Part 15 (1/2)

A golden light filled the front windows of the Wu house and the door opened inward, as if unlatched by a phantom hand.

Standing on the threshold was a naked woman with long hair that fluttered about as if blown by gentle winds. In her arms was a baby boy with dark hair and Oriental eyes. The stranger hovered beside the sleeping woman for a moment, then took the body of little Qui En from the cradle, leaving the living baby in its place. Then, as quickly and silently as she arrived, the glowing woman floated out the door.

Mei Li awoke with a start, blinking in confusion. She must have fallen asleep. She looked into the cradle to check on Qui En and was both surprised and relieved to find that whatever had been bothering her son had pa.s.sed. Qui En gurgled happily, waving his little hands at her as if in greeting.

New York City: Two voices on a telephone line: 'She's here.'

'Are you sure it's her?'

'I'm positive. It's her, of that you can be certain.'

'Good. I knew she'd come once she got the clippings. But be careful. She's deadlier by far than any other you've ever crossed, my boy.'

'I know. That's why she fascinates me so.'

Something's in the room.

It wasn't even a thought. More a feeling. A sensation picked up by slumbering sensory apparatus and fed into an unconscious mind. Is it the real thing or merely a dream of intrusion?

Wake up, you stupid b.i.t.c.h! the Other shrieked, answering the reality-dream issue once and for all. We've got company!

Sonja came off the loft bed in three seconds flat, fangs extended, hair bristling like a cat's back. There was no time for her to wonder how they managed to find her. No time to try and figure out how they got past the b.o.o.by traps. She hit the ground in a low crouch, hissing a warning at the intruder seated in the leather easy chair.

'No need for such theatrics, milady,'Jen purred. There was no fear in his eyes. Caution, yes - but no fear. 'I intend you no harm.'

'If that's the case, what are you doing here?'

'My employers wanted to know where you're keeping your nest. They told me to a.s.sign a shadow to you. I'm sure you remember him. However, you needn't fear me. I won't tell them that I know where you spend your daylight hours.'

'What are you getting at, renfield?'

Jen's spine stiffened and indignation flickered in his eyes.

'I am not a renfield.'

'You couldn't prove it by me. You're a human working for vampires - that makes you a renfield in my book. Theirs, too, I'd say.'

This seemed to make him bridle even more. 'I am my own man, d.a.m.n you! I work for Luxor and Nuit because it suits my needs, not because they've got a slave collar snapped around my mind!'

'All the more reason for me not to trust you. At least renfields don't have much control in what they do. After all, they're addicts. You... you, on the other hand... you're one of their bellwethers. You lure your fellow humans to their doom to benefit your vampiric partners and line your own pockets!'

The pale blue of Jen's eyes seemed to intensify as he glowered at Sonja. 'I am not a renfield, nor am I a bellwether.

I am like you.'

'You are nothing like me!'

'Perhaps. Perhaps not. But you're wrong about my species.

I am not human. I am dhampire.'

Sonja turned to stare at him. 'Dhampire? I've heard rumours of such things - the supposed by-product of vampire-human matings.'

Jen smoothed his braided coils like Medusa calming her snakes. 'There are very few of my kind in this world. As I said, I am dhampire. My mother was human--'

'And your father a vampire? Impossible! Vampires are dead things, their sperm inert. They may very well be capable of erection, even e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n, but they are incapable of reproducing.'

'I am very well aware of the procreative failings of the living dead,' Jen sniffed. 'If you would allow me to continue, I'll explain. My biological father was human enough, although I have no clue as to his ident.i.ty. Not that it matters.

My mother was a streetwalker. Whitechapel, in fact. No doubt my father was a drunken sot with tuppence in his pocket and a hard-on in his pants. She was only fourteen when she had me, mind you. However, shortly after becoming pregnant, my mother fell in with a certain gentleman of n.o.ble mien, if you understand me.

'She was his favorite for a couple of months, until she began to show her condition. Such things are anathema to vampires - they are forever frozen in time, changeless and unchanging. The withering and dying of their human consorts is one thing - entropy, after all, is the vampire's handmaiden - but the creation of new life! Ah, that reminds them that they are, indeed, outside the chain of nature. They pretend to have disdain for how humans reproduce, but they are secretly envious and jealous to the point of mania.

'As I said, my mother's lover may have cast her aside, but it was too late. I was already affected by the venom he released into her each time he fed from her. When I was born my mother placed me in a foundling home and went in search of similar lovers. I was always... strange. Underweight, anemic, and of a morbid turn, my life was made a living h.e.l.l by my warders and fellow inmates. Then, when I was eight years old, my mother reappeared and took me to live with her.

'Over the years my mother developed into a courtesan for those of n.o.ble make.' She'd become quite wealthy and bought a fas.h.i.+onable house in London, which she turned into a salon of sorts, where she entertained her clients. She even had a few lovers outside the vampire race - the occasional vargr prince, kitsune diplomat, or ogre businessman. Compared to the brutality and indifference of the foundling home, it seemed perfectly normal to me.

'It wasn't until I was twelve years old that I realized that I was far from human. While I lay curled deep within my mother's womb, her lover's tainted seed had worked its way into my system. While I was hardly a vampire, I could walk the streets of London and actually see the Pretenders for what they were. I also benefited from heightened senses and an intuition for what those around me truly desired.

In no time I was serving as my mother's pimp, searching the streets and back alleys for eager clients.

'But, by far, my surrogate father's most lasting contribution was in the realm of longevity. How old do you think I am?'

'I don't know.' Sonja shrugged. 'Forty? Forty-five?'

'I'll be one hundred and twenty-seven come next June!' he cackled, clapping his hands. 'Bet you didn't guess that, milady.'

'You're right on that count. But it still doesn't answer why you're here, and why I shouldn't kill you where you sit.'

Jen held up one hand, begging her indulgence. 'My employers are just that - employers. They are not my liege and lady. I came of age in the very breast of monstrosity, if you will. I feel no kins.h.i.+p for humans - yet, nor do I consider myself a vampire. I am a nation unto myself. A member of a solitary race. I serve many masters, yet I am slave to none. And I am not here to see Luxor's petty blood vendetta carried out. I am here on behalf of one known to you, one who considers himself more friend than foe.'

'Pangloss.'

Jen grunted as he pushed himself out of the easy chair. 'Most astute. He sent me instead of one of his servitors because of your predilection for slaying vampires on sight. I am to bring you to him.'

Sonja shook her head and folded her arms over her chest.

'I have no interest in seeing Pangloss again. I've had my fill of his mind games and trickery. You can tell him what I told Luxor - if he wants Morgan dead, tough. I don't subcontract.'

'You misunderstand. Pangloss doesn't give a rat's a.s.s about Morgan. Not anymore, that is. He wants to see you for other, more personal reasons.'

'Such as?'

'He's dying.'

Pangloss's lair was located on the top three floors of a tony apartment building in Gramercy Park. The doorman scowled at Sonja when they first entered the building. However, when he saw Jen his eyes glazed and his face went slack.

'Pangloss has him conditioned,' Jen stage-whispered into her ear as they hurried into the elevators. 'Whenever he sees me or one of the doctor's servants, he goes into a fugue state.

Doesn't remember who came in or when. Otherwise, he's a tough doorman to sneak by unannounced.'