B00724AICC EBOK (7 page)

The author had fond memories of Cape Coral, and remembered that the city had more miles of canals than any other city on the planet. He remembered the scenic drive across the Midpoint Bridge that crossed the Caloosahatchee River which connected the cities of Cape Coral and Fort Myers, and how the day had been so hot that it gave the air conditioner almost more than it could handle. His thoughts jumped around from one thing to another, always ending up on another approach to Dracula that could indeed be hazardous to his health. The idea of getting his head knocked off was worrisome, but Piers appeared to be one of the few that he tolerated these days. He considered it to be a compliment in a peculiar sort of way, but thought that perhaps it also brought a degree of responsibility.

The author soon found himself in front of the Master’s residence, staring up at the second story window. The old Victorian dwelling had been given a facelift less than a month after Dracula moved in, and now the place looked more modern with its brown aluminum siding. Piers was anxious about going in but knew that he would have to swallow his fear. Simply being in Dracula’s presence could be debilitating. He stared at the house for several minutes, going over in his head what would be the best thing to say, but all he could manage was to dismiss one thing after another. Suddenly alert to the fact that Dracula was aware of his presence, and could in fact see him in his mind’s eye standing out there. Piers actually felt him poking around in his mind as if going through the bathroom cabinet in search of telling things. It was disconcerting. He was not yet accustomed to his vampire vehicle, and like a new car he wasn’t sure what the hell it could do. A crow looked down upon him from the roof and cawed.

Piers shook his head at the bird. “Everyone’s a critic.”

Piers Anthony found Dracula prone with his ankles crossed on his Jaquenetta white leather sectional sofa with chaise as he stared off at nothing in particular. He was wearing black silk pajamas and black socks. It was eerie how he didn’t even blink as he ignored the writer staring down at him. He had such a look that he may as well have been an inanimate replica of the human form; his mind appeared to have paused. There was that blank expression that showed the emptiness of his existence, and as much movement in the Talaat Harb statue in downtown Cairo where Dracula used to like to hang.

“
Dracula, come out and have a drink with me.”

“
Go away. Did you happen to notice that I put emphasis on those words?”

“
You can tell me about some of your past adventures.”

“
No.”

He stared at Dracula and pondered on what to say next. It might actually be necessary to annoy him a little. Best course of action might be to just turn around and flee. One thing was for certain, doing the wrong thing might be the last thing he ever did. That unwelcoming face was disturbing. “I’ve come all the way from Florida at considerable time and expense, and believe me when I say that it wasn’t easy to track you down, having to pay a seer a wad of cash to zero in on you. And that’s all you have to say?”

“
Go away now.”

“
Nice.”

Dracula sat up and blinked; he sat up so rapidly that it could have easily been construed as a threat. “Only if you can get me a bottle of Tequila Ley .925. I’ll imbibe and you can diatribe.”

Piers smiled a knowing grin that didn’t go unnoticed. “Okay.”

“
No, you did not.”

“
I had a bottle of it shipped from your cellar in California to a nearby bar. A private bar on Main Street.”

Dracula stood up and sighed. Perhaps it would simply be best to humor him and get it over with. “You do realize that bottle cost me over two hundred thousand dollars. What if they accidentally drop and break it?”

Piers nodded and nodded. “Then I postulate that I’ll be fleeing the area. Far and fast shall I travel. I shall displace the wind as something that displaces wind. That didn’t come out properly. In any case, that’s why it’s under guard at the bar. I didn’t want to risk dropping it. I think that it might be best that you drink it before it does get dropped.”

“
The Platinum and White Gold bottle?”

“
Good guess.”

“
I didn’t know you cared.”

“
Someone has to care.”

Dracula raised an eyebrow and somehow even that was menacing. “I would imagine that all humans are commencing to believe that all vampires have hearts of stone.”

“
Another good guess.”

CHAPTER NINE

SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE ON THE IBERIAN PENINSULA night had fallen after a hard rain. Mother Nature had completely saturated the area though now the sky was relatively empty, but more precipitation was on the way. The five had flown east across the Atlantic Ocean from Charlotte North Carolina in bat form, and had settled into the cobbled streets of Toledo Spain. A city plush in history, with swords having been manufactured there in Roman times. They walked five abreast with the confidence of the mafia out to intimidate, all wearing charcoal suits with navy blue ties. They permitted their footsteps to echo off the walls of the nearby buildings instead of being surreptitious. The crescent moon reflected out of the large pork chop shaped puddle and into their luminescent eyes.

A club stake was cooking somewhere, and its scent wafted lightly on the air.

Stephen, Matt, Joshua, Noah and Luke were sandwiched between two buildings. Their John Lobb shoes continued to clop on the cobblestone path. It was a bit of a tradition for vampires to drop their surnames once turned into the undead as they considered themselves a new and improved species, and almost always tossed their prior history like so much junk. When the reality of a vampire was attained, their essence changed depending on their true hearts. Nasty humans tended to transform into true monsters that needed to be put down.

“
Do you hear that?” Joshua asked.

“
We all hear it,” said Matt.

They could all perceive the storm that was approaching from over fifty miles away; rumbles of distant thunder and far off wind gusts. Their hearing was supernatural and it had been a challenge to control when they were first turned into biters. The amplified sounds were quite unsettling for some vampires. It was one of the first things a new vampire had to accomplish an adjusting of one’s hearing. On rare occasions it drove them insane.

“
In the days when I was first turned,” said Matt. “Almost drove me crazy. The sound of distant thunder under a clear sky was maddening. And this guy on the next street was playing a war game, and I was running around like a fool dodging bullets. He tasted pretty good though and then I finished the game.”

They all stopped in unison, their heads turned up and to the left as a small poodle was scented up on a barred balcony relaxing and enjoying the night air. A door behind the animal revealed an illuminated living room where his master was taking a nap on the sofa, out of sight because of the elevation. The dog’s black nose twitched as it scented the gang below, and it didn’t like what it smelled. It lifted its head cautiously observing the gang of vampires. The dog’s nose was assaulted by their odor, its head jerked from the distaste of it. It allowed itself a low growl as it looked down from above.

Stephen, the leader of the five, nodded and smiled. “Watch this, gonna make a doggie pancake.”

“
Can I do it?” asked Luke.

“
No.”

“
Make it jump,” said Joshua. He adjusted his tie and watched with interest as another rumble of thunder was heard in the distance.

Stephen whispered into the night air and the white dog immediately stood tall and at attention, as if his master was beckoning him with the sweetest voice. The dog could see a non-existent trail of light dancing into the night. It then realized that something was amiss and it wanted to back up and escape but discovered that it couldn’t move unless commanded to do so. The animal approached the edge and its eyes connected with the vampire down below. A slight movement of his right hand he commanded it to jump. The poodle managed to get itself onto a nearby wicker chair and launched itself over the five-story balcony, with its legs flailing all the way down. It tumbled like a misshapen snowball. It hit the cobblestones with a squeak as the life and air was forced out of it, and it was quite amusing to the biters. Its blood flowed into a nearby puddle.

“
And that’s how you make a doggie pancake.” Stephen was proud of himself.

They five had spent part of the day at the Alcazar of Toledo and the medieval Alcazar of Segovia near the Guadarrama mountains, a beautiful stone fortification, with part of the impressive castle resembling the bow of a ship. The castle was out on a rocky bluff above the convergence of the rivers Eresma and Clamores. They were impressed with the Hall of Ajimeces and its works of art. Dracula had considered it one of the great structures of the world at one point, but presently the Master didn’t consider much of anything. Stephen had grown up there as a boy and had been transformed into a vampire three weeks after his twenty-first birthday. Although he was going home, he was so wrapped up in the glory that was to come that he couldn’t enjoy it. It was a time of restless anticipation.

“
Why the hell are we making so much noise? Why don’t we just sneak up on this guy and attack him?” Luke was also anxious to get things going. He was the last one that had been turned, and normally would have been the low biter, but he was second only to the leader because of his ability. Without his talent it would be impossible to track Dracula.

Stephen looked at him with cold eyes as he had explained it all before. “We don’t want to sneak up on this guy. He’s too powerful. We’ll attempt to show him some respect, initially.”

“
And you’re sure he knows the location?” Noah asked.

“
He has the information but getting it is something else. He’s an experienced fighter and that worries me. It’s not gonna do us any good if we all get killed here.”

“
Where is he now?” Stephen asked Luke.

“
Who?”

“
Who the hell do you think?”

“
Oh, give me a second.” Luke stopped and cocked his head as a dog would and concentrated. His eyelashes fluttered as he went into himself. A small part of his soul traveled up into the dark sky. “He’s still in Canada. Still in Moncton. As a matter of fact, he appears to be in the same location that he was two months ago. I don’t even think he goes outside. Seems a bit strange.”

Matt snapped his fingers and pointed at Luke. “That is so cool. What’s it like? How do you do it? I can’t do it. I’ve tried to do it but I get nothing.”

“
It’s like being able to control a dream, and for the few of us that do have the ability it’s not easy. I had to study maps, terrain. Geography can be a bitch when it’s a necessary thing. It doesn’t help to look down on a city that you don’t recognise. I can place my sight almost as high as a satellite looking down, or go as low as ten feet off the ground. Why my vision always searches out the master I don’t know. He appears as a red beacon from a distance, a small oval blob. ”

“
If some of us bite the big one in there, we have to make sure that it’s not Luke, otherwise if Dracula decides to move we’re screwed.”

Joshua shook his head. “So the rest of us are expendable?”

Stephen smiled. “I didn’t say that. I thought it but I didn’t say it.”

Zacharia sat on his sturdy antique chair with the red velvet seat, and it looked as if he was sitting on a thrown. His sword of choice was a magnificent weapon adorned with dragons and bats that had been forged specifically for him. It’s sleek and slender blade appeared to be right out of a fantasy or science fiction movie, but it was no prop as it had removed over a dozen vampire heads. Although he looked to be in his sixties in comparison to humans, he appeared formidable. He exuded strength and skill, and his partially gray hair didn’t take away from it. Zacharia looked like an ancient king that would have no trouble battling one of his own knights, and not the ones in shiny armour, but those in battle tested armour covered with dents and spotted with the blood of numerous victories.

Many people believed that biters had no souls, but on his knees his lilac point Siamese rested, having been animated by a piece of Zacharia’s own soul, as he hadn’t had the heart to simply let it perish of natural causes. The beautiful feline had the attitude and demeanor of a lion, which made for quite an impressive watch cat, beside the fact that it had the experience of living to be over a hundred. The cat purred and used his leg as a scratching post but then halted as it listened intently.

“
You can hear them out there can’t you? Diamond, we’re going to have company.”

The cat glanced toward the open window as its ears adjusted.

Zacharia had purchased the entire top floor of the building, and had it decorated in early French style gothic. One could accomplish just about anything with sufficient wealth. It looked like the interior of a castle with solid stone architecture. Two 15
^th
century halberds crossed one another high up on the stone wall, with the one on the left having been used to decapitate a rogue vampire that had tracked him down, four years ago to the day. Swords and shields were the main theme, with various styles hanging from the walls. A large painting of England’s Castle Rising was featured prominently over the fireplace, with its intricate donjon; he recalled spending time there almost a thousand years in the past. The fireplace was constructed with huge stones, similar to one he had observed in an Irish castle.