by Justin Sloan
This was different. At the front of the room were several men and women with different stringed instruments, none that she recognized, and they were playing a song with energy, nothing like the melancholy song the Duke had chosen for his so-called celebration.
Several couples had begun to dance, while Valerie and Robin moved to the edge of the room to avoid too much attention.
“We should split up and try to overhear conversations,” Valerie whispered. “Figure out who the members of the council are, if they’re here.”
“I can’t see how they wouldn’t be,” Robin replied. “Something like this? Seems like more of a tribute to them than a mere celebration, if I know anything about how people with power like that work.”
Valerie nodded. “Agreed.”
“If there’s trouble?”
With a glance around the room, Valerie scoffed. “Trouble from these flower petals? I doubt it. But if it comes to it, just get out. We don’t want to blow our cover before we’ve found your parents.”
“Agreed.”
“And put some of that food in you, please. Honestly, I’m worried.”
“I’ve been kinda saving my appetite for the assholes we’re searching for,” Robin argued with a playful smile.
“And if you meet them but have no energy?”
Robin rolled her eyes, but nodded.
With that they split paths, Valerie moving to the side with the band, Robin heading the other way toward the tables with plates of food laid out. From here Valerie could smell the almond-crusted fish, though she didn’t know fish well enough to know what kind, and platters of roast vegetables. As her eyes roamed the crowd she wondered what feasts would have been like in the old days when these lands were said to have had vastly differing seasons and vegetation. Back when cows inhabited the fields in great numbers and factories supposedly pumped out chickens and even experimented with new ways to create meat.
Of course, none of that might have been real, for all she knew.
A man walked among the throng, and as he passed the men and women would slightly inch away or turn to nod. When he stopped to engage a couple in conversation, Valerie couldn’t help but notice the way they mostly averted their gaze and waited for his lead.
She took a few steps closer, pretending to admire the string of shells lining a glass sculpture, and used her enhanced hearing to listen in.
“It’s all very glamorous,” the woman declared.
“But you’re really here for the after-party, aren’t you?” the important man asked. “The Games will be like nothing we’ve ever had here, like only those in ancient times would even begin to know the greatness of.” The couple waited a moment, and then the important man chuckled. “It’s okay, ask away.”
“Is it…true?” the man asked.
“About the vampires, we mean,” the woman added, her voice subdued to the point that Valerie almost couldn’t hear her.
“You’ll have to be surprised like everyone else,” the important man told them with a wink that Valerie caught out of the corner of her eye.
He excused himself and walked on. Valerie was considering following him when she heard a laugh. Robin’s laugh. She turned, looking for the woman, and spotted her on the dance floor, a man turning her. It was almost humorous, knowing how much work was going into making it look natural, but at the same time it was disturbing. She was supposed to listen in, not become the center of attention. Other people were looking, too. Several gave cautious glances, and there were murmurs of interest and confusion.
“Madam Luroy will have a fit over this,” a woman whispered to her partner.
“What is he thinking?” another asked.
Clearly this wasn’t a smart move for various reasons. When she turned to get closer and hear what was happening, she found an older woman in a flowing red dress standing there with her hands folded before her. She wore a smile, but the aura coming from her was pure fire.
“First you, now your sister?” the woman spat.
“Excuse me?”
The woman didn’t look at her, which was probably good considering she apparently knew the two women Valerie and Robin were impersonating.
“You two keep this up, you might find yourself wearing different clothes in the future.” She made a clicking noise in the back of her throat, and then turned to meander off to some other part of the party.
Valerie had to get in there and see what was so important, so when she saw a man glance her way she allowed a hint of a smile.
He approached and held his hand out. “May I have this dance?”
“Here I was thinking you’d never ask,” she replied, holding out her hand for him to take her to the dance floor.
This was certainly not in her comfort zone but she did well enough, able to make up for awkward movements with vampire balance and grace. He twirled her and she allowed him to lead for a moment, then subtly drew them closer to Robin.
“I’ve seen you around,” the man stated. “It’s a shame we haven’t had a chance to talk before.”
Valerie smiled, pretending to look shy while in reality focusing her hearing on Robin and her dance partner.
“Those days are long gone,” Robin’s partner was saying. “It’s a time for a rebirth, an age of Toro’s majesty.”
“You sound positively in love with this city,” Robin replied in a soothing voice.
“Hell, who could help but be?” He spun her and Valerie lost a moment of the conversation as her partner blabbed on about himself, something about how the council had marked him for great things, and then she saw that older lady glaring at Robin again, this time accompanied by two very important men.
Valerie maneuvered toward Robin, causing her dance partner to bump into someone in the process. While he was apologizing and the others were distracted, she hissed, “What’re you doing?”
Robin quickly replied, “He seemed to know me, insisted we dance.”
“You’re causing trouble.” Valerie nodded over to the older woman, but by then the others had recovered from the little incident and began dancing again.
Only something was off—a scent that Valerie knew.
As she let the man spin her, she homed in on it—one of the two men the older lady was talking to was definitely a Forsaken. His nose twitched, and she saw his eyes widen and then dart over the dance floor.
She finished her spin and then politely excused herself before his eyes could land on her, though she was pretty sure he’d spotted Robin when he froze, eyes narrowed. Valerie threaded through the crowd, eyes still on him, and noted which door he left through when he turned and took off.
With a wave to Robin and then a finger that said she’d be back in one minute, Valerie headed toward the door. Running in this dress and the shoes was a pain, but she was soon through the doors and darting down the hall—except he wasn’t there.
She checked a couple of the side doors and even paused to sniff to catch his scent, but he had vanished. The vampire had clearly been talking with members of the council, at least two, she guessed, which meant she now had a good idea who was in on the coup.
But the vampire was free, and knew about Robin for sure. He might have sensed Valerie as well and not shown it.
At least she knew who to keep an eye on.
This time when she returned to the ball she stayed back, watching the older lady and the man she had seen with the Forsaken. Without a doubt, those two were up to something as they moved about the room talking with other key individuals. They were either conspiring, she thought, or doing their best to assure the others that they weren’t.
This continued for some time until finally Robin excused herself and nodded to a back door almost imperceptibly; just enough for Valerie to notice. Valerie went there first, to be followed a few minutes later by Robin.
“I hope that was worth it,” Valerie hissed when they were alone in a back hallway. “Did you learn anything?”
Robin nodded. “I learned people here have issues, for one. The guy t
ried to get me to go with him. Said we didn’t have long before they would call us all to the Games, but that we could make it work.”
“Slimeball.” Valerie cocked her head. “He wasn’t bad-looking though, was he?”
“Shut up.” Robin added, “I’m not going to stroke your ego or insecurity or whatever that just was.”
Valerie chuckled. “Okay, fine. So we know the Games will be soon.”
“And that was a bit ago, so probably not long now.”
“Did you see the Forsaken?” Valerie asked.
Robin’s eyes went wide. “I…is that what it was? My sense of smell isn’t nearly as good as yours.”
“He got away, though.”
“And what would you have done if you had caught him?”
Valerie shrugged. “Questioned him, I guess? Maybe beat him to a pulp.”
“And alerted the others that something was up before it was time.”
“Damn.” Valerie rubbed her forehead, realizing it was a good thing that she hadn’t caught up with him. “Well, point is, there’s a lady in there who has it in for us. I think she has some connection to the man you were dancing with, and I think the other versions of us have some history there that pisses her off. Also, she’s connected with the Forsaken.”
“So she means to overthrow some other council member,” Robin speculated. “We need to keep our eyes on her during the Games, whatever the hell they are.”
“Agreed.”
They returned to the room, staying out of sight this time while being careful to move about and, just when someone looked like they might come over or say something, disappear. The older lady kept mingling, while the man she had been with kept to himself. He was a large man with thinning hair, and was wearing an olive suit.
“How many Forsaken do you think they have?” Robin asked.
“Could just be the one, but I’m guessing they’ve struck some deal, this lady and the Forsaken, so there’re probably more.”
Robin stared into the distance, lost in her thoughts. “It just…seems odd that so many of those bastards have survived this long.”
“Not really. Don’t forget that there’re a lot of Nosferatu, or so they say. If that’s true, it indicates to me that one or two strong Forsaken set out to breed new vampires. The failed attempts led to Nosferatu, and the successful ones meant more Forsaken to rely on in the struggle against good.”
Not much happened for a time, and soon Valerie found herself wishing they really were at a dance like this, without fake identities or the risk of all that was going on around them. Dances like this didn’t come around too often, and she would have loved to have taken advantage of it.
“If we ever go back to New York,” Valerie asked, “What do you say to starting an annual ball?”
Robin looked at her uneasily.
“I said if.” Valerie wanted to reach out and take her hand, but knew how that would look here. “I mean, there’s a possibility, maybe.”
“Is there?” Robin glanced at her, eyes full of doubt. “Let’s assume we find my parents and they want to go there. What are the chances you could ever settle down? I mean, didn’t you say you faked your own death in New York?”
Valerie swallowed, only now remembering that little fact.
“It’s not like you could be out and about after that, or maybe you could explain it away, I don’t know…but what about the rest of the world?”
“You mean, with everything going on in the world, people out there committing evil, others in need of a Justice Enforcer, could I just…go into retirement?”
“Well, could you?”
Dammit, thinking about the answer to that question hurt Valerie’s brain, but it hurt her heart even more. As much as the answer was clear, she had somewhere deep down hoped that a normal life might someday be possible for her. Now that Robin had voiced it, though, there was no doubt in Valerie’s mind that she wouldn’t be able to rest until the world was at peace.
And there was still the idea that she could go into space and be part of the bigger battle to keep Earth safe. If the threats from out there had occupied the Queen Bitch all this time, there was certainly a big enough threat to make Valerie useful out there as well.
With a sorrow-filled glance at Robin, she shook her head.
“That’s what I thought.” Robin smiled, but there was no doubt it was forced. “I knew it would be like that, or at least I’d started to realize it. It’s why I haven’t let you get too close. Why we haven’t, well…”
“I get it.” Valerie wasn’t sure if she wanted to shred this whole ball or run away in tears. The feeling of unease in her gut met the pain in her chest, but both were pushed aside by the part of her brain that had known this was coming.
It wasn’t like they would stop being close or that this mission was over yet by any means, but she was pretty sure that she and Robin had just broken up, if they had ever really been together.
Part of her said it was okay and that it wasn’t so much a breakup as a realization that her true love, the only love that could stick with her in the long run, was her love of humanity. To fight for what was right. To stand for justice and ensure evil met its demise.
She was searching for something to say to let Robin know that it was all fine and dandy when a bell sounded, causing her to notice that the band had stopped.
“Let the Games commence!” a man shouted, stepping in front of the band and motioning toward the doors.
“Time to see what this is all about.” Robin gave her a fleeting smile before heading for the doors, and Valerie followed a second later.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Toro Inner City
It was a strange sight, Robin thought. All these men and women in their fancy dresses piling into the stadium that, on all other sides, up and down, were filled with people in all manner of dress from the brown slave clothes to everyday shirts and jeans to some that looked as though they had come from the slums, though Valerie insisted that wasn’t likely.
They were ushered in with the rest of the elite, and they found seating in the old section of the stadium that was crumbling at the top. At one edge part of the old white roof still clung desperately to the walls, but looked as if it could give at any minute.
First chance they got, the two slipped away. Valerie had whispered what seemed obvious, once they thought about it—there would be a fight. They had heard enough rumors to know it, and that just made sense when there were public games of any sort in this world.
They darted around the crowds, making sure to find a hallway at the bottom not occupied other than by two soldiers.
“Gentlemen, which way to the bathrooms?” Valerie asked, looking stunning in her gown.
The guy just grunted and pointed, but before he could turn away or bother to check her out, she had moved and taken out him and the other soldier. Valerie motioned to Robin.
“Hurry, if we’re going to potentially crash these games, we should be prepared.” Valerie checked around the corner and dragged the two men to the wall and out of view, then quickly removed their clothes and body armor and handed it to Robin.
As she took it, Robin noticed the other guy didn’t have body armor, just shoulder protectors.
“You take it,” she said, trying to push the body armor back.
Valerie scoffed. “Shut up and put it on. We both know I don’t need it.”
“Who says I do?” Robin asked.
“Me. Probably your parents, if you were to ask them.”
Robin hesitated, pursed her lips in thought, and then tossed off her gown and began to dress like the soldier.
Valerie did the same, though when it came to putting on his camouflage top, it was obviously too big. She tossed it aside and stood there in the army pants, a tank top, and the shoulder guards.
Robin laughed. “Sorry, but you look kind of ridiculous. Who would honestly wear that into battle?”
With a shrug, Valerie flipped her hair back. “I’m thinking of startin
g a new fashion trend.”
“I’m sure the guys will like it, with your breasts practically popping out of that tank top. Just…put something over it.”
“And look like a kid in her grandpa’s clothes?” Valerie scoffed. “I’d rather go for sexy. More distracting that way.”
“Whatever you say.” Robin shook her head. “So what now? We fit in with the soldiers around the stands, pretend we’re on duty.”
“Precisely. It’s not like we care about getting caught.”
“Sounds peachy,” Robin replied, and then motioned to Valerie to lead the way.
They worked their way up the stairs and found an area separate from where the elites had been seated, but close enough in case they had a reason to leap back up there quickly.
“I’d hate to be under that,” Robin stated, then lowered her eyes to see that the entire area below the partial roof was filled with slaves. “Fuck me.”
“Your parents might not be there,” Valerie noted, seemingly reading her mind.
Robin nodded absently, straining her vampire eyes to see if she could find them among the crowd. While she could make out faces fairly well, there were too many of them, some blocked.
She didn’t give up even when the announcer walked out onto the field.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer shouted into a microphone that actually worked, to Robin’s surprise. His voice echoed through the stadium. “Today we bring you back to days of old. We’re not talking just pre-collapse, we’re talking the dawn of civilization as those people knew it. Today you’ll be treated to a gladiatorial display unlike anything anyone has ever seen. Because today we give you…vampires!”
The crowd erupted in a mixture of confusion and disbelief.
Robin turned from the crowd of slaves to Valerie, whose eyes were wide. The elite above them were cheering; all but the older woman from the ball, who sat with a smug smile on her scrunched-up little face.
Robin leaned into Valerie. “What’s this vampires business, do you think?”
“Since I doubt they’re on to us…” Valerie pointed with a groan. “Yes, right there. See for yourself.”
