Battle of Forces: Sera Toujours

by Ali Vali

  “I have to see Rolla again, but this time I have to go alone.” She pressed her fingers to Piper’s lips to keep her quiet. “This isn’t an issue of trust, so don’t say anything like that.”

  “I don’t distrust Rolla, but do you remember the first vision I had about them? Rolla isn’t the only Elder, and he seems to be in a small group, along with Morgaine and Lenore, who actually wants to stop this. I don’t know who the others are, but they seem tired of living in the shadows of history. If that’s true I don’t want to let you out of my sight if I can help it, so stop asking me to.”

  “You’re right. Let me see what I can find out—I don’t want to chance the phone.” She took Piper’s hand and finally felt the fear of the unknown Piper had saddled herself with for weeks. If this had something to do with Julius and he’d found a way to escape his dark prisons, not even Henri and Ora would match his hatred for her and his need to destroy everyone she loved.

  Piper took a deep breath and let it out slowly, as if she was about to say something important. “You’ve lived long enough to know the best way to handle all the people involved in this. If you need to see Rolla alone, please do. I won’t be thrilled about it, but it might be the fastest way for us to deal with it. Right now I want to get everything that’ll keep us apart out of the way.”

  “The most important thing right now is to find out if Julius is back and somehow planning something. If he managed to escape, he’s going to come at me or Rolla first with all the rage that’s built over the years, if he was able to feel anything at all.”

  “Now you know what’s been on my mind since all this started. If someone out there hates you that much, it terrifies me as to what they’ll do to you.” Piper wrapped her arm around Kendal’s waist and put her hand in her jacket pocket. “All this time you’ve given me won’t mean anything without you. If whoever is lurking out there wins, and they take you away from me, that would be my definition of a nightmare I’ll be stuck in forever.”

  Kendal ducked into a quiet spot and phoned Ming to ask him to make a call for her. While they waited she rested her chin on Piper’s head as she held her and hoped for the best. A few minutes later she answered the call and conversed in Russian. It didn’t matter now if Julius’s head was discovered and removed from its hiding place; she just needed confirmation it was where she’d left it. An old friend Kendal trusted was off to look for the box she’d buried deep in a cave where winter winds always blew outside.

  “Depending on the weather it should take a couple of days for him to call back and let us know if the head is where I left it. If it’s not, then we’ll have another clue as to who and possibly what this dragon business is about, but now we have to work on how it’s possible Julius would know anything about it.”

  *

  “We’ll have to come back here,” Molly said. The Marmandes were ready for dinner after the hours they’d spent in the gallery, and they ordered drinks while they waited for their table. Piper smiled at her and kissed Kendal, who excused herself to greet the old friend who sat alone at the center table in the dining room.

  With their time getting short, Rolla was already close and didn’t mind coming out to talk to her, and while their talk was private, it was happening in Piper’s line of sight.

  “What did she see exactly?” Rolla asked, and Kendal told him about Piper’s vision that afternoon. He sat back in his chair and pushed the plate of lamb chops away from him. “Do you think it’s possible?”

  “You remember him as much as I do.” She took a sip of the whiskey she’d ordered. “Julius was never content with the life you offered him, only with the immortality aspect of it. He thought himself a god with a right to rule. Who was the man who cried over his body once the judgment was past?”

  “Bailey,” Rolla said softly, and shook his head. “He’s been a junior archivist since Julius has been gone, and he’s been content with his position. I don’t think he’s capable of this.”

  “He was the only one I can remember who seemed upset with what happened and has had total access to the archives. Do you know what was written about this sword and the dragon trapped in the hilt? There had to be something besides the book Lenore’s memorized by now. She still hasn’t found anything useful in the history it contains.”

  “There might’ve been one or two more details, but like you, I never took the story literally since very few objects found in our long history have actually been touched by the gods. That a woman would’ve come to you and gifted you with a sword blessed by Greek gods seemed too fanciful to believe.”

  “Considering you sent all the books you had on the subject to Lenore, the others that existed are gone or missing. You need to send for Bailey and have him brought to Farthington. Morgaine and I’ll have a talk with him and convince him to tell us what he knows.” She nodded to the waiter when he brought her another drink, then pushed Rolla’s plate closer to him so he’d finish.

  He stared at it but didn’t pick up his utensils again. “Bailey’s been missing since you arrived here and hasn’t contacted us.”

  “I’m about to pay for this because I’m the one who carried out the punishment. That I was ordered to do so isn’t something he’s going to remember, but I won’t be his only target.” She put her hands on the table and looked at Travis and how intently he was again staring at Piper and her family. “Find out if Julius’s body is still where you placed it. If it’s not, make sure the others know that once he takes care of me and ensures that he has destroyed everyone I hold dear, he’ll come for them.”

  Rolla inhaled deeply before answering, as if trying to put off the inevitable. “The body is gone from where I buried it, and if you find out the head is also missing we can be assured that Julius is back among us.”

  It was like Rolla had sucker-punched her in the stomach. What had started as something she didn’t totally believe had turned into a true nightmarish threat. “How long do you think before he’s back to full strength?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Has anyone else come back after so much time in total darkness?”

  “The elixir has never been tested for this length of time, and it could be he can’t be brought back after being separated at the neck so long.”

  “How would someone have known where to look?” She finished her drink, and the smoky flavor washed away the bitter taste the subject had left in her mouth. “We were the only ones who knew the locations. You didn’t write a scroll about it, did you?”

  He defended himself. “It didn’t give the exact location. I thought it was important for the others to know his story so they would never meddle in the lives of mankind like that again. The scroll only gave clues as to where he could be found.”

  “And someone close to you followed them right to the hidden treasure. I’d have to guess it was your little archivist, who’s been pining for his lover for a very long time.” Obviously Julius hadn’t lost a step as he served his sentence, and they had to make up fifteen hundred years of research in less than two months. “Do you think anyone else is working with them? From what I remember of this Bailey, he wasn’t the type of man who did well by himself.”

  “I’ll call the other Elders of the judgment panel together and start our own investigation.” He offered his arm and she clasped it like warriors did at one time. “We will give you the same loyalty now that you gave us then. You and yours won’t be abandoned now, Asra. You have my word.”

  “What I need is Bruik. Can you have him brought to us? If anything, he can maybe help Piper refine her gifts.”

  “That’s a promise I’m more than willing to make to you, old friend. Remember to be careful until then.” When Rolla stood, Travis jumped to his feet and came closer. Kendal stared at them until they were out the door, not surprised that Travis looked back at her the entire time. Something about Travis made her think he held some hatred for her that had nothing to do with the first night they’d met.

  Kendal and the Marmandes finis
hed dinner with no other interruptions, then enjoyed the ride home in silence. Ming waited at the front door when they walked in, informing Kendal there’d been no calls while they were out. Mac and Molly retired as soon as they got back, and by one in the morning the house was completely quiet. Lenore and Morgaine were together going over the information again, along with all they’d kept on Julius and his history.

  Kendal told Piper everything about her conversation with Rolla, and that Julius’s body was gone.

  “Do you really think this guy’s walking around?” Piper lay next to her and had rested her head on her naked chest.

  Piper had come to bed in the shirt Kendal had taken off, and she’d stripped down to her underwear and was going through the stack of books Lenore had given her to find passages about Julius.

  The old book she’d started with was actually a text of weapons that resembled a catalog. “Why did you keep this?” Piper pointed to the page she’d stopped at since the sword resembled the Sea Serpent Sword.

  “The Elders have hoarder tendencies when it comes to the written word, no matter the subject matter. I’m sure Lenore forgot she had this and just put it in the thousands of piles she has all over the world.”

  “Remind me to go through all my catalogs and recycle the old ones. I doubt we’ll need anything from Pottery Barn or Victoria’s Secret two thousand years from now.” Piper slowly ran her hand down Kendal’s abdomen and under the elastic of her underwear.

  “Speak for yourself, pipsqueak. I enjoy buying you things from the Victoria’s Secret catalog.”

  Piper snorted as she pinched the skin above Kendal’s navel. “Sure you do, but I’d rather only keep more educational books around. I’d rather read—” Piper stopped talking when Kendal cocked her head and held her hand up for silence.

  Without a word, Kendal jumped up and ran out of the bedroom, not stopping to get dressed. “Where are you going?” Piper yelled after her.

  Kendal turned to see Piper hang on to the banister as if to stay on her feet, but she couldn’t comfort Piper yet and hoped she stayed put. The reason she’d bolted from the bedroom stood on the landing, but at least ten more were ready to pounce when the woman holding Mac gave them the word. Two of them held Molly between them on the first floor, and the Marmandes appeared completely terrified.

  “Asra, how nice of you to join us,” the woman holding Mac said, and that was enough for Kendal to know she was indeed in charge. Even though she was at the head of the stairs she could see the rapid pulse of Mac’s carotid when the redheaded vampire pulled his head back by the hair.

  “What do you want?” she asked, keeping her voice calm. It wouldn’t make a difference if this woman really meant the Marmandes harm, but she didn’t want to escalate the situation for Mac and Molly’s sake.

  “Honey, please,” Piper said emotionally, and Kendal could tell she was crying, but she raised her hand for silence. Vampires fed not only on blood but on the terror of others.

  “Do you really see yourself in any position to ask questions and, before you think about them, demands?” The redhead made Mac whimper when she ran her tongue along his cheek.

  Coming closer to them, Kendal could see that Mac’s focus was on the elongated incisors the woman seemed to proudly show off. Just as quickly Mac glanced at her and she smiled at him to assure him. “You’re in my house, and you’re bothering my guests, so I do have the right to make demands. I’ll start with your name.”

  “My name is Vadoma and I’m the new queen.”

  Something about her speech pattern tickled Kendal’s memory, and she tried to think of why, ignoring the way Molly was whimpering below them. “Tell me why you’re here before I rip your heart out and nail it to my door to greet the sun.” She had to concentrate but remembered the language of the Gypsies. That’s what the accent she recognized was, so she used the old language to lower Vadoma’s aggressiveness.

  Vadoma seemed to almost forget Mac for a moment and let his head come forward as if she’d relaxed her grip. “I was told you were a worthy adversary, but I specifically chose this time of night for a reason.”

  “Why’s that?” She moved closer and stopped when Vadoma, her tongue flat, licked the trickles of blood that had dripped from Mac’s neck. She had to get Vadoma away from Mac before the smell made her thirsty and she went into a feeding frenzy that would also consume Molly.

  “Judging from the way you’re dressed and your lack of weapons, you weren’t expecting company and couldn’t have guessed I could get inside.” Vadoma laughed, but she made her first mistake when she pushed Mac to his knees, to further humiliate him, Kendal was sure. “And save the spiel of how you don’t care for these people and I can do with them whatever I want. I’ve watched you and I know better.”

  Kendal went down another step with her hands out in front of her. “I can see you’re in charge, and I’d never tell you I don’t care about anyone here, so if it’s me you want, let them go.” She smiled down at Mac, then Molly to get them to relax, although she knew that was impossible. Behind Vadoma and her followers, Lenore, Morgaine, and Charlie moved into the room undetected.

  “My cousin made too many mistakes with you, but she will smile in hell tonight. I’ve watched you long enough to know you’re nothing special,” Vadoma said, and was bending down to feed on Mac, or so Kendal assumed, when she heard Hill yell at the top of the steps. It was enough of a distraction.

  “You should’ve watched me a little closer, witch.” Kendal moved quickly to press on one of the wood panels, opening a secret compartment on the staircase wall, and armed herself.

  She threw the first dagger up and impaled the fledging that had been creeping up on Piper and Hill, and Piper gasped when he dissolved to dust. Five more fledglings died instantly when Morgaine, Charlie, and Lenore attacked. That left Molly free and only five others, as well as Vadoma, to be dealt with.

  Next Kendal jumped headfirst down the last of the steps separating her from Vadoma, flying over Mac and knocking a shocked Vadoma down the last flight of stairs. She could tell Vadoma’s minions were anxious to help her, but they stood still when they saw the blade pressed to their mistress’s neck.

  “You brought them with you because they’re the best of your legions.” She had Vadoma’s red hair wrapped firmly around her free hand and pressed the knife into the delicate-looking flesh at her throat with the other. She didn’t think to be gentle, though, since she knew what Vadoma was under that beautiful façade. “And if they are, you’re screwed.”

  “What do you want?” Vadoma said, but sounded in control.

  “I want the dust of your dead body dirtying my carpet, but we’ll get to that.” She pulled harder on Vadoma’s hair and turned her to face the fledglings she had left. “Tell them to stand down right now or I’ll gut you like the minnow you are.”

  Vadoma lifted her head as much as she could and looked at the young man closest to her. “Go back to the lair and wait for me.”

  “We won’t leave you, mistress.” His face contorted in an effort to scare Kendal into letting Vadoma go, and to show she was serious Kendal pulled the dagger away from Vadoma’s throat and threw it so fast, his only recourse was to howl in outrage before it pierced his heart.

  “Care to try again?” By the time she asked, Morgaine had handed her another large knife.

  “Leave now, we’re not welcome here.” Vadoma gave the order in the old language, and this time the remaining four obeyed and left her behind to her fate.

  “You and I are going to have a talk,” Kendal said to Vadoma, now more aware of Mac and Molly. They stood staring at her as if they were mentally processing what they’d seen but didn’t have a reference to compare it to. “Piper, are you all right?”

  Piper nodded, rooted in place like she wasn’t sure what she should do next. “This has been the most bizarre night of my life, and I met your brother and his girlfriend.”

  Kendal laughed at that remark and followed where Piper’s eyes were focuse
d—on her grandparents. She’d help her explain the situation later, but now she couldn’t take the time.

  “Take your grandparents back to their room and I’ll be there in a minute.” The sound of her voice made Piper move, but before Piper reached the landing, Kendal took Vadoma through a hidden door at the bottom of the stairs.

  Piper was momentarily panicked when she saw Kendal disappear into the space that swung open when Kendal pressed on a spot on the wall. She had to deal with the aftermath of what’d happened before she could join Kendal, but as scared as her grandparents appeared, this was the best of all outcomes. No one had been hurt except for those who’d come to do harm.

  “Gran and Pops, come on.” She waved to them, hoping they’d save their questions until morning.

  “What in the Sam Hill is going on here?” Mac said loudly as Molly made her way to him with Lenore’s help, and he opened his arms to her. “What were those things?” Lenore and Charlie herded them up the stairs, but Mac stopped at the pile of dust that was created when Kendal destroyed the man who’d gotten close to her and Hill. Hill touched it like she’d figure out the trick if she thought about it long enough.

  “How’d she do that, and why right now?” Hill rubbed the dust between her fingers. “It was a great magic trick, but scaring the crap out of people wasn’t the way to pull it off.”

  “I promise that Kendal and I will talk about all this and explain exactly what happened and why, but tomorrow, okay?” Piper maneuvered them toward their rooms with Lenore and Charlie’s help.

  “What if I don’t want to wait until morning?” Mac asked, but her grandmother stayed silent.

  “I agree with him, Piper. This was way out there,” Hill said.

  “I understand and I’m sorry, but you’re all going to have to wait until we’re done with this. My place is with Kendal and she needs me right now. Please try to understand that.” They stopped in front of her grandparents’ door, and Charlie opened it for them and Hill so the people who’d come with Lenore and Morgaine would stand guard.