The First Book of the Pure (23 page)

“I’m with you, Max. Set it up. We’ll go
together.”

Blood Is Thicker than Water

An’Kahar had told Ruby everything about his
father. They talked for long hours about the ramifications of
finding another Pure, alive and related. He was excited, she was
leery.

“Slow and careful, An’Kahar. You don’t know
this man, just his story.”

“Of course, Ruby, but I remember him well,
now that I’ve connected his current persona with the father I knew
so long ago. He was a rock. He was strong and demanding, but I
believe he loved us. I wonder what life would have been like if he
had survived, or rather, if he’d been able to stay with us.
Hundreds of years is too long a time to keep a memory fresh.”

“I’m sorry, but you don’t actually know the
truth of his story. Maybe he just left you. Maybe he
has
no
feelings.”

An’Kahar stared at Ruby, silent in his
musings. He started to speak, but stopped himself. He sat across
from her in their solarium. It was a favorite place for them,
enjoying the sun and warmth with an open feeling to it. “He’s my
father.”

Ruby stared back. “I never knew parents. My
earliest childhood memory is of stealing bread in the streets.”

“He asked if we had children,” An’Kahar said
quietly.

“He must have offspring around somewhere,
don’t you think?”

“He does, and he keeps track of them. He
visited until they aged and he didn’t, and he realized he needed to
disappear from their lives. If we had a child, he’d have a
grandchild he could keep in touch with. Our son would know about
us, so it should be okay if he knew about his granddad too!”
An’Kahar was getting quite enthusiastic as he talked about them
having a baby.

“Son? I’ve always had girls.”

“And I’ve always fathered sons!” An’Kahar
grinned at his mate. “I guess I don’t know what we’d have
together.” His mood turned more serious. “Gheret suggested to me
that maybe that’s why we haven’t been able to conceive yet. Each of
our bodies is trying to produce what the other can’t.”

Ruby looked stricken. “Maybe,” she said in a
shaky voice. “What if that’s true An’K? Maybe we’ll never have
children.” A tear slid down to the corner of her mouth.

An’Kahar held her for a long time, giving her
silent reassurance. Finally he said softly, “We
will
have
children. Maybe twins, a boy
and
a girl. And you’ll be the
best mother ever!” His love for her radiated from his eyes as he
drank her in, believing every word he said to her.

She looked up into his face. Slowly a smile
spread across her damp face, replacing the tears. “I’d like that.”
She caressed his face with her hand.

“Let’s try now,” suggested An’Kahar, lifting
her in his arms and carrying her toward their bedroom.

“Oh, let’s!” She snuggled her head into his
shoulder.

Later that evening, after they were both
spent, they sat talking about the things uppermost on their minds.
Finally Ruby asked him about Gheret. “What will you do about your
father?”

“Just what I said. We’ll live our lives, and
he can visit, or we can, and we’ll become friends. At least that,
Ruby, I need at least that. You know you’re my family. I sought you
out because I needed to have people in my life who are like me, and
will live as long as I will, and then I found myself in love with
you. Water seeks its own level, and it seems that I do too. He also
told me about some people to look into, thinking they may be Pures.
I’ll go see one of them, and I wondered if you would approach the
other, or maybe, just check him out from a safe distance? Gheret
says he’s a Pure, and a very bad one at that.”

“Of course, An’Kahar. No problem. I’ll be as
cautious as ever, though, and not at all trusting, no matter what
your father thinks. I trust you, not him yet. That may come with
time, but not yet. Are you all right with that?”

“Oh, he didn’t
endorse
anyone, he just
pointed out potential flaws in their cover, if it
is
cover.
He has quite an extensive network, I think, and while he doesn’t
investigate people as I do, he is curious. I have to go see a woman
named Rose, Rose Stewart, in Connecticut. If you’re willing, I want
you to go meet Karl Schmidt, a financier and business mogul. In his
case there may be an advantage to your being a woman. You may want
to gain intel from a distance at first, because this guy sounds
like he gets unhinged often and easily. Gheret in no way endorsed
this man. From what I got from him, you should keep your throwing
stars handy. He’s dealt with him before and considers Karl very
dangerous. Be careful.”

Pures Are Getting as

Thick as Fleas

Ruby made her way to Karl’s estate, using her
considerable skills to get very close without detection. She was
dressed in such a way that she blended in with her surroundings –
not camouflage, but earth toned, snug garments that wouldn’t get
caught on anything and blended in with trees and foliage. She had a
great deal of experience in the art of sneaking. Unfortunately one
guard did notice her, but was unable to give an alarm, what with
the razor-tipped throwing star in his throat.
Well, that’s
unfortunate
. Ruby looked down at his body.
It won’t endear
me to this Karl Schmidt any, if I actually meet him
. She picked
up her star, walked further on and another guard appeared out of
nowhere, directly in front of her. He seemed as startled as her,
and wasn’t particularly eloquent. He said something like, “Uh,
what, uh..” Then she took him out. She was wearing steel tipped
boots, small of course, as she was, but deadly. She kicked the man
so hard as he stuttered at her that he went immediately to his
knees, vomiting profusely. As he knelt there, throwing his innards
up, she clocked him on the back of the head with the steel baton
she’d extended. She trussed him up instead of killing him and
continued on her way.

She wondered if he might choke to death,
being left like that.
Ah well, serve the devil, get your
reward
. Still, she rolled him on to his side, then found a
fairly secure location from which to observe the grounds and some
of the great room. It was really a
great
room, too, with
walls of windows looking into a room twice the size of most
homes.

As she watched with nearly infinite patience,
developed over centuries, she finally was rewarded by the
appearance of Karl and someone else. She was sure it was him
because of the bio she had managed to dig up with pictures.
Seems normal enough
. She was startled as Karl sucker punched
the man he was with, and then proceeded to give him what must have
been a life-threatening beating. He pummeled him with his fists,
kicked him viciously again and again while he was down, and seemed
to be yelling something the entire time. Ruby lifted the listening
device she carried, turned it on, pointed it, and caught the words,
“Fool! They should be dead, dead! You worthless short-lived …”

Ruby turned her listening device off.
I
don’t need to hear this
.

Karl finished beating the unfortunate man,
looked at the perhaps now dead body on the floor, walked to a desk
near a window wall and touched a button. He spoke for a moment and
shortly afterwards two men came in and hauled the body out.
Not
going in for a visit, that’s for sure
. Using her high powered
monocular camera she looked the room over carefully. She was very
observant from countless years of necessity, and she quickly
realized the wall décor seemed to be from various periods of
history. The odd thing was that they weren’t just displayed; they
were displayed in a way that put them all in context, in a
chronology. That sword had to be an eleventh century two-handed
English broadsword. The ax next to it seemed to be more recent,
perhaps thirteenth century Asia. The weapons display continued to
the present, all with various plaques under them.
Got’cha. Those
are your own personal weapons from your own personal history – you
are a Pure. And apparently not a very nice one
. With that she
snapped some high definition pictures of the displays and began her
exit. As she crept away from the main house she knew she did not,
nor very likely ever would, like the man she’d been spying on.

***

As she headed toward her rendezvous with
An’Kahar, she wondered what he would make of all this.
Pures
seem to be as thick as fleas on a dog
.
I wonder just how
many there really are of us
?

She and An’Kahar met at a five star hotel in
Arlington, not too far from Karl’s estate. She had an extra day to
relax and enjoy the spa while she waited for An’Kahar to get back
from Connecticut. She luxuriated with a manicure, pedicure,
chocolate massage, facial and the odd looking but wonderful
cucumber slices on her eyes. Claude, the spa owner, completed the
day with a full hair makeover.

When An’Kahar arrived, they spent the early
evening in a lust-filled few hours of intimacy, followed by a
lovely meal at one of the in-house restaurants.

“So An’K, how was Rose, or rather,
who
was Rose?” Ruby’s eyebrows lifted, anticipating an interesting
answer.

He smiled at her with genuine love and
affection, and explained what he’d found out. “It was a dirty job,
but somebody had to do it. She lives in a modest fifteen room
estate with just a few servants. There were horses all over the
place, and I had to do some riding to fit in. She was cordial, and
seemed interested in my questions.”

“You poor man, no fun at all.” She gave him a
wry smile.

“Oh, just because you weren’t there. It was a
fabulous place really, and she was very nice. She thought I was
crazy, I think.”

“What did you admit to her?”

“Well, I kind of admitted what I am, although
by the time we were done she didn’t believe I was serious. I’ve
told people before, years ago, and unless they have reason to
believe it, as Gheret did, they dismiss it as a joke or some kind
of mental instability. I think she may have opted for the second
category.

“She showed me her family treasures, which
included some wonderful historic items, but…”

“What?” Ruby prompted.

“She knew all of her ancestors, had them
researched. Her grandparents were minor nobility in France, and
she’s living off the proceeds of a business they built. Too much of
everything. You and I could never point to someone and say, ‘Those
are my parents, and my grandpa was such and such.’ She just seemed
too rooted in this time and place to be a Pure.”

Ruby thought about it for a moment. “Maybe
she just has a very good, deep cover?”

“Maybe, but doubtful. You can’t very well
have a family adopt you when you’re an adult, so none of us would
likely have that deep a cover.”

Ruby paused after he stopped talking, lost in
thought. “Unless, of course, she
is
a Pure, but young, and
still in her first identity.”

“I suppose that’s a possibility. I’ll do a
bit more checking, but I think it will turn up zilch. What about
your visit with this Mr. Schmidt?”

“Ah, well, I had to disable some guards, one
of whom won’t recover. The other one might have lived, but I didn’t
check as I left. I didn’t meet the man himself, but I watched as he
beat a man nearly to death, or maybe he killed him. I couldn’t be
sure. It wasn’t a contest; he was just angry. I know we play fast
and loose at times with the lives of Normals when we feel we have
to, but this guy …he was just callous. He called the man he was
beating, ‘worthless and short-lived.’ And his décor! My, what a
gorgeous assortment of antiquities: all weapons, displayed in a
kind of chronological sequence. Here, I have pictures.” With that
she took her pad and touched the screen. He picked his up and
looked at the detailed pictures she had taken.

“Hmm,” An’Kahar murmured. “I’m quite familiar
with some of these. You and I have both used some of them in past
identities. You believe they’re genuine?”

“Absolutely.”

“Well, he has great means. Perhaps he
obtained them as collectibles, for his display. Clearly you suggest
he likes violence and is at heart a violent man.” He looked up from
the pictures and ended with a lilt that turned his statement into a
question.

“Oh yes, I saw that for myself. And if I’m
right about the weapons showing his past, he’s very, very old. That
makes him very dangerous too. But something else…”

“Yes, do tell...”

“Well, let’s assume I’m right.”

“Not hard to do, darling, since you’re so
often right. I trust your instincts.” An’Kahar grinned at his
lover.

“Thank you, but if I’m right, then consider
this: might this man not have had some dealings with others of the
Pure? He’s been around a
looong
time. He may have sought
some out. He’s a ruthless business man, known for his opponents
caving in or disappearing. He may not be working alone.”

“So we should look into his close associates,
you think? We should invest the time and resources to build up a
file on him?”

“I’m now officially intrigued, An’K. I
believe we should. We fight our tendency to be dispassionate toward
Normals, but this man seemed to enjoy mistreating the man he beat.
He battered him like a cod, until I suspect he wasn’t breathing
anymore. My last husband there in Crete, long ago,” Ruby said, “I
killed him. I choked the life from him and was glad for it. Now,
I’ve changed so much. I don’t think compassion makes us weaker,
just better.”

She looked stricken, so An’Kahar started to
say something. She raised a hand slightly to stop him. “I
am
curious if this is what other Pures are like. If so, well…” She let
it hang there. “I killed one of his guards, maybe two. They were no
doubt Normals. I did it just to reconnoiter and get us better
information. What does that say about me?”