Night and Day (Book 2): Bleeding Sky (30 page)

“Why?”
I asked. “If they knew about you for centuries, why didn’t they do something
about you? Or tell the world?”

“We
were no threat to anyone,” Anna said softly. “We rarely killed when taking
food. We kept to ourselves. Our numbers were small and generally static. But
the Roman church was smart, smarter even than us. They foresaw a day when
the situation would change. They knew that one day, the balance would be
upset and the result would be what happened here, in your country. The Roman
church is very patient, Charlie. They knew that when it happened, their
knowledge would make them even more powerful than before.”

“So
they told the world governments, told them where you all were.”

“Exactly.”

“And
you were approached to work for the German government,” I said. “Well, I
guess it beats working in a candle shop.”

“Approached,”
she repeated. “What a lovely word. And one that in no way describes what
happened to us.” She paused. “We were rounded up, arrested, imprisoned. Most
of us were offered a choice. Do as the humans wanted, or die. For some,
there was no choice. As I mentioned at breakfast yesterday, there were
experiments, vivisections. Do you think those vampires went willingly to
their deaths?”

“You’re
not a willing employee?”

“I
am a slave,” she said, her voice soft but angry. “Well treated, well fed,
but a slave nonetheless. A slave of that pompous, condescending German
inside the trailer. If I thought it would truly free me, I would kill
himself myself.”

Chapter
Eighteen

“I’m
surprised to hear that,” I said slowly. “You and the ambassador seem to get
along pretty well.” Not at all like my concept of a master and slave. At
least not from what I’d seen.

Anna
laughed. “Oh, yes, I’m sure we ‘seem’ to get along, like a father with an
unruly child and a child with a doting, not very bright, uncle.” She shook
her head. “No, Charlie, we do not get along. Konrad thoroughly disapproves
of my behavior. He expected a quiet, obedient sentinel who would do as she
was told and be seen only when she was working. He got me.”

“He
told me the other night that you volunteered.”

“That
much is true,” she said. “I’ve spent the last five years in a twenty square
meter underground cell in Berlin. I leave that cell only when I am needed to
sit in on another boring meeting or visit by some EU dignitary. I am allowed
books. I am fed twice weekly with blood delivered from a hospital. I have no
contact with anyone, human or vampire, except when I am working. I think you
can understand why I would volunteer for something different, even if only
for a few months.”

“This
is better?”

“Better
without being good,” she said. “I’m sure Konrad would beat me for my actions
and attitude if he wasn’t afraid of me.”

“Afraid?”

She
stared at me. “Do not confuse me with the frail child I appear to be,” she
said. “If Konrad ever raised his hand to me, I would take his arm off and
beat him to death with it. I am willing to accept servitude. I am not
willing to accept a human laying hands on me.”

“I’ll
be sure to stay on your good side.” I paused. “What about Clay?”

“Ron
has his own reasons for being here,” she said. “He doesn’t pay much
attention to Konrad and I, and our little feud. We’re just background
noise.”

“What
reasons are those?”

Anna
smiled. “Why don’t you ask him, Charlie,” she said. “I’m sure he’ll come up
with another story to satisfy you.”

“What
does that mean?”

“Whatever
you want it to mean,” she said.

She
wasn’t going to give me any more information, so no reason to pursue it.
Just another open question. Perhaps a little more research into Captain
Ronald Clay was called for.

“So
is your bloodfather also a sentinel?”

“My
bloodfather is dead,” she said. “We were in Poland in 1939, in Warsaw to be
specific. The Germans bombed Warsaw quite thoroughly. Herr Vogt was killed.
I fled.”

“Where
did you go?”

“A
cave in the mountains outside Kielce. Ironically called the Swietokrzyskie
Mountains. The mountains of the Holy Cross. It took four days, traveling at
night, avoiding the hubbub of war. Before the sun rose each morning, I dug a
hole and covered myself with leaves and brush to shield me from the sun.
Like an animal.”

“And
you stayed in that cave for the rest of the war?”

She
nodded. “Five years,” she said. “Not unlike the five years I’ve spent in a
cell in Berlin. But I did have the night, something now denied
me.”

“How
did you survive?”

She
didn’t say anything for a moment. “You really wish to hear this?”

“Sure,
if it’s something you want to talk about. You said you’d be my vampire
encyclopedia.”

“I
survived by keeping a low profile and killing when threatened,” she said. “I
was judicious in my hunting. When I fed, I would kill the human and drink as
much blood as I could without vomiting, so as to store it in my soft tissue
much as a camel stores fat in its hump. In this way, I only needed to feed
twice a month.”

“That’s
still more than a hundred dead people over the five years,” I said
slowly.

“Yes,
but had I not, we wouldn’t be chatting so enjoyably right now,” she replied.
“Once I killed a German officer, an SS man. The Germans executed one hundred
Poles in Kielce. Quite a waste, actually. I also killed half a dozen Polish
partisans. The mountains were full of them, and occasionally one would
happen upon my cave and want to see what was inside.” She paused and
laughed. “In a way, they died in service to their country. Their blood kept
me from taking the life of another Pole.”

It
was hard to reconcile the pale, thin teenager in the white nightdress beside
me with the killing machine that she obviously was. I’d never met a Vee as
young, at least in appearance, as Anna. Which made sense.

During
the war, Vees turned humans for a purpose. Sometimes it was because of skill
or position, like Joshua and Takeda. Mostly it was to be part of a horde,
the huge swarms of Vees that traveled the countryside at night, sweeping
across and swallowing villages, towns, cities. You wouldn’t need or want
young teenagers for that job.

I’d
once asked Sara about her experiences during the war. Actually right after
we’d had sex one night. Our relationship hadn’t been about the sweet talk,
so almost any subject was better than awkward silence.

Sara
had been turned outside Hagerstown, Maryland by a Vee in a horde coming
southeast from Pittsburgh. She knew nothing about her bloodfather, just that
he was very tall and had a thick mustache. Once turned, she became part of
that horde and traveled with it through Baltimore, Washington, Richmond,
Raleigh, Charlotte. She was relocated here after the war, and Joshua hired
her when we opened Night and Day Investigations.

It
wasn’t the typical resume for a secretary/bookkeeper.

“And
after the war?” I asked Anna.

“Fifteen
years in Poland. Kielce. Krakow. Lodz. Even back to Warsaw for a couple of
years. I knew the country. I knew the language. But in time, the Communist
government became more and more oppressive. More restrictions. More
paperwork. It made it...difficult for me. So I decided to return home to
Denmark.”

“Long
trip.”

She
nodded. “Yes, made even longer by the Germans and their inner border and
their Berlin Wall.” She paused. “Though after Poland, I took a certain
pleasure in feeding on them for thirty years. Then the wall fell, and I went
home. My village had been swallowed by a city, but it was still
home.”

“Is
that where they picked you up?”

She
nodded. “Yes. Though I believe the Roman church first spotted me when I was
in Berlin. There were times when I felt myself under observation, being
watched by someone. At the time, I dismissed my fears. Paranoia was part of
my existence for centuries.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. They
would have found me in time. They are very good at their work.”

Anna
looked past me. “And it’s there that your lesson must end, Charlie. I
believe Miss Takeda is looking for you.”

I
glanced over my shoulder. Takeda was at the foot of the command trailer
steps, Martinez behind her, staring at us.

“I
think you’ve got them both nervous,” I said with a laugh.

“Thank
you for spending time with me, Charlie,” she said, putting one of her cold
hands on mine. “It’s nice to have a conversation with someone.”

“I’ll
see you around, Anna,” I said.

“Miss
Thodberg is well?” Takeda asked as I approached.

“Yeah,
as well as can be expected when she’s surrounded by a bunch of vampires who
are not of her blood.”

“She
feels it too?”

I
nodded. “Yeah, it’s apparently universal among your kind. She indicated that
you’ll probably get used to it in a couple of hundred years.”

“I
see,” she said. She didn’t say anything for a few seconds, then nodded. “Are
you ready to return to your apartment?”

“You
know, I think I might want you to drop us at my office.” I said.

“Why?”

“Because
I have a business to run, and this assignment is only part of that
business,” I said. “When it’s over, I’d like to be able to be able to go
back to work on other cases as quickly as possible. That means staying on
top of things while I’m here.”

“I
need you to be rested for tomorrow,” she said.

“And
I will be,” I replied. “The office is a five block walk from my apartment. I
promise we’ll go back to the apartment after I check in with
Sara.”

“As
you wish,” Takeda said.

Takeda
dropped us at the curb in front of the Triangle Building and took off
without a word.

“Did
you piss off the commander, sir?” Martinez asked, watching her taillights
disappear down Second.

“No,
she’s not pissed off till she pulls out her sword,” I said. “I’d say she’s
mildly irritated. Miss Takeda is used to being in charge and likes to have
people do what she wants them to. I sometimes don’t fit into that category.
But she knows me well enough that she lets little things like that slide.
She’ll get over it.”

“Yes,
sir,” Martinez said. She looked across the street at Expedition Square, then
turned and looked up at the Triangle Building behind us. “So your office is
here?”

“Yeah,
fourth floor,” I said. “Come on, let’s go see how Sara is holding up with no
work.”

Benny
was behind the security desk, awake, watching as we came through the lobby
door. After our talk, I wasn’t surprised. “Good evening, Mr. Welles,” he
said.

“Hi,
Benny,” I said as we walked past. “I’ll be checking into that buzzer system
next week.”

“Very
good, sir,” he said.

I
started up the stairs. Martinez hesitated, then followed. “You some kind of
fitness freak, sir?”

“What
do you mean?”

“Perfectly
good elevator in the lobby.”

“When
we leave, you can take it back down to the lobby,” I said. “Then you can
tell me how perfectly good you think it is.”

Sara
sat at her desk, her hands folded in front of her. There was a strong smell
of nail polish in the anteroom and I saw that three of her fingernails were
red, the rest pink. Since we’re the only ones open at night in the building,
the sound of the elevator had obviously warned her that company was
coming.

“Hi,
Charlie,” she said with a big smile.

“I
like what you’ve done with your nails,” I said. “You might try alternating
the colors next time.”

“You
should see my toenails,” she said, still smiling.

“Another
time,” I said. “Sara, this is Sergeant Lita Martinez. Lita, Sara Tindell,
night secretary here at Night and Day.”

“Ma’am,”
Martinez said with a nod.

“Call
me Sara,” she said. “Ma’am is for old ladies.”

“Give
her another twenty years,” I said. “She’ll still look the same, but maybe
she’ll feel older." Sara stared at me for a moment, then smiled and shook
her head slowly. Before she could say anything, I asked, “What’s been
happening around here?”

“Filing
is up to date, billing is up to date, your monthly expense report is not up
to date,” she said. “Got a few inquires from possible clients. Told them we
were booked up till next week, but I think at least one of them will be
back, maybe two.”

I
nodded. “Yeah, I think this job will be done by Monday at the latest. Mail
on my desk?”

“Yeah.
Nice thank you letter from Mr. Maxwell.” She laughed. “Well, actually it
looks like something his secretary wrote for him. I can spot that pretty
easy. But it’s the thought that counts, right? And there’s a couple of bills
for you to initial for me so I can pay them.”