by J. C. Diem
He wasn’t going to be put off with a half-truth this time. “I killed the disciple and found Nicholas with a knife in his chest. He pulled a Geordie and tried to get me to kiss him.”
“You didn’t fall for it,” was his shrewd guess.
“Nope.”
Studying me, he took my hand. “Tell me the rest, Natalie.”
Hating the fact that he could read me so easily, I checked to make sure everyone really was asleep and that they weren’t just faking it and listening in. “He kissed me and tried to make my flesh hunger rise.” I debated about telling him the rest then decided I had to tell someone and it might as well be my beloved. “He wasn’t going to take no for an answer.”
“If you weren’t Mortis and lacked your current strength, what would have been the outcome?” Luc’s expression was serene but a muscle in his jaw jumped, indicating rage lurked just below the surface.
I didn’t want to say the word and glanced down at our joined hands. “Rape,” I finally said quietly.
Luc’s grip became crushing and it was my turn to have broken bones for once. Releasing me, Luc’s expression was stricken. “I am sorry, Natalie. I did not mean to cause you pain.”
My pain had been meagre and the bones had already knitted back together again. Waving away his apology, I took his hand firmly. “Don’t worry about it. I owe you more than a few broken bones.”
“I would very much like to kill Nicholas.” Luc’s tone was hushed so the humans couldn’t overhear us.
“Yeah, me too.” I leaned forward and examined the topic of our conversation. His bulging arms were crossed and his beautiful face was slightly cranky. “Let’s hold off on that until after we meet the courtiers the Comtesse sent. I can’t wait to see their faces when they realize he’s defected to our side.”
Mustering a small smile, Luc inclined his head slightly. “He will remain alive for now but I cannot promise you that he will remain so indefinitely.” He leaned over, gave me a brief kiss then clipped up his harness and subsided into an unnatural slumber.
Afraid that if I allowed myself to fall asleep that I might miss the Second or his two remaining cronies, I periodically sent my senses out whenever we came close to human civilization. Each time we did, my senses came up empty.
Night fell and my companions began to rouse. Gregor waited for Geordie to finally join us in wakefulness before proposing his latest plan. “Natalie, could you send your senses out as far as possible in an attempt to locate the Second and his people?”
“I can but he’ll probably sense me sensing him and will most likely make a run for it.” I’d already had that idea and had been unwilling to try it.
“At this point, it really doesn’t matter where he runs to as long as we can find him,” the most urbane of us decided.
General Merwe drew the curtain back, having overheard our discussion. “What are you planning, vampire?” He was naturally suspicious of any of our kind after his dealings with the fledglings and their masters.
“I think we should stop checking every town the Second has been through and wasting time searching for hidden caches of fledglings. I believe our best course of action would be to continue on until we catch up to their main force,” Gregor explained.
Sanderson nodded thoughtfully. “We can delegate some of our troops into clean-up crews but focus most of our soldiers on pursuit.”
“Try to locate them, Natalie,” Gregor suggested.
Closing my eyes, I sent out my senses. Behind us, I found several small groups of our kind. Ishida and his people had just caught up to our convoy. Sending my senses north, I eventually picked up on a much larger number of vamps. Widening the search even more, I found no other signs of our kind. “They’re still together, somewhere far to the north,” I said as I opened my eyes.
Gregor’s phone rang and he fished it out of his pocket. Everyone but the humans heard the semi-hysterical female courtier on the other end. “You did not inform the Comtesse that you have joined forces with the Japanese scum!” she accused.
“I informed her of how dire our situation was,” Gregor replied blandly. “Our Japanese allies,” he stressed the word slightly, “have been instrumental in eradicating the threat of fledgling invasion.”
“I demand we meet face to face immediately to discuss our terms if you wish for our continued help,” the courtier said coldly.
Gregor searched our faces and found weary acceptance. Nicholas looked nervous at the idea. I elbowed Luc in the side and he nodded to indicate he’d caught the ex-courtier’s alarm. “We’ll ask the Colonel to stop the convoy so that we can discuss your issues,” Gregor said then hung up.
“What’s going on?” Sanderson asked as he eased the truck to a stop on the side of the road.
“I am afraid that we must have a private meeting with our colleagues for a few minutes,” Gregor said.
Sanderson raised his eyebrow at me, knowing he would have a better chance of receiving a straight answer. “The Europeans and Japanese hate each other and the courtiers have just realized that Ishida and his warriors are with us. They’ve demanded a meeting so they can gripe about it. You might as well make yourselves comfortable because this will probably take a while,” I warned both men.
Geordie stood and realized he was wearing a cloak. He plucked at it curiously. “What on earth happened while I was asleep?”
“You do not want to know,” Igor said gruffly as he shuffled past. Nicholas was reluctant to leave the armoured truck but had little choice. He cast an unhappy look in my direction then gracefully leaped to the ground. He was a fool if he thought he’d get any help from me if things went badly between him and the new arrivals.
Luc offered me his hand to help me down, treating me like the royalty Nicholas professed I was. We twined our fingers together as Geordie jumped down beside us. He quickly stripped off the cloak and threw it back inside the truck. “I have a feeling that this meeting is not going to be much fun, chérie,” the teenager said in a low voice.
Linking my arm through his, I walked between Luc and Geordie towards the growing gathering of vampires. “I know. But I bet it’s going to be interesting.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Before we’d even reached the gathering, the arguments had already begun. The vampires had split into three distinct groups; the Comtesse’s people, Ishida and his warriors and Aventius and his random European rabble. I could barely see the Japanese ruler behind the guards that had moved to surround him. Weapons had been drawn by almost everyone but no blows had been exchanged as yet.
“You should have remained on your primitive island,” spat a courtier without any actual saliva leaving her lips. Tall, thin, blonde and beautiful, she wore a clingy red dress that was low cut to the point of her nipples almost showing. All wore expensive clothing that flattered their figures, even the men. Roughly thirty-five of the group were courtiers. I could tell by their stiff stances and utilitarian clothing that the remaining fifteen were guards.
“You call us primitive?” one of Ishida’s warriors responded. “We have heard of what passes for entertainment in your circles. We are above such childish past times.” His tone was insulting and was met with an immediate uproar.
“Please,” Aventius stepped forward with his hands held out. “We must try to work together.”
“Why should we listen to you, traitor!” the blonde whirled on him to say. “You have relinquished any authority you held over us when you fled from the Court.”
“Anna-Eve, this is not about me,” the former Councillor said.
“You should try shutting your mouth and listening for five seconds so you can grasp what’s going on here,” Joshua said to the blonde unhelpfully. Aventius hastily drew his young protégé backwards at the evil glare she sent him.
Glancing at my friends, I saw that none of them were about to step in to quell the fight. Heaving an internal sigh, I cleared my throat pointedly.
Anna-Eve bit back the tirade she was about to un
leash and blinked at me. Giving me a head to toe inspection, her pretty mouth lifted in a sneer. Then she noticed Nicholas and switched her attention to him. “So, the Comtesse was correct in her assumption that you had deserted us, Nicholas.” Clearly, none of the courtiers liked him. Neither did any of the guards, judging from their expressions of distaste. That’s Nicholas for you, winning friends everywhere he goes with his sterling personality. Turning back to me, she sneered at my outfit. “What are you supposed to be?”
“I’m supposed to be a manager of a clothing store in Brisbane,” I replied evenly. “Unfortunately, in reality I’m Mortis.”
Finally recognizing me, the blonde eased back on her aggression. “As I informed Lord Gregor, we were not expecting the Japanese scum to be involved in this affair.”
Ishida’s people bristled at the insult. I held up a hand to forestall their outbursts. “Every vampire on the planet is involved in this, whether we like it or not. As Aventius said, we have to work together to fix this.”
Anna-Eve tossed her head, sending her long golden hair flying over her shoulder. “We refuse to be teamed up with those who are so inferior to us.”
Geordie had something to say about that. “You have the nerve to call the Japanese inferior when you treat your food and servants like dogs.” His indignant gaze raked across the courtiers. After two centuries of abuse and neglect, he was harbouring a sizable hatred of them. “Emperor Ishida and his people treat their humans and servants with respect and kindness. It is you who are inferior to them.”
One of the male courtiers lunged forward with his sword, intending to skewer the teen. Igor yanked Geordie out of harm’s way as I stepped forward to intercept the blow. My blades were in my hands and moving almost of their own accord. One deflected the blade and the other came to rest just above his heart.
“You said that we have to listen to your terms before you’ll agree to help us,” I said to Anna-Eve as her crony stumbled back from my blade.
“I did,” she replied coolly.
“I really don’t give a crap,” I told her bluntly. “You can take your terms and shove them where the sun doesn’t shine.”
“That would be up your backsides,” Geordie said helpfully to those who hadn’t heard the term before and were confused.
The blonde opened her mouth for a scathing comeback but I overrode her. “Your ruler sent you to help us because, as big a bitch as she is, she realizes how much danger the world will be in if we don’t act.”
“You do not need to be so crude to get your point across,” Anna-Eve said almost primly.
Turning in a circle, I met as many eyes as I could before coming to a stop in front of the courtiers again. “Here are my terms. You will work together as a team without insults or complaints or I will personally end your lives. Once this threat is over, you can go back to sniping at each other and killing each other for all I care. While you are here you will do as I say or you can leave right now and possibly doom us all.”
Every single one of them was aware of the prophecies that had been written about me even if they had been written by different authors. All knew that their fate hinged on me and the decisions that I would make.
Proving that she could think clearly when she had to, Anna-Eve bowed her head in submission. “We will follow your lead, Mortis.” Her fellow courtiers shifted uneasily but didn’t protest. The guards were used to following orders without question and relaxed slightly now that order had been restored.
I turned to Ishida and his entourage shifted enough so that I could see their leader. “Are you with us, Emperor?”
For a moment I thought Ishida was going to pack his bags and leave. At last, he gave me a reluctant nod. My relief that we’d managed to come to an agreement relatively easily evaporated when Anna-Eve spoke again. “Three things need to be addressed once this business is taken care of.”
I didn’t like the smug tone and turned to face her again. “Such as?”
“He must die.” Her finger pointed to Aventius. Joshua took a step forward but the aged former Councillor stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and murmured something into his ear. “The second traitor will be brought back to face the Comtesse.” This time her finger pointed at Nicholas. Her fellow courtiers eyed the muscled one with satisfaction. A few fingered their weapons as if they wanted to put an end to him right now.
I hardly even needed to ask my question. “And the third?”
Anna-Eve’s gaze moved to Luc and a tiny smile appeared. “One way or another, Lord Lucentio will also face the Comtesse’s justice.” She switched her attention back to Nicholas and his shoulders hunched.
Luc kept his expression serene but I read his dread as we turned to head back to the armoured truck. “That’s never going to happen,” I told him quietly when we were out of their hearing range.
“We will not let them take you,” Geordie said. Igor nodded to offer his support.
Gregor agreed immediately. “Of course we won’t.”
“What about me?” Nicholas said almost forlornly. “Will I just be left to face my fate alone?”
I looked back over my shoulder at him. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, Nicholas, it’s that you can’t fight fate.” My smile was wintry and he withered beneath it.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Colonel Sanderson and General Merwe waited for us beside the armoured truck. Both wore almost identical expressions of concern. “Is everything alright with your people?” the colonel asked.
“No,” I replied honestly. Things were far from alright but I didn’t want to waste time trying to explain vampire politics. “But they’ve agreed to work together until we finish this.”
“Do we continue north?”
“Yes. I’ll let you know if they change direction.”
Back into the truck we went with Sanderson behind the wheel. Nicholas sat as far away from the rest of us as possible. Crossing his arms, he subsided into a sulk. Geordie snatched glances at him, plainly dying to make a snide comment. One glare from Igor curbed his childish impulse.
With little to do but engage in conversation, I found myself contemplating the grizzled Russian. As always, my curiosity overwhelmed common courtesy and I voiced a question. “Are you really fifteen thousand years old, Igor?”
Checking the edge of a knife, he flicked his eyes to mine and nodded. “You are going to pester me with questions about my origins, aren’t you?”
I gave him my most brilliant smile. “You bet.”
Everyone was curious, even if they were trying to hide it. Gregor crossed his legs and tented his fingers but I caught the gleam in his eye. Luc slid his arm over my shoulder and hugged me to his side but he kept his attention on his old friend. Geordie turned sideways to stare at his mentor expectantly. Even Nicholas stirred slightly from his sulk.
Giving a silent sigh, Igor put his knife away and crossed his arms. He stared past me at the blacked out window. “The world was a different place when I was a human. It was sparsely populated and months could pass before a stranger could wander near our caves.”
I tried to imagine Igor dressed in animal skins and living in a cave and the image came to me with surprising ease. Come to think of it, he still looks a bit like a caveman sometimes.
“Then, one freezing winter’s night, a stranger did arrive.” Deep in his reverie, Igor’s hands clenched into fists. “I was walking home from a hunt just after dark when I noticed a man. He was too far away to see his face yet I could sense that he was staring at me.”
Remembering my first encounter with Silvius, I shuddered in sympathy. A human’s first meeting with a hungry vampire could be a terrifying ordeal, unless they were bamboozled into forgetting about the meeting. Encountering a vampire who intended to make you into the undead was a far more traumatizing experience.
“I felt his eyes on my back as I hurried home. My woman was concerned when I tied the skins tightly across the cave opening. I lied and told her that I had seen a wolf to put h
er mind at ease.” He conjured up a smile so bleak that it nearly broke my undead heart. “I do not think that she believed me.”
Geordie’s eyes were round at the thin sliver of blue that still showed seemed very bright. Questions wanted to burst from him but he manfully kept them in and let his mentor tell the tale at his own pace.
“Uneasy at the thought of a stranger lurking around, I checked on my children and was comforted to see them both asleep. I kept my spears close when I lay down to sleep, thinking they would be enough to keep my family safe.” Black and full of long suffering pain, his eyes met mine. “I was wrong.”
I could see how hard it was for him to tell his story and I was sorry I’d asked. But now that he’d started, he had to continue or Geordie and I would pester him until he told us the rest.
“The vampire waited until the middle of the night before he burst into the cave. It was too dark to see him properly but some part of me knew what he was. There had been tales from nearby families of a blood drinker on the loose but no one had really believed it.”
Early vampires had done a pretty good job of remaining inconspicuous. Much better than I had, anyway. As Geordie had not so subtly pointed out to me, I’d managed to blow our specie’s cover in the first six months of becoming the undead.
Igor continued with his story. “I stabbed the man in the stomach with my spear but it had no effect on him. He hit me on the head and when I woke, it was to find myself in a cold, dark place.” I’d been in a similar situation and could empathize with the fear he must have felt. “The creature was waiting for me to wake before he fed from me and forced me to drink his blood. After my three nights of torment were over, he took me out to feed for the first time.”
Shifting his gaze to meet my eyes, he lowered his voice so the humans wouldn’t be able to overhear him. “I did not even realize that it was my own woman and children that I had drained to death until days later and my blood hunger had been sated.” Dropping his gaze to his lap, his shoulders slumped. “It took centuries before I began to feel remorse for my actions.”