“Two more. Oleg has taken care of them. This is the largest and the one farthest from his territory. It’s also the one where the final Elixir is produced. The others are satellite plants that make some of the serums that are blended here with the vampire blood to activate the formula.”
Lucien looked over all Brigid’s plans, but he couldn’t find fault with any of them. “This looks good. Clean. In and out with minimum engagement.”
“High praise coming from you, General.”
“Who told you about that?”
“Carwyn.” She grinned. “And I thought you were just an egghead.”
Lucien knew that Brigid Connor was a girl that Ioan had loved like a daughter. The fact she was immortal and appeared to be happy would have pleased Lucien’s old friend. “Ioan would have been very proud of you,” he said. “He loved you so much.”
The swift grief rose up in her eyes, but just as quickly, it was wiped away by fierce pride. “Thanks. I know.”
❖
They boarded the boats in Crotone, vampires of various elements and wide allegiances, all joined in a single purpose: depose the Greeks and set up a new world order… which was actually more like an old world order.
“This is mad,” Makeda said. “Have you ever heard of an army going off to war with this little stealth?”
Carwyn said, “You have to remember, all of them conquered in a time before stealth technology and radio silence. When they needed to communicate, they used horns and drums.”
“But the Athenian council—”
“Is expecting them,” Carwyn said. “Yes. And they know that. Look at them, Makeda. Do any of the ancients look concerned?”
Arosh lounged on the deck with two nubile young vampires—Elia’s daughter, Kiraz, and a vampire from Inaya’s harem—hanging on his arms. He looked alternately bored and amused.
Ziri hovered overhead, a silent shadow perched on the bridge. Makeda hadn’t even tried to read him.
Kato sat on what could only be called a throne, conversing with several of the soldiers who’d been sent by various vampire lords. There were around twenty waiting to speak to him, no doubt all wanting their share of the glorious new regime.
And Saba was swimming naked in the pool while curious young vampires watched from the edges.
“It looks like a party boat,” Makeda said.
Carwyn chuckled. “And welcome to ancient conquest, my dear. As much pageantry as battle. If all goes according to plan, our ship will be welcomed into the hidden harbor of Alitea, and Laskaris will know his time has come to an end. He’ll bargain for exile or something that will leave him alive, and Kato and Saba will take over the way they intend.”
“But will Kato and Saba grant him exile?” Makeda tried not to sound horrified. She was far from bloodthirsty, but Laskaris and his people had killed her, murdered countless humans all over the globe, and driven hundreds of vampires mad.
“Oh no,” Carwyn said. “I’m sure they’re going to kill him.”
“Doesn’t he know that?”
Carwyn cocked his head to the side. “Probably.”
“Then why on earth does anybody think this is going to go according to some plan?”
❖
The next night, Tenzin dropped Brigid and Lucien on the roof of the factory on the outskirts of Plovdiv. From the outside, it looked like any number of cosmetics factories in the region, but Lucien could smell it immediately.
The sickly-sweet smell of pomegranate permeated the air.
He saw Brigid curl her lip and knew she’d smelled it too.
“Just the scent of it…,” she muttered, and he felt her heat up.
“Calm,” Lucien said. “I know it’s hard to resist.”
“I forget that you were infected too.”
“I survived. Others will too.”
“I hope so.” Brigid stepped lightly as they crossed the roof.
Lucien could feel a human on the other side of the door, no doubt taking his turn to check the roof as their surveillance had indicated. Brigid waited for him to open the door, then she grabbed the gun pointing from behind the door, yanked it forward, and before the man could call for help, she had her hand on his neck. He could see the heated imprint of her hand on the human’s skin.
“Brigid…”
“Quiet,” she whispered, curling her hands around the guard’s neck. “Sleep.”
The human went limp, and she placed him on the ground behind the door.
With quick hand movements, she entered the dark stairwell and motioned for Lucien to follow. Since she was doing an excellent job so far, he decided he’d let her take the lead. Baojia was below, already working to isolate the plant from the city water system. Tenzin was… somewhere, doing things Lucien decided he probably didn’t want to know about.
When they reached the floor, he saw some of them.
Five humans were stacked like cordwood against one wall.
“They’re not dead,” came a whispered voice from above. “But they’ll be out until dawn at least.”
Tenzin swooped down and grabbed another human. As she rose in the air, the man’s kicking legs fell still. “They all keep coming to look, then I can grab more of them.” She grinned. “It’s very entertaining.”
Brigid hissed. “But what about—”
“Vampire.” Lucien grabbed Brigid’s shoulders and angled her toward the swiftly approaching immortal in black. Brigid’s fire shot out and engulfed the running vampire. He screamed and the fire alarm blared, all at the same time.
“Oh sure,” Tenzin yelled. “And she was worried I wouldn’t be stealthy enough.”
“Shut up, Tenzin!” Brigid looked up as the pipes above her hissed. The sprinkler system kicked on, a dense mist that enveloped Brigid and the surrounding area but did not flood the warehouse. “Oh, for fuck’s—”
“Here!” Tenzin blew the mist away, and Brigid emerged looking like she’d just walked through a wind tunnel. “You’re welcome.”
“Let’s not delay,” Lucien said, running toward an office he saw in the distance. “You two take care of the guards, and I’ll find the finished product. We’ll need to destroy all the records too. Tenzin, start moving the humans to a safe location. Once Baojia makes the water safe, Saba wants this plant razed to the ground.”
❖
“We’ll be there by tomorrow evening,” Carwyn said. “There’s nothing else to do tonight.”
“When will we hear from Bulgaria?”
“I don’t know.”
She was staring into the distance at a horizon that was speeding ever closer as they neared a battle she couldn’t even begin to comprehend. They would be anchored off the island of Alitea by nightfall the next night. Makeda knew she should go below and secure herself in her quarters, but the bed felt too empty without Lucien.
“So,” she said, “any tips about being mated to a really old guy?”
Carwyn chuckled. “Be patient with us. We don’t generally know what we’re doing any more than the young ones do.”
“That’s almost inexcusable considering how many years you have on us.”
“Ah, but my dear girl, a woman is the greatest of adventures. No relationship can prepare you for meeting the love of your eternal life.”
Makeda smiled at Carwyn. “Smooth.”
“I try. She won’t let me get away with anything.” He winked. “I love her madly.”
“You’re both very lucky.”
“It took us a while to come to grips with it,” he said. “We fell in love at a distance, my Brigid and me. Actually living together was a thing neither of us were prepared for. Hence my advice for patience.”
She thought. “Lucien and I have spent a lot of time with each other. We worked together for months before I turned.”
“Well, you’re ahead of where Brigid and I were then.”
“But we fought most of the time.”
Carwyn said, “That just makes things interesting, doesn’t it?”
“Do you ever see the dark side of a situation?”
Carwyn burst out laughing. “What would be the point in that? My Brigid is the pessimist. No use having two of them.”
Makeda wondered who was the pessimist between her and Lucien. Probably her. Maybe him. Maybe they could just take turns.
“I can’t imagine being with the same person for eternity,” Makeda said. “Just the forty-some years my parents have together seems crazy.”
“But it’s life, isn’t it? I don’t think any of us can grasp living with and loving a person for that long. But then you turn around, like one of my daughters, and you’ve been with the same person one hundred years. And they’re the other part of you. You wake up one morning and it’s been four hundred. Then five.” He smiled slowly. “What glorious fun! To have a partner like that. To know without a doubt that there is one person in the world who always has your back. I can’t imagine a greater adventure, Makeda, than the one you and Lucien have just begun.”
“If we can survive this battle.”
He threw an arm over her shoulder. “Stick with me, my girl. You have nothing to worry about.”
❖
Lucien stood surrounded by empty crates, Baojia standing next to him, his hands on his hips. “It’s not here.”
“Nope.”
“Is the factory disconnected from the local water lines?”
Baojia nodded. “Even if we blow the place sky-high, nothing will leak.”
“Then let’s do it,” he said.
“What?”
“Blow the place sky-high.” Lucien had already destroyed the servers where the formula was kept, taken any documentation on how to produce it to Brigid, who delighted in lighting it all in a great bonfire in the center of the factory. She didn’t even make a face when the fire sprinklers went off anymore. She and Tenzin were having too much fun.
“If Laskaris’s stores of Elixir aren’t here,” Baojia said, “then we both know where he moved them.”
“Alitea.” Lucien stepped away from the empty crates and headed toward the doors. “Make sure all the humans are out,” he said. “Then tell Brigid to destroy it all.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The grey island rose from the sea, a massive fortress of natural rock hewn by time and immortal hands. From the outside, it looked like nothing more than a solid wall of rock. Kato stepped from the yacht, his arm around Saba, and walked across the water to the massive stone wall. The sea calmed beneath him. The ocean swells fell flat. They walked toward the fortress of Alitea in silence.
Saba raised a hand, flicked her wrist, and a massive groaning crash sounded across the water. The gate of the fortress moved aside slowly, revealing a dark passage concealed by the wall.
Long rowboats left the yacht as one, propelled toward the dark passage by water vampires in each one. Kato walked into the darkness ahead of them, Saba at his side as Arosh and Ziri flew behind them.
“With me.” Carwyn put a hand on the small of her back. “Stay with me, Makeda.”
Carwyn had also taken the gentle Kiraz under his wing. She was a little thing, and her eyes were huge. She gaped at the yawning chasm they entered, clearly frightened of the battle to come.
Makeda didn’t feel frightened. She didn’t feel anything. She’d locked down her emotions like she did in all emergencies, calming her heartbeat that wanted to rage and focusing on one very important thing.
Staying alive.
Like Kiraz, Makeda was no warrior, but she did have Kato’s training. If she needed to, she could dive to the bottom of the ocean and sit there for days, she’d decided. Lucien would find her eventually.
The glow of the night sky greeted them as the tunnel opened up to a large harbor surrounded by high stone walls.
Alitea was a fortress out of some ancient fantasy.
She had no idea how they hid it from above, but inside the stone walls lay a massive harbor fronting a city straight out of Greek mythology. Rows of marble pillars—garishly painted with gold and deep jewel tones—lined the dock where their boats came to rest.
Along the seawalls surrounding the harbor rose a city built into the cliffs, shielded from the sun by a massive rocky overhang that must have been held by immortal energy because Makeda could see no other reason it didn’t come crashing down. Trees and vines grew on sumptuous terraces hanging over the harbor. Flowers tumbled from balconies. Hundreds of immortals stood on the walls of the city, watching Kato as he stepped ashore.
Every one of them was silent.
Makeda did everything in her power to remain impassive, but the overwhelming grandeur of Alitea stole her breath away. The docks embraced them, two giant arms of dressed white stone curling into the harbor where their boats floated. Along the docks, armed guards in helmets and breastplates stood holding torches. More torches lined a pathway bordered by more pillars, fountains, and statues, stunning works of art unlike anything Makeda had ever seen.
Far from the blank stares of white marble she was accustomed to, these statues were painted to vivid life, with eyes that seemed to follow their party as they mounted the stairs and walked toward the massive stone temple nestled against a steaming mountain.
“Is that… a volcano?” she asked Carwyn.
“Yes.”
“And they live here?”
“Many live here. The volcano belongs to Eris,” Carwyn said.
On the slopes, Makeda saw dense greenery spreading. Fragrant flowers joined the smell of citrus and sweet wine. She saw figures darting among the buildings and narrow streets that angled off the main thoroughfare, but she heard no buzz of conversation or bustling carts. All she could hear was the faint and growing strains of harp and lute.
“Sofia holds the island together,” Carwyn continued, “and conceals it from prying eyes. Jason is… Jason. He’s barely conscious most of the time. But it’s Laskaris we need to worry about.”
“Four members of the council. Four elements?”
“I believe Lucien thinks the blood needed to make Elixir is coming directly from the four members of the council.”
They walked up the broad stairs and into a massive temple with five thrones raised on a dais at the end. On the thrones were four brightly colored statues where vampires bowed in worship and prayer. Makeda saw them, coming and going from the sides of the hall, bearing baskets of fruit and fish. Wineskins and goblets were placed at their feet.
Makeda’s eyes widened when she caught the scent. “Is that blood? Why would they be giving statues—”
“Not statues.” Carwyn nudged her shoulder. “Watch.”
If she hadn’t been watching, she would have missed it. The frozen woman on the throne to the right of center appeared to blur for a moment, then came back into focus. The goblet of blood at her feet had tipped to the side, and a slight flush stained the woman’s lips.
“They’re alive,” Makeda said. “That is the council?”
“Yes.”
So ancient they appeared as statues. So fast she’d almost dismissed the movement as her own imagination. Makeda examined the four immortals.
“Why are they frozen?”
“They’re not frozen,” Carwyn said. “They’re still. If you or I wanted to—if we were content to simply exist—I suppose we could look the same. But that seems…”
“Somewhat insane?”
Carwyn shrugged. “Ask Tenzin. I’ve heard rumors that she once remained motionless for a thousand years.”
“I don’t think I’d classify Tenzin as sane,” Makeda said. “At least not from what I’ve seen so far.”
“Smart girl.”
She stepped closer, her eyes locked on the statue-like vampires. “Who are they?”
“Jason commands the sky,” Carwyn said. A pale, nearly white-skinned man with a fall of gold curls stared into the heavens.
“Eris, the fire-starter.” A dark-eyed, olive-skinned woman glared at a point somewhere in the distance.
“Sofia.” Carwyn’s v
oice was sad. Softer, but still frozen, was the woman in the center who had drunk the goblet of blood. Her skin was a deep olive, like the glaring woman, but her eyes and features looked more Egyptian than Greek.
Next to her was another pale man, his skin nearly blue in the moonlight, his dark brown beard falling down his chest. His skin glowed with a sheen of water, and his eyes—like his fellow elders—were fixed to a point high over the heads of those who worshipped him.
“And that is Laskaris.”
❖
Lucien didn’t wait for Brigid. He had no idea how the fire vampire was getting to Alitea, nor did he care. He held on to Tenzin’s hand as they flew across the Aegean Sea, knowing Baojia swam beneath them.
“We’re not going to beat them there,” Tenzin yelled.
“I know.”
“What do you think he’s planning to do with it?”
“I don’t know.”
And Lucien truly didn’t.
According to all accounts, vampires couldn’t be infected by Elixir by any means except human blood. The human had to become infected, then pass the virus to an immortal. Lucien was racking his brain, trying to figure out how Laskaris could plan to use the Elixir against the ancients, but he just couldn’t see it.
Burn it? Vaporize it? Would breathing it trigger the virus? It was possible. They’d never tried it, and Lucien feared the result.
Unless Laskaris had infected a massive number of humans and let them loose on the island to infect his enemies, nothing else made sense. And letting loose that many drugged humans on your own population made no sense at all… unless you had a death wish.
Did Laskaris have a death wish?
Lucien didn’t know much about the ancient Greek. If he saw his end in sight, he might just want to take all his people with him along with any vampires who’d joined Kato and Saba’s side.
“Fly faster,” he yelled.
❖
Kato stepped forward. “Laskaris, rouse yourself.”
No answer from the throne.