"Sounds like fun."
"More fun than fighting a bunch of heavily armed Spanish raiders."
"To each his own,” the werewolf replied with a grin. “So do you want to help me get Don Diego?"
"You're kidding, right?” Raven matched his grin. “Let's do it."
He ghosted out of the darkness, a man-sized shadow that slid past the unknowing soldiers and paused in front of Diego's tent. He turned and crooked a finger. “Time to go,” he mouthed.
Roughly five hundred pounds of pure lupine muscle exploded into the middle of the camp, lurching forward like a great angry gorilla, swatting soldiers out of his way like Popeye wading through the Forty Thieves.
One man charged him, rapier clutched in a white-knuckled grip. Ben didn't even break stride. He simply snatched the man up and hurled him into a crowd of men thirty feet away. Guns and bodies scattered like a woodpile kicked by a raging giant. He lunged through the open flap of the tent to find Raven slowly and casually bending the barrel of a rifle with a placid smile on his face.
Don Diego crouched next to a cot several feet away, ten inches of naked steel clenched in his fist. He looked up and saw the werewolf and went as pale as parchment. “Demons!"
"Yeah,” Raven muttered, tossing the rifle aside. “We're demons. And we're here for—” he paused, glancing over his shoulder at Ben. “What are we here to get again?"
"I think you wanted his soul,” the werewolf replied. “I'll settle for one of his legs. They look meaty, don't they?” He let a thin trail of drool descend slowly to the tent floor and leered expectantly.
This apparently sent Diego over the edge. He lunged upward, knife stabbing for Raven's chest. The vampire shifted slightly to his left and plucked the weapon from the man's grasp. A single shove sent the Don sprawling over the cot. “What are we doing here, Ben?"
"I was planning on killing him,” Ben sighed, realizing that he wasn't going to go through with it. He could see Mandy's face, filled with pain and fear, and still couldn't see himself killing the man in cold blood.
Raven nodded, as if reading his mind. He knew he couldn't, but sometimes it felt that way. In the past few years Raven had become someone Ben didn't recognize anymore. Stronger, more confident, but terribly enigmatic. He had a darkness in him entirely separate from his feelings about being a vampire. Or so it seemed to Ben. It had to do with the double blind game he was playing back home. It was taking its toll, even though he tried to play it cool.
He leaned toward Diego, lips curling back from his teeth in a horrid grin. “You had Mandy shot. I want to know why."
"She's a witch,” the Don hissed, as if that were answer enough. “To suffer a witch to live is a crime against God."
"What about monsters?” Ben asked him, stifling a spike of anger.
"Devils,” he spat. “Witches and devils."
He meant it, Ben realized. It wasn't an excuse. He truly believed they deserved nothing more than death. The Inquisition was alive and well and this guy was its personal representative. It turned his stomach to see the light shining in the depths of his eyes. A fanatic, through and through. He shuddered.
"C'mon, Raven. Let's get the hell out of here."
The vampire grabbed his arm, gestured with the other hand, and a black, whirling portal appeared in front of them. They stepped through the portal, leaving a mad-eyed Don Diego screaming threats at their retreating backs.
Raven closed the transit tube with a slash of his hand and glanced over at Ben. “About twenty-five miles that way,” he said, pointing North.
Ben frowned. “What are you going to do?"
"Take care of some unfinished business,” the vampire replied. “Go.” He opened up another portal and stepped through, leaving Ben standing there scratching his head. What the hell?
Then the sound of gunfire in the distance shattered the midnight calm. I guess he proved once again that I'm the weak link. He shook his head, shifted to wolfen form, and loped northward.
Sixteen
Baraz knew the look of speculation when he saw it. Renee Fontaine—identified in his mind as that damned vampire woman—eyed him suspiciously from the moment she'd entered on Athena's heels. He'd known this moment would come eventually, but had somehow hoped it would come later rather than sooner.
Athena looked considerably different than he remembered, as did the tall blond woman who'd arrived with them. Sarah Breed—nicknamed ‘Nemesis’ by Athena herself—had gone from being a lowly Deputy Sheriff to the Tacoma PD's Chief of Detectives in only a few short years. Her friendship with Athena had obviously been of considerable benefit.
Athena scraped her gaze over him and dismissed him in an instant, despite the fact he was clearly winning the game of chess in which he and Thoth had been engaged before being so rudely interrupted. Renee's gaze, on the other hand, fell upon him with all the weight of a fully loaded tractor trailer.
He might look nothing like he had when he'd met her, but the fact that she couldn't read his mind had to set off warning bells. She was one of the most powerful psis on the planet and she was certain to remember him as one of the few people completely immune to her power in that regard.
"Am I to understand we have a unregulated entity in residence here now?” Athena gritted out, her piercing stare pinning Thoth in place.
Thoth shrugged, a gesture of dismissal Baraz couldn't help but admire in the face of the Amazon's fierce glare. “Well, yeah. I suppose you could say that."
If Baraz had harbored any doubts as to Athena's fitness for the job that had been left to her, they fled as quickly as a murder of crows before an irate corn-farmer wielding a large gauge shotgun. He was hard-pressed not to view this Amazonian figure as daunting. That in itself made her rather unique.
At Thoth's response she assumed an incredulous look. “You suppose? Well, what would you call the creature?"
"An imp,” he responded placidly. “A royal pain in the ass, but hardly a threat to security."
This seemed to steal her capacity for speech for an instant. “Christ, Thoth—how would you know? I sure as hell don't! I want to see this creature for myself, and meet the girl who conjured it."
"Ah, but the real question is—do they want to meet you?” Baraz couldn't help himself, but he regretted the words as soon as they'd left his mouth. Drawing her attention to him at this moment probably wasn't the best idea he'd ever had.
The gaze she turned on him held all the warmth of a handful of ground glass. “Who the fuck are you?"
"The girl's father,” he responded. Not precisely true, but true enough at this point.
"His name is Baraz,” Thoth interjected quickly, before she could form a response, “and he's our new self-defense instructor."
Her eyes narrowed “I really need to visit the Academy more often,” she murmured disgustedly. She shot a look over her shoulder at Renee. “You're here all the time—did you know Avatar had been replaced?"
The vampire shrugged. “I guess I did. Hadn't really thought about it. Can't say I've met the man, though."
Athena sighed and seemed to deflate a little as she did so. “Well, shit. I guess the day-to-day business of the Academy is more your concern than mine, Thoth, but you know I don't like surprises."
"Sorry, Athena. It wasn't meant as a surprise. It just happened."
She ran thick fingers through her dark mass of hair and nodded. “So is he any good?"
"I'm sitting right here,” Baraz reminded her in a growl.
"So you are.” Her lip twitched in the most remote suggestion of a smile. “So I'll ask you. You any good?"
He grinned. “The best."
That raised an eyebrow. “Really?"
"He means it,” Renee breathed. Baraz shot his gaze her way, a bit stunned. She couldn't read him after all, could she?
No, of course not. She was simply perceptive. She heard it in his voice.
"How much does he know?” she asked, turning back to Thoth.
"About what?” Ba
raz cast a wide smile as he cut in again. He just couldn't help needling her, foolish as it was. Particularly foolish, considering that he didn't want her to guess his true identity just yet. Renee's scrutiny was starting to get under his skin.
But she wasn't the only one eyeing him with an odd gleam in her eye. He found Breed's appraising stare nearly as discomfiting as the vampire's. She seemed content to hang back and watch, a small and enigmatic smile on her face.
Great. That's all he needed. Something else to wonder about. What was that woman thinking?
Athena turned a scorching eye on him once again. “Believe it or not, I was asking him a question you probably wouldn't be able to answer."
"Oh?” He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “How about I answer you anyway? I know pretty much everything."
She wasn't happy to hear that. He idly wondered why he was needling her. Maybe because maybe she'd gone from a hesitant, self-doubting creature to a woman on the brink of becoming a tyrant in a very short time.
Sure, she'd become a leader, but what kind of leader was she? He wasn't ready to make that judgment yet, but he certainly wasn't liking what he saw so far.
"You always this pushy?"
Baraz grinned. “Usually."
"I want to talk to the girl and meet this creature. Renee wants to do a full evaluation on her as well."
"What does that mean?” he asked irritably.
"Huh—maybe you should do an eval on Mister Baraz here, Renee."
The small brunette shook her head. “I can't."
"What do you mean you can't?"
"He's unreadable."
"Really?” Athena's tone was speculative. She gazed at him through narrowed eyes. “How common is that, really?"
"He's only the third person I've ever met I couldn't read,” Renee replied with a shrug. “Uncommon enough for you?"
"And who were the other two?"
"The vampire who calls himself ‘Raven’ and Deryk Shea."
"Rather exclusive club,” Athena murmured contemplatively. “How very interesting."
Thoth visibly paled and glanced over at Baraz, who coolly ignored him, never taking his eyes off of Athena. “I want to know what this ‘evaluation’ entails."
"Nothing to be concerned with,” Athena told him. “It's a virtual scenario geared to test her responses to a specific type of situation. Look at it as a personality test. We need to know if she's agent material."
"You don't usually test applicants this young, do you?” Baraz asked, and was rewarded by an unmistakably pained look.
Thoth shook his head, taking it upon himself to answer despite Athena's warning glance. “No, we don't. But this is an unique situation. She's already shown herself to be exceptionally creative. That's a good measure of how powerful a mage is going to be. She's picked up the basics very quickly and, frankly, she's already making some of the instructors a little nervous."
A sharp laugh burst from Baraz's throat. “Good. You people need something to keep you from growing too complacent."
"It isn't funny ... Baraz.” The way he said it swiveled the squat man's head around. Thoth was grinning now. It wasn't an expression he'd ever seen on the man's face and he found it discomfiting. He knew what he was trying to tell him—I kept your secret. You owe me.
Baraz didn't owe him shit. It didn't matter, though. He was just doing this to annoy Athena. It was working, too. Maybe too well. She looked ready to chew her own face off. “Fine. Go talk to her. See what she has to say about this ‘evaluation’ bullshit.
"If you need me for anything else, I'll be down in the gym.” He aimed a polite nod at the women as he passed. “Nice meeting you."
Athena said nothing, Renee offered him a thin smile and a nod, and Breed's eyes followed him out the door and halfway down the hallway. “Is it just me,” she murmured, “or is he hot?"
Athena snorted, shaking her head. “It's just you."
* * * *
Quickfingers stuck his head through the door for a quick second, then ducked back inside. “Damn, that woman is huge,” he exclaimed, spreading his arms in a ‘V’ over his head in a sad attempt to indicate how large she was in comparison to himself.
Being that the imp was barely three feet tall, and hardly over a foot wide, he probably saw any adult human as being monstrously large.
This sparse description, combined with the authority of the knock, left Jaz little doubt as to who stood on the other side of her door. She threw out a strand and pulled it open. As she expected, Athena stood just over the threshold, gray eyes scanning the room briefly before turning their laser intensity on her true objective.
Quickfingers. The little blue fellow gazed unblinkingly back at her, face unusually somber. For all of three seconds. He stuck out one of his small, blue, four-fingered hands as if he wanted to shake. Athena hesitated, then reached down to grasp it.
At the last second, the imp snatched his hand away and giggled. He teleported into the hallway past her, appearing next to a shocked Nemesis Breed with a sudden surge of noise. He tugged on her pants leg and snickered. “Who's afraid of long-leggedy beasties?"
She stared down at him. “What?"
He cackled wildly and ‘ported two more times, finally coming to rest next to Jaz. Athena grunted something inaudible and stepped into the room. Jaz recognized the small brunette who squeezed in past Athena. Renee Fontaine, head of the PARD. The orientation classes had covered the Paranormal Action Response Division and the Magical Activities Division, assuming that all of the students would graduate to one of these two agencies under the PAC umbrella.
Jaz would be slotted to MAD—referred to internally as the ‘Mad Squad.’ Assuming she made it through the two year course. She'd graduate at seventeen, if she graduated at all. Sometimes she wondered if she wanted to go through all this.
Not that she had much choice. The Academy hadn't given her the ability to use magic, but it had taught her how to access the gift she'd been granted. The price for this instruction was to put in several years in the service of society through the PAC. She was already a mage and if she threw up her hands and tried to leave, they'd never let her get away.
"I want Renee to do an evaluation on you,” Athena said, deliberately ignoring the bouncing imp flinging himself around the room with such wild abandon. Her left eye twitched but she offered up no comment on his antics.
Jaz shrugged nonchalantly. “Whatever."
"Who's Renee?” Quickfingers asked, looking from Athena to Breed, a confused look screwing his face into a knot. All four of the women in the room turned to stare at him.
"The small brunette,” Jaz answered with a sigh. She lifted her gaze to Renee and shrugged. “I guess I'm as ready now as I'll ever be."
"What small brunette?” Quickfingers asked, looking a little put out.
Frowning, Jaz looked between the two of them. “You mean you can't see her?"
"See who?” the imp snapped impatiently.
"It can't see me,” Renee observed blandly. “That's amazing."
"It is,” Athena remarked, “if true. You. Imp."
"The name is Quickfingers,” the small blue fellow said, popping over to stand in front of the Amazonian woman. “I don't answer to 'you' or 'Imp.’”
Athena glared down at him, which had no discernable effect at all. “How many people do you see in this room?"
"Three,” the imp replied promptly. “You, the tall blond lady, and the boss. Four if you count me, but I can't exactly see me, now can I?"
Athena's left eye started to twitch. “No,” she said tersely. “Jasmine—go with Renee. I'll handle the imp."
"What if I don't want to be handled?” Quickfingers retorted, teleporting a few feet away. The pop-whoosh of his passage rattled the narrow window, causing Jaz to start and reach for the knife she kept in her boot.
She shook herself out of it as Athena turned a heavy gaze on her. “Go."
Jaz bobbed her head. “Yes, ma'am.” She followed the va
mpire out with a glance over her shoulder. The imp and the Amazon were exchanging speculative looks. This should be interesting, she thought. Too bad I won't be here to see it.
* * * *
Renee kept a small office of her own a door away from Thoth's. Jaz had never had occasion to visit the woman's office, but she wasn't surprised to see it was meticulously kept. The small desk, similar in style and function to most of the teachers’ desks she'd ever seen, was remarkably uncluttered save by a desk caddy filled with such items as mechanical pencils, paper clips, and a highlighter. The only other thing on the desk was a textbook she didn't recognize. She craned her neck to read the title on the spine and winced. Advanced calculus? Eek.
The so-called ‘Vampire Queen’ turned and offered her a gentle smile. “No reason to be nervous,” she said softly.
"I'm not nervous,” Jaz lied. Well, that was stupid. Of course she knows I'm nervous. She can read minds, remember?
Feeling a little foolish, she pulled herself up to full height and met the vampire's gaze squarely. She ignored the strange feeling churning in her gut as she felt gentle fingers rifle through her mind. Renee blinked and shook her head. “I'm sorry that happened to you,” she remarked sadly, obviously referring to the suffering she'd undergone at her uncle's hands.
"It's over now,” Jaz growled. “Can we just get on with this?"
She hated the compassion she saw rise in the woman's eyes. She didn't need pity. She wasn't sure what she needed, but it wasn't pity.
"As you wish."
* * * *
Jaz stands on a rooftop, some twenty feet away from the fugitive. He's a wild-eyed creature, a right-wing radical, one of those religious survivalist types. He holds a long, gleaming knife to a boy-child's throat. “Leave me alone!” he cries, pressing the edge into the boy's neck. A thin trickle of blood oozes down from beneath the blade.
She meets the boy's eyes, sees they're wide with terror. He literally expects to die here. Not if she can help it, she decides. “Let the boy go. Take me instead."
"Take you? And fall prey to your witchery? I don't think so.” The man is incredibly lucid for someone so obviously insane.
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