Nimravid (The MacFade Chronicles Book 1) Page 14

  “So Kolann, Rayner, that’s Danish isn’t it? It means leader or warrior.” I was initiating small talk, to buy some time. Expecting a full frontal assault, I am embarrassed to say that the old bastard caught me off guard. “Why yes it is, Mr. Walker,” he smiled slyly. “Do you speak Danish?” He asked me, using a very dated dialect. I responded in kind. “Yes I do. Quite fluently, I speak many languages.”

  “That’s very good, Mr. Walker,” he replied reverting back to English. “Your grammar and pronunciation are perfect and your accent, is flawless. Have you spent much time in Denmark?”

  “No, languages are just a talent I have.”

  “Hmmm…that is a very useful skill. I’ll have to remember that, in the future.”

  “Yeah, right pal, like we’re going to do any work for you.”

  “Down girl…”

  I made a point of looking embarrassed, “I apologize. Where are my manners? Can I get you a drink?”

  “Yes, thank you. Whatever you have will be fine.”

  I went into the kitchen and returned with two high ball glasses, full of red fluid. Mine was beer and Clamato™ juice; his was blood, his turn to be taken off guard. I handed him his glass and returned to my seat. He sniffed at his drink, the look of surprise on his face, was palpable. “Expecting to be entertaining vampires tonight?”

  “Depends on how you define ENTERTAINING. How is it?” He took a sip and his eyes lit up. “I must admit, I don’t usually drink it cold, preferring it straight from the tap, if you know what I mean.” I gave him a flat look, not a real big fan of vampire humor. He shrugged and took a deeper swallow. “This is remarkable. You can just barely taste the preservatives.” Taking another couple swallows, he enthusiastically finished the whole glass. “I apologize; I’ve made a glutton of myself. This is an excellent specimen, but very unique.” He was actually tipping the glass back, trying to get at the last few drops. “What kind is it?” I sat back, smiling like a Cheshire cat, so to speak. “It’s mine.” In my profession it’s a good idea to keep a supply of your own blood on hand, for obvious reasons.

  Kolann stiffened, his eyes widening and then narrowed. “Why would you do such a thing? Feed me your own blood?” I smiled confidently. “It’s simple really, Kolann. I know the vampire lore, what is pure myth and what’s fact. A part of me is now a part of you, meaning I can track your arse anywhere you go. You’d have to cross into the Otherworld now to escape my detection.” He raised his eyebrows. “But that also means—”

  “That you now possess a certain measure of my memories and knowledge?” I interrupted him. “Wrong, all such energy has been removed, except a certain measure of life force. A little trick a friend of mine showed me.”

  “That must be a fascinating friend, I must meet them sometime. So the, pretenses of civility are over?”

  “They don’t have to be. I just prefer dealing with authority figures from a position of power.”

  “And you feel this ability to track me down, is a position of power?” He smiled with a questioning look on his face. I grinned wider, my eyes glowing slightly and fangs flashing in the soft light of the setting sun. “With me, people prefer to avoid such possibilities, seeing as most of the time, if I’ve found you, your life isn’t worth living anymore.” I gave him a meaningful look. He returned it, by allowing his smile to fade. “I’m afraid I have underestimated you, Mr. Walker, I’ll not be doing that again, but we still have some issues that must be resolved.”

  My backdoor suddenly burst open, a small, blonde, female vampire wrestled something inside. I tensed when I realized what it was, Shelly! “Look what I found snooping around in the backyard,” hissed the female vamp, still struggling with Shelly. She was putting up one Hell of a fight, using every one of the techniques I taught her and that vamp was paying the price for holding on to her. It would have been a proud moment for me, if the situation weren’t so tenuous. The problem was, the bloodsucker was clearly losing her patience. “Shelly!” I called to her in an authoritative voice, freezing her in place. “Stop struggling!” Terrified but knowing I would do everything I could to protect her, even if it meant my own life; she nodded and visibly relaxed.

  “That’s so much better,” The vamp purred. “Such a pretty little thing, is she YOURS?” I recognized her immediately when she looked up, flaxen hair and electric blue eyes. Casey, who had been hovering in a corner, bristled noticeably, it was Svetlana, the vamp who killed him. I had seen her in his memories; when it rains it pours. I gave him a hand signal, warning him to stand down. “No, but she’s a good friend and if you don’t get your claws off her, Svetlana. I’m going to be forced to make an EXAMPLE of you.” I Projected confidence to the whole room, driving home that I perfectly capable of making good on my threat. Sometimes, confidence is all you need to keep an attacker at bay. It helps when you can telepathically force it into their head.

  Kolann shifted somewhat in his chair. “I hadn’t realized the two of you have already met.” Svetlana also seemed a little nonplused but kept quiet, deferring to her chief. “I agree, Mr. Walker and couldn’t have said it better myself. Release the girl child, Svetlana. We are not here to make enemies.” Mai pushed to the front of my consciousness. “Oh really? Now, that IS interesting.”

  “His state of mind?”

  “I detect no deception, Alex. His mind is centuries old and his mental defenses are elaborate. I’m in, but only so far as his surface subconscious. Let’s see what he wants.”

  Svetlana released her grip and Shelly wrenched her arms free, glaring at her. Son of a bitch, eye contact! Svetlana immediately started pushing into Shelly’s mind, purely on instinct. “OI!” I projected into both their minds, at roughly the decibel level of a diesel engine. Both flinching, they turned to stare at me. “We’ll have none of that, the limits of my hospitality are being stretched. Back off, sit down and be quiet, both of you!”

  “And who are you, to order me about, mortal?” Svetlana’s voice carried across the room, generating a soft echo. Seriously? Now she’s trying to put ME under? That’s adorable…but nothing I can let side. Svetlana’s head snapped back, slammed with a telepathic bitch slap. “Don’t try that again.” I grunted in a deadly quiet voice. I looked to Kolann. “Mortal? Is she for real?” He chuckled, looking back at Svetlana, tossing her a disapproving scowl. “She’s, old school, I believe the kids call it. You’ll have to excuse her, Mr. Walker. Svetlana unfortunately embodies most of the vampire stereo types. She can be somewhat…”

  “Embarrassing, annoying, pain in the ass?” I supplied, staring Svetlana down; Kolann laughed, struggling to speak through it… “Actually I was going to say ‘tedious’ but embarrassing feels more accurate, at the moment.” The two energy fields were moving ever so slightly, as well. Apparently, the whole room, wasn’t a Svetlana fan club.

  “This is nuts.”

  “Agreed and Svetlana isn’t taking it very well, Alex. You need to defuse this situation, fast!”

  I could hear Svetlana’s teeth gnashing as Shelly started to relax and laugh herself. Not good. I don’t want her dropping her guard. As Shelly started walking towards me, Svetlana lashed out, yanking her back by her pony tail. “Where do you think you’re going, bitch?”

  I jumped to my feet. “That tears it Svetlana! You’re done!” Slipping across the room, I backhanded Svetlana hard enough to break her grip and knock her into the kitchen. Picking up Shelly, I Slipped back to my chair, depositing her on the couch next to it. All this done, before Svetlana hit the floor. Shelly sat there blinking, trying to understand what had just happened. Kolann sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you see what I mean, Mr. Walker? I can’t take her anywhere.” I could Sense he was upset about me striking Svetlana, but he chose to hide it. I smirked slightly, “I feel your pain, old man.”

  “WHAT?” screeched Svetlana, picking herself up. “Are you going to let that go unpunished? I am your MATE!”

  I winced internally. “Your mate?” Kolann nodded sheep
ishly. I shook my head, “My condolences.” “KOLANN!” Svetlana screeched in an unspecified demand for action. It was clear these two didn’t get on, but hitting, her may have been a mistake. “BE QUIET SVETLANA!” Kolann roared, “Or would you like another one?”

  Svetlana’s eyes widened in disbelief; Kolann hadn’t broken his cool, until now and I got the impression from Svetlana it didn’t happen very often. Things were getting very dangerous. He turned back to me. “That was very impressive Mack. May I call you Mack?” I nodded. “Very good, I see the reports of your speed were not exaggerated. I am assuming the reports of your strength and fighting skill, were not either?” I shrugged in modesty, “Don’t know, haven’t seen those reports.” Kolann considered the new information. “I suppose it doesn’t surprise me. It’s not too many beings, in this world, that could kill four of Dominic’s best people and cow one of my guards, all in a single confrontation. Now that you have made your point, may we get down to brass tacks?”

  “Getting down to brass tacks requires honesty, Kolann.”

  “My good man, how can I assure you my intentions are honorable?”

  “You can start by having the lost boys over there drop their Shrouds.” Kolann studied me for a few seconds with a glimmer of curiosity and possibly admiration, in his dead black eyes. “I beg your pardon?” A hand touched my knee. I whipped my head around. It was Shelly and she was terrified. “Mack, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to cause—”

  “Shhh…” I held my finger to my lips and gently pushed into her mind. “Shelly, don’t react, stay calm. We are in grave danger. These creatures are vampires and I’ve pissed off them something awful. I’m sorry to get you involved in this but it’s of the utmost importance that you stay right where you are. The best chance we have to survive this, is for me to know exactly where you are at all times. No matter what happens, don’t move. Do you understand? Just think it, I’ll hear it.”

  “I’m so scared. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what you are. What are you Mack? Are you a vampire like them?” I contained a short flash of anger at being mistaken for a vampire. Mai pushed to the front of my consciousness. “Take it easy, Alex. She meant no offense. She’s never seen anything like you before, no one was.” I felt for her, sensing the depth of her confusion.

  “No, I’m no vamp. I’m something completely different, a LIVING being. Shelly, have I given you any real reason not to trust me anymore, other than hiding my true nature from you?”

  “No, but that’s a pretty big one, Mack.”

  “I can appreciate that, Shelly and I’m sorry. You’ll just have to find some way to forgive me. I’ll tell you everything you need to know when the time presents itself.” Shelly emoted surprise and then intense curiosity. “Alright, but you have to tell me everything.” I mentally sighed. “Fine, now please let me handle this. I’m the only one who can get us out of this alive.”

  “Won’t they be suspicious that we have been sitting here talking like this, for so long?”

  “Nope.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because this conversation took place in the blink of an eye.”

  “Cool beans!”

  Turning back to Kolann, I noticed the lost boys starting toward me. Perfect, I waited until they were within arm’s reach. Staring Kolann in the eye the entire time, I dropped to one knee and lashed out. I caught them both by an ankle and jerked straight up, both figures crashed to the floor groaning and gasping. Feeling through their Shrouds, I found the source, amulets. Giving them a firm yank, the chains snapped. Both Shrouds lost power and flickered off; on my floor lay a pair of twin boys. They couldn’t have been older than seventeen when they were turned. Shelly frantically scrambled to pull her legs up out of their reach. Svetlana let out a peal of laughter.

  “What a vicious bitch!”

  “Agreed.”

  Kolann looked pained and a little ill, a fairly common reaction to seeing another guy taken down so hard but it seemed more personal in his case. I looked from him, to the twins and back again, the family resemblance was unmistakable. I disarmed the temporarily disabled twins, taking a deep smell of then both to determine how old they were. No good. No de-comp, at all. They were perfectly identical except for naturally occurring blonde and black hair, with the hypnotic eyes, claws and fangs of vampires. Even if they were just turned a couple hours ago they would still stink. These two didn’t smell but they weren’t completely human either.

  “Dhampirs, they’re day walkers, Alex!”

  “I thought those were just a myth.”

  “Apparently not.”

  I felt a strong pang of compassion and empathy for them. Poor blokes, rejected by both societies, according to legend they usually don’t live long because one side or the other kills them upon discovery. I know the feeling well. Helping them to their feet, I pointed them to the couch, next to Shelly. “Mack!”

  “Relax, Shelly. They won’t hurt you. Will you boys?” I shot them a severe look. They both grinned at Shelly evilly. Blanching, she started trying to crawl off the end of the couch. I placed a hand on her shoulder and made eye contact. “You’re OK. I’m right here. They’re just screwing with you. They’re mostly not blood feeders. They just want you to think they are, to scare you.” A flash of anger went through her as her eyes narrowed at the twins. Better head this off now.

  “Kolann,” I said in an exhausted tone.

  “Archibald! Reginald! Apologize to the young lady.”

  “But father, Svetlana says we are better than humans and need apologize to no one.” The black haired one protested. I arched an eyebrow at Kolann. He rolled his eyes at me in clear frustration. “Have I ever told you that, Reginald?”

  “No, but Svet—”

  “Then you don’t know it to be true, do you?” His tone of voice allowed a little anger to melt through, as his eyes bored into Svetlana. She sniffed disdainfully, tossing her blonde locks. Reginald looked embarrassed and miserable. “Yes sir. We’re sorry for scaring you, miss.”

  “Maybe, YOU are,” Archibald snorted. Reginald backhanded his brother in the chest. “Shut up idiot!”

  “Thank you Reginald, you saved me the trouble.” Kolann stared darkly at his blonde son. The young man suddenly became very interested in his hands. I looked at Kolann. “Hmmm, twin Dhampirs, yours, I’m assuming?” Svetlana looked at Kolann, with utter disgust. “Yes, him and his human whore.”

  “Yeah, I can understand your offense, Svetlana,” I feigned sympathy. “I can’t imagine why anyone would want to cheat on a blue ribbon prize like you.” The twins and Shelly all sniggered. Kolann gave me a pleading look. Even though I wasn’t inside his head; I knew that look. Leave off man; I’ve got to go home with her, you don’t. I smiled and nodded my head. His look changed to gratitude and the warm smile from earlier, returned. “Are you going to tolerate that?!” Svetlana screeched, throwing an accusing look at Kolann. He did his best to be patient. “I don’t see why you’re so surprised, my dear. You have been antagonizing him the entire time and you did attack his mate, after all.” My eyes widened, as did Shelly’s. “Hold it! Back the truck up. She’s not my mate! She’s just a child. We are close friends, that’s all!” Shelly inhaled sharply. Here it comes… “I am not a child! I’m almost 16, you ass!”

  “Shelly, this is not the time.”

  Kolann’s eyebrows went up at the brief exchange. “I apologize, Mr. Walker. I did not mean to imply anything untoward about your relationship. You responded to the girl’s capture with such passion and ferocity, it seemed a reaction born of love.”

  “Perhaps a fraternal or paternal love? Yes, that MUST be it,” Svetlana purred, once again enjoying herself. I didn’t bother to acknowledge her but kept my eyes steady on Kolann. “Something like that.” He looked very pleased with himself and began to relax again. “Well now that most of MY cards are on the table, may we drop all pretenses and talk in earnest?”

  “Sure, I don’t see why not.” I looked at him e
xpectantly. Kolann returned my expectant look with one of his own and waited. “What’s he waiting for?” I shifted my weight, suddenly uncomfortable in the presence of the silent predator. “Uh, Kolann… You came to me… remember? I can’t exactly start this conversation.” Kolann smiled again. “I thought we were going to drop all pretenses. So I feel justified in requesting that your Glamour be included in that. I already have a fairly thorough description of you, Mack. That’s why I came here thinking I was confronting a (I cringed) magic wielding, rogue vampire. Your Glamour isn’t hiding anything.” That wasn’t so bad. I thought he was going to use the “W” word. I’m not a wizard, in case you were wondering. I never went to school for all this. If I had, I might have been better prepared. “You can do magic?” Shelly said grabbing my arm. There it was. I patted her hand. “Later, Shelly. Thank you, Kolann. Thank you ever so bloody much!” I didn’t bother to conceal my annoyance. “Oh, I AM sorry Mack. I just assumed if you were so close to the child she would be in the loop.” He feigned an innocent look. You son-of-a-bitch! That was pay back for dropping your boys.

  “Watch this one, Alex. He’s clever and very motivated; he perceives you as a threat to his entire clan.”

  I Sensed intense agitation to my right. Here it comes… “OK, I’m going to say this one last time. I AM NOT A CHILD!” Shelly yelled at the entire room, emphasizing her point with elaborate hand gestures. “Is there ANYONE that does not understand that?” Archibald started to raise his hand. Shelly gave him a vicious kick, both boys erupted in laughter. “Mack, she’s getting bolder, telepathically feeding off your confidence. We need to get a handle on that.”

  “Let’s keep an eye on her for now, but let her blow off some steam. She’s getting a lot dumped on her, Mai.”