Part 10 (1/2)

I watched him slouch off down the street and into the darkness. It seemed to be quite a coincidence that an itinerant blood drinker would just happen into town right when the vampire slayer was identified. And then, just by chance, out of all the haunts in Savannah, to get caught loitering around her apartment. I vowed to keep my eye on Freddy. Like he said, you just couldn't be too careful.

Another fear nagged me, though. Something was on the tip of my brain and I hadn't connected the dots yet. If Freddy knew about Connie, then how? From Tobey? Had William told Tobey and the others? Would he?

A wave of nausea hit me. Of course he would tell them, all of them. And he would do it tomorrow night. They needed to know about the threat to their lives and to their clans. And then it would be open season on Connie. Any one of them could and would try to kill her before she started killing us. How had I ever imagined that the only one I had to protect her from was William?

I looked up at Connie's apartment, which was dark now. I couldn't guard her twenty-four/seven, although the thought of sticking around until the sun came up and fried me to a piece of charcoal was not without its appeal.

Nine.

William Tobey and Iban were at my home as promised shortly after sundown. Jack, looking uncharacteristically grim, arrived a few moments later with Werm in tow.

Iban Cruz, a director of noir movies, had the courtly manners of the Spanish aristocrat he was. He bowed low and kissed Melaphia's hand when we greeted our guests in the foyer. ”Thank you again for my life,” he said in his lovely accent.

Melaphia curtsied and thanked him for the many gifts of imported delicacies, clothing, flowers, jewelry, and spirits he had sent.

”They were not necessary, but very appreciated,” she said.

A short time ago, Iban had been stricken with a rotting plague, and only the pure voodoo blood from Melaphia's veins could save him. The process was not pretty, and it had been a heroic effort on her part, one for which Iban would be eternally grateful.

”The gifts are mere trifles,” he a.s.sured her. ”Always know that if you ever need me, I'll be here as soon as the sun and air travel will allow. I am forever your servant.”

”I can't get over his recovery,” Tobey remarked. Indeed, Iban looked remarkable when one recalled how the rotted flesh had been falling from his bones not so long ago. Now he appeared completely normal. That was, if you called his striking dark looks normal. Melaphia told me once that Iban's looks put her in mind of an actor of some note named Antonio Banderas.

”I can't get over the change either,” Jack remarked.

”I don't mind telling you, buddy, you looked like a guy whose face caught fire and somebody tried to put it out with a hatchet.”

Iban laughed. ”That was most vivid, Jack. But thank you. I think.”

”Tobey, were you able to contact Travis?” I asked.

”I'm sorry, but no. I notified some key people in the western clans to keep an eye out for him and ask him to get in touch with you as soon as he can. Maybe we'll hear from him soon.”

I was disappointed that we would be without Travis's counsel, but evidently not as disappointed as Jack, who seemed most disturbed by the news that our Native American friend would not be joining us.

”Are Gerard and Lucius coming?” Iban asked.

”We're going to teleconference them in, as well as Olivia, of course.”

Iban and Tobey represented the vampire clans of the West and Pacific Northwest, and Gerard Bouchard the plains and the Midwest. Lucius Dru, an art dealer headquartered in Manhattan, covered the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. Jack and I were the heads of the few blood drinkers in the South and as far west as Texas. Travis covered the southwest and Central and South America.

The vampires of the Americas were an ethnically eclectic mixture of the descendants of ancient indigenous blood drinkers and those whom I had imported by s.h.i.+p from the old world. These last were what Jack referred to as the ”Draculas” or the ”Count Dracs” because of their often old-fas.h.i.+oned European ways and manners.

One thing all these vampires had in common, however, was a peaceful philosophy. Except for a handful of rogues we'd had to dispose of over the years, the vampires of the New World had adopted a code of nonviolence toward the human population.

Feeding on humans was allowed as long as no permanent injury was done and the mortal involved was either a willing swan or someone whose short-term memory could be altered to ensure the act was immediately forgotten. However, our policy of benevolence did not preclude the occasional act of vigilante justice when it was warranted.

Until recently, there was only a loose alliance among the vampires of the New World, dubbed ”Bonaventures” by Olivia, who was the leader of the peaceful blood drinkers of Europe. But since we collectively saw Reedrek's recent arrival in Savannah as a sign of the old lords' resurgence, all of us had been communicating more often and formulating plans for mutual defense. The old lords had formed a council with the goal of world domination. Their aim was to use us to eventually turn all humans into blood drinkers, over whom they would rule with an iron fist.

Jack, who had been unusually silent so far, asked Tobey about the racing business and Tobey launched into a discussion of his latest exploits on the West Coast night stock-car racing circuit.

Jack still looked a little pained whenever Tobey's career was mentioned, even though he was the one who usually brought it up.

Jack's most treasured dream was to be an automobile racer, and he'd turned several shades of green when he discovered I'd helped Tobey achieve his goals. I think on some level Jack still resented me for that.

I settled us all in the formal parlor, where Deylaud had built a pleasantly crackling blaze in the fireplace. Renee came downstairs briefly to greet our guests. Iban received a particularly warm welcome because of the myriad gifts he'd showered on her recently.

”I love you, Uncle Iban,” she cooed, kissing his cheek. We all had a gentle laugh at her transparency.

”She'll have you buying her diamonds and pearls before long,” I a.s.sured Iban. ”That's quite all right with me,” he said.

”Me too!” Renee agreed, to another round of laughter.

”Why don't you go with Deylaud and have him help you with your literature a.s.signment. You've got some work to do to catch up on your studies.”

With good-bye hugs for all of us, she followed Deylaud and Reyha upstairs to my library, which had somehow evolved into her schoolroom.

”I was so relieved to hear that you got her back safely,” Tobey remarked.

”And I as well,” Iban said. ”William, Tobey told me about the matter with Eleanor. Please accept my condolences. I'm so sorry that...eliminating her became necessary.”

”Thank you,” I said quietly. ”You're very kind.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jack fidgeting. Werm, for his part, looked both shocked and puzzled but said nothing, evidently sensing the tension in the air. I'd told him that Eleanor was dead, but he had had no idea that I'd killed her myself until now. That reminded me of the reason for the meeting.

Melaphia nodded when she had finished testing the telephone links to Olivia, Gerard, and Lucius.

”I called this meeting,” I began, ”because information has come to light that we all need to know. We are all aware of bits and pieces, but it's time to make sure that each of us is armed with the complete facts. After all, knowledge is power.”

I started by reviewing what had taken place in London. Gerard and Lucius expressed shock and remorse over what happened with Eleanor. They all peppered me with questions, particularly about the gathering of the vampire council of old lords.

”Olivia,” I said, addressing the speakerphone, ”have Alger's scrolls and tablets turned up additional information on the Council and what they may be about?”

”No. When our coven house burned down, it was a tremendous setback. We had to reorganize all the material and check it against the inventory we had made.”

”How much was lost?” I asked.

”We were able to save almost all of it, but the parchments suffered smoke and water damage and they will take some time to restore.”

”I know that several of your vampires risked their lives to save the doc.u.ments, so you must be confident that they will yield valuable information,” I said.

”Yes, once we get them translated. So I don't have anything new to report from the texts, but I do have some news from our spies,” Olivia said. I thought that her voice sounded uncharacteristically small. Olivia was a strong woman, never afraid to express herself. I chalked up her tentative speech to the long-distance connection.

”Good,” I said. ”We'll hear your report presently.” I went on to describe what we learned from Otis and what Seth sensed with his animalistic instincts.

”Are you sure you're not putting too much store in anecdotal evidence?” Gerard, ever the scientist, asked.

”The shape s.h.i.+fters in New York are nervous as well,” Lucius said, and I could hear the controlled alarm in his voice. ”And they don't know why.”