‘It’s more information than we had.’
‘Yes… I suppose it is.’
‘Won’t she convert?’ Juliana asked. ‘I was killed by a vampire and I converted.’
‘You were drained and abandoned, dear girl,’ Winthrop said, smiling. ‘Unfortunate and not what any of us would have wished, but here we are. Miss Wallow was violently abused by four vampires. Her spine was severed in three places before they finished with her. She was actually dead when they broke her neck to be sure. The virus can do a lot, but it has limits.’
‘Oh.’
‘I’m not sure that I’ve given you much to find the men who did it, Dione, but on to another, rather more pleasant, nest of ghouls. Uh, having said that, the ones you pulled out of the sewer brought some rather unsettling information with them.’
‘Not sure how you can describe them as more pleasant,’ Mike commented.
‘Ghouls, Michael, do what they do because it is all they know to do. They are little more than animals as a result of biology. The men who killed Mister Quarry and Miss Wallow descended to animal behaviour of their own volition.’
‘Okay. Good point.’
‘However, these ghouls were made into ghouls, and not traditional ghouls either.’
Mike frowned. ‘Dione is going to look stoically at you and wait for you to explain, but I need to say “huh?” at this point.’
‘I sequenced the active virus in the ghouls and it matches no other minor substrain of ghoul or vampire virus. It shows signs of genetic tampering.’
‘Someone altered the ghoul virus and deliberately infected people with it?’
‘The latter is conjecture, but it seems likely. The results were… interesting. The changes stopped the normal fruiting process which produces spores. That section of gene coding was simply deleted. However, I believe that an unwanted side effect of that was a… destabilisation of the resulting ghoul. If you had not ended them, they would have done so naturally, probably in less than a month. There were early signs of systemic organ failure in all of them.’
‘And you’re quite sure that this is not some natural mutation?’ Dione asked.
‘For two reasons. First, it’s highly unlikely. Genes are not normally cut out; they are deactivated. And this mutation is clearly not advantageous. It’s difficult to see how it could even happen. The second thing is the package of electronics I found embedded in the creatures’ necks.’
Dione gave Winthrop a mild scowl. ‘I think you might have started with that one.’
Winthrop gave her a big grin. ‘Where is your sense of drama, my goddess? I’m afraid the exact nature of the gadgets will have to wait for Mary to examine one of them, but they were connected into the spine in a fairly simple manner. I suspect they caused pain under certain circumstances.’
‘A training mechanism,’ Mike said. ‘Something like those electronic collars you can get for dogs.’
‘Quite likely,’ Winthrop agreed, nodding. ‘Is Mary going to be available to do that analysis soon?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Dione replied. ‘She’s doing something… important which needed to be done away from the office. She’ll be back when she finds what she’s looking for.’
‘Mysterious, but very well.’
‘You know,’ Mike said, frowning again, ‘this kind of sounds like Apollo.’
‘That thought had not escaped me,’ Winthrop agreed.
‘Nor me,’ Dione said. ‘This sounds like someone with a lot of sophisticated bioscience behind them has come up with a way of weaponising ghouls. The short lifespan might even be an advantage. Let them loose and come back when they’re dead. Apollo was a designed anti-vampire biological weapon.’
‘And we’ve got some weird CIA group in town hunting for Evan,’ Mike said.
‘Ah! Yes. That was a connection I hadn’t made. I believe that suggests that we should get back to doing what someone seems to be trying to keep us from.’
‘Catching Evan.’
~~~
‘So,’ Lisa said, ‘how are things going with our newest vampire?’
Juliana’s eyebrows rose a little. ‘Fine. Or I thought they were, but then I find I can’t be trusted to spend a few nights on my own without a chaperone.’
‘Trust is not the issue,’ Dione replied blandly. She was sitting on the sofa in Mary’s lounge since she and Lisa had moved there while Mary was away. ‘Personally, I do not believe there would be any problems. And if you were actually alone, this would be less necessary. However, since you’re here with Winthrop, and there are obligations we have during your filia period, especially so soon after your conversion… Basically, someone would get quite irate with Mary if you were left alone for several days with a human and no supervision.’
‘Not with you?’
‘The people being irate would likely be more civil to me. Age has its benefits. I could probably stop them taking you away from Mary, but it would not look good for her if she ever decides to take on another filia or filius.’
‘Oh,’ Juliana said. ‘Oh, well, I guess… I wouldn’t want to leave Mary.’
‘You say that now. See what you think in a decade.’
‘Huh, yes, maybe. She stayed with you a lot longer.’
‘Yes, she did. That was another time and her circumstances after her conversion were rather less pleasant.’ Dione gave a shrug. ‘You may find you prefer to stay here, you may not.’
‘I know I’m irritating sometimes…’
‘So was Mary. And patience is not one of her greater virtues. Unless she’s stalking someone in one of those games she likes. I’ve seen her spend ages patiently waiting for her next headshot victim to enter her sights. If one of her computers doesn’t respond as fast as she expected, there can be violence.’ Both Juliana and Lisa giggled. ‘I believe she got the idea that hitting them made them work better during the war. The computers back then were rather more mechanical.’
‘She did code-breaking stuff?’ Juliana asked.
‘In England. You were amazed about my meeting Jeanne. Mary got her love of computing from Turing and the other people at Bletchley Park.’
‘You probably aren’t going to tell me she slept with him though.’
‘Unlikely. He preferred different sorts of partners. She speaks very fondly of him. And I should point out that my bedroom behaviour in Athens was professional.’
‘You were a… um, sex worker?’
Dione smirked. ‘Unlike today, certain classes of “sex worker” were highly thought of in Athens. Frankly, it was the only way I could get any respect. Sparta was far more enlightened, but I’d been exiled from there. Times, and morals, change. Another reason I’ve never really found a religion that works better than the one I chose all those centuries ago.’ She frowned. ‘Which reminds me, Lisa. Make sure you’re free around dawn on July fourth. There’s a small ceremony I conduct then and I would very much like you to assist me with it.’
‘Does it involve me being sacrificed on an altar?’ Lisa asked.
‘There is a sacrifice, but not of anything living, and I think you’ll find you enjoy it.’
‘Okay. Well, Leeanne and I will have finished our residencies by then, so we should be full-time with SCU. You can have me at your beck and call, any time you like.’
‘Perfect.’
‘So is this a ceremony for Aphrodite?’ Juliana asked.
‘The Aphrodisia,’ Dione replied. ‘It’s my annual devotion to her.’
‘Oh, right… So does that mean it involves–’
‘Oh yes. It is a celebration of fertility.’
‘I’m not that kind of girl, but even to me that sounds more fun than listening to the priest at harvest festival.’
‘And that,’ Dione said, smiling, ‘is another reason I’ve never seen fit to break from my goddess.’
12th March.
Pat looked up as her creator wandered into the lounge. It was eleven a.m.: Silas’s habits had not changed much in thirty years. ‘The
re’s coffee in the kitchen,’ she said.
‘Thanks,’ Silas replied, rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands.
‘The Concilium issued an edict last night.’
‘Oh?’
‘Anyone abusing valentines is considered to be threatening the secret. Dione is authorised to end them immediately. I told you they could be trusted.’
There was silence for a second or two, and then Silas returned with a mug of coffee. ‘Not like they had that much choice.’
‘How do you figure that?’
‘Some valentine out in the Hamptons got beheaded yesterday morning.’
Pat frowned. ‘Andrew Quarry, yeah. He’d come to the Candle every once in a while if his partner was sick. Quiet. Never caused problems.’
‘And a bunch of thugs broke into his house and murdered him.’
‘And his supplicant, yeah.’
‘The point,’ Silas said a little forcefully, ‘is that it’s started. The Concilium have issued an edict, sure, but what are they really doing about it?’
‘Di is probably–’
‘Yeah, yeah. The Hunter is looking for them. They said that in San Francisco.’
Pat’s eyes narrowed. ‘This isn’t San Francisco, and Di isn’t just any Hunter.’
‘If I just knew… Look, she’s your friend. Maybe you could just ask. You know? Get a little more detail. Just to put my mind at ease. You say she’s different, that the Concilium here is different, but I don’t know any of them.’
‘Maybe you could trust me on this, huh?’ Pat pushed her annoyance aside. She had had plenty of trouble getting over the pogrom, had never entirely done so. Silas clearly never had. ‘I’ll give her a call. I wouldn’t mind knowing a little more myself.’
‘Thanks, kid. You’re the best filia a vampire ever had. Let’s hope your Hunter friend finds this guy before he kills another one.’
~~~
Laughter burst up around the table and Isla Quillan joined in. The joke had not been that funny, but you had to join in the laughter since the person telling the joke was on their way out the office door for good. A leaving do at the company’s favourite watering hole with forced laughter and an attempt to look like seeing them go was a tragedy was required behaviour. Isla was not especially sorry to see them go, but appearing at shindigs like this was a must for her.
Isla had been clawing her way up through management for the last six years. Advertising was a cut-throat business and she had cut her fair share of throats. This time, she could just watch one of her rivals leave for ‘greener pastures.’ Isla enjoyed the thrill of corporate battle, but an easy win was an easy win. The party was, however, an opportunity to impress her bosses. Isla had never considered any of them her superiors, but they were the gatekeepers of her inevitable rise to the board, and they were, all of them, at least ten years older than her and male. So Isla dressed in one of her shorter black dresses and her tallest pumps, did her make-up carefully, and avoided drinking too much. All that effort would see more use when the party spread out to a less formal structure and she could schmooze. Right now, her best features, her legs, were hidden away under the table.
There was another five minutes of boring speeches about how their colleague would be sorely missed, and one with the same sentiment backed up by a ‘joke’ about crushing them when it came to the next contract both companies competed for. Isla found that one more humorous, but was mostly inclined to higher spirits because it represented the end of this phase of the evening. Soon after, people were climbing to their feet and heading for the bar. Isla got up, straightened her skirt, and prepared herself for what was to come.
‘Hi.’ Isla turned at the male voice from behind her. It was a little hesitant and she was about to tell whoever it was to get lost when he spoke again. ‘I’m, uh, Evan. It’s a real pleasure to meet you.’
Isla’s mouth opened but nothing came out. For a brief, indeterminate period of time, she experienced something new: Isla Quillan was speechless. The sudden shock of the heat which bloomed between her legs left her mind reeling. She swallowed. ‘I don’t… Do I know you?’
‘Oh… no. I just saw you there and I… Well, I had to come and say hello. You… You’re a powerful woman.’
Isla’s eyes flicked over his face. Blonde, blue eyes. Gorgeous blue eyes. He was… beautiful. His eyes dipped away from hers as though he felt he was unworthy to meet her gaze. ‘Well… Hello, Evan. I’m Isla. I’m not really that power–’
His eyes flicked up again, burning with passion. ‘Oh, you are. I can tell. I just want to… to fall down and worship you.’ Isla’s back, already perfectly upright, tried to straighten more. ‘You’re beautiful, powerful… amazing. A goddess.’
Isla tore her gaze away from Evan and toward the bar. Her chance at making more of an impression was slipping away. ‘My friends, I–’
‘Friends?’ Evan said. ‘They don’t understand you like I do. Just say it and I’ll kiss your feet right here.’
The burning in Isla’s sex was growing unbearable. She turned back to this man who seemed determined to be her slave. ‘Not here. Such behaviour is unseemly.’
‘I’m sorry… mistress.’ Isla’s pulse jumped at the word. ‘I’ve a room nearby…’
13th March.
‘Friday the thirteenth,’ Mike said. ‘Unlucky for some.’
‘ME says she died yesterday night,’ Rolls replied.
‘I was referring to me. Last thing I wanted today was this.’
‘Good point. Her name was Isla Quillan. She was out last night for a colleague’s leaving party. Witnesses, and there are several, saw her leaving with a man around nine fifteen. Time of death is eleven p.m.’
Dione was examining the bite mark on the victim’s thigh. ‘If the message wasn’t enough of a giveaway, the bite looks right. We’ll have her shipped to our lab for the autopsy.’
‘Sure thing,’ Rolls said. ‘Two of them on my patch. Bastard’s making this almost personal.’
‘We’ll get him for you, Horace. I’d like Mike to interview these witnesses.’
‘Shouldn’t be a problem. They’re all from her company and they all felt her death so deeply that they’re all working today.’
‘Obviously a well-loved woman.’
‘A little on the old side for our guy,’ Mike suggested.
Rolls checked his notes. ‘She’d have been thirty in three weeks.’
‘Huh, just inside his normal age range. Blonde and attractive, certainly. Maybe a little thinner than usual. And the others looked more…’
‘Innocent,’ Dione supplied. ‘Miss Quillan was, I think, somewhat more dominant than his usual victims. The tightly bound hair, rather severe features, and there are handcuffs in her purse.’
‘I, uh, noticed that,’ Rolls said, colouring a little. ‘Didn’t get used.’
‘No. Put a rush on those interviews, Mike. Maybe we can get a better impression of him this time. If anyone’s seen him properly, I want them with a police artist today.’
~~~
‘The pathology is, unsurprisingly, identical to the other two victims,’ Winthrop said. ‘I have confirmed the same bite pattern. This is definitely the work of our putative Evan.’
‘No differences at all?’ Dione asked.
‘The perimortem intercourse was somewhat more vigorous than usual, but I do not think she was raped.’
‘I suspect Miss Quillan was something of a dominatrix.’
‘That kind of came out of the interviews,’ Mike agreed. ‘Dominant certainly. Some people suggested she was a little sadistic. Under all the “not wishing to speak ill of the dead,” I couldn’t find anyone I thought liked her. She was ambitious. Most of them thought she was trying to get onto the board and a lot of them thought she would succeed.’
‘Evan would appear to be a good reader of people,’ Dione said. ‘Picking up a woman like that requires a different technique to the more… submissive types he’s gone for previously. He must have been
observing her for a while, but I can’t believe he picks these women out far ahead. He goes looking on the day and adapts to the circumstances he finds them in.’
‘The party had been going for an hour or so before they broke up to mingle. He could have been watching her for most of that time. The witnesses suggested he moved in as soon as the victim was on her own. I’ve got two people working with an artist, and I also got really lucky. It’s not great, but someone caught Evan with Quillan in the back of a picture they took.’
‘Right.’ Dione developed a slightly malicious smile. ‘When the artist is finished, get both of those impressions and the picture out to NYPD and the police out in Suffolk County. Someone has to have seen him.’
~~~
Dione spotted Silas at the bar, right where she usually sat, as soon as she walked up the stairs. For a Friday night, the crowd at the Black Candle was thin. The dance floor was empty in comparison to a usual night, though there had still been plenty of people there. The middle floor was far emptier than usual. The older vampires were staying away, except for some of the ones who commonly frequented the top-floor bar. They were the ones who knew Pat more personally and they were rallying in support, it seemed. So was her creator, perhaps.
Silas did not move as Dione walked over, so she took the next stool along and waited for Pat to become free. Silas got a nod of greeting.
‘I wasn’t sure you’d come tonight,’ Silas said. ‘Pat was sure you would, but…’
‘It’s a habit, and not a bad one,’ Dione replied. ‘Pat and I catch up on a Friday if we haven’t spoken much during the week.’
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