It wasn’t that the non-modified humans couldn’t get it done, Sandra knew. The fact that vampires and Weres could both heal and likely take out the enemy much faster just made using them for strikes the practical decision.
“Very well,” Donnoly said, standing too, trying his best to not show he was uncomfortable. “Then let’s put a period on this very long day and call it done.”
The rest all stood and started to meander out.
“Oh, and Colonel?” Sandra walked past him and leaned in close. “All that itching, down there? You might want to stop by the infirmary to see if they have something for it.”
“Er, yes, thank you.” He stood, proud as ever, and walked to the elevator, moving his hips in an odd motion to avoid scratching as he went.
“Think he’ll be okay?” Felix asked, standing at her shoulder.
“The soldiers respect him as one of their own,” she replied. “Most of them, anyway. We’ll help him earn the trust back from the rest, and keep close to ensure he doesn’t muck all this up again.”
“I’ve got some of my best on it.” Felix turned to Diego and Garcia. “Now, boys—work hard, play hard?”
“You’re speaking my language!” Garcia grinned. “To the café?”
“No way,” Sandra interrupted, putting her foot down. “I might not be able to drink wine anymore, but the rest of New York won’t be able to either if you lot keep getting into it. Plus, I’m still not convinced Felix here isn’t trying to seduce my man.”
Felix laughed at that. “Hey, I’d crush Diego in a hypothetical world, but such a world is sadly a dream.” He reached out to caress Diego’s cheek, stopping halfway. “Ah, the one that got away.”
They all cracked up at that, and Diego stood. “Fine, beer and chess on me. I know just the spot. We’ll walk you home first,” he added, kissing Sandra’s cheek.
“You think I need your protection?”
He gave her a look that told her he didn’t care to discuss the matter, and she just smiled and nodded. In truth, she liked when he took on the protective husband role. It suited him, and it wasn’t like they were living in some peaceful Nirvana anyway.
“Deal, but you all stumble home. Wake me again, I’m taking scalps.” She went to the door and opened it, motioning for Diego to lead the way. He smiled and reached for the door to let her go first, but she stood her ground. If they were going to play protective here, she was going to put her foot down somewhere. She was advancing in her pregnancy, but hell, this pregnant lady had kicked some major ass putting down a mutiny.
“You just keep the bad guys away from my baby,” she ordered with a smirk. “I’ll open the damn door.”
He chuckled on his way past. “Deal.”
To her relief they didn’t meet with any problems on their walk home, not that the building where they had taken up residence was far. After she had kicked the three guys out of the place she was more than happy to lie down, hands cupping her protruding belly, and close her eyes. Sunset was still a bit away, but she didn’t care. This baby inside her was growing and she’d get all the rest she wanted, dammit.
As she drifted off to sleep she imagined a little Diego in there, already practicing his enemy take-downs, and the thought gave her reason to smile.
CHAPTER FOUR
Prince Edward Island
Cammie paced the living room, having just heard Clara’s tale about the attempted mutiny by Esmerelda and Presley. She had thought they’d left that city in good hands, but this just served as one more reminder of what she had known all along—Valerie was too trusting.
“All the Golden City Weres were in on this?” Royland asked. He sat opposite Clara and Platea at the table, and was still groggy from having been awakened from his day-sleep.
Clara shook her head. “Some weren’t on the inside, but I wasn’t close enough to know who. I only started recently.”
“After my time, apparently. When I was with the Golden City, all we cared about was survival.”
“It could’ve been your betrayal that led them to this network plan,” Royland commented. “I mean, thinking that strong people like you were now against them.”
“Thanks,” Cammie replied, glaring at him before turning back to Clara. “What can you tell us about it?”
“I honestly didn’t know much, but we had a network of communications set up with the Golden City for a bit, or at least we did until it failed. A couple months back, I think it was. Since then, we’ve only had messages via airship, smuggled aboard for us to find.”
“And why would they tell you all of this?” Cammie asked. “It doesn’t add up.”
“I was on the crew Captain Kaine picked up, and we were the prime source of communications. The plan was to form a network of independents, they called it. Independent communities that would stand up for freedom against… Well, against the likes of you and Valerie.”
“Freedom from us?” Cammie chuckled. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “And you think this is still going on?”
Clara shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m not sure how many of the communities were involved in the attack, only that they asked us to be. But either Kaine didn’t think it worth his time, or…I don’t know, but we didn’t go. If others didn’t go either, or if Kaine was organizing some sort of coup among the indies after the Golden City Weres moved into Old, er, New York, I wouldn’t have known.”
“And why not?”
“She left them just before the last mission,” Platea interrupted. “It could’ve meant her life, but you showed up and—”
“And now I’m alive and free,” Clara continued. “Thanks to you all, that is. I’d like to request a pardon and be part of this. Whatever this is.”
“We’re not royalty here,” Royland said, dumbfounded. “A pardon?”
“You didn’t tell him about your whole captain speech?” Platea asked Cammie.
“It was improvised—a spur of the moment thing.” Cammie shrugged at his confused look. “I’ll fill you in later.”
“And me?” Clara stared up at her with wide, nervous eyes.
“You were part of Kaine’s crew and involved in this whole mess, which means you’re valuable. And coming to me like this deserves its own reward. There’s no need to even ask for a pardon. It’s done.” Cammie went to them and sat down at the table, taking the fourth seat.
“But?”
“As I said, you can be useful. What else do you know about this network of indies, as you called it?”
Clara glanced awkwardly between Cammie and Royland. “They started as a defense against the creatures of the night.”
“Oh yeah, I’d nearly forgotten about the whole hunting us thing,” Cammie spat, leaning back. “I’m still waiting to see who comes forward on that.”
“They were taken care of,” Platea reassured her.
“Focus,” Royland added.
“Right.” Cammie hesitated. “But I’m not letting that go, not yet. So, you were saying about the indies?”
Clara nodded. “Thing is, we all mostly stuck to ourselves. Supposed to rally if there was a summons, but most of us knew it would never really happen. Now, Toro? They call and we go as fast as our stubby legs can carry us, but not so much with the indies. And that’s why I imagine this New York mutiny was put down so fast. It’s likely only one or two of the indies around the area responded.”
“The rest were too scared of New York, would be my guess,” Royland stated. “After what you did to the Golden City, Cam.”
Clara’s eyes went wide. “Th…that was you?”
With a chuckle, Cammie nodded. “A lot of it, yeah.”
“How the fuck am I still alive?”
“Girl, language,” Platea snapped, earning a laugh from Royland.
“I still can’t get over pirates who care about swearing,” he explained.
Cammie stood as she tried to process this information. “We knew there were groups out there, nomad groups and whatnot, but we never i
magined that they were working together in some way.”
“Valerie will want to know about this,” Royland asserted. “It’s got to be dealt with.”
“For sure.” Cammie paused, looking at Clara and her mom. “And someone has to advise New York, and be there so they know who to look out for.”
“Hold on there,” Platea exclaimed, standing now too. “If you think I’m going to let my daughter leave—”
“No,” Cammie interrupted, “I don’t. I meant both of you.”
For a moment the woman was speechless, then she started to smile. Her eyes roamed to the window as if there were an image of her future there. “Me in New York City, imagine.”
“It’s not the glamorous city of the gods the legends talk about,” Royland commented. “Just…don’t say nobody warned you.”
Clara was still frowning, however. “You want us to just uproot? Leave?”
“It’s smart,” Platea told her. “Some of the men might blame you for what happened in the square out there.”
“Blame me? So I took the guy’s knife, that’s an invitation to—”
“Not at all,” Platea demurred. “But not everyone thinks rationally, especially not pirates. Former pirates. Whatever.”
Cammie nodded. “I have a friend here, maybe you know him?”
“We’ve seen you two and Bronson speaking,” Platea told her, “if that’s who you’re referring to.”
“You have a problem with him?”
Platea shook her head and looked at her daughter.
“His kids are nice,” she admitted. “I’ve actually babysat them once or twice.”
“Yes, his kids... They don’t belong out here with pirates or privateers or whatever you want to call this lot, even if they can hold their own against half the men here. They deserve better.”
“And better is New York?” Clara looked doubtful.
“It is. It’s not perfect, but they’re far ahead of us.” Cammie held out her hand, waiting for the girl to shake it. “What’d’ya say? Be our lookout in New York? Bronson will take you there on his airship, and his kids will be safe. The two of you will have a better life, and I believe you'll make the world a better place.”
“Damn, Cammie,” Royland interjected. “When did you become all gung ho, fighting to save the little people?”
“The day I met Valerie, same as you,” she shot back, still waiting with her hand out. “And now, Clara, it’s your turn.”
Clara bit her lip, eying the hand, then took it in a firm handshake. “It’s a deal.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The Toro Slums
Circumnavigating the city to make it to the slums undetected took longer than Valerie would have liked, but soon she had them in her sights. Lights from the city were visible in the distance, but the slums were lit only by moonlight and the occasional torch or lantern passing through the night.
Valerie knelt at the edge of a muddy path, rubbing that mud on her pirate jacket and pants. It wasn’t like she gave a shit about the clothes. They had been used to go undercover against the Prince, though that hadn’t done a lot of good. Now they would be used to go undercover here, in a much less pretty version of undercover.
Martha, on the other hand, was having a hard time.
“Is this really necessary?” she asked, looking at Valerie, Robin, and Rand as they covered themselves in filth.
“You could go back with your nephew,” Valerie offered. “The choice is still yours.”
“And leave you to have all the fun?” The woman’s eyes stared coldly at the slums ahead of them—a wide swath of what could almost be considered houses, if they hadn’t been simply cardboard and plywood. With her vampire sight Valerie could make out some of the inhabitants milling about, though they couldn’t see her.
“A smaller group could be a good thing,” Robin admitted, not afraid to show her feelings on the matter.
“She’ll have the best sense of who’s who when we get in there,” Rand told them, then turned to Martha. “We agreed, that’s why we need you. I know my way around there, but when it comes to the pirate council I’m lost.”
“All I know is from when three of them visited the Prince, if you call that a visit.” Martha smirked. “I wasn’t supposed to see the way they treated him, but I can tell you this: these assholes think they’re gods.”
“Perfect,” Valerie exclaimed. “That means they’ll be overconfident. Hubris is rarely anyone’s friend.”
Martha looked doubtful, but didn’t say anything further. She knelt beside Rand and started wiping mud on her forehead and sleeves.
“Everyone ready?” Valerie asked, glancing at Robin to see how she was doing.
“Have you ever seen me so dirty?” Robin demanded. Valerie just rolled her eyes.
“I’m not giving you the satisfaction of making some joke about how you’re always dirty, or whatever. Plus, compared to Cammie, you’re tame.”
Robin frowned. “You just don’t know me yet. Maybe that’s it.”
“Or maybe you’re teasing me as a way of distracting yourself from what’s really going on here.” Valerie nodded to the city. “Rand, what’s your best guess as to the largest number of slaves. Where they’d be, I mean.”
“No guess needed,” he replied. “That’s going to be in and around the houses of the council. They have slaves catering to them night and day, some on guard even.”
“Why don’t the slaves just turn on them?” Robin asked.
“Too scared, would be my bet.” He turned and lifted his shirt to show his back, where Valerie expected to see whip scars or something. Instead, there were letters on his back. “Every time you offend a non-slave, they play a game with you. The first letter of that person’s name gets carved into you. Do it again? The next. When you get the whole name, you change ownership and your life is over, if they so choose.”
“You don’t have any whole names,” Robin noted.
“I’m smart.”
“But you still have letters,” she pointed out.
“I’m human.” After the rest of them had waited long enough, he explained, “I’ve never met a slave who didn’t have some letters. You don’t get by in there without one of those jerkoffs accusing you of something, even if you didn’t do it. They get off on the whole thing.”
Robin’s hand went to the dagger tucked into the back of her shirt, though there was no one here to attack. The eyes so often hidden behind her gear were visible now since she had removed the mask and hidden it, and they flared red, causing Rand to stumble back.
“If they put even a scratch on my parents, this whole place will fucking burn,” Robin stated matter-of-factly. “You can count on that.”
Valerie wanted to say something just then, but didn’t quite know what. Finally she just nodded and replied, “Damn right.”
That had a slight calming effect, due to Robin knowing someone was with her, Valerie guessed.
“Get us there,” Robin directed Rand, “now.”
The man nodded, pulling his shirt back down, and then motioned them forward. None of them had their swords or other visible weapons since they wanted to go in undetected. Valerie had convinced them that if it really came to a fight, she’d be able to get them weapons. Just take out the first couple attackers, toss the weapons over, and keep moving forward.
As they approached, the mud squished under their feet. The darkness of this part of the city wasn’t so different from one particular village she had visited back in France, Valerie remembered. She had walked into the square, pausing to smile at the scent of freshly baked croissants. But when she walked into the bakery, she had been surprised to see a woman bent over the counter with blood pooling beneath her.
The whole place had been torn apart, its inhabitants left for dead.
And for what? All because her brother, under orders of the Duke, had wanted to clear out the area to make way for his warriors and their takeover of the surrounding areas outside of Old Paris.
; This wouldn’t be the same. This wouldn’t be some slaughter, no matter what the people in charge had become.
Emotions rose nearby. Fear, she sensed strongly as they walked past several people. Its strongest broadcaster, however, was right beside her. Robin.
The woman gave her a look that said, “Stay out of my head,” and Valerie nodded in apology. She must’ve betrayed her worry in her eyes. If Robin didn’t find her parents, or worse, if she found out they were dead, how would it affect her? Robin was one of the toughest women she knew. How could she not be, having been torn from her parents and forced to become a vampire, then thrown into training to be the ultimate assassin…and surviving?
It didn’t matter how strong someone was, though, when their heart was so determined. She could plummet into depression or be driven to a murderous rage. Valerie imagined that, with what the woman was capable of, her rage would end with this whole city in ashes. Robin was still young physically, but mentally she was ready to take on the world. Mentally, she had been through more than most people twice her age. That gave her a maturity, and ferocity, well beyond her years.For the people’s sake, Robin’s parents had better be unharmed.
The group passed through dark streets that reeked of sewage and tobacco. A wind blew and made the stench worse, the warmth of it seeming like the hot breath of some demon looking down on them from above.
The thought scared her, she had to admit. She was a vampire, and there were more powerful vampires than her out there. There were aliens, even. For all she knew, there could be monsters from other dimensions or spirits. There could be a devil, there could be a god, there could be many gods.
Maybe she was a god, in that sense?
She pushed the thought aside and stifled a chuckle, knowing how laughing would look at a moment like this.
It wasn’t the right time to get lost in theology or narcissistic musings, she reminded herself. If anything, she wished there was a God out there, one being that was controlling everything, to make sure it ended right. One being above it all to ensure that no matter what crazy directions their stories went, at the end everything would end up just as it should. As it was meant to be.
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