Duel Nature

by John Conroe

  “That makes sense. I’ll keep cool. Arkady told me to keep my temper too.”

  “I doubt Arkady knows about this theory. He just knows your temper. Chris, you have to be really, really controlled in there. Always remember she will try to trip you up.”

  I reassured her a dozen times I would behave. Finally, she glanced at the clock on the wall and announced she had to be at the business center in two minutes. A long kiss goodbye and she was gone, leaving me with my thoughts.

  Chapter 34

  Three hours later I was recalled before the Conclave. Gault got right down to business.

  “So, according to your story, Vadim and Anton took you from the night club when this demon fight was finished. The demon was dead or gone or what have you and you were unconscious, correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “What happened next?” he asked.

  “I woke up in a shipping container down by the waterfront. Vadim and Anton came in. Anton bragged about how Tanya would follow me to the shipyard and they would kill her and use her blood to produce a much stronger street drug with the demons help. I told them the Elders would kill them but then Fedor appeared and claimed credit for the whole plan,” I said.

  He made a ‘go on’ motion with his hand.

  “At that point I think I may have insulted his intelligence.”

  “You did what?” Atta asked, incredulous.

  “Well, the plan was to spread the drug through society and cause a breakdown in order which would allow Darkkin to step forward and assume visible control. I laughed at that because while I don’t know much about vampires, and even less back then, I do know demons.”

  “So what? The plan sounds at least plausible,” Frimunt said.

  “Demons don’t do anything for anyone but themselves. That many berserk humans would have been nothing more than a fertile field to plant thousands and thousands of demons. The vampire age of rule would have lasted all of two weeks.”

  “Demons would be that able to use the drugged humans?” Elisabeta asked.

  “Absolutely. Perfect vessels for demonic possession.”

  “What happened next?” Gault asked.

  “They thought Tanya would take hours to figure out where I was,” I said. Both Tavian and Elisabeta snorted at that. The others looked at them curiously. Tavian explained.

  “Chosen know where their partners are all the time. Separation by a few miles would mean nothing,” he said.

  I nodded. “Tanya was already on the way with the other Elders and more. Fedor and company wasn’t ready for her so things got rushed. Anton and Vadim went to meet her while Fedor decided that my death would leave her disoriented.”

  “That’s when the god spirit showed up?” Mausya asked, completely fascinated.

  “Yeah, he ripped the whole front of the container off. Fedor couldn’t see him and when he stepped forward to investigate Okwari smashed him with both paws at once. It was like getting hit by a train…actually, two trains – head on. Even an Elder vampire can’t survive that degree of instant damage.”

  They were all quiet, but not motionless. Several, Berit and Gault, were taking notes. Tavian and Elisabeta looked thoughtful.

  “That matches what we have heard from other testimony. It also lends support to him actually being Tatiana’s Chosen,” Tavian said. His mate nodded.

  “I would have no trouble tracking Tav’ anywhere in this city,” the red-headed vampiress said.

  “Where is this god now?” Mausya asked suddenly.

  I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’m led to believe that he was given only a short time in this realm before he was forced to leave for good.”

  “What could force an ancient god to leave?” Chilka

  They all looked at me. I shrugged.

  “God Himself. The Big Guy. God with a capital G. Yahweh!” I said.

  “You believe that?” Mausya asked. She leaned forward slightly.

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “You claim your gift with demons is God-given?” she asked.

  “I think so. All of the clergy who’ve ever seen the results of my exorcisms are convinced of it.”

  “But you don’t know for sure? It is possible your demon power comes from demons themselves?” she suggested.

  “That’s always been a fear. But it seems more and more unlikely, seeing as I’m interfering with their plans on a regular basis.”

  I didn’t mention that I also had regular conversations with an Angel who reassured me that I was on the side of the good guys.

  “Your family was brutally murdered when you were a child, no?” Mausya asked. “You claim it was a demon?” She made it sound unlikely.

  “It was,” I said, gritting my teeth.

  “After that you suddenly got these exorcism powers?” Gault asked.

  “They appeared four years later.” I answered.

  “The demon stabbed you with a hypodermic needle during your fight at the club. What was in it?” Mausya asked suddenly.

  Where she learned that piece of information I would love to know. I had deliberately avoided all mention of it. Still, now that it was out there, hanging overhead like a dangling blade, I needed to answer.

  “I believe it was blood,” I said.

  “Blood? How strange. Blood from who?”

  “I think it was blood from the demon’s victim.”

  They looked at me blankly.

  “You know, the person whose body the demon possessed.”

  “So you were injected with demon blood, which knocked you out,” Mausya stated.

  “I don’t think actual demon blood exists in this realm or dimension as they come here incorporeal. But I do think it was blood from the body the demon inhabited. Whether it was what knocked me out or a blow from the fight is uncertain,” I said.

  “Why would it do that?” Gault asked.

  “I don’t know. Dr. Singh felt that the victim’s blood was changed by the presence of the demon. He theorized that it might have a destabilizing effect on me, but we don’t know for sure.”

  “Half-truths,” Berit said suddenly.

  “Care to elaborate?” Atta asked with a cold smile.

  “Not really. If I’m speaking ‘half-truths’ it’s because I don’t know the answers. I can guess or form theories but I don’t know for certain,” I said, putting all the conviction I could into my statement. The God Tear necklace warmed slightly on my chest, making its presence known.

  The Patrons looked at Berit, who kept her cold eyes on me, but nodded grudgingly after a moment.

  “Funny you should mention Dr. Singh. He testified a little earlier,” Mausya said. “He feels very strongly that the demons altered a vampire protein and created the street drug Hance. A drug that destabilizes its user’s inhibitions and makes them dangerously psychotic. Wouldn’t straight demon blood do even worse?”

  “You would have to ask him that. But since you’re asking me I’ll surmise that twisting a vampire protein is gonna have a bigger effect than twisting a human blood protein.”

  “Ah, but your blood was riddled with all kinds of vampire proteins as well as the V squared virus itself by the time you were injected. By your reasoning that should be even worse.”

  I shrugged again.

  “I’m not following your line of questioning. If you’re asking if I’m a twisted psychotic then I have to say no.”

  “Really?” she said with a wondering tone of voice. “But you do suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder, do you not?”

  Oh shit! That was so not a conversation I wanted to have.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, trying to gather my thoughts.

  “Oh come now, Mr. Gordon. Isn’t it true that you have at least one other complete personality that manifests itself when you – how did Hokosawa put it? – ‘lose your temper’.”

  “I’m not an expert on psychology, Ma’am. From what little I know, patients with Multiple Personality disorder are not usually aware of their other personaliti
es. What I have, is more of a persona than a distinct personality. A facet of my total personality that is somewhat more specialized.”

  “Actually you are incorrect. Many patients with MPD are aware of the other personalities. But you do admit to another personality?”

  “Persona, I have another persona just as you have your Patron persona and your private, chew on the neck of your favorite blood donor persona.”

  She laughed at me. Not pleasantly, but condescendingly.

  “Semantics, Mr. Gordon. What I do know is that you’ve admitted that you have a separate ‘persona’ which I understand is extremely violent and that you’ve been injected with an incredibly powerful mutagenic substance that has been shown to produce intense psychosis and uncontrolled rage in humans.”

  “It sounds bad when you put it like that,” I said, a really sick feeling forming in my stomach. I was also struggling with my temper as her words kept digging at me like a sharp shovel.

  She arched her eyebrows. “Bad? Mr. Gordon, humans ingesting Hance and bringing Darkkin blood chemistry into the realm of modern science is bad. A mutated supernatural being with an ultra-violent split personality pumped full of a super psychosis inducing substance who also has a psychic bond with the hope and future of the Darkkin race is a catastrophe many orders of magnitude greater.”

  Her vampire playing card hadn’t outlined her human job during her first ‘life’, but I was willing to bet she had been an attorney. In just a few words she had managed to twist my life into a major threat to vampire kind. My dark half wanted to have a few moments alone with her. I shoved it back down and found my right hand touching the God Tear without conscious thought.

  “Humans call that spin, Ms. Mausya. Twisting words around to paint a particular picture. Myself, I would prefer to point out that your ‘hope and future’ has bound herself to a uniquely competent bodyguard that can heal her of catastrophic injury and will take on any ‘enemy’ that threatens her, anywhere, anytime,” I said.

  “We all like to see ourselves as the hero, Mr. Gordon. That’s human nature even for people who are more than human. I’m pretty sure Hitler saw himself as a hero. But don’t fool yourself. You are a danger to Tatiana and every other vampire in existence.”

  “How many vampires have you killed Mr. Gordon?” Chalka asked.

  “Seventeen,” I answered.

  “How many of those seventeen were a threat to either Tatiana or had Challenged your place as her Chosen?” she asked.

  “All of them,” I said.

  “How many demons have threatened Tatiana?” she continued.

  “At least two directly,” I said.

  “What happened to them?” she asked

  “I sent them back to Hell.”

  “And we’ve already established the fact that you killed off a pack of weres that directly attacked Tatiana as well as Senka, Galina, and others from this Coven,” she said.

  “What’s your point Chalka?” Gault asked, puzzled.

  “Isn’t it obvious? She – “ pointing at Mausya “ – wants us to believe him a danger to Tatiana and Darkkin everywhere. He contends he is a better protector of our young Full Blood than anyone else. I’m just pointing out that the facts seem to support his contention. We’ve wasted a tremendous amount of time on this farce and I, for one, would like to get back to the business of selecting the next Elder.”

  Mausya was frowning, her head tilted slightly to one side. I was beginning to think that particular mannerism was what she used when she was reading probabilities or whatever it was she did.

  “I do not think a direct threat to the life of the only Full Blood Darkkin in history is a ‘farce’,” she said. “My point is that he is unstable and could snap and kill her.”

  “Let’s ask our experts on Chosen,” Chalka said, turning to Tavian and Elisabeta who both looked surprised.

  “Is it possible for either of you to hurt or harm the other?” Chalka asked.

  They both shook their heads in exactly the same manner and at the same time.

  “Impossible. It would be like harming yourself. We feel each other’s pain when we’re wounded and share our emotions,” Elisabeta explained.

  “Now can we please move on?” Chalka asked.

  Gault glanced once at the three candidates, his gaze lingering on Mausya the longest. When none of the three said anything he gave a slight nod.

  “Mr. Gordon, you may leave,” he dismissed me. I turned to leave and found Hosokawa approaching me as I moved.

  “I will walk you out Gordon-san,” he said matter-of-factly.

  Caught off guard, I nonetheless nodded and slowed to let him catch up with me.

  Pitching his voice lower than a human could hear right next to him or a vampire could hear across a room he spoke. “You did very, very well,” he commended me. “I have been meaning to talk to you about our…training session. I handled it poorly. But one thing you need to learn is how to draw energy from your environment. It is a Darkkin technique, much like basic energy manipulation, but instead of projecting the power, you have to sort of internalize it. It would help you greatly with your…calorie needs. Slow the rate of fuel usage. If you like I can show you how to do it. It’s an advanced technique, but you will have no problem.”

  His sincerity won over my Grim fueled distrust. He was either being entirely honest with me or was the world’s foremost actor hiding in a concrete cave under Manhattan.

  “Ookay. Thanks,” I said. He gave me a nod then gestured to the door which was being opened by a guard. I slipped out, glancing back once to see the deadly fighter watching me with a slight smile.

  Chapter 35

  My break from the Conclave lasted a full four days this time. I hung out with Chet for a day till he was well enough to go back to work, filled out reports for Lydia on the most recent Rover assignments that Tanya and I had worked on and fed myself back to a decent weight. There were even two sessions with Hosokawa where he taught me some about absorbing vampire energy from the environment and using it to partially offset my freakish metabolism. I had been absorbing energy all along, using it to Cling, Push, Pull, Harden, Post or Lighten as needed. The Japanese warrior taught me to internalize the power and sort of feed it to my cells. It helped slow my hunger and I could see it making a difference between living and having my body eat itself, although it would never fully satiate my need for calories.

  I also got to spend time with Tanya, although not as much as I would have liked. Senka had her busy with several projects, none of which she was inclined to talk about. Unfortunately I also had enough time to brood on my growing discomfort with the wonderful world of vampires. It didn’t help that a constant stream of humans was brought in to feed the old vampires of the Conclave and their assistants. Despite the Coven’s access to blood banks, the older vamps greatly preferred live dinner over bagged donor blood. The human ‘food’ was supposedly all volunteers who had willingly signed medical consent forms for blood donation. The ones I saw had the slightly fanatical look of junkies that I had learned to identify with humans who got off on being bitten.

  I didn’t like it. And making matters worse was the occasional rumor of a few, who despite all precautions, died during the feedings.

  So when the summons came, I was in less than a stellar mood. Trudging along the corridors to the amphitheater my mood grew darker and darker. I didn’t want to be here, didn’t belong here and really didn’t want to be stared at by a bunch of old vampires who shouldn’t be judging anyone.

  I walked right up to the open doors, passed the two guards who didn’t react to my presence and straight into the Conclave’s chamber. They were arguing, at least that’s how it looked to me. Atta, Mausya and Frimunt were all simultaneously explaining their positions, and their election platform appeared to be the fate of the human race. No one noticed me so I took a seat in the stands and watched.

  “Fedor had the right of it!” Frimunt said. “We are the top of the food chain, so why not make it v
isible?”

  “Have you forgotten the whole pitchforks and torches thing?” Atta answered. “Humans are weak and feeble…until you bunch them up. Now they number in the billions and you want to frighten them by exposing us?”

  “Humans are dangerous, not only in numbers, but with technology. Senka is right about us staying behind the scenes until we have an edge,” Mausya added.

  “Bah! We have all the edges we could ever want! We can hunt them in the dark, remind them why they fear the night!” Frimunt argued. “Although I will admit that their numbers have grown excessive. So maybe a culling is in order, something like the Black Plague which was so effective before.”