LEGIONS OF THE DARK (VAMPIRE NATIONS CHRONICLES)

by Billie Sue Mosiman

  "I'll do a better job this time."

  "And why shouldn't I just cut off their heads and throw them into an alley instead?"

  "You are the beast you are because you're able to ask that question, Ross."

  "One day you're going to go too far." Ross stepped closer as if to embrace the old vampire in a kiss.

  Mentor smiled and his incisors emerged, large and deadly in the reflected light from the window. "I already have. Hundreds of years before you were born. I have gone entirely too far to ever turn back now, and too far to be intimidated by the likes of you."

  Ross reconsidered a confrontation. He hated to admit that Mentor could frighten him. As boastful as he sounded, he knew any fight with Mentor could not have a predicted outcome. Mentor might very well bind him long enough to set him afire.

  "All right," he said, "I'll let you handle this one more time, and if it doesn't work, you have to step out of the picture and let me get rid of them. They're just . . . just . . .”

  "Pests? That's what you feel about all humans, isn't it? Inferior and useless unless they're doing what you want or providing you with blood."

  Ross began to shimmer and disappear. He sent one last thought to Mentor. I warn you. This is the last chance they'll have.

  ~*~

  Mentor sighed and turned to the woman's Japanese garden. He walked to the bench and sat beneath the willow limbs. They rustled sweetly in a breeze, brushing gently and softly against his sagging shoulders. He sat looking at the raked swirls of white gravel glowing in the moonlight like a pale river snaking through the darkness. He studied the shadows cast by the large boulders. They were alien mountains rising in a white sea.

  He would not intrude into the house and the lives of the couple just for the moment. He was tired of dealing with people. It had been a long night and there were hours yet until dawn.

  When he thought of the woman, Bette, he felt a quickening in his chest. She was nothing like the human woman he'd loved and lost in the past, but something about her made his passion rise. When he'd entered her mind earlier and searched for the memories to erase, he had felt comforted. The soul which had created the garden he now sat in was unusually humane. He had discovered none of the bitter ugliness that often swamped the minds of most adult humans. Her mind was as clean and straightforward as any he'd ever been inside. It was good. A rare mind, unlettered by the folly of self-aggrandizing or bits of evil stimuli that led to evil deeds.

  He shook his head slowly and put his hands on his knees. His shoulders fell further until he was hunched. He had deadened his emotions for so many years it was a miracle anyone could have stirred him. He didn't know if he should be grateful or angry. To love was too human. It was too fraught with the possibility of rejection, danger, and loss. He had never honestly wanted to love a woman again.

  He sighed heavily once more and closed his eyes. Ross would certainly destroy her, and the man, too, given the chance. There had been others who ferreted out the existence of vampires, and it was Ross and his minions who had dispatched them without a qualm. He might even have done it tonight if Mentor hadn't halted in his walk to the stables with Dell and felt the alarm Ross projected once he'd entered the woman's house.

  Mentor must do something with the couple. And he must do something about his burgeoning feelings for the woman. She was human. She already loved someone. He had no right to interfere with that part of her life.

  He turned his head, straightened his shoulders, and looked toward the house. The lights were out. They had retired for the night. He wouldn't go to them now. He feared he'd find them in a bliss that could blind him with the truth of his deprivation.

  Better to return to his own home where thoughts of the woman might dissipate. He could come back just before the sun rose over the city. If only he could sleep. Sleep and forget.

  He stood, pushing aside the willow branches, and stepped into the moonlight. It was times like these when he wished he could fly away and never come back in touch with either man or vampire.

  He had not slept in a century, his attention always alert and active, on the job to rescue others from their dementia and bad choices. He had never run away.

  He glanced up into the clear sky to the stars. God had forsaken them. Perhaps vampires were not his creatures and he had nothing to do with their creation or their future. None of them might be worthy of redemption. They might have to roam the Earth until all humans had died, and all animals, and then, finally, their kind would die, too. It would be a mercy.

  He thought at times, when he tried to communicate with the source of all power and all life, that one day the Creator would respond to him. He didn't just hope for communication, but believed with all his heart that one day he'd be answered. As yet, the Creator remained silent.

  19

  The morning after her wild ride, Dell apologized to her parents for disappearing. She admitted she didn't know what had gotten into her. Tears came to her eyes and she began to stutter until her mother put her arms around her and said, "Dell, you're going to be all right now. We don't want to hold you down. We just don't want you to get into trouble, so that's why we called Mentor to help."

  "I know, Mom. It's a good thing he came. I'm glad you sent for him."

  Her mother gathered the papers she needed to take back to the office and took up her purse. "I'll try to get off early," she said.

  Dell knew she didn't want her left alone. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll stay home."

  Her father entered from the hallway, tucking his shirt into his slacks. He smiled at her. "Another day, another dollar," he said cheerfully. She realized, not for the first time, how the years passed, but her father never aged. He seemed not that many years older than she was now.

  "Maybe I should get a part-time job," Dell said, feeling her parents' weariness of going to work every day, always struggling to make ends meet.

  "You stick to the books, young lady. We'll bring home the sausage."

  Dell laughed. "Bacon, you mean."

  He wrinkled his nose. "Ugh. I don't remember what bacon tastes like. Kind of thick and greasy, I think. But sausage, now . . ."

  The thought of cooked animal meat made Dell want to gag. She hurried out the door to catch the bus, waving at her parents as they made for the cars.

  At school all Dell could think about was the Loden party and Ryan sitting next to Lori on the sofa, watching the kids begin their blood rituals. When she'd decided to show up and blast off at Lori, she thought her aims were pure. She would save Ryan from getting involved in something stupid and dangerous. But the truth was more complicated. She had been jealous, the jealousy fueling her flight with Lightning across the night landscape later in the evening.

  She knew she really had to get herself under control. It was as if she were in a maze, zigzagging down pathways that led her to dead ends where she had to turn around and find her way back again to another route.

  Cheyenne stopped her in the hall at school and said, "What have you been doing, Dell? I know you go horseback riding and like that, but you could call me. My mom said maybe you're depressed and need some St. John's Wort tea."

  Panic rose in Dell. She had forgotten her friends. She needed excuses all the time now. It was harder to straighten out her affairs and keep the humans happy.

  "Tell your mom I'll think about that." She smiled, trying to make light of her absence from Cheyenne's life.

  "So what's up? I heard you made a little racket at one of Loden's parties last night."

  "You heard about it?"

  Cheyenne nodded, clutching her books to her chest as they walked down the hall to classes. "Lori's telling everyone."

  "Lori needs to keep her mouth shut." Anger bloomed in Dell, threatening to get out of hand. She tried to soften her voice. "I mean, Lori's kind of silly, isn't she?"

  "Crazy, if you ask me," said Cheyenne. "So, what was the deal?"

  "You know the new guy, Ryan? I think he might be in your trig class."

  "I kn
ow him. Real cute, tall, from North Dallas?”

  “That's him. He asked me out."

  "No way!"

  "I turned him down, I don't know why, don't ask me why. So he went out with Lori last night, and I found out where she'd taken him. I got hot about it, I guess. You know what goes on at Loden's parties."

  Cheyenne made a face. "Boy, do I. You know Shirley Lott? They pulled her into their group. She went from straight As to failing in one semester. She looks like a hag now, all black long skirts and raggedy old tops. Talk about someone who needs St. John's Wort."

  The bell rang and Dell hurried into her classroom, waving at Cheyenne as the other girl sprinted down the hall.

  I know what I'll do, Dell thought. Before we go out for real, I'll ask Ryan to go riding. She had to make sure he wasn't going to get mixed up with the Loden bunch. And maybe on Sunday I'll go swimming at the pool with Cheyenne.

  In the hallway after their class together, she saw him watching her. She smiled and walked close to him. He had seen her passionate side at the party. Now he'd get a chance to see the real Dell, the one who was beginning to fall for him. "You ever ride a horse?"

  "A horse? Sure, since I was a kid."

  "Would you like to meet me after school and ride? I've got a horse at the Dove Stables, south of Dallas. It's between here and Ennis. Five o'clock?"

  "I don't have a horse," he said.

  "They'll rent you one. We'll go riding so we can talk. Okay?"

  She hurried to her next class feeling triumphant. She knew, she could get him away from Lori. She could save him from the "vampyre" scene.

  There were so many things she could tell the kids in Loden's group, secrets that would stand their hair on end and give them nightmares. She ought to bring a Predator to one of their rave music, bloodletting parties and let them see for themselves what being a vampire was really all about. They'd wet their pants. She sort of understood the lure, sure she did. She knew they wanted more, something supernatural, something different. But what they were headed into wasn't the way. She'd be damned if she'd stand by and watch Ryan fall into their hands.

  She knew what Mentor would say. He'd warn she was interfering in the lives of humans out of selfish motives. Maybe she was. She liked Ryan a lot. But she felt she had to do this. She wouldn't tell him the truth—heavens no. Not about vampires. Not about herself. But she needed to make him understand. She didn't know exactly what she'd tell him, but she had to do something.

  ~*~

  It was ten after five when Dell saw Ryan pull up in the parking lot at Dove Stables. For a few minutes she feared he would stand her up. He almost had a girlfriend now. What did he need with someone who had rejected him outright the first time he tried asking her out, someone who tried to bust up his date?

  She was relieved and let out a happy sigh when she saw him park. He got out of the car slowly, a tall, lanky boy with hair that was long on top and unruly where it fell across his brow. He squinted toward the stables where she stood waiting for him. He smiled and came through the gate and down the well-worn path to where she waited. She even liked the way he walked. She'd seen old ranchers walk that way, bronco riders, horse trainers. It wasn't so much a bowlegged gait as it was a leisurely rolling motion from hip to hip, with long legs moving at a graceful, slow pace. It was definitely a cowboy walk, but regal for all that.

  All he lacked to fit the part of cowboy was a Stetson hat. He already had on the washed-out blue jeans and softly worn tan leather boots.

  "Hi," he said, reaching her side. "Sorry I'm late. Traffic. People getting out of work."

  She smiled up at him. "That's okay. I haven't been here long." She was lying. She'd come to the stables straight from school. If she'd still been human she'd have had enough time to have drunk two Pepsis and go to the bathroom three times.

  "Well, which one is your horse?"

  Dell turned to the stables and led him to Lightning. She told him the horse's name, then laughed. "I should rename him. He's too old to be a racehorse or have a name like that. But when he wants to, he really can take off for me." She almost winced, recalling how she'd run him nearly to death.

  "Lightning's a fine name," Ryan said, rubbing the horse's neck just back of the ears. "How you doing, boy?"

  "Here's one I picked out for you," she said, pointing at a bay two stalls down. They walked to the bay, and Ryan began to rub it down along the neck, too.

  "It seems friendly," he said. "I've been riding since I was little. My grandfather owns a ranch. Cattle, a few horses, you know," he said by way of explanation. "But still, I like a quiet, friendly horse. Riding's no fun when the horse wants to act like a fiend out of hell's gate."

  "Have you ever gone on the trail ride across Texas they have in March?" She also reached out to pet the bay, on the opposite side of the neck. It shied a bit until she reached out with her mind to soothe it.

  "No, but I bet it would be fun." He gave her an interested glance. "What about you? Ever gone on the ride?"

  Dell shook her head. "I never had a horse until now. I got Lightning as a birthday present.”

  “Happy birthday!"

  She smiled. "Oh, it was days ago, but thanks.”

  “So you're fifty-two now, huh?"

  "Eighteen!"

  "Sorry. Eighteen. I knew that."

  Once on the trail, riding their horses, Ryan broke the silence first. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

  "You might think I'm out of place, doing what I did last night when you were with Lori, but . . .”

  “No, go ahead."

  "It's just that those kids are into some weird stuff. It wasn't any of my business, but you're new here and I was worried about you."

  "You mean not everyone drinks blood?"

  She looked over at him, surprised. She saw he was about to burst out in laughter. "It's not funny," she said.

  He sobered. "No, it's not funny, I guess."

  "It's . . . I think the blood stuff is dangerous. People could get, well, they could get really sick doing that."

  "I know. I didn't partake after you left. Not that I was going to anyway."

  But will you? she wanted to ask. "Ryan, that's what they do," she persisted. "It's part of who they are."

  "Look, if you're worried I'll turn into a vampire, rest your mind. I've started reading Stoker's Dracula. The nightlife doesn't appeal."

  She smiled to herself. He'd not get much from Stoker. "They might not want you hanging with them if they find that out."

  He shrugged. "Maybe."

  They had reached the little creek. Dell pulled up Lightning and got out of the saddle. "Let's let them drink," she said.

  Ryan dismounted and led his horse to the sparkling water. Sunbeams glanced off its surface and threw glitters of light into the nearby stand of shadowy weeping willows. A noisy blue jay flitted from branch to branch high up, making a racket. A mama bird, no doubt, protecting her nest of eggs.

  The horses snuffled and bent to the water, wetting their front hooves in the stream's edge. In the distance, the sun was beginning to set, a flaming burnt-scarlet ball radiating purple and pink against low clouds. Dell thought there couldn't be prettier sunsets anywhere else in all the world.

  "Why do you really care if I get into the vampire stuff," he asked suddenly.

  Taken aback, Dell stared into the running water of the creek. She didn't wish to look at him and betray herself. "It's just that I know them," she said, "and it's the danger in it, that's all."

  "You wouldn't want me to get sick," he said, more softly.

  She felt as if he were peeling her open the way someone shreds the skin of an orange to expose the soft center. "I wouldn't want anyone to get sick. Lori. You. Those others. I think it's just a dumb thing to be doing, that's all. It's not very responsible."

  "So it's not me."

  She turned to him and saw he'd moved from one side of his horse next to where she stood. "Not you, what?" Ignorance was always a good screen.


  "Not me you wanted to save. I'm incidental. This ride was meant to be just a plain old warning that you'd want to give to anyone new in school, right?"

  She was looking in his face, into his eyes, and she couldn't lie to him. She found she'd stopped breathing. She didn't need to breathe and in times of distress or during lapses where she daydreamed, she forgot she was supposed to be human. She took in a showy breath and let it out. She looked away from him, turned, began to rub down Lightning's coat.

  "I guess so," she said, answering him finally. "I guess new kids need some warning."

  "Dell, Dell, Dell."

  She turned back to him.

  "You can't lie, so you blow smoke instead. Why didn't you say you'd go out with me when I first asked you? Why did it take Lori and the cult thing to get you to notice me? Lori was a second choice. I don't have any interest in her world. It's you I wanted to be with, until you made it plain you didn't want it."

  Tears sprang to Dell's eyes and she had to look down. She couldn't cry in front of him. He'd see her tears were made of other than salty water. "I . . . can't . . ."

  "Like me? You can't like me? Am I that terrible? Do I have four eyes or six fingers on each hand? Is there a booger hanging from my nose?"

  Now she laughed, and the threat of tears vanished. "I like you," she said, laughing at the face he was making and the gesture of a finger at his nose. "Stop that."

  He stepped close and put his hands on her waist, suddenly serious. "We'll try one date. How bad could it be, after the Loden party? We'll see a movie, eat pizza, go to the mall, whatever you want to do this weekend."