Chapter 28
The Grand Canyon was ablaze with color in the setting rays of the sun. Rust, orange, vermilion, gold, indigo, and silver seemed to intersperse in an endless mural that was awe-inspiring. If Kira hadn't been so concerned about what the next hour might bring, she would have kept turning in slow circles to try to memorize the astounding beauty all around her.
But, of course, this wasn't a sightseeing trip, even though they were in one of America's most visited tourist attractions. The Grand Canyon was also a good place if they needed to run for their lives. The various caves, fissures, and hiding places were only exceeded by the canyon's enormity. Any pursuing Law Guardians or Enforcers wouldn't know whether to search for them in the skies or below, or so Mencheres had explained.
Kira stood between Vlad and Mencheres, the breeze coloring the air's natural bouquet with the different scents emanating from the two vampires. Mencheres's mix of sandalwood and dark spices was interspersed with Vlad's more unusual aroma of cinnamon and . . . smoke.
"Look," Mencheres said, pointing to the south.
She fixed her gaze in that direction, but all she saw was a blond teenager hiking up a trail about two hundred yards below where they were. She must be ahead of her tourist group, though Kira was surprised that tours ran at night. Maybe she should go down there and mesmerize the group into turning around so there weren't any innocent human bystanders who could get hurt if things got messy with the Law Guardian -
"Mencheres," the teenager called out. "I have come alone as promised. "
"That's Veritas?" Kira blurted. The powerful Law Guardian that Mencheres and Vlad had spoken of in such cautious tones? She didn't even look old enough to drive a car!
The pretty young blonde looked right at her then, and even in the distance, Kira could see a flash of bright green in her eyes. Not human, without a doubt.
Vlad leveled his gaze on Kira. "You will quickly learn appearances are the most unreliable way to judge anyone in our world. Take, for example, me. " He held up a hand to Veritas, and it burst into blue flames. Kira's eyes widened.
Neither Vlad's fingers nor his palm appeared the slightest bit burnt. The flames coated around his shirt cuff, but somehow that material didn't catch fire. Then when Vlad lowered his hand, the flames immediately extinguished without even a spark or singed hair to show for it.
"Now I know why you smell like smoke all the time," Kira muttered, adding pyrokinesis to her mental list of abilities that some vampires were capable of manifesting.
"Veritas," Mencheres called out. "I thank you for coming. "
His voice was calm and confident, but Kira felt Mencheres's tenseness grating across her subconscious. He was braced for this to be an attack, ready to spring her away at the slightest hint of an ambush.
The blond Guardian increased her pace as she came toward them, moving now with a grace and speed up the steep incline in a way that made it obvious she wasn't human.
By the time she was within fifty yards, Kira could feel the energy crackling off her. Power she'd only ever felt in such magnitude before from Mencheres.
"You have one hour to plead your case, Mencheres," Veritas said in a sharp tone. "That is all the grace the memory of our sire and our long association will buy you. " This doesn't sound promising, Kira thought. Veritas's Barbie-doll features were a mask of anger, and the energy swirling around her felt distinctly unpleasant.
Mencheres was not intimidated by the Law Guardian's attitude. He bowed his head in a respectful way and proceeded to detail in eloquent and compelling terms how he was in Wyoming with Kira and Gorgon while the club fire and murders occurred. He told Veritas she could pull his cell phone records to determine that calls were made from Wyoming, not Chicago, and that he would never leave behind evidence of their race's existence for humans to find, as evidenced by his destroying the cameras at Disneyland.
He closed with his apologies for thrashing the Enforcers, but said he'd felt it was the only way to protect Kira from Radje's corrupt purposes later. Kira almost wanted to applaud when he was done. If this was a campaign speech, he would've won over every voter.
Except one.
"And do you apologize for murdering an Enforcer, too? Or was that, too, beneath your notice in your zeal to defend your new lover?" Veritas almost spat at Mencheres.
His expression darkened. "What Enforcer? I killed none of them. "
"Josephus chased after you in the skies along with six others, but he was later found shriveled on the ground," Veritas replied. Her gaze raked him. "You are indicted for murder of a Guardian Enforcer. Even your many all ies will not be able to sway the council to mercy, no matter how powerful they may be. "
She gave a pointed glance at Vlad when she made that comment, but Kira was too outraged to stay silent.
"Mencheres didn't do that! We went right from the skies down into the ocean, not anywhere on the ground. I ought to remember, because it scared the shit out of me. "
"Kira . . . " Mencheres began.
"It's true," she replied, more to Veritas than him. The blonde's expression didn't change, but Kira didn't let that stop her. She was so sick of people assuming Mencheres did horrible things without once bothering to consider that someone else might be involved.
"Let me guess, you believe Radje's claim that Mencheres did all these things because he's lost his mind over me, right? And I'm just some wicked bitch who likes to incite him to murder? Could someone at least meet me before thinking that? I thought the human court system was messed up at times, but your vampire system is worse. At least we've got innocent until proven guilty. Not guilty and sentenced before even bothering to look at all the facts. "
"Kira!" Mencheres's voice was harsher.
"You dare to insult the laws?" Veritas demanded, holding out her hand to Mencheres after it felt like he'd just snapped an invisible gag across Kira's mouth. "Do not interfere.
Let her speak, or I leave now," Veritas growled.
Kira's lips were released from their sudden immobility. She gave Mencheres a single withering glare that promised severe consequences if he ever did that again, then addressed the steaming Law Guardian.
"I'm all for your laws to seek justice against whoever killed that Enforcer and leaked that tape, but I have to say I'm not impressed with how little investigative work has been done. Radje says Mencheres torched that club, so people just believe it, no matter that I was crazy from bloodlust those first few days and Mencheres was busy taking care of me. Then an Enforcer ends up dead after chasing Mencheres, so obviously, Mencheres killed him. No other explanation is considered even though if the sentence is so severe for one death, why wouldn't Mencheres have just killed them all? It doesn't make sense, especially if you believe he'd suddenly become whipped by a woman who likes him to murder people for her, as Radje keeps claiming. "
Veritas had Kira by the collar of her shirt, her sea-blue eyes boring into hers.
"Perhaps Mencheres acted without your knowledge. Perhaps he forced you to participate. In this moment only I am offering you the chance to admit to the truth without fear of persecution. You have the word of a Guardian that you will not be charged. Did Mencheres do these things? Or did he ever leave your side during the evening of the fire, or after the Enforcers chased you, to be able to commit these crimes?"
"No to all the above," Kira answered steadily. "It wasn't him. "
Veritas's gaze still pinned hers. "Are you willing to swear by your blood that he is innocent? To forfeit your own life if he is found guilty of committing even one of these acts?"
"Yes," Kira said, even as Mencheres burst, "She has been accused of nothing, you cannot expect her to forfeit her life based on the council's decision on me!"
"I can," Veritas said, releasing Kira. "And I will repeat her vow to the council once I return, so if you have guilt to confess, Mencheres, and you want to spare her, do it now. " Mencheres gave Kira such a tormented look that
fear slid up her spine. He wouldn't confess to something he hadn't done, would he? Of course not. He'd be condemning himself to death just on the mere chance that the other Guardians would rule against him . . .
"Don't," she gasped, clutching his arms. "I know you think you're going to die anyway, but your visions are wrong, Mencheres! They're stalled and twisted from the guilt you felt over things that weren't even your fault. This is not the only way you can save me. Come on, if Veritas didn't in some way suspect more was going on, she wouldn't have shown up here. You didn't do any of this! Don't you dare say you did!" Tears spilled out of her eyes, and her grip tightened until Kira heard bones snap in his arms, but fear made her unable to let up. Mencheres was about to slip away from her forever, she could feel it.
"Don't trust what those damned visions say," she whispered. "Trust me. We can beat Radje another way, I know it. Let me prove it to you. "
His eyes, so dark and fathomless, stared into hers. Very gently, he captured her hands and pulled them off his arms with a flex of his power. Then he brought them to his lips.
"I love you," he breathed against her skin.
"Don't, please," she begged, panic rising in her while tears continued to course down her cheeks.
Mencheres looked past Kira to Veritas. "I had nothing to do with the arson, the deaths of those people, or the Enforcer's death," he said in a clear tone. "The same person who accuses me is the one responsible. Radjedef. "
Relief flooded Kira so strongly she thought her knees would give out. All her instincts screamed that Mencheres had been moments away from taking all the blame. Part of her wanted to throw her arms around him while the other part wanted to slap him for almost doing something so nobly, lethally stupid.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again," she ordered in a shaking voice.
His mouth curved in a grim smile. "Instead, I've terrified myself. " Kira knew what he meant, but she believed everything she said about finding a way to beat Radjedef. Veritas's expression when she looked at her only confirmed it. The Law Guardian appeared wary but thoughtful, that initial angry accusing light gone from her gaze.
"Mencheres, if you keep trying to throw your life away, I'll kill you myself," Vlad muttered. "You might not be needed by your people as much with Bones sharing your rule, but you are needed by your friends. Remember that the next time you hear the siren song of the grave. "
"Most of the Guardians believe you killed those vampires and set fire to the club," Veritas said, speaking for the first time in several moments. "There was, however, a troubling find with Josephus's body. His head was taken off, but closer inspection revealed he might have also been stabbed in the back. "
"Wouldn't it be obvious if he was?" Kira asked, frowning.
"No," Mencheres replied. "When a vampire is killed, the body decomposes back to its true age. Josephus was several hundred years old. There would have been little left of him except withered skin and bones. "
Not a pretty mental image, but dead bodies seldom were. Kira still didn't understand the significance of the knife wound as being suspicious, unless the other Enforcers revealed that Mencheres left all their knives back at the park. Though Josephus could have grabbed his own blade before he chased them and later been killed with that . . .
"There you have it," Vlad said, sounding satisfied. "Vampire or ghoul, Mencheres doesn't use knives to kill. He simply tears someone's head off with his power. Radje would've needed a knife against an Enforcer, and the element of surprise, too. Explains why Josephus's wound was in the back. Poor bastard probably never saw it coming. " A flash of that day at the warehouse skittered across Kira's memory, and she grimaced. Mencheres had decapitated all of the ghouls with a mere thought, faster than it would have taken for him to gather up one of their knives. Why would Mencheres ever use knives when his telekinesis was a far faster and deadlier weapon?
"Radje must have taken Josephus's head off after he was dead to make it appear as if I'd done it," Mencheres mused. "Clever. He must not have thought anyone would look for a knife wound, or that evidence of one would remain. With an Enforcer's death blamed on me, most of my all ies would fall away. He already knows I sought death before. This would leave me in a far more desperate position to give him what he wants first. "
"What does he want, aside from your being dead?" Kira grumbled.
"My power. Cain was the father of our race, cursed by his god forever to roam the land as a fugitive in punishment for murdering Abel. But Cain pleaded that his sentence was too great, and his god took pity, marking Cain so none could kill him. Cain thus became the first vampire, dependent on blood for sustenance but beyond mortal death and possessing incredible power. Cain then made his own race to replace the family he'd been driven away from, but to only one of his offspring did he will out a portion of his incredible power. Enoch was that first recipient, and many centuries later, Enoch passed on Cain's legacy of power to his heir, Tenoch, who then passed it to me. " Veritas's blond brows rose. "How could Radjedef get that from you now? You gave that power legacy to Bones when you merged lines with him. "
"So I did, and Bones cannot will the power to anyone else until he masters it completely. It took me several hundred years to do that. Radje has no intention of waiting that long. He wants me to will out all the power left in me. It's the only way he can be assured of finally possessing Cain's legacy. "
"But if you will out all your power . . . " Kira's voice trailed off.
He gave a grim snort. "It will likely kill me. Or Radje will, once I'm weakened after giving it to him. If I live after willing him my power, I am the evidence of duplicity. If I'm dead, Radje could cloak his new additional power, and few would ever know he has it. " Veritas's face was very solemn. "You expect the Guardian Council to believe your charges against another Guardian of conspiracy, murder, exposing the race, and blackmail. All based on conjecture when your own adherence to our laws has been spotty at best. "
"Spotty? He's done nothing wrong," Kira said in frustration.
"Rumors abound that Mencheres conjured wraiths to find and kill his wife. Black magic is expressly forbidden in the law, but of course, all those who witnessed Patra's death and the deaths of her guards are loyal to Mencheres and will not confirm this. " She gave a sharp look at Vlad as she spoke. He winked at her, his mouth curving in a sly smile.
"Did those same rumors mention how Patra summoned an army from the grave to ambush me and my people?" Mencheres countered.
"She sent zombies after you?" Kira asked, incredulous.
"Yes," Mencheres replied shortly. "And anything from the grave cannot be killed by normal means. Even my telekinesis was useless against them, for grave magic is not subject to the powers of the living, as Patra knew. "
"You could have filed a formal complaint - " Veritas began.
"Which would have taken weeks to investigate," Mencheres interrupted. "Leaving me and most of my people dead by then because Patra would have conjured another form of grave magic to finish us after that one failed. It was only a lucky guess that saved us that time, but it was already too late for the dozens who had been cut down. " The Law Guardian's jaw was still set in a hard line. Kira could almost feel the tension between the three of them, and their infighting would only help Radje.
"I understand your reverence for the law, Veritas," Kira said. "You're a good cop. But if, hypothetically, Mencheres did conjure that spell against his wife, then he knows a surefire way to kill Radje. He also knows no one's willing to testify against him, either out of loyalty or fear. Yet Mencheres refuses to use this unbeatable power against someone who's pulling out all the stops to bring him down. "
Kira leaned closer, and her voice dropped. "If he did use that power before, it only was in self-defense, and almost every law allows latitude for self-defense. He's not using it now even though it would be the fastest way to win, so isn't he then proving his utmost respect for the law?"
Veritas stared a
t each of them for a long time, her blue eyes far more ancient than her teenage appearance. Kira remained absolutely still. Praying the Law Guardian would see past Radje's house of cards.
"I may be inclined to believe you, but the rest of the Guardian Council will require proof, not conjecture, no matter how compelling," Veritas said at last.
And in the time it took them to gather that proof, Radje would be busy setting up more frame jobs for Mencheres, killing who knew how many more innocent people. Kira's teeth ground together. She'd helped catch a crooked cop once with Pete. Maybe she could do it again with Radje.
"I know a way to bust Radje," she said. Three gazes swung in her direction. "But we'll have to go back to Chicago to settle some business first. "