Dead and Everything (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 2) (15 page)

“Don’t die.
It’s about magic. The whole thing is. That and intrigue, like always. You can
do this.” Then she kissed her cheek, gently, as if that had been all she was
doing. Hally held her longer, and Gary harder, but in the end they both walked
out, seeming like they knew she was just going to die. That it was already the
end of Eve.

She
could see that one. It was wrong, but until she proved it, no one else would
know that for certain.

That
left her with Keeley, who stole the treats that Darla hadn’t eaten instantly.

“You get
the idea? You have links, and those cows won’t be dying for the next six
months, so if you use meditation to keep the links strong and open the whole
time, you’ll be fine, energy wise. You
have
the skills you need for it.
If those get lost, it’s going to be harder for you, but you should be able to
find old links too, eventually. You’ll always need blood to form them in the
first place, but that’s being a Vampire.” She grinned and reached out to touch
Eve, her hand dropping below the table to rest on her leg. There was a spot of
warmth that came through her jeans.

Keeley
didn’t make any effort to do anything sexy though. It was the wrong time and
would have been lost on Eve at the moment anyway.

Eve
thought she had the idea. Making a face she shrugged.

“We’ll
see if I can actually do that I guess. I’m scared. I hate being alone, you
know?”

That got
a nod.

“I do.
That can’t be allowed to stop you now however. You’re getting close to what you
need to be, and this is the only way that it will happen in time. In a way,
this is nearly perfect, because, let me tell you, I was scrambling to try and
find a way to convince everyone that we had to lock you up like this for half a
year, otherwise.” She seemed perfectly normal about what she was saying, but Eve
went wide eyed.

“Wait…
Keeley, you did
not
set that up last night, did you? Some kind of
misguided Greater Demon crap? If you did…”

Well,
she wouldn’t be doing much about it, and couldn’t but Keeley was shaking her
head no anyway.

“Not at
all. I
swear
. By the pattern my guess is that whomever set that one up
is the same person that influenced Richard into coming out like he did. The sad
part there is that you’re going to miss the other groups doing the same in the
next few months. Be ready for that, when you get out of the box. If you think
things are a bit out of place right now, wait until the Human world finds out
about the rest of it. I blame Zack for that though. Not that he’s behind it,
but writing books with all the information presented like he did… Well, he was
manipulated, too, most likely. Plus, on the good side, you won’t be able to
kill poor Richard for six whole months. I’d send him into hiding, but he has a
re-election to win.” Then, because of her nature, she shut up and started to
stuff food into her face.

It was a
good enough excuse not to talk.

Eve was
about to interrupt her anyway, when Bey came in. He wasn’t alone, and was
dressed in a black robe. It was kind of creepy looking. So were the rest of the
Vampires that were with him. Eve knew some of them, being that they were the
Council. Marissa, Gene, Harland… To her surprise, four other beings that she’d
never seen before were there as well. One of them was a rather short bat
looking creature, who saw her looking and bowed. A Therion. Next to her, and
Eve was nearly certain on the gender, though she didn’t know how that made any
sense, was a rather strange looking woman.

She had
no hair, and a very large nose, but the most incredible part of her whole
aspect was her fingers and hands. They were so long they didn’t look real,
except that the woman kept moving them nervously. For her part she looked away
from Eve, who stood up.

The
other two Vampires just looked like people, except that both were a bit
different. One of them looked Chinese and had hopped over, which was a bit flea
like, and the other was a dark brown and had teeth that looked filed to points.

Keeley
got up too, still eating, as Lenore walked out of the back, her eyes going
huge.

That
didn’t keep her from speaking however.

 “Eve
asked that I announce her
voluntary
punishment to the press. I was
unaware that the whole council would be coming here. Actually, I was unaware
that any of you would be coming. I take it that Edom is dead then, Bey?
Otherwise he’d be here, to protect his daughter.”

That got
Eve to feel panic for a second, but the tiny bald man shook his head.

“Nothing
so severe. I distracted him with an errand out of state for the day. Now, you
say that Miss Benson has stolen the march on us? How so?”

Gene
interrupted, his face calm, but his youthful voice pissy.

“We must
not allow this child to escape from our ruling, Bey. Even you admitted that we
needed to show the world that no one is above the law, even if they were acting
for the greater good when they committed their crime. She’s to be locked away
for six weeks. With no blood. Publically, in a glass case, so that all may see
her torment.”

That got
several of the others there to look away from her, which Eve got suddenly.

It was
one thing to make her suffer, another to do it in a way that would humiliate
her like that. Put on display, so that other people could make fun of her? That
was… Well, it was rude, really. She got the basic idea however. It was set up
so that if she died, everyone would know that it was just part of her
punishment, and that she’d failed to survive, rather than being secretly
killed.

She felt
a flare of anger, but made it go away, focusing like she’d been taught. It
wasn’t perfect, but it would have to be soon.

“I’m
going in for six months. Though, Gene, when I get out, I think that you and I
should have a talk about not being a pain in the ass? What the fuck is with
that anyway? I haven’t done
anything
but play by the rules. Being afraid
of me isn’t a good enough reason to embarrass me in public like this.”

That got
several different reactions. There was a hissed word that sounded like
no
from the Therion, who shook her head firmly. Bey seemed to go totally blank,
and Gene looked confused.

The
strange lady with the long fingers and big nose spoke, her words oddly
considering.

“I
understand
.
Very well, young mother. If you survive this,
I
will stand ready to
speak with you, and answer if I am allowed. Most interesting. Is this Demon
your pet then?” She glanced at Keeley, and smiled. It was creepy, but seemed
genuine. “I always wanted one of those. Perhaps we could speak sometime as well?”

That
started a conversation that went on for a while, but was actually polite,
considering that the elder Vampire was insinuating that anyone could ever
really control a Greater Demon.

Eve
rolled her eyes, and looked at Bey.

“So,
where’s this humiliation box? Outside, in a desert?”

Gene
glared at her, then grinned.

“I
suggested that, but no, it’s in a deep cave. The public can come in to see you
though. Try not to make faces. Not that it will matter. Six months… You won’t
survive it.”

That got
Keeley to smile.

“Oh? I
have one hundred million dollars that says she will. We could, say, put that up
against your freedom? If she lives, without aid from any other being, then you
get the money. If she dies, without anyone from outside harming her in any way,
or undermining her, I get your soul for all eternity? Deal?”

Eve
cleared her throat.

“I
wouldn’t say anything, Gene. She’s The Mistress of Souls. Even saying
no
might be enough to have you grabbed up. Notice how she did that one backwards
to make you mess up? No, we’ll just have a nice long talk, later. A real one.
We should go now I guess. Shall we jog over?”

It was
daylight, and they were all wearing robes, but the cave set up was an
artificial thing, and more like a concrete bunker, so it wasn’t
that
far
away. About twenty miles, on a private farm. It still took several hours to get
there, since they were riding in a bus. It was a big silver thing, with blue
letters on the side, and comfortable looking seats. She ran, outside of it,
next to Bey, who looked grim. He explained things to her as they moved though,
his voice low.

Zack had
been hired to get them in for the big production. Because
that
made good
economic sense. Bey didn’t like that portion at all.
Or
the part where
she was being punished for doing the right thing. He understood the politics of
it, but seemed shocked that
she
understood it, for some reason.

“Truly?
You do not hate us to the point of death for this? Many would have turned on us
when we arrived to punish them for doing no more than we would have
ordered
them to, had we the time to do such. None of the Council feel that you were in
the wrong. Know that. This is a political move. One that we do not all agree
with, but enough see the wisdom in it that the whole must enforce it.” They
were moving very slowly, since the bus had to go the speed limit. They were on
the side of the freeway, walking along almost as if it were a pilgrimage, not
her going off to a humiliating death.

“Yeah, I
get the idea. It’s like with the Human cops. People hate that they get to kill
and just walk away from it, even when they’re wrong. Except that we’re
too
powerful for that kind of thing to really work for us. If I seem to get off
without anything, but a slap on the wrist, or worse a pat on the back, then
everyone would know that we held ourselves above the law. Not that we
don’t
,
but…”

“That is
our thinking on the matter. Six months however… Can you survive that? If you
were anyone else I would, as The Burning One has suggested, think you were
merely to die. Half of our own number would, in the same situation. We are old,
as a group. Strong. Perhaps not stronger than you, young Eve?”

She
shrugged.

“There
might be a way. I figured it out last night. As for how long this is, Keeley
set that up. To get me out of the way, I think. That or force me to learn
something. I could still die though, if I mess it up. We need to watch that. She
might be protecting me, or it
might
be something else. She thinks that
whoever was behind this is going after the other groups now, so be ready for
that, just in case.”

There
was a nod, and no more than a few words after that, even when they got to the
prison. The fake cave, with its open front.

One that
already had cameras set up already. News crews, and all that, waiting for her
to get there, to be punished as harshly as Vampire law allowed. Nearly so, in
any case. They
could
have just killed her, but that would be worse than
letting her go, she realized. This way she had a chance, no matter how slim, to
survive.

In front
of the bunker, set up to block the doorway was an older looking man, who was
wearing a nice gray suit, standing next to a rather bland looking Maggie Sims. Eve
didn’t wave to her, but they did lock eyes.

The man
cleared his throat, and moved as if public speaking was a thing he’d always
done. His steel gray hair was nicely combed, but his face held lines and
wrinkles that most Vampires wouldn’t have had. This was their mouthpiece, she
knew. The one that she’d suggested.

“We of
Vampire kind are an old race. One that has weathered the ravages of time in
secret. We have our own laws and rules, that we, each of us, must live within,
as well as the rules of the culture in which we exist at the moment. Last night
a horrible crime was committed, or nearly so. Vampires, set on a crowd of
innocent Humans. This young lady, Eve Benson, protected them, by killing most
of those attackers. By Human law it was both self-defense and that of another,
so has been deemed a lawful action. We are not here to debate that. The full
Council of Vampire kind has come here this day, to demonstrate that we do not
allow our kind to kill lightly.” There was a pause, and then the man looked at
Eve directly, his eyes made to look sad. “This isn’t a
fair
thing. No
one should think that. Nor is it a thing that even the council has ordered.
Miss Benson is voluntarily going into a casket, on display, for a time of six
months.”

There
should have been a gasp, but the news people didn’t get what that meant, not
really. It was completely lame of them, Eve thought. Not that she was going to
correct them. That would be worse than them not understanding it on their own.

They
were in three lines, set up to capture the whole thing. Aiming cameras like
they were shoulder fired rockets that was all they cared about really. Getting
the unique story, which would get them viewers and keep the money rolling in.
They didn’t even call out questions to her. Then, the mature looking man was
speaking, so they paid attention. Exactly like they were supposed to.

“Understand,
this is… We, the Council, asks… No, we
beg
you to reconsider, Miss
Benson. No one can survive such a thing. Very few at least. Perhaps some lesser
amount of time, or… Perhaps if we allow the public to vote on what should
happen to you? This is…
Very
extreme.”