The Greater Darkness

  Unsure what else to do, Geoffrey stood there holding Melody and letting her cry until the tears slowed to a trickle and she asked him to carry her close enough to check a host of readouts that didn't make any sense to him.

  Once Melody was satisfied with the information the medical equipment was reporting, Geoffrey helped her into the kitchen where she pulled a medical bag that contained a sugar and saline solution out of the refrigerator.

  The next twenty minutes were some of the hardest Geoffrey could remember. It was obvious that Melody was running on nothing but willpower. He was trying to help, but she was the one with the knowledge of what needed done and how it needed to be accomplished. All he could really do was to be there for her to lean on.

  Melody collapsed as she finished taking care of her mom, but Geoffrey caught her before she could damage any of the monitoring machines surrounding the poor woman.

  "You've done everything you can for her. She'll be fine. You need to take care of yourself now, or you won't be able to take care of her later."

  The lights came back on about the time Geoffrey got Melody back to her bed and working her way through the bread he'd found. Reasonably sure that both Melody and her mom would be okay, the vampire found his thoughts wandering through the things he'd learned when he was inside Melody's mind hours before.

  "It isn't your fault, you know."

  Melody looked up questioningly and for a second Geoffrey almost couldn't make himself continue.

  "Your dad's death, your mom's sickness; neither came about because of anything you did."

  Melody looked for a second like she wanted to be angry and tell Geoffrey it was none of his business, but after a few seconds she nodded. "I know in my head that's true, but sometimes the rest of me doesn't believe it, especially the part about Mom. After Dad died I was so angry, and she was busy trying to be strong for both of us. I said a lot of hurtful things that mostly centered around me wishing she was gone too so I could live my life how I wanted."

  Brown eyes looked away from Geoffrey for a minute, and when they returned they were full of unshed tears. "Sometimes I think about how much easier my life would be if my mom was just dead so that I didn't have to take care of her all of the time."

  Geoffrey waited until Melody had put the remnants of her meal on the nightstand and then reached over and hugged her. "I can help with that if you want. I could make it so you know it wasn't your fault, I might even be able to take away the memory of ever wishing she wasn't here."

  "By going inside my mind like you did before?"

  "Only if you want me to."

  "No, the wounds are almost gone, and that's part of who I am. If you took that away, I might not be as careful about what I said or thought in the future. Thank you for offering though."

  The pair remained next to each other on the bed while Melody cried herself out again, and for the first time since he'd been injured Geoffrey was once again conscious of how attractive Melody was. There was something there between the two of them now. He'd felt it inside her mind, but the feelings he'd read there still had too many elements of a childish crush.

  Melody wiped her eyes and snuggled closer to Geoffrey. "You still haven't asked me what I see when you're inside my mind. Did you find out the last time we were together?"

  Geoffrey shook his head and then realized in the darkness that she probably couldn't see. "No, I figured that was your secret to tell or keep as you saw fit."

  There was a pause; it was like Melody wasn't sure she really wanted to tell now that she'd arrived at the moment of decision. "I saw a being of light and goodness, but with an overlay of darkness trying to extinguish the light."

  Melody's revelation was so unexpected that Geoffrey was having a hard time processing it. "What do you mean?"

  "You've done terrible things, but you're essentially good and wholesome. There are deep scars that the black has seeped into, which chains you away from your potential, but the good is fighting back trying to cast the bad out."

  All of sudden Melody hugged Geoffrey fiercely. "I'm worried though, the darkness and light inside your mind were both stronger this time than I remember them being last time, and I think as the war grows stronger it's killing you inside."

  Chapter 21

  Geoffrey was incredibly nervous the entire trip home, but even that wasn't enough to distract his thoughts away from Melody. As much as he would have loved to stay there with her for another day, Melody had needed to get back to school. It was for the best though; he still needed to figure out what to do next about the attack that had nearly killed him.

  Thinking about the attack made Geoffrey remember that there was a chance Imastious would order his death. He'd just have to cross that bridge if it came to that. An outcome where he died would probably be best for everyone involved, but he found that now, more than ever, he wanted to live.

  When Geoffrey finally arrived and opened up the tired-looking door to his apartment, he found Venice pacing back and forth.

  "Where the hell have you been?"

  Trying to remain ready for a battle while not appearing to be ready for a battle was a losing proposition, so Geoffrey pulled out his katana and pretended to be inspecting it. "I got jumped the night before last by some red-headed pyromancer and a couple of other guys. I killed them all, but got pretty beat up in the process, so I holed up somewhere other than my apartment, which I thought might have been compromised."

  Venice's eyes got big for a moment and then she looked at Geoffrey's weapon and smiled. "You can put that away for now; Imastious is the one who'll make the decision as to whether or not you have to be eliminated. You've got some time before you need to worry about him sending someone to collect your scalp."

  "You think you'll be the one he assigns to do it?" The words came out colder than Geoffrey had intended, but it was too late to take them back.

  The slender vampire looked at Geoffrey appraisingly and then shrugged. "You mean will I do it if he tells me to?"

  "Maybe. Why don't you answer that one too while you're at it."

  Venice frowned. "I've told you before, love. I won't come out in open defiance against him no matter how I feel about you. That's a losing proposition, and will be for quite some time. Right now even the two of us aren't strong enough to take him on and have a chance of winning. So yes, if he commands me to kill you I'll give it my absolute best. I don't want to suffer a gruesome death any more than you would in my place."

  A chill ran down his spine at her words. They felt more significant than he could explain but he tried to chalk the feeling up to exhaustion. He didn't think Venice was right about how far he'd be willing to go to avoid Imastious' wrath, but more and more he believed that she wasn't lying about what she would do to stay alive.

  Venice walked over and gently pulled Geoffrey's sword away before leading him over to a chair and then sitting down on his lap. "Why are you taking this out on me, love? I've told you my boundaries, but I'm going to do everything I can to help you short of that--short of actually defying Imastious."

  Letting Venice sit on his lap felt natural and right at the same time that it felt like a betrayal of Melody. "I didn't know that there was really any other option once they found me."

  Venice shook her head and smiled. "When you get all forceful and angry like that I have a hard time remembering you aren't the Geoffrey I fell in love with so long ago. Then I forget that you don't have his knowledge of our ways. I'm currently serving as your handler, just like you used to serve as mine."

  The blonde vampire stretched, showing off her stomach in a display that Geoffrey suspected was staged but which nevertheless pulled his eyes towards the expanse of skin revealed by her pale peasant top.

  "The handler/operative setup is pretty standard among vampires in this city. It helps protect the Elders from being attacked if one of their operatives is compromised. In our case things aren't quite like they are supposed to be, since you know who I report to, but at least you don't know how
to find Imastious and me, so in theory we're still somewhat protected."

  Geoffrey fought off a spate of anger at Venice's tone. He needed her help if he was going to get out of this alive, and he needed to survive so that he could help Melody and her mom.

  "In certain cases, that chain of cutouts is compromised without the vampires in it being killed. Once that happens, the operatives aren't any good for the covert actions that tend to make up the majority of the conflict between vampire Elders, but they can still be used to clean up things that everyone expects the Elder in question to get involved in."

  "Like hunting down the executioner of a known asset," breathed Geoffrey.

  Venice flashed one of her winning smiles. "Exactly. I don't know if Imastious knew Eculdes was that councilman's patron or not, but the fact that Burnout got assigned to track you down pretty much confirmed the fact. Luckily it is pretty common knowledge that Burnout reported to a telekinetic named Rogers, who in turn reports to a mentalist who goes by the handle of Gothic. It's pretty certain that Burnout passed whatever he knew up to Rogers, and it is likely that once he decides Burnout is dead, Rogers will pass what he knows up to Gothic. That still gives you a chance though. If you can take Rogers and Gothic out before Gothic reports in to Eculdes, you should be pretty safe. We'll just need to move you to a different part of the city."

  Geoffrey raised an eyebrow. "Pretty safe?"

  Venice shrugged. "If you manage to eliminate both of Eculdes' men, he'll take one of two actions. He'll either decide that they got too close to someone more powerful than he wants to piss off right now, or he'll decide that maintaining his power and influence requires that he take down whoever just clipped his people. In the first case, you're pretty much home free. In the second case, you'll have to try and keep a low profile until the search dies down and they get caught up trying to solve some other problem."

  Nodding, Geoffrey sighed. "How do I find these two?"

  **

  It was hard for Geoffrey to believe that Rogers could walk around so unconcernedly considering that by now he had to know that Burnout was dead. Then again, Rogers had essentially had a target on his back ever since he and Burnout were compromised years ago. The fact that Eculdes would avenge his death had always been enough to save him in the past, so he probably continued to think it would serve as an adequate shield.

  Geoffrey carefully checked the handgun he'd taken from the gang member who'd assaulted him weeks ago, and wished once again that he'd had a chance to practice with it. There just hadn't been a time or place to do that, though, inside the city. Rather, there probably were such places, but he couldn't get access to them on such short notice.

  Venice had exploded when Geoffrey had told her he wanted to use a firearm to attack Rogers. The strength of the response still wasn't something that he fully understood. Geoffrey wasn't keen on losing his hand to a pyromancer, but from everything she'd told him, Rogers was older and more powerful than he was. If Geoffrey didn't bring some kind of equalizer to the fight he wouldn't stand a chance of winning. Even attacking from an ambush wouldn't equalize those kinds of odds without something else in the mix.

  Rogers was expected to mingle with the rest of vampire society so that he could serve as a conduit for people wanting to get information back to Eculdes, but he was still careful about making sure he wasn't tailed back to his apartment. Geoffrey had decided against trying to follow his usual plan of attacking his target once they were at home and their guard started to come down. Instead he'd spent the last two days waiting around one of the seedier clubs that Rogers was known to frequent. The plan gave him a chance of ambushing Rogers, but Geoffrey had been starting to worry that it wouldn't happen. When he wasn't worrying about that, he worried that he would succeed in ambushing Rogers, but not before Rogers reported in to Gothic. Fortunately, it looked like the gamble was just about to pay off.

  Geoffrey had fed again since Burnout had attacked him. He currently felt as though he radiated strength and power, so much so that he had to keep reminding himself that Rogers could easily turn the ambush around on him if he wasn't careful.

  Once the other vampire passed Geoffrey's hiding place, he brought the Beretta up and after checking the sights to ensure he was on target, pulled the trigger.

  It was too dark to see where the bullets were impacting, so Geoffrey emptied the handgun as quickly as he could and then sprang from hiding, his katana drawn as his thoughts snaked over to the other vampire's mind.

  Rogers was fast, a hair more so than Geoffrey, and his blows, despite being executed with a duelist's weapon, left Geoffrey's palms tingling from the impact. Fortunately, one or more of the nine-millimeter bullets must have hit because the older vampire didn't seem to have the concentration to be able to use his telekinetic powers.

  In the first few seconds Geoffrey was nearly stabbed twice, but then his frantic efforts to hammer through Rogers' mental shield succeeded and he suddenly knew exactly what the other vampire was about to do.

  The slender blade that had been giving Geoffrey such problems executed a slash towards his neck, but this time he knew it was a feint. Geoffrey stepped to the side as he brought his weapon around to parry the true attack, a lunging stab to his chest.

  Rogers' emotionless gray eyes had a split second to grow alarmed as he realized what had happened and then Geoffrey's right foot smashed into the older vampire's knee, destroying the joint and dropping him to the ground.

  A second later the fight was over and Geoffrey was wiping his blade on Rogers' clothes. It was time to leave before the police arrived or another vampire happened by.

  Chapter 22

  Geoffrey had been flush with success after his fight with Rogers, but things had gone rapidly downhill since then. He should have known that things were going too well. Geoffrey had even managed to avoid the nagging guilt he'd expected to experience. He'd seen enough of Rogers' crimes while he'd been inside the other vampire's mind to know he was as deserving of execution as anyone could be.

  Things had been perfect. Now if he could just find Gothic…

  Venice had left a note in Geoffrey's new apartment reluctantly congratulating him on succeeding. Apparently word had gotten around regarding the unorthodox nature of the hit on Rogers, and as a result the city's vampires were more unsettled than Venice had led him to expect.

  Venice had anticipated his astonishment and reiterated that these kinds of things were done in a certain way. As a general rule, firearms were only used in fights between vampires in their first few decades. Popular opinion seemed to be split on whether some neonate had just gotten lucky, or whether there was a much more powerful vampire who was trying to lay some kind of false trail.

  The note had also included a time and meeting place, with strict instructions to make sure he wasn't followed. The order had been even more frustrating than normal. He needed to be hunting for Gothic rather than jumping from one subway to another in an attempt to make sure that one of Eculdes' other goons didn't follow him to the meet and endanger Venice's lovely skin.

  Realizing how bitter he sounded, Geoffrey tried to run through some of the relaxation exercises Venice had taught him. If he were going to be honest with himself, the order probably smarted less than the fact that he had absolutely no chance of taking Gothic down even if he did manage to find him.

  Geoffrey left the subway and headed towards Central Park certain that there was no way that he could have been followed, but still unable to escape the feeling that he was once again being watched.

  Walking along a path he'd taken the last time he'd gone running, Geoffrey wondered if the leaves on the trees were still as vibrantly green as he'd imagined them, or if they'd started to change colors as fall approached. It was funny that you couldn't actually see color in the dark, just black and white.

  A few minutes later the vampire came around a curve in the path and saw Venice standing uneasily before him.

  "Are you positive you weren't followed?"

 
Geoffrey nodded. "Why the sudden concern?"

  Venice slowly turned around in a circle, scanning their surroundings. "I'm not sure. It doesn't make any sense, but up until a few seconds ago I felt like someone was watching me."

  Turning to complete a similar sweep of the park, Geoffrey saw an entire block go dark as it lost power for some reason before flickering back on a few seconds later. Geoffrey idly wondered what could cause just a single block to go down like that. Just one block and just for a short time.

  Geoffrey shivered as he realized that he was trying to distract himself from the creepy sense that they were indeed being watched. The vampire thought about saying something to Venice, but knew admitting to the same feeling after having been told to make sure he wasn't followed would result in trouble.

  When no response was forthcoming, Venice shrugged and gestured for Geoffrey to follow her. "Imastious is already here and waiting."

  The shiver from a second before was nothing in comparison to what moved down Geoffrey's back now. A hundred questions flashed through his head, but he didn't bother asking any of them. He already knew that Venice wouldn't betray the slightest hint of what was about to happen. She wouldn't want Imastious any more suspicious of her than he already was.

  Venice led Geoffrey down a little-used path that ended at one of the maintenance buildings. Inside, the pair found Imastious impatiently standing in a corner.

  A feather-light touch brushed against his defenses, but before he could steel himself for the attack he thought was imminent, Imastious' probe moved on.

  "It appears you were both successful in ensuring that you weren't followed. I detect no human or vampire minds in close proximity." Imastious broke off for a second and for the first time Geoffrey was able to recall looked unsettled. "There was something unusual out there though. It almost seemed to pull my thoughts towards it, but it is gone now."

  Shaking himself a little, Imastious turned his dead eyes on Geoffrey. "You are indeed full of surprises, aren't you?"

  Remembering Imastious' proclivity towards violence, and still unsure whether he'd been brought here to be executed, Geoffrey licked his lips, trying to buy himself time before answering. "I'm sorry, Master, I'm not sure that I understand your question."