House of Cards

by Waters, Ilana

  “No, that won’t be necessary, Fido. Not tonight, anyway.”

  “Fido? Good lord, I’ve created a monster. At least don’t chain me outside in a doghouse in this weather, if you please.”

  “Don’t be bad, and I’ll have no reason to punish you.” This was fun, she thought. Almost like a normal human relationship. She finished the champagne and set the glass down.

  Would that change if he turned her into a vampire? Did vampires flirt with each other? Peter and Adrian seemed to. Maybe if Lucas and she were a couple, he’d be happy like this all the time. It would take his mind off—

  Killing. He’d still have to kill. And so would she, because of the Master’s relentless need for control.

  Sherry tried to shake the thought from her head. “It’s time for your reading,” she said in a businesslike manner, sitting on the floor beside the footstool. She knew how Lucas hated to have his future told in front of the others, and for some indulgent reason, the Master didn’t force him to. She placed the cards in his lap, watching as he shuffled them. It never failed to amaze her, how graceful he was. As usual, he picked the top three cards and waited for her interpretation.

  “Hmmm . . . Two of Cups. Signifying the beginning of an exciting relationship.” She looked up at him, and they both smiled.

  “Next card . . . huh. Five of Wands. Petty struggles, power plays. A great deal of fighting for little gain. That’s strange.”

  And there it was again, just as it had been in her own recent readings, the ones she never shared with the group. It stared up at her with its evil, perverse grin.

  The Devil.

  “Well, that can’t be good,” Lucas said quietly.

  “It’s nothing.” Sherry picked up the cards quickly and put them back in their box. She snapped the lid shut a little too hard. “Sometimes the cards are wrong. It may just mean . . . oh, I don’t know. A minor annoyance or something.”

  But Sherry knew the Devil symbolized more than that. It was an evil presence—either of one’s own making, or kept alive by outside forces. A vicious, malevolent figure whose only joy was causing others pain. She tried not to think about it as she stole a last look at the gorgeous flowers, then left to accompany Lucas to the Great Hall for the next group reading.

  “Ah, I see the evening’s entertainment is here.” The Master’s eyes sparkled with dark delight as the elder vampire sat down beside her in an easy, familiar fashion. It was one that made Sherry wildly anxious and uncomfortable. She could feel her palms start to go clammy.

  “So, my dear, how are you enjoying the city?” inquired the Master, sidling up a little too closely. Sherry didn’t know which she was more afraid of—having his fangs a hair’s-breadth away from her throat, or to risk seeming rude and angering him by inching away. In the end, she decided to be brave and stay where she was.

  “From what I understand about living in France,” he continued, “and in Paris especially, mortals take special enjoyment in the cuisine. They enjoy it, savor it. They let the exquisite tastes linger on their tongues . . .” His eyes seemed to linger over her body as he spoke.

  “Yes, that’s true,” she said with a forced smile. “It’s different in the States. We always eat in such a hurry, there’s barely a moment to enjoy anything.”

  “How fortunate, then, that you are here in our fair city!” He lowered his voice just enough to turn her blood to ice. “How fortunate you’ve come to stay with us. For now . . .”

  “We’re all assembled, my lord,” called Gavin from the far end of the table. Sure enough, when Sherry managed to tear her eyes away from the Master, all the other vampires (with the typical exception of Vasha) were seated and ready to begin. On her right-hand side sat Lucas, who gave an encouraging smile. Clara waved her hand delicately in greeting.

  “Right, then.” Sherry cleared her throat and opened her card box. “Who’s first?”

  ***

  After all the other readings had been done, the only questioners left were the Master and Thomas. “After you, Sire,” smiled Thomas. His face reminded Sherry of oil puddles she saw when accompanying her father to the auto mechanic’s.

  Almost invisibly, the Master drew the cards from where Gavin had been holding them last. For the hundredth time that night, Sherry wished the leader was not sitting so close to her.

  She turned over his cards and momentarily closed her eyes. The same three. Always the same three.

  “I’m afraid there’s nothing new here, Sir,” she said apologetically. “The Tower, the Seven of Swords, and the Five of Pentacles. Perhaps if we—”

  “Perhaps if we set those cards aside,” the Master interrupted with a smile, never taking his eyes off hers, “we might achieve a different outcome. May I choose another triad?”

  “Sure. Go ahead,” Sherry replied, a little too cheerfully.

  He did, and Sherry turned the cards over.

  The Chariot, the Queen of Swords, and Judgment. Jesus.

  “Well, these are new.” The Master seemed pleased. “Pray tell, what is their meaning for me?”

  “Well, several of these cards we’ve seen before,” Sherry replied hesitantly. Although she meant they’d come up in other readings for the group, the Master could not have known she’d seen them before in regard to both herself and Lucas. She certainly wasn’t going to tell him.

  “The Chariot indicates a struggle. It could be emotional, the battle between two minds, or two different parts of the self. Or it might mean a physical fight, possibly very violent.”

  She briefly explained the Queen of Swords and Judgment. The Master seemed satisfied with the explanation, and allowed Thomas to draw his three cards.

  “The Five of Wands,” Sherry began. “Petty struggles, power plays, tussles—”

  A short burst of laughter erupted from Thomas. A few chairs down, Sherry saw Gavin smiling, shaking his head from side to side. Clara rolled her eyes.

  “Thomas enjoys a good tussle now and again, don’t you, Thomas?” the mathematician said, causing another fit of laughter from both.

  Sherry looked to the Master, but his eyes had a distant, far-off quality to them. She turned to Lucas, but he kept his eyes downcast on the table. She continued reading.

  “The Knight of Swords. A forceful young man, possibly very aggressive in fulfilling his desires—”

  Thomas and Gavin were now laughing even harder, sharing some kind of private joke.

  “And did you see her face—” chuckled Gavin.

  “You mean when I—” Thomas couldn’t finish on account of his laughter.

  Sherry had a disturbing feeling she knew where the conversation was going, although no one around her seemed to notice anything unusual. Lucas made a rapid revolving motion with his hand, indicating she should finish the reading and get it over with.

  She turned over the last card. It was the Devil.

  “The Devil,” she said, so quickly it didn’t even sound like English. “Cruelty, violence, sadism, possible sexual perversion—”

  The two vampires were laughing so raucously now that the table shook and the stone walls vibrated. Sherry couldn’t stand it anymore.

  “May I ask what’s so funny?”

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lucas put his hand to his face with a pained expression.

  “Oh, it’s nothing you’d understand, Sherry,” snickered Thomas.

  “Chaste little mortal, with never an impure thought in her head,” agreed Gavin.

  Sherry surprised herself with her own daring. “Try me.”

  “Thomas and I were just recounting a recent exploit—a romantic encounter, if you will.

  Well, it was really Thomas’s victory more than mine. I was just there for . . . moral support, as it were. You should tell the story, my friend,” he indicat
ed to Thomas.

  “Not one of my more epic conquests, it’s true, but a worthy one just the same. Recently, I made the acquaintance of a lovely girl, only a little younger than yourself, Sherry. She happened to come from a very religious family. Her parents prided themselves on the fact that their little daughter was quite innocent in the ways of the flesh, shall we say, and planned to have her remain so until she was married.”

  “Which should have been yesterday.” Gavin was unable to control yet another series of chortles.

  “Yes, yesterday. Whereas a week before her parents had assured her fiancé and his family, as per the requirements of their collective culture, that this girl would have as little carnal knowledge on her wedding night as she did the day she was born. Because if that weren’t the case, she would have been disgraced, the marriage called off, and her prospects for another forever eliminated. She would essentially have to resign herself to a life of spinsterhood and menial labor. Her parents would never consent to have her undergo any kind of schooling. Not after being so disrespectful to their moral teachings. But she needed a little training to break away from these parental shackles, as it were. A great deal, in fact. Why, if I’d been a mortal man, I might be exhausted from the effort expended in instructing her! The number of times she’d tried to claw my face off alone would have left me bleeding for a week. But, since I am immortal, it was fairly easy for me to ‘tutor’ her. And so, the night before her wedding I very considerately—”

  “Relieved her of the burden of her ignorance!” burst out Gavin.

  “Which prompted the newly-educated girl to take her own life, but I imagine that is the price of a good education. As it is, now her parents can forget the way she shamed them, and begin seeking a suitable husband for her younger sister. Oh, but I do hope they arrange it soon. She’s even younger and prettier than the first bride. I can’t wait to take charge of her schooling as well—even if it is only the one time!” The Great Hall shook again with the sound of Thomas and Gavin’s vicious howling.

  Sherry couldn’t take it anymore. She rose up in her antique chair so quickly she almost knocked it over.

  “That . . . is . . . DESPICABLE!” she screamed at them.

  Her voice had nowhere near the preternatural resonance of the vampires’, but it seemed effective. The laughter stopped immediately and suddenly, all eyes were on Sherry.

  “You disgusting bastards! How dare you! What a horrible thing to do. Haven’t you two any conscience at all? Any soul?”

  “Sherry—” Lucas started, but she waved him away. The Master was suddenly looking at her with a keen interest, but she ignored that as well.

  “Who in the hell do you think you are, that you can do these things to innocent people? That you can get away with it? That you are anything but a pair of small, hateful, psychopathic creeps who deserve to rot in hell for all eternity? Huh? Just who the fuck do you think you are?”

  Thomas was at her side before the last word exited her mouth. He was standing so close, towering over her, that she could see every pore in his marble-hard face. For a brief moment, she experienced the kind of terror she imagined his victims had felt. Especially the young girls, like that poor, poor bride-to-be.

  “Perhaps you are not the best of judge of morality, you meaningless little human,” he hissed. “Did you ever consider that? That a small-minded female such as yourself cannot comprehend the power and perfection inherent in my being?”

  Her bravery was close to suicidal now. She had no idea where it was coming from. “Perfection? Thomas, you are so cracked up that all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put you back together again. Not if they had a hundred years and access to the best glue factories in France.”

  Lucas moved so fast that she didn’t realize he’d broken Thomas’s raised right hand until she heard the sickening crack. The injury resulted in nothing more than an angry snarl from Thomas, as he grabbed her savior by the throat and held him face up against the table. His hand had already healed.

  “Children,” the Master chided, looking disapprovingly at both of them. “Haven’t we learned to play nicely after all these years?”

  Thomas made no motion to remove his fingers from around Lucas’s neck. It was unbearable to see her beloved’s feeble attempts to gasp for air. Apparently, despite their other myriad powers, vampires still needed to be able to breathe once in a while.

  Sherry had an idea. She willed herself to forget Lucas’s pain for a moment, and instead concentrated very, very hard on Thomas’s hand.

  “Master, he has no right protecting that inconsequential mortal from my entirely understandable outrage. Are we to permit mortals to insult us in our own house, now? Allow me to dispose of this useless girl—in my own fashion, of course.” He eyed her lecherously. “After Lucas apologizes for breaking my hand.”

  Thomas didn’t seem to notice that his grasp on the other vampire had loosened considerably. Lucas was now able to inhale with greater ease, although he was still struggling to pry Thomas’s fingers away from his neck. Sherry held her breath. Her telekinesis had never been this good. She’d never been able to control another person, and certainly not one as strong as a vampire.

  Her jubilation was short-lived, however. The Master was stroking his chin, and actually seemed to be considering Thomas’s suggestion.

  “Not a bad idea. Perhaps she has served her purpose here. Besides, we really cannot tolerate rude houseguests, now can we, Lucas?”

  Lucas finally managed to tear Thomas’s fingers off his throat, although Sherry was fairly certain he was unaware of her assistance. Pushing the taller man back against the wall, he glared at Thomas, then turned his attention to the Master. The elder vampire had suddenly stood up and moved even closer to Sherry.

  “Yes indeed. You forget how precarious a position you hold here, my dear,” the Master said quietly. “You’d do well to remember that you are our guest, and shall continue to remain so as long as your behavior pleases us. If not . . .”

  “It won’t happen again, Master, I assure you,” interrupted Lucas. “She’s impulsive. She just spoke out of turn.” He looked Sherry in the eye. Hard. “She’s only human, after all.”

  “Yes, of course.” The Master relaxed and sat back down, folding his white hands neatly in his lap. “Allowances can be made. Once.” He looked at Sherry again, his usual smile somewhat dimmed.

  Using up her last ounce of bravery, she narrowed her eyes at Thomas. “I’ll try to be as nice as I can.”

  “Promise?” said Thomas. He smiled and turned his head to look at her sideways.

  “Aw, cross my heart and hope you die,” cooed Sherry, returning the smile everywhere except her eyes.

  ***

  After the reading ended, Sherry walked back down the main hall with Lucas. She apologized that she hadn’t been able to defend him from Thomas’s attack. Of course, she most certainly did have a hand in defending him, but there was no need to tell him that just yet.

  “Many thanks, my darling—” darling! “—but there’s nothing you could have done. If it isn’t already monstrously apparent, Thomas and I don’t see eye to eye on most things. Occurrences like this every few months are hardly uncommon. However, to see him threatening you like that is completely unacceptable.” His fists formed tight little balls at his sides.

  “Thanks, but I don’t know what good we did back there, really,” Sherry said. “It’s not as if we’re going to change who he is. It’s just that the things he says are so . . . appalling. What a wacko. Although the next time he puts his hands around your neck like that, you should go for his eyes.”

  “Pardon?”

  “Go for the eyes.” Sherry shrugged. “It’s part of what I learned in self-defense class. When an attacker puts his hands around your neck, try to scratch out his eyes. Even if you don’t succeed, t
he attacker will usually bring his hands up to his face to protect himself, and you can run free.”

  “You took self-defense classes?”

  “Yeah. It was my dad’s idea, actually. I got pretty good at it,” she said, giving Lucas a fake karate chop.

  “I’m sure you did. That’s quite a tough streak you’ve got there. But what were you saying about ‘going for the eyes?’ ”

  “Well, I assume vampires are capable of going blind? I mean, through, um, unwanted eyeball removal?”

  Lucas gave her a sidelong glance. “Yes, actually, we can. To live forever without vision is one of a vampire’s greatest fears. I’m surprised you knew that. Should I be nervous?”

  “Oh, no. I don’t know anything about vampires.” Sherry shook her head, embarrassed. “Except what I’ve learned from you, of course.”

  “Well, your self-defense moves would likely be very effective against a mortal attacker. But would you like to know more about how to kill a vampire?” Sherry raised her eyebrows. “Let’s proceed to the drawing room, shall we?”

  “You’re going to teach me how to kill vampires in the parlor? My, how very proper of you,” she chuckled. “Won’t your Master get mad if he knows you’re giving away trade secrets like this?”

  “Oh, I doubt he’d expect you to ever be able to use the knowledge to your benefit. But you never know. Besides, I’m in the mood to work off some of this anger that seems to have accumulated inside of me.” He gave the stone wall a light punch, making a sizeable, fist-shaped indentation.

  When they entered the drawing room, Lucas began taking swords of various sizes out of a long, thin stand in front of the fireplace.

  “Funny,” Sherry said. “I always thought you stored tools to start a fire in that stand.”

  “We do,” replied the young vampire. He pushed back the piano and several chairs to make more room. “But it’s also a handy place to put swords. Now, come here, and I’ll show you a few basic moves. You really need more than a rapier to decapitate a vampire, but it’s a nice, light sword for you to practice on. Plus,” he said, almost embarrassed, “I’ll admit to being a bit better with the rapier than the arming sword.”