Cloak Games_Blood Cast

by Jonathan Moeller

  “Unless,” said Murdo, voice quiet, “you want to try to kill Lorenz right here and now.”

  I hesitated. It was a tempting idea, and it would solve all our immediate problems. I knew I could take Lorenz in a straight fight, and I could probably wipe out all his men and monsters as well. Especially if I had Murdo to back me up, whether with his magic or his excellent skills as a marksman.

  And yet…

  I didn’t know the abilities of Lorenz’s necromancer buddy, Vastarion or whoever he was. I also didn’t know how many undead creatures Vastarion had created, and if they were anything like the undead I had fought in the ruins of Chicago, they would be tough and fast and strong. For that matter, I didn’t want to face Lorenz in a fair fight. A fight was always a roll of the dice. I would prefer to shoot him in the back from behind a Cloak spell when he thought himself safe, not walk up and challenge him to a duel of magic.

  I started to draw breath to ask Murdo what we should do, and then a deep voice with a Mexican accent boomed over the street and the yard.

  “Nadia Moran!”

  I glimpsed Lorenz standing behind a row of anthrophages. I also saw the necromancer next to him.

  “It seems we have reached an impasse,” came Lorenz’s voice. “I suggest that we meet and discuss our differences. Surely we can reach a compromise that will not cause any bloodshed.”

  “Bullshit,” I muttered.

  “I agree,” said Murdo, still calm. “Either he thinks to get something out of the meeting, or he’s stalling until something else can happen.”

  “We can play that game, too,” I said. “Run inside and tell the others to start getting in the van and the SUV. We’ll have better odds if we take two vehicles. I’ll start shouting at Lorenz and arguing about conditions. Hopefully, that will slow him down long enough that we can get everyone loaded.”

  Murdo nodded and hurried back towards the warehouse.

  “Lorenz!” I shouted. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Why, Miss Stoker!” he called back. “Or should I say, Miss Moran? I think you lied to our leader about your name.”

  “No, I mean why the hell are you asking for a meeting?” I said. “You know how this is going to end. The last thing you’re ever going to see is a fireball exploding into your forehead.”

  “Are you entirely certain of that?” said Lorenz. “Do you really want to take that risk?” A mocking note entered his shout. “After all, Miss Moran, you might kill me, but would the victory really be worth it if poor little Russell was killed in the fight? You’ve spent your entire life trying to save him, haven’t you? Wouldn’t it be tragic if he was killed now?”

  “Hey, dumbass!” I said. “You realize threatening him isn’t likely to make me agree to anything?”

  Murdo returned from the warehouse and jogged to my side.

  “But I think we can solve our mutual problems without any threats,” said Lorenz. “Come meet me at the gate to your warehouse. I’ll bring one other person, and you can as well. Probably Murdo, if he’s still following you around like the dumb dog that he is.”

  I glanced at Murdo.

  He shrugged. “I gave my SUV keys to Captain Ross. He and your brother will be able to get both of the vehicles ready to go while we distract Lorenz.”

  “Fine,” I said. “Let’s go talk to Lorenz.”

  I took a deep breath, flexing my fingers as I gathered magic and cleared my mind.

  “Lorenz!” I shouted. “We’re coming out to talk to you. I promise I won’t attack you during the meeting, and once we’re done talking, I’ll give you one minute to get back to your goons. Agree?”

  “A most reasonable arrangement,” said Lorenz. “I look forward to a productive discussion.”

  I looked at Murdo.

  “Do you want to just walk up and shoot him?” said Murdo.

  I did. I really, really did.

  “No,” I said. “I promised I wouldn’t attack Lorenz unless he attacks first.”

  “He wouldn’t keep a promise to you,” said Murdo.

  “Yeah.” I rolled my shoulders. “But the longer we delay, the longer Robert and Russell have to get everyone into the vehicles.” I took one more deep breath. “And if Lorenz wants to finish things now…well, I’m game. Ready?”

  Murdo nodded, and together we walked to the warehouse gate. I held my magic ready to strike, prepared to cast an ice wall spell before us if Lorenz’s pet anthrophages or orcs opened fire. I could have Shielded myself with the spell that Vander had taught me, but I couldn’t Shield Murdo, and the ice wall would stop bullets just fine.

  We stopped at the edge of the sidewalk. Lorenz’s white vans had lined up on the far curb, and the orcs and the anthrophages waited, AK-47s in hand. The anthrophages hissed and snarled as they saw me, black tongues lashing over their fangs, their yellow eyes glittering with hate. The orcs remained impassive, glaring over their tusks. I grinned my mirthless grin at them and waited.

  Victor Lorenz and the tall Elf in the trench coat emerged from the orcs and walked towards us, stopping about twenty feet away in the middle of the street. I stared at them, watching them for any sign of treachery or violence. Lorenz was tall and strong and handsome, with flashing dark eyes. He had shaved off his close-cropped beard and cut his hair short, probably to cut down on the risk from anyone recognizing him from the Royal Bank, and it made him look sleek and dangerous. Lorenz wore combat fatigues, grenades hanging from his harness and an AK-47 slung over his back.

  Rebel chic, I suppose.

  The Elf…I had thought before that there was something wrong with the Elf, and the impression was all the stronger up close. A strange smell rolled off him, a mixture of chlorine, formaldehyde, and rotten meat. He smelled like a funeral home that didn’t quite manage to cover up the odor of the preparation room. There were odd stains on his red sweatshirt that looked like grease, like he had dropped a pork chop on himself or something. His alien features were pale and gaunt, and rings glittered in his nose, lip, and ears. Elven women wore earrings, but I had never seen an Elven man wear one, and I had never seen an Elf with a pierced nose or mouth. Black wrap-around sunglasses hid his eyes, and oddly-shaped black tattoos marked both sides of his face.

  We stared at each other in silence. Lorenz only smirked. The Elf looked bored.

  “So,” I said at last. “Your Elf buddy.” The necromancer stirred. “Is that the famous Vastarion?”

  The Elf looked at Lorenz, annoyed. “How does the human female know who I am?” His voice was thick and wet.

  “You’re very well known in certain circles,” I said. “Why are you hanging around with this loser?”

  Vastarion’s sunglasses turned in my direction. There was something wrong with the sunglasses, too. I could see my reflection in the lenses, but it was twisted and distorted.

  “Humans are monkeys,” hissed Vastarion. “But dumber. If one monkey wants to hire me to kill another monkey, well, there are worse ways to make money.”

  “That sounds like the sort of thing a myothar would say,” I said. Vastarion stiffened. “Looks like you learned well from them. Hey, when you were studying necrophilia from them…”

  “Necromancy,” snapped Vastarion.

  “There’s a difference?” I said. “When you were studying necromancy under the myothar…well, just where did they put their tentacles? I mean…”

  That did it.

  Vastarion snarled and stepped forward, green light flaring around his hand. Lorenz grabbed his shoulder, and Vastarion turned to glare at him.

  “Miss Stoker,” said Lorenz, his voice calm, “has a great gift for irritating her foes into doing something stupid. I hope a man of your age and experience would see that.”

  Vastarion snarled and stepped back, still glaring at me. “You said her name is Moran.”

  “Oh, it is,” said Lorenz with a smile, though he took a prudent step back from Vastarion. “I know all about her. Her name is Nadia Moran. She’s the shadow agent of Lord K
aethran Morvilind,” Vastarion scowled at that, “and her only living relative is her brother Russell. Poor Russell, alas, acquired frostfever, and should have died years ago. But in exchange for Miss Moran’s devoted service, Lord Morvilind casts the cure spells that Russell needs to stay alive.”

  His words chilled me. Lorenz had indeed done his homework. I wondered how the hell he had found out so much about me. I had been so careful about my real identity, but a single mistake could have ruined all those preparations, and Lorenz was smart enough to exploit even the tiniest mistake.

  “Might not be smart to come after Kaethran Morvilind’s shadow agent,” said Murdo. “He’s vengeful.”

  Vastarion scoffed. “He’s also practical. If we kill his shadow agent, he’ll simply train another.”

  “You see, Miss Moran, we know everything thing important about you,” said Lorenz. “We know ‘Katrina Stoker’ was an alias, and we can find your brother whenever we want. I think it would be best for you and Mr. Moran to accompany us. I’m sure Nicholas will be delighted to meet your brother, and…”

  I burst out laughing. Lorenz blinked. Vastarion kept scowling.

  “Vicky,” I said, “you’re an idiot.”

  The skin around his eyes tightened. He really didn’t like it when I called him Vicky.

  “And how is that?” said Lorenz.

  “Because no matter what happens next,” I said, “you’re dead. No matter how this ends, you’re screwed.”

  He smiled his brilliant white smile at me. “Do explain, Miss Moran.”

  “Nicholas doesn’t know about this little excursion, does he?” I said.

  “Nicholas Connor is the Overseer and supreme commander of the Revolution,” said Lorenz. “I don’t trouble him with every piddling little problem.”

  “Let me guess,” I said. “You figured out who I really was, and you had the bright idea that you could secure my cooperation by taking a relative captive. It’s one of the Rebels’ favorite tricks. You thought you would roll into Milwaukee, grab Russell, open a rift way back to Venomhold, and that would be that.” I decided to tell a lie. “I realized what you were doing, and so we showed up to stop you. And that was your last bit of luck, Vicky. I didn’t expect you to show up with so many goons and a pet necromancer. I was planning to kill you then and there, but instead, I settled for getting away.”

  Lorenz offered a thin smile. “I don’t think you’re that lucky.”

  “You had a good plan,” I said. “But it all went bad, didn’t it? And now no matter what happens next, you’re dead. If we fight, I’m going to kill you. If you run, I’m going to talk to Nicholas, and the first thing I tell him is that one of his flunkies violated his orders and tried to kill me. He’ll kill you for threatening the Forerunner’s deal.”

  “Don’t be absurd,” said Lorenz. “You see, Nicholas cares about results. Not methods. Nicholas thinks he can control you, and he also thinks that he can kill you once your deal is done. I have grave doubts. And if I present him with the perfect lever for controlling you, he won’t care very much how I got it for him.”

  “Yeah,” I said, “but you don’t have Russell, do you? And if you try to get him, we’re going to fight. And if we fight, you’re going to die. And if we get away, you’re going to die when Nicholas finds out you’ve gone rogue.”

  “Do you really want to fight Vastarion?” said Lorenz, smirking.

  “I don’t think Vastarion will care once you’re dead,” I said. Vastarion said nothing.

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” said Lorenz. “I need Russell alive. The rest of the patients in that clinic…I don’t care what happens to them.”

  I looked back at Vastarion. The necromancer’s thin lips twisted into a smile that made his Elven features seem even more alien.

  “Humans make for robust and reliable undead,” said Vastarion. “The infants provide a powerful font of life energy to empower my magic.”

  He wanted to feed on Alexandra’s baby to increase his power.

  “That would be a serious mistake,” I said in a quiet voice. “The last one you’d ever make, buddy.”

  Vastarion sneered. “A bitch monkey cannot threaten me.”

  I grinned my mirthless grin at him. “But I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to your employer.” I looked back at Lorenz. “And no matter how this ends, you’re going to die. You threatened my brother, and I’m not going to forgive that. So. What’s your counteroffer?”

  Lorenz’s smirk widened. “You still haven’t bedded her, Murdo? A woman this irritable needs a man on top of her, and she needs it good and hard. What’s the matter? Did the little hellcat scare you off? Or you’re not up to the job, is that it?” He gave a theatrical sigh. “I suppose I could fill in if I had to…”

  Murdo gave absolutely no reaction to his insults. “You haven’t answered her question, Lorenz.”

  Lorenz laughed, his teeth flashing white in his face. “I’ll answer with a question of my own. Let’s say you actually do manage to kill me, Miss Moran. A long shot, yes, but things can happen. What will you do after?”

  “What do you care?” I said. “You’ll be dead.”

  Lorenz shrugged. “Indulge me. What will you do next? Or is that too specific? What will you do when Nicholas calls you up for your third and final mission for him?”

  “I’ll fulfill the deal,” I said.

  “And then?” said Lorenz.

  I glared at him. “And then I’m going to kill Nicholas Connor.”

  “So sure of that?” said Lorenz.

  “Entirely,” I said.

  “See, I’m not,” said Lorenz. “I’m not at all. Nicholas is going to kill you once he’s done with you. And then he’s going to win.”

  My smile bared teeth as I threw back his own words at him. “So sure of that?”

  His smile was wide and warm, and none of it touched his eyes. “Can I confess something to you, Miss Moran?”

  “I really wish you wouldn’t,” I said, “but why the hell would that stop you?”

  Lorenz grinned and leaned closer. Murdo shifted, his fingers tightening around the grip of his gun.

  “I don’t give a damn about Connor’s Revolution,” said Lorenz.

  Vastarion snorted, once.

  “Really,” I said.

  “Connor likes to talk about politics,” said Lorenz. “He reads all these dusty old Marxist philosophers who have been dead since before the Conquest. He talks about how humans are the oppressed class and Elves are the oppressor class, and how we’re going to wipe out the Elves and all the collaborationist humans. Connor’s also got these grand plans for what we’re going to do once the Elves are defeated. He wants to build a classless society – no more rich, no more poor, no more religions, with all mankind learning to wield magic.”

  “With himself in charge, of course,” I said.

  “Of course,” said Lorenz. “I’m sure we can both agree that Connor is something of an idealist.” He laughed. “But you and I, we both know better, don’t we? Connor talks a big game about equality, but someone always winds up on top. Some people get eaten, and some people do the eating. And that’s why I’m with the Revolution.”

  “Really?” I said. “I thought you were with the Revolution because you forced yourself on some underage actresses and needed to run from the Mexican police.”

  “Oh, please. What they really wanted was more lines in front of the camera. They certainly enjoyed themselves at the time,” said Lorenz. “The bitches only changed their minds once they decided to extort money from me.”

  Ugh. I wondered if I could shoot a fireball through his head before Vastarion could stop me. Probably not.

  “But that’s not the point,” said Lorenz. “I took shelter with first the Dark One cultists and then the Rebels because I didn’t want to end up on a Punishment Day video. But why do you think I stayed loyal to Connor? I don’t care about his Revolution or his politics. If I handed him and his crew over to the Inquisition, I could
probably trade that for a pardon, and return home to Mexico as a hero.”

  “Then why don’t you do that?” I said. “Or are you afraid Nicky will shoot you in the head like he did to Vass?”

  “Well, there is that,” said Lorenz. “Nicholas Connor is not a man to cross lightly. And that’s the reason I don’t betray him. He’s going to win.”

  “Sure he is,” I said.

  His smile faded. “I’m not joking, Miss Moran. This isn’t bravado, this isn’t boasting. It’s just the facts. I know what Connor’s plan is, and I know that he’s going to win. All the things he talks about, the Revolution and overthrowing the High Queen? He’s going to do them. He’s going to do them before the year is out. By this time next summer, Nicholas Connor is going to be the ruler of Earth.”

  “Bullshit,” I said.

  “It’s not a bluff,” said Lorenz. “It’s just the truth. I look out for myself. If I thought I could get a better deal by betraying Connor, I would. I’ve even told him that. But that would be slitting my own throat. Connor’s going to win.”

  “The High Queen is going to fall,” said Vastarion. “The Knight of Venomhold knows it. The Archons know it. Both have made plans to deal with her defeat in the coming year. Even the frost giants and the dwarves and the myothar know that her defeat is imminent. All that remains is to decide where the human monkeys shall serve in the new order.”

  “You see, Miss Moran?” said Lorenz. “In a way, whatever we do today doesn’t matter at all. If you fight, you might win. You might kill me. You might even kill poor Vastarion here.” The necromancer’s snort made his opinion of that clear. “But no matter what you do, Connor’s going to win. You won’t be able to kill him, and you can’t stop him. He’s going to overthrow the High Queen and conquer Earth…and once he does, what are you going to do then?”

  “What’s your point?” I said.

  “You and your brother should come with me voluntarily,” said Lorenz.

  I snorted. “Right.”

  “Because if you come with me now,” said Lorenz, “Connor will find a role for you in the new government. He admires you greatly.” Lorenz shrugged. “I hate your guts, truth be told. Mouthy bitches like you need a lesson in respect…but you’re dangerous. Almost as dangerous as Connor himself.”