Dread Nemesis of Mine (16 page)

"Has he had problems with other
operations?"

"Problems, yes. But I wouldn't point to a
traitor as the cause for those problems."

Elyssa pursed her lips. "Hmm, so nothing
stands out to you?"

"No."

Elyssa had hoped to discount Beck as a
traitor, but if this was the first disaster Fausta could point to
as the possible product of betrayal, her question might have done
the opposite and pointed to him as the likeliest candidate for a
good ass-kicking. Beck had sold them out to Thomas Borathen after
they'd captured Vadaemos, all so he could earn a few brownie
points, no doubt. That had led to a duel between Thomas and Justin.
Then Daelissa had shown up and freed Vadaemos. The demon spawn had
killed several Templars, including her brother, Jack, that night.
Her chest tightened. What if Beck hadn't called her father to win
favor, but to start a fight so Vadaemos could escape?

His actions had led to chaos. Or would
Daelissa have shown up anyway? Elyssa couldn't say. She conveyed
her suspicions to Fausta.

The Italian woman arched an eyebrow. "Beck is
a
culo
, sure, but I don't think he would betray us."

"What if he resents my father for sending his
family away from Atlanta?"

"For kissing you?" Fausta snorted. "So your
father is paranoid and overprotective. Are you sure he's fit for
duty?"

Elyssa held back an angry retort. "Okay,
fine. If it's not Beck, who else is on the council?"

"Lieutenants Jean-Claude Ville, Gigi
Martinez, and Ludovico Maracci."

"Three people?" The task ahead seemed even
harder, especially given the time limit involved.

Fausta shook her head. "Ludovico died in the
ambush, so I sincerely doubt he was involved."

"Definitely dead and not disappeared?"

"I saw his body. It was him."

"We need to question the other two. Check
their stories."

"What makes you think they'll help?"

Fausta had a point. These people might give
Elyssa the time of day simply because of her last name. But if she
started questioning them about treachery, they'd boot her out and
probably complain to Christian and Thomas as well.

"The wheels are spinning," Fausta said. "Who
are you going to beat up first?"

"This isn't time to be joking," Elyssa said.
"In case you don't remember, we're supposed to be attacking Maximus
tomorrow. What if he already knows we're coming?"

A curse escaped Fausta's lips, and her face
sobered. "Come on." She motioned for Elyssa to follow.

"Where are we going?"

"We have no time for, how do you Americans
say it—pussy-jumping around."

Elyssa chuckled. "I think you mean
pussy-footing." She jogged to catch up to Fausta. "Who are we going
to first?"

"We don't have time for games, so we're going
to be direct." Fausta looked back over her shoulder and smiled.
"We'll break into their rooms and search them."

Bella walked around the corner and Fausta
nearly plowed right over her.

"Goodness!" said the short Arcane. "What…"
She looked from Fausta to Elyssa and back again. "Oh. Something
really bad must be happening for you two to be taking a walk
together." She smiled and rubbed her hands together. "Where are we
going? Are we going to rough anybody up?"

"No way," Fausta said, shaking her head.
"We'll attract too much attention with so many people."

Elyssa pursed her lips and regarded Bella.
Thought about how she'd hotwired cars in seconds. "I think she'll
be perfect for what we have in mind. Think about it—who'd be better
at opening locks than an Arcane?"

"Oh yes, I'm an old hand at larceny," Bella
said. "During my younger years I excelled at breaking and
entering."

"Younger years? You still look like a child,"
Fausta said, towering over the other woman.

"Don't be so mean," Bella said with a frown.
"I'm only a head shorter than you. Besides,
botte piccola fa
vino buono
."

Fausta laughed. "I hope you're right."

"What does that mean?" Elyssa asked.

The Arcane woman winked. "It's an old Italian
saying: A small cask makes good wine."

Elyssa already knew Bella was more powerful
than her size indicated. "If we're searching rooms, we'll need all
the help we can get." She gave Bella an appraising look. "I have a
feeling our sorceress friend here makes very good wine when she
mixes magic and subterfuge."

Bella beamed at her. "After so many boring
years in
Ciudad De Los Angeles
, it will be wonderful to live
life in the fast lane again."

"Fine, fine," Fausta said. "Let's go." She
stalked toward the officers' barracks.

Bella followed close in her wake.

Worry still gnawed at Elyssa as she caught up
to her partners in crime, but at least she knew one thing for sure.
Things were about to get interesting.

I grinned lazily—even though grinning was
hard with a gag in my mouth—at the three men standing over me as
Dash withdrew a long needle from my arm.

"Don't give him too much," said Maximus.

"I daresay he already has," said the
Master.

Dash didn't look concerned. "It's only
temporary. I need to undo one of his straps to get the IV in."

The big vampire touched a finger to the strap
on my forearm and the one securing my bicep. My arm flopped loose.
Dash rearranged my arm. I felt a sharp prick in my wrist.

"Okay, tighten the straps now," he said.

Tension pressed against my arm. But I felt
way too good to care.

You're drugged, moron! Snap out of it!

"Why?" I tried to say around the hard ball in
my mouth. "I want Mommy."

"He's drooling," said the man with the funky
mustache.

"I've set the blood drip so it won't drain
him faster than he can regenerate," Dash said.

Maximus nodded. "How much blood can we expect
daily?"

"Maybe a liter. But he needs to feed."

"Already taken care of," Maximus said, and
looked at the British vampire. "How much blood can you spare for
the serum, Master?"

The Master adjusted his monocle. "A liter
will be no problem."

Dash nodded. "Once I've diluted the serum, I
could quadruple our production."

"Excellent work, chaps. I believe our little
plan will pay big dividends in the end."

Their conversation droned on, but I was too
out of it to comprehend everything they were saying.

"…but what if Daelissa changes her mind
again?" Dash waved his arms as if to indicate the room. "All this
work will be for nothing."

Mention of the rogue angel's name snapped me
from my haze. I focused on the conspirators and tried to take in
whatever they said.

"It doesn't matter if she changes her mind,"
Maximus said. "She's crazy half the time anyway. We figure out how
to reprogram those things and Methuselah can send all he wants.
We'll just make 'em part of the army."

"Bloody good, chaps," said the Master. He
pulled a pocket watch from his cloak and glanced at it. "My
contacts tell me the Syndicate is meeting to discuss their
difficulties with the Arcanes. They even sent an envoy to the
Templars, if you can believe it."

"Are they still arguing about what to do with
me?" Maximus grinned.

"Indeed, my young apprentice. But our people
have enough votes to keep the Syndicate running in circles."

"And Vlad?"

"He's been beyond caring about the mortal
world for centuries." The Master polished his monocle and held it
up to the light for inspection. "I believe full-scale war with the
Arcanes is imminent, wouldn't you say, Mr. Armstrong?" He replaced
the monocle on his eye and headed for the door.

Dash nodded and followed him. "My contacts
told me the council is pushing hard for retribution. They've
tripled security on arcane schools, and are calling in the battle
mages."

"That should keep the Templars off our
backs," Maximus said. He leered down at me for a few seconds before
turning and leading the others out of the room and away until their
conversation faded.

Whatever Dash had injected me with lost its
hold some indeterminable time later, and I lapsed back into
coherence. I felt tired. So very tired. Hopelessness pressed
against me like a suffocating wave.

"Those entities seem intent on doing bad
things," said the calm voice of my companion.

I almost cussed him out for stating the
obvious, but felt way too exhausted to make the effort. Besides,
for all I knew, they had him on the same drugs Dash had doped me
with. Anyone would be stupid with that crap in their veins.

"Ungh," I said. It took everything to get one
syllable out, not that it mattered with the ball gag in my
mouth.

"I do not have a greater context to
understand their motives. Perhaps if a library were made available
to me I could understand their puzzling desire to cause you
harm."

At least he cared.

A hot tear trickled down my cheek. I closed
my eyes against the pain. Elyssa's face filled the void. I looked
longingly at her full lips, her bright violet eyes, her porcelain
skin. I might never again touch those lips or feel her warmth press
tight against me.

I miss you.

I groaned.

Someone made a noise to my right. I looked
and saw a middle-aged woman I didn't recognize standing there. "I'm
supposed to come here," she said, looking around. "Uh, Maximus
sent—"

My demon surged for her so fast she didn't
have time to complete the sentence. My essence latched onto hers
and drew long and hard, an alcoholic having the first drink of the
day. She moaned and rubbed her hands up and down her body. I felt
the feverish hunger in me burning in my eyes. The woman straddled
me and pressed her lips to my face, my chest.

I was out of control. Part of my mind watched
in fascinated horror. Another part was too angry and tired to give
a damn. Energy flooded into me, rich, warm, and fulfilling. Within
minutes, the woman slumped and rolled off me, thudding on the
floor. Guilt stabbed into me and I jerked control from the demonic
force within before it killed this woman. She might love Maximus
and want to be a vampire, for all I knew, but killing her wouldn't
solve a thing.

Maximus was the first in a short list of
people who needed killing.

Amanda appeared, an evil grin on her face.
"Enjoy your dinner, spawn?"

I glared at her. It was all I could do with
the gag in my mouth. She tossed the woman over a shoulder, and
carried her away down the hall.

Fully refueled, but thoroughly depressed, I
stared at the ceiling and wondered how long I would suffer this
fate. My only choice would be to let myself die. But would my
demonic urges allow me to do such a thing or would it take control
at the last minute?

A hand gripped something on the back of my
head and the gag popped loose. I spat it out and looked into
Maximus's eyes.

"What are you doing down here again?" I said.
"Come to gloat more?"

He leaned against the wall to my side and
regarded me with a serious look. "Who is your mother?"

"As if you don't know already."

"Humor me."

I considered telling him to screw himself,
but saw no harm in telling him something Daelissa must have already
told him. "Alice Conroy."

"Are you certain?"

"Go screw yourself." I felt marginally better
going with my first instinct.

He smiled. "I'm genuinely curious. You are
mixed spawn and human which should make your blood worse than a
pureblood, and yet even Dash agrees your blood is far
superior."

"Have you ever met someone with my
pedigree?"

"No. So for all we know, the assumption that
a human-spawn mix is inferior might be wrong." He shrugged. "Dash
finds you fascinating. I suspect he would like to take you apart to
satisfy his magical curiosity."

"Thank heavens you're such a good, caring
person."

Maximus pulled up a stool and sat down. "You
realize we don't have to be enemies, Justin. Although I have
cooperated with Daelissa, she is far from being a true ally. If
anything, I'm just a tool for her."

"Then why help her? She plans to let her
other angel friends into this world, and guess who they won't need
anymore?"

"I'm not a fool. You think I don't know her
plans? I'm a diversion, nothing more. I know she has true allies
who are far more involved in her plans, but I don't know who they
are. The Master is my true ally, my mentor, and there are several
Arcanes who also believe in our cause."

"To do what? Form a vampire army and rule the
world?" I snorted. "Maybe you could be a little less cliché with
your plans for world domination. Hey, I have an idea—how about you
and your vampires sponsor a roadside trash pickup? You can save the
environment and feel great about yourselves."

"I don't have a diabolical plan to rule the
world, little man." Maximus leaned over me and showed his fangs.
"Not that I should expect anyone of your limited years to
understand. I want a better world. We have the gift of immortality.
Imagine it! Mankind could live forever. Think of the achievements
we could make."

His coppery breath was making me nauseous.
"With you as the Grand Poobah, right?"

He shrugged. "Perhaps temporarily. The Master
has already indicated he has no desire to rule. He would advise
me."

"What happens when there are no more humans
to feed the vampires? What about the people who don't want to be
vampires? The Red Syndicate keeps your numbers low so they don't
run out of food, not because they don't want everyone having the
gift of immortality." I felt dirty just defending the vampire
nation. "Face it, Maximus, you want power, plain and simple. Your
whole Vampire's Revolution is just the kind of crap you know people
will listen to so you can justify a massive power grab."