by Debra Dunbar
He caught his breath. “I don’t know anything about that. Nothing.”
“Well that’s a shame.” Opal took a few steps forward. “Since you don’t know anything, then you’re just a trespasser. If you knew anything about those who killed the Knight, then you would have gotten a swift death at the hands of these Templars. If not, then you’re ours to kill.”
The vampire moved to the wall, springing upward to grip the top edge. Opal leapt up and sideways to head him off, but instead of trying to go over as we’d thought, he launched himself off the wall, straight toward us.
Opal was now on the other side of him, ineffective as backup. I closed in, thinking that if I missed the vampire, Mom would be right behind me to stop him. He moved so fast, he was a blur, but this guy wasn’t nearly as old or as powerful as Simon had been, and with a quick pivot and thrust, I cut along the front of his right thigh.
The vampire screamed, stumbling forward. Mom swung her blade in an upward arc, aiming not for the head or torso as she normally would have done, but for his arm.
With a clean slice, his left hand hit the ground. I heard Opal shout “Ewww” as the vampire shrieked once more, clutching his stump at the wrist and limping around the back of one building with far more speed than I would have managed if I’d had my leg cut twice and my hand sliced off.
“Stay here,” Mom instructed Opal. “If he comes back around the building, grab him. Aria, you circle around the block and come up from behind. He’s hurt and that makes him dangerous, especially if he’s cornered. I’m going around the other building, then up along the front.”
I nodded and ran to the next cross street, barely hearing Opal’s cry of “wait”. The static feel of vampire overwhelmed me, so I slowed down as I turned the corner. More. There were more. I tried to sort out Opal from the vampire I was chasing and couldn’t tell if there were more than the two or not.
Behind me. I could feel a vampire behind me and I had to assume it was Opal who was obeying Dario’s instructions to protect me over my mother’s orders because I couldn’t freak out about being flanked by a bunch of mercenary vampires.
I moved slowly along the side of the building, hugging the wall. The static feel of vampire hung at the edge of my awareness. He hadn’t run far, and he was clearly too injured to move at his usual speed.
A black blob of blood caught my notice. I traced the trail, barely visible in the moonless night, to an overhang at a loading dock. Holding my breath, I waited and watched the shadows, rewarded when I saw a faint movement in the corner next to the loading dock door.
I eased closer, feeling a twinge of sympathy as the vampire hiding in the shadows shivered and drew himself into a ball.
“Come out.” My voice didn’t sound anywhere near as commanding as my mother’s, and in all honestly I wasn’t sure I could lop the guy’s head off with the amount of conviction she could either. Yes, I’d cut his leg, but executing a hurt vampire cowering in a loading dock bay seemed wrong.
“I didn’t do it.”
His voice was filled with pain and I felt another twinge of guilt. I really wasn’t cut out for this stuff. Killing psychos like Simon and Dark Iron were one thing. Killing a hurt vampire who was pleading innocence was another.
“Then tell me who did. Tell me where your mercenaries are, and where the mage is.”
“I didn’t do it.” The vampire panted. “I can’t tell you where are. They’re my family. They’re all I have. And I can’t tell you about our client. You have to understand.”
I wouldn’t give up my family either, but these vampires and mages had killed a Templar, and Knight D’Angelo deserved justice.
The feel of vampire behind me grew stronger and I shifted, glancing along the side of the building. If this was Opal, then she had a few others with her. It was either three or four vampires, or one really strong vampire.
I’d already battled one strong Master vampire, and I really didn’t want to have to face another right now.
I took a step forward and eyed the loading dock bay, wondering what the best approach would be. Should I jump up on the opposite end and approach him across the narrow ledge? Or approach from below and risk having to fight an opponent who was basically over my head?
“It will be easier on you if you talk. Just tell me where they are. They killed a Templar Knight.” I held back from promising to let him go, although I was leaning that way. Not that the poor guy would bounce back from his injuries. Wounds from a blessed weapon didn’t exactly heal like those from a sword bought at a local pawn shop.
“No. I’ll die before I give up my family. They’re all I have. When I was alone in the world, they took me in. They gave me a home, a purpose.”
I hopped up on the loading dock ledge, a bit worried about the feel of vampire behind me. If I was being trapped, it would be better to be up high with the door at my back.
“Aria. Stop.”
I froze, because the voice was Dario’s. Suddenly the static vampire feel made sense. It wasn’t a group coming up behind me, it was a powerful vampire whose energy signature was oh-so familiar to me, but in the adrenaline fueled stress of the moment, I hadn’t recognized it.
Irritation and anger flared through me. Did he really think I needed help in taking down an injured vampire? Had Opal called him? Had he been stalking behind us the whole time?
Suddenly Dario was on the ledge between me and the other vampire. “Hold back. I’ll deal with him.”
“Because you don’t think I can manage to defend myself against an injured vampire? Seriously? You’ve watched me fight before. I killed a master vampire, for crying out loud. I’ve got a blessed sword, a spelled butter knife, and a crucifix on my keychain. I think I’m good here.”
Dario reached out to touch my arm. “I know you are. It’s not your skill I doubt, I just…you have enough blood on your hands and this isn’t your fight. It’s your mother’s job to avenge the murdered Templar, and it’s mine and my family’s job to protect our territory. Hold back and let me do it instead of you.”
He was right. I wouldn’t have been able to kill this vampire. What the heck was I planning on doing with him? He was clearly not going to answer my questions. I would have been faced with having to put down a cowering, injured vampire, and I was pretty sure that wasn’t something I would have been able to do.
Now that Dario was here, his fate was in the hands of the Balaj as a trespasser.
“Okay,” I said, hoping he made this quick.
Dario turned and took a step forward.
The injured vampire snarled, then froze, a look of surprise crossing his face. “Adeyemi?” he whispered. “Is that you?”
Dario stopped abruptly. “James?”
I raised my sword, pivoting slightly so I could see around Dario and keep the injured vampire in my sights. “You know him?”
And who the hell was Adeyemi? The name sounded vaguely familiar to me. Had that been Dario’s name before he’d come to Baltimore? Before he’d even been turned? Maybe he’d mentioned it to me at one point, and I’d forgotten.
The injured vampire held out his hand. “Adeyemi. I didn’t know this was your family here in Baltimore. If I had, I would have given you the courtesy of a visit.” The vampire’s voice faltered. “I would have not come, if I had known this was your Balaj. Please forgive me. If I must die tonight, let me at least know there is no ill feeling between us.”
Dario waved for me to lower my sword. “James, how did you get involved with this group of mercenaries? The last time I saw you it was in Atlanta nearly two hundred years ago.”
The vampire stood and swayed against the loading dock door, clutching his wrist. “Perry was killed along with half our Balaj when the city burned during the war. Wilhelm took over.”
Dario grimaced. “So you went rogue.”
James nodded. “It was that or face death. Wilhelm always hated me. I made my way to Richmond and they were not welcoming, but a subset of their Balaj had formed a mercenar
y group, and offered me protection if I joined. I’d been on my own for thirty years, so I jumped at the chance. Anything to have a family again and not be living in fear of starvation or being discovered.”
“What sort of mercenary work does this group do?”
James looked down at his feet. “Security and protection for humans. We guard gangsters from the law, kill for hire, do security detail for some political people, make sure really long magical ceremonies go uninterrupted. That sort of thing.”
“And what are you doing in Baltimore.”
The vampire sucked in a deep breath, then looked up at Dario. “I don’t know the details, really I don’t. We’re just supposed to make sure everyone stays away from certain assigned areas, catalogue who is coming and going from certain buildings, follow assigned individuals and note where they go and who they talk to. We take shifts, because we’ve got to feed.”
I glanced over at Dario, hoping he could read my unspoken plea because I didn’t want to interrupt and risk that James might clam up and refuse to talk further if he remembered a Templar who’d sliced open his leg was standing right near him, sword in hand.
“Who killed the Knight, James?” Dario’s voice was soft and kind. “It’s put us in a real bind here in Baltimore. I know whoever killed him was trying to pin it on us, but that backfired because, as you can see, our Balaj has a close relationship with the Order. They know it wasn’t us. We just need to find out who, so the Templars can get justice, and we can get them the heck out of our town.”
“I don’t know.” His voice was anguished. “There are twenty-six of us here in the city on this job. All I heard was that there was a human snooping around, and we were told to take care of the problem. I wasn’t involved and no one told me anything about killing a Templar.”
I held back, my sword at my side. Dario was doing a far better job of getting information from this guy that any of us had been able to do, and if the vampire ran for it, I was positive Dario could stop him.
“So you don’t know what the mages are doing?”
“No. And I’m not sure exactly what building they’re in or street they’re on. My assignments so far have been to watch a place in the Inner Harbor, and another on Fulton and let Martin know if the police or other vampires are nosing around.”
Dario’s eyes met mine and I knew we were both thinking the same thing.
“We’ll let you go if you find out where the mages are and where they’re doing whatever they’re doing, and tell me,” I told James.
His gaze darted from Dario to me and back again. “You’ll slaughter them. I don’t care about the mages, but Martin and the others…they’re a bunch of niffynaffy rufflers, but they’re all I’ve got. Without them I’ll be a rogue again, I’ll be wandering without a family.”
Dario took a step forward. “I’ve never known you to be anything but loyal and honorable, James. You were kind to my family and me when no one else was, when we had nowhere to turn. If you find out where the mages are and what they’re doing, if you help us, then I’ll offer you a place in our Balaj.”
James nodded eagerly. “I’ll do it. Tomorrow at sunset, I’ll have the information for you. I won’t be able to deliver it myself, but I’ll send a human I trust with it. Just tell me where.”
I gave the man my address. With a hopeful smile at Dario, and a wary glance my way, he hopped off the loading dock ledge, stumbling as he landed. I watched as he limped off into the shadows the way I’d come.
“You do realize my mother is going to kill me for letting him go?” I told Dario once James was out of sight.
“He didn’t know anything. This is a better solution than killing him and trying to hunt down another mercenary who might or might not have the same lack of knowledge.”
Dario jumped down with far more grace than poor James had, then held out a hand for me. I landed beside him, not needing the assistance, but taking his hand anyway because I appreciated the gesture.
I appreciated the other gesture as well—him intervening so I wouldn’t have to make a decision on whether or not to kill an injured vampire who was huddled in pain against a loading dock door.
“Did you mean it about letting James into your Balaj?” I didn’t think Dario would lie about something like that, but I was surprised. I knew vampires occasionally allowed non-family into their groups, but I also knew Dario was very selective and didn’t trust easily when it came to vampires or humans.
“Absolutely. If I had known what had happened with Perry in Atlanta, I would have intervened and asked to have him brought in. We owe them. We owe him. It’s the least I can do.”
We headed around the other side of the building where we met Mom and Opal. I confessed what had happened, and after a somewhat heated discussion with Dario about whether he could trust James not to rat us out and send a bunch of vampires or human hitmen to my door, Mom calmed down.
The walk back to the car was a bit frosty. Opal decided she’d make her own way back home, and Mom and I drove in silence. I wasn’t sure if I was happy or not to see Dario’s SUV parked outside my house as we pulled up.
“So he’s spending the night?” Mom’s tone of voice dripped with displeasure.
“He often spends the night, Mom. And he’s especially going to spend the night after you put all sorts of worries in his head about vampires attacking us. I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided to shelter in my basement during the day just to be close by.”
It was my house and I wanted him there. If Mom didn’t like it, she could go find a hotel room.
Dario was inside, a pot of coffee on, Gaia curling around his legs. Mom announced she was going to bed and headed upstairs to where I’d made a makeshift sleeping area in one of the spare rooms using an air mattress and some extra sheets and blankets. Dario and I drank coffee and sat at the kitchen table until we heard the bedroom door close, then went up ourselves.
I was exhausted and I knew tomorrow was going to be hectic, but more than sleep, I wanted to talk.
“Tell me about the Atlanta Balaj, about James and this Perry and what happened when you and your family were there.”
He sighed and pulled me close. “A handful of our Balaj had come from France, but a good number of us were from Saint Dominigue. It was difficult to hunt as a dark-skinned black man during a time of slavery. We were very limited in who we could safely feed from, and we were constantly under scrutiny. If a human caught us hunting, we were presumed to be escaped slaves. It put us in a bind where we either needed to kill the human, or flee the area to stay safe.” Dario shook his head. “The hunter became the hunted. We were constantly on the move, always near starvation. I met James when we were rogues outside of Atlanta, and rather than run us off with threats, he took us to the Master. We were allowed to remain as guests for two weeks. It gave us time to regain our strength.”
I curled up against him and listened to him continue to talk about what happened two hundred years ago. I listened to him tell me about James, about Atlanta during those two weeks. I listened to him talk about the treacherous journey they’d made north from the city, the time their daytime resting place had nearly been found out by a mob looking for escaped slaves. I listened to him tell me of how it felt to be hungry, to be desperate.
I listened, because tonight, I was his sanctuary.
Chapter 21
“How did yesterday go?” Tremelay smeared a thick coating of mustard on his egg, cheese, and ham croissant.
I snort-laughed. “Oh, peachy. My mother’s in town because the dead guy with the vampire bites was a Templar. I spent the entirety of yesterday and last night working with her and Dario trying to figure out who killed him and why, and doing reconnaissance. The few hours I got to curl up with my man were completely cock-blocked because my mother was sleeping in the bedroom right next to mine and I felt a little weird doing the nasty with her listening in.”
“So no sex?” Tremelay grinned. “One night out of…what? A month? One night out of a month
you don’t get any and you’re complaining. Otherwise it sounds like a normal day for a Templar, or a police detective, in the glorious city of Baltimore.”
“To think I was complaining about being bored. I’ve got a group of vampires led by a mage who murdered a Knight, and I’ve got a kidnapping/robbery that might or might not involve possession by a ghost coupled with a missing person.”
“No rest, or sex evidently, for you.” Tremelay grinned. “At least that vampire killing got yanked right out from under me once someone higher up got word of the tattoo on his wrist. Can’t say I’m sad about one less case on our murder board. I spent the night working on that blood-for-money murder, and following up with another detective on the missing person’s case for Liz Dimond.”
“That’s not your case?” I asked, surprised.
“Homicide, Ainsworth. Baltimore is a big city and I only do homicide. But lately it seems my job has changed and now I’m in charge of ‘All The Weird Shit’.”
“Who recognized Knight D’Angelo’s tattoo and called the Order?” I asked, curious about who in the city police department would recognize a Templar tattoo, or have contact information for one of the Elders.
Tremelay shrugged. “I’ve got no idea. All I know is that by noon, it was off the board and there was a note in the system that said it was being investigated outside the department. I assumed the dead guy was with a federal agency or active military until you told me.”
I thought for a second while I ate my bagel. We’d made progress last night, and I felt like we were narrowing in on the vampires if not the mysterious mage who they were working for. It worried me not knowing who she was, how powerful she was, if she was working alone or with a group of mages, or what she wanted to achieve in Baltimore with a group of vampire flunkies.
“So what do you have on Rick?” I asked, deciding to move on to the other issue.
“Hotel records showed that the room was accessed by a key card at one thirty Wednesday morning.”
I nodded. “That’s about when we dropped Liz off.”
