by Parker Blue
“What else did you learn from the book?” I demanded. Then realization dawned. “Oh. That’s how you’re able to keep Fang out of your head—a spell, right?”
Shade nodded.
My eyes narrowed. “And you were trying to find a way to get Sharra’s body back, weren’t you?”
“Does it matter?” he asked, his voice bitter. “I can’t anymore—you made sure of that.”
Thank goodness for that. Sighing, I realized there was something else missing from what he said. “How are you talking to it?” Dumb question—I rephrased. “I mean, how is it talking back?”
“It showed me a spell to communicate,” Shade said and opened a book to a blank page he had bookmarked. “Will you confirm that everything I told Val just now is the truth?”
Yes appeared on the page, then faded after I read it.
“What’s the spell to get it to talk to me?” I asked eagerly. This seemed like a heck of a lot easier way to communicate with the book, rather than by asking random questions about what spells were available and hope it opened to the right one, or reading through all of the books trying to find one.
Shade frowned. “The spell lasts several weeks, but if you invoke it before it dissipates for me, the book won’t talk to me anymore until I use the spell again and vice versa. We’d have to use the spell a lot.”
“Oh. Crap.”
Ivy asked, “Why is that crap?”
I answered her. “Because every time I use a spell in the book, that ability becomes stronger within me, but my succubus becomes weaker.”
“And when I use it, my ability to heal others and open portals weakens,” Shade added.
Ivy nodded. “I see. So it’s better for just one person to use the spell at a time.”
“Right.” I glanced at Shade, wondering if I should insist on using the communication spell myself.
“I can ask anything you want to know,” he said.
“Okay, can you ask if there’s a spell that will help us find Alejandro?”
Dutifully, Shade asked the question, and the answer was very clear: No.
Well, there went that idea. Curious now, I told Shade, “Ask another question for me. Why does it want two keepers?”
He did, and the answer came swiftly. The keeper’s job as Paladin is dangerous, and she risks herself and us too often. The shadow demon does not.
“So it’s because you want to be able to have a backup quickly in case something happens to me?” I asked.
Shade repeated the question.
Yes, partially.
“Ask it to explain,” I told Shade.
Shade nodded. “What’s the rest of it? Please be specific.”
The Keeper’s job as Paladin gives her split loyalties. We might be better off with a different Keeper.
Astonished, I stared at the words even as they faded from the page. The Encyclopedia Magicka didn’t want me anymore? Crap—what would I do without it?
Chapter Eleven
Austin
AS AUSTIN ENTERED the busy entryway of the mansion, he smiled to himself, remembering Val’s wholehearted response to his kiss. Her enthusiasm had been unexpected and even seemed to surprise her. She couldn’t blame it wholly on her lust demon nature—not this time—and he looked forward to the “next time” she’d promised.
Austin turned to Rosa, who seemed to be directing traffic. “I’ve come to pick up my things,” he told her and noticed the presence of a number of people he’d come to think of as Swiss, because they didn’t want to take sides—and therefore aligned with Rosa whether they realized it or not.
She nodded in distraction. “You there,” she said, pointing a finger at a tall woman wearing a dark ponytail. “Catalina. That lamp does not belong to you—put it back.”
Catalina glanced at the stained-glass pole lamp in her hand. “I thought it would brighten up my room at the blood bank. It’s so plain there.”
“Put it back,” Rosa insisted. “It belongs here.” She could be fierce in defending Alejandro and his possessions.
“It’s in my room here,” Catalina said peevishly. “Why can’t I take it with me so it’s in my room there?”
Rosa glared, and a few of her supporters started to move toward Catalina, but she held up her other hand in surrender. “All right. Sheesh, so kill me for wanting to make the place look pretty.”
She headed up the stairs, and Austin’s smile widened. He supported Rosa’s unwillingness to let anything leave the mansion—for Luis’s followers and his own. Maybe if they all had to make do with fewer amenities, they’d be more willing to make up and return home.
“What are you smiling about?” came the rude interruption to his thoughts. It was Tobias—Luis’s number one fan, who tried to look more aristocratic by wearing a spade beard. It didn’t work—it just succeeded in making him look like a thug. “Are you happy we are being kicked out of our home?” the man demanded.
Tobias was obviously spoiling for a fight, but Austin wouldn’t go there. When they found Alejandro, he wouldn’t have much of an organization to return to if he and Luis couldn’t repair this schism. But Tobias didn’t want to hear reason, and neither did Luis.
Deciding not to waste his breath, Austin shook his head and started to follow Catalina up the stairs.
“Hey, I’m talking to you,” Tobias shouted after him.
Austin would have continued to ignore him, but another voice entered the fray. “We’re being kicked out, too, you know.”
Austin took his boot off the step and turned. Jeremy, a former linebacker who hadn’t been turned all that long ago, thrust his face belligerently into Tobias’s bearded mug.
Austin reined in his anger toward Tobias and the whole rotten situation. Jeremy wasn’t afraid of anything or anyone, but he could be led. “That’s enough, Jeremy,” he said calmly. “Let’s just get our things and go.”
Neither Tobias nor Jeremy budged an inch. Tension and vampire testosterone filled the space, which suddenly seemed much smaller. At a gesture from Rosa, the “Swiss” vampires surrounded Tobias, pulling him away.
Tobias stared incredulously at Rosa. “You are on his side.”
“No,” she snapped. “I am on the side of any vampire who respects Alejandro and who does not want to cause damage to his mansion or pain to any member of the Movement.” Her eyes sparked with anger, then narrowed. “Leave now. You are no longer welcome here while Alejandro is away.”
“And what if he doesn’t come back?” Tobias asked, struggling against his captors.
“He will,” Rosa insisted, and if looks could kill, Tobias’s ass would be ash. She stalked forward to help push him out the door.
“Well, maybe we won’t wait,” Tobias spat as he struggled in the grip of his captors.
Chills of dread raced through him, but Austin didn’t let it show. “I don’t think Luis would thank you for revealing that,” he drawled. In fact, he’d be right pissed if he found out Tobias was giving away his plans. The thought of Luis challenging Alejandro gave him unwelcome flashbacks to the devastation wrought by the Spanish-American War.
Tobias suddenly stopped struggling, looking surprised, and the guards’ grips loosened. Straightening his jacket, Tobias brushed unnecessarily at his sleeves. “Don’t be ridiculous. As if Luis would do such a thing,” he muttered. And, summoning his most imperious manner, he left without saying another word, ignoring Rosa as she shouted imprecations in Spanish at his back.
“Honorless scum,” Jeremy muttered.
“I appreciate you trying to defend us,” Austin said, “but we need to unite the Movement, not tear it apart. There is no honor in fighting allies.” Too many of the new recruits were eager to show off their new skills, before they’d even learned their limits.
Jeremy scowled. �
��So when do we fight?”
“When it’s necessary—when they are harming humans, animals, or other members of the Movement.” Slapping Jeremy on the back, Austin grinned. “You can fight and take down all the rogues you want. Okay?”
“Damn straight.”
And if he didn’t have more experienced fighters to fall back on, he’d have to make use of new recruits like Jeremy, Chris, Charlie, and Carlos. Heaven help them. “Good. There’s a sparring room at the blood bank where you can practice. Let’s get our things and go.”
The three Cs had also shown up at the blood bank and were hanging out in the penthouse, playing video games in the living room that was a geek’s wet dream. A bunch of other “followers” had joined them and were lounging in the comfortable chairs, playing cards or other games, talking smack, and working themselves up to take on Luis and his supporters. A disproportionate share of those who chose to side with Austin were female, thanks to Luis’s less than PC attitude, but most of them were doing their jobs elsewhere.
Austin dragged his belongings in—what little he had—along with Jeremy and stood with his hands on his hips as he surveyed the scene. “What is this? A clubhouse?”
They all stopped what they were doing and stared at him. “Naw,” one said. “We were just waiting for you.” He gestured at the three Cs. “They showed your card, said you sent them. They didn’t cause any trouble, so we let them stay.”
“Good, but lounging in the penthouse is a privilege you all need to earn.”
There were a number of grumbles, and one guy asked, “How?”
“By doing your job, keeping your nose clean.” Most of the women and some of the men had already returned to their normal duties, but the ones here seemed at a loss. They needed tasks. “We need to increase the patrols to look for more rogues. But instead of killing them, we need to find out what they know. Capture, restrain, but don’t kill until we can question them and see what they know about Alejandro’s kidnapping.”
Questions came at him from all sides.
“How are we supposed to do that?”
“What about Luis and his men—what do we do about them?”
“Why don’t we just take over? You’re the best man for the job.”
Austin wasn’t sure who’d asked that last question, but he decided to tackle it first. “Alejandro is the leader of the organization and will remain that way until we discover he’s dead. If that happens, we’ll worry about who takes command.”
“Why wait?” someone in the back asked.
Austin went rigid with fury. Because Alejandro’s charisma held the organization together and presented a united face to the world, making him their best shot at finding a way to emerge from hiding as nonthreatening equals to the humans. Because Alejandro had saved Austin from death and brought him back to life in this new form. And because, damn it, Alejandro was his best friend. Austin didn’t want to admit to worry, but he was beginning to fear something fatal had happened to the vampire leader.
But he didn’t say any of that, not wanting to get into a fruitless discussion. “Because I order it,” he snarled.
Strangely enough, that stopped the questions and even seemed to garner him more respect. He’d wanted to give them an opportunity to have a voice in the organization, make them feel a part of decisions, but there were times when he just needed to tell them what to do. Like now.
“Luis and his men are still our brothers in arms. You will not attack them or harm them in any way.” Before they could raise the inevitable question, Austin added, “You can, of course, defend yourself, but you will not initiate a fight, nor will you do more than incapacitate them, if necessary. We are better than that. Once Alejandro returns, you will be living side by side with these men again, and we don’t want there to be any bull crap about who attacked who that will damage the organization. Is that clear?”
This time, the majority of them said, “Yes, boss.”
He answered the first of their questions. “As for how we’re going to get information out of the rogues, we have a secret weapon—our friends in the Demon Underground. Between Val and Micah, we can force any man or woman you capture to tell us everything they know.”
“Hell, I can do that,” one said. “Just lemme at ’em.”
The others laughed, and Austin let them release a little tension. “But with the succubus and incubus’s help, we know they’ll be telling the truth. Those of you who have felt the touch of the lust demon know that.” Reluctant nods greeted this statement of fact.
“Then . . . you’re just going to let the rogues go?” Jeremy asked in disbelieving tones.
“I didn’t say that. We give them the same choice we give all the others—join the Movement and adhere to our principles, or die like the beasts they are. The demons will let us know if they’re telling the truth about joining us.”
They nodded, absorbing the idea that none of the real rogues could pretend well enough to fool Val or Micah. Those who lived for the thrill of the hunt and rejoiced in the fear and death of their victims would never be able to become a functioning part of their organization.
“We are better than them,” Jeremy said slowly.
“Exactly.”
Charlie raised his hand, like a student asking permission to speak.
Austin sighed inwardly. “What is it, Charlie?”
“What about us?”
“Good question.” Austin glanced around, wondering whom he could put in charge of the newbies. Ah, Diego was here. Though his swarthy good looks made him a favorite of the ladies, Diego was also reliable and could be trusted with the bottle babies. “Diego will show you how to handle your new speed and strength and defend yourselves against the rogues. Diego, will you take our new members down to the sparring room?”
“Sure, boss.”
That was the second time they’d called him boss. It annoyed Austin, but he let it go, knowing they meant it to show respect.
“As for the rest of you, start patrolling, see if we can catch us a few rogues.”
They all grinned at that, except for Jeremy who asked, “What about you? If they kidnapped Alejandro and attacked Luis, you’re probably next.”
The others looked surprised, as if they hadn’t thought of that. “I am aware,” Austin said and grinned. “That’s why we’re going to set a trap.”
Chapter Twelve
Val
LATE THE NEXT afternoon, Ivy and I checked the bulletin board in the physics building for notices that might be from the rogue vampires. Sure enough, there was a flyer offering a seminar that promised to make everyone who attended rich, healthy, and incredibly powerful—no cost, no obligation, no risk. Anyone who could read between the lines would know they were talking about fangbangers.
Fang snorted. AND PEOPLE BUY THIS CRAP?
Ivy shrugged. “Lots of people are looking for a get-rich-quick scheme. They’d rather take shortcuts than do the hard work.”
Yeah, I could understand geeks like the three Cs wanting to be able to be on the top of the food chain for a change. I stared at the flyer, noting the date and time of the next seminar—tomorrow night.
I’d hoped there’d be some sort of clue we could pounce on right away.
LIKE NANCY DREW? Fang mocked.
I stared at him. “How do you know about Nancy Drew?” So far as I knew, he couldn’t read.
TELEVISION, BABE. EVER HEARD OF IT?
Ivy laughed. “What now?”
I thought for a moment. “Let’s go back to the townhouse—check on the stones.”
Thirty minutes later, Ivy gingerly pulled the athame out of its healing bath. The bloodstone had barely slid out of the water when she immediately dropped it back inside. “Still gibbering in shock,” she explained. “Though I got the impression it was more affected by how th
e blood demon used it than by Guillaume’s death.” She slanted me an apologetic glance. “I’m not sure it will give you any answers, even once it’s healed.”
“That’s okay. It was a long shot, anyway. How about the crystal shards?”
She pulled them out of the solution and weighed them thoughtfully in her palm. “Though the shards were broken in an act of violence, they weren’t as disturbed as the bloodstone, primarily because they didn’t absorb as much negative emotion. They’re no longer in shock.”
“So, what can you tell about them?”
“They feel . . . empty.”
“Because they’re broken pieces of the original crystal?”
“Maybe.” Ivy shook her head. “But it feels more as if they were imbued with some sort of consciousness that’s no longer there.”
Remembering what she’d said earlier, I asked, “You mean . . . like a mage demon had imprisoned another demon inside the crystal?”
“Yes, but the demon isn’t there anymore.”
Crap. “Where is it? Could it have gone into something else? Does it have anything to do with Alejandro’s disappearance?” Or was some kind of free-floating entity roaming San Antonio?
“I don’t know.”
GEE, THAT’S NOT SCARY OR ANYTHING, Fang drawled.
Ignoring him, I asked, “Can you talk to them, ask them what happened?”
Ivy shook her head as she fingered the shards. “They’re not really sentient anymore. I’ve never seen anything like it.” She gave me another apologetic look. “Sorry, it looks like I’m no help at all.”
“Sure you are. You ensured Shade told the truth yesterday, didn’t you? And helped those people at the blood bank.”
“I guess. Let me think on it some more, talk to my dad, see if he has any ideas.”
“Okay.” I glanced outside. The sun had set, so the vamps would be awake. “I’ll call Austin, let him know what we learned.”