Duel Nature (35 page)

“You did what?” Atta asked, incredulous.

“Well, the plan was to
spread the drug through society and cause a breakdown in order
which would allow Darkkin to step forward and assume visible
control. I laughed at that because while I don’t know much about
vampires, and even less back then, I
do
know demons.”

“So what? The plan sounds at least
plausible,” Frimunt said.

“Demons don’t do anything for anyone but
themselves. That many berserk humans would have been nothing more
than a fertile field to plant thousands and thousands of demons.
The vampire age of rule would have lasted all of two weeks.”

“Demons would be that able to use the drugged
humans?” Elisabeta asked.

“Absolutely. Perfect vessels for demonic
possession.”

“What happened next?” Gault asked.

“They thought Tanya would take hours to
figure out where I was,” I said. Both Tavian and Elisabeta snorted
at that. The others looked at them curiously. Tavian explained.

“Chosen know where their
partners are
all
the time. Separation by a few miles would mean nothing,” he
said.

I nodded. “Tanya was already on the way with
the other Elders and more. Fedor and company wasn’t ready for her
so things got rushed. Anton and Vadim went to meet her while Fedor
decided that my death would leave her disoriented.”

“That’s when the god spirit showed up?”
Mausya asked, completely fascinated.

“Yeah, he ripped the whole
front of the container off. Fedor couldn’t see him and when he
stepped forward to investigate Okwari smashed him with both paws at
once. It was like getting hit by a train…actually, two trains –
head on. Even an Elder vampire can’t survive that degree of instant
damage.”

They were all quiet, but not motionless.
Several, Berit and Gault, were taking notes. Tavian and Elisabeta
looked thoughtful.

“That matches what we have heard from other
testimony. It also lends support to him actually being Tatiana’s
Chosen,” Tavian said. His mate nodded.

“I would have no trouble tracking Tav’
anywhere in this city,” the red-headed vampiress said.

“Where is this god now?” Mausya asked
suddenly.

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’m led to believe
that he was given only a short time in this realm before he was
forced to leave for good.”

“What could force an ancient god to leave?”
Chilka

They all looked at me. I shrugged.

“God Himself. The Big Guy. God with a capital
G. Yahweh!” I said.

“You believe that?” Mausya asked. She leaned
forward slightly.

“Yeah, I do.”

“You claim your gift with demons is
God-given?” she asked.

“I think so. All of the clergy who’ve ever
seen the results of my exorcisms are convinced of it.”

“But you don’t know for sure? It is possible
your demon power comes from demons themselves?” she suggested.

“That’s always been a fear. But it seems more
and more unlikely, seeing as I’m interfering with their plans on a
regular basis.”

I didn’t mention that I also had regular
conversations with an Angel who reassured me that I was on the side
of the good guys.

“Your family was brutally murdered when you
were a child, no?” Mausya asked. “You claim it was a demon?” She
made it sound unlikely.

“It was,” I said, gritting my teeth.

“After that you suddenly got these exorcism
powers?” Gault asked.

“They appeared four years later.” I
answered.

“The demon stabbed you with a hypodermic
needle during your fight at the club. What was in it?” Mausya asked
suddenly.

Where she learned that piece of information I
would love to know. I had deliberately avoided all mention of it.
Still, now that it was out there, hanging overhead like a dangling
blade, I needed to answer.

“I believe it was blood,” I said.

“Blood? How strange. Blood from who?”

“I think it was blood from the demon’s
victim.”

They looked at me blankly.

“You know, the person whose body the demon
possessed.”

“So you were injected with demon blood, which
knocked you out,” Mausya stated.

“I don’t think actual demon blood exists in
this realm or dimension as they come here incorporeal. But I do
think it was blood from the body the demon inhabited. Whether it
was what knocked me out or a blow from the fight is uncertain,” I
said.

“Why would it do that?” Gault asked.

“I don’t know. Dr. Singh felt that the
victim’s blood was changed by the presence of the demon. He
theorized that it might have a destabilizing effect on me, but we
don’t know for sure.”

“Half-truths,” Berit said suddenly.

“Care to elaborate?” Atta asked with a cold
smile.

“Not really. If I’m speaking
‘half-truths’ it’s because I don’t
know
the answers. I can guess or form
theories but I don’t know for certain,” I said, putting all the
conviction I could into my statement. The God Tear necklace warmed
slightly on my chest, making its presence known.

The Patrons looked at Berit, who kept her
cold eyes on me, but nodded grudgingly after a moment.

“Funny you should mention Dr. Singh. He
testified a little earlier,” Mausya said. “He feels very strongly
that the demons altered a vampire protein and created the street
drug Hance. A drug that destabilizes its user’s inhibitions and
makes them dangerously psychotic. Wouldn’t straight demon blood do
even worse?”

“You would have to ask him that. But since
you’re asking me I’ll surmise that twisting a vampire protein is
gonna have a bigger effect than twisting a human blood
protein.”

“Ah, but your blood was riddled with all
kinds of vampire proteins as well as the V squared virus itself by
the time you were injected. By your reasoning that should be even
worse.”

I shrugged again.

“I’m not following your line of questioning.
If you’re asking if I’m a twisted psychotic then I have to say
no.”

“Really?” she said with a wondering tone of
voice. “But you do suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder, do
you not?”

Oh shit! That was so not a conversation I
wanted to have.

“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to gather
my thoughts.

“Oh come now, Mr. Gordon. Isn’t it true that
you have at least one other complete personality that manifests
itself when you – how did Hokosawa put it? – ‘lose your
temper’.”

“I’m not an expert on psychology, Ma’am. From
what little I know, patients with Multiple Personality disorder are
not usually aware of their other personalities. What I have, is
more of a persona than a distinct personality. A facet of my total
personality that is somewhat more specialized.”

“Actually you are incorrect. Many patients
with MPD are aware of the other personalities. But you do admit to
another personality?”

“Persona, I have another persona just as you
have your Patron persona and your private, chew on the neck of your
favorite blood donor persona.”

She laughed at me. Not pleasantly, but
condescendingly.

“Semantics, Mr. Gordon. What I do know is
that you’ve admitted that you have a separate ‘persona’ which I
understand is extremely violent and that you’ve been injected with
an incredibly powerful mutagenic substance that has been shown to
produce intense psychosis and uncontrolled rage in humans.”

“It sounds bad when you put it like that,” I
said, a really sick feeling forming in my stomach. I was also
struggling with my temper as her words kept digging at me like a
sharp shovel.

She arched her eyebrows. “Bad? Mr. Gordon,
humans ingesting Hance and bringing Darkkin blood chemistry into
the realm of modern science is bad. A mutated supernatural being
with an ultra-violent split personality pumped full of a super
psychosis inducing substance who also has a psychic bond with the
hope and future of the Darkkin race is a catastrophe many orders of
magnitude greater.”

Her vampire playing card hadn’t outlined her
human job during her first ‘life’, but I was willing to bet she had
been an attorney. In just a few words she had managed to twist my
life into a major threat to vampire kind. My dark half wanted to
have a few moments alone with her. I shoved it back down and found
my right hand touching the God Tear without conscious thought.

“Humans call that spin, Ms. Mausya. Twisting
words around to paint a particular picture. Myself, I would prefer
to point out that your ‘hope and future’ has bound herself to a
uniquely competent bodyguard that can heal her of catastrophic
injury and will take on any ‘enemy’ that threatens her, anywhere,
anytime,” I said.

“We all like to see ourselves as the hero,
Mr. Gordon. That’s human nature even for people who are more than
human. I’m pretty sure Hitler saw himself as a hero. But don’t fool
yourself. You are a danger to Tatiana and every other vampire in
existence.”

“How many vampires have you killed Mr.
Gordon?” Chalka asked.

“Seventeen,” I answered.

“How many of those seventeen were a threat to
either Tatiana or had Challenged your place as her Chosen?” she
asked.

“All of them,” I said.

“How many demons have threatened Tatiana?”
she continued.

“At least two directly,” I said.

“What happened to them?” she asked

“I sent them back to Hell.”

“And we’ve already
established the fact that you killed off a pack of weres that
directly attacked Tatiana
as well as
Senka, Galina, and others from this Coven,” she
said.

“What’s your point Chalka?” Gault asked,
puzzled.

“Isn’t it obvious? She – “ pointing at Mausya
“ – wants us to believe him a danger to Tatiana and Darkkin
everywhere. He contends he is a better protector of our young Full
Blood than anyone else. I’m just pointing out that the facts seem
to support his contention. We’ve wasted a tremendous amount of time
on this farce and I, for one, would like to get back to the
business of selecting the next Elder.”

Mausya was frowning, her head tilted slightly
to one side. I was beginning to think that particular mannerism was
what she used when she was reading probabilities or whatever it was
she did.

“I do not think a direct threat to the life
of the only Full Blood Darkkin in history is a ‘farce’,” she said.
“My point is that he is unstable and could snap and kill her.”

“Let’s ask our experts on Chosen,” Chalka
said, turning to Tavian and Elisabeta who both looked
surprised.

“Is it possible for either of you to hurt or
harm the other?” Chalka asked.

They both shook their heads in exactly the
same manner and at the same time.

“Impossible. It would be like harming
yourself. We feel each other’s pain when we’re wounded and share
our emotions,” Elisabeta explained.

“Now can we please move on?” Chalka
asked.

Gault glanced once at the three candidates,
his gaze lingering on Mausya the longest. When none of the three
said anything he gave a slight nod.

“Mr. Gordon, you may leave,” he dismissed me.
I turned to leave and found Hosokawa approaching me as I moved.

“I will walk you out Gordon-san,” he said
matter-of-factly.

Caught off guard, I nonetheless nodded and
slowed to let him catch up with me.

Pitching his voice lower than a human could
hear right next to him or a vampire could hear across a room he
spoke. “You did very, very well,” he commended me. “I have been
meaning to talk to you about our…training session. I handled it
poorly. But one thing you need to learn is how to draw energy from
your environment. It is a Darkkin technique, much like basic energy
manipulation, but instead of projecting the power, you have to sort
of internalize it. It would help you greatly with your…calorie
needs. Slow the rate of fuel usage. If you like I can show you how
to do it. It’s an advanced technique, but you will have no
problem.”

His sincerity won over my Grim fueled
distrust. He was either being entirely honest with me or was the
world’s foremost actor hiding in a concrete cave under
Manhattan.

“Ookay. Thanks,” I said. He gave me a nod
then gestured to the door which was being opened by a guard. I
slipped out, glancing back once to see the deadly fighter watching
me with a slight smile.

Chapter 35

My break from the Conclave lasted a full four
days this time. I hung out with Chet for a day till he was well
enough to go back to work, filled out reports for Lydia on the most
recent Rover assignments that Tanya and I had worked on and fed
myself back to a decent weight. There were even two sessions with
Hosokawa where he taught me some about absorbing vampire energy
from the environment and using it to partially offset my freakish
metabolism. I had been absorbing energy all along, using it to
Cling, Push, Pull, Harden, Post or Lighten as needed. The Japanese
warrior taught me to internalize the power and sort of feed it to
my cells. It helped slow my hunger and I could see it making a
difference between living and having my body eat itself, although
it would never fully satiate my need for calories.

I also got to spend time with Tanya, although
not as much as I would have liked. Senka had her busy with several
projects, none of which she was inclined to talk about.
Unfortunately I also had enough time to brood on my growing
discomfort with the wonderful world of vampires. It didn’t help
that a constant stream of humans was brought in to feed the old
vampires of the Conclave and their assistants. Despite the Coven’s
access to blood banks, the older vamps greatly preferred live
dinner over bagged donor blood. The human ‘food’ was supposedly all
volunteers who had willingly signed medical consent forms for blood
donation. The ones I saw had the slightly fanatical look of junkies
that I had learned to identify with humans who got off on being
bitten.