Under Pressure

by Isobella Crowley

  He escorted her to the mansion’s front doors and held them open as she walked out.

  Taylor gave him a final glance. “Farwell, Gerald. Be well.”

  “Farewell.” He smirked and raised his voice as she had already hastened off the porch and halfway down the footpath. “And don’t forget—this makes us even now!”

  Without turning, she waved a hand casually as though it were no big deal at all.

  The security guard greeted her and watched as she climbed back in her car with her precious cargo, turned the engine on. and steered it down the driveway through the woods that would take her back to the security gate and the real world.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Taylor’s House, Harrison, Westchester County, New York

  The black Tesla soon reached home, having veered north to cross the Hudson at the Tappan Zee Bridge before it returned to Harrison via a patchwork of back roads. Taylor pressed the button to open her gate seconds before it was visible.

  She was pleased to see that no vehicles were missing as she pulled into her garage. Having everyone present would make their final preparations much easier.

  Tonight. It would happen tonight.

  Presley opened the door before she reached it, his timing impeccable.

  “Hello,” she greeted him. The apple and the box containing the twig were both in her purse. “I was successful.”

  “That is very good to hear, madam.” The butler stepped aside as she entered. “Everyone is in the library awaiting you, except Agent Gilmore, who is napping upstairs.”

  She nodded. This sounded agreeable. It would be better to have Kendra out of the way at first while they discussed the more arcane elements of the plan.

  Taylor handed her coat to Presley and strode directly into the library. Alice sat in the corner and flipped through a book, but the others were gathered around the reading table, engaged in a couple of interlocking sub-conversations. Everyone stopped talking, turned, and stared as the vampire made her entrance.

  She nodded to them. “It’s good to see you all again. Remington, what on earth happened to your face?”

  “Oh—uh,” he answered and returned the ice pack in his hand to the angry red lump, “I fell out a window.” He cleared his throat.

  She felt her face lengthen in horror and already tried to imagine the medical complications.

  Alice added from across the room, “A first-story window, don’t you worry. He plummeted a vast distance—all of about, say, three feet. Maybe three and a half.”

  “Oh.” She was almost disappointed. “It’s still impressive that he acquired such an ugly shiner from such a minor injury. Remington, did you also acquire…”

  He picked up a syringe from the table, mostly filled with a blackish-red liquid. “Yeppers. And the dust.”

  She closed her eyes a moment. No one had failed. They might triumph over the would-be tyrant and her mindless servants yet.

  Andrew Volz trudged up to her. “Hi, Taylor. They say you were getting something important? And there’s…uh, a spell we need to cast? I am still trying to understand everything that’s happening…” His brow wrinkled and his reddish eyebrows bristled.

  The vampire looked up as Bobby walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. “Alice did some work on him while you were gone when we had a little free time. She did something right since the hex seems to be wearing off. He’s not completely back to normal but she said it would only be a matter of time.”

  “Excellent.” Taylor looked at Volz again. “You have been under a spell yourself, in case Alice or Bobby didn’t tell you. You’ll be better soon, though, and we’ll make sure that this never happens again.”

  The dwarf nodded and comprehension seeped slowly into his face as his reawakening brain began to put things together.

  “All right,” the vampire announced and raised her voice enough to make sure everyone grasped that she was speaking to all of them. “I have acquired the apple and the twig. We are almost ready for showtime. I want everyone to gather and tell me, in an orderly fashion, exactly where we stand on every current issue.”

  As the others drifted back to the table or adjusted their positions to face her, Bobby spoke again.

  “Kendra is catching a couple of hours of sleep upstairs in one of the guest rooms,” she explained. “She was tired anyway, and we thought it would be much easier for Alice to work her magic on Volz without her around.”

  “Yes,” Taylor acknowledged, “Presley mentioned that and good thinking. We’ll need to update her on the broad outlines of the plan but will let her sleep while we discuss certain of the details.”

  Alice took her place within the circle and Riley, who’d drifted around the upper stacks somewhere, descended and perched on Remington’s shoulder. Conrad also appeared from the hallway. He’d apparently been guarding Kendra on the second-floor—which presumably meant protecting the rest of them from any sudden intrusion by her.

  The vampire regarded them with a serious expression. “Thank you all for your hard work thus far. I already possessed one of the Apples of Eden myself—I’d kept it in a private vault and it was a simple matter to retrieve it.”

  She reached into her purse and produced the long-dead fruit in its baggie, mildly amused when Remy and Bobby wrinkled their noses at the sight of it. Neither commented on it, though.

  “Second, a twig from the Burning Bush lay with the personal collection of an individual who is known to me and furthermore, who owed me a favor. I have now collected on that debt.”

  They craned to look closer as she pulled the small box out, untied the string, and removed the lid to expose the nondescript ancient stick within.

  “Wow,” said Riley. “There’s a strong aura coming off both of those.”

  Alice agreed. “Yes, I might not have recognized them in the wild, so to speak, but I’d definitely have realized they had some significance.”

  The vampire nodded. “We now have all we need.”

  “Except,” the witch added and raised a finger, “the final ingredient—the blood of someone already under control.”

  “Yes, I know,” Taylor countered. “We may be able to deal with that one on the spot or possibly even beforehand. It will, in any event, be the easiest ingredient of them all to come by. First, let us focus on how we will lure Moswen into our trap.”

  A brief discussion ensued, in which Taylor and Remington explained that they’d chosen the New York Public Library, Main Branch, as the site of the Egyptian vampire’s tomb-to-be. Alice, Bobby, and Conrad voiced their concerns, but the vampire quickly convinced them.

  “The Library,” she explained, “will not be bulldozed next year to make room for an apartment building. It’s an iconic New York landmark. Furthermore, the deepest vaults are seldom visited. And carrying out the operation tonight means that almost no one will be present. Our abilities and Agent Gilmore’s authority will be more than sufficient to deal with any security guards or a single librarian working late.”

  When everyone finally agreed, they turned to the subject of how to lure Moswen there.

  Bobby sighed. “Alex hasn’t arrived yet, and we thought about going to look for him before you did. The idea seems to be that we can use him to indicate our position and Moswen then tracks him to try to kill us, right?”

  “Exactly,” Taylor confirmed. “Where could he be, though?”

  Remy snorted. “I suspect I know. We’ll pick him up later. If he’s not there, I don’t know where else he could be besides the office, but that doesn’t make much sense.”

  She flapped a hand. “Yes, check the pub once we’re done. I seem to recall someone mentioned a spell we could send through his brand to taunt his former mistress?”

  “Yup,” said Bobby. “Riley and Alice both have something to say on the matter.” She gestured toward the fairy and the witch to indicate for them to speak.

  Riley went first. “I broke the brand on that colonel that Remy and I talked to, and I think I can use A
lex’s to find out where Moswen is. So, if she doesn’t come to us, we might be able to go to her.”

  Alice followed this up almost immediately. “However, I do believe I can perform an adaptation of that which will also ping Moswen with Alex’s location in a way she’ll find completely insufferable. It will be like an itch she’ll need to scratch, more than a traditional thrall-bond, but, hey, it will solve the problem of getting her to where we want her.”

  Taylor considered this. “Yes, let’s do that. Of course, Moswen knows that we are not pushovers. She won’t come alone. We can expect a significant entourage of her strongest thralls.”

  Grim nods followed around the circle. Remy spoke next.

  “Maybe we’ll get lucky and Colonel Russel and his men will arrive for the party,” he began, “but I wouldn’t specifically count on it. We also might be able to get Kendra to bring her team and at least secure the exterior—you know, to keep the battle from spilling out onto the streets.”

  The vampire drummed her nails on the reading table. “Hmm. We will discuss that after Kendra awakens or wake her up ourselves if need be. More backup is always better, despite the risks involved.”

  There were still things they needed to know before their plans could be set in stone and even then, flexibility and adaptability would always be required.

  She turned her mind to another subject. “Bobby, Volz, do you have any updates on tracking down important people found in the vicinity of Moswen’s supposed hideout in North Queens?”

  “Yeah,” said the receptionist, “Kendra and me had some hits once we managed to find out how to use some of Volz’s software. It’s facial recognition stuff, mainly. We turned up about half a dozen people sighted near that warehouse. There were a couple of politicians, a cop, a few business people, and some guy we had no information on, but he’s probably some kind of criminal with underworld ties.”

  Taylor frowned. “Yes, that is disturbing. I almost wonder if Moswen might try to dispatch them to make our lives more difficult in other, less obvious ways at the same time that she rushes to kill us herself. It might be best if Riley, supported by Remington and perhaps Bobby or Volz, goes off to de-thrall these individuals while Alice and I cast the spell. A two-pronged attack.”

  Most of the group’s faces fell at this—or squinted in confusion—and for a moment, she experienced doubt as to her own wisdom. It was a rare occurrence.

  Then again, she was tired and full of fear at the prospect of what defeating Moswen might do to her personally. Both of those situations were rare, too.

  After a moment of awkward silence, Remington stood, adjusted his tie, and grimacing stoically the way he sometimes did. “Hey,” he said and spoke directly to her, “can I talk to you for a minute?”

  He inclined his head toward the library doors. He meant talk alone, obviously.

  She folded her arms over her chest. “Fine.”

  Taylor’s House, Harrison, Westchester County, New York

  There was, Remy decided, no getting around it anymore. Taylor was stretched too thin lately, and it had finally begun to affect her judgment. No one else was about to step up and say anything, but everyone expected him to be a cocky loudmouth with minimal tact or self-control.

  Thus, of course, the responsibility fell to Remington Davis, the man with no reputation to risk.

  Side by side, they walked out into the far corner of Taylor’s beautiful foyer. With the lights out and only the dim residual glow from the kitchen seeping in, the room had a lovely, peaceful atmosphere. He would have liked to simply stand there for a while, relaxing and enjoying the evening.

  But there was no time and that wasn’t why they’d come out there.

  He took a deep breath. “You’re wrong,” he stated and paused when she tensed as if mildly shocked by his impertinence. After a moment, he plowed on.

  “Listen, we need the whole team there to defeat Moswen. Splitting up right now would not be wise. Please, hear me out on this. I know I seem like an idiot, but think of how often I turn out to mysteriously be right about things.”

  Her eyes narrowed and her jaw tightened, but all she said was, “Go on.”

  “Okay, then.” He extended a hand, his index finger out. “First, committing all our resources to deal with Moswen will be more efficient because, as you yourself pointed out, when she goes down, the thralls fall, then rub their eyes and wonder what caused such a strange nightmare.”

  Taylor barely inclined her head, and he continued.

  “Second, you need all the backup you can get. You admitted that you and Moswen were, at best, evenly matched. So if the two of you cancel each other out, that means you’re talking about Alice trying to fend all the thralls off on her own and work the spell at the same time. Even if you also brought Conrad, that’s cutting it close, don’t you think?”

  Her gaze flicked to the side and she nodded again.

  “Third,” he concluded, “you need us, specifically. It doesn’t make much sense to push away the people you care about while you go off on this endeavor with a complete stranger. I know, Alice seems nice and she’s been helpful so far, yeah, but we barely know her. No one cares about you the way we do. That…changes things.”

  He trailed off, suddenly afraid he might be blushing. For a perhaps a full minute, they stood there in the darkness, neither speaking nor looking at one another.

  The vampire finally broke the silence. “I have two counter-arguments to those points,” she said.

  “Of course you do.” He sighed. “But I hope you’re considering what I said.”

  “I am.” She extended her hand. “First, the spell is to bind Moswen, not to kill her. We don’t know if her power over her thralls will be entirely vanquished. At least she won’t be able to command them if she’s insensate, but they might continue to try to mindlessly dig her up and bring her back to life even without direct orders. There are no guarantees.”

  Remy almost flinched. He hadn’t thought of that.

  “Second,” the vampire went on, “it is precisely because I care about all of you that I’d rather not have you in harm’s way unless necessary.”

  She was being her usual aloof self, but he could detect the emotion slipping through the cracks.

  “Damn,” he breathed. “I believe you on the latter point, actually. But we’re already in harm’s way. She’s tried to have us killed on multiple occasions—anywhere we happen to go in the New York area, remember? I think now is the time for all of us to face this together, and end it, once and for all.”

  Taylor leaned back and closed her eyes. Sensing that he was getting through to her, he pressed his advantage.

  “You have to let us in, Taylor. Let us help you. No one thinks less of you for needing a little assistance with something like this. A joint effort is the only way we’ll win.”

  She didn’t open her eyes for a few more seconds, then she nodded slowly with a deep, deliberate motion.

  “So be it,” she stated. “You’re right. I…had considered both options. But the single strong front is…very likely the better one.”

  The vampire extended her elbow, a borderline mischievous look forming around her mouth.

  Smiling, Remy hooked his arm through hers and escorted her back to the library. When they entered, everyone looked up expectantly.

  Taylor made the announcement. “Change of plans. We’ll all go. Victory is better assured by a larger force and one way or another, Moswen’s thralls will be less of a problem once she is dispensed with, anyway.”

  Most of them looked relieved to hear this, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from leaping forth to take credit for saving the day. As he’d told Taylor, it was a joint effort.

  “Okay,” said Bobby, “that’s great. The blood, though—we still need that. What if, by some chance, Moswen doesn’t bring her thralls? Or we can’t…uh, draw any from one of them?”

  “Good point,” he conceded. “Unfortunately, Colonel Russel isn’t a candidate since we broke M
oswen’s bond with him. And I’m afraid it didn’t occur to me to stick a syringe in him when we invaded his home and beat him up a couple of days ago. You know how it is.”

  “Right,” the young woman quipped, “but what about Alex? I know you guys mostly broke the link, but the fact that Moswen can still sense him means that he’s still partially under her influence, right?”

  Taylor put her fingernail to her chin as she contemplated this. “Yes, but some of my influence is on him as well. His blood might trigger the spell to affect both of us. If that is the only way to stop Moswen, then so be it. But I’d rather not. Let us collect some of Alex’s blood as a backup plan and try to use one of her true thralls first. Either way, we need Alex to lure her. Remy?”

  “I’m on it,” he agreed at once. “Riley and me, that is. Not a problem.”

  The vampire folded her hands together. “Someone rouse Kendra and let’s make our final preparations.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Taylor’s House, Harrison, Westchester County, New York

  “Riley,” said Remington, “get my car started and wait there for me. I’ll be out in a couple of minutes. I need to ask a last-minute question or two.”

  The fairy agreed. He tossed his keys to her and she “caught” them telekinetically in midair. They sparkled with silver light alongside her as she floated out toward the Lincoln.

  Fortunately, Kendra Gilmore was discussing security issues with Conrad in the kitchen while both ate a quick meal, so she wouldn’t have been able to see his keys float down the path.

  He hesitated and closed the front door. Presley stood between foyer and kitchen, looking at him.

  “Have you forgotten something, sir?” he enquired.

  “Sorta,” quipped Remy. “You’ll be holding the fort, right? As nice as it is to have backup, I know you’re getting a little long in the fang for combat. Plus, Moswen might send some of her pet dickheads back here, so…”