Blood Talisman (6 page)
“Ah, yes, Andre.” Andorra smiled. “The one whom no woman can resist. Or so he
would like to believe.”
Marcus chuckled. “Indeed. As you know, Andre can never conduct business in a city
without sampling the, uh—local attractions. He had—shall we say—some early dawn delight
with a lady who had actually seen Tony abducted by those thugs. Such things are not that uncommon here, but after they had pleasured themselves she complained to Andre about the violence that still goes on in the city, and cited Tony’s kidnapping as an example. She told him she thought it was another kidnapping of an American for ransom.”
“But what made him think it had anything to do with Andy and me?” Tony asked.
“He didn’t, at first. But lying there, in the afterglow of their lovemaking—Andre’s
words, you understand—she asked him if he would take her away with him. He found
himself curious about an episode serious enough to make her want to leave her homeland so
BLOOD TALISMAN J.P. Bowie 33
as she lay in his arms, he searched her mind for details. That was when he recognised you, Tony, and immediately contacted me with the information.”
“So, Andre and his impulsive philandering is to be thanked for saving us,” Andorra
said, laughing. “Remind me to thank him and his womanising next time we meet. Now, shall we get out of here? Our hotel at least has decent furnishings!”
Later, seated in Andorra and Tony’s more than decent hotel suite, enjoying some
excellent red wine, and with the room sealed against any eavesdroppers, Andorra revealed the details of their mission.
“The President, the Defence Secretary and the Secretary of State?” Marcus didn’t hide
his surprise. “The Taliban and Al Qaeda all at one meeting place? Little wonder the Secret Service needed backup.”
Tony nodded. “And total secrecy,” he said. “If word got out that the President plus the
Premiers of the UK, France, Israel, and Germany were all going to be here, chances are an assassination attempt would be too much for those extremist groups to pass up. This is big stuff, especially as China and Russia aren’t on the invitation list.”
“They were approached originally, but they declined,” Andorra said, holding her wine
glass up so that Roger could refill it. “I think they feel it wiser for them to simply sit back and let the other countries take the lead. Of course, if an accord is established with the Taliban and Al Qaeda, I am certain they will be very quick to accept the credit for it. Our job is to ensure the President arrives and leaves safely.”
“Where is the meeting to take place?” Andrew asked.
“There is an underground bunker south of the city.” Andorra paused to sip her wine
before continuing, “Near the remains of the ancient city of Babylon as a matter of fact.”
“Babylon?” Andrew threw a quick glance at Marcus. “Where it’s believed the Scrolls of
Ashelak are hidden.”
“Scrolls of whosit?” Tony chuckled. “Sounds like a mummy joke comin’ up.”
“Well,” Andrew said ruefully. “They could be a joke, I suppose, but I’d like to believe
they are real. They are supposed to reveal where a talisman is secreted. A talisman that can change, uh—many things.”
BLOOD TALISMAN J.P. Bowie 34
Andorra fixed Andrew with long look. “You mean the Talisman of Ardocan?”
“You’ve heard of it, then?”
Andorra switched her gaze to Marcus. “Heard of it enough to be sceptical as to its
existence. It most likely does not exist. Right, Marcus?”
“Some pesky demon told Andrew is was for real.” Roger cut in before Marcus could
reply. “He also asked Andrew to share it with him when he found it.”
“Which of course I would not do,” Andrew said hastily. “Besides, as there is no actual
proof the Talisman exists, it’s all a foolish notion on my part.”
“May I ask why you wish to find this Talisman?” Andorra asked.
Andrew grimaced. “Two reasons. It is said the Talisman of Ardocan can reverse time. I
had hoped if that were true that I could change the past and have my brother, Michael, live again.”
“And the other?”
“That there was a way to undo my immortality so that my lover, Tommy, and I would
face the future together on equal terms.”
“That is foolish indeed,” Andorra snapped. “Such a thing has never been done—is
impossible, probably dangerous!” Her expression softened a little as she gazed at Andrew.
“You must love him very much.”
“I do. I would do anything for him.”
“Reversing time has been done,” Andorra said. “Marcus can tell you all about that. The
wish to bring back your dead brother is understandable, but whether the Talisman—if it
does exist—has that power I do not know. However, there is no need to give up your
mortality, Andrew. Tony is human, as I’m sure you know. He and I have been loving
companions for over one hundred years, and see how young he still looks.”
Tony chuckled. “Yeah, but I’ve been noticing some grey hairs recently.”
“That is a concern for Tommy,” Andrew said quietly. “About how he can explain away
his ongoing youthfulness to his friends and family. It’s like
The Picture of Dorian Gray
in a way.”
“And we know that didn’t end well,” Roger remarked, rolling his eyes.
“Roger…” Marcus gave him a reproving look. “That isn’t helpful.”
Roger shrugged. “Just kidding. But maybe while we’re here we could check out the
ruins of Babylon. Maybe find some old writings on a wall.”
BLOOD TALISMAN J.P. Bowie 35
“I don’t imagine it would be that simple,” Andorra said. “And from what I understand
the excavation to install the bunker weakened whatever buildings were left. It’s a ‘no go’
zone. Only military personnel and, of course, the VIPs will be allowed near once the
meetings start.”
“Which is when?” Marcus asked.
“Tomorrow morning. If you will excuse me, I have to make a full report to the Secret
Service agents about what took place earlier—minus your involvement of course. They need to be on the alert for any further infractions of security.” She rose gracefully from the couch and headed for the bedroom. “Will you stay, Marcus?”
“If you think we can be of use.”
She paused at the doorway to the bedroom. “I will talk with the Secretary of State. She
knows of you and under the circumstances might welcome your added muscle—figuratively
speaking of course.” She smiled ruefully. “I may have some opposition from Mr
Hollingsworth, the Secretary of Defence. He isn’t quite as on board with vampire
involvement—he tends to be, if you will excuse the pun, rather defensive.” She chuckled
then closed the bedroom door quietly behind her.
Andrew left them a few minutes later and went down the hall to the room Tony had
acquired for him at the front desk. Once there he pulled out his cell and quickly punched in Tommy’s number. When Tommy answered there was a wall of sound almost drowning out his voice.
“Where are you?” Andrew asked, already dreading the answer.
“I’m in LAX. My plane for Baghdad leaves in a half hour. Phew… Talk about security. I
thought I was going to have to spread my butt cheeks to get through.”
“Tommy, I asked you not to do this. You promised me—”
“I didn’t promise. If you remember I didn’t say anything—I just kissed you—remember
now?” He laughed seductively. “’Course, that kiss did hold a promise, just not the one you thought it did. I didn’t hear you complaining at the time.”
“Tommy, please, don’t get on the plane. It’s too dangerous here and—”
“Too late. I’m already in line. If I back out of here now there’ll be an international
incident, and you wouldn’t want me arrested, now would you?”
Andrew groaned. “Oh, Tommy—what will I do with you?”
BLOOD TALISMAN J.P. Bowie 36
“You have to ask?” Tommy’s sexy chuckle was warm in Andrew’s ear. “You must be
losing your touch. How’d it go with Marcus’ friends?”
“They are safe. We got here just in time. Now look, Tommy—”
“You got a hotel room?”
Andrew sighed. “Yes, at the Saadoun. Don’t forget there is a ten-hour time differential.”
“I know. I’ll get a cab to the hotel if you can’t make it. Can’t wait to see you.”
And Andrew couldn’t wait to see Tommy. Despite the man’s recklessness, his stubborn
refusal to stay behind and out of danger—or perhaps in a way because of those things too—
Andrew couldn’t wait to hold Tommy in his arms, and cover his face with kisses. He was
hard just thinking about it.
“You’ve gone quiet,” Tommy’s teasing voice whispered. “Are you thinking of what
you’re going to do to me when I get there?”
“You know me too well,” Andrew said, laughing in spite of himself.
“I’ll see you soon.
Szeretlek
, babe.”
“I love you too.” Andrew closed his phone and sighed. He knew he had lost the battle
of wills over Tommy’s decision to join him in Iraq. They had argued about it long and hard with Tommy yelling that if Andrew was going to be fool enough to join Marcus and Roger in their attempt to rescue Andorra and Tony, well, then he was going to darn well be fool enough to go too.
“Because I saw your eyes light up when Iraq was mentioned,” Tommy had said
smugly. “You think that while you’re there you can go see if what Dakar told you is true or not. Am I right? Of course I am, and if you’re going to do that, then I’m going with you!”
Andrew had locked eyes with him but Tommy had looked away quickly.
“Don’t even try that, Andrew,” he’d said angrily. “You make me forget all this and I
will never speak to you again. When I remember what I’m mad at you for, that is. You
understand? You cannot manipulate me every time you think I’m sticking my neck out. I am not going to let you do this by yourself.”
“But I won’t be by myself—Marcus and Roger will be there—”
“I don’t care!”
And on and on they had argued back and forth. Andrew had thought he’d extracted a
promise from Tommy eventually that he would wait until Andrew had contacted him, but
BLOOD TALISMAN J.P. Bowie 37
now when he played that scene back in his mind, there had been no promise spoken—only a
kiss. A kiss that had led to an even more distracting and wonderful situation.
And he calls me manipulative!
BLOOD TALISMAN J.P. Bowie 38
Andrew received a message from Marcus the following day that the Secretary of State
had cleared them to accompany the Presidential contingent to the bunker for the first round of meetings with the Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders. Tommy’s flight wouldn’t arrive for several more hours, even if it was on schedule, so he felt easy about falling in with the plan.
As luck would have it, a thoroughly pissed-off Tommy had called him from Frankfurt to let him know the layover there had been extended by four hours.
“If I didn’t know better,” Tommy had seethed, “I’d think you had something to do with
this. Keeping me out of the way ’til you had a chance to look for the Talisman.”
“Tommy!” Andrew had had to suppress a chuckle before answering, “You know even I
couldn’t do that.”
“No, but Marcus could!”
Andrew had laughed then, but had quickly assured Tommy that nothing other than the
airline itself had been trying to delay him, and that when Tommy did arrive, he would make very sure to make it all worth his long, long journey.
“Huh.” Tommy had sounded placated. “Okay, then. I suppose.”
“I love you, Tommy, and when you get here I am going to show you in every possible
way just how much. There is not a part of you I will not hold, caress, lick…and suck.”
Tommy groaned. “Oh, man—damn these airlines and their delays!”
At dusk, they drove out into the desert in armoured vehicles. Andrew looked around
with interest. Scattered here and there in the mostly barren countryside were silhouettes of blackened trees, the shells of bombed-out buildings, the occasional solitary man or woman trudging along the road, looking neither left nor right as the vehicles roared past them.
Andrew had lived through many wars in his two hundred years, had seen cities ruined,
the results of massacres, yet here there was a pervading atmosphere of desolation, of
hopelessness, the likes of which he had never before experienced. Surely there must be a way
BLOOD TALISMAN J.P. Bowie 39
out of this seemingly never-ending war against the poor and oppressed. Governments might change, might rise and fall, corruption might go unchecked, but the status quo remained for most people. Roger and Tony sat beside him in the rear of the Hummer, both of them unusually quiet.
He stared at the back of Secretary of State Denise Harper’s carefully coiffed head and
found her mind blocked from his gentle probing. Hmm—working with vampires had
increased the Secret Service’s need for even more secrecy, he thought, smiling to himself.
Roger nudged him and grinned then nodded to the back of the lady’s head. He’d obviously