H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (69 page)

“So, you are blackmailing me?”

“Do you think for one second that I think
you’re scared of authorities? There’s not a jailhouse that can hold
you. You need to see that all I want is to work with you. I have
seen some of the greatest Mani fight and there is no one like
you.”

“You got that right.”

“You’re cocky. I like that. My rich and
powerful friends would put up big money to see someone of your
caliber fight.”

“What are you saying? You will lead me to
the Deity in exchange for a fight? There was a guy last night that
was willing to lead us to her for just $500.”

“Good luck with any street hustler following
through on finding the Deity. That guy hasn’t put two thoughts into
finding her today. He doesn’t know if he’ll see you again.”

Great. We would have just wasted our time
trying to find that guy again.

“Why me?” I asked, trying to see if he’d
give any ‘tell’ about his true intentions.

“Look, we can help each other and make a lot
of money. You would be very marketable in my league.”

“I’m not into getting my face on cereal
boxes.”

“It wouldn’t be like that. We are a secret
society. We have everyone paid off that would even remotely try to
stop us, from police officers to law officials. Its win-win for
everyone involved. I think you’d be very successful.”

“So, I have to have one of these fights
before I can meet her?” I asked.

“No, not at all. I’ll bring you to see her
right now if you want to. The way I see it, you’re an investment.
I’ll bring you to the Deity and then later on, I’ll take you to see
one of our fights tonight.”

I looked Romero over and my gut didn’t quite
trust him. But I was a gambler when it came to stuff like this.
“Okay,” I said, “Take me to the Deity.”

“I have my car parked out front.”

“You have your limousine out front?” I
asked.

“No, I brought my red Ferrari. I like to be
less presumptuous when I’m meeting someone for the first time,”
Romero smiled. He was making a joke. It was actually pretty funny.
“You know, Josiah, you and I could just go,” Romero continued. “We
don’t even need to bother with your friend.”

“No, I’d better tell him what’s up and give
him the option of going with us. Let me shower up, and I’ll meet
you back down here in twenty minutes, with or without my
friend.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Chapter Eleven

I took a hot shower and dried myself off,
then went into our room and woke Wyatt up. I told him about
Romero’s offer and he insisted on coming with me for my protection.
I assured him that I was fairly confident that Romero was exactly
who he said he was. But, nonetheless, Wyatt got ready and the two
of us met Romero downstairs.

I introduced Romero to Wyatt in the lobby
and then we went to the parking garage and found Romero’s red 2+2
Ferrari and took off. It was a little weird riding around in
Tijuana in a red sports car. It was like eating a bowl of Cheerios
with a golden spoon.

I looked up into the sky from the passenger
side of the car. And I noticed the moon was out in full effect. It
was the first night of the full moon, so Romero’s little paranormal
fight club would be at full throttle on this night. As we pulled
onto Avenida Revolucion, I asked Romero where he was taking us.

“Where else would a 4,000-year-old vampire
woman want to spend her time?” he asked, as if we already knew the
answer.

“If I knew the answer to that question, we
wouldn’t have needed you to take us,” I said.

Romero looked over at me and smiled. “The
Deity is a Mother Teresa in her own right. She runs an orphanage
for abused and neglected children on the outskirts of town.”

That actually made a lot of sense. “Is it a
cover?” I asked.

“A cover?” Romero laughed. “Why would she
need a cover?

“I don’t know. She has been around a long
time, she must have made some enemies along the way.”

“Trust me, the Deity is the most loved Mani
on the planet, she has no enemies.”

“I figured she was pretty important,” I
said. “I had no idea that it was like that.”

“You’ll see what I mean. Just being in her
presence will renew your faith in humanity.”

“Is that what you’re about? Humanity?” I
asked. “You run an underground death match league where you make a
buck off the backs of others.”

Romero looked at me and was surprised I had
come at him so hard for no reason. He obviously wasn’t used to
anyone challenging his ethics. I shoot people between the eyes. I
know he’s all about the cash. Every decision a man like this makes
is only a means to an end, and that ‘means’ is a bundle of cash at
the end of every rainbow. I knew that was all he was looking at
this situation as. I really didn’t need to hear his bullshit about
humanity.

“My fighters almost never die in the ring.
Does it happen? Sometimes, but we don’t encourage it.”

“You don’t encourage it because you’re
losing your product?” I said.

Romero smiled. “You think you have me all
figured out. You think I’m the Don King fight promoter of the
underworld.”

“I think you’re very good at what you do.
What I can’t figure out is why you’re still a Tandra?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because a man like you must crave
immortality.”

“Who says I don’t already have it?”

“You’re not a Mani or a Carni. So, unless
you’re the devil, I’m pretty sure you’re waiting for the right time
to change.”

Romero grinned. “I like you, Josiah.” He
then made his way onto a dirt road. We had already passed the heart
of the city and were in some pretty rough country. Up the road a
ways, I could see a giant church that looked like a cathedral that
was connected to what looked like an auditorium or gym.

As we got closer to the church, I leaned
over to Romero and said, “I want to like you, but I don’t see that
happening too soon.”

“Oh, you’re going to love me, Josiah. Like a
father.”

I looked over at Wyatt who was extremely
quiet. He gave me a look as if to say, ‘Watch yourself, this is a
powerful guy.’

The way I see it power, money, and sex are
the only things that this world values. I don’t want or need any of
it—so a guy like Romero barely fazes me.

Romero got out of the car, as did Wyatt and
I. Again, I looked up at the giant majestic moon. It seemed larger
than normal. I felt drawn to it in a way I hadn’t quite felt
before. Maybe I was just missing Tommy. God knows where he was on
this evening. I hope he’s safe. Yes, I said it. I hope my best
friend’s safe.

Romero led us to the back of the cathedral.
In the dark, the church reminded me of a castle you would see in
Romania or Turkey.

Romero walked up to a man who seemed to be
protecting the property. He was part of some kind of security
detail. He wore military fatigues, but I didn’t think he was a
Federale. When the man saw that it was Romero, he immediately stood
up straight as if Romero was some kind of general. They spoke in
Spanish and I looked to Wyatt for a translation.

Wyatt leaned in and whispered to me. “He’s
telling Romero that the Deity is in a bunker out back.”

“A bunker?” Like underground?” I whispered
back.

“It makes sense. It’s a perfect place for a
vampire.”

“I actually like the idea of a bunker,” I
said. “We really need to look into getting one when we get
back.”

Romero came back to us and told us to follow
him. He led us to an open field that was about 500 yards away from
the church.

“Why is the bunker so far away from the
church?” I asked.

“You never know when a ‘crazy’ would want to
bomb the church. My people built the bunker for the Deity a few
years back. The church was getting death threats and we needed to
make sure the Deity would be safe.”

“You really care for her, don’t you?”

Romero smiled. “Yes, she has been a mother
and mentor to me over the years.” Romero turned around and faced
the church. “She took me in about forty years ago. She’s a pretty
remarkable woman.

“You were an orphan?” I asked.

“Sort of,” Romero answered.

“How so?”

“Both my parents were serving life sentences
in prison. I was wandering the streets, doing some pretty awful
things to a lot of good people.”

“Explain awful…” I wanted to know what kind
of guy I was dealing with, even if it was forty years ago.

“To put it simply, I was a thief. I stole
from everyone. And one day I stole from the wrong guy. He didn’t
care how young I was. I tried to take his wallet and he caught me
doing it. He dragged me into an alley and beat me up senseless. He
left me there bleeding to death behind a Dumpster. I had no family,
no one to help me or come to my aid. Then the most beautiful woman,
or should I say girl, came to me. She washed me up and took care of
me. She brought me back here and taught me how to read and write.
After that day, I always knew I had a purpose, an angel had come
for me and saved me right there on the streets of Tijuana.” Romero
continued to reflect and then shook his head. “That angel was ‘Her
Holiness.’”

“Her Holiness?” I asked. “Is that how I
should address her?”

“Ma’am would be just fine. She’s not into
titles and ceremonial crap. She just gets straight to the point and
fixes problems and answers peoples’ questions.” Romero unlocked a
door that was flat on the ground. He opened it and, sure enough, it
was a bunker.

As we walked down a staircase, I was shocked
at how gigantic the inside of the bunker was. It was lit real
bright and it almost felt like it was day inside this thing. The
bunker was so large that it had separate rooms. Romero led us down
a hallway into a back room. He stopped in front of the door. Romero
put his hand on Wyatt’s chest.

“This is where you and I need to stop. She’s
only expecting Josiah,” Romero said to Wyatt. “Your friend will be
safe. You’ll need to wait outside with me.”

I nodded at Wyatt to assure him I was going
to be okay. I exhaled with a little bit of nervous energy. I didn’t
think I was going to feel this nervous, but the build-up to seeing
her was pretty intense. I opened the door and went in.

The room was cool and was lit only by
lanterns. Okay, this was a tad extreme, but I was going with it. In
the middle of the floor, wearing a long red dress, was a beautiful,
young-looking woman. She had a radiant beauty that was almost
mesmerizing. It was what I would imagine meeting Mary, the mother
of Jesus, would be like. Her ethnicity was Middle Eastern, maybe
Egyptian or possibly even Iranian.

“Sit next to me, Josiah,” she said. Her
voice was fluid and expressive.

Wow, I was nervous.

Her beautiful red dress spread across the
floor in a perfect circle around her. I gathered she was around
five feet tall and had a very tiny body frame. She appeared to be
sitting cross- legged like a child, but I couldn’t tell being that
her dress flowed over her body like the ocean.

I was overwhelmed by the moment, and I don’t
know why, I had no reasoning for it, and I began tearing up. Tears
dripped from my eyes. I felt like I was in the presence of God. I
never liked to give anyone this kind of reverence. It was
completely against my nature, but I was having a religious
experience. I was caught up in the moment to say the least.

I made my way over to her and sat
cross-legged next to her. She reached out her hand and took my left
palm and brought it to her chest near her heart.

“Your heart is tender,” she said to me. “You
are very kind and life has been very hard for you,” she said, in
perfectly spoken English.

“Is it?” I asked. I wasn’t sure if she was
asking me a question or making an observation.

“You don’t believe that you are a good
man?”

“A good man? I’m not sure what is good or
bad anymore,” I was being as humble and real as I could be.

“Sweet, Josiah. The Triat looks on you with
so much favor.”

“They do?” I asked. I felt very emotional
about the matter she was speaking to me about. Up to this point in
my journey, I wasn’t sure if I had done anything right. It was like
hearing your dad tell you he was proud of you.

“Yes, your humanity and kindness has led you
to this moment, Josiah. You need to embrace it. Sit closer to me,
my child.” She then scooted closer to me on the floor. As she did
so, I noticed something I hadn’t before. I was now certain she was
blind. Her eyes were huge and I couldn’t see her pupils.

“If you don’t mind me asking, ma’am, are you
blind?”

She smiled at my boldness. “I have very
little earthly vision. I don’t need to see with my eyes the things
I can already see in my heart.” She then touched my face. She felt
the tears on my cheeks, “You’ve been crying?” she asked.

“A little,” I said, embarrassed.

“There is no need for that; I am only a Mani
woman.”

“You are more than that.”

“I am no better than anyone else. The least
of us is greatest. If you follow that rule, Josiah, you will be
able to move mountains.”

“Your Holiness, I have come for answers.” I
knew Romero said I didn’t need to call her that, but I didn’t feel
comfortable calling her anything else.

“What are some of these questions that you
seek answers for, young Josiah?”

“Your Holiness, I’ve been told so many
things by so many different entities. Up to now, I have trusted my
gut and intuition, and I truly believe it has gotten me this far.
But now, I feel lost.”

“How so?”

“I’m not certain of my specific task. I
don’t know how exactly to save the Mani people.”

“You do understand, Josiah, that in many
ways, you already have.”

“How so?”