by P. C. Cast
Lynette held perfectly still.
The tall man hesitated only a moment, though that moment seemed an eternity to Lynette. Then he and the officers took several steps back.
“There, that is so much better.” Lynette could hear the smile in Neferet’s voice. “Now we can chat more politely. Detective Marx, it is so nice of you to visit me. It has turned out to be a lovely afternoon, hasn’t it? It is as if the tumult of yesterday’s weather washed the city clean.” Neferet spoke affably, one hand still resting on Lynette’s shoulder.
“Neferet, I need to ask you some questions. Would you rather come down to the station than have me interview you here?”
Neferet’s sigh was one of exaggerated disappointment. “So there are to be no social niceties between us?”
“Under normal circumstances, I have no problem with social niceties, as you well know. You and I have worked amicably together before. But what happened in Tulsa yesterday was far from normal, and I don’t have time for much politeness.” He paused and gestured at Lynette. “And I think it’s pretty ironic that you’re complaining about social niceties when you’re holding a hostage in front of you.”
The pressure from Neferet’s fingernail was instantly gone, and the vampyre withdrew her hand from Lynette with an intimate caress of her cheek. “Detective, you are very mistaken. Lynette, are you my hostage?”
“No, Goddess,” she said, shaking her head and doing her best to act as if it was an everyday occurrence to be a human shield for a psychotic vampyre. “I am your willing supplicant.”
“There, you see. All is well. Lynette is simply here because she worships me. But why are you here, Detective Marx? Are the questions you are so curious about regarding Woodward Park or the Boston Avenue Church?”
Lynette saw the detective’s eyes narrow. “What do you know about the Boston Avenue Church?”
Neferet laughed. “Everything! Ask me a question, any question at all. Would you like to know how long that mewing excuse for a pastor screamed before I killed him, or why the councilman’s wife was missing her lovely white Armani suit, which was, coincidentally, just my size, when you found her drained, lifeless body outside the so-called sanctuary? You see, blood is very difficult to get out of fine linen.”
As Neferet was speaking, Lynette watched the change in the police. First, their faces registered shock, and then, as they drew their guns, revulsion and anger.
The detective’s gun pointed over Lynette’s right shoulder. “Lynette,” he called to her. “Walk directly to us. Keep your hands clear, where we can see them.”
Lynette knew it didn’t matter that Neferet wasn’t touching her. She had absolutely no choice. “No, thank you,” she said, managing somehow to keep her voice from shaking. “I’m happy staying here with the Goddess.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” one of the cops blurted. “She’s a fucking vampyre who murdered a church full of innocent people! She isn’t a goddess.”
“Lynette, I do not appreciate foul language. Do you?” Neferet asked.
Holding her breath, Lynette responded the only way she could. Shaking her head, she said, “No, I don’t.”
Neferet cocked her head to the side and studied the officer who had spoken. Lynette saw his body twitch. “Officer Jamison, does foul language fill your mind when you fantasize about your ten-year-old stepdaughter? How about when you watch her sleep and admit to yourself that you are mere days away from taking your desires for her from fantasies to reality?”
The color drained from the officer’s face. “That’s a fucking lie!” he sputtered.
“More profanity. Methinks the man doth protest too much,” Neferet said, then she spoke conspiratorially to Lynette. “It is a misquote, yet it seems to fit the situation well, don’t you think?”
“Yes, I do,” Lynette said, watching the officer closely. The man was red-faced and looked as if he could explode at any moment—and Lynette realized Neferet hadn’t been baiting him or making anything up. She’d slid into his mind and revealed his dirty little secret.
“You fucking bitch!” Officer Jamison yelled.
“That’s enough of that!” Detective Marx commanded the uniformed man, then he refocused on Lynette and Neferet, speaking in a clear, calm voice that made Lynette wish she could run from the vampyre’s insanity straight into his protection. “Lynette, if you choose to remain with Neferet, then you may also join her in a jail cell. Neferet, you are under arrest for the murder of the entire congregation of the Boston Avenue Church.”
Neferet’s laughter was humorless, cruel. “You cannot even get the charges against me correct, Detective.”
“You just confessed to those murders!” Marx said. He’d lost the professional objectivity his voice had maintained until then. With a terrible tightening in her stomach, Lynette realized the unbelievable truth—Neferet had slaughtered an entire church full of innocent people.
She had to grasp her hands together in front of her to keep them from trembling.
“You are so disappointingly narrow-minded, Detective Marx. What I did in the church wasn’t murder—it was sacrifice, and it was glorious! I do so wish you could have been there to bear witness to it, but had you been there, you wouldn’t be here to bear witness to the beginning of my reign. Oh, but I digress. Your charges are incorrect because they are incomplete. You forgot to add the little snack I made of your mayor a few nights earlier.”
Detective Marx’s face was a mask of loathing. “My gut said the House of Night vampyres were telling the truth when they said you were responsible for the mayor’s death.”
“For once, they were correct. But let me continue my confession. It is such a shame that there was no one yesterday at Woodward Park to witness my triumphant exit from my lovely, sheltering den and to watch me discover two deliciously stunned men who practically begged me to drain their blood from them.” The detective’s eyes widened and Neferet sneered. “I don’t know what is more unbelievable, that that simpering Zoey Redbird somehow deluded herself into thinking she’d killed the men, and then rushed to give her pathetic self up to you, or that you actually believed the insipid child had the will to kill. Either way, the situation doesn’t bode well for your skills of detection.”
Lynette saw that the uniformed officers, even Jamison, had all paled at Neferet’s flippant admissions of guilt, but Detective Marx’s face hardened into stubborn lines. His spoke with calm authority. “Neferet, I will allow you to make one phone call to your High Council, but you must give yourself up to me and prepare to pay the consequences for your actions.”
“The High Council has even less jurisdiction over me than do you,” Neferet said. “I am no vampyre—I am Goddess of Darkness, Queen Tsi Sgili—and I will never again bow to any authority. You, Tulsa, and even the world will worship me as is my divine right. Watch and learn. Mabel, come to me!”
The girl obeyed immediately. She walked through the front doors that Judson opened for her and went to Neferet’s side.
“More hostages won’t help you get out of this, Neferet!” Detective Marx said.
“I said, watch and learn, humans! I have no hostages, only willing supplicants. Now gaze into your future!” Neferet opened her arms to the girl she called Mabel. Lynette had to step aside as Mabel hurried willingly into her embrace. “If I am your Goddess, sacrifice yourself to me.”
Morbidly curious, Lynette watched, wondering what the girl was going to be compelled to do. She only had seconds to wonder.
“You are my Goddess,” the girl said mechanically, and then Mabel began clawing at her own neck, gouging her flesh and causing blood to weep from the wounds.
“Now that is the behavior of a proper supplicant.” Neferet bent to drink from her offering. The girl gasped and trembled, but instead of trying to escape, she cried, “Thank you, Goddess!” in a voice that was filled with ecstasy.
“How sweet of you,” Neferet said, her lips inches from Mabel’s bloody neck. Before she began feeding fro
m her, she commanded, “Shield us!”
An instant later there was a deafening burst of gunfire. Lynette fell to the pavement, ducking into a ball and putting her arms up in a vain attempt to protect herself.
There was a cry of pain, and then the officers began shouting. Shaking violently, Lynette peeked up through her arms. Neferet was feeding on the girl, ignoring the chaos happening before them.
Apparently, the bullets meant for Neferet—and probably also Lynette—had bounced off whatever shield the vampyre had invoked and been deflected directly into the foul-mouthed pedophile officer’s body.
“Oh my god,” Lynette whispered in a rush.
“Do you not mean oh my goddess?” Neferet, lips scarlet from the girl’s blood, smiled down at Lynette.
“Y-yes, I do,” Lynette said, feeling light-headed.
Neferet let loose the girl, and Mabel fell heavily to the concrete. Then she held out her hand to Lynette, who took it and stood shakily. “Have no fear. I won’t allow them to harm you. I won’t allow them to harm anyone who is loyal to me,” Neferet told her. She turned her attention back to the officers. They had dragged Jamison’s bullet-ravaged body behind the cars, which is where the rest of the men were crouching. Lynette could hear their radios crackling as they called for an ambulance and backup.
“Do you understand now, Detective Marx? Have you learned your lesson?”
“We’ve learned that you’re a killer!” he shouted. “We’re not done here—this hasn’t ended!”
“For once, you are correct. I am not done here—this has only just begun. Watch and learn, watch and learn,” Neferet repeated. “Oh, and look up! Children, come with me!” she commanded. Linking Lynette’s arm with hers, Neferet turned her back to the officers and reentered the Mayo.
“Judson, chain the doors again.”
“Yes, Goddess. That will not hold them off for long, though.”
“I know that! Just do as I have commanded. As always, I will take care of the rest of the details myself.”
“Yes, Goddess.”
“Lynette, I’d like you to join me on the balcony of my penthouse. A spectacular event is getting ready to take place there.”
“Yes, Goddess,” Lynette said, entering the elevator with her.
Neferet’s smile was knowing. “You almost believe that I am divine.”
Lynette didn’t respond. What could she say that Neferet couldn’t refute by probing her mind and finding the truth? So again, she said the only thing she could, “I’m here to serve you, Neferet.”
“And so you shall.”
The doors to the penthouse opened. “Kylee, Lynette’s looking pale. Pour a glass of my best red wine and bring it to her on the balcony.” Neferet swept past Kylee with Lynette following, opening the glass doors and joining the sixty people who stood in frightened groups on the balcony. Many of them were near the stone balustrade that framed the wide outdoor expanse, and it was obvious from their expressions that they had heard the shots from below and had been watching the drama unfold from above.
“Wait here, Lynette, and drink your wine. It will help the bloom return to your cheeks. I can’t have my favorite supplicant looking sallow and ill,” Neferet told her. Then she walked to the stone railing, causing the people closest to her to shuffle nervously aside. “Because modern education is abysmal, I feel it is my duty as your Goddess to tell you that this”—she paused and pointed at the carved stones—“is called a balustrade. The thick, evenly spaced supports, here and here and here”—she pointed again—“are called balusters. It is a happy coincidence that there are exactly sixty balusters spaced all around this rooftop balcony of my Temple. I want each of you to choose a baluster and stand directly in front of it.”
“You—you aren’t going to make us jump, are you?” asked a terrified old woman.
“No, Grandmother,” Neferet said warmly. “That makes no sense at all. Did you not see how I protected Lynette from the deadly bullets the police fired at her?”
There was a long silence, and then someone called, “Yes, but you ate that girl.”
“Mabel was disobedient. Would you like to share her fate?”
Her words worked like spurs on the people. They scattered, each taking a position in front of a baluster.
“Excellent! Kylee, refresh my supplicants’ glasses of champagne while I have a private word with my Dark children.”
Lynette appreciated expensive red wine, and she usually savored it, sipping slowly as it deserved. Not then. She chugged it, snagging the bottle from robotic Kylee as the girl passed her to return inside, fetching more champagne. Lynette was grateful for the surreal, detached feeling the alcohol was giving her as she watched the vampyre. She’d moved to a shadowy corner of the balcony, well away from the stone railing, and was bent, talking to what looked like nothing at all.
Lynette knew better. And, sure enough, only another second or two passed before the air around the vampyre’s feet rippled, like heat currents lifting from a blacktop road in the summer, and Neferet’s snakes became visible. Lynette was glad the vampyre was distracted by her “children,” because she couldn’t repress her shudder of disgust. Lynette was reminded of an old western she’d seen as a young girl. In it cowboys were on a cattle drive, and as they made a river crossing, a young man had fallen off his horse, landing in the middle of an enormous nest of mating water snakes to be killed by them, though not quickly enough. It looked like Neferet was standing in the center of that nest, only her snakes were bigger, blacker, and even more dangerous than the old west vipers.
What in the hell were they? Granted, Lynette didn’t know much about vampyres. Though she would have welcomed their business—they were notoriously wealthy—she’d never been hired by one. She was far from a vampyre authority, but she felt sure she would have heard something about these deadly snake-creatures. Their familiars were supposed to be cats, for god’s sake, not reptiles!
Lynette poured the remainder of the wine into her goblet and took another long gulp, feeling relieved that her face was warm. Good, the flush would bring back the “bloom” of her cheeks. Lynette had no doubt the vampyre was capable of killing her on a whim. Surreptitiously, she pinched her checks to be sure they were in full bloom.
How was she going to get out of this mess? She didn’t even give a damn about profiting from the situation anymore. She just wanted to escape, without being chased down by one of the insane vampyre’s children.
“Excellent!” Neferet straightened, turning her attention to the sixty people, each standing in front of a rooftop baluster. “Now that my children understand my wishes, I am ready to share them with you—my loyal supplicants.” She took a position in the center of the balcony so that she could be seen and heard by everyone. “Kylee, that is enough champagne for now. Go stand by Lynette.” Kylee, of course, did as she was commanded.
Lynette snuck sideways glances at the girl. Her mouth was closed, and she couldn’t see any sign of snake infestation, but the girl was clearly on autopilot. Her eyes were open but blank. Her face was expressionless. This time Lynette did suppress her shudder of disgust. Who knew what the thing beside her would report to the vampyre?
“Now, I have a question for you, one that anyone may answer. What is your foremost concern right now?” Neferet was asking the people. Lynette thought how strange it was that she could sound so normal, even kind. It was all a façade, but it was a good one.
No one answered her question, and Neferet smiled warmly, encouragingly, saying, “Oh, come now! I am your Goddess. It is my duty and pleasure to hear your concerns—and as my supplicants, it is your duty to voice them to me. Please don’t make me force you to do your duty.”
A man spoke up. “My biggest concern is that I don’t want to be killed—or worse,” he said, giving the writhing nest of darkness that surrounded the vampyre a fleeting nervous glance.
“Good! Well said. Do any of the rest of you have the same concern?”
Neferet sounded like she
authentically cared, and even Lynette felt her head nodding with the others.
“Perfect!” Neferet said. “I knew safety would be your key concern. Now, I’m not admonishing you, nor am I angry with you, but your key concern should be caring for and worshipping me.” Several of the people started to protest, obviously out of fear for what the vampyre would do next, but Neferet lifted her hand and, with a regal gesture, quieted them. “No, no, I understand. Truly I do. And that is why I am going to make quite sure that no one can harm my supplicants so that they can then be free to truly worship me.”
Lynette thought it was ironic that as Neferet made this pronouncement, the sound of multiple sirens screamed, ever closer, from below.
“In order to assure my supplicants of their safety, I need your help. Do exactly as I say, and I promise you my Temple will be impervious to harm.”
Lynette sighed softly. Too bad someone didn’t say what everyone was thinking: It’s not the outside world we’re worried about—it’s you! But of course no one spoke because it was Neferet they were all petrified of.
“What you need do is very simple. First, each of you must turn so that you are facing outward.” Slowly, reluctantly, the sixty people did as she commanded until they were all facing away from Neferet. “Now, raise your arms, close your eyes, and clear your minds by taking three deep breaths with me—in and then out … in and then out … in and then out.” Lynette heard the people breathing with her. “I want you to concentrate on my voice and think of nothing else.” Neferet paused, looking around the balcony as if to be sure everyone was in place. When her eyes found Lynette, her full lips turned up in a feral smile.
Lynette’s stomach twisted in foreboding and she worried that she would throw up the wine she’d guzzled.
Neferet’s gaze left her and went to the snakes that writhed around her feet. “Children, it is time!” Her next words were spoken in a singsong tone that was surprisingly soothing, almost mesmerizing.
In one swift strike you must kill
so those below may know my rage.
