by Gary Jonas
With a warrior cry, I burst from the shadow, and sliced off the corpse’s head with one swing of my blade. I held the head up high, keeping the face buried beneath the hair. The body hit the floor like a bag of potatoes.
“I’m sick and tired of you!” I yelled and hurled her head through the fifth floor window. The glass shattered. The head landed across the street somewhere. It seemed unlikely that anyone would want to go across the street to see if it belonged to Lenora, or if it had burst into flames.
“Holy shit,” Ben said.
Victor clapped his hands slowly at first, then faster and harder. “Bravo!” he said. “Well played!” He turned to Sinclair, who stared at the corpse on the floor.
“What have you done?” Sinclair asked.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“What have I done?” I asked, pointing my blade at Sinclair. “I’ve eliminated the main competition, and brought this little battle over the Rings of Aten to the two vampires who most want them. You two can fight it out.”
Sinclair fumed and clenched his fists. “You bitch! She was the only other vampire who knew how to open the damn box!”
I smiled. It felt good to get under that son of a bitch’s skin for once, but I needed to coax him to another way of thinking. “I just did you a favor. With her truly dead, her binding spell is gone. Now it’s down to the two of you.” I kept my blade pointed at Sinclair. “You have the box with the rings.” I moved my sword toward Victor. “And you can open the box. If you two work together, everything works out.”
“But he doesn’t want to open the box!” Sinclair said.
Victor smirked. He was good at smirking. It had to come naturally, since he couldn’t practice in front of a mirror. “Nicely played, Ms. Chan,” he said. “In point of fact, we’re members of the Council, and as such, we cannot fight one another. But there’s a bigger picture here, and I do need that box back.”
“So take it,” I said.
“Lenora was my ally,” he said. “Were you not important to the bigger picture, I would have your head right now.”
“Were you not important to saving my friend, I’d have your head right now,” I said.
“I cannot save your friend. I didn’t cast the death spell.”
“Your witch friend will be dead in less than three hours,” Sinclair said. “As much as I’d like to stand here and watch you plead with me to save her, I’m not happy with our arrangement.”
“Our arrangement?” I said. “You got what you wanted. The rings are in your possession.”
“But you are not the one who secured them, and I don’t have access to them. As a side note, you killed the vampire most likely to side with me on opening the box because her ring is in there right now too.” His gaze shifted toward the desk. “Benjamin, if you even think of slipping out of here right now, I will end you.”
Ben leaned back in the chair. “I wasn’t going anywhere. I’m rather enjoying this little show.”
I stepped forward, placing the tip of my blade against Sinclair’s chest. “You need to save Amanda right now.”
“You stupid bitch,” Sinclair said. “You can’t do anything to me with that sword or anything else. You are under my command.”
“Save her!”
He leaned forward and calmly said, “No.”
I glanced at Victor. “What about you? Are you sure you can’t help her?”
“There’s nothing I can do for her, nor for you.”
Sinclair placed one finger on the side of my sword and gently pushed it away. He stepped close to me. “I command you to step back and sheath your sword.”
I did as he said.
“I command you to get down on one knee before me, and bow your head.”
I knelt and bowed my head, gritting my teeth the entire time.
With every command he gave, my anger and disgust escalated a notch.
“Oh,” he said. “Do my commands upset you? Do you have any choice words for me?”
I tried to say, I think you’re an asshole, but what I actually said was, “I think you’re wonderful.” I shook my head, keeping my eyes on the carpet. “I mean you’re a delight to be around.” The lack of sarcasm in my tone offended me.
“That’s what I thought.”
I fought against his command, but I couldn’t say anything bad about him at all. I wanted to scream.
“I command you to rise,” he said.
I got to my feet.
“I command you to draw your sword and slice off Amanda West’s head.”
“No!” I fought the command. I fought it with every ounce of my strength, and yet I drew my sword and walked over to the bed. Amanda was still comatose.
“I’m so sorry, Amanda,” I said.
I raised the sword.
“Don’t do this,” Victor said. “We may need the witch later.”
“I command you to wait,” Sinclair said. He turned to Victor. “What do you mean we may need her later?”
“You’re planning to open the box and use the rings. Correct?”
“Of course. One of them is rightfully mine. I helped retrieve them.”
“But if you slide that ring onto your finger, the Men of Anubis will be aware of you.”
“I don’t care. They won’t interfere with us if we leave their precious plans alone.”
“And what of Ms. Chan?” Victor asked. “She was at ground zero for the Event.”
“Some detective named Jonathan Shade was ground zero,” Sinclair said.
My heart stuttered. My Jonathan?
“Did you say Jonathan Shade?” I asked.
“I command you to be quiet,” Sinclair said.
“Shade is back,” Victor said. “You heard Ms. Fitzpatrick.”
“Stacy is wrong.”
“Ask Ms. Chan.”
Sinclair sighed. “You may have the power of speech once more,” he said. “Who is Jonathan Shade?”
There had to be some mistake. Jonathan was dead. There was no way he could be back, and if he did come back, he’d have reached out to me. I focused my thoughts so I could respond without emotion. I didn’t want my voice to break.
“He was a friend of mine. We worked together, but he died in 2007.”
“That’s long before the Event,” Sinclair said.
“We don’t know that,” Victor said. “Let’s see if she can verify a few things.”
“I won’t say anything until you remove the command to kill Amanda,” I said. I still stood with sword poised, ready to slice off her head.
“You’ll answer if I ask you,” Sinclair said. He turned to Victor. “You had a reason for me to spare the witch for now?”
“She’s a natural witch, and as such she doesn’t need hex bags. She can learn spells to throw the Men of Anubis off our scent.”
“I don’t care about them.”
“But I do.”
“I don’t care what you want either, old friend.”
“Having Ms. Chan kill her friend accomplishes nothing.”
“It amuses me.”
“But it doesn’t take you any closer to your goal.”
Sinclair sighed, looked at me, and waved his hand. “Fine. You don’t have to kill her.”
I lowered the blade, thankful. “And your word that you won’t order me to kill her later.”
“You have my word,” Sinclair said. “After all, she’ll be dead in a few hours anyway.”
“But not by my hand.”
“An important distinction,” Victor said.
“All right, Ms. Chan. We’re going to ask you a few questions, and I command you to answer them honestly.”
I nodded.
“How did Jonathan Shade die?”
“He was shot in the chest. I was there. I couldn’t save him. He died in my arms.” The memory brought up emotional pain I never expected to feel again. I kept it pushed down because I refused to show them that he had mattered so much to me.
“Did he have any siblings?”
“Yes. He has a sister in Manhattan, and another sister, but she’s dead.”
“What is the name of his living sister?”
“Monica Chastain.”
“And where does she work?”
“Dragon Gate Industries, New York office.”
“So how is it that Jonathan Shade could show up at the New York office of Dragon Gate Industries eight years after his death?”
“I would say it’s not possible,” I said.
“Sorry,” Victor said. “I was asking William.”
Sinclair shrugged. “Ms. Chan, go sit on the desk by Benjamin.”
I moved over to sit near Ben.
He started to speak, but I shook my head and pointed. “I want to hear what they say,” I whispered. Could it be possible that Jonathan was alive? I held him as he died. He’d been cremated. There was just no way. And yet, they seemed to think it was him. I had to learn more.
“I agree with the Sekutar,” Sinclair said. “I don’t see how he could have shown up after his death.”
“Ms. Fitzpatrick reports that he was there a few weeks ago. That he talked to his sister, and that he had Kelly Chan with him.”
“She did seem rather surprised to see Kelly at the ball.”
“Who is Ms. Fitzpatrick?” I asked.
“It doesn’t concern—” Sinclair said, but Victor cut him off.
“Stacy Fitzpatrick is a member of the Vampire Council, and she works as a receptionist at the Manhattan branch of Dragon Gate Industries. You shoved her at the ball.”
“She recognized me?” I thought back to the vampires near Victor at the ball and remembered her. “Slender woman, short red hair?”
Victor nodded.
“Yes. We have her working at DGI to gather intelligence, though this is by far the most important information she’s ever provided.”
“She said she saw me with Jonathan a few weeks ago in New York?”
“That’s right,” Sinclair said. ”Was it you?”
I shook my head. “No. I haven’t been to New York in years, and Jonathan is dead. What the hell is going on?”
Victor shrugged. “Sinclair, myself, Lenora, and every vampire more than a century old experienced time changing around us last month. Most of it was subtle. Some of it was not. Ground zero seems to have been here in Denver, though many of the changes were reported in New York City. Some of the things that changed were simple, such as the date of someone’s death, but that could easily be attributed to a bad memory. Lenora was in New York at the time shift. She was reading a book that vanished from her hands half-read. She remembered the name of the author, only to discover he’d never published a novel, and had died in an unexplained mass death in 1927, shortly after his first short story sale. She could tell you about it, but oh wait, you cut off her head, so maybe not.”
“She tackled me into one of those shadows. What was I supposed to do?”
“Regardless, time changed. A man you know to be dead is alive, and may have another version of you with him, which suggests multiple time shifts. If the Men of Anubis are unaware of this anomaly, we would be remiss to draw their attention to it.”
“So don’t draw their attention.”
“They may know already,” Sinclair said. “And to be honest, I don’t give a good goddamn about any of that. The ring is mine to do with as I please, and you need to open the box or I’ll take it to the wizards at DGI.”
“That would be a mistake,” Victor said. “They might be able to open it, but they won’t give the rings to you when they see what they are.”
“They’ll do just about anything for the right price.”
“Not when it threatens their existence.”
“That’s ridiculous. The real mistake is our rule about not vanquishing one another. With Lenora dead, her part of the spell is gone. If you happen to die…”
“Be careful, William.”
“—-your spell would be gone too.”
“The Council will hear of this.”
”I don’t care what the Council thinks.”
“You’re part of that Council and therefore bound to the rules.”
“I can secede.”
“You won’t.”
“You don’t know how much I need this, Victor. I’m done with spending all my time in the dark. It’s time to experience sunlight on my skin again.”
“We all miss the sunlight,” Victor said.
“But we have the rings. To know we have the ability to go out and to leave that power locked up is just too much.”
“There’s something more going on, William. Talk to me.”
“I hereby renounce my position on the Vampire Council, and reclaim my independence. As such, I am no longer bound by their laws. Benjamin, you are my witness.”
“Don’t pull me into this, honey bunch.”
“Too late. As a vampire companion, you can’t decline. Also, my good boy, it nearly guarantees your survival so you should be thanking me.” He turned to Victor and bowed to him. “Victor Pavlenco, formerly Charles de Moliere III, I hereby challenge you to combat. Ad mortem.”
“You fool,” Victor said. “Don’t do this.”
“Too late. Our battle will begin in one hour. You must choose a second, as do I. Gather your army. I’ll gather mine. And we shall meet on the battlefield.”
“There isn’t a battlefield in this area,” Victor said.
“In that case, our combat will be held at Mile High Stadium. You’re permitted one feeder before the match, and one feed after.”
“I know the rules,” Victor said.
“Ms. Chan, you’re my second. I’ll see you on the field.” He turned, phased through a shadow, and disappeared.
“What just happened?” I asked.
Ben raised an eyebrow. “I believe you’ve been conscripted into Sinclair’s army.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Everyone thinks of Sports Authority Field at Mile High, or Mile High Stadium as it’s known to locals, as the home of the Denver Broncos football team. What many people don’t know is that it was also the home of the Denver Outlaws, the professional lacrosse team. I didn’t know it, and I’d lived in Denver for years. On the positive side, the Outlaws had an away game that week. On the negative side, it meant a bunch of vampires, companions, watchers, vampire groupies, and I had to attend or participate in the duel between Sinclair and Pavlenco.
I stood on the grass in the center of the field wondering how many ways things could go wrong. Amanda was still in the hotel room, so time was ticking down, and she wasn’t here to be saved. Sinclair would have to remove the spell in person, so that meant whatever went down here, I’d need to account for travel time unless I could get him to travel through shadows. But would he do that?
It felt surreal to stand midfield in the stadium while vampires gathered on the sidelines. Ben led a young man and woman to the field. They wore white robes and had silver collars with what looked to be capped straws poking out from their necks. Feeders. Geoffrey led a similarly clad couple to the field for Sinclair.
Once again, I reminded myself that these were volunteers. These people wanted to feed their vampires. Or did they? Perhaps they’d been commanded to be there and offer their lifeblood to keep their masters going. I had no way to know for sure, and I didn’t trust anyone here to tell me the truth. How would I even know the truth?
Sinclair walked across the field. The lights were bright, so we all cast shadows, but he chose to cross the grass on his own. Victor did the same, but Victor had a hooded, robed woman in tow. Her face was cast in shadow, so I couldn’t see what she looked like.
The vampires reached midfield at the same time. I stood close to Sinclair because I was his second. I wasn’t sure if that meant I had to stand in for him should he be unable to fight or if there was something else I was expected to do. Nobody talked to me. They went about their preparations. Along the field, they stabbed wooden spears into the grass. A local wizard stood at the endline, his hands glowing br
ightly. He raised his arms and dark geometric shapes appeared in the air. Squares, rectangles, circles, pentagons, triangles, octagons, hexagons, floated above him.
Geoffrey approached me and followed my gaze. “Shadows,” he said.
“Cast by what?”
“A wizard.”
“Not what I meant,” I said.
“They are lone shadows. They are for the Watchers and vampire squads to use to travel. If someone goes through a triangle, they can jump up to any of three shadows. Go through an octagon, they can jump up to eight.”
“Freedom of movement,” I said. “Got it. But why?”
“This is not a duel where Victor and William face off against one another directly.”
“So what is it?”
“Combat. Their seconds are under their command. They must fight off the army of Watchers, and underling vampires, and one another. It’s a battle to the final death.”
“So Sinclair won’t be taking the field?”
“Yes, he’ll be here. You’re his second, therefore you’ll fight until you’re killed. At that point, I’m his first, so I’ll take the field and fight until I’m destroyed. Only then will William join the fray. Your job is to kill as many of Victor’s followers as you can.”
“And if I kill his entire army?”
Geoffrey laughed. “That won’t happen.”
“What if it does?”
“It’s never happened. Normally, the seconds and firsts are slain within minutes. Then one vampire will have to take the field and face an army, and whoever remains of the first or seconds. It’s rare that the two vampire lords will have to actually fight one another. One is normally slain in short order. Overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.”
“You’ve been in one of these before?”
Geoffrey shook his head. “Of course not. I’m still here. In the history of these battles, no first or second has ever survived.”
