by Lisa Emme
“That’s quite enough,” I said, not wanting to hear more of her rant, but Salvador met my gaze.
“Let her speak,” he said.
“Tell me more about your plan, Deirdre,” I replied reluctantly.
“My plan was brilliant, but first I needed some way to leverage you.” She looked at the Mariposa. “That’s when Madre found me. She promised me immortality and all I had to do was seduce Salvador and deliver a child. I was halfway there; I had already managed the seduction.” She sneered at him. “I won’t complain about the rest. It was certainly fun accomplishing the second half.”
Oh man! I’d never unhear that. Yuck.
“It was perfect. You were perfect,” Deirdre ranted on, unable to stop. “And then it all went wrong. My meddling mother, your grandmother, caught up with me, forcing me back to that stultifying commune she called home. She kept me there like a captive.” Deirdre stared at me, her eyes wild. “When I was finally able to escape, it was almost too late. Your time was close and you were impatient to be born. I made it halfway across the country before that old witch found me again. By then it was too late, I was already in labour and Madre’s people didn’t arrive in time.” She gave me a look of condemnation. “You almost killed me. I was near death when that old hag arrived. She scooped you up and took you from me and she left me. She left me! Did that old bitch tell you that she left me for dead? She didn’t care about me, she just wanted you. If Madre’s people hadn’t arrived when they did…” She frowned and shook her head. “They kept me alive long enough to receive the kiss. So I got my reward, despite that meddling old woman.”
“I’ve heard enough,” I said quietly, ending Deirdre’s tirade. Not that there was probably much else for her to say. I felt sick. Did it really happen that way? It must have, at least in Deirdre’s mind, because under my compulsion she wouldn’t have been able to lie. Across my bond with Nash I felt a boost of warm support. It helped. I took a deep breath, steeling myself for whatever came next.
“It doesn’t matter how the child was conceived. You have a daughter, I have two sons. Pick one and our alliance will be sealed.” The Mariposa dismissed Deirdre’s tale with a look of disdain.
“No!” I stood up, pushing my chair back. “I’m not some pawn in your little game. You can’t trade me back and forth like a toy.”
Salvador smiled a cold, calculating smile. “I believe you have your answer, Catalina. My daughter will remain with me.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Salvador’s words hung in the air.
I thought Catalina would rage, but instead she smiled, her smile just as cold and calculating as Salvador’s. “I thought that would be the case, but North America will be mine and I am starting right here.” She clapped her hands twice.
A dozen of her guard snapped to attention, blades drawn. They had insinuated themselves close to the head table and had us surrounded, a blade levelled at each of the main players, including me I noticed. I looked out into the room. More of her guards appeared to be holding our guards at bay. I turned to look at Salvador. He seemed unperturbed by the turn of events.
“Nash?” I caught his gaze.
“Just keep it cool minx, there’s more going on than it seems.” He eyed his mother, who also looked unconcerned about being surrounded by the Mariposa’s guards, suspiciously.
The Mariposa rose slowly from her chair. “You were always too complacent Salvador. You lack the drive and ambition that it takes to truly be great.” She smiled triumphantly. “Soon your city will be in ruins and I will grind what remains under my heel. You will either bow to me, or die.”
“Actually mother,” Diego said, rising to stand as well. “I think you will find that all your planning has come to naught.” He flicked his hand and more than half of the Catalonia guard stood down, turning on those still faithful to the Mariposa, cutting them down where they stood. The Triad’s enforcers and Salvador’s guards turned on any remaining Catalonian guards still loyal to the Mariposa and chaos broke out around the room. The guests around the head table sat in shocked silence.
As if on cue, the double doors opened and a contingent of vampire guards trooped in dragging what appeared to be Juan Carlos and several other strange vampires. They were bound using magically enforced zip ties. Four members of the SRU accompanied them. One of the men I recognized from his visits to the coffee shop stepped over to Nash and spoke quietly to him. A slow smile crept across Nash’s face.
“As you can probably deduce, we have deactivated every bomb you placed around the city,” Diego continued with a smile. “All of your people are now in custody. These four,” he turned to look at Juan Carlo and his buddies with disgust, “have been caught perpetrating heinous crimes here in the city and have been turned over to the proper authorities.”
“You ungrateful little bastard,” the Mariposa sneered, “I raised you up from nothing. I should have left you there.” She turned her head to the side and spat on the floor.
“Yes, and you should have left me my humanity or let me die, as was my choice. But since you took that choice away from me, I now choose to no longer sit idly by while you continue to reign in terror over the people of my country.”
“Never! I shall take this city and this country. It and everyone in it will be mine.” She turned her gaze on Salvador and their eyes locked. There was an enormous burst of energy and everyone except the two combatants was thrown backwards. In the commotion, some of the Catalonia guards tried to fight their way out and small skirmishes erupted again around the room.
Isaac and Hilde immediately were at my side, guarding me.
“Harry?” Nash’s tone was worried.
“I’m fine. Isaac and Hilde have my back.”
I started in surprise at the sound of snarling right beside me. I looked over in time to see Diego and Bartolo fall on each other. The two brothers grappled with one another, fangs bared.
Isaac pulled me out of the way, hauling me back to my feet. “Come on, we should find cover until this all settles out.”
He began to pull me away, but then I noticed someone that seemed out of place. “Max! Look out!” I shouted a warning just as Elder Marshall lobbed what appeared to be a magical fireball right at Max. I flicked my hand, batting the fiery orb away with my telekinesis. I turned my gaze to Marshall. He was taken by surprise by my counterattack but quickly recovered, another orb beginning to form in his hand. I concentrated all my powers on him, forcing his hands inward towards his chest. He had no choice but to let the orb dissipate or risk burning himself.
Max and his guards jumped on Marshall pinning him to the floor. “Thanks Harry,” he shot me a grin. “We’ve got this now.” A guard slipped a set of magic restraints over Marshall’s wrists.
Relieved, I looked around the room. The fighting had stopped with Salvador’s men seizing control once again. Across the space, Diego stood over Bartolo’s headless body, looking a little worse for wear, but victorious. He flashed me a smile like we were just meeting up for a walk in the park rather than standing amongst the carnage of a civil war. I shook my head. My life just gets weirder and weirder.
“Harry!” Nash scooped me up in his arms, hugging me fiercely. “Are you okay?” He held me out to take a look. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, I’m fine, I’m fine.” I brushed off his overeager hands as they checked me over for damage. “Honestly, Nash.” I pulled him to me by his collar and crushed my lips to his.
“Sorry, sir.” One of Nash’s men from the SRU came to stand beside us, clearing his throat. “What should we do with the vamps?”
Nash sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry Harry, but I really have to –”
“Go,” I said, giving him a push. “I’m fine. I have Isaac and Hilde to keep me safe.” I smiled at him.
Nash gave me a kiss on the forehead and then le
ft to deal with Juan Carlo and his murderous gang.
I looked over at the banquet table. The chairs were all tipped over and plates and crystal goblets smashed on the floor. The only things apparently untouched from the blast were Salvador and Catalina. They stood at either end of the long expanse, their eyes locked. Neither of them moved; they appeared frozen in time.
“What’s happening?” I asked Isaac.
“They fight their battle on the metaphysical level,” Isaac explained, although it didn’t help me at all. I still didn’t really understand what was going on.
“It is a battle of the mind, Harry,” Diego said, coming to stand beside me. “A battle of wills. They will remain locked in battle until only one survives.”
“So that’s it?” I looked at him in surprise. “We just have to stand around and watch them stare at each other?”
Diego shrugged, a little smile on his face. “No, you could sit if you prefer.” And indeed, many of Salvador’s vampires and the Catalonians on Team Diego had begun to pull up chairs to sit and watch.
“I don’t get it.” I shook my head.
“Were you perhaps expecting something more?”
“Well, yeah. Two great vampiric powers, dueling it out? I expected something a little more epic than a contest of who blinks first.” Like maybe a cool wizard’s duel, à la Harry Potter. Would that have been too much to ask?
Diego laughed. “Vampires are all about the long game Harry. We have the time, after all.” He righted a chair and indicated I should sit. “When Salvador first approached me over a decade ago –”
“Wait a minute. You mean you’ve been planning this coup for a decade?”
“The long game, remember?” Diego shrugged. “Salvador knew that this encounter was inevitable and he knew that to win, he would need to have an inside man. When he approached me, I was ready for a change. I couldn’t live under mother’s rule any longer.”
“So this really wasn’t about me then, was it? Not that I think the world should revolve around me or anything,” I added hurriedly. It would just be nice to know that I wasn’t the centre of all the mayhem for a change.
“It was, but it wasn’t. You were the catalyst. We knew that once you made your existence known, Catalina would not be able to resist trying to claim you and take Salvador’s territory from him.” He smiled at me. “And you certainly didn’t disappoint. By eliminating Benecio, you’ve sure made my job easier when I get back home.”
I studied him. “So you and Salvador knew that I’d end up stripping him of his powers? You planned it?” I felt mildly outraged, but resigned. Why should I be surprised to have been manipulated yet again by Salvador?
“It was inevitable, was it not? With your affinity to the werewolves and your human compassion, you couldn’t help yourself. Benecio was a monster,” Diego scowled. “Without his foot on the throats of the werewolf packs, my mother’s rule is over.” He looked at Catalina, still locked in silent battle with Salvador. “One way or another.”
I sat stewing over everything. I was tired of being used by Salvador. I was tired of everything.
Diego must have noticed my dark face because he touched my arm kindly. “Does it help to know that Salvador knew what Deirdre was doing? That he knew about her deal with Catalina?”
“You mean he knew that Deirdre was trying to conceive his child and he went along with it?” I was shocked.
“Is it so hard to believe that maybe Salvador wanted you Harry?”
I frowned, thinking over what Diego had said. Was it hard to believe? I just didn’t know anymore. I huffed out a sigh. Thinking about Deirdre and her pregnancy plot reminded me that I hadn’t seen her since the blast. I looked around the room, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Deirdre’s gone,” I said. “You know her better than I do. Where do you think she’ll go?”
“I doubt if she has gone far. She always lands on her feet, that one does. She’s probably back at our hotel waiting to see which way the wind will blow so she knows who to cast her sail at.” I wasn’t surprised. I didn’t have a very high opinion of my mother. “She’ll probably come back to Spain with me,” Diego shrugged. “There’s nothing for her here, is there?”
“No. There isn’t.” My voice held a note of finality. “If she does, can you do me a favour and keep an eye on her? She’ll be trouble, you know. I doubt if she will ever stop her machinations to gain more power.”
“Yes, I’ll keep my eye on her.”
I looked at him closely. He had a strange look on his face. “Oh man! Not you too!”
Diego looked at me innocently. “What? My brother was right about one thing. Your mother is great in –”
“Don’t say it! Don’t say it.” I made a face, scrambling from my seat to step away from him. “That’s TMI, Diego. Too much information.”
Diego laughed. I shook my head at him, but I couldn’t help but laugh. After a minute, I sobered up, looking across the room at Salvador. How much longer was this battle going to last? I paced across the room to where Max and Eleanor were sitting. Someone had brought them coffee. Geez, did everyone else just think this was normal?
“Harry dear, come sit down. We could be here a while.” Eleanor patted the seat beside her.
“Thanks Eleanor, but I don’t think I can sit right now.” I was feeling too keyed up. Was I the only one worried about the outcome? Salvador was an extremely powerful vampire, likely more powerful than the Mariposa. So why was I worried? Was I actually worrying about Salvador? I wasn’t sure I was ready to go there yet.
I paced the room for a while longer, Hilde trailing after me. I guess she wasn’t ready to let me out of her sight. Not that Isaac did either. He just managed to keep an eye on me from his post, leaning against the wall.
“All will be well, Harry. This you will see.” Hilde smiled reassuringly.
“Have you seen something like this before?”
“Yes, several times.”
“Are they usually so…boring?”
Hilde laughed. “No, usually, we are too busy fighting with the other guys to even notice.”
I grabbed a chair, setting it back on its legs, and sat down, scanning the room. Some of Salvador’s people had begun the cleanup. They were piling headless vampire bodies on a four wheeled trolley. One of them tossed a head to his buddy like it was a football and my stomach did a little flip. I guess they would take the bodies someplace where they could be exposed to the dawning sun. Although most vampires generally had an aversion to sunshine and avoided it, dawn was the only time of day a vampire couldn’t be out in the sun, unless of course, they wanted to become a human-shaped torch. Instant immolation, the best way to rid yourself of pesky vampire corpses.
I sighed and kicked off my shoes, half watching the cleanup crew. At least they were more interesting than watching Salvador and Catalina, which was at par with watching paint dry. I ran a hand through my hair, resting my elbow on the arm of the chair so I could prop up my head. The buzz I had felt earlier was wearing off and I was tired and just wanted to go home.
I think I was beginning to fall asleep, my eyes drifting shut, when something out the corner of my eye drew my attention. It was a dark shape moving on the far side of the banquet table. I sat up and turned my head for a better look. It was the creepy old guy that Isaac called the Undertaker. He was shuffling along across the room, getting closer and closer to Salvador. I cocked my head, examining him. Something wasn’t right. I think I registered that his hand was in his pocket about the same time he pulled it out, holding a gun. He pointed it at Salvador.
“Stop him! He’s got a gun!” I yelled to no one in particular, jumping to my feet. I lunged towards the table, grabbing a steak knife off its surface and hurled it at the Undertaker.
The shot rang out, just as the knife lodged itself in the old man’s carotid. H
is arm jerked and the shot went wide as he crumpled to the floor. I continued my momentum, jumping up onto the table and over it, landing by the Undertaker’s side. He was gasping, his hand clutched at his throat. Blood gushed out. The knife was sharp and I had sliced right through his carotid artery. He’d be dead in a minute. I stood and looked down at him, wondering if I should help him.
His lips moved like he was trying speak but nothing came out but a rasping breath. “…let…me…die,” he said, closing his eyes.
Well, that answered that. I couldn’t say as I blamed him. If I was a decrepit, dried up husk like him, I think I’d want to die finally too. He wheezed a breath or two and then sputtered, blood bubbling at his lips. I guess I must have hit his airway too.
There was a low keening sound and I looked around, wondering where it was coming from.
“Harry! Look out!” Isaac’s warning rang out too late. A dark body hurled through the air and I found myself being lifted off the floor by my throat. I clawed at the hand, my bare feet dangling off the floor. I looked down at the Mariposa, her face a hideous mask of rage. She screamed incoherently.
I saw Isaac and Hilde running to my aid, but Catalina threw out her hand and there was another blast like the one before and everyone in the room was thrown backwards yet again. With another scream, she hurled me away from her, across the room.
I smashed against the wall, landing in a heap. I was dazed and my entire left side was in pain, but I knew I had to get up. I struggled to stand, but before I could get my feet under me, a black form flew across the room at me, and I mean literally flew. Not just moved real fast, the bitch flew.
The Mariposa landed in front of me and slowly bent to put her face in mine, her hand wrapping around my throat. “You killed him! You killed my Rodolfo.” She snarled, her fangs dripping with saliva. “You will pay for that, necromancer.” She pushed me against the wall using my neck for leverage. I was barely able to breath, but barely is better than nothing and I sucked in what air I could. She slowly straightened to standing, sliding me up the wall to hold me above her head.