Sleight of Hand

by Mark Henwick

  As swiftly as it started, it was over.

  I could see again, and I was kneeling on the floor and crying onto its cold, unyielding surface. I felt like I had been on the wrong end of a long, hard beating. Every muscle was in agony, every part of me felt bruised.

  There was a noise behind me and, faster than I could react, hands lifted me and placed me gently in a chair.

  “You bastard,” I choked. My whole body was shaking.

  “Yes. But better I test you first than simply send you out and risk another taking you like that. They still could overwhelm you, I suppose, but now I know that you will fight. And you will have a chance.” He returned to the head of the room and sat in the shadows again.

  He let me alone for several minutes.

  “I have a job for you, Amber,” he said finally.

  “Why would I do it, after what you just did?” My lips felt numb and my words slurred, but he understood me.

  “Because we will be here for you, when you need us. And you will. I can feel the pull in your Blood.” He stirred in his seat, which made my heart spike again. “Do this for me and you will come to realize that we are much better than the alternative.”

  “What is it? Why can’t you do it?” Despite feeling like crap, my curiosity got the better of me.

  “Why? Because I need someone who isn’t—quite—Athanate and isn’t House Altau. As to what: for a start, simply attend the McIntire-Harriman Foundation Charity Ball next week, collect a message and report to me afterwards.”

  “Just that?”

  “Exactly. You will be like a lamp to a moth.” He paused and the room seemed to darken again. “Do not let him turn it around. Do not betray me.”

  “Stop it!” I shrank back. It was a good thing I was in a chair, and couldn’t fall over. “Turn what around? What am I trying to find out?”

  “Diana will explain.” He stood, and made to leave.

  A hidden spark of anger flared in me. “Stop! Dammit, I can’t work if I’m expecting to be bitten all the time.”

  He nodded, a movement in the darkness. “I will put a ban on you. None of my House or those sworn to me will attempt to bite you.” He pointed to the far wall. “Go up in the elevator; Diana will take you home.”

  The anger flared again at his dismissal and overcame the exhaustion. “What about payment? Am I expected to work for free?”

  “Very well. My payment is in information, Amber. It is this: It is vital that you attend the ball for the purposes of your other client, Ms. Kingslund.”

  He was gone. I staggered to the front of the room and tried to see where he had gone and how, but it was as if he had just become part of the shadows. There was no evidence that he had ever been there. I shuddered.

  I walked unsteadily back down the room, pausing to visit the statue of Anubis again. I hadn’t been mistaken. The statue was hard and smooth as rock, but warm as flesh to the touch. It was as disturbing as anything else now that the vampire—the Athanate—master had gone. I shuffled to the elevator. I had to get the hell out of this place.

  Chapter 25

  Diana was waiting where I had left her, a slight frown still marring her features. And the blindfold still held in her hands.

  I felt so drained, I didn’t argue the point, even for form’s sake. She led me, blindfolded and stumbling, out to the car and eased me into the back. Someone got in the front. I assumed it was the Vietnamese girl from the lingering smell of her dope and perfume disguise. Under that smell, the scent of copper and faint cinnamon came through clearly in the confines of the car.

  I lay back against the seat as we moved off. My thoughts wandered randomly. How the hell did they come to smell of apple pie? I felt heavy, dizzy and nauseous, as if I had a hangover.

  “The feeling will pass, Amber,” said Diana. “Skylur was extreme in this test, but it will pass.”

  “I am sorry, we haven’t introduced ourselves,” she went on, as if we had just met at a party. “My name is Diana Ionache, and my friend is Bian Hwa Trang.”

  I managed a tired smile and caught the demon before it made a remark about Bian’s name. Bian Hwa meant ‘secret flower.’

  “You know my name,” I mumbled.

  “Yes. I am to brief you about the job that Skylur asked you to do, but I would rather we met during the week.”

  “That’s fine by me.” I wasn’t thinking clearly enough to take a brief. “Do you make appointments or just show up?” I rubbed my forehead above the blindfold. “You have no idea how strange this feels, talking to you.”

  I felt her hand touch my arm briefly. “I understand,” she said. “I hope it will be less strange in future as you come to know us. We are not your enemies, not you as a human and especially not you as Athanate. For the meeting, I’ll give you a number to call when you’re ready. The ticket to the charity ball will be delivered on Monday.”

  “Skylur said you would tell me more about yourself. He said I would need to know about you…to be able to work with you.” It was an effort to say the whole sentence. “He said you were better than the alternative.”

  “We are,” said Diana. “There are two groups of Athanate in the world. Think of them as political parties or creeds, if you like. House Altau belongs to the Panethus creed. It is our belief that Athanate and humans should live together symbiotically, with benefit to both.”

  “And the others?”

  “The Basilikos party believe that humans are cattle, to be farmed,” she said. “The two groups have always been finely balanced. If the Basilikos were to be the sole guiding force for the Athanate, without us to counter them or keep them in check…” Her voice died away.

  Run the world. I could fill in the blank. My tired brain tried to grapple with something. There was something I needed to ask about vampires—Athanate—something about the numbers. I tried to form a sentence, but what came out was, “Do Athanate have children?”

  “No,” said Diana. There was a world of pain in that one word and I shivered. “I will take more time when we come to see you. But, until you are recovered, let’s start with the little things. Athanate. You don’t speak Greek, do you? I mean what you call Ancient Greek.”

  I shook my head. As if. I had little enough time for reading, let alone learning an ancient language.

  “Ah. Pity. It would have helped. They took so many words from us. Their word athanatos meant literally ‘not death’ or immortal. It is from our word athanate, which means undying. Not as later people would have it, undead. Athanate is the name for us, the people, our language, culture and institutions. Noun and adjective.”

  A whole people, with a culture and institutions, hidden among us for thousands of years. My mind reeled. “Is that what the Greeks called you?” I asked. “Athanate?”

  I could hear the smile in her voice when she replied. “No, those Greeks that truly knew of us called us Demos Kryptos—the Secret People. Not, again, as it has come down, the people of the crypt. No, Amber, Athanate is what we call ourselves.”

  “So you don’t die?”

  “Athanate can die, Amber. You know very well that we can be killed, and we can die. A stake through the heart will kill us just as it would kill a human. A bullet in the vital organs would do just as well.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “Sunlight and holy water will not. Garlic is only good for cooking.”

  Talking wasn’t making me feel better, but I was thinking less about how bad I felt. “How long?” I said. “How long can you live?”

  “Perhaps that is for another day. For now, just understand that we live, we are alive, like humans are.” She took my hand gently and placed my fingers against her neck. Her pulse was slow and sure, like waves rushing against a beach. Her skin was warm. She lifted my hand higher and breathed on it, her breath warm and moist, before returning it to me. “And we feel, like humans do,” she said quietly.

  I had goosebumps. I had touched vampires—Athanate—before, but my mind had been on other things. Her last words had been
ambiguous and I wanted to find out how she meant ‘feel.’ Did she mean emotions, or just the sensation of touching?

  “Your bracelet is beautiful and strange,” she said, interrupting my scattered thoughts. “May I show Bian?”

  I shrugged, and Diana held my arm forward so Bian could see it. I felt Bian’s touch, light as a butterfly, then she spoke to Diana in a language I could not recognize, quick and full of liquid sounds.

  “Bian agrees, it is magic. Another word which I don’t like. Is it a protection?”

  The bracelet hadn’t tingled once this night. But other than being bullied and terrified into a shaking ball, had anyone done me actual harm?

  I sighed. “I don’t know, really.” I put my head back against the seat again. I still felt tired and dizzy. Being blindfolded in a moving car wasn’t helping at all. “It’s difficult talking when I can’t see you.”

  Bian and Diana exchanged a couple of sentences in their language.

  “You are exhausted, Amber, and hurt from the test. Lie down here. Rest your head on me and I will take the blindfold off.”

  I stiffened. Her hand touched my arm again, very gently. “Yes, Athanate drink blood. Your Blood calls out to me. But I honor Skylur’s ban, and even if he hadn’t set a ban, I’m not one who would take what is not freely offered. Neither is Bian. I will not even try to persuade you. Please, lie down.”

  There was no feeling of being forced and I was at the end of my strength. Maybe I could rest a while. Warily, I swung my legs around and eased myself down until my head was resting in her lap. She removed the blindfold.

  “Your feet are on the path,” she said. “But I will not ask you, however much your Blood calls out. It will be your choice always.”

  “Prions,” I muttered.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  I smiled a little in the darkness. “No one ever says ‘beg your pardon’ anymore, Diana. I said prions. Protein strings in the body. They cause the condition. That’s what you’re sensing.” I was rambling. I realized I probably shouldn’t be talking about this. It was so warm, so cozy.

  Bian said something to Diana and she shook her head.

  “How do you know this?”

  “I’ll tell you when I understand the Athanate better. I’ll show you something when you come to brief me.” If Colonel Laine doesn’t kill me first.

  “Very interesting. You are endlessly fascinating, Amber.”

  “Why? Other than me just telling you something you didn’t know. Or Skylur wanting me to play secret agent. Why are you interested in me?”

  Diana looked down at me and stroked my head as if I were a child. It was absurdly comforting and I felt my eyelids droop. “Amongst other things, you have been bitten,” she said. “Anyone in our mantle, our territory, who has been bitten, is our responsibility, wherever it happened. We are your harbor when you need it, and we will rejoice when you come to us.”

  My eyes closed, just for a moment.

  “And you smell so freaking tasty, Round-eye,” said Bian from the front, but she was just trying to wind me up. She seemed so far away.

  “Hush. True, but not important at the moment. Rest,” whispered Diana, her hand soft on my hair.

  No way. I would get up in a second. I couldn’t trust two vampires—Athanate—whatever they said. Just a minute more, to gather my strength. Just a minute.

  SATURDAY

  Chapter 26

  “Ma’am? Ma’am? Are you all right in there?” Rapping on my car window.

  I woke up with a start, unable to think for a moment where I was. I pushed off a coat that had been covering me. Diana’s coat. I clutched at my neck. Nothing. Stupid. Going to sleep in a car with two vampires. Athanate, not vampire. The same thing. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  I opened the door and climbed out clumsily, stiff from the awkward sleeping position. The officer was standing back, hand relaxed over his gun. Yeah, crazy woman sleeping in a car, I’d probably have been using my gun to rap on the window.

  “I’m okay, officer, I’m fine other than the cramp.”

  He came a bit closer and sniffed.

  “I haven’t been drinking.” I rubbed my eyes and stretched. “I was working late and I just lay down in the back for a moment. Must have been more tired than I thought.” I got my ID and license out and he glanced at them.

  “Amber Farrell?”

  “That’s me.”

  “The name rings a bell.” He scratched his head.

  “I’m a PI, you probably heard something evil about me down at the station.” I smiled. “Tell you what, would you like some coffee? My office is right there.”

  It was early and I must have looked less crazy once I was standing up. Officer Robinson agreed to coffee and I led him into the office and started the coffeemaker. I visited the bathroom and checked my teeth in the mirror. They seemed normal still. No sign of bites on my neck. At least my bruises had all disappeared, otherwise I’m sure he’d have been asking about them. I pulled my hair back into some kind of order and went back to finish making the coffee.

  We sat and drank and passed a few minutes pleasantly, talking sports. He was a nice guy, even if he was hopelessly mistaken about how the Broncos should convert third downs this season.

  “Look,” I said, calling a halt to the chat, “I was working last night and I was on the train. There was a girl who got off at Colorado, about midnight. I couldn’t stop and check she was okay, but it’s been on my mind. You know how it is. She looked so out of it. Could you do me a favor—call in and see if there’s been any reports about her?”

  “Sure, no problem. You got the details?”

  “Caucasian, maybe twenty, five-six. Long blonde hair, wrapped in braids around her head. Wearing a black leather coat with a big collar and long boots. Heavy goth makeup.”

  Robinson called the desk sergeant and gave the basic description. He listened briefly and ended the call.

  “Nothing,” he said with a smile. “Quiet night around here, thank God.” He got up and rinsed his mug.

  “Well, thanks for checking anyway.”

  “My pleasure, Ms. Farrell. Thanks for the coffee and you take a break today, y’hear.”

  I smiled at him as he walked out and left me sitting at my desk.

  So, maybe the girl was okay. I’d chase that. I hated the idea that she’d been used as a cover by Bian to track me and had been at risk because of it, wandering around in a daze in the middle of the night. Had Bian been playing mind games on her, or was it just dope? Either way, it felt like she was my responsibility and I would have to keep an eye out for her.

  I got the test unit out and ran it, fidgeting nervously as it did its thing. It had gone up to 0.45. The highest it had ever been was 0.46. I was going to have to find a way to get Obs to tell me what the readings really signified, without giving them the idea I needed to be back in the isolation cell.

  I had to talk to David too, but I was due to see him in a few hours at the charity run in Boulder anyway. We could talk afterwards.

  I felt I ought to update the colonel as well, but I was in less of a hurry to do that. I was still frazzled from everything that had happened, and maybe talking it through with David would settle me down.

  I went back to the car. On my seat was a folded piece of paper with a cell number and a brief message—Call when you are ready. I retrieved my cell from the glove compartment and stored the number under Diana & Bian. I sat in my seat and put it back to where it should be.

  I’d started the week feeling like life had gotten complicated when I’d had to call in the police on Carter’s company. It had gone downhill from there.

  Not only was Carter suing me, a crime boss was sending hitmen after me. And someone—possibly the same person—was after Jen, whose safety felt like my responsibility.

  Meanwhile, the vampires—Athanate—who I was supposed to be spying on for Colonel Laine, now wanted me to work for them.

  The strangest thing was, I was eager to work with them
. It wasn’t only that I wanted to find out more about what was happening to me. Meeting them and seeing them as people and not faceless monsters had given me some hope that I would still be me, if I changed. Even more than that, I believed what Diana had said about Basilikos Athanate. If the situation was as delicately balanced as Diana had said, then I wanted to be part of making that better. The thought of Basilikos growing unchecked was frightening. The vision of a dystopian world, where people were farmed for their blood to feed an elite, made me sick.

  I hadn’t taken everything Skylur and Diana had said as the unvarnished truth, but it felt right, and I would find out more as I went along. At some point there might be a conflict of interest between them and Colonel Laine. I’d have to deal with it.

  In the meantime, I guess I had another client, even if they were dubious on the payment front, and irritatingly secretive. And frighteningly powerful.

  Still, there was something I could do about at least one small part of that list of concerns.

  I bent forward, my arm reaching up behind the dash. My fingers located the back of the GPS system and worked along the edge till they found a small ridge. I pressed it and with a quiet click a tiny SD drive popped into my hand. It’s the sort of thing you use in cameras to record all those pictures. Or a GPS, to record everywhere you’ve been in the car for the last three months. In my case, this went on even if the GPS system looked as if it was turned off. I was going to be very interested to see where I was last night.

  Chapter 27

  Boulder’s Mountain View 10-Mile Charity Run had been popular this year. I finished in a respectable position, but barely remembered to get my ticket punched before I ran back to my car through the throngs of people. David hadn’t been in sight anywhere on the route.

  At the car, I took out the burn phone and dialed his, but only got through to the voicemail. I tried his normal cell and got the same. This was the first time he’d ever missed a run with me. The trickle of worry became dread, but I was stuck in Boulder.