His imprinting was at an end now so Andre would now be able to accompany the others to the house where the coven lived. They all went to Marie and Henri’s suite and sat down to plan their attack on the place
It was decided that they would try to infiltrate the house and wait in hiding inside and strike before dawn, hoping to catch most after they had returned.
Henri said “That sounds good as long as we don’t wait too long. We still have to cover and transport the remains, or at least all of their heads.”
At this, Alandra and Celeste both drew in their breath sharply. The others all glanced at them as Ian patted Alandra’s hand and continued. “Henri has arranged for a large wagon with a tarpaulin to be harnessed and ready at a warehouse he owns. It will be moved there quietly around dusk by him, and the horses will spend the night in there so we can quickly move the remains away before dawn. We now all know how to get there, do we not?”
Everyone nodded. “Li and Henri will dispose of the remains and I’ll help if needed. Oh, we ‘ll each have a complete change of clothes at the warehouse. I was thinking that Li and I could station ourselves not too far from the two ground level entrances. We might follow the first two that leave and kill them quietly a short distance away. That would be two vampires fewer for us to worry about coming back later. We would have to divide ourselves to do that. What do you think?”
“That’s worth the risk. We could pursue other targets as a group so as to be sure of killing them. We could leave one to watch the doors and three of us follow and take the third target. That way we’d know if anyone got past us while we were absent.”
“Good idea, Henri. We could leave Andre behind to see if any slip out while the rest of us pursue our targets. Any other thoughts?”
“Yes. We need to carry those bodies over to the warehouse and store them there so that they’re not seen by the others or by humans. They can’t be allowed to lie in the streets all night.”
“Good point, Sophia. We may do more killing outside than inside for once it seems. Louis and Mustafa will stay with Celeste and Alandra here in this suite until we return. If there’s nothing else we might just as well get to it then.”
He turned to Alandra, pulling her close and kissing her then. “Not to worry. We’ll return by some time tomorrow morning. Good bye until then.”
***
At the warehouse they gathered and talked it through again while Ian and Li inspected everyone’s weapons. He and Li would tug here and adjust there and look at each detail as they always did before such an event. They were all used to this but it was reassuring to Andre being so new to all of it. It was dark now, so they followed Ian out of the warehouse through the back alleyway door. In minutes they had split up and taken stations where they could all see both entrances. In no time a door opened and a shadow glided out followed by another. The door closed and the two flitted away in opposite directions.
Each was unaware that they had a trained killer following and that these were their last minutes to live. Ian and Li each took their targets from behind and lopped off their heads as they ran. Both of them dragged the bodies and heads from the streets and put them at the base of buildings in a nearby alleyway and returned to their posts
Soon three more came out and two went together towards Ian while one went towards Li. Li took his target some three blocks away cleanly. Ian wasn’t so lucky. He took one down but the other heard and turned to fight, her red hair created a whirling scarlet mass in that instant. It was a female and Ian had just beheaded her mate. She quickly cried out as she spun and ran, seeing a black-clad figure without a face bearing down on her holding a bloody sword. Tall for a woman, she was really fast too, so Ian had to pursue as fast as he could. She darted from side to side, always changing direction.
He ran a good bit but finally got within striking distance of the vampire when she suddenly leaped to a rooftop and streaked towards the other side and leaped across a street to another rooftop. Ian pursued grimly as she twisted and turned, knowing that she was in mortal peril. Finally he got within striking distance and struck her head from her body with his sabre. Her head rolled under a dim street lamp, looking like a flaming lopsided ball bouncing errantly along the cobblestones. Returning with his grisly burden he put her remains there with his first kill and quickly retrieved her mate and dumped him there too. Carefully he wiped his saber clean so as to have no smell of blood to alert the next one.
After an hour of waiting he signaled to the others and they joined him then. “How many did the rest of you get?
Li said “Two.” and Henri said “We got one.”
Let’s carry them to the warehouse now. No telling how many more we might have to carry out later. I need two of you to come with me. I have three.”
Within three quarters of an hour they had completed that task and had gathered with Andre.
“Did any leave while we were gone?”
“No.”
Henri said “This is working well. Let’s wait and see if we can get any more this way.” They silently separated and took their posts.
It was after two AM when Ian stood up and signaled to the others. Going to each one, he again checked their weapons. He leaped to the roof and opened the roof access door. The others soon joined him and filed in behind him. As he descended the dark narrow staircase he thought I wish I could seal this door.
They glided down the stairs and silently filed into the upper hallway. Splitting into two teams they began to silently enter each room on that floor. In just a few moments, they had entered each one and found them empty and with the windows covered over. They looked as if they had been occupied. Ian silently glided down to the second story and the others followed.
It was the same on that floor. They all stopped at the head of the main staircase. Ian whispered for Henri and Li to go to the back staircase to the kitchen and to start down when he started down the front staircase. They could intercept any who tried to escape through the back door. In under a minute, they all started down their respective staircases, four of them coming down the front stairs and two down the back stairs. They could hear voices from the parlor, and now and then there was also a tittering sort of laughter. Ian flitted silently to the parlor entrance and carefully peered around the corner into that room.
He saw a figure bound and gagged, lying on the floor, eyes rolling about in terror. Gathered about him were seven vampires, taunting him. Ian saw two females and five males. Two of the males were bigger than Ian. They were standing and he chose them as his first and second targets. He saw no weapons visible. Swords then and they are a lot quieter he thought as he stuck his pistols into his sash, and drawing his short sword he signed to the others behind him.
Their victim was a boy who looked to be maybe nine years old. They taunted him. “We might even share your blood with those downstairs.” More tittering laughter followed.
“Share this first!” said Ian as he streaked forward short sword drawn, and lopped off the head of the male nearest him. He shifted and quickly struck off the head of a female as she rocketed up from the sofa. The biggest male roared and attacked Ian, grabbing his sword arm and lunging forward to force him down. He knew instantly that the other one was stronger as he reversed himself purely by reflex and practice, moving with his attacker. He locked onto the hand that had his sword arm with his other hand and whirled as he gave ground, using the other’s momentum as he pivoted sharply and dropped while slamming his hip into the hip of the other. Throwing him overhead he slammed him head first into the floor so violently that the oak floor shook as it broke and splintered. Not letting go of his opponent’s wrist, Ian twisted it rapidly in a circle fracturing it while ramming his heel down into the face of the other four times in rapid succession, smashing his nose and breaking his jaw as the other bellowed. Letting go with one hand Ian drew his Dragon pistol in a vision-blurring movement and jammed it into the other??
?s mouth, pulling the trigger. The vampire’s head made an effective sound suppressor for the discharge of the weapon as he blew the back of his head off. He then ripped his sword arm free and decapitated his foe.
Quickly he chose another target as the retreating group encountered Li and Henri. By then, Andre had one and had cut off his forearm. Sophia and Marie had both jumped on one and were stabbing and hacking at him as the others were being attacked by Li and Henri, forcing the conflict to stay in the parlor. Marie was suddenly thrown clear by the one she had been clamped to. He turned to strike at her as she rolled clear, but Sophia struck his head from his shoulders with a two-handed blow.
By that time the others were roaring and screeching, trying vainly to escape. Marie and Sophia leaped back into the center of it, joining Henri to strike down another, Marie decapitating him. Li had finished two off during that time
It was over quickly with seven of them writhing about on the floor, headless. Ian and the others kicked the heads into a corner and rocketed to what appeared to be the cellar door in the kitchen. In a low voice he asked if any were hurt and all shook their heads. “Just a few cuts, Ian.” said Henri. Andre was wide-eyed with excitement and he flashed a grin at Ian when their eyes met. Ian grinned at him and slapped him on the back before turning to the cellar door.
Opening it he began a rapid but quiet glide downward into the gloomy darkness followed by the others. There was no way that the melee upstairs hadn’t been heard in the cellar. They were all at the bottom of the steps and stood in the darkness listening with all their senses attuned to their environment. The only sound to be heard was a whimpering so Ian and the others crept toward the sound. It was coming from a dimly-lit room near the far end of the cellar. Gliding into it he stopped in his tracks. There was a filthy little girl who shrank back from him, crying out. He sheathed his sword, took off his hood and smiled broadly, kneeling down close to her as Marie joined him, saying “Hello. I’m Ian and this is Marie. Who are you?”
Cowering at first and looking from one to the other she finally spoke. “I… I… I am… Aimee.”
“Don’t be afraid, Aimee. The others upstairs are dead. You can leave this place now. We’ll take you away from here tonight.”
“B… but what about Mama Jolene?”
“Your mother lives here?”
“Yes. She’s the one with the pretty red hair.”
Chapter 85
Wilhelm Hoffmeister and Heinrich Von Steuben, fellow judges on the Supreme Council were walking through Wilhelm’s garden at his home just outside of Vienna. “Willy, what will it take to get Ian to become Chief Inquisitor?”
“Well Heini, you know that he lives at one end of Europe. He would have to move to the Swiss Confederation to be more in the center. There is Turkey, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus; and all of the other places in the Balkans. There is Poland to the north and all of the western parts of Russia. That is a hard thing to do from Spain.”
“Spain? That is a hellish place for a vampire. There must be a lot of potential for him to stay in a place like that.”
“Well, yes to both things. He’s been working for the Lafayette’s setting up banking partnerships in Spain and Portugal. It has been slow going down there too. You can imagine the Spaniards and how they would receive an overture from a French banker. And those Portuguese? Everyone knows that they are an independent bunch, prone to keep to themselves. He has to appear to be truly committed and living there among them is the best way no doubt. Henri knows his trade, as you well know. You know that Ian also travels to the British Isles and the Southern and Northern Netherlands as well.”
“Damn the luck then! He’s so good at handling our rogue problems. If we could get him to live in the Balkans for just one year and provide him with some young strong Adepts that he could train, what a difference it would make down there!”
Wilhelm threw back his head and laughed long and hard then. “Who is going to want to live there, Heini? Be realistic.”
“Oh I know it, but what a shame it is for talent like that to be wasted in banking of all things!”
“Now Heini, you would agree that the only thing better for a vampire than being an Adept is being a wealthy Adept.” Here they both laughed heartily. Willy went on “You know that Ian and Henri and their team will help us if we need them. Combined the whole group is an asset not to be taken for granted or offended. We should think of ways to express our gratitude for their help. We never know but what we might need them again.”
“You’re right again, Willy. I’m going to tell you about another lucrative thing that is happening in Prussia now. Feel free to relay it to Henri and Ian. I’m getting ready to get involved now myself. You’re aware of the planned port improvement at the Baltic and the North Sea ports? Hah! I know who will be designated to build the new iron-reinforced cranes that will replace the wooden ones. And the best part of it is that the work will give that firm a built-in advantage in being awarded the upcoming modernization of the Prussian Navy to boot!” He went on then to tell Wilhelm every detail, including name of the company and how to become involved and profit greatly from this new government project.
They entered Willy’s house arm in arm, coming from his manicured floral garden and settled into chairs in Willy’s spacious study as he poured Heini a cup of goat’s blood. Within the hour, He had arranged to pay Heinrich the funds for an investment for himself, Henri, and Ian. He would surprise them the next time he saw one of them and present their documents of ownership of shares.
***
The cleanup work seemed to go agonizingly slow to Ian. He was focused, yet despondent. The guilt at what he’d done cutting down Aimee’s mother was more than he could bear, but he kept at the work at hand. He had hoped to be able to save the woman and to stay with her while her head reattached itself, but too much time had elapsed for that to work. The house was searched well and the blood washed away. A sofa and rug were to be hauled away and burnt. There were thirteen dead vampires to dispose of and a nine year old boy to deal with. Andre had taken on that job and had walked the boy to a safe area and had given him money enough to buy six months’ worth of groceries for his family. The last thing he told the boy was that if he ever heard the story of that night circulating, that he would return and would not be so nice to the boy or to his family the next time. It was enough. The team had kept their hoods in place the entire time in his presence, so the boy never got to see anyone’s’ face.
They all rendezvoused at the park at dawn. Ian had gone with Li and Henri due to the number of vampire bodies to dispose of. He saw Andre near Sophia, and Marie. Little Aimee was sitting between them on a bench in a shaded area. As they approached the women, the three of them sensed something wrong. Marie had a strained look on her face and as he got closer, he could see that in Sophia’s demeanor too. Henri said “Something is amiss here.” as they walked up to the group.
“What’s wrong, Marie?”
“We have a problem. It seems that Aimee here has been brought over.”
The three of them just stood there saying nothing. Ian was aware of a duck quacking from some distance off in the park, and of a more distant sound of a dog barking. The three of them stood, their eyes riveted on Aimee. He felt a cold chill penetrating his body as the horror of it sunk in. My God! A child vampire! Who would do such a thing?
Then he thought of the child trapped in that awful reality and his eyes began to brim with tears for her. He walked toward little Aimee and knelt down in front of her. She sprang up and threw herself on him, wrapping her dirty little arms around his neck and kissing one of his cheeks. “Don’t be sad, Ian. Mama Jolene was not my real mama. She took me and made me to be like her so she could be my mama. I was living on the streets when she found me.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’ve been sick since she did that though. I’ve been so hungry but Marie gave me something to drink
and now I feel so good. Mama Jolene left me the night you came.”
“Where did she go, Aimee?”
“She said she’d come back and that we wouldn’t be hungry after that, but all of you came instead. The bad people upstairs didn’t like us at all. They made us live in the cellar after they came. They said they’d kill me if I even came upstairs.”
Marie and Sophia stared into his eyes and they could plainly see his sorrow. Tears streamed from the corners of his eyes as he held the little girl close. He gently stroked her dirty hair and finally murmured in her ear in a husky voice. “I don’t think that Mama Jolene is coming back for you. But you can come with us if that is all right with you. You’ll never be hungry, little one. And you’ll never sleep on a street again either.” He looked at her with great compassion and took her dirty little face between his hands and kissed her forehead gently. Standing up then, he gently picked her up, walking to the carriage and getting in with her in his arms. The others followed. Li and Henri sadly shook their heads and walked over to the carriage and climbed on top to drive. Aimee said “Ian, you smell good, and so do Sophia and Marie.”
He looked down at her filthy face then and said “Well you don’t smell good at all, little one. You’ll have a hot bath this morning and some new clothes.” Then he smiled a dazzling smile at her. In the next instant though, his heart nearly broke as the grimy little tyke brightened up, eyes wide “Oh, a hot bath! And new clothes too? Really Ian?” Tears of joy formed in her blue eyes as she gave a trembling hopeful smile. He choked a bit as he said “Yes. Really, little one.” He kissed her and held her closer as fresh tears began to brim in his eyes.
They rode a few minutes in silence, with Aimee sitting in Ian’s lap, her head on his shoulder as she gazed out of the window of the carriage. Sitting next to Ian Marie turned to him and speaking in English she said “There’s one good thing about this.”