Dread Nemesis of Mine (15 page)

The Master took off his monocle, leaned down
and sniffed. "I daresay he's a tad ripe, Maximus, but his blood
practically sings, doesn't it?"

"Exactly, sir. And that's why I think he's
the solution to our supply problems."

The needle prick of fangs pressed into my
skin. I jerked, but the Master gripped my head tight and held it.
Either I'd already lost a great deal of strength, or he was much
stronger than most vampires I'd fought. Probably both. I thrashed
with my body to no avail. My breaths came in rapid pants through my
nose. Despite my horror, a rush of pleasure flooded through me like
a drug.

I'd never done hard drugs, but I imagined
they would feel a lot like this. And it scared the hell out of me,
because I never wanted the euphoria to end.

The Master pulled back and wiped daintily at
his red lips with a handkerchief. "Marvelous. Magnificent." He
looked with amazement at Maximus. "You didn't tell me he was so
much better than other Daemos."

The rogue leader gave a feral grin. "At
first, I thought it was just me. But there's definitely something
about this kid, isn't there?"

"Night and day, young man."

"Give me time and I'll quantify and qualify
the differences," Dash said, holding a slim wand to my wrist. He
twirled it once, and drew it away. Blood squeezed from a pore in my
skin until a globule the size of a quarter hovered in the air.
Another spin from the wand caused the sphere to rotate faster and
faster until the plasma separated from the red blood cells. A
separate layer of glowing blue liquid formed. Dash held out a vial
and pointed into it with his wand. The blue liquid drained from the
sphere. He filled two more vials with the remaining fluids.

"What is that?" Maximus asked, looking at the
glowing blue.

A slow grin spread across the Arcane's face.
"If I'm right—and I usually am—this is the answer to our
problems."

The Master cleared his throat. "Meaning what,
exactly?"

"I can advance Maximus's blood potency
and
increase the amount of blood serum we're producing. Soon
we'll have enough to turn thousands of mortals into vampires."

Elyssa

Elyssa hated short deadlines.

It meant she had to hurry, and hurrying
usually led to mistakes. In this case, she had no room for error.
She watched through the window as Underborn and his hulking
companion headed toward a tool shed behind the guest bunkhouses
where a very small man waited on them.

Phissilinth.

She'd met him the first time Justin had
sought out Underborn to make him call off a hit on his father.
While the small man seemed harmless enough, she knew without a
doubt he was every bit as deadly as Underborn.

Phissilinth pulled out a key, inserted it
into the tool shed door lock, and opened it. Through the opening,
Elyssa saw a hanging chandelier and a rich red rug running down a
long hall lined with portraits. She didn't need to ask where it led
because she'd been there before. It was Underborn's lair. As to
where the lair actually was, she had no idea. The key Phissilinth
used could apparently be used to open doors and take them almost
anywhere.

Her mouth dropped open as a thought occurred
to her. She blurred outside before the three men crossed the
threshold, and jumped in front of Phissilinth.

"Good day, Madame." He bowed with a
flourish.

"Hello, Phissilinth."

"I'm pleased you remember my name, Miss
Borathen."

She smiled. "It's a hard one to forget."

"What do you need?" Underborn said, gazing
warily at the lightly wooded surroundings. Elyssa noticed few
Templars came to this part of the compound, because it was so far
removed from the main barracks and the central buildings. "We
shouldn't tarry, and you have a job to do."

"I want the key," Elyssa said, pointing to
the simple brass skeleton key in Phissilinth's child-like hand.

"What do you propose to do with it?"
Underborn said. "Rescue Justin? Open a doorway straight into the
lion's den and snatch him from their grasp?"

"Couldn't have put it better myself." She
narrowed her eyes. "Why risk everyone when I could just use that?"
Anger flared at Underborn's cavalier attitude, but she held it at
bay with some effort. For all she knew, this was another of his
tests.

The assassin put on an oily smile. "If it
were so simple, I would have done it myself." He took the key from
Phissilinth and held it up. "This key is one of the seven Relics of
Juranthemon. It is priceless, of course, and very powerful. As a
price for such power, it can be very difficult to control."

Elyssa huffed out a breath. "First of all,
Juranthemon sounds like a word you just made up. Second, I don't
give a damn how hard it is to control. Tell me how to use it and I
swear I'll return it to you."

"You don't understand, Miss Borathen."
Underborn's smile went from oily to downright condescending. "The
key can open virtually any location, so long as another door opens
at the other end. But to go to an unexplored place means you must
first show the key where you want to go on the Map of
Juranthemon."

"Then get the map and show it."

"I do not possess it. I do, however, have a
very extensive list of places the key goes to. Maximus's compound,
unfortunately, is not one of them."

"And a tool shed is?" She waved at the old
stone structure.

"This tool shed was formerly a small chapel
used by a small, forgotten sect of Indians who inhabited this
area." He indicated some of the other ancient structures in the
area. "These building were preserved by Arcanes and repurposed by
the Templars. The original door has been replaced many times over
the years, but that doesn't matter to the key. Unless you can steal
the map from whoever owns it, I can't create a new path into
Maximus's compound."

Elyssa didn't believe him for a second. A
last-ditch, desperate plan formed in her head. Underborn would
probably kill her for trying it, but he left her no choice.

"In fact," Underborn continued, "the key was
not originally a key at all. It tends to present itself as a
different object, depending on the user's expectations." He held it
in his palm and reverently traced a finger along the metal.

"Really? That's amazing." Elyssa leaned
closer. "It looks like a skeleton key."

"Indeed. It's fascinating."

Elyssa looked behind Underborn and opened her
eyes in alarm.

The assassin turned his head to look. Elyssa
snatched at the key. A gloved hand gripped her wrist too late. The
cold metal of the key pressed against the inside of her palm. All
she had to do was escape three trained assassins.

Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy. Well, more like
difficult, difficult, lemon difficult.

Elyssa twisted her arm from the big man's
grasp. Opened her mouth to shout for help. A heavy foot caught her
in the back. She somehow kept her balance and spun sideways as the
same foot whooshed by her head. Underborn and Phissilinth stood
nearby. The tiny man's face held an expression of concern. The
assassin looked entertained. The big man in black lunged for her
arm again.

Elyssa jumped away and jammed the key into
her jeans pocket. The big man's arms blurred for her. She fell back
on learned instinct, blocking and diverting his blows. He was fast,
but she was faster, unencumbered by all that muscle. In fact, every
move he used seemed familiar. This was, in itself, strange,
considering most people learned the same moves and executed them
with their own unique mannerisms. Everyone had their own tics and
nuances, even masters of the fighting arts.

Her mind flashed back a few years. She'd
fought this man before. In fact, she'd fought him many times
before. No one else moved like—no—it couldn't be! Disgust and
betrayal welled inside her. Rage broke the surface in the form of a
snarl on her lips. The man's foot lashed out. Elyssa threw her
hands down in a blocking motion, simultaneously using the power of
her opponent's kick as a springboard, launching her straight up.
Twisting in midair, she slammed the side of his face with a brutal
kick. Landed lightly on her feet. Danced back.

The big man staggered back a foot, grabbing
his jaw.

Elyssa bared her teeth. "Come get me,
traitor."

"Oh dear," Phissilinth said. "Perhaps you
should—"

Underborn laughed. "And spoil the fun?"

The big man's fists tightened. He
straightened and stared at the assassin. "Get your own key,
Sorenson," he said in an unnaturally deep voice, one which Elyssa
knew to be magically altered.

But he could talk like a midget for all she
cared. She knew who he was now. And her heart ached.

Another laugh erupted from the assassin. "Why
do I need to retrieve that which I already possess?" He pulled
another key from his pocket.

Elyssa looked at the skeleton key in her
hand. "You're lying."

Underborn shut the door to the tool shed. Put
the key in the lock and twisted. The door opened to a grassy glade.
Birds twittered and butterflies danced in the sunlight. He shut the
door. Opened it again. The hallway once again presented itself.

"The key you possess opens a footlocker in my
bedroom." Underborn smiled. "I knew you couldn't resist."

His brawny companion cracked his knuckles and
said, "Enough with the games, Underborn." He turned to Elyssa. "I
know how you must feel now, but I'm doing this for the greater
good. I'm not a traitor, no matter what you think."

"Just get the hell out of here." Elyssa's
throat was raw with anger and grief. How could he go over to this
man, this evil, psycho killer? "The next time I see you, I'll break
your jaw."

Underborn and Phissilinth stepped through the
doorway. The big man hesitated at the threshold. "You can try,
Ninjette." He closed the door behind him, leaving Elyssa alone in
the dark.

She sank to her knees and let the tears flow.
So many emotions assaulted her at once—hope, fear, anger,
betrayal—she hardly knew what she was feeling. He had to have his
reasons. He
couldn't
be a traitor. He'd helped her before,
tried to help her escape her father when he'd wanted to make her
take the White. She took deep breaths to banish the tears. He had
to have a reason for this.

Think logically, damn it!

The jumble of emotions cleared and her
breathing eased. Now she felt foolish. What if she'd blown his
cover? What if he was working against Underborn and now she'd
exposed him? She jerked to her feet.

No, Underborn knew who he was. It should come
as no surprise whatsoever that he would use Michael, her own
brother, against her. Until she had time to dig deeper, she had to
remain focused on the task at hand.

Gripping the key, she cocked her arm back to
throw it over the wall surrounding the Templar compound.

"What are you doing back here?" Fausta
said.

Elyssa jerked and looked at the other woman.
"Thinking."

"Haven't you heard? We're not supposed to do
that. That's what the commanders are for." Fausta wrinkled her
nose. "I do not like this plan of attack. Stealth squads? Your
father is wrong. Dead wrong. It's the stupidest plan ever."

"For once, we agree," Elyssa said slipping
the key into her pocket. She regarded the strong-nosed woman for a
moment. They'd only met recently, but Elyssa had been through hell
and back with her in Justin's quest to apprehend Vadaemos. Finding
the traitor in their midst would require help, and Fausta might
have inside knowledge of Christian's organization.

"There's something more going on with you,"
Fausta said. "I can see it in your eyes."

The Italian woman was nothing, if not blunt,
and Elyssa didn't have time to be anything but straightforward. "I
need a list of anyone who'd know about our arrival yesterday."

"Practically everyone in the compound."

"Yes, but how long before we arrived did they
know?"

Fausta shrugged. "Christian announced the
motor pool duties only half an hour before, so probably around that
time."

"How far in advance did Christian know about
our arrival?"

"I wouldn't know. Beck might." Her eyes
narrowed. "Wait a minute. You think someone set us up?"

Elyssa folded her arms. "Don't you?"

Fausta tapped her chin. "Things happened so
fast, I really didn't give it much thought. Christian said Maximus
has been watching La Casona. I'm sure he has eyes everywhere."

"Yeah, but would he assign a vampire army
complete with scroll casters to watch the place? No way. You can't
hide that many vampires for a long time, especially raw recruits. I
think they used a scroll spell to mask their presence."

The other woman leaned against the stone wall
of the tool shed. "You think someone on Christian's advisory
council betrayed us." Her eyes hardened. "But of course you believe
your father's council is blameless."

"That's because I know how my father
operates."

"And because you think nobody in your legion
could possibly betray you, right?" Sarcasm dripped from her
words.

"Absolutely not." Elyssa slashed a hand
through the air. "My father's advisory council consists of my
brother, Michael, when he's around, and my mother. He hardly tells
them anything. Most of the time he keeps his plans close to his
chest and springs them at the last moment."

"And you think he told Christian his plans to
come down here in advance?"

"He must have. Christian wouldn't appreciate
another commander popping in unannounced, especially when he wants
to convince him to start a joint military operation against the
vampires. That requires a lot of planning."

Fausta held up a hand. "Fine, fine. Your
father is paranoid. Assuming this is true, we can concentrate on
Christian's council."