“These tribes pose no real threat to us as a whole,” Evan explained. “Obviously, it would be unwise to venture into known tribal territory unbidden, but that’s common sense. The tribe we have to worry about is The Eyes of the Sun. You see, the ES was one such tribe of vampires, living in an inhospitable region of the Alps. Though they kept themselves hidden, thus retaining their natural instincts, they did not keep themselves ignorant of technology, quite the opposite in fact. They frequently sent teams out into the cities of France and Germany in search of information. By the seventeenth century, they had picked the brains of some of the world’s top scientific minds and began to situate themselves into society. The largest of the groups settled in Paris, where they managed to kill and steal their way into the upper class without drawing attention to their unusual dining preferences. And it is here that The Eyes of the Sun were born. They were already aware of their longer than normal lifespans, so they shifted their focus to extending their lives further, to immortality, and the inevitable world domination that comes with being gods among men.”
“And this is where they start kidnapping people and experimenting on them, like they did to Lona?”
“I think they started that even further back,” Evan said with disgust, “but those experiments were little more than torture. Not that they don’t continue to do heinous things, but in the last century, technology, especially that of the ES, which is governed by no ethics or moral code, had advanced in such a way that their methods have started producing frightening results. Like I said, the vampire that attacked me was a slight woman and I should have been able to overpower her easily, even without any formal training, but I couldn’t. She had a jaw like a pit bull and fingernails that were as sharp as razor blades.”
“Lona mentioned that things were bad in Paris.”
Evan nodded in confirmation. “They are. I’m afraid my team over there is spinning their wheels. They do find strays, but the ES has such a stronghold on that city that we suspect most of their elected officials are either ES or puppets for their cause. This is why we are working with the government. Without them, we would be like a small town sheriff taking on the mafia. But you don’t need to worry about Paris, at least for the time being. I suspect at some point you and my other hunters here will need to take up that fight, but not until New Orleans is free of our own vampire problem.”
“I thought the ES was our problem as well?” Lucy frowned in confusion. “Lona was kidnapped by the ES, right?”
“Well, it’s a bit complicated, but the group that captured Lona was one of the last of the official ES vampire factions here. Back when New Orleans was being settled, a large number of them came over with the idea that this would be their base of operations for taking over the new world right along with the old. For a while, it looked like it was going to work. Our fine city’s history is peppered with all kinds of outlandish stories of criminals, ne’er do wells, and charlatans, many of whom, I more than suspect were ES vampires. But over the years, many splinter groups broke off, setting up their own new world orders, but carrying on the same grizzly tradition of torture and murder. While they may not be organized, this poses a bigger threat to us because they tend to be territorial and turf wars leave more victims. Sadly, we haven’t had a quiet night since the team was formed.”
“Have there been attacks that you weren’t able to stop?” Lucy asked cautiously.
Evan sighed. “I wish I could say no, Lucy, I really do. But we can’t be everywhere at once. Once you’re out there, and my nephew is back, we will have the largest force we’ve had yet, but in a city of more than three hundred thousand, fourteen people can only do so much.”
They sat in silence while Lucy digested the grizzly history lesson that Evan had just imparted on her. “When I accepted the position,” she started cautiously, “the reality of the situation still hadn’t set in. I’m not sure if it really has, but Evan, I have to admit, I’m more than a little conflicted. I understand the threat, and I want to help, but I’m the granddaughter of a senator, and a former law student, and this is vigilante justice. There is still a part of me that can’t accept the idea of being judge, jury, and executioner without wondering if that makes us just as guilty as the monsters we’re trying to stop.”
To Lucy’s astonishment, Evan laughed softly. “You sounded just like your grandmother at the ethics hearing I attended some years ago on the counter-terrorism weapons EJC was developing.”
Lucy’s eyes widened. “You didn’t mention that you met my grandmother!”
“On several occasions. Hardheaded woman, she was. We often ended up on opposite sides of the issues. But I always admired and respected her, which is more than I can say for some of her colleagues.”
Lucy’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not trying to play to my sympathies now, are you?”
“Not at all,” Evan assured her. “Ultimately, the decision rests with you, Lucy. If this isn’t something that you feel you can do, you are free to walk away. Better yet, Ida runs an outreach program that tries to turn mods into law abiding, vegetable eating citizens. If you’re as much like your grandmother as you seem, you’d be an asset to her team.”
Inwardly, Lucy groaned, the last thing she wanted was to be shoehorned back into the mold of her grandmother’s image that she had recently broken out of, but she wanted it on her terms.
“I’m still willing to train,” she assured Evan, “but if I have a change of heart, you’ll be the first to know.”
Chapter 8
“Why…oof…did I…agree…uhg…to this?” Lucy gasped between pushups.
Miles ignored her and kept counting. “You only got ten more for this set, so I suggest you stop wasting your breath trying to argue with me.”
They had been in the gym for over two hours and Lucy was beginning to realize exactly how out of shape she was. She finished the last pushup and collapsed to the floor.
“Uh-uh.” Miles blew a whistle he was wearing around his neck. “Off the ground. You got ten laps to give me.”
Lucy let out a strangled growling noise and pushed herself off the ground. Her hair was soaked and sweat was dripping in her eyes. “You know, I’m not worried about vampires, seeing as you’re trying to kill me now.” She set off in a jog around the track that made up the perimeter of the gym. For two weeks, Lucy had spent four hours a day with Miles and Hugh, just working out. Though Hugh had been a drill sergeant in the military and treated their workout sessions like basic training, Lucy found that the days when Miles was in charge were harder to deal with. If he was trying to prove that he wouldn’t go easy on her just because they were friends, then he was doing a very good job of it. Hugh at least gave her a water break.
Lucy finished her tenth lap and bent double, panting. As soon as she leaned over, she regretted it.
“Come on Lucy, Hands up, head above your heart,” Miles admonished her as he had every day. Lucy straightened and raised her arms.
“I know, I know!” She had to admit that the posture did make it much easier to breathe.
“You did great. Now go shower and we’ll grab some lunch. I’ve got a surprise for you this afternoon.” Lucy cringed. Knowing Miles, his idea of a surprise would be strapping fifty-pound weights onto her while she ran.
In the dining room, Ida greeted them with fresh salads. Lucy looked down at her tiny plate of leaves and sighed in resignation. “Looks lovely, Ida, what’s the main course?” She knew, of course, that during training she was on a strict diet. After her initial physical exam, Abe had recommended that Lucy lose fifteen pounds and strengthen her muscles.
“Now Lucy,” Ida chided as she bent over to place a bowl of fruit on the table. “I snuck a little bacon into the dressing,” she whispered with a wink. Lucy smiled and tried not to think about how many extra sit-ups the calories would cost her.
Hugh joined them and to Lucy’s surprise, so did Evan. She normally never saw him or the doctors before the evening.
“Hello Lucy,” Eva
n sat down and reached for a fresh dinner roll Ida had just set out. Lucy briefly thought about fighting him for the roll, which was strictly forbidden. “How’s training going?”
Lucy sighed. “I’ve gained two pounds.” Miles had unceremoniously yelled this across the gym at her weigh in earlier.
“That’s to be expected. You add muscle before the weight drops off. You’re definitely toning up.”
“Thanks.” Lucy hoped Evan wasn’t just saying that to make her keep going. While she didn’t see any difference in her appearance, she was certainly feeling aches in muscles she never knew she had.
“So have you told her yet?” Evan asked Miles.
Miles shook his head. “I thought I’d let you do the honors.”
“Tell me what?” Lucy looked worried.
“The boys must be putting you through the paces if you have that kind of reaction. Don’t worry, you’re catching a break this afternoon. We’re taking you down to the weapons lab.” Lucy’s eyes widened. Soul crushing workouts were one thing, but weapons she wasn’t prepared for. Hugh caught her reaction.
“We’re just going to show you what we use today. Over the next week we’ll figure out where your strengths and weaknesses lie and tailor your weapons to your strengths.”
“Normally my nephew, Andre, would be working with you, but he won’t be back until next week,” Evan explained. “Miles and Hugh can handle the initial training. I’ve got a meeting in a few minutes, so why don’t we meet at two in the lab?”
“Sure,” Lucy agreed.
“I’ll meet you back here, Lucy,” Miles added. “We can go down together. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some paperwork that’s been piling up.”
Lucy decided to spend her hour up on the roof. She stopped by the resident’s library to pick out a book. In her favorite shaded alcove, she sat down, but couldn’t concentrate on the story. Her mind raced. She had never used any weapons, and had a fear of guns that she supposed stemmed from her grandmother’s stance on gun control. Emma was always bringing home stories about people who were killed or injured because they handled a gun incorrectly. Lucy briefly wondered if gun control was one of the issues Evan hadn’t seen eye to eye with her grandmother on.
The sound of footsteps nearby broke Lucy from her worry.
“Oh, I see you’ve found my favorite hiding place.” Ida appeared from around the row of potted hedges that hid the nook from the garden path.
“Sorry,” Lucy closed her book and started to get up.
“Now don’t leave on my account,” Ida waved, shuffling to the bench. “There’s room for both of us, and that frown on your face tells me you have something on your mind. I’m just as good at listening as I am at heaping out the gossip.”
Lucy stared at the woman for a moment. Ida’s short hair was completely gray. While she did have a few lines around her eyes and mouth, her brow was nearly unlined, and her skin was an even shade of bronze, unmarked by age spots usually seen on the elderly. If Lucy had to guess, she would have said that Ida was in her mid to late sixties, however, this would have made her a child when she opened Gilly’s in the late fifties.
“Ida, I know this is considered a rude question, but how old are you?” Lucy asked.
“Mm.” Ida closed her eyes and turned her head slowly from side to side. “Been doin’ a little math, Lucy? I never understood women who lie about their age. I’ll be ninety-two this December.”
“Ninety-two,” Lucy echoed with an impressed whistle. “I guess retirement isn’t on your agenda?”
Ida snorted. “I tried to retire. I gave my sons the shop when I was seventy-seven, unwillingly mind you, but they insisted I deserved to spend some of the money Gilly’s made me. So I did. I took a few trips and bought a house in the Garden District, and Lucy I tell you this, I’d never been more miserable. You know what a big house means?”
Lucy shook her head.
“Bigger house problems.”
Lucy laughed, but Ida waved her hand. “You think I’m lying? Let me tell you, my little shotgun down in the Treme flooded back in fifty-seven. Cost me nine hundred bucks to rip out the walls, replace the floor, and update the plumbing. When Katrina came through I was blessed, a few shingles and shutters blew away, and a couple of feet of siding had water damage. Do you know what that set me back? Over twenty grand! I tidied up with the insurance company and sold it to my daughter at a loss. Seemed a more fitting home for a glamorous writer than a restless old lady who just wanted to get back in the kitchen. But Lucy, my problems are in the past. What’s bugging you right now?”
Lucy toyed with a leaf that had fallen in her lap. “I’ve got my first weapons lesson this afternoon. I suppose you know who my grandmother was.”
Ida smiled. “Know her? I’d have voted for her in a heartbeat if I were in California.”
Lucy grimaced. “Well yeah, see, that’s the thing. Everyone here seems to think that just because I’m Emma Soriano’s granddaughter, I’ve somehow inherited her fighting spirit or something. But what they’re forgetting is that grandma’s legacy was her anti-violence campaigns. I’ve never shot a gun. Hell, I’ve never so much as held a butter knife with intent to do harm.”
“Following in the footsteps of greatness has its drawbacks,” Ida said sagely. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Scratch that, a big secret that I’ve only told to one other person in this organization.”
Lucy sat up straighter to show Ida she had her full attention.
“My mother was an entertainer of the mystic variety. She read palms and all that hoodoo voodoo jazz. Now, she’d be rolling in her grave if she heard me call her an entertainer because I think she truly believed she had the gift, like her mother before her, and her grandmother before her. Me? I’d be lying if I told you I believed the lines on your hands said anything about you other than how many times you washed the dishes in hot water this week.”
She looked down at her own hands, heavily lined from years of doing just that. “See, look at this,” she said and pointed to one crease across her palm. “According to my life line, I died about fifty years ago. And here,” she pointed to a feathery line near her fingers. “Looks like I should have had about eighty lovers instead of marrying my high school sweetheart and spending sixty-six gloriously blessed years with him. Let’s try you.” Ida winked and held out her hand. Lucy giggled nervously and offered up her own palm.
“Oh, please though, no more tall dark strangers. I’m not too keen on being the after dinner mint again.”
Ida smiled. “Hm, yes, I imagine that would put you off wouldn’t it? Well, according to your lovely, well-lined hand, the next tall dark stranger you meet won’t trust you, so you needn’t worry about your neck, or perhaps you’ll need to worry about your proverbial neck. But look on the bright side, you’re going to have at least a dozen children.”
Lucy quirked her eyebrows upward. “That’s the bright side?”
Ida let go of Lucy’s hand and laughed. “So you see, fortune telling is not my forte, despite my family history. However, I had a point. Yes, my mother and grandmother did what they did, for better or worse, because of my great grandmother’s wildly exaggerated legacy. I knew there was pressure to follow in their footsteps of greatness, but to tell you the truth, my mother wasn’t exactly living in the lap of luxury. By the twentieth century, this town was so full of mystics claiming to be descended from the great Cassandra of Troy, or worse, my own great grandmother. So when I was thirteen, I weaseled my way into a job peeling potatoes in one of the swankiest dining establishments at the time. From potatoes, I worked my way up to sous chef and then head chef. Yes, I wanted success, but I wanted it on my terms, and I have to say, I’ve done pretty well for myself. You, Lucy, are not that different from me. Your grandmother was a good woman who fought hard for what she believed in. Yes, I know she pushed you into law school.”
Lucy was shocked. She hadn’t mentioned her college major. Perhaps Ida had more of the gift than she knew.
Lucy was silent while she let Ida’s advice sink in. She was right, and it didn’t take a fortuneteller to see that Lucy was used to doing what was expected of her. Now the only problem was working out how to find her path, as Ida put it.
“Give it time.” Ida appeared to read Lucy’s mind once again.
“So,” Lucy turned the conversation away from herself, “this great grandmother, is she anyone I might have heard of?”
Ida flipped her hand airily. “Just some old fraud named Marie Laveau.”
“Ha!” Lucy exclaimed smugly. “I kind of figured she’d have been one.”
“One what?” Ida asked with feigned innocence.
“A vampire. She did live to be ninety-eight, didn’t she?”
“Evan was right about you, you’re a natural born detective. Ever think of getting into the palm reading business?” Ida winked. “No smoke and mirrors required, just a keen eye for the details. Yes, as far as I know, as far as anyone knows, great grandmother was an old woman when she died. I’m sure she was called many things back in her day, though I doubt she ever knew she was a vampire.”
Lucy looked at her phone for the time. She needed to meet Miles soon. “One more question?”
The Eyes of the Sun: The Complete Trilogy Page 9