by Mark Taylor
“No, but I know how to make someone give me their car for free.”
“Ah, yes.”
The car burst from the alley straight across the street and into another.
“You knew nothing was coming, right?”
“Nope. Gotta lose the mongers.”
Mary pulled the seat belt around her and clicked it into position.
At the end of the next alley Excalibur slid the car back around onto the street, and floored the gas. They were at a hundred in seconds.
Then a blue flashing light appeared in the rear view.
“Great.” Mary held her face in her hands. “Pull over before we get shot at,” she mumbled through her fingers.
***
“Police cars are fast.” Excalibur had the lights flashing on the cruiser that Officer Dawson had given her. “And we have a shotgun. How does it work?”
“I don’t know.” Mary watched out of the windows. “I don’t see them.”
“Good. They’re hopefully looking for the wrong car.” She hesitated. “I hope that nice officer doesn’t get into any trouble.” She shook her head. “Never mind.” She pulled the car onto the on-ramp and onto the freeway. “They’re likely to know which direction we’re going, but at least they don’t know what they’re looking for now.”
“They won’t be far behind,” Mary said.
“I know. Far enough. We need to find somewhere to commune. Soon.”
Mary pointed out of the window. “There’s a motel sign at the next off.”
“And a Clucky Bucket,” Excalibur noted. “But no. We need to make some space between us.”
“No chicken? It must be serious.”
***
Excalibur swung the car off the road into the parking lot of Nights Inn, in Kingman, Arizona, just short of the Nevada border. “I’m exhausted.” She rested her head on the wheel.
“I’ll get us a room.”
Excalibur didn’t move. “Fine.”
Mary got out of the car and walked over to the reception. Light was just breaking over the hills in the distance. They’d been in the car all night. She dragged the door open to be faced by a spotty-looking teenager who looked worse than Excalibur. He gave her the weakest of acknowledgements.
“I need a room, twin.”
“No problem. Day or hour?”
Mary was in no mood for banter. “Just give me a day.”
“Thirty bucks up front.” He turned and started working his fingers down the hooks holding keys.
Mary put her hand in her pocket, remembering the first time she and Excalibur had stayed in a motel. She smiled, knowing her pocket had anything she wanted in it. She pulled out three tens and dropped them on the counter.
“It’s late,” the guy said turning back to her. “I’ll put you in twelve – it’s right down the end, but you should get more quiet there. It’s furthest from the freeway and the bar opens around eleven some days.” He gestured to the opposite side of the parking lot. “It’s not usually noisy until midnight, but you’re as far from that as I can get you, too.” He put the key on the counter and took the cash.
Mary nodded her gratitude, took the key and went back to the car.
She opened the door, waking Excalibur, sleeping in the same position as when she had left. “Pull over there,” she said, pointing to the far side of the parking lot. “Let’s get this done, find out what we need to know and then get back on the road. I’m driving the rest of the way – however far it is.”
Excalibur’s silence was her agreement. She started the engine and drove over to the space outside twelve.
When the two of them were in the room, Mary flipped on the coffee machine. “At least we have one of these. How does this work then?”
“I’ll put a call into Dina – see if I can get her attention.” Excalibur sat, her legs crossed on the end of one of the beds. She closed her eyes.
Mary got the cups out for the coffee and went and stood by the window. She watched the sky. She hadn’t seen anything since they had left Phoenix. Then her eyes dropped to the police cruiser parked outside the room. Hm. She slipped out of the room and moved the car to the side of the motel so that it couldn’t be seen from the street. Just to be sure.
She then returned to the room, to find Excalibur waited. “Dina says she’s ready when we are. She must have been on tenterhooks. We’ve been running for way too long.”
“We’re here now. What’s the gig?”
“Follow me.” Excalibur closed her eyes again.
Mary jumped on the other bed and copied Excalibur’s pose, closing her eyes too.
“Can you hear me?” Excalibur.
“Yes.”
“Follow me.”
Mary followed Excalibur’s presence in the ether. She could feel her goading her, this way, and come on. Then she felt Dina.
And Lady.
“Lady,” she called out. “Can you hear me?”
“Of course I can.” She giggled in the ethereal.
“How are you? What happened?”
“I am well enough. We will be together soon.”
Mary nodded before realizing that no one could see her. “Okay,” she said. She could feel Excalibur’s disdain at her inexperience. “I’m trying,” she scolded, into the nothing.
“Dina?” Excalibur again.
“I am here.” The feel of Dina’s voice in the ethereal soothed Mary.
“Have you found out how we can fix this?”
“I have communed with Ridian.”
“After all these years?” Excalibur asked.
Mary recalled Dina mentioning Ridian as she taught her the ways of the coven. A time that felt so long ago now.
“Indeed. He is well, but in hiding. I’ll tell you all soon.”
“What has he told you?”
“Ridian relayed a tale of legend to rid The Chosen of the vampyr’s bite. He believes that anything that would work on the armies of Gabriel would work on the Devil, himself.”
“Sounds promising,” Mary said. Again she felt the scold of Excalibur.
“If the infected drink the blood of the Master Vampyr, while looking in a mirror that exposes their true nature, then the infection can be reversed by the bite of a vampyr.”
Mary felt Excalibur’s emotions in turmoil before becoming crushing defeat.
“Sebastian was the Master Vampyr,” she said. “He is dead in Hell. There will be no blood of the Master.”
Dina’s warmth grew, and Mary felt her love surround Excalibur’s presence. “Now that your father has truly passed from this existence, you are the Master Vampyr.”
Mary felt Excalibur fall into turmoil again. “You mean, I need the Devil to drink my blood, while looking himself in the mirror, and then after he has, I need to bite him? That simple?”
“I believe in you, Excalibur,” Mary blurted.
“Thank you, sister.”
“I can return to you and assist,” Dina offered.
“I can sense your weakness,” Excalibur said. “There will be no need. Mary and myself will put this adventure to bed, somehow.”
Mary felt a flood of love reaching out amid the four of them – a sort of existential group hug – and then she opened her eyes, back on the bed. She looked at Excalibur. “Well,” she said.
“Quite. Did Lady sound okay to you?”
Mary shrugged. “I guess. You?”
“Just…off. Never mind. You offered to drive, right?”
“Now?” Mary sounded surprised.
“Can’t hang around here for too long, can we?” she asked, rhetorically, before standing. “I need to sleep in the car.”
“Sure.” Mary met her at the door. “So how are we going to do this? Where are we heading?”
“I have no idea, and Sin City. Vegas, baby.”
VII
Excalibur slept most of the way up the highway. Mary kept a constant vigil over the skies as she drove, and as the night drew in Las Vegas lit up in the distance. Mary nudged E
xcalibur. “Wake up, we’re nearly there.”
Excalibur stirred in her seat, glanced out of the window, and then leaned her head back onto the rest, lifting her feet onto the dash.
Mary twatted them down. “That’s dangerous.”
Excalibur let out a disgruntled bark, and then sat up straight.
“So why Vegas?” Mary hadn’t asked before because Excalibur had been more worse for wear than usual.
“Mirrors,” she said. “Vegas is full of mirrors.”
“Right. So do you have a plan?”
Excalibur shot daggers at her. “Why do I always have to be the one with a plan? Where’s your plan? Like I started this? This is all my mess?” She turned away from Mary pulling her body around to stare out into the growing darkness of the desert that surrounded them.
“I’m sorry, I…” Mary’s mumble trailed off to nothing.
After a few minutes, Excalibur turned and faced out of the window. “No. I don’t have a plan, right now. We’ll work it out when we get there. It’ll probably take Him a few hours to work out where we went. I think we hid our trail pretty well.”
“We did.” Mary smiled inwardly. The buildings on the side of the road had started to grow. “Where do you want me to head?”
“Let’s stay on the strip, shall we?”
“That’ll cost.”
“There’s a bag on the back seat.”
“Does it have whatever I want in it?”
“It does.” Excalibur grinned.
“It’s full of money.”
***
Mary pulled up outside the Liberty Hotel. Excalibur had insisted on a hotel with a casino attached. The two of them got out of the car and Excalibur swung her head into the rear of the cruiser and grabbed the bag from the seat. As the valet came down to take the car keys, Excalibur leaned over to Mary and said, “Maybe we should have swapped out cars before we got here.”
The valet looked a little confused as he approached. Mary pleasantly held out the keys for him, which he took in silence, getting in the car and driving around the corner of the hotel.
“Do you think he’s eyeing up the shotgun?”
Mary laughed. “Come on, let’s get a room.”
Mary sat on the bed. She had her arms back behind her, and was supporting her weight as she looked herself in the mirror on the ceiling. “And they didn’t have anything else?”
“No,” Excalibur answered from the bathroom. “Stop complaining. It’s not like we’re going to sleep here or anything.”
Mary stood and walked over to the TV looking for the remote. “How do you know he’ll find us that quickly?”
Excalibur left the bathroom. Her clothing had changed completely. Gone was the leather coat, bustier, and thigh high black boots. Now she wore white, a long satin dress, tight enough to show her curves, but not exactly sexy. Her hair looked like she had just stepped out of a high class boutique, and her makeup was not, for once, all black.
“Wow…?” Mary stared at her.
“I’ve made sure he can find us by practicing a few things in the mirror. I really don’t get to dress up often.”
Mary found the remote, picked it up, but instead of using it walked over to the closed doors to the balcony. She looked out over the strip. “We’re bringing Hell to this town. Do you think we should have? It’s not…fair, is it?”
“It’s fine.” Excalibur sat on the bed. “It’s not called Sin City for nothing. Besides, we’re not bringing Hell, we’re bringing the Devil, and he only wants one thing. Well, four.”
“And that’s the other thing.” Mary returned the remote to the side of the TV and crouched down, opening the mini bar. “How are we going to beat him?”
“That’s the trick,” Excalibur said. “Don’t take anything out of there. We’re not made of money.”
“Actually, we pretty much are,” Mary replied without looking up.
“That’s not the point. Do you know what the markup is on that lot?”
Mary closed the door of the bar. “Fine. But have you ever thought of going down to the casino and bleeding them dry? They say the house always wins, but the house needn’t. That would teach them a lesson in economics.”
“Ouch,” Excalibur said. “Where’s sweet Tink, and what have you done with her?” She laughed.
“You know I wouldn’t.” Mary sat back on the bed next to her. “But it would teach them. So what’s with the get up?”
“Just an unusual display of power from me. It should draw him in pretty quickly.”
“Then we should have a plan, yes?”
“I was thinking. Simple. I’ll lure him in with the ploy of making a bargain, have my blood in some wine, get him to toast the deal in front of a mirror, jump him, bite him, and BAM. Done.”
Mary raised her eyebrows. “O-kay. Well. How do we get wine with your blood in it to a glass in front of the Devil, in front of a mirror?”
Excalibur raised her index finger. “Ah,” she said, scooting across the bed to the telephone. She picked up the receiver. “Yes,” she said. “A bottle of wine please. Oh.” Excalibur picked up the room service menu from the night stand and opened it. “A bottle of the 98 Conti – red. And don’t cork it. Bring a corkscrew up. And a bottle of your house red. Oh, and a funnel. Yes, a funnel.” She returned the receiver to the phone.
Mary frowned at her. “That sounds like a plan.” She joined Excalibur by the night stand and looked at the wine list over her shoulder. “Two grand a bottle? What kind of plan is this?”
“He’ll never go for it if I scrimp. It’ll be up in a few minutes. Grab some towels from the bathroom. We’re going to make a mess.”
Room service dropped off the two bottles of wine, corkscrew, and a plastic funnel. The somewhat bemused looking waiter had asked if the funnel was correct, and Excalibur had approved, before tipping him handsomely. Excalibur gave the Conti to Mary. “Go and open that, and pour yourself a glass – but don’t damage the label.”
Mary took it and the corkscrew and went and sat at the writing desk, carefully peeling away the foil of the cork.
Excalibur took the bottle of cheap house red and wrapped a bath towel around it. She lifted the covered bottle by the base and slammed the neck of it into the leg of the bed, shattering the glass immediately. She swung the broken bottle – still wrapped in the towel upright, and hurried off to the bathroom with it.
Mary sipped the Conti from one for the four Bordeaux glasses that were delivered to the room with the wine. She had no idea if it was the right sort of glass. To be honest, the wine tasted a little off anyway, and not what she expected at over three hundred dollars a glass.
Excalibur returned from the bathroom.
“This tastes a bit rubbish,” Mary said. “What are you doing?”
Excalibur held out the cork from the house wine. She measured it up to the size of the neck of the Conti. “Perfect,” she whispered.
She placed the cork down next to the bottle on the writing desk and while still stood over Mary, raised her wrist to her mouth and bit herself hard. Blood spurted out onto her white dress, before turning from a gush to a flow. She shoved the funnel into the bottle of Conti, and then held her wrist over the opening, slowly refilling the bottle to the point of looking like it was untouched. She then wrapped a second towel around her wrist.
Mary stared at her in silence.
“Close your mouth,” Excalibur said. “You look like a fly trap.”
Mary downed the remainder of the wine, before doing so.
Within a minute or two Excalibur’s increased vampyr metabolism had quenched the blood flow and she removed the towel. Still Mary didn’t speak. Excalibur picked up the house wine’s cork and pushed it into the open mouth of the Conti bottle, resealing it. “Just like new,” she said.
“I think I’m starting to understand.” Mary nodded in appreciation.
Excalibur looked down at her dress. “Well, that was a fine idea.” She went back to the bathroom, and Mary heard he
r muttering something. A few seconds later she returned wearing the black leather she normally did.
“It does suit you.” Mary winked at her.
“I know.” She looked at her wrist. The wound was all but gone. “I’m going to take this,” she picked up the Conti bottle, “down to one of the casino bars – one that has a VIP area with mirrors. I’ll book it for tonight, and leave this with the wait staff with strict instructions not to open it. I think that should be His privilege.”
“Gotcha. What do you want me to do?”
“Keep a look out but stay out of view. If this is going to work it has to be all me. You’re going to have to sit this one out, Tink.”
***
Excalibur sat at the bar of the hotel. The casino did have the room she wanted, and it looked the way she wanted it to, but she didn’t want the Devil to have any problem finding her. She sipped a cocktail, her back to the room.
But she felt the Devil approach.
“Good evening,” she said. She hadn’t seen him, nor had he said anything, but she was aware that the last time they had spoken he had more than implied her impending death. She just wanted to get a word in to intrigue him. “I have an alternative solution to our problem.”
“Our problem?” He slid onto a stool next her, resting his cane on the side of the bar.
Excalibur swung on her stool. “I see you’re alone.”
“I don’t actually need the muscle but sometimes it’s nice to have a front. Besides, there are more mongers than you can count surrounding the building, and these new powers I have, have made controlling your brethren quite simple. They are so much more compliant now.”
“I’m sure they are.”
“Oh, and before I forget, I know what room young Marie-Anne is in, before you begin with any trickery.”
“No trickery from my part.” She looked around the room. “Why don’t we take this somewhere more private, I have a proposition.”
“You think that you have anything I want? After betrayal after betrayal?”
“I think so. Something that will get some of your problems out of your hair.” She glanced at his head. Bald. Excalibur stood, taking her drink. “I booked a private room.”
