by Daniel Ruth
“If you don't remove your hand from my persons, I will remove your hand for you,” I stated deliberately. He blinked. Perhaps it was my lack of pain or perhaps he had noticed that my throat didn't have the slightest indentation from his hand. There was a significant pause and I was about to make good on my promise when another interfered.
“Enough!” The woman had stood up and extended her aura, completely subsuming master Fiero's. Hers actually made my skin tingle a bit.
“But Vivian,” the master began. He was immediately interrupted.
“Let the man go, Vincent,” her voice was cold and flat. Obviously was she was a more significant personage than I had originally thought. “You have jumped to the incorrect conclusion regarding Derek.”
Mr. Fiero looked from her to me before releasing my neck and turning with flare and drama and walking to the head of the table. “Then perhaps he could clarify his position.”
I was still unhappy at his rudeness but decided not to pursue it. Barehanded vampires weren't really high on my danger meter, but I was in a building full of them and Sebastian looked far too entertained at my expense.
“It so happens that there is a wizard in the city. Our best guess is that he is likely making arrangements to open a large portal in order to summon a greater demon.” The three vampires had fixed me with their stares, each apparently in various stages of disbelief. Well, at least I had their attention. “Naturally a lot of time and energy goes into such a portal, and in order to get enough energy for such an undertaking, this fellow needs to find a very large node of energies.”
“And I suppose he is summoning the monstrous riffraff because he is working his way up to a demon?” Sebastian asked with a sneer. Vincent had calmed down enough that he was merely glaring at me. I could see he was also considering my words but remained skeptical. The woman, Vivian, looked at me expressionlessly.
“No. I am guessing that his apprentices are examining the nodes in the city, trying to map where the most ley lines cross and where his can most easily open his gate to hell.”
“And how did you come across this information?” Vivian asked blandly.
“The wizard, Jin, has several enemies that have been tracking him for some time. I was fortunate enough to meet one of them and offered my assistance.”
“As interesting as this is, I fail to see how we should get involved.” Vincent interrupted. I sat staring at him in wonder for some moments afterward.
“Are you actually telling me that you really just called me here to categorize some extraplanar animals for your zoo? That you're okay with a cabal of wizards poking holes in your cities dimensional wall and you don't see a problem with him summoning a greater demon in the middle of your territory?”
“Could be fun,” the assassin snarked. His smile was back in place.
“I would have thought you'd be more concerned about not being at the top of the supernatural hierarchy anymore. You were very proactive when you found out about the zombies. Not very effective mind you, but energetic.” The master vampire winced at this description, and Vivian gave him a sharp glance.
“There were zombies raised in the city and you didn't notify the council,” she asked sharply.
“They were dealt with,” Vincent muttered, avoiding the woman's glare.
“Ahem, they were torn apart actually. The next night they pulled themselves together and went on their way,” I offered.
“And how would you know?” Vincent growled at me.
“The police brought me in as a consultant. Similar to what I thought you were doing in regards to your dimensional infestation.” A thought occurred to me. “You do know something about ley lines and node points, right? Eric didn't, but I assume he was just turned, he had such negligible psychic ability...” I trailed off. Crud, what kind of lame ass vampires were these.
Vivian gave Vincent a sharp look. “The older ones are trained, but magic is sparse in this age since the Moscow Event, and apparently the old stories on dealing with it have been ignored.”
“Hmm, well I suppose after all this goes down I can come back and identify your beasties for you, but if you're not interested in keeping the city demon-free, I am going to have to figure something else out.” What the hell was the Moscow Event? Probably another obscure disaster Jeremy hasn’t gotten around to telling me about. I put it on my mental list of research questions. This wasn’t the time.
“Oh for crying out loud, Vivian, surely you aren't going to pay attention to this nonsense.” Sebastian snorted with disbelief.
The woman sat back down in her chair and composed herself. “Perhaps I wouldn't, except I met Jin several hundred years ago.”
“He must be a fairly powerful vampire, then, but I hardly think he could be a wizard.” Vincent offered hesitantly. Obviously the subject matter was leaving him off balance.
“Vincent, he is not a vampire. He may even be a demon, though if he wishes to summon one then I suppose this would be unlikely. He is a wizard of significant power.”
“So there really is a wizard running around trying to open a doorway into hell,” Sebastian interjected with a grin. “Fantastic, this city was getting dull.”
Vincent sent an evil look my way. Apparently he was still unhappy about our previous misunderstanding. “I suppose this means that we need to hunt this creature down.” I smiled hopefully; now we were getting somewhere.
“No,” Vivian spoke quietly. “We will not be hunting Jin.”
“But Vivian...”
“You were not in a position to know at the time, but five hundred years ago the Council clashed with Jin. After he killed half the Grand Council, we were forced to come to an agreement with him. He stays out of council business and we stay out of his.” Her hushed voiced communicated unpleasant memories.
“Okay, say he is a wizard and he is planning on summoning a demon... doesn't this break the agreement?” Sebastian offered, halfway seriously.
“The Grand Council suffered huge losses and inflicted almost no injuries to Jin. You will not be able to convince anyone on the Council to break our agreement until there is overwhelming evidence that he has already broken it.”
“That may be a little too late,” I interjected, not liking how this was heading.
“But,” Vivian continued, ignoring my comment, “since our interest in an infestation is valid, perhaps we can engage Mr. Derek's services to find these weak spots in the dimensions so we can gather up the vermin with less effort.”
I chewed on this for a moment. Apparently, they were not going to enter into direct conflict with Jin under any conditions but would be willing to provide information to Jin's enemies and hope he was destroyed. There was a flaw in this plan.
“I appreciate the vote of confidence. However, there is no way I will be able to canvas half the city for the location of the nodes. It would take me months. I actually came hoping to get your help finding the ones in your territory.”
Vivian looked at the table before her, deep in thought. Vincent had finally come out of his fit of pique to offer his opinion. “I think we can arrange to have these locations mapped.” Vivian gave him a warning glance. “It's about time for the voting on several minor issues. I think we can arrange to just be extra aware of our surroundings, while we put up the flyers and make other preparations,” Vincent offered and Vivian slowly nodded after giving it some thought.
“We can do that. Be aware that any aggression towards Jin by one of us will be dealt harshly and with overwhelming force by the Grand Council. But as long as you are just going about business as usual I don't think they need to be disturbed about these things,” the woman told Vincent, snapping out of her reverie and finishing her statement firmly.
“Fantastic,” I enthused. I had really been worried for a moment. “Um, any idea when you could have the points mapped out? We have reason to believe something irrevocable is going to happen on the solstice or equinox.”
“We will put up the flyers tomorrow. It will like
ly take a week to ensure people with sufficiently attuned senses place the notices in the correct locations,” the master stated somberly.
That must be code for combing their territory for nodes. “Great! Just send me the information and I'll make sure it's used in the right way,” I gave an exaggerated wink to convey my understanding.
Vincent gave me an unamused look, while Vivian rubbed her brow with her fingers tiredly. I think Sebastian got the joke, but I still felt resentment towards him for trying to kill me. Or rather coming a bit too close. He didn't count. “I will send Eric to you when we have the information. Vivian and I have some issues to discuss. Sebastian can show you out.” At that, he and the woman excused themselves and left the two of us alone.
“So...” I ventured, looking at the smiling vampire across from me. “Slaughtered any innocents lately?”
“I only have bloodbaths on Mondays and Wednesdays,” he riposted with a casual manner that brought a smile to my face in spite of myself. He stood and gestured towards the door. “Shall we go? This building is so damned huge, it's going to take forever to reach the front door.”
It didn't quite take forever, it just seemed that way.
Chapter 12
As I was leaving, I had the doormen call me a cab. Physically, I was fine, but a headache of monumental proportions lurked in the wings and I really didn't want to walk to a pay vid. The car flew down within minutes; doubtless the cabs fought over the rich territories. I rested my eyes as we flew home; the lights from the floating ads illuminated my eyelids as we moved out of the richer section of the city. It was still the middle of the night, and the vehicle was almost silent except for a muffled rush of air. Fortunately, the driver wasn't a talker.
When we landed, I gave the driver an account number to charge, along with a generous tip. He still gave me a glare, I suppose he was used to people just beaming the credit information over through their implants. Well, I guess he'd have to work his fingers for this tip. I tried to be sympathetic and failed miserably as I walked to the door, threw it open, and ripped my stained and tattered shirt off and tossed it into the recycler on the way to the shower. At the rate I was going through clothes, I would have to get Jeremy to redo my wardrobe.
“Well, far be it for me to complain about letting it all hang out, but I hardly know you,” a female voice called out as I had my hands on my pants. I blearily turned around to see Mei dressed up in a cozy pink night robe with ruffles around the neck and cuffs. I removed my hand from my pants and covered a yawn.
“Oh, hey Mei, what's up,” I yawned again.
“Your clothes look like you were skating on broken glass,” she offered cheerily. The description was rather too close to what had happened to me so I just grunted. “Jeremy told me that you were going to speak with the master of the city. Did they not take it well?”
“Hmm, it was about what I was expecting but less than I had hoped,” I tiredly spoke. “Give me time to take a shower and a nap and I'll fill you in.”
She nodded and turned away. I was not at my best, but I couldn't help but notice that she wore her sword on the back of her robe. Usually it just vanished. Hung on her back, it looked out of place; it really didn't match. Maybe I would buy her a pink scabbard if she was still around for Christmas. Sighing tiredly, I slouched off towards the shower. Once inside I casually ripped off the pants and stepped into the shower. Like most of my possessions, it hailed back over a hundred years. It was a bit more expensive to install and maintain; however, the sonic showers were deeply unsatisfying, even if I didn't have the hearing of a shifter or a vampire.
Ignoring the normal spigot, I slapped the big red button on the wall with “DANGER” engraved on it and enjoyed the hissing sound as boiling water sprayed from all four nozzles around the chamber. I just stood and let myself relax as I enjoyed the heat and fizzing sensation of the water. I had wanted to have saltwater holding tanks installed so I could have superheated water, but it just wasn't worth the hassle even when money wasn't a real concern.
As my muscles slowly relaxed, I grabbed the soap, a slab of pumice, and started to scrub hard enough that powdered bits of rock started to collect at the drain. After twenty minutes, I was finally feeling almost myself. Turning off the water, I grabbed a nice big towel and draped it over myself. As I opened the bathroom door, the steam billowed out, making a nice contrast to the warmth. I heard a startled exclamation from another part of the house, and called out, “Give me an hour and I'll be ready. There's an air horn in the kitchen if I won't wake up.” I only intended to meditate for a bit. As tired as I was, if I started sleeping, I literally may not wake up for a week.
Fortunately, the horn was not required. An hour later, the pounding in my head had subsided to a faint ache behind my eyes, and a small amount of my reserves had come back to me. I wouldn't want to do any tricks at the moment, but it also meant I wasn't trying to think through a haze. I shrugged into a new set of clothes and walked into the living room while stretching my arms behind me, allowing the stretch and tension to soothe me as subtle pops sounded in my joints. Sometimes, this form felt so cramped. I am sure it was all in my mind, but the stretching helped.
Mei sat slumped over in the recliner, and the antique vid player was replaying one of my old videos. The original version was black and white, but she had turned on the three-dimensional simulation and the wall looked more like window into another room rather than an old style movie. I stopped and stared, a bit nonplussed. I kept that feature off for a reason; a three-dimensional image without auras gave me a head ache as my mind tried to see more than was there. A two-dimensional image looked fake enough that I didn't subconsciously try to fill in the blanks. Mei had nodded off, so I moved over to the vid and turned it off. I was glad she hadn't turned on the voice control or Class IV AI. That completely creeped me out. It also tended to explode soon after.
I reached over to shake her awake, and with only a slight tingle of my sixth sense found myself on the floor face first on the floor with my arm stretched behind me in a submission hold. I looked over my shoulder and said, “You really know how to sweep a man off his feet.”
“Oh, sorry, you surprised me,” she apologized sleepily as she released my arm. I got up and stretched again. That had actually felt pretty good.
“No problem, you look tired,” I noted as I saw her sleepy eyes. She fell back to the chair again.
“It's just politics. It's in turn boring, infuriating, and tense,” she yawned and rested her head on her arm. “And yet it's frowned upon to rip someone's spleen out while trying to convince them to do something.”
“That doesn't sound good,” I offered sympathetically.
“It actually went far better than I had hoped. Conrad has already made his rounds and beaten the stubborn ones. All I had to do was follow up and set out the plan.”
“Okay... that sounds good,” I hesitantly stated.
“Bah, werewolves are just cantankerous. Everything is about pack status. Supercilious little pricks,” her voice died down to a mutter. “I had to challenge the beta and beat him bloody to get them to stop trying to one up me and do something.” She gave a slight smile at the memory. “Tomorrow, I'll speak to the panther pack. They have less of an attitude problem, but they have horrible organization.”
“Like herding cats,” I said nodding, repeating Conrad's observation.
She stared at me a moment before her mouth twitched. “Yes, exactly. Shouldn't be any fights though, just a matter of lots of micromanagement. How did your part go, you looked like you went through the grinder, and your clothes had taken up religion.”
I sat on the couch and propped up my feet. Staring off through the window in thought, I answered, “Should we be worried that Jin has so thoroughly cowed the vampire's Grand Council that they would rather see this city literally go to hell than confront him?”
For a moment, Mei looked surprised. Then an expression of resignation spread across her face. “I shouldn't be surprised. I am,
but after all this time I shouldn't be.”
I had an idea of what Jin had done to the vampires, so I didn't say anything. My little infiltration trick wasn't really genius on my part. It was more logic and instinct. Why fight through an enemy’s armies when you can sneak your way to the top and decapitate them directly? If Jin was such a great mage, as people seemed to think, he probably hadn't developed mental abilities such as mine. Very few have that combination. However, almost all breeds of my race are skilled shape changers, and magic tends to be more flexible than psionics even if it's not as good at subtlety or mind manipulation. Assuming Jin was a dragon... or even major demon, chances are Jin simply took on the shape of a lieutenant, found them alone, and killed the councilmen one at a time.
A vampire, no matter how old, will die in one bite and swallow from a dragon and many large demons. Sure, they taste terrible and they give you serious gas for a few days, but they never come back from that. Just the thought twisted my mouth in disgust; I have never tasted anything as bad as the undead. I may be immune to poison, but some things almost make you wish they would kill you. Just make sure you don't swallow them while they are wielding a rune weapon. That is pretty much suicide, and any sensible supernatural predator knows better.
“Hey now, he's scary, but the lady from the council gave the go ahead for the master of the city to gather information for us. We'll have the location of the dimensional interstices in a week or two.”
“The what?”
“The nodes.”
“Well, I suppose we should be grateful for that,” she said doubtfully.
“I wouldn't expect them to participate in our glorious charge upon the empire of evil, but they don't want the gates to hell to open any more than we do,” I added cheerily, as I slowly stood up, stretched again and walked over the fridge. I had promised myself a decent feast with no poisons added. Maybe a little grated silver or gold though. I really had no idea it tasted so good. Seems a bit of a waste though.