by D L Greeley
“It’s an ambush, naturally.”
“No choice, Mai, I’m going to have to give them what they are looking for NOW.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m coming in the front door.”
“But Kolann and the twins are not finished yet. Don’t you need to wait for him?”
“There’s no time.”
“Alex! Are we winging it again?”
“Mai, look at those bikers. Notice anything different about them?”
I Focused on a few in each section. “I see what you mean, every one of them is a fresh turning, their blood lust barely contained.”
“They’re going to be at their strongest until it can be brought under control.”
“Speaking of control, take a look at those lines of influence, Alex.”
The bikers were all enthralled. Thin threads of psychic energy trailed from the thrall to the vamp controlling them. Multiple lines connected bikers to Svetlana. The problem was, almost twice as many were heading in a different direction. Which could only mean one thing, there was a fairly powerful vamp somewhere in the crowd, an elder and more than likely a force to be reckoned with. This just happens to be my specialty. As I followed them to their source, they terminated at a fairly non-descript biker within the crowd. For all appearances, he was enthralled himself. The ridiculous Mohawk was obliviously a wig and the Terminator style Gargoyles he was wearing had a mirror finish. There was a strand going from him to Svetlana. I Listened in.
“Yes, my dear only a few more moments and you’ll be a Scion of all the Earth. The master will reward you well, for your faithful service. When he rises, he shall look upon you with favor, and you shall sit as his right hand.” I groaned internally. The usual crap rhetoric, I should have known.
“Demon?”
“Do you really need to ask? Impressive though, holding a two tiered enthrallment like that. This is a heavy hitter, Alex.”
“Where the Bloody Hell are they all coming from?
“Do you really want me to respond to that?” Mai had an edge of annoyance in her voice.
“Nothing left to it but to do it, as they say.”
“Hold it, Alex. We need to get a better look at those Veves first.”
“If you insist.”
“I do.”
I focused on the patterns and symbols. “Recognize anything?” It was at this point, for the first time in my life, I sensed a cold dreading fear from Mai. “What is it?”
“They must be completely insane, both of them!”
“Sort of a forgone conclusion, but, seeing as you’re completely freaked out. How ‘bout a few details, just for laughs.”
“It’s a resurrection ritual! They are actually trying to raise one of the old gods.”
“Jesus, bloody Christ! That’s just marvelous. What are we dealing with?”
“They are trying to raise Ra. The power comes from an ancient ritual that requires the blood of 13 innocents and 13 righteous men. No one has been foolish enough to attempt it in thousands of years. They’re crazy, no containment spell is strong enough to subdue an entity like Ra.”
“And it all falls into place. Previtt killing the kids and the bikers killing the adults.”
“We still have a chance. The power isn’t there yet. The ritual is still incomplete, something’s missing.”
“Ra, king of the Egyptian gods right? That would make Bastet his daughter? It seems like we’ve got a family reunion in the making, how bloody charming.”
“Correct, one of the old gods banished to the Otherworld. Some of his greatest powers were influence and charisma. Together with daughter Bastet and her seductive powers they would be unstoppable. We can’t let this guy get out.”
“Had no intention of doing so.”
Chapter 30
I could see Reggie positioning himself in the giant crane. He must have had a clean shot at the encampment from that perch. Kolann and Archie were quietly dropping from floor to floor catching railings to control their descent. Once they were on the floor Kolann took up his position. Archie found the controls for the doors that separate the two halves of the warehouse and activated the mechanism. As soon as they were closed he and Kolann would jam the doors mechanism with the rebar, cutting our hosts off from reinforcement.
I took a deep breath. The stealth part is over, we’ve done as much damage in secret as we can. Everyone in the building could hear the door moving, queue the diversion. I Slipped outside, no point in concealing the use of magic, when I am going to make a grand entrance.
As I exited The Void, I confronted three armed bikers. They fell to the ground headless before they had a chance to sound the alarm. I could see the taint of murder on each one of them before I struck. Justice would be served this night. Just as the last of their ashes blew away I turned to the small door next to the large rolling one and banged loudly on it. I Focused on the Armor. “Kakusu.” The Spirit Stone quickly absorbed into my skin, concealing itself. The door banged open and a couple vampire-ized bikers poked gun barrels out at me. I lashed out, pulling the AK 47s out of their hands by the barrels and tossing them away to either side of me. Both vampires froze in astonishment. Grabbing both of them by the throat, “Seishin Chikara!” I hurled them forward, into six or eight of their brethren, with the force of a small truck, effectively clearing a path to the circle.
As I strode forward, no one moved to intercept me. Once again my reputation had preceded me. The air was thick with the smells of death and fear. I could hear the distant mechanical workings of the giant doors grinding closed, screams and engines roaring on the other side as people fled Reggie’s burning rain of fire. There were fewer foot soldiers in the room now. About 12 of them must have gone to check out the noise. “Change of plan, guys. I’ve gone in the front door. Be ready for company. Reggie get that crane into position ASAP. We are going to need you very soon.” I felt Reggie silently acknowledge my instructions even though he had no clue as to their source. Kolann’s consciousness pushed to the front of my mind. “How is he doing this?”
“Not important right now Kol. Concentrate on me and think what you want to say, I’ll hear it. On your guard gentlemen the party is about to start and the first dance is mine.”
One of the Elite Guard, near the middle of the semicircle, pointed his weapon at Shelly. “This is a surprise Mr. Walker, the last report we received was that you were still at home preparing for a confrontation.”
“You know the old saying, Dent. Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see.” He nodded and gave his weapon a little shake at Shelly. “You were told to come unarmed, Mr. Walker.” I gave him my fiercest glower and had Mai Project a potent sense of foreboding at him. “Feel free to search me Mr. Dent, but if you don’t point that riot buster somewhere else in the next few seconds, you’re going to be the first receipt of an enema from one.” My voice promised my stated outcome. As I stood there, the bikers started to surround me. Dent’s confidence broke but he smiled through it and returned his weapon to the ready position across his chest. “That won’t be necessary, Mr. Walker. If you wouldn’t mind terribly, removing your shirt?” I smirked, “As you wish, Dent, but fair warning, you’re not my type.” I unbuttoned my shirt and draped it over my right arm to multiple whistles and comments like “nice ink”. Mai chose to hide the Spirit Stone as an elaborate shirt of Yakuza tattoo art. Shelly’s eyes bulged, she had seen me multiple times without a shirt. I gave her a meaningful stare and she kept quiet.
“Beauty, Mai.
“Thank you, now pay attention.”
Svetlana strolled out from between her guardsmen, still clothed in only the drawings and her glorious altogether. She was laughing with a predatory look in her eye. The bikers gave her a wide berth, reckon they weren’t ALL idiots. I kept my eyes locked on Dent, not giving Svetlana the satisfaction of laying a single glance on her spectacular body. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Gimme a break, I am a man after all.
<
br /> Svetlana began to trace the tattoos on my chest with a single claw. “Always the bravado and arrogance, what a one trick pony you’re Mr. Walker. It’s too bad you have not honored our agreement. Now the girl has to die. Dent! Kill her!” I sighed internally. It would appear the double dealing and treachery portion of the program would begin early tonight. “I HAVE HONORED OUR AGREEMENT!” I bellowed at 110 decibels, the words driven into everyone’s head like an ice cold railroad spike, thanks to Mai. Everyone flinched, Svetlana snarled and shook a bloody finger in my face. I have never wanted to tear someone’s finger out of the socket more than I did right then. “You were told to bring Mr. Smith with you, dead or alive!” I made a point of listening to the noise in the background and adopted an evil grin. “Oh, he’s around here, somewhere.” Svetlana turned to the crowd of biker vamps or vamp bikers. I don’t know what you want to call them. “Find him and bring me his head!’ A large number of them ran to obey her orders.
“Here they come, guys. Shroud up and take them all out, QUIETLY.”
Archie’s consciousness pushed to the front of my mind this time. “Don’t you need our help?”
“I do, but I think I can stall long enough for you to get here. Get them bottled up and drop a couple of those incendiary grenades. That should do the trick.”
“I’ve got just the place in mind,” thought Kolann.
Svetlana strolled around me, inspecting the complete package, if you’ll pardon the expression, and started tracing a fingertip along my “tattoos”, again. Nipples erect and covered in goose bumps, I needed no special Insight to recognize her excitement. Absolutely adorable, she actually thought her plan was coming together. “Such fools these mortals be,” she quoted. “You came in here naked as a newborn babe and really expected to walk out of here, didn’t you?” I looked down at her with a smirk as I re-buttoned my shirt. “That was the agreement, and as for naked, you haven’t got a lot of room to talk, Gypsy Rose.” Some of the Elite Guard looked embarrassed. The newly undead, staying behind with the elder, just sniggered and leered harder. The little bitch had the gall to laugh, seeing me as no threat whatsoever, in the presence of her little rag tag army.
“Amateurs…” Mai sneered.
“Better for us.”
“You hope…”
I could Sense the power of her ritual building, as could she and it was making her giddy. “Soon all of this will be but a memory. You’ll die, the girl will die and I’ll rule this world alongside my lord.” Dent eyed her, desperately trying to maintain eye contact, it wasn’t an easy task. Svetlana was just a couple inches taller than your officially classified a little person but she had a body that would stop traffic. He cleared his throat meaningfully.
“Eh hem, mistress Svetlana? Begging your pardon ma’am, but the agreement was that he would give his pledge and take the girl with him. I do not think Master Kolann would approve of us killing him.” Good man, Dent, I was beginning to like him. I could Sense he was bluffing the whole time he was pointing the gun at Shelly, but busting him on it could have escalated the situation.
He had no taste for this kind of dick move but he was stuck for it as Svetlana’s protector. I wondered how he would feel—I wondered how they would ALL feel, if they knew the truth. Svetlana gave him a sneer. “It’s not your job to think, fool. You protect me like the good little guard dogs you are. I do the thinking.”
“Thank you Svetlana, thank you for the most perfect of setups, you dotty little bitch.”
“Fire at will, Alex. You’ve got her now.”
I chuckled and shook my head giving Dent a look of purest empathy. “Well you can’t blame him for being confused. He’s under the impression that they are protecting Svetlana Rayner. He has no idea that you’re someone else entirely.” Mai was projecting sincerity at full force, which is enough to bring a charging Rhino to a stop…normally. Several brows furrowed in confusion, trying to process my words. Unfortunately, the weak minded are easy to manipulate but loyal to a fault. This makes PERSUADING them to come to a conclusion on their own, a real pain in the ass. I needed to try a different approach and hopefully not exhaust my Resources. “It’s OK Dent, don’t feel bad. I’ve had trouble sorting it all out myself.” Svetlana’s eyes bored into mine with a glare of purest hatred and defiance. “I said kill her, Mr. Dent!”
“We both know, I’m not going to allow you to kill her, Dent, but the real question is, who is going to kill you for trying…me or Kolann?” Svetlana screeched drawing a guard’s sword. “I’ll kill you myself!” I pointed a commanding finger at her and bore into her mind. “YOU’RE GOING TO PUT THAT SWORD BACK WHERE YOU FOUND IT! NOW!” The Voice of Compulsion issued from me like a lion’s roar and echoing several times. She fought me for a second struggling as hard as she could, pointlessly, of course. “DO IT NOW, SLAVE!” She screamed in rage and frustration, violently re-sheathing the Guard’s sword. Afterward, he put a protective hand over the pommel.
“What’s going on here?” demanded Dent. I returned my attention to him. “It’s quite simple, Mr. Dent. This isn’t Svetlana. No, not even close, this is something much older and much viler. Come out here and introduce yourself, BASTET.” She glared at me but didn’t move. A bead of pinkish sweat formed on her upper lip from the strain of resisting me. Apparently she hadn’t fed in a while, if she was sweating plasma. “OK, I see we are going to have to do this the hard way.” I grinned wickedly, “Imagine my disappointment…” Taking a step forward, two Guards imposed themselves between us, drawing their swords. I sighed exhaustedly, they were only doing their jobs, but I was quickly running out of patience with the whole situation.
“Gents, you’re really going to feel like right proper morons when this is all over, now move aside.” They stood their ground. “Fine, have it your way. BASTET DAUGHTER OF RA, I CAST YOU OUT!” The Voice reverberated all throughout the building. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Reggie rolling into position, in the reflection of Mr. Mohawk’s glasses. Svetlana crouched, growling and hissing at me.
“Oh yeah, that’s normal behavior for a vampire chieftess draw it out a little, Alex. Let them get a good look at her.”
“I SAY AGAIN TO YOU, BASTET, DAUGHTER OF RA. I CAST YOU OUT!” She fell to the floor as the Guards backed away from her to stand next to me, not realizing what it was they were seeing. With her, writhing and convulsing on the floor, I needed to finish this before Bastet, bashed Svetlana’s head in. I knelt and took her head in my hands, my eyes flashing and boring into hers, two orbs of pure hatred. “I SAY TO YOU THRICE, BASTET, DAUGHTER OF RA. UNDER THE POWER OF YOUR PLEDGE, YOU WILL OBEY ME! I AM YOUR MASTER! I CAST YOU OUT!
She screamed like her lungs were being torn out. Kolann and Archie appeared out of nowhere and took the two guards from behind, disarming them and shoving them back into the midst of the others. All six, looked bewildered. “Get your ass out here right now, Bastet, and stay there.” A stunningly beautiful woman appeared, with raven black hair and black eyes that shined like diamonds. Now, it was my turn to be confused…
“Uhhhhhh…who the bloody Hell is this?”
“That’s Bastet, Alex.”
“Huh?”
“You unmade her, when you incinerated her, Alex. Spirit Fire has extraordinary properties. She was reduced to her base spiritual essence, which is angelic. The cat head and the ugliness were how she chose to pervert the beauty she was originally given, out of rebellion.”
“So you’re saying I did her a favor, incinerating her? She gets a fresh start? That hardly seems fair.” I could feel Mai give me a mental shrug. “Fair has nothing to do with it.”
From out of nowhere, “I’ll kill you, MacFade!” I whirled on the source of the voice. Dominic! He had pulled off his disguise, he and his minions were charging. “RAYNER CLAN, RALLY TO ME!” barked Kolann. The vanguard rose into the air in unison and landed in formation around their chief. Archie tossed the two from earlier their weapons. “FOR THE GOOD OF THE CLAN!” Kolann roared, the age old bat
tle cry…and that’s when the shit hit the fan.
Chapter 31
The door I had come in, burst open. Bikers poured in like a tidal wave squeezing through a drain pipe. My Sight showed me lines of enthrallment piercing the walls and moving to the front of the building.
Son-of-a-bitch! Dominic summoned reinforcements. We ran them out of the rear of the building only for them to be summoned back to the front lines. Maybe we should have locked them in.”
“You don’t mean that. 74 innocents escaped, we’ll deal with this, with no regrets,
Alex.”
“Bloody right we will! I refuse to become a monster like these things—or my mother.”
“Oh, Alex…”
Both forces slammed together in a horrific cacophony of steel on steel, gunfire and enraged howls. The Guards were fast and strong, but grossly outnumbered twelve to one by vampiric berserkers and meth-crazed bikers. Dominic came right at me, his first mistake. I leaped clear of his sword, onto a pile of something under a tarp. The Spirit Stone erupted from my skin, instantly forming long sleeved upper body armor and a Tekko-Kagi on each hand. “Reggie! Cover Shelly, we’ll take care of ourselves.”
“Understood.”
I dug my claws into a crate and hurled it at Dominic. He lithely leaped aside. From my vantage point, I could see the battle wasn’t going well for Kolann and the Guards. They were badly out numbered. Archie was doing well though, zipping back and forth in a blur of motion using his twin Kukris, heads were literally flying.
I refocused my attention back to Shelly. I hadn’t sensed any additional fear from her, so I assumed she was alright. Still tied to the ring, but there was a pile of bodies at the edge of the circle, around her. It seemed none of the berserkers would dare cross into the circle to get at her. Something about that diagram scared them. It could have also been, every time one of the braver of them turned their attention to her, a blazing round of white phosphorus removed most of his head, good boy, Reggie.