Authors: Michele Drier
“See, some of the tension has gone out of your body because you’re aware that I sense your anger. That’s not hard, right?” He had me there. I nodded grudgingly and went back to writing an email to Mira’s staff in Rio.
“I could teach you, you know. It would at least bring you closer to par with other vampires.”
I slowed the key-pounding and looked at him. Was this a vampirish trick?
“No trick. I just thought you wouldn’t be so ...so...touchy if you could read us better.”
“I’m touchy?” My voice hit a note that Maria Callas would have envied.
“Ahhh, see? I knew that word would set you off.”
He stood up, came around behind me and put his hands on my shoulders, running them up into my hair. His touch made the skin on the back of my neck shiver and little spasms of anticipation started down my spine.
“How can you say I’m closed off, when you just touching me makes my skin want to fall of my bones?”
He glimmered. He smiled. “That’s sexual tension, a completely different thing. When I said closed off, I meant not able to read other people in normal communication. You’re so used to giving orders that you don’t allow yourself to see how that affects others. If you watch them carefully, you may see what they’re actually thinking. Words are only one small form of communication. Open yourself up to others and it gives you a leg up when dealing with them. That’s what I can teach you.”
“Mmmmm, you can teach me anything right now.” I stood and turned into his arms. He kissed me long and hard, then pushed me away. “Before you get nasty, this is only because I have a few more things I have to do tonight. Come and work beside me, I love having you near.”
OK then, I could do this. I knew he wasn’t going to go away. I knew we’d make love tonight. Maybe not just right now. I went back to reading messages.
I suddenly realized that his hum, an almost inaudible small sound like a quiet purr he made when he was content, was gone and I couldn’t sense his presence. I looked up. He was still here, he was just immobile, his eyes gazing at something I didn’t see.
“Jean-Louis, my love, is everything all right?”
“Yes.”
“What’s happening? Why are you so silent?”
He shook himself as though someone walked over his grave. “I’m fine. I just need to go to Kiev. I’ll be back soon.” He stood up and headed for the door.
“Wait, wait, what’s this ‘I’m’ going. I thought we were a team. And why do you, we, have to go?”
He was still watching events in Kiev, or where ever his attention was fastened. “I’m going alone. Nikoly is calling.”
“And I just sit here, worried sick that you’ll be killed while you boys go off on your adventures? I don’t like this scenario. You said you wouldn’t do this again.”
Something in my tone...fear? desperation?...got through to him and he finally looked at me.
“You can’t go, it’s too dangerous.”
“I don’t care! I need to be with you, to know what you’re facing. Please!” My pleading wasn’t pretty, but he heard it.
“If you do come with me, there will be some very strict guidelines. I can’t help Nik and look out for you at the same time.”
Was he saying that I was going to be in the way? “I’ll stay out of things, just so I know how you are. What’s the matter with Nik?”
“It’s not with him, it’s what he’s found out.”
“What?”
“With you along, we’ll have to take a plane, so you have 10 minutes to get ready. I’ll meet you in the armory,” and he was gone.
Oops, had my big mouth gotten me in hot water? How long would we be gone? Where would we stay? What should I pack?
Wait a minute! What difference would it make? I was going off with my vampire lover to help another vampire with a situation in the capital of Ukraine. It didn’t make a whit of difference if I was wearing jeans or a color-coordinated pantsuit.
With the few working brain cells I could gather, I crammed a pair of jeans, a sweater, some underwear and bathroom stuff in a bag, grabbed another jacket and went out the door, right into Vladmir’s chest.
He said, “Oof,” I said “Sorry,” and we barreled down the stairs.
Jean-Louis, Sandor and four other demons were loading up assorted weapons and ammo. In less that 10 minutes, we were piled into two limos and heading for the airport.
Demons moved fast, but these vampires could put on the speed when needed, too.
Chapter Thirty-two
Nik met the plane. Well, Nik, half-a-dozen demons, three limos and a vehicle that looked like urban SWAT transportation, were waiting when the plane taxied to a stop.
With Sandor, Vladmir, Vassily and two more of the Hungarian demons, we made a formidable force. At least
I
felt safe.
Pleasantries got short shrift as we sorted ourselves out and climbed into the various vehicles, Nik, Jean-Louis, me and Sandor in the middle limo. Ahead of us, three demons were the lead car and the third limo and the Urban Assault truck carried demons, guns, grenade launchers and an assortment of other weapons.
Our caravan seemed to provide the only light as we drove through the darkened Kiev streets toward Nik’s house. I wondered why it was so dark, then realized it was after midnight. “Doesn’t Kiev have street lighting?” I asked.
Nik and Jean-Louis exchanged as look. “Yes, but we took out a breaker on the way to the airport. This whole neighborhood is out. We and the demons can see perfectly in the dark; other Huszar pals, not so much.”
“Who’s causing the problem?”
“We know that Leonid has called in some reinforcements from around Kiev, but it’s a little harder for their shapeshifters to work in urban areas, so we’ve heard they have the word out that they’re hiring from some of the locals. And those are going to be regulars.”
“They must have night-vision goggles,” Jean-Louis said.
“They probably do,” Nikoly agreed. “But even with night-vision, they won’t be able to see as well as we do. So if we can keep most of the skirmishes in the dark, we’re better off.”
Once at Nik’s we dumped our things and had a quick update. It seems that young women had been disappearing over the last few days and now the count was close to ten. That was bad enough, but there was blood spatter at the spots where each of the young women was last seen.
Plus, the police found a SNAP business card, with no name but a date penciled on the back, at one of the spots, in an alley behind a downtown club.
“A business card? That could have come from anywhere!” I was incredulous that it was even picked up, particularly close to a club. “It could have been there for days.”
Jean-Louis closed his eyes. “Yes, it could have. From the police’s perspective, though, it makes a strong assumption that someone from SNAP was somehow associated with the girl’s disappearance. Maybe it was a legitimate appointment, and in that case, they’d want to talk to SNAP people as possible witnesses. A SNAP staffer could have been the last one to see her alive.”
“You’re right.” Nik was pacing. “We’ve heard, though, that they’re more likely looking for the SNAP person as the abductor. We have a couple of friends in the central police and they’ve been feeding us information. There’s no particular person whom they suspect yet. Beginning tomorrow, they’re planning to spend the day at the SNAP offices, interviewing everybody and taking fingerprints. Thank God they’re not well-equipped or sophisticated enough for DNA.”
He and Jean-Louis shared a laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“We don’t really have a DNA profile. We have a lot of other people’s blood running through us, so a profiling would just be complete mush.” Jean-Louis smiled at me. “We have a wide variety of benefits.”
“The problem is that the SNAP staff here are all regulars. They’ll be absolutely panicked when the troops from Central come barging in tomorrow. We know who’s been abducting young women—what we have to do is grab some of them and haul them into Central before SNAP gets completely shut down.” Nik had succinctly outlined the problem. Now all we had to do was come up with a solution.
For the next hour or so, he and the Kiev demons laid out maps of the city and surrounding areas, plotting all the sites where a young woman had gone missing. Then they developed a grid for where these were in connection to Leonid’s house and, surprise, surprise, they were all within a rough five-kilometer circle, with his house midpoint.
“How many Huszars are here?” Jean-Louis was looking grim. With the negotiations and work he’d done with Karoly, he’d hoped it wouldn’t come down to a viscous and deadly stand-off with the family.
“Our sources say that three others have come to Kiev, plus five shapeshifters and who knows how many Chechens. The latest info we have, and this is from three hours ago, says they’re all holed up at Leonid’s. I think we have to attack tonight. If we don’t, we’re going to face a storm of criticism, bad press and an international black eye if word gets out about the business card.”
Jean-Louis nodded at Nik. “You’re right. This is a major problem that we have to solve tonight.”
With Sandor speaking for the demons and me just listening, open-mouthed, Nik and Jean-Louis developed a straight forward assault attack. Two limos would pull up on the street behind Leonid’s large home and six demons would go through the yard to secure the back doors. On their way, they’d also take out any guards Leonid had stationed, a job made easier by the black-out from the smashed breaker.
Nik and Jean-Louis would use another limo and come up to the front door. The rest of the demons would be in the Urban Assault vehicle, almost a tank, and be ready to ram the front of the house.
And me?
“Where should I be?”
Jean-Louis and Nik looked at each other. I could see that they’d forgotten about me.
“Uhhhh, I think...” Nik began. Jean-Louis took over. “You’ll be with us. But when Nik and I go up to the door, you’ll stay in the car with a demon.”
“You’re just going to walk in the front door?” That sounded like a kind of risky scheme to me.
“Well, yes. We’re going to knock first. Depending on who answers the door, we’ll either ask to talk to Leonid, push our way in or grab.”
“Grab?”
“If Leonid or another of the Huszars answers the door, we’ll grab him. He’ll be a bargaining chip. Right now we don’t have any. If it’s a Chechen, we’ll probably just shoot him. Same with a shapeshifter. Get him before he can change.” Jean-Louis was matter-of-fact.
“If our information is right, there aren’t any more than a dozen all together. That’s an easy number.” Nik was so excited he was all but licking his lips. Maybe this was one Kandesky who hadn’t had all the hunter bred out over the centuries.
Jean-Louis noticed my startled expression. “Careful, Nik. Maxie’s looking like she’s going to make a break for it. She thinks you’re on a hunting expedition!” They both snickered.
“It’s true that we still have inherent urges to hunt prey. There’s still a strong streak of that in regulars, too. We all come from the same original gene pool, so you shouldn’t be surprised. The Huszars act on theirs, we don’t, but it’s there, under layers of civilization. Things like tonight’s little party rip off the veneer, but we understand how to keep it controlled.”
“Yes,” Nik agreed. “To be honest, though, I still enjoy it. It’s exciting, stirs up the adrenaline and sharpens senses. Right now, I’m hearing, seeing and smelling better than I usually do.” He took a deep breath and his skin looked glowing, like he was pumping up for a marathon.
Even Jean-Louis was showing signs of excitement, and not the kind I liked. His eyes were almost black and were focused on something I couldn’t see. Something I didn’t want to see.
The demon driving turned off his headlights and we inched our way up a circular driveway to the front of Leonid’s house. No outside lights were on, but windows on the first floor were lit by candles, judging by the flicker, and two windows on the second floor, maybe bedrooms, showed a low lamp light.
“Hmmmm...looks like they’re up.” Jean-Louis was tickled at his small joke. Of course they were; it was a house of vampires.
“I just hope they’re not expecting us.” Nik had put on surgeon’s gloves and was coiling a woven silver rope. “I think we’ve moved too quickly for them to be prepared.”
The car silently pulled up in front of the door.
“Stay here.” Jean-Louis handed me a cell phone. “Keep this on speed dial. If things start to go bad, hit the button. There are another dozen demons on alert to come immediately.”
He turned to the driver. “She is in your hands, and it means your life. Keep the engine running and be ready to leave instantly. Use the route we’ve planned, get to Nikoly’s house and pull up all the barricades. Only accept calls from Nikoly, Sandor or myself. If you don’t hear from one of us, call the pilot, get to the plane and get home.”
Chapter Thirty-three
Jean-Louis and Nikoly were out of the car and at the front door before I could assimilate the orders he’d given the demon. Then it hit me—he was preparing for his capture or death. How could this happen? Weren’t we stronger, better armed, better trained?
And what would I do if he died? I’d die myself.
I opened my mouth to say something, but what? Don’t go? Be safe? I love you? Suddenly I heard his answer as clearly as if he’d spoken it in my ear, “I’ll be safe. Remember I love you.”
I whipped my head around, thinking he’d come back, but I could see he and Nik silhouetted in the open door. Then Nik’s arm shot out, the candlelight gleamed on a streak of silver, a body was on the floor, Jean-Louis and Nik were in and the door slammed shut.
The night became dead silent. No traffic, no animal sounds. My eyes were adjusting to the full dark, but I still wasn’t seeing anything. I jumped when a hand came over the back of the driver’s seat.
“Take,” the demon said. “Jean-Louis left for you.” He was handing me what felt like a scuba mask. Why would Jean-Louis leave a scuba mask? I took the object and realized that it was night-vision goggles.