One Fell Sweep

by Ilona Andrews

  Helen watched him like a cat watches a bird. If I didn’t let her outside, she would start making bird-call noises. I opened the door. Helen scooted out and sat on the porch, mesmerized.

  “That is a vampire child,” Caldenia murmured.

  Tell me something I don’t know.

  “She will adjust,” Maud said behind me.

  I almost jumped. I knew the location of all guests in the inn, but calling it up required a slight effort and if necessary, I could choose to stop paying attention to a particular guest. Yesterday I made the decision to stop tracking Maud. Tracking Helen was a necessity, because she was so young, but my sister was family. My parents stopped actively tracking us when we were teens, which didn’t mean that Mom couldn’t zero in on us with pinpoint accuracy when we were in trouble. But both Dad and she gave us our privacy, so I gave Maud her privacy and now she snuck up on me.

  “How long were you standing there?”

  “For a while,” she said. She was sort of looking at me, which also allowed her to covertly watch Arland through the glass door. And despite all the effort she was putting into pretending not to see him, Maud was watching him.

  “Let’s see what you’ve got,” Arland told Helen.

  Helen stayed on the porch.

  “Come on. Or are you scared?”

  Helen showed him her teeth.

  Arland motioned at her. My niece stayed on the porch.

  The door swung open as Maud made the inn move it. She strode out onto the porch.

  “Helen, kill,” my sister said.

  My niece grabbed a rubber dagger from the rack and moved onto the grass, foot over foot, stalking like a cat. Arland squared his shoulders. The contrast was ridiculous. She was tiny, he was huge; she had a little dagger, and he was holding a massive sword; but the two of them looked at each other with identical expressions on their faces, like two tigers meeting on the border of their territories. Waiting. Measuring the distance with their gaze. Watching for a hint of weakness.

  The attack came with blinding speed. Helen dashed forward. Her dagger sliced the front of Arland’s thigh and she scuttled back around him, cutting across his calves. Arland let out a dramatic roar and fell to his knees. Helen leapt up and slit his throat. It was so fast and precise, she must’ve done it dozens of times. I hoped in practice. It had to be in practice.

  Arland collapsed on the ground, conveniently rolling onto his back. Helen put her foot on his chest, raised her dagger, and let out a vampire roar.

  Should I be horrified or cuted out? I couldn’t decide.

  “Good job,” Maud said.

  Arland grabbed at Helen’s ankle. She squealed and dashed to the porch.

  He sat up, a big grin on his face.

  “As you can see, my daughter doesn’t need any instruction from you,” Maud said.

  “It wouldn’t hurt.”

  No, Arland. No, no.

  “Really?” Maud asked.

  Arland rolled to his feet. “Your daughter is a vampire.”

  “Half.”

  He shook his head. “She has the fangs. Humans will see her as a vampire. Vampires will see her as a vampire.”

  The look on Maud’s face turned friendly, almost warm. If I were in Arland’s shoes, I’d run now.

  “And there is something wrong with the way I train my child with fangs?” Maud casually stepped toward the weapon rack.

  Sean entered the kitchen and stood next to me. “What did I miss?”

  “My sister is about to destroy Arland.”

  On the lawn Arland leaned back. “For a child this young, a challenge issued is a challenge answered.”

  Maud pondered the weapons. “What are you implying?”

  “A properly trained vampire child wouldn’t have waited for permission to kill,” Arland said.

  He just kept digging his own grave.

  Sean opened the kitchen door.

  “Where are you going?” I whispered.

  “I want a front row seat to this.”

  I chased him outside and we sat in the chairs.

  “She’s too controlled. You say sit, she sits. You say wait, she waits.”

  More words, deeper hole.

  “She should be guided by instinct. She should be a rassa in the grass. Instead she is a goren on the porch.”

  And he just told my sister that her daughter wasn’t a wolf but a trained dog.

  I braced myself.

  Maud drew a sword from the rack so fast, it looked like the weapon sprang into her hand on its own. She swung it. All pretense of sweetness was gone from her face.

  “Perhaps you would care to give me some instruction.”

  “If you wish.” Arland picked up a practice mace.

  My sister struck. They clashed. One moment Arland was standing and the next he staggered back, shaking his head, the red imprint of the rubber sword blade on the side of his face.

  Sean laughed.

  Maud lunged into the opening. Arland swung his mace as if it were light as a toothpick and parried her sword, bashing her blade to the right. She drove her left fist into his throat. He spun away from her, choking, but still striking back. She ducked under his swing and rammed the blade of her sword into his armpit.

  Sean and I made ouch noises.

  Arland roared, his fangs bared.

  Maud danced around him, battering his ribs. He knocked her sword blade aside with his left arm and kicked her. My sister flew, rolled in the grass, and came back up from a crouch into a blindingly fast attack.

  The sword and mace drummed, clashing. Arland and Maud rampaged across the lawn, beating on each other. Sean and I watched them, wincing when one of them grunted in pain.

  Helen sat by my feet, absorbed in the violence of the fight. She was so small and our world had gotten so violent all of a sudden.

  “Did you know Draziri taste like chicken?” I asked.

  Sean glanced at me, as if not sure if I was okay. “I had no idea.”

  “Orro told me,” I told him. “We’re besieged by murderous poultry.”

  Sean reached over and took my hand. I let him.

  “We’ve got this,” he said. “It will be okay.”

  Both my sister and Arland were glistening with sweat. The rubber weapons weren’t designed to cut, but somehow they were both bleeding from a few shallow scrapes. They danced across the lawn back and forth, gaining ground then losing it.

  “It won’t be much longer,” Sean said. “They’re getting tired.”

  Arland blocked Maud’s sword. She reversed her hold, gripping the blade, and clubbed him with the pommel. The blow landed right between his eyes. Arland went down.

  “Yield!” my sister snarled.

  Arland burst from the ground, sweeping her off her feet like a charging bull, and drove her into a tree. Maud’s back slapped the bark, her feet four inches off the ground. He pinned her there.

  If I interfered, there would be hell to pay.

  “Yield, my lady.” Arland bared his teeth an inch away from her neck.

  She glared at him. “I don’t yield.”

  The ground under Arland’s feet opened and swallowed him up to his knees. He let go. Maud dropped down, picked up her sword, and walked away.

  I sighed and let Arland up out of the hole.

  Maud threw the sword into the rack and stomped onto the porch.

  “You cheated,” I told her.

  “Yeah, yeah.” She went into the house and slammed the door behind her.

  I took my hand back from Sean.

  Arland stretched, wincing, picked up the practice mace and walked to the porch. Red welts covered his pale skin. He looked like someone had worked him over with a sack of potatoes.

  Helen stood on her toes and punched him in the stomach.

  “Ow,” he said.

  Helen hissed, grinned, and ran inside.

  The Marshal of House Krahr opened his mouth.

  I braced myself.

  “Your sister is magnificent,” Ar
land said.

  * * *

  Maud the Magnificent swished water in her mouth and spat blood out into the bathroom sink. I helpfully held out a towel for her. She looked at herself in the mirror. “No.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  She turned and took the towel. “I was talking to myself.”

  “Oh? Was it no as in no more sparring matches or no as in Arland Krahr is vampire sex on a stick and seducing him would be a terrible idea?” I stepped back in case I had to duck.

  She blotted her face with the towel. “No, as in I won’t let myself be goaded again. Also, Dina, seducing? You’ve been hanging out with Caldenia too long.”

  “Helen likes him. She punched him in the stomach after you stormed off.”

  “Should’ve aimed lower.”

  The inn chimed, letting me know the Hiru requested my attention.

  I waved my hand. A screen opened in the side of the wall. On it the Hiru leaned forward, his mechanical wheezing fast and loud.

  “The second member of the Archivarius!”

  “Where and when?” I asked.

  “He’s unable to reach Earth. He’s on Baha-char awaiting retrieval.”

  “Where on Baha-char?” Maud asked. “It’s a big place.”

  “Ninth Row, past the Merchants of Death. The member is arriving in an argon tank in fifteen minutes and will need to be picked up from Aka Lorvus, merchant. Your locator will pick up the signal.”

  “Thank you. Will you be joining us for breakfast?”

  The Hiru paused. “You do not have to continue to invite me. I know my appearance brings you discomfort.”

  “It’s an instinctual reaction and it only lasts a few moments. We’re more than our instincts.”

  “I will consider it,” he said. “But I may remain in my room.”

  “I understand. Will you tell me your name, at least?”

  A long silence stretched.

  “Sunset,” the Hiru said finally. “My name is Sunset.”

  “It’s a beautiful name.”

  He severed the connection.

  I waved the screen closed. At least we had a longer window this time.

  “Let me get the Archivarian,” Maud said.

  It was the most logical choice. If I left the inn, the void field would drop. The inn wouldn’t be defenseless, but why tempt fate?

  “You got the last one. I hate that you’re doing all the work.”

  Maud waved the towel. “We’re a team. Look, I’ll go grab that blond fool and we’ll be back here in no time.”

  “You could take Sean.”

  She shook her head. “No. Arland is an arrogant, aggressive, bull-headed ass…”

  “Don’t hold anything back.”

  “…but he looks damn impressive in armor and he hits like a battering ram. I’ve fought more in these past years than in my whole life. I’ve beaten vampires that were bigger, but after sparring with him, my arms felt like they were going to fall off. If I take Arland, I won’t have to fight. People see that walking castle barrel toward them and get out of the way, and if someone doesn’t, he’ll smash them with his mace until there is nothing left except blood and mush. Dina, I haven’t been to Baha-char in years, but I’ve been going there longer than you. Let me do this.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll go get my armor. I want to test the crest anyway.”

  She took off, marching toward Arland’s rooms. A moment later I heard her voice. “Lord Marshal? Would you care for an excursion?”

  Yes, he would. In fact, I had a feeling he would be thrilled.

  * * *

  Ten minutes later, I watched Maud and Arland step through the doorway at the end of the hall into the bright sunshine of the galactic market place. The door sealed shut behind them. Beast whined softly by my feet.

  “I know. They will be okay.”

  I sighed and took a mental tally of my guests. Helen was in the garage with Wing, the Hiru was in his quarters, the first member of the Archivarius was in his tank, Sean and Caldenia were on the back porch, and Orro, predictably, lingered in the kitchen. Everyone’s accounted for.

  What would Caldenia and Sean be talking about? I headed toward the back porch. Beast dashed ahead of me.

  Sean sat at the table, an array of parts spread before him on a green tarp. No doubt the parts fit together into some sort of deadly weapon. Caldenia sipped Mello Yello in a rocking chair. Beast wagged her tail at me from her spot on a chair next to Sean.

  I turned my back to the trees in case someone decided to read my lips.

  “We have the second retrieval,” I said. “At Baha-char. Maud and Arland left to get it.”

  “How much time do they have?” Sean asked.

  “It’s arriving already in a tank, so plenty of time.”

  Sean nodded and went back to tinkering.

  “It’s such a lovely day,” Caldenia said. “You should take your niece and your adorable dog for a walk along the force field boundary.”

  I looked at her.

  “You should also wear some equipment so we can hear any conversations you may have.” Her Grace sipped her drink.

  Oh. “Would Kiran Mrak want to talk?”

  “He knows nothing about you. You’re a mystery. Trust me, my dear. If he’s any good at what he does, he’ll want to talk. He won’t pass up the opportunity to gather information and take your measure.”

  Sean reached into the bag by his feet and pulled out a small plastic box with a clear top and a layer of complex electronics embedded in the white bottom. A flesh-colored patch the size of a penny was inside. I took the box. I could’ve just had my voice resonate at any point from the inn, but he went through the trouble of finding a gadget for me and I would wear it. I pried the box open and swiped the patch with my finger. It immediately mimicked my skin tone, blending so completely, I couldn’t find it by looking alone.

  “Where should I put this?”

  “By your ear works best,” he said.

  I touched the patch to the spot just under my right ear. It stuck. Pale green light pulsed through the box.

  “Give him as little information as possible,” Caldenia said. “Don’t be obvious in your questions or he’ll stop talking. But do push him, dear. If you feel any splashes of emotion from him, use it and test it to see if you can get a reaction.”

  “Come on, Beast!” I said in stereo, one sound coming from my mouth and the other from the box.

  The Shih-Tzu jumped off the chair and she and I started toward the edge of the void field.

  I strolled along the boundary. Beast trailed me, stopping to sniff at random clumps of grass and fascinating sticks.

  I picked one up and threw it for her. She dashed after it, a black and white blur. I looked up and saw Kiran Mrak. He stood less than a foot away, wrapped in a cloak that perfectly mimicked the shrubs around him. The void field interrupted projectiles, but it permitted sound and light. I didn’t hear him. If I had been off my land, he would’ve killed me and I would’ve died never knowing what happened.

  He stared at me, his turquoise eyes exquisitely beautiful. I took a step. He took one with me, perfectly mirroring my movements, as if he were a magic reflection, except he moved with the kind of grace I could never accomplish. I still couldn’t hear him.

  We walked along the boundary of the void force field.

  There was a beauty about the Draziri, an elegance and otherworldly air. When you looked at one, it was like meeting a mystic creature from some legend.

  Beast brought the stick back, saw the Draziri, but she couldn’t smell him and I didn’t seem alarmed. I threw the stick again and she bounced off.

  “Shi-Tzu-Chi,” Kiran said in his low melodious voice. “Adorable and created to kill.”

  “Sometimes things are not as they appear.”

  “So I’ve come to realize.” He drew back his hood and tossed his cloak over his shoulder. Underneath he wore a soft gray tunic, bordered with black. A sword rested on his waist. His l
ong white hair spilled down in a perfectly straight waterfall. The lines of his caste shone with silver on his forehead.

  “A small woman in an old house on a backwater planet possessing power beyond imagination. It has an almost legendary air. A holy quest from prehistory.”

  “Except holy quests usually have a worthy goal and a hero. You’re trying to kill a being that caused you no harm.”

  “He’s an abomination,” Kiran said. “He must die.”

  “Explain something to me,” I said. “You kill for money.”

  “Yes.”

  “You also kill for pride and for the challenge of it.”

  “Yes.”

  “But you’re not a religious man. You don’t kill for the sake of your church. Why the sudden interest in the Hiru?”

  “You don’t know me.”

  “A devout man wouldn’t have murdered a priest.”

  He smiled, revealing even, sharp teeth that didn’t belong in any human’s mouth. “High priest.”

  And he called me arrogant.

  We strolled some more.

  “His name is Sunset,” I said.

  Kiran tilted his head to look at me.

  “The Hiru you’re trying to kill. He has a name. He has consciousness.”

  “You’re naive to think that should make a difference to me. I’ve killed hundreds of beings.”

  “You won’t kill this one.”

  “I will,” he promised me. “You can’t maintain this force field indefinitely.”

  True. A week or so and it would begin to strain the inn. “I can maintain it long enough. Why not go look for an easier target?”

  “Because the Hiru are rare. Locating another will take time.”

  “You’re short on time?”

  “Not me.”

  I took a wild stab in the dark. “Someone close to you is dying. Killing the Hiru will redeem you and them.”

  He didn’t respond.

  Who would he care about enough? Sean and I had gone over the files he brought from Wilmos until we damn near memorized them. Kiran wasn’t married.

  “Your lover?”

  A slight hint of derision touched his mouth.