by P. S. Power
No one loved Swerlin that much. Or hated him, most likely. Yes, she’d pinned him to a wall, but other than being a bit of a pain it wasn’t like he was a horrible person. Just inconvenient to her, personally.
To a lot of Vampires, actually.
Bey moved back to speaking in Russian, but had to break that after a few minutes so that she could actually understand him. She’d only been working on it for a few hours, and wasn’t some kind of super linguist. Then, you didn’t really have to be, did you? If you learned the languages and practiced them often enough, then you had them. It didn’t matter if it took three years to learn, or two weeks. Not once it was part of your skill set.
Apparently though, they had instructions, ones that had come over the phone when she wasn’t listening, even if they were different than she would have thought.
“I was asked to see about a minor issue in Georgia. The place of the peaches, here, not the other one in Europe. It seems that someone has been parenting large amounts of new Vampires. That can be a prelude to war, a distraction or at times simply one of us feeling the need to have a large family. The issue then is if they can control that many at once. The answer is, in the main, no. So we must needs travel there this night, and then locate first the new Vampires, and then their maker. What we do about that will depend on the situation, but most likely we will be forced to destroy them all. Coddling the young rarely works, for our kind.” He glanced at her, but didn’t explain any more.
She knew what he was getting at.
“Yeah, we need to get that pre-Vamp training thing going soon. It’s a shame that we’ll probably have to kill these, but I get it. Edom told me that he’d planned to take off work for over a year, just to deal with me. That wasn’t needed, because of the work I’d put in already, but… He’s good, and careful. Clever enough to farm out part of his work with me to you, and Lenore, which was, you have to admit, brilliant of him. What would someone do with ten killer kids around though suddenly? We pretty much have to stop that.”
There was a sad smile, “indeed, young Eve. Now we have to but await the setting of the sun, so that the torture we feel will subside. Then we may go? Unless you have another plan?”
She glanced down at the book in her hand.
“If I can get a bag for this, I think we can go in just at sunset? Or, really just before. Then we can hit things before everyone knows that we’re there?”
That got three very precise claps.
“Ah! Again you impress me, Eve. We shall race into the agony then, and take our prey by surprise, as you suggest. I must say, it’s most fun, working with you. Most Vampires are… Rather over careful when it comes to avoiding what is needed.”
She hoped that was the case.
It would make it easier for her to get ahead, if everyone else was kind of wimpy.
Chapter twelve
They traveled in the dim twilight, pain ripping at them both the whole time. Bey didn’t respond to it in the slightest, and pushed for Eve to go even faster than they’d made the first cross country trip. It sucked. The whole freaking time.
Worse than anything that she’d ever felt, actually. It wasn’t some kind of small thing either. Even fighting the pain back more than she’d managed before, it was horrible. The remains of the day ate at her too, so she wasn’t going any faster than before. The sense was about the same, speed wise. It just felt worse.
When they stopped she didn’t scream though, and she was able to fake being all right as they walked into a rather nice building. It was at least twenty stories high, and in Atlanta. That, and the fact that they hadn’t cheaped out on the decorations, was all she knew about it. It was lovely though. Inside the front door, which didn’t have a doorman or anything like that, the place was made of stone. Glossy marble, polished and cool looking. A lot of white and light blue. Almost like a courthouse, at least to her mind.
There were stairs and an elevator, but since she didn’t know where they were going, or what was waiting for them when they got there, she decided not to go up in a tiny box. It wasn’t a fear of small spaces or anything, just that it would be a lot easier to trap them in one of those things. If there was going to be an attack. She waved at the stairs, over to the left, toward the back.
“Which floor?” She was kind of proud that this was just spoken, and that there was no screaming involved. It was closer than she would have liked, and she did sound tense, but that none of the other beings in the area…
She looked around, then shook her head.
They were all Human. Every single person there. She’d thought that it was an embassy, but this section of it was filled with regular people. The old, and young, and all ages in between. Not that young, starting at about sixteen or so, which was a boy that was cleaning something from the floor across the space. No one seemed to be armed though, except for the two men back behind a counter that said security. That seemed pretty reasonable to her.
Bey saw her looking and moved toward the stairs before speaking.
“There are listeners here. I believe we want the seventh floor? It will be to the right, if I was instructed correctly.”
She didn’t ask all the questions she had, just following the other man, his black suit looking fine, even after all their travel. It would wear out eventually, just from the repeated friction of movement and rubbing. Her outfit would do the same. The air inside was nice and cool, and it hadn’t been that warm outside, but it had been cool back in D.C. when they’d left. Raining even. She was still damp from it, to tell the truth. That probably meant they hadn’t taken forever to get from point A to B.
She turned occasionally, so that she could see if anyone was trying to sneak up on them. Listening hard too. The place was filled with heartbeats, and movement. There were a million scents, too. There were three people in the building, above them though she couldn’t tell how high they were, that were all having sex. Someone, a man, was on the second or third floor, and hitting the walls in anger. Over a report, she thought, though it was hard to tell from his muttering.
People were passing gas constantly too, belching, farting, and in one case doing both at once. It was gross, but natural, and even interesting, though she set that aside pretty quickly. Most of the people seemed to speak every few minutes, that or make some other little noise. When she focused on it, the click of fingers on keyboards became nearly deafening for a bit.
In the end she had to pay attention only to the stairwell, until they got to the correct door. The one to the seventh floor. Inside it was very rich looking too, but had carpet, fine art on the wall, and sculptures all over the place. The big kind that claimed to be modern art. They were interesting, but she’d always wondered if they were also a bit of a scam. How hard was it to make loopy bits of shiny metal?
Then it occurred to her that she didn’t know how to do it, so maybe it was a bigger deal than she’d always thought?
It wasn’t too hard to find the office they wanted. After all, it was the only place with a dead person in it. She moved as silently as possible, since Bey was. When they got to the door though, he plastered a cold looking smile on his face, and knocked, three times. Politely, since he did nearly everything that way. The sense of a dead man came at the door slowly. At normal Human speeds at any rate. When the brown and solid wood was opened, he seemed surprised, as if he’d been expecting someone else. At least people that weren’t like he was.
Part of that, she knew, was why her head was buzzing, horribly. He was a tall fellow too, which let her pick out what was going on, most likely. He was Manthori, for all that he looked like a regular enough person at the moment. His skin wasn’t tan though, it was bone white… His eye weren’t brown, they were blood red. In short she was being compelled. Probably just to see him the way he appeared however, so she didn’t slap him down instantly. Bey didn’t either, just bowing a bit.
“We’ve come to aid you in the situation that was reported to the Council? Perhaps, if it is no trouble, we could c
ome in?”
The man smiled, and she saw a flash of fangs. Rows of them, almost splitting his face. The image tried to twist in her head, and turn the expanse of white flat and even, rather than the way they truly were. Eve nearly started fighting anyway, but held on, and focused on the feeling in her head. It was a buzzing, but what would happen if she changed the tone of it? Concentrating, even as the man moved back, and she shut the door for them, she pushed the feeling into being something faster. It didn’t cause the man to change instantly, but after a moment he seemed to… Melt, a bit. His face turned white, like it should have been, and after a second, the buzzing still there, the man was a Manthori in truth.
Bey glanced at her, and then smiled.
“This is Eve Benson. I am Bey. You are Donald Moorehand?”
The man nodded, and seemed ready to crap himself. Eve could see that, being suddenly hit with a big bad Bey like he was but the words were different.
“You grabbed the compulsion from me? That’s… I guess it’s to be expected of The Bey. Please, come this way.”
Bey smiled, “ah! No, that was done by Miss Benson. She will be in charge of the situation here, acting for the Council directly. I am here merely to advise, and to instruct, if we have time.”
That was news to her, but Eve nodded, and played along. If Bey was running a scam, that was the right thing to do. If she was just going to be thrown in the water and told to swim, well, that could be done, too. She didn’t know how to do most things, as far as investigations like this went though, so hopefully that instruction would be more than just him making snarky comments about how badly she was screwing up.
Stepping forward, she stuck her right hand out. It was a risk, with a Manthori. He wouldn’t be stronger than she was, not by nature, but he might be a lot more telepathic or have the ability to redouble his compulsion. She held the buzzing to her own pattern though, and hoped he couldn’t easily add a second layer to it.
“What can you tell us about the new kids? Start from when you first noticed something was up. We can go from there.”
It wasn’t all that complex, though she did notice that the man spoke well, and was pretty good looking for a Manthori man. Some of the women could manage exotic pretty well, but on guys it just seemed off, as often as not. This one, Donald, had been just heavy enough in life to stretch upward into a decent looking man. If too pale, red eyed and with a row of fangs that would give a dentist nightmares for years.
It worked for him though.
His voice was soft, and slightly slurred, but nothing too bad. As she watched him, concentrating as well as she could, she sort of willed him to just tell her the truth. There was no reason not to, but she didn’t really want to bother with a goose chase, if it wasn’t needed.
The man sighed, and then shook his head.
“I was actually hired to get you both to come down here. I don’t know who set it up though. Someone with a lot of money. I asked for ten million, and whoever it was didn’t even blink to transfer the funds. I guess I’ll have to give it back now, since I was supposed to keep you both running around for as long as possible. I don’t guess that will be happening now. You know, it’s a rare being that can trap a Manthori like this. Probably why you work for the Council directly?” It came out almost conversationally, and Bey started asking pleasant questions.
Mainly trying to find out if there was really anything going on at all, and if there wasn’t who might be behind trying to mess with them like that.
Her bet was either Gene, or one of the Greater Demons. They were all rich enough to spend that kind of money just to mess with them. It could also be a lot of other people she knew though. Someone after Bey, for instance? That didn’t seem to be the case though. Not in any kind of lethal way. Who would send them on a trip like that though?
She thought about it, as they headed back to Vancouver. They’d left Donald alive, but with broken arms and legs. Bey had suggested it, since he’d betrayed them of his own free will.
On the way back he got her to stop in some random town. It was dark out, but there were people on the streets. It was a small place though. Enough so that she didn’t bother trying to get the name, which was probably a mistake if she wanted to travel a lot. It could be important to know things like that. How to find different places for instance.
Bey took a deep breath, and spoke as if they hadn’t just been in vast agony.
“We should work out who has done this thing. One of the Council?”
She shrugged.
“Would they really need to? Couldn’t they just have ordered us to come down here? This is probably someone that wants you out of the way. That would be my best guess anyway. I wonder why though? Have you been sleeping with anyone’s wife?”
That got a strange stillness to come across her friend, almost like he was offended by what she’d said. He shook his head slowly, but then furrowed his brow. Perfectly, like a real person.
“I have not, but I have been keeping company with Jasmine.” He stopped, and looked at her closely, as if she were supposed to recognize the name. “Maggie Sims? I did mention that she has changed her name and appearance greatly over the years. We have… Grown close, over the months you were away.”
Eve sighed and shook her head a bit.
“See, I knew I should have gotten you into the shower with me that one time. Well, at least she’s cool. Nice, you know? So… Who would that leave? Her ex-boyfriend, Fred… Um, Wilkes?”
Bey seemed to think that wasn’t a real thing, which it probably wasn’t.
Eve connected a few dots though, and tried to furrow her own brow. It kind of worked, she thought.
“Or Marcus Aralias? I was supposed to be watching him, but he has that kind of money, and… Well, if that was his deal, getting the competition out of the way, then he’d need more time than a few weeks.” Like a lot more time. He was still too chubby, as far as she knew, and while he’d tried to compel Maggie once, and had actually managed it, he’d been forced to do that.
That probably meant he wasn’t that big of a creep, even though he’d clearly taken advantage of the situation, once he’d had the woman under his power. That was hardly all that new of a phenomenon though. A lot of people abused those that they had under their power. In fact, that was so true that it was virtually certain to take place, unless a person was very good, or had a different idea about how to control people. Then it might not be about sex.
“I can’t see that as being too likely, but if I see him, I’ll ask? I need to get in touch with some of my contacts too. If this is a Greater Demon, and what are the odds that it really isn’t? If that’s the case though, then… Really, I don’t think there’s a lot we can do about it. Which one would be doing something like this though? Putting everyone in front of the world is… Well, it won’t hurt them at all. If any group can pass, they can. It probably only increases their chance to do business, really. To get willing slaves and all that?”
Bey just started walking again, doing it at a speed level that made everything in her burn to try and keep up. Then he pushed on, going faster, losing her nearly, as they crossed several state lines. She pushed into it, and nearly wished she had the shoes that Darla had made her on. Not that she needed them anymore. Except for while she was practicing. It was, in the end, only pain. She went with the feeling, and made herself increase until she very nearly couldn’t see anymore. That let her get into the mall just in time to find Bey speaking to Edom behind the counter. There was no way that she was going to be able to talk for a bit, at least a minute, while the pain faded. That meant she had time to listen though and managed a small wave to her maker.
Bey spoke firmly however.
“We, Miss Benson and I, were sent into Georgia, to the city of Atlanta, on what turned out to be a false trail. On purpose. That Ambassador there, the Manthori, Donald Moorehand, was compelled by Eve, and forced to tell the truth to us, which shortened our time there greatly. Now, we need to find out who set this wh
ole thing up, and more importantly, what they were attempting to keep us from? If anything at all. I would like for the entire community to be brought out for this one. Those old enough to care for themselves. Can that be arranged? For tomorrow evening, perhaps?”
Eve winced, but didn’t say anything. After all, that seemed incredibly slow to her, but she was a girl of the modern world, and expected everything to be done right that moment. The truth of the matter was that anyone might be behind it. She just didn’t have any clue why.
Hence Bey trying to get access to all the resources he could. She walked around the counter, hugged Ed and then picked up the phone, taking a breath before she dialed. There was no yelling about it, so it was all good that way.
Instead of contacting Keeley, who she was pretty certain had at least set her up for six months of boring laying around, she dialed the number for her oldest Greater Demon friend.
Darla. The Technician.
It picked up on the first ring.
“Hello?”
“Darla! I was wondering if you were busy tonight? I need to talk, and we could have a slumber party, like we used to. Only with just two of us, which will be cozier?”
There was a faked up purr from the handset, “oooh? How cozy are we talking?”
Eve chuckled, and shook her head.
“Probably not that cozy. I mean, if you want we could see about doing some things, but it does nothing for me anymore. It’s kind of sad, really. So, not to invite myself over, but… Well, I don’t own my own place here, so, you get the picture. It would be wrong to threaten to dress Edom up in a teddy. Hot, but really uncomfortable for him.”
“A real point… Let me see, I have some work to do, and it’s about what, just before seven? I could be ready by eight?”