The Last Coven (The Tome of Bill Book 8)

by Rick Gualtieri

  “You there, Grulg?” I asked, my voice perhaps lower than intended, but with good reason. Should anything unfriendly answer, I was in no condition to fight back.

  After a minute or two of feeling like I was ringing the doorbell to an empty house, I was about to turn around when the shadows a couple of yards in seemed to solidify, taking on a far more solid form. Even though I recognized Grulg, the sight still caused me to catch my breath for a moment. After my dealings with these guys, I’d probably never be able to view Harry and the Hendersons as anything other than a horror movie.

  I forced a casual tone to my voice. “Just hanging out?”

  “No,” he replied. “Needed to tell others.”

  “What?” Oh shit.

  He held up one of his massive hands in a placating manner. “Told others Grulg still hunting T’lunta. That Grulg must hunt alone, otherwise Grulg’s honor be disgraced.” He actually winked at me. Either that or a flea had bitten him in the wrong place. Regardless, I was happy to hear it.

  I turned and took another sniff, this time back the way I’d come, making sure I hadn’t been followed. “I think it’s time I came clean with you.”

  “Clean? T’lunta always smell funny. Wish to smell better?”

  I backed up a step before I could be pelted with anything foul. “No. Just a figure of speech. It means it’s time I told you why we were looking for you. Before I start, though, I want to ask one favor of you.”

  “What?”

  I considered their new alliance with the Magi. “If you don’t like what you hear, at least give me a sporting head start.”

  * * *

  I reminded Grulg of our time spent underground as prisoners of the Jahabich. From the snarl on his face, I gathered he wasn’t overly fond of the memory. Then I dropped the bomb that their creator was Calibra, aka Kala the White, aka Ib the first vampire.

  As I got into the nitty gritty, his face became unreadable. I could understand. It was like learning your best friend and your worst enemy both had the same dad.

  “T’lunta and Magi same?” he asked. “Neutral was trick?”

  “No. So far as I’m aware, the connection isn’t widely known and I’m not sure the people in power would want it to get out anyway. So far as the Magi are concerned, Kala the White is the ultimate hippie chick of goodness and us vamps are still sewer scum. I sincerely doubt she outed herself as vampire numero uno to them. The thing is, not only is she the progenitor of both races, but she’s the creator of the Jahabich as well.”

  I went on to explain how Sally and I had collapsed our escape tunnel behind us, sealing it. “That’s why we need you, Grulg. You escaped, too. We were hoping you could show us the way back.”

  “To kill In’luh ... Jahabich?” Our word for them was a big one for his kind, and it came out sounding like he was gargling gravel.

  “More than that,” I explained. “To kill Ib. She’s too powerful and evil to let live. She kidnapped some friends of mine. Also...” I took a moment to debate whether I wanted to place all my cards on the table, but then concluded we were simply too far along to do otherwise. I needed to let the dice roll and accept the outcome. “We’re going to kill the leader of the First Coven, too, so we can end this war once and for all.”

  Unsurprisingly, that garnered me a raised eyebrow and a snot-filled snort, which I just barely sidestepped. “War already over. Peace now.”

  “Yeah, about that...”

  * * *

  I laid everything out to him, including how our peace mission was neither sanctioned, recognized, or even known by the Draculas.

  This was extremely risky. Far as I could tell, Grulg was the equivalent of a battlefield commander. He didn’t quite rank up there with the Turds or Big C’s of the world, but he had a goodly amount of pull. If he decided I could take my story and shove it up my ass, we could be looking at a second offensive. Between the Feet and the Magi, there was virtually no chance of stopping them from leveling the entire city if that happened.

  It was a good thing breathing was no longer a vital function for me, because I held my breath as Grulg pondered my confession.

  “Tell Grulg if he understand right. Freewill T’lunta make false peace to find Grulg, so Grulg lead to enemies, so enemies can be crushed, so real peace can be made?”

  “In a nutshell, more or less.”

  He raised a hand and I flinched, but he simply placed it upon my shoulder. “Clever T’lunta.”

  “You’re not mad?”

  “Lies happen in war. Who to blame? Enemies or those who fall for lies?” He shrugged as if to say shit happens. “Lies to cause harm to Grulg’s kin bring much rage. Lies to bring peace, Grulg understand. Many die in war. Maybe they not need to.”

  Wow, that was actually pretty deep for a creature that liked to bathe in its own shit. “Yes, Grulg. That’s my hope, too. Just remember, the other vamps still think we’re at war. We have to keep up the ruse for a short while.”

  “Grulg deceive T’lunta leaders? Grulg like that. Much honor to Grulg.”

  I had to stifle a laugh. I could only imagine, in the near future, Grulg sitting around a fire with the other Feet passing around a cup of ... err ... grubs, I guess, and bullshitting about how he’d managed to punk the Dracs. Not a bad picture, if I did say so myself. I could get behind something like that.

  “Awesome to hear.” I turned and glanced up at the sky. It was starting to grow light in the east. Time to head back. I didn’t relish the thought of being cooped up for the day with Colin, but thankfully I had friends to mock him with. “Oh, yeah, almost forgot,” I said, looking over my shoulder at him. “I also told them you were a defector, so you’ll have to play ... URK!”

  Grulg grabbed me from behind, basically engulfing my head in his gigantic hand. “You tell T’lunta that Grulg traitor?”

  Uh oh. When he put it that way...

  “It was ... ugh!” I choked as one of his fingers slipped into my open mouth. That was really not something I had wanted to taste ever.

  He gave my head a shake. “Grulg not traitor! Grulg honorable warrior!”

  “It’s ... just ... a...”

  “You will put him down now.”

  The voice startled both of us. I couldn’t see very well between Grulg’s massive fingers, but I didn’t need a line of sight to know who’d said it.

  “Don’t be hasty,” a second voice, equally familiar, purred. “I kind of want to see where this is going,”

  Gan had found us, and she had Sally with her.

  DEFECTIVE DEFECTION

  Grulg began circling, dragging me along by the face. Judging by the sound of foliage snapping, I assumed Gan and Sally were doing the same. Or, at least Gan was.

  Okay, this was getting fucking ridiculous. Any second now, these two were going to go at it with me smack dab in the middle. I didn’t fancy being used as either a club, shield, or tug of war rope. I dared to open my mouth again, praying my taste buds forgave me. This time when Grulg’s finger slipped in, I bit down, just hard enough to get his attention.

  He growled and released me, finally getting the hint that this gnat could sting. I quickly stepped back out of his reach and spat out whatever was in my mouth. Guh! It was almost enough for me to consider going vegan when this was all over.

  For now, though, I stepped between the two wannabe combatants, hoping I didn’t get pummeled for my trouble. “That’s enough!”

  “This creature dared to attack you, my...”

  “Don’t say it, Gan.” I glanced over and saw Sally leaning against a tree, a look of amusement on her face. “Control her, please.”

  “You’re not the boss of me,” she replied with a grin.

  Assholes, all of them. I quickly turned my attention back to Grulg. “It’s another deception. We know it’s not true. Remember what you said, a lie to bring peace was worth it.”

  “Lie destroy Grulg’s honor.”

  I could kinda see his point. I personally didn’t care if the Dra
cs thought I was a piece of shit. Hell, most of them did anyway. But Grulg wasn’t me. This was a guy who was proud to be part of the system. Heck, he was like a more tolerable version of Colin, just for the other side. What I was asking him to do was for the benefit of his people, but at what cost? If word got out, Grulg could, in all likelihood, never go home again.

  Goddamn it. I hadn’t thought of that. In truth, I didn’t know shit about him. For all I knew he had a wife and kids, or cubs anyway. Turd may have been a pile of crap, but that didn’t mean the rest of the Feet didn’t understand the concept of friends, family, and love.

  “I’m sorry, Grulg. I spoke without thinking how it might affect you. It was selfish of me.”

  “Aw. This moment so needs to be on Maury.”

  “Not now,” I growled at Sally.

  Fortunately, my words seemed to have reached the big gorilla. He still kept an eye on Gan, but some of the tension went out of his massive arms. I took a risk and locked eyes with her, then gave a single nod and she immediately relaxed, looking again more like a preteen girl and less a one-woman wrecking crew.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I would think that would be obvious, beloved.” She smiled sweetly at me, obviously pleased that I’d asked.

  “I meant from earlier, with the witches.”

  “I am in far better condition than many of them,” she replied smugly.

  “What about...?”

  “Taken prisoner. After you were removed from the field of battle, your friend the witch mentor saw the futility of our situation. Even with my skill, the odds were too against our favor. She offered a compromise, her surrender in exchange for her coven not being harmed.”

  “Her coven and you, you mean?”

  She shrugged. “Her omission did not go unnoticed.” Yeah, she and Christy would never be on each other’s Christmas card lists. “I made good use of the momentary cessation of hostilities and escaped.”

  “With a souvenir,” Sally added. She inclined her head toward the sheathed sword lying at her feet.

  “Awesome! I know a certain Icon who’s going to be pleased as punch to see that.”

  “You should have expected no less,” Gan replied. “I wish the Shining One to be at full capacity when you finally dispatch her. It will make your victory all the sweeter.”

  “Uh, yeah, sweeter. Maybe not quite the word I’d use. So, why didn’t you catch up to us sooner? I’m sure you could have...” I was so going to regret saying this. “I’m sure you could have followed my scent.”

  “Indeed I could, for an eternity if need be.”

  Yep, I regretted it. Creep factor ratcheted up to eleven.

  “The Magi were persistent, though, as were a handful of the Alma.” She turned toward Grulg. “Some of your soldiers recognized me despite my scent.”

  He raised an eyebrow. Great, just what we needed – a reveal that Gan had a whole collection of squatch skulls.

  “Never mind that,” I quickly replied. “So what happened?”

  “They were diligent in their pursuit. More than once, they thought me boxed in.”

  “So what happened?”

  “What do you think happened?” Sally asked with an eye-roll. “You remember her first visit to the Office, right?”

  Yeah. It hadn’t been pretty. She’d basically put the fear of God into the entirety of Village Coven.

  “Once they were dissuaded,” Gan continued, “I followed your trail here. Rather than announce myself to the Wanderer’s former assistant, though, I chose to circle around, scout the surrounding area. That is when I came upon your whore.”

  “What?” Sally spat. “Did we not just talk about that?”

  “I believe you were doing a great deal of the talking,” Gan replied. “It was quite tiresome to listen to. That you mistook my disinterest for compliance, however, is a failing on your part, not mine.”

  I could see Sally eyeing the sword, pondering her odds. Such a happy little family our group was.

  Looking to diffuse the situation, I turned back to Grulg and changed the subject. “You’ve been awfully quiet during all of this.”

  “T’lunta like to chatter,” he replied. “T’lunta mate and cub chatter much.”

  “She is not our cub,” Gan replied without any sense of irony whatsoever.

  “He didn’t mean ... never mind.” I massaged my temples, willing the stupidity headache away. “You and ... our cub just pipe down for now, please.”

  I resumed my conversation with Grulg before Sally could voice her opinion on that. “I know it’s a lot to ask of your honor, but will you help us?”

  He crossed his massive arms over his barrel of a chest. “No.”

  * * *

  What?! Shit like this wasn’t supposed to happen. I mean, hell, in the movies, you fuck up, say you’re sorry, and then go and defeat the bad guys. It’s practically a mandatory trope.

  “Grulg not defector. Not act like defector. Grulg honorable, loyal. All Grulg’s people know this.”

  I meant to reply with a quick primer on the concept of acting, gleaned from my single semester with the NJIT drama club, but before I could do so, Grulg raised his head to the sky and let loose with an ear-splitting roar.

  Shit! I really hoped it wouldn’t come down to this. I didn’t exactly like Grulg, but I definitely despised him less than his filthy brethren. Also, if we had to kill him now, we’d be thoroughly fucked. He hadn’t told us what we needed and without Christy around, there was no chance of a Speak With Dead spell.

  As I tensed myself for what was to come, Grulg opened his hand and slapped a nearby tree three times, shaking it to its roots and producing a hollow booming noise certain to echo for miles.

  Once I could hear myself think again, he bent down toward me and bared his teeth in a snarl.

  A few moments later, I realized I had no choice in the matter.

  * * *

  As we struggled with Grulg’s unconscious form, I realized the irony of our situation – two vamps, both vulnerable to sunlight, racing against the clock to drag our foe back to where Colin’s men awaited. All the while, the one among us who could sunbathe with impunity hid back in the trees. Yeah, this made a lot of fucking sense.

  Heavy as he was, though, at least I could handle the load now. Following the brief scuffle, Gan had noted my piss poor condition. She had wasted no time in slitting a wrist and shoving it into my face. Even had I been at full strength, I’d have been hard pressed to fight her off, at least until I got a couple of sips. Not only did her blood pep me up, but it had an added bonus. In addition to sunlight, she’d apparently also picked up a resistance to silver as part of her transformation. Unlike the sunlight thing, which sadly didn’t seem to survive the transfer of blood, I seemed to have gotten a little bit of that silver immunity, evidenced by my wounds finally knitting themselves shut. By the time we approached the building Colin was using as a temporary base, I was feeling like myself again.

  I glanced down at the bruised form we were carrying, noting that I’d come out of this latest scuffle in much better shape for a change. Grulg had gotten a pounding, but it had been necessary.

  We needed to know what he did and he was going to tell us – one way or the other.

  WOOD VERSUS WOOD

  Tom and Sheila met us upon our return, helping us get to the shelter the buildings provided. I could tell they had questions, but thankfully, they held their tongues until we were out of the sun. That was good of them. I so hated being interrogated while on fire.

  “Damn, Bill. You kicked his ass,” Tom said as we laid the unconscious ape on the floor.

  “Something like that,” I replied.

  Sadly, Colin was also waiting for us. At some point, he must’ve sent some hapless lackey to salvage his wardrobe because he was once again dressed like he was ready for a corporate power lunch.

  He approached the battered Sasquatch and gave it a contemptuous kick before pulling out a handkerchief and wiping off his shoe. Se
eing no reaction from us at his petty assholishness, he grinned, showing off straight white teeth that I really wanted to kick in. “I thought you said this creature had defected.”

  “He changed his mind,” Sally replied. “Must’ve been the company.”

  “True class is lost upon lesser beings,” Colin sniped back before turning to me. “May I inquire as to why it is still living? It has seen our...”

  “Awesome defenses?” Sally interrupted. “Yeah, bet he couldn’t wait to get back to his buddies to see if they could round up three cubs to take this place.”

  “He has information we need to know,” I explained. “Things Alex needs to know.”

  That caught his attention and he immediately lost all interest in trading barbs with Sally. “You presume to know the mind of Lord Alexander, Freewill? That is arrogant even by your standards.”

  “I only presume because I haven’t heard of Calibra’s head being given a place of honor in his closet yet.”

  Colin’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t too keen on me speaking so flippantly about the guy whose boots he shined with his tongue. It probably killed him inside to know that I’d had more interactions with the Dracs in the last six months than most vamps did in half a millennium. “The First Coven are not in the habit of lauding their victories to children.”

  “And yet this child has an actual truce in place with him, one that calls for the free exchange of information.” I didn’t like this fucker at all, but I really enjoyed knocking him down a peg or three. I casually strolled up and put an arm around his shoulders. “Like it or not, buddy, you’re in the presence of not one, but two beings who are prophesied to be the key players in this conflict. We may not be as old as some of the players on the field, but we’re badass enough to hang with the cool kids.”