LABanks - H2 Awakening

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  Then it dawned on him—this human could be a tool to get him closer to Damali. He had to warn her. Just thinking about where he wanted to go, Carlos felt a swift wind lift him as though he were air. To his surprise, he immediately found himself standing behind the trotting man in a silent, drifting manifestation. Very deep. Then Carlos breathed in a hint of sulfur and went on guard.

  From between two parked cars Raven appeared, hissing and spitting and bearing fangs. Tacky. No style, he thought, as he watched her hunt. The blond intended victim yelled in horror and crouched down as she was on him in two paces. Carlos quickly took on solid form. Knocking the man aside, Carlos came between the would-be victim and Raven. She jumped ten feet back, obviously prepared to duel for her potential kill until recognition spread across her face.

  "He's mine," Carlos snarled at her. "You just ate."

  "That's because you drained me, lover. I was going to bring this one to you—so you could also finish where you left off with me. You left me hanging." She moved closer to him with a lazy, sexy lope in his direction and tilted her neck for him to consider. "You know you want it. It's fresh. The guard was okay, save the forty of beer—and the spaghetti he had for dinner," she murmured in a seductive tone. "Want some… or something else?"

  Carlos shut his eyes briefly, staving off the hunger that she and the scent of the recent kill on her lips created. "Go back to your lair. Not this one."

  "What is with you? Is he marked or something?"

  "Don't argue with me, bitch. I said to leave this one alone!" He hated the fact that he'd even considered her offer for a moment. Rage filled him as he fought against both urges she produced.

  Snarling, Raven backed away, glared at the cowering man on the ground, and vanished into the shadows.

  "Oh shit, oh shit, man!" the innocent yelled as he scrambled up from where he'd dropped to cover his head with his arms. "What the fuck was that—man, if you hadn't come along, I would have been dog meat. Did you see that shit? I'm not high, I swear to God! I saw it—you saw it, and it wasn't human. I knew something was following me—I could sense it, but damn! A fucking vampire? This cannot be happening—shit like this only happens in the movies. God in Heaven! I must be losing my mind!"

  Each time the innocent had said the word that named the Most High, it had sent a stabbing pain through Carlos's head, intestines, and the center of his chest. The words hurt so badly that Carlos staggered away for a moment and held onto the side of a car for support. Powerful. Just the name alone… but it had also loosened the mental hold of the Vampire Council's trackers, he noted. As he recovered, he sensed another presence. He'd felt it earlier, but had been too hungry before to address it. Hmmm…

  Carlos turned around slowly with renewed calm. The hysterical man was walking in circles, babbling to himself and shaking his head. Carlos could feel his fangs retract. When he faced the human, evidence that he was a vampire had vanished.

  "What's your name?" Carlos asked coolly.

  "Dan, man! Daniel Weinstein. Oh shit." The human named Daniel continued to walk around in a circle, hyped, clutching his head in his hands.

  "My advice is that you chill," Carlos said, low in his throat. "There could be others, and you just missed being dinner."

  Dan stared at him, sweat pouring down the sides of his blanched face. His lips had gone light blue, and he seemed to be in mild shock. "More of them?" He leaned over and began to retch.

  "Get yourself together, and go somewhere safe." The smell of the human's adrenaline, terror, and blood were making Carlos's hands tremble with need.

  "Somewhere safe! Where in God's name is that?!" Dan wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and breathed in huge gulps of air. "I'm not going home alone. The only things that saved my ass were probably you and my Star of David," he said quickly, bringing the small gold piece of jewelry to his lips to kiss it three times. "Damali told me not to come here at night, she said there were barracudas and shit, not fucking vampires!"

  "You're with Damali's crew, right? Go seek sanctuary with them."

  "I used to be with them," Dan corrected. "I… I… was just here in Beverly Hills to seal a deal with Blood Music and Warriors of Light, though."

  Dan's frightened eyes darted around the parking lot, but each time they landed on Carlos, he edged closer as though Carlos was a protective shield. It took Carlos everything within him to keep from reaching out for the fool. All he had to do was snatch the quivering body to him, snap his neck, and fill himself with the elixir of life. So very, very close with the scent of life wafting over him. A heart beating so hard it slammed against the innocent's breastbone and nearly vibrated within Carlos's own chest. The human's pores oozed with sweat and fear. Carlos licked his lips. "Talk to me," he murmured, forcing himself to remain smooth. "I need an address."

  "I got Light a hookup on Extra, Access Hollywood, Evening Mag, for the big concert, dude. But, truth be told, we always work by phones—I never knew exactly where they actually camped, ya know? Last gig, I showed up at the club, but they wouldn't let me go to their spot. I wouldn't know how to get to them if my life depended on it—and it does."

  "Yes, it does," Carlos said with a wry half smile.

  Daniel spun around, tears rising in his eyes as he glanced at his car with fear. "I'm no punk, usually—and I know, running Club Vengeance and all, you see a lot of shit, maybe even had to do a lot of shit—but seriously, I can't get in my car. I'm about to drop a brick in my pants behind this shit. Oh, fuck me… you got a gun, man? In your line of business, I know you have a gun."

  "Bullets don't work on them," Carlos muttered, walking over to the man's car and opening the door without a key. He glanced in to check that it was clear, hesitating as he again saw that his image made no reflection in the side or rearview mirrors. But he kept his motions fluid to keep from tipping off the innocent. Deeply disturbed by what he'd just seen, or not seen, Carlos's focus splintered for a split second. What had he done?

  Once he was sure that the coast was clear, Carlos then nodded to Daniel who still appeared so traumatized that he couldn't seem to move.

  "Get in, say a prayer, and roll up your windows, for all the good that will do. Call Damali on your cell phone and get her to bring you into a sanctuary. And, you need to move fast."

  "You need a ride, man—I mean, we can share. It might be better if we found her, or a place to go together, right?"

  Carlos shook his head. "I left my car a ways from here and—"

  "You're going to walk around out here in a deserted lot at night with vampires stalking people? What, are you crazy? Either that, or you are one bad motherfucker. Me, I'm out."

  Carlos held the car door open for Daniel; the sweet smell of his blood that close became so tempting that Carlos had to quickly shut the door and step away. Dan was a walking blood drug, a beacon for vamps as his terror carried every flash hormone of fight or flight—much of it being flight.

  "Don't stop at the barrier," Carlos instructed. "Take it out. Run right through it if you have to. Don't put your arm out the window to try to drop a token. Make the call while you drive. Get D to bring you in." He moved away from Dan's car, watching him.

  Dan nodded, his hands fumbling with the keys, dropping them once before he got the right piece of metal into the ignition. In an instant, Dan gunned the motor, slapped the gears in reverse, hitting both parked cars on either side of his silver Honda when he backed out of his space. Carlos didn't relax until he heard the sound of wheels screeching level by level, rubber burning as Dan rounded each curve, metal scraping the divider walls. A heavy snap echoed, followed by more rubber burning as Dan tore away from the building.

  "Carlos Rivera poses an unfathomable risk for the Vampire Council," the attorney murmured once the messenger reported that Carlos was topside.

  "A dangerous variable," another council member agreed.

  "He died with a prayer in him," another insisted.

  The chairman's gaze swept the group. "We must find his s
oul for our vault. What happened?"

  "We don't know, exactly. But if he doesn't deliver the vampire huntress in three days when she ovulates, or during the fragile period… and we miss this lunar cycle of fertility, her womb will be immune to our seed. An opportunity will not present itself again for years—till her next Vulnerability. Even if he brings her to us, after her twenty-first birthday, later in the month during this first ripening, for every successive day that passes her antibodies will build, and the heir will be at risk of spontaneous abortion. Or, Mr. Chairman… even if our seed takes, it could be deformed—it could be human, or worse. Part Neteru human."

  "I know, Parliamentarian Vlak. I am aware of the situation. But please try to calm yourself," the council chairman sighed. "So sad. Rivera has such potential, too bad that we must drive a stake through his heart when he brings her in. Rivera should have signed. I do not like dangling threads. He could have ruled Latin America, and picked up Nuit's territories, too."

  "Too much of a risk, Mr. Chairman," the member at the far point of the table argued. "I don't like being leveraged. In our own haste and desperation, we've protected him from Nuit's call, and given the humans Rivera has designated amnesty. Once we set that in motion, it is irrevocable—so, if he reneges, we have an imbalance of negotiations. That makes us vulnerable, and I don't like it. I was against this from the onset, but was overruled."

  All heads nodded and loudly murmured the concern amongst themselves until the chairman spoke again.

  "We had no choice. We had to take risky measures. But, we must deal with the severely problematic issue that none of us wants to discuss."

  "Yes," the attorney agreed. "The prayer. He hasn't technically died, just transformed. We had to intercept Rivera before he was completely expired in order to get around the loophole in the supernatural law governing Nuit's aegis over him—and while he hovered in between states. If the light should suddenly attempt to begin litigation to place a claim on Rivera as their asset, particularly given the preponderance of evidence, the religious relic and a prayer… gentlemen, this could be a long-waged, resource-intensive dispute for this soul—which by right, should be ours. Almost his entire adult life, if not all of it, has been under our purview. But, the redemption clause—"

  "Don't utter it. Words have power. You have left topside roadblocks?"

  "Absolutely. We need him to hunger and feed on an innocent to drive away the forces of light. He has only taken his first feeding from the veins of the already damned, and now from a dead man. You just never know—Rivera seemed more aggressive and didn't strike me as a second-tier carrion feeder. Another variable. He needs to feed the traditional way."

  "He's a master now," the chairman said with forced confidence. "The disorientation from our cloak to Nuit just confused him, perhaps. No master will accept carrion, or blood from another vampire's veins, indefinitely, gentlemen. Let us not panic. That is not our way. He will also want to experience the erotic rush of the kill."

  The council members returned skeptical glances. The attorney nodded, and that seemed to mollify the group.

  "We can only hope that our esteemed chairman is correct. However, Rivera's car and the money are still near two dead Minion members that we'd compromised, but Nuit discovered among his ranks. Another innocent will find Rivera's artifacts and link him to the crime, should he not sign the eternal contract—and make the wrong choice to side with the light. That contract is the only way we can ensure his soul gets correctly deposited into our realm… as we have a bit of an inventory problem now—we can't find it. Like the others sent here, no contract would have been necessary, his lifestyle would have given it enough weight to sink… but something happened. We are still investigating."

  A hush fell over the group. The chairman stood slowly, leaning in the counselor's direction as he issued him a warning glare. "I suggest you rectify this before yours accidentally gets placed in the pit beyond our doors."

  "Rivera will have no life in the gray zone, if the realms of the place that shall remain nameless above earth try to give him a second chance," the attorney assured the council nervously, glancing around the group. "He will not renege, if he is a thinking man."

  "Very good, then," the chairman sighed, sitting with effort and pushing back in his throne. "And, we also need to continue to monitor him… as we have more than an illusion-projected master topside now. Rivera is indeed a real master who has direct connection to our Neteru. I don't like the windows of invisibility with a master on the trail of a huntress in near ripening."

  "Extremely dangerous."

  "Our concern all along, Mr. Chairman."

  "Mine, too. Which is why we must have him under complete surveillance at all times. Although his thoughts are impenetrable to us at this juncture—given his master status—have our people keep abreast of his activities. His lair, unlike Nuit's, will be accessible. We only need him to lead us to her, beyond the blind spot of the Neteru's protective prayers. Her trust in Rivera gets him through that barrier… even Nuit cannot fully see her, can only track her remotely, and cannot get through her barriers without three layers of light forces battling him. Nuit knows that, which is the only reason he walked away from that meeting in the woods without Rivera's head in his talons. Once Rivera is in, we must move in unison—he will be eliminated; she will have the barrier around her breached. She already desires him, so we use Rivera as an instrument to gain her compliance, then we eliminate him."

  The attorney nodded. "This needs to happen before Nuit turns two hundred and fifty thousand concertgoers on each of the five continental shelves with his armies in the audiences. This concert is an abomination to the order. Our spies have told us his plans… before the two of them were so brutally fed upon in the woods. The North Hollywood incident… it was very disgusting, and I will spare the council the details."

  "I could care less about two FBI-agent humans who were vampire hopefuls! What is of greater concern is why would Nuit care about our policies when he and his army will be able to walk by day, feast at will on more than blood, and retain all the powers of darkness? He will not have to worry about empire exposure—within short order, he would be able to sweep the gray zone, and food supply won't be an issue for him—only for those of us left to perish with the blood thirst." The council member at the table's far point closed his eyes.

  "Have a messenger bring more blood to the council from above. This will be a long siege—three tense eves when all of our concentration must be focused. We cannot go under the heel of demons turned high-ranking vampires prepared to flood the sixth realm, and Nuit's Minion to take over the gray zone as daywalkers. He will be unstoppable. It will be an end of a civilized era. Plus, the Dark Lord is becoming supportive of these efforts… he has grown anxious for the Armageddon ever since the millennium turned. We are losing support from below."

  "Council members, gentlemen, I understand your concern," the chairman hissed. "There is much at risk. Stay near Rivera at all times.

  "There could be brief times when Rivera eludes our monitors, who must be weaker family members to avoid the possibility of our monitors attempting a double cross."

  The members at the table nodded, their expressions grave.

  "We may experience our own intermittent blackouts when we cannot track him or sense his motion, Mr. Chairman," the attorney warned. "Our power over him could also occasionally waver because it is not solidly aligned with supernatural law. This can occur when his strong maker, Nuit, a past council member, struggles to locate him… or, if the forces of light make contact and render us blind."

  "Will we know which of our enemies is blocking our location-monitoring thoughts, should this happen?"

  The group waited, seeming to hold its breath as the attorney stood, leaned across the table, and lifted the crest before him with a claw. Not even a murmur transpired between them as he produced a huge leather-bound black book with the seal of darkness on it, and began flipping through the code.

  "Parliament
arian Vlak. Our patience escapes us. Your verdict indicates… ?"

  The attorney shook his head. "We have a serious problem."

  "Damali, get dressed, a nine-one-one in the weapons room!"

  Marlene had said the words so fast and had dashed away from her so quickly that, without hesitation, Damali pulled on her jeans and a T-shirt, and then shoved her feet into her boots. So much for chilling. She picked up Madame Isis and shoved her little sister dagger into her waistband.

  Damali got down the hall within minutes, and she could hear Shabazz and Marlene trying to talk Daniel down from a hysterical state, to no avail.

  "Dan, where are you?" Marlene walked in a circle of frustration as Dan's voice boomed. Traffic could be heard in the background.

  "I don't know! I was in Beverly Hills at Blood finishing the deal and this female vampire jumped out of the damned night on me! I can't go home, and Carlos told me to keep my windows up. Shit!"

  "Carlos?" Shabazz bellowed.

  "God bless him! He saved my life."

  "Where is he?" Damali asked, trying to keep her voice level and authoritative.

  "He said he didn't believe in that shit and stayed behind to walk to his car!"

  Daniel's voice had broken off into sobs. "I shoulda made him come with me, but I was too scared to wait for him—and he was arguing and shit, D. I practically begged him!"

  She walked over to the steel-protected window, closed her eyes, and pressed her palm to it, watching the heat of her hand fan out and make a ring of mist.

  "Okay, okay, Dan, it's not your fault," Damali said as calmly as she could over her shoulder, ignoring the glare Shabazz and Marlene gave her. "What streets did you pass?"

  "I was on Rodeo, then shot up to Sunset, then—then, I guess I'm on Coldwater Canyon Drive

  ! I'm lost; my tank is on a quarter—whaduldo? What the fuck do I do?"

  "He's headed north, if he passed those streets in that sequence," J.L. confirmed from the map showing on the wall from the computer projector.