She sighed wearily, looking away, profound sadness in her eyes. "I know."
"What are you going to do?" Tavi asked, an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Not your concern, Octavia," Carter said. "Tell me again what Elenaril said about Tec and his master."
So Tavi told them of Elenaril's belief that Tec had a secret lair on Mount Laguna and that she thought it would likely hold a clue as to Tec's master.
"And she only referred to him as Q?" Gálvez asked.
"And said that he was a powerful Fey lord."
"I don't know what's going on here," Carter said, "but for more years than I've been presidente, this man has been there to help us, fight for us, and save lives. I don't know if there's such a thing as a Tzitzime blood-cult or not, but I do know Tec has been instrumental in stopping many Aztalan plots, and with war on the horizon, to lose both Morgan and him..." She shook her head. "It's too much."
"I wish to God he was here now," Tavi said softly.
"As do I, child, as do I." She turned to Gálvez. "What do we know of Mount Laguna?"
He sighed and ran his hand through his short, graying hair. "I recall something about an old U.S. military installation up there. There’s also a farming collective, the Pine Valley settlement, near the base of the mountain. We have a small detachment there, a section of soldiers."
Carter chewed the inside of her lip, her expression lost in thought. Then she turned to Tavi. "You, Octavia. As soon as you can pull the resources together, I want you to take a platoon—"
"A platoon is too many, Madam Presidente," Gálvez said. "If these beast attacks are the prelude to an invasion..."
"A section of rangers then," she corrected herself.
Gálvez nodded.
"Go as soon as you can. Look for this lair. We need help. If there is a powerful Fey lord behind Tec—and someone has been pushing Tec to help us—then we might be able to convince him or her to join the war effort."
Tavi's heart drummed. "What about the Aztalans, Madam Presidente? Won't you need me to fight?"
"Probably. But we need allies a lot more right now. Octavia, we're counting on you."
Tavi met her gaze, sweat running down her back, but she nodded. "I won't let you down, Madam Presidente."
"Get going," Carter said.
Tavi jumped to her feet, saluted, and spun about, stalking for the door, her thoughts consumed by the myriad details she'd need to put in order before getting underway. There was a section of rangers she could rely upon, good men. And she'd need to make sure someone was in charge before she left.
Damn, she'd have no time to check on Shane!
She opened the door to see two cleaning staff, a man and a woman, waiting just outside the door with their brooms and a garbage container on wheels. One of the soldiers on sentry duty looked to Tavi. "Mago Diputado, are the presidente and the general remaining, or can the cleaners go in?"
"I don't think—"
"It's okay, Octavia," Carter yelled from inside, having heard the question. She was engaged in a heated discussion with Gálvez, and both were bent over a map on the table. "Let them do their jobs. We're going to be hours yet, and this rooms stinks of cabbage."
Tavi shrugged, motioning inside with her head. The cleaners scurried past, and she closed the door behind her.
She was halfway out of the building before she remembered she had left Angie's elvish side-sword on the floor beneath the table. Idiot, she admonished herself. Angie Ritter might be a psychotic murdering bitch, but you promised you'd keep it safe. Tavi spun about and hurried back, nodding at the sentries waiting outside the council chambers. The men were chatting with a pair of attractive young female cleaners. How many janitors are there? she wondered as she pulled open the door.
She froze in confusion. One of the two cleaners held Gálvez in a headlock, his hand over the general's mouth as the other cleaner, the woman, held Carter pinned down on the table, where she leaned atop the older woman. At first, Tavi thought she was kissing the presidente's neck, but when she raised her face to look at Tavi, blood dripped from her mouth and fangs.
Vampires! How—
Someone screamed behind her.
Chapter 13
Just after eight p.m., Angie stalked among the long rows of bookshelves in the Brujas library, her thoughts cascading about her skull like billiard balls. She was worried and... well, furious. Constance Morgan had given them sanctuary. That should have meant more than it apparently did. Her hand drifted to her hip, where Nightfall should have been, and she forced herself to not grind her teeth. Not only had they been given sanctuary, but the Seagraves had risked their own lives transporting Morgan and Tec, as well as Tavi, about the country in the helicopter. She and Rowan had then rescued Shane Harper—again, at considerable risk to themselves. And what did they get for their efforts? Treated as prisoners once again. Rowan was convinced the Nortenos were going to ship them back to the Commonwealth for a speedy trial and speedier hanging, and Angie thought maybe he was right. She pulled out an old German saber-fighting treatise and then slammed it back into place again a moment later, wincing when she heard the spine crack. She closed her eyes and sighed, forcing herself to calm down. Don't take it out on the books, Angie.
A soldier entered the library, a pale young man without a weapon. Maybe he was off duty. Angie nodded in greeting, forcing herself to at least act politely. The man ignored her, instead walking to the large picture window and pulling the curtains closed. She sniffed. Whatever. Go ahead and hate me. See if I care.
The truth, though, was that she did care—more than she realized. It was a hard thing to live with hatred. Turning about, she headed for the library entrance, deciding she’d go find somewhere else to think, maybe the gardens.
A second soldier moved in front of the doorway, blocking her path. The moment she saw his face, the pale skin, the bloodshot eyes, she recognized what he was.
Vampire!
Angie's intuition screamed in warning, and she spun just as the first soldier, his own fangs glistening, leaped for her throat from behind.
Primal fear rooted Tavi in place as the vampire holding Gálvez tossed him at her as if he weighed no more than a small child. Her shade protected her, creating a magical translucent shield that deflected Gálvez with an explosion of sparks to rebound onto the floor, where she heard the back of his head crack against the wood. Tavi flinched, falling back as the vampire rushed her impossibly fast. Before she could even cry out, the vampire was slashing at her face with his long, sharp fingernails. Again, her shade protected her, blocking his attacks with more shields, and sparks flew. Gunfire and screams erupted behind her where the squad of soldiers protecting the council chamber had been a moment ago. She remembered the other cleaners and realized they, too, must be vampires.
The one she fought came on relentlessly, and she finally reacted, casting Shockwave right at the vampire’s face. The spell hit with enough force to flip the vampire back through the air and slam it against the council table with bone-crushing force, but a moment later, the vampire rose again, unhurt.
But she had bought herself precious time.
Long hours of training under Morgan kicked in, and Tavi's hexed saber, a heavy, curved weapon intended for slashing from horseback, flashed from her scabbard. She slipped into a fencing stance: her weight evenly distributed, her right leg forward, the saber's point in line with the vampire's face, her left hand resting on her hip, and her thumb resting against the weapon's back-strap in a pivoting grip. From this stance, she could make snapping attacks with a flick of her wrist. But Tavi had only ever fought in the training arena and never against a vampire—no one she knew had ever fought a vampire.
It was hardly something you trained for.
The vampire, armed only with its sharp fingernails and fangs, growled at her, circling her, its posture low and ready to pounce. She knew they weren’t really undead but Fey. However, she also knew that they were so hard to kill they may as well have
been immortal. Blood loss meant nothing to them, and bullets did almost nothing. Fire was said to work, as was decapitation or a stake through the heart.
She had a sword.
In the split second before the vampire launched itself at her once more, she made her decision. Its nails were like knives, so she'd fight it in the same way she would an opponent armed with short-range weapons. She retreated, sliding back on her rear leg as she used her much-longer saber to strike at the vampire’s fingers. She slid back, trading space to make a series of quick snapping cuts at the vampire’s hands. She severed most of the fingers from its left hand in a single cut. The vampire didn't even seem to notice. With another two cuts, she almost completely severed the right hand at the wrist so that it hung by a sinew, flopping uselessly. And still, the vampire came on, his face enraged, swinging his extremities at her, apparently unaware of the damage she had already done.
Behind her, she heard screaming from the antechamber as well as the rapid fire of gunshots. With the vampire's hands no longer a threat, she went on the offensive, making a series of hard cuts to the vampire's torso and head. The cuts to the torso, although gruesome, did nothing to slow it down, but the blows to its head staggered it. Mother of God, she thought breathlessly, can it even die?
Her strength waning, she drew back her saber, gripping it with both hands, and screamed in rage as she swung the most powerful horizontal cut she could at the side of its neck. Her blade hit, the impact staggering up her arms, but her saber's heavy blade severed the vampire's neck and spinal cord. Tavi, unable to stop herself, spun about, almost falling over as the vampire’s head hit the floor with a clunk. Then both head and body turned to ash and fell apart, leaving the coveralls to fall empty.
Tavi, her breath heaving, stared in stunned disbelief. They can die.
Her gaze snapped to the second vampire, the female drinking Presidente Carter's blood. The second vampire didn't look up as Tavi charged, either too absorbed in her feeding or unconcerned. Tavi's anger seared away her fear as she closed the distance. With a jar that ran up her entire arm, Tavi thrust her sword point into the space between the vampire and Carter, impaling the monster in the heart.
The vampire fell away from Carter, but as she did, she pulled Tavi's saber from her hand, the blade stuck in her chest. But instead of dying, she remained on her feet, watching Tavi. Her red eyes shone with amusement as she drew the saber from her chest and tossed it behind her. She smiled at Tavi, blood dripping from her mouth and chin.
Idiot, Tavi told herself. A hexed sword isn't a wooden stake.
The vampire tensed to launch herself at the now-defenseless Tavi.
Both vampires attacked Angie at the same time, sandwiching her between them. The moment they reached her, the Other created powerful shields that not only stopped their attack in a shower of sparks but also sent both flying from her in a thunderclap, the one in front hitting the doorframe so hard he shattered it.
That shield had been vastly different from any other shield she had ever seen. Even Char had never created a shield that knocked opponents away before. But what could she do now? She was unarmed.
The vampires rose quickly but now approached her more warily, spreading out on either side, their stances low. She dropped to a knee, keeping her eye on them as she grasped at a broken splinter of doorframe the size of her forearm. Her fingers found the wood just as the vampires attacked, coming at her from either side. Once again, the Other created shields, forcing the vampires to stagger back, but this time the shields were much smaller. I'm running out of mana, she realized, the knowledge like an icicle through her heart.
She rose, countless hours of fencing practice giving her strength as she thrust with the piece of wood at one of the vampires. Her balance was off, and she misjudged the thrust, driving the wood through its sternum in place of the heart she had been aiming for. The vampire spun away, pulling the still-embedded piece of wood from her hand. Her gaze darted to the broken library doorway, but the second vampire slipped in front of her.
It smiled maliciously, exposing its fangs. "You smell delicious. What are you?"
THEY LIVE, SOURCE MAGE. The Other's thoughts flashed through her skull.
"What?" she said aloud, hearing the hysteria in her voice.
THEY LIVE!
She hesitated, confusion coursing through her, but before the vampire could take advantage of her distraction and attack, a young man with long red-blond hair burst into the library, tackling the vampire from behind, bearing them both down.
"Jay, no!" Angie screamed. He was unarmed. In his human form, the vampire would rip him to shreds.
And she was right. In a heartbeat, the vampire threw him off and slashed at Jay’s chest, ripping through his skin. Jay screamed but caught the vampire's wrists. There was no way a normal person could have done that, but even as a man, Jay was supernaturally strong and fast, just like Erin. Surprise shone in the vampire’s eyes as Jay held its hands away.
Behind her, the vampire she had stabbed with the piece of wood screamed as it pulled the barbed splinter of wood from its gut. Her eyes flashed back to Jay just as the vampire ripped one of its hands free and drew back to rip him open with its long, sharp fingernails. Angie cast Shutter, transporting herself beside the vampire, catching its upraised wrist in both of her hands but knowing she couldn’t possibly hold it for more than a moment.
A moment was enough, and the Other took the vampire’s life force, siphoning it into Angie as easily as every other time. Power flowed through Angie, different from the mana that came from people but no less potent. The vampire’s eyes widened, and then its body fell apart in her grip, turning to ash. As the now-empty uniform fell to the floor, she understood what the Other had been trying to tell her: vampires were alive, a source of mana!
The other, wounded vampire rushed her, and she spun, extending her palms out and casting Shockwave. The spell hit the vampire so hard its body and clothing disintegrated, its skeleton shattering like glass. The spell also shattered the rows of bookshelves behind the vampire and the hundreds of books they held, reducing them to confetti. Gray ash mingled with paper in the air.
Rowan, Casey, and Erin burst through the library's door with a squad of Norteno soldiers right behind them.
"Jay!" Erin yelled, rushing to her injured brother.
"El Ángel de la Muerte," one of the soldiers said in a shocked whisper, staring at her with wide eyes. "María, Madre de Dios, sálvanos."
Angie stood in stunned silence as ash and pieces of paper fell about her.
Once again, the Other had saved her life.
When the vampire attacked, Tavi's shade protected her once more, creating shields. The vampire's long nails were a blur as she attacked Tavi's eyes, but she was unable to penetrate her shade’s shield, and sparks flew in the air between them as Tavi furiously backpedaled, fumbling at the release on her sword belt. The vampire kept coming, kept slashing, but couldn’t get past her shield. Either the vampire had no experience fighting mages, or she didn't care.
And it doesn't matter, Tavi realized with mounting horror as she gripped her saber's metal scabbard with both hands, the ends of the belt swinging wildly as she used the scabbard to bat away at the vampire's hands.
And then what she had feared happened: the vampire's nails came right through the too-weak shield her shade had created, hitting the end of Tavi’s scabbard and almost knocking it out of her hands. Oh no. I'm out of mana.
Certainty of her imminent death squeezed Tavi's heart in a death grip.
The vampire must have made the same realization, because she paused, her red eyes shining. "I don't have time to drain you," she said in a mocking hiss, "so I'll just rip out your throat."
"Go to hell."
"You first, human girl."
As the vampire drew her arm back for another slash, Tavi saw the sword cut in her coveralls over her heart—and the neat vertical cut her saber's blade had left over her pale-white flesh.
She had on
e chance.
Tavi lunged, extending her scabbard with both hands as she aimed for a target so small it would be almost impossible to hit. But then the blunt end of her scabbard slid through the vertical cut in the vampire's chest—and into its black heart.
The vampire backhanded Tavi, and she flew back, smashing hard on the ground. Spots of light danced in her vision as she shook her head, rising on her elbows. The vampire, still smiling, took a single step forward and then froze. She stared down at the metal scabbard jutting through her chest, and her smile was replaced by a look of profound confusion.
"Only the outer part of the scabbard is made of metal," Tavi said breathlessly, blood flowing from her nose and into her mouth. "The lining is wood."
The vampire took one more step before turning to ash. The scabbard hit the floor with a clunk, landing amid the vampire's empty clothing.
A dozen soldiers rushed into the council chamber. Several ran to help Tavi, but she waved them away. "See ... see to the presidente, to the general." Something ran into her eyes, blinding her. Blood, she realized. Her scalp was bleeding.
Then she fell forward, her vision going dark.
Chapter 14
The sharp tang of medicinal alcohol filled the small Brujas infirmary. Angie wrung her hands, feeling helpless as the Brujas orderly, the same pretty young woman who had stitched Angie’s back the day before, now tended to the long gashes in Jay's chest. Jay sat on a cot, shirtless, as the orderly worked, her fingers deftly drawing the thread through his flesh, pulling the cuts closed. Rivulets of blood ran down his abs, staining his pants, but Jay bore it with stoicism. His brothers and sister stood about the cramped infirmary, watching. Cabinets and shelves were lined with bandages and cotton swabs. A stainless-steel container with glass doors held jars of medicine and pill bottles as well as medicinal alcohol. There was even a small refrigerator, no doubt powered by the same generator that kept the radios running in the TOC. Stainless-steel instruments filled another waist-high container, but Jay's wounds needed only cleaning and stitching. They looked bad, but the cuts had been shallow. Just the same, Angie had insisted on rigorous cleaning with alcohol, knowing how filthy a vampire's nails could be.
The Awakened World Boxed Set Page 39
