A Summoner's Tale - The Vampire's Confessor (Black Swan 3)

by Danann, Victoria

"Well. We'll see what Simon has to say about that."

  "And, while we're at it, when you're performin' surgery on him, you'd better be very sure he ends up good as new."

  Ram let that sentiment linger in the cold air while he gave the doctor a look that left his meaning free of misinterpretation.

  After testing and retesting the straps hooked to Blackie's stretcher, Ram gave Glen the signal to take him up.

  While that was going on, Storm and Kay decided between them that the best plan would be for Kay to return the horses to the cottage and ride to the village with Able. If the horses were there, they would lead them to the village livery. If not, Liam could deal with the problem of recovering the two that had bolted. Then they would send the Whister back for Kay, but not before he'd had a chance to sample some more of Mrs. O'Torvall's warm, red ale.

  Storm suggested Ram open his jacket, then showed him how to hold the baby next to his chest. They rezipped the jacket with Helm curled warm against his dad's body inside, his angelic little face peeking out of the top.

  They helped Ram into the harness and secured it around him. When he safely reached the Whister, everybody on the ground cheered. The whole family was on board. A little worse for wear, but everybody was alive. B Team had seen harder times.

  Storm looked at his watch. "According to Glen, we've only got about fifteen minutes before these wolves wake up. I'd say we're about to overstay our welcome."

  Storm gave Kay a leg up on the black Charger and then handed him the reins to lead Ram's mare back to the cottage. "See you there."

  Kay smiled. "Hell or high water."

  Storm was feeling lighthearted so he improvised new lyrics for a well known melody and sang. "You take the horses and I'll take the demon and I'll be in Scotia afore ye."

  Kay rode off laughing. Storm watched him go for a few seconds then turned to Litha. Her nose and cheeks were rosy from the cold and her eyes were bright. He thought she'd never looked so delectable.

  "Hello," he said softly as he pulled her into an embrace that suggested intimacy.

  "Hi." She laughed at the unexpected development thinking that Black Swan knights certainly take field operations in stride. She gave him a teasing kiss about the same time they heard a disgruntled growl from a wolf waking up with a sting in the rump where a dart had been. "That's our cue to go." She turned around. "Take hold of these coattails and don't let go."

  In less than a minute they materialized in the Director's office. Simon had been in the process of sitting down at his desk, but the start he got made the normally simple action go awry. He ended up on the floor, unhurt, but in a comical tangle of executive chair legs with wheels.

  "What the...?"

  "Surprise!" Storm and Litha both said it in unison like it was a party and then laughed like it was the best joke ever.

  After dozing on and off throughout the night and dreaming about the love story between Stefan and Helene, Heaven was feeling drowsy and lazy, she pulled the covers up and snuggled in for a snooze. She was thinking about the messages planted in Baka's first vampire romance. He had left a trail of breadcrumbs that took her back to the life they had briefly lived together in a one room mountain cabin where he brought her wildflowers and taught her their names.

  She didn't miss the similarities between names: Helena and Helene, Istvan Baka and Stefan Balkan. Though not an heiress, Helena was an innkeeper's daughter.

  Heaven reconstructed the pattern and realized that Baka had taken their experience and rewritten it as a fantasy, transforming vampirism into a sacrament of love and adoration. She could see that he had tried to redeem the horror and tragedy of what happened to them by recreating the events in a story that was wildly romantic and satisfying on a soul level.

  The phone rang. She turned over and looked at the clock. Ten-thirty. TEN-THIRTY! Great Heavenly Days, what have you done?

  She scrambled out of bed and answered on the way to the bathroom.

  "It's Rue. I went back through the orientation stuff to try and find the reference on summoners. Did you do the same?"

  Heaven stopped in her tracks. "No. I didn't think about it."

  "Well, I found it. And here's the thing. It says the summoner concentrates on what he, or she, wants to call and then plays the flute. That was the piece you were missing. Since you didn't call something in particular, you called everything by default. Oh and it doesn't work on other humans, something about brains wired too similar. I don't know. Anyhow, now you know how to do it, and, when you try it out, don't forget to call me so I can watch."

  "Thank you. That's... really... something. You're very kind to do that."

  "Okay. Welcome. Bye." And she was gone.

  Heaven ran for the shower, her mind going faster than she could keep up. If the vampire virus altered chemistry in just the right way, it might make them susceptible to summoning. If Rue was right about how the thing worked, she'd be able to call them right out of their hole. What she needed now was another opinion. Her father liked to say that two heads are better than one and she wanted to know what Aelsong thought of the idea. Whoever, or whatever it was that said she could use her "gift" to free Istvan Baka could have meant the summoning.

  She gave herself just enough groom time to look presentable; a wash and a brush. That meant clean, mostly unwrinkled clothes, hair brushed and pulled into a pony tail, but makeup was not included in the Anglish version of either presentable or good grooming. She dialed Song's number as she was walking toward the stairs. When she didn't get her, she left an urgent message and followed it up with a text.

  She grabbed a coffee on the way to the Department of Psychic Phenomena and Clairvoyance. She asked the Department secretary where Aelsong Hawking might be found and was told she was in testing. Song had mentioned that her days consisted of being tested, tested, and retested. Every day. Endlessly.

  "I need to see her. It's an emergency."

  The secretary looked Heaven up and down imperiously. "What sort of emergency?"

  Heaven was thinking the woman had missed her calling, that she belonged in the outer office of a school Dean or Principal. "It's personal."

  The woman actually smirked. "A personal emergency," she said with a big dollop of sarcasm.

  Heaven had reached the end of her willingness to play games and she pinned the other woman with a look that said exactly that.

  "I would rather not have to bother Director Tvelgar with such a simple request. But I will if I must."

  The bluff worked. Ms. Self-Righteous looked instantly nervous and unsure of herself. She lifted the phone.

  "We need Aelsong Hawking in the office right away."

  "Thank you."

  Heaven retreated to the hallway to wait. Five minutes later she could see Song emerge from the elevator at the other end of the corridor, so she started walking that way. When they were close enough to speak, Song said, "What...?"

  "Wait! I know a place where we can talk."

  Heaven took Song to the Chronicles section where no one else ever went.

  Aelsong looked around. "What is this place?"

  "Copies of primary source material. I assure you we are alone."

  Heaven explained her theory ending with, "What do you think?"

  "As a person or a psychic?"

  "Either. Both."

  "As a person, it seems logical. As a psychic, give me a minute."

  Song sat down cross legged on the floor and closed her eyes. Three minutes later her big blue eyes popped open and she gave Heaven a big grin. "Jackpot."

  Kay, Ram, and Storm stood in the hallway outside Elora's hospital room at the Headquarters clinic in Edinburgh exchanging information. She'd been given multiple transfusions and was stable. It turned out that her blood type matched a strain of fae blood on hand at the clinic.

  In hushed tones Storm related the last-words of the frostbitten alien. Ram stood with his arms crossed. Though he listened intently to what Storm had to say, he never took his eyes off the door to Elora'
s room. He looked as much puzzled by Storm's recall of the conversation as worried.

  Ram passed on to them the little Elora had felt like sharing so far; that she and Blackie had been visiting the dolmen for some time. The intruders had assumed she was alone, far from help, an easy target. Which she would have been had the wolves not come to her defense at great peril to themselves, resulting in the loss of almost half the pack. Also, not only had they shared their den with Elora and Blackie while she had the baby, they had helped keep her warm through the night. It was almost as strange as one of her fairytales.

  Storm looked up the hall to see a familiar face approaching. Finnemore was coming toward them swaying with his characteristic powerful, loping stride.

  "Hey," he grinned as he held out his hand to Storm.

  Storm grasped his hand and shook, smiling, genuinely glad to see him. "Escape from New York?"

  "Temporarily." He looked from Storm to Ram to Kay. "Passing off a human baton who's been working the Brazil site. I picked him up at Fort Dixon to deliver here. In person. Temp named Cal Magnus. I'm just here overnight."

  Kay said, "Hey. We know that guy. Rode with us on a run from Edinburgh to Jefferson last October. Then he stayed over and had dinner with the four of us."

  Storm and Ram both nodded.

  Finnemore looked toward Elora's door and then at Ram. "I heard. How is she?"

  "No' bad for someone who gave birth alone durin' a night in the freezin' wilderness while bleedin' out from two bullet wounds."

  Fortunately for Finnemore, two nurses emerged from Elora's room, and saved him from the paralysis of not knowing how to respond to that.

  One of the nurses smiled knowingly at the impatient husband. "You can go in now."

  Ram didn't even glance at the other men before leaving them standing in the hall.

  Storm turned to the others. "I could go for coffee."

  "I'll have Baileys in mine," Kay said.

  Heaven and Aelsong burst into Simon's outer office and stood at the glass partition pantomiming an urgent need to talk. He motioned them to the door and they rushed in looking like the sky would fall if they didn't get their news out quickly.

  In a tag team performance, the two young women excitedly relayed every bit of the clandestine operation to uncover Baka's whereabouts up to and including their theory that Heaven could summon vampire, including Baka, out of the Underground to the surface, where qualified personnel would administer the cure upon emergence by shooting them with the new equipment designed for that purpose.

  When they were finally quiet, they were almost panting.

  Simon quietly looked at Heaven and said, "You do know that requesting a reading from psychic personnel for personal reasons is grounds for dismissal."

  He turned to Aelsong. "Likewise, the same applies to those who agree to give a reading to a colleague for personal reasons."

  Both said, "Yes, sir." And then took big breaths as a prelude to launching their defense.

  He held up his hand. "Fortunately for both of you, the rescue of Order personnel does not fall under the heading of personal reasons."

  The women's surprise kept them quiet for all of ten seconds, after which Heaven said, "We just need three things: the cure canisters out of refrigerated lockup in the clinic, the delivery systems - which I have access to - and..." Heaven chewed her bottom lip.

  "Yes?" Simon asked.

  "A few knights from the Hunter Division with vampire experience? To shoot the vamps and be there..." Heaven glanced at Song. "... in case anything goes wrong."

  Heaven and Aelsong both tensed, waiting for the Director to begin a list of all the reasons why that last request was outrageous and impossible. Simon stared at Heaven with an unreadable expression for a couple of beats before his phone rang.

  In a plush seating, conversational area of the lounge, three Black Swan knights had ordered a complete coffee service, including Baileys, to be brought chair side. There was something to be said for civilization. And warmth.

  While they were waiting, Storm turned to Finnemore. "You know, you were on our short list of possible replacements for Lan. If Elora hadn't sort of fallen out of the sky and...." Storm stopped and chuckled softly. "Come to think of it, Elora didn't 'sort of' fall out of the sky. She literally fell from the sky." He glanced at Kay. "Right at our feet. How's that for a sign?"

  Finnemore nodded. "Thank you for telling me I made the short list. As one of her hand to hand trainees, I know who's the better, um, person. Job should have been hers. She deserved it. The only one who didn't think so was Ghost and he's no longer part of any equation. Disappeared around the same time we sealed the subway."

  Kay's phone rang. He smiled seeing that it was Katrina and answered. He talked low into the phone for a minute and then put it back in his pocket. "My wife is going to walk over to the museum and kill the afternoon. I'm thinking naps. My toes are probably never going to be warm again."

  "Second that. The last part, not the museum. Don't worry about warming your toes. In a minute Mr. Bailey is going to have your toes feeling just fine."

  Storm pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Simon. "Excuse me. I need to check in with Simon. Give him an update."

  Simon glanced down at the call name and answered. He listened to Storm's brief report on Elora's condition then said, "Hold on a minute." He looked up at the two young women standing in front of his desk. "A few knights from the Hunter Division with vampire experience?" He smiled. "I think that can be arranged."

  Storm, Kay, and Finnemore sat in Simon’s recently redecorated outer office and listened to the entire story as delivered by Heaven and Song. Occasionally they glanced at each other to silently assess reaction to something said. When the briefing was complete, the knights were quiet for a couple of moments.

  Storm was first to speak. Turning to Kay he asked, "What do you guess he was thinking going in there alone?" Kay just shook his head. "I guess we owe him for... you know." Kay nodded in agreement. "And, it could be..."

  "...fun," said Finnemore who was grinning about the prospect of making vampire history right up until the moment he realized he wasn't necessarily included in the mission. He turned to Simon. "I'd like to request a delayed return to Jefferson Unit so that I could assist. I believe I'm needed more here."

  "I have to clear it with your Sovereign."

  Finnemore grimaced. "Yeah. Hope he's in a good mood. Or, since no one's ever seen him in a good mood, maybe I should say, I hope he's in a mood less bad than usual.

  "Let's find out." Simon dialed Sol and caught him at breakfast. While he was clearing a postponement in Finnemore's return, Storm and Kay started planning strategy. While the phone was still ringing, Finnemore added, "On the off chance you should catch him in a less bad humor, could you get me an additional day so I can swing down to Saltburn and see my mother?"

  Storm knocked on Elora's door lightly before opening it. She was sleeping soundly while Ram sat next to the bed staring at Helm, who was sleeping just as soundly in the crook of his dad's elbow. Ram looked up and put a finger to his lips.

  "Hey," Storm whispered. "Wanna have some fun?"

  "'Tis what I thought I was doin'," Ram whispered back.

  "Yeah. Well. Old school fun."

  Ram regarded his teammate with a little more interest.

  The principals to be involved in the mission were gathered in Simon's outer office. The Director had, in fact, persuaded Sovereign Sol to let him keep Finnemore on loan to finish the project at hand. Rammel had joined the group which then made four Black Swan knights with vampire hunting experience; a team made to order by coincidence or synchronicity. Heaven was the lynch pin since success depended on her highly unusual musical ability. They had no reason to believe that the plan would work except for Aelsong's precognition. She had basically vouched by vision and Simon had enough respect for her talent to decide that was enough justification to proceed. As to the planning meeting, Song's part in the mission was over, but, since
she had been instrumental in uncovering both the whereabouts of Istvan Baka and the means by which to free him, the option to attend was extended as a courtesy.

  Glen was present in the function of trainee. They didn't yet know whether he would be apprenticing as knight or something else, but the experience would be good for him in any case.

  Last, since the operation required cooperation with the city, specifically blocking a large section of The Royal Mile, Prince Duff Torquil had been invited to the meeting to be briefed and consulted. Everyone agreed that it would be ideal to cause as little disruption and be as inconspicuous as possible.

  That line of thinking led to the logical conclusion that the best time would be right before dawn. The vampire would have returned to the Underground and tourism would be just waking up. Fortunately for all involved, October was the beginning of "quiet season" for tourism in Scotia and midweek was even quieter. However few they might be, there would be tourists out for breakfast at eight, just after sunrise, hoping to be first to see the castle when it opened at nine.

  There was no way to tag the vamps and avoid tourists and those who serve them altogether. They decided that the best they could do was make it quick and simple as possible. Duff said he would close off both ends of Warristons Close, the side street between Craigs Close and High Street, the site of the main entrance to the underground city and advise the Mary King's Close tour operator that they should plan to cancel tours of the underground before noon.

  This seemed to be the best solution possible. There were unknowns of course. What kind of an assignment would it be without unknowns? But there was one particularly tricky factor and that was the need for surprise. They couldn't converge on the area with martial law and barricades before the vampire had retired for the day or the entire exercise would be pointless. So that meant they would need to wait until it was getting light and set up fast.