Foreboding Skies (The Skybreaker Saga Book 1) (13 page)

The two gorgeous women, ugly people rarely became Vampires, walked by me without as much as a glance in my direction. Even the impeccably keen senses of Vampires could fail to notice me if they were not on guard. They were bringing me a meal since I never bothered to find that button. I took more time to gander at Vlad’s pad. The mansion was fancy but, again, felt too empty. Too much space and not enough expensive things to fill it up. A peculiar situation for a Vampire both old and powerful. Opulence came hand in hand with high station in Vampire society. Vladimir was unique amongst the Lords for engaging in moderation of any kind. That extended to harvesting. The delightful term many Vampires used to refer to collecting blood from humans. In a city as big and impoverished as Detroit a lot of people could go missing without anyone noticing.

I took a turn down a back hallway where a cracked servant’s door opened to a fine cut stone staircase. With nothing better to do I decided to snoop a bit and see how far down it went. I continued my descent until the air was stale. After several minutes I reached the bottom of the stairs and set out into the tunnels beyond. . An underground lair with no kind of lighting was not unique for Vampires. My ability to manipulate air was the best way to navigate the darkness. All I needed to do was extend my essence into the surrounding air  and more or less grope my way around. It was a new trick I had been trying out. My air pulse hit a firm obstacle. Excellent. Or not. I really wasn’t sure what I was doing at this point. If I was looking to talk with Vlad I would have intercepted the Vampires bringing me a meal and asked them to get him. If I had to venture a guess I would say I was angry. My oldest friend was keeping something significant about me from me. In return I was going to sniff out his Vampire clubhouse and rifle through his stuff. Immature? Perhaps.

“I was told you would be in bed…I was looking forward to it.” The sultry voice purred from behind me. I gave myself a rigorous standing ovation for not leaping straight up and rebounding of the ceiling. Kovo was a cute name for a smoking hot psychopath who should not have been able to sneak up on me effectively. I summoned all of the nonchalance I had and turned to face the fire truck red eyes hanging in the darkness. Her eyes were all I could see, but if I could see the rest of her… I could imagine the painted on leather everything she would probably be wearing. It was at such times that I had to remind myself not to stick my dick in crazy, no matter how sexy crazy was.

“Ooo, is that a hint of arousal I smell? You can’t even see me yet. Should we go somewhere with a little more light?” She would be smirking now. That sexy impish smirk. No! I reminded myself that the D does not go in the cray cray as the kids say. Having an animal spirit brought a lot of perks but the increased base need for copulation was not necessarily one of them.

“Where is Vladimir Kovo.” I was less than ten feet from the door. I didn’t feel any kind of enchantments on it. I could probably bust through it, probably. If Kovo didn’t have any objections, as far as I knew she wasn’t much younger than Vladimir himself. She would be handful. Heh. Stop. I needed to get out of this situation before my head lost too much sense and my, uh, other head grew too strong.

Luckily, I got the waft of a walking turd coming around the bend complete with the clack of high heels. It was the only time I would be happy to see the insane idiot. First name Louis, Last name, something ridiculously French. He would be dressed like Louis XIV, the immaculate Sun King. I didn’t understand his sun king fetish, especially since he was about the same age as I was. He was a liaison from one of the other Lords, the enigmatic figure known as the Cur Spolieris, the Cripple. I did not know the story behind the name.

“What are you doing here? This place is forbidden to those not of the blood. Kovo, why have you not taken…him back to the guest room?” Those not of the blood, an archaic and overdrawn way to say I was not a Vampire. My dash and smash plan was looking less feasible, but Kovo’s plan of having sex with me was also hindered, take what you can get.

“He has done nothing wrong. You should be more courteous to our guests Louis.”

“He… has violated…”

“He has violated nothing by standing in this passage. I was going to inform our dearest leader that his guest is ready to see him.” There were two more Vampires waiting further down the passage, had I been alone Louis and his friends may have tried to kill me under the guise of protecting the sanctuary. The fact that Vladimir would have killed him for it didn’t seem to register with him. I pulled the air from down the passage to identify the lurkers.

I recognized the scents of the two Vampires I snuck past on my way here. Were they meant to make an attempt on my life? Surely Vladimir stressed I was not to be harmed. Louis however, was a gift from another Lord and wasn’t committed to Vladimir. If his true Lord gave him the orders to end me he would happily spit in Vladimir’s face by killing a guest in his home. I had no idea how far the plot extended. The Fae, some Magi, the Federal government, and who knew what else was making a sporting effort to kill me. Why not Vampires?

The tension was mounting though. I could not see Louis himself but I could see the rage and fear spirits gathering around him, a typical precursor to a self-destructive decision. I wasn’t worried with Kovo here. By myself? I would be worried. Three Vampires versus one injured me. Not good odds.

My odds improved infinitely when the thick sanctuary doors swung open and the man of the house strolled out. Apparently not the least bit surprised to find all of us on the verge of bloodshed. “Louis. I told you to keep an eye on the perimeter did I not?” If Vampires took shits Louis definitely would have dropped one, his companions split the moment the doors began to open. I had no doubt Vladimir knew who they were. My enigmatic friend . He was dressed in ceremonial black robes emblazoned with blood red thorns winding from his sleeves down to the hem. Many knew him as the Bloodthorn but the robe was much too much. Any wisecrack I might have said died when I remember I was pissed at the bastard. 

Louis wisely left to keep an eye on what must have been one of the most secure perimeters in the world, regardless of one French Vampire. I was still stuck in between two Vampires though. Even if they didn’t want to kill me it was still an uncomfortable feeling.

“Kovo, please inform Ms. Gousie that Dragomir is out of bed and moving around just fine it would seem” That’s right, I hadn’t even given it any consideration but Gousie called me Dragomir after she punched me. I could only assume Vladimir or Alewyn spilled the beans. I was planning on telling her, but I still didn’t like people telling my secrets. “Well, let us have a chat shall we?” I bet the bastard was smiling.

              A handmade Chinese rug, four hand carved chairs, a table, and that was all.  Minimalist. Not even a painting. Vlad took the seat with his back to the door. A bold choice, intentionally choosing the weakest seat. But this was his house where he needn’t fear showing his back. It was a show of confidence. For my part I went with the power seat, with my back against the wall and a clear view of the rest of the room. He wasn’t surprised by my choice, and I suspect he wanted me to take it. Making me feel comfortable would make the coming conversation easier. I hoped it would, events had not conspired to put me in a serene state of mind. We were playing the same game again. Who would talk first? I absolutely wasn’t, I shouldn’t have to say one damn word. My gracious host owed me much in the way of words.

              Kovo sweeping into the room drew my attention as I once again failed to notice her until she was upon me. She was in fact wearing painted on leather everything. With the everything consisting of pants, boots, and a tank top that was only slightly more covering than a bra, which she was not wearing. It was a slightly raunchier version of Kate Beckinsale in Underworld. Though, Kovo was far more alluring than Kate any day. Enough of my attention was left to notice Gousie giving me a stern admonishing look. What? I wasn’t ogling. I was preforming an ocular assessment of her threat level.

              Kovo didn’t even acknowledge my gaze with anything other than a brief look of smug satisfaction. Gousie seemed far more irritated than was warranted. Jealousy? I could open my senses to see if there was an abundance of greed or desire spirits. Yet that seemed intrusive. She was most likely pissed about this whole situation, her boss kidnapped her partner and was planning God knows what. Unfortunately God rarely felt like sharing,

              “Where is Alewyn?” If we were holding a war council he should be here. I kicked myself for throwing the game. Vlad, ever the gentleman, refrained from gloating with anything other than a quick smile.

              “Alewyn is currently chasing down information with my own intelligence personnel.” Vladimir finally answered. Gousie seemed surprised to hear that, but it would be far stranger if a being of Vladimir’s standing didn’t have what amounted to a personal spy agency. I told her as much and got a glare for my trouble, which made Kovo smile, which made Gousie glare even harder at me. There was notable tension between the two. I was certainly never going to ask. I managed to learn something of women in my hundred plus years.

              Vlad, ever the deft manipulator, stood up and proceeded to waltz around the table in a semi-circle. He noticeably avoided moving behind me. He did get the attention of both women who had to turn away from me to look at him. I still felt Gousie’s glare though, that was simply unfair. How could she give me a dirty look without actually looking at me? I hadn’t learned that much about women.

              “Ms. Gousie, in the confusion of recent events I have rudely neglected to properly introduce myself to you. I am Vladimir Rurik leader of the Detroit coven and Lord of the Northern New World. “This is Kovo, the defender of Green Hill. She is amongst the most trusted of my coven.” He trimmed that down a lot. Vampires were obsessed with heaping titles on themselves. They even gave titles to people who never wanted or asked for them, people like me for example. I didn’t even bother to remember it.

              “Lord of the Northern New World? Is that North America?” Gousie inquired with faux calm. Before Vladimir could even begin to answer that, Gousie launched into a ceaseless torrent of questions ranging from the number of covens there were to the preferred blood type. She was gushing like a teenager meeting her favorite band member. I could understand her excitement, even if it was a bit out of character for her. She had one of the most powerful members of the supernatural world right in front of her.                            

              I took my time studying everyone else in the room. Vladimir’s amusement was just as evident as Kovo’s annoyance at the barrage of questions. Finally Vladimir raised an upturned palm and Gousie meekly trailed off with a mumbled apology. “Once we have the situation in hand I would be happy to answer more of your questions. For now we need to speak about all that has occurred in these past days.” Gousie’s excitement gave way to shame as she remembered her partner was a prisoner or dead. I was open to hearing someone else’s take on what was going on. My view of the situation had been obscured by a series of kicks to the face delivered by Fate, the queen bitch herself.              

              “First. Dragomir, please tell us how this began.” A logical enough starting point. I wanted to say ‘Screw that, tell me what I want to know right damn now’. But, unraveling the convoluted situation came first unfortunately. I began my tale with Monday evenings shit fest at Down’s drug den and ended with the last thing I could confidently remember, the meeting in which Goodwin implied my connection to the supernatural community and the peculiar lady unsettled me.

              “Hmm. Goodwin sought you out first, he knew exactly where to send his killers. He was also your superior Ms. Gousie and knew of your and your partner’s movements. “It would seem that Goodwin is the man behind all of this. Which also means at least a portion of the U.S. Government is our enemy” It would. But there were several facts being overlooked.

              “The amulet. What about the amulets I found in Down’s hideout? What happened to them?” I stashed them in my apartment. Which was most likely being torn to pieces by federal agents or more hired Fae muscle. If normal humans were conducting the search I would not have anything to worry about. If there were others… it would be considerable less fine.

              Vladimir looked at Kovo who squared herself up before giving a succinct report. “We have had surveillance on your residence since Monday night. When you were meeting with Agent Goodwin a team of Federal agents supported by Fae mercenaries attempted to break into your residence. We neutralized the trespassers. We then secured all of your valuable items in a vault in the manor.”

              My incredulous outcry was only a second slower than Gousie’s. “You did what to my apartment?”

“You neutralized an entire team of Federal Agents!” Shit. Gousie probably had a thing about federal agents being killed by supernatural predators. Admittedly, I was only upset because my security measures had been bypassed. The federal agents being killed didn’t bother me much. They were the enemy. I decided to keep that to myself. I didn’t have time to consider the morale implications of the way I felt. “I don’t care if you are the Lord of North America. You cannot kill Federal Agents! It doesn’t matter if they were breaking the law, there isn’t any…”

              “We did not kill the Federal agents. We killed the Fae mercenaries and are holding the Federal agents at a secure location. We have interrogated them and determined that only the leader of the team had any idea about Goodwin’s true nature and intentions. But he did not know anything specific.”

              “But…”. Gousie had nothing left to say but Kovo had more to pile on the lone human.

              “Ah, of course. You work for the United States of America! The brilliant beacon of freedom that would never empower faceless unaccountable thugs to disappear people on mere suspicion to unknown black sites for interrogation. Would never use its overwhelming power to enforce its vision of the world on those who disagree with it. Would never…”

“Kovo!” Vladimir cut off the increasingly terse Kovo. Gousie slumped into her chair in defeat. Recent events had shaken her. How could they not? A well regarded federal agent was using his extraordinary power to orchestrate the end of the world. Power lawfully granted to him by the United States government. Power that was being used to abduct and imprison people indefinitely on mere suspicion with scant oversight. When viewed through that lens then the heavy handed tactics of the Community did not differ greatly from those used by the human authorities. Gousie had to digest that her land of the free held much in common with the Community. 

                            We were saved by sheer flamboyance as a flamenco dancer clad Alewyn swept into the room with a humph of displeasure. “Well I have varying degrees of bad new and I hope someone can dig through it for a silver lining. Who took a piss in your collective Wheaties? Doesn’t matter, we need to get our rears in gears!”

              “In gears? Isn’t it in gear?” I knew what he meant. I was glad for the rapid change in topic. It beat explaining the barbaric workings of what amounted to the Community’s justice system.

              “Shhh. Listen. To. Me. The both of you are now at the top of the FBI’s most wanted list for the murder of
six
Federal agents and dozens of civilians, including one Joseph Hemmingway.” I was no longer glad about this abrupt change in topic. Gousie looked as if she had taken a figurative nut shot. Then she vomited all over the table. There had been a lot of that going around.

Kovo bounded away with a snort of disgust while Vlad was instantly by the vomit soaked federal agent providing comfort. I left my seat and proceeded to pace around the room to force some solution to emerge from the deep recesses of my mind. Kovo observed her Lord comfort a mortal with a sour expression on her face. Alewyn looked like a man who had more grim news to deliver.

“What else is there old friend? You look like someone spilled wine on your new carpets.” He glanced around the room and his gaze landed on Gousie

“Trouble with the local Wiccan coven. Several of their members took some major magical artifacts and dropped off the grid. Turns out the Wiccans were in possession several noxious pieces of contraband, legitimate blood magic artifacts. The wolves and Vald’s people are tracking them.”

“Blood magic?”

“Wait, there’s more. The Enclave representative that was supposed to meet with you was found dead in Rome, but someone arrived in Detroit looking for you under his name. Apparently his physical appearance was identical to the victim.”

“Dead?” I had forgotten about that meeting. Which turned out to be a good thing it would seem.

“Furthermore, someone demolished the Conclave’s California branch office in Sacramento along with all of its members. No one has taken any credit but there aren’t many who are capable of such a thing. The Conclave has shifted to full war footing and will likely be of little use in the immediate future.”

“Demolished?” The Sacramento branch was the second largest Conclave base in the United State and the fifth largest in the world. The amount of force necessary to destroy it was staggering. It couldn’t have been anything less than a full scale assault by a powerful faction. Unless…No, it didn’t make any sense. Why would he suddenly attack the Conclave? 

“The Fae are being their usual useless selves, meaning we will find no concrete information on the Fae mercenaries we have been contending with. If we assume there is a connection between these events it illuminates a larger conspiracy, against you.”

              “Conspiracy?” I was getting another look implying my stupidity. Then I realized the only thing I had contributed to the conversation was a string of questions Solid Snake would be proud of. Everyone, excluding Gousie, heard Alewyn’s sit-rep and their own gears were turning toward a solution. I was the one under direct assault here. I needed to be the one to take the lead. Too bad I couldn’t even begin to guess why anyone would pull a horde of strings to take me out.

              I was a rookie Shaman with less than a century on the job. In that time I had, to my knowledge, never pissed off anyone who could deploy the array of forces against me to settle a grudge. Such complex and expensive revenge plots typically centered around millennia old grudges and I simply hadn’t been alive that long. In addition to my lack of old enemies my allies needed to be considered as well. It was well known that I was close with Vladimir.

              My thoughts were put on hold when the Alpha of the Detroit wolves swaggered into the room followed by his second. Wolves were all about projecting ceaseless confidence and any Alpha excelled at it, if not they wouldn’t remain alpha for long. As a human I imagine that Gediz Aslan often got his way. With rich mocha skin and jet black wavy hair his looks alone could bull people over. Short, stubborn, and powerful, he had been a terrifying merchant to barter with and was quite well known. In fifth century Asia Minor.

As an alpha werewolf Aslan got his way ninety-nine point nine percent of the time. His territory encompassed Michigan and extended across the great lakes into Canada, reaching all the way North to James Bay. We hadn’t gotten off to a great start. He added Detroit and the surrounding area recently when he disposed of his incompetent predecessor. It had actually gone down on my first day in the city. The bulk of his territory was cold and sparsely populated, prime realty for wolves. The fact that Aslan controlled the territory for two hundred years was impressive and spoke volumes about his strength.

His second Amare Belendia Caleb, who always introduced himself with his full name, was a near seven foot tower of ebony muscle. His wolf form was even more intimidating. I always wondered who would actually win in a fight between alpha and right hand, as far as I knew they had never seriously fought as wolves. A peculiar situation, but even if Amare were stronger I doubt the instincts of his wolf could drive him to kill the man who saved his life.

              One quick sweep of the room and Aslan sauntered over to Alewyn and I while Amare and Kovo tried not to stare too much at the other. Sometimes I thought Kovo toyed with me to forget about him if only for a moment. Interspecies relationships, for want of a better term, were still treated with hostility and derision. The fact that both Vladimir and Aslan would likely give their blessing made no difference.