“Ah, see Vadim. Tanya’s human blood cow is awake right on time. Meals taste so much better warm and awake, don’t you think.” The big man said nothing, ignoring me to cross to the rear of the container and retrieve a sheathed two handed sword from a small table in the corner. Anton chuckled coldly to himself.
“Our pragmatic warrior is more interested in being prepared than savoring your admittedly succulent blood, Mr. Blood Cow. Or should I call you ‘American Cow boy’,” he said, laughing again. I grimaced.
“Handcuffs too tight?” he asked, noting my expression. “Or is it the after effects of the little cocktail you received?”
“None of the above, it’s the pain of your crappy jokes,” I said.
Vadim snorted quietly, earning him a glare from Anton before the lean vampire turned back to me.
“Very well Gordon. But I should think you would want to go to the grave knowing your part in tonight’s drama. Your continued interference in preventing our partners from getting their hands on my daughter’s blood has forced this rather precipitous action.”
“You’re telling me that you’re in bed with the Hellbourne at the expense of your own daughter?” I asked. I tried to churn up some aura or chi or anything, but all I got was nauseated. Whatever had been in that syringe was blocking my abilities.
“Bah, that ignorant, ungrateful twit should be honored to donate to the cause. Imagine a street drug made from Tatiana’s potent blood. A thousand times stronger than the stuff made from Vadim’s contribution. And you are the bait to bring her here. After you ruined that last demon, we were forced to grab you and run.”
“Well, I gotta say, your secret lair for world domination smells like rat piss and dead fish, couldn’t you afford something a little better?”
“Actually, you might be surprised to find out just how much we paid for it. Our shipping company rents this entire section of the waterfront, and we have free rein to emplace these containers as we choose. The result is a perfect place to trap Tatiana. When she gets a lock on your meager brain, she will come straight here, moving much faster than the rest of the coven. We’ll overwhelm her with the last of the Hanced humans and Vadim will take her down.”
When she gets a lock? Didn’t he know that she always has a lock and it covers more than two miles? I allowed a tiny amount of hope to sprout inside me.
“Tell me, how did you keep all this from Nika?” I asked.
“Bah, after two hundred years of age, most vampires can block even the best mind reader.”
“So, you’re providing the demons with vampire blood, they’re twisting it with their own vile essence and then it’s going to unsuspecting humans? What in God’s name could you gain from that?” I asked.
“Everything, Officer Gordon, everything. The time is long past when vampires, the preeminent lifeform on earth, should hide in the shadows and skulk like rats. Vampires, not pathetic cattle like humans, belong at the top of the food chain, ruling the planet.”
“And Hance will help you get there?” I asked.
“Hance was just an experiment. But a new drug, based on Tanya’s proteins will be exponentially more addictive, spreading through the human population like wildfire, causing the confusion and chaos our partners crave and giving us the opportunity to seize the reins of power. Humans are weak, but their science is progressing too rapidly, you see. Their weapons are growing more powerful with each passing month. Man portable laser based weapons will soon be a reality, and that would pose a real threat to our kind.”
“And you think you can accomplish this against the will of the Elders?” I asked.
A different voice spoke from the doorway.
“Idiot, of course they have the support of an Elder. As the only Elder fit to rule, it falls to me to bring this about.”
Fedor looked tiny next to Vadim’s mass, but he exuded menace and power. A gust of wind blew in through the open door, swirling some papers across the floor. I watched the debris float into the darkness while I thought about their plan.
“So what do the demons get from this?” I asked.
Fedor didn’t answer, having settled into an eerie stillness. After a moment, Anton spoke up.
“I already told you. Weren’t you listening? They get the chaos and anguish they feed on.”
I snorted, but didn’t say anything. Both Anton and Vadim looked at me.
“You think you know different?” Anton asked.
“Demons only crave negative emotions to get stronger. They only get stronger to bring more demons into our world,” I said. “Riddle me this, Batman. What happens to Hancers that overdose?” I asked, having a pretty good idea of the answer.
“They go insane,” Anton said.
All three vampires were paying attention to me now.
I nodded. “Do you know where most of the empty meat shells come from that demons inhabit?” I asked.
None of them said anything, so I went ahead and answered.
“People that have lost themselves on drugs, alcohol and depression. Sounds like you’re creating meat shells in huge numbers while providing the chaos and fear they need to bring their own kind over. So you will have your reign of power for what? Maybe a day?”
They all went still, then suddenly I was suspended from Fedor’s hand, his razor sharp fingernails buried deep in the muscles of my chest. I never saw him move. The pain was unlike anything I had felt before. Like five red hot pokers buried an inch deep in my pectorals. His face was inches from mine, his eyes glowing with insane fury and he smelled, oddly enough, like a leather jacket.
“Thank you for the warning. I have to admit certain…..suspicions regarding my partners intentions. Now I have ample time to prepare and adjust my plan. Maybe a delayed poison mixed with the Tatiana’s blood?”
He flicked his hand and I smashed into the steel wall of the container, hitting my head and wrenching my bound arms.
“But this changes nothing regarding Tatiana’s fate. As if I would ever allow an infant to rule me. Senka grows more addled with every decade that passes.”
Now my headache was keeping company with the large knot on the back of my skull, but I suddenly realized that the cobweb feeling was gone. I tried looking with my Sight and was rewarded with a brief flash of their auras, before it flicked off like a faulty television.
I also got the feeling that Tanya was near. I needed to stall.
“What makes you think that Vadim can take Tatiana?”
“Because, while Vadim has taught her everything she knows, he hasn’t taught her everything he knows. Vadim was fighting Swedes for Prince Nevsky in Russia eight hundred years ago. You really think a twenty year old anything can match his experience. And he will have a measure of my much older blood to lend him an extra edge. Not to mention that when I drain you dead, she will most likely go catatonic. ”