“Stay back,” I said to Ed.
“How’s that gonna help?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t know you’re here.”
“Great plan, Mussolini.”
“Sue me. I’m making it up as I go.”
I walked past the small legion of oddly calm warriors. I hadn’t seen anyone so mellow since the last time Tom and I had passed a couple of blunts around. Hell, even Sally was just sitting on the ground, looking like she was at a picnic.
“Snap out of it!” Christy’s voice, and the yellow flash that accompanied it, caught my attention.
I glanced over to find her hands around Tom’s head. He was reaching up to pull her off. “Okay, okay. You don’t have to set my fucking hair on fire.”
She glanced my way, and I tried my best to mouth to her, “If this goes bad, get out of here.”
“What was that?” Tom asked, but Christy merely nodded in my direction. Thank goodness I had one member on my team with her wits about her. I only had to hope she had enough left in her to take Sally and Ed too.
Vehron continued to stand where he was, patiently waiting for me. He could have covered the distance between us and probably snapped everyone’s neck in the process before I could so much as spit. Thus, I found his current level of inaction to be far creepier.
I walked to the edge of the trees and faced him. A grin broke out on his dumb fucking face as I did.
Oh well, time to break out the compulsions if this was going to be any sort of meaningful conversation. “WHAT DO YOU WANT?!”
Probably not the best opening line of all time, but he’d caught me by surprise.
Speaking of which, I was caught even more off guard when he replied, “There is no need for that, brother.” His voice was heavily accented, but he was understandable.
“You speak English?”
“This is a new world for me. It would be unwise to not learn its ways. Do you not agree?”
“Well, um, yeah.”
“I have no wish for us to be enemies, brother,” he said, taking a casual step in my direction.
I tensed in order to bolt the opposite way, but then I remembered this guy could have caught me without breaking a sweat. I forced myself to remain where I was, even leaning against a tree as if we were doing little more than discussing who was the keynote at Comic Con this year. “Oh? So I guess I just imagined you turning one of my friends, killing another, chasing me halfway across Manhattan, enslaving my coven, oh, and let’s not forget when you decided one of my other friends was a filthy abomination who needed to be erased from existence.”
Okay, perhaps that was a bit overkill for someone I was trying not to provoke.
If he took offense, he didn’t show it. He simply lifted his arms as if to say “What are you gonna do? Shit happens.” I noticed blisters beginning to form on his flesh, his arms taking on a badly sunburned look. “Put yourself in my place, brother,” he said. “Imprisoned for centuries, having no body but being unable to die. Then to be freed, yet driven mad by thirst. When at last I came to my senses, I was alone in a place I knew not. I merely did what comes natural – waged war against any who attacked me.”
Maybe he did have a point. There was definitely a chance that, if our positions had been reversed, I might have also acted out a bit. I can’t say for certain that a thousand years spent on Alex’s bookshelf wouldn’t drive me batshit crazy too. Still, this guy’s reputation preceded him.
“So, you’re ready to talk sense, then?” I asked. “Okay, let’s start by you surrendering the Boston complex and letting everyone go.”
“It is not that simple, brother.”
Ugh, that was gonna get old real quick. Not quite as bad as Gan calling me “beloved,” but definitely annoying.
“My people are dead, hunted to extinction by your so-called First Coven. Do you think the Macedonian would show mercy to me? Would he allow me to live in peace and sing the praises of the true First?”
“Ib?”
“Many names have been claimed by our progenitor. That is but one of them.”
“Seems to be a lot of that going on.”
“The Macedonian fears our ways. He always has. Sadly, we were fools. None of us suspected his ambitions. By the time we did, it was too late.”
“You talking about your fellow cultists?”
“I speak of them, yes, but I also speak of us, brother, our kind.”
“Freewills.”
“Yes, the Night Spawn. Once, we were legion. Now we are but two.”
“And a whole bunch of heads overlooking Alex’s private bath.”
He smiled as if sharing some secret with me. If I was hoping for enlightenment, though, it was not to be. “Yes, all that remains of a once great people. For now.”
“Whatever. Anyway, they told me about your cult. Said that you were all a bunch of fucking psychos.” Oh yeah. Once again, I proved to the universe why I wasn’t cut out for hostage negotiations.
“I follow a different path from the Macedonian. Is that so great a crime?”
Considering what a dick-nugget Alex was, there was something to be said about his words, but then I remembered what happened when last I’d been up here. “You killed Starlight.”
“Starlight?”
“My friend.”
“She was yours?”
“Yes ... no. She was in my coven.”
“I know not this name. I only know that all who come before me are given the choice. All choose their path.”
“And if it’s not the path you like, they get dusted.”
For a moment, his calm demeanor fell away and raw, naked annoyance showed on his face. Of course, it might have been the fact that the blisters on his arms were now becoming full-on third-degree burns. Ouch. What the hell was up with this guy? At this rate, maybe if I kept him talking he’d eventually incinerate. That would be awfully convenient.
“Tell me, brother, do you enjoy life under his reign?”
“Enough of this crap. My name is Bill. I’m an only child, so I sure as shit ain’t your brother.”
“I call you brother because that is what you are. You are both a brother in darkness and one who is able to resist the call.”
“The call?”
“The will of others.”
“Oh, compulsion.”
“The word itself is meaningless.” He waved his hand dismissively, the skin on it starting to look mighty crispy. “What I speak of is the brotherhood I feel for all who walk the path. Tell me, Bill, does the Macedonian consider you a brother?”
“Heh. I’m more like a punching bag mated with a scapegoat.”
He looked confused. I guess he’d just recently passed English 101 and hadn’t had time to catch up with the colloquialisms. “I will take that as a no. What of the rest, his so-called First Coven?”
“Well, he calls them brothers and sisters, but I’m not entirely convinced he means it.”
“I meant, how do they treat you?”
They mostly treated me like a pile of dogshit on the sidewalk, but that didn’t mean I cared to let this guy play Dr. Phil with me. “James treats me well.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“The Wanderer. The one whose arm you tore off.”
“I know of whom you speak. I have learned much since being freed.”
That didn’t sound good. It meant that Calibra had most likely been compromised. If so, I’d need to keep Gan on a short leash around her.
“Very well. That is one,” he continued. “Once the time comes, he will be given the choice as well – in deference to the favor he shows you. As for the rest...”
“Let me guess – heads in jars?”
“And give them a chance to be freed as I was? No. I will not make the same mistake the Macedonian made.”
Yeah, that sounded far more practical than what I suggested.
“I can sense the uncertainty in you.”
“Beats sensin
g the dark side, Palpatine.”
I was certain he had no fucking idea what I was talking about, but he continued as if I hadn’t interrupted. “They called us chaotic, dangerous. The truth was, we were not beholden to their rules. They could not control us, so they hunted us down. I seek to return the old ways. I seek to free us from our servitude. I wish for us to roam free, to do as we please, to blanket this world with our seed and let it sprout.”
“Saw that movie last week. Gave it three stars. Not enough tits.” I realized I was rambling, going off on tangents with a nutcase. That wasn’t going to help things. I also sensed a zero percent chance of convincing him to change his mind. The problem here was, one wrong word from me and he could snap me in half, shit in my torso, and then sew me back together without any real effort. I needed to use a little strategy. “Say I believe you. What then?”
“Then you will come with me. I will show you the future.”
“And we’ll rule the empire together as father and son?”
“No. Our kind shall only bow to the true First. But it will take time. There is need for us to lead for now, until our influence is wide, but then no more. Then we shall all be truly free. Does that not sound ideal to you?”
“Peachy. And if I say no?”
“Then you will still come with me.”
There was the kicker. I knew it was coming. It was like being asked if I wanted what was behind door number one or number two, only there was only one to choose from.
“My friends?”
“I do not wish to fight you, brother, so I shall offer you another choice.”
“Oh?”
“You and the other I seek will come with me. If you do this, I will let your friends leave in peace.”
“The other?”
“The pure one.”
I knew it! The Jahabich had called Ed that too. Personally, I didn’t get it. What the fuck was so pure about him? It sure as shit wasn’t his language, his thoughts, or even the way he left his room most days. “You mean the one you were trying to kill? The one you called ... what was that word, oh yes – abominatio? I believe that means abomination, does it not?”
He nodded, a solemn look upon his face. “That was unfortunate on my part. I did not realize what he was then.”
“So what is he?”
“The future. Our future.”
* * *
That was a wee bit ominous, but at the same time, didn’t really make any fucking sense. Ed had some weirdness in him, that much was obvious, but as far as I knew, there was only one person here with a prophecy hanging over their head – unless maybe this was some weird-ass fan theory bullshit in which Neville was actually the chosen one instead of Harry.
“What if we won’t come with you?” I asked.
“Then you will still come with me and your friends will be given the choice.”
“You can’t have Ed ... the pure one.”
“You think yourself his protector?”
“Yes, and I also think myself his roommate. He isn’t getting out of his share of the rent that easily.”
He appeared to consider this for a moment. “Face me, then.”
“What?”
“Out here, now.” Vehron raised his arms, now charred and blackened under the blistering gaze of the sun. He looked at me and smiled. Just as he did, his hair caught ablaze. Dude was seriously fucked in the head. “Face me, show me you have the mettle of our brothers in your veins. If you do, I will let your friends go.”
“All of my friends?”
“All of them. I give you my word upon the blood of Kala.”
Wait, blood of Kala? Wasn’t that...?
“Die!”
I spun to find Christy a few steps behind me. I’d been so caught up in Mr. Crazy’s loony rants that I hadn’t been paying attention to much else. Alas, I’d never been a particularly good multitasker. Her presence itself wasn’t the issue, although what she’d just shouted was a wee bit worrisome. Oh, and the fact that she was glowing bright red was definitely a minor cause for alarm.
“Christy, don’t...”
Yeah, that worked about as well as expected.
I’m not sure what would have happened next otherwise. Facing Vehron out in the open sunlight was pretty much a death sentence, but if it would have saved my friends, it was definitely worth considering. Of course, I’d seen enough movies to know that the bad guy’s word was typically worth a steaming pile of horseshit. All he needed to do was watch me vaporize and then waltz in and say, “Fooled you!”
However, that was all meaningless conjecture now as a bolt of red-hot death magic lanced out from Christy’s outstretched arms and...
...and created a smoldering crater where Vehron had been standing just a second earlier.
Shouting out your intended attack might be cool as all hell on Dragonball Z, but doing so in real life was just plain old dumb – not that I was going to tell that to the hormonal witch with murderous intent.
Besides, I had bigger fish to fry, such as the musclebound weirdo who was now standing about a foot away, looking down upon me with a grin on his face as if this was how he wanted things to play out all along.
“So be it,” he said.
And with those three words, I knew we were royally fucked.
One Shall Fall
I’ll give myself credit, mostly because almost nobody else ever does, but at least I didn’t hesitate to act.
No one-liners, no snappy puns. Hell, no shitting my pants either. That last one was a definite plus in my favor. Nope, all I did was raise my knee into his crotch in the cheapest of cheap shots.
It worked about as well as it did last time I tried it.
Removed from direct sunlight, Vehron’s burns healed right before my eyes. I had to assume the damage dealt by my blow, more than enough to have cracked a two-by-four in half, was being handled in a likewise manner. He barely winced from the shot. Instead, he actually smiled.
“You are not entirely ignorant of the paths to victory, brother. Perhaps there is hope for you yet. But for now ... TAKE THEM!!”
I was just about to question whether Vehron was talking to himself in third person when the ground around us started to rumble.
Was this the most convenient earthquake in the history of the planet? Somehow, I didn’t think so. The trees and houses beyond the forest didn’t show any signs of getting all shaken to shit.
I heard a sound off to my left and turned to find that Christy, still alight with pissed off mage fire, had fallen to her butt. Maybe that was for the best, as I wasn’t entirely sure she’d have hesitated to blast me if it meant sending Vehron to that big dustpan in the sky. I also wasn’t sure if his mention of the White Mother’s name was coincidence or not. Hell, for all I knew, it was as common as Joe back in the day, but I had a feeling it wasn’t. The bigger question was why was he invoking her name at all?
Alas, such speculation needed to wait. The rumbling grew worse, to the point where I needed to grab hold of something – preferably not Vehron – to keep from teetering over. All at once, I heard a tremendous crash and spun to see a copse of trees collapse in on themselves, quite literally disappearing into the ground. The resulting sinkhole took one of Gan’s men – a look of dopey peace still on his face – with it.
Oh crap. Not now.
To which fate pretty much replied, “Of course now, stupid!”
A rocky head appeared out of the hole a few moments later, its orange lantern eyes glowing malevolently in the shade provided by the forest. And it wasn’t alone, not by a long shot.
Seems that the ambush during our trial, in which Ib’s name was invoked, hadn’t been some sort of ruse to misplace blame after all. The Jahabich were somehow working with – or for; it wasn’t quite clear yet – Vehron. Talk about being double, triple, and probably even quadruple fucked.
I’d known there was a chance of this happening, but hoped it wouldn’t. Sadly, hope is the
last holdout of the truly screwed.
If that didn’t describe us right then and there, I didn’t know what would.
* * *
The Jahabich swarmed out of the ground, over a dozen strong. Outside of Ed, Christy, and Tom, the rest of the group – Gan included – looked like they were a bunch of stoned hippies waiting for Hendrix to perform at Woodstock. Shit! They didn’t stand a chance.
Unfortunately, that left me in quite the pickle. Stay and try to hold off Vehron, or go fight the Jahabich? Neither seemed a winning gambit. Hell, between the two sides, they could make one heck of an asshole sandwich, with me as the meat.
“Go, brother,” Vehron said. “I will not interfere.” I turned to find the grin wider than ever on his face. Fucking dick-weasel. “Should you win, I will consider reinstating my offer.”
“You’re too kind.”
Apparently, he hadn’t reached the part in his English lessons covering sarcasm, because he replied, “In my day, I was known to be quite merciful. Behold, as I shall give you even greater quarter to impress me.”
What was he...?
I heard a screech behind me back in our camp. No, more of a battle cry. I spun to find Gan back on her feet, having just delivered a spin kick that nearly decapitated a Jahabich who’d been advancing upon her position. It wasn’t just her either. All around, vampires got back to their feet and retrieved their weapons. Vehron had released them all from his compulsion.
What was his game? Was this little more than amusement to him?
Well, okay, that probably was the case. Hell, when you’re Caesar, what better fun than to watch the gladiators battle it out for your entertainment while you sipped wine and placed bets?
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Christy waddling back to her feet. Fuck it. I didn’t see much choice in playing along for now. We might still find our way out of this, but it wasn’t going to happen if she kept kicking the hornet’s nest.
I gave Vehron the stink eye, then turned and stepped away from him. For a moment, I was certain it was all a ploy and the next – and last – sensation I’d feel would be his fist punching though the back of my skull. However, that didn’t happen – thank whatever gods there are. Good thing too, because it would have sucked royally.
The Wicked Dead (The Tome of Bill Book 7) Page 35
