“Hello, Gavin, if that’s really your name,” I said. “I think I prefer upright. I doubt that your little sword is large enough that a girl could find much use for it.”
He snarled an ugly laugh. “We’ll see. I look forward to hearing you beg, Tian. Master Rudolf has offered a fine reward for your head, but I’ll let you negotiate whether you’re still alive when I deliver it.”
Tian was my middle name, the name my mother called me and what the Illuminati had called me prior to giving me my battle name. I hadn’t heard it in years. It was the name Fritz Schottner and the other bullies had used when they teased and assaulted me. That had pretty much stopped after I finally got tired of the abuse and beat the hell out of one of them when I was seventeen.
“And where is dear Master Rudolf?” I asked. “Since you won’t live to do so, I would be more than happy to deliver my head to him personally.”
“Travelling at the moment, but he’ll be here soon enough.”
I filed that away. Rudolf was notorious for his hatred of airplanes. Sidestepping to my right, I slid around the inside of the gazebo, forcing Edmundson to turn to face me, or slide around himself if he wished to maintain our distance. I drew the spelled main gauche dagger out from under my coat and shifted it into my left hand.
“Where’s your sword?” he asked.
“Oh, I don’t need a Hunter’s sword for this dance,” I replied. “It wouldn’t be fair.” I hurled another ley missile at him. “I think magic will be enough.”
He conjured a mini tornado and hurled it at me. I was braced and ready for it and used ley energy to push it out of the gazebo and over the water. I then hit him with a push of ley energy that blew him back against the guardrail behind him. While he was off balance, I used the time to move farther around the platform. Again, he moved to maintain the distance between us, putting his back to where Josh was waiting.
I smiled to myself. I had maneuvered Edmundson into a crossfire situation between Josh and me.
I loosed three ley missiles, one right after the other. After the first one, Josh started hitting him from behind with a series of fireballs. I hoped that Josh didn’t set the gazebo on fire while I was standing on a portion that hung in the air above rocks and pounding surf.
“Surrender, Gavin,” I called. “You can’t defeat both of us. As soon as you engage one of us, the other will stab you in the back.” With that, I said the Word that called the Sword and light sprang from my hand.
He chuckled. “I’ve danced with better men than you.”
“I don’t pretend to be a man. I’ll leave that to you.”
I advanced on him and saw Josh leap onto the boardwalk and stomp along it. I knew it must be nerve-wracking for Edmundson to face one foe while hearing another coming at his back. I started forward, one slow step, and then another, loosing a ley missile with each step. Josh continued to hit him with fireballs, and Edmundson started looking nervous.
The thing about depending on a personal shield and a spelled sword was that a shield could be beaten down, even when standing on a ley line. And that same ley line made it less likely that the sword would penetrate the opponent’s shield.
I thrust my Sword at his chest before I got within reach. He should have realized what I was doing since he had at least six inches of reach on me, but he moved to block the thrust anyway. I took two quick steps toward him, and my Sword slid down his sword to its guard. The spelled dagger in my left hand penetrated his right side under his ribs.
His eyes seemed to bulge, his sword dropped from his hand, and he staggered away from me into the railing. He clutched at the wound, staring in disbelief at the blood seeping through his fingers.
“You aren’t very bright, are you? Where is Rudolf? I can call a healer and save your life, but you don’t have much time.”
Edmundson’s legs gave out, and he slid down to sit with his legs splayed out in front of him, his back up against one of the roof supports. I was fairly certain that I had stabbed him in the liver, which wasn’t an immediately fatal wound. But the gurgling sound I heard when he breathed and the frothy blood spilling out of his mouth led me to believe I had also penetrated his lung.
Josh approached Edmundson and kicked his sword away. Reaching down, he took Edmundson’s main gauche from his belt, then pulled one of the PCU’s black bags over his head, blocking his access to the ley line. I let go of the Sword spell, and the night got much darker.
“Should I call an ambulance, or just let him bleed to death?” Josh asked in a conversational tone. He already had his phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear.
“I don’t know,” I answered. “I’d like to know where his boss is. Maybe we should let him bleed a while longer.”
Our captive moaned. Josh moved off a ways and spoke quietly into his phone. Then he stuck it in his pocket and walked back toward me.
In a voice that sounded like he was trying to be quiet but was loud enough for Edmundson to hear, Josh said, “They caught the others. One is dead, but one is talking.”
“Oh, well then, we don’t need this one, do we?”
“Train,” Edmundson almost screamed, though weakly. “End of the week.” Obviously, Edmundson wasn’t as fanatic as Schottner had been.
“Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” I said.
Josh pulled out a set of handcuffs and immobilized the Hunter’s hands.
“Did they really catch them?” I whispered into Josh’s ear.
He shook his head. “I lied.”
We waited about twenty minutes, but an ambulance did arrive, and after the EMTs stabilized him, Edmundson was hauled up the cliff and taken to the hospital.
Chapter 25
I went into work early so I could talk to Sam and get the whole story as to what had gone down at Harland Hall.
“Three men, we assume they were Hunters, got away, in addition to that Edmundson guy you tracked down,” Sam said as I settled into a chair in his office. “We captured four Columbia Club members in total. Someone said they saw Winter escape the building along with Edmundson and Feldman, but we didn’t capture him or find his body.”
I shook my head. “You won’t. You know those holes in the side of the building?”
Sam nodded. “Yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that. It looked like the stone simply vaporized—there wasn’t even any dust.”
“I call them ley missiles. I grab a handful of raw ley energy and shoot it at a target. I can’t throw it very far, but it’s pretty nasty. As far as I can tell, it reduces whatever it hits to its molecular state. I can probably teach Liam to do that.”
Sam gave me a rabbit-in-the-headlights look. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
I shrugged. “Winter was standing there when I let loose on them. I assume he wasn’t shielded, or I hit him with two in a row and the first one took out his shield.” I sipped my coffee while I mulled over the situation. “So, we have at least three Hunters on the loose, and according to the guy Josh and I captured last night, their boss is on a train headed this way. I doubt he’s coming alone.”
Sam pursed his mouth and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. After about a minute, he said, “But their local support is broken. Feldman talked, and the cops took five more Columbia Club members, plus four of their friends and family members, into custody early this morning. And from what you’ve told me, the remaining Hunters are essentially vagabonds. Reduced to acting as mercenaries.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. They can’t have much in the way of resources to draw on, other than their personal bank accounts and holdings,” I said. “A lot of them, like me, probably don’t even have that. Especially the young ones.”
Only one person held the keys to the Illuminati’s wealth, and I wasn’t about to tell anyone I was that person.
When I got off work that evening, I found David Cunningham leaning against the wall of the hotel across the alley from Rosie’s.
“Is stalking your favorite hobby?
” I asked as he fell in beside me.
“I can’t go in and have a drink and talk to you, and you won’t answer my calls, so stalking is the only choice I have.”
He had a point. I took a right at the corner and headed for the bus stop.
“I understand that Rudolf Heine is coming to Westport,” David said.
“News travels fast.”
“Master Laurent has his sources. If he comes here, I want a crack at him.”
“He’s all yours,” I answered. “Make out your will.”
We walked along in silence for a block, then David said, “You think that little of me.”
I stopped and turned to face him. “David, Rudolf Heine is a blood mage, over three hundred years old, incredibly powerful, and one of the finest swordsmen in the world. I wouldn’t bet against him no matter who the opponent was. Michaela’s vampire sword master wouldn’t stand a chance of defeating him because, like you, he can’t shield.”
David stood there, looking down at me, and I could tell he was skeptical. I realized that he really was as young as Michaela had told me he was. I didn’t know what kind of training Gabriel Laurent had provided him, but it couldn’t have been as extensive as what I had gone through to enter the Hunters’ Guild.
“Look,” I said, “the only way anyone is going to take him out is to convince him to eat a meal in front of a window. Then you could shoot him through the glass. The only times he’s vulnerable is when he’s eating, bathing, taking a dump, or having sex. Otherwise, he’s going to be shielded.”
I turned and continued toward the bus stop. David matched my strides.
“What are you going to do?” he asked. “He’ll be looking for you.”
“Maybe. You and I, along with Constance and Gabriel, are the only ones who can identify him. Right? Or maybe he won’t come to Westport at all, considering the disaster his men suffered here. The Illuminati are patient. If I were him, I’d back off and look for another place to set up a base of operations. At the very least, wait a few months or years and re-develop a support structure. The Columbia Club members who the Illuminati subverted are all either dead or in custody. There are easier places for him to go and rebuild his strength.”
The bus came, and David got on with me but didn’t move to get off when we reached the stop by my apartment complex. He did watch me from the window as the bus pulled away. Shaking my head, I watched the bus dwindle in the darkness. Gods, he was handsome. If he wasn’t so damned dumb, not to mention being an ancient vampire’s thrall, I could be tempted. I didn’t blame Jolene for wanting to go home with him the night he kidnapped her.
Westport wasn’t on the main train line between San Francisco and Portland. The train came in from Portland twice a day, and although Frankie had people posted with the description of Heine that I had given them, no one reported any mages disembarking at either the train or the bus station. Of course, it was impossible to guard all the roads, and I assumed Master Rudolf knew how to drive.
When the weekend passed, I began to relax. There hadn’t been any incidents that might be ascribed to the Hunters who escaped, and Westport seemed to settle back into its normal mode. In fact, things were quieter than I had ever seen them.
Trevor was back from Seattle, and he was speaking to me again. He dropped by the bar occasionally, and we developed a comfort with each other that hadn’t been there since we started dating. That wasn’t on the table anymore, and Jolene reported that his relationship with Heather was still going strong.
I didn’t see much of Jolene or Josh as they settled into training for their new jobs, but Shawna stopped by more often late at night. Lizzy was working on some enormous project at the university, so other than meeting for Sunday brunch, I didn’t see much of her either.
Feeling restless on a Tuesday evening, I got dolled up and headed out to the Nighthawk Tavern near the campus. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping to run into a handsome young archeology graduate student. I always smiled every time I remembered Cindy asking if he was interested in exploring my hidden treasures.
The band was pretty good, and I danced with a couple of guys but declined their offers to go back to their tables with them. I felt a little more comfortable sitting at the bar by myself.
My patience was rewarded around eleven o’clock.
“Is this seat taken?”
I looked up to see the archeologist. A bit over six feet, tanned, with hazel eyes and light brown hair spilling over his collar.
“I was saving it just for you,” I said with a smile.
He settled onto the barstool. “I haven’t seen you for a while,” he said. “It’s Erin, right?”
“Yes. And you’re Lucas. I’ve been pretty busy.”
We talked and danced a couple of times, and the next thing I knew the bartender came by and said, “Last call.”
“Another?” Lucas asked.
“No, I’ve had enough.”
“I’ll walk you to your car.”
“That’s chivalrous of you, but I’m not driving. I won’t turn down an escort to the train station, though.”
We strolled down the street. I wasn’t in a hurry, and he didn’t seem to be either.
“I would enjoy seeing you again,” he said.
“I would like that.” I stopped and turned to face him. He took the hint, put his arms around me, and drew me in for a kiss.
“Do you have a phone number?”
“I do. What’s yours?” I punched in the numbers he gave me, and heard a jingle playing in his pocket. He pulled out his phone, tapped on it, then put it away and pulled me in for another kiss.
“I work Thursday through Sunday nights,” I told him. “So, I’m free most days and Monday through Wednesday evenings.”
We walked on to the train station where I discovered I had missed the last train. A bus would be coming in about five minutes, and Lucas waited with me. He gave me a last kiss, and I boarded and found a seat. It was almost empty, with only a few other college-age people.
Just as the driver started to pull away from the curb, someone pounded on the door. A man boarded the bus and paid, then turned to walk down the aisle toward me. It was Rudolf Heine. A chill passed through me, and I shielded immediately. He looked directly into my eyes as he approached, and I froze.
He sat in the seat across the aisle from me.
“Good evening, Tian. It’s been a long time. Almost a year, yes? You look to be in good health.”
I reached in my pocket for my phone, but he held his hand up.
“Unless you want to see a massacre on this bus,” he said, “please don’t do anything silly. You know I couldn’t leave any witnesses.” His smile would have frozen a flame.
“I’ve wanted to talk with you ever since I heard you were alive,” he continued. “Tell me, where were you when the City disappeared? Master Benedict was worried about you and sent me to Washington to find you. You weren’t there, but the targets you were sent to kill were all dead. And then shortly after I arrived there, all communication with the City ceased. I sent Bear to see what was going on, and when I received his report, I traveled there myself and discovered it was gone. As though it never existed. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“I was sent to recover an artifact from a man in Washington named William Strickland,” I said. “I took the artifact back to Master Benedict. He sent me on another short mission, and when I came home, as you said, the City was gone. I couldn’t even find the road. I walked for three days along a game trail and found the mountain. I don’t know anything other than that. I didn’t know what to do. As far as I knew, I was the only one left.”
Rudolf nodded. “And you ended up here. In the middle of nowhere.”
“It seemed like a good place to hide.”
“There are protocols for when you’re cut off,” he said.
“Protocols for the City ceasing to exist? All communications down? Everyone you know completely disappears? Not that anyone eve
r told me. Where would I even start to look for anyone? I am not at your level, Master. I don’t know the secrets you know. How would I know who to trust even if I managed to contact anyone?”
“That is true, I suppose. Well, now you’ve found me, although I am disturbed by the reports I’ve received. Is it true that you’ve been hunting Hunters?”
“I’ve protected myself. I haven’t been hunting anyone.”
“I see. Well, shall we get off at the next stop? I think we should continue this conversation in a more private setting.”
He reached up and pulled the cable to alert the driver, who soon pulled over to a stop. We were a couple of miles from my apartment and even farther from Rosie’s.
Rudolf stood and stepped back to allow me to get up and exit the bus before him. As I walked forward, I felt his presence looming behind me. My face must have betrayed the terror I felt because the bus driver turned to look at us.
“Is everything okay, miss?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
“Do you know this gentleman?”
“Yeah. He’s my uncle Rudolf. It’s okay.” Maybe when they found my body in a ditch, the bus driver would remember Rudolf’s name. At that moment, that was about the only hope I had. Even if Heine believed what I had told him so far, I still expected him to kill me. I was going to die. I started shaking, and it made it hard to manage the steps. I had to hang onto the safety bar like an old lady.
I climbed down from the bus and moved away from it as quickly as I could, then whirled around to face him. Thankfully, it being winter, I was wearing pants and not a skirt. The driver had let us off at a corner. A closed gas station was behind me, a vacant lot was across the street, and a small strip mall was in the other direction, its stores also closed.
I tried to sketch the runes to call the Sword, but Rudolf had me so shaken that I didn’t do it correctly.
“You look quite nice,” Rudolf said as the bus pulled away. “But you always were good at tempting men. I’m told you no longer carry your sword. Is that because you’re trying to hide what you are, or because you no longer have it?”
Dark Dancer (Rosie O'Grady's Paranormal Bar and Grill Book 3) Page 19
