by Jack Conner
“That you—and you alone—come with us.” He motioned to the sleeping Lavaca. “Your pet stays here.”
For a tense moment, Cloire said nothing. She turned her strange eyes back to the human and seemed to be nodding to herself, almost as if she’d suspected this. At that moment, Byron felt certain that he’d guessed the truth, that in setting that particular wrong right, Cloire was releasing all her ties with the mortal so that, from there on out, she would be free.
“Fine,” she said. “It’s a deal. We do it, then we’re out of here.”
Kilian smiled, obviously thinking that the old Cloire was back again, but somewhere within him, Byron knew differently. She was trying to make this parting sound light-hearted, is if the human meant nothing to her, but Byron could see something dangerous in her eyes as she looked at the man: it was love.
* * *
“Why should you want to set us free?” Danielle asked the Balaklava, her pistols drifting back to aim at them.
Jagoda’s smile did not fade. “Because if you stay, Ruegger will die, and we do not want that.”
“Neither do I, but why the hell should we trust you? Goddamnit, are you two so consumed in yourselves that you don’t even remember who you’re talking to, what you’ve done?”
Ruegger cast a steady eye her way, but if she started shooting at the Balaklava he wouldn’t hesitate to join her. In fact, he looked forward to it.
Junger cleared his throat. “Look, we’ve no war with either of you, not anymore. Obviously, you feel that we should explain ourselves, so we shall. After all, we did pursue and torment you for some time—but no more. Vistrot had ordered us to harass you and to attract as much attention to ourselves in the process as we could.
“Why did he demand this? You already know. He and Amelia were in the middle of the Scouring, and though he’s quite formidable he knew he stood no chance of overpowering her personally if she decided to eliminate him—as he thought she would. After all, she’d forced him to give her equal power over his part of the underworld. If he died, she’d be the new leader. He needed some leverage against her. He chose you, Ruegger. If he were killed, we were to kill you. Thus Amelia didn’t kill him. Maybe she never intended to, who’s to say?
“At any rate, shortly before he disappeared, he rescinded the order. We were to let you be, and we did—until dear Danielle started taking whacks at our Tree. Very naughty. However, the Lord of Shit saved her, and here she is, undead and well. Have no fear on that account, though. We’ve repaired the Tree, and our alliance with Kiernevar will keep us from further action against you, Danielle. Besides, we’ve other fish to fry. Much bigger fish.”
“Roche Sarnova,” said Ruegger, remembering the Collage.
“Perhaps. Just perhaps.”
“I’ve got a question,” said Danielle.
“Yes?”
“You told us once before that you wouldn’t accept money as payment. So why’d you follow Vistrot’s orders?”
“He offered us a station in the post-Scouring world, whatever that might have been. However, he’s either dead or missing, so his promises can never be fulfilled, and we doubt that Amelia would honor them in his stead; after all, we did hound her beloved Darkling and would’ve killed him had she acted against the Titan. But this is neither here nor there. We wish for you, Ruegger, and you, Danielle, to be set free.”
“Bullshit,” she said. “Maybe you’re trying to trap us, maybe not, I don’t know. What I do know is this: you don’t do anything out of the goodness of your hearts. There isn’t any. What do you have to gain by helping us?”
Junger smiled in a way that tilted his artificial tusks gruesomely. “You caught us,” he said. “We do have something to gain, or at least you might say we’re planning for future eventualities.”
“Amelia,” Ruegger said, understanding.
“I don’t get it.” Danielle frowned, then, when comprehension hit her, she wheeled back to the Balaklava. “You bastards plan to use us as hostages in case she tries to kill you for what you’ve done to us!”
“Exactly,” said Junger. “Although I would’ve phrased it a little differently, perhaps. Really, though, that is a future battle, and one that we do not wish to fight. But, if the Kavasari Amelia does attempt anything against us, we wish to have Ruegger and yourself around—just in case.”
“Why me?” she said. “Why am I important?”
“Because Amelia no longer seeks Ruegger as a lover,” Jagoda said. “Apparently, she still loves him, but she has no desire to copulate with him. We’ve done a little research and have determined that she has a lover, another kavasari. We think it highly likely that this man was the real power behind the Scouring, that he used Amelia to dupe the Titan so that they could utilize his resources. Of course, there’s no proof, but we believe it. As for why you’re important, Danielle, it should be obvious. Having only one hostage is amateurish. When that one dies, so do you. We need someone to kill so that we may prove to Amelia just how serious we are. However, it won’t come to that, because you bring joy to Ruegger’s otherwise miserable existence. If we have both of you, Amelia won’t dare tangle with us. If she does, we’ll be forced to kill you, Danielle, and she wouldn’t want that. If you died, Ruegger would be a sad thing indeed, and since the kavasari loves him she won’t allow such a chain of events to occur.
“There you have it, our motives in short. You’re right in that we aren’t guided by altruism, but neither do we seek your destruction. As I’ve said, we have other fish to fry. But we do need you free, and safe, and far away from here.”
“Why?” asked Ruegger. “What’s going to happen?”
Both Balaklava smiled. “Chaos and carnage and needless violence,” said Jagoda, relishing in the words. “You won’t live to see it, Ruegger. You will play Kiernevar, lose, and die. Danielle might live to see the battle, but she’ll doubtlessly perish in it. Neither death will serve our purposes. So ... are you coming?”
Ruegger and Danielle glanced at each other. She looked as confused as he felt.
“How?” asked Ruegger. “The only way of out of here in the corpse-chute, and we wouldn’t survive the fire at the other end.”
Again, Junger smiled. It seemed that he was in a good mood tonight. “The idea that these chutes lead to a great fire is one of Roche Sarnova’s most perfectly executed lies.”
“What do you mean?”
“There is no fire!”
“Place your hands inside and you’ll feel the heat.”
The Balaklava laughed. “A sensory illusion, that’s all. Just as we can create great shadows, so can Sarnova and his sorcerers create heat.”
“Sorcerers?”
“Don’t worry about them, Ruegger. They’re all dead now. It’s of no concern. But they helped Blackie accomplish some amazing things, things that you can only see in the bowels of the mountain ... which is where we’re headed.”
The demons indicated the chute.
“Are you to come with us and save yourselves, or are you going to stay here and die?” Jagoda said. “I urge you to do the former.”
“I recognize that what you offer is no small thing,” Ruegger said, “but before I can go with you, before I can leave the Castle behind, I must have an answer to the question that we’ve come so far to find an answer to.” Turning to Danielle, he saw that she agreed with his reasoning. “Before I can trust you two with my life, I must know who hired you to kill Ludwig.”
For a moment, Jagoda’s expression was blank. Then both Balaklavian countenances split into such evil grins that Ruegger was forced to blink his eyes to break up the awful image. Worse, they began laughing. As they continued to convulse in amusement, both Ruegger and Danielle took aim and cocked their weapons.
“We’re serious, assholes,” said Danielle. “We’ve come a long way to find the answer to a simple question, and our journeys’ve led us here. We’ve come too far to leave without answers. And you two bastards know. You were hired to kill Ludwig. Unless you t
ell us why, we’ll stay here and die. Shit, I’ll go happy knowing that someday Amelia will kill you both.”
The Balaklava stopped laughing and regarded her with curiosity and, maybe, respect.
Jagoda ran a clawed hand through his beard. “Still, we will not tell you.”
“Then we won’t leave,” said Ruegger.
“We can use force if we must.”
“And we can call the Castle Guards. After that, you’ll have more than ten adversaries—not good odds, even as strong as you might be. So either leave now or tell us why my friend was murdered.”
“Interesting dilemma,” said Junger. “Unfortunately, we take great pleasure in watching your torment. Could we tell you the answer you seek and give up a source of great pleasure to both of us? I think not. You’re worthy opponents, even if you are only vampires, but in order for us to give up our little pleasures, you must prove of even greater interest.”
“How?”
This time Junger didn’t even need to smile for his face to convey immense enjoyment. Ruegger could see it in his eyes.
“Maybe ...” began Junger, and turned to Jagoda for confirmation. When his shadow nodded, the bald, tattooed and tusked Balaklava faced the Darkling and said, “Maybe if you defeated Kiernevar in a fair game of chess, we would tell you.”
“But … you would lose your puppet. Your Heir.”
“It wouldn’t break our hearts. He’s stronger and … stranger … then we had supposed. And he’s become quite the little monster. Still, we couldn’t allow him to die, he’s too interesting. We’d have to save him at the last minute. Either way, it works for us. The chess match would fascinate us enough to be worth dealing with the outcome, whatever it is.”
For a moment, Ruegger couldn’t move, could hardly think. Then he felt a slight pressure on his hand and turned to see Danielle staring up at him anxiously. Obviously, she was just as bewildered as he was.
He considered the situation. On the one hand, he and Danielle could leave now and never look back. They would live, but in ignorance of the question they’d come so far to answer. On the other, they could stay and risk almost certain death on the hopes of answering it.
Danielle, apparently seeing his loss, cocked her head in the direction of the chute. “Go on, both of you, get out of here. Ruegger and I need to talk. Alone. Come back in one hour.” She paused, then lowered her guns. “Is that a deal?”
The Balaklava exchanged silent signals and nodded.
“It’s a deal,” said Junger.
With that, the demons moved to the chute and disappeared into the darkness without a sound.
Chapter 5
“Well, we can’t talk here,” said Ruegger, watching the chute into which the Balaklava had vanished. They could easily still be within earshot, and if he and Danielle meant to formulate some plan in the next hour they would do well to do it elsewhere.
She agreed. They left the room and strode swiftly down the corridors of the Castle, their guards close behind.
“Where are we off to?” Danielle said. “I’m guessing you have a destination.”
He smiled. “The Pools of Pleasure.”
She smiled, too. “I’ve wanted to visit them, but without you there didn’t seem much point. Won’t they be too distracting, though?”
“Not if we remain focused. The Pools are really the only place in the Castle that will offer us any privacy. We could go to any restaurant or brothel or whatever and talk, but Junger and Jagoda could have zombie spies about, ready to eavesdrop. If we’re going to talk just you and me, we’ve got to go to the Pools. Besides, I … want to see them again.” He’d almost said one last time.
Danielle walked closer to him, and he threw an arm about her shoulders. She laughed and wrapped her own arm around his waist.
“We’re not going to die here, you know,” she said. She’d guessed at what he’d almost said.
“I know.”
Arm in arm, they descended into the lower tunnels of the Castle until they found the area they’d been seeking. Here, the tunnels stretched broader, higher, and were altogether more inviting. The vampires stopped at a great, richly embroidered archway rendered in green stone, beyond which lay the vast cavern that contained the Pools of Pleasure.
“Beautiful,” said Danielle.
Before them, the cavern loomed, brightly lit by the fire of many torches and by the strange greenish light that emanated from the Pools themselves. The many basins of water began near the ceiling of the far corner of the room, where the luminous green fluid poured out of a vertical crack in the stone wall. It fell into the first, the smallest, basin, which overflowed into the many lower basins, at last building into a glorious waterfall that spilled into the lowest and largest pool.
Several shades luxuriated below the waterfall, basking in the flow of the enchanted liquid, letting the waters surge around them as they made love openly and without any thought wasted on prying eyes, of which there were few. In this chamber, everyone was naked, and over half of those present were engaged in a myriad of lustful acts. The very air crackled with sensuality.
The lowest pool was the center of most of the activity. Though some shades basked in the greater warmth of the higher pools—which were also more secluded—most preferred the lowest, simply because it was larger than all of the others combined. Its breadth was close to a hundred feet, while its length was more than three times that. All of the pools were covered with glorious white flowers which seemed to grow here naturally—or preternaturally, as the case may be. Many claimed that the Pools were magical, that they had rejuvenating powers—among others. Supposedly the waters were also a mighty aphrodisiac. Based on Ruegger’s experiences with the Pools, he believed it.
He turned to the guards. “Danielle and I are going into the Pools. From here there’s no way out except this archway, so please, stay here.”
The guard captain nodded, smiling sadly in misunderstanding. He could not know of the recent encounter with Junger and Jagoda and therefore would assume that the Darkling and Danielle needed to spend some happy moments together before Ruegger died tomorrow.
The vampires and Guards parted ways, the soldiers remaining at the archway as the odd flock ventured into the cavern. After they’d paid the admittance fee—there was always a fee—Ruegger and Danielle neared the edge of the water to see many shades frolicking in the dozen pools.
“The last bastion of goodness in this place,” muttered Danielle as they made their way toward the discreet storage lockers, which were tucked away around a bend, out of sight of the pools. “The only place not devoted to blood and death.”
“Maybe,” said Ruegger.
They disrobed and left their clothes—and weapons—in the storage lockers, which were well guarded. As they made their way back to the edge of the lowest pool, Danielle dipped her toe in the water and smiled.
“Warm,” she said.
Seeing her enjoyment banished Ruegger’s own vague feelings of disquiet, and he dipped a toe in the water as well. Warm, yes. Strangely, the water—if it could be called that—seemed thicker than normal water. Not blood-thick, but not natural, either.
“Magic,” he mused.
“Strange. I mean, I always knew there was something funny about this place, and the pillars in the Sahara, but … sorcerers? Dragons?”
“It takes some getting used to,” he admitted.
He sat down and let his legs dangle in the water. At once, a hot sensation crept through him, permeating the pores of his legs and filtering up through the whole of his body. He smiled, and so did Danielle, who had joined him.
“Ready for a swim?” he said.
Another reason why the lowest pool held more immortals than the higher pools did was that it was deeper. In some places, in fact, it was nearly seventy feet deep. Large towers of rock rose up from the basin floor, and on top of one of these several shades were holding an impromptu picnic/orgy. Wide chasms split the floor, leading into wells lit only by the luminous flu
id. Along the sides of these chasms, dozens of “rooms” had been created by scouring out the stone; collectively, these were known as the Pleasure Hotel.
Ruegger and Danielle swam down into one of the deep, uneven chasms until they found a circular hole, then followed the tunnel until it rose and opened out into a large air pocket, a round chamber about twenty yards in diameter. Finding purchase for their feet, the vampires moved up a slope to a dry stone floor that took up half the chamber’s space. On one end lay a bed with plastic sheets, and on the other stood a mini-bar. Ruegger crossed to the latter and made himself a gin and tonic. When he looked around, he saw that Danielle was arranging herself on the bed.
“Want anything?” he asked her.
“They got a Coke?”
“Mm. Yep, here one is. It’s even iced.” He tossed it to her and made his way over to the bed, where he sat, smiling. It was so peaceful here, so private. It was the only place in the Castle where he and Danielle would be free from the Balaklava’s intrusions.
“Good choice,” she said, as if reading his mind. “Too bad we don’t have more time. I could spend days here.”
“Maybe some day we can come back here, if the Castle still stands.”
“Anyway, we’d better make this fast. We have an appointment to keep. What are your thoughts on what we should do?”
“Well, for one, I don’t trust Junger and Jagoda—at all. If I won the match against Kiernevar, would they really tell us why Ludwig was killed? Their word isn’t enough. Also, I think they were lying when they said that to watch me and Kiernevar face off would be worth the cost. Even if Kiernevar is only a toy to them, they’d want him as the Dark Lord’s heir. The truth is that they don’t expect me to beat him, and that’s why they want me to leave, so that they can use me as a hostage against Amelia.”
“You believed that part.”
“It was the only thing they said that made any sense. On the other hand, they’ve been playing with us for so long ... I think they’d love the chance to have their way with us.”