The Crucible: A Lawson Vampire Novel (The Lawson Vampire Series)

by Jon F. Merz

  “Amazing skills,” I said. “You know I don’t like to brag.”

  She laughed. “So humble.”

  Jack nudged me. “We have to figure out how the hell we’re going to sneak back stateside without the Council getting wind of what we did here. I don’t know about you, but I’m not especially keen on having a black mark next to my name when we return.”

  “You get used to it,” I said.

  Jack shook his head. “Yeah, sure, for you it’s just another day at the office. But I’m just starting out. I don’t need that kind of aggravation. I’ve got a future ahead of me. A career. And I happen to like being viewed as an asset and not a troublemaker. You can keep that title for yourself, thank you very much.”

  I looked at him. Somehow, somewhere during the course of this mission, Jack had grown into a man in the truest sense of the word. Sure he was old enough, but he hadn’t been exposed to danger, to life and death situations, to needing to choose between what he wanted and what he needed. He’d done all that and more since we embarked on the operation and he’d come through with flying colors. I couldn’t be prouder of him.

  At the same time, I felt a twinge of sadness. Jack was his own man now. He had opinions on everything and he was entitled to have those opinions respected. I might not have agreed with them, but damned if he hadn’t earned the right to voice his approval or disapproval about stuff. Gone were the days when I could simply tell him what to do and he’d do it. Now, he had a life to get out there and live.

  Moreover, he’d readily agreed to potentially forfeit that life in order to help me. The last thing I wanted was to drag him down with my escapades. He was right: I could keep the troublemaker title for myself. I needed to make sure he was protected from any sort of retribution the Council might impose on me.

  “I’ll take care of it for you. I promise.”

  Jack eyed me for a moment and then he nodded. “I know you will.”

  He fell silent as we continued walking down the road toward Kathmandu. If I had to guess, I’d say he was probably thinking about how nice it would be to get home and see his sweetheart again.

  Talya had looped her arm through mine as we walked again and I smiled at her. She crinkled her eyes and grinned back. She was so damned beautiful it always took my breath away.

  “Whatcha thinking about?” she asked.

  “The Silencer,” I said.

  “Forget about her,” said Talya. “Her death was a long time coming. She was overdue for payback, trust me.”

  “You ever going to tell me about it?”

  Talya shrugged. “What’s to tell? We had a history. Same as you two did apparently.”

  “Yeah, but not like you guys did. She blinked in and out of my life every so often. But I saw real hatred there between you. Especially coming from you toward her. You enjoyed that kill.”

  Talya took her arm out of mine and stopped. “Are you going to stand there and pretend that you’ve never enjoyed a particularly deserving kill? That you don’t feel emotions when you do it? That you don’t regret some while feeling like you’re doing the work of justice with others?”

  “I wouldn’t ever presume to say that,” I said.

  Talya stayed silent for a moment. “You’re right. I did enjoy it. But that doesn’t make me some sort of psychopath. The Silencer got what she had coming to her. Figure it punishment for a lot of bad deeds she committed in the past. I should know because some of those deeds affected me directly. This wasn’t a matter of her being a professional interest. It was personal.”

  “Understood.”

  Talya eyed me for another second and then shook her head. “No. You don’t. You don’t understand Lawson because it didn’t happen to you. Sure, you get it from a professional perspective, but unless you know the entire backstory, you won’t comprehend why I relished shooting her to death. That’s not your fault. You just weren’t involved.”

  I laid a hand on her shoulder. “I could be involved. Let me in.”

  Talya shook her head. “Not a chance. Sorry lover, but there are some things that I need to keep to myself. At least for the time being. I appreciate you wanting to be there for me. And you were. You both were. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. But this is something else. Something I have to work through on my own. I have closure, which is a good thing indeed. For many years I haven’t had that. It was an endless cycle of being spun up only to get told to stand down. You know how it goes.”

  “Yeah.”

  “She’s dead now. That work has been done. I was karma. I’m comfortable with that. Hell, I’m glad it was me that got to kill her. I think I would have been jealous if anyone else had pulled the trigger.” She turned away and I saw a mistiness settle over her eyes. She blinked a few times and then wiped the corner of her eyes.

  “You okay?”

  She looked at me. “I don’t know yet. I honestly don’t. But time will tell. And you know me.”

  I smiled. “I know you, babe. You’ll weather this storm. I think the worst is past now.”

  “It is,” said Talya. “It finally is.”

  Jack pointed down the road. “I see headlights. You guys want to hitchhike or keep walking?”

  I glanced at Talya. “Up to you.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not too cold outside.”

  The car pulled alongside us, but it was a tiny compact Datsun that looked like it had been used for fifty years without a tire change. Jack waved them on and then looked back at us. “Sorry, kind of made an executive decision there.”

  We laughed. “It’s fine,” I said. “I think it was a good call.”

  “It was,” said Talya. “After all, how often do we get the chance to walk along a road like this together while such a gorgeous sunset lights our way?”

  I put my arm around her and pulled her close. She leaned her head into me and we kept walking. Jack tucked his hands into his pockets and suddenly stopped.

  “What is it?”

  “The Cloak,” said Jack. “I think I left it back at the chopper.”

  Talya looked at me and I smiled. “No, you didn’t. I grabbed it.” I patted my back pocket. “Safe and sound.”

  “What the hell are you going to do with that?” asked Talya. “Not the sort of thing that ought to be left laying around for anyone to use.”

  “It won’t be,” I said. “I have a good idea on where we’ll take it so it can safely stored away.”

  Talya smiled at me. “Do you now?”

  I kissed her on the lips and then pulled back away to take a breath. “Yeah, I think I have a pretty good idea.”

  “Guys,” said Jack. “I think it’s great you’re getting all romantic and all, but I’m really hungry. You think there’s any way you two can put the love fest on hold until we get ourselves a couple of rooms?”

  “A couple of rooms?” I eyed him. “What-we can’t bunk in just one?”

  Jack shook his head. “Oh hell, no. You guys get your own on the opposite side of the hotel from me. If my suspicions are correct, you aren’t going to be doing much sleeping tonight.”

  You know what?

  He had a really good point.

  39

  Boston - 48 hours later

  We’d skipped enough time zones on our flights back to Boston to qualify for a medical study on circadian rhythm problems. By the time we landed, Jack and I felt like we’d been wrung out and left to dry in the gutter of every shitty third world country the world over. As we walked off the plane at Logan International Airport, Jack turned to me with more than a healthy bit of stubble sprouting across his face.

  “Is it always like this?”

  “Like what?” Ahead of us, I could see the baggage carousels cranking up but neither of us had any luggage to collect.

  “Feeling like a used condom.”

  I laughed out loud causing two passengers close to us to turn and look at me. I scowled at them and they turned back away. “That’s some descriptive you used the
re.”

  “Seems appropriate,” said Jack. “I can’t remember the last time I felt this crappy.”

  “It’s not always like this, no,” I said. “That’s the thing about this life. You never know what it’s going to be like. Sometimes it’s not bad. You get to dispense justice and feel like you make a difference.”

  “Other times?”

  I glanced at him. “Other times…yeah, you feel like a used condom.”

  Jack grinned. “Thanks for being honest.”

  “You’re lucky, my dude. You don’t have to live this life. You’re not a Fixer. The prospect of you flying all over the place to deal with really bad people isn’t great. Yeah, you’ll probably have your share of bad assignments. And every once in a while you might think you drew the short straw. But overall, I think you’ve got it better than me.”

  Jack shrugged. “You ever need a hand with a mission, you know where to find me.”

  I stopped him and clapped him on the shoulder. “You really impressed the shit out of me, Jack. I don’t say that lightly. And I’m sure as hell not doing it to give you false praise. You handled yourself like a true pro. That’s not an easy thing to do.”

  “How do you do it?” asked Jack.

  “Do what?”

  “Handle things the way you do. It’s like you always have the answers. You always seem to know exactly what to do.”

  I wanted to laugh again, but I didn’t want him thinking his question was stupid. “The truth? I don’t have all the answers. No one does. You go through this life and you try your best to learn and keep learning. Experience helps a lot, obviously, but then there will be times when you just have to wing it. You hope for the best and go for it.” I eyed him. “You know about the SAS?”

  “Special Air Service,” said Jack. “British elite special operations unit.”

  “What’s their motto?”

  Jack shook his head. “Don’t know.”

  “Who Dares Wins,” I said. “And that, my friend, is what it come down to a lot of time. When all else fails, when there’s no guarantee or answer, you simply have to dare to act. Daring, more times than not, will win the day simply because your enemies lack the willpower to try something courageous. Hesitation, inactivity…they can kill. When you don’t know what to do, storm straight ahead and take the fight to the enemy.”

  “You live by that motto?”

  I nodded. “More times than I can even remember.”

  Jack frowned and as I turned, I saw why. Niles was coming toward us. And the thing was, I hadn’t told him we were coming in on this flight. Or any flight for that matter.

  As he walked up, he had a serious expression on his face. “Lawson.” He nodded at Jack. “Jack.”

  Jack nodded at him. “Hey.”

  Niles faced me. “So…how was New York?”

  I shrugged. “Ah well, New York…you know, it can get kind of boring after a few days. I took him down to Aruba for a lesson on diving.”

  Niles sighed. “Yeah, your tan is incredibly impressive. So is his.”

  I smiled. “I meant Aruba, Maine. Small town. You’ve probably never heard of it. They’ve got this big lake there. It’s perfect for diving.”

  “Fascinating,” said Niles. I knew he didn’t believe one single word of what I’d just said. Instead, he leaned in close to me. “I take it the matter overseas is resolved to your satisfaction? Our mutual friend is alive and well?”

  I said nothing for several seconds. Niles had never betrayed me and I didn’t think he ever would. But even he was beholden to the Council. And if they pressed him hard enough, I wasn’t sure how far he’d go for me. Still, if I’d learned nothing else in my life, it was that you had to trust people sometimes. Even when your instincts screamed at you not to.

  “She’s doing well,” I said finally.

  Niles’ expression softened. “I’m glad. What about the offending parties?”

  “Neutralized. They won’t be a problem in the future.”

  “They?”

  “The one we knew about and a surprise guest star showed up. There was a human as well. He had to be terminated in order for proper containment of the situation.”

  Niles’ brow furrowed. “Interesting. I thought I read something about a certain high-ranking member of the military going missing in the last several days. From what I can gather, they are most interested in locating him.”

  Good luck, I thought. Wei’s body had been devoured and then nuked into a zillion billion atoms. The Chinese would have an easier time building a bridge to Mars using lego bricks. “I don’t think they’re going to find him.”

  “Ever?”

  “Ever.”

  Niles nodded. “You must have a lot of interesting stuff to tell me about.”

  I shrugged. “Not all that interesting. And frankly, I’m kinda tired.”

  “Well, sure, who wouldn’t be? What with all that diving you just went through. Tell you what, take a day to get yourself together and then come see me at the Council.”

  I eyed him again. “You sure?”

  “Absolutely.” Niles nodded in Jack’s direction. “Bring him, too. They’ll want a word with him.”

  Jack had never been in the Council chambers before. To say that he was awed was an understatement. Unlike yours truly who had long ago lost all respect for the place given that it was usually staffed by the biggest purveyors of hot air on the planet.

  Except for Wirek. Ever since he’d been promoted to sitting on the Council, he’d managed to bring back a bit of ethics and decorum to the place. But only just.

  Ava sat in her usual position, her ice blue eyes piercing through Jack as they all looked upon him. Finally, after not saying anything for several minutes as was her usual tactic, Ava swung her gaze to me.

  I winked at her.

  She momentarily blanched but recovered. “Lawson, once again you have shown a complete lack of respect for our rules and our society.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  Ava looked down at her papers. “Unauthorized travel, a complete lack of communication while you were away, and then you apparently influenced a recent graduate of the Invoker school to abandon his training and follow you on some foolish jaunt.”

  I wanted to smile, but managed to hold myself in check. I hadn’t known until now what the Council knew and what they did not. For all I knew, I could have been walking into my own death sentence. And it would have been if the Council had discovered where I’d really been. And who I’d gone off the reservation to save. I’d been warned long ago to not see Talya or else we’d both be sanctioned. I’d ignored that ruling and continued to see her. I wasn’t about to put my love for anyone on hold because of some damned rule.

  But Ava had played her cards and she’d revealed that the Council had no clue what had happened in China. I had Niles to thank for that. He’d covered for me once again. I wouldn’t forget it.

  “I thought the boy needed some additional schooling. I also had some leave time so I took it.”

  Ava shook her head. “There are rules and regulations and paperwork to be filed. You did none of that.”

  I sighed. “You’re really going to throw a hissy fit over paperwork, Ava?”

  Wirek cleared his throat. “Lawson, Ava has a point. We have rules for a reason. They are not designed to be so nonchalantly dismissed.”

  I looked at Wirek and he gave me the barest of an eyebrow raise as if to say, dude take the heat and be done with it.

  “Fair enough. I was in the wrong. I admit my culpability.”

  Next to me, I felt Jack bristle with anger. I wanted to tell him to relax, but his nerves must have been getting the better of him.

  Ava swung back upon Jack. “And as for you, young man. You will need to be punished for your transgressions as well.”

  “Which transgressions are you referring to?” asked Jack.

  “Unauthorized travel, a failure to check in with your superiors, and any number of other minor infract
ions.”

  Jack frowned. “Is this how you always treat members of our race who go above and beyond the call of duty?”

  “Excuse me?” Ava’s voice registered shock and anger bordering on fury all at once. I wanted to tell Jack to shut up, but he didn’t seem to care anymore. I knew the feeling.

  Jack glanced at me and smiled. “Who Dares Wins, right?”

  “Go for it, buddy.”

  He looked back at Ava. “The truth is, we weren’t off on a diving trip. The truth is we went to Bhutan.”

  “Bhutan?” Wirek’s face clouded and his eyes flashed over to mine as if to say, “What the hell?”

  “Explain yourself,” said Ava.

  “Several missions back, I assisted Lawson during an operation where we recovered a map with coordinates that supposedly would lead us to the place where the Cloak of Despar rested.”

  Wirek leaned forward. Ava waved her hand dismissively.

  “There’s no truth to that story. It’s just a legend.”

  “Except that it’s not,” said Jack. “It exists. And we found it.”

  “The Cloak is rumored to be protected by several, shall we say, spiteful spirits,” said Wirek. “Trying to acquire the Cloak would be a very dangerous gamble for even a seasoned Fixer, let alone a young and inexperienced Invoker.”

  “It wasn’t easy,” said Jack. “But with Lawson’s help we were able to obtain it.” Then he reached behind him and pulled the Cloak out. Without waiting for the Council to tell him what to do, Jack threw the Cloak about himself and promptly vanished.

  An audible gasp arose from the Council. Hell, if I hadn’t seen it in action myself, I might have even been impressed. But by now, I was pretty immune to its effects.

  Jack removed the Cloak and reappeared inside the chamber. “This is what we were off doing. For the sake of the entire vampire race.”

  Ava recovered herself again. “What made you embark on such an altruistic mission?”

  Jack shrugged. “If we knew where the Cloak was, there was a good chance that others would eventually learn of its whereabouts. Possibly even humans. We couldn’t take the chance that a less scrupulous individual obtain the Cloak. Lawson and I determined that not having the Cloak within the possession of the Council constituted a serious threat to our security.”