The sky was still flashing with lightning but the rain hadn’t started. He decided not to risk taking a cab out to the countryside, and turned a corner into an empty alley. He was feeling powerful now from the two feedings, and was able to quickly shapeshift and become airborne. In this form he was nearly invisible, a shadow passing overhead which would go unnoticed in the glare of the city lights. He had no real wish to encounter the group that he expected would be waiting for him, but it was a loose end that needed to be tied up, and the sooner the better.
The wind was picking up and it wouldn’t be long before the rain arrived, but with luck he’d be done with what he had to do by then and be on his way back. He needed to arrive at some distance from the churchyard to get a better idea of the situation: how many men, and what kind of weapons they carried. Since Alexandra had told him they knew what he was, and he had no reason to doubt what she said, he had to be prepared to fight. He set down a quarter mile away, but stayed in his mist-like form, gliding slowly down the hill behind the church. There was a single vehicle, a large black van. He could hear their heartbeats: there were four of them inside. It was a pretty good bet they weren’t likely to be looking for a civilized discussion of what had happened in New York. He didn’t have to wait long to find out. He reassumed his human form, and as he walked into the churchyard four men climbed out of the van and surrounded him, but not too closely. No matter. Four of them wouldn’t take long to deal with. He looked at the two in front of him. They were burly, tattooed, and the one on his right had a huge scar on his neck. No strangers to fights, this bunch.
“Well gentlemen, what are your orders? Rush me all at once, or one at a time?”
The one to his left spoke up. “Where’s the woman?”
“You mean Alexandra? I’m afraid she won’t be joining us. You see we had a bit of an argument, and I’m afraid she lost her head in the heat of the moment.” Andrej gave a sardonic grin, and looked like he was ready to lunge at the man and demonstrate exactly what he meant. The man fell back a step, unnerved. Andrej turned his head ever so slightly to his right as he heard a footstep behind him.
“Don’t,” he warned, wagging a finger in the air without turning. From behind and to his left he heard the fourth man rush at him, and he lifted his arm, hand clenched into a fist, catching the man square in the face and sending him flying backwards. He landed on his back as the other three tried to rush him. Andrej spun to catch the two on the right, lifting one into the air with his left arm, and jamming his right elbow into the windpipe of the other from behind. The one who had asked about Alexandra came up behind on his left as Andrej dealt with the first two, and he felt a knife sink into his back. Without flinching, he turned left and looked the man straight in the eye, then pulled the knife out. There was no blood. The man looked back and forth from Andrej’s face to the knife. He turned to run, seemingly deciding this was not a fight he could win, but Andrej had no intention of letting any of them get out of this alive. He hefted the knife in his hand and took aim at the man’s back as he tried to run. The strength of the throw drove it deep into the man’s back, dead center, knocking him to the ground. Andrej casually walked over and stood over the body for a moment before reaching down and pulling the knife out in one sharp motion. He kicked the man’s body over onto his back, then took the knife and plunged it deep into his heart. The smell of the blood was intoxicating to him, but he held himself back. This one was going to be his first sacrifice. He stood up and backed away from the body as a shadow slid around the side of the church and made its way to where he stood. Andrej held his arms out to his sides, the knife still in his right hand. A strong gust of wind suddenly blew through the churchyard, followed by the rain which came steadily now, washing the blood from his hand and the knife. The shadow, which could barely be seen, hovered above the body for a moment, then moved to encompass Andrej. It was icy cold. Even though he was no longer aware of natural elements like hot or cold, this thing froze him from the inside. It lasted only a moment, then moved off again. Gasping for air, Andrej dropped to his knees, letting the knife fall onto the muddy ground. From where he knelt he turned to look behind him for the other three men. One was gone, but two were still lying where he had thrown them, dead from the force of the blows.
As he recovered his breath, smoke started rising from the body in front of him. In another moment flames licked up around it, and despite the wetness of the ground the entire corpse became engulfed in flames. The fire burned so bright and so hot, Andrej had to look away, staggering and scrambling through the mud to get away, and ducked behind a large grave marker for a shield. Within minutes almost nothing was left, not even bones. It had been reduced to a pile of ashes, cremated right there.
The squall that had come up rained itself out and stopped just as suddenly as it had started. Andrej turned around to walk out of the churchyard when he heard the sound of a motorcycle approaching on the road. His first thought was that it might be a police patrol coming to see if the church was on fire, alerted by the smoke and flames that had gone up from the burning body, but they would have had to have been nearby to see it and that was unlikely. As the rider came around the corner, he saw it wasn’t any kind of police vehicle. It was an old style motorcycle, but civilian. Andrej thought there was something familiar about the rider. He waited where he was, watching the bike approach. If he had to get rid of one more, he might as well do it now. The bike slowed, coming to a stop several yards away from him. The rider wore no helmet, just a bandana tied around his head, keeping his longish hair out of his eyes as he rode. Even in the dark he was wearing dark glasses. Andrej grinned.
“What the hell’s goin’ on, old man?” the biker called to him as he sauntered over.
“Neko. Still sensitive to light, I see,” Andrej answered. They clapped each other on the arm like old war buddies.
“Yeah, yeah, not getting any better with age,” the second man joked. “Shit, man, looks like you took out three of my best minions,” he added glancing around at the bodies still laying on the ground, and the pile of ash where the third had been. “Where’s the other guy?”
Andrej indicated with a nod of his head toward the hill behind them. “Ran off. You have minions now? Glad to know I rate the best.”
“Always for you, my friend. You know I had to make it look good.”
“Ah, you’re such a showman. But maybe you need a better class of minions.”
Neko laughed. “Well, these guys might leave you alone now. They’re not looking to draw a lot of attention to themselves. They’ll lick their wounds for a bit, and move on. I tried to tell them it was a bad idea to try to go up against you, but you know nobody ever listens to me.”
“Do they know about you?”
“Nah,” he said, shaking his head. “Always more useful to keep that to myself.”
Andrej nodded. “Usually for the best.”
“When did you get back to Prague?”
“A few months ago.”
Neko searched his face, nodding slightly. “You came back to see her?”
Andrej took a small breath, looking off in the direction of the church. “Yes.”
“And?”
Andrej’s expression became softer. “It’s all right.”
Neko didn’t say anything. He had known of Sara, and when Andrej wasn’t able to be nearby he had occasionally looked in on her and passed on reports to him. Summoning the dead was not something Neko had ever tried and would have tried to talk Andrej out of if he’d been there, even though he doubted he could have done anything to stop him. One didn’t disturb the dead idly.
“Oh, by the way, Alexandra’s out of the game.”
Neko looked at Andrej and nodded. “Oh yeah, I heard about her not long ago. I figured someone’d get her soon. Batshit crazy, that one.”
“Her protégé, on the other hand, is still out there, but I don’t think he’s going to be a problem.”
“Kiril? Yeah.” Neko rubbed his chin, idly stroking his goatee. “Shou
ld we drop in on him, have a chat?”
Andrej shrugged. “That’s up to you. I’ve talked to him a couple of times, he seems to be adjusting.”
“Yeah, but now that he’s on his own, without his benefactor, he might need a helping hand before he trips himself up. Or us.”
“I suggested he head back to Russia for awhile. He should be on his way in a day or so.”
“I still think someone should keep an eye on him until then.”
Neko was right, Andrej thought. He was fairly certain he’d gotten through to him from their previous encounters but it couldn’t hurt to have someone watch him for a few weeks, anyway.
“Can you send someone?”
“Sure, I’ve got a couple guys who can tail him. I did hear he was planning to head back to Russia, I’ll get some people back there to watch for him.”
Andrej looked at Neko and smirked. Neko had eyes everywhere, which he found amusing, if a little unsettling.
“Don’t worry,” Neko said, grinning. “I heard about your work at the cemetery, so I sent an acquaintance to find out what he could. And of course I hacked Kiril’s communer. He’s been calling Minsk, making arrangements to move back.” Neko had more underworld connections than Andrej, which had proven useful more than once.
“Good, glad he took my advice,” Andrej said. “I’ve already had to clean up after him enough.” He wasn’t feeling particularly paternal towards Kiril, despite his heart-to-heart with him that first night when he saw him drain the life from the victim in the alley. He took out his cigarettes and lit one, then offered one to Neko.
“I don’t mind if I do.” He surveyed the scene in the churchyard again as he dragged on the cigarette.
“I hope this unfortunate business isn’t going to cause any trouble for you,” Andrej said.
“Nah, what can they do? These guys are getting a little too high and mighty for their own good anyway, might be time to take them down a peg or two.”
Andrej had known Neko long enough to understand what he meant. If his employers decided to try to make an example of him, Neko would simply kill them. All of them. He’d done it once before, fulfilling his directive for sacrifices in one night. His capacity for compassion was nearly erased when he was converted to the ranks of vampires, unless someone managed to get on his good side.
“So tell me what you’ve been up to. You must have a new assistant by now. That guy, what was his name?”
“Pavel, went by Paul.”
“Right, right, Pavel. He must be retired now, eh?”
“Oh yes, some time ago. I’ve had a new one for a couple years now, found her in New York.”
“Is that right, a girl this time?”
Andrej smiled. “She’s off limits, like they all are.”
“Oh sure, no problem. I can respect that. How’s it working out?”
“She’s great, the best I’ve had in ages. Real quiet, and you know I can’t stand the chatty ones.”
Neko laughed out loud and clapped Andrej on the back. “Oh yeah, I remember that one you had to get rid of, back when you were living in Greece where I met you. Man, what made you take her on in the first place? I can’t remember.”
Andrej shrugged, looking a little like a guilty schoolboy. “She could speak several languages, and I’d never had a blond assistant before.”
“That’ll teach ya. So where are you staying in Prague? Mind if I drop in for a visit? Been a long time since I had someone to talk to.”
“What, you don’t have an assistant these days?”
“Not at the moment,” he said. “I’ve been on the move so much I haven’t had time to locate any suitable candidates. Maybe you could help me find one.”
Andrej gave him his address, but he wasn’t sure Neko would ever actually make a social call. It wasn’t like him. But, it could be that he was mellowing a little, perhaps some companionship was not completely unattractive anymore. They shook hands again, and Neko roared off on his motorcycle.
When he arrived back at the apartment Anne-Marie was sitting up, drinking coffee and reading a book. She heard him enter from the balcony, dropped the book and jumped up out of her chair.
“So, what happened? Are you all right?”
“Fine, fine, everything’s fine. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about them again. I thought you were sleeping?”
“Phew,” she said. “I was, but I was too nervous for even your mind games to keep me asleep all night.”
She looked him over from head to toe. Not a scratch, not even any mud on his coat. She didn’t ask for details, she knew better. If there was anything she needed to know, Andrej would tell her.
“Were you holding your breath all night?” he teased. “Am I going to come home and have to resuscitate you?”
She made her sour face at him. “I’ll let you know when you have to pick me up off the floor.”
“I have a friend coming to visit.”
Her mouth dropped open. In all the time she’d known him, he had never so much as hinted at a friend.
“Need me to pick you up off the floor now? At least your jaw?”
“What do you mean, a ‘friend’?”
He tilted his head back and forth. “Ok, I admit that’s a little vague.” He looked at her out of the corner of his eye as he lit a cigarette. He grinned and walked into the kitchen.
She padded after him in her slippers and robe. “Come on, you can’t leave me hanging like this. When is this person coming over? Do I need to get anything special for you? A few units of blood?”
“No, we can get our own.” He paused and turned around to face her, leaning against the kitchen counter. The morning sun was beginning to come in through the blinds, but the sky was still a rosy pink color which gave his skin uncustomary warmth, and his eyes looked even greener than usual. He caught the way she was looking at him.
“So it is another vampire,” she said.
“Yes he is. I’ve known him for a long time. He works—or rather, worked—for the people who I was supposed to meet last night. We go back a long way, so he sort of engineered things in my favor last night. He knows my rule about assistants so you don’t have to worry.”
“I’m never worried when you’re around, you know that,” she said.
“You were the night Alexandra and Kiril were here,” he reminded her.
“Ok, that was once. So when’s he coming by?”
“I don’t know for sure, I just thought you should know he was in town and might be by.”
“Thanks for the warning. What’s he look like?”
He grinned, watching the coffee pour into his cup. “Scary.”
“What vampire isn’t scary-looking?”
He affected a hurt expression. “Awww, you wound me.”
“Oh you know what I mean. When you’re showing your fangs and your eyes glow, it’s scary. More than once I thought I was on the menu.” She snarled at him and walked out of the kitchen, realizing she wasn’t going to get a straight answer. He followed her into the living room, sipping his coffee.
She sat down and put her feet up on the coffee table, crossing her arms on her chest. She could be so serious which caused him no end of amusement, but she was never really angry with him, and she’d forgive him anything. He stretched out on the sofa, propping himself up on his elbow.
“I met Neko while I was living in Greece a long time ago. He’s been a vampire a little longer than I have, and I trust him. He’s one of the few people I’ve trusted since my rebirth.”
“So he’s cool with no snacking on the assistants?”
He smiled. “Yes, yes, he knows, he won’t touch you. You could trust him even if I’m not around.”
Anne-Marie breathed a small sigh of relief.
“Well, sun’s up, time for me to get some rest. Call me if anything happens.”
“Like what? Should I be expecting something to happen?”
Andrej waved his hand at her with a mock look of annoyance. “Don’t be so dra
matic. If I was expecting trouble would I be going to bed?”
“Then don’t say stuff like that after everything that’s been going on lately.”
He walked over and kissed the top of her head before going back to his room.
She’d been up most of the night fretting while he was out, and now that he was home and safe she realized she was exhausted and went back to her own room and fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter 11