Famine's Feast (The Templar Book 4)

by Debra Dunbar

  He took another sip of coffee and pulled the computer back onto his lap. “Let’s see. Not Akton. He likes to do back injuries. Gets summoned a lot to put various athletic rivals out of commission. Ocel does memory loss and dementia. Iudel does hearing loss.”

  Good grief. I was beginning to feel paranoid that every human ailment must have a supernatural origin.

  “Alath. No, he likes respiratory diseases and asthma. And he specializes in children.”

  Children? There was a demon who specialized in giving kids cystic fibrosis, asthma, and tuberculosis? And worse, who would summon such a thing?

  “Anatreth does intestinal disorders. Bileth, possibly. Maybe Guland or Guziel. Hephesimireth. Iax. Are the victims cramping up?”

  “No. I mean, the food poisoning ones are, but these specific ones have insatiable hunger and malnutrition no matter what and how much they eat.”

  “Well that rules out Ichthion then. Roeled does stomach ailments. Nephthada, although I’d expect a wider range of disease with him. Kurtael.”

  My mind was spinning. “That it? Any more to add to the list here?”

  “Merihem. Although I hope not. He’s the demon that oversees all the plague demons. I doubt it’s him. He’s not easy to summon, and a real bitch to keep on a leash. There are maybe two mages alive today who could safely bring him through the veil, and I can’t see either of them doing that at this point in time.”

  Great. “So ten? I can’t call on ten demons. Is there any way to narrow it down a bit further?”

  “Hunger and malnutrition plus food poisoning? Any victims complain of intense abdominal pain so bad it feels as though their entrails are being ripped out?”

  Eww. “Well I think food poisoning can feel like that, so maybe?”

  “Well if I had to pick, I’d say either Anatreth, Guziel, Roeled, or Kurtael. I’m ruling out Merihem since I’m pretty sure Misto or Wayward aren’t gunning for anyone in the Baltimore/DC region right now.”

  I still made a note, just in case. “Merihem. That’s one Barrett wrote about, right?”

  Reynard nodded. “If it’s Anatreth, Roeled, or Kurtael, you’re in luck. They’re all zodiac demons.”

  Which meant they were a type of Goetic demon written about in the Testament of Solomon. In addition to the usual method they could be banished by the invocation of specific angels or holy beings. I didn’t have to summon an angel, just channel their essence as a servant of God—something I’d been trained my whole life to do. Reynard was right, I’d be lucky if it were one of those three demons, but I wasn’t ever that lucky.

  “Tell me about Guziel.”

  “He’s brought forth by a curse, so it takes a mage with skill in that specialty area to call him. He’s mainly used to bring ruin and loss to an enemy—as in another tribe, or army, or country.”

  “But he’s not a war demon?”

  “No. There are some people who like the military approach to winning a war, and others who want to see their enemies wasted away through a fast acting disease. Guziel has caused inflammation to the mouth, to the point where people can’t eat or speak, but he has also been known to ‘put a poison in the belly of men, women, and children.’”

  Which brought me back to motive. Maybe the summoner just hated this area, or was sloppy as Reynard had suggested, but his description of Guziel had me wondering. It was a really bad time for Dario’s Balaj to be stricken with pestilence. Weaken them, and Simon with his Philly vampires would have the perfect opportunity to take the territory. Kill them, or make them all crazy enough with bloodlust that I had to kill them, and it would make their takeover all the easier. Of course, they didn’t know that I wasn’t about to let another Balaj take Baltimore. It might not be Templar business, but it was mine. I’d fight beside Dario to protect his territory, and I’m sure that wasn’t something Simon was considering. In fact, I’m sure he wasn’t considering me a threat at all.

  “What do you know about demons and vampires?” I asked Reynard.

  He tilted his head in surprise. “Working together? Nothing. The two pretty much ignore each other’s existence.”

  “So there would be no reason for a plague demon to infect vampires?”

  “I’m not even sure they can. If someone wants vampires dead, then I guess they could summon a war demon, although they’d need to word the contract very carefully. War demons cause strife, and it would be just like one to turn something like that around on the caster. Like I said, demons and vampires pretty much ignore each other.”

  “Vampires are sick with the same symptoms as seventy patients admitted to Hopkins—seventy patients who also have vampire bites on their necks. I’ve got it on good authority that the illness is magical in nature.”

  “I can’t imagine that a human ailment, even one brought on by a plague demon, would be able to tangentially infect vampires. If they’re sick, then they must be your target victims.”

  I nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. Not only do I have to banish this demon, but I now need to find and kill the vampire initially responsible so the human patients can heal.”

  Reynard shrugged. “Kill all the sick vampires. That should take care of the problem. Actually, kill the healthy ones too while you’re at it.”

  Was I the only human who didn’t want to go around slaughtering vampires? As much as I hated to admit it, the mage might be right about the sick ones, though. I’d been assuming one vampire had been cursed, that one vampire was the cause of the infection, but a plague demon targeting vampires would hardly infect just one. Dario had said twenty-three had become sick to date. How many more of them were carriers, on the verge of coming down with the illness? Would Dario need to put down every infected vampire in order to ensure they didn’t go on a killing spree? I wasn’t sure I could do that. They’d done nothing wrong, they were just sick.

  Dario himself said that if the infected vampires couldn’t control themselves, if they didn’t get better within a day or two, he’d be forced to put them down. I saw how this was tearing him apart inside. I had to stop this plague demon. And I had to try my best to find a cure for the infected vampires.

  “So, any words of wisdom on bringing Guziel to heel? Any special precautions I need to take?”

  Reynard snorted. “Yeah, don’t do it. It’s one thing to rein in a demon that’s here via a marked human, it’s another to wrestle control from the mage who summoned him. You’d need to be stronger, magically speaking, in order to do that, And, no offense Aria, but you’re not.”

  “What if I had other mages helping me?”

  That seemed to amuse Reynard even more than my previous question. “Like me? This mage is powerful enough to bring a non-Goetic demon across the veil and charge him with attacking a group of beings that demons could care less than nothing about. You and I can’t do it. Maybe if I had the whole of Haul Du at my back, but right now we’re fractured, arguing over who is best suited to lead our group. And even if I was their Grand Magus, they’d refuse to help a Templar.”

  It’s not like I knew other mages. I’d thrown Fiore Noir into jail, and they weren’t skilled in working with demons. I glanced over at the fox figurine. “What if there were three of us? Maybe if Raven helped we could manage?”

  A wave of grief flowed across Reynard’s face followed by anger. “I come here to help you, and you throw that at me? Yes, Raven could probably help, but she’s dead.”

  I’d muttered the words, half thinking to myself and not realizing exactly what I’d said until I saw Reynard’s reaction. He rose to his feet and I jumped up also, noticing the fox figurine trembling on the shelf, about to fall off.

  Wait. Don’t go. Tell him. The words bloomed on the whiteboard.

  “She’s dead, but her spirit lives on,” I blurted out as Reynard snatched up his laptop and headed for the door. It sounded so hokey, like something I’d say to a grieving relative at a funeral. “I mean here. She lives on here, in my apartment, in a lelek raktarban.”

  R
eynard touched the door handle and the deadbolt suddenly locked. He frowned, reached a hand up to unlock it. It locked again, and this time resisted his attempts to turn the handle. “Aria, cut it out. I’m impressed as all hell that you’ve somehow mastered telekinesis, but I’m still leaving.”

  “It’s not me, Reynard. I swear it on my sword, it’s not me. I can’t do telekinesis. Heck, I can barely manage a basic door ward. It’s Raven. She’s here.”

  He turned to me, his face pale, his hand trembling on the door knob. “Raven can’t do telekinesis either.”

  “She couldn’t when she was alive, but she has new abilities as a spirit.”

  He hesitated. I didn’t blame him. The whole thing seemed farfetched, even for someone who believed in magic and knew that ghosts and the supernatural were real.

  “She’s here, Reynard. How do you think I knew to contact you? She’s the one who told me you could help, that you’d be able to assist in finding out which plague demon we were dealing with.”

  The mage gave a bitter laugh. “I’m the only mage you know who will talk to you. I figured you were desperate.”

  I was desperate, but he wasn’t completely right. Chuck would talk to me, but he was in prison, and I didn’t trust, or even really like him. I was beginning to trust and like Reynard in spite of his association with Dark Iron.

  I wasn’t sure how else to convince him, so I pointed to the whiteboard.

  Hi.

  Really? “Hi”? Raven was so not helping here.

  I’d hug you but I don’t really have a body.

  Reynard wasn’t moving, but he wasn’t leaving either.

  Actually I’d rip your clothes off and do you on Aria’s sofa, but I don’t have a body. Damn. Looking good there, Foxy Boy.

  That was better. Reynard still stood as if frozen by my front door, but I saw the sheen of tears in his eyes. “Raven?”

  Up and to the left, on the shelf. I’m in the fox figurine. I’m hoping to eventually figure out how to get out of it and maybe manifest into something resembling a visible form, but one step at a time.

  The writing was rushed, the first few sentences quickly vanishing to make room for the rest. Raven was anxious. The whole thing was beginning to make me feel like I was spying on a terribly personal moment in their relationship.

  “The fox figurine?” Reynard’s lips twitched upward.

  Yes. An homage to my favorite fox. I had my choice of any on the shelf, but this one called to me.

  The mage walked over and picked up the resin figurine, running a finger over the head and tiny ears.

  Lower baby.

  He laughed. I couldn’t help but chuckle too. It was so Raven.

  “All right. I’ll help. I’m going to need to get my books and do some research to make sure we don’t all end up dead doing this. Can I camp out on your sofa for a few hours a day? I’ll need Raven’s input.”

  I dug a spare key out of my bag. It’s not like I worried about him copying it since I’d be moving next week anyway. “Here. I’ll make sure the wards allow you in.”

  Reynard whispered something to the fox figurine then he set it back on the shelf with a last caress.

  Me too.

  As he left, the mage spoke once more, but not to me.

  “I’ll see you soon.”

  The door closed and I felt Raven’s grief. The resin fox trembled on the shelf, falling over to its side. And this time I was the one with tears in my eyes. It was my fault she was dead, and I’d do anything to have her back among the living again. Anything.

  Chapter 20

  I didn’t have time to text Dario about the plague demon victims at the hospital and Wolfram’s diagnosis, or the fact that this plague demon wouldn’t be so easy to banish. I wasn’t sure I wanted to either, at least not until after this shindig of Leonora’s was over. Right now, that was his priority, and I didn’t want to distract him from keeping the peace at what might be the event that tipped the Balaj into war.

  So instead of texting him, I gathered the charms I’d managed to pull together over the last few weeks. The simple amulets would most likely be of no use at all if a fight broke out between the vampires, but they might come in handy. What would help was Trusty, my sword. Although I wasn’t sure if Leonora’s hiring me as a bouncer gave me license to kill.

  It was dark and the house was lit up with a golden glow when I arrived. They were expecting me, and one of the door vamps offered to park my car. I refused and wound up having to drive around to the back alley where I stashed it behind a line of black SUVs.

  I could walk around the block and come in the front, but decided to cut through the back gardens and in through the kitchen. Unfortunately the gate leading into the garden was locked. I eyed it, debating heading to the front, but I was right here and the gate wasn’t much higher than eight feet.

  The climb up and over the wall was easy, leaving me to drop down into a flowerbed of half-dead mums. That’s the moment I realized this shortcut probably wasn’t a good idea. Unlike the last time I’d been here, there were dozens of benches, sofa-seats, and comfy chairs nestled into little semi-private areas. Every one of them held two individuals locked in embrace. It didn’t take a genius to see that one of each pair was a vampire and the other was a human. They were feeding. And some of them were exchanging bodily fluids besides blood.

  Did it make me a pervert that the whole thing was a bit of a turn on? Maybe it was because I’d been envisioning Dario and myself in a similar situation. Either way, I was stuck. I’d look like an idiot trying to climb back over the wall so I would have to walk past these writhing, moaning pairs as if I were out for a casual noonday stroll.

  “Need an escort, or are you going to run the gauntlet and hope none of them grabs you on your way to the house?”

  I turned and saw Balen right by my side. I’d met him a few times before, and liked the blond, brawny vampire. He reminded me of a friendly lumberjack—one with fangs.

  “Shit. Way to scare the crap out of me,” I scolded.

  He grinned, sharp fangs glistening in the ambient lighting. “I heard you coming a block away. Figured you might be trying to sneak in the back.”

  “Shortcut.” I eyed the feeding vampires once more. They didn’t seem to be paying any attention to me, but looks were deceiving. “I think I’ll be fine. See you inside?”

  “Nah. I’m the primary on garden guard duty until Dario comes back out. Just making sure everyone is safe out here.”

  I wasn’t sure whether he meant the feeding vampires, or the blood donors, but I nodded and headed for the back door. As I passed, several vampires eyed me, a few even lifting their heads to flash blood-soaked fangs at me in a smile. Not a happy smile either. It was the smile a lion gives a passing rabbit.

  I made it unmolested to the kitchen and worked my way through the house to where Leonora always held court. The sliding doors had been opened between the rooms, making the left side of the house one giant open area. Vampires mulled around while humans put out plates of food and drinks. Other humans, dressed in scanty fetish-club wear, stood around the perimeter of the room, waiting to be claimed for the evening, no doubt. There were even more humans, more modestly dressed, walking about in small groups. Several of them had the telltale marks of blood-slaves. The human to vamp ratio was nearly ten to one. Leonora was going all out for this one, providing quite the feast for both the guest vampires and her own family.

  “Glad you made it.” Dario’s arms came around my waist, his breath cool against my neck. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be embroiled in plague demon banishing and need to decline Leonora’s offer.”

  As if anyone had ever declined Leonora’s “offer” and lived to tell the tale.

  “For a thousand dollars, I was determined to make it. Besides, there’s nothing more that I can do until Reynard and Raven finish nailing down the details on the banishing ritual. If it’s who we suspect, then we might need four or five days to pull everything together.”

&nb
sp; I felt Dario’s arms tense. “We don’t have five days. I’m not sure we have more than twenty-four hours.”

  “We need to find out how the blood donors are getting infected, so we can stop the spread,” I told him. “There’s someone at the hospital who can cure the blood donors. I’m hoping the same thing works on the vampires.”

  “Human medicine doesn’t work on us, but I’m willing to try anything. There have been over two hundred infected so far. I’ve already put nearly a hundred of my family out of their misery.” He hugged me tighter. “I’m dreading what I’ll need to do after the party tonight.”

  Looking down, I noticed the Kukri at his hip. How could I tell him that I too doubted there would be a cure for his family, that getting rid of the plague demon most likely wouldn’t help the already infected vampires, and that in order to heal the humans, I would need to find the vampire responsible, even if he was an innocent victim, and kill him.

  “I don’t know if I can speed things up any. I’m reasonably sure we’ve identified the plague demon, and we’re working on the banishment ritual, but it’s not as simple as the demons we banished a few weeks ago. In this instance we need to wrestle control from the summoning mage, and evidently this guy is a bit of a heavy hitter to have summoned this particular demon. We’ve got to make sure we do everything right on this one, or we’ll all end up dead, and the plague demon will still be running around.”

  “I know you’re doing all you can, I just want you to know our situation.” Dario shook his head. “This is horrible. The infected now aren’t just attacking humans; they’re attacking other vampires. Vampires never drink from other vampires, and they certainly don’t indulge in cannibalism. It’s terrible to see them like this, my own brothers and sisters. The rest of the Balaj knows. Everyone is on edge, scared to feed and worried they’ll be next.”

  I winced, hearing the agony behind the calm in Dario’s voice. “But the feast…how do you know these humans are not carriers?”