by P. S. Power
The other woman took a sip of the clear, but incredibly strong smelling, liquid and tilted her head.
“I’d wondered if it was something like that. So, what are we supposed to do while we wait for him? Go shopping?”
Eve thought that sounded good, except that she had no money with her, and didn’t want to carry a lot of things around on the trip back. She nodded anyway, and kept her face rather blank. Iryna was doing the same. Bey had mentioned that it was a cultural thing for the entire region, in case she needed to copy it. Russian Vampires yelled a lot, but didn’t smile very often. Not even when they were happy to see you.
“Sightseeing? I need to work on my language skills, too. So traveling around a bit wouldn’t be a bad idea, while I practiced? I know I need the work.” She tried to seem upbeat about it without using her face to sell the idea, and it didn’t really work.
Iryna seemed all right with the idea though, since it meant she wasn’t going to have to show them around herself, or pay for a car and driver, since Eve insisted they run everywhere. Especially during the day, and neither of them were going to be demanding blood. What they really needed was a base for the night, which the woman was more than happy to provide.
There was one very interesting thing however, that Eve would have never guessed at, looking at the house they were in. This place, while it really was where Iryna lived, was also the local embassy. They found that out when a group of three leather clad Vampire men came in, about an hour later. They wore long jackets, and one of them had a ridiculous fur hat on, that had to be meant ironically.
They pushed their way in, breaking the sturdy wooden door. Shoving their dress clad host backward, hard enough that Iryna flew backward into one of the walls. It creaked under her, but didn’t break. It was a sign of decent construction, probably. After all, the asshole had propelled her hard enough to leave a hole in drywall.
“We have come for our tribute! Give it to us, now, or we will beat you, and take turns riding you and these whores you are keeping here. We will do that anyway, if it suits us.” This came from a large man with a mustache that was almost a cartoon of what a real person might have. Like something from an old cartoon about people from the Soviet Union. Eve wondered if he was going to cross his arms then, and do a funny hopping dance.
Iryna got up, only to be backhanded back into the far wall again. The man in the middle moving powerfully, but rather slowly. He was a Classic, like she was, but the smallest of the men had long fingers, and a very large nose. She’d seen that kind of Vampire before, but didn’t know anything about them.
Worse, she wasn’t absolutely certain she was following the conversation correctly.
The other men seemed to think the whole thing was serious, even though threatening to ride them was a bit out of place. They wouldn’t have time for things like that. After all, these guys were about to die, and that might just put a crimp into whatever sexy fun times they had in mind.
Eve looked at Nikki, and made a face.
She tried to speak in Russian though, since it would be rude to leave the other people out of things. The funny shaped small man with the black talons at the end of his fingers jumped in to reach for the ambassador. There was not direct contact, just swipes with his finger tips, touching only the cloth of the flowered dress. Moving with better than average speed, the being started to strip her, with incredible accuracy. That was kind of impressive, given he didn’t even scratch her skin. As far as Eve could tell there wasn’t so much as a mark on the pale flesh that was being exposed. So that was a potential threat to her in the coming fight.
The man wasn’t moving all that fast though, which could mean anything, really. The middle sized man with the funny fur hat barked something that Eve totally didn’t know how to translate, but suspected it was name calling, and then moved toward her, pulling a knife from his waistband, as she waited for him to cross the room and stab, or try to rape, her.
“Say, I’m missing part of this. Who are these men again?”
Iryna tried to speak, and seemed ready to explain, but was hit again. Whoever the large man with the mustache was, he really seemed to be focusing on the familiar woman. His friend wasn’t that bright though.
As she hit the floor their hostess explained, like the impact had barely hurt her at all, her voice very rough and angry.
“They are thieves, sent from those that would take us into a most foolish war with the Council.” She didn’t seemed pleased to have them there, trying to collect their tribute. That was either good acting and the whole thing was a set up to kill them, or she meant it, and was on their side, like she’d indicated all evening. That would be good, since she kind of liked the ambassador.
More than the twerps that had come there to die, at any rate.
Eve nodded though. That explained a lot about why the Council was going to have a problem with them, didn’t it? These dip wads were cleaning out the embassies, and taking everything for themselves.
“So, they want the taxes that the good Vampires have paid in?”
“Yes. They come twice a month. I did not know they would be here now, or I would have sent you away. I am sorry. It is my duty to protect you.” She got to her feet again, ready to fight the three men, even if it meant dying. It was pretty clear on her face. To Eve at least. The attackers didn’t seem to understand that anything had changed in the room in particular.
Nikki stood up, her red hair getting a lot of attention from the three men, even if Eve was better looking.
“Well, I guess we better give them what they need then?” There was no slyness to the words, and she really seemed to mean giving them the tax money.
The one with the knife was still moving in toward her, slowly, so Eve expelled all the air from her lungs. It might not be the best plan in the world, fighting them, but she wasn’t going to let herself be gang raped just to keep up her tourism cover.
As she did it, she smiled, and spoke a phrase that she wasn’t certain she got right.
“Have you shovels?”
Iryna looked perplexed, but nodded, as the three men died.
The smallest of them did manage to spin in place, and make a swipe at her as Eve went for him, moving about half as fast as she was. That was probably fast, compared to most people, but not really enough to save him. Or hurt her, so that worked out pretty well, really. Then using the force of her attack, she dashed to the right, to hit the big and funny dressed man. He looked like a Cossack. That was what those people had been called, she thought. Bey had described them to her, while they practiced the new language. Then, being a Vampire, he might actually have been, at one time. A hundred years or more back in time, maybe?
If so, he’d really needed to update his wardrobe. It was the twenty-first century, and fur was way out of fashion. The coat was kind of cool though, but looked wrong, being floor length and leather.
The last man bravely tried to run for the door, screaming in fear, but he wasn’t that fast, and had only managed to turn his back to her when she hit. At the very last second, she stopped, grabbed his right arm, and pried it backward. It was hard to do, since he was incredibly strong. The difference wasn’t a small one either.
She’d thought to keep him for questioning, but gave that up as he spun in place, and hit her so hard she flew away. It hurt, and things broke in her face where the knuckles impacted, but she didn’t let that slow her down, moving in and just hitting him in the head, using blinding speed, like she should have the first time.
That was what she got for trying to be all fancy like she had. Bey had told her that if she had to fight, she was just supposed to kill them, hadn’t he?
There was still mist in the air when the room went quiet. It was a pleasant smell, filled with iron, and salt. Eve just took a moment to enjoy that part of things, then waited for the others to say something.
It was Iryna who went first. It made sense, given it was her place.
“So… You come to see the sights and learn our
language?” It was addressed to Nikki, who the woman seemed to like better, for some reason. It was probably the Vodka drinking thing. Eve should have done that too, but just couldn’t have stomached the stuff.
“That’s right. Tourism is a hobby of ours.”
Eve looked around, and then shrugged.
“So, those shovels?”
She was worried, for a bit, that they might have some problems getting rid of the bodies in secret. It was bad enough that the Vampires would be missing, but if it was known that they’d just killed them all, when they were trying to make their collections, it was going to kind of be a big giveaway. Not that it wasn’t anyway.
As she’d been thinking though, she wasn’t going to let them beat or rape her just for her cover. It wasn’t like she had years invested in the thing. On the good side, Iryna just smiled, made a single phone call, and then waited as a half dozen local Vampires came.
Eve tried to be polite, even as she got ready to execute them all, if they were on the wrong side. It was a motley group, with a very old looking man leading them. He was like the long fingered type of Vampire, but bowed to her and Nikki a tiny bit, his humped shoulders making him seem mild and small. There were also two Manthori women, both of whom were just a bit taller than she was, and three Classics. That was a man and two women.
The interesting thing was that all of them were married. Including Iryna.
Nikki explained that part to her, since the words had come in a bit too fast for her to get all of them. They were there to help though, and would be taking the bodies out of town, to their secret burial ground. The police didn’t check there, by agreement. They weren’t bribed into doing that, as much as willing to let a lot of things go unnoticed, as long as the family there was willing to throw in a few criminals every now and then. The worst ones that the law had problems dealing with.
In all it seemed like a pretty sensible arrangement. The cops got rid of people that were too powerful to prosecute, and these people could just drive to the place they buried those that got in their way, using an old gray truck, and not have to worry about being hassled.
The two men in the group moved then, to get tarps, and seemed surprised when Eve moved to help them load the bodies on the tan things. The sheeting was made of plastic, and seemed pretty much like the ones that she’d used in the states. It might have been a different part of the world, but they all seemed to be living in the same century. That was strange, since a part of her mind had been thinking of them as a little backwards. Quaint, after a fashion. Having an embassy in a big old house, and an ambassador that wore dowdy dresses. That was just her being a moron though, and thankfully she’d figured that out before running her mouth about it.
The older looking man, who didn’t give a name, looked at her, and then waved at her hands.
“You did this?” He spoke in English. He had an accent, but it was very proper sounding to her. British, rather than anything else. Refined seeming, which was slightly jarring to her, given the rest of the Vampires around them.
His eyes were a deep black color, showing no whites, and compelling, so she didn’t look into them too deeply. It would be rude to have a battle for her mind just then, she didn’t doubt. Especially with people that were only trying to be helpful. She rubbed at the blood on her hands, but didn’t get to answer, Iryna letting her head come up in a single tick.
“I barely saw them die, it was so fast. Like The Lord himself, she moved. I think these two have come to remove the vermin, as the Council has promised us.” She looked a bit worried though, for some reason, her eyes going to the oldest man. “They didn’t say that, however.”
Even though the words were said very rapidly they were oddly clear. Eve smiled and shook her head, lying again.
“Nope! Sorry, we’re just here to see the sights, and keep my friend here awake all day. I hope this won’t be too much trouble for you? Bodies like this all over the place. It’s very messy of me.” She tried to sound like she meant it, but it was clear that half the room wasn’t going to buy it. Then, they didn’t need to.
No, all that was required of them was that they didn’t go and tell everyone in Moscow that she and Nikki were there, until it was too late. Worse, they honestly didn’t need to know that Bey was coming, or even hear a rumor of it.
If that happened then a whole bunch of Vampires would probably take the chance to run. By her schedule they still had a day and a half before Bey was going to get there, and there was no way to really get in touch with him. Then again, they weren’t stuck off in the hinterlands here. There was a working phone right there, on a nice wooden stand with a lace doily over it, and if the government was listening, well that just meant she needed to be careful about what she said, didn’t she?
The men, and one of the Manthori women, took the bodies away, and she was led to a nicely tiled shower room. It had a great mosaic pattern worked into it, in greens and blues, with a few browns. The picture was a forest scene, with an ocean on the back right hand side. It was huge, too, being about three times larger than any shower she’d ever been in before.
Neither she nor Nikki had a change of clothing with them, but other than a few little spots of blood on her t-shirt, she was fine. Eve scrubbed up well though, and then went to wait for the morning to come. As soon as the others there moved off to sleep, dying for the day, which it seemed they all did, she signaled for Nikki, who was still up and around, to follow her.
As they ran, not going very fast yet, she explained the new plan.
“We’re here to scout. So we need to get to Moscow as soon as possible. That’s a decent way away, so we’re going to have to go in fast and hard. We’ll examine the whole city, looking for nests, and seeing if anyone is alive and awake right now. If they are, try not to start a fight with them. I don’t actually know if the plan is to kill them all. It might have changed since we last spoke to Bey, so I’d rather not get that wrong. We can always kill them later, yeah? It’s harder to bring them back, and I didn’t make arrangements for that.”
Waving, Nicole pretended to yawn.
“Lead on then? I’ll keep up.” The voice sounded very confident, which was good, but the actions were a bit lacking. Still, it was clear that the other woman really was doing her best, and the trip, which should have taken about ten minutes, or less, for Eve, given all the hiding and detours they had to make, still only took about twenty. It was better speed, if not perfect, yet.
Nikki even managed not to scream when they got there, which was amazing. If she could keep it up, the Southern Washington area’s Proctor might not even annoy her to death before Bey got there.
It was a good thought, one Eve was glad to get to have, but Nikki had to ruin it, as soon as they got into the city. They found their prey, at the second address they had for him, walking outside a seedy looking thing that Eve was nearly certain was a bar.
That should have been a good thing. Possibly a brilliant one. Eve hadn’t thought they’d even see anyone during the day, and that they’d need to kidnap a few Vampires to torture for information when Bey got there later.
At first there was a gasp, a surprised thing, which was fine, but then Nicole went wide eyed. Because of course things couldn’t just go easily, could they? Eve had to force her face to go blank, as they stood across the street from the other Vampire.
Then Nicole, old and wise to the ways of the world very nearly alerted the man that they were there.
“Bohdan? God, we aren’t here to kill Bohdan Constantine, are we?” The words were freaked out enough that it was clear that the answer was going to have to be no. Regardless of what happened later. That or they were going to make a giant scene on the streets of a busy city. This was off the beaten path, in a slightly run down area, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t have police around, sooner or later.
Eve shook her head, then lied like a pro.
“No. We’re here to watch him. The target is someone else. I think. Why, do you know him?”
“Um, well, you know those boyfriends that I kept stealing from Lenore? He was one of them. About two hundred years ago. We get together every thirty years or so, and you understand, we… You know, have a relationship?”
It sounded weird to her, but she just nodded. That wasn’t going to complicate things at all, was it? It might explain why Nicole was so good at Russian though.
Eve tried to think about what might have set her up to bring Nikki in on this, but her mind went blank. After a bit she realized that it was probably pure dumb luck, rather than anything else.
Her stupid, insane luck. That or someone was pulling strings so subtly that she wasn’t going to be able to figure out who it really was.
Chapter four
“Fuuuck.” Eve jogged along behind, and slightly to the right of her companion, who was making the biggest mess of things possible.
“Bohdan! Over here!” Nikki was moving toward the other man, who was fresh faced, and clean shaved. His hair was as black as Eve’s, but longer, being a whole four or five inches on the top. The look could have been nearly trendy, for the States even, except that he wore a charcoal gray suit, with well shined shoes, and a long overcoat. The kind that would have been just about right on someone from a nineteen-forties movie.