by C L Walker
The one entering last was the true king; a tall man with white hair, as carefully styled as the rest of him. He didn’t pose as Artem had because he didn’t need to. His illusion was perfect.
“He has dealings with the hollow men?” I said, pulling Artem closer to try and hide what I was saying from the men at the door. They might have been across the noisy club but they were elder vampires and I was sure they could hear everything.
Artem nodded. “And he doesn’t like your girl. It’s him you’re looking for.”
“Agmundr,” Bec said urgently. “We have to go.”
I let go of the pretender to the throne and stood. None of Artem’s pitiful vampires were even looking at me anymore and there was nothing standing in my way. I walked off the dais and toward the most powerful vampires in the city.
My hearing wasn’t good enough to make out whatever order Bec gave me, though if I’d cared I could have turned back to find out. But I had to pick a fight with someone and I doubted she was onboard with the idea.
They saw me coming but dismissed me as a threat. I smiled as I approached.
Chapter 11
“Clear the room,” the white-haired man said.
One of his people raised a small machine gun, aimed it at the roof, and fired until the clip was empty.
The chaos was immediate. Humans ran in every direction, colliding and trampling each other; the only direction of interest was “away” from the danger.
I held my place and let them bounce off me in their panic. I stood before the group of elder vampires, as calm and separate from the anarchy as they. We were an island in the storm.
The king noticed me and gave a small wave, letting me approach.
“I don’t know your name,” I said. I paused for him to speak but he wasn’t interested. “Fine, I’m Agmundr. Do you know who I am?”
He shook his head a fraction. That was unfortunate, as it would have made the evening much easier.
“Fine. It doesn’t really matter.” People were finding a way to the exit, slowly but surely, some dragging their trampled friends with them. The room, so noisy and crowded moments earlier, was emptying quickly. “I’m here on behalf of Rebecca Fletcher.”
“Are you a barrister?” the vampire king finally said. He had an English accent, something common. His voice, though, held power. It was a good trick. He kept his eyes on me in a way that would have been disconcerting if I’d been anyone else.
“I don’t know what that is, but I think we need to talk about her.”
“I have other business tonight, Agmundr.” He finally looked away, nodding to his men. They spread out and began clearing the remaining people from the club.
“Unfortunately I am on a bit of a timetable, your highness.” I stepped closer and drew his gaze back to me. “It’s pretty important that you talk to me now.”
“You are walking a fine line between irritating and amusing, human.” His voice had gone so deep that I could feel the vibration in my bones. Again, it was a good trick, but it wasn’t going to make me turn away.
“Listen, king, I don’t want to fight with you, or take up too much of your time. Answer a few questions and I’ll be on my way.”
“Are you her new muscle?” he said, the hint of a smile appearing on his face. “That would explain her audacity, I suppose. Perhaps she hasn’t explained who we are.”
I knew he was coming before he moved; something in his tone suggesting he was getting ready to attack. My forewarning didn’t help; he was fast and strong, ignoring my raised defense and speeding behind me to wrap his arm around my neck. I was too tall for him to lift off the ground but he was too fast for me to keep walking as he sped to the dais. I was dragged there at breakneck speed – almost literally – and the world was spinning for a moment when he stopped.
“Why are you talking to her, Artem?” the king said. He kept his arm around my neck with ease, despite my struggling. I couldn’t see him but I was sure he still looked calm and regal.
“She came to my court,” Artem said. If he was scared he didn’t show it. “I wasn’t going to break the rules just to kill her here.”
“Court?” the king said, amused. “This sordid den of humanity is not a court.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” I managed to choke out. Nobody paid me any attention.
“It is,” Artem said. “In this world, at this time, it is. You’re welcome to stick to your old ways but you’re going to see pretty damn soon that it doesn’t work.”
“Stupid child,” the king replied.
“Speaking of children,” I began, but the king cut off my air with the slightest squeeze of his bicep.
“I have no wish to quarrel with you, old friend,” the king said. There was a “but” lying unsaid at the end of the sentence.
“The witches are going to destroy you,” Artem replied. “The best you can do is lead our people to the slaughter, or bring in the help of the hollow men. Neither of those is an option.”
“I have turned down their offer, as you advised.”
I couldn’t see what was going on from my vantage point – I was in a headlock facing the other way, the elder vampires standing ready to fight behind their king my only view – but I didn’t have to. The king had been in contact with the hollow men, but had decided not to deal with them.
I marshalled my strength and pulled his arm away from my throat enough to catch my breath and speak.
“I think we’re done here,” I said, my voice croaky. “You can let me go.”
He tightened his grip again and now my hands were trapped against my throat. It felt like I was strangling myself.
“Ms. Fletcher,” the king said. “Artem is not to blame for your betrayal, and I need someone to punish. Will you accept your punishment?”
He kept his tone civil and spoke carefully, but there was more implied violence there than a street gang with weapons drawn. He was terrifying, and I realized how close I was to getting rid of Bec and returning to my prison. I held my tongue, comfortable that I’d done all I could to speed things along.
“Agmundr,” Bec said.
I closed my eyes, trying to will her not to say what she was going to say next.
“Kill them all.”
I contemplated simply ignoring her and claiming later that I was unconscious, but the tattoos weren’t buying it. A wave of pain washed over me and then they were tightening against my skin, constricting more and more the longer I didn’t act. One second and I was gasping, two and I was ready to actually pass out, three and I knew if I didn’t act I was going to die.
I scratched the king’s hand, pushing as hard as I could to get the deepest possible cut. A pool of thick, dark blood formed quickly, but he didn’t move. His people watched me do it and one of them smiled, amused by my pathetic attack.
I put my hand on the blood and the tattoos stopped fighting me and began to glow.
First step, I removed the king’s arm from my neck, twisted it behind his back far enough to force his shoulder out of the socket, and threw him into Artem.
Second step, and my power was already fading. I punched the biggest elder vampire I could find and followed him to the ground as he fell. I jammed my hand against his bleeding face and let the tattoos feed.
Third step, I lashed out at the others, breaking two legs and cracking a spine. It wouldn’t keep them down for long but I didn’t need that long.
Fourth step, I rushed to Bec and lifted her over my shoulder. I then ran for the door as quickly as I could. Only Artem would be ready to chase me, and I hoped he was dealing with an angry king lying in his lap.
I burst from the door mere seconds after the fight had begun. I checked for further enemies, picked a direction, and put all the power the tattoos had stolen into running as fast as I could.
Chapter 12
“I told you to kill them.”
Bec had her hands balled into fists, her knuckles white with the pressure. I leaned against a wall, relaxing after
my exercise; I’d emptied the power I’d stolen from the vampires in a minute and then continued running under human power for another half hour. It had been a good workout.
“I assumed you meant run away before they killed us.”
I couldn’t help smiling at her displeasure. It always made me happy to annoy my masters. I was going to kill her anyway, so getting a little fun out of it first seemed fair.
“How did you get to that?”
She was practically shouting and I thought about telling her to shut up, but it would probably make her louder and I wasn’t in the mood. We were far enough away from the vampires that I was confident they hadn’t followed us, but the neighborhood was all moderate height apartment blocks and someone was probably trying to sleep. I wasn’t sure what Bec would do if we were confronted by patrolling policemen, but I had my suspicions.
“I couldn’t have beaten them,” I said, speaking softly and slowly, trying to influence her into calming down. “If it came to a fight I would have lost and we’d both be dead.”
“I saw you.” She advanced on me, pointing at me. “You took them out. You were glowing.”
“Momentary power spike.”
“Bullshit. You said you were out of juice. What the hell is happening?”
Well, I thought, that secret didn’t last long.
“I drew the power from the vampire king’s blood.”
She didn’t say anything in reply and I could see the wheels spinning in her head as she worked through the ramifications of it. There was a potential future forming where she had me farming vampires every night to feed her power lust during the day. I had to stomp on it before it became real.
“The power lasts seconds,” I said. It was true, as long as I didn’t mention how many seconds it lasted. “When it’s gone I’m back to my normal self.”
“What if you had more blood?” she asked. Her eyes were unfocused, seeing a new plan coming together.
“It doesn’t matter how much blood. It only ever lasts seconds.”
She was going to ask me how many seconds and I was going to have to tell her the truth. The vampire I’d killed outside ACDCs was a weak one and the king was unbelievably strong, and the effect had been the same. The volume of blood mattered, though, and she could never know that.
“Bec, they aren’t trying to kill you.”
That got her attention. “That’s not what it looked like in there.”
“It isn’t them, trust me. I’m good at this.”
The vampires had no connection to the hollow men; the king had confirmed as much. He said he’d turned down their offer, meaning he’d never accepted it in the first place. Vampires weren’t known for farming out their vendettas anyway, but I thought that might be different now. Even allowing for that, they would have sent someone along to kill her father that they trusted, and the goons clearly worked for the hollow men.
It wasn’t the firmest of arguments, but it felt right to me. We were looking for someone else and spending time fighting vampires was pointless, unless I could work out how to put Bec in harm’s way without also getting myself killed.
She was breathing heavily, still angry, still ready to argue. She directed a look at me that should have melted my flesh from my bones.
“What’s the matter, master?” I said, still calm, still measured. It was pissing her off.
“You burned so many bridges back there, and I didn’t even get anything out of it.”
“You’re the one who told me to kill them.”
“After you backed me into a corner by threatening the king. What the hell were you thinking?”
There was another lie I could tell here, about how I knew vampires better than she did and knew how to get what we needed from them, but I had already made my decision where Bec was concerned. Keeping the truth from her seemed unfair.
“I was trying to get you killed.” The look on her face was worth the whole evening; her anger faded as fear flashed across her face, before the anger returned again.
“I order you not to do that again.”
“Alright.” Nobody ever thought through their orders or used precise wording. She’d told me not to do it again, and I interpreted that as telling me not to attack the king of the vampires in a nightclub that had just been shot up by his underlings. I was sure that wouldn’t happen again. Normal humans were stupid.
“We’re never going to get anywhere if you keep being like this.” I half-expected her to stomp her feet.
“I would have no problem with that outcome.”
“Goddammit, Agmundr. Why are you like this?”
I leaned over and put my face close to hers. It shut her up quickly.
“I’ve already told you why, little girl. Put me back.”
She spun away from me and got some distance. I went back to leaning against the wall. When she’d gathered herself she turned back, calm and collected.
“You are the only good thing to come out of my father’s death. If you’re not going to help me then what use are you?”
“None at all,” I said immediately.
She shook her head, breathing deep, regular breaths. She had herself under control, which at least made her quieter.
“You don’t think you can beat a vampire?” she asked, the wheels spinning in her head again.
“Listen, Rebecca. If you want to take on some human gang I’m your guy. I’ll kill everyone in the room and hand it to you on a plate. But my days of giving you people the option of ruling the world are over. You need to understand that.”
“You people?”
“Delusional, power-hungry masters.”
“I told you—”
“I’m bored of this now, Bec.” I pushed away from the wall. The night still had some way to go and we weren’t any closer to finding out who wanted her dead. “Do you have anyone else who might want you killed? I suspect it’s a long list.”
She was still shaking her head, but at least she was calm. She’d come around eventually, I was sure.
“There’s one more, but we’ll have to wait until morning.”
“Then lead on, dear master. Let’s find out who you pissed off.”
She scowled at me for a few more seconds before turning and stomping down the street.
Chapter 13
She slept in a dingy little apartment she said belonged to some friends of hers. I suspected it was some kind of drug den, but there was nobody else there to confirm it. She slept fitfully, tossing and turning and mumbling incoherently. When she woke she didn’t look much more rested.
When she was ready we got a cab to a bar not too far from the nightclub. The sun was shining and I wasn’t worried about vampires, but they had human agents and there was a chance we’d be seen. It didn’t matter; I could handle the humans just fine.
The bar was tidier and more expensive than ACDCs; I looked even more out of place sitting by the window with a young woman.
“I apologize for your bad childhood,” I said. We sat at a table near the window, watching the building across the street.
“That’s my father, not you.” She took a sip of her Coke and refused to look at me. “He squandered his fortune and squandered you at the same time.”
“I did not threaten him, but I realize it was my fault all the same. It was wise of him not to summon me, though.”
I had a large glass of beer, a type Bec had suggested as strong and suited to me. It was a microbrew, which was a word I didn’t know. Whatever it was, it tasted like dirty water; one thing this world lacked that even my own long lost one had in abundance was good drink.
“You’re not going to change my mind. I’m not going to waste this opportunity like my dad did.”
“You see an opportunity because you do not understand—”
She slammed her hand on the table. “Stop. Now.”
The handful of patrons who’d arrived at the bar before the lunch rush turned to look at us, but they had better things to do than monitor potential relation
ship issues, and they went back to nursing their drinks and chatting loudly.
“As you wish,” I said. I took a drink of the beer and shook my head to get rid of the taste.
“The only other people I can think of who would even know how to get an assassin are the guys in that building.” She pointed to the brownstone across the street. “I don’t know why they’d want to do it, but they’d know how.”
“You have a plan?”
She puzzled it out before answering, taking another sip of her drink. More people were arriving and taking up spaces around the bar, chatting good-naturedly and placing their orders.
“Tell me what you think,” she said. She put her hands flat on the table to either side of her glass and looked up at me. “I say we just walk in and ask them. I think I can read them well enough to know if they’re lying, and I’ll have you there for backup if things get violent. They’re just humans.”
“Who are they?”
“They’re like what you said Roman was; hedge-mages I guess you’d call them. They put together small spells and items and sell them to politicians and actors, high-profile people who wouldn’t want it getting out. They throw some stuff my way as long as I give them a cut of whatever I make.”
“And you can’t think why they might want you dead?”
“Beats me.” She lifted her glass and took a long drink. “But I don’t generally hang in the same circles as people who can find assassins. They do.”
It was possible, I thought, if odd. Why wouldn’t they just take care of her themselves somewhere quiet? Why send someone to do their work for them and risk exposing their actions to outside parties? Were they squeamish, or cowardly?
The other question, and one Bec seemed to have forgotten, was how they would come into contact with a hollow man, an angel who shouldn’t care about their petty dealings.
“I am ready whenever you are.”
She spent a few minutes finishing her Coke, more as a delaying tactic than anything. The situation wasn’t going to get any less daunting for her the longer she waited.
I was eager to get going; the situation within the house would be fluid, with plenty of opportunity for Bec to run into trouble. I had somewhere to be and she was taking up too much of my time.
