Lady of Blades

by Saje Williams

  "So you say. What would you consider to be reasonably stubborn?"

  "I don't want to get any farther into this with you, Deryk. We've had variations of this conversation too many times in the past. We both know it won't get us anywhere we want to be. I'm sure Jaz will show up at your office sooner or later. Try to talk some sense into the girl, will you?"

  "Fix your fuck-up, in other words?” He snorted. “Fine. I'll give it a shot."

  She heard a click as he cut the connection. “Self-righteous bastard,” she muttered. He may have had a point, but she'd be damned if she'd tell him that. His tendency to gloat about being right was one of his least attractive qualities.

  * * * *

  Jaz wasn't too surprised when she realized that Shea had been waiting for her to show up. Of course, as soon as I left, Athena called Deryk. What else could I have expected from her?

  The squat, homely immortal leaned back in his leather captain's chair and propped his feet up on a partially-opened drawer. “I see you've been busy winning friends and influencing people again."

  "I'm no Dale Carnegie, but, then again, I've never claimed to be. That woman just rubs me the wrong way."

  "She does that to a lot of people. Are you refusing to help, or just trying to carve out your own territory?"

  Her lips curved up into a slow smile. “I'm not refusing to help, but I'm not going to agree to work under Athena anymore. I don't like her. She has no reason to like me. So why pretend otherwise?"

  Shea chuckled. “Okay. You have a point. I'll give you that. Not sure there's anything to be gained by deliberately antagonizing her, though."

  "Maybe not, but it's sure fun.” She walked over and dropped her butt in one of the guest chairs—nowhere near as welcoming as Shea's chair, but still comfortable enough.

  "Do you feel any guilt for what you did to her?"

  "The eye?” She shrugged. “I guess I do. But not much I can do about it now, is there? And even if I do regret it, I'm not going to kiss her ass for the rest of our lives trying to make up for it."

  "She's right about one thing,” Shea said with a grin. “You are a pain in the ass."

  "Yeah, but you love me anyway. And speaking of love, how are you and Nemesis doing?"

  "We're doing fine,” he replied, after a momentary pause. “Quit trying to change the subject. Are you or are you not going to help hunt down this killer?"

  "Or killers,” she said, clearly pointing out that there might be more than one mage involved. She didn't like thinking of that possibility, but it had to be considered.

  "You think there's more than one?"

  "I don't think anything yet, Deryk. But it changes things quite a bit if there is, wouldn't you say?"

  "Yes. You have any ideas?"

  She shook her head. “Not a one."

  "So what do you plan to do?"

  "First things first. I hear you guys lost Thoth."

  "He apparently had some forewarning that we were coming to talk to him. Vanished into thin air."

  "Probably tubed out and went undercover. He's a clever bastard. You wouldn't happen to have a pic of him, would you?"

  "Not sure. I'm sure someone does. Why—what are you up to now?"

  "You'll see. If he's around, I'll find him. And I'm willing to bet I'm more than a match for him magic-wise."

  "I hope you are. I take it your mission to this ‘Strihava’ place went as planned?"

  "Close enough. We took care of Hecate. Oh—I almost forgot to mention it. I was also forced to kill Ares."

  She didn't miss the stricken look that flitted briefly across Shea's homely face. “Damn. I'm sorry."

  "So am I, actually. He just wanted revenge for me killing Thanatos. I really didn't want to do it. But when someone's trying to kill me—"

  "You just did what you had to do,” Shea interrupted. He waved the whole thing away as if it was of no consequence.

  Jaz knew better. He felt as though he bore some responsibility for all the immortals, and it bothered him when one of them died, regardless of their crimes. “You'll be happy to know that we didn't kill Hecate. We took her mage-gems away and stuck her in the closest thing to a prison we had available. She will be tried, and most likely convicted, before they decide what her final disposition will be."

  "What are they putting her on trial for?"

  "Crimes against Sentients. Apparently there's some precedent. I'm going to be called back to testify once they've sifted through all the evidence."

  "Do they have a death penalty?"

  She shook her head. “I don't think so. I guess the punishment they use most frequently is to have a Free Trader ship drop the convicted criminal on an out-of-the-way planet in an out-of-the-way universe where they can't cause any more problems for anyone."

  "I wish we could do that,” Shea grunted. “Well, as you know, I can't get you reinstated into the PAC, but I can hire you as my head of security, if you're interested."

  "Athena won't like it much."

  "It's my company—I can do whatever the hell I want. I don't give a rat's ass what she thinks about it."

  "Good for you, Deryk. You do have some balls in those Italian silk slacks of yours."

  He answered that one with a heated glare, but didn't bother to respond verbally. He reached into the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a wallet. “Here's your security ID.” He tossed it to her. “Keep it on hand. You'll need it."

  She tucked the wallet into a side-pocket of her jumpsuit. “Thanks, Deryk. I'll make sure this doesn't go to waste."

  "You do that,” he said, smiling. “So are you going to tell me how you're going to track down Thoth?"

  "Better you don't know for now, Deryk. I like to keep a couple surprises up my sleeve."

  "You're a whole nest of surprises, Jaz. As you well know."

  She shrugged. “Well, add one more to the list."

  She tossed off a mock salute, snatched a passing thread, and jumped out.

  * * * *

  Late that night she met up with her squad on top of the Shea Building as rain poured from the sky in blinding torrents. Raven was the only one that wasn't soaked, his oilskin hat and duster shedding water like a duck. His violet eyes tracked Jaz as she paced the length of the roof, her feet splashing through little puddles as she stalked back and forth.

  Cecil looked miserable, his hair flattened against his head like an otter's fur. Orcus, as usual, wore a happy grin as the rain beat down upon his huge frame. “What's going on, Jaz?” he asked.

  "I want Thoth,” she said, pausing mid-step and turning her dark eyes on them. “I want him so bad I can taste it."

  "Why?” Raven asked, frowning. “What's so important about him?"

  "I think he's behind these mysterious deaths,” she told them. “I don't know why, but I think he's gone rogue. Completely around the bend. If that's true, we need to find him and stop him before he can kill anyone else."

  "Why do you think it's him?"

  "I don't know. Call it a hunch. But, even if it isn't, I have to find him—I have questions I want to ask."

  "So how do you propose we find him?"

  "Well, if he's like every other male on the planet, he uses a mirror now and again. That's all we need in order to find him."

  "You want to use the Gray Robe."

  "I don't want to do anything of the kind,” she corrected, “but it's our best bet."

  "We use what tools we have,” Cecil cut in. “Whether we like it or not."

  She nodded in his direction. “My thinking exactly.” She hadn't figured Cecil for the sensitive type. He'd always struck her as a little too self-absorbed for her tastes. Pretty much the opposite of his friend Orcus. “I'll contact the GR and give it our instructions. I'm giving you all fair warning—what I'm going to have it do is going to come as a shock."

  "And what's that?” Raven asked suspiciously.

  "I'm just going to have it reach out and snatch us into the D of M—as you called it, Cecil—rather th
an try communicating with us first. Hell, I'm not even sure it can communicate."

  "Of course you haven't bothered testing it out,” Raven murmured. He raised his hands as if to defend himself from the laser-like glare she cast his direction. “That's not a criticism, Jaz—just an observation."

  She nodded. “Well, that's how we're going to do it."

  "Lovely,” Raven sighed. “Okay. Set it up. We'll be ready."

  "How about you two?” She ran her glance over the lycanthropes.

  The big one fidgeted a little. “I'm with you till the end, Jaz,” he said, with a glance at his smaller friend.

  "Me too,” the were-otter exclaimed. “You don't have to worry about that."

  We could use Chaz's help here too, she thought. But he'd elected to stay behind on Strihava. The lab they'd given him was a research scientist's wet dream, including access to technologies far beyond what he could find on Earth. She couldn't really blame him for wanting to stay there. The potential for creative work had to have been impossible for him to resist.

  But they needed him. They needed all the help they could get.

  Where in the hell has that little shit gone? she wondered. She'd neither seen nor heard any sign of the imp since they'd returned to Earth and she'd sent him ahead to speak with Shea and Athena. Neither had indicated that Quickfingers had been by to see them.

  So he's undependable. Nothing new about that. She just wished she could come up with a way to punish the annoying little turd, but nothing came to mind. Eventually...

  "C'mon. Let's go find a mirror."

  Nineteen

  Spanaway, WA

  September 6th

  12:45 AM

  Thoth paced back and forth in the small motel room, increasingly irritated with himself. He'd jumped too soon and, consequently, they all had every reason to be suspicious of him now. He should have ridden it out—came up with some excuse why he hadn't fully trained the students. It wasn't as though he couldn't have manufactured a reasonable explanation. Lying was a talent he'd mastered a long time ago.

  But he'd panicked when he heard of Jaz's revelation to Athena. How she had found out he hadn't a clue, though he had some inkling that bitch Bast had been involved. She'd sure stepped into his job at the Academy without missing a beat.

  And it was pure luck that his little spirit trap had captured Jaz's imp when it had stumbled upon him eavesdropping on Athena. He'd constructed the thing in a hurry, not even certain it would do what he designed it to do.

  It was the most complex spell he'd ever devised, consisting of nearly one hundred strands. Far beyond what most other mages could manage. He'd designed it to capture Jaz herself, but, all things considered, taking the imp out of the game was good enough for now.

  He glanced over at the empty wine bottle sitting on the chest of drawers beneath the video unit and smiled at the defiant stance of the imp imprisoned within it. It shook its tiny fist at him and he had to chuckle. The creature was powerful, sure. But not powerful enough to escape the entrapment spell. With the creature encased like that, it couldn't help Jaz find him.

  His contacts on Strihava had revealed that she'd managed to defeat Hecate—and had killed Ares in the process. The woman was far more capable than he could have ever imagined. Maybe fleeing when he did was the best choice he could've made.

  He continued to pace. He couldn't stay here. He had to get off Earth as soon as possible. He'd failed in his primary mission, but getting back with at least some information was better than dying here, or being forced to give up his secrets and betraying his allies.

  He was just lucky that Renee had never had reason to suspect him. He'd carried it off far better than he'd ever imagined he could.

  A knock on the door jolted him. He grabbed a particularly lethal spell from his spell web and strode toward the door. He peered through the peephole and let out a sigh of relief. He released the chain and opened the door. He replaced the spell in the web and relaxed somewhat. He could trust this young vampire. At least until he'd delivered to him what had been promised.

  Jason Keening strode in, took one look around, and sniffed. “This is beneath you, Thoth."

  "Which is exactly why it's the safest place for me to be right now."

  The vampire gave him a searching look and shrugged. “Maybe. So do you have what I asked for?"

  "Yes. Have you done what I told you?"

  Jason produced a large black gem from his pocket. “Five mortal souls, just as you requested."

  "Good. Set that on the bed."

  Jason did so. “What the hell were these for, anyway?"

  "The spell is very complicated, and requires an awful lot of life force to cast. Even an immortal mage can't summon up enough power to control it without help. By sacrificing these five humans we will be able to keep the spell intact and create a very specific doorway to a very specific time in the past. That's what you asked for, right?"

  Jason nodded. “Are you sure it'll work?"

  "Absolutely. I just hope this turns out the way you're hoping it does."

  "It better."

  "Threatening me is futile, Jason. If it fails, you won't be in any condition to do anything to me. If it succeeds, you will have no reason to."

  "Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?"

  "Yes,” Thoth said simply. “Any reason I shouldn't be?"

  Jason seemed to think about it for a moment, then shrugged. “Guess not. So what's this going to take?"

  "A couple of hours to get things set up,” the immortal replied. “I just hope they don't have the means to find us before that."

  "Well, I guarantee that I wasn't followed."

  "Good.” Privately Thoth had his doubts that anyone would want to follow Jason, but he kept that to himself. Jason had serious self-esteem issues as it was, picking at them was certainly to net unpleasant results. “Make yourself comfortable and don't distract me. If you do, bad things will happen."

  Jason digested this and nodded. “Go about your business. I won't interrupt."

  * * * *

  Ruston

  Night Breed Bar and Grill

  2:00 AM

  The sports car pulled into the parking lot and cut its engine. The doors opened. A tall, dark shape unfolded itself from the passenger side and walked the breadth of the parking lot to the other car—a classic ‘68 GTO—sitting there with its engine running.

  "You look like you're ready to make a fast getaway,” Raven observed, leaning in the passenger window.

  "Maybe I am,” said the dark woman sitting behind the wheel. “You're lucky I showed up at all."

  "One of us is lucky, Rio. Guess which one it is."

  "You don't scare me, Raven."

  "It would take a very stupid vampire not to be afraid of me. I don't think you're stupid."

  "You don't have to threaten me. I did like you asked. I arranged a meeting between the representative of the Conclave and Ruston's vampire community. You didn't say I had to stick around and baby-sit."

  "True enough. But I assume you know how it went."

  "It went pretty well, actually. Gina Keening is a very convincing woman, and it didn't take a whole hell of a lot for her to gain the respect of both the newcomers and the settled residents. She pretty much sold everyone on the Conclave. Kinda surprised me, actually. I thought I'd be opposed, but what she's doing makes a lot of sense."

  Organized much like the original labor unions, the Conclave billed itself as a way for the vampires to collectively bargain with those in power without the use of physical threats. It fostered a whole ‘we're in it together’ mindset that the vampire community desperately needed. Separate they were easy pickings for whatever group wanted to come after them. Organized, they would evolve into a force to be reckoned with. Or so the theory went. Raven wasn't going to place any bets either way.

  They had a lot stacked against them. People were afraid of vampires to begin with—those who weren't unnaturally attracted to the notion, anyway. Many religio
us folks didn't give a damn about the disease side of things—they considered vampires evil and that was that.

  Tacoma had become a haven for all sorts of freaks, from metahumans to lycanthropes, and the sudden influx of vampires had unsettled a delicate balance of power within the freak community and seriously annoyed the ones who'd been here since the beginning. The way they saw it, too many vampires in the local community would make the mortals sit up and take notice, and then all hell would break lose. A community could only support so many blood-drinkers, and some of the older vamps were afraid that over-feeding would decimate the local population by turning even more mortals into vampires.

  "So what kind of truce did they come up with?” he asked her.

  "It was agreed to make Tacoma a kind of vampiric Mecca ... traveling here to join the Conclave and be placed somewhere else in the U.S. is okay—deciding to stick around and feed off the locals is not okay. The Conclave will appoint up to five representatives who will organize travel to other urban destinations around the country and create new identities for those vampires who are placed by the Conclave. Those who join the Conclave will be expected to give back to the community, both mortal and vampiric, as well as take from it."

  "Wow. Sounds like a pretty decent system."

  Rio shrugged. “Sounds like a bureaucratic nightmare. Glad it's not my problem."

  "You and me both. Any sign of Jason Keening?"

  "Her son? The renegade? I heard a whisper that he's up to something ... something big. But it's just a whisper. No one knows for sure."

  "Anything else I should know?"

  "Well, I'm working on a blood substitute. Gaining ground, too. I've found something that'll work, but everyone tells me it tastes like shit. We can metabolize it better than animal blood, but no one wants to switch diets for long enough to tell if there are any negative side effects."

  "Now that's laudable of you,” Raven said.

  "Laudable my ass. Do you have any idea how much this formula would be worth if I could make it actually taste decent? Millions. Maybe billions."

  "Not to mention the mortal uses for it ... imagine all the blood banks having all the supplies they need for a change. Of a clean blood substitute guaranteed to be disease free. It could be worth Sagans."