by Jon Herrera
Chapter Seventeen
NEXT SUNDOWN I went about my usual rituals to start the night. Washed, changed, and left before I was tempted to feed on Mother and Father, and possibly kill them. There was a 1963 Chevy Corvette sitting in the middle of the driveway. Gerald was leaning against the side of his car, looking like an out of place extra from Rebel Without A Cause. He pushed off the car when he saw me and walked over.
“You’ve been talking to Kilestra.” Gerald said. He looked around as if he expected to see Kilestra peeking out from behind a tree. “She’s wanted by The Commission and there’s a Private Bounty on her head as well. She’s never been a friend of mine and it would look good on my resume to bring her in.”
“Planning on leaving Fedor’s employ?” I said and jiggled my keys on my finger. “I’m sure he’d hate to see you go. I know I would.”
“I’m not letting you out of my sight.” Gerald said and pointed two fingers at his eyes and then at me. “I’m watching you.”
I got in the Dodge and headed down the drive away from the Mansion. What looked a lot like a 1979 Gremlin was waiting at the driveway’s end. Raoul and Izumi were crammed into the front seats. I pulled up beside them and powered down the window. I had to wait a minute as Izumi hand cranked the window slowly down. They both looked at me with grim determination.
“A step down from the Hummer, eh?” I said and gave the beat up Gremlin a long look. “Did this pass the emissions test?”
“We tacked on the cost of the Hummer to Kilestra’s tab.” Raoul said and tapped his left leg to show he was healed. “Plus medical expenses.”
“Yeah, good luck with that.” I said and pointed to Gerald’s two-toned Chevy as it rolled down the drive behind me. “Just pull in behind that guy, he wants Kilestra too.”
“Are you kidding me?” Izumi said and glared at Gerald. “He can get behind us.”
“Take it up with him.” I said and put the Dodge in Park. “I’ve got all night.”
Raoul hopped out the Gremlin’s passenger side and walked over to Gerarld’s car. Gerald had the top down and raised his hands in a what-do-you-want gesture. Raoul put both hands on the driver’s side door and leaned in.
“Hey.” Gerald said and rapped Raoul’s knuckle with his class ring. “Hands off the car.”
“Oh, you’re worried about your car?” Raoul said and pulled back his leg for a kick.
“Don’t even think about it.” Gerald said and pushed the button on the ‘63 Vetter’s dash that put it in park. He pushed open the door and knocked Raoul over. “Nobody threatens Lady Blue.”
Watching a Were transform from human to something else was always a fascinating bit of business. Raoul took a moment to take his shirt and pants off. His hair grew thicker and his bones made unpleasant sounds as they elongated and shifted. In a few short moments, a seven foot tall Mexican Grizzly bear was bellowing at Gerald. I remember that Raoul had threatened to kill me a number of times. Would his tiny bear brain register the notion if he happened to look my way? I decided not to wait and find out. I put the pedal down and laid a strip of rubber as I accelerated away from Raoul and Gerald.
A few minutes later, a bear bellowed into the Texas night. Then Gerald’s Vette was speeding past me doing about 90. On the plus side, it would take Raoul awhile to settle down and become human again. I hoped he didn’t eat any of the neighbor’s pets. They’re always so bitchy about things like that.
I WENT TO Grandfather’s new apartment. He let me in and I watched as he finished making some kind of bright red drink in his blender. It smelled of fruit and milk. He sat in a chair across from me on his small sofa. I told him about Katie and Carlo and he looked thoughtful as he drank his smoothie. After a minute or two, he got up and left the room. He returned with a manila folder. It looked suspiciously like the ones used in Fedor’s office.
“Katie.” Grandfather said and opened the folder. “Not much about her besides the fact that her father lost her to Carlo in a poker game. My guess is he thought Carlo was the Master of Fort Worth. Or would be soon.”
“What about the painting?” I said and fell into the nearest chair.
“The painting is a lock.” Grandfather said and pushed a couple of pieces of paper my way. “It took a conclave of Elven sorcerers to whip the spell up. The key is hidden in some book, which itself is locked with magical bonds.”
“Seems kind of dangerous to just leave these things sitting around.” I said and looked over the papers.
“Right you are.” Grandfather said and nodded. “Which is why they were both locked away in the Shadow Realm. About a thousand years ago, where no one could get at them.”
“You mean the Shadow Realm.” I said and rubbed the sudden pain in my neck. “Where Carlo has set up a number of high end night clubs?”
“The very one.” Grandfather said and held up a sheet, which listed the Shadow Clubs owned by Carlo. “Odd things have been happening since he took an interest in interdimensional entertainment. Mainly he has developed a passion for ancient Elven artifacts. A passion shared by Tyler and Fredric.”
“What does Katie have to do with all this?” I said and thought about the woman in the painting. She looked a lot like Katie, but didn’t actually appear to be Katie.
“Oh, that’s the best part.” Grandfather said and showed me one last document. It was an engraving of a ceremony in some kind of a temple. Katie was laid out on an altar and looked like a sacrifice waiting for the knife. “Katie is the prison cell where Desiara, the Elven Goddess of the World’s End, is being held.”
“What happens to Katie if the Goddess tries to break out?” I said.
“As near as I can tell.” Grandfather said. “Katie would move into the cell and Desiara would take control of her body. She can do that already, in certain circumstances. The Mages left a loophole for Desiara, she can have conjugal visits.”
“But not if she’s a slave.” I said and recalled the times that Katie had sworn her faithfulness to me. “Making Katie a slave closed the loophole.”
“Until her new Master falls in love with her.” Grandfather said and looked at me with a frown. “Falling in love with Katie opens the door for falling in love with Desiara. You really shouldn’t do that.”
“Like all great advice I think it might have come a little too late.” I said.
I SLIPPED AWAY into another vision of the Goddess of the World’s End. Desiara was waving her hands as bits and pieces of planetary rubble drifted by us in the vacuum of space. She was glowing with vitality and power. My head grew light as the power flowed my way. She looked at me and her eyes shone.
“I’d like to show you something special.” She said and took my hand. Her power hurt, but I was getting used to it. We shifted into some dark and empty place that made my head buzz. The Shadow Realm.
There were odds and ends of alternate realities. Hidden treasures and missing persons. Amelia Earhart and Jimmy Hoffa and the like. It was a dark place that didn’t seem to have much reality of its own. Desiara smiled and spread her arms. She pulled the walls of the Realm toward us. She compressed the whole place into a ball of matter and energy. We popped out of the bubble of the former Realm. We were back in the general area where Earth, my Earth, had once been.
She pulled this Universe toward us as well. I had the feeling that this was happening on a time scale I couldn’t comprehend. That billions of years flashed by as Desiara destroyed reality. Subjectively, it took no more than a few minutes. She had three small balls of compressed matter now, one must be from the Elven universe. She forced them together and made them smaller and smaller and smaller.
“This is what so many scientists have wanted to see.” She said as she compressed the glowing dot of power ever smaller. “The moment before the Universe was born. They all sought some nice rational, scientific answer. They would be so disappointed to see a God here flipping the switch.”
I watched in some pocket of reality with Desiara. She compressed the singularity. It went past some point o
f no return and ruptured into a new Universe.
“It’s not all about destruction, Wil.” Desiara said and gave me a dazzling smile. “It’s also about rebirth.”
A moment later the expanding energies blew threw us. Our particles mixed with the new reality. On this scale, I no longer missed my friends and family and a good blowjob. The creation of the universe was amazing. I loved Desiara and feared her. It was an unusual feeling for me. I had a moment to ponder being part of all creation before that final death claimed me.
I OPENED MY eyes and took my first breath of the day. I could hear one heartbeat in the room with me. I pushed open the coffin’s lid and saw the arched roof of The Consulate’s Guest Room. I sat up and looked around. It was an old world crypt, someone’s mausoleum. It was moved stone by stone, and rebuilt here. I stepped out of the coffin. I found Jackie making up the beds where a visiting vampire’s Chosen would sleep.
I could see after images of the newly formed Universe. Still felt myself drifting into my subatomic components. But that was a fading vision and Jackie was right here, right now.
“Hey, Lover.” Jackie said and she grinned a private smile at me. “You like a little something first thing when you wake up, don’t you?”
“You know I do.” I said without thinking and stepped toward her. We embraced as if we had been doing it since time began. She fit so natural against my body and her hair smelled so good. She flipped her slightly gray hair out of the way and I pressed my lips to her neck. Her skin tingled and my lips made her squirm. I bit her deeply and her blood pumped strongly into my mouth. It tasted rich and powerful and good. I drank quickly and didn’t spill a drop. I sealed the wound and caught her as her knees gave out. I picked her up easily and laid her on the bed she had been making.
“Oh yes.” She said and looked up at me with a distant gaze. “You know I want you to take all of me.”
And, with my head spinning, I did.
“WOW.” JACKIE SAID as she snuggled into me. “I wish someone had thrown a spell on us before.”
“Yeah.” I said as moments from the past hour replayed in my mind. “I feel like we’ve let the past few years go to waste.”
“Whoa.” Jackie said and her eyebrows rose. “I don’t feel so good.”
“Me neither.” I said and a blankness opened in my skull. “Do you suppose there was some reason that Fedor and Katie didn’t want us to be alone together?”
“I thought they were just being possessive.” Jackie said and went limp in my arms. “Guess I was wrong.”
“I think I’m dying.” I said as I fell out of the bed and onto the floor. “But you were so worth it.”
“Aren’t you sweet?” Jackie said as she fell across me on the floor. “You, too.”
Jackie leaned close to me and I breathed in her wonderful odor one more time.
“What the hell?” Katie said as she walked in the room with a carrier of coffee cups. “Didn’t Ravenhawk tell you Jackie was cursed? And Jackie, didn’t Fedor tell you not to shag Wil that it could kill you?”
“He might have mentioned it.” Jackie said in a dreamy voice that was barely a whisper. “But I wasn’t thinking too clearly at the time. I guess I wasn’t supposed to shag Fedor, either?”
The smell of Jackie’s blood was a distraction I couldn’t put to one side. I pulled her hand up to my mouth and took a nip out of her wrist. Jackie cooed and rubbed her free hand against my face.
“Damn it.” Katie said and pulled Jackie’s wrist away from me. “Stop that.”
I reached for Jackie but she wasn’t there. I opened my eyes and saw Jackie on the room’s other side. In my fading vision, she looked ten miles away. I closed my eyes. The world drifted away and I did nothing to try and stop it.
“Master.” Katie said close to my face and I pried my eyes open. “Feed.”
“Jackie?” I said and tried to look past Katie.
“No.” Katie said with a growl and slapped me. “Feed on me.”
“Oh.” I said and licked my lips. I formed a seal on Katie’s neck and bit down. I focused on making the experience pleasurable, since I was dying and all. Katie’s blood was good. Different from Jackie’s. More potent, older, filled with subtle woody overtones having to do with her being an Elf. I drew strength from her and poured pleasure back in exchange. Katie pounded her fist against my chest, but the blows didn’t have any force. My head cleared. I was going to live after all.
“Enough” Katie said and flopped around like a dying fish. “Please. No more.”
I stopped feeding and closed the wound. Katie’s eyes were rolled up in her head and her back was arched. Body heat was rolling off her in waves. I felt echoing warmth in my own body and it was a sensation that I found satisfying.
I pulled a deep, shaking breath into my body and my surroundings seemed to pop into place. The Guest Room had been slowly spinning and I hadn’t noticed until it had stopped. I sat up and looked around. Katie was moving slowly, but the smile on her face and the buzzing in her head told me she was going to be fine. Jackie had found her way to one of the beds and was softly snoring. I peered into her and she looked better. Maybe she and I were more closely connected than I thought. I reached out and found Fedor. He didn’t appear to be in any immediate danger either.
“In case you were wondering where I’ve been.” Katie said as she crawled to her feet and rubbed her neck. “I was busy with Ravenhawk looking for a solution to your problem, since her potion didn’t seem to do the trick. They decided something a little more persistent can block the effects. Well, the more serious effects anyway.”
Katie opened her messenger bag and took out three bracelets made out of braided metal. She uncoiled one and wrapped it around my wrist. It was a snug fit, but not as snug as the black metal ring on my finger. Katie took the second bracelet over to Jackie and wrapped it around her wrist. The third bracelet was a bit larger and thicker than these two. I guessed Fedor needed a little more help than we did.
Jackie sat up and grabbed Katie by the wrist. Her eyes showed she was having a Vision. She looked at the Elf with rage and a light dancing in her eyes. Jackie made a sign in the air and Katie cried out as she fell to her knees.
“I know I can’t kill you.” Jackie said and put her face close to Katie’s. “But I can make you suffer.”
“Wilhem.” Katie said and I saw that flash of green light in her eyes that shows Desiara was there as well. Whatever Jackie was doing was somehow hurting the Goddess as well. I felt my eyebrows rise in surprise.
“You dare to call to him for help?” Jackie said and pulled Katie’s head back by her hair. Jackie reached to a belt she wasn’t wearing and looked down in surprise. “Where’s my blade?”
“Jackie.” I said as I flashed to her side. “It’s alright Jackie. What’s going on?”
“Oh my Dearest.” Jackie said and pushed Katie to the floor as she threw her arms around me. “I was so worried about you.”
Jackie leaned her head against me. She tensed and then looked up at me with the Seer gaze gone from her face. She turned and looked at Katie. She breathed hard and I had to hold her back.
“That had better be only one possible future Desiara.” Jackie said with a hiss. “If the future I just saw comes to pass, I won’t be the only one looking for your head.”
“Desiara?” I said and looked at Katie where she still lay sprawled on the floor.
“You know who this Elf really is, Wil, stop pretending that you don’t.” Jackie said and gathered up her clothes. “I need a shower.”
“What did she do to you?” I said as I sat on the bed near Katie. “What are you going to do to make her want to hurt you?”
“She shouldn’t have been able to do that.” Katie said and I saw tears rolling down her face. “She used my name in a punishment spell.”
“Jackie doesn’t use magic.” I said. “At least, not yet. The last time this happened, she mentioned my scars. Vampires don’t usually have scars.”
“
Don’t you care that she hurt me?” Katie said and shook her head. “How many times do I have to save your life?”
“Of course I care.” I said and looked into her eyes. “I love you.”
“What?” Katie said and there was a flash of green in her eyes as Desiara peeked out at me. “So glad to hear that.”
I stumbled back and the light faded from her eyes. She shook her head and looked at me with fresh tears running down her face. Her shoulders sagged and conflicting emotions fought for control. A moment later, she was just Katie again.
I was still naked and covered with blood and other bodily fluids. I didn’t see my clothes at first, then found them scattered to the room’s corners. I decided to take a shower as well.
“Get that bracelet to Fedor.” I said and headed out the door.
When I returned I found a fresh set of clothes waiting for me along with a cup of coffee. I dressed quickly and checked the time on my phone. It was a little past 2 A.M. and the night was still young. I drank the lukewarm coffee.
I left the Guest Room and headed to the main office. I used my vampire power to burn a notch in the door frame as I walked out. If Jackie was right, as she often was, this was just the first Guest Room we would share. If I lived that long.
Fedor was sitting behind Jackie’s desk, sorting through a few papers and looking completely overwhelmed. He looked up when I entered the room. He didn’t smile.
“Ah, I see you’ve recovered.” Fedor said and tossed the papers he was looking at back onto the desk. “Did you enjoy your morning romp with my secretary?”
“Yeah, I did.” I said without thinking and a smile spread on my face. I felt a pain in my shoulder and looked over to see Katie punching me.
“What he meant to say.” Katie said and bowed her head toward Fedor. “Was that he regrets any actions taken while he was under a spell he was helpless to resist.”
“Yes.” Fedor said and squinted at me as he held up his wrist to show the magical bracelet. “I do understand.”
I left the Consulate with Katie in tow. Her presence was a good feeling. Was Katie just one more blind spot for me? I felt an undertow of reserve, a feeling of holding something back. I shrugged it aside without a second thought. I know what it’s like to want a few private thoughts.
“I have no secrets from you, Master.” Katie said in crisp, imploring tones. “I am yours and yours alone.”
“Is that a bad thing?” I said as we got into the Dodge. “I have to be better than Carlo, right?”
“You are my world.” Katie said with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. “What more could a poor Elf girl ask of life?”
I drove across town to the general neighborhood of Carlo’s rambling residence. I parked a block or so away, where I could see the former church. The vampire Carlo and the Elf that he had put into my life were a conundrum. I wasn’t having any deep insights. Cars went past occasionally, but this part of downtown was mostly empty at this time of night. Katie sat beside me with her hoodie pulled up and her phone player glowing blue.
I was halfheartedly watching the old church when I saw a shape move across the parking lot. I looked more closely and saw an open window on the second story that hadn’t been opened before. I spotted the shape again as it darted from one shadow to another. I only knew one person that was so good at blending into the darkness. Kilestra looked my way when she felt my presence, but then she was gone again and I didn’t catch any more hints that she had been here. That was odd.
The Dodge shook and I found Raoul crawling into the passenger’s seat. I turned to look at Katie and found Izumi was holding a gun on her. When I looked back at Raoul, he was holding a gun of his own.
“What’s up, Raoul?” I said and laid my hands on the steering wheel.
“Carlo wants a little more face time with you.” Raoul said. “And he’d like me to make sure you come along.”
“He could have just asked.” I said and fired up the Dodge. Izumi took Katie and followed us.
We had only driven a few blocks when Raoul told me to pull to a stop near an alleyway wedged between two parking garages. The way down the alley was blocked by a black iron gate with a lion on top of it. It’s the kind of stylistic tick you find in all large cities. It’s one that I had never noticed before. Raoul caught me looking at the symbol.
“It’s the symbol of Carlo’s family.” Raoul said. “Or some such bullshit. He’s waiting for you inside.”
A large man wearing a black suit and a red tie appeared out of the shadows to pull the gate open for us. He was a vampire I didn’t know, something that was happening more and more often. I really needed to go to more mixers.
When the gate clanged shut behind us, the alleyway disappeared. A replica of Ancient Rome at its most over the top replaced it. A buzzing filled my head for a moment and then faded to a background hum. Everything was both old and new.
“I thought you were afraid of me.” I said and found that I couldn’t find the door I had walked through to get here. Or any door for that matter. “Aren’t you worried I might take offense?”
“Not here.” Carlo said and narrowed his eyes at me. “I have a bit more freedom in the Shadow Realm.”
I followed Carlo and looked around. The rugs and curtains were blood red. It was a long, narrow room, but it was a richly appointed long and narrow room. A handful of vampires and humans were scattered around. Carlo led me to a long bar. We were greeted coolly by a woman wearing a red dress with an excessive amount of jewels and gold beadwork embroidered into it.
“The usual.” Carlo said and turned his back on the woman. He nodded to vampires seated around the room’s edge and put his elbows on the bar. Two identical women who looked to be about sixteen years old walked up to us and curtseyed. They were as thin as ballerinas and they both glowed with vitality.
“A little young, don’t you think?” I said in Carlo’s direction. This earned me stares from several of the vampires in the club and smiles from both of the girls.
“They aren’t as young as they look, Wilhem.” Carlo said and slapped me on the back. “Besides, who are you to judge? I happen to know firsthand about your latest conquest. I was right about that Elf, wasn’t I? She is something special.”
“How is it that I’ve never seen this place before?” I said by way of changing the subject.
“Little Rome is what you call a private establishment.” Carlo said and smiled. He seemed much more his old self here. “Admittance is by invitation only.”
“It’s a bit different from Fredric’s place.” I said and took in Little Rome with a wave of my hand. “For one thing, this is all magical bullshit, isn’t it? I’ve seen this kind of sleight of hand before. It’s all about the use of color, isn’t it?”
“Some people have no sense of wonder. But even you... have heard of Shadow Clubs, yes?” Carlo said and nodded to take in the room around us. “These are little pockets of the Shadow Realm, bound by magic, but governed by their own laws. The things we have stumbled upon while building these places would amaze you. Kilestra well, she knows more about it than she lets on.”
“What does Kilestra have to do with you?” I said and looked at Carlo. “Or this little slice of ancient Rome?”
“Oh, we added all of this.” Carlo said and nodded. “Except for a few odd items here and there. Items I would like to talk to Kilestra about. Things she carelessly left lying about. Things I feel sure she never thought to hear mentioned again.”
“Aren’t you a bit worried?” I said and narrowed my eyes. “That Kilestra might react to your threats? Maybe Fredric threatened her, and you saw what happened to him.”
“I have reason to believe that wasn’t really Kilestra’s work.” Carlo said and wrapped his arm around the waist of one of the girls. He pushed the other one in my direction. “How about a little pleasure before business? These girls are special. I don’t share my private stock with just anyone.”
He pulled the girl close and put his face to her neck. S
he squirmed just a little as he ran his hands up and down her. She looked at me, and then closed her eyes as Carlo poured his power into her. They both giggled with an elation that seemed to be the norm for Little Rome.
The other girl laid a hand on my chest and made eye contact with me. That was something most humans tried to avoid. Her hand pulsed with power over my heart. I felt warmth and happiness. A rustling sound was tickling the tiny hairs in my ears. I pulled her into me and decided to take a little sip. See if she tasted as good as she looked. She did and more. Then I seemed to lose track of time for a bit.