Vampire Setinel - Let Them Eat Cake Part 5

She waited while Luke nodded in silent acceptance, his eyes flashing at her as he bowed in sarcastic acknowledgment.

d.a.m.n the man for his mocking. "I am going to apologize now for Luke. He can be a little p.r.i.c.k when he wants to," she told the room, before she turned and started walking out the door.

Brian chuckled. "Oh, dear. Killed the image I was building. It's bulls.h.i.t when they say size doesn't matter, you know," he told the room in general.

Maria rolled her eyes at Brian's comment and smiled, refusing to care about Luke's reaction to his provocative statement.

Justin moved to catch up with her and bent to whisper in her ear, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm just a little worried about Luke's att.i.tude toward all of you. We don't need this now."

He shrugged his shoulders and commented, "We'll worry about Luke's att.i.tude later. I'm a big boy, Maria. I'll deal, and so will the rest." He gave her a rea.s.suring squeeze and moved to take a seat behind the podium. He managed to keep Luke in sight.

Maria tapped the microphone to bring the meeting to order. Justin sighed as he realized how sitting behind her gave him a magnificent view of her bare a.s.s. His father, Marcus and Luke had the same view. d.a.m.n.

He wanted to go to her. Stand behind her and shield her from their sight. Press his throbbing c.o.c.k against the cool velvet skin of her a.s.s and push... Justin closed his eyes, stamping hard on the arousal burning through his blood.

He struggled to turn his attention to the room, watching as the crowd calmed down and fell into quick order as they turned to find their places among the rows of overstuffed, red theater seats. Justin could see small groups forming as some of them selected seats together. He tried to decide who among the group could be vamp and who was Were-or something else. After looking over everyone he finally gave up. They all appeared to be normal human beings if you discounted the flamboyant clothing choices.

"Good evening," Maria regal voice filled the room, compelling all who heard to listen. "I want to thank you all for making it to this important meeting on such short notice. I need to warn you of a new threat in our midst, give you what information I have and let you know a hunter is here to a.s.sist us in dealing with this danger."

As Maria recounted her story, Justin kept his eyes off her a.s.s and listened to the emotion in her voice. To the love and caring she felt for this community. He felt her fear as she described the malevolent psychic essence. How she'd experienced the energy drain and confusion when she couldn't pinpoint its location. She hadn't told him last night what she thought when she found the body of the woman in the alleyway. But he lived the horror with her this time as she recounted the steps she'd taken, the awful find she'd made in the dark. He wholeheartedly agreed with her a.s.sessment that what they would be dealing with wasn't human. He may have just discovered that his world held fantastical creatures within it-vampires, werewolves...others. But he knew somehow that a new creature stalked the streets. Had made this city its playground.

He tuned back into her words as she finished her recitation.

"Others will be talking to you tonight about the crime scene and any other information we have been able to gather, then we will let Luke, our ASC hunter, speak. Maybe after the reports, Luke will have a better idea of what we might be dealing with. We will be hearing now from Marcus on what he found out about the body."

Justin watched intently as Marcus moved to the microphone. He was a tall, skinny man with short, dark hair and wire-rimmed gla.s.ses. His skin tone was pale, as he didn't spend much time outside. Justin knew Marcus from his work with the police force. Knew he had a wickedly perverse sense of humor and did a very good job in wrestling secrets from the dead. As he took the stand, Justin listened intently.

Marcus didn't waste time. "The few remnants of the body left us little to study. From the small number of bone fragments, and the bits of hair and clothing left at the site, we have deduced the victim was a small woman, probably in her mid to late twenties. At the time of death she wore her hair down around her shoulders. We can't determine eye color as there weren't any eyes at the site, but we do have a jaw with a couple of teeth, and hope to be able to match a missing person with dental work."

Ugh, Justin thought. How sad to have nothing left to identify your remains but a piece of jawbone. He turned to see Maria blanch at Marcus' stark description.

"Maria was correct in stating that almost all blood, bone marrow and flesh, including internal organs, were consumed at the site. I don't have any way to guess on this one, folks. No material left under fingernails. h.e.l.l...I don't have fingernails to look under. I am completely in the dark. I can tell you I'll do anything in my power to a.s.sist in providing information to capture whatever this is. I don't want to be looking at more bodies like this one." And Marcus turned and walked matter-of-factly back to his seat.

"Well, okay then," Maria said. "Now I would like to introduce Justin to the Council."

While Maria introduced him, Justin looked at his father, who shook his head. They'd shared their thoughts this afternoon on the little information gleaned from the alley. Bill wanted Justin to handle everything tonight. He was happy to turn over his responsibilities within the Council.

Before Justin got the chance to speak, a voice came from the audience. "What about running our human background check? Has he been cleared to your specifications?"

Maria paused, the anger at herself burning hot and immediate. She'd let her hormones take over and neglected to fulfill one of her own requirements. She resisted the urge to slap herself on the forehead in disgust. Years ago, she laid down laws refusing to let paranormals bring their humans to Council meetings without them having undergone an information security scan and a memory search by one of the vampires. Namely her. Those rules were in place for a reason, and yet she'd let them slide for mind-blowing s.e.x. Great! How the h.e.l.l did she explain this?

Brian interjected, "He pa.s.sed the security screening."

Justin raised his eyebrows at his p.r.o.nouncement. How much could they have learned when almost all his information was marked cla.s.sified? It made him a little mad. He didn't want anyone going into his past without his consent.

Luke headed for Justin. "And because Maria is sponsoring Justin, I will be doing the memory search. There will be no question of his clearance."

Oh, s.h.i.t! Maria thought. The unfortunate reflection crossed her mind that Luke was probably right, but it didn't mean she had to like it.

Justin's face set in anger. He readied himself to tear into Luke when the man reached him and raised his hands. "Give me a second here," he said quietly. "If what I am thinking is true, the ent.i.ty we are dealing with is beyond human or today's paranormal comprehension. Justin, Maria trusts you, and in order for the rest of this group to accept you, in order for me to accept you, you must submit to this memory search. It is painless, and I promise to keep anything I learn to myself. I won't be staying in this region when we are done. Would you rather have one of the vamps who live here share your memories?" he asked.

Maria came up to stand beside him. "Justin, I'm sorry. I didn't think or we would have discussed this. As irritating as Luke is, he is right. I can't do this and maintain my own rules. Luke can be a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, but if he promises to keep your life secrets to himself, he will. I promise you."

"I don't like people looking into my past, Maria."

She laughed low, leaned into him and whispered huskily, "May I remind you about our discussion earlier and your trip to the library? How is that different?"

Justin let out a breath. She was right. "Fine. Tell me what you need me to do." It didn't seem he had a choice in the matter.

"You only need to sit in the small room for a moment. The process won't take very long and you will feel no pain. I will touch your mind and it will be done," Luke replied.

He nodded his acceptance and together, he and Luke moved back to the room with the conference table and chairs. Justin sat while Luke stood over him and pressed his fingers to the sides of Justin's forehead, delving into the recesses of his mind. As promised, the process took only a few minutes. He didn't feel anything, no invasive presence and no pain. Nothing.

When Luke pulled back, Justin knew it hadn't been the same for him. Luke sat down with a heavy sigh.

"Well," Luke said. "I think I owe you an apology. I thought you were nothing but a pretty face, soldier boy. I believe, if you would like sometime, I might be able to clarify a few things you dealt with in the mid-east. The ent.i.ties were most definitely not human. And since the freshest memories dealt with a conversation about Maria's past, it also appears I owe her an apology. I hate being wrong, and now that's twice in one day," he grumbled, as he offered Justin his hand.

Justin shook his head. Great. Looked like Luke wanted to play nice before Justin got the chance to beat his face in. But he accepted the handshake.

Justin watched Luke as he walked back to his chair on the stage. He guessed Luke had already figured out what they would be dealing with but wanted to hear Justin's report from last night. At the microphone, he looked out at the crowd and marveled at the change in direction his life had taken over the last twenty-four hours. He now stood onstage, about ready to share crime scene details with a group of vampires, werewolves and G.o.d knows what else, in the hope the information would help stop a killer.

"So I guess that's a yes for approval to join the Council?" he questioned.

Maria smiled and nodded, the look on her face letting him know that she knew he was upset. He sighed. Not really. Just...maybe a little inundated.

"As has already been reported, the crime scene last night was amazingly clean for the amount of damage inflicted to the woman's body."

Justin let his mind drift as he gave his information by rote. He didn't need to think to relate his findings. They seemed to be repet.i.tion of things already deduced. What he needed to concentrate on was Maria. And Luke. Would the man make a move on Maria now that he'd learned that centuries ago he'd made a mistake in thinking she was selfish and unproductive? If Luke did try to get close to Maria again, would Justin step aside?

h.e.l.l no. He'd fight tooth and nail-and claw, for that matter-to keep her. The thought shocked him, moving him to realize that the connection between them had turned fast and furious from s.e.x to something more. What, he wasn't sure.

He turned his attention back to the crowd and the words describing the nightmare of last night.

"We don't think the woman struggled. Now this could mean she knew her attacker, but we don't think so. I believe whoever did this somehow managed to immobilize her. She couldn't run, probably couldn't make a sound, as there were individuals in the building next door close enough to hear if she called out or struggled. They'd been sleeping with the windows open and they slept without aid of drugs or alcohol or excessive fatigue."

He stopped for a moment, thought about where the woman was killed and how they had precious little information. "The alley is paved, and there are no prints or impressions on the ground. It's not much. But it does tell us we are dealing with an ent.i.ty who most likely eats blood, bone and tissue, can somehow immobilize its victims, and does all of this with a speed and silence not indicative of a human being. I guess that's it for my findings. I'll let Luke take it from here." Justin left the stage.

As he pa.s.sed Luke, the two of them shared a look. Male acceptance.

Maria frowned. Somehow the memory search created a male bonding thing between Justin and Luke. She wasn't sure she wanted them to bond. Actually, she was sure she didn't want them to bond. And Luke didn't look as sullen and angry as he appeared before. In fact, he just smiled at her. Oh, great.

Chapter Six.

Luke looked over the theater, amazed at the large gathering and what Maria had managed to accomplish during her time as Sentinel. The side trip through Justin's mind left him reeling over the discovery that he'd been very wrong about her despotic past. Irritation at his lack of insight, his ready belief in the scuttleb.u.t.t of eighteenth-century France, permeated his thoughts.

h.e.l.l-he hadn't even used his vampire skills to verify her protested innocence back then. She'd been born into royalty, the youngest daughter of Austria's Emperor and married to the King of France at a very early age. It made sense that she would be spoiled and only interested in her own pleasures. But it seems he'd been wrong. He remembered arguing with her about needing to take a stronger interest in the needs of the common people of France, sanctimoniously lecturing her about spending so much time and money on frivolous pursuits.

She told him he didn't know what he was talking about. Luke remembered now how she looked at the end of their last conversation. Sad. Hurt. She'd walked away from him saying he should have known better.

Personalities didn't change with vampirism. If you were spoiled and selfish as a human, those traits would grow, not lessen, with the power and time of immortality. Luke wouldn't have believed the woman he thought he knew could tolerate blood-only servants, or spend the time creating emergency plans for a Vampire Council.

Those activities would be more work than she would have wanted. Justin's memories pointed out how wrong Luke could be about someone.

She seemed to have a very close relationship with her HS's. One not manufactured through blood and s.e.x, but friendship. The crowd of paranormals before him attested to her management abilities.

Right now he didn't have time to mentally review his shortsightedness.

Luke spent his entire time on earth protecting and serving its population. This Vampire Council needed his knowledge, his vast experience in dealing with the monsters of the world. He only hoped they'd listen and heed his warnings-immortals often ignored his cautions, thinking they would be strong enough...smart enough to outwit anything. And they ended up dead.

With a heavy sigh he started to speak. "Tonight you have been presented with information on a new threat. This incredibly accurate information has allowed me to identify what you are dealing with. In fact, I have been chasing this demon's seed across Europe. She somehow switched continents, and over the last several years I've followed her from city to city in the United States. The creature that killed this woman is called the Empousai."

He waited for murmurs to die down. Evidently there were those in the room who had heard of these creatures.

Not surprising.

Justin was stunned. Outwardly he knew he looked calm, his military training and experience dealing with unexpected circ.u.mstances helping him to control the urge to let his mouth drop open and his eyes bug out. The information Luke shared with them couldn't be true. He'd said they were dealing with cannibalistic female monsters sometimes confused with the Laimia, another form of demon. What the holy h.e.l.l?

They were supposed to be looking for a Greek monster that used to be the companion of Hekate, the G.o.ddess of ghosts and witchcraft, and who are the ancient equivalent of vampyrs or Succubi. He felt like he'd fallen down the rabbit hole. Jesus, he needed to go back to school and take a crash course in demonology and Greek G.o.ds.

Surely Luke was wrong. How did he know that this creature was what they were looking for? He tuned back into Luke's lecture.

Luke handed Brian and Matt flyers to pa.s.s out as he continued. "In the form of beautiful women, they lure young men to their beds in order to devour their life force, flesh and blood. The Empousai are able to hide their true forms, but they are not shifters-they create an illusion of a wolf b.i.t.c.h, cow or a beautiful woman, while their true form is only hidden behind the deceiving figment of your imagination. You'll see an ancient rendering of their natural state on the flyer."

Justin glanced down at the piece of paper in his hand and winced. s.h.i.t. What Luke had called the "demonic body" of the Empousai was truly revolting. She looked partly humanoid and female, but her flesh was covered in fine scales. One leg looked like a donkey's and the other seemed to be made out of some metal-the note at the side of the page said it could be bra.s.s or bronze. And the feet were hooves. The creature's back sported a set of large, leathery bat-like wings-Luke's "similar to Succubi" had Justin wincing.

He was guessing the comment meant Succubi actually existed. h.e.l.l, he really needed a manual. He listened to Luke again.

"What appears in illusion to be long flowing locks of hair is actually a ma.s.s of snakes comparable to Medusa's."

s.h.i.t. Make that a paranormal encyclopedia. Justin knew he was in way over his head. Lack of knowledge could get him killed. And Luke wasn't finished detailing the creature they were supposed to battle.

"They love to fight with their claws or by using a sword. They have the ability to attack a person's personality, or charisma. This is the energy drain Maria said she felt. It is also what makes them most dangerous to paranormals of any kind. The Empousai get a special kick, if you will, from feeding off non-human energy. This particular creature that has moved into your area thrives on this energy boost. It is the Emp's food of choice."

Great, that means Maria and all of her friends will be primary targets, Justin thought to himself. How was he supposed to keep them safe from something he didn't understand? His protective instincts were kicking in big time. So-if it lived, supposedly it could be killed.

"Can it be killed or captured?" Maria asked.

Good girl, Justin mentally applauded, as he turned to look at her. Her head was c.o.c.ked at an angle, an intent expression on her face that shouted determination and the need to protect. Justin closed his eyes for a moment, reminding himself that she was expected to do just that. She was Sentinel.

Luke dashed their hopes in the next few sentences as he sighed and seemed to weigh his words. "This is where it gets a little weird. I haven't found anything yet that will kill her. I've shot at the Emp with lead, silver, gold and hollow-point bullets filled with holy water. I've tried to behead her and I've used a flamethrower, thinking she'd burn. The creature burns, hurts, then runs away and heals. To add an even freakier aspect to our dilemma...the Empousai can be driven away temporarily with insulting words. Negative comments directed toward her looks will make her run away shrieking like a banshee, and for some odd reason she is especially vulnerable to insults about her feet."

"You have got to be kidding?" Justin said in amazement.

Luke turned to Justin and shook his head in the negative. "Unfortunately, dealing with Emp reality gets worse. As far as I know they don't have individual names, but I started calling this creature Mormo, which means Terrible One in Greek. I needed someone to swear at. Often the smell of decaying garbage will precede them-they are filthy creatures. The closer you get to them, the less you are able to track this scent. Somehow, she will thrall you and the smell is blocked."

Luke looked out over the crowd. They were silent, listening with studied concern to his lecture. He really hoped they listened this time. Too often he would make this speech, and the immortals would hear and then dismiss his warning as something that couldn't happen to them. They were powerful, able to get themselves out of any situation. Why should this monster be any different for their kind? He could only hope they understood what they'd be dealing with and would heed his warnings.

"The description of the body Maria found is typical. These female demons enervate and then seduce their victims, suck out the blood and bone marrow and eat almost everything else."

He shook his head in disgust and continued. "Again, the only defense I know of is to scream insults at Mormo before she has a chance to touch you or anyone else. If the Emp has paralyzed someone, she won't leave her prey behind. Taking her victim, the Emp will use her demonic ability to disappear into dimensional boltholes and you'll lose any chance for retrieval. I'm up for any new ideas on how to destroy the d.a.m.n thing. The Emp will stay in this area until we've made it uncomfortable for her by finding and screaming obscenities...or somehow wounding the beast. Then she'll disappear and turn up in another region. The body count will get pretty high, as Mormo needs to feed every couple of days. If injured, she'll kill more often."

d.a.m.n, this next part would be difficult for him to say, but they needed to know.

"I hate to say this, but I ran into her a few days ago not far from here. I burned her with a blowtorch and she was severely wounded. There have to be more deaths in this vicinity than we know about. Is anyone aware of missing paranormals in the area?" Luke looked out over the crowd.

He sighed when, in the front row, a woman stood. She was dressed in latex from head to toe, the red plastic material clinging to every curve and leaving nothing to the imagination.

She had short, spiked red hair and a melodic voice. "My name is Tawny," she started. "I am a vampire, and I have a friend named Michael whom I haven't seen for a few days. I have a key to his home, and when I couldn't get an answer on his cell phone, I went over to his house this evening. He wasn't there, and nothing appeared unusual until I checked in his bedroom. It was a mess. There was blood all over his bed, and little bits of flesh. I thought he might have gotten carried away with someone he brought home with him. Now I think someone else should take a look at his place," she finished, with a look of sadness on her face.

Luke nodded his head in agreement. "I will go with you after the meeting. Perhaps the coroner, Marcus, will accompany me. I have seen enough of her handiwork that I should be able to tell if we are dealing with another Empousai victim. The only advice I have to offer the rest of you is to be careful to stay in groups when you are out and about, as she doesn't ever attack unless you're alone. If you do run into her, start screaming about how ugly her feet are. Please get in touch with Maria's human servants if you think someone else is missing. They will contact the rest of us."

"s.h.i.t!" Justin muttered.

Luke turned to look at him. "Exactly."

As far as plans went, this one lacked any real action on her part, Maria reflected later. Brian and Matt volunteered to lead a group of techno-savvy paranormals in a Web search for any references to the Empousai. Luke admitted he'd never thought about seeing if there were any ideas to be found using a search engine. And several of the older immortals said they would look through their personal libraries for any reference to the creature.

The attending fae representatives pledged to contact all of their resources. And everyone promised to get the word out to go nowhere alone. That might protect the paranormals, Maria thought. But it does s.h.i.t for the humans in the area.

Unfortunately, if they managed to find the b.i.t.c.h they didn't know how to kill her, and it left little for her to do but worry.

Luke said the body count could be in the hundreds before they managed to drive her away. That just wasn't acceptable to her. It wasn't acceptable to any of them. She rubbed her forehead. It was just before midnight and the music in the club screamed with cataclysmic vigor. Matt and Brian had already gone home to get started on working their Web magic. Luke went to check out Michael's home. After he'd finished at the missing vampire's, he would find a place to stay.

All the others disappeared into the night.

Except Justin. He stayed at the club while she finished some paperwork she knew she wouldn't be able to get to during the rest of the week. She understood part of him wanted to go with Luke, but she was glad he stayed with her. She watched him pace and then sighed as he stepped behind her. Sitting at her desk, she dropped her head forward as he put his hands on her shoulders and ma.s.saged the tension from her muscles.

"Tough night," he murmured. "Besides the obvious, something is bothering you. What keeps going through your head, Maria?"

She turned to smile up at him. "I can't believe you can read me so well. My mind keeps playing over what Luke said at the end. That daylight doesn't bother the Emp...whatever. He said they prefer to change shape during the day and find young men to seduce with their illusions, and then drain their energy before killing them, often just after sunset. I can't protect this city in the daylight hours, Justin. And I keep running this loop through my mind of her getting one of my friends in bed and then showing her true form when they're having s.e.x, getting an extra jolt of energy from their helpless terror."