Dark Studies (Arcaneology)

by C. P. Foster

  He looked doubtful but helped Angie up and pulled both of them flat against the wall of the cage. They edged along it so they were no longer directly under the trap door. When his light dimmed, the vampire crept closer. Low, animal growls issued from her throat.

  “You remember how you got in here?” Angie tried to find some speck of reason in the maddened thing. Despite her veneer of calm, it took work to keep her voice steady. She pointed toward the ceiling. “They dropped you in through there, right? I pulled the silver away. If you hit it hard enough, you can break the door open. You can get out of here and drink the blood of the men who did this to you.”

  The vampire feinted toward them, and Aaron responded with a brief burst of light. It flinched back.

  Then she looked where Angie still pointed. Looked back at them.

  “Go on,” the Fallen encouraged. “You can escape.”

  The vampire looked up, more sharply. With a shriek, she leaped high into the air and struck the trap door. The instant she fell to the floor, she sprang again. The door flew open when she hit this time, and the vampire disappeared through it, but the instant she did, a barrage of gunfire erupted. Angie gasped. Of course, Lockhart must have been watching all this with his damned cameras. He would have made sure someone was waiting to deal with them if they managed to get the trap door open. The vampire fell back into her prison and rolled several feet to one side, weak and injured, but still moving. Aaron put Angie behind him and shielded her with his body.

  “What the hell was that?” a man’s voice shouted from above. “Some kind of animal?”

  “Vampire,” another called. “Bat shit crazy by the look of it. Good thing we loaded up with silver.”

  “Dead?”

  The muzzle of a gun extended through the trap door, followed by a head.

  “Still moving. I’d better finish it off.”

  “No!” Angie yelled, recognizing the voice. “Joseph, we’re down here!”

  “Miss Clark?” He sounded astonished. “You’re down there with that thing? How the hell are you still alive?”

  “Just get us out before it heals!”

  “Right.” His head disappeared, and he barked orders. A few moments later, a rope was lowered through the trap door. “There’s a loop for your foot,” Joseph told her. “Step into it and hold on while we do the rest.”

  She did as he said. The rope moved in fits and starts as someone hauled her up by brute strength. Aaron stood below and watched. The vampire, close to him, got onto her hands and knees. She saw Angie dangling there like a fish on a hook. A snarl peeled her lips away from long fangs, and she struggled to go after her prey. Golden light suffused the cage, not brightly enough to kill or even hurt much, but enough to make the injured creature curl in on herself, making pathetic sounds.

  “Hurry,” Angie urged their rescuers. “I don’t know how much longer he can hold out.”

  A grunt sounded, and suddenly she moved faster, so much so that she nearly smacked her head on the edge of the trap door. A second man had joined the first. Joseph caught her under the shoulders and dragged her through. Immediately, the rope was thrown back down.

  Aaron didn’t bother putting his foot in the loop. He surged up hand over hand in a display of strength that made their rescuers blink. As soon as he was through the hole, Angie and Joseph peered into the vampire’s prison.

  “Why didn’t you let us kill it?” her bodyguard asked.

  “She’s been trapped down here like we were. Who knows how long they’ve been torturing her.”

  “She doesn’t deserve to die,” Aaron said.

  “You know that for sure?” Joseph cocked his head toward them but kept his eyes on the vampire.

  “Not for sure,” Angie admitted, “but I don’t want to kill her if we don’t have to. Is there some way to contain her? I tore the silver grate away from the trap door so she could bust us out, so keeping her in it now is going to be a lot harder.”

  “What are we going to do, leave her there? Killing her would be kinder.”

  He was right. While he kept his gun trained on the vampire, Angie tried to think. “She’s too much for us to handle.”

  “No shit.” Ron, who had helped one of the other men haul her from the cage, crouched next to Joseph with his gun out and ready to assist.

  Angie looked around. They were in a large room with marble walls, and if she remembered correctly, the stairs into the basement weren’t more than one story. This was the ground floor, then. Two more men stood a few yards away on either side of their little group, facing in opposite directions to cover the doors into the room. They wore bulletproof vests and were decked out like some kind of commando team.

  “That’s why vamps handle vampire crime,” Ron was saying. “Only way we humans can deal with it is to kill ’em.”

  “Then I guess we’ll have to call in some other vampires.” The men stared at her. Ron opened his mouth, but she interrupted before he could speak. “Where’s Lockhart?”

  Joseph grimaced. “He and his buddy took off down an escape tunnel. Looks like they’ve got a damned bomb shelter under this place. Can you believe that?” Unhooking a walkie-talkie from his belt, he said, “Banks. Richter. Any luck?”

  A hiss of static, then, “Not yet, sir. This thing’s a freakin’ fortress. I don’t know how the hell we’re going to get them out.”

  The vampire below growled. Joseph eyed it. “Those silver bullets are working their way out. It’ll try again soon. We can keep shooting it and keep it in there as long as the ammo lasts, but what’s the point?”

  “What time is it?”

  “What?”

  “How close to dawn?”

  Joseph broke into a grin. “Of course. In a little over an hour she’ll be down until sunset. That’ll give us some breathing space.”

  “Unfortunately, my allies will be down until sunset, too. Maybe I can get someone here before the sun comes up, if I hurry.”

  Cell phones hadn’t worked in the basement, but on the main floor that wasn’t a problem. Angie pulled hers from her pocket and punched in James’s number.

  “This is my fault,” he said with a sigh, once she’d explained the situation to him. “I should have checked Lockhart out more thoroughly before you flew to meet him. We were too focused on other threats.”

  “James, you aren’t responsible every time I get into trouble. Can you contact the Ruler of the city? We need help cleaning some of this up before dawn, if possible.” Denver was the smallest of the city-states, and she had never met its Ruler. None of Angeline Devereaux’s clients had ever been from this area, so no one would have any reason to think she was anything other than Angie Clark, a human scholar James had taken under his protection.

  “All right. It shouldn’t take her long to get there.”

  Angie put away her phone and turned to Ron. “Some vampires will be arriving soon, the Ruler of the City and whichever of her people she decides to bring. They can handle the vampire in the basement and probably get Lockhart out of the bomb shelter. Tell your men not to attack them.”

  Ron nodded and spoke into his comms unit.

  Aaron touched her shoulder, indicating some food he’d brought from the kitchen: a sandwich, water, and an apple. “Sit down, eat. Give yourself a chance to recover.”

  “There’s too much to do.” She shoved the apple in her pocket, grabbed the sandwich and water, and took a long drink before turning to Joseph. “He’s got to have a control room for all of the equipment down there. Any ideas where it might be?”

  Joseph spared a glance at his partner, who nodded.

  “Let’s have a look around.”

  Angie, Aaron, and Joseph began near the escape route Lockhart and Abernathy had taken, opening one door after another. They found a media room, a library, a gym, a home theater, an office, but not what they were looking for. Frustrated, Angie suggested they try upstairs.

  “Wait a second.” Joseph gestured for her to join him in the theater. He
stood in front of the huge movie screen, pressing his fingertips here and there. A grin broke across his face. “Check this out.”

  Something behind the screen clicked. It slid aside to reveal a small room filled with video monitors, recording equipment, and a control panel covered in switches, dials, and labels. On the floor next to one of the chairs lay her backpack.

  “Are you any good with this sort of stuff?” she asked the bodyguard.

  “Passable. I can get someone better from the Denver office.”

  “We need to find out if they have anyone else here and get a look at what they’ve got in the data banks. And…” She paused, looking toward Aaron, who hovered at the entry, “There’s some footage I want destroyed.”

  The vampires arrived in a rush of wind. From the control room where Angie and Joseph watched the security monitors, they saw the abrupt appearance of dozens of the creatures, and he used his comms unit to warn his people. The Ruler of Denver had brought a small army, it seemed, at least thirty. They swarmed into every room of the mansion. Angie stepped into the main entry and looked for the leader.

  One vampire stood in the doorway, a heavyset female with an expression as cold and grim as a gravestone. When her eyes came to rest on Angie, she took a step forward.

  “Angie Clark?”

  “Yes.”

  “I am Elsa Burnett, the Ruler of Denver. Where is my vampire?”

  Loud cries sounded from the hall. The Ruler looked past Angie and vanished. Angie ran after her.

  Joseph and his people stood back from the trap door, hands raised, guns pointed at the ceiling. Vampires with bared fangs surrounded them. A scream echoed in the silver cage below, and when she saw her captors had vanished, the prisoner at last escaped. Three vampires converged on her immediately. They pinned her down while she snarled and snapped her teeth like a rabid dog. Two others stepped forward, holding several IV bags fat with dark red fluid. They opened a hole in one, sat it on their sister’s lips, and squeezed. Blood gushed into her mouth.

  She drank. As soon as one bag was empty, they replaced it with another. Elsa Burnett watched for a few moments before turning to Angie. “Where are the people who did this?”

  “In a bomb shelter. Joseph and his men can show you where.”

  “We haven’t much time. Hurry.”

  Joseph’s team moved at a brisk trot with the vampires following in eerie silence.

  “What will you do?” Angie asked. “There’s less than an hour before sunrise.”

  The Ruler of Denver’s smile made her shiver. “Our human servants will have arrived by then. We’ll pry the turtles from their shells, and our people will secure them while we go to ground for the day. You will stay until we rise?”

  The last sentence wasn’t really a question. Angie nodded.

  “Good. We shall see to this in our own way. James says we can trust you, and I am inclined to believe him. Have you called the human authorities?”

  “No.”

  The vampire cocked her head. “Why not?”

  “Human authorities let people as rich as Lockhart get away with murder and worse, but vampires are a different story. He deserves whatever he gets.”

  “Do you really believe that?”

  Angie took a moment to find the right words. Slowly, she said, “The Covenant has made it clear we humans have the right to protect ourselves if a vampire tries to kill or enslave us. Shouldn’t that work both ways? You have the right to justice, and you won’t be able to get it from our legal system, not in this case.”

  “You’re comfortable making that judgment call on behalf of your species.”

  “No.” She sighed, rubbing her forehead. “But I haven’t got a better alternative.”

  “And your people? Will they follow your lead?”

  She wondered what the vampires would do if she said no. Angie gazed into those cold eyes, knowing she didn’t dare lie. “I think so. Let me speak with them.”

  Booms echoed from deep below in a slow, steady rhythm. Burnett’s people had gone to work on the bomb shelter.

  The Ruler whipped her head around, and every inch of her body tensed. Angie looked to see what had caused her alarm. Aaron stood in the doorway.

  “Fallen,” the Ruler said.

  “Vampire,” he answered. “Thank you for coming.”

  “You would have killed Irina if I hadn’t.”

  He shook his head. “Only if it was necessary. I didn’t want to hurt her. She’s been hurt enough.”

  The vampire drew back, eyes widening. “Is this compassion, from one of the Fallen?”

  A smile touched his lips. “Yes.”

  One last boom sounded, and everything went still. Then the screaming began.

  The Ruler’s human allies arrived with only minutes to spare. Burnett issued swift orders. Irina, who had only begun to recover from her ordeal, was already at a nearby haven where she could not harm anyone while still in a maddened state. As the humans took over, vampires disappeared one by one. They flew into the woods or elsewhere on the grounds of the estate and sank into the earth, which would protect them from the killing light of the sun.

  Elsa Burnett lingered to speak one last time with Angie.

  “We owe you a debt.” She looked at Aaron. “Both of you. When I rise, we will discuss it further.” She started to turn away, then paused and looked at the Fallen again. “Two of my humans have consented to meet your needs, if you wish. Yours is weak.”

  “Thank you.”

  With that, she was gone.

  Aaron moved closer to Angie. Whispers of sensuality stretched out to caress her. He must be hungry, she realized, and despite her exhaustion she couldn’t help wanting him. Angie inched closer, and he leaned in, but before they touched, he pulled back. “Ruler Burnett has provided for my needs. I must allow you to see to yours.”

  She nodded, both relieved and disappointed.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative.

  —H. G. Wells

  Sarah Miller

  Twelve Years Ago

  After the judges left the stage, the vampires in the auditorium moved about and murmured in small groups. Some stepped into the hallway while others got out their cell phones. A few watched Sarah as she walked down the side aisle. It made her feel very small, and at the same time, strangely large, to command the attention of such beings. She slowed to a stop in front of Vanessa.

  “How bad is it?” she asked.

  Vanessa looked more pale than usual. She and James Morgan both rose. The older vampire took a half step forward and bowed. Sarah stared, speechless at this sign of respect. She didn’t know how to react.

  “I wish to thank you, Miss Miller. I understand Vanessa would be dead were it not for your intervention. Allow me to introduce myself. I am James Morgan, Vanessa’s creator.”

  He held out his hand, and she hesitated, then placed hers in it. The vampire squeezed gently before letting go.

  “It’s…nice to meet you,” she said. “What are they going to do? Vanessa was just trying to help us.”

  Neither answered right away. Sarah couldn’t read anything on James’s face, but Vanessa looked frightened despite her attempts to hide it.

  “This is not a simple question,” James said at last. “The Tribunal is caught between a rock and a hard place. They will seek a middle ground, if they can.”

  “Like they always do.” Vanessa sounded bitter.

  “What is this Covenant? No one will tell me anything; they just keep saying they’ll explain later.”

  Morgan blinked and raised his brows a fraction. “How can you have lived among our kind for so long and not know about the Covenant?”

  “Antonio and the others made it sound like a bunch of old men yelling at kids to get off their lawn. What is it really?”

  James frowned. He glanced at the door through which the judges had disappeared, then back to Sarah. “I will explain as much as I can while we wa
it.”

  At his invitation, Sarah settled into the seat beside him, leaning away a little. She didn’t like to get too close to any of them, not even the ones who seemed to treat her with respect. It bothered her that there were so many at her back. They were too quiet for her to hear what they were up to.

  “The Covenant was formed shortly after World War Two,” James began. “Some of the sovereigns here in America had begun to talk about the dangers presented by new human technologies. It was all informal at first, but it gained momentum as we saw those technologies used for more and more advanced methods of warfare. Some of them were powerful enough to be dangerous even to us. In the past, we discouraged human aggression by making severe, indeed vicious, examples of those who managed to kill one of us. But your technology is changing the balance of power, and I believe one day it will tip in your favor.”

  Sarah nodded. These creatures must have seemed invincible to primitive humans. Even in the nineteenth century, a vampire would be virtually invulnerable against what puny resources a human might have. Unless one was found in its hiding place during the day, when it was helpless, human beings did not stand a chance. But now there were machine guns and grenades, flamethrowers, ground-penetrating radar…she could see how they might be worried.

  “When you put it that way,” she said, “I wonder why we haven’t made more weapons especially for you guys.”

  “Indeed. We have been careful in recent decades. We kill less frequently, and when we do, it is among your poor and disenfranchised, those who will not be missed. Our tactics have changed, as well. We have learned to seduce instead of using force. The human authorities will not get involved if our victims are willing.”

  Sarah looked at her hands. She had been a willing victim, at first. “You don’t need violence to feed on us. You could probably drink your fill whenever you wanted, with your entrancements and your seductions.”

  He sighed. “Unfortunately, we cannot stop craving other things.”