by A J Brahms
I blinked. "But…why? You were family."
"Family means anything to Beau. But that's not why. That stems from succession and the strength of blood. I didn't Sire Beau, but my brother did. So for a very long time there was a slight break in the Family as to who would lead us after I finally died. Though I had no intention of dying. Beau believed my brother would be given the right to carry the Talmadge name when I was gone, and that would put him closer to power.
"Of course, Beau couldn't wait nor did he wish to leave my death to chance, so while I was out enjoying a very nice show with my delightful human companion—" He pulled his finger across his neck. "There were several traitors in the Family then, and while they subdued me, Beau severed my head from body. He made sure my head and body were far enough apart so that they couldn't grow back together before they found me. He was the one that made it look as if the other Family in town had done this. I wept when my bones were dropped in here, and I was unable to tell my brother not to destroy the innocent Family."
I stared at him, seeing everything unfold as he told it. It was as if I was there, floating in the background. A literal fly on the wall.
"And without a Whisper to replace me, Beau knew his secret was safe. Ahh…but his ascension to power wasn't guaranteed when the Family settled on an election of a sort, and Beau lost and Jedediah won. Yet Jedediah made him part of the Family's governing body. But a hundred years without a voice for the ancestors is a long time. Whispers are very rare." He reached out to touch me and his hand went through me. "When Jed found Tonya, Beau knew his secret would be exposed. At first, he tried to separate my bones from everyone else's. I laughed at him when he failed. Only Jed would know which were my own. Next we saw him dragging her body into our home. So many of us could see this, but we couldn't speak."
Again, as he spoke, I could see everything happening as if I were there. But I had to ask, "You actually saw him dragging her body into this house?"
"We all did. Just because our remains are here, doesn't mean we have to stay here. Our scope is limited a bit…we can't interact with the living world, except through a Whisper." He gestured to me. "And now we have you!"
"Wait a sec." I took a step back. "I'm not a Whisper. And I don't plan on being one. I'm just a retired Chevalier—"
"Who Beau wants very badly, Renwick. He knows what you're capable of." He took several steps toward me. "He knows your Family line, Ren. And he knows it because his lover was part of it. So he remembers hearing about you when you served…" He looked away. "Elizabeth Herne."
I ducked just a little, thinking that if by saying her name, she'd manifest here in whatever spirit world this was.
"She was harsh to you. But she was also cruel to everyone who ever crossed her path. There were a lot of us who knew her, who cheered for you when we learned of her death. I regret that no one could hear us make that cheer," he hesitated. "This made it easy for Beau to frame the Herne Family for my death."
He had my full attention again, and my face must have betrayed my surprise.
"Yes…Beau is the reason the Hernes were wiped out. Why your Master lost Childers before she made new ones, and before she made you. She poured all of her strength, her rage, and her vengeance into creating you, training you. Why you alone were the only Ghoul, a Chevalier, to survive. Because he wants you. And if he knew you could talk to us…"
I watched him. "He would kill me."
"Yes. It wouldn't be a matter of him having a Chevalier anymore. He would destroy you quickly, keeping his betrayal of the Talmadges, and the Hernes, his secret forever."
And it was time to steer this conversation away from talk of my Master. "I need to tell Jedediah these things."
"Yes. You do. And give him a message for me, if you would?"
I nodded. "Sure."
"Tell him…I miss him. Tell him…" He looked down. "I love him. I never told him that in life, and that is something I will regret."
Uh huh. "Sure. So…how do I get out of this?"
And then I wasn't in the empty, quiet dungeon. Jedediah was pulling me up, hauling me back up those stairs. I had no idea how long I'd been talking to Ellery, or how long we'd been in that dungeon. The voices were returning, slowly, but not as strong as before. I leaned on Jed for a while as we climbed, but once we broke through to the top of the stairs and into the hallway, I continued on my own up to the study where my camera sat. The two pictures of Ellery rested on the table beside the chair I'd been sitting in. It felt like a decade had passed since we'd descended into that hellish place. How could they stay here, knowing all those bones were down there?
"Now you have to tell me, Ren. What did he say?"
And I told him. I told him every detail I could as I checked my phone. Still no call from Woodard about Julie. No call from Meehan either. I didn't know if that was good or bad.
When I finished, Jedediah stoked the fire. He was deep in thought and I decided to pack my cameras. It was past midnight. I hoped I would get a call soon because I had no idea where he'd hold Julie and panic had really started to set in.
"This isn't going to work," Jedediah said as I stood.
"What isn't going to work?"
"I can't bring what you told me to the Family. If I'm going to accuse Beau, I need more than just your word."
I held up my hand. "I don't have any more to give you. That's what he said to me."
He looked at me. "And you could see what was happening, as he told you."
"Yeah…" I did not like the way he was looking at me. "Jed…what're you thinking?"
"There's no other way."
The next events happened pretty fast. I saw him move like he was gonna come at me, the way a predator pounces on its prey, so I moved to the door. That's when the window crashed in and something very big, and very heavy, with a gigantic wingspan jumped between me and Jedediah.
I really didn't see Aberdeen in his Gargoyle form much, at least not up close. Today I'd seen him like this twice. I'd seen him on top of buildings now and then, as he traveled the night skies sometimes. But to see him in all his righteous glory, on his back haunches, wings spread out and his lion-like head roaring at a pretty terrified Jedediah Talmadge—damn, it made me proud.
Jed's terror wasn't a fake one either. He knew what Gargoyles could do. He understood the pain of the Sacrament and realized this gigantic stone-like creature could end him.
Right now.
"What do you think you are doing?" Aberdeen said in a graveled, loud voice. I stayed behind him, not even daring to move. "You will not Ghoul him."
"No…wait!" Jedediah said. "I have no intention of Ghouling Ren. I made him that promise when he allowed us to test him. But I need to see his blood. I need to see what he saw. If I can…if I can do that, take those memories through his blood, I can share that with everyone."
"Can he do this?" Aberdeen said, and I knew he was asking me, even though I was behind him.
"Y-yeah. He can. But I'm not really in a trusting mood right now."
The phone left for me by Beau rang.
Seriously? Now?
I fished it out of my pocket. "Grainger."
"It's time, Chevalier. Meet me at the High Museum. Alone." And he hung up.
The High? What kind of a meeting place was that? It was full of breakables.
Aberdeen was looking behind him and down at me. "Was that Woodard?"
"Yeah…we need to go."
"Stop!" Jedediah said. "Please, Ren. Let me share what Ellery told you with everyone."
I knew he could do it. Jedediah could drink my blood, straight from my vein, and from that he could see the past twenty-four hours of my life…but he could also see other things if he looked. Things I didn't want anyone else to know. Things I had planned on taking to my grave. The thing was…did I trust him well enough to let him do this? I knew his heart was in the right place, if it still beat, but his loyalties could be a bit screwy.
Vampires, in my experience, were generally loyal to jus
t themselves.
I was sweating now. Both from nervousness and from the encroaching feeling of those voices again. I'd heard them whisper on my first visit, and they'd been louder on the second. Now they were a stadium full of cheering and booing fans. I wanted out.
Moving from behind Aberdeen, I kept close to him, but made myself visible. I held up my right index finger. "Just enough to get those memories…nothing more, Jedediah."
"I don't want anything else, Ren. If I'd wanted you as my Chevalier, I'd have taken you while you were being tested."
This was truth.
"Okay fine, but—" That's about as far as I got before he was on me. We fell backward into Aberdeen's wing as Jedediah tackled me, and I cried out as his fangs sunk deep into my throat. The magic a Vampire uses in order to keep his prey calm, to make sure it didn't fight back, kept me from pushing him off me. It worked for humans, but for me, it was like a drug. A drug I'd not indulged myself in for decades. Even though I'd never enjoyed the taste of my Master's blood, her…kiss, as she called it…had always been pleasurable. Intoxicating. A Chevalier's blood was like mana to their maker, and it was still delicious to others as well. I was a vessel holding the most exquisite wine known to Vampire-kind…and I'd just let one of the oldest Vampires I knew sink his fangs in.
Abruptly, it was over and Jedediah was gone. And I don't mean he had pulled away and was standing somewhere. I mean, he wasn't even in the room anymore. I relaxed against Aberdeen, who then used his large Gargoyle paws and his thigh to stand me back up.
"How are you feeling?"
"Not sure," I answered and put my hand to the wound. It was already closing because of my own healing power, but my hand did come away with blood. My blood. "I guess he got what he needed."
"And we need to go." He pointed to my bag, which I grabbed seconds before he scooped me up and held me like a football against his side.
"Hey!"
"We don't have time to drive. Just close your eyes." He moved to the window he'd destroyed and launched up into the Atlanta sky.
Fifteen
As I said before, the High Museum's layout upon entering is a spiral along the outer edges, and in the center is what locals call the donut. Below there is a fountain, and chairs, shops…a place to gather and look up at the astounding and beautiful architecture of one of Atlanta's most incredible buildings. There were a lot of nice buildings here, but I really did like the High.
Which was probably why Beau wanted us to meet him here. Aberdeen landed on the lawn away from view and shifted to his human form, while I did a few deep breathing exercises and chose my weapon for the night. Or rather, Aberdeen had, as he handed me my Desert Eagle.
Like I said, I'd been trained as a Chevalier, a protector. It might not have seemed like it so far. I checked the magazine—full. The grip felt good in my hand. It had been a long…long time since I'd used it. Before we started for the High, I held my hand out to Aberdeen. "Where did you have this while you were in stone form?"
He looked sideways at me. "You really want to know?"
I blanched. "No. Uh uh. Not at all. But, uh…thanks."
"That's nice. Now let's go find Julie. Did you want me to put in an anonymous call to Detective Meehan?"
I checked my watch. "Give me about ten minutes."
He disappeared in the shadows as I summoned Occam. The raven came almost instantly, landing on my shoulder as if she'd been waiting in the trees. Making a sensory sweep of the building, I counted a single heartbeat, which could be Julie's, or it could be a security guard—though I had my doubts on that. If Beau was here, then the security guard might have been a snack.
Occam lifted off and headed to the building. I saw through her eyes as she took several loops around the structure, landed a few times, and then came back to me. It was Julie all right. She was handcuffed to one of the benches in the atrium's bottom floor, on the opposite side of the fountain, away from the door. I hadn't seen Beau, but that wasn't surprising. He was going to let me go in and then pounce. Standard operating procedure.
I tucked the gun in the back of my jeans and moved with enhanced speed to the front door. It was open. No alarm. I really was expected. I took in a deep breath and stepped inside, then paused. No motion. Not even a sound. I moved away from the upward ramp to the stairs and spotted Julie as I had through the building's window. She was looking around, trying to pull her hands free of the cuffs.
That's when I spotted something else. A body near Julie, shoved beneath the shadow of the stairs. I recognized the bright red hair and colorful clothing. Jazzi.
"Ren!"
I looked at Julie. She'd whispered my name, but I heard it. I motioned to her and then leaped over the railing to land on the floor. It was one of my more graceful landings, I might add. I started toward her, but she shook her head and mouthed the word "trap".
I kinda already knew that. In fact…if I was reading the layout of the place and the optimal angle in which to overpower someone with superhuman strength, right about here…would be good. I stopped walking and then leapt to my left toward the fountain. The Night Walker landed almost exactly where I'd been, his hands out, his claws extended, along with his fangs. I carefully moved around the fountain to put the running water between us.
I recognized him now. It was indeed the other Vampire who'd been with Jedediah that night. The topknot, the leather jacket. He had the same ethereal physical beauty as Jedediah, but none of his grace, or his soul.
Beau stood from the crouch he landed in and faced me. He kept his hands down at his sides. "Very impressive, Chevalier. Your Mistress did have you trained."
"Let her go, Beau. It's over. Jedediah knows."
"I'm sure he does. I can smell him on you…and I can smell your blood." He made a sniffing noise and wiggled his brows. "You have the Gift too, just like that little church bitch did. I'm sure Ellery gave you an earful."
"Yeah…and Jedediah's seen it."
Beau didn't look too upset. And that bothered me. Instead, he reached out his hand and frowned. I made a face. What the hell was he doing?
Abruptly, he lowered his hand. "That small taste of my blood wasn't enough. There is no control over you."
I really made a face at him, kinda like one that said you-are-a-dumb-ass. "No. There isn't. And I didn't drink your damn blood, idiot."
"You did!"
"No…I believe Jedediah has it now, as proof of your treachery." I nodded to the body by the steps. "You killed a Fairy, Beau." This close, I was sure that was Jazzi lying there. The Fairies were not going to like this, especially if this made two Fairies. Jazzi and the one that had been helping Tonya. It was going to make trouble for Jedediah.
"She got in my way. Wouldn't tell me the truth about your Master."
"Jazzi didn't know anything about me. We liked it that way." I moved to the right and he moved to the left. It was odd that the was keeping an opposite pace.
Too late I realized he was moving to Julie. I was fast, but Vampires were far, far faster. He got to her before I could. Beau stood behind her and pulled her head to him, exposing the bloody bite on her neck. "I've already tasted her, Ren. She's already had her first two tastes of me."
Shit.
If he made her drink a third time, he would have two options. Kill her to make her one of them, and still there was no guarantee she'd turn. Creating Vampires wasn't as easy as Hollywood made it seem. It wasn't always a sure thing.
Or not kill her, and there was a possibility he'd make her into a Revenant. Revenants were beneath even the Ghouls. They were mindless, blood-addicted humans who killed for the blood they craved, but would never find satisfaction in drinking it. These were the Vampires of legend. The fiends who were staked and burned in Europe. Either outcome wasn't a pleasant one for me, and an even more unpleasant one for Julie.
"What makes you think you can get away with this?" I held out my hands. "The Talmadge Family knows by now that you killed the previous Patriarch, and you murdered and left that
girl in the lobby of the Hall."
"Because I'll have you at my side, protecting me, as I establish a new order in this city." He narrowed his eyes at me. "You don't get it, do you, Grainger? I'm assuming Ellery didn't tell you the whole story, did he?"
"I'm assuming you will?" I knew Aberdeen had called Luke by now. I couldn't afford to let this conversation keep going long. "That you wanted to rule. Ellery's brother mysteriously died, and then you killed Ellery and framed the Herne Family, effectively removing your lover and a possible rival Family."
Beau scowled. "Then those idiots elected Jedediah. Fools! He made alliances with the Fairies and with the other Families in the city. He even brokered a deal with the Mórrígan. And when he believed he'd found another Whisper—"
"You couldn't let that happen because…" and I made a gesture to the two of us. "This would happen."
Beau jerked on Julie's hair and she tried not to make a sound, but I could hear it. "Jedediah wanted to make peace with Conway…CONWAY!" Beau spit the name out. "How could he do that to us? Put us in bed with one of our natural enemies? The first chance that snake of a man got, he would betray Jedediah…"
"Jed wouldn't see it your way."
"No."
I caught the first hint of a siren in the distance. There was no guarantee that was for us, but I didn't want to take a chance. "And now you want me to be your Chevalier…and you'll let Julie go."
He stared at me. "Yes."
"I can't take the word of a traitor, Beau." I exhaled, doing the exact opposite of what I believed Beau would expect, and pulled the Eagle from my back. The next few seconds happened in slow motion. I brought the gun around and aimed at his head, before his eyes widened and he realized he was staring down the barrel of a Chevalier's favored weapon. This weapon meant death, as did the silver bullets inside of it.
He reached down to Julie, as if to grab her head with his hand, just as I fired three times.
The first bullet hit his left shoulder, effectively severing his use of that arm so he couldn't snap Julie's neck. The second hit his right and the third bullet—