And where the hell was Valeria?
Surely she knew what all was going on. Was she waiting to make an appearance at the final battle? That seemed to be her way.
Why?
And how could she not make contact with Denny now that she was here in Europe? Here they were, running all over hell and back. What the fuck was Valeria doing? Babysitting a catatonic woman?
It seemed the more she knew, the less she knew.
“I’ll find out,” she whispered to Iris, kissing her lightly on the temple. “I promise.”
They arrived in St. Peters, Italy, with no welcome party or evil fanfare of any kind. The phone, it seemed, had in fact been the culprit.
“You’ve been awfully quiet,” Cassandra said, snuggling up to Denny on the cab ride from the airport. “I hope we didn’t hurt your feelings or offend your puritanical sensibilities.”
“Nah. Who you fuck is your business. I have a lot more important things to think about.”
“Such as?”
“Trust me, Cassandra. I am not sitting here thinking about you and Beatrice fucking all night. ”
“I did not wish for you to walk in on us, hunter. If that’s—”
Denny held up her hand. “You know, Cassandra, your sexual proclivities are the least of my concerns right now, so knock your socks off. Just leave me out of it. I’m trying to keep the people I love safe. Nothing else matters. Nothing. Else.”
Cassandra released her hold and leaned back. “Jealousy does not look good on you.”
“Good, because I am not wearing any. Do whatever you need to do, Cassandra, but I have serious business to handle.
“Very well. We shall keep this strictly business.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
They remained silent for the rest of the trip to downtown Rome and Saint Peter’s Cathedral.
St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome was the most ornate of the cathedrals they’d seen so far, beautiful in a much different way than Notre Dame. It was far more modern, artistic, and drenched in gold. It was enormous by medieval standards, and had stained glass images on both sides.
“Oh my,” Iris murmured, looking up. “I think I’d like to stay in Rome after this is over.”
“No kidding. It feels like we’re contestants of The Amazing Race. Are we sure we can’t stop for a pizza?”
Everyone turned to look at Annalee. “What? I’m hungry and I’ve never had Italian pizza.”
“Really? You’re in Italy and you think pizza is the food to order?”
Annalee shrugged. “Right about now, I’d eat my young.”
“Crap,” Ames said. “You both need to hunt. That’s why she’s so hungry. You both need to keep your strength up.”
“Should be no problem hunting around here,” Denny added. “Demons love to corrupt these Catholic priests, and I, for one, would love to take a bite out of an immoral priest.”
“Which might explain their many sexual transgressions?”
Denny shrugged. “Not sure, but I am sure that Ames is right about us needing some demonic souls to feed our own. We can’t afford to be even slightly weak.”
“No, you can’t. You two go see what you can track down. We’ll go get real people food.” He shot a look to Annalee. “Don’t worry. Not pizza. Meet us on the steps when you’re done.”
Cassandra squared her shoulders. “Are you sure it’s a wise thing to do to let them go alone?”
“Cass, nobody has bothered us since we ditched those phones. The girls need to keep their Hanta strength up. They’ll be fine. Besides, we haven’t had lunch, and if Iris’s belly sounds are any indication of her hunger, we’d better eat an hour ago.” To Denny, Ames said, “Make it fast. No junk food. You should have no problem finding some mid-to-higher-level demons around the cathedral.”
“Oh, I’m quite certain there’s plenty of evil here in the Vatican,” Annalee said, zipping up her vest. “Come on, Silver. Let’s go grab some lunch.”
Denny opened a map on her phone. “How about the Vatican Gardens? We should find something there.”
Annalee nodded and started walking. When they were far enough away, she asked, “Silver, why is Ames here?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, he offers firepower, I’ll grant you that, but why did he come? The guy hasn’t left Savannah for a decade. He didn’t go to NOLA when you could have used the help. So why now?”
“Because now is a big fucking deal?” Denny frowned. “You know, I don’t really know. There was a time when I thought he had been in love with my mom, but apparently, she has, well, similar tastes to her daughter.”
Annalee looked at the GPS in Denny’s hand and took a left. “Maybe. It just seems inconsistent with the guy I know. I don’t know. Maybe he’s changed.”
Denny stopped. “Feel that?”
“Damn, Silver, you’re fast. My guy must be asleep in there. Or maybe he’s dying of starvation.”
They both pulled out single cylinders.
“Medium level,” Denny said. “You go for it. I’ll wait until we get to the garden.” Denny stood behind a row of hedges, watching Annalee.
Annalee ran up to a medium level demon who was chatting up an older woman. “Beat it, granny,” Annalee said in a deep voice while flashing her eyes. When the woman didn’t move, Annalee said it again in Latin.
The woman, startled, grabbed her purse and toddled off.
“What the fu—” the person said, watching the old lady toddle away.
With a single quick motion, Annalee cut the demon in half. The guts flew straight up, and her Hanta spirit consumed the demonic spirit as she breathed it in.
“Ah. Now that’s more like it.”
When she returned to Denny, Annalee said, “You know, there’s no other feeling like it. It’s better than the best drug. You feel all pumped and euphoric.”
“I guess I never looked at it that way. It just seems like something I have to do. I just wish they didn’t make such a mess when we kill them.”
Annalee pointed to her own clean vest. “You like the sword too much. You should use the whip when you don’t want to get fleshy bits all over.”
“Fleshy bits? Shit, man, one time, I wore some dude’s lover for half a day.”
“I got that beat. I sported an eyeball on my baseball cap for an entire day. Finally, a waitress started to pluck it off, thinking it was rubber. She fainted. I ran.” Annalee chuckled. “It was pretty gross.”
When they rounded the corner, they ran into five Italian policemen who all started pointing their guns and yelling at them.
“I don’t—”
More yelling.
Up went their hands.
“Uh, Silver?”
The men came closer, yelling and pointing to the ground.
“Jesus. I have no idea what they’re saying.”
“Get on your legs,” one of them yelled in English.
“I think he means knees,” Annalee said, kneeling.
“Annalee, we can’t get arrested.” Denny’s Hanta rose to the surface. “We have to get out of here.”
“What do you propose we do? We can’t kill them.”
The men got closer.
“Silver?”
Denny would not go to her knees. “I’m thinking. We have to make a—”
Suddenly, one of the men tasered Denny. She did not flinch.
The Italians just stared. A second officer tasered her again.
“Get up,” Denny growled to Annalee. Denny’s Hanta voice was gravelly, deep, and commanding.
Annalee slowly rose to her feet. The cops all pointed their weapons.
“They’re not cops,” Denny said, looking down at their shoes.
“They sure look like cops to me.”
“They don’t use tasers here, or they’d all be carrying them.”
The not-cops surrounded them now, all guns pointed right at them.
“Got a plan, Silver? Any plan?”
“Yeah. R
aise your hands in surrender and start walking toward the parking lot. If they’d wanted us dead, they’d have shot us already.”
“That’s comforting.” Annalee started walking as the Italians muttered and jibber-jabbered at each other.
“Okay. Now what?”
“I think they’re witchers.”
“They’re something all right, and they’re taking us to that patrol car. Just sayin’…I ain’t going in there.”
“I’ll think of something, don’t worry. We are not getting in that car.”
When they were about twenty feet from the car, Denny felt it—a high level demon nearby. “Jesus.”
“Yeah, I felt that big mamma jamma at ten o’clock.”
“We need to...akemay away unray orfay atthay uckerfay onway eethray.”
Annalee blinked. “What the hell are you saying?” “It’s Pig Latin, you boob.”
“Are you kidding me? We’ve got guns pointed at us and you want me to understand some arcane childhood mumbo jumbo?”
Denny shook her head. “Fine. On two, turn and attack. You take the two—”
“Why two? That seems kind of odd.”
“So they don’t—oh, Jesus Christ. On three then. One. Two. Three.”
On three, they both pivoted and lunged at the cop nearest them. Denny grabbed the cop’s hand holding the gun and, while using his body as a shield, shot the next cop closest to Annalee.
Three bullets thudded into her prey, making a sickening sound as they penetrated his flesh.
She fell backwards onto her back, bringing her now-dead shield with her, and squeezed off three more rounds into the cop who swung his sidearm at Annalee.
Three down. Denny pushed the dead man off and jumped to her feet in time to see Annalee break the kneecap of the final man standing.
As she lifted her hand to deliver the death blow, Denny called out for her to stop.
“Why?”
“Get him to the police car. He may have answers.” Denny searched four pockets before finding the keys.
“Come on, shithead,” Annalee said, assisting him to his one good leg. “If you don’t learn how to speak English right now, she’s gonna snap your neck like a twig. Nod if you suddenly know English.”
He nodded.
“There you go! That’s what I thought.”
Denny got in the driver’s side and started the car.
“Ever driven on that weird side?”
“Only on the scooter. Don’t worry, I only took out two mirrors.” Denny drove a short way before pulling over and leaning across the back of the seat. “Okay, Waldo, Here’s how this is going to work. You get one chance to answer each question. One. If you lie or jerk us around, here’s what you can look forward to.” Denny pulled Epée out and pointed it at the seat between Annalee and the cop.
With its typical sweet sound, Epée cut into the leather of the seat, making him jump.
“So...you still understanding me?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Why were you stopping us?”
“Orders from the Vatican.”
Annalee’s eyebrows shot up. “The Grand Poobah, his heinous?”
He shook his head no. “No. Cardinal Branchini requested you to come with us.”
“Uh, dude, that was no request. You don’t bring guns to ask a date out. Well, maybe here you do, but we sure as shit don’t.”
He looked at Denny with confusion. “Eh?”
“Who is Cardinal Branchini?”
“He wants to see you.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “They do not tell me.”
“You’re Vatican Police?”
He nodded “Especial detail.”
“All righty then. Why don’t you drive? Take us to this Cardinal and let’s see what it is he wants.”
He nodded once more, his eyes glued to the sword sticking out of the back seat. “You are not…right.”
“Oh dude, you have no idea how not right we are.” Denny texted Ames and Iris to let them know they were going to the Vatican, that all was well, and not to worry, but to make their way over to them.
Twenty minutes later, Denny and Annalee were standing in the inner sanctum of the Vatican while Waldo was carried away on a stretcher, his nose broken by Annalee and his shinbone cracked in half.
Cardinal Branchini, decked out in a red robe and matching headgear, was the youngest cardinal ever ordained. He stood behind his very tall desk and looked back and forth between Denny and Annalee. “So. You are the great Legacy hunters.”
Annalee opened her mouth to reply, but Denny nudged her with an elbow.
“I see. I see why you might hesitate to answer. You do not know who I am, and I have apprehended you off the streets. I thought there were more of you.”
“First off, you did not apprehend us off the streets. We came of our own free will, padre. Secondly, you need a clean-up on aisle three. Thirdly, and pardon my French, what the fuck do you want, Cardinal? We’re busy people and don’t have time to give two shits about the Pope, you, or your religion.”
He walked around and closed the door, nodding to his security detail as he did. “First, prove to me you are the hunters I sent my men after.”
Denny and Annalee looked at each other, then smiled. Flashing red eyes at him, they both grinned as he stumbled backward away from them. “Santa Madre di Dio!”
“She had nothing to do with it,” Denny said. “Now it’s your turn. Why did you send goons to pick us up?”
“Oh dear. I fear you got the wrong impression. You...you did not harm them, did you?”
“Uh...they’re pretty much dead, yeah. Only the chubby guy made it, and we made him pay for tasing us.”
“Oh my. That is most unfortunate.” The Cardinal crossed himself. “Most unfortunate indeed.”
“They drew down on us. I’m...we’re sorry.”
“These are desperate times, aren’t they?” Picking up an iPad, he swiped it open, pressed a button, and handed it to Denny. “I’m afraid this will come as a shock to you, and I must apologize for being the one to share it.”
Denny watched what looked like a satellite photo of a ship in the water.
Not a photo. A video. Not a ship. A ferry.
“No, not the ferry...”
Suddenly, it blew up, sending flaming pieces everywhere.
“That was the ferry they thought you were on. Cardinal Bruce sent out a call to everyone that we would have to deviate from our plan in order to keep the cathedrals safe.”
“Holy shit,” Denny said, then she caught herself. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Cardinal.”
“My security detail was merely to intercept you. I’m afraid—”
“Your men panicked. End of story. If you have a clean-up crew—”
“On their way. Now, in light of what has happened, and the tragic deaths of over a hundred people, not the least of which was Sister Tarabini, it has become evident to the Council that we must protect our community from those who do not care who gets in their way. You need to steer clear of regular hotels, churches, cathedrals, and places where demons are known to be. Until you are prepared for an all-out war, you must go completely off the grid.”
“That we can and will certainly do, padre. Thank you.”
Cardinal Branchini sighed. “We were told you, Golden Silver, were young and inexperienced. It appears you have proven the reports incorrect.”
“My witches and our mentor are still out there, so if you—”
“No, they have been returned to a different hotel than the one you were planning on staying.”
“Good.” Denny bowed her head. “Those poor people.”
“You are not to blame, Golden Silver. This is the Vatican, after all. Nothing happens without our knowledge or approval. We should have aided you in that plan and dissuaded you against such an idea. Your people––”
Denny already had her cell phone up to her ear. “It’s me. You guys okay?” Denny hit the speaker button.
“Yeah, Goldy, we are. The stakes have been raised. The message is loud and clear: they do not care about collateral damage at all. If we are to get this done with as few casualties as we can, we’re going to have to trust the clergy and do as they advise.”
“Roger that, Ames. We’ll be right there. Hurry and stay safe.” Sticking her phone back in her pocket, Denny held her hand out and showed the ring. “You have something for me.”
The Cardinal nodded as he examined the ring. “You do understand that ring is priceless, do you not?”
Denny felt her muscles relax as fatigue started to set in. “The only thing priceless to me, Cardinal Branchini, is life, and those assholes just took one hundred plus. I just want the file so I can grab some food and the nearest bed. My team and I are exhausted.”
“Well, you shall find the security at the hotel quite satisfactory. The Vatican Armed Service is more highly trained than the men you faced. You’ll sleep well under that watchful eye until it is time for you to leave.”
Denny opened the envelope and took a photo of the contents.
“Why a photo?”
“I have a brilliant tech head on the other end of cyberspace. She’s remarkable at puzzles.”
“Excellent.” He looked left, then right. “I hate to move you along, but your presence here makes everyone nervous. I wish you all the best, Golden Silver, and Godspeed.”
Less than half an hour later, they arrived at the Hotel Grand, where the others were waiting in the bar. Heavy security walked throughout, armed with M-14s.
“I need a drink,” Ames said. “These old bones aren’t used to this kind of travel.”
“I sent the picture to Lauren. She’s sending all three to you guys so when we have some down time, maybe you can work it through your brain.”
“Lauren is proving to be quite an asset,” Ames said, sipping what looked like a martini.
“She’s brilliant in a way you don’t really see until it comes to the minutiae. Trust me. She’s going to take those three pieces, upload them onto an internet site that has the ability to tell her where this picture was from, and come up with an answer.”
Coven Betrayed (The Silver Legacy Book 4) Page 13