The Dealer.
“This person,” I said. “Were they human?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. It was a she, I think, but I couldn’t really tell. She was…odd.”
It had to be one of the Dealer’s kind. Maybe my Dealer, maybe not. He always had a male voice when he spoke to me, but that didn’t mean much. It wasn’t even his voice.
“I was eighteen,” Nolan said, “when Mistre… when she made me her swain.” He glanced at Atwood, who shied away from his eyes. “Eighteen.”
“She took you against your will?”
“Oh, no,” he said, his voice dripping with spite. “No. They would never do a thing like that. It’s forbidden in vampire law. Isn’t that right?” he said to Atwood. “No, I was willing. I was eighteen, good-looking, with a troubled home life. And out of nowhere comes this beautiful, mysterious woman who wants to get to know me. She wants to help me. She can take away all my problems. I can become part of something bigger. Just sign here.”
I noticed something dripping from between Atwood’s fingers. I realized she’d crushed the unripe orange between her hands. She didn’t seem to realize she’d done it.
“They don’t call it slavery,” Nolan said. “They use other words. Partner. Assistant. Swain. And I have to admit, those first couple of years, it was bliss. I craved every feeding. You just…you can’t imagine how good it feels. I would have done anything for her. I did do anything for her.”
Atwood finally seemed to notice what she’d done with the orange. She dropped the pulped fruit on the ground and wiped her hands on her skirt. Hungrily, she stared at Nolan’s throat.
“After a while, though, it starts to wear on you,” Nolan said quietly. “At first you don’t notice the chains because they feel so good. Until they start to chafe. Until you want to leave and find out you can’t. Because you’re barely even human anymore. You’re a symbiotic organism. And if you leave, your own body will consume itself from the inside out.”
I swallowed. “The person who came to you…what did they offer you?”
“Freedom,” he said, the ghost of a smile touching his lips. “A reversal.”
“Reversal?” Then I glanced at Atwood again, and suddenly I understood. “They reversed the bond.”
Nolan nodded. “Before, I needed her. Now, she needs me. She has other swains, but none of them can slake her thirst. Only my blood, given willingly, can sate her hunger. Now she is the addict. Now I’m the one holding the chains.”
“There had to be a price, though. The person who made you that deal, they took something from you.”
“Pieces,” he said. “Just pieces, here and there. Those flowers over there used to be brighter. They used to smell more fragrant. I used to be able to look at them and feel something—some small appreciation of their beauty. Not anymore. It’s the same with memories. Some are gone. Others are just…less. I had a dog when I was a boy. I know that, and I know I loved it. But I can’t remember its name, or what it looked like. I don’t even remember it dying.”
That was the work of a Dealer, all right, but maybe not my Dealer. My Dealer wasn’t that subtle.
“Was it worth it?” I asked.
“Without question.”
I glanced at Atwood. “What about Carlotta?”
“What about her?”
“How does she feel about all this? She didn’t get a choice in it, right?”
Nolan frowned. “Don’t talk to me about choice. What choice did I have? One bad choice, and I’m a slave for the rest of my life. I never hurt anyone. I didn’t do anything bad.” Anger seeped into his voice. “I was desperate, and I grabbed at the first lifeline that came my way. I was still in high school, for God’s sake!” He snapped his fingers. “And then like that, I’m hers. I’m an addict. Where was my 12 step program? Where—”
He inhaled sharply, visibly forcing himself to become calm. I got the feeling he’d had this argument a thousand times inside his own head.
“I won’t claim any moral high ground,” Nolan said, quieter now. “I’ve done too many things—too many terrible things—for that. But those things were not senseless. They were not selfish—not entirely.”
Through the gaps in the curtains, I became aware of the changing light. It was only minutes until dawn, minutes until Lockhart became roast vampire.
I could try to rush out there, pull her back inside. I didn’t rate my chances at getting past Atwood, though. Slave or not, she was still a vampire, which meant she was a hell of a lot faster than me—especially considering the condition I was in.
“I still don’t understand,” I said. “I mean, I get the deal you made. I really do. In your place, I think I would’ve done the same. But I’ve got a goblin assassin in my van. An assassin that you hired. The first shots in a war between vampires and ogres have already been fired, because of you. Just…why?”
Nolan’s face lost some of its hardness. He leaned against the table, as if he suddenly didn’t have the energy to hold himself up.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this. My hand was forced.”
“Forced how?” I asked. When he didn’t answer right away, I took a step toward him. “Explain. We’re running out of time.”
“Eventide,” he said. “We’ve been keeping an eye on her for some time. As Lockhart’s enforcer, it would’ve been her who came after us if anyone found out about my reversal of fortune. Lockhart couldn’t allow one of her brood to be compromised. Especially not by a swain.
“A few weeks ago we stumbled onto Eventide’s dirty little secret. Her affair with the ogre. As far as we can tell, it began about three months ago. Probably during one of the vampires’ hunts.
“The ogre was apparently out as well, watching the borders of their territory. Sometimes, during the hunts, things get flushed into the ogres’ lands. It’s been a bone of contention for years. In any case, their affair began then, or shortly thereafter.”
“You killed Eventide because she fell for an ogre?”
“No. Not at all. This was a golden opportunity. We had leverage against one of the most dangerous vampires in Lost Falls. I could use that to keep myself safe. Maybe I could even turn her to my side, when the time was right.”
“What side?” I said. “What time? You’re still not making any sense.”
He stepped forward, his eyes shining. “Revolution, Osric. Don’t you understand? I’m free.” He pointed to Elaine, the elderly swain. “She’s not. There are dozens of swains in this town, all bleeding for their masters, all chained, like I was. Don’t they deserve what I have?” He licked his lips, stared at Elaine. “For months I’ve been trying to find a way to reverse their bonds, like mine was reversed. He jerked a finger toward Atwood. “They are the ones who need us, Osric. Not the other way around. Why should any of us be slaves to them? If they want our blood, why shouldn’t they be the ones to crawl to us, begging for it?”
The light slowly went out of his eyes, along with the sudden burst of energy that had propelled him forward. “Whatever was done to me, though, I couldn’t figure out how to replicate it. I scoured the archives. I had Carlotta make inquiries with the hag. Nothing. I’m holding the key, but it only fits my lock.
“And then, suddenly, I realized I couldn’t delay any longer. Eventide caught wind that we’d uncovered her secret. She made a break for it. She tried to leave town.”
“So what?” I said. “Why not let her go?”
He set his jaw. “Rachel.”
That was all he said, but suddenly I understood. When Eventide ran off with One-tusk, she hadn’t brought Rachel with her. She’d left Rachel here, alone, cut off from her mistress.
Eventide’s death had been brutal for Rachel, but that was nothing compared to the anguish she would have felt if Eventide had still been alive. Rachel would have scoured the world for her mistress, desperate to bleed for her, desperate for one more fix. If it didn’t kill her, it would have driven her mad.
“Rachel is my friend,�
�� Nolan said quietly. “She was kind. Innocent. Loyal. And Eventide was going to cast her aside, not even caring that it would destroy her. But I…I had the power to stop that. To cushion the blow for Rachel. But only if I acted quickly. I knew if Eventide left town, I might never find her again.
“So I got a message to the goblin. We’d already retained his services. As distasteful as it was, I knew he would be an important asset in the near future. So I sent him a message, and I told him what to do.”
Some of the light came back into his eyes then. “And then, with the strike of a blade, Rachel was free. In pain. But free.
“That was when I saw it,” Nolan continued. “Another chance. Another opportunity. More risky, more painful. But I had to seize that chance before it evaporated.”
“The war,” I said. “You’ve been stoking the fires since the beginning. You sent your goblin after the vodyanoy, didn’t you? You knew I was going to talk to him, and you had to make sure the truth didn’t come out.”
Nolan just nodded slowly, saying nothing.
“You went after Holdfast as well, when it looked like I might’ve been able to talk everyone down. What else have you been doing? Feeding the ogres information on how to get at Leon Adler? Helping Booker stir up discontent about Lockhart?”
“Booker did that all by himself,” Nolan said. “You’ve seen what they’re like. The fire was already blazing. All I did was make sure it didn’t get put out too quickly.”
“Why?”
“You know why,” he said.
“I want to hear it from you.”
His face screwed up in frustration. “This is the only way! The only way we can be free. It’s not the way I wanted. I wanted to do this peacefully. But I couldn’t. Either way, blood will be shed.” He pulled down his high collar, jabbing a finger toward the scarred puncture marks on his neck. “Either ours, or the vampires’. I think we’ve shed enough.”
“What about the blood that Isaac shed, out there in the hallway?” I said. “Was that your idea of freeing him from his shackles?”
Nolan gave a pained look. “I tried to talk to Isaac. I tried to make him understand. He wouldn’t listen.” He shook his head. “Some of us—many of us—are still deep in the vampires’ thrall.”
“So you killed him.”
Nolan met my eyes, his face hardening. “Yes. I killed him. I commanded Carlotta to tear out his throat. I know who you are, Osric Turner. I know that you have killed when it has proved necessary. Sacrifices have to be made.”
“You’re sacrificing more than a few of your fellow swains, though, aren’t you? You want the ogres to fight a war for you. You want them to do your dirty work and kill the vampires.”
He raised his chin. “Yes. If anyone in Lost Falls has a chance at crippling the vampires, it is the ogres. You know that.”
“And how many ogres will die in the process? How many swains? How many others will be caught in the crossfire? How many of us will be destroyed if your war exposes all of us?”
Nolan dragged both his hands across his face. It was clear he’d already considered everything I’d said, that he’d had this argument with himself a hundred times in the last few days.
I glanced past him, to where Elaine sat. Her eyes were on the covered windows, at the light growing slowly around their edges. She sensed me looking at her and gave me a grandmotherly smile.
“Did you stake Lockhart?” I asked her.
She nodded. “I did.”
“But you’re still bound to her.”
“I have been a swain for forty-five years. In that time, the desperation to serve has…faded.”
“This could destroy you. You’ve got her lying out there in the courtyard, helpless. Aren’t you even going to watch her die?”
Nolan spoke up. “This was my suggestion, not Elaine’s. I have a theory that the bond between Elaine and Lockhart will be severed more effectively if Lockhart dies to sunlight. Her body will be destroyed utterly—and maybe the bond with it.”
“I understand that I might not survive this,” Elaine said. “But I will die a free woman, at least.”
“Hell,” I muttered to myself.
“I found you the other morning,” Nolan said to me suddenly. “At Doyle’s Reach. You were unconscious. You’d been poisoned.”
“By your assassin,” I said.
He nodded, not denying it. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. You were so close to death when I found you. I…I wasn’t sure whether or not I should try to save you.”
I paused, studying him. “Why did you?”
“Because you care. I saw that the other night, when Rachel was brought here. You stood up to Lockhart. You helped Rachel. You didn’t see her as property. As a swain. You saw her as human. Like you. Like me.” He held up a finger. “One bad choice. One moment of weakness. That was all it took for me to be enslaved. For Rachel to be enslaved. For Elaine to be enslaved. Have you ever made a choice you regretted, Osric?”
I hesitated. “Yes.”
“What would it be like to be bound to that one choice, forevermore?”
“I am,” I said. “We all are. That’s how life works.”
He turned and pointed to Elaine. “You think she should remain in service to a monster? Forced to offer up her lifeblood? And then, when the vampire has slaked her thirst, should Elaine be forced to sweep her floors and do her dry cleaning? All because Lockhart took a liking to her when she was too young to know any better. Is that fair? Is that just?”
I swallowed, then shook my head. “No.”
“No,” he agreed. He looked relieved, like maybe he’d been wondering if he was crazy all along. “No.”
“Why am I here, Nolan?” I asked.
He sighed. “You were too close. You were about to figure it all out. The who anyway, if not the why.”
I glanced at Atwood. Her eyes were on me. Predatory eyes, still. No longer a wild animal, but still dangerous, even on a leash.
“Are you going to kill me?” I asked.
As I said the words, I let my hands hover at my sides. In one pocket was my revolver. It was loaded with silver bullets. Those would hurt Atwood bad, assuming I could put a few in her before she got to me.
I also had my sunflare—a bottle of captured sunlight. Not enough to be lethal to a vampire, but enough to sting. Enough, maybe, to give me the chance to drive the sharpened end of my truncheon into Atwood’s chest.
Assuming Nolan and Elaine stood by while that happened. Nolan was probably armed. He’d be an idiot not to be. I wasn’t ruling out the possibility that Elaine, too, had a gun. She looked like a sweet old lady, but she’d driven a stake into her mistress’s chest not so long ago.
Maybe I should’ve asked Lilian to come in with me after all.
Atwood glanced at Nolan, a question in her eyes. I slipped my fingers into the pocket containing my revolver.
“No,” Nolan said. “I told you that already. I’m not going to kill you.”
“Then what the hell do you want from me?”
“Your help,” he said. “I want your help, Osric.”
37
“What kind of help?” I asked carefully.
Nolan stepped toward me, arms wide in supplication. “This needs to be done. You know that. The vampires can’t give their swains up willingly. They wouldn’t even if they had the power.”
I looked at Atwood. “Is there a way? A way to break the bond between master and swain?”
Atwood shook her head. “Only death.”
“Death,” Nolan echoed. “That’s all we have to work with, Osric. In a few minutes, Lockhart will die. And Elaine here will be free.”
“Good for her,” I said. “And then what? With Lockhart gone, it’ll be Booker who claims control of the brood.”
“And he will throw them straight into the ogres’ fists. It will not be long before vampires start to die. Booker underestimates the weaknesses of the vampires and the cunning of the ogres.”
“Maybe you’
re underestimating him.”
“Maybe,” Nolan conceded. “Carlotta and I will work to undermine the war effort. We can feed the ogres intelligence and whisper misinformation to Booker’s allies. A couple of good ambushes will cripple the vampires. If that fails, though, we have backup plans. We have dirt on Booker we can disseminate if needed. And there is an older swain in Booker’s service who, like Elaine, is wavering in his loyalty. I think he can be turned.”
“You’re going to get him to stake Booker, like Elaine staked Lockhart.”
“If necessary. I think it’s likely he’ll die in some foolhardy attack long before then. In any case, Carlotta can use her position in the brood to influence things. Or, if necessary, she can make a challenge for the leadership. It’s a riskier move, but if the timing is right…”
I noticed Nolan was carefully glossing over all the other likely casualties of the war, but I decided to push on. “And then?”
“The vampire population will be slowly whittled down. They’ll all fight. Every vampire considers themselves a warrior. And they won’t make peace until long after it is clear they’ve been defeated. You know what they’re like. Proud. Arrogant. Too sure of their own superiority, and too afraid of appearing weak in front of their peers. They can’t surrender, so they won’t. Not until only a handful remain. Few enough that we can deal with them ourselves.”
“The war will expose us all before it gets to that stage,” I said.
He shrugged. “The vampires have hidden in the dark for far too long. If the wider world becomes aware that humans are being enslaved by vampires, they’ll come to our aid. They’ll help us destroy the vampires.”
“Not just the vampires, though. They’ll go after the ogres as well. And the ghouls, and the goblins, and the trolls. Maybe even people like me.”
“That won’t happen.”
“It might,” I said. “It’s a risk I can’t take.”
“Not even to free your fellow humans from slavery?” He shook his head. “I don’t believe you’re that callous.”
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