Infinitely Human

by Candace Blevins

  “I married the historical Boudicca five hundred years ago. It was for a fifty-year term, but I was ready to end it fifteen years early. I paid a hefty fee to get her to agree to an early termination.” He’d been looking out the window while he spoke, but now he turned to me. “She’s too bloodthirsty, even for me. I understand she courted Caligula a few centuries ago, and he broke it off long before any discussions of marriage. She was too much for him as well.”

  “And you think she bought Dwight Lepori?”

  “I’m leaning heavily towards believing so, yes.”

  “She and Gavin were created by the same vampire, yes?” asked Ryan.

  “Correct.”

  “My public school education failed to teach me of her. Can you give me a quick primer?”

  “She was a Celtic Queen when Nero was trying to take over the British Isles. Her husband died in battle and the man who wanted to be crowned the new King raped her and her daughters, and then had her publicly flogged. A few hours later, just before nightfall of the day she was flogged, she killed him in a most public manner, and no one argued when she named herself Queen. Boudicca’s army slaughtered well over one hundred thousand Roman soldiers. People speak of the battles as massacres, despite the fact her people were heavily outnumbered. She’s a master strategist, and she’s merciless.”

  Rinaldo looked to Ryan and back to me. “She fell ill during the war and would’ve died, but the vampire Ryan spoke of turned her and brought her into his fold. Without her leading the Celts, the Romans won the war. History says they lost and then she killed herself, but they have the order wrong. The Romans got to write the history books, so it’s no surprise they wanted to make themselves look better.”

  “The Roman army was already occupying their city and region when she became Queen,” said Ryan. “She didn’t just fight them, she orchestrated the slaughter of every occupying solder. She isn’t nearly as old as the most ancient vampires, but they all speak of her with respect and a little fear.”

  Rinaldo laughed. “A little fear? I was married to the bitch and I’m more than a little afraid of her.” He blew out a breath. “If she’s leading the dark side, you need me. I understand her machinations.”

  A woman was leading the dark side? I was both proud and ashamed. Proud because, well, it did my heart good to hear of powerful men afraid of a woman, and ashamed because I’d assumed the bad guy would be a man.

  “What name does she use in this century?” I asked.

  Rinaldo looked to Ryan, who told me, “Katerina Bernasconi. Rinaldo is forbidden from divulging certain secrets. I am not.”

  “But we thought Manandán might be over the dark side?” I asked.

  “Think of Katerina as the one ring to rule them all,” said Ryan. “Lots of bad guys, with the various leaders reporting to her.”

  I’d learned that the most powerful vampires have an animal they preferred. Abbott kept wolves around him, Killian preferred bears.

  “Abbott’s wolves are his,” I told Rinaldo. “The local Alpha doesn’t have control over them. You said Lorenzo is Nathan’s? Is that accurate?”

  “Wolves have the option of being a lone wolf. Those not under the protection of an Alpha risk being taken over by someone stronger than them. In Abbott’s territory, the risk isn’t so great. In mine, it is.”

  Which meant he allowed slavery. Survival of the strongest. He also hadn’t answered my question, which possibly meant Rinaldo owned him a little more than Nathan.

  “Lions have to join a Pride, form one, or be killed.” I mused. “Bears don’t form magical groups. What animal does Katerina prefer?”

  Both men looked at each other a good fifteen seconds before Ryan finally said, “Civets and honey badgers.”

  “Fuck.”

  Rinaldo chuckled. “Fucking a honey badger shifter is indeed an experience. Feeding from them is powerful.”

  I shuddered and changed the subject. “How do you propose we prove she owns Gabby’s father?”

  “How close are you to the daughter?”

  “We aren’t best friends. It’s more like we’re in the same group of friends.” I made a mental note to call Dwight Lepori by his name in the future. Who I’m close to doesn’t need to be common knowledge this far from home.

  We switched cars when we stopped to eat — a small, ordinary looking European model I didn’t recognize.

  “Katya will be attending a charity event tomorrow night,” said Lorenzo. He was still driving, I was in the passenger seat, Ryan was behind me, and Rinaldo sat so I could easily turn and see him. “She arrived in the city a day early and is staying in a hotel owned by another vampire, with vampire safe rooms.”

  Lorenzo glanced at me and back to the road. “Someone she sired owns the hotel, but I should mention someone Gavin created lives in a nearby home.”

  “Gavin has sired vampires?” I don’t know why the idea surprised me, but it did. Perhaps because it bespoke of being fatherly, and I didn’t think Gavin capable.

  “Gavin has his own cruel and merciless history, and you sent him to be tortured by a being known as a nightmare,” Rinaldo said.

  “His point, I believe,” said Ryan, “is that you view Abbott and Gavin as familiar, but Rinaldo, Griffin, Katerina, and the like as some mysterious superpower. Gavin is as feared as Katerina by most of the supernatural world.”

  “More,” said Lorenzo. “Is it true Kendra taught you to torture?”

  “She gave me pointers.”

  Lorenzo looked into the rearview mirror at Rinaldo, and I turned to look at the old vampire. “Why does everyone think this important? I’m not a vampire. I don’t have her power.”

  “I don’t know whether being at Kendra’s mercy or Katya’s would be worse. The experiences wouldn’t be the same because both women see the world through a different kind of lens, and yet…” He seemed to hold in a shudder. “I’d prefer Katya to Kendra. Once she tires of playing with her enemies, she makes use of various gibbets to bring about death, which in the end would be less unpleasant than Kendra’s torture methods.”

  “Katya played with Vaun for two decades before she killed him,” said Lorenzo.

  “Point.” Rinaldo tapped his leg once with his middle finger. “Gavin was in the process of negotiating to rent the rabbit prisoner for a period of three days, but all negotiations have been canceled until we see whether he can hold onto his sanity while with the Siabhra.”

  “Shouldn’t that tell us who owns Lepori?” I asked. “Who was Gavin negotiating with?”

  Neither answered right away, and it felt as if we were playing a chess game. Ryan thought Nero owned Lepori, while Rinaldo felt it was this Katya person — and it appeared we were going to harvest as much information from Rinaldo as possible without giving him much of what we knew.

  “An intermediary company approved by the Concilio,” Ryan finally said. “It tells us nothing. Gavin would’ve been transported while dead to the world, and then taken away in the same manner when his time was up.”

  “If it wouldn’t tell us where the asshole is, or who owns him, why bother?” Other than the fact Gavin would enjoy torturing a rabbit.

  “There are always clues,” said Ryan, “Even knowing the climate would tell us more than we know now.”

  “Primary language of the guards, specific accents, whether he’s in a modern building or an old one, the materials of the building, the color of the bricks, the kind of electrical outlets, the angle of the sun — the list of clues is endless.” Rinaldo’s voice seemed to take on a different tenor — comforting. Soothing.

  I enforced my shields even tighter. “For the record, if I catch you in my head, or even trying to come in, I’ll kill you true.”

  “You’ll try.”

  “So far, I’ve killed everyone I’ve intended to kill. Griffin didn’t stay dead, but that can be remedied the next time I see him.”

  “You didn’t quite manage to kill me.”

  Right, because he’d flown away too f
ast for me to kill. It probably wasn’t a good idea to point out he ran instead of staying to fight.

  “I’ll assume you chose to fly away because you’re smart. I’m not big on threats and posturing, but my statement remains — stay out of my head unless you wish to die for real.” I breathed in. “Why does Lorenzo smell afraid?”

  “No one’s threatened me and lived to tell about it in centuries.” He leaned forward and rubbed the lion shifter’s shoulder. “We need her, so I don’t intend to kill her.”

  I looked back and forth between them, and it hit me. “He’d have to try to defend me, else risk Nathan’s wrath.”

  “Correct,” said Ryan. “His choice will be to die quickly now while doing his best to defend you, or to die slowly from a distraught and pissed off Lion King if you’re killed and he did nothing to stop it.”

  I shook my head, turned back to face the road, and took another inventory of my energy and then the space around me.

  “I sense a shifter above us.” But that wasn’t all. “No, not just above us. There are more. Closer.” I looked around, found the car with three large men, but didn’t slow my gaze when it passed over them. They didn’t need to know I’d spotted them. “Behind us and to the left. Three men.”

  “Yes. They are mine. The owl is flying over us, her mates are in the car. Consider them part of our guard unit.”

  “Why are we taking an army for a recon mission?”

  Rinaldo sighed. “I hadn’t expected you to show up smelling of Lugat and divinity. I could send a human and an unknown lion who appear to be romantically attached, and easily get you close enough for the technology to work, but I can’t send you.”

  I pulled my phone from my pocket. Ryan had given me a smartphone to use — one no one back home had the phone number to. “I need to see a map of wherever we’re going. I don’t like walking into anything blind.”

  “She’s staying in the old Admiral hotel, conveniently located near the water. There are rooms in the center of the building with no windows.”

  “Where are you staying?”

  “I have access to a friend’s home. I won’t be far away. Less than a mile.”

  “She won’t be there now, correct?”

  “Possibly. You, Ryan, and Lorenzo will be in a boat tomorrow, during the day.”

  “We can cover her scent with expensive perfume,” said Ryan. “I’d rather get a room in the Admiral and walk in as rich tourists.”

  “She’ll be at the Imperial Playhouse tomorrow night. That’s our best chance for a face-to-face, should we deem it necessary,” said Rinaldo. “Let’s see what we can find out before then.”

  A few moments later, Rinaldo said, “You have reservations as Ron and Christine Miller, from Birmingham, Alabama. Passports with these names are in the slot in the door beside Kirsten. Lorenzo will check in with a passport I gave him earlier in the day, and then will make his way to your room. Someone will make sure you’re all on the same floor, as close together as possible.”

  Meaning a vampire would go into the head of whoever was checking people in and make them do it. I wondered how many vampires Rinaldo had posted around the area. Logic said he couldn’t have too many or Katya would notice — unless he had them there as guests, maybe.

  Lorenzo parked near the hotel, we all exited the vehicle, and another car pulled up and stopped. Rinaldo slid into the back seat, and the sleek, black car pulled away.

  18

  I carried my backpack in. This was a super nice hotel and we didn’t want to be noticed more than necessary.

  Lorenzo went to a different check-in person, and we all stepped away from the counter within about thirty seconds of each other. The wait for the elevator meant we went up together, but we weren’t the only people, so I wasn’t sure how to let Lorenzo know our room number.

  Ryan solved the problem by handing me a keycard and telling me the room number. I pocketed it and leaned into him, like we were married. “I’m exhausted from just getting here, but I can’t wait to get out and see the city.”

  “I need a few hours’ sleep, at least. Are we doing the castle tomorrow?”

  “Yes! And the museums!”

  I’m pretty sure I sounded like a horrible actress, but no one gave us crazy looks.

  Lorenzo had a huge, rolling suitcase he’d retrieved from the trunk. No one was around when we exited the elevator, and Ryan took it from him and took off down the hallway towards our room.

  Lorenzo followed him closely. “We should see where the rooms are before we decide where to set up.”

  “Ours is in the perfect spot. I’ve hunted in this hotel before. I know the lay of the land.”

  Ryan spoke so softly I barely heard him, but I knew Lorenzo wouldn’t have a problem.

  We all went into our room, and as soon as the door closed, Lorenzo asked, “You know my dad?”

  Ryan just looked at him. No facial expression whatsoever. I suppressed a shiver, but Lorenzo kept poking. “Master Rinaldo introduced me as Giuseppe’s son. How do you know my father?”

  “Ask your father. He’ll tell you if he wishes you to know. Do we have a problem?”

  “Are you the Slayer who killed Uncle Matteo?”

  The two squared off as if they were going to come to blows, but I sat on a bed and watched. They needed to work this out or we wouldn’t get anything accomplished.

  “You are.”

  Ryan hadn’t answered, but he hadn’t denied it, either.

  “Do we have a problem?” Apparently, that was all Ryan was going to say.

  “Rinaldo has killed more humans than Matteo. Why is Rinaldo alive, and my uncle dead?”

  “Matteo killed seven humans in eleven weeks. College girls, mostly. A few in high school. To my knowledge, Rinaldo rarely kills, and chooses the dregs of society when he does. I’m aware of four criminals he’s killed in the past couple of years. Are you telling me there are more I don’t know about?”

  “He’s killed thousands over the centuries.”

  “I’m only interested in his current activities. If there’s something I should know, please find a way to get the information to me.”

  “Even if Rinaldo forbid you to speak of something, if Nathan asked, you’d have to answer, right?” I asked.

  Both men looked at me in surprise, as if shocked I’d spoken. Ryan answered instead of Lorenzo. “Rinaldo can make him forget. He can only answer the way he remembers something happened.” He looked at Lorenzo a few moments before saying, “You managed our conversation because you made it about Matteo and not Rinaldo.”

  Lorenzo nodded, and Ryan said, “Smart. I’m impressed.” He offered his hand. “Are we good?”

  They eyed each other a good thirty seconds before Lorenzo shook his hand. “I loved my uncle, but I understand he had to be stopped.”

  “What’s in the suitcase?” I asked.

  “Surveillance equipment,” Ryan answered. “I placed a few dots on the wall on our way down the hallway. They’ll pick up vibrations and send them here, and the software should be able to turn it into legible conversation.”

  “Katerina can’t stand recorded music,” said Lorenzo. “She often brings someone with her to play a guitar, violin, or flute. She says she can hear skips in the music when it’s been recorded. She compares it to trying to watch television on a nineteen seventies television.”

  “Which means it’s easier for us to pick up a conversation,” Ryan finished. “My software can pull a single instrument out.”

  Nothing much happened for nearly an hour. Lorenzo left and returned with food — a salad for me and sandwiches for them.

  “I either need to sleep or get some caffeine.”

  “Sleep,” said Ryan. “I’ll catch a nap, too. Let’s plan to be up at eleven. The equipment will record any conversations.”

  I took my shoes off and arranged them so I could quickly put them on, settled my Sig and the fifty cal on the night table, and crawled under the blankets. “I trust you’ll set an al
arm?”

  Ryan chuckled. “I didn’t even have to twist your arm. Yeah. I’ll set an alarm. Lorenzo and I will take turns on watch.”

  I opened my eyes. “I’ll take a turn, too.”

  “Not tonight,” said Lorenzo. “I’m rested, and you’re tired from travel. I’ll catch a two-hour nap and then let Ryan get five hours. You get seven. We’ll arrange for better security tomorrow night, so we can all sleep.”

  “Slayers and lions don’t need as much sleep as humans,” said Ryan. “Don’t argue.”

  19

  I kept expecting something to happen, but nothing did. Katerina was focused on the charity thing and didn’t talk about much else. Her guards didn’t speak much while they watched over the sleeping vampires.

  We learned a good bit about who would be where during the charity gala at the Imperial Playhouse the next night, which was helpful, but we mostly scored a big zero.

  Rinaldo sent someone to our hotel room with a dozen dresses for me to try on, and a few tuxes for Ryan. He also got us tickets for the gala.

  “We need to talk about our undercover personas,” said Ryan. I was seated in the large bathroom while someone put my hair in an elaborate updo, and someone else did my makeup. Even people who knew me might not recognize me.

  Likewise, Ryan’s face was just different enough, he didn’t look like himself.

  “I’m not good at acting.”

  “I figured that out in the elevator, but that’s okay. You’ll be super shy, I’ll be the outgoing one. I’ll prod you to speak, and you’ll nod and speak ever-so-quietly when there’s no way to avoid it. Lay your southern accent on a little heavier, too.”

  “Oh. That might work.”

  “Try not to make eye contact. Think shy and bashful. We’re from Birmingham and we flew in to support our friend Luuk. His last name is Janson, but don’t use it unless asked. Everyone knows him as just Luuk. He’s human and he’s the primary organizer for the gala. He’ll recognize us if asked — vampire tricks, but we’ll go with it.”