The Last of the Red-Hot Vampires

by Katie MacAlister

  "I would be insulted except there's not time for me to argue with you. Suffice it to say, I will be the personification of the word subtle. All right?"

  She sighed, and looked out the window again. Silence filled the room, no sound at all penetrating from the rest of the house.

  My mind, normally organized and orderly, squirreled around, randomly hopping from thought to thought, giving me an uncomfortable, unsettled sort of feeling. But behind all that, there was a nagging sense of having missed something again, something important that, if only I could concentrate, I could see. It was at the tip of my awareness, just beyond my focus…

  "Here we are, then." The door opened for Milo, bearing a small red plastic tray adorned with coffee mugs, a milk jug, sugar bowl, and small yellow bowl filled with the tea cookies so beloved by the English. "Sorry for the wait. How do you take yours?"

  "Black is fine, thanks." I took a mug from him, and waved away the offer of a cookie. "I apologize again for barging in like this, but I'm in a bit of a bind, and I was hoping you could help me."

  "Certainly," he said, offering Sarah a cookie. His eyes were the same smiling brown eyes of the man who'd amused me the night before, but I was wise to his ways now. "Anything I can do to help."

  "We're looking for a virtue named Hope, and I was told by someone in the Court of Divine Blood that you knew her."

  "Oh yes, that's subtle," Sarah murmured.

  We both ignored her.

  "Hope?" Milo asked, his eyes mirroring the surprise on his face. "The Court?"

  "Look, I know you used to be an archon there, and were later kicked out, only to have the charges against you dropped," I said, setting down my mug. "So, although I appreciate the fact that you don't like a couple of relative strangers poking around in your past, you don't have to pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. I've seen the Akashic Record."

  Milo slumped back in his chair, one hand rubbing over his face before he opened his eyes and gave me a short nod. "It seems I don't have a choice. If you've seen the Record—but what was it you wanted from me?"

  "Let's start with, why didn't you tell me you were a trial proctor last night, when you conducted the fourth trial?"

  "It's a bit complicated," he answered, his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward toward me. "I'm going to tell you the truth because you're a nice person, and I quite like you. It's true I concealed my position with the Court from you. I didn't want to, but I was told by someone high up in the Court that if I didn't, I'd lose my job."

  "Someone didn't want me to know that I was undergoing the fourth trial?" I frowned when he nodded. "That doesn't make any sense. All the other proctors have announced who they were, and that a trial was about to start. Why wouldn't someone want me to know I was doing the fourth one?"

  Milo stared down into his coffee, his thumb rubbing along the thick edge of the mug. "I wish I could tell you, Portia, I really wish I could. But I have my wife to think of. I've been banned from the Court before—I can't risk that again. All I can say is that someone doesn't want you to succeed as a virtue."

  "Who?" Sarah asked.

  "I can't tell you that," he said, giving her an apologetic smile.

  "Well, can you narrow it down somewhat?" she asked. "Can't you give us some clue about who this secret enemy is? Surely Portia deserves that much consideration."

  I sent Sarah a look of gratitude.

  "Of course she does," Milo answered, rubbing his chin as he continued to gaze into his coffee. "I suppose it wouldn't be breaking any confidences if I was to tell you the person who wishes you ill is someone you've met here in England."

  "Hmm. Someone I've met. Let's see, the first person who has Court ties whom I met is Theo."

  Milo gave me a long look.

  "There was Mystic Bettina," Sarah said, her eyes narrowed in thought. "And Milo and Carol, but obviously you're excluded from the list of suspects."

  "Obviously," he said, smiling for a moment.

  "Tansy and Leticia," I continued the list.

  Milo's expression didn't change.

  "Who did your trial after that?" Sarah asked. "I've got them in a muddle. Was it the demon woman?"

  "Noelle the Guardian? No, she came after the second trial. That was done by Terrin. Following him was the demon—"

  Milo's shoulders twitched. I stopped, mentally backing up. "Do you know Terrin?"

  His face became as smooth as a mask. "Would you like more coffee?"

  Sarah's gaze met mine. It was clear what Milo was trying to tell us between the lines. Which was very interesting, considering all that Terrin had told us.

  "No thank you, I'm fine." I took a sip of the coffee before continuing. "I do have another question for you, if you don't mind my apparent nosiness. Do you know the virtue named Hope?"

  "Hope!" His face brightened for a moment, then he shot a hunted look over his shoulder toward the door, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "Yes, indeed I do know her. She's been a stalwart friend for several centuries. She stood by me when I went through my black time."

  "Black time?" Sarah asked.

  "Excommunication," he answered. "I lost a great many friends then, but Hope wasn't one of them. She spoke out on my behalf, and almost lost her own position because of that. Fortunately, I was exonerated before any action could be taken against her."

  "I see. Do you happen to know where she is now?" I sat back, my hands on my lap, apparently at ease, but oddly nervous, as if some secretive thing lurked in the shadows.

  He chuckled. "I'm glad to see you don't put any stock in that ugly rumor that she's dead. I knew you would see through those murder charges sooner or later. Unfortunately, I can't help you find her. I haven't heard from her since before you summoned her."

  I opened my mouth to tell him I didn't knowingly summon her, but decided that point wasn't relevant to the conversation. "Do you have any idea where I can find her? We stopped by her flat just before we came here, but the janitor we talked to had no idea where she was. Obviously, I need to find her to prove to the Court that I didn't kill her."

  "No idea, I'm afraid," he said, shaking his head. "I wish I could help, but I haven't a clue where she's gone to, although if she was feeling threatened by someone…" He paused a moment, his gaze dropping to his hands. "If she was feeling that her life was in danger, she would take steps to make sure no one found her. I'd guess that she would leave the country, go somewhere no one would think to look for her, and lay low until she felt it safe to emerge again."

  My disappointment must have shown on my face.

  "I'm sorry," he said again, patting my hand. "I wish I could help you—"

  "Milo!"

  He jumped and looked around guiltily. His wife stood in the door, giving us a cold-eyed look. "Hello, dear. I was just chatting with our visitors."

  "You said you were going to do the shopping before tea," she said pointedly, giving Sarah and me an even colder nod.

  "Oh, yes…"

  "Thank you for the coffee," I said as Sarah and I stood up, gathering our things. "I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you."

  "It's been my pleasure." He escorted us to the front door. I swear waves of coldness rolled off his wife as we scooted past her in the narrow hall. As we reached the door, I paused for a moment, looking straight at his wife. She met my gaze without flinching, one of her eyebrows arching in an unspoken question. The penny dropped at that moment, my mind suddenly wonderfully organized again as the missing piece of the puzzle snapped into place. I forced a smile to my lips, and continued out the door.

  "Please don't hesitate to give me a ring if you have any other questions. And thank you for…er…understanding my little deception. I assure you that it was not by my desire," Milo said, waving good-bye.

  "Well, that was hardly more than useless," Sarah said as we carefully picked our way down the broken-tiled path to the street. "All we learned was that this Terrin person has it in for you, and that Milo knew Hope well. There's not a
lot to go on."

  "You don't think so?"

  I opened the car door, glancing over the top of the car to look at Milo's house. A curtain in one of the front-facing rooms twitched, as if someone had been peeking out. "I'd have to disagree. I thought the conversation was very enlightening. Very enlightening indeed."

  "Really?" She shot me a fast look before pulling out into traffic. "Enlightening in what way?"

  "I'll let you know as soon as I talk to Theo."

  "Oh, for God's sake…Portia, you're a big girl. Just because you're madly infatuated with Theo, doesn't mean you have to be a doormat. You can talk to me about things before checking with him first."

  "Have I ever been a doormat?"

  She pursed her lips and didn't answer.

  "That's right, I haven't. I'm not waiting to clear the subject with Theo. I simply need to determine if my proof will support the supposition I believe fits the circumstances."

  "I hate it when you talk in that horrible empirical way," she grumbled, but knew me too well to do more than voice the complaint.

  We drove along in silence for a few minutes before she asked, "Well? Did you discuss it with Theo? Does he agree with your supposition or not?"

  "Hmm? Oh, no, I can't talk to him right now. He's in the Court, remember?"

  "What does that have to do with the price of tea in China? I thought you guys could talk even if you weren't physically near each other?"

  "Normally, we could, but there's something about the Court that inhibits mind-talking."

  "Well, isn't that just fine and dandy! Now I'm going to have to wait—"

  "Turn left at the intersection."

  "—until Theo comes out so you two can discuss whether or not to reveal to me this supersecret insight you seem to have?"

  "Left again, please."

  "I may be just a normal person without special powers or anything, but that doesn't mean you can treat me like…hey. Isn't this taking us around the block?"

  "Yup. There's a parking spot right over there."

  Sarah looked to where I was pointing, shooting me a curious glance before pulling in behind a large panel van. "You want to tell me what we're doing back on the street where Milo lives, or is that, too, a big secret?"

  "Actually," I said with a grin, "it's probably better if you don't know. That way it can't be said that you were an accessory."

  Her mouth made an O for a second, then her curiosity—almost as great as my own—got the better of her. "Dish, sister."

  "Taking a leaf from Theo's book, we're going to become kidnappers. Can you see the front door of Milo's house from here?"

  "Yes. Why are we kidnapping Milo? I bet if you asked him to come along with us—not that I know where we're going—he'd be happy to do whatever you wanted. He seems like a nice man."

  "Yes, doesn't he?" I rubbed my chin, trying to decide on the wisest course.

  "I know you're almost a member of the Court of Divine Blood and all, but you still have to live in this world, and here it's illegal as all get out to kidnap someone." Sarah had a familiar pugnacious expression on her face. I just broadened my grin.

  "I hate it when you do that," she told my grin.

  I sighed and decided it wasn't fair to involve her in something so potentially dangerous. "You're right. It annoys me to admit it, but you are right, Sarah. What I'm about to do is very illegal, and I think that it probably would be best if you weren't involved. I know it's asking a lot, but would you mind leaving me the car? I don't think I can get another one at short notice, and I'm sure there are taxis that can take you back to Newton Poppleford."

  "Oh, no, you're not getting away with that crap," she said, taking a firm grip on the steering wheel. "We're in this together, if you recall."

  "Our original plans did not call for kidnapping," I pointed out.

  "No, but I'm your friend. A friend's place is at your side when you commit felonies. Oooh! Look! Milo! How do we get him into the car?"

  My lips thinned as I watched Milo leave his house, walking around the front to the other side, where I assumed a detached garage sat. "We don't."

  "I think he's going to get his car. Are we following him?" Sarah asked, her hand on the ignition key.

  "No. Duck!"

  I doubled over in the passenger seat, having seen a white car emerge from the area behind Milo's house. Sarah hunkered down as well, waiting until the sound of the car passing us had faded.

  "All right, now I'm confused…Where are you going?" she asked as I got out of the car.

  "To get our victim." My heart was racing as I approached the door to Milo's house, my palms suddenly damp with sweat. "I hope I do this right."

  "Do what?"

  "I'm going to Taser Milo's wife Carol."

  Chapter 21

  "You're going to what?" Sarah grabbed my arm as I was about to knock at the door. "Are you crazy? Oh, what am I saying? You don't even have a Taser…"

  "No, but I do have a handy little skill that allows me to control lightning."

  Her eyes widened. "You're going to strike Carol Lee with lightning? That could kill her!"

  "Not if I can control it properly." I took a deep breath, pushing aside the doubting thoughts, focusing on what I needed to do. "A Taser is a device which uses a high-voltage pulse of electricity to momentarily shock its target, thereby disrupting the neurotransmitters, and effectively overloading the nervous system. Carol will be temporarily immobilized, but not permanently harmed."

  Overhead, my little cloud formed. I spread my hands about six inches apart, mentally envisioning a concentrated electrical charge pulled from the surroundings. My fingers began to tingle, the sensation spreading up my arms, reminding me of the time I'd touched a low-voltage electrical fence. Sarah watched with open-mouthed horror as a small blue ball of light formed between my hands. The tingling intensified as the ball shrunk into a small blue orb between my palms.

  "Knock on the door," I told Sarah, my attention focused on holding the charge where I wanted it.

  "Portia—"

  "Please, Sarah. I don't know what will happen if I stop focusing on this."

  "I hope to god you know what you're doing," she said, shaking her head, but knocking on the door.

  It took about sixty seconds, but the door finally opened up a few inches, with Carol Lee's white, expressionless face visible. "What do you want?" she asked.

  "The truth," I told her, flinging the electrical charge directly at her. Her eyes widened for a moment before the charge zapped her, knocking her backward a few feet.

  "I knew it! You've killed her!" Sarah pronounced as I pushed open the door and knelt down by Carol's supine figure. My hands were shaking as I checked her pulse.

  "No, she's alive. Her pulse is a bit rocky, but fine." Carol's eyes were open, unblinking, and flat. "Go get the car. We'll get her into it and restrained before she comes out of this."

  Sarah stood above me, her hands on her hips, a warning note clearly evident in her voice. "Portia, I never thought the day would come when I'd find you, the most passive of pacifists, disabling and kidnapping an unarmed, innocent woman—"

  "Innocent, my ass. Get the car quick," I said, hurrying into the kitchen to look for some twine or duct tape I could use to bind her arms.

  To my relief, we managed to get Milo's wife securely bound and bundled into the rental car before she came out of her shocked state. After five minutes of non-stop abuse hurled from where she lay on the backseat, the noise abated once we applied a scarf in the form of a gag. She continued to mumble behind the gag, but, thankfully, it was subdued enough to ignore.

  "Where are we going?" Sarah asked as I returned to my seat after gagging our victim.

  "The Court of Divine Blood."

  Sarah made a soundless whistle, saying nothing more but shooting me frequent questioning glances. Silence and occasional outraged gurgles from the backseat filled the car as we drove to the castle. I knew Sarah was as uneasy as I was over the potentially damning ac
t of kidnapping, but I saw no other solution available to me. The silence bore down heavily on me as I ran over a mental checklist, hoping that I hadn't missed anything important.

  "You don't think anyone is going to notice this?" Sarah said twenty minutes later as a huge billow of fog filled the courtyard of the castle.

  I prodded Milo's wife forward, ignoring her glare of pure venom, keeping one hand on her wrists bound behind her back. "I'm sure someone will notice the localized fog, but I don't really care. It's difficult enough kidnapping someone—getting them where you want them to go without interference from the public is tantamount to impossible. I'm just taking the easiest way out."

  The fog, my lack of familiarity with the castle, and Carol Lee's repeated, abortive attempts at escape made it take a good three times the normal amount of time it would have taken to find the room that opened into the portal to the Court, but at last we arrived at our goal.

  I saw Carol eyeing the windows and grabbed onto her shoulders with both hands, shoving her toward the entrance to the Court.

  "Portia, are you sure—" Sarah started to say, doubt evident on her face as we approached the fuzzy portal.

  "Reasonably sure. I've examined the evidence and can't come to any other conclusion. Deep breath, everyone. It's showtime!"

  "I can't believe the only time I'm visiting heaven is in the pursuit of some crime or other," Sarah grumbled as we marched to the center of the town square. The usual business prevailed: people talking in small groups around the center well, the shops doing their brisk trade, other people busily hurrying hither and yon. At the sight of us materializing in the center of their activities, everyone froze.

  "Hello, again," I said, recognizing a few (albeit startled) faces from the hearing. Theo?

  An equally startled silence filled my head. Portia? What are you doing in the Court?

  Doing what you asked—resolving one of our problems. Where are you? I think I'm going to need a little help in getting my prisoner to the mare. The people in the square seem to be stunned into some sort of a fugue state.

  Theo seemed to share their reaction, at least for a few seconds. Prisoner?