“Very good, Mister Magnus! Fifty-caliber Action Express, if you were wondering.” Leon nudged the gun gently to the side of the desk. “Do you know what such a weapon would do to a careless vampire hunter?”
“I’ve seen wounds from that type of round before, yes.” I said. I honestly didn’t know at the time if I would be able to survive a shot from that gun, but I wasn’t about to let his less-than-subtle threat unnerve me further.
“I just wanted you to know I had this; I’ve heard you’re fond of standing in the path of lesser weapons and I didn’t want to give you some kind of false impression.” Leon smiled not unkindly, fully exposing his vampiric canines. “If you fuck around here, I will put you in the dirt in a goddamned heartbeat. You believe me, don’t you? You understand?” His tone didn’t change, and he still sounded as if he was commenting soothingly on the passage of a raincloud. It was incredibly disconcerting.
“I understand,” I answered, and took this his threat at face value. His sheer confidence was enough that I didn’t even dare raise my power to my eyes to see his aura clearly. “But how did you know I was shot?”
He smile wavered slightly; then reaching back and lacing his fingers behind his head while leaning back in his leather chair, he explained. “Not all of those fledglings last night were as sensitive to light as you might think. Did you not know of the differences between varying vampire clans?”
“Nope. I just know, sort of, your kind. And Thanatic vampires.”
Leon’s grin turned completely sour then and he looked at Lily. “How long since he’s come into his power?”
I opened my mouth to respond but a firm grip of Lily’s hand on my forearm killed the words on my lips. “His powers awoke only approximately a month and a half ago. We all felt it.”
Leon’s eyes widened and his grin returned with enthusiastic cheer. “No shit! I would have guessed older from the strength I sense in him, but now it makes perfect sense that you wouldn’t know much at all about us. I might just have to kill you before you do learn and become a real pain in the ass, my boy. Well done!”
I swallowed again as silence hung on the air after his declaration. I looked between him and the hand-cannon on his desk a few times and went through the movements of readying my own weapons in my mind, and preparing to call upon my power in full swing in half a second. Lily’s nails in my forearm snapped me back to awareness.
“Uh… Thank you?” I quested. Leon laughed heartily and stood from his chair, walking over to stand in front of Lily and I. As he walked I noticed how astoundingly average he seemed. Not a hair over five foot ten, stride was neither overconfident nor lazy and shuffling. Everything about him made me want to forget him instantly. He extended a hand towards me.
“Leon. No last name, I forgot it many centuries ago.”
I took it in mine without hesitation, regaining my composure instantly through an effort of will. Of course, the military tradition of being tactful with civilians helped as well. He was, after all, a “civilian” in the strictest sense of the word. His grip was neither overwhelming nor flaccid—once more, he seemed completely average. It occurred to me then that this vampire had lived as long as he had by getting others to underestimate him.
“John Magnus.”
“A pleasure.”
“All mine, sir.”
“How wonderful! Finally, a vampire hunter who isn’t completely unrefined,” he laughed as he released my hand and walked over to a small table with liquor in crystalline decanters stacked on it. “Your uncle was much less pleasant upon our first meeting. But then, he is quite strong in his own rude sort of way. I barely managed to get away with my left arm ripped away completely. Frightfully strong, that one.” He shook his head as if trying to banish the unpleasant memory.
“Actually, that’s why we’re here, sir.” I said. Leon raised an eyebrow in my direction before nodding and pouring three glasses of thin brown liquor.
“I’m sure you can appreciate a good whiskey.” He stated plainly as if it were a given. In his eyes before he glanced away I saw grim machinations playing through in his mind.
“Yes sir, but I won’t be able to tell you exactly where it came from by taste.”
“Oh, that rubbish only happens in movies and books.” He said, smiling as he handed me a glass. I took a sip. It was pretty good, if a bit sweet. “Poisoned?” I thought to myself, and resigned myself to swishing the glass around for a moment and waiting for my tongue to go numb or start burning.
“Did the zombies give you any trouble on the way up, Lily?”
“Not at all.” Lily replied. My jaw hit the floor. Leon caught my expression and his eyes twinkled with amusement.
“Yes, zombies. I’m guessing based on your look of surprise that you’re so fresh that many of the hidden little details of the world are still new or unknown to you. Those gentlemen who guard me are the real deal.” He spoke with the tone of a teacher explaining a tiresome subject to a young student. It wasn’t condescension, but it was right on the edge.
“How exactly did you get zombies up here? I thought zombies were mindless dead things with eaten-off lips and rotten flesh and, well, you get the picture.” I said.
“Oh, indeed they are. Those are rather well-preserved in body and mind. The soul is gone of course, and they are a bit charmed so that the living won’t take much notice of them. They are nothing if not stalwart guardians,” Leon said, sipping his whiskey. “And much more intelligent than the garden variety.”
“That explains the breath…” I said, feeling utterly dumbstruck.
“Anyway, down to business,” Leon said. “You are here to ask me to help you help your uncle, I’m guessing?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And why should I have anything to do with his unfortunate kidnapping?”
“We tracked him down. He’s under your club.”
Leon furrowed his eyebrows and walked to a suede leather couch and sat, sinking slowly into the soft cushions. “Is he now? That’s very interesting, but not all that surprising.”
Leon gestured to the identical couch opposite of him and Lily and I walked over and sat in it. It was obnoxiously comfortable. “Why doesn’t that surprise you?” I asked.
“Thanatos claimed the sewer system and old catacombs when he arrived here last month. Wretched things they are, he and his ilk, not much liked by the rest of our kind. The catacombs in question used to be something of a safe-house for people (I noticed he said people instead of vampires) fleeing hunters, but shortly after Thanatos arrived we sealed the basement entrance. No sense in having our patrons seek out safety in a place where those corrupt and unseemly things would kill them just as swiftly.”
“You don’t get along? Why didn’t you push him out of San Diego?”
Leon laughed at the idea and waved his hand as if it were some kind of joke. “Thanatos is centuries older than even the oldest vampire I have ever seen. He was walking the earth thousands of years before the time of Christ. The Greek and Roman people even worshipped him as some kind of demigod. Some even say he is one of the antediluvian progenitors of our race.”
“So, you mean he’s the very first vampire?” I asked.
“Oh no, John. I’m saying he’s one of the first. Some say he was the first of the first, but each clan has a sole progenitor. Not all of them are known, but Thanatos has never been very shy. When you meet him, I suggest you ask him. There’s definitely plenty of evidence to support him being the First vampire ever created. But, of course, the father of our multitude families is known only to the progenitors of each clan, and is a jealously guarded secret.”
So I’m going to be fighting the oldest living vampire, outstanding. I thought forlornly.
“We’d like your help, Leon,” Lily said. I noticed the glass of whiskey in my hand once again and drained the rest of it in a single draught. My tongue didn’t feel numb, and there were no other signs that it was poisoned, and either way I felt that being poisoned was the least of my wo
rries now. Leon noticed, smiled, and looked back at Lily.
“How might I assist you, my dear?” Leon asked, smiling kindly at her, his face the very model of receptive open-mindedness.
“We are going to get Ignatius back.” To his credit, Leon didn’t laugh out loud when Lily finished her statement. He laced his fingers together and rested his chin on it, looking at the coffee table between us.
“I cannot commit anyone to this fight of yours. Especially after last night…” He glanced in my direction for a moment as he spoke, as if to say vampires probably won’t want to join up with a vampire hunter to save another vampire hunter. I could see his point. “And I cannot allow you to simply dig up my club either, especially because I cannot guarantee your safety if you return there.”
“Is there nothing you can do to help us?” I asked.
“Well, I know how to enter the catacombs without using explosives and heavy machinery, if that’s what you can call ‘help,’” Leon said with a sly smile. “But I am afraid this battle is very much your own. None of our kind in this city, even if we united, could hope to stand against Thanatos and his brood. Other than that, there is nothing I can offer you that would be of any benefit.”
I sighed. I wasn’t exactly expecting tangible assistance from this vampire, but with what he had just told me about Thanatos put my uncle’s situation in grim crystalline perspective. “It’s just about time to find another avenue of help,” I thought.
“Lily, I think it’s time we took off.” I said.
“Oh, let me show you where to find the entrance to the catacomb, Lily,” Leon said and walked over to his desk, going over a map on a laptop screen with her. I stood somewhat uncomfortably near the door while Lily and Leon hashed out directions to the entrance to the sewers for a minute before they stood, nodding their heads and murmuring in mutual assent. Then they both walked to the door and Leon extended his hand to me, smiling beatifically. I took it.
“John, it has truly been a pleasure to meet you. Before you go, did you know that Thanatic vampires have a special kind of oil in their skin which, while allowing enhanced regeneration, is unfortunately very flammable?” His smile didn’t waver as he spoke though his handshake grew slightly more firm, and I returned the grin with infernal scheming aforethought.
“I had no idea. I’ll be certain to keep that in mind, sir. Thank you again for your help.”
Leon released my hand and embraced Lily briefly before clapping his hands together once and looking sadly at both of us. “Oh, do be careful. I would hate for this to be our one and only meeting.”
I nodded curtly as the doors swung open and then left, Lily keeping pace next to me.
“Handy little tip that he just gave us, there.” I said.
“Fire has long been used against our kind. It’s more effective on some than others.” Lily said with crisp and seemingly irritated tones.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Women. Aged four hundred years and still playing the same game you were as a little girl.”
Lily looked daggers at me then as we approached the elevator door and it slid open as one of the unnerving zombies hit a button and it gave us an unearthly blank stare. I stepped into the elevator and grinned at her, counting on my stubborn and overbearing cheer to break down her defenses. On the way down her expression changed from utter disdain to weary acquiescence to begrudging optimism, a little more with each floor we passed.
“What are you so happy about? Do you not realize the peril we’re in? Your uncle?” She asked finally as we reached the lobby and stepped out of the elevator.
“Are you shitting me?” I asked. “I get out of the hospital after some crazy vampire army tears apart my convoy in Afghanistan. I find out my uncle, the only family member I’ve ever met, is a vampire hunter. I find out I’m a vampire hunter. I find out that I have crazy super powers. I meet a witch, a werewolf, and a crazy vampire chick. I’d say that in the last few weeks I have plenty of things to be happy or excited about, despite my uncle being kidnapped.”
She crossed her arms and a smile formed at a corner of her mouth. “Who’s this crazy vampire chick?”
“Oh please, you think I’d give you the satisfaction?” I said as we left the lobby and walked to the car. Lily grinned at me and crawled into the driver’s side, starting the Charger with a muted rumble. She continued grinning at me as I climbed into the passenger’s side.
“Where are we heading next?”
“Off to the Emerald City, Dorothy.” I said, grinning mischievously back at her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Absolutely not,” Hazel said, looking one part harassed and two parts astounded. Lily and I had come knocking at was a horribly inconvenient time, and both she and Cassie looked like they had gotten dressed in a hurry. At first I had thought maybe we’d arrived at a really inconvenient moment, but seeing all of the ritual implements lying about and the fresh dirt on their feet, my second guess was that they were performing some kind of skyclad ritual.
“Hazel, tomorrow is the night. I have a plan, I just need some more firepower. We can beat this guy, or at least get my uncle out of there,” I said, desperately searching her face for some sign that she might decide to help Lily and I. We all knew that Thanatos himself would be enough to take care of Lily and myself unless I burned myself out with power, but Cassie was a werewolf and tomorrow was the full moon. Hazel was a real shrink-your-head-and-turn-you-into-a-toad witch of considerable power. Unfortunately, they were better suited to something of a logistics role than a combat one, by their own declaration. Or at least Hazel was, Cassie was positively frothing with vicious excitement at the prospect.
“C’mon babe, we can’t sit on the sidelines forever,” Cassie said. “You think Thanatos won’t be able to figure out who helped them find his hideout? Shit, that diabolical bastard will probably turn John and send him right back after us, along with his uncle if we don’t help! If we can’t handle helping them, then we sure as hell can’t handle a couple of turned vampire hunters.” She was gesturing wildly as she spoke. It would have been funny to watch if the subject matter and potential destructive power of the people in the living room wasn’t so deadly serious and shock-and-awe crazy at the same time.
“We can’t, dear. If it comes to that, we’ll leave. We cannot take the chance of angering the vampire world further. In the end, John, all we can do is offer our blessings,” Hazel said. She looked downtrodden and regretful, like she wanted to help but something was holding her back. Self-preservation sure is a bitch, and I couldn’t really ask her to give up everything to help me on what might very well be a suicide mission. I wished that I’d gotten to know them sooner.
Cassie growled and stood silently for a moment looking back and forth between Lily and myself. At once she snapped and turned to Hazel. “Can I talk to you privately for a minute, babe?”
Hazel looked worriedly at Cassie’s face and then nodded. “We’ll be right back, my dears,” She said as Cassie took her by the arm and they walked into the adjoining hallway.
“So, what’s the plan now?” Lily asked, her fingers laced behind her head as she looked up at the ceiling.
“Something isn’t right here. I know I’ve just barely met them, but there shouldn’t be any reason that they wouldn’t want to fight against those assholes who took my uncle.”
“It’s not so hard to believe. They have a lot more vampire friends than vampire hunter friends. Your kind generally doesn’t look very favorably on witches or werewolves and tend to throw them into the same class as us.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. It’s not like Hazel goes around cursing people. Cassie doesn’t spend her nights eating campers either, from what I can tell.”
“But many do, John. There are tons of witches who go around spreading curses, and plenty of werewolves who go around ‘eating campers,’ as you put it. Most vampire hunters don’t discriminate based on performan
ce. Even your uncle—especially your uncle—doesn’t care if it’s a ‘good witch or werewolf’ he’s hunting. The fact that Hazel and Cassie are still alive is more of a testament to their strength than his temperance. Though, over the last few decades he does seem to have mellowed out.”
“That just makes me feel worse for not having their help,” I said. It was damned true, too. Those chicks had enough power to hold off my uncle, and that’s the kind of strength I desperately needed.
“Well… we’ll find a way. We might not be able to get Thanatos, but we can at least try to get Ignatius out of there.” Lily said with a sigh, looking at her hands in her lap.
“I think I have a plan for that, but it’s not worthwhile if we can get him out and Thanatos just comes after us. This is the oldest vampire we’re talking about here.”
“Not proven oldest, but that is certainly the claim he and his progeny make.” Lily said and bit her lip in frustration. “Not that it makes any difference. We’ll be lucky to make it out of his den with our lives.”
“You don’t have to come, you know. I can’t ask you to do that any more than I can ask Hazel and Cassie,” I said, scanning her face with a glance. Her expression remained unchanged, as if she’d considered the thought before.
“As I’ve said, your uncle and I go way back. I won’t abandon him now.”
“Brave of you. I have no idea what exactly we’re facing, to be honest.” I said with a bit of a nervous chuckle.
“We’ll be facing Thanatos. That’s like trying to have a knife fight against an army in itself—but he will be doubtless be surrounded by his eldest offspring, which is worse. You’ve got to realize that even if we manage to kill all of his spawn, our survival at that point will be dependent on his whim. Most of the older vampires—not just progenitors, because I’ve never actually met one—tend to not want to get their hands dirty. It’s considered taboo in most cases; it’s sort of a tradition to let your minions fight for you, like some kind of king staying away from the battlefield. But, of course, we’re taking this right into the throne room,” When she finished speaking her face fell a little. The thought of rushing into the jaws of near-certain death probably hadn’t really hit her until just then. Honestly, it didn’t hit me fully until just that moment either.
The Chronicles of a Vampire Hunter (Book 1): Red Ashes Page 22
