Blood Spirit (26 page)

"Where
is Sion?" Vasilije asked after they'd waited another few minutes. "We
need to get started."

"He
was with Kali downstairs when we left," Ramiel said.

Dante
leaned over to Ilona and Terek and whispered, "Looks like he beat me to
the punch. Always a bridesmaid. Never a bride."

Ilona
turned toward Terek. "What does he mean?"

"I'm
guessing the ice man found a girl."

Vasilije
cleared his throat. "I'll take care of bringing Sion up to speed later.
Let's begin."

"What
about Nico and Saint? We're not going to wait for them?" Dante
interrupted.

"No.
Nico's meeting with the Order right now. When he's done, he'll call. So where
are we at with knowing how to stop the Archons?"

"They
think they already got two of us," Terek said. "The hunter I staked
said they got Sampson and Saint. I'd say this means they don't know our
identities other than yours."

"It
also means there's a problem inside the Archons if Verrater told his fellow
Archons he killed Saint. Any indication the hunter was trying to bait
you?"

Terek
shook his head. "I don't think so. He seemed genuinely convinced I'd be
the third son they'd get."

"What
a bunch of fuck ups," Dante joked.

"Maybe,
but I think we need to concentrate on the idea that there's a vulnerability in
our enemy. Verrater hasn't been completely honest with his friends,"
Vasilije said with a sinister chuckle. "I think we need to consider how we
can use this to our advantage."

"Are
you thinking a spy? Send someone to Verrater's?" Thane asked.

"We
don't know where Verrater's is, do we, Terek?" Vasilije said, sidestepping
Thane's question.

"No.
He never mentioned. Nico told us he's been moving up in the ranks, but that
could mean anything. All we know for certain is that he isn't in Avignon anymore."

"Exactly.
But maybe getting someone inside if we can find where he is might work. For
now, let's leave that." Turning to Thane and Ramiel, Vasilije continued.
"Where are we on the prophecy, gentlemen? Anything more past the tie-in
with mythology and the part that may have something to do with me?"

Thumbing
through papers, Ramiel lifted his head. "Yeah. We've got a couple more
lines translated, but we have no idea what they mean. Here's the first:
Husband, father, creator. Pan of the darkness."

"Do
you mean Zeus?" Sasa asked. "The first part sounds like what I
remember learning about him in school."

"We
don't know. The second part doesn't really fit Zeus. But since Hades was the
father of Macaria, you never know. Those gods had no problem keeping it in the
family. Persephone was Zeus' daughter but she was Hades' woman, the queen of
the Underworld, after he abducted her. Maybe it was reversed with
Macaria."

"You
said Idolas was the son of Apollo. Now you're saying it could be Zeus?"
Dante asked, obviously confused.

"No,
we still believe Macaria and Apollo are Idolas' parents and we're all descended
from him. This line most likely means something else entirely," Thane
explained.

"Any
chance this could be about the original eight sons or one of us?"

"There's
always the chance, Dante. We just don't know for certain yet."

"And
then there's this: The key to roam the Earth hidden," Ramiel added.

As
they all sat silently waiting for Ramiel to explain, Sion walked into the study
looking decidedly less robotic than Terek had ever seen him. As he watched him
take his seat in the corner, he thought he detected a hint of perfume in the
air. Curious, Terek took a peek into Sion's mind and found the fellow Son had
far more appealing things on his mind than arcane mythological references and
lines meant to confuse.

"So
do we have any idea what this key is?" Vasilije asked.

"Not
yet. We're going to have to find it if we want to figure this whole puzzle out,
though," Thane answered.

Ramiel
turned around toward Sion. "Is Kali coming? Maybe she can shed some light
on this."

"How
would I know what Kali's doing?" Sion snapped back angrily.

Chuckling,
Dante teased, "Well, we figured since you've been close enough to wear her
perfume you might know what she's up to."

Sion
answered Dante's taunt with silence and an icy stare, followed by the click of
his fangs punching into his mouth. Vasilije seemed confused by the entire
exchange, but the tiny smile on Sasa's face told Terek he wouldn't be in the
dark for long.

Before
Sion could act on his anger, Ramiel began to explain how they'd deciphered the
parts about the key and Pan. While he discussed the possibilities of where the
key might be, the phone rang with Nico from Greece. Vasilije put it on
speakerphone, and as Nico began talking, Terek sensed a strange tone in his
voice, as if something big had happened.

"Have
you made any progress on the prophecy?"

"Some,"
Thane answered. "We still have a lot to do."

"I'm
afraid we need to rush this. We're running out of time," Nico said in an
ominous voice.

Everyone
in the room looked concerned as Vasilije asked, "Why? What's
happened?"

"One
of the Order's been murdered. Staked just this night."

"Any
chance it wasn't the Archons?" Sion asked.

"We
don't think so," Nico said somberly. "He was attacked in his private
chambers. They've got his staff in custody now. If they find enough evidence to
show one of them is guilty, they'll put them to death. It looks like the
Archons had a spy around him."

"Which
member of the Order?" Vasilije asked.

"Alexander
Regas, the head of the group that deals with the Prophecy of Idolas."

The
shock in the room soon gave way to silent nodding. It made sense that the
Archons would want a spy in the prophecy group. They were saddled with the same
job of figuring out the prophecy in order to stop the Sons from thwarting their
takeover. That they'd succeeded in getting a spy so close to an Order member
was the only surprise.

"Why
kill him? Why not just steal his information for as long as possible?"
Dante asked in a voice far more serious than his usual one.

"We
don't know. A thorough search of Alexander's quarters didn't show anything
missing, but the Order's still investigating."

"With
all due respect, Nico, how are we supposed to rush this? We're working as fast
as we can. Even with Kali, it's rough going," Ramiel said.

"I
know. The Order understands. But there is some good news they believe will help
you. They finally know the identity of the two others like you."

Thane
edged to the front of his seat, obviously excited by the news. "Who? We
need to get them helping us on this."

"The
first one's a man named Tarquin Andimais. He lives in a small village in Sicily."

"How
fast can you get him here?" Ramiel asked.

"We
can't risk it, Ramiel. If others know you're all there, you'd be in
danger."

"Then
how the hell does this help us?"

"You
two are going to have to travel to him," Nico said to a stunned room.

"The
Prophecy Twins get to take a road trip?" Dante asked.

Before
Ramiel could answer Dante's jab, Nico continued, "And the fourth one who
knows about the prophecy is a female named Noele."

"A
female, Nico?" Thane asked in a surprised voice.

"It's
about time. I'm getting sick of spending all my time with you guys,"
Ramiel said with a chuckle. "It'll be a nice change. Is she in Italy too?"

The
phone went silent for a moment. "I think I should tell you more about
Noele. She's a born vampire, but she's not what you're thinking."

"What
is she?" Ramiel asked, his voice tinged with its usual edge now.

"She's
a child. She was born five years ago."

Terek
watched as a look of disgust washed over Ramiel.

"Fuck
me. Are you telling me we have to babysit a kid? A little girl, no less? What
the fuck can a five-year-old girl do for us?"

"Oh,
I like this," Dante joked.

"Ramiel,
Thane, she could know something important. Stay on the phone so I can give you
the details. Everyone else, stay alive. Our world needs us to do our job more
than ever."

Ramiel
grumbled about hating kids as he took the phone from a smiling Vasilije. Even
Thane saw the funny side of them having to deal with a five-year-old vampire,
though. "At least we get out for a bit," he said with a smile.

As
he stood to leave, Dante continued with his jokes. "Sounds like Three Men
and A Baby. At least there aren't any diapers."

Terek
took Ilona's hand to leave. "Your first Sons' meeting. What do you think?
Not so much superhero, right?"

Smiling,
she said, "I think you and Dante are an odd friendship. And I'm curious to
know what kind of perfume this Kali wears. It smells great."

Looking
over toward Sion, Terek saw he sat hidden in the corner, the sour look on his
face telling him he preferred to be left alone. "I don't think Sion's in
the mood to give up that information now. It might be better to ask her yourself
when you see her later."

"Later?
What do we have to do now?"

Terek
leaned down and whispered in her ear, "I think I promised to show you the
world."

The
smile he received in return was worth more than anything he'd ever found on his
travels.

***

Marc
Verrater listened to the annoying ring of Knull's phone for the sixth time in
an hour. His stupid voice intoned his usual thinly veiled sex reference that he
was "tied up at the moment" and that he'd return the call "in a
jiffy."

Throwing
his phone across the room, Verrater mumbled, "Stupid fuck."

Something
had gone wrong. He felt it in his gut. He didn't really care if Knull had been
reduced to dust. Hell, most of his kind could be and he wouldn't care. As a
hunter, he'd been perfunctory on his best day. Sure, he'd gotten Sampson, which
enabled him to brag to his fellow Archons he'd taken two of those fucking Sons
out. But the guy was a mental pygmy.

What
really pissed him off was that he hadn't found Solenne. One woman. How hard
could it be to find one fucking woman?

Looking
down at his wrist, he checked his Rolex. 10:58. Time had run out. Well, for the
show he was going to have to put on in a little more than a minute, Knull
better be dead or when he saw him next, he would be.

"Marc,
it's time."

Behind
him, Emily brushed the back of his shirt of any wrinkles. Wrapping her arms
around his waist, she pressed her body seductively up against him. "You're
going to be perfect tonight. And after you've wowed them, I'll be right here
waiting for you to celebrate."

He
liked the sound of that. Looking out over the lights of the city below, he
smiled at the progress he'd made so far. He hadn't even been invited to the
last quarterly Archon meeting and now he was a keynote speaker tonight.

Turning
in Emily's hold, he looked at her pretty face staring up at him. Not exactly
the woman he'd like by his side this night, but she'd do. Soon, he'd have the
one he wanted.

"Have
the champagne ready and be in that little pink dress and the black shoes I
like."

"Panties?"

God,
she was irritating sometimes! Like it fucking mattered what she wore underneath
the damn dress. It's not like she was going to be wearing anything but the
shoes for long. She knew this.

"What
do you think?"

The
scared rabbit look she wore told him she understood exactly what his icy tone
meant. "Now be a good girl and wait for me in the bedroom."

Marc
left Emily and made his way up twenty floors to the meeting that would begin
what he planned to be a meteoric rise in the Archons. Two Sons and an ingenious
plan for after they took over were more than any other Archon could boast.

This
was just the beginning for him.

He'd
heard the first time one saw the meeting chambers it was like being transported
to heaven, but he'd always thought it was bullshit from men who'd never seen
much of the world. For once, though, those insufferable fools were right.

One
step into the chambers and Marc knew he never wanted to be excluded again. Set
up like an amphitheater, a central stage was faced by a level of open seats and
three levels of seats above in a semi-circle. Each level had privacy boxes for
each ranking Archon, with the most influential and powerful Archons on the
highest level.

Tilting
his head back, he gazed up at those upper boxes. They looked empty, but he was
sure the most powerful of his kind sat there watching those below as they
milled about left and right, shuffling papers and glad-handing one another.

"Mr.
Verrater, allow me to show you where you'll be seated tonight."

An
extraordinarily pale man looked up at him from nearly a half-foot below. Marc
recognized him as one of the Archons permanently stationed in Corsica, sort of
an attaché mixed with upper management duties. A rather dull position, as far
as Marc was concerned, but even the official quarterly Archon meeting needed
ushers.

"Thank
you, Mr. Ross."

Marc
followed the esteemed Mr. Ross to a seat on the floor near the stage.
Disgusted, he forced himself to focus on the fact that he was invited to speak
at his first appearance at the quarterly meeting instead of focusing on the
fact that he was little better than the usher who stood smiling at him.

"You'll
be the second speaker tonight. When it's time, one of my aides will escort you
to the rear of the stage where you'll use the stairs and proceed to the
podium."

As
he removed the sheet of paper with his name from the back of the seat, Marc
noticed the name on the seat next to his.