Chapter 2
Dain sighed deeply and leaned back into the pillows propped up against the large wooden headboard of the bed, a lazy smile spread over his lips. Satisfied, sated, fed and sleepy. It had been a strenuous night so far, but a good one.
The girl had been surprisingly hard to find despite his allure, but when she finally showed up she had been out of breath from running, wide-eyed and eager to please. There was the faint smell of smoke, alcohol and bodies clinging to her and the distinct scent of the incense the Heavens Club used in their secluded areas. So she had been cuddling with someone else. That had not been a disturbing thought to Dain, what vexed him was that he had not been invited. But she had made amends, well and truly, over and over again. He smiled at the memory, this lovely, well shaped creature with her dark, angled eyes and very skillful lips.
But the seduction wouldn't have gone so smoothly if the surroundings and atmosphere hadn't been right. Soft, melodic music already fluttered from the stereo and dozens of thick wax candles illuminated the otherwise dusky subterranean room that he called home, when he had lead her down the gloomy stairway and into the room that held an air of both the ancient Europe and Japan. The soft lighting banished most of the shadows and drew the eye first towards the small antique table with a bottle of superb red wine and two tall stemmed glasses, the crystal was cool to the touch and slightly dim since the glasses had been chilled and set on the table only moments before the couple entered.
Only when he had gotten the girl that far into the room – not that it had been that difficult, she clinging to his arm and tilting her head up for just one more kiss – did she lay eyes on the large, luxurious bed with thick feather pillows and silk sheets. She had hesitated then, but gentle hands and kisses had convinced her that it was for the best what happened.
Oh, and she had let herself be convinced, truly overpowered by his charm and magnetism and sweet promises. She had been so deep in pleasure that when he finally delivered the killing bite she had hardly even twitched. He had been deeply buried within her body as her heart slowed, vainly pumping the last drops of blood into his waiting mouth at her neck and when she had exhaled her final breath he had captured it.
He smiled again and leisurely let a hand slide along the soft, still warm skin of the girl's stomach. He glanced over at her face. The features were relaxed and the eyes only dark slits now in death. A trickle of blood had dried along her neck and small droplets colored the pillow under her dark red.
He hadn't really sensed the Asia taste, although he knew she had it in her after she had told him about her grandparents emigrated from Japan all those years ago. Two lifetimes to her, a sigh to Dain. He had visited Japan once and found it fascinating with their strict culture and hierarchic behavior, and most of all their pure blood geishas. This girl had been like a whiff of that time to refresh the memory. A memory he truly treasured and he was glad this little date had been so successful.
Tuck had done well to ensure Dain's feast; he would have to make sure the kid got some kind of reward.
There was a questioning knock on the door to the room and Dain permitted entry. A small head with dark blond, unruly hair and wakeful grey eyes peeked through the crack.
"Sir? May I enter?" a soft, careful query.
"Sure. I'm done anyway. Did you sense me thinking of you?" He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, it happened sometimes. After all, the boy had been in his care since he was three years old, he supposed there had to be some kind of bond forming between them after fourteen years.
"No, sir. But I thought you'd like to know the sun is rising in about three hours."
"Sure." He put his hands behind his head and let his eyes follow the boy's movements through the room. "And stop with the 'sir'-ing, Tuck. You know I don't like it," he added as an afterthought.
"Right." The boy bent to pick up the girl's shirt where it had ended up on the Asian matt and studied it critically. There was a rip in one sleeve and faint red colored it.
"You should really be more careful with the clothes, you know," Tuck chided and put it over a shoulder as he bent again to pick up the black lace bra and eye it curiously.
"Put it away, Tuck. You're still too young." Dain allowed himself a smug grin when the boy scowled and cursed under his breath. "I heard that, you know."
"Damn it!" Tuck exclaimed. "I'll never be old enough to you!"
"Hmm. True. But after a decade or two I might stop calling you boy." He truly liked to tease the kid, though he was sensible while doing it, careful of going too far. He was dependant on the boy for certain things and during the years he had grown fond of his presence and attentive mind.
"Do you really have to do that now, Tuck?" he asked annoyed when the boy insisted on continuing to search out the girl's discarded clothes.
"Really! I thought you'd wanna get her out of here before dawn."
"Ever the practical, aren't you?"
"Well, I must be since you're not."
Dain smiled, the kid was right of course. Dain never really had liked to clean up after his little dates, the dead, still bodies had no appeal and to touch them after they had turned cold… He shuddered. That notion forced him out of bed and in search of his silk robe. This was the downside of eating at home. You could never really stay in bed for as long as you liked, a dead body was never a very pleasurable bed companion.
He decided he was in need of a shower, not because he had been sweating, much, but because her scent still clung to his skin. Yes, a shower and then perhaps there was still time to wander the streets to search out a new future date worthy of his attention.
********
He stuck the last in a series of grenades on the back of a thick metal door that lead out into the vast system of tunnels and sewers under the city. The explosion, when he chose to detonate it with the remote, would wreak havoc on this escape route and with all the other holes and tunnels cut off as well he'd have several of them trapped and at his mercy. Not that there would be any mercy.
Voodoo grinned to himself and flicked the switch on the grenade to stand-by mode. The guns in their holsters tapped against his ribs as he rose and headed down the corridor back towards the large open hall where the meeting would take place. In addition to the grenades he had tripwires in the tunnels and hidden mines in the airshafts and smaller sewers in case any of them decided to lower themselves to take that route. The highbloods wouldn't, they would never stoop to put themselves in any place where they couldn't walk with their high and mighty noses in the air, but the lowbloods might.
His own choices of escape were limited. Sure, he knew where every trap was set and how to avoid them or defuse them, but he didn't expect to come out of this alive without any kind of backup at all, and besides, he had no desire to grow old and have to live the rest of his days like one of the Fathers. He guessed Father Mo would wait in vain for his return this time.
Voodoo checked the guns and the extra clips in his belt, the long knife in its sheath on his left thigh and the wakizashi on the back of his waist. He didn't have many weapons on his person, but those he chose to use he knew very well how to handle.
He stepped out onto the causeway circling the hall two stories above the patterned marble floor. Down below there was a podium along one of the walls and on it a heavy oak table and twelve tall backed chairs of various design, the notorious council's chairs. With all of them present the security would be strict. Good, so he'd get the chance to kill some of the loyals as well, the world would be better off without them.
On the floor in front of the podium there was an array of chairs for all the visitors. He began to count them but gave up the task when he reached seventy-two and had almost as many left. Plenty enough.
He cast a glance on his wristwatch, almost sundown. Time to go into hiding and wait for the first to arrive.
********
Tuck smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle on Dain's black clad shoulders and then gave the coat a tug on the hem that made the collar of the Asian coat cut into Dain's throat. He gave the boy an unappreciative glare over his shoulder.
"Would you stop that? It's fine."
"I know, I know. But it's the council in there," the boy muttered.
"True," Dain murmured back. The kid expressed a healthy caution for the twelve highbloods that sat the council's chairs. Each and every one of them held the power to have them killed if it was their wish, and loyals were always cautious and wary when any of the twelve were in the vicinity, not to mention all of them.
Dain feared not so much for his own life, he would be able to defend himself against two or perhaps even three of them if need be, he feared more for the boy's life. He had a bad feeling this evening and decided to put Tuck in relative safety before he entered the meeting hall.
"Go back to the car and make sure it's ready." He buttoned the top button in his coat and looked down at the boy. "I want to leave as soon as it's over."
Tuck met his eyes with a sparkle of defiance. "But I should be there too."
"No buts, Tuck. I want you well out of their way tonight."
"Bad feeling, huh?"
Dain wasn't surprised that the kid had sensed his unease; he had learned to read his master pretty well. His lack of response was enough for Tuck.
"Fine, I'll go." But not willingly and not before he gave Dain one last scrutinizing look-over.
Dain stood for a moment outside the door to the tunnel, a thumb absently stroking over his crest on the collar of his coat. It was more than unease, he decided. The gut feeling he had warned of large things in doing. He took a deep breath to calm himself somewhat without dulling his wits and then opened the door and stepped into the dark tunnel leading to the hall.
The dark was easily penetrated by his sharp eyes, but there was a faint, peculiar smell that he was unable to discern. Strange. He couldn't identify it either, the source seemed impossible to pinpoint. But he couldn't linger to figure it out now. It was important to make his entrance before too many of the highbloods had arrived and definitely before any of the lowbloods.
The hall was dimly lit by numerous candles in tall iron wrought chandeliers spread around the walls. Enough to shed light over any face entering, though not enough to blind the eye. The twelve were already in their chairs and eight other highbloods had taken their seats among the chairs on the floor.
When Dain stepped around a pillar and out on the patterned floor he sensed that odd smell again. He managed not to let any of his suspicions show on his face, though some of the already gathered may have noticed that fraction of an instant when he hesitated. He hoped not.
He found a chair to his liking and under the intense studying gazes of the council he sat down, putting on a mask of leisure and contentment, as if a meeting was something he did every day.
And that was when his eyes were drawn to a subtle movement behind the council's chairs. The shadow hovering behind them was familiar and one he had not been prepared to see up there. Bad fortune that he did. Bad fortune that the man was up there to begin with.
Lupus had seen Dain entering and now he let himself be seen too. On the podium, at the council's shoulders, waiting a command. He had not lied then when he said he had done the twelve's bidding. Lupus had become their lapdog.
Dain wondered when that had happened and how without him knowing. Such a vital change in the hierarchy was always common knowledge. A lowblood!
Lupus met eyes with Dain and a slow grin spread over his thin, wet lips, and then he did that wavelike motion that meant he knew something Dain didn't and Dain cursed his bad luck. Even though he didn't know what it was, it was certain to draw the council's full attention to him.
All through the arrivals of the other highbloods and lowbloods Dain felt the eyes of Lupus on him, though he tried not to acknowledge it. The constant uncomfortable studying caused dark thoughts to roam his mind and he let them form all sorts of manners to dispose of the unwanted watcher.
He had come up with a particularly interesting way to cause excruciating pain when a warm, familiar presence intruded on his thoughts as a cool, long fingered hand grazed his shoulder. He knew who it was before he even turned to look.
"I see you've managed to tear yourself away from your work to bless us with your lovely presence, Shiva." He smiled up at the woman next to him and she was kind enough to grace him with one of those inviting smiles she gave only to those she really cared for.
"Well, a corporation as large as mine doesn't function without a steady hand to guide it, but I heard you were coming, Dain. How could I possibly pass up an opportunity to see you?" she replied without looking at him. She inclined her head at the council before lowering her graceful body into the chair next to his.
She arranged her strict but very sexy and formfitting pinstripe black coat and skirt, looking every bit the businesswoman she was, except for that sensual cleavage and the red caste mark between her slim eyebrows, the red mirrored by the blood red gem on the necklace resting between her breasts. Then she turned her attention to him.
And there it was again, that smile. Dain felt all warm inside. Oh, how often she had lured him into bed with that smile. But the look she gave him when he raised his gaze from her chest to her eyes held nothing but a grave seriousness that didn't fail to wipe the smirk from his face.
"I've heard of your little hunter, Dain. What is it you've started this time?"
That blunt, forthright question totally caught Dain off his guard and for an instant he couldn't find anything to say. "What do you know about the hunter?" he asked then, making sure to keep his voice low.
"I heard you engaged in physical combat and that you left him alive." Her voice was equally low and her dark eyes were fixed completely on him. "You claimed him for your own, Dain?"
There was a hint of astonishment in her voice, but that couldn't be, Shiva was never astonished or surprised or shocked, she was far too old and experienced for that.
"I hardly claimed him," Dain said with a tight feeling in his throat. "I just decided I wanted to take care of this one myself."
"You didn't even bite, Dain."
"And?" He didn't appreciate this censure coming from her, one of his closest confidantes.
"The council will make an issue of this." Her voice was annoyingly steady.
"Lupus, huh?" He forced his eyes not to turn towards the lowblood on the podium.
"Yes."
"How long has he been their lapdog?"
"Almost two months, though they say it became official only a couple of weeks ago." She tilted her head slightly. "You didn't know?" There was that astonished tone again.
"I didn't know," he admitted muttering.
"You best be careful, Dain. Lupus isn't one of your best comrades."
He just raised an eyebrow at her statement of the obvious. "Can I count on your support in case I might need it, Shiva?" he asked and that made her tilt her head slightly to the side as she wondered what he had in mind. Her eyes were like deep, dark wells in her slightly tanned face, hinting at the Indian blood she claimed to have. One of her ancestors had been – a maharajah was it? Or something like it. Royal blood to acknowledge her title as a highblood. Dain's claims where not quite so blue-blooded, but blue enough.
Instead of giving the answer Dain had hoped for, she had a question of her own. "Do I have your word that you will not jump at the first sign of trouble just to start a fight? You know I will not have it."
Dain let a smile cross his face. Always the businesswoman, always keeping her own back free and her hands clean.
"I'll do my best, but I can't promise anything on their behalf." He jutted his jaw towards the podium. "Though I will protect your lovely self if it would come to a fight."
"Did I hear fight?" That voice uttering that question in such a cheerful tone, it could only be one person. And it brought a smile to Dain's lips that was completely genuine joy.
"Well, if there'll be one I'll make sure to let you know, Paris."
"You do that. And do save some for me, would you, D?" The smile that showed white pointed teeth was a pleasant one in the young face of a man Dain hadn't expected to see so soon. The golden, tousled hair curled around his neck and ears and managed to fall into the blue eyes no matter how hard he tried to toss it back with a flip of his head.
If Shiva was considered old, twice Dain's age, then this man was young, barely having lived half Dain's years. But the knowledge and the skill Paris possessed made Dain trust him more than anyone in the known world. Well, except for Shiva, but that was a different kind of trust.
She turned to the new arrival and gave him a polite smile. "Welcome, Paris. I hardly thought you would show up so soon."
"Well, I couldn't miss out on this rare opportunity to see you both at the same time at the same place." He pulled up one of the chairs for himself, less picky in his choice than both Dain and Shiva, but then again, he wasn't old enough to appreciate tact and appearance the way they did.
"What have you been up to lately?" The blue eyes turned to Dain, expressing innocent curiosity.
"Stop that," Dain murmured. "I don't fall for your false ignorance, Paris."
A little laugh slipped past the younger man's lips. "Not anymore at any rate." The smile vanished. "I'm serious, D. Is what I've heard in the street true?"
"Very much so," Shiva answered before Dain had a chance to even open his mouth.
He gave her a dark glare. "What's so wrong with having a bit of fun? You know I can handle it, it's not like I haven't taken care of a hunter before."
"We know that, Dain." Shiva put a long fingered hand on his arm. "And we don't deny you your 'fun', but you are a highblood and as that you're obligated to at least incapacitate a hunter when you come across one."
"Stop!" He jerked his arm away from her. "Incapacitate, my ass. That's worse than death and you know it. No wonder the Fathers give their prodigies such a thorough education nowadays. Loosing every hope for the future only brings vengeance into a mortal mind and now we pay for the indignity they suffer at our hands. Incapacitation tends to do that."
Shiva regarded him with those dark eyes of hers and then slightly lowered her head. "Perhaps it was a foolish decision to reinstate that law, but killing them would throw the balance off even more. We need the hunters to keep numbers even."
"Yeah, well, what if they turn the tables? They could do that, you know, I felt it in that hunter. He was that good." The last came out a hiss.
Paris leaned forward to join in the debate. "Then all the more reason you should've taken care of him. If they're becoming too strong and powerful we have to stop them before it's too late."
"Why?" Dain shot back angrily, angry despite the truth in what Paris had said, despite his good intentions to keep his temper under control. These were his closest friends. "That hunter offered a challenge I haven't felt in decades, and I am more than willing to accept it."
"Even if it means sacrificing the safety of your peers?" There was a wrinkle between Shiva's eyebrows that disturbed her perfect beauty. "You can't afford to be that selfish, Dain. You'll be banned and stripped of rank in a heartbeat."
"They can't do that, it's my birthright," he replied darkly.
Could they? The title of a highblood came with his blood and lineage, and his was more than good enough, hailing from kings and queens of old.
There was a long, uncomfortable silence when Shiva turned her eyes away from his face and Paris still studied him, biting on the inside of his bottom lip.
"Still," Shiva said finally in a very low voice when she had made her decision, what ever it might be, "I want you to be careful."
Dain permitted himself a breath. "I will be."
"And I'll be by your side, D," Paris smiled grimly. "Wouldn't wanna miss an opportunity to kick some blueblood butts."
Dain could only smile at that blunt announcement. He sometimes wondered where Paris's claims at the highblood title came from; he had such a rough appearance about him, dressed mostly in dark jeans and leather, that it was hard to tell him apart from the mortal rogues in the streets. But then again, Paris had learned to put up an act for the galleries, and he had learned that from Dain.
The hall was filled with twenty-three highbloods and seventy lowbloods by the time the council clubbed the meeting to begin. Not nearly as good a gathering as would've been expected or required, but good enough. The rest of the chairs were put away or occupied by loyals, nearly twenty of them. Most of the loyals were old enough to have been at one meeting or another before, but all of them seemed anxious for some reason and Dain was glad he had decided to leave Tuck by the car.
Order of business this night was not an unusual one; the borders of a highblood that had suddenly fallen into a trap set by a hunter and now his territory was to be divided between two others. The bickering as one of the new patrons thought he got the smaller half of the area was neither friendly nor long lasting, the council had the final word and that was that.
Dain let his thoughts wander as the issues succeeded one after another; the warnings of this drug or that which went straight into the mortals' bloodstream and if not taken heed of and removed from the streets it would deprive them of many fine preys; a new disease that came with the frequent sharing of needles would have to be contained and the sick taken care of, so far it hadn't spread out of control.
Lowbloods that had moved between cities got to introduce themselves and report of this city or that and the current, updated situation of things. Dain thought he heard the name of a highblood that he recognized from long ago, but couldn't be sure. It had been a casual acquaintance at best anyway.
Then came the issue of the hunters, local as well as foreign, and as the council changed spokesman Shiva cast Dain a discrete glance. He didn't quite know what to read into that, but sat a bit straighter in his chair all the same. Paris did the opposite; he leaned back and languidly stretched his arms out onto the backs of the chairs on either side.
"The number of hunters flocking here has dwindled in the last ten years, though those that remain are quite efficient." The old councilmember that had risen slowly, and despite his age gracefully to his feet, was looking out over the hall with pale eyes. Undoubtedly he could see every face as clearly as Dain could, age was not impeding on vision when it came to men like him.
"We have picked up rumors about a new discipline that takes no heed to the old laws or traditions of the hunt and they teach their pupils most alarming new ways to inflict pain and to kill." His last words caused many bodies to move restlessly in their seats. "For them to stray off the path of so many centuries is most disturbing and it may cause us to do the same."
Then those pale eyes fixed on a certain someone and Dain just knew there would be a lot of trouble coming his way this night.
"But to best meet and oppose these new hunters we need to know more about how they work, where they are located and most of all who they are. We have received information that one of us here tonight has encountered one of these hunters." The old man made a short pause as a mumbling passed through the loyals and some lowbloods.
"It is the council's wish that this highblood rise and tell us what he knows of the new hunter and his techniques."
Dain inhaled slowly to fill his lungs with air that had suddenly turned cold. He could feel every pair of eyes on him, yet the only face he saw was Lupus's and that name ran like a mantra of death through his head. He smoothed out his features as he rose with graceful movement. He let the crowd see and settle their gazes upon him for a moment before he spoke, and when he did he met the one councilmember's pale eyes.
"Yes, I met one of the hunters, but I have nothing more to add about them than what has already been said, I know nothing more than anyone else here. They are skilled and should be respected because of it."
Discrete murmurs passed through the crowd at his words. Hunters needn't be respected, inferior beings that they were, only dealt with and disposed of. They were a thorn in many eyes.
"Respected," echoed the councilmember with a hint of disdain in his voice. "That is your opinion." Something akin to a smile fluttered over his thin lips. "I suppose it would be, when you encounter one and claim him for your own without even marking him. You as a highblood should know better. It is your duty and responsibility to mark and incapacitate a hunter when you come that close. It is irresponsible and naïve not to and now he is free to continue his killing spree!" His voice was close to a growl now, telling just how angry and upset the council was because of this one hunter Dain had let go.
Dain endured the intense stare and reprimand with an impassive expression, mentally bracing himself for what would come next.
At the edge of the podium Lupus began to move closer to the man standing and with a tentative hand and a flashing smile he leaned closer to whisper in the council's ear.
Dain's hands curled into fists at his sides and he forced them open again. The man on the podium nodded slowly as he considered Lupus's words and some of the other council members leaned in closer to listen. At his side Dain sensed Shiva shifting discretely in her seat.
Lupus finally stepped back to his place in the back and the council once again changed spokesman. The old woman that rose now was only known as the Lady since she was the only woman to ever sit in a council chair. Despite old age and grey hair pulled back in the neck her skin was as firm and smooth over high cheekbones as a young woman's and she was always envied for it.
"The council has decided that since you neglected your duties when you met this hunter you will make amends for it now and seek him out. And when you have him you will bring him back here, alive, to be questioned by us. He is bound to know more than you and not as reluctant to tell us, with the proper persuasion, of course."
Dain felt a trickle of piercing ice run up his spine. So this was what Lupus had planned all along. To have Dain humiliated in front of all the others and to make the council force him to give up the hunter he had claimed for himself. Lupus had expressed a certain interest in the redheaded hunter and no doubt did the despicable lowblood intend to make himself part of the ‘proper persuasion' once the council got their claws into their intended victim.
"I claimed him for my own, I do not like to have my games spoiled." Dain knew he was treading ice far too thin for comfort but for some reason he was stubbornly reluctant to give this one up.
"You didn't mark him, Dain," the Lady replied. "And even if you had, he is so far the only one of these new hunters that we have identified, and we will have him."
There was really nothing Dain could do, the council always had the last word and should he disobey it was more than likely he would join the hunter in the torture that was sure to come, only he wouldn't be allowed the final escape of death once his body gave up, after all he wasn't frail like the mortal.
"I'll seek him out," he capitulated reluctantly. "But I will be there during the interrogation."
"Why? You are in no position to make demands or to save him from the inevitable. You might even join him for your insolence." The Lady's voice was far too calm and amiable for the ultimatum she just gave Dain. Obey or suffer the consequences. Not much of a choice.
Then his eyes fell on Lupus's shadowed shape behind the council's chairs, making that slithering motion again.
"Then grant me this," Dain said with the hint of a smile towards the lowblood. "I have recently been offended by someone and wish to regain my honor."
"Offended?" the Lady almost chuckled and her eyebrows almost shot up. "I didn't know you had any honor to begin with."
Dain tried to let those words pass him by like so much wind, but it was hard when there were spread snickering and murmuring among the crowd.
The Lady sighed and raised a hand to demand silence. "You will be granted this wish, Dain, however small you honor might be to begin with. But this is not the time; we have other matters that are more pressing."
"I only ask for free hands to deal with this as I see fit," he insisted. "After all, the council needn't concern themselves with a lowblood that acts out of his rank."
The Lady studied Dain with narrow eyes; she knew very well which lowblood he was talking about. "I doubt I can give you what you ask for," she said then and with a graceful hand beckoned Lupus over to her side. "After all, this lowblood has served us more than well since we first employed him. And you know he is now under our protection, we can't have our valued heralds hurt, after all, he's just doing our bidding and you don't want to anger the council, do you?"
Another threat, Dain couldn't stop his fists from clenching this time.
"We expect you to present us with the hunter by the next full moon."
And that was that. The Lady sat back down and gave Dain a full view of the lowblood that had gotten him into this mess by not respecting Dain's wishes concerning the hunter, marked or not. Lupus flashed a challenging smile at Dain and slithered back to his place.
Dain scowled and sat back down. But he was not done yet. The lowblood may think he was safe with the council's protection and Dain intended to let him continue living in this little corner of the world for a while. It was a false safety and Lupus would find himself kicked out in the dark as soon as he made a mistake and then Dain would be waiting for him with a proper welcome, the shadows were his territory after all.
Dain entertained his dark thoughts for a while and like an answer to one in particular the floor under his feet shook. He blinked back into reality and cast Shiva a questioning look. She opened her mouth to say something and that was when all hell broke loose.
Wakizashi A sword similar to katana but it is shorter (blade between 12 and 24 inches). Often worn together with katana. When worn together they were called daisho. According to traditional samurai law (Bushido), it is used only to commit seppuku (aka hara-kiri). After the 16th century it was sometimes used in the off hand to the katana, a technique pioneered by Miyamoto Musashi.
source: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakizashi
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