The Cursed Read online

CHAPTER ELEVEN

 

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  If someone had put a gun to his head and asked him outright why was he sitting in the hotel lobby bar only a few hours after making crazy love to his wife, he wouldn't have been able to answer.

  "You'd be one dead motherfucker," Carlos muttered into his Remy, setting the short rocks glass down hard on the bar.

  One thing for sure was he needed space. They'd set up shop however many times before, built compounds and safe houses, even had lairs, and watched them be burned or sold. But there was something real different and real permanent about the way each woman on the team looked at that property in La Jolla . . . their eyes had hope, future, possibility shimmering in them, especially his wife. That was a lot of responsibility for any man, but seriously no joke for men with a bounty on their heads.

  But he also understood the need the team had to invest in the mundane. It made the crazy reality they lived somehow seem sane. To buy a house, a car, go out to dinner and eat. . . to laugh, make love, think about starting a family, visiting parents - none of that could be taken for granted by a Guardian Neteru team. It was probably as far-fetched as any regular Joe or Jane going to the corner store and wishing they had a hundred mil or so in the bank to play with. That's how the mundane felt for them, so no wonder every team member was turned on, turned out, and celebrating when Dan inked the papers. Same deal with the cars.

  Thoughts of home collided with Carlos's next slow sip of Remy, neat. If it weren't for his boy, Yonnie, he wouldn't even have been able to come to the table correct earlier this afternoon. Carlos briefly closed his eyes and ran his palm across his jaw. He'd just gone into the Light coming out of Sydney back then, when his boy, a master vamp with Rider's lady, had stayed with him, regardless, planned for his future, and had made the fucked-up digit the government had left him multiply into a hundred mil, very large, in Swiss accounts. That was a friend. Because his boy had been a realist, he had a future. Now he was supposed to deny his main hombre access to his house? Damn!

  He knew why it had to be that way, understood it all intellectually - the Neteru in him got it. But the street code of ethics, the honor even amongst thieves, the never-leave-yourboy-ass-out, ever, street code of conduct was at pure war with his inner Neteru. Carlos said another prayer in Yonnie's behalf. What else could he do? Might even be too late, but Damali had shown him, it ain't over 'til it's all the way over. Carlos lifted his glass. 'To anybody upstairs listening, this is one for the brother who ain't make it. Watch his six, even if I can't. " Carlos downed his drink, spun the glass on the bar, and then slung it down to the bartender for a refill. "Damn. " It had been good looking out on Yonnie's part, back then. Otherwise, Damali's resources would have been strained. Girlfriend hadn't been touring in almost two years, CD sales had slacked off, endorsements dropped off - because who could use a star that didn't come out for photo-ops, interviews, or paparazzi to shine? Only Dan had a real clear picture on how the accounts were aligned, the portfolio spread. If Yonnie hadn't hooked a brother up, then he'd be like Berkfield and Bobby, trying to figure out how to buy a four-bedroom ranch in the burbs - and not in San Diego, at that.

  Carlos accepted his drink and briefly shut his eyes.

  "Rough night, buddy?" the bartender asked.

  Carlos quickly scanned him. Not a demon, not a familiar. "Yeah. But I'm cool. "

  "Lemme know when you need another one, then," the bartender said, wiping out glasses with a white cloth.

  Carlos just nodded. What was there to say? Yonnie had gone to war with him; had been on his mind since he'd seen him at la casa. . . he'd just kept that to himself. Rider was his boy, too. He understood both men's positions. Would have been cool if the Light could have cloned Tara. Carlos took another slow sip of his drink. He needed to talk to Yonnie, but what could he say to him, truth be told? Right now, all he had to offer him was his blade. . . Yonnie was still his boy and he'd always have his brother's back. A tall dark figure with a familiar gait caught his attention in his peripheral vision. Carlos looked up and set his drink down slowly as he saw Shabazz approach the bar. He glanced at his Rolex - eleven p. m. Shabazz alone at the bar? Oh, shit. . . whassup?

  "Yo, man," Carlos said, pounding Shabazz's fist as he slid onto a stool. He watched his Guardian brother grumble a greeting and order a Jack Daniel's, and said nothing until the bartender left.

  "So, what's going on, man?" Carlos asked, cutting right to the chase after Shabazz had taken the first sip from his drink.

  Shabazz winced with the sip. "Can't a man just chill and have a drink?" Carlos stared at him. "No. "

  Shabazz's face relaxed into a slow half-smile. "Then why're you here?"

  "We ain't talking about me, right now. We're talking about you. " Shabazz lifted his Jack Daniel's shot to Carlos, downed it, and slid the shot glass back to the bartender so accurately that it hit his palm like a bullet. "One more. "

  "All right, what happened, man?" Carlos nodded for a refill. "We can either play cat and mouse and go back upstairs snot-slinging drunk - which is always an option . . . but the morning consequences and the domestic fallout are high - or we can just be real. "

  "Aw'ight," Shabazz said, accepting the new shot. "Seal the area, brother. . . 'cause I've got some deep questions to ask you. "

  For a moment, Carlos didn't move. If the team's philosopher had some deep questions to ask him. . . then shit. . .

  Accepting his new drink, Carlos silently complied and then leaned in to Shabazz. 'Talk to me. "

  Shabazz let out a hard breath and set his drink down carefully as though studying the dark amber liquid in the shot glass. "When you cross over into the Light, man, you come to understand a lot of things. You make your peace with things you never thought you could deal with, feel me?"

  Carlos nodded, understanding the reference to Kamal without either man needing to speak on it. From the way Shabazz had taken a shell at point-blank range that had blown his back out, no doubt he'd been to realms within the Light he'd yet to fathom. 'Bazz had his full attention.

  "Yeah, well, that past experience that I don't wanna go into was a part of her, and his protective energy transferred from there to become a part of me. " Shabazz took a very careful sip of his drink. "It's hard to think about it, much less discuss, especially understanding how much he loved her. . . and feeling it, as a tactical. . . the passion that went both ways. But like I said, you get real cool in your head about what was and what is,

  after you see the other side. "

  "Okay," Carlos said after a pause to collect his thoughts. "Then. . . if you're cool with it, and the shape-shifts help you out hi a firefight, and the team is cool with it, ya mean. . . then. . . "

  "Then why am I here?" Shabazz rubbed his palms down his face and looked at the shelved bottles behind the bar. "Lemme ask you somethin', man. And don't laugh. " Pure curiosity made Carlos lean in closer. Laughing was the last thing on his mind. He'd only seen Shabazz this shook when Marlene was recovering from near-death experiences. What the hell could be funny about that? This older Guardian brother was normally the definition of chill. This wasn't normal.

  "Yo, man, you oughta know me better than that," Carlos finally said.

  Shabazz nodded, but never looked at Carlos. "Upper and lower canines, man. Lost it right at the moment of truth. Swore no matter what, that bullshit wasn't coming into the bedroom with me - only on the battlefield, aw'ight. So . . . how you . . . " He tossed down his shot of Jack Daniel's hard and slung the glass toward the bartender. Carlos took in a deep breath through his nose to keep from smiling. "How you hold 'em back?"

  Shabazz didn't even answer, just nodded once and accepted his drink.

  "The truth?"

  Shabazz stared at Carlos.

  "I never could, man. D turns me out. Plain and simple. " Shabazz closed his eyes and rolled the shot glass between his palms. "Yeah. "

  "It didn't freak her out, did it?" Car
los took a calm sip of Remy, glimpsing Shabazz from the corner of his eye.

  "No. That's the problem. " Shabazz took a fast gulp of Jack Daniel's.

  "Suggestion," Carlos said, catching the shot glass as Shabazz slung it. "Slow down, deep breaths, brother. " He waited until Shabazz nodded and he held up his hand to forestall the bartender. "If you don't fight it, you own it, and if you own it, you benefit from it. "

  "That sounds like some Zen rhetoric I woulda told you," Shabazz said, staring off into the distance.

  "You know she had a past. " Carlos looked at Shabazz from a sidelong glance.

  "Yeah. "

  " Aw'ight. . . and she loved you hard without the canines, waaay before they presented, right?"

  "Yeah. "

  "And, she's dealing with this new . . . uh . . . aspect of you real cool, actually. I mean, c'mon, man, she's a seer. " Carlos looked at his older Guardian brother straight on. "She didn't wig because she could probably sense what was about to happen before it did. " Carlos watched Shabazz's body begin to relax, and he sent the shot glass down the bar in a hard slide with a nod to okay the refill. "If it turned her out to see the canines, it was probably only because she realized that you'd lost it - flipped, bugged, wigged so hard that you ain't have no control left - something probably unusual for a brother known to own control. . . and she was the one who took you there - so naturally, she'd respond in kind. It ain't have nothing to do with no other motherfucker from the past. Rest his soul in

  peace, man. "

  Shabazz lifted his shot glass to Carlos when the bartender put it before him and clinked the side of Carlos's rocks glass. "Rest his soul in peace. "

  "Right, man. " Carlos took a sip of Remy and then rolled the near empty glass between his palms. "Didn't I just go through this?"

  Shabazz let out a hard breath. "Damn, man, all this shit runs in cycles. "

  "Yeah it does. " Carlos smiled. "Why don't you go take your ass back upstairs so you don't start the other bullshit cycle none of us wants to be caught in, namely, being in the doghouse. "

  Shabazz chuckled. "I'ma finish my drink. "

  "Brother. . . you know what. . . you just left your lady up there after probably turning her out with a canine drop like she's never seen, and when she comes to and rolls over and you come strolling back into the room an hour later smelling like the bar, I don't need second sight to tell you how the thing is gonna go. "

  Laughing harder, Shabazz knocked down his shot. "I ain't rushing. She don't run me, aw'ight," he said, standing.

  "Yeah, I know . . . I'm just saying . . . "

  Shabazz extended his fist and Carlos pounded it.

  "For da bruthaz," Carlos said, finally laughing.

  "If I hear about this again, I'll shoot you," Shabazz said with a wide grin. Carlos held his hands up in front of his chest. "I don't even know what you're talking about. "

  "Yeah, okay," Shabazz said, glancing at Carlos over his shoulder, and then he stopped and turned slowly, the smile disappearing from his face. "Why were you down here? You all right, man?"

  Carlos looked up from his drink. "Yeah. I'm cool. " Shabazz didn't move.

  "Just thinking 'bout my boy, that's all. " There was no way to explain it to Shabazz, so Carlos forced a smile. "I'm good, man. I just came down here for some headspace. I'll see you in the morning. "

  Shabazz nodded. "I understand more than you know, just like you just understood my shit a second ago," he said in a quiet, concerned tone. "Remember - been there. Nobody understands what losing your ace is like, unless they've lost theirs, especially when you take the blame for how it went down. Survivor's guilt is a nasty bitch, like none other, brother. Don't forget, I shot my own man by accident hi a vamp alley attack. . . and had ten years of headspace in the joint to think about it when authorities didn't understand. " Shabazz extended his hand for Carlos to shake and held on for a second in a warrior's forearm grasp, sending tactical support into Carlos's system. "When you gotta leave one of your own, that never gets outta your head, man . . . so, if you ever wanna talk about it - I got your back. "

  "That's good to know, man. Thanks," Carlos said when Shabazz let him go. The support charge made him feel bet ter, but he still wasn't ready to talk about it. Still really didn't see what good that would do anyway. It was what it was, fucked up beyond repair. "Go get with your lady - I'll see you in the morning. "

  * * ** * *

  he'd been called before, but never like this. Two polar-opposite probes splintered his mind. Yonnie put both hands to either side of his head and yelled as pain erupted inside his skull. He stumbled along the edge of the Venice Beach pier and vomited up blood as the searing pain moved from his skull into his fangs. Sweating and only able to go a few feet before stopping, he knew he'd never be able to transport himself to a safe lair by sunrise.

  "Carlos . . . help me, man," Yonnie choked out, gasping. When he wiped his face, he brought his hands away quickly, staring at them in horror. Putrid flesh replaced what had been smooth, manicured hands, and was quickly aging to his actual two-hundred-plus, dead human years. Rooted where he stood, a dark magnetic force had him in its grip as the ground opened. He didn't even fight it; this had been coming for him for years.

  * * *

  "I was able to deactivate the spell," Sebastian said with his head and gaze lowered. "I knew the portions of each element and separated them out, one-by-one, once we were able to gain clarity. "

  "You cannot blame us, husband," Lilith said on her knees with her gaze lowered and wringing her hands. "Every level, including ours, was in a mating frenzy. Their side deceived Fallen, who let it in. "

  "I had the female Neteru in my clutches to bring to you, Your Majesty," Nuit said, keeping his head down.

  "Enough!" a thunderous voice railed. "You allowed my minotaur, my favorite golden calf, to be slaughtered by those Neteru bitches. . . the calf that they set up in the desert during Moses's time - do you know how long I've had that animal?" Slow-walking hooves echoed within the complete darkness that even vampire sight could not penetrate.

  "And you cower before me, quivering and naked, caught in the tentacles of a spawning spell. . . my legions fucking their brains out instead of making war - major cease-fires were almost put into effect topside on earth while this outrage occurred. If I hadn't pulled you three out of your frenzied coupling this would have gone on until the spell burned itself out - or my entire realm perished from starvation in its tentacles! I demand retribution!" Flames of rage scorched their backs as the unseen beast released a mighty roar. "No animal or human sacrifices have been made during those hours, no tragic deaths for hours on earth. No werewolf howlings and it was a full moon! No vampire turns, no phantom citings, no possessions - no Amanthra treachery, all because you allowed a backfired spell returned to us from the Light to pollute my domain. Such a breach is a sign of weakness, Lilith! An intolerable condition for our side in the end of days. Something so insidious could lull humanity into a false sense of security, thus breeding hope - and hope encourages faith, and should worldwide love blossom, I'll have your heads in my teeth!"

  "Never, never, my Dark Lord," Lilith whispered.

  "Then gather mine unto me using my dark force from Level Seven, Lilith," a disembodied voice of fury whispered. "I want all vampire resources, the smartest of our kind, to devise a strategy - a patient, skillful one that will not jeopardize my heir. " The shift of the ominous presence around the endless black space made the three vampires

  on the pit floor draw themselves up smaller to avoid an unexpected lashing.

  "I have called the first one, the one who goes by Yolando. He was the only one of our kind not polluted, because he was not in our realms when the incursion struck. I want the topside dark covens aligned as one force, ready and able to spell-cast. Lorelei led me to him - reward her with power, but do not give her the kiss of the undead. We need forces that can withstand the Light to do our bidding day or nig
ht," the great voice rumbled and then trailed off in a sinister, hissing whisper. "I will call the men of science and manipulate them. "

  "We will crush the Neteru team," Sebastian promised with an unsure voice.

  "I want them to have time to think we've been conquered so that we can see how best to turn the blade within their minds," the beast murmured seductively. "Didn't Machiavelli teach you anything before the Neterus murdered him?"

  "Oui," Fallen Nuit said with a tight voice. "He and I . . . strategized together for years. Sebastian should have never taken such risks with a resource of that magnitude from our realms. "

  Sebastian hissed and the darkness went still for a moment, again causing the vampires on the cavern floor to cringe.

  "I agree," the beast finally said in a weary tone. "When I have more time, I may devote myself to raising him. For now, Sebastian, know that you owe me - which is never a good thing . . . so do make excellent use of this Lorelei. "

  Hoof clatter began to retreat from the void. Relief washed through the huddling vampires.

  "Do not believe that you haven't incurred my wrath. I am patient, and will release my frustration in due time. However, the only reason you are still whole is that my other entities are nearly ruined, and it will take me days to go level by level to sort out the destruction . . . my werewolves are still stuck together and cannot disengage. My serpents hopelessly entangled, and my phantoms are a shrieking mess - insane and unguided. My dear Harpies may even be beyond repair, as they've clawed each other nearly to extinction trying to grab hold of any body part to mate with that they could while whirling in a funnel. " A deep sigh echoed off the walls. "Lilith, have you any idea how hard I truly work to keep all this going for us, my dear? You are such a high-maintenance bitch, I swear!"

  * * *

  "this is very disappointing, Yolando," Fallon Nuit crooned, walking around Yonnie as he lay shuddering and aging on the marble Vampire Council Chamber floor. The veins in the marble pulsed with blood that fed the table and Yonnie pressed his lips to the floor trying to siphon any nourishment he could, but his brittle fang broke off at his withered gum line. Too weak to fight, he dropped against unforgiving floor, scrabbling at it to no avail, his nails peeling away from his bony fingers like paper.

  "You heard the Dark Lord," Sebastian said, growing weary of Fallon's unnecessary display of power. "Feed the poor bastard. We cannot waste any more resources. "

  "I will decide when he eats," Nuit said with a hiss, stooping down to snatch Yonnie's head back.

  "Careful, Fallon," Lilith crooned. "He's brittle and has already lost a fang. Pull back too hard and you'll be on my husband's torture chamber floor again. I don't think Lu would be too thrilled to find out we've lost another valuable resource, do you, darling?"

  Nuit stood, letting Yonnie's head hit the floor with a groan. "He's betrayed us, remember!

  I want him to feel what it's like when the wrath of this council has risen. The Dark Lord's call for one of ours is a travesty, that a master vampire heeds not a councilman? Sacrilege

  . . . treason - under any other circumstances, he would have been put to a slow and agonizing end in the Sea of Perpetual Agony!"

  "True," Lilith said, studying her nails. "But so would you. " She looked up at Fallon coolly.

  "The bastard did no more than you or Sebastian - he hedged his bets. He sided with thenCouncilman Rivera, which was a pretty safe bet, a wise one I respected, until the asshole went into the Light. " She looked down at Yonnie and clucked her tongue. "I would have run, too. " Her gaze suddenly narrowed on Nuit. "Make him handsome again. That bag of bones and dust is a crime - a real waste of male vampire resources, if ever I saw one. " When Nuit backed away from Yonnie and sneered, Lilith flung a goblet of blood from the table to land and splash Yonnie's face. All pride gone, he licked the floor, gaining strength with each swallow. The next goblet she hurled at Yonnie, he weakly caught, sloshing it as he brought it to his mouth to greedily consume. Blood ran from the corners of Yonnie's mouth, over his chin, his hands, and down his chest. Fallon Nuit spat on the floor and stalked back to his throne, and as Yonnie brought the goblet away from his mouth, he hissed at Nuit. Sunken skull, red glowing eyes studied Nuit. Skeletal hands covered in rotting flesh clutched the golden goblet. Tattered fabric that once belonged to bur ial clothes hung from Yonnie's gaunt, starved frame, but defiance wafted off him in roiling waves no less lingering than his putrid, dead-flesh stench.

  "You should leave him in this condition, Lilith. Once a slave, always a slave," Nuit said through his teeth with bourgeois, antebellum entitlement. "His kind worked my planta

  tions for years, and even now, after you've fed him from the floor, he dares hiss at us. " Lilith eyed Nuit, then tossed Yonnie another goblet, and watched Yonnie greedily consume its contents. "You did override Rivera's bite, oui?" she asked, teasing Nuit.

  "Of course I did!" Nuit railed, pointing at Yonnie as he be gan to slowly regenerate. "The ungrateful sonofabitch owes me. "

  Lilith tilted her head to the side watching new muscle, flesh, and skin begin to overtake Yonnie's weathered skele ton. His hunched spine elongated and straightened as his sunken cheeks, chest, and stomach filled out - new sinew giving his chest and shoulders definition and strength. Gnarled fingers and claws became graceful, long hands. Spindly legs and hooked feet suddenly metamorphosed into athletically honed muscles, strong thighs and well-shaped feet covered in glistening, brand-new, dark walnut skin. Yon nie arched and cried out as his old fangs fell away and new ones split through his gums, while old, brittle hair broke off like dead pine needles off a dry tree and new, vibrant, flexi ble kinky dark hair sprouted from his new scalp.

  A youthful, handsome face now replaced the garish nightmare that had been before them. Red glowing eyes normalized into intense, dark brown irises that surveyed everything and trusted nothing. The only evidence of Yonnie's recent torture was that he was naked on the floor and breathing hard from the transformation process.

  "That is definitely Rivera's handiwork," Lilith said with appreciation, her gaze raking Yonnie to settle on his groin. "And has a bit of the old attitude still resonating within him too . . . good. " She blew Yonnie a kiss from her throne. "Don't ever trade that in, lover. I don't care who you become beholden to. "

  "If she wanted a pet we could have gotten her a puppy to play with in council," Nuit muttered to Sebastian, who subtly nodded.

  'True," Lilith said, tearing her gaze from Yonnie and paralyzing Nuit with it. "Or I could just dog you. " She stood and walked over to Yonnie but kept her withering gaze on Nuit.

  "Do not ever forget who I am, no matter what you may think of how I got the position. I'll crush you, Fallon, if you cross me. "

  Lilith held out her hand to Yonnie and chuckled when he declined it and stood on his own. She let her gaze rake him and spoke to his groin as she leaned in and whispered into his ear so softly that the others couldn't hear. "I'm not sure, but you might have been made a councilman hi absentia. Was it Fallon's premature bite, never rescinded because Cain was injured and too preoccupied to do so, or were you made by Rivera's elevation bite . . . and are you now a lost rogue because your maker didn't formally get extinguished with his essence still in our realms? Without a title transfer to the next councilman in power that would have taken Rivera's place, no one would own you, per se. So, is that it? Are you a floater, Yonnie. . . a vampire without a maker hi Hell?" She brushed his unyielding mouth with a kiss. "That would make you a free-floating radical. A variable. Something new that even I have never seen. But something dangerous. "

  She flounced away from Yonnie with a smug smile when he didn't answer. "You don't know yourself, do you?" Ignoring the curious glances from Nuit and Sebas tian, Lilith crooked her finger at Yonnie. "You've never actually experienced a throne, have you?" Yonnie looked away, a hundred emotions competing for dominance in his mind as he stared at a vacant seat. After what he'd just gone through, one thing wa
s clear- something Carlos always told him - he couldn't be down in the bowels without owning a position of leverage. Knowl edge was power. If Lilith didn't know for sure who'd made him, and obviously couldn't read his mind because something even he couldn't comprehend was blocking that. . . then he needed to play along, pretend that Nuit still held check.

  "No," Yonnie finally said. "He just bit me in the casino. "

  "Aha!" Nuit said, standing and pointing at Yonnie, vindi cated, as he looked at Lilith. He turned and narrowed his gaze on Yonnie. "I ought to make you get down on your knees and suck my dick for the offense of hissing at your maker. " Yonnie battle bulked, allowing his fangs to drop nine inches. "Open your fly and you'll draw back a nub. "

  "Imposter!" Nuit sat with flourish, gathering his robes about him.

  "He allowed my mate to go into the Light! He let Rivera betray me and give her body to a fucking Guardian team!" Yonnie shouted, using all the game he had in him to twist the facts. "He let them bury her on consecrated ground, in a fucking church - and on the battlefield in Morales, Mexico, he allows my second mate, Gabrielle, to be blown away by her own sister. They used hallowed-earth shells," Yonnie railed, walking up to the pentagram-shaped table to pound on it, but the frustration rang true. The heartbreak was no act as tears began to flow from outrage.

  "They beheaded Gabrielle on the field, prayed over her, and sent her soul into the Light, before I could grasp it. " Yonnie's voice broke as he sputtered his complaint to Lilith, pointing at Nuit. "That lowlife, double-dealing, bargain-breaking, motherfucker! I might have to do what he says, but it's gonna take the Dark Lord on Level Seven and me puking my guts before I come to him, unless he addresses the shit he did!"

  Lilith looked at Nuit as he turned away. "The man has brought a valid series of complaints to chambers, Fallon. You elevated him to councilman status . . . I don't believe Cain ever followed through on rescinding your offer, given his state when you brought Yolando here. And, as a council man, he has, indeed, experienced a number of offenses that by rights could make him not feel whole - as none of what you bargained with him was ever delivered. " She sighed and stared at Yonnie hard with an unreadable smile.

  "He never answered my calls!" Nuit challenged.

  "You ain't call me, bitch, except when the Dark Lord came into chambers to drag your ass to prison - so like I'm supposed to show up and do what? Go down witchu when you ain't never have my back? Aw hell no. Po-po was on your ass, not mine, so hey. Read the clause, get the old blood contracts out - if your maker offends the Dark Lord, you do not have to be canon fodder. " Yonnie leered at Nuit. "And you know why? Because the Dark Lord ain't stupid - why would he want a bunch of motherfuckers fighting against him and burning up his energy and resources to protect one of his own that offended him? That's the first order of business. So, no, while you was down there screaming for help, I didn't have to answer shit. " Yonnie mimed turning an imaginary switch off at his ear. "Click, bitch . . . I switched the channel. "

  Lilith leaned back in her throne and laughed, glimpsing Sebastian's smile. "Oh, Yolando, I can feel the Rivera influence in you so strongly, it's beautiful. " When Nuit folded his arms and looked away, Lilith swallowed some of her mirth. "Okay, gentlemen. So. We have an impasse. Nuit, by rights, owns you as your maker, but due to his negligence in fulfill ing his multiple bargains, thus costing you two mates in quick succession. . . . Hmmm. . . he can either win you back from me, the one who fed you back to life - and your chairwoman, the holder of all disputed property claims, or he can strike a bargain with you that you agree upon. "

  "That is my property, Lilith, and you know it!" Nuit was out of his throne, but didn't advance on Yonnie.

  "I am so going to enjoy holding you in escrow, Yolando," she murmured, licking her lips.

  "Then, what shall it be?" Nuit raged. "We have business to conduct, and he has to make a decision!"

  "I don't have to do shit for three nights," Yonnie spat. "You all better get another attorney on this council, which should be real easy since we got a million of 'em down here. "

  "I believe that is his right," Sebastian said, unsure.

  "Shut up!" Nuit yelled, and spun on Sebastian. "You haven't even remained in your throne for twenty-four hours and you presume to know Vampire Council law? When did you acquire such skill, Sebastian? While rolling on the mar ble fornicating with Harpies?" Yonnie made a face. "C'mon, man. . . that's nasty. How'd you make council, handlin' your business like that?"

  "It was the spell!" Sebastian shouted, making Lilith cackle. "And the three of us agreed that whatever happened in the caverns stayed in the caverns while under the spell! Now I see why your own made man has no respect for you, Fallon! That was unnecessary!" Lilith sighed. "Fine. Yolando has three nights to decide what is in his best interest, given his duplicate losses. But his loyalties aren't with Rivera, either, that's clear. "

  "You got that right," Yonnie said and spat. "I don't know who I'm more done with - him or Nuit. "

  "Pick a vacant throne, Yolando," Lilith crooned. "We need a man with your New Age thinking and an intimate knowledge of the Guardian team, especially the Neterus, on our council during these turbulent times. "

  Yonnie studied the choices before him, moving to the throne farthest from Nuit and leaving one open between him and Sebastian. He had to know what just went down. What kind of spell could have had enough topspin on it to invade all the way down through the realms to Level Six, and still have enough juice to have a councilman humping Harpies?

  Damn! Oh, yeah, something was crazy-wrong, and the more he thought about it, it definitely sounded like his boy's handiwork. He glanced at Sebastian, wondering as he took his time making a selection. That bitch Lorelei also said something about the dark covens rising, he just wished he'd paid more attention and remembered before the agony of the ultimate call hit him.

  "Don't worry, Yolando," Lilith said with a sinister smile. "I know what you're worried about. "

  Yonnie froze, his gaze slowly going toward a very smug Nuit, as he wondered if somehow they'd seen through his game.

  Lilith waved her hand down her gown, causing it to vanish. "Since you're now in my escrow account, when you come up out of the throne ecstasy daze, I'll do the installation honors, not your maker. "

  * * *

  Carlos pushed away from the bar, settled the tab, and stood. He needed to follow his own damned advice, he told himself, but for some reason the hair was standing up on the back of his neck and his legs had propelled him out of the hotel to take a walk. The night air smelled good. No, it smelled fantastic. Wood burning in fireplaces mixed with the surf, the breeze was steady and cool. . . some things would simply never leave him. They were as much a part of who he was as the Light. But it was all good. He'd learned how to appreciate the past without hankering for it to create chaos in his life. Tonight he was thoroughly appreciating how fine-assed midnight strutted out in rhinestone-studded blue-black, slit up the side with gray clouds, flossing a full moon. Carlos suddenly stopped walking for a moment and toughed. That's what was wrong with Shabazz. "Oh shit!" We laughed harder as he started walking again, shaking his head, and glad the streets of La Jolla rolled up about this time. Yeah, he was talking to himself and crazy. So what? Three-quarters of America looked like him, talking on ear cellular phones that nobody could see.

  He slowed his pace as he got to the beach. His laughter had died away blocks ago. There was something so peaceful about watching the surf at night. Something about the enormity of the vast sea of sparkling black surface, and hearing it thunder while the stars reflected off it. The white foam of the breakers was the only thing that interrupted the vast dark carpet. Until daylight came, it was so hard to distinguish where the Ultimate Darkness left off and the Heavens began, and just a sliver of gray horizon lit by a heavenly body was wedged in between . . . just like the gray zone - earth.

  "I know," a deep and familiar voice said behind him. "Profound, ain't it?" Carlos
spun. "Oh, man!" He laughed. "Brother. . . I been. . . " Something in Yonnie's eyes made Carlos stop his advance.

  "What happened to you, man?" Carlos asked quietly, scanning his friend in earnest.

  "You're - "

  "Stronger. Yeah. And not the one you want to fuck with right now. I thought you had my back, motherfucker!"

  Carlos nodded. The pain had to bleed out, first. "Yeah. You're right. I couldn't get to you and I fucked up, man. " He opened his arms and braced for the black charge. "But you're still my brother. "

  The black charge blew Carlos back ten feet and he landed on the sand flat on his back, dazed, with his chest smoldering. He rubbed the now very sore spot, glad that Damali's old accidental brand made taking a direct hit, black-chest charge like getting shot while wearing a flak jacket. It took a moment, but soon he was able to roll over on his side with effort and stand on wobbly legs.

  "Aw'ight, man," Carlos said, speaking in jags between breaths. "I had that coming. But I need to drop some science on you 'bout what happened. "

  "I don't wanna hear a fucking thing about what happened!" Yonnie shouted. "I want my wife back!"

  Carlos didn't move as a ring of fire ripped open the sand around him.

  "Speak! Where's Tara?"

  "You gonna have to chill so we can talk about this like men, brother," Carlos said, deflecting another charge and putting out Yonnie's fire ring with a hot silver gaze. "Nuit burned you, not me. "

  Yonnie began to pace. "I know, but you shoulda told me. "

  "Can I seal this conversation without you blowing my head off?" Carlos folded his arms over his chest and waited.

  "Yeah, fuckin' A, seal it. "

  "Me and you, black-box - can't put a prayer around you, Mr. Councilman, you'll fry. "

  "Just do it. "

  Carlos put the translucent seal around them, adding a double layer of thickness to the flooring.

  "When'd you learn how to do that, man?" Yonnie said, testing the walls gently with his fingertips.

  "Came with the Neteru gig . . . nice suit. When'd you elevate, man?" Carlos lifted his chin, trying to keep the concern out of his voice.

  "When you briefly became chairman," Yonnie said, staring at him. "That night you elevated me, you said when you moved up, I'd move up . . . you never rescinded the command. I just never sat in a throne, so I didn't have the knowledge to go with the power. "

  Carlos just stared at his friend for a moment. "What?"

  "You saved my ass, man," Yonnie said quietly. "I owe you that. . . always had my six, even when you went into the Light. " He walked away and swallowed hard. "That's why they couldn't break me, because I had a chairman's mark - those don't get taken away, ever, unless the Ultimate Darkness does it. " He chuckled sadly. "And here I came to knock fire from your ass tonight. "

  Carlos raked his hair. "I am sooo sorry about what happened with Tara. "

  "Yeah, well. . . "

  "Naw, hear me out, man," Carlos said, waiting until Yon-nie turned to look at him. "If I ain't never lied to you as a vamp, why would I start now, supposedly as an honest motherfucker in the Light? Does that make sense? Study it, hombre. Think. " Yonnie nodded. "Then what happened?"

  "You might not wanna hear this, but just like you told me before, as your friend - it ain't my job to make you feel good, it's my job to watch your back and make sure you survive. Telling you the truth is part of that. "

  Yonnie looked out at the ocean.

  "I know this is kicking your ass . . . but I didn't have any control over bringing Tara back. Neither did Damali. We don't have that kind of power. Something happened when Nuit double-crossed you and layered in a kill bite over your love bite. Tara flatlined and I saw the spirit of Padre Lopez literally come into your lair as a ball of white light and take her. " Carlos was so impassioned with the truth that he began talking with his hands as Yonnie stared at him. "I didn't even wanna fold her body away in a Neteru transport, for fear that the Light would speed up the decomposition process . . . she'd been gone forty some years, man. Rider had lost it so bad that Shabazz had to knock his ass out to get him to drop the body. "

  Yonnie swallowed hard and stood very, very still, staring at Carlos.

  "We black-sheeted her, man," Carlos said quietly. "Brought her to the beach in La Paz. Wouldn't let Rider look at her - he didn't need to see that vamp aging thing happen to her. "

  Yonnie closed his eyes, tears glistening in his lashes. "No man should see that happen to his woman . . . especially not to one that beautiful. "

  "Right," Carlos said, dragging his fingers through his hair. "Some hybrids got out of Nod with Cain's crazy ass. We had a nymph . . . a healer. Sara . . . Rest her soul in peace. "

  "What ha ppened to her?" Yonnie whispered, breathing in steady, controlled sips.

  "Sara attended Tara's body, so it would hold against decay until we buried it. We were under siege, couldn't do it right away. Lilith or Cain, who knows, had opened up old team wounds, we had Guardians flipping. But the hybrid stayed with Tara's body and preserved it. "

  Yonnie opened his eyes, sniffed hard, and turned away. "You buried her beautiful?"

  "We never put her in the ground," Carlos said, his voice so quiet that Yonnie turned to stare at him.

  "We took her with us, because we were under siege and didn't want her to be desecrated. She was your wife, your lover, our Guardian sister . . . Rider's common-law wife and lover

  . . . shit . . . nobody could believe she was gone. "

  Yonnie nodded, unshed tears threatening to fall. "Nobody could believe that, man. You did what was right, tried to keep the Harpies off her. Fucking vermin. "

  "My Light foldaway, at the distance we had to go, would have undone what Sara did to hold her intact. So, we let the hybrids carry her at their slower speed, and told them to put her down safe on hallowed ground so we could do the thing right . . . man, I would have brought you over the prayer lines to see her, would have opened a path with your name -

  you know that - so you could see your woman one last time. " Carlos punched the sore spot on his chest over his scorched T-shirt. "I wouldn't deny my boy a right like that. "

  "I just thought - "

  "You thought wrong!" Carlos hollered. "You're like a brother - we are blood brothers, man, shit!" He walked away, breathing hard, trying to pull himself together. "Nuns laid her out on a granite slab, Damali said . . . did I don't know what. I wasn't there, but twelve nuns praying hard, a hybrid healing nymph, and my wife, a Powers angel on real old consecrated ground . . . add in a man who'd loved her for over thirty years down on his knees begging any power above that will listen. The woman came back. A miracle happened, and it was outta my hands. "

  Carlos turned and looked at Yonnie. Their gazes locked in silent understanding.

  "I understand miracles," Yonnie said slowly, his voice suddenly weary and sounding very fatigued. "She was my miracle, saved my ass when the empire was tracking me the first go

  'round. If it wasn't for her. . . "

  "I know, man, but you've gotta let it go. She's married. " Carlos walked to the far side of the black-box and rubbed the back of his neck.

  "You always said you'd have my back - "

  "I did, man, don't put me in a position between you and - "

  "Hear me out," Yonnie said as Carlos gave him his back to consider and folded his arms over his chest.

  "My days are numbered. She ain't safe with me. I just wanna see her. " Carlos turned and stared at Yonnie full on. "If your days are numbered, why you look so healthy, like you just took a throne, man? Come on, brother. . . I still know Dananu. Don't play a - "

  "I would never bite her, wouldn't turn her," Yonnie said without blinking. "She got a second chance. You've been there. You know what this is. Hell. "

  "I know," Carlos said without judgment in his tone. "I know. "

  "I had to elevate tonight because they finally caught me. Got
the ultimate call and it broke my ass down so hard I was licking blood off the floor at Fallen's feet. "

  "Oh, shit, brother. . . the ultimate call. . . I've never even. . . "

  "Yeah. I ain't proud - I'm just glad Lilith did the installation. " Yonnie released a hard, brittle laugh. "But in that moment, right before I started regenerating, I didn't give a shit who installed a brother. Feel me? That's why I would never drag her back into the life. " Carlos nodded, not sure what to say. "Man, I'ma always have your back . . . I just. . . "

  "It's cool," Yonnie said in a philosophical tone, and then released a hard sigh. "You took me as far as you could. Did all you could do. Took me places and gave me power I'd only dreamed of, man. You also gave me something that even while they were about to stomp my ass into a black puddle on seven, they couldn't take away from me - for a minute, she was mine. For a minute, she was my wife. For a minute, she cared if I lived or died. And, really, because of the way you rolled, one of my lovers went into the Light and came out whole. The other, Gabby, went over as spirit, but they can't touch either one of 'em. " Yonnie walked away from Carlos to place both hands on the translucent box as he stared at the sea. "Women and chil dren first. Get 'em out first. You did that, homeboy. Got the ladies out. And I got a three-night pass, just like you had a while ago," he said with a sad smile as he turned back. "I'm on escrow account with Lilith because Nuit fucked up a legit bargain with a fellow councilman. Even after your ass left Hell, your smooth criminal ways was all in the thrones . . . I just got a hit, and I'm feelin' kinda reckless. So, hey, they can't read my mind over your mark, maybe they don't know where I am. . . as long as I can I'll

  send you images, locations, plots, schemes, whatever. "

  "You don't have to bargain with me to see her, man," Car los said, so quietly hurt for his boy that the horizon was the only place he could send his gaze. "That's a suicide mission you're talking about. "

  "So, you be the one to dust me," Yonnie said, opening his arms until Carlos looked at him.

  "Put your blade in my heart and then take off my head clean - after I do my work. " Carlos just stared at him.

  'Fair exchange is no robbery, Mr. Chairman," Yonnie said, slowly dropping to his knees on the sand. "I'm not negotiating with you. I'm begging you as your line-brother, your blood

  line, to do the extinction honors when the time comes scatter my ashes in the Light, let your blade do the job, be cause I've seen it make the impossible happen. It was only

  'cause of you that I could keep Nuit and Sebastian off my ass and got a chance to interest Lilith enough to buy me three nights. " Yonnie stood and walked over to Carlos, tears stream ing down his face.

  "Pull it from my head!" Yonnie shouted. "Like old times, if you don't believe me. " He yanked Carlos by the arm when he tried to look away. "I've only got one chairman! Only got one brother to the grave and beyond! I only had one crazy motherfucker have my back like you - so who else's six would I watch? Theirs? Fuck you, man, if you think I'm gaming. I woulda did this shit for you regardless!"

  Carlos gripped Yonnie's arm in a Neteru warrior's hold and pulled him into a firm embrace, talking hard and fast. "I got your six, man. Blade for blade, bullshit for bullshit, we ride or die together - you hear me, man?" He let Yonnie go, trying to hold emotion in check. "I done lost Alejandro, Juan, Miguel, Julio . . . the list is long. Me and you, we been places none of them ever conceived, man. " Carlos shook his head, sniffed hard, and kept his eyes on the sea. "The Light don't even understand what this is - I'm like, give the brother a fuckin' break, but it ain't my call, man, and I been asking 'em every day, yo, but they don't seem like on this petition they hear what I'm saying, you feel me . . . but I ain't step off, ain't do you foul. That shit been on my con science, man, like a brick. Then you wanna come and tell me you're about to do a suicide mission, take one for the team, and I can't guarantee that - "

  "I ain't ask for your guarantee!" Yonnie shouted. "What? I ain't supposed to give a shit what happens to my brother on a torture chamber wall? I been there!" Carlos said, slapping his chest.

  "Let me do me," Yonnie said quietly. "Just like you need to do you. " He wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "I love you too, man. But maybe after two hundred years, you know. . . my shit is too far gone. So let me do something that I can say I was proud of along the way. How many of us get out of the vamp game, once bitten? Eventually, you gotta give the devil his due. Torture comes with the whole lost soul imperative. So, taking a page out of your book, and a hit off your old throne. . . hey. " Carlos stared at Yonnie, stunned and eerily pleased. "You took my old throne?"

  "Who else's, man? Come on," Yonnie said with a shrug. "Might as well give them something to really kick my ass for. It ain't like if I don't they're gonna be nice and leave me alone. You know how this goes. And, who knows, if I game hard enough I might make it past three nights double-dealing for a while. "

  Carlos nodded and rubbed his palms down his face, feeling every muscle in his back and

  shoulders absorbing the strain. "Okay, man . . . and I'll do whatever I can to keep both sides off your back - my blade, though, only used against the darkside. " He stared at Yonnie. "I can't make her see you, or have a hand in lying about where she's going, if Rider asks me. " Yonnie shook his head and held up his hand. "Yeah, yeah, I know - you gotta maintain position. Even while chairman, you know, there were some things you couldn't do, based on position . . . wouldn't seem right. Sends the wrong message. "

  "Exactly, and stop working me in broken Dananu"

  They both looked at each other and smiled.

  "But on the real," Carlos said, his smile fading. "For all this help, all this insider info -

  which is invaluable . . . and I can't deliver Tara, or the Light, no guarantees. I might not even be able to get to you before they snatch your ass to make it quick . . . and even then they'd have your soul. . . "

  All true," Yonnie said, studying his new manicure with a half-smile. Bewildered, Carlos opened his arms and stared at his friend. "What are you getting out of this, man? I'm not supposed to say this, but, in your situation . . . like, you c ould save yourself, make an existence you could deal with You know as long as you lay low in my territory and don't do crazy kills around me and the team . . . I'd . . . if you was cool. " Carlos looked away, unable to say it, and half-disbelieving he'd even considered that he'd turn a blind eye to Yonnie's coven kills if he needed to do human feeds as a councilman. "Scratch that, man," he muttered. "You know what I'm saying. " For a while they both fell silent, then Yonnie's quiet voice brought their lines of vision together.

  "Since you said something that you're not supposed to say as a Neteru," Yonnie murmured, his focus locked on Car los, "then I'm gonna say something that I'm not supposed to say as a vampire . . . but since we're both breaking it down to street code - that we would do for a brother we loved down to the blood like we'd do for no other, I'll say this. " He swallowed hard and walked away from Carlos, his breathing la bored as he battled with his emotions. "You asked what I am getting out of this . . . why I am doing this. " "Yeah," Carlos said, his voice distant and thick. "You give me something I never had. Something that doesn't exist where I'm trapped now. " He turned and looked Carlos dead in the eyes. "Hope. "