Consequences (Blood of Pharaohs Book 1)

by Mairsile

  “Yes. He’s dead. He will never bother you again,” Nikki explained.

  Lilah exhaled for the first time since the terror had begun. She stepped back and said, “Good. I hope he rots in hell.”

  “That’s my girl,” Nikki cheered.

  “Beulah? I didn’t hear you come in,” Lilah said when she realized Beulah was standing at the door. “Is my dad all right?”

  “He’s fine. A bit put out with me for restraining him, but none the worse for wear.”

  Anger quickly flushed Lilah’s face. “Restraining him? Why? What did he do?”

  “He’s a father whose only daughter was being held by a vampire. What do you think he tried to do? He would have gotten himself killed, so I restrained him.” She smiled at Lilah and stepped to the side, away from the kitchen door. “And now I’ve released him.”

  Lilah heard a splash and then Leonard came barging through the door, dripping wet and furious.

  Lilah put her hands up. “I’m all right, Daddy. Nikki saved me.” She walked into her father’s arms and let him hold her until he calmed down.

  “Are you really all right, honey?” he asked, holding her at arm’s length so he could look her over. When his wife was killed, he thought his world had ended, but it was his daughter who braced him up and showed him there was more to live for. If he lost her, too, he wouldn’t have the strength to go on.

  “Yes, Daddy,” Lilah assured him, stepping back so he could see for himself. “What about Dorothea and the guests?”

  “Dorothea is fine,” Beulah said. “She’s in there cleaning up already. And I took care of the guests. They will only remember the vigil.”

  Leonard wrapped his arm across Lilah’s shoulders and held out his other hand to Nikki. “Thank you,” he said. “Thank you for doing your job and saving my daughter.”

  Nikki took Leonard’s hand even as she shook her head. “It wasn’t because of my job, Mr. Dupree. It was because of my love for your daughter. I would sacrifice everything for her.”

  Tears welled up in Lilah’s eyes as she smiled at Nikki. God, I love this woman. She settled back into her arms, comfortable in her embrace. For three years, she’d had the feeling that she had lost something very valuable, and now she felt that she had finally found it. Although she still couldn’t remember what Nikki had meant to her three years ago, she knew what she meant to her now, and that was enough.

  Thirty minutes later, Dorothea brought out coffee and cups, and set them on the coffee table. Ludovico thanked her, touching her on the shoulder and whispering in her ear. She smiled back, bid everyone a good evening and, yawning, went up to her room. Beulah was not pleased with her husband and let him know it, but she didn’t say anything. That would be a talk for later.

  Lilah sat sandwiched in between Nikki and Leonard on the couch, where she leaned into Nikki’s side, her arm wrapped around her shoulders. Beulah sat across from her husband and Vince sat on the floor, his back against the couch in front of Leonard. A crackling fire in the fireplace brought a warmth of normality to an otherwise gloomy conversation about war. An undead war.

  “All right, settle down, y’all,” Ludovico barked and all eyes turned to him. “What I’m about to say does not go any further than this room. Repeat it and you forfeit your life, humans and immortals alike. Understand?”

  Damn, is he serious? Lilah looked at Nikki, who struggled not to answer her thoughts. It’s okay. I know you heard me. It’s not a test. He’s scaring the shit out of me.

  A smile played along the line of her lips as Nikki squeezed Lilah’s shoulders and whispered, “Yes, he’s completely serious.”

  She sighed. Great. Way to terrify the terrified.

  Nikki took her hand in her and interlinked their fingers. She squeezed them tight, wishing they could be any place else but here.

  Ludovico began. “We know they’re coming. They know that we know and they probably know of the gathering tomorrow night.”

  “Then change the location of the meeting,” Beulah suggested. “Before the other four leaders get here.”

  “We want them to come, sugar plum. Even now, advance teams are spreading across the ranch, setting up camps for the soldiers, with more to recruits coming.”

  Nikki had a sudden flashback to the Civil War, where several of her comrades turned to ash in the bright sunlight because there was nowhere to escape it. She was lucky in that her brother could fly her to shelter at the last minute. Vince had saved many an immortal the same way during the war.

  Lilah squeezed her hand, bringing him back to the present. “Everything all right?” she whispered.

  She nodded and kissed her hand. “Remind me to tell you later,” she whispered back.

  “Leonard, we’re going to have to feed these people. Have your men round up enough cattle to feed around three hundred people for probably three to five days.” He paused for a moment to let that sink in before saying, “You understand, the cows aren’t just for eating, right?”

  “Uh, yeah, right.”

  Lilah shivered in Nikki’s arms, the vision of the Russian’s fangs coming at her.

  “Good. And if you don’t want the horses used for the same thing, you’d better take them someplace safe and you need to get started tonight.”

  Lilah sat up straight, fear in her eyes. “Oh, no. Please don’t let them hurt the horses.” She could understand about the cows; she enjoyed a steak as much as the next person. But horses were a different breed entirely. Smart, affectionate, willing to carry the load. No, they were not food for the undead.

  “Don’t worry, honey,” Leonard said. “I’ll herd them up to the north pasture eleven miles from the ranch. They should be safe there.”

  “Then I’m coming with you,” Lilah declared. “If they’ll be safe there, so will I.”

  “Absolutely not,” Leonard groused.

  “I’ll go with her, Mr. Dupree,” Nikki offered, without looking at her sire. “I’ll keep her safe.”

  “No. I can’t spare you, Nikki,” Ludovico stated firmly.

  “Why is that, Papá?”

  Vince looked over at Nikki. “Careful, Niko. Don’t poke the grizzly bear.”

  Ludovico frowned, and Lilah felt the room suddenly grow cold in spite of the warmth from the fireplace.

  “You know why,” Ludovico growled.

  “You’ve already done your tests, haven’t you?” Nikki asked, remembering what the Russian had said. “By the way, did you know the girl was Lilah’s friend?”

  “What are you talking about, Nikki?” Lilah asked, her anxiety palpable.

  “The Russian said they knew about our tests. He said it wouldn’t work on him, but then I heard his thoughts. I understood then, what had happened with Rebecca. I couldn’t hear the thoughts of the three immortals who attacked her. Was that your doing, sire?”

  “Don’t be impudent, girl. Of course, it wasn’t my intention to involve the girl.”

  Somewhere between disbelief and anger, Lilah found her voice. “Your intention?” She sat forward and glared at him. “Your intention?” she repeated disbelievingly.

  “Nikki, you know him. You know he would not deliberately hurt a human female,” Beulah said in her mind as she looked at her husband. “Stop trying to trap him in a lie and give him a gracious way out. He’ll have your answers, I’m sure of it.” Looking at the others, Beulah said, “Please, let’s be civil. This is no time to fight amongst ourselves.”

  “She’s right,” Nikki said with a sigh. “I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding on my part.”

  “Well, I’m not so sure,” Lilah snapped. “What did you mean by not your intention?”

  “Lilah, please,” Leonard beseeched.

  “I don’t need to explain my intentions to you, girl,” Ludovico snapped. He glanced from Lilah to Beulah, who smiled imploringly. Sighing, he nodded and looked back at Lilah. “But I will this one time. Yes, it was a test, but I had no way of knowing they would assault your friend.”

  “W
hat kind of test, Papá?” Nikki asked intrepidly.

  “I’ll answer that question with a question. Vince, do you have your poisonous darts with you?

  “I never leave home without them,” Vince stated as he pulled up his pants leg and pulled a dart from the belt wrapped around his calf. The bullet belt carried five darts with hard plastic covering the tips. He handed the metal dart to Ludovico.

  “Somebody get me a bowl,” Ludovico said, testing the cap to be sure it was secured on the needle.

  Leonard emptied the fruit bowl of its apples and bananas, and handed it to him.

  Ludovico set the bowl on the corner of the table and then broke the dart in half. “I had these darts specially made with two cartridges inside. One cartridge held the dead human’s blood and—”

  Lilah gasped. “Oh, no.”

  “We didn’t kill them, Lilah,” Vince was quick to reassure her. “Father owns several funeral homes throughout the South that sell us human blood from the remains of the dead to use in our weapons.”

  Beulah could tell that her husband was losing his patience. “Go ahead, dumplin’, tell us about the test.”

  “Thank you. As I was saying, one cartridge has the human blood in it, the other has the blood of a live Spirit vampire. That blood is injected with some other sundry chemicals that the eggheads created to keep the Spirit blood fresh. Unbeknownst to Vince, when he used his darts on those three bastards who killed the girl, the blood of the Spirit tricked Nikki’s mind into thinking they were Spirits also.”

  “And that’s why I couldn’t hear their thoughts?” Nikki asked.

  “Yep,” Ludovico said proudly, sitting back in his chair. “It was what they call a blind test. I reckon though that in this case, you could call it a muted test,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Good one, Father,” Vince said.

  Nikki sneered at Vince and twisted her fist over her nose.

  “You’d do well to brown-nose once in a while yourself, you know,” Vince thought.

  “The cocktail would work with any of the five elements,” Ludovico continued, “but the blood of a dead Fire element proved to be the most painful.”

  Nikki was only partially listening. Her only concern was Lilah. With a perplexed look in her eyes, she asked, “Obviously, your tests were a success. Why do you need me here?”

  Ludovico pursed his lips. “Because Vince can’t shoot them all, and if any of them get through, we need to know what they’re thinking. And even though Irinushka will be immune to it, her minions won’t be.”

  “Father, what happens when you use the serum against a Spirit?” Vince asked curiously.

  “The tests hadn’t gotten that far yet, but the theory is that it would cancel each other out,” Ludovico answered.

  Vince studied on it for a moment, and then said, “So, if I can get close enough to Irinushka and shoot her, she wouldn’t be able to hear my thoughts, or yours?”

  “That’s inevitably what I was working toward, yes,” Ludovico replied, pleased with the way Vince was thinking. “As I said, it hasn’t been tested yet.” He looked over at Nikki with a capricious smile on his lips.

  “Dumplin’,” Beulah said. “I won’t have you abusing Nikki like that. Have you forgotten how much she already sacrificed for us?”

  “I wasn’t going to—” She glared angrily at him and he relented. “No, sugar plum. I hadn’t forgotten.”

  Nikki exhaled quietly but Lilah let her disapproval be known.

  “That’s just barbaric,” she said condescendingly.

  Ludovico growled at her but this time Lilah did not flinch when his fangs slipped down over his bottom lip. She was beginning to see him for what he was, a bully with long fangs.

  Leonard shook his head, feeling like he was the only adult in the room. “Can we please just get back to the plan? What about the ranch hands? They’re not trained to fight vampires.”

  “Yes, of course they’re not,” Ludovico agreed. “That’s why they’ll go with the horses and help protect the camp. I have specially made bullets for their rifles and side arms. It’s the same dead human blood that Vince uses, and although it won’t kill a vampire, enough bullets into their body will slow them down and incapacitate them.”

  “And then what?” Leonard asked. “My men can’t go around beheading people.”

  “All they have to do is live long enough to pump an immortal full of bullets. They can just leave them where they fall and shoot them every ten minutes or so. The sun will take care of the rest when it comes up.”

  Shivering, Lilah thought, damn, that’s cold. “I’m a very good shot and have my own Colt 45. Give me some of those bullets, and I’ll make sure they don’t get up again.

  “As long as you shoot the right vampires,” Ludovico quipped.

  “As long as you don’t try to pull that shit on me that you did with Dorothea, you asshole,” Lilah retorted.

  Nikki laughed out loud, and Ludovico glared at her.

  “You find something funny in all of this, Nikki?” Ludovico asked sharply.

  “No, Papá,” Nikki replied immediately. I find that my girl is a lot braver than I give her credit for. “I was laughing, thinking about the surprise look on Irinushka’s face when you slice her head off.”

  “Yes, that will be most enjoyable,” Ludovico agreed, staring off into space and smiling.

  “Way to brown-nose, sis. I taught you well,” Vince said in his mind.

  “We have a lot of work to do before morning, so let’s draw up a plan of action,” Leonard suggested. He would feel like he had some semblance of control if he could strategize the problem and plan the solution. This was where his military training would help the most.

  As Ludovico, Beulah, Vince, and Leonard worked on the plans for evacuation, Nikki and Lilah snuck off to the kitchen. Lilah busied herself making another pot of coffee, her mind deep in thought. Nikki watched from where she sat in the breakfast nook, smiling on occasion at something she said in her mind, but careful not to answer her questions before she asked them.

  Finally, as the coffee began to percolate, Lilah turned toward her and leaned on the counter. “I have so many questions, Nikki. About us. About how we met, what we did, where we went. But there’s no time to ask them, is there?”

  “No, I’m sorry,” Nikki replied. “I wish I could take you away somewhere safe and spend the day just answering your questions. But you’re right, there’s no time right now.”

  Lilah nodded. “Then answer just one question for me before they come barging in here with our assignments.”

  Nikki’s eyes twinkled with curiosity. Of all the questions she had milling around in her mind, what would be the most important one? “Sure. What do you want to ask me?”

  “How is it that Rebecca didn’t know about us? She was my best friend. I would have told her everything, right down to the last detail.”

  Nikki’s smile evaporated. That was not one of the questions she had heard her think about, and it certainly wasn’t the question she wanted to answer just before she had to leave. The quick, blunt answer seemed to be her only option. “I only saw her the one time, and that was when I wiped her memory of us, right after I erased yours.”

  Lilah’s face flushed with anger, and her eyes slanted with rage. “Is that how you love someone, Nikki? You manipulate and control them like you would a sex doll?”

  “What? No! It was nothing like that, damn it.”

  “Humans are not toys for the follies of vampires. Are you so old that you’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a human, Nikki? Forgotten how it feels to be used against your will? Because that’s what you do. You manipulate us and then wipe it all away with a touch of your hand when it suits you.”

  “Please, Lilah. Listen to reason. I would never do that to you.”

  “You already have,” Lilah said haughtily. “And I hate you for it.” She slapped her hard across the cheek and then stormed out of the kitchen, leaving Nikki alone, stunned and devastated.
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  Chapter Fifteen

  November 10, 2016

  da Polenta Ranch, Texas

  Like a scene from a John Wayne movie, the wagon train headed out at first light. The chuck wagon, pulled by a team of mules, led the way, setting the slow, steady pace over the dry dirt trail. Following leisurely behind it was a covered wagon, normally used during branding in the spring, carrying the farmers and their families, along with their family dogs. Three-fourths of the forty-eight ranch hands, dressed in plaid shirts, saddle-worn blue jeans and boots, wearing wide brimmed cowboy hats with dirty bandannas around their necks, herded over 150 horses behind the wagons.

  Lilah had left out ahead of the others, driving her Ford F-150 pickup, pulling a horse trailer with the mare and her colt inside. Another truck and trailer with the two pregnant mares inside followed directly behind her. Other trucks pulled open trailers with hay, tents, equipment for digging water holes and erecting corrals. It would take the horses approximately three hours to walk to the camp, giving Lilah’s team time to set up several paddocks using a gas-powered post driver and wire. The pregnant mares would be kept in a small pen away from the main herd and the mare and her foal would also be kept together but separated from the others. Once the horses were penned up and provided with water troughs and hay, the camp would be set up.

  As the immortals retreated to the East wing, Leonard paid Buck and sent him on his way, then he and the remaining ranch hands set out to round up three hundred head of cattle from the pastures and herd them into two large corrals near the house. Then the remaining employees would ride up to the camp and wait it out with everyone else. Including Leonard, whose protests had been overruled.

  Ludovico was studying the maps of the ranch, when he sent for Nikki and Vince, who were preparing for bed. They felt the pull of day much stronger than their fifteen-hundred year old sire did.

  “As I said earlier, all the tests on the ammo have not been completed, but we’re out of time, so, in that trunk over there…” Ludovico nodded toward a larger steamer trunk with the lid open. “That’s the ammo that I want you to carry into battle.”