Bernard began moaning on the ground and that’s when I noticed that his black slipper type shoes looked like they would fit me easily enough, so I bent down and took them for myself. I was, after all, the demon seed of my maker, as they had been calling me. Even though they were a bit too big, they would do nicely until we went back through the marsh. The secret panel slid open and Alex came out a little too fast, by the looks of it with a shove from Jacob. He slid quite far on his stomach as Jacob stepped down slowly from the steps. To my biggest surprise, he was holding a pair of ladies shoes in one hand and a scroll of papers in the other.
“You brought me shoes?” I smiled, tapping my covered foot.
“I see you have acquired a pair of your own,” he replied, smiling back; his face back to normal.
“Yep, but I can use those after we get out of the sluggish swamp,” I laughed, taking them from him. “Bernard won’t mind getting his feet a little dirty, will ya Bernard?”
His eyes fluttered open as I bent down beside him. “Are you going to kill me?”
“Not anytime soon,” I smiled. “Are you going to be a good boy and do exactly what we tell you to do?”
“Yes, I will do anything,” he replied, with crimson tears building.
“Then you have nothing to worry about,” I lied, getting to my feet, offering him my hand, which he never took.
He bent his head back, saw Alex getting to his hands and knees, and cried out. He and Alex crawled to each other and held one another in a death grip, more like two scared women than two grown men.
Chapter Fifteen
We exited the same way we had come in, with the two of them in tow. Jacob explained what the scrolls were as we made our way to the end of the tunnel, waiting until then so that the butcher wouldn’t hear our retreat. He told us that they were plans that the two sisters had derived of the two lesser powers that ruled London, Lord Cheree, and the Lebrun Estate, so that they, themselves, could create an attack to bring them to rubble. It was then that he explained that he had found a third scroll of Angelica’s castle that she couldn’t have known about, and one that Inara had planned to use on her own sister after her sister had helped her rid London of the others.
“Sounds like we should have waited awhile,” I said as we walked along the base of the mountain.
“It looks as if they have been planning this for years. Some of the parchment didn’t look like it had been touched in some time. Although, the one of Inara’s estate room lay open on a small table in a room concealed just off of this room that I think she kept hidden from her twin,” Jacob explained.
“I showed him without his asking, My Lady,” Alex immediately added. “I also told him that my mistress has been planning the death of her sister for some time.”
Bernard took in a sharp breath, and Alex slapped him in the back of the head. “How long do you wish to lick her boots? I tire of running when she snaps, and doing everything she says. They come to offer freedom. How many times have we spoken of running away?” We continued on, crossing the marsh with Bernard complaining that his feet hurt, spreading a huge smile across my face because I had already lost his shoes in the depths some twenty feet back. We bypassed the pile of bodies from Lord Cheree’s dump at the end of the tunnels and continued at a swift pace, making our way around the outside of the tall wall that enclosed the graveyard. All of us that had seen the Specters first hand and looked for them diligently as we moved.
We were almost to the edge of the front wall when a strange clicking started in the distances. Fala yelled, “run” and we did just that. Bernard tripped and fell face first in the damp earth as the sound got closer. “Javelinas!” Fala yelled, yanking Bernard up by the back of his pants and pushing Alex. “Run!” he demanded, making sure we were in front of him moving as fast as we could. He tossed Bernard over the wall by the gate, then reached down and grabbed Alex who was shaking his head after seeing Bernard hit the ground on the other side after his body went airborne. But it didn’t stop Fala from tossing him to the top where he too would have gone over had he not grabbed the wall. “Climb now!” he yelled, pushing my backside up, as he reached over with the other hand lifting Derek up to the side of the gate. Jacob was up and over in seconds, taking my waist as I descended. Fala reached the top of the side post and turned to look back as the clicking began to die down, as if it were sinking back into the woods surrounding the graveyard and our estate.
“What the hell was that?” Derek asked as Fala jumped down.
“Javelinas, they are the wildest of the pig family and hunt in packs. The difference is that they have been infected with the were-curse and are far worse than their four legged kin,” he explained, taking in several deep breaths.
“You got that excited over a bunch of pigs?” Derek asked, then burst out laughing.
“I tell you now my young friend that one can kill a grown man, and that is one without the curse of the were-blood running through its veins. They are not like the domesticated pig or the wild boar, they are small and trim in build, weighing no more than fifty, maybe sixty, pounds. Their heads are much smaller, but their teeth are like the sharpest of our blades and they use them with precise measure. We found one of our men torn to shreds, there was little left to tell that he was even a man when they had finished with him, and to take down a werewolf in such a manner is a creature to be reckoned with.”
“I wanna know what that sound was?” I asked, bending down to see why Bernard was still on the ground. “I think his leg’s broken.”
“It was them snapping their teeth together,” Fala replied, getting my attention.
“That sound was them snapping their teeth together?” I stood as Alex came to Bernard’s side. “And they're how small?”
“I have only seen them in their were-form once, and even then they are a small creature. Slim bodies, long snouts, but the teeth are twice as long and there is no sign of them having ever been human, just a breed that was somehow infected by the curse,” Fala explained. “Not even a breeder has the speed to escape the rush of the were-javelina.”
“These things are new to London since I was last here. I have not heard of this creature around here before but I knew of them in the southern parts of your country.” Cates’ cleared his throat.
“The were-kind?” Derek asked, as we made our way to the front porch.
“No, that must be a trick of the one who chose to infect them,” Jacob replied, dropping Bernard down into one of the chairs, with Alex kneeling down beside him like a concerned lover. “Where did you see this one, Fala?”
“It was on a ship that passed the village a few years back. They had stopped close to the one they called the ‘Doctor’ and it was led by chain by one of the breeders that came off the ship.”
“Well, that explains how they got here,” I said, knocking three times on the door.
“Who goes there?” Cates said from the other side.
“Three blind mice,” I replied, and knocked three times again, then he opened the thick wooden door.
“Welcome home blind mice, we have been waiting,” he smiled down with Tammy and Tanda coming up behind him.
Tammy, even though she wanted to cut the testicles off of both Alex and Bernard, made a splint for Bernard’s broken leg, which was shattered at the femur, and doctored the scrapes on the side of Alex’s face and arm where he landed, before we locked them in one of the rooms upstairs. That is, after Garvin and Sydney removed all of the sharp objects. It was the only places left in the house with chains still firmly attached to the wall, so that we could make sure they wouldn’t try to escape. After they were secure, we all went back down to the family room to relax and explain to the others what we had done and what we had discovered running in the forest. The javelinas were just one more thing to watch out for when we were out in the cover of night. London was proving to be more than I had ever thought it would be, and nothing that I had imagined from the stories that I had heard or read about as a younger normal.
<
br /> I wished so badly that I could be a small fly on the wall when Inara returned home and found the note that Sydney had written. We had had him doing the penmanship before we had left, since he had a way with the art of making it look professional.
Lady Inara,
The time has come that you lay your head to the true feet of the leader of this land. If you wish to see your precious pets again you well heed the word of your Queen, Lady Angelica. All the houses will fall including your own, if her wishes are not met. Three prisoners grace the highest power, and many more will be added, for the seed of he who comes is now in favor of the one. Do not darken the halls until you are summoned.
I could see her screaming out in rage as she read the letter that was left laying open on her bed pillow, thinking it was left by those from her sister’s house who came in after she drove away, taking her pets and giving her an order. We were hoping she would think Angelica’s pet was part of it and this was an order that hopefully drove her in the direction that we could use her. Jacob, being through this sort of thing many times, said she would use the gala to get close enough to her sister to try and kill her herself. And by doing so, show her own power and take all that her sister had, which was the very thing that we were wanting. If we could get them to fight amongst themselves, then we could take down the leaders of power and show those who follow them that the same would happen to them if they did not leave the ways of old and step into the light of the new.
As it stood now, there was no way we could fight our way out of London, not if they all came together and fought against us. My thoughts fell to Martin and what was happening to him, making me leave the others in conversation and go upstairs and have a talk with the two that we had captured. When I moved the chair that was stuck under the door knob, I could hear them consoling one another. I found them sitting on the floor across the room from one another, bound to the wall and unable to reach the other, with tears streaking down their faces. Bernard saw me and began crying out loud, as Alex did his best to sooth him.
“Bernard, love, please don’t do this. Everything is going to be alright, you’ll see,” Alex’s pleaded, pulling on his restraints.
“He’s right Bernard. I’m not here to hurt you,” I said in the softest voice I could muster. “I just want to ask you both a few questions.”
“I want to go home. We have done nothing to you and your people. We are owners of no slaves…I swear it!” he yelled out the last, sparking my anger just a little.
“No, but you indulged in their torment, Bernard,” I spoke firmly getting his attention. “And that is, in some ways, just as bad, if not worse, than being the owner, wouldn’t you say?”
“Please, Mistress,” Alex said, “It’s just the way that we have known for as long as we have been slaves ourselves.”
“First, never call me that again. Second, you could have made a choice to die or kill. You chose to bring harm to others to keep harm from happening to yourselves, which makes you as weak in the eyes of my people as the ones that you tormented.”
“So, you are going to kill us for the things we have done,” Alex replied, bringing his brows together as another line of crimson tears rolled down his cheeks.
“That depends on how willing you two are when it comes to helping us stop the madness that is going on here in London.”
“We’ll do anything,” Bernard cried out. “Anything you ask.”
“I want you to tell me everything that you’ve heard from your master when you weren’t supposed to be listening. The first thing I want to know is the information that you’ve heard…” I added, squatting down in front of Bernard who was chained, but able to sit comfortably on a mattress Jacob had Cates carried in due to his badly broken leg, “about my maker and I want every last detail that you have. And do not lie to me Bernard, I have taken the lives of ancients and will know if you do. I have a great deal of anger stored waiting to explode.” I ran my hand across his hair as he blinked wildly. “Martin is not just my maker, he is my husband whom I love dearly.” Of course, I lied about being able to tell if someone was lying to me and the small fact about killing ancients, because I had only killed those who had killed them. But, the way Bernard’s eyes turned and froze in a dead stare when I told him that Martin was my husband, was all I needed to see to know he’d tell me anything from his master’s bed sheet colors to his mother’s secret peach cobbler recipe.
“How did they get the information from Martin about me being his seed, as you call me?” I asked, standing up and crossing my arms for emphasis.
“You will be angry if I tell you,” his face contorting in sheer fear of my reprisal.
I held my stare, willing my features to change. They didn’t, but the stare worked.
“They tortured him,” he cried, raising his arm waiting for me to strike.
“You can free him,” Alex claimed, getting to his feet from across the room where he had been sitting on the cold tile floor. “The gala, many will go, and you can take the tunnels and free him.”
“I thought the gala was to show she controlled the seed of Martin. Wouldn’t that mean she would have to have him close by to prove it?” I asked, turning my head, but not leaving Bernard’s side.
“The galas are much like a masquerade ball. She insists that everyone dress in costume, regalia, if you will,” Alex added when he saw me turning back to his companion. “Angelica will bring your maker out, not only to flaunt him in front of the other masters of England, but to show her authority over our master, her sister.”
He now had my attention and I was crossing the room when Jacob and Cates burst through the door. Poor Bernard screamed out like he was seeing his life come to an abrupt end and once again passed out. I was beginning to wonder why it wasn’t him that was dressed like a woman instead of Alex. By the look on my boy’s faces, I knew they thought I came up here to do damage to the very sick minded captives that we had. I raised one brow, tilting my head slightly. “Is there something you wish to say?” I asked, hoping they would figure out that I was just trying to find out more information.
“We need you downstairs right away,” Jacob replied, then he and Cates hurried back out the door, leaving it open for me to join them.
“I will be back, Alex. I really don’t want to get ugly to find out something that I know you would never tell concerning your master,” I turned, looking back at Bernard who lay slumped over the side of the mattress. “But, I will do anything to get my master back.” Then I looked back as my body turned for the door, closing it as I leaned my head back to look at him as I pulled it closed.
I followed Jacob and Cates to the staircase, thinking we were going to go down, when they turned and simultaneously started whispering questions about what I was doing going in there alone. The first thing that I told the two of them was that it wasn’t anyone’s business where I went alone, and that I happened to be getting some pretty important information. I told them about the dress-up party that Angelica would be having but that they came in too soon for me to find out when, and that Alex knows about a secret passage to the underground levels of Angelica’s castle. I slipped in that I lied about being able to read a lie, since I found out that it was a possible gift, spreading a smile across both of their faces.
“I believe we are teaching her well, Cates,” Jacob smiled, nodding his head and crossing his arms.
“You were telling me the truth when you said you could tell when you were being lied to, weren’t ya?” I asked, thinking now I had had the wool pulled over my eyes.
“It was true. Though I must say that I never thought it would be used as a tactic to apply when asking a prisoner questions.”
“Would you mind, My Lady,” Cates bowed at the waist, “if we joined you in your pursuit?”
“Oh, give me a break you big ox,” I laughed, slapping him in the shoulder. “It’s probably better if y’all are in there anyway. I don’t know that I could get the directions right when it comes to finding the way into Ang
elica’s anyway.”
“If it is a dress-up, as you say, then we may be able to go in with the rest of the guests,” Jacob said, getting a look on his face that I wasn’t all too sure I was glad to see.
We heard Alex consoling Bernard, who was weeping loudly, saying he didn’t want me to hurt him, and Alex telling him to not cry, that all would be fine. It was Bernard’s next statement that made Jacob and Cates both turn and look at me. “You didn’t see the red glow flash in her eyes. She has the same death stare of Mistress Yvette.” I shrugged my shoulders and opened the door, with Jacob taking the knob and pulling it closed. He stepped across the hall and wiggled his finger at me, then waved his hand at Cates to enter the room.
“What?” I said with a slight amount of irritation in my voice.
“You can be so…master-like,” he frowned. “Hearing Bernard mention Yvette’s name brought back a memory. She was once considered the highest mistress in London and feared by every master in England. Her greed took her to Cuba, where she killed its only master, because she wanted to rule her own country, not share it with four houses given rule by the elders a thousand years ago, before what you see now was even here.”
“And your point?”
Bloodbreeders: Lies Beneath London Page 14
