Demon Accords 6: Forced Ascent (22 page)

“There are no others within a half mile,” I said, consulting Grim.

Iris looked at me curiously, then spoke to Tanya.  “
We’ve
never required backup.”  Then she blurred, straight at Stacia.

Starting from only six feet away, she had a grip on the shotgun barrel before Stacia could fire, using greater leverage to twist it away.  That’s as far as she got before I had her by the throat with my right hand, both quarters pressed against her skin.  The smoke and burned flesh odor started immediately, even as I spent a moment recapturing the shotgun.  After that, I lifted her off the floor and slammed her on the bed, taking a moment to look at Kagen.

He stood stock-still, his head gripped in giant bear jaws that could crush his skull with a twitch.  The eighteen-inch blade he had produced from somewhere was locked against his side by Arkady’s huge hand on his wrist.

“These quarters are pre-1964.  Got some silver in them.  Burns a bit, don’t it?” I asked.

“Chris, please don’t kill Grandmother’s pet dhampirs,” Tanya said.

“Dhampirs? Really?  Like Wesley Snipes in
Blade
?” I asked.

“Pretty much.  They’re very rare, and Grandmother likes to think they’re special.”

I took Iris’s sword, the knife she had on her leg, the one at the back of her waist, and the three darts stuck in her hairdo.  Then I let her up, pulling the quarters from her seared skin.

Arkady pulled the sword from Kagen’s hand and nodded to Awasos, who opened his jaws and head-butted the male dhampir forward.

Iris sat up, rubbing her throat, her eyes flashing fire, as I went to hand the shotgun back to Stacia.  The were girl shook her head, too angry to speak, and held up both hands, which were now white furred, two times larger than normal, and equipped with three-inch, razor sharp claws. 

“I’ll just go with these if the daywalker wants to continue our little girl chat,” she said, never taking her eyes off Iris.

“Hmmpf.  Dog’s got some tricks,” Iris said.

“Knock it off, Iris.  Your point is well made, Miss Demidova,” Kagen said.

“Is it?  I’m not sure.  That was hardly a demonstration, Kagen.  Barely a scuffle.  But then, Grandmother knew that when she sent you, even if you didn’t.  You see, Kagen, your survival today was more about me understanding your place in her menagerie than any supposed skills on your part,” Tanya said. “So let’s chat with the old lady.  Where’s your phone?”

He had something better… a tablet with cellular connectivity.

The two dhampirs sat on one bed, Awasos sitting in front of them, Stacia and Trenton behind them.  Trent had his tomahawk in hand and Stacia had kept her clawed hands, which Iris pretended to ignore.  Kagen looked mostly angry as he stared at ‘Sos, which curiously almost matched Stacia’s expression as she glared at the back of Iris’s head.

Lydia, Tanya, and I were on the other bed, the tablet set up in front of us.

Calling Senka was easy, as her number was the only one in the contact list.

The view of ourselves on the camera was suddenly replaced by one of Senka, a tiny shot of us now visible in the upper corner.

“Ah, Tanya.  I guessed right,” Senka said, looking triumphantly off screen at someone else. “I take it that you declined the conference facility?”

“Yes, Senka.  As I told your lackey, we’re far too busy to take time out for field trips,” Tanya replied.

Her millennium-old grandmother, who looked maybe thirty, frowned, moved her own tablet till the picture included two other female vampires, one tiny and Asian, the other a brunette European type.

“Tzao. Mausya,” Tanya said, her tone flat.

“Tatiana.  Christian,” Mausya said, ignoring Lydia completely.  Tzao said nothing.

“Why, Tatiana?  Why have you placed us in this position?” Senka asked.

“What exact position did I place you in?”

“Don’t dissemble, dear.  You’ve blatantly exposed us.”

“Did I?  Because I don’t recall biting anyone’s neck on national television.  I
did
display superhuman abilities, but in the age of CGI, it isn’t conclusive,” Tanya said.

“What about your most recent display?”

“You mean the one where we almost got beat by a pair of high ranking demons?”

“And where Christian tore open a military vehicle with his hands,” Senka said. “And you drank from his wrist.”

“That still doesn’t out the Coven.”

“In a week’s time, you’ve provided more evidence and fueled more speculation than the last six hundred years.  Entire factions of the Coven want you either severely punished or executed.”

Kagen, the dhampir, was staring daggers at my were bear-wolf, occasionally wiping the sides of his head where Awasos’s jaws had clutched it.  He pointed a finger at ‘Sos.  “I hunt things like you,” he said very quietly. I tried to ignore his comments and focus on the tablet.

“Half the comments on those Youtube videos are debunking it.  The rest sound like monster hunter nuts,” Tanya said. “But ultimately, Grandmother, the federal government itself will expose our existence.  So yes, we’ve thrown gas on the fire.  It was you that taught me it is better to control the release of information even when you would prefer not to.  So demons have exposed themselves, the feds have attempted to use excessive military force, and yes, we’ve demonstrated abilities that in other times were best kept secret.  This way, we can help form public opinion before our opponents do.”

“Tatiana dear, it’s running on mainstream media,” Senka said. “My White House sources tell me that the President will name you terrorists at this morning’s press conference.”

“I’ve got a ten gauge in the car with silver slugs just for you,” Kagen said quietly to Awasos.  He was starting to piss me off.

“Then it is good that multiple videos are out there showing us protecting people from demons, isn’t it?”

“About that… Christian, just what is going on with these portals?” Senka asked.

My attention was torn between Kagen, who was making pistol motions with his thumb and index finger at ‘Sos and the Elder vampire. I focused on the twelve-hundred-year-old vamp for the moment.

“Government particle physics experiments have inadvertently weakened the barriers between Earth and Hell.  Portals or doorways are being opened by any idiot with a paint can and the ability to draw a pentagram.  Several extremely powerful demons have gotten out wearing human bodies.  We’ve been hunting one of them.  She’s led us toward Washington,” I answered.

“What is she up to?”

“We don’t know.  Something that would generate the most chaos and hysteria possible,” I said.

“Like attacking Congress or the President?”

Tanya, Lydia, and I exchanged glances.  “Yeah, that would be a solid guess.”

“And if this demon is successful?  Where does that leave us?”

“Demons thrive on chaos and terror.  If they were able to graphically kill the leadership of the strongest country on Earth on, say, national television or online, it would be catastrophic.  Panic and anarchy in the streets.  A perfect breeding ground for demonic possession.  If it occurred on, say, Halloween, when the barriers between Earth and Hell are naturally weak, it could mean the end of your food supply.  Can vampires drink demon blood?” I asked.

None of the three ancient beings answered me.  Instead, Senka turned to Mausya.  The newest of the elders looked vacant for a moment while she thought about it, then turned slightly to Senka. 

“Seventy-eight percent chance he’s correct.”

A wave of weakness flashed through me, the God Tear on my necklace turning first burning hot then cold as ice.  Tanya leaned sideways, moving her head out of view of the camera, then glanced at me quickly.

As fast as it happened, it was over and the weakness gone, along with the image that accompanied it.  I flicked my eyes at my vampire and she nodded, then leaned back in.  Senka and Mausya were just starting to look back at us, but Tzao had never taken her eyes from me.

I needed a distraction before my momentary lapse was general knowledge.

“A seven-hundred-grain slug will turn you inside out,” Kagen said to my were bear-wolf.

Something clicked in my brain and Kagen disappeared off the bed, straight up, a crunch, a grunt, and shower of sheetrock dust the only evidence of his new location.

Iris, Arkady, Stacia, and Trenton all looked up at the ceiling.  In the corner of the tablet screen, the tiny picture of us showed Lydia and Tanya glancing up in surprise.  I kept my eyes on the screen.

“What was that?” Senka asked, suspicious.

“Nothing, Grandmother,” Tanya said quickly.  She didn’t glance at me, but I felt exasperation through our link.  “Back to the topic at hand. Demons, Halloween, chaos.  We’re kind of busy here.”

“We will allow as the situation requires extraordinary responses, but this topic will be revisited at another time.  In the meantime, attend to these interlopers,” Senka said.

“As we were doing before this little interrogation,” Tanya said.  Her grandmother’s eyes narrowed and I waited for the explosion.  Instead, the next words and their source were a complete surprise to everyone.

“Christian,” Elder Tzao said in a surprisingly solid voice.  “You are well?”

“Yes Elder Tzao.  I am fine,” I replied.  She nodded once without looking at her fellow Elders, who were both visibly surprised.

Whatever Senka had been about to say to her granddaughter was gone; instead, her attention was now focused squarely on me. 

“You
do
look a little peaked.  Are you sure you are healthy?” Senka asked.

“Hungry, I’m just hungry,” I answered. “And sad that we were unable to meet in person.”

Mausya blinked a couple of times, Senka’s eyes narrowed, and Tzao just nodded slightly.

“Do you have a plan, then, to deal with these demon princelings?” Senka asked after a moment.

“My plan is to get some religion.”

Another pause.  Then the blonde head on the screen tilted to the side and slightly back.

“I don’t think I like this new you, Chris. Too cheeky.”

“Well, Elder, what can I say?  I am what I am, ach ach ach.”

She frowned and opened her mouth to say something, but Tzao leaned forward and reached for the screen, which immediately went dark.

“Popeye?  You seriously channeled Popeye in front of the Elders of the Coven?” Lydia asked.

“Yeah, well I pretty much missed most of the Miss Vampire Manners columns lately.  Too busy scanning the news for decapitations, mass murders, and strange sightings.  Not to mention my own storyline.”

“Excuse me,” Iris said.  “Could you maybe release Kagen from the ceiling?”

We all looked up at the dhampir pressed into the sheet rock, his body embedded a good inch.

Grim released the combination of aura and vampire techniques that had slammed him up there and the male Rover fell back onto the bed, his face, hair, and clothes covered in white dust.

He sat up and I was in his face.  “Don’t ever, ever even think about shooting Awasos.  Got it?  Because I will shove that ten gauge so far up your ass that your head will pop off and you’ll become the first dhampir bobble head.”

“The Elders will kill you for your disrespect.”

“They better bring snacks and chairs for the back of the line, ‘cause there’s lots ahead of them,” I said.

“What happened?” Tanya asked.  I knew she was referring to the God Tear and my wave of weakness.

“Toni.  Something with federal agents,” I said.

She looked thoughtful before turning to the dhampirs.  “We’re done here.  Get out.”

Without a word, the two Rovers got up and headed out the door, Kagen still covered in bits and pieces of the ceiling.  Stacia watched them from the doorway to make sure they left, but we could all hear their car start and pull away.

“Toni?” Lydia asked but stopped when I held up my hand.  Another wave of weakness rolled over me and again, the necklace heated to searing hot.  This time, it went on for several seconds rather than just a brief moment like the earlier episode.

“I saw tactical teams that time.  We have to call,” I said.  Tanya was already rooting through a bag of equipment, finally coming up with the blackout sack of phones.

“We’ll use one of Chet’s untraceable prepaids, routed through foreign servers,” she said.  Arkady looked like he might want to protest, but Lydia shook her head at him and he settled back.  Tanya took Toni’s safety as seriously as I did.

“Roy?  It’s Tanya.  Everyone all right?” she asked over the phone.  We could all hear his response.

“Secret service is here.  They wanted to take Toni into protective custody.”

“What happened Roy?”

“
There were six of them.  They all got shoved out of the house.  Like an invisible bulldozer just kept pushing them right back out the door.  It’s that necklace, isn’t it?”

“Yes Roy, it’s the God Tear around her neck.  It won’t let anyone harm her or you two.  I gather you or Gina said no to the Secret Service and they didn’t like it.  Right?”