Dread Nemesis of Mine (13 page)

"What do you suggest we do?"

"The plan your father detailed will not
result in the outcome you desire, I'm afraid."

"What do you—wait a minute, the war room's
doors are sealed against magical eavesdropping. How do you know
what the plan is?"

The former Templar tapped his temple. "I have
my resources."

Elyssa brushed aside his reply with a wave of
her hand. "Whatever. I don't care. If you have a plan to rescue
Justin, I'm all for it."

"That's the spirit, young lady."

Elyssa lashed out lightning-quick toward
Underborn's chair with her foot. The man was out of the chair even
before her blurring kick connected with it, and watched calmly as
her foot splintered the chair into kindling.

He raised an eyebrow at the ruined furniture.
"I take it you don't like being patronized."

Though she was shocked at the speed with
which he'd moved, Elyssa controlled her expression and gave him an
even stare. "You might say that. Treat me like an equal and maybe
you'll have someplace to sit next time."

She heard a chuckle from somewhere behind her
and turned to see Underborn's looming companion watching the pair
of them. "Who's the slab of meat you brought with you?"

Underborn flicked his fingers as if her
question were unimportant. "Just some muscle."

As if the assassin needed anyone else. Elyssa
had never seen someone move as fast as Underborn. "Fine. Back to my
original question. What's the plan?"

"I have resources on the inside, though it
took some considerable effort to put them into place. They will
free Justin and lead him out. We'll meet them outside the compound
and make away with him."

Elyssa crossed her arms. "That simple,
huh?"

"Indeed."

She had to admit it sounded pretty simple and
doable. No need to sneak in, find him, and rescue him, like she and
Justin had to do for his father. Maximus had captured Justin's
father, David, and used him as his own special blood reserve.
Vampires considered spawn blood something of a delicacy.

Elyssa took a minute to think. Maximus's
desire for spawn blood had to be twofold. First, of course, he
probably enjoyed the taste. Second, the vampire was too young to
turn a nom into one of his kind and most likely thought drinking
enough spawn blood might enhance his ability to do so. Elyssa had
no idea if Justin's blood could do such a thing or not. She figured
Maximus was simply a desperate vampire grasping at straws. Until
his blood aged, he'd be unable to turn anyone, and those he tried
to turn would be infected with a curse. One that would turn them
into a member of the walking dead, a vampling.

"When is the rescue scheduled?" Elyssa
asked.

"At four in the morning. Since your father
plans to begin the assault at noon, we don't have much time."

"But won't the vampires be at their strongest
during the night?"

Underborn nodded. "It can't be helped. We
have to get Justin out before the assault or Maximus might move him
to a secret location. A place we'd never find him."

The downside to this subterfuge was relying
on someone else to rescue her boyfriend. Elyssa itched to get in on
the action. To make sure all went to plan. She was a dhampyr, after
all. She could hide her heat signature from the vampires and pose
as one.

"Believe me, Miss Borathen, things will go
more smoothly if you don't try to interfere with the
operation."

One word in his sentence piqued her
suspicion.
Interfere?
"Why are you telling me this if my
only job is to wait around until Justin is led outside? You don't
even need me for that." Elyssa searched his expression for a clue,
but he was too skilled at hiding his intent behind a poker face.
"Tell me what you really want."

Underborn pursed his lips. "It isn't so much
what I want as what I
don't
want."

"Maybe you can say that again, but this time,
try to make sense."

"The Templars are patrolling the perimeter,
keeping eyes on the comings and goings of the vampires."

Elyssa shrugged. "Normal procedure. Our intel
would be dangerously outdated if we didn't keep a constant
watch."

The assassin nodded. "Unfortunately, it means
when we go in to retrieve Justin, those same eyes will be watching
us."

"So what?" Elyssa tapped her chin in
contemplation as she tried to unravel the weave of Underborn's
plot. He had to have ulterior motives. All anecdotal evidence about
this man indicated he was exceptional at leading his victims into
the exact place he wanted them before ending them. He was known not
simply for killing, but for manipulating everyone involved with the
deal. And his price was always the most valued possession of the
buyer. When Underborn said it would cost an arm and a leg, he
wasn't joking.

"I don't wish Templars to see me or my inside
agents. While they may not know who I am at first, they would
certainly figure it out."

"You want me to clear the perimeter?" Elyssa
wasn't sure how to accomplish such a thing. Her father or Christian
could give the command to clear the perimeter, but she certainly
couldn't. Even if she knew where the lookouts were stationed,
distracting one of them wouldn't be enough. The location of
Maximus's stronghold left few, if any, concealed approaches thanks
to a wide road looping about it and roundabouts on all corners. A
tall wall towered over those streets and offered few entrances to
anyone wanting inside. From the history Elyssa had uncovered, the
place had once served as a military fort, later converted into a
mansion with several outbuildings.

In other words, the Templars using the
cluttered buildings around the stronghold would see everyone coming
in and out. The vampires on the walls would as well.

Underborn already seemed to know this. "Not
feasible, I'm afraid. What we need, however, is nearly as
impossible."

Here it comes
, Elyssa thought. "Spit
it out already."

"What I'm about to tell you may come as a
shock."

"After all I've been through lately, your
revelation had better be about Godzilla or aliens, because I can't
think of much else that would shock me."

Underborn chuckled. "True. After surviving
the horrors of El Dorado, fleeing from husks, wraiths, and even
facing down leyworms, I don't imagine there is much in the physical
realm that could surprise you."

A shudder ran through Elyssa's back at the
thought of the husks, short and infant-shaped creatures with smooth
oily skin and nothing but a maw of sharp teeth on an otherwise
featureless face. Justin called them cherubs which wasn't far from
the truth. Vadaemos told them they were the leftover husks of
angels nearly killed when the Grand Nexus tying their plane of
existence to Earth was destroyed.

She shook the troubled memories from her
thoughts and returned to the question at hand. "So tell me then.
What's the shocker you have in store for me?"

Underborn seemed to pause for dramatic effect
and said, "There is a spy among you."

Elyssa raised an eyebrow. "That's not
shocking. It's silly." She glanced at the dark hulk leaning against
the wall, and wondered who he was. "Do you agree with him?"

The man didn't respond.

She rolled her eyes. "Maximus has a spy in
our ranks? That's your shocking news?" She had no doubt the rogue
vampire was spying on them somehow, but to have an actual spy, a
member of the Templars, implanted in their ranks hardly seemed
feasible. "You realize we can sense vampires, right? I mean, you
were
a Templar."

"I'm quite aware of that, Miss Borathen.
However, Maximus has been rather adept lately at avoiding and
outsmarting the Templars. How else do you think he knew about
Justin's arrival at La Casona, hmm? Or when, exactly, to hit the
convoy? Or how to hide so many vampires from Templar senses until
it was time to strike?"

"Easy." Elyssa directed a condescending look
at the assassin. "He probably has eyes on La Casona and the Grotto.
It's not like we veiled our forces or tried to sneak into
Colombia."

Underborn reflected her condescension with a
condescending grin of his own. "I would agree with you, except
Maximus wouldn't have had enough time to mobilize such a force, not
to mention positioning scroll casters in strategic firing locations
at a moment's notice. If he had watchers at the Templar compound in
Atlanta, he would have had less than thirty minutes to organize
before you arrived at La Casona. The cars there to pick you up
arrived only moments before you did."

Elyssa ran some calculations through her mind
and came to the conclusion Underborn had a point. Unless Maximus
maintained a force outside La Casona, he couldn't have mobilized
such an organized ambush and kidnapping in so short a time. A chill
settled in her stomach. As impossible as it sounded, someone she
knew, someone close to the commanders might be a traitor.

"Crap," she said, running a hand through her
hair as faces of friends ran through her mind. Could one of them be
the spy? She gave Underborn a quizzical look. "Why do you care if
there's a spy?"

"If your people see one of my agents inside
Maximus's camp bring Justin outside, they'll likely take video with
an all-seeing eye and send it up the chain. The Templar spy will
see my person and report them to Maximus who will likely torture
them until they reveal the identities of my other insiders." He
shrugged. "I have spent considerable time and resources putting my
agents into place, and can't afford to withdraw any of them at this
stage of the game."

"They're just resources to you, aren't
they?"

"We're all resources to someone, Miss
Borathen." He smiled. "Just ask your father."

Much as she wanted to punch the man in the
mouth for his mocking smile, she couldn't disagree. Thomas Borathen
had trained her to be a resource more than a daughter. Rather than
a father, he'd always been her commanding officer. Had he ever held
her as a child and spun her around in his arms, a smile on his
face, a gleam in his eye? Had he ever kissed her and told her he
loved her no matter what she wanted to do with her life?

The cruel but true answer was no. Any time
he'd been proud of her was for her advancement in the Templars. For
her fighting prowess. He'd been all too quick to have her mind
wiped when she'd stepped out of line and fallen in love with
Justin.

Why, then, had her heart ached when she'd
thought he was dead? And why had it nearly flown away when she
found him alive?

Damn her traitorous heart.

"Do you have any idea who the traitor might
be?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not. However, this person is
likely close to Commander Salazar or your father. He or she would
have to be to gather timely information."

That left very few people. Elyssa's mother,
Leia, and her brother, Michael were the two closest to her father.
Even so, he rarely told anyone what his plans were until it was
nearly time to execute them. As for Christian, she knew Beck was
now a top advisor. But who else? "I think I know where to start,"
she said.

Underborn nodded. "Good. But you'll need to
hurry." He checked a pocket watch. "You have five hours until the
operation." The assassin withdrew a disposable arcphone and handed
it to her. "You can reach me with this once you've succeeded. Don't
try to trace the number. It's magically encrypted.

Elyssa took the thin rectangular device.
"What if I can't find the traitor in five hours?"

"I said five hours until the operation, Miss
Borathen. You have four hours to find the mole."

"Just four hours? Why?"

"Because, young lady, if you don't find them,
I will scrub the mission."

My head throbbed. Every heartbeat sent a
dagger straight into my brain. I'd had a horrible hangover before.
In fact, the day I'd started down the disastrous road of incubus
puberty had been the day of my first and, so far, last hangover.
Seriously, one had been enough to make me swear off drinking for
life.

"Nyuh," I croaked through chapped lips and a
parched throat.

"You are alive," said my roommate in his
usual monotone voice.

"Water." My voice rasped like sand across
pebbles.

"The guard installed a watering device for
you."

I blinked the crust out of my eyes and saw a
metal tube just above my face, a drop of water hanging at its tip.
I craned my neck up, lips grasping for the precious drop, but
couldn't reach it. The droplet hung at the tip of the metal tube,
suspended as though by black magic, torturing me with its close but
unreachable proximity. As a last resort, I stuck my tongue out. It
touched the tip. Sweet water trickled into my dry throat.

Laying back and panting with the effort, I
savored the tiny drop. It didn't sate me by any stretch of the
imagination, though. I forced my head back up, though the tight
strap around my neck choked me. Lapping at the tube with my tongue,
I released another trickle of water, but soon had to lean back to
rest my throat and neck.

After repeating the process more times than I
could remember, I finally conquered some of my thirst. I longed to
close my lips around that tube and draw a long gulp of water down
my parched throat. No matter how hard I tried, only my tongue could
reach it. As I lay gasping from my last effort, I abruptly realized
exactly where I'd seen a water dispenser like this—in a hamster
cage.

"That bitch," I said, gritting my teeth.
Amanda had installed it so I'd have to lick it. On purpose. My
incubus hunger growled from its cage.
Great. One more thing to
worry about.

I heard a giggle. Amanda, her phone camera
trained on me, came from outside the door.