Part 33 (1/2)
”The time is coming. That's all I know. But-”
Sean leaned forward. ”He's speaking to you when you're asleep?” he asked politely.
The frown Cal displayed for an instant a.s.sured Sean of the truth. He smiled. ”When he's done with you, he'll chew you up into little pieces and spit you out.” He paused briefly, then asked, ”Did you attack Dr. Jessica Fraser on purpose?”
The change of tactic seemed to work. Cal frowned. ”No. Yes. You're just a stupid dumb-f.u.c.k cop, you know? We were led to her. That b.i.t.c.h took my sister, you know.” He started to laugh. ”Thing was, I couldn't keep her and I couldn't shoot her, you know?”
”But now everything in your life is going to be just fine. Because he's going to get you out of here, because he cares about you.”
He saw small beads of sweat begin to appear on Cal's upper lip. ”What the f.u.c.k do you want from me? I wasn't in the hospital. I didn't kill your pals. And I sure as h.e.l.l wasn't at that party.”
”You knew about it.”
Cal shrugged.
Sean moved in again. ”How?” he demanded.
Jeremy sat tensely as they followed the elegant drive, lined by trees dripping with Spanish moss, that led to the Canadys' house.
There were a number of cars there already. ”Your friends?” he asked Jessica.
”Looks like it.”
”Great. A whole pack of bloodsuckers,” the professor said as the car pulled to a stop.
Jeremy was sure Jessica refrained from saying everything that was on her mind because he and Nancy were in the backseat.
”You want to defeat the Master,” she reminded Bryan. ”These people have gone up against some of the greatest evil out there and survived. Don't you see?” There was a plea in her tone. ”We need the help.”
Bryan MacAllistair didn't deny that. ”Come on, kids,” he said, getting out of the car.
Nancy looked almost as scared as she had the night she had sat with him at the hospital in Transylvania. He took her hand and helped her from the car. When he would have released her, she held tight. He smiled, maintaining a finger lock with her. He wasn't afraid himself. Not now.
A beautiful red-haired woman answered the door when they knocked. ”Right on time,” she said.
”Maggie, Jeremy and Nancy. This is our hostess, Maggie.”
”h.e.l.lo,” Jeremy said, letting go of Nancy long enough to shake hands.
”Hi,” Nancy said, staring. ”Are you...?”
”I'm not a vampire,” Maggie said.
”Of course not,” Nancy murmured.
”But I was,” their hostess said with a grin. ”Come on in.”
She led them to a huge parlor off the entry hall. Jeremy almost laughed in nervous relief when he saw that no one there looked undead or otherworldly. In fact, it looked as if they were at a photo shoot for the absolutely beautiful.
Bryan MacAllistair strode into the room, stopping dead center and staring at a tall dark-haired man. ”Lucien? Known as the king of the vampires?”
”I'm Lucien, yes,” the man said evenly.
King of the vampires? Jeremy thought. He felt Nancy cower behind him. Jessica wouldn't have brought them here if it weren't safe, he told himself.
Jessica slipped past the two of them then, positioning herself between Bryan and the other men. ”Lucien, Bryan MacAllistair, Bryan, Lucien DeVeau. Oh, and Jeremy and Nancy.” She introduced a very tall man as Ragnor and another man as Brent Malone. The women present were introduced as Jade, Lucien's wife, Tara, who was married to Brent, and Jordan, married to Raynor and taking notes on a notebook computer.
”A warrior,” Brent Malone said, staring at MacAllistair with curiosity and respect.
”You're not a vampire,” Professor MacAllistair said flatly.
”Werewolf, I'm afraid,” Malone said with a grimace. ”And fully dedicated to the destruction of evil in whatever form.”
”This is entirely against everything I was ever taught,” MacAllistair said.
Jessica touched his arm. ”Times change,” she said. ”We're all part of what we call the Alliance, and we...oh, h.e.l.l, I don't know any other way of explaining it. We're part of a continuing war against evil. A lot of us are vampires, and then there's Brent. Jade has some of our abilities, but not all. She was bitten, but she didn't die. Tara and Jordan are completely human.”
Jade DeVeau said smoothly, ”Time is of the essence here. We should start. Maggie, when is Sean due back?”
”I don't know what's keeping him,” Maggie said.
Bryan strode across to the fireplace, facing Lucien DeVeau. The men studied each other. ”I'd heard you were off demon hunting,”
Bryan said.
”We were. We're back,” Lucien said flatly.
”And the demon?”
”Will wait. I've heard of the Master, of course,” Lucien said, grimacing. ”We had hoped he would never appear again. Now that he has shown his hand, he must be stopped.”
”You're not afraid of me, are you?” he asked.
”Should we be?” Lucien asked.
”You know what I am,” MacAllistair said.
”And you don't really know what we are,” Lucien said evenly. ”If you did, there would be no reason for any of us to fear you- ever. We are all determined that the Master must be stopped. Shall we go with that for now?”
MacAllistair kept his eyes on the man for a long moment. Then he said, ”Let's start with the kids, then. They can describe that night in Transylvania, start to finish. I can throw in my part, Jessica can explain hers. G.o.d knows, maybe someone will see something we're missing.” He took a seat on the couch, crossing his arms over his chest. ”And I'm convinced someone out there is a traitor, someone Jessica knows. She won't even think about it. Maybe one of you can make her take a real look at the people she knows.”
Jessica groaned softly, but Lucien looked at her a.s.sessingly. ”Jessica, we have to take a long look at everything and everyone.”
”Coffee's ready, so the kids can start,” Maggie said.
Jeremy realized all eyes were on him. His mouth was dry. He licked his lips. ”It all started when Mary asked me to go to a party with her....”