by J. C. Diem
Luc unlocked the door and automatically checked that the room was empty before stepping aside to let me in. It never failed to amuse me when I was treated as if I was fragile. I’d been cut in half and had healed instantly as soon as my upper and lower body had re-joined. Meanwhile, Luc and Gregor were still recovering from their relatively minor injuries. It was probably male instinct to protect me so I kept my amusement to myself.
My unsalvageable leather suit and boots went into the trash after I peeled them off. Luc beat me to the shower and steam wafted out when I opened the bathroom door. His sling had been tossed to the floor and the cut in his shoulder was now half healed. He crooked his finger and his lips curved into a smile when I joined him.
His mouth lowered to mine and I went up on my toes to meet him. We froze when Geordie’s voice floated to us through the wall. “I’m showering right next to you two but go right ahead if you want to have sex. I promise I won’t listen.”
“Way to kill the mood, Geordie,” I murmured and was rewarded with a shrill giggle. The teen’s reminder of our exceptional hearing had just saved me from embarrassing myself yet again. Apparently, a pair of courtiers didn’t feel the same need for privacy as bedsprings began to squeak on the floor above us. A female moaned loudly and I was suddenly fighting down the urge to burst into my own fit of laughter.
Shampooing ooze out of his hair, Luc grinned at my horrified embarrassment. “Don’t worry, Ladybug, you don’t sound anything like that when we are intimate.”
“True,” Geordie snorted on the other side of the wall. “Nat’s usually much louder than that.” Footsteps sounded, a door was slammed open and a hand connected with the back of the teen’s head. “I was just kidding,” Geordie whined.
“You were not funny,” Igor told his apprentice before stomping out of the bathroom.
My sniggers turned to a silent sigh of pleasure as Luc’s hands began massaging shampoo into my hair. If we’d been alone, I would have returned the favour but on a piece of his anatomy that was situated below his waist. Since we were surrounded by our friends and allies, we forwent our usual sexual gymnastics.
Once we were all clean, dry and had changed into fresh clothing, our friends gathered in the room Luc and I shared. This was usually the case and I’d come to realize it was due to Luc more than my status as Mortis. Latin for ‘death’, the name was fitting considering how many fledgling vampires and imps I’d now eradicated. Luc was a natural leader and people were drawn to him. He was calm and intelligent as well as being easy on the eyes. I was pretty sure the last point wasn’t the reason the other three looked to him for leadership but it was one of the reasons I found it impossible to resist him.
Our room was small with only a queen sized bed and a tiny two seater table. Luc, Geordie and I crowded onto the bed while the other two sat at the table.
“Do you have any insights into the plan the Second has come up with, Gregor?” Luc asked to kick off our meeting.
Resting one arm on the table, Gregor’s expression turned grave. “The Second is now well aware that we aren’t about to sit back and let him create an army of servants. He has seen the resources the humans can call on and will have altered his original plans for world domination.” It sounded dramatic when he said the words out loud but he was merely stating the truth. The older a vampire was, the more grandiose his or her plans seemed to be. The Second would be happy with nothing less than total control over the entire human population.
“He is ancient but far from stupid,” Igor said. “He has learned to adapt very quickly.”
“What do you think he will do now?” Geordie asked. He was sitting as close to me as he could get without actually climbing onto my lap. We were pressed together from hip to shoulder. Sandwiched in between the teen and Luc, I felt strangely comfortable.
This is what having friends should be like, I mused. I can count on them to have my back. It was a lesson I hadn’t learned in my twenty-eight years as a mortal. After my parents had died when I’d been only nineteen, I’d needed to get away. I’d left New South Wales and had headed north to Queensland, leaving my few friends behind. I hadn’t really allowed myself to get close to anyone since then. Belatedly, I realized I’d been afraid of losing someone else that I cared about. It had been far easier to keep my distance than to take a chance and let anyone in again.
Frowning in thought, Gregor flicked imaginary lint off his pants before answering. “I believe he still intends to attempt to become the ultimate ruler of our planet. But I fear he will be far more circumspect now that he is the sole surviving disciple.”
“He may have sacrificed his brothers prematurely in his quest for domination,” Luc ventured.
Geordie leaned forward to see my most favourite companion’s face. “What do you mean?”
“He deliberately set up the other nine disciples and threw them to the wolves,” I explained. After taking a few trips through the Second’s mind, I was well aware of his ambitious nature and desire to be in charge. He had never planned to share the spoils with any of the other disciples. Fifty thousand years of brotherhood meant nothing to him. Any hint of his former humanity had been left behind tens of thousands of years ago.
Luc explained his reasoning to the teen. “He should have kept at least one or two of his brothers alive to help him create a new army of fledglings.”
Understanding finally hit Geordie. “Oh. I guess he’ll have to make another army all by himself now.”
Gregor proved that he’d put a lot of thought into this with his next observation. “I doubt his plans ever included using his brother’s servants. He will want to have absolute control over his fledglings. I doubt that he will allow his newly-made servants to create lackeys of their own. He would have no power over them and he would be incapable of trusting them to follow his orders.”
Igor nodded his shaggy head in agreement. I was pretty sure his coarse black hair had never been touched by a brush. “He seeks to rule an empire of vampires that have all been sired by himself. He will have to be careful and smart to succeed.”
I had a sinking feeling somewhere in my stomach at Igor’s comments. “He’s not going to make it easy for us to find him, is he? There won’t be any more mass attacks or eradication of whole towns to help us keep track of him.”
Gregor didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news even if he was just guessing at all this. “I sincerely doubt it. From now on, I believe he will be more cautious when choosing his servants.” Musing, his fist came to a rest beneath his chin. “He needs to make his lair in a land that is well populated. It will have many poor people who won’t be missed if they suddenly disappear. He will choose a remote lair that will be hidden from most humans.”
Geordie thumped a frustrated fist against the mattress and the springs squeaked in protest. “That could be just about anywhere! You have just described thousands of cities all over the world.”
Igor had an insight that made sense as soon as he voiced it. “The world is a vastly different place from the one the Second knew before he was banished. It would be very difficult for a creature that was isolated for so long to become used to living amongst the bustle of modern society. His hideaway will be somewhere quiet where he can escape from the unceasing noise that humans make.”
It was clear he was speaking from experience. When he’d been turned, people had still been living in caves and wearing animal skins. He’d had thousands of years to get used to the increasing numbers of humans and the technology that came with them. The Second had woken up to a world that now had over seven billion people in it. He’d never even seen a calculator let alone skyscrapers or cars. It must have been mind boggling to deal with.
Gregor turned an admiring eye on the grizzled one. “That is a good point, Igor. We will have to keep an eye out for news of multiple disappearances in a city that has wilderness nearby. I’m sure Colonel Sanderson will be able to help us with that.”
“Can’t you just sneak inside the Second’
s head when you sleep next and pick his brains, chérie?” Geordie asked with a cheeky grin.
“I’ll try but I don’t have any control over my dreams.” I didn’t particularly want to take another trip through the Second’s thoughts. But if I found myself inside his head again, I’d go with Geordie’s suggestion and try to pick up as much information as I possibly could. After all, you could never have too much information.
Chapter Four
Our friends departed for their own rooms to get some rest and Luc and I retired just before the sun was scheduled to come up. When I finally managed to fall asleep, my slumber was shallow and restless.
I was bombarded with flashes of memory. They came from me, the First, the Second and even from Luc and flitted rapidly through my mind. They were random snatches that didn’t seem to have much correlation at first. I saw the making of the First all over again through the eyes of his disciple. The memory was ancient and murky but there seemed to be something strange about the eight foot tall grey demi-god, apart from the fact that he existed, that was. He offered his wrist to the First and I squinted as the moonlight reflected off something metallic. If the Second had been a vampire rather than a human when he’d seen this, I would have been able to make out more detail through his enhanced vision.
Switching abruptly to one of my visions of the cavern of doom, I replayed a scene where the First had long ago left behind his human body and had become a clone of the alien. He was sitting on his throne that had been made from human bones and was brooding moodily. Studying him closely, I saw subtle differences between him and the thing that had made him. The First’s ears were curled at the tips but his father’s had merely been pointed. Their eyes glowed with the same shade of red but I couldn’t remember seeing the alien blink. He’d seemed very stiff when offering his wrist and hadn’t made any effort to bend down when he had offered the human his blood.
My view changed again, this time to Luc’s memory of being amongst the glittering courtiers in the French mansion. I could see what the Second saw now, our kind were much weaker than they had once been. Modern vampires weren’t as fast as their older kin. They could only befuddle the wits of the opposite sex or someone of the same sex who found them attractive. The disciples were able to put any human under their spell.
If the Second had things his way, the entire planet would become populated with ravenous, pitiless monsters. Humans would be reduced to mere cattle, just as the First had intended before I had hunted him down and unleashed my holy marks on him.
I wonder if the Second knows that he’s following directly in the footsteps of the master he despised and held in such contempt? That thought didn’t come from my subconscious this time, it was all mine. Our nemesis thought he was so clever and perhaps he was but he was turning out to be exactly like his maker and that would be his downfall. I’d been created to make sure our numbers didn’t multiply until they were out of control and I was going to fulfil my purpose.
Up long before nightfall, I was dressed and had sharpened my swords before the last rays of the sun disappeared. Luc came awake with his customary alertness. He slanted me a look of invitation but there were already too many ears listening in for me to get into the mood for sex. Shaking his head at my continued squeamishness, he headed into the bathroom. After a quick shower, he returned and sorted through his bag for a change of clothes. As usual, they were black, expensive and complimented his pale skin and dark hair.
“I suppose everyone thinks I’m weird because I don’t like everyone in the world to listen in when we’re having sex,” I said crankily but quietly.
Pulling a cashmere sweater over his head, Luc paused before answering. No doubt he was searching for a diplomatic reply.
Geordie, who had woken only moments ago, beat him to it. “Don’t worry, Nat, we think you’re weird for many more reasons than that!” he said from the next room.
“Did he just call her a gnat?” someone muttered on the next floor up.
“It’s short for Natalie. She’s Australian,” someone else replied not quite quietly enough.
“Ah. That explains it.”
Luc’s hand clamped over my mouth an instant before I could unleash a diatribe and blast the unseen Europeans. He tried and failed to hold in a smile. He’d been the first to mistake my name for an insect’s but he’d been far from the last. Taking his hand away, he kissed my scowling mouth.
Before the kiss could escalate into more, my radio chirped. “Natalie, are you there?” Sanderson’s voice came through loud and clear.
“I’m here,” I replied after snatching up the radio.
“We have a pretty good idea of which direction the Second is heading in.”
“Great!” My enthusiasm was completely unfeigned. I wanted this to be over and done with and didn’t want the hunt to drag on for an eternity. “Which way is he going?” All sounds of movement had ceased on our floor and the one above us as every vampire in earshot listened in.
“He still appears to be heading north,” Sanderson said in a voice that was tense with the shared desire to hunt down our prey. Gregor would no doubt be pleased that his guess had been correct. “A couple of people have been found dead and seem to have been completely drained of blood. I presume the disciple didn’t want them to rise again because their hearts have been torn out. Their bodies were hidden but not well enough. Surely this has to be the work of our target?”
I hoped it was, otherwise that meant there was another rogue vampire on the loose. “Gregor has a theory that the Second is going to find somewhere remote but near a large city to build a lair. If he keeps being sloppy and leaving bodies lying around, we should be able to track him down.”
“Have your people ready to leave in ten minutes,” the colonel instructed me briskly. “We’re going after this son of a bitch.”
“Roger that,” I said only half mockingly and the radio went dead again.
From the room beside ours, Igor did the honours and saved me from having to scream out to everyone in the building. “Gather your gear!” he roared loudly enough for all the vampires in the hotel to hear him. “We leave in ten minutes!” His shout was followed by startled murmurs all the way up on the fifth floor. The sounds of hasty packing came from all of the occupied rooms on all floors.
Standing in four distinct groups on the footpath, we were ready when Sanderson’s jeep rolled to a stop in front of us. The past few weeks had left its mark in the deep lines that now grooved his forehead. His frown was deeper than usual when he leaned out the window. “There’s been a change of plans.”
Shouldering my backpack, I approached the jeep. “What’s going on?” We had only spoken a few minutes ago. What could have happened between then and now?
“I received a distress call from one of my teams a couple of minutes ago. They have been overrun by a fresh batch of fledglings that just rose.”
“I suppose we’re going to have to go to their rescue,” Joshua muttered sourly. Aventius shushed him and darted a sideways glance at me to judge my reaction.
Geordie had taken an instant dislike to the newbie vamp and rounded on him before I could threaten Joshua with death again. “I suppose you want to let a bunch of starving, freshly made vampires kill as many people as possible and do nothing to stop it?” Joshua opened his mouth to retaliate then wisely shut it again at my warning glare. Sometimes a single look could have more impact than a thousand verbal threats.
A small convoy of covered trucks had pulled up behind Sanderson’s jeep. “We’d better move fast and try to contain them before they begin to spread out too far,” I said to the colonel then climbed into the back of his jeep. Luc and Geordie joined me while Igor and Gregor headed for the truck behind us.
“We’re going to stop a couple of miles away from where the last call was made and send you and your people in first,” Sanderson explained as his driver took off. “My men and I will stay with the trucks while your team eradicates the fledglings. I don’t want to lose any mor
e troops if I can help it.” His grief at already losing hundreds of soldiers was still fresh.
It was a sensible plan and I nodded my willingness to go along with it. Luc had tucked his gun between his feet with the barrel pointing upwards. After seeing the damage they could cause, we were all being very careful with the weapons. Geordie had handed his crossbow back to Igor. It would be of little use against beings that were incredibly fast and hungry for blood. My swords were a comforting weight on my back. The guns were effective but my twin swords were even better. I could slice and dice my way through a crowd of fledglings much more quickly than I could blow them up. I could always use my holy marks to rend them to pieces but that probably wasn’t going to be necessary this time. We should have enough warriors and firepower to take down a small pack of fledglings.
We sped through the night, closing in on the team of American soldiers that were in trouble. Sanderson’s chauffeur slowed at his signal and came to a stop. My head snapped to the side when I heard distant gunfire. Maybe they aren’t all dead yet after all. If some of the soldiers were still alive, then maybe the fledglings hadn’t scattered to the winds yet. Without a master to guide them, they could head in any direction. Hunting them down would prove to be very difficult and would take up far too much of our time. This was all part of the Second’s plan to slow us down and stop us from chasing after him.
Soldiers swarmed out of the back of one of the trucks and handed over weapons and ammunition to those who had handed them back before leaving the sewers. Geordie took a small cloth bag that held a couple of dozen explosives. Well aware of how easy they were to detonate, he handled the bag gingerly.
I declined one of the guns, having already decided to use my swords. Most of the Europeans took either one of the prototypes or a handful of small explosives. Ishida and his people stuck to their traditional weapons of choice, swords and crossbows for the most part.