The Wrath of Pan (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 2) (10 page)

“She is resting.  We will know within the day if the siring process was a success.”

John was with us, the three of us had been sitting outside the room.  It was like we were waiting for the doctor to give us the verdict of the surgery.  Gregory looked tired as he came out of the room.  He’d been in there for quite some time.

I got right to the point, “So what happens next?”

“If the change is successful, then Rissa will be a vampire.  It will be as if she just took a very long nap.”

I hated to ask.  “And if not?”

“She will pass away, quietly and painlessly.”  His voice was barely audible.

“I am sure everything will be okay Gregory, you know what you are doing.”

“I wish I had your confidence Elizabeth, but whoever started the process was sloppy and careless.  I do not think they were even trying, just toying with the young lady.”

John hadn’t said all that much.  When we told him what’d been going on, he seemed pretty taken back.  Even as he sat here with us, he didn’t add much.  I got the feeling he was hiding something.

While Liz and Gregory were talking about Rissa, I motioned for John to follow me out of ear shot.  “Something’s bothering you and I’d like to know what.”

“I am that obvious, am I?”

“I’m a trained investigator plus my senses would make some super heroes jealous.  Your paler than normal, which is amazing because you’re a vampire and you keep fidgeting with your hands.”

He laughed at me.  “My sister said you could be a bit on the abrasive side, but I do give you credit for being entertaining.”  He looked back at the other two before continuing.  “I cannot say with any doubts, but in my mind this is Pan’s work.  I worry the girl may be working for him.”

“That’s a pretty slippery slope to jump down.  What gives you that idea?”

“The sloppy work, the choice in targets, all of it makes me nervous.”

Nothing about Rissa gave me any doubts, but this guy was also a lot older than me.  “I’ll keep an eye on her okay?  I found her and it’ll be my responsibility to keep us all safe.”

“Thank you Victor.  If you could, please keep this conversation between us until we know for sure.  Gregory is smitten and my sister has no tact.  We do not need to spook an innocent girl or a possible spy.”

I didn’t like keeping things from Liz.  “Trust me with this.  You need to focus on Pan and what the hell is going on with Rod.”

“Okay, I will.  Please keep me informed with anything you find, okay?”

I looked over and Gregory had a smile on his face.  Knowing what I knew of his past, I hoped John’s suspicions weren’t right.  “Yeah, I can do that.”

****

The night had been a long one.  Gregory checked on the girl regularly while Liz and I tried our best to rest.  I fell asleep for awhile, maybe two hours, but woke up after having a pretty awful nightmare.

“Vic, you are sweating!  Are you okay?”

“I’m good, just a bit of a bad dream, that’s all.”

She rubbed my back with her cool hand.  It felt really good.  “Tell me, what was it about?”

“The night we faced off with Tucker out in the desert.  Billy was there, trying to get to us for help but one of those big green dudes chased him down and killed him.  As he lay on the sand, his eyes just looked at me like I let him down.”

The death of my best friend was one thing I hadn’t even come close to getting over.  To make matters worse, I felt like I disrespected his memory by getting a new best friend in Reno.

“You cannot allow yourself to keep taking the blame for his death, their deaths!”  Liz was referring to Talia.  Me, her, and Billy were close.

“I wish we had the chance to talk to Tucker one last time.  I still don’t understand why he did the things he did to us.”

Liz didn’t share my opinion.  “A human like that was too dangerous.  Even though Baron Forte killed him in such a manner that is disgraceful, the world is a better place without him.”

“We got rid of Tucker and gained Pan.”  I wanted to tell her what John had said.  “Do you want to come with me to the kitchen?  I think a sandwich would take my mind off things.”

I think she thought I was being serious (I actually was, a sandwich works miracles) but then she caught on.  “Yeah, a little walk would do us some good.”

The hallways were dark and quiet.  To my knowledge no one outside our little group was staying here.  “Do you know what happened to the witch?”

“When she recovered from her hangover, Jonathan took her to see Roderick.  As far as I know, she has not returned.”

We entered the kitchen and Liz shut the door.  “Don’t you think it’s a bit odd that Rod wanted her over here so badly?  I mean, she is dangerous Liz and we let her out of our sight!”

“I do not like it either.  Until we can determine if this Scythe is real, the witch is a liability.”

I opened the fridge and grabbed a few things.  “That’s not what I brought you down here for.  John thinks the girl, Rissa, is a plant.”

“The human?  Why?”

“He said the sloppy work looked like something Pan would do.  He wondered if the girl was actually working for him.”

Liz sat down and put her hands together.  “It is a stretch, but I can see where he is coming from.  Why did he not share this to me?”

“He said you were too blunt and might scare the girl.”  A half smirk broke across her face.  “He wants me to investigate her, but I think he’s wrong.  I don’t get that vibe from her.”

“Make your case to me Vic.”

I kept my voice level, as best I could.  “The way she looked at Gregory, the way she wanted him to be there with her, that’s the sign of a girl who had no clue and is scared outta her mind.”

“You think if she knew what was going on, you would have picked up on it?”

I took a bite of my sandwich and nodded.  “I’m not saying I can’t be fooled, but if she knew the score before hand, she did a damn good job of acting surprised.”

“I will act as if we did not have this conversation.  You do as he asked and make sure, one hundred percent sure.”

“You got it.”  I gave her a cheesy grin, but I think it reassured her.

She moved close to me and snuggled up.  “I wish we were back in Phoenix.  Coming to London has been nothing but a miserable mess.”

“I do too.  If I ever ask to come over here again, slap me.”

She leaned up and kissed me.  The moment was ruined (again) by a door flying open.  We broke away and saw Gregory standing there.

“It worked.  Rissa survived the turning.”

Liz, Gregory, and John were behind closed doors with Rod.  Once he’d found out about the girl turning, he flipped his gourd.  I was babysitting both the witch and the newly turned vampire.  To pass the time up to this point, I’d taken Roscoe apart and cleaned the weapon.  Even though it was impeccable, it helped keep my mind busy.

Rissa was still out of it, sleeping in the bed.  Gregory said it wouldn’t be until nightfall when she’d come too.  That was getting closer and closer, not to mention the other occupant of the room.  Rosette was full of spunk and energy.

“That Roderick guy seemed full of piss and vinegar.  What’d ya all do while I was gone?”  I tried my best to ignore her, but she popped down right in front of me.

“Turned this poor girl into a vampire; not that we had much choice in the matter.”  Rissa behind us was sound asleep, lucky.

“At least that sounds exciting.  All the old guy wanted to talk about was the Scythe of Death.  When I told him I didn’t know anything, he seemed to think I was lying.”

“Between me and you, I wonder about him.  I’m only saying that to you to prove we aren’t your enemy.”

She started playing with her blonde hair.  “I believe yer not my enemy, but the vampires I don’t trust.  Ye don’t get to be their age by not having a few secrets well kept.”

She was right about that, they all seemed to have some skeletons in the closet.  “Tell you what, I’ll let you in on a secret that I think you can help me with.”

“What’s that?”

“There might be a chance the girl behind us works for Pan.  I don’t believe it but some need more proof than my good word.  My job is to prove she’s a good kid.”

“And ye want my help figuring out who the lass really is?”

I gave her a quick nod.  “It has to stay between us though.  If anyone finds out, it might blow our cover.”

“I’d be honored to help ye Mr. Inglewood.”

Under the pretense that we needed to figure out a plan, the next little while went by in relative quiet.  Every so often I’d check on Rissa just to make sure she was still doing okay.  I’d hope the meeting would finish because if she woke up hungry, Rosette and I were potential food sources.

I heard a door slam down the hall and the clicking of heels told me Liz was on her way here.  Sure enough, she came into the room like an afternoon thunderstorm.  “Will no one listen to reason in this damn house?!”

Her red eyes made Rosette jump back.  As for me, I was used to this.  “Hey lady, what’s the problem?”

She was throwing her hands in frustration.  “All Roderick wishes to discuss is that stupid Scythe!  Forget that London is burning to the ground from the inside with Pan and that werewolf!  No, he is more concerned with unproven artifacts!”

“Funny, Rosette said the same thing happened in her interview.”

She looked over at the witch, “He spent the entire time asking about that and not what Divas was up to?”

“He never asked me about my former employer.  I was a bit shocked with that.”

I know this ain’t the right time to point this out, but my lord she looks good in her dress slacks.  She must’ve noticed where my mind and eyes went.  “Get your eyes off my ass and back on the situation at hand!”

Rosette thought this was hilarious and so did one other person.  “Victor, you didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend.”

Rissa was sitting up in the bed smiling at the three of us.  My face started turning red.  “It’s normally pretty bad form to date your boss.”

“I can’t blame you; she’s pretty hot.”

“Please do not encourage him,” her eyes went between the two of us, “he already is a handful.”

“In that case, I’m kinda hungry and these two look pretty tasty.”

I didn’t even hear Gregory come in, but there he was.  “Rissa, I am so glad to see you awake!  Come with me, I will show you to the kitchen.”

It was sweet watching the two of them.  He took her hand and they walked off, like on a little blood sucking date.  “What do we do next?”

“I am tired of waiting for Pan to make moves and we react.  No, it is time for us to take the fight to him.”

Rosette sat on the now empty bed.  “Do ye have a plan or any idea where he might be?”

“Vampires tend to be creatures of habit.  His Lost Boys have no concept of conservation and feed regularly.  They will have a favorite feeding spot and it will be up to us to find it.”  She punched the wall, “If Roderick does not wish to fix this city, and then we will.”

“Tonight might be a good night to do some scouting.  Gregory will be busy with Rissa and after getting reamed out by Rod, we can use that as an excuse to go out.”

“What about her?”  Liz pointed at Rosette.

“I do have a name!  Damnit vampire, when will ye start using it?”

“Listen, not right now you two.  There are very few people I trust and believe it or not Liz I trust her.”  Rosette and I made eye contact, “You know what to do tonight don’t ya?”

“Yeah, I can handle it.”

Liz didn’t ask, but I could tell she was annoyed.  “Good, we meet in the kitchen in the morning.  Remember, don’t let anyone know.”

**Warren Tucker**

“You sure you’re not coming Tucker?  After last time, the blood will taste so much sweeter with the fear in the streets.”

I didn’t even look up at Pan; I was so close to finishing the puzzle laid out in front of me.  “I am fine thank you.  Knowledge is quenching my thirst right now.”

He started tossing his knife in the air.  “You’re loss.  I’m not bringing home any leftovers, so I hope that book tastes good until tomorrow night.”

“When our master knows everything, then I will be able to eat all I want.”

This seemed to quiet him.  He knew as well as I did that this was first priority.  But this was my work, it wouldn’t stop him from continuing his bloody good time.

“Come boys, you heard the man; our master will soon know the score!  Let’s go celebrate a bit early shall we?”

The group started cheering and that damn wolf began howling.  Soon it became more and more distant as they left the tunnel system and entered the sewers.  With the peace and quiet, I could go back to my work.

Little did Pan know I already translated everything.  The text spoke of an artifact called the Scythe of Death.  According to legend, it would bring back lost souls from the land of the dead.  At first I thought that was what the vampires were after, that is until I made a realization.

The more I read, the more I realized the text was actually a puzzle for the readers to solve.  The legends it told gave clues to something even more terrible than a scythe that could recall souls.  I was so close to translating that portion and the horrors that it could unleash.  No, once I did, I had to make sure this information never reached Pan’s master.

I went back to writing down the clues as I found them, hoping to piece them together and see the answer.  There was another puzzle I needed to figure out.  How could I get this information to Victor Inglewood before it was too late?  If I could do that, maybe my path to redemption would begin…