Vampire - Kiss Of Darkness Part 33

"The time is coming. That's all I know. But-"

Sean leaned forward. "He's speaking to you when you're asleep?" he asked politely.

The frown Cal displayed for an instant a.s.sured Sean of the truth. He smiled. "When he's done with you, he'll chew you up into little pieces and spit you out." He paused briefly, then asked, "Did you attack Dr. Jessica Fraser on purpose?"

The change of tactic seemed to work. Cal frowned. "No. Yes. You're just a stupid dumb-f.u.c.k cop, you know? We were led to her. That b.i.t.c.h took my sister, you know." He started to laugh. "Thing was, I couldn't keep her and I couldn't shoot her, you know?"

"But now everything in your life is going to be just fine. Because he's going to get you out of here, because he cares about you."

He saw small beads of sweat begin to appear on Cal's upper lip. "What the f.u.c.k do you want from me? I wasn't in the hospital. I didn't kill your pals. And I sure as h.e.l.l wasn't at that party."

"You knew about it."

Cal shrugged.

Sean moved in again. "How?" he demanded.

Jeremy sat tensely as they followed the elegant drive, lined by trees dripping with Spanish moss, that led to the Canadys' house.

There were a number of cars there already. "Your friends?" he asked Jessica.

"Looks like it."

"Great. A whole pack of bloodsuckers," the professor said as the car pulled to a stop.

Jeremy was sure Jessica refrained from saying everything that was on her mind because he and Nancy were in the backseat.

"You want to defeat the Master," she reminded Bryan. "These people have gone up against some of the greatest evil out there and survived. Don't you see?" There was a plea in her tone. "We need the help."

Bryan MacAllistair didn't deny that. "Come on, kids," he said, getting out of the car.

Nancy looked almost as scared as she had the night she had sat with him at the hospital in Transylvania. He took her hand and helped her from the car. When he would have released her, she held tight. He smiled, maintaining a finger lock with her. He wasn't afraid himself. Not now.

A beautiful red-haired woman answered the door when they knocked. "Right on time," she said.

"Maggie, Jeremy and Nancy. This is our hostess, Maggie."

"h.e.l.lo," Jeremy said, letting go of Nancy long enough to shake hands.

"Hi," Nancy said, staring. "Are you...?"

"I'm not a vampire," Maggie said.

"Of course not," Nancy murmured.

"But I was," their hostess said with a grin. "Come on in."

She led them to a huge parlor off the entry hall. Jeremy almost laughed in nervous relief when he saw that no one there looked undead or otherworldly. In fact, it looked as if they were at a photo shoot for the absolutely beautiful.

Bryan MacAllistair strode into the room, stopping dead center and staring at a tall dark-haired man. "Lucien? Known as the king of the vampires?"

"I'm Lucien, yes," the man said evenly.

King of the vampires? Jeremy thought. He felt Nancy cower behind him. Jessica wouldn't have brought them here if it weren't safe, he told himself.

Jessica slipped past the two of them then, positioning herself between Bryan and the other men. "Lucien, Bryan MacAllistair, Bryan, Lucien DeVeau. Oh, and Jeremy and Nancy." She introduced a very tall man as Ragnor and another man as Brent Malone. The women present were introduced as Jade, Lucien's wife, Tara, who was married to Brent, and Jordan, married to Raynor and taking notes on a notebook computer.

"A warrior," Brent Malone said, staring at MacAllistair with curiosity and respect.

"You're not a vampire," Professor MacAllistair said flatly.

"Werewolf, I'm afraid," Malone said with a grimace. "And fully dedicated to the destruction of evil in whatever form."

"This is entirely against everything I was ever taught," MacAllistair said.

Jessica touched his arm. "Times change," she said. "We're all part of what we call the Alliance, and we...oh, h.e.l.l, I don't know any other way of explaining it. We're part of a continuing war against evil. A lot of us are vampires, and then there's Brent. Jade has some of our abilities, but not all. She was bitten, but she didn't die. Tara and Jordan are completely human."

Jade DeVeau said smoothly, "Time is of the essence here. We should start. Maggie, when is Sean due back?"

"I don't know what's keeping him," Maggie said.

Bryan strode across to the fireplace, facing Lucien DeVeau. The men studied each other. "I'd heard you were off demon hunting,"

Bryan said.

"We were. We're back," Lucien said flatly.

"And the demon?"

"Will wait. I've heard of the Master, of course," Lucien said, grimacing. "We had hoped he would never appear again. Now that he has shown his hand, he must be stopped."

"You're not afraid of me, are you?" he asked.

"Should we be?" Lucien asked.

"You know what I am," MacAllistair said.

"And you don't really know what we are," Lucien said evenly. "If you did, there would be no reason for any of us to fear you- ever. We are all determined that the Master must be stopped. Shall we go with that for now?"

MacAllistair kept his eyes on the man for a long moment. Then he said, "Let's start with the kids, then. They can describe that night in Transylvania, start to finish. I can throw in my part, Jessica can explain hers. G.o.d knows, maybe someone will see something we're missing." He took a seat on the couch, crossing his arms over his chest. "And I'm convinced someone out there is a traitor, someone Jessica knows. She won't even think about it. Maybe one of you can make her take a real look at the people she knows."

Jessica groaned softly, but Lucien looked at her a.s.sessingly. "Jessica, we have to take a long look at everything and everyone."

"Coffee's ready, so the kids can start," Maggie said.

Jeremy realized all eyes were on him. His mouth was dry. He licked his lips. "It all started when Mary asked me to go to a party with her...."

Niles Goolighan lay in his cell, staring at the ceiling, regretting the fact he'd ever started believing in promises of a greater existence, power-and women. Frankly, it had been the promise that women would find him irresistible that had sewed it up for him. Cal had always been bigger, braver and more a.s.sertive. He'd just followed along. But now he was rotting in a jail cell. The attorney they'd been a.s.signed had suggested they might want to strike a deal; if they could give the cops information about who had killed two cops, they could get lighter sentences than they would receive if they were convicted.

He toyed with the idea. The information they wanted was really so simple.

A chill suddenly ran through him. He looked beyond the bars. A man stood there. He was tall, built like a brick s.h.i.thouse. Strong features-he belonged in a movie about ancient Rome. Oddly he was dressed in a suit, the nondescript kind lots of attorneys wore.

"Niles."

"Yeah?" he said curiously.

"I'm here to help you. Ask me in."

"The guards have to let you in. They don't exactly give me a key," Niles said, tired and wondering what the h.e.l.l the guy wanted.

He laughed suddenly. "What the h.e.l.l. If you can do it, come on in."

To his amazement, the iron door sprang open and the huge man walked in. He grinned, and Niles felt an icy terror curl around his heart. He sprang up, backed against the wall.

"You weren't thinking of betraying me, were you, Niles?" the man asked.

"Betraying you?" Niles felt his mouth fall open. "Are you...real."

The man smiled coldly. "Of course I'm real. Here and in the flesh. And as for you..." He laughed softly. "I need you, Niles. So even if you are a pathetic coward, I'm about to fulfill your fondest dreams."

"No...I have no dreams," Niles protested wildly.

He opened his mouth. He couldn't believe it; he was about to scream for the guards. Scream? Cry like a baby, more like it.

No sound ever left his lips.

The man was suddenly right there, right in front of him. He had eyes like fire, eyes that burned as they stared into his.

And he had fangs.

Real ones.

Niles heard the terrible crunching sound as the man bit deeply into his neck.

Then...

Nothing.

"So that's it?" Lucien DeVeau said as Jeremy and Nancy finished.

"We didn't understand how we had survived, until...until we got home and Mary...Mary died, and we found out who and...what Jessica and Bryan are," Jeremy said. "So," Bryan said, rising and pacing, "this is what I believe. The Master recently discovered who Jessica is and where she lives, and he planned carefully. When he found out she would be at the conference, he organized the party. He knew she'd come to find him." He flashed a glance at Jessica. "He didn't, of course, know she'd arrive as a dominatrix. And," he added thoughtfully, "I'm not sure he was aware I was trailing him, getting closer and closer, more and more aware of the way he worked. But when he came here, to her home turf, he had to have help. It's my guess that he's been creating havoc here for two reasons, to torture her, making her suffer, and to create a trap, so he can finally kill her. He never intended to be at the party here, but he knew we'd be there, and he'd have free rein to kill those cops and get to the morgue attendant. The thing is, he somehow knows what she's doing, and that means he managed to get to someone close to her."

"How can you be so sure?" Jessica demanded. It was the first time she had spoken since Jeremy had described the night in Transylvania.

"I think he's right," Lucien said.

Ragnor walked over to Jessica, bending down, taking her hands. "Jessica, perhaps whoever it is never intended to betray you.

The Master's very powerful."

Sean suddenly came striding into the room, and everyone fell silent. "You're not going to believe this," he said.

"What?" Jessica demanded.

"If you'll let me at the computer..."

Everyone moved away. Sean sat down and quickly pulled up a web site that promoted vampirism as a solution for those looking for something better in life: money, power, s.e.x, even a place to belong. As they all stared over Sean's shoulder, reading, he suddenly stood. "It's coming," he said. "And since I've seen it once and I'm only human, I'm getting out of the line of fire."

Frowning, Bryan peered more closely at the screen.

Then, in an instant, a blinding light flashed across the screen, followed by a red darkness, and then a face.

The Master's face. The words he spoke seemed to ring directly in the viewer's head.

Serve me. Welcome me. Bow down before me. Obey my every command.

Bobby Munro was exhausted. He'd worked back-to-back shifts, and he didn't know how many bar suppliers he had seen. He didn't know if they'd been straight with him, or if they had lied. But now, new teams were taking over and he had to call it a night.

Walking home, he pa.s.sed the bar where Big Jim played. He could use a drink. He walked in, ordered a beer and took a seat at a table in front of the band. Big Jim saw him and waved. Barry Larson grinned. Bobby smiled back, then closed his eyes. d.a.m.n, but he loved good jazz.

His head was pounding. The music helped, but all too soon the band went on break. Big Jim joined him at the table; Barry Larson followed. "Tough day, huh?" Big Jim said.

"Yeah, must have been," Barry added sympathetically. "Two of your own guys. I was really sorry to hear what happened.

There's a real psycho on the loose, huh? I mean, they don't think those guys really killed each other, do they?"

Bobby stared at him. He didn't like him much. He followed Big Jim like a puppy and tried too hard to be a part of the group.

"No, they didn't kill each other," he said.

"How are you holding up?" Big Jim asked. "I'm okay. I could use a few long hours just lying in the sun somewhere with Stacey," he said. "But she's been busy lately." He brightened suddenly. "h.e.l.l, I'm only a few blocks from Montresse House. Why am I sitting here staring at you? I'm going to walk over and see her for at least a few minutes." He rose, putting his money on the table. "Get yourselves a couple of beers, huh?"

"Sure thing. Thanks, Bobby," Big Jim said, grinning.

Feeling a lot more cheerful, Bobby started down Bourbon Street. There was a big crowd out that night. He loved to see his beloved home busy again.

His good mood faded a bit as he heard s.n.a.t.c.hes of conversation. People were talking about the maniac on the loose. About the dead cops. About the missing corpse.

About the force's in ability to stop what was going on. Inwardly, he groaned. He was caught up in his thoughts, barely aware that the crowd was thinning as he moved alone.