by Trisha Baker
He could spare Elizabeth, as well as Meghann, once he found her. Before transformation, Simon would hypnotize Elizabeth, remove every element of the terrifying afternoon from her mind so she remembered nothing. It would be like it never happened, no shameful memories would cast their shadow over his daughter's life.
"There is a nobility in you I never guessed at, Simon Baldevar," Alcuin said with something in his voice Simon had never expected to hear—respect. "Why not concentrate all your ability on finding Elizabeth and healing her instead of lowering yourself to the level of these savages by feasting on their pain? It is not your place to punish them."
"And whose place it?" Simon demanded. "That of your omniscient god? He moves too slowly for my taste, Priest. Enough debate—I must find Elizabeth."
Elizabeth, Simon called, reaching out into the void surrounding him. It did not surprise him when there was no answer to his repeated calls. Elizabeth had retreated to a place where no pain would reach her and would not leave it easily, even to answer the signal of a worried father. Meghann, no doubt, could have connected with her daughter easily. Simon, lacking the bond Meghann had formed with their child, would have no choice but to explore this house until he found some sign of Elizabeth.
"Simon!" Alcuin shouted and Simon moved quickly but not quickly enough to evade the cold touch of steel to his throat. His attacker must have appeared behind him or Alcuin would have disabled the vampire before it reached Simon.
The body pressed against his, despite the rigidity bought on by tension, had the supple softness of a woman ... a very shapely woman whose body Simon had used many times at his leisure.
"Gabrielle," Simon greeted his unseen captor neutrally "Who else would join my feckless son but the whore I scorned so thoroughly?"
"Bastard!" she shrieked just as Simon expected her to and he used her lapse of concentration to wrap his foot about her ankle and trip her. Gabrielle fell to the floor in a graceless heap and her sword slipped off his neck with naught but a slight nick.
Gabrielle spun away from him, dashing out of the room at breakneck speed with Simon at her heels, Alcuin fast behind him. Simon did not have to tell the priest that Gabrielle was leading them to Mikal, as he'd no doubt ordered her to do. Mikal thought he was leading his father into a trap but he did not know of the formidable magus Simon brought with him.
The house was a bizarre, mazelike structure of confusing doorways and spiraling staircases that Simon sensed led to dead ends. There were signs pointing to various amusements until Gabrielle took a sharp left turn and the look of the house became more businesslike with storage rooms and darkened offices.
Now Gabrielle was running toward an open door. Simon let her nearly pass through it before he removed a sharp dirk from the small of his back and flung it through the air, watching the weapon find its target with deadly accuracy as it setded between her shoulder blades.
Simon heard a gargled moan and knew the knife had found some portion of her heart, enough to render Gabrielle immobile and helpless unless someone removed the dirk. He watched the doorway for a few moments to see if Mikal would come to her aid but
Gabrielle remained on the floor, moaning and making a vain effort to crawl into the room.
He waits for you, Alcuin said. We must get past him to find Elizabeth.
Simon nodded, knowing his daughter was nearby; the entryway to her prison was within the room where Mikal lurked. Simon felt his son now, felt the familiar aura of unpleasantness that enshrouded Mikal's soul.
Simon could have tried flying the plane to evade Mikal, but he had not come here merely to find Elizabeth ... he must also kill this thing he'd spawned so Mikal would never present a threat to Meghann or Elizabeth again.
I shall go in now, Simon said. Mikal will lunge at me immediately. When he does so, enter the room and restrain him.
Not waiting for a reply, Simon stalked to the open door, his sword drawn and ready. He looked past the prone Gabrielle and shook his head at the wrecked room. What had disturbed the volatile creature now? Mikal was so prone to senseless rages; it was part of the sickness Simon had sensed in him since he was a child. He should have killed the boy when he first sensed the jarring wrongness within him, but for once Simon disdained logic and made a decision based on nothing but a futile hope the child would change as he grew older.
Simon was not so simple minded that he'd step through the open door and allow Mikal to leap on him. Rather than use the astral plane, as Mikal probably expected him to do, Simon glared at the walls on either side of the doorway and focused on crumbling them. Surprisingly, it took more energy than Simon expected and his head throbbed uncomfortably by the time large cracks appeared in the walls, bringing down sections of the wall so Simon could leap through a jagged hole on the left side of the doorway.
His feet had barely touched the ground when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and a heavy desk came rocketing toward him. Simon ducked the object and then glared at it, making the thing crash against a wall and shatter into a thousand harmless pieces.
With a high-pitched screech, Mikal rushed out of the darkness, attacking his father with a sword Simon had given him for his tenth birthday. Father and son batded for a few moments before Simon roared, "Alcuin!" and heard the wounded Gabrielle gasp behind him.
The thin black strips Mikal called pupils dilated at the sight of a man he knew as Lee Winslow, sword in hand, advancing on him with the expertise of a medieval knight.
At first it appeared this battle would proceed as Simon expected it to. He and Alcuin were able to corner Mikal, Simon knocking his son's sword out of his hand and Alcuin raising his blade to cut the boy's head off. He'd been right to invoke Alcuin .. . now Simon would not need to drain his energy by summoning daemons to restrain Mikal while he killed him.
Then Simon noticed the sword Alcuin held trembled violently and the priest looked dismayed, almost ill as he turned frightened eyes to Simon.
Alcuin opened Lee Winslow's mouth to speak and in that moment, all the priest's age old wisdom faded from Lee's eyes and Simon knew Alcuin's spirit no longer occupied Lee's body. Something had forcibly driven him from Lee's body and now Simon's only aid against his son was a novice vampire blinking confusedly, not knowing where he was or why he held a sword.
Bewildered by this turn of events, Simon could only gape as Lee mumbled, "Simon" in a disoriented manner.
Saying Simon's name were the last words Lee Winslow ever spoke. Recovering his wits quicker than his father, Mikal grabbed his sword off the floor and managed to behead the perplexed new vampire.
As Mikal's sword reached Lee's neck, Simon got his own sword up to try and block the move but Mikal drove his foot into Simon's shin.
Simon muttered a swift oath when his shinplaster broke under Mikal's daunting strength and he spun away before Mikal could use the sword on him.
Lee Winslow's body had not even hit the floor before Mikal launched himself at his father, limping because his leg would take another minute or so to heal. But even wounded Simon could handle himself in a duel and deflected each deadly blow Mikal attempted to land.
"Foolish father," Mikal growled, looking more snakelike than ever as his strange eyes contracted and narrowed. "You think I didn't learn from our last loving encounter? I knew you'd resort to your wizardry but I expected more daemon soldiers ... I didn't think you'd bring some necromantic slave to my home! Who occupied Lee's body?"
"Your father called him Alcuin," Gabrielle moaned from the floor while Simon blocked a thrust to his heart and then used his sword to push Mikal away from him.
"Alcuin?" Mikal said and laughed nastily, spinning near Gabrielle and yanking the knife from her back. "Well, Father, I must applaud your ingenuity ... using your old foe to kill me. But Father, I am so much smarter and more resourceful than you. Use your so- called sharp senses and feel the strong material supporting these walls. It is steel, Sire. Did you not tell me spirits cannot stand steel... that your way of controlling
your precious daemons was to threaten their essence with imprisonment in a steel box? I knew if I reinforced one room in this house with steel, you could not invoke those damnable imps of yours! To think I unwittingly saved myself because your puppet man could not sustain possession in my steel embrace!"
Inwardly, Simon cursed his own stupidity. He'd been so focused on slaughtering Mikal and rescuing Elizabeth that he completely failed to perceive the presence of steel in this house. Now Mikal and Gabrielle, hurt but able to clutch a sword, were advancing on him, attempting to corner him as he and Alcuin had done to Mikal.
But Simon had one more weapon up his sleeve ... the truth.
Simon gave Gabrielle an inviting smile that widened at her suspicious glare. "My dear strumpet, you are hurt. Don't you need blood to regain your full strength? Why not drink from my son . . . that is, if he'll let you."
"I said after he's dead," Mikal said swifdy and flinched at his father's cutting laughter.
"You lying litde fraud," Simon mocked his son and turned again to Gabrielle. "Don't you see this young whelp will never offer you his blood, not now when you are wounded or ever? He cannot let you drink it even if he wanted to. Mikal's blood is poisonous ..."
"No!" Mikal yelled and ran at Simon, only to be blocked by Gabrielle who planted her body between lather and son.
'You know I am right," Simon whispered, thinking how easy it was to manipulate women as he wrapped his arms about her hand-span waist. Smothering a quick grin when he thought Meghann might not approve of this strategy at all, Simon kissed the exposed, l ose petal soft skin of Gabrielle's shoulder and spoke in the low, honeyed tones of a lover while Mikal looked on in frustration. Mikal knew if he raised his sword to Gabrielle, he'd be giving his father the perfect opportunity to cut off his own head while he was occupied with the female vampire.
"Think, Gabrielle," Simon purred in the silvery whisper he'd used shamelessly on women his whole life to get whatever he needed from them. "Have you seen Mikal transform anyone, immortal or human? The boy's blood is toxic ... I know because I've attempted to drink it. How do you think he got away from me? I swallowed his blood and could not chase after him in the sickness that followed. Mikal's blood only makes us ill; we cannot absorb his power by drinking of him. So why not kill the idiot boy before he exposes us to mortal scrutiny with his moronic plans to take over the world?"
To Simon's complete amazement, he saw Mikal grow pale and his lips curled into a distressed pucker, that of a child who is told something he desperately wanted is out of his grasp. So Mikal thought he could transform, still harbored fantasies of creating his own loyal, immortal army.
Halfwit, Simon thundered at the boy and saw Mikal's hands tremble with impotent rage as his father smiled coldly. The dead mortals, did you think them an accident ? What of my illness when I drank from you ? Your blood is worthless. . . just like you.
Mikal's face went nearly purple with fury and Simon heard several flat, loud cracks resound through the room and glanced at the walls, expecting them to crumble under whatever assaults Mikal inflicted, but it soon became apparent it wasn't the room Mikal was trying to destroy.
Gabrielle stiffened abruptly, emitting a shrill, startled cry of pain and fear as every bone in her body simultaneously broke.
"Worthless, am I?" Mikal screamed and launched himself at his father again. "Can you break a skeleton with the mere power of your thoughts, Father, or are you confined to damaging inanimate objects?"
No, he could not use telekinesis to crumble the bones of an immortal opponent—before tonight Simon had never known a vampire who could. Mortals, yes, their hearts and bones were pulp to a vampire, but breaking down a vampire's defenses to destroy their body with mere force of mind was unheard of. What was more unsettling was that Mikal could use this power with such litde effort he was able to engage in swordplay at the same time Gabrielle slid to the floor, rendered by Mikal to a gelatinous, shapeless puddle of skin, muscle, and hair.
Simon focused his mind on Gabrielle briefly and was astonished to find she was still alive, though with no more awareness than that of a severely hurt animal. Given a vampire's restorative powers, it was possible her bones might knit back together, but she would certainly need blood to accomplish such a trick. Even if Simon was inclined to save the life of a trollop that had a hand in abducting his daughter, there was no way he could have broken off his battle with Mikal to assist Gabrielle.
Then Simon felt something icy enter his own body, attacking his wrist with the force of a sledgehammer, and knew Mikal was trying this same trick on his father.
"No!" Simon screamed and concentrated every ounce of power he had on the invasive power, immersing himself in it and then expelling the intrusive force from his body, making it rebound on the one that attacked him.
It was Mikal's turn to scream in outraged surprise when his own left wrist cracked, unfortunately not the hand clutching his sword or Simon would have had the perfect opportunity to decapitate him.
With a drastic change of emotion typical of all madmen, the rage vanished from Mikal's bright silver eyes and they became calculating as he smiled at his father.
"Shall we sing truce, Father?" Mikal questioned as they circled each other warily, neither opponent ready to launch a new offensive strike.
'Truce?" Simon laughed to cover the sense of relief he felt when he finally detected some sign of Elizabeth. She was somewhere behind one of these walls, guarded by a frightened mortal. His daughter was badly hurt, barely alive, but the more Simon concentrated on her presence, the more he was certain transformation could save her. "What do I stand to gain by settling with you?"
"Your daughter," Mikal smiled. "Come, Father, lay down your sword and I shall allow you to remove Elizabeth from my home."
'Your home?" Simon questioned sarcastically. "Useless whelp, what industry have you ever worked at to earn the funds to purchase this land? This estate was bought with the monies you stole from me like a common thief. That makes this my home and I fully intend to destroy you like any unwelcome trespasser."
For once, stinging words didn't drive Mikal into one of his howling tantrums. Instead, he mimicked his father's mocking grin and said calmly, "Gabrielle served some useful purpose before she died." Contemptuously, Mikal kicked the boneless lump of flesh at his feet. "You and Meghann have a history I knew nothing about."
"And was none of your business." Simon moved a bit closer to his son, trying to get within striking rage but the boy slithered a few feet away, careful to stay in the center of the room and not blunder into any corners.
"It is none of my business that my own mother attempted to kill you and you were such a soft-hearted fool you forgave her? Father, I know now why you brought that vampire zombie with you, why you tried to turn Gabrielle against me. You cannot kill me anymore than you could kill Meghann ... you're utterly incapable of destroying those you love, no matter what they do to you!"
"You think I love you?" Simon's tone was so low there was something almost gende about the withering condescension in his voice. "Love a misguided brute that uses his own sister to satisfy his twisted needs? It's quite true that I love Meghann. But that love is precisely what makes your own life forfeit, idiot boy. Do you think I will allow anyone to live that threatens her safety?"
"You do not fool me, Father." Mikal tried to sound as detached and scornful as his father, but his silver eyes blazing with injured vanity and tightly pursed lips told another story. "How many opportunities have you had to destroy me? You squandered every last one of them. I know you cannot bring yourself to kill me but, be warned, I have the power to slay you. You are powerless in this room, Father. Your magic is of no use to you and you do not have even a tenth of my strength. Prostrate yourself before me and I shall allow you to save your daughter ... and the mother I have no doubt is hurrying here."
"I prostrate myself before no one," Simon said coldly, surprising Mikal with a sudden kick at his breastplate. Moving with the swift reflexes Si
mon had taught the miscreant, Mikal put up his sword to block the attack and Simon pulled back.
"Why won't you even consider my offer, foolish Father?" Several shards of glass flew at Simon but he easily evaded them by leaping high in the air as he directed a large chunk of plaster at his son's head. Mikal ducked out of harm's way, the assault and counterassault resulting in another stalemate between father and son.
"You offer peace because you know you're defeated." Simon came at Mikal, forcing his son back with a series of harsh, swift blows. Mikal managed to hold onto his sword but Simon saw his eyes narrow with concentration, knew his son could not duel him and focus his attention on another telekinetic attack. "You did not know you cannot transform others. I know how your mind works, megalomaniac boy. You thought you could build up some army of vampires with your power, didn't you? Now you know you'll not have a single ally. That means no one to defend you during the day and nothing but enemies at night. If one of us does not kill you, the mortals may be able to accomplish your assassination during the day. You have no one at your back, Mikal. You're finished."
"Never!" Mikal yowled as he met his father's assault with, if not equal skill, equal intent to fight to the death. In all the deathly quiet house, the only sounds were steel clanging against steel as the two vampires launched into each other with renewed hatred, each filled with the same malevolent determination to destroy the other.
Fourteen
"Maggie, look . . . they're towing the cars away. Traffic is moving again!"
Meghann put the car in Drive for the first time in twenty minutes and viciously hoped the drunken mortal that caused the accident that trapped her and Jimmy on the Long Island Expressway would spend the rest of his miserable life trapped in a wheelchair. It was incomprehensible that she might lose everyone she loved because a traffic accident prevented her from reaching them in time.
Meghann!