The II AM Trilogy Collection

by Christopher Buecheler

  “Anything I can.”

  “When I am gone, will you keep my ashes safe? Keep them, and if you reach those steps, scatter them to all the Andes. I would like that very much.”

  Vanessa had no idea if she would ever get the chance to visit the ancient Incan city, but she promised nonetheless. She would have promised to take his ashes to the moon to make him happy, and she was sure that Charles knew that. Still, he seemed satisfied, and for a time there was no conversation. Vanessa sat and worked on her reports. Charles lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling and thinking whatever it was that dying men thought about.

  “The Emperor will have your brother killed,” he said at last.

  “I know,” Vanessa said. “He knows, too.”

  “He is ready to accept that fate?”

  “He says he is.”

  Charles gave a weary sigh. “Such a waste.”

  Vanessa had already done her crying about it, in a private shower where she was sure no one would hear. She had cried for her brother, and for their family, and for the stupid, awful world in which they had spent all of their lives since that terrible night. There would be more suffering to come, she knew, but for the time being there was nothing to do but wait. In a matter of weeks, Charles and her brother would be dead, and she would be the Emperor’s Left Hand, and they would launch the third and final attack on what remained of the American council of vampires. These things seemed so impossible to avoid that they might have been preordained.

  “My brother made his choice,” she said. “He walked out on that bat and washed his hands of all of it. Listen, Charles, I have to go. Captain Perrault and I are reviewing some recruits.”

  “I understand,” Charles said.

  “I’ll come back this evening, OK? I want to talk to you about Captain Perrault. She’s … I’m a little worried.”

  “Of course, Vanessa. Thank you for spending your time with me.”

  Vanessa stood, stretched, and smiled. “It’s no problem. I’ll see you soon.”

  When she reached the door she turned and gave a little wave, and was surprised to see Charles manage to wave back, raising his right hand up a bit before letting it slump back to the bed. Vanessa smiled, and turned, and left the room. It was the last time she saw him alive.

  Part V

  Chapter 19

  Inside

  When it came to actually sneaking into a fortified building filled with more than two hundred people who were intent on killing her and all those like her, Two found herself more nervous than she had anticipated.

  She and Theroen had planned for almost two weeks while the other members of the council had been strategizing, assembling vampires, and deploying them to various spots along the route. The night before, she and Theroen had driven in a rented car from Milwaukee to Waukegan, where they had spent several hours talking with Kanene. As they had moved along the road, Two had seen sign after sign advertising hotels, and she wondered how many Burilgi or Ay’Araf might be housed at each.

  It had seemed to Kanene that the Children had no idea that the vampires were mobilizing. Certainly there had not been a mass evacuation from the base that she was aware of. The timing was as good as it could get, the Ay’Araf woman had told them, and it had been obvious that she was anxious to join the fight. Now, the day had come.

  Two found herself a ball of nervous energy, fighting the urge to twist in her seat, or go over yet again the photos and floor plans she had spent the past week studying. She and Theroen were making the short drive from their hotel, the sun still up, both of them fighting the accompanying exhaustion and discomfort. They would have little more than six hours to find Tori and try to convince her to see reason.

  “Theroen, am I crazy?” Two asked him as they drove, and he glanced over at her, smiling a little.

  “Is that a trick question?”

  “Not this time. This is nuts. It’s fucking nuts, right, what I’m making you do?”

  Theroen’s smile faded. “This is a poor time for second thoughts, my love.”

  “I know. I’m just scared. I’m scared of losing you again, and it’s my fault we’re even in this situation, and I shoulda just kept my stupid mouth shut and let you take me to Europe, but no, I had to go and—”

  “Two,” Theroen interrupted. “Stop talking and take three deep breaths. Just listen to me and do it. One. Two … good. Three. Now, let us take a moment to assess. We are three miles from our destination, which is admittedly not quite the point of no return, but it is getting close. Every vampire involved in this has been told that Theroen-Sa and the Theroen-Chen are going first, in an attempt to pacify the greatest by far of the Children’s soldiers. Further, one of our prime duties is to open the loading bay doors at midnight, if we can. Further—”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Further,” Theroen said, his voice overriding hers, and then he paused for a moment, and glanced over at her, and smiled. “Further, I love you, and I believe in you, and I believe in your belief in me. We will get into this building undetected. We will find Tori and either convince her or neutralize her. We will open the bay doors at midnight. We will help our people win this war.”

  “Yeah?” asked Two, but she couldn’t help smiling a little. “You sure about all of that, Theroen-Sa? Or are you just saying it to make me feel better?”

  Theroen glanced over at her and then back through the windshield. “We are here.”

  “Saved by the bell,” Two muttered as they pulled into an empty parking lot a block away and across the street from the Children’s headquarters. “OK, baby. Let’s do this thing and then go home, slam down some blood, and fuck like rabbits ‘til we pass out.”

  “You know, above all else, what I appreciate about you is your class and elegance,” Theroen said, opening his door and stepping out. Two laughed.

  “Right, sorry,” she said, exiting as well. “Let’s do this thing and then retreat to our homestead, partake in a draught of exquisite blood, and make soft, sweet love until the wee hours of the morning.”

  “I think I liked your first version better,” Theroen told her.

  Two made a noise of amusement, but her attention was now focused on the building that lay down the block. It was a simple, four-story, red-brick structure with small windows and a single entrance at its front. It looked like any other building, and it was difficult to believe that within its walls, and more specifically within the confines of its subbasements, an entire army of vampire hunters was going about its daily business.

  “OK, so we know the front door isn’t gonna get the job done,” Two said, shading her eyes. The exposed parts of her skin were already beginning to feel like someone had placed them under a heat lamp. She was wearing a loose-fitting pair of synthetic pants with Kevlar reinforcements, meant for motorcyclists, and a long-sleeve shirt of like material that she had found online. Theroen was in a similar outfit. The clothing would not stop a bullet, but would offer at least some protection against injury.

  “Yes, we will use the roof as we planned,” Theroen said. He opened the trunk and took from it two long, tubular satchels. He tossed one to Two and slung the other over his shoulder. She did the same with hers.

  “Right. Kanene said the access point was on the northwest side.”

  “Then that is where we will go.”

  “Do you think the lock will still be broken?” Two asked, and Theroen shrugged. He hit a button on his key fob and the rental car chirped. They weren’t worried about the vehicle – the car could remain in the lot for more than forty-eight hours without attracting any attention. By that time they would either have returned or they would be dead.

  “It is possible,” Theroen said, walking toward the street. “On the one hand, you would think they would do routine sweeps of the building’s exits. On the other hand, if they had noticed anything, would it not have set them on alert?”

  “I don’t even know what to think about these guys,” Two said.

  They crossed the str
eet, staying well away from the Children’s building, and stepped into an alley. It was early August, and Waukegan was suffering through a heat wave. The temperature was hovering in the mid-nineties, with no wind coming in off the nearby Lake Michigan to provide any comfort. The alley smelled like organic refuse in high rot, a kind of sickly-sweet scent with repugnant undertones. Two wrinkled her nose and glanced at Theroen, who shrugged.

  There was a garbage dumpster at the end of the alley and, several feet above it, the painted iron ladder of a fire escape. Theroen put his hands on the dumpster and shoved, hauling himself upward. Once there, he reached a hand down to Two, who glanced at it in distaste.

  “Remember that we do not get sick,” Theroen told her.

  “Still wish I had some Purell or something,” she said, and took his hand, letting him haul her up. Once there, she wiped her hand on her pants, and Theroen rolled his eyes. Without further comment, he knelt down, cupping his hands together to make a step for Two. She put her foot in it, and he jerked upward with his shoulders, standing up at the same time. Two was propelled seven feet above his head, easily grabbing the ladder and stabilizing herself.

  “Heads up,” she said, stepping onto the balcony and releasing the latch that sent the ladder down to street level. Theroen grabbed hold of it, climbed up, and hauled the ladder up behind him.

  “Just in case any police officer happens to wander down the alley,” he said.

  “Better safe than sorry, I guess.”

  “Exactly.”

  Theroen began to make his way up the various levels of the fire escape. They weren’t worried about anyone seeing them through the building’s windows. This particular business kept regular hours, and it was just before six in the evening on a Saturday. There was likely no one there to observe them. Still, they made their way quickly up to the roof and, once there, kept low in order to avoid suspicion.

  They stopped at the building’s edge and sat down, their backs to the three-foot wall that ran around the perimeter. Theroen turned and looked over, briefly scanning their path, and sat back down.

  “It is an easy run half-way down the block,” Theroen said. “Then there is a jump across an alley.”

  “I saw it,” Two said. “Looks like … what, ten feet? Twelve?”

  “I would guess twelve. Can you—”

  “Come on. I’ve got your fuckin’ superhero blood all up in these veins, don’t I?”

  Theroen grinned, nodded, looked again over the edge of the building. “I think that is the only major gap, and I think once we go, we should just go as fast as we can until we are on their roof. I … this is so absurd, Two. I do not know the first thing about espionage.”

  “Me neither, but we’re fast and pretty quiet, and if we have to we can kill someone really quickly. I’ve got combat training from one of the best, and you’ve got awesome instincts and blood. That’s gotta count for something.”

  “I certainly hope so,” Theroen said. “Nonetheless, I wish we could at least wait for the cover of darkness.”

  “Me too, but we need the time. I don’t know about you, but the idea of sitting out here crisping in the sun for the next three hours and then trying to do everything before midnight doesn’t appeal to me.”

  “No, we have to do it now. At the very least we must get inside and away from the sun before it saps all of our energy.”

  “Right. So don’t worry about espionage for now, just worry about getting over to their roof and getting into that stairwell. That’ll be a step up from this frying pan, at least.”

  “True,” Theroen said, and looked again over the edge. “It seems the coast is as clear as it’s going to get. Shall we do this?”

  “Let’s go,” Two said, and without waiting for him, knowing he was faster anyway, she turned and vaulted over the edge. It was a six-foot drop to the next building’s roof below, which she could have handled even as a human – at least before the heroin had stolen her reflexes. As a vampire, she barely registered the impact. She could hear Theroen behind her, and then next to her, as they crossed the roof.

  They soon came to the jump, and if Theroen had any doubt in her abilities, he didn’t show it, leaping across the alley without a glance back. Two never hesitated. She knew what she was capable of and was sure her body would be up to the task. It didn’t let her down; she landed more than four feet past the edge of the building, still moving at a dead run, trying to keep up with her lover. They crossed another roof, and then another alley, this one narrower, and landed at their destination. Somewhere below their feet was the bulk of the Children’s forces.

  “Well, we are still alive,” Theroen said after they had come to a halt. “I suppose that means I can stop worrying about laser trip wires or contact mines.”

  “Were you worrying about those things?” Two asked him.

  “I was worrying about a lot of things.”

  Two shook her head. “I can never gauge you, even with all the mind-reading stuff. You’re always so goddamned calm.”

  Theroen grinned and moved toward the entrance to the stairwell. “That is a specialty of mine.”

  Two stepped up next to him, and for a moment they contemplated the door’s handle without speaking. Finally she said, “This feels so anticlimactic …”

  “Yes,” Theroen replied.

  “You want me to do it?”

  “No. It might be electrified.”

  “Oh for … you’re just fucking with me now, right?”

  “Maybe,” Theroen said, but before she could respond, he reached out and grasped the door’s handle. Two felt adrenaline surge through her system, but Theroen seemed none the worse for wear. He pressed in the handle and pushed open the door.

  “A fine start,” he said, and he stepped inside, turned, and beckoned for her to follow.

  * * *

  “What do you think they do in here?” Two asked, her voice hushed. “I mean … it can’t be all vampires all the time, right?”

  They were standing at one end of a long, open room filled with cubicles, each of which contained a desk, a computer, and a chair. Some had been decorated with pictures or motivational posters. It looked like any other office space in America.

  “Kanene believes they run some sort of semilegitimate shipping business from this location, and that many of the daytime employees are not members of the Children. She told me that trucks move in and out of the docking area all day long.”

  They had spent the previous night in a nearby apartment that Kanene had rented to enable her observation of the Children. The Ay’Araf woman, dark-skinned and muscular, had looked much the worse for wear from her endeavors. She had taken in little blood and spent a great deal of time in the sun. The result was that many of her wounds were still healing, and her skin looked parched even by human standards. Nonetheless, she had assured them that she would be participating in the coming battle.

  “So during the day they run the business and then at night they wander downstairs and figure out ways to murder us?” Two asked.

  “That seems to be the case,” Theroen replied. He was looking around the room, gauging the quickest path across it. This first-floor cubicle farm was an unavoidable obstacle; the stairway to the roof had not led any deeper, and the elevators were on the other side of the building. Two thought it likely that there would be another stairwell there, as well.

  “I don’t think anyone’s here, baby,” Two said, and Theroen nodded.

  “No. I cannot sense anything at all in this building. I imagine the floor must be very thick.”

  They began to walk, moving down the long central aisle between cubes. Two tried to keep her curiosity from getting the better of her, tried to avoid looking in at all the workspaces. She didn’t want to think of these people as normal human beings living normal lives; she wanted, needed, to think of them as the enemy.

  They had nearly reached the end of the corridor when there was a rattling noise from the direction they were heading, and a door ahead of them be
gan to open. Acting on instinct, Two and Theroen ducked quickly into one of the open cubicles. Two leaned up against the fabric wall, trying not to make any noise, holding her breath.

  “Why would you even bring your gun to your desk, anyway?” a male voice asked, and they heard the sound of two people making their way down the corridor.

  “In case the bats show up,” a female voice replied.

  “In the middle of the day?”

  “Day, night, I don’t care. I keep my gun with me everywhere except the gym, and that’s only ‘cause they won’t let me. I want to be ready.”

  “Right … so ready that you forgot and left it in a drawer.”

  “Shut up.”

  The two of them laughed, moving on up the corridor and turning into one of the cubicles near the end.

  “Move now or they will see us on the way back,” Theroen hissed into her ear, and taking her hand, he led her out and around the corner, ducking into another cubicle that didn’t open into the central corridor. Behind them, they heard footsteps again.

  “You hear about the Emperor?” the female voice asked.

  “No, what’s happening?”

  “Gonna pick a new Left Hand this week. I hear it’s not going to be one of the colonels.”

  “Wow, for real? Think it’ll be Captain Perrault?”

  The woman made a scoffing noise. “She’s already the Right Hand, dumbass. I don’t think you can be both hands.”

  “Oh … right. And it’s not going to be a colonel? That doesn’t make sense.”

  “Just telling you what I heard.”

  “Guess we’ll see. Come on, I want to hit the cafeteria before PT.”

  There was the same rattling sound they had heard before, as the door opened and the two soldiers left the room. Two let out a long, soft exhalation and glanced over at Theroen.

  “Captain Perrault,” he murmured.

  “That’s our girl,” Two said. “Least she’s still around.”

  “I must admit, I had little doubt.”