Part 18 (1/2)

And she's, ”Look.”

There were fourteen cards on the table. All kinds of pictures and numbers. And I'm like, ready to go, ”'Splain, please.” But then I see what she's big eyes about. They are all the same suit. So I'm, ”They're all swords.”

And she's like, ”Yes. I'm not sure how to even interpret this.”

And I'm all, ”She's hurt, she's not alone, and all the cards came up swords?”

And she's, ”Yes, dear, that's what I just said, but I don't know what it means.”

And I'm, ”I do. Can you do them again?” And I slap another hundred in her jar.

And she's, ”'Kay.”

Then she lays them all out again, and this time there's a lot of swords, but also other cards. And I'm, ”Well?”

And she's all, ”In this configuration, the swords signify north, but also, the air, a sailing s.h.i.+p perhaps. It doesn't make sense.”

And we're like, ”What? What?”

And she's like, ”A sunken s.h.i.+p?”

And I'm like, ”It makes total sense.”

And Flood is like, ”It does?”

And I'm like, ”Stay right there, Madame. We may be back.”

And Flood is like, ”What? What?”

And I'm all, ”I forgot to tell you about the little guy with the sword.”

And he's like, ”You really adjust to this magical stuff fast, Abby.”

And I'm like, ”Are you trying to say I'm perky? Because I'm not. I'm complex.”

I am. Shut up, I am.

He's looking at me right now, like we should be going. Even though I am typing at awesome speed. Okay, that's it, dude, you're hars.h.i.+ng the depth out of my literature. I'm coming. What a whiner. Gotta go. We're going to run out of dark. Byez.

THE OLD ONES.

Makeda put on the gla.s.ses and watched the bricks at the corner of the building light up. They'd find the cats by behavior, because even vampire cats are cats, and they marked their territory. Elijah had told them where it had started and where it was likely to move. The special sungla.s.ses, combined with their vampire vision, allowed them to see the phosphorus expelled in the cats' urine as glowing. They could even see a half-life, of sorts. Something marked days ago would glow much dimmer than something marked only a few hours ago.

”That way,” said Makeda.

Rolf c.o.c.ked his head toward the boarded-up loft apartment on the second floor. ”That's the loft where Elijah said he turned the first cat. There are people up there. Sounds like two.”

”That's also where he was fried by a jacket covered with sun lights,” said Makeda. ”I say we clean up the cats first, they're less tricky.”

Rolf nodded to Makeda, who bolted down the alley without another word. They followed the trail, a mark here and there, many blocks until they reached the Mission, where the trail started to sunburst out.

”I don't know which way to go,” said Bella. ”We need to get a vantage point.”

Rolf looked around and spotted the tallest building in the area. ”How about that one, the one that looks like a robot pterodactyl is perched on it? He pointed to the black gla.s.s Federal Building.

Makeda said, ”It's an abomination.”

”Said the abomination,” snarked Rolf. ”I'll go. I have to go up solid, I need the gla.s.ses.” He shrugged off his overcoat and dropped his weapons on top of it.

”Well go to mist if you lose your grip,” said Makeda. ”I'll catch your gla.s.ses. If you fall off of that thing solid we'll have to sc.r.a.pe you into a bag to get you back to the s.h.i.+p.”

He grinned, showing his fangs, then started a steady climb up the sheer corner of the building.

Bella pulled a pack of cigarettes from her jacket, shook one out, lit it, then blew a long stream of smoke up after Rolf. ”What if Elijah lied about turning more humans? He's lied before.”

When they'd retrieved the old vampire from the City initially he'd brought along a blond vampire woman, claiming she was the only one. She hadn't survived the first month at sea. Weak vessels, Weak vessels, they called her type. they called her type.

”He didn't admit turning the cat, either, until we found the news stories on the Internet.”

”We need to talk to him again when we get back to the s.h.i.+p, if there's time.”

Rolf thumped to the pavement beside them. ”That way. About six blocks. There's a sunburst pattern that's centered there and spreads out ten blocks or so in every direction. I could actually see a hundred or so cats on a roof there.”

”Let's go, then,” said Makeda.

”That's not all,” said Rolf. ”There is a group of men hunting them. Eight of them.”

”How do you know they're hunting the cats?”

”Because two of them lit up their coats. If I hadn't been wearing the gla.s.ses I'd be blind. They're wearing the sun jackets that Elijah warned us about.”

”Well, f.u.c.k,” said Makeda. ”That's eight more we have to kill.”

”At least,” said Rolf. ”How much time before daylight?”

”Two and a half hours,” said Bella, checking her watch. ”Don't we have a sniper rifle on the s.h.i.+p?”

”Somewhere,” said Rolf.

”Well, they can't turn on a sun jacket if they're dead before we're within five hundred yards.”

”Messy,” said Makeda. ”Bullets leave bodies.”

”I'd rather have to dispose of a couple of bodies than get fried by a sun jacket,” said Bella, taking charge now. ”Rolf, you and I will go after the cats. Take out as many as we can. Makeda, follow the hunters, keep your distance, see where they go, and meet us back at the s.h.i.+p. Tonight cats. Tomorrow night, humans.”

”I hate cats,” said Makeda.