He nodded and spoke when a voice answered. “Hello, old friend. It’s me, John.”
Ed Slonaker covered his surprise well. “Hey, Johnny, how’re you doing?”
“Not so good, pal. You got a minute to talk?”
“For you, always,” Ed replied, becoming more serious at the tone in John’s voice.
“You sound like you’re out of breath, Ed.”
Ed chuckled. “Well, I was in the middle of something . . . or rather someone when you called,” he said.
“Oh,” John said, grinning. “Want me to call back later?”
“No, go ahead. I need to take a break and catch my breath anyway.”
* * *
After John had told Ed his story, of how he’d joined Thantos only to find he planned on using Normals as a food supply rather than as equals under the law and of how Thantos and Christina had tried to kill them, Ed interrupted to ask a favor.
“Sure, Ed, whatever you want,” John replied.
“Open your mind to me and let me have full access,” Ed said.
John laughed, until he realized Ed was serious. “But Ed, I don’t know where you are, but it’s got to be hundreds or thousands of miles away,” John protested. “None of us can read over that kind of distance.”
“Trust me,” Ed said, “and let me read you so I know I can trust you.”
John shrugged, though Ed couldn’t see over the phone. “Sure, pal, if you think you can do it, go for it. Everything I’ve told you is the truth and I’ve got nothing to hide.”
Sure enough, seconds later, John felt the familiar feather-tickle of his old friend in his mind. “I’ll be damned,” he muttered.
Minutes later, he heard Ed sigh. “It’s nice to know we can still trust each other,” Ed said.
“So, now what?” John asked, taking Marya’s hand across the table and staring into her eyes.
“You’ve got two choices, as I see it,” Ed said, automatically easing into the roles he and John had always had: Ed the mentor, John the willing student and protégé. “One, you can do as you are and run away and hide in Canada or wherever it is you think you’ll be safe . . .”
“Yeah, and our other choice?”
“You can return to Washington and help my new friends and I take Thantos and his minions out for good.”
John laughed. “Don’t tell me you’ve got an army there with you, pal, ’cause that’s what it’s gonna take to overcome Thantos before it’s too late.”
John could almost see Ed shrug, “Naw, it’s just seven of us, counting Kim and I.”
“Seven?” John almost shouted. He got control of himself and lowered his voice. “Do you realize Thantos has a virtual who’s who of Washington in his pocket, not to mention high up muckity mucks in both the police department and Secret Service?” John asked. “Hell, he’s probably got over a hundred followers lined up and ready to follow his lead.”
“Yep, but it doesn’t matter how many followers he has, Johnny. We’re going to take the bastard down or die trying, ’cause we don’t particularly want to live in the kind of world he’s trying to create.”
John glanced at Marya and said, “Let me get back to you, Ed. There’s someone I have to check with first . . .”
He stopped when Marya shook her head and then smiled across the table at him. “No, we go with them darling.”
“Uh, never mind holding, Ed. Just tell me where you are and we’ll come join you guys. You’re now officially an army of nine.”
* * *
It was just after eight the next morning when John woke up to find Ed holding a steaming cup of coffee under his nose. John groggily shook his head and set up in the bed, gratefully taking the coffee and draining half the cup before he came up for air.
He and Marya had arrived back in Washington at almost four in the morning and had gone straight to the room Ed and his friends had procured for them. They’d been too tired to undress and had just flopped down on the bed and gone immediately to sleep.
When Marya raised her head, Ed pointed over his shoulder to a room service cart at the foot of the bed that was covered with plates of scrambled eggs and bacon and sausage and more coffee and orange juice.
Marya bounded out of bed and attacked the food. Around a mouthful of eggs, she winked at Ed. “I can see why Johnny loves you, Eddy.”
Ed winced at the nickname. “Okay, okay, it’s just some eggs for Christ’s sake. Don’t go all gooey on me.”
“Man, it was lucky the room next to you guys was vacant,” John said.
Ed smiled. “Not lucky at all. The man and woman staying there had a sudden urge to return home in the middle of the night, so we took the room for you as soon as they left.”
John’s eyes narrowed. “More of your psychic magic, old friend?”
Ed patted his leg and got up from the edge of the bed. “We’ve got lots to tell you and Marya, John, and you’ve got lots of catching up to do if we’re going to have a chance to whip Thantos.”
“Catching up?” Marya asked from her place at the table.
Ed smiled. “I’ll let Elijah explain it to you, but you’re not going to believe the world that is about to open up for you two.”‘
Chapter 36
It took John and Marya almost a week working with Elijah and his friends to list all of the members of Thantos’s followers that they knew about, a week that was also used to good advantage by having the group all share blood with the new members of Elijah’s Army as they called themselves.
One good effect of having so many extra sources of blood to partake of was that the process of improvement in John and Marya’s DNA and hence their Vampyre abilities progressed much faster than it had for the original experimenters. A drawback was that for much of the week they were sick as dogs, with high fevers, nausea, and muscle and bone aches that were so bad that on one occasion John asked for a sword so that he could cut his own head off to end the misery.
By the ninth day, however, both John and Marya began to feel almost back to normal. Their physical strength as well as their psychic abilities were much enhanced, and all were surprised to find that Marya had picked up almost all of Ed’s ability at long-range psychic readings—a fact that was to prove very useful in the upcoming war.
Elijah, due to the frequency and loudness of their nightly parties, had slowly taken over all of the rooms on their floor of the hotel, telling the proprietor that they were having a large family reunion and needed the extra rooms.
Maids and housekeepers were gently “pushed” mentally to not come on the floor until they were called for, which allowed the group to have their blood-sharing parties at all hours of the days and nights without fear of being overheard.
In fact, it was so private on their hotel floor that when the group came together for their brainstorming sessions, most of them decided to forgo dressing and just paraded around in nude or near-nude states. One drawback of this arrangement was that more than one such session degenerated into wild orgies when couples were aroused by the sight of their new lovers’ naked bodies and took the appropriate action. This made for a happy, but somewhat disorganized “army.”
Elijah was amazed to find that the constant blood-sharing and the sexual activities that were a natural side-effect of this was causing the members of the group to interrelate almost as if they were all full-fledged mates. The bond between Vampyre mates was extremely strong and intimate, and in all of his two hundred years of dealing with members of his race, Elijah had never seen the mate-to-mate bonding occur between nonmates before.
He was delighted at the happening, for it caused the group to act and interact almost as if it were one giant organism instead of nine separate beings.
On the first morning of the second week after John and Marya’s arrival, Elijah called a breakfast meeting in his suite. Once everyone was seated and had plates of food on their laps, he addressed the group.
“Team, it’s time we decided on a plan of attack. Do we start at the top with t
he most important members of Thantos’s group and try to eliminate as many of them as we can before they realize they are under attack, or do we start at the bottom and work our way up the chain of command?”
“Both plans have their advantages and their disadvantages,” Ed said, slipping into the conversation smoothly. “If we start at the top, there are a lot of very important people in Washington who are suddenly going to be AWOL. It will be hard to keep this quiet for any length of time, since the press keeps a close eye on the comings and goings of Washington royalty and will surely notice if any of the major players suddenly disappears.”
“But, if we start at the bottom, the higher ups who wield the most power and are the most dangerous to us will be forewarned of our intentions and will be able to counterattack before we’re ready for them,” Shooter said, playing the devil’s advocate.
Marya cleared her throat, “Uh, may a relative newcomer to this army be allowed to speak?”
Elijah grinned and waved his hand. “Newcomer or not, you’ve got an equal vote and an equal voice in this man’s army, Marya. Go ahead.”
“Well, I’ve been trying out this new long-distance psychic stuff that I must have gotten from Ed, and I’ve found something strange that I think we should talk about.”
“What’s that, sweetie?” Sam asked. She and TJ and Kim had taken Marya into their hearts like a long-lost sister and the women were remarkably close friends.
“I think there’s a lot more division in the ranks than Thantos suspects. I’ve found several minds that are actively opposed to what’s going on, but that are too afraid to act on their own to do anything about it, and even more who really don’t give much of a shit one way or the other—who’re just going along with the flow, so to speak.”
“Actually, that’s not all that surprising, Marya dear,” Elijah said. “Even among Vampyres that have been members of our race for many years there is a sharp divergence of opinion about not only taking over control from the Normals but even about the use of a vaccine to stop the hunger. I’m not at all surprised to learn that of the newcomers to our race, many don’t want to see the end of our world as we know it.”
“But, Elijah, the bigger point you’re missing is that this is very good news for us,” Sam said, a thoughtful expression on her face.
“How so, Sam?” he asked.
“A real lack of conviction among Thantos’s converts means that we don’t have to kill everyone in his group. All we have to do is ferret out the true believers and fanatics and make sure we get them first.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Once Thantos is no longer around to foment hate and discontent with their status as Vampyres, the fellow-travelers so to speak will just go on about their business and forget all about this revolution stuff.”
“Sure,” Matt said in agreement, “And once we cut off the head of this beast, the body will die a natural death.”
“But we’ll still be faced with a whole bunch of new Vampyres who are suddenly without any leadership whatsoever,” Kim said. “Suppose they start running amok in Washington, killing and slaughtering Normals once the hunger hits and bring the authorities’ or media’s attention to the presence of our race.”
“That’s right, Elijah,” John said. “Up until now, Thantos and his cell leaders have been keeping the new converts placated by plying them with blood bank blood. Once he’s gone and they start having to fend for themselves, there’s no telling how much damage they could do.”
Elijah nodded slowly. “Good point, Kim and Johnny. I can see that we’ll definitely need to do some remedial education on the newcomers to our race once we’ve eliminated Thantos and his lieutenants. In fact, one of our first priorities will be to try and get them onto our new vaccine.”
“Have you been able to identify any of these doubting Thomas’s?” John asked Marya.
“Only one. She has a remarkable psychic power, especially for one so young. The others’ psychic abilities are weak and too vague for me to recognize their identities for sure.”
“Who’s the one you recognize?” Elijah asked.
“Allison Burton, the daughter of the vice president of the United States.”
“The daughter of the VP is always guarded by secret service agents isn’t she?” Matt asked.
Shooter nodded. “Yep, and that’s gonna make her real hard to get close to.”
TJ laughed and draped her arm around Marya’s shoulders. “With Marya’s new abilities, maybe we won’t have to get too close after all.”
“Wait a minute,” Matt said, “If Marya can get these readings, why didn’t Ed pick up on them?”
“ ’Cause he never met any of the subjects, Matt,” Sam said, patting him on the shoulder like he was mentally incompetent. “It’s only because Marya and John were members of the group that she’s able to track their thoughts from a distance.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot,” he said, blushing.
“Don’t worry about it, Matt,” Ed said, grinning. “Most of us are having trouble keeping track of our new abilities and just what we’re capable of, let alone keeping track of what the others in our group can do.”
“So, what now?” Shooter asked. He turned to look at Marya. “Do you think you can get into this girl’s mind and influence it from a distance as well as you can read it?”
“I think I’ll do better if I isolate myself and get as far away from all of your psychic influences as I can.” She glanced at John, who was sitting naked next to her and grinned. “Those thoughts and the physical presence of some of us tend to be distracting.” As the group all laughed, she continued, “I’ll get as close to Allison’s school as possible and try to get into her mind when they pick her up this afternoon. Then, if I’m successful, I’ll follow at a distance until she and I can figure out how to meet in person.”
“That’s a good plan,” Elijah said, “but please be careful, Marya. Security is bound to be tight around her and we can’t afford to lose you.”
“That’s right, dear,” John said. “And remember, Thantos has already converted some of the Secret Service agents so they may be able to pick up your thoughts if you’re not very, very careful.”
Marya nodded and squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll be as quiet as a mouse on cotton when I slip into her mind.”
“So, there’s nothing we can do until this afternoon, then?” Shooter asked.
“No, Shooter,” Elijah answered. “Why?”
Shooter shrugged. “I thought as long as there’s nothing else to do, we might as well all go back to bed for a while.”
“Go back to whose bed, dear?” TJ asked, smiling at him.
“We could always draw straws,” he answered, getting a laugh from everyone.
* * *
It was a little after three-thirty that afternoon when the private school Allison Burton attended let out for the day. Marya had thought it would be easy to find the young woman, just go to the biggest limo around and get close to it. Problem was, there were dozens of large, black limos lining the street in front of the school, what with it being the toniest private school in the area.
Another problem was that she’d met Allison in some of the meetings, or at least had attended the same meetings, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember what the young person looked like. In fact, to one of Marya’s age, just about all teenagers looked alike.
She thought about trying to get into the minds of the drivers of the limos that lined the street, but John’s warning about the possibly transformed Secret Service agents made her decide to be cautious.
As the crowd of young girls and boys streamed out of the building, Marya decided to take a chance: she beamed out with her mind—Allison Burton!
One girl, wearing a short skirt, white shirt, and sweater draped over her shoulders shook her head and stopped, her hand to her ear as she glanced around the street in front of the school.
“Gotcha,” Marya thought to herself, finally recognizing the girl from when she’d met her be
fore. She now directed a more subtle thought directly at the young woman: Allison, we have to meet. Is it safe for me to approach you?
Allison’s reply was suspicious as the young woman looked back and forth, trying to see who was invading her mind. Why, what do you want with me?
Marya got the distinct impression that Allison was afraid she was being targeted by one of Thantos’s goons because of her doubts about his plan. Marya immediately began to reassure her mentally: Relax, young one, I’m on your side, and so are some others you need to know about. Let us meet and I’ll open my mind to you so you can tell I’m telling the truth.
Marya could see Allison visibly relax at her reassuring mental images. Okay, follow me to my limo and get in after me.
What about your Secret Service driver?
Marya sensed a chuckle. Don’t worry. If you’re not one of them, you have nothing to fear.
Gutsy girl, Marya thought. She moved out of the shadow of an oak tree she’d been hiding behind and fell into step behind Allison. About half a block down the street, Allison got into the right rear seat of a black limousine, and Marya walked around and entered the left rear door.
She found herself staring down the barrel of a .38 snub-nosed revolver, pointed at her over the seat by a very tough looking female agent.
“Who the fuck are you?” Michelle asked.
“Yes,” Allison echoed, “who exactly are you?”
Marya grinned. “You should know that pistols are of no use against one like us,” she said, deliberately including the agent and Allison in her comment, since she realized immediately that the agent was also of the Vampyre race.
She turned to Allison and let her mind open completely to the young woman.
Allison’s eyes narrowed as she concentrated and entered Marya’s mind, exploring every part of it. After a couple of moments, Allison leaned back in her seat and grinned. “It’s all right, Michelle. We’ve finally found the allies we’ve been looking for.”
Chapter 37
Tainted Blood Page 26
