Blood Hunt (46 page)

“He hurt you,” she said.

Naomi shook her head. “They. They did it together.”

“He didn’t know.”

“I’ve forgiven him.”

“What about her?”

There was another long pause, and when at last Naomi’s words came, her tone was bitter. Angry. Resolute.

“I will never, ever forgive her. Not for leaving me, and not for leaving us both.”

“Naomi, I don’t know if that’s—”

“Two, I can’t. I can’t!” Naomi’s anger, as much at herself as at the woman who had made her a vampire, was obvious in her voice. “It’s been
hundreds of years
, and still I can’t. Oh, what is
wrong
with me?”

“There’s nothing wrong with you.”

“Then tell me you love me.”

Two was silent, and Naomi gave a defeated little laugh.

“Indeed,” she said. “I loved Lisette, and now I love you. I have loved others, through the years, and said those words that you can’t say. I would know, even if you could make yourself say it, that you don’t mean it. You’ll never love me until you can let
him
go, and as hard as I’ve tried to make that happen … here we are.”

“I’m sorry,” Two said. “Naomi, I’m sorry.”

Naomi sighed, kissed Two’s collarbone, turned over on her belly: a sure sign that she was preparing to sleep. When she spoke, her voice was tired, and sad, and empty.

“Goodnight, Two,” the vampire girl said. “I love you.”

Chapter 25
The European council

The vampire elder did not look like a madman, but Two supposed that appearances could be deceiving. What Eadwyn looked like to her was a man in his late twenties, not tall, but broad through the shoulders. He was thin, almost painfully so, and had large hands that ended in long, delicate fingers. His hair was chestnut colored, and his light and watery blue eyes rested above a prominent nose. He looked to Two like a cleaned-up version of any number of British rockers she had seen on the covers of music magazines.

Eadwyn was standing at the door of a small, stone building that looked very old. It was nestled tightly between two more modern structures, both of which were several stories taller than it, making the meeting place look even tinier than it actually was. It seemed an odd place for the oldest and most powerful vampires in Europe to gather, but then perhaps its age gave it sentimental or historical value.

“Toothsome treacle twists from our lips, and with welcoming words we greet you,” Eadwyn said. “We will be happy to take you inside to meet the others.”

Two found herself glancing around in an attempt to determine who “we” meant. Eadwyn stood watching her, head tilted, an amused expression on his face. He gave her time, and Two quickly confirmed her initial impression: there was no one else there. After a moment more, it clicked: Eadwyn the Mad, the vampire who spoke to the dead.

“'Tis best never to travel alone,” Eadwyn told her.

“Right,” Two replied. “Yes. Uh … thanks. For the welcome.”

Eadwyn nodded, and turned toward Naomi and Stephen. Two found it amusing that this – not the stately old gentlemen that she had imagined – was what a member of the European council looked like. It made sense, of course; vampires didn’t grow old, and so despite Eadwyn’s great age, he still appeared to be a young man. What surprised Two was that she heard none of Eadwyn’s age in his voice, felt none of the imposing power that Abraham had seemed to give off.

Eadwyn had been about to speak to Naomi, but now he glanced back at Two with a small smirk. Without warning, Two was nearly overcome by the sudden onslaught of something that struck her as similar to Naomi’s aura, though many times stronger. It was not sexual, not calming or warming, but rather filled her with fear, respect and awe. For a brief moment she could see in his eyes the ages that had gone by, that he had lived through unchanged in appearance but sculpted inside, mentally and physically, by the amazing blood that ran in his veins.

And then it was gone and he was just a young man again, gazing at her with that same amused expression.

“Flaunt, some fools do,” Eadwyn said. “We have never felt the need.”

Two, still trying to catch her breath, could only nod. Eadwyn returned his gaze to Naomi.

“Pray, pretty … picked any pockets of late?” he asked.

Naomi turned a shade of light pink and cast her eyes downward, but did not speak. Eadwyn chuckled.

“We are happy to see you again after so much time. You bring memories of your melancholy mistress.”

“Thank you, Lord.” Naomi said, her eyes still downcast. “She is with me still … I miss her every day.”

“Whispers and words wander my head, but few from her I hear. Perhaps she has found peace.”

“I hope so.”

“You know the truth about her now, pickpocket?”

“About Abraham’s involvement? Yes. Two told me.”

Eadwyn gave her a look of sympathy, nodding. “We are older, but he was stronger. Eresh are pesky in that way. We could not stop him.”

“I understand,” Naomi said. “It is … in the past now.”

Eadwyn shrugged. Nodded. Turned to Stephen.

“
Fáilte
, fighter. We meet at last.”

Stephen grinned, and Two understood that he was much more comfortable in front of this elder than Naomi was. She suspected that it was Stephen’s lack of concern for the political ramifications of his interactions with the council that made it so.

“I was unaware that my reputation preceded me,” he said, giving a small bow to Eadwyn.

“We hear many things,” Eadwyn replied. “European escort is not a traditional toiling for one of the warrior class. From whom came your instructions?”

“It was my choice, lord.”

“How unusual.”

“I was unenthusiastic with the American council’s inability to come to a decision. I wanted to register my thoughts with you personally.”

“I see, and so you lead lovely ladies to light upon our doorstep.”

“Naomi led. I followed.”

“And will you follow further if so she must go?”

Stephen shrugged, held his hands apart, glanced briefly at his companions. Finally he said, “I don’t make decisions until the time has come.”

Eadwyn laughed at this and clapped Stephen on the shoulder. He turned slightly and addressed the group as a whole. “Shall we?”

He gestured at the door behind him, a sturdy thing of oak and iron the likes of which Two had rarely seen on anything other than cathedrals. Naomi and Stephen nodded, and Two said, “Yes, please.”

“Very well, then.” The elder vampire turned and unlatched the door, swinging it open to reveal a dimly lit stone hallway lined with other, similar doors. At its far end was a staircase that spiraled up and out of sight. Without further conversation, Eadwyn made his way inside, and the three companions followed.

* * *

The European council was made up of three women and two men, including Eadwyn. Two was struck again by how young they all looked, and how casual their demeanor. All were dressed in business attire, but there was no air of formality about them, no pretention of the type that had seemed to blanket the American council. These people were very comfortable, like long-time employees who had worked together for the same company, day in and day out, for many years. Two of the women were talking with the second man, while the third woman, a tall, black vampire with closely cropped hair, stood at the edge of the room, murmuring into her cell phone. When Eadwyn entered with their guests, she finished her conversation and snapped the phone shut, moving toward the others.

“Wanderers, we welcome you!” Eadwyn said, his voice taking on a theatrical air. “Behold: before you sit – or stand – these most powerful of vampires, eldest and greatest of their lines. We are beings so powerful that the simple sound of our voices may cause you to drop to your knees, weeping and begging for forgiveness from sins which you never committed. Tremble! Tremble before these mighty—”

He was cut off by a short, dark, severe-looking woman who Two thought must have been born in an area that was now India or Pakistan. “That’ll do, Eadwyn.”

Eadwyn, who had stopped in mid-flourish and was holding his arms apart in a gesture of showmanship, smirked again and clapped his hands together.

“As you wish, Safeed.”

He made his way to one of a dozen large, tall-backed leather chairs that were gathered around the room’s central oval table. The council members had grouped themselves in a semi-circle around one end of the table. Two, Naomi, and Stephen sat down across from them. Eadwyn leaned back in his chair, put his feet up on the table, and drawled at them in a John Wayne impression startling in its accuracy.

“Y’all make y’selves comfortable, now, pardners.”

“You can feel free to ignore him,” said a pale woman with red hair. Her accent sounded like a cross between Eadwyn’s English intonation and Stephen’s normal inflection. “That’s what the rest of us do.”

“Heartache!” Eadwyn cried, removing his feet from the table. “You wound me, Marian. I am aggrieved!”

“And you bore me, Eadwyn,” Marian said, but Two thought that she saw the slightest hint of a smile on the elder vampire’s face.

This is not what I expected,
she thought.

Marian glanced at her and said, “You expected a bunch of powdered wigs and black robes, I imagine.”

 Two jerked, surprised, and asked, “Can … can you all read my mind?”

“No, just me. Eadwyn sometimes gets flashes.”

“The rest of us are not so blessed,” the other male vampire said, “which is why Marian
usually
avoids responding to people’s thoughts.”

“I usually avoid reading them in the first place, as Gaius well knows,” Marian said.

“It’s easier for the rest of us if the conversation is held out loud,” Gaius said. He was smiling slightly, and appeared relaxed and largely uninterested in the goings-on about him.

Two was almost put off by this display. She was here to plead her case on a matter which was, for her, of great importance. To these vampires though, she was nothing more than a minor speck in a world full of humans to whom they were superior in virtually every way. She had done them a favor, perhaps, by removing Abraham from the planet, but they seemed not in the least concerned with her fate. Two bit her lip and looked away for a moment.

“Is something wrong, child?” the Indian vampire, Safeed, asked her.

Two shook her head. “No ma’am.”

“Not a good idea to lie to us, dear,” Eadwyn told her. “Make a note of it.”

Two shrugged, kept herself from sighing, said, “This is important to me.”

“Would you have preferred the solemn formality of the American council, Miss Majors?” Marian asked her. There was no malice in her voice, but Two could find no sympathy there either.

“I don’t—” Two began, but Safeed cut her off, frowning.

“Even Eadwyn is capable of being as serious as you would like.”

“No, I—”

“We can be grim and grumbling ghouls if it gratifies you,” Eadwyn said.

Two felt like throwing her hands in the air and screaming. Here she had said nothing, done nothing, and she was already offending these people and losing her chance at immortality. Naomi placed a hand on her shoulder and Two felt a calming warmth rush through her.

“Harrowing,” the vampire girl murmured, and Two nodded, took a breath, looked up at Marian.

“You can run your council however you like, ma’am,” she said. “I just want to tell you my story and see what you think.”

“That seems reasonable,” Gaius said. “If we’re done intimidating the human, can we move on with this, please?”

Two had wondered if there was an official leader among this group, the way Malik lead the American council, but it seemed that was not the case. The vampires merely glanced at each other, seeming to confer without speaking. Two sat, trying to be patient, waiting to begin. It was not that she wanted to tell her story again. If anything, she was dreading it, but the sooner it was done, the sooner all of this could end.

It was Safeed who leaned forward in her chair, tapped her fingers on the table once, and said, “Very well. We know of you,
Eresh-Chen
, but we’ve not heard the full story. Would you prefer it if we asked questions, or would you rather tell us your tale in full?”

“It’s … it’s your call,” Two said.

“No, no, no,” Eadwyn said. “That won’t do. Don’t defer duty. Make a choice.”

Two looked over at him and felt a sudden anger burning within her, not focused at any individual before her but rather encompassing the entire situation. This anger took her nerves away and replaced them with something resembling strength. Eadwyn seemed to notice this change, and one side of his mouth rose in a smirk that was without malice.

“Just choose,” he said.

“Fine,” Two said. “I’ll tell the story. It’s easier, and I’ve got it down to a science at this point anyway. Everything I’m going to say is true … but you know that. It’s not like I can lie to you.”

Marian smiled a little at this, and she nodded.

“I just wanna say … I’m sorry, but I hate being here. I hate wasting your time, and Naomi’s time, and Stephen’s time.”

“And
your
time,” Gaius said pointedly. Two resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him.

“Yes,” she said. “My time, too. The rest of you … you
have
time. I have none, not compared to you, but even so, I feel bad about wasting your time on this … this crap. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. It wasn’t supposed to go this way.”

Two sat back, flexing her fingers in frustration, and repeated herself. “It wasn’t supposed to go this way.”

The black woman, who Two remembered from her earlier conversations with Naomi was named N’debe, spoke for the first time. Her voice was low and musical, the words rolling off her tongue in a rich accent. She radiated an aura of supreme calm, and Two had no doubt that this vampire was, like Eadwyn, an Ashayt.

“Things rarely go as they are supposed to, child. I am curious to hear the details, and I am sure my fellow council members feel the same. Please tell us your story.”

“OK. Thank you,” Two said. She sat back in her chair and put her head down for a moment, folding her hands and pressing the pads of her thumbs against her eyebrows. Finally, she spoke.