Deadly Assessments

by Drew Hayes

  I had no response to that, largely because I didn’t trust my tongue. When I’d developed a silver-immunity, it had come after allowing Gideon to channel tremendous amounts of his power through me as a vessel. Dragon magic was a peculiar thing; it often worked in ways that no one else understood, and to my knowledge, I was the first vampire to undergo such a process. Still, when even Arch and Krystal had been stumped for an explanation at the change, part of me had held out hope that other vampires might be able to provide some insight. If Deborah, an ancient vampire and member of the Blood Council, hadn’t ever heard of such a thing, however, I might never find an explanation. Of course, that assumed Deborah was telling the truth, which would be a silly presumption given the nature of our relationship. She certainly wasn’t obligated to reveal any hidden vampire secrets or lore to me.

  All the same, I kept my mouth shut. If I really was the first vampire to be immune to silver, I didn’t want to imagine what length the others of my kind would go to in order to learn how to duplicate such an ability.

  “Hey, Fred, are you listening?” Deborah’s expression was annoyed, verging on worried. I’d momentarily gotten so lost in my thoughts that I’d forgotten to pay attention to what was going on around me. A very bad, dangerous habit, especially in circumstances like these.

  “Sorry, could you repeat yourself? I was . . . it’s been a long night, you know?”

  “Going to get longer before it’s over,” Deborah replied. “I was saying that you shouldn’t have jumped in to help. I was fine. I took the attack instead of dodging to lure him into a false sense of security. If you hadn’t gotten in the way, I was going to charge him when he cast his next spell. That’s when a mage is most vulnerable; they can’t just shift spells mid-gear, so they either have to try to see it through or give up to fight.”

  Such an idea hadn’t even occurred to me, although it should have. Deborah wasn’t one of my friends, or even an agent. She was powerful enough to be part of an organization feared by all vampires, and not without good reason. “Again, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had defenses in place, and I wasn’t sure you’d be able to put the flames out in time.”

  She studied me as I spoke, no effort made to conceal the expression. I found I was growing accustomed to her constant analytical gaze, even if I didn’t expect to ever be fully comfortable with it.

  “Your heart was in the right place, I suppose. But remember, I am here to guard you, not vice versa. The Blood Council has opened an official assessment on you, Fredrick Fletcher, and no one decides whether you live or die until we have ruled. That right belongs solely to us. So stop making my job harder.” She gave me another lingering look, this one harder to read, before she turned to Asha.

  “Do you know which mage that was? From the gender and skin tone, I’m guessing we didn’t just fight Daiyu Lau.”

  “I didn’t get a great look before the explosion, but I think I caught enough of the buzz cut to recognize Kevin Crawford, the mage who specializes in animation enchantments,” Asha said. “He must have built that claw monster we ran into earlier.”

  A sharp sound came from Deborah’s throat, almost like a “tsk,” but deeper. “Don’t make too many assumptions just yet. I saw the buzz cut, too, and there were no signs of an illusion in place, so we can probably go forward presuming it’s him. As for the monster, until we see it up close, we should assume anything is in play. Maybe he summoned it from a nether-realm, maybe he built it; maybe it’s a cohort using shape-changing magic. We are at our weakest when we have to react to the unexpected, so make a point of expecting damn near everything.”

  “Then what do you expect will happen now?” Asha tossed her damp towel into the trash can and turned off the faucet, only for Deborah to reach over and turn it right back on.

  “Now, there is no more chance at waiting this out. He knows our numbers, and we should assume he’ll realize that two of us are vampires. It’s smarter to plan as though we have all possible disadvantages, whether it’s true or not. He knows for certain that I was able to withstand a fireball, and that means he’s aware we’re dangerous. Rather than leave the dirty work to his monster, Kevin will likely begin hunting as well, rather than just ransacking offices. He’ll almost certainly coordinate with his creation, try to make us deal with multiple threats at once. We’ll have to handle them both if we want to walk out of here alive.”

  I pointed to the running water. “And how does a faucet influence that plan?”

  In response, Deborah turned on every faucet in the bathroom, then snapped a toilet pipe for good measure, sending water shooting onto the floor. “This whole office is too quiet. I don’t like having my senses limited, but I’m going to make sure he doesn’t have an easy time tracking us. First, we turn on everything we can find. Lights, radios, faucets . . . if it makes noise or draws attention, get it running. It should help muffle the sounds of our movement. If we’re lucky, we might be able to get the drop on him.”

  “And if we’re not lucky?” I countered.

  “Then you might want to get your fangs out,” Deborah replied. “Because we could very easily have a deadly fight on our hands.”

  8.

  Generally speaking, I got far less use out of my enhanced senses than most other vampires. For them, the ability to hear panting from streets away, smell sweat trailing on the air, and see through even the darkest of evenings were all essential parts of fighting and hunting. For me, it often just made reading or watching TV into an annoyingly distracting affair. That was why I worked hard to ignore those senses, honing my selective attention the way a warrior would hone their punches. So when our senses had been dampened, before I knew about the threats, I wasn’t actually put out at all. And by the time Deborah’s plan was fully prepared, I was downright thankful not to have my full hearing—the horrendous pop songs screeching out of every nearby computer and radio we could access was harsh enough with even just a human’s level of awareness.

  That was sort of the point, however. All that annoying noise allowed us to move around more freely, even if Kevin and his monster would eventually still find us. We had intentionally congregated in the loudest spot. Of course, they’d realize it was a trap. This effort was only slightly more subtle than erecting a box barely supported by a twig with a sign that read “Free Birdseed” next to it. Complex planning was for those with more options. We were on unfamiliar turf against two enemies we knew virtually nothing about; winging it was really our only course of action.

  It didn’t take long before Deborah raced silently around the corner, throwing up a hand gesture to indicate she’d seen Kevin coming. As both the fastest and the quietest on their feet, Deborah was the natural choice to take the role of lookout. Based on her signal, there was no sign of the monster, which wasn’t ideal, but was roughly what we’d expected.

  Carefully, Asha slipped into a nearby office, sliding the door closed with as little noise as possible. This was a dangerous encounter, and as a human, her place was not to be in the middle of everything. With her safely tucked away, Deborah and I were alone, waiting for Kevin to arrive, surrounded by clashing pop tunes.

  “Fred, I think there’s something it’s important we clarify before this goes down. I don’t actually work for you, not directly.” Deborah’s eyes were bouncing among the possible avenues of attack, ready for an approach from any direction. “Bodyguards do our best to honor the client’s wishes, but at the end of the day, their wellbeing is our only actual job. Which is my nice way of saying that while I respect the request for me not to kill our criminal, if it comes down to him or either of us, I’ll kill him without hesitation. Really, we could end the whole thing now if you’d just lift that stipulation.”

  “Why is killing him easier than subduing him? It’s still a fight either way.”

  Another long, assessing look before she replied. “No, it’s not the same. Not at all. Subduing requires me to get up close and personal, to put myself at risk. Killing him . . . well, that’s an
other matter. There are techniques, abilities I have from training and feeding, that would snuff him out without a moment’s thought. If you really think this is all we’re capable of, then you don’t understand why vampires are as feared as we are.”

  That was hard to argue with. My knowledge of vampires was limited to what I’d seen from Petre, Quinn, and Lillian. While each was more powerful than me, their power was something I could easily grasp. But from what Deborah had said, it seemed I was a toddler comparing myself with preschoolers, whereas she was an adult.

  “You’re right. There’s a tremendous amount about our kind that I don’t know, and I’m sure you can do things I’ve yet to imagine. If you’re that powerful, though, then it seems like capturing a simple mage alive would be well within your capabilities.”

  There was a hint of laughter from Deborah, brief and hard to hear over the music. “Don’t waste your time going after my ego. I’m long past such barbs. But I will try to go for the capture, because this is your show to run. Just be aware that if push comes to shove, I shove for keeps.”

  Our conversation ended as Kevin rounded the corner, seemingly catching us unaware. Obviously, we’d been waiting for him—the chatter was just one more way to make ourselves seem flat-footed—and no sooner had he stepped into view than a giant red barrier filled the hallway, separating us from him. It moved with him, staying a few feet before him as he made his way forward, small gestures from his hand guiding the wall with each step.

  “I knew you were trying to bait me, but I didn’t expect you to make it this easy.” Kevin looked at us more closely, a snicker drifting up from his lips. “You hid that lawyer of Phineas’s, I see. Probably someplace far away, in the hopes she’d be safe from me. When this is over, I’ll hunt her down as well, and she will pay for that annoyance.”

  Taking the bait, I ran forward and threw a punch at the barrier. It absorbed my blow just as the one blocking the exits had nullified Deborah’s. The difference was that mine wasn’t nearly as strong, nor especially meant to penetrate. Between the fact that I was running around shirtless and the lucky break that Kevin had never met me, it made sense to take on the appearance of a vampire more in line with common expectations. If he didn’t consider us to be the thinking sort, then there was less chance he’d see the surprise coming.

  “Pitiful. Just pitiful. Healing from that fire must have taken a lot out of both of you. Maybe you should have eaten the lawyer instead of stowing her. I doubt you’ll even make a proper opponent for my red friend.” Kevin laughed, cackled really, in a way that had absolutely been practiced. On cue, the clawed beast stepped into view at the other side of the hallway.

  This was our first time getting a good look at it, and what a sight it was to behold. It was like a scorpion version of a centaur, with six dense legs attached to a long, flat body that suddenly shot upward and turned into a human-like torso. Instead of hands, the arms ended in those thick claws, and the face was nothing more than a pair of inky black eyes and a mandible mouth. At the rear was a four-foot stinger, too short to come into play if someone attacked the monster’s front, but long enough to do a perfect job guarding its back.

  “I call him Sanderson, named after the intern I used for some of the base components. Phineas never wanted to hear how far our company could really go. He didn’t like the idea of using humans as pieces for more lifelike automatons. Forget the sex industry, we could pump out Sandersons and sell them to the highest bidder. There are always people looking to kill without getting their hands dirty.” From his pocket, Kevin produced a small digital camcorder and flipped it on. “This is perfect, actually. Proving Sanderson can hold his own against two vampires will be more than enough to secure me some initial orders. Thanks to the capital I’ve been skimming and the blackmail material I’ve got, that should be plenty enough to launch my own enterprise.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t admit that on tape,” Deborah suggested.

  “It’s my tape, going to my future clients. Something tells me they won’t care how the company came into being. And you should really concern yourself with Sanderson more than me.” Kevin paused, looking to the monster. “Sanderson! Tear them both apart!”

  There was no hesitation, not even for an instant. As soon as Kevin spoke, Sanderson complied. His dark eyes turned toward us, no humanity whatsoever as he charged with his claws extended. Whatever—whoever—had gone into this creature, they were long dead. The thing that remained was nothing more than a puppet powered by Kevin’s magic.

  Sanderson was faster than he looked. His six legs scuttled rapidly, hauling the bulky body around with unexpected precision. Still, it was a charge from half a hallway’s distance against a pair of vampires, so we easily ducked out of the way, and then ran around to the other side. We made it twenty feet before another red barrier popped up. Turning back, we could make out Kevin’s pinched expression, still protected by his magic wall, scrunched with a look of concentration.

  “No more running away. My clients deserve to see a proper show.”

  There was no need for orders this time; Sanderson was already charging toward us again. As it moved, Kevin slowly followed, shifting his barrier to keep close enough to ensure his device would record all the action. We couldn’t pay Kevin too much attention; Sanderson was nearly on top of us, and with the box we were trapped in slowly shrinking, our avoidance options were growing steadily more limited. I dodged a claw meant for my head, infinitely grateful that we’d drunk enough of Phineas’s blood to ignore the wards limiting our physical power.

  Deborah chose a different tactic. The next time a claw came near, she easily stepped out of its way, but rather than let it keep going, Deborah grabbed the arm and jerked hard, pulling the appendage around the creature’s back. Its tail tried to stab at her, but she kept jerking just out of range until finally, it lingered too long. She stretched out her other hand, lightning quick, and took hold of the stinger.

  “Oh no. How ever will we defeat such a bold and terrifying monster? All is lost. Truly, all is lost.” Deborah’s voice was pure mocking acid as she held on to two of Sanderson’s offensive options, bringing him down to a single claw and a mouth of mandibles. She locked eyes with Kevin, who was growing visibly frustrated as she mocked his creation on camera.

  “Perhaps you’re stronger than I thought. That’s the best part of using magical automatons, though. They’re easy to alter on the fly, when one knows the correct spells.” Still safely behind his wall, Kevin lifted the hand not holding a camera and began to whisper under his breath. No doubt about it: he was casting, probably something outright offensive, or a spell that would supercharge Sanderson.

  It was a sound tactic. Unfortunately, it was also a very predictable one. Luring Kevin onto our turf had been the first step; it was the only way to ensure he couldn’t set traps in advance. Getting him to advance to his current position was the next requirement, which we’d managed by driving the fighting further down the hallway. The last piece was this moment, when he tried to cast. We hadn’t known how it would arrive, or what the circumstances would be when it came, but there was no doubt that he’d turn to magic if things didn’t go his way. When one had access to magic, the inclination was to use it at every opportunity.

  Behind Kevin, Asha slipped silently out of the office where she’d been hiding, watching through the barest crack of an opening. She darted forward, metal flashing in her hand. Deborah had said it best: the moment a mage was casting was their most vulnerable, and that was when Asha had to strike. In mere seconds, Asha had arrived, and while I caught a flicker of hesitation in her face, that sentiment didn’t reach her arms. They thrust forward, slamming the letter opener we’d pilfered from a desk deep into Kevin’s back.

  A single stab wound wasn’t enough to kill most people, especially mages. On the other hand, it was more than enough to shatter their concentration. The barrier in front of Kevin flickered as pain overtook him, and that was all we needed. I didn’t actually see Deborah move;
the hot spray of ichor from Sanderson’s suddenly missing limbs was how I knew she was gone. I soon caught sight of her on top of Kevin, pinning him to the ground with Sanderson’s tail.

  I glanced to my side and found the creature in pieces. Deborah hadn’t been gentle in her finishing of the fight—there were chunks of red monster all over the hallway . . . and me, I soon noticed. It was comforting to know that she could have torn Sanderson apart at any moment, but also somewhat disturbing. How much of tonight had been necessary, and how much did we endure solely because I’d asked Deborah not to go for a kill up front?

  I tried not to linger on that just yet, as we still had a mage to deal with. However, by the time I jogged over to Deborah, that problem was well in hand. Both of Kevin’s hands were broken, and from the swelling around his mouth, it seemed a safe bet that his jaw was fractured, too. No words, no gestures, no magic. A brutal method of capturing a mage, but compared to what Deborah had done to Sanderson, it was the very picture of mercy.

  “You see, this is why you never record yourself saying something incriminating.” In her hands, Deborah spun the camera around and caught it in the same motion. “Because your tape isn’t guaranteed to stay yours forever. Consider that during your time down whatever hole the Agency throws you into.”

  9.

  As it turned out, Kevin had not activated the outer barrier; that was a failsafe that kicked on when Phineas died, meaning we were all stuck inside the office until morning. Thankfully, much of the night had already been spent running and hiding, and with no more threats, we were able to wait peacefully until staff began to show up and found their office sealed. Calls went out to the Agency, and by midmorning, the barrier had been safely dispelled.