The Tome of Bill Compendium Vol. 1 (Books 1-4) (120 page)

“My name is Remington,” Mr. Personality continued, “Remington Windsor, and before you ask, yes I am related, albeit from years past. I will be heading up this assignment. As of this moment, I am in charge of all vampire related activity in this city.” He turned away.

“Related to who?” I whispered to Ed.

“I think the royal family.”

“Really?” I mused. This guy had about as much resemblance to Prince Charles as I did to Sally.

“Uh yeah. Pretty sure that’s their last name.”

Huh, learn something new every day. Wait a second...what was that about him being in charge? What the fuck was that weasel Colin up to?

“You mean this operation?” I asked, getting his attention again.

“I said what I meant, Freewill.”

“Okay,” I tried to keep my cool. No doubt he was attempting to rile me up. Well fuck that. I wasn’t about to give him or Decker the satisfaction. “First off, my name is Bill.”

“We know what...”

“Secondly,” I interrupted, “This is my coven. I’d appreciate it if you showed the proper respect.” Hmm, actually he probably
was
showing the proper respect. Most vampires tended to give those younger than them about as much consideration as a hobo begging for change. I had no idea of this guy’s age, but it was a safe bet he wasn’t exactly freshly risen.

“Your coven?” scoffed Decker. “I see but two vampires here.”

“No thanks to you, fuckface.” Sally spat.

Remington turned to face me. “You will control your underling, or I will remove her from this operation.” He took a step forward and his foot landed in the remnants of the Templar. He briefly looked down at it, then at me, a slight crease in his brow.

I was tempted to take a swing at him. Fuck the Templar. This dick had walked in here, proclaimed his leadership, and threatened Sally - all in the space of about ten seconds.

It was then that inspiration struck. I had ascended to the top of this coven through a combination of luck and the smokescreen that I was far more ferocious than reality. It was time to use that.

“A survivor of the wizard’s attack,” I casually kicked at the dust. “He wanted to flee the city. I didn’t approve and was kinda hungry too.”

For the first time since entering, something resembling an emotion passed across Remington’s face. “You would turn on your own?”

“I’m the Freewill. You’ve heard the stories,” I replied, putting some steel behind my voice. “They’re all true.”

“The beast feeds upon his kind,” gasped one of the witches.

“I still have a little room left,” I warned, hoping that the truce held. Getting hit with half a dozen fireballs wouldn’t exactly do wonders for my already shitty week.

Thankfully, Ed tried to keep things from devolving into a straight out brawl. “Okay, people, let’s not forget we’re all on the same side here.”

Remington (gah! What a stupid fucking name!) cocked an eyebrow in his direction. His left hand shot out and grabbed Ed by the neck, none too gently judging by my friend’s reaction. My first instinct was to try to pry him off, but I stopped myself short. This vampire was most likely several times stronger than me. Doing so would have just resulted in embarrassing myself and losing what little chance I had of reining in this situation.

Instead, I casually said, “Let go of my friend, Remington.”

“You are
friends
with this blood swine? What can he possibly mean to you?”

“Mr. Vesser here,” Decker commented, an insufferable smirk still on his face, “is a modestly talented graphic designer. Beyond that...”

“Better than being a useless marketing droid,” I snapped back, momentarily losing my cool. Goddamn, that guy got under my skin, not the least of which was because he was probably pulling in about double my salary. Fucker!

A strangled gasp caught my attention. Oh yeah, Ed. I glanced over and saw he was turning an interesting shade of purple. Not good.

“This human was my advisor in the Woods of Mourning,” I said, an edge working its way into my voice. “He was partially responsible for the great victory (
yeah right
) I was able to present to Lord Alexander.”

That got Remington’s attention. Never discount the power of name dropping.

“Unlike you,” I said, trying to keep my cool as Ed continued to turn funny colors, “
he
was a part of shaping our destiny. Although, perhaps you’re right and Lord Alexander won’t mind you killing this mere mortal without his express approval.”

Never let it be said I can’t play the game. Most vampires are arrogant pieces of shit, at least until they’re confronted by a bigger and badder piece of shit. At that point they usually can’t kiss ass fast enough.

My ruse worked. Remington let go of his grip and Ed was able to suck in a huge gulp of air just in the nick of time. I somehow managed to keep from letting out a sigh of relief. I looked over his shoulder and Sally gave me just the barest of nods. Guess I was doing all right after all.

Now that the immediate crisis was over, I figured it was best to try a little diplomacy. “We will respect your authority here, on behalf of the Boston office.”

“We will?” Sally shot out. It sounded like genuine outrage, but it was hard to tell with her. It was entirely possible that she was giving me another opening to assert myself. Either way, I took it.

“Yes we will,” I said in what I hoped sounded like an authoritative tone. “In return, I expect Remington, Mr. Decker, and their respective contingents will respect the hospitality of our coven.”

There was a beat as everyone considered what I said. Finally, Decker replied, “The Magi are nothing if not respectful to our gracious hosts.” The smirk never left his face. He knew he had us over a barrel. What a dick.

If his tone registered with Remington, he gave it no notice. “Very well. You will heed our authority, give us your full cooperation, and in return we shall respect your coven’s traditions. Speaking of which, is this truly all that remains?”

“There are a few other survivors,” Sally said.

“Recall them immediately,” Remington ordered, still facing me. Had it not been for the presence of several other potential hostiles in the room, I have little doubt she would have tried staking his ass right then and there.

“Easier said than done,” she replied. “They’re under strict orders for radio silence.” Radio silence? No doubt Sally was making it up as she went along. It was a good idea, though. Bringing the others into this would just complicate matters, especially with the pile of Templar dust lying about.

“And why is that?” Remington asked coolly.

“Ask your buddy there,” Sally said, the snark coming through. “Despite our little arrangement, they’re a bit paranoid about working with the wizard...rightfully so, if you ask me.”

“I did not,” he said, finally turning to face her. The tone of his voice sounded dangerous. Apparently he was not particularly fond of being talked back to by his inferiors. Two of the vamps closest to Sally pushed back the edges of their coats. Holy shit! Were those silver stakes they were packing? Fuck me. Where the hell did they get those things? Was every vampire but me practically rolling in cash?

“They’re helping out,” I said, trying to steer Remington’s attention back toward me. Outside of James, who understood our relationship, Sally’s status as my partner wasn’t really common knowledge. In most cases, a coven has one master. Everyone else was just a piece of crap as far as other vamps of status were concerned.

“Helping out?”

“I had them fan out across the city,” I said, taking my turn at making shit up. “They’re keeping their eyes and ears open for word of the Icon.”

Harry Decker immediately stepped past Remington and got right in my face, so close that I could see remnants of his lunch stuck between his teeth. Gross. The word
Icon
had apparently unhinged him a bit. “What do you know? What have you heard about the Icon, Freewill? Tell me!”

“First off, mouthwash is your friend. Last I heard, they’re following up on a few leads. As soon as they know something, we’ll hear about it.”

It was complete and utter bullshit, but the beginnings of a plan had begun to form in my mind. With any luck, we’d be able to regain whatever edge we had lost when these jokers rolled into town. Sadly, it didn’t fill me with much hope. Resting everything on a little luck was a sucker’s bet, but it was better than nothing.

Remington established the entire floor as his team’s base of operations. Much to Sally’s chagrin, he commandeered her office as his personal HQ. While his people took over the other offices and their computers, the witches set up shop where the hotline was normally manned. I allowed myself a chuckle as they pushed desks out of the way to make room for a circle of sorts. I guess they were doing some sort of magic, but it basically looked like a bunch of women sitting in a circle and chanting nonsense. In a way, it reminded me of my mother’s book club.

Sally was forced to give Remington the keys to all of our coven locations, including safe houses. I couldn’t help but notice, though, that she conveniently left out the new one - the building where the remnants of our coven were actually holed up. In its place, she gave up the warehouse in Brooklyn we jointly shared with the Queens-bound Howard Beach Coven.

She was doing her part, and now it was my turn. Fortunately, I had begun to formulate a plan. The vampire nation is surprisingly modern in many ways, but they have the same downside that parents of kids today have. Many of the older ones have had to adjust to the new technology of modern times. I was willing to bet that none of the hunters from Boston moonlighted as system administers in their spare time. I could potentially use this little oversight to my advantage. I just had to be patient.

The frantic activity kept up throughout the night, with us being relegated to watching from the sidelines while, at the same time, being watched. The mages didn’t trust me and Colin couldn’t stand me, a fact he had undoubtedly imprinted upon his team. Though we were all supposed to be on the same side, the three of us were treated as little better than detainees. Considering that we really were working against them, I had to begrudgingly give them a little credit for that foresight.

As dawn neared and Remington’s team made preparations to hunker down for the day, I approached him.

“What is it Freewill? We’re very busy correlating data here.”

“I’m sure you are.” It was obvious they didn’t have clue one where to begin. They were shooting blind, perhaps hoping that the Icon would just show up at our doorstep and announce herself. “I’ll get right to the point. I need to go to work.”

Remington looked up from Sally’s computer, a mask of confusion upon his face. “Excuse me? Are you not right where you are supposed to be, overseeing your coven?”

“Sally handles a lot of the day to day stuff. I actually have a job, so as to keep myself in touch with the human world. It’s helpful with regards to strategizing for the coming conflict.” Yeah, I was laying it on a little thick, but telling him the truth - that I worked because I needed the paycheck - would have looked just ever so slightly pathetic.

“I think your
strategizing
can wait a day. Hunting down the Icon is our top priority.”

“I disagree, but regardless, I’m just standing around out there watching your people work. I could be back after nightfall.”

“Absolutely not,” he said. “It’s too risky to allow you to go out there by yourself. If the Icon were to track you down, it could be catastrophic to our cause.”

His lack of faith in my abilities aside, his meaning was clear. Translation: you aren’t fucking going anywhere.

“Very well. Can I at least go home and get my laptop?”

“Negative. You would never make it back before sunrise and I can’t spare the men to watch over you during the day.”

Grrrr! Fine, it still wasn’t over. I had one more ace up my sleeve. I paused for a moment and crossed my fingers. “What about Ed?”

“Ed?”

“Sorry, my human advisor.”

“He is of no consequence.”

“I know, I tell him that all the time. Would there be any objection to him going to get my stuff?”

Remington’s eyes narrowed. No doubt he smelled a rat. He couldn’t quite come right out and say it to my face, though, and we both knew it. Colin had obviously ordered him to make my life as difficult as possible. Still, I had friends in high places - one of whom just so happened to be Colin’s immediate superior. Thus they couldn’t just outright accuse me of anything without proof. Check and mate.

“How long will it take?”

“Rush hour hasn’t started yet. Two hours, maybe a little more.”

“I’ll be timing him...for his own safety, of course.”

“Of course. Thank you for helping me to maintain my cover.” Asshole.

* * *

I spoke to Ed as softly as I could, telling him to bring back our work computers and nothing else. I didn’t need him playing the hero and grabbing his shotgun. It was doubtful he’d make it back without being arrested, but even if he did, he’d just be walking into his own funeral. Twelve gauge slugs, even silver ones, weren’t going to be very intimidating against a whole platoon of vampires and mages.

Speaking of the magical morons, I couldn’t help but notice they let Decker leave unhindered. Guess it was okay for him to go to work, but as for me, I could end up on the fucking bread line for all these assholes cared. Motherfuckers! One of these days I really need to convince Sally to just put me on the goddamn payroll already. Fucking cheap ass vampires.

Okay, so I lied about that first part. I also asked Ed to grab me a coffee along the way. I had a feeling there wasn’t going to be much sleep for me during the day ahead. It would be just my luck to pass out right as a break came that would let us to lose these pricks and save Sheila from...well, whatever fate she was embroiled in.

As Ed left, Sally gave me a questioning glance. I needed to bring her up to speed. Whispering to Ed about the laptops was one thing, but spilling my guts to her could prove to be a bad idea if anyone was listening. Fortunately, I had that one covered too. She was the one who had told me to act like the Freewill, after all.