Empire of Blood [Box Set]

by Robert S. Wilson

  A comforting hand squeezed Toby’s shoulder. He looked back to see Dustin smile with a plastic holy-shit-I-hope-we’re-gonna-be-okay smile. A second later the elevator practically collided with its destination. The doors opened and a bell chimed innocently letting them know they had somehow lived to arrive at their destination. The party stumbled their way from the elevator as the man in the suit gracefully stepped out and brushed off his jacket. “Where are my manners? I almost forgot. My name is William Rustle.” He shook Dustin’s hand first, then nodded at Jonathan who seemed to already know who the man was and then he leaned down in front of Toby as if the boy was much younger than he actually was.

  “Your father is a great man. You know that, right?”

  Toby nodded, unsure what to say. The man smiled and shook Toby’s hand with a tight confident grip. Several corridors later, they came to a small office room, where William let them in and asked them to sit down on several plastic bright-colored chairs. Only after the man was gone and the three of them sat waiting for several minutes in that tiny room, did Toby realize he should have asked the man where his father was.

  Almost as if he were reading Toby’s mind, Dustin spoke up then.

  “So, where the hell is Hank?”

  Jonathan shrugged and then slapped his hands against his legs. “Hell, I don’t know for sure. No one told me jack. But if I had to take a good guess, if he’s not here he’s at the hive.”

  “The hive?” Dustin’s forehead scrunched into a wrinkly mess.

  “Yeah, the queen vampire’s hive.”

  * * *

  An exquisite fire spread through Hank’s every vein as he entered the Queen over and over, their arms locked around each other and their skin sweaty and suctioning their bodies together. Blood spread from both of their necks and intermingled in a small pool on the cave floor underneath her. Her body felt equally and conflictingly both petite and solid as stone all at once. Their red irises locked together as their pelvises thrusted into each other.

  A wave of power unlike anything Hank had ever felt rushed through his body enhancing the pleasure of the sex unexpectedly. His palms went from cradling the back of her slender head, slid through her soft black hair and found their way to her firm silky breasts, squeezed them gently and rubbed slowly and pressingly against the hard nipples at each center.

  Her legs wrapped around Hank then and she rolled him over so that she was on top. With an all too inhuman agility, she flipped up her legs so that her feet slapped against the cave floor and she began to ride against him, her legs working like pulleys, lifting her torso and bringing it down faster and faster. Her claws gripped into Hank’s chest and she licked the blood from her lips as she rocked against him even harder. What little stamina Hank had deflated from him at once as his body stiffened in ecstasy. The Queen’s mouth opened and a soft moan left her full lips and echoed off of the cave walls and back into Hank’s ear as the whole world turned upside down all around him. A moment later and it was all over. She lay there in his arms, a mischievous grin stretched across her face baring her still bloody fangs.

  Hank’s thoughts immediately turned to Ishan. Why had the ancient vampire looked at him so hatefully? Without even changing her expression, the Queen’s voice filled Hank’s mind then.

  You share Ishan’s place at my side. It is only natural that he should be displeased. But he will grow to accept that I am no one’s bride for the taking. I will take whatever lover I will and no vampire nor human can cast their petty shackling morals upon me. I am the mother of many and the lover of only a few. Ishan should be proud and grateful to even be able to share me. So much greed within the heart of the likes of your people.

  Isn’t Ishan more your people than mine?

  In flesh he is, child. But in spirit he is the most human of all of my children. That is why I chose him. And maybe part of why I chose you.

  But I’m not a vampire.

  No, you are not. But you are not human either. You never truly were. Not fully. But that is neither here nor there. Sleep, child. There is much yet to come and you will need your strength.

  Before Hank could argue he found his eyes closing on their own with a drowsy heaviness he couldn’t fight. Within seconds, he was cascading into a deep dark sleep. The last thing he heard as he fell away into that black pit of unconsciousness was a hoarse whispering spoken in more of a hiss than a voice. “The seed has been planted. Before long I will be heavy with our children. A new breed will rise.”

  Chapter 29

  Betrayal’s Sting

  It happened so fast. One moment he was so glad to be home, looking in his lover’s eyes, and the next moment she was looking in his with a passion Ishan had never seen bestowed upon himself before, even in all their long centuries together. It was a sparkle in her eyes that ripped through his heart like a rock through rice paper. She’d known all along. She’d been waiting for him. And had never once intended to tell Ishan of what would take place.

  Watching her lead him into those narrow caverns was like watching his own past long gone. Would he ever be able to feel her touch again? Would she ever moisten his lips with her luscious life’s blood again? He stood surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of their children both her kind and his and felt a loneliness he’d been dreading all along. A despair more powerful than any empire. Like a deep chasm more empty than any cave within the confines of the earth’s crust. An unending well of darkness.

  Ishan tried hard to focus through what felt like poison piercing his heart. A dizziness took over his core and everything he thought he knew seemed to be ambiguous now. If his love for her could do such a thing to him then what else had he grown to believe that would rip out from under him like this? Even surrounded by his own kin, Ishan felt completely alien to the world around him, to everything he’d ever known. He stumbled away from the crowd of vampires, human and ancestor, and escaped out into the fresh night air. He needed to be the hunter now. He needed to feel that primal instinct that grips hold of the killer, he needed to drink the blood that he knew would never compare and could only diffuse his suffering so much. But he had to do something.

  As he effortlessly yet somehow a little clumsily jumped from tree top to tree top toward the city he hadn’t truly visited for nearly a quarter century, Ishan thought of Peter. He could understand now. The pain he had caused the young vampire. He could understand what it must have been like for Rachel to lie to him. Why he would turn to rebellion after what Ishan had done. But Peter was dead now. And Rachel too. Though he still mourned her loss, he could barely feel the sting of it beside the dark hole growing in his heart now. I should’ve known. Even as ancient as Ishan was, his youngest days upon the earth, his queen had walked its surface many thousands of years past. She was so old that even her name could not be spoken, its language long dead and buried under many layers of weathered earth beneath this very forest. In a time when this land wasn’t even in its current place geographically. In a time when all the continents were one.

  As Ishan came nearer and nearer to the dull glow of the city, he let his instincts take over and the smell of human blood fill his lungs. There were so many humans out there, he hadn’t yet taken the time to really sense the difference now that he was free of the city of sin. The other one anyway. Many could argue that in its prime, New Orleans was hardly a saint of cities. Even now, while a religious empire ruled over its businesses and streets, a hint of that old sinful voodoo permeated the sights, sounds, and smells of the place. It almost felt like home again to Ishan.

  He let that thought resonate in his mind as he slipped into a dark alleyway and fell in step just behind two young girls scantily dressed.

  Neither noticed his presence as he descended on them.

  * * *

  He had been in a sort of trance when it all went down. But now that Simon could think clearly, he noticed Ishan’s absence. And before long he noticed something else. He hadn’t been in the ancient vampire’s head for quite some time. It seemed that t
he closer they got to the hive, the less he could hear Ishan. Yet, he couldn’t help but notice a growing sense of anger whose source he wasn’t completely sure was himself. It started in short waves that eventually grew into bursts. By the time the Queen resurfaced from those deep caverns alone, the feeling was near to brimming the extent of Simon’s senses and he found himself headed for the cave entrance with no intention of explanation or knowledge of where he was going, or even if he would return. He only knew he had to leave this place. Had to find Ishan, make sure his friend—his brother—was okay. He owed him that at the very least.

  Simon was mere steps away from the open air when of no intent of his own, his body completely stopped moving. He stood there for a long moment unable to move, waiting. He quickly realized who had caused his lack of motor functions.

  Let him brood on his own awhile. In the meantime, come and keep me company. You forget that I have never truly had the pleasure of your acquaintance. While you may have experienced my carnal nature through Ishan’s memory, you’ve never truly experienced it for yourself. Come, child. And with that, Simon’s body turned for him and walked in a near march toward her as she stood leaning against the cave wall half naked, her glistening body reflecting the firelight.

  At that moment her control over him ceased and the force of it letting go sent him tumbling to the ground. But even though she had relinquished her mental power over him, he didn’t truly regain his will. The desire now took over where her mental puppetry left off. It grabbed him, not violently, but with the force that drives the animal when the moment of imminent copulation is upon it. Their eyes locked, his body led the way until it was pressing against hers. Their mouths met and her arms and legs flexed around him.

  To my cavern. Go.

  Simon took a firm grip on her buttocks and carried her still clinging to him back toward the firelight. As they entered the vast open chamber, many voices began to howl in a tone that gave Simon the impression of celebration. All around him vampires, male and female, gazed at him with envious—yet respectful—expressions. If he hadn’t known any better, he’d have thought they were practically egging him on like some sort of college frat ritual. That was the last lucid thought he had for some time as he continued to carry the Queen to their destination. But as everything seemed to fade into pure heat and pleasure, Simon felt a blurry yet familiar awareness screaming with fury in the back of his mind. It were as if he could see a face wrapped in plastic trying to scream in utter hatred.

  * * *

  A dissonant howling ripped Hank from his dream. In it, he and the Queen were still making love and in her passion, she jabbed her claws into his chest cavity and pulled out his still-beating heart Temple-of-Doom style. And as his body began to convulse, he saw the shaking image of her as she tore her fangs into the bloody mess that had previously pumped blood throughout his body. She was licking the wet blood from her fingers when that noise abruptly brought Hank back to reality.

  Reality… right.

  Within moments the cave was as quiet as the grave. The irony of that metaphor wasn’t lost on Hank. He lay there on the cave floor in what the Queen had referred to as his personal quarters. He tried not to think about what had taken place between them. At the time it had been like he was under a spell, though, he knew it to be such pure animal magnetism as to be unstoppable. But now that she was no longer in his presence, Hank felt almost used, dirty. Unnatural. Alien, even. He had no real feelings for her, whatever she was. She was incredibly attractive, true. But in an almost synthetic kind of way. Cold and uncomfortable, Hank lay back down and closed his eyes and hoped that he might be able to get back to sleep.

  Chapter 30

  Preparations for War

  Standing tall beside his Queen, Simon called out with a loud deep voice with more confidence than he’d ever felt. A confidence much different than the zealotry his former self often displayed. “The Foederati are to meet with us when the sun goes down. None of our kind are to harm even a single hair on any of their people, do you understand me?”

  In unison the crowd responded with a multitude of affirmations.

  “Good. Any vampire, fledgling included,” he burned a strong gaze toward a bewildered Jackie watching from the crowd, “will pay dearly for such an offense. They are here with mutual goals and the only way either of us can succeed is by working together.”

  Vampires of all shapes and sizes agreed in various manners and waited for their new master—now appointed by the Queen herself—to finish addressing them.

  “There are only a few short hours left before the dawn comes, I suggest that anyone who hasn’t already, should feed in expectation of our guests. And remember the reason we are here and the huge undertaking that we have ahead of us. Not the least of which to mention is the sheer number of enemies we could end up facing. While the Queen can protect us here now, she will not always be able to do so, and we need to stand our ground and take our rightful place against this tyranny of all, vampire and human.”

  Monstrous howls not unlike the ones Simon heard earlier erupted from the vampires and like an army of black wasps the many ancestor vampires in the crowd rose in the air and flew out of the large cavern toward the outer entrance. Just as quickly many human vampires followed on swift blurring feet.

  When the cave was nearly empty and the Queen had returned to her cavern, Simon sat on the throne his Queen had offered him and watched as the flames in the center of the huge open cavern licked at the stalagmite-covered ceiling. The shadow of a small figure stretched behind the huge fire. He got up from his seat and walked over to confirm his suspicions. Long black hair spread down around a pale sad female face as its owner sat Indian style facing the fire and throwing small chunks of salt in from time to time. Simon walked over to Jackie and put a hand on her shoulder.

  “How come you’re not out there feeding? You know I worry about you more than most.”

  “Really? Then you sure have a fucked up way of showing it, Mr. Vampire King.”

  Simon laughed in spite of the sting of her words. “There is no Vampire King. I am merely taking over leadership in Ishan's absence.”—Which hopefully won’t be very long. And how will he react to what has happened between me and the Queen?—“Please, why are you so angry?”

  Jackie looked up at him with a wounded shyness. It had never even occurred to him. Why had it not been obvious. Simon took his hand from her shoulder.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He looked away for a long awkward, quiet moment. With his back still turned, he said, “You have to know that even now with what we have become I couldn’t rightfully return whatever feelings you have. Not yet anyway.” He turned to look her in the eye, “You still have much maturing to do.”

  Jackie’s gaze burned through Simon in response.

  He turned away again. With Simon's hearing beyond that of most vampires, her attempt to leave in stealth was ineffective. He stood still, pretending he didn’t know. When he turned around she was gone and he couldn’t help but feel like some pressure had lifted from his shoulders. For now at least.

  * * *

  When word of George's little book hit the Foederati, the old priest found himself answering more questions than even Charlie Duncan was capable of coming up with in an hour long interrogation. At least this time the questions weren't followed with broken bones or other forms of painful torture. His hand still in a cast, George picked at the wrapping as he listened to the young Foederati general talk.

  "As strong as the Emperor's hold is on the country, there's no telling that information like this could even do anything to sway their feelings on him or his religion. The believers are so fervent that many will likely reason this as an elaborate fake."

  "I don't disagree with you, Mr. Whindsor, but when I think of all those poor people out there who may not be so easily duped by this terrible man's spell, I can't help but feel like it would be worth it to get as many of them the truth as possible before your people make any major or rash move
s. And judging by the tone and weight of your questions, I assume you do mean to make some sort of move soon, do you not?"

  Whindsor gave an almost invisible nod.

  "Uh huh. I expected this from the moment Duncan told me about you."

  "Of all people, Mr. Nelson, exactly why did you come to Charlie Duncan?"

  George smiled. He'd often wondered that himself but there truly was a simple answer. "Well, you folks aren't exactly in the yellow pages, now are you? I figured if anyone could get me in touch with you it was someone of the criminal element, even as ironic as that fact might be in this day and age."

  Whindsor chuckled. "You do have a point." He looked George over for a long time and his smile warped into an expression of import. "We are planning something big. And we're not alone. I was sent here to make sure this book wasn't a fraud and I'm sure you're not bullshitting us. This thing is very much for real. And it could serve a hell of a purpose for us right now not just counting the very noble reason you want to disseminate it."

  "And just what is that, Mr. Whindsor?"

  "Call me Bill, George. I believe that two people so willing to fight on the same side should at the very least refer to each other on a first name basis. We're like brothers, you and I."

  George nodded. "Okay, fair enough. I couldn't agree more." He smiled. "So just what is it you people plan on doing, Bill?"

  "We've been in talks with the vampires of Necropolis for quite a while. We've extended them some favors—within reason of course. Nothing we don't morally agree with. Anyway, in these talks, we have realized that we share the same ultimate goal: to remove the Emperor from power."