by Lissa Kasey
S: Take the day off. I’ll be cataloging bodies all day anyway.
I’m sorry, was the reply he got back.
S: No need to be. Feel better soon.
Seiran had a message from Max that alarmed him. Not a text. He wasn’t sure that Max cared a lot for the nuances of modern technology like text messaging. Usually he sent Sam, but today he’d left a voicemail.
“The souls are still in the golem. I have been unable to unravel the way they are bound. I suspect it is part of the golem having more than one soul tied to it? Sam will be available for questions at your retrieval of the golem.”
Seiran heard the vague cursing of Sam in the background of the voicemail like he was unhappy to be put on call for the day. But the message ended there. It was almost nine, which likely meant that Sam was asleep. Max too, as most vampires found the sun draining. Seiran sent a message to Luca instead, Is the golem with you guys?
He found a container in the fridge that had his name on it and pulled it out, pleased to find Jamie had packed him a bento box for lunch, and a container of egg sandwiches for breakfast. He took the top off the second container and popped it in the microwave while he waited to see if he’d get a reply.
Gabe reappeared in the kitchen, clean and dressed, wearing just jeans and a T-shirt with a leather jacket over the top. Seiran hadn’t recalled packing up those clothes, but it had been so long. At least the air-tight storage had kept them in mostly one piece.
Seiran’s phone pinged with a text. Yes. You can have it in exchange for a slice of cake.
How had Luca known Seiran made cake? You’re blackmailing me for cake?
Yes.
How do you know I have cake?
Kelly posted about it online. Pictures of a divine chocolate Rou creation. Has a couple thousand likes already.
Of course, he had. Kelly had a large social media following, not because he was the Pillar of Water, but because he was sort of a hot swimmer who happened to get a few bronze medals in a couple of summer Olympics. Seiran suspected he only placed bronze each time because Kelly feared people would claim his water magic gave him an advantage. And he probably wasn’t wrong. Shortly after his last placement, the games had put restrictions on witches in competition. Thankfully Kelly and the handful of other witches had not been stripped of medals, merely excluded as seemed to be their lot in life.
Seiran frowned at the phone, then wrote, I feel like I’m better off keeping the cake. You can have the golem.
Please come get it. It’s very creepy, was Luca’s reply.
Seiran swallowed a laugh, and took out the cake to cut a big hunk off for Luca and Con. How many times over the years had he had people ask him to bake? Tell him to give up the Dominion and do what he loved? But then who would do his job? Who would look after those inexperienced and unprepared witches facing things like they had last night? Not all monsters were things that stalked the night.
Seiran ate fast, filling a travel mug with coffee. “You need blood?” He asked Gabe, pointing at the freezer.
“No. I ate well last night.” He couldn’t hide the distaste on his face as he glanced at the freezer.
“Does it really taste that bad?”
Gabe thought about that for a minute. “It’s a bit like comparing a bowl of flavorless oatmeal to your cake. Nourishment, sure. But not anything anyone will jump at the chance to have. And minimal. Not enough nutrients to really help.”
Seiran found that amusing. Old blood was bland oatmeal, gross. “Gotta stop at Sam’s and get the golem. Max said he can’t release the souls. Does that sound normal?”
“None of this is normal,” Gabe said. “Three souls in one golem is overkill. Golems don’t need souls at all, more likely they’d be put there to keep them from departing this plane. But why?”
“I was thinking the vampire souls were weaker, maybe? And that’s why they used three? You think they wanted to keep the souls here?” Seiran grabbed his keys, put his used dishes in the dishwasher and headed for the garage.
“Vampire souls are no weaker than witch ones. I have no idea why anyone would want the vampire souls contained. Usually once the soul is released so is the revenant, so maybe they are trying to control the revenant?”
“Is that possible?”
“For an outside source? Probably not. It’s like trying to put a leash on a wendigo and call it a dog.”
“You remember more about this whole death magic thing?” Seiran wondered. “Never met a real wendigo. They are legit?”
“Bits and pieces. It feels like something I know. A muscle memory? Perhaps I can release the souls where Max could not? Wendigos are mostly extinct, I think. Not necessarily a bad thing since they are one of the deadliest creatures on the planet.”
Seiran took a minute to process that, wendigos and Max releasing souls, as well as magic Gabe seemed to have. A vampire thing? Or something he’d always had and hidden? He didn’t want that fight right now. “Well, we’re on our way to pick up Forest now, so I guess you can take a look?”
Gabe nodded. The car being in the garage, meant Gabe didn’t have to face direct sunlight. And the heavy tinted, barely legal dark coating, which was meant to help keep Seiran’s family life private, seemed to help keep the worst of the sun off of them. He had the radio on low for updates on the news. The vampire graveyard was only mentioned in vague passing. As if the media hadn’t been given a lot of information. And it sounded like that was Max’s doing since they indicated a ‘leader of the local vampire community,’ which usually meant Max or Sam. Mike only took lead if he had to. Seiran suspected he didn’t care for the spotlight much.
“I will try to share more,” Gabe said, staring out the window. He frowned as they entered the one-way mess of downtown streets where Sam’s loft was. The trio lived in the warehouse district, which was where all the cool non-humans lived now. But Seiran knew that Luca actually owned and managed half the buildings. The creation of a supernatural hotspot and tourist area, had been his idea.
“I’ve heard that from you before,” Seiran said absently. Hard to take stock in words when they meant so little.
“I’m sorry.”
Seiran shrugged. “Can’t expect a dog to change his spots, right?”
Gabe didn’t reply.
Seiran guided the car to a lot near the loft. It was one of the only enclosed parking garages that wasn’t residents only. Everything else in the area was street parking, paid lots near the river, or resident owned parking garages. Being the only non-residential lot in the area, meant parking for any length of time was insanely overpriced. He pulled the ticket, wondering if he could get Sam and Luca to pony up the thirty-dollar fee for his fifteen-minute trip. Could he bill the fee to work since the golem was technically a work issue? He hoped so. Sending three kids to college wasn’t going to be cheap.
Max said Seiran was rich, but he never touched any of that money. The accounts, overwhelming in scope and volume, that Gabe had created before he’d unraveled, had never felt like Seiran’s. He let them do their thing, and left Max to handle whatever was necessary. Seiran had even refused the attached checking account that Max had tried to give him, indicating he could use it for whatever. He survived on his MI salary just fine. Balancing a very limited budget every month, while working hard to provide the best he could for his kids. He had accepted the house from his mother, paid in full. Still had to pay taxes on it every year, which was more than most people’s rent, but his kids never went hungry, or wanted for much. He tried not to spoil them, but admitted to indulging them likely more than he should have.
Seiran found a spot near the elevator stashed between the garage and the main building, and parked. Added the ticket to his pocket and got out, Gabe following. The garage was fairly dark, set to a mild vampire safe level, which meant dim lighting.
“You okay?” Seiran asked as he headed to the elevator and pushed the button.
“Smells like vampires and shapeshifters in here.”
“Tha
t’s the area we are in. Makes sense.” The doors opened and they stepped in. Seiran had to enter a special code to get up to the residential floors, as the top two were all that were inhabited. The doors opened to a dark narrow hall in the building across from the parking garage. He made his way to Sam’s door. No windows or big banks of sunlight here. Seiran knew the outside of the building looked like a wall of windows, most of them being the new sun-proof glass, and maybe blocked off to create more interior, light-safe rooms.
He knocked on the door, and waited. Heard movement from inside, but was surprised when Sam opened the door, fully dressed, but looking tired. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” Seiran asked with a raised brow.
“I’m your bitch today, so the boss says,” Sam did not look happy about that.
“I only need Forest. You can go back to bed.”
“Did you bring cake?” Luca appeared from behind Sam dressed in nothing but a pair of too tiny bikini undies in bright purple. He looked every bit the boyband rock star Sam had accused Seiran of being. Pretty, and not overly muscled, but defined enough to be a model in just about any market.
Seiran held out the container. “Your blackmail, sir.”
“He’s mine,” Sam growled.
Seiran squinted. “No debate, Sammie. Golem?”
Luca stepped past Sam to take the cake and kiss Seiran on the cheek. “Thanks, love. Can’t wait for a taste of the divine.”
Sam looked about ready to kill.
“Are you trying to get me killed, or rev your boyfriend up for something?” Seiran asked. Gabe wisely stayed behind Seiran, silent, and staring down the hallway rather than into Sam’s space. Vampires could get very territorial. Something Seiran had forgotten. Was Gabe struggling with that? Now that he had some memories of Seiran?
“Happy,” Luca teased, doing a little roll with his hips, “for cake.”
“Forest, come,” Sam snarled as he shoved Seiran out into the hallway. A second later, Forest appeared, looking like himself, or at least like the golem Seiran had sent off with the vampires. No release of the souls, and the magic keeping it human in appearance still seemed to be working, even over the distance. Sam closed the door behind the golem, leaving Luca alone to his cake fetish.
“Share some with Con,” Seiran called, hoping he heard through the thick door. He turned to Sam, wondering if the grump was from being awake or something else. “Fill me in?”
Sam stalked to the elevator, Forest dogging his steps and Seiran and Gabe trailing behind. “They aren’t decomposing,” Sam said.
“Huh?” Seiran asked, trying to figure out what that meant as he walked.
They got in the elevator. Sam hit the down button and folded his arms across his chest. “The vampire bodies. The ones that don’t feel like anything? They should be more broken down than they are. We’ve got some missing for months and still looking fresh. Well, mostly fresh. Like they were put in the ground and then their souls pulled later?”
But that wasn’t possible. Vampires decomposed just like regular humans did once they were true dead. Gone to ground was a different process, their souls would still have been present, the magic of a vampire allowing their bodies to turn to dust and reform, but they didn’t decompose. Not decomposing at all sounded like something else. Seiran frowned, trying to think of a reason for the bodies to still be protected by vampire magic when they were soulless.
“There are more golems,” Gabe said as the elevator brought them back to the parking level. “The souls pulled from the bodies, but not released to true death is keeping the bodies from decomposing. Means there is nothing left in them but the revenant.”
“There are more golems,” Seiran repeated feeling the bottom drop out of his sanity. Like an army worth of golems.
“Or vampire zombies on call,” Gabe added.
“Fuck my life.”
Chapter 20
Gabe wandered between the rows of bodies, keeping out of everyone’s way, and trying to place what he was feeling. Not only from the bodies of the vampires themselves. That was sort of a weird emptiness. Death, but not. It felt vaguely familiar? But whatever memory that came from hadn’t found its slot in his mind.
Some had the revenant close, almost a bit of a dark shadow peering out from between the lines of magic wrapped organic matter. A few were nothing left but organic material breaking down, and some still glowed with magic. It didn’t seem time or torture specific, but Gabe mentally categorized the things he saw hoping to share them with Seiran later.
The golem was still and silent. Whatever had been tugging on it the day before was gone, leaving it almost like it was floating in the sea of Seiran’s power. Gabe found the listlessness of it a bit disconcerting, like it could explode into action at any second and was biding its time.
The fact that he couldn’t release the souls either, not without a complete breakdown of the body, was unusual. That too, had been muscle memory. As if he’d done it a thousand times. Yet this golem was tangled, the ties almost like barbs to cut whomever tried to unravel them. And he debated on destroying it outright. Would it harm the souls within? Or finally give them rest?
Then there was Seiran, who took charge of the room the second he walked in. Didn’t matter that it was a mix of high-level vampires, police, and MI investigators, they all took notice, and gave him command.
It was different than last night, when everyone had been fixated on removing the bodies, helping those that seemed to be savable. It was almost as if they recognized this level of magic was Seiran’s forte, and got the fuck out of his way so he could fix this mess. If there were witches who thought him suspect, they were not there. The police, the MI investigators, and the vampires all deferred to him without any resistance.
Gabe was surprised by the bit of pride he felt for the respect showed to Seiran. Not that he had any say in the creation of it, but that these people recognized his worth, and treated him like the intelligent and powerful man he was. Why didn’t the rest of the Dominion recognize that? By design? Gabe was beginning to believe they did it to try to hold him back. The Director the other day seemed well aware of his power, even while she tried to take control of something that wasn’t her department. She had to have witnessed the entire display at the front desk. Why shove him aside? Other than to make him feel like he was worthless, and powerless. Yet he persevered.
Here he was king. Pointing out small bits of magic he detected, or finding small bits of fiber or other physical things that the police and investigators might miss. Like some sort of supernatural bloodhound, he tracked through each, seeming to sense more than the entire room of people combined.
The bodies were numbered based on when they’d gone missing. The two that they knew to be part of the creation of the golem sectioned off to one side. They had not found the third. Which left the question, where was that body? Was there another graveyard?
Nearly a dozen true dead. Decapitated, substantially rotted, and difficult to identify. They’d been gone a while. Those were the oldest of the bunch. But there were a lot more that didn’t seem to be rotting. Or at least suspended in a middle stage of decomposition, as though it had begun, but was achingly slow?
And so many vampires with that odd echo of emptiness. As though something was tied to them, only not. Sam had been wrong. They were decomposing, at a rate so slow it would take them a century or more to find true death. That, in and of itself, was torture. Soul not present, but not released. It was a strange combination that was both confusing and horrifying.
Gabe could sense it most from the oldest bodies. Like the animation that created the vampire was fighting the drag of death. Did that mean the souls could be returned to fix the vampires? Or that only releasing the souls from golems would grant them true death? The questions were dizzying. He knew he couldn’t feel those normal ties that would allow a sire to raise a vampire. He could recall having to pull a few vampires from the earth over the years, or untangle them from their revenant. These were little more tha
n magic encased corpses, empty. Like bottles waiting to be filled with the oozing darkness of the revenant. Creepy.
Gabe stood nearby as Seiran examined those who had been used to create Forest. The golem lingered near the wall, looking very still, though human in appearance. Seiran had commanded the golem to stay put and it hadn’t moved. Gabe didn’t feel anything pulling on it either. That made him think that whomever was doing this, knew they’d found the killing field and was perhaps trying to hide? Was it the missing kid? Steve, or whatever his name was? Gabe listened to the many voices around him, trying to process all the information while keeping a close eye on Seiran.
Sam had found a spot in the corner away from everyone else and curled up to nap. He had grumbled after they arrived about ‘unvampirely hours’ and ‘fucking witch bullshit’ which had Seiran casting him off to improve his mood. Sam’s fuck you, Ronnie hadn’t stopped the vampire from finding a place away from the crowd.
The time passed quickly, and Gabe felt the sun high in the sky, peaking then beginning to fall. He tried to clarify what he felt in ways he thought might be helpful to the investigation. But as everything else in his head since he’d awoken, it was a muddle.
“These bodies are a lot more heavily damaged than the rest,” Seiran said. Gabe thought it was more to himself than anyone else. These two, the ones used to create the golem, had also been missing longer than the others who hadn’t found true death. A couple months, while some were only a few weeks old. Spaced out as far as Gabe could tell. One or two missing a week, from all over the upper Midwest. Meaning someone had specifically gone out of their way to try to make it seem as though the disappearances were random.
Vampires went missing all the time. Taken down by other vampires, or disgruntled humans with race issues. It was one of the reasons vampires kept to their flocks, and checked in regularly with their sire or the master of their territory. The badly damaged bodies hadn’t been reported missing until weeks after they were suspected to have been taken. Lax masters. Gabe wondered if Max kept track of that, or anyone did now that the Tri-Mega was dead. Bad master vampires could lead to more than just dead vampires. It could lead to another war. Gabe had seen plenty of those in his lifetime.