service to me. Let this ruby teardrop remind you that in time of trouble, if need be, you will shed every last drop of your blood on my behalf. Take this medallion that I removed from the traitor Trueson and redeem it with your loyalty and with your blood. Do you accept this commission, Adele Royce of Clan Highers?”