Ibenus (Valducan series)

by Seth Skorkowsky

  Tommy cocked his head. A police siren wailed in the distance, faint, but growing louder– that silly wee-ooo-wee-ooo noise heard in every movie set in Paris. Knots of paranoia latticed up his spine. Touching the kris knife in his lap, he glanced to the second monitor beside him. Three parallel feeds played across the flat screen. The first was a fisheye view outside his apartment door, the camera mounted behind the peephole with silver duct tape. The other two looked out over the street from behind his curtained windows, the cameras tucked in the corners so no one might see them. A little police car raced through one feed, its blue lights pulsing. Then it passed through the other, and continued on down the street, sirens dopplering as it hurried away.

  Scolding his paranoia, Tommy shook his head and returned his attention to his computer. He opened Cryptozoo.

  The message icon blazed red. There, he found six messages from Victoria, all sent in the last two hours. Speak of the devil. They all read, 'Emergency. Call Me.'

  Fear mingled with excitement. He opened the first one, seeing a phone number. The line beneath it read, 'It's done.'

  #

  Navigating between pedestrians, Victoria followed the sidewalk, her primed senses overloaded with all the movement around her. Her eyes darted to each new stimulus, instantly gauging if it posed a threat. Retuning topside was going to take some getting used to. The wheels on her long rolling bag clicked across the square paving stones behind her. A jackhammer clattered in the distance, drowning out the steady drone of traffic.

  Resisting the urge to glance over her shoulder, she stepped into a shallow alcove and stopped before a blue-painted door. She pressed the button for '302' on the tarnished brass pad and waited.

  The phone buzzed in her pocket. She fished it out and read the text.

  'You here?'

  'I'm here,' she replied. Who else would it be?

  Ten seconds passed before a high-pitched beep sounded. She opened the door and stepped inside. Passing a pair of apartments, Victoria stopped at the base of a narrow staircase. No lift. She eyed the steep wooden steps and drew a breath. Don't bother offering to help. She heaved the bag onto her shoulder, the weight threatening to pull her over, and started up. Its contents rattled mutedly with each step.

  She blew a hard sigh once she reached the fourth floor, finally able to set the bag down to use the wheels. 302's door opened as she reached it. TommyD's head emerged, shy and turtle-like as he looked around. His short blond hair was parted neatly. She'd always assumed him bald with his penchant for hats.

  His shit-brown eyes paused on the black bag, then moved up her body appraisingly, before meeting hers. "Come in."

  He stepped back, opening the door wider and Victoria rolled the bag inside. The narrow flat ran the depth of the building—a single room, partitioned off with a book case. Ancient, beige masonry made up the outer wall, the rest were eggshell white. It was so clean it might have been a showroom, except for the mounds of electronics, dirty dishes, and empty cans piled across the desk, an island of chaos amidst the order. Pedestrians and street traffic moved across one of the two desk monitors, as well as the hallway behind her. Victoria noticed the camera on the back of the door. The second monitor appeared to be Cryptozoo. Perfect.

  Reporters silently blathered on a muted television, the report cutting to earlier footage of a van engulfed in flames. The grisly details scrolled along the bottom and while she couldn't read them, she knew what they said: five victims burned beyond recognition and an arsenal of guns inside.

  "I'm very happy to finally meet you," TommyD said, offering a hand.

  Hiding her disdain behind a smile, Victoria accepted it. His hands were softer than his macho-persona had led her to imagine. Bandages crisscrossed TommyD's other hand, the jutting fingers pink and puffy. "What happened?"

  "Oh." He slid his good hand above the injured one, shielding it from her view. "One of those little baby things got me. It's mostly healed now."

  She nodded. "Good to hear." Chaya's leg and arm had swollen, too. But after Doctor Laroux pumped her full of steroids, Benadryl, and God knows what else, she'd made full recovery in three days.

  "Can I get you anything?" TommyD asked, his voice higher, obviously eager to change the subject.

  "Where can I put this?"

  Tommy looked around and motioned in the direction of the bookcase. "The bed."

  She rolled the clunking bag past the television and case to find a large bed, rumpled, but made, like a child's feeble and rushed attempt to appease a scolding mother.

  "Is anyone else here?" Victoria asked, eyeing the mound of dirty laundry piled in the corner.

  "Just me."

  "We'll need to get out of the city as soon as possible." She heaved the bag onto the bed. "They'll be looking for me."

  "That's not a problem." He chewed his lip, gaze moving hungrily across the bag. "Did you get everything?"

  "I gathered everything I could fit." She pulled the zipper and opened it to reveal a thick roll of gray sheets. A pair sword handles protruded from one end.

  Tommy helped withdraw the heavy bundle and lay it out on the bed. Ignoring the modest collection of guns still in the bag, he flipped the fabric aside and let a long, low breath. Four swords, a curved knife, and a black mace rested inside, all clean and of perfect quality. "Very nice."

  "These and the keris you got makes seven. We could arm two squads with that."

  He ran his fingers along a sword hilt, following the engraved lines. "This is outstanding. What about the axe?"

  "What axe?"

  "The one the black man was carrying."

  She shook her head. "Luc carried a mace. There wasn't any axe."

  He lifted his gaze to meet her, eyes narrow with suspicion. "I saw an axe." His voice carried a dangerous edge. "I have footage of it."

  Victoria held out her hands. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

  "So there was no other black hunter with you?"

  "None."

  "Then why did I see him? I saw them!"

  "I…I don't know. Maybe it was someone else. Maybe the Valducans sent a second team. They didn't trust me, not after…what happened." Her heart pounded. What the hell was going on?

  The accusatory suspicion seemed to cool, but lingered.

  "So I'd love to see that footage," Victoria continued. "If there are more knights in Paris we need to know. After I killed them, burned them up, they're going to come after me. We need to get out of here."

  "It's all right," he said, the anger seemingly gone. "I'll take care of you. Don't worry."

  "All right." She rubbed the back of her neck, scratching a paranoid itch. Christ, this man's madness was infectious. What the hell was he raving about? She needed to keep control of this before it got bad. "Whatever you say."

  His attention was already back to the weapons. "I recognize you." He lifted Ibenus off the bed. "How does it work? That Allan guy was teleporting or something with it."

  "It's tricky." She fought to keep her voice even. How dare this bastard touch Ibenus. Victoria held her breath. Stay focused. She cleared her throat. "Do you have Umatri here?"

  "Yeah." He moved the khopesh around slow, parrying invisible blows. "I can't get it to work."

  "Bring it out and I'll show you." This was it.

  Tommy bounced Ibenus a few times, then looked up as if he'd just heard her. "Sure." He set Ibenus back down, handle toward him, beside a beautiful museum-grade reproduction of an Italian broad sword. Reaching behind his back, he drew Umatri from beneath his shirt.

  "All right," Victoria stretched across the bed for Ibenus. "Let me show you." A comforting calm flowed up her arm as her fingers encircled the wooden grip.

  There must have been something in her expression as she smiled at him, something that tipped him off. Instantly his mood flipped. Eyes wide, he lunged, stabbing the keris at her.

  She rolled across the weapons as the wavy blade buried thro
ugh the sheets. The flanged mace head jabbed painfully into her ribs. Growling, Tommy ripped Umatri free and slashed at her still extended arm.

  Victoria swung and blinked away before it could hit. She appeared upright, lunged, hacked downward, and blinked behind him. He whirled around just as Ibenus buried into his skull. Umatri clattered to the floor as TommyD crumpled, legs twitching.

  Victoria pulled Ibenus from his head, unleashing a stream of blood across the wooden floor. His shit eyes stared in frozen disbelief. She glared at him. "That's for Allan and Gerhard, you son of a bitch."

  A dark stain spread across his crotch. Stepping over the piss and blood, Victoria picked the fallen keris off the floor. "I'm sorry, Umatri." She set it down on the bed and rolled the dead man over, removing his wallet and Umatri's wooden sheath tucked in his belt. The blood was spreading faster than she expected. There was a lot to do and not much time. She unzipped a side pocket and removed a pair of gloves from a plastic bag and pulled them on.

  Grabbing shirts from the mound of laundry Victoria wiped up most of the blood, making a little pillow for him to catch the rest and elevate his head. She hurried over to the filthy desk and opened Cryptozoo. He was still logged in. Thank God. She searched the member list for Samantha's newest alias, MoonHuntress, and clicked the box, granting full admin rights.

  Cryptozoo was theirs.

  She removed a memory stick from her pocket and plugged it into the computer. She searched, grabbing files and dropping them in as fast as she could. As they loaded, Victoria removed her phone and called a number.

  As it rang, Victoria watched the surveillance monitor.

  On the street below, a black-haired woman with a stroller answered her phone. "Yes?"

  "It's done. I have Umatri and the files."

  "Any problems?" Luiza asked.

  Victoria glanced over at the body, noticing a splatter of blood on one of the white walls. Shit. "Nothing serious. Come up. I'll buzz you in."

  #

  Victoria pulled TommyD's legs over the edge of the tub with a grunt. A slow trickle of blood ran from his head toward the drain. She'd managed to drag the body across the flat with minimal mess, though there would need to be some serious scrubbing. Not long ago, the thought of moving corpses and cleaning blood would have horrified her, but she was becoming strangely used to it. Helping haul five bodies of former mantismeres up and out of the catacombs to incinerate in a van had broken her of any squeamishness. But the ruse had worked, and now she had one more corpse to show for it.

  A knock came from the door.

  Victoria hurried from the bathroom, stepping over a red smear. The surveillance screen showed Luiza and Matt standing outside. Since Tommy had never seen them before, the two hunters had been selected to serve as backup and keep an eye on her. Luiza had told Matt to go on home to their daughter and Allan, but Matt refused, saying he had no intention of leaving his wife alone with Victoria and that was that.

  "Come in," Victoria said, cracking the door.

  Luiza squeezed in first, empty stroller before her. "Looks to have been exciting." she said, noting the blood.

  Matt came in next, eyes wary. "Where is he?"

  "Bathroom." Victoria locked the door and offered him Umatri. "I figure we can move him out of here after dark and get rid of him. Clean this up, make it look like he left."

  "Move him?" Matt's brow rose. "Why not leave him here?"

  She motioned to the computer. "Because we own him now. His entire network, videos, contacts, files, everything."

  "Okay? So let's pack `em up and get out."

  Victoria shook her head. "You don't understand. We can't let anyone find him."

  He nodded, realization dawning. "You want to impersonate him?"

  "Exactly."

  Luiza approached the mess of computers and food wrappers. "Why didn't you say this before?"

  "Master Turgen wouldn't agree to it. He doesn't want to use the public. He'd prefer to hide like we always have. If we own Cryptozoo we have access to nearly every tip that comes out. We have a thousand believers that we can use, not tell them everything, mind you, but just enough to save lives. We can direct and misdirect as we see fit. I wanted it to be a done thing before I offered it."

  "You're right." Matt shook his head. "He won't agree to it."

  "He's not the only Master," Victoria said. "Allan thinks it's a brilliant idea."

  Matt shared a look with his wife.

  Luiza shrugged. "She has a point."

  "I've already made Sam an admin," Victoria said. "We'll start slow. Remove everything we don't want out there, Luc's name, for one. Then gradually start making changes as we like."

  "What about his videos?" Matt asked. "No new videos and they'll notice he's gone."

  "We'll figure it out. Some might suspect, but as long as there's no body no one can prove otherwise. We'll make our own videos under the Monster Seekers channel and people will get used to it."

  "I like it," Luiza said. "I really like it. A direct tip line."

  Matt nodded. "I do, too." He looked at the keris. "You did well. I'm… I was wrong about you." He offered his hand. "I'm sorry."

  "I am, too," she said, accepting it. A weight seemed to lift from her shoulders, so old and familiar she hadn't realized how heavy the burden had become. She drew a breath, fighting tears. "Thank you."

  "Just keep one thing in mind," Matt added. "If you break Allan's heart…"

  The tears welled, threatening to run down her cheek. Allan, she couldn't wait to see him again. Victoria wiped her eyes. She hugged him. "You have nothing to worry about."

  Matt squeezed her close, patting her back. "Then welcome to the family."

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Victoria let out a grunt as she pulled the hard riding boot past her heel. They were definitely a lot more fun to take off than to put on. She stood and turned before the giant mirrored door in her bedroom, adjusting the band collar of the navy blue Nehru jacket.

  "Ready?" Luiza asked.

  Victoria eyed the gleaming breastplate in the knight's hands. Engraved parallel lines ran from either side, meeting at a V-point at the middle. Luiza's own armor was the same, although the metalwork along the collar was accented with copper and brass, signifying her higher rank. A small pendant hung prominently at the Brazilian's chest, a polished shard of jagged metal framed in twisting gold.

  "Ready," Victoria said.

  Luiza carefully lowered the clamshell plates over Victoria's head, then began adjusting the straps along the shoulders.

  "I still say you should have gotten one with boobs," Sam said from beside the bed.

  "It's meant to be practical." Luiza tightened the straps and the armor pressed Victoria's breasts toward the middle. While the higher hips were definitely femininely formed, there was nothing sexual about the armor's shape.

  Sam snorted. "What's practical about steel armor? It's meant to look good so give it some tits, maybe even strapless."

  Refusing to rise to the bait, Luiza rolled her eyes. She cinched the buckles along one side, forcing Victoria's posture even straighter. "How's that?"

  "It's good," Victoria said, twisting a little.

  "You get used to it quickly but you want to have it snug. Otherwise it starts rubbing."

  "No it's fine." She turned to Sam. "What do you think?"

  Sam looked down at Gabi, sitting in the plastic walker Schmidt had bought her. "Uh-huh. I concur." She nodded. "You look like a badass."

  "Perfect."

  Luiza glanced back at the bedside clock. "Go ahead and put Ibenus on. It's almost time."

  Removing a sapphire blue sash from the back of a chair, Victoria wrapped it around her armored waist and strapped it down with a belt in the fashion Allan had shown her. Once secure, she removed Ibenus from his stand and slid him into the tooled leather scabbard.

  That done, Luiza draped a matching blue cape over Victoria's back, affixing it to the
door knocker rings at the shoulders. Victoria checked the mirror again and gave an approving nod. Badass was an appropriate term. She turned, smiling as the cape whirled with the motion.

  "You look great." Luiza affixed her own cape and knelt before Gabi. "Mommy will be back in a bit." She kissed the toddler on the head. "Be good."

  "Oh we'll have fun," Sam said. "Maybe play with Tsel while Chaya's busy." The Malinois pup had caused quite a stir since Chaya had bought it. It had only taken two days to win Orlovski over.

  Sam gave Victoria a hug. "You look great."

  "Thanks."

  "I expect you upstairs once this is done. Just because you're a knight doesn't mean we don't hang out any more."

  Victoria grinned. "I'll be there."

  "I'll have funtas ready."

  "I can't wait."

  Luiza opened the bedroom door. "Ready?"

  "Ready."

  They left the room and headed down the empty halls, side by side, capes billowing. The only eyes watching the display were those of the painted dead, staring down from their portraits. Despite the regal appearance, a familiar and almost forgotten fear seemed to roll over inside Victoria's mind. Was she sure about what she was doing?

  Yes, she assured herself, banishing the silly thought. Ibenus chose me for this.

  They turned down another hall. A pair of tall candle holders framed an arched door. Orlovski stood outside it, wearing his own armor and cape with Amballwa at his waist. Victoria couldn't tell exactly what it was, but the perfect crispness to his uniform was unbelievable, like he was born for it. Seeing their approach, the Russian nodded, stepped inside, and closed the door behind him.

  They stopped before the door, Luiza to her left. Like all the others in the mansion, the handle was encrusted with various gems and metal studs. But unlike those, the door itself wasn't modern. The dark iron-shod wood looked to have come from some ancient church or fortress, something meant to stop invaders. Rounded scars and impact dents alluded that it might have once served that very function.

  Victoria swallowed. Despite her resolve, a nervous tingle played along the inside of her ribs. Before any doubts could surface the door opened, swinging wide.