+ + + + + + + + +
Danny wasn't sure how long he'd been floating in the darkness. He just knew it was safer then the place he'd been. Somehow he had become trapped in that place he'd been before. The place that haunted his nightmares; where others held him down so he couldn't fight, where pain ruled every thought and enemies whispered through his mind. The worst part was that somehow he knew Martin was trapped there, too. He remembered calling out to Martin, hoping he was wrong. Martin's reply had been both a blessing and a curse. Yet he'd latched on to it with what little strength he had left. He could feel Martin in a way he'd never recognized before; feel Martin's frustration and desperation. He knew that somehow the same ones that were hurting him were keeping Martin from helping him. A corner of Danny's mind was relieved, pleased even that his suffering meant that Martin was spared, but he could also feel how watching Danny's struggle was tearing Martin apart. So as his strength ebbed and the whispers grew, Danny took the last shreds of his soul and wrapped them protectively around the feel of Martin, tucking them safely into one of the corners of his mind, which the whispers hadn't broached yet. Then he fell into the darkness where he somehow knew the others couldn't reach him.
Eventually something changed. Martin was there; and not just in a distant, barely understood way. Martin surrounded him, his touch and smell sheltering him. Danny followed the lifeline of Martin's voice out of the darkness. The whispers were gone and the pain receded. He didn't understand everything that was happening, but he could feel Martin giving him strength somehow. Martin needed him to do something, needed his help to get them out of this hell. Danny tried to respond with confidence feeling how much Martin was relying on him.
Opening his eyes wasn't as difficult as he expected it to be. But Danny immediately went on guard when he realized the person leaning over him wasn't Martin. Then he noticed the taste in his mouth: blood. Feeling the warm skin against his lips, Danny gingerly lifted a limp arm away from his mouth. Following the limb back to its body was like being slammed into a wall of self-revulsion. "Oh God, Martin. What have I done to you? What have I done?" Martin's pale form didn't respond.
"Hey, we don't have time for you to start feeling guilty." Danny jerked away from the touch on his shoulder, turning with his fist ready to take a swing.
The man, Harold Pembroke, Danny remembered, jumped back with his hands raised placatingly, "I'm trying to help. You didn't do anything wrong, this was Martin's choice."
"Right," sneered Danny turning away, "Martin chose to have me suck him dry." This couldn't be happening! What kind of monster had Elizabeth turned him into?
"Martin chose to take a calculated risk, risk that he could give you enough juice to get us the hell out of here," explained Harold desperately. "I could feel the communication going on between the two of you. Surely you would have noticed if he'd been struggling or fighting you."
Danny didn't want to hear what Harold was saying, but looking at his partner's still form he could remember Martin's voice. 'Right here, Danny. Just take what you need . . . I'm depending on you to get us out . . . the metal door . . . send it flying.'
"You stupid idiot," grumbled Danny harshly, even as he cradled Martin in his arms. He took a moment to check Martin's vitals and then lifted him off the bed. Danny carried Martin across the room with Harold following nervously behind. He set Martin on the floor a few feet away from the door, leaning him carefully against the wall. "I'm going to get you out of this," Danny promised kissing the top of Martin's head.
Staring at the heavy metal door, Danny wondered how Martin could have possibly expected him to break through it. 'Just think about how pissed you are at Elizabeth. I don't think it will take much more than that.' Right, Martin. Pissed at Elizabeth, I can do. Danny backed up a couple steps, digging deep into reserves he barely knew he had. He remembered every cut of pain, every shiver of fear, every violation of mind and focused all of the rage they'd produced. Then he charged the door, throwing up a well-placed kick to deliver the blow. With a horrendous screech bits of metal bent and broke. The hunk of steel that had been the door rebounded off the walls as it traveled a dozen feet down the hall.
"Crap! That's going to wake up the neighbors." Harold was already bending down to pick Martin up, putting him in a fireman's carry. "I hope you can still walk, because we've got to get out of here, now!"
Danny nodded weakly. He felt exhausted and a little wobbly, but he'd gotten the job done and now he was ready to leave. It took all of his concentration to follow Harold's path down the hall. He wasn't entirely pleased that Harold was the one carrying Martin, but he couldn't deny the fact that he could barely walk three steps without using the wall to support him. When Harold turned up a flight of stairs, Danny groaned but continued to forge ahead. Another hallway; two rights and a left, and then another right. God, he hoped Harold really did know the way out of here.
Harold pulled up suddenly, tipping his head to the side as though listening for something. Danny could hear the low thumping base of a muted song, but nothing that would indicate danger. After a moment Harold shook his head, deciding that he must have been imagining things. Starting forward again, he turned another corner, and then flew backwards, crashing into the far wall. Martin's limp body fell a few feet away.
Petru's hulking form came into view. "Did you think you could just walk out of here and no one would notice?" His accent was thick with anger. "Elizabeth decides how the games are played. She decides when they are done, not you." Petru stalked closer to Harold who tried to scuttle backwards out of reach. The pain of impact seemed to have roused Martin, but he could do little more than watch Petru warily from the floor as he gasped for breath.
Danny didn't wait for Petru to follow up his first attack. He launched himself at Petru, knocking both of them to the ground. More by luck then skill Danny landed on top. He took advantage of the position, punching Petru in the head and face as hard as he could. Petru blocked his fourth punch and got a knee between them to knock Danny off.
Both men scrambled to their feet and began circling each other. Petru wiped away the blood leaking from his nose and mouth. "Elizabeth may have let you get away with that, because you're her new favorite toy, but I'm not going to be so forgiving."
Danny stopped circling when he knew he had Martin and Harold at his back. So focused was he on Petru that he almost didn't notice the other form coming down the stairs behind his opponent. Danny's guts clenched when he saw the man he recognized as Buckingham stop just a step behind Petru. Even though he was outnumbered, he didn't back down. Martin was counting on him. He couldn't give up.
"What's this?" asked Buckingham. "I'm gone for a few hours and suddenly you're letting the rabble run loose." He tone seemed to imply that incompetence, Petru's incompetence, was at fault.
Petru stiffened, but held his tongue, too intimidated to pick a fight with the tall dark haired man. "I thought you'd still be with that bit of skirt you carried off, earlier."
Buckingham tilted his head and smiled smugly. "Oh, she's resting right now."
"You let her live?" questioned Petru.
"Unlike the rest of you gluttons, I like to leave room for dessert, maybe even a midnight snack." Buckingham's grin implied all manors of lascivious acts.
"Fine," grumbled Petru. "Why don't you get back to your dessert and let me finish my business." All the while Danny waited patiently, knowing he had to be ready when one or both of his opponents made their moves. "I think, maybe we didn't bleed you enough the last time," Petru decided, unsheathing the blade at his hip and pointing it at Danny.
Petru stabbed forward with his knife, but Danny jumped to the side, knocking the blade arm away from his body and then slugging Petru hard in the jaw. He wasn't surprised when Buckingham stepped into the fight, since he'd expected the two to try to gang up on him. He was amazed when the man instead wrenched the knife from Petru's hand, sending it clattering to the floor. Then Buckingham pulled Petru into a strangle hold from behind and with a sudden jerk, snapped his neck. Petru's body fell into a heap. "That's a better death than you deserve," Buckingham declared, spitting on the corpse.
Danny didn't bother trying to understand what was going on. He scrambled for Petru's discarded knife and warily faced his remaining opponent.
"Whoa, easy now," Buckingham stepped back and raised his hands as non-threateningly as possible. "I'm on your side, remember? I helped you get away from Elizabeth the first time." Danny stared at the man, but the only memories that came to him were of Buckingham groping an unconscious Elena and then carrying her away. "Okay, so maybe you don't remember," Buck conceded. Then he did something he hadn't done in months. He dropped every pretense that allowed him to hide his true thoughts and feelings from the members of Elizabeth's cult. He was still the same man standing before them, but now the smug distain and voracious desire were gone. In its place were compassion and an offer of friendship. "My name is Buck Wilmington and I've been working undercover to gather evidence against Elizabeth."
"What did you do to Elena?" demanded Danny, not yet willing to trust what his instincts were telling him.
"I checked her into a hospital under an assumed name," Buck answered honestly. "I also contacted your boss, so by now she's well protected." Danny relaxed his guard just a bit. "How about we compromise? You agree not to stick me with that and I help your friend." Buck motioned to Martin.
"Help how?" asked Danny stepping closer to his friend. Martin was aware and listening, but Danny could feel how hard Martin was struggling to stay that way.
Buck slipped a hand beneath his coat slowly pulling out a canteen. "In here is a high powered mix of red blood cells and plasma. I've got a good doctor friend that says this is the best thing for a wounded Kin."
Harold spoke up, "That won't work on Martin. Elizabeth never got around to transforming him."
"Well, it's true that it usually takes a pretty large dose of the virus combined with an infusion of blood to trigger the transformation, but sometimes, very rarely it can be trigger by a mental bond with another Kin." Buck looked at Danny. "I'm guessing you're feeling a pretty strong connection to Martin right now."
Danny swallowed back the bile rising in his throat. "You're saying that I did the same thing to Martin that Elizabeth did to me."
"Hell no!" argued Buck. "What Elizabeth tried to forge couldn't hold a candle to what you and Martin got. Elizabeth was trying to break you. The type of bond you and Martin have strengthens each other, builds each other up." When that didn't get through to Danny, Buck pointed out, "If the two of you weren't connected, one of two things would have happened by now: you would be insane, or Martin would be dead."
Danny felt a tap on his leg. Martin didn't need to move his lips to get his message across. 'Quit being stupid, Danny. What's done is done.'
Danny shook himself from his guilt. There'd be time to worry about the consequences of his actions later. Right now he needed to focus on getting Martin to safety. "Give me that." Danny reached for Buck's flask. He uncapped the container and helped Martin drink it. Danny was a concerned that Martin might have a painful reaction as he had earlier.
Martin felt nothing worse than a bit of warmth spreading through his system. When most of the canteen was finished he stopped drinking and offered it to Danny. "You should take the last couple of swallows," Martin instructed.
"You need it more than I do," Danny countered.
"I've had enough. Besides, taking down the door drained you," Martin argued.
"Martin's right," agreed Buck. "We're going to need you in top form to get past Elizabeth and Lateesha."
Martin sent Danny a 'See, I told you,' and pushed the container into Danny's hand. Danny relented. The last couple of ounces of blood went down quickly, but he pretended not to notice how quickly just a few swallows energized his system. He handed the empty canteen back to Buck and gave Martin a hand up. Martin wobbled a bit, still weak and dizzy, but at least able to move under his own power. Danny steadied Martin, for the first time actually paying attention to the current flowing between them. It suddenly occurred to Danny that he could make Martin stronger just by willing him some of his energy, and so he did. Martin's eyes snapped to his. For two more seconds Martin soaked up the energy, then the flow started to ebb, but not by Danny's choice. 'That's enough Danny.' "I'm okay."
"You could be better," countered Danny.
"I could also be dead," reminded Martin.
Buck watched give and take between the two men. This wasn't the first time he'd witnessed a mental bond between Kin. It would require time for the two of them to understand all of the changes that would come. Buck wished he could give them more time to explore what was happening to them, but the cult was still a threat.
Before he could broach the subject, Martin spoke again. "I think it's past time we got out of here."
"I'll second that," agreed Harold eagerly. He brushed dirt off his rump and edged towards the short hallway with a door at its end.
Buck blocked his path. "Before we go any further everyone needs to know what they're about to walk into. There are about thirty people having a party on the main floor. Most of them are normal folk. Well, as normal as you can get when you spend all of your time obsessing about vampires, kindred and drinking people's blood. They're Elizabeth's followers and they all but worship her. With Petru dead we only need to worry about three other Kin."
"He's going to stay that way, right." Martin needed to know how much the Kin differed from the vampires of legends.
"Yeah. Kin may have a leg up over the ordinary person when it comes to healing, but once they're really dead they're no more likely to come back," explained Buck. "Anyway, we need to keep an eye out for Elizabeth, Lateesha who's even more dangerous in her own way, and Juliet, a chosen the Elizabeth drove insane when she transformed."
"If you're talking about the petite blonde that likes to growl at people. She was ordered by Elizabeth to take Ryan to the Hospital." Danny turned to Harold. "They left maybe fifteen minutes before you arrived, but I've lost track of how much time has passed since then."
"Almost an hour," replied Harold after a quick glance at his watch.
"Another words, Juliet could be back at any time," said Buck. "Okay, here's the plan. We're going to try to bluff our way through most of the people. We'll keep our mental shields up, so hopefully Elizabeth and Lateesha won't notice us leaving out the back door."
"I'm not sure what you mean by mental shield," admitted Danny.
"That thing that Martin did when he blocked you from feeding him any more energy, that was a shield. Just do what he did and you'll be fine," explained Buck.
"What if we run into Elizabeth or Lateesha up there?" asked Martin.
"Then run," declared Buck emphatically, "and for God's sake, what ever happens do not drop your shields. Once they realized how far into the transformation you two are they aren't going to be subtle about trying to break you." Once he received solemn nods from everyone Buck led the way to the door.
As soon as Buck opened the doors the music was heard loud and clear. It was a powerful rhythm falling somewhere between Metal and Alternative. The room was dimly lit. Perhaps a dozen bodies danced in the middle of the floor. Others hung in groups at the fringes of the room, drinking, smoking, making out and more. Buck led his group to the left where there were fewer people. Danny notice how his demeanor had changed. Once again his entire manor spoke of arrogance, his body language that of a predator on the prowl. It reminded Danny of why he'd become so furious about the way Buck had handled Elena. Buck seemed to be able to switch between his two personas a little too easy for Danny's comfort. But that didn't stop Danny from doing his best to mimic Buck. Most of the partygoers were keeping a respectful distance from the man, and Danny wanted them to do the same with him and Martin both.
"Buckingham, where have you been?" asked one black haired woman, stepping forward while others backed away. "I'd heard you found someone to replace me." She gave him a sexy pout, even as she snaked her arms around his hips and her hands caressed his rear.
"Now Darla, you know no one could replace you. I just indulged in a little fancy while I was out," assured Buck. "Besides I'm not with her now am I?"
"Well maybe I'll forgive you if you introduce me to your new friends." Darla's eyes trailed appreciatively over Martin and Danny both. Harold, standing on the other side of Buck, was ignored.
"Now Darla, you know better than that. Elizabeth always gets first taste of all the newcomers," said Buck in a tone that was more seductive than scolding. "Speaking of which, would you happen to know where Elizabeth and Lateesha are right now?"
"They went up to Lateesha quarters a while back," said Darla. "Rumor has it that Elizabeth's working on another disciple." Disciple was how most of the cult referred to Elizabeth's inner circle comprised of Lateesha, Buckingham, Petru, Juliet and Carl, Juliet's un-chosen boyfriend.
"What about Carl and Juliet?" Buck was hoping that neither would walk in any time soon.
"Juliet left about an hour ago with Elizabeth's old toy. I guess she finally got tired of him," speculated Darla. "I haven't seen Carl since yesterday."
"Thanks Darla, I'll have to catch up with you later," Buck took her into a quick embrace, sealing their lips for a second before moving away. Danny, Martin and Harold followed. They passed another cluster of people on a group of couches. Those that weren't crawling over each other to have sex were sharing needles and popping pills. It struck Danny that here he'd spent several days trying to recover the memories he'd lost regarding the first night he'd been taken; wishing he knew what had been done to him and exactly how he'd escaped, but these people were doing there best to dive right into the very pit of nothingness that Danny had struggling so hard to get out of. He could understand the desire to cut loose or numb the ache, he was a recovering alcoholic after all, but these people were voluntarily surrendering their memories. He couldn't help but wonder what dark corners of their past made oblivion seem like such an attractive option.
Once they had some distance from Darla, Martin asked, "Did you know Carl well?"
"He traded his girlfriend's sanity for a quick roll in the covers with Elizabeth," detailed Buck with disgust. "I make it a point not to get to know people like that. Why?"
"It's likely that Carl may be dead by now. I shot him twice when I walked in on the ambush, and we haven't seen him since," explained Martin.
"Good." As far as Buck was concerned, the less support Elizabeth had the better. Carl certainly wasn't any loss to humanity. Buck remembered vividly how Carl had bragged about earning a night of passion with Elizabeth by giving her his girlfriend. He'd even chained her to the wall for Elizabeth. "With any luck he suffered for a long time."
Juliet's transformation had happened several months before Buck had entered the inner circle of the cult, but he did remember meeting the girl once when she was still only Chosen. He had no doubt that it was Elizabeth's method of torturously painful transformation that had turned the insecure teenage girl into the feral creature she was now. Seeing Elizabeth's handy work on a daily basis was part of what fueled Buck's determination to ensure she couldn't do the same to Danny or Martin.
The group finally left the party room for another hallway. With the door closed behind them it was much quieter. Buck glanced warily towards another set of rising stairs and then turned the other way. "There's a kitchen over here with a back door," said Buck quietly.
They were about six feet from the door when it opened inward to reveal a familiar petite blonde. Juliet was back. Stepping through the door, it wasn't until her eyes drifted past Buck to Danny, Martin and Harold that they widened and her mouth opened. Buck was already stepping forward, throwing all of his weight behind a punch leveled right to her jaw. Her head snapped back painfully, and she stumbled into the door, but she didn't go down. Buck grabbed both of her arms and swung her back into the kitchen. Then he punched her again two more times. It was finally enough to knock her unconscious. Tugging his belt from his waist, Buck started securing the young girl's arms behind her back.
"Wouldn't it have been easier to just kill her, like Petru?" asked Harold nervously. The fact that they were just a dozen feet from the door didn't ease Harold's fear; it made it worse. They needed to get out of Elizabeth's stronghold now, and he couldn't see any reason as an acceptable delay.
"I'm not going to kill someone for something that isn't their fault. Petru knew what he was getting into and he thrilled in the killing. Little Juliet here was just a victim driven insane by Elizabeth. I don't know if there's anyone that can save what's left of her mind, but I'm not going to be the one to decide that she's a lost cause," explained Buck. "You don't have to wait on me." He pointed across the kitchen. "That door there is to the mudroom which leads outside. Feel free to run at any time."
"Right," Harold took Buck at his word and headed for the exit.
Martin grabbed a towel to use as a gag, while Danny tied an apron, strings and all, around Juliet's legs. "Thanks guys," said Buck tying one last knot in the belt.
"Do you think anyone else heard Juliet calling for help?" asked Martin.
Buck's eyes snapped to Martin. Danny stood with confusion on his face. "What call? Buck never gave Juliet the time to get a word out."
Buck didn't bother asking questions. Pulling Martin to his feet he insisted in a harsh whisper, "Let's move now!"
Martin was just as confused with Danny's words, "But I heard . . ."
"Heard her calling for me, perhaps," wondered Elizabeth. Standing in the doorway they'd just come through, the fiery redhead looked nothing less than furious. Turning at the noise behind them, they saw Lateesha standing in front of the mudroom door. "You will not be going anywhere until I have what I want from you," Elizabeth declared, "by whatever means necessary."
+ + + + + + + + +
Samantha kept a close watch on the estate, while Jack coordinated with the local police. Vivian was still at Downtown Hospital, where she been ever since they'd confirmed that the patient checked in as Inez Recillos was in fact Elena. At last report Elena was awake, though still confused and suffering the effects of a concussion. According to Viv, all she could remember after a knock on the door was seeing a strange group of men and women waiting in the hall, then the door crashing in on her and finally nothing.
Vivian had also relayed that Elena wanted to continue trying to help the team, despite the fact that she was apparently seeing double. Vivian, after noticing that Elena seemed to be having trouble focusing, had held up three fingers and asked Elena to tell her how many she saw. Elena's reply of, "Cuando te crecio el sexto dedo," had been laughingly translated by a nurse into, "When did you grow six fingers?" That had succinctly closed the door on any more talk about Elena trying to work for now.
Jack had been clearly hopeful when he'd arrived at St. Vincent's to learn that an on-the-ball orderly had memorized the plates of the vehicle that had dumped the barely alive Ryan Saluke just outside the Emergency Room doors. Even better was the almost immediate response to the ABP by a patrol officer who recognized the plate number on a speeding BMW. Instead of trying to pull the vehicle over the officer had tailed the car, eventually surrendering its position to an unmarked vehicle, which had followed the BMW back here.
The local Sergeant who'd arrived to coordinate with the FBI was of the opinion that they were making a huge mistake. There were dozens of cars in the drive and lining the street. Almost every window in the manor was lit and music could be heard from the party inside. The Sergeant had firmly insisted, three minutes already, that Jack was crazy to think that some billionaire, no matter how eccentric, was going to host a party while torturing federal agents in the basement. Jack had responded with a scathing remark about the Sergeant's lack of investigative qualifications, and gone back to pressuring Legal to get the warrant for a raid.
Samantha now knew why this address wasn't on the list when they were investigating Elizabeth Bathory's holdings. Elizabeth had sold this place before she'd changed her name from Hastate to Bathory, more than fifteen years ago. She'd sold it to a man named William Blake for a mere tenth of its value. Within two months of the purchase Blake was dead from an apparent mugging, though his murder was never solved. Lateesha Abyad inherited all of Blake's possessions according to his will. That the connection between Elizabeth and Lateesha went so far back worried Samantha. Especially since mysterious deaths and disappearances seemed to trail them even then.
Samantha noticed movement on the right side of the house at the head of its long drive. Grabbing a scope to get a better view, she recognized one of the witnesses they'd questioned earlier: Harold Pembroke. The middle-aged man didn't fit with the crowd of twenty-something Goth enthusiasts that they'd seen coming and going from the house. He was hurrying down the drive looking over his shoulder every couple of steps. He started to slow about halfway down the drive, stopping behind a large SUV. It was a little harder for Sam to make out what he was doing it the shadow of the vehicle but it looked like he was calling someone. "Hey Jack, take a look at this."
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Harold was certain that the air had never smelled so fresh and free as it did when he stepped out of Elizabeth's little house of horrors. He wasn't going to kid himself; he simply wasn't cut out for this good versus evil, battle to the death sort of stuff. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate that there were times that people needed to take a stand, but when it came down to it, he was just a regular guy and Elizabeth and her ilk scared the hell out of him.
It wasn't like he'd become Kin because he had any illusions about fulfilling some grand destiny. He'd just wanted to live to be thirty. He'd been a happily married tax accountant with his first child on the way when he'd been diagnosed with Small Celled Lung Cancer. With an only five percent survival rate he'd feared he wouldn't even live long enough to see his child be born. Then a cousin had come to him with an unbelievable miracle cure. At first he'd thought his cousin was crazy, but it was strange how impending death could leave you grasping at all sorts of crazy straws. No one had been more surprised than he when the cancer had vanished. Becoming Kin had given Harold twenty-six glorious years with his wife, Agatha, until she herself had died of breast cancer. Because she hadn't been chosen, she didn't have the right genetic makeup to trigger a transformation, and he only been able to hold her hand at the end. Still, he couldn't regret the extra quarter of a century they'd had together. By simply making a few small changes to his diet, namely cooking his meat rare as opposed to medium well, he took in enough blood to ensure good health. He'd never really considered taking the larger doses of blood required to slow his aging until his daughter and son-in-law died in a car accident. Suddenly the sole guardian of two small children, Harold, by then a fifty-eight year old widower, had decided that adding a little vitality to his life was a necessity. Now that the grandchildren were happily off to college he'd gone back to simply eating rare meat, which kept him relatively healthy, but didn't slow the aging process. In all honesty, Harold figured he'd lived a good life and was looking forward to being with Agatha again. Other people might wonder about the existence of life after death, but with so many Kin developing the ability to communicate with souls of the departed there was no question for Harold what would be waiting on the other side. Not that Harold had that ability himself. The only 'special' ability Harold had developed with his transformation was the skill to handle even the trickiest calculations without a calculator. (A very handy thing during tax time.)
Harold's low profile amongst the Kin meant he was especially surprised when James Gamble, Regent of the New York Kin had asked him to keep an eye on New York while James served the equivalent of jury duty for the Gains Reckoning. Assured by James that little beyond paperwork would be required, Harold had accepted. Now here he was fleeing from insane, and insanely powerful kindred with an undercover agent and two Feds. Speaking of which, where the hell were they? It couldn't take this long to tie up one woman. Harold looked over his shoulder again. No that couldn't have been Lateesha he just saw walking through the doorway. Their luck couldn't be that bad, his paranoid mind had to be imagining things. Surely they would walk out the door any minute . . . come on guys, any minute now . . . crap! He couldn't go back in there. Elizabeth and Lateesha would squash him like a bug. But he couldn't leave the others behind either.
Ducking behind a SUV he pulled out his cell phone and started calling the few Kin in New York that might be willing to help. Harold was pleasantly surprised when each of the first three calls he made ended with an affirmative promise of immediate assistance. Who knew his organizational skill would lend itself to organizing an army? He was halfway through dialing the fourth number when someone grabbed his arm. "Aahh!" Harold screamed.
"Shush!" hushed Samantha. "What are you doing here?" Sam started pulling Harold way from the manor and towards a group of bushes that hid Jack and several other law enforcement officers.
"Oh, thank God it's you," gasped Harold. "I thought for sure it was Elizabeth. And I'm really not hero material, not like Martin, Danny and Buck. I'm a just tax accountant. 'Keep an eye on things for me,' James said. Next thing I know I'm being chained to a wall. Who chains an accountant to a wall, I ask you?"
"What is he blathering on about?" asked Jack. When Sam had pointed out the presence of one of their witnesses, Jack had seized the opportunity to learn if Elizabeth or better yet either of his missing agents was still inside.
"I'm not sure, I think I scared him," Samantha admitted. "Mr. Pembroke we need you to confirm for us if Elizabeth Bathory and any other members of her cult are inside."
"Oh they're all in there, and ready for the blood letting to begin," informed Harold. Then he noticed how everyone was dressed. "You've got body armor, and really big guns. This might just work. Maybe if you take in some really big artillery like a bazooka. The FBI has bazookas, right?"
"You think we need a bazooka to arrest Elizabeth Bathory?" Jack was wondering about the man's state of mind.
"I think that where Elizabeth is concerned, there's no such thing as overkill!" Harold declared emphatically.
"What about Agent Fitzgerald?" asked Samantha, knowing that Harold would remember him from the headquarters interview.
"Martin's in there. So are Danny and Buck. We were escaping together, but they had to tie up this woman so she couldn't warn the rest of the cult. Buck told me to go ahead and I did, but they didn't come out behind me. And I thought I saw Lateesha, so I couldn't go back in, but I was calling for help." Harold held up his cell phone like a talisman.
Jack keyed his microphone. "We have confirmation that the suspects and Agents Taylor and Fitzgerald are on the premises. Take your positions, all units be ready to move in on my mark." Jack and Sam lead four officers towards the side door that Harold had exited.
+ + + + + + + + +
Buck was silently cursing the fact that Martin and Danny hadn't run with Harold. A few more seconds would have been all they needed to escape. Now both of their exits were cut off and Elizabeth looked ready to make them suffer for their defiance.
Elizabeth stepped forward, kneeling down beside Juliet to remove her bindings. "It was you that allowed my Daniel to escape that first night, wasn't it Buckingham?"
"Yeah, that was me. I untied him and gave him his gun," admitted Buck. He'd been able to slip away from Elizabeth's inner circle while they'd entertained themselves with torturing Danny's friend Ryan. Thought the drugs were still affecting Danny he'd seemed to understand what Buck was telling him, that he had to get out before Elizabeth turned her focus back on him. Then Buck had been called by Elizabeth and had been forced to leave the agent to his own devices. It had never occurred to him that Danny would follow him back to the room where Ryan was being tortured. In retrospect he probably should have realized that Danny wasn't the sort to leave a friend behind.
Buck was already back at Elizabeth's side, nibbling on her neck, whispering that perhaps it was time to take a break and indulge in sweeter pleasures. Usually it was Lateesha that reined in Elizabeth, but she'd left an hour before allowing Elizabeth to wallow in her sadistic tendencies. Buck forced himself to ignore Ryan's cries of agony. He had already sent an SOS to the rest of the Seven. That they hadn't immediately responded indicated that something big was happening beyond New York. Buck knew he couldn't take down the whole cult on his own, so he bided his time gathering information and doing what little he could to help the cult's victims.The door to their chamber had slammed open. Agent Taylor, barefoot and wearing only a pair of jeans, stood in the doorway waving his gun. "Cut Ryan loose! Do it now or I swear I'll kill all of you," the agent ordered.
Elizabeth laughed as only one assured of her own invincibility could. "Then I guess you'll just have to kill me," she declared approaching him with her arms open wide.
Hanging almost completely limp from his bindings, Ryan managed to lift his head. "Danny, for God's sake run. Run and don't look back."
Danny shook his head. "Not without you," he insisted. Then he'd swung his aim back to Elizabeth. "That's close enough. I will shoot you."
"Of course you will," Elizabeth agreed. "It just won't do you any good. Are you going to save your friend, Hero? You can't even save yourself. Surrender and maybe I'll be gentle with you." Elizabeth took another step forward.
Danny pulled the trigger, sending three bullets into Elizabeth while the others flew wide. One bullet hit Juliet, and another scorched Buck's arm while the rest thumped into walls. When Danny finally pulled the trigger on an empty chamber Elizabeth was the only one who hadn't ducked for cover.
Elizabeth hissed as she straightened her body. Blood flowed from two chest wounds and a third in her gut. "Perhaps I won't be so gentle with you after all," she raged.
Faced with an apparently indestructible foe, Danny took the only choice left to him. He ran. Mick, a weasel faced Kin that Elizabeth had recruited in Montreal was the first to recover, racing to the door to chase after Danny. Elizabeth suddenly grabbed the man, throwing him to the floor. "What are you doing," he demanded. "We can't let that Fed get away."
"We wouldn't be worrying about his escape if you had tied him properly like I instructed," hissed Elizabeth. "I don't tolerate failure, Mick. You need to atone for your sins, and you'll do so by healing my wounds." Mick's next sound was a gurgle as Elizabeth shoved his head to the side and sunk her teeth into his jugular, taking the blood she needed to heal from her flailing victim. Juliet rushed to Elizabeth's side, tearing another wound in the man's side.
Buck knew that being wounded he would be expected to drink from Mick as well. A sickening thought, but one he dealt with. At least Danny had escaped. A whimper beside him, reminded Buck that one of Elizabeth's captives had not faired so well. As Ryan stared at Elizabeth and Juliet feast upon their former friend his mind seemed to be losing its grasp on reality. Buck surreptitiously touched the man. He'd never had much of a gift for altering others' minds, but Ryan's fragile condition allowed him to gently push the man into a safe slumber that would give him at least a few hours of peace from this nightmare.
The door opened again to reveal Lateesha. "What has happened here? I heard shooting."
"The other prisoner," volunteered Petru with his heavy Romanian accent. "Somehow he broke free and got his gun back. He shot Elizabeth and Juliet, before fleeing."
Lateesha noticed Buck's bleeding arm. "You were hurt as well?"
"Just a scratch, Ma'am," said Buck. "I was going to let the girls have their fill first." He amplified the charm that so often worked on Elizabeth.
Lateesha stared at him for a moment longer before turning back to Petru. "Take Carl and find our wayward pet. I'm sure my sister will want to play with him when she's done with Mick."
Petru and Carl immediately took off in pursuit. Buck just hoped Agent Taylor had enough of a head start to reach freedom.
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed as she realized she'd welcomed a traitor into her cult's midst. "You're the one I should have drained dry, not Mick. That's a mistake I'll have to remedy."
Buck sent a quick mental message to Martin, gambling that he'd inherited his 'grandfather's' ability for telepathy. 'Our only chance to get out of this is to kill them both quickly and brutally.' Buck knew the message had been received when Martin drew two long knives from a wooden block, passing one of them to Danny. Knowing that Martin and Danny were as ready as they could be, Buck tried one last bluff. "Before you kill me you might want to consider what you'll be bringing down upon yourself."
"Are you threatening me with another Reckoning? Really, Buckingham, I expected better from you," declared Elizabeth in a disappointed tone.
"I'm not talking about a Reckoning. I'm talking about a Blood Vendetta." Buck paused a minute to let the words sink in. Lateesha, at least, seemed to be paying attention. "If you kill me; if you harm Martin or Danny any further you will die, and you're whole cult will be destroyed. The Seven will see to that."
Elizabeth scoffed, "Only one of the Seven can declare a Blood Vendetta."
Buck rolled his shoulders in a deceptively relaxed manor and smiled knowingly.
Lateesha stepped away from the mudroom door to move closer to Elizabeth. "You would be Buck Wilmington, I presume." Buck smiled wider. "It might be prudent to let him go," Lateesha said to Elizabeth. "You'll still have Daniel and Martin to play with."
"Wrong!" countered Buck. "The Blood Vendetta will be called on their behalf, too."
"You can't," insisted Elizabeth. "Kin law forbids it."
Buck just about choked on Elizabeth's use of Kin law after she'd flouted it so many times. "Not when a blood relative or a mental bond is in effect, and in this case we've got both."
"What blood relative?" demanded Lateesha. She and Elizabeth always carefully researched their victims before they took them to play with.
"More than a hundred years ago Vin Tanner conceived a daughter with married woman. Martin is a direct descendant of that child. Martin has formed a mental bond with Danny. That means Danny is under the Seven's protection as well." Buck detailed. He could feel a flicker of surprise from Martin, and knew there would be questions to answer later. Right now he was more concerned with how Elizabeth was taking the news.
Elizabeth's face had taken on a look of wonder. "I was right! Destiny brought me the heir of one of the most powerful Kindred to ever live. 'Teesha, don't you see that they were meant to be ours?"
Buck had learned during his time undercover that while Lateesha could be a controlling influence on Elizabeth she was also just as likely to indulge Elizabeth's whims. Watching Lateesha now, he saw the precise second that she decided to go along with Elizabeth's delusions. Shouting a quick mental warning to Martin, Buck drew his gun shooting Elizabeth three times. Lateesha kicked the gun from Buck's hand with numbing force, before he could unload the entire the clip as he'd hoped. Three bullets wouldn't be enough to kill Elizabeth, not even close, but perhaps it would weaken her enough for Martin and Danny to stand against her. Then Buck couldn't spare any more thoughts for the fledglings, because his own survival was on the line.
Lateesha threw a fist at Buck that he agilely dodged, while drawing his own familiar blade. He'd been very careful during his time with the cult to make sure that they never saw too many of his abilities. He might not have the superior strength that Elizabeth and Lateesha or even his own friends Chris and Josiah possessed, but he was fast. He'd also known how to knife fight since well before he became Kin. During the past hundred years he'd refined that ability by going up against some of the most dangerous opponents the Kindred had to offer.
Their fight quickly became a battle of attrition. With quick darting jabs he'd wounded her several times, every flow of blood helpful in weakening her, but she'd also caught him once with a kick to his left leg, causing a sharp ache that experience taught him was likely a hairline fracture. Their attacks and retreats had taken them back out into the hallway. They had even gathered a bit of a crowd as the more ordinary members of the cult left the party to watch the fight, cheering it on like an obscene sporting event. Buck was fully aware that Lateesha could potentially kill him with a single well-placed blow. Lateesha was adjusting her fighting style to compensate for Buck's speed, and he couldn't afford for that to happen. Feinting to the left, Buck dove for Lateesha. She tried to counter with a crushing grip on his left wrist, but Buck had already chosen to sacrifice that limb to give him an opening for a killing blow. His knife plunged deep into her neck. Shock flowed from Lateesha as her eyes began to dim.
Buck didn't have time to acknowledge his victory. The sounds of struggle continued in the kitchen. He scrambled to his feet, opened the door just in time to see Martin be thrown backwards into a wall only to drop in an unconscious heap.
Danny was locked in combat with Elizabeth, her hand on his arm barely preventing him from stabbing her with his knife. Buck moved forward still trying to decide how best to help, when Danny adjusted his grip and hooked a leg behind hers knocking her off balance. Danny let his body follow hers to the ground, using the momentum to drive his knife into her heart. Knowing the blade had hit its target; Danny twisted the weapon destroying as much heart muscle and tissue as possible.
"My destiny," gasped Elizabeth blood bubbling up from her lips.
"It's over," declared Danny, not easing his grip until her heart stopped beating.
Buck turned towards Martin to see what kind of condition he was in. Halfway across the kitchen he was stopped by the entrance of two FBI agents and four uniformed officers. "FBI, freeze, don't move!" Ordered Jack in the lead.
"It's okay, Jack," called Danny. "Buck's the reason we made it this far." Jack lowered his weapon and moved to Danny to help him up. One of the officers knelt next to Elizabeth's body to check her vitals. "She's dead," Danny announce with little emotion. The officer nodded and moved to secure the hall door with his partner.
"Danny," called Buck. "Martin needs you over here."
Next to him Samantha was insisting, "He's not breathing. We need to start CPR."
"Just hold up a second," countered Buck, "with the broken ribs he's got, that could do more harm than good." Danny slid down next to Martin. "Just like before," Buck instructed. "He only needs a little help."
Danny nodded; setting one hand on Martin's chest while the other cupped his face. "Okay Martin, you're starting to scare everyone. It's time to start breathing again." For a moment nothing seemed to happen, but Danny could feel Martin soaking up the energy. Then Martin sucked in a big gulp of air.
"Shallow breaths," advised Buck. "You cracked some ribs." Martin blinked a couple of times before focusing on Buck and nodding his understanding. Then he locked eyes with Danny, his good had closing over the one Danny had placed on his chest.
"I'm not even going to ask how you did that," murmured Jack. He wasn't the sort to buy into miracles, but he wasn't going to argue this one. All of his agents were alive and that he could accept.
"Elizabeth?" gasped Martin weakly.
"She dead," insisted Danny. "She'll never hurt anybody again."
"And I left Lateesha bleeding out on the hall floor," added Buck. He started to lever himself up, knowing that he needed to make sure that no one tried to do something stupid, like try to save Lateesha's life. His left leg was still killing him, but he figured he could hobble if he needed to.
"Juliet?" Martin wondered.
Buck and Danny exchanged a look. They'd both forgotten about her during the fight with the more powerful Kindred. Seeing the abandoned bindings that had been holding her, Buck started hobbling as quickly as he could towards the hall door. "Stay with Martin, I'll find her," Buck ordered.
"Who's Juliet?" asked Jack keeping pace beside him.
"A poor kid that Elizabeth drove nuts last year," said Buck. "Unfortunately, violent outbursts are her most frequent expression of insanity." Buck shoved the door open and nearly fell to his knees. "Damn it, no. This isn't happening." The spot where he'd left Lateesha's body was now empty of anything more than a bloodstain. Most of the partygoers were lined up along the wall being arrested by agents and officers alike. Seeing a familiar face that might provide some answers, Buck approached Darla. Grabbing Darla's arm and pulling her away from the others, he demanded, "What happened to Lateesha's body?"
"Why should I tell you anything? You're a traitor to your own kind, Buckingham." Darla practically spit out the words.
Buck's face darkened with viciousness, "Little girl, you don't know half as much about my kind as you think you do. Now, I've got no time to waste on a fool that's too stupid to know better than to worship a sadist, so why don't you tell me where she went before I show you just how Kindred I am."
Jack rarely had the opportunity to play good cop to someone else's bad. He had to admit that Buck had managed to leave the woman shaking in her boots with nothing more than a few simple words, but he also thought the Kindred line sounded a bit silly.
Darla didn't think it was silly though. "Juliet took her. She carried Lateesha out, with Cam and Becca just before the goon squad arrived."
Jack order several agents to search the direction Darla had indicated. "How badly injured was Lateesha?"
"I left her with an eight inch blade driven into her throat," admitted Buck.
"She's probably not going to make it very far then," offered Jack.
"You'd be surprised," countered Buck. "You'd be really surprised." Then he hobbled slowly back to the kitchen, leaving Jack to wonder why he suddenly felt so worried.
+ + + + + + + + +
Martin was feeling fine. Okay, maybe that wasn't entirely accurate. Martin was feeling stronger now that the doctors had hooked him up for a blood transfusion. (There had been quite a flurry of amazement when tests indicated that Danny and Martin were both at barely half the normal blood volume.)
Martin was also feeling a lot of guilt and confusion. That it was Danny's guilt and confusion he was feeling just drove home how much his life had changed in the last few hours. The confusion Martin could understand, after all Danny had been out of it for much of what Elizabeth and her cult had done to him. The guilt on the other hand was actually starting to irritate Martin a bit. The 'blood donation' had been Martin's idea. Harold had tried to warn him that it might be dangerous, but Martin had taken the chance anyway, knowing that Danny was worth the risk. Danny had no reason to feel guilty about anything.
Then there was all of the worry he was feeling, in surprisingly equal parts, from both Jack and his father. Jack was worrying about the fact that Lateesha and Juliet had vanished with one of their cult followers, Cam. Becca's lifeless body had been found by one of the search teams. The preliminary cause of death was being called blood loss, though there had been a suspicious lack of blood where her corpse had been found. That alone was enough to convince Martin that Lateesha was still on the loose. Buck wasn't overwhelmingly concerned though. He was of the opinion that Lateesha, ever the more controlled member of the group, would retreat at least for the time being so she could lick her wounds.
Victor's worry was almost overwhelming, the crippling sort of fear that only a parent can feel for a child. The crisis was over and Martin was safe, but that didn't seem to alleviate his father's fears nearly as much as it should. That Victor could weather this emotional storm while maintaining his favorite stoic demeanor, floored Martin. He decided right then to grill Buck on those mental shields he'd mentioned earlier. There were some things a child was better off not knowing about their parents.
Martin was propped into a partially upright position on the hospital bed in order to ease some of the pressure on his ribs. Next to him, Danny's bed was laid flat, but that didn't stop Danny from leaning on his elbows and trying to sit up every few minutes. Jack was sitting in a chair next to the bed asking gently worded questions about what Danny could remember of his second kidnapping. Those answers came smoothly enough until they started talking about Elizabeth's dungeon, which according to Jack was actually owned by Lateesha. Danny became decidedly evasive when Jack asked him about what happened in the dungeon. Martin could understand Danny's hesitancy. It wasn't that they didn't trust Jack, but how could they possibly explain what had happened to them without Jack thinking the torture had driven them a little crazy.
Danny was given a short reprieve when a nurse's aide came in with some drinks. Danny, being Danny seized the opportunity to flirt with a pretty woman. Martin was just happy to finally be allowed to drink something besides water. Orange juice had never tasted so good.
'Watching an ass like that move, makes a man happy to be alive.'=
Martin choked on his orange juice. He couldn't believe that Danny had just said that while the woman was still in the room.
"Are you okay Martin?" asked Danny, his words were equal parts teasing and concern.
A quick glance around the room showed that everyone else, Jack, Victor and the nurse's aide were all just as focused on Martin, as though they hadn't heard Danny's first comment. It was then that Martin realized Danny hadn't spoken. Martin had heard Danny's thoughts.
Martin cleared his throat, swallowed the rest of his orange juice and said, "I'm fine." Then he looked at Danny sending the message, ='You're projecting your thoughts, Danny.'=
For a moment Danny looked confused, but once he saw Martin's eyes flick to the nurse's aide back to him, he realized what it was that had caused Martin to choke on his drink. "I'm so sorry," he started.
"Sorry for what?" asked Jack. There was definitely some byplay going on between Martin and Danny, but damned if he could understand what any of it meant.
Before Danny could explain his apology or Martin could offer an excuse, Buck entered the room, smiling appreciatively as the nurse's aide passed him on her way out. He was using crutches and had a removable brace on his left leg. "I figured I'd check up on you boys now that things have settled a bit." His words were friendly, but his focused gaze on Martin said a bit more. 'Decision time, boys. Are you planning on letting Jack and Victor in on what really happened in that dungeon?' Danny shrugged uncertainly. He trusted Jack, but he wasn't nearly so comfortable baring all to Victor.
Martin could understand Danny's hesitancy, but his recent glimpse into his father's psyche encouraged Martin to try another path. "Dad, I know my recent kidnapping has shaken you a bit more than you're willing to let on. I appreciate how you've been here trying to support me, but right now Danny and I need to talk to Jack about some of the more life altering events that happened while we were being held. You might prefer to leave if you're not ready to hear about it." This was really more his mother's style than his own, offering something of a passive challenge while still giving Victor an out.
Victor realized immediately that his son was handling him. Something that Martin was seldom inclined to do. There was only one thing he could think of that would have Martin acting this way. "This Elizabeth Hastate Bathory, she was more than just some crazy cult leader, she was Kindred wasn't she?"
The slack-jawed look of shock on Jack's face might have been amusing under other circumstances. Martin was too busy understanding the implications of Victor's statement. "You already knew about the Kin?" verified Martin.
"Well sure," volunteered Buck. "Victor here was part of the group that tried to recruit the Seven into working for the government a few years back. We decided to take a better offer."
"So who do you work for?" asked Jack still not believing what he was hearing.
"That's right," remembered Buck as he tried to reach into his pocket around one of his crutches. "I never did get chance to show you these." Buck handed Jack his credentials.
Examining them, the absurdity of the situation finally became too much for Jack. "So you're telling me that you're a vampire Mountie?"
"I'm an acting member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police," admitted Buck. "But as far as I'm aware, vampires don't exist. Kin on the other hand are ordinary folks that happen to have a particular reaction to a certain virus. I don't know all technical details, that's really Nathan's specialty not mine. But I do know that for those with the right DNA the virus triggers a boost to the immune system and even slows the aging process. For a rare few it does even more than that."
"You mean the reason Elizabeth looked so young for her age was that she'd somehow become infected with this virus at some time in the past." Jack was trying to keep an open mind, mainly because Martin and Danny were taking Buck so seriously. Even Victor seemed to be listening to what Buck had to say.
"She was deliberately infected seventeen years ago by a man named William Blake." Buck took a deep breath as he began to explain. "Current Kin law states that no one is to be infected against their wishes or without full disclosure. Most Kin are more than satisfied to have an extra thirty years of good health tacked on to their lives, but once their friends and family pass on they're usually inclined towards joining them. Humans are social creatures after all. Who would want to live forever if it meant living alone? However there is a significant minority of Kin that do keep living for centuries. William Blake was over four hundred years old and very old school. Some journals I discovered indicated that William's preferred method of acquiring help involved targeting Chosen, breaking their will through torture during transformation, when their minds were at the most vulnerable, and then turning them into his slaves. Those that caused problems were usually disposed of, but apparently he didn't dispose of Elizabeth fast enough."
Before Buck could say more there was a knock on the door and a forty something female doctor with short curly brown hair stepped into the room. "My name is Dr. Kaye. Harold Pembroke requested that I consult on your cases." Dr. Kaye turned towards Jack, Victor and Buck. "If you gentlemen don't mind, I need to consult with my patients in private."
Victor started to protest. Martin did a quick mental check with Danny and then assured, "You can speak freely with them here."
The doctor waited for a confirming nod from Danny before she pulled x-rays from an envelope. "The good news, Agent Fitzgerald, is that while you have several rib fractures, all of the ribs are still aligned. Since the dislocation of your thumb has already been taken care of there shouldn't be anything to interfere with your accelerated healing."
"Interfere how?" asked Martin.
"One of the most common mistakes Kin make when injured is assuming that all they have to do is take in a little blood to fix everything. But Kin still heal the same way everybody else does. They just do it a little faster. The accelerated healing doesn't reset bones or reduce dislocations. Nor is it instantaneous. Mr. Willington, if you're not going to use those crutches, would you please sit down? It will likely be two weeks before that broken leg heals completely." Buck had set his crutches aside while he leaned back against the wall. He gave in gracefully, taking a chair at the doctor's firm words.
"You aren't Kin," noted Martin. It was another one of those errant feelings that kept floating through his head.
"Correct," agreed Doctor Kaye. "It's my husband that is Kin, though I have studied with Dr. Nathan Jackson, the leading authority on Kin medicine."
"As part of the Toronto project?" asked Buck.
"Yes, for three years," replied Dr. Kaye.
"Toronto project?" queried Victor. If it had to do with the qualifications of his son's doctor he wanted to know about it.
"It's a program where doctors and scientists learn the ins and outs of Kin medicine, assisting with transformations or exploring the potential applications in standard medicine," explained Dr. Kaye.
"Nathan set it up as an offshoot of our work with the Canadian government," added Buck. "Chris decided several years back, that it was getting too tricky to enforce Kin law without assistance."
"Assistance the American government was quite eager to offer," inserted Victor.
"Well see, that was part of the problem. As soon as you heard what some Kin were capable of you were talking about spy potential and counter-terrorist commandos. We understood where you were coming from but you never seemed to recognize our position. There are about 100,000 Kin scattered all around the world. In theory, the local Regents are responsible for making sure other Kin don't cause problems. Unfortunately, too many solve those problems by simply encouraging the troublemakers to leave their cities. Reckonings are seldom called for anything less than mass murder. The Seven are just about the only authority that's accepted by all of the Regents. We're too busy policing the Kin to worry about anything else," insisted Buck. "The Canadians were happy to let us do our thing and take a few problems off of their hands in the process. Hell we even got dual citizenship out of the deal." Victor just shook his head as if still unable to understand their decision.
Dr. Kaye took the break in the conversation to continue with her consultation. "I've also had a chance to look over your blood work. Danny has clearly completed the transformation. I believe that once his blood volume is back up to normal we'll start to get a better picture of what abilities it might have triggered, though I believe Harold already mentioned amplified strength." Danny nodded a bit nervously. "Martin's transformation is proceeding at a slower rate with the expected elevation in white blood cells. Those will level off within the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours."
"What about reversing the transformation?" asked Danny. "Is that possible?"
"You can't reverse what's been done per se, but if you stop taking in blood to fuel the changes, the activated genes will go dormant and your body will essentially reset itself. You might have a mild headache for a couple days, but nothing worse than that," assured Dr. Kaye. "Though I would advise that you wait until you've fully recovered from your trauma before making any decisions. For now I'm going to recommend that we continue the IVs and transfusions. Assuming we don't run into any unexpected complications I'd be willing to sign you both out in a couple hours."
"Okay," injected Jack. "If I'm understanding this right, people with this Kin virus can heal faster but they still need to receive basic medical care for more serious injuries, like say a stab wound to the neck."
"As I said before," agreed the doctor, "being Kin isn't a miracle cure. If the injury is serious enough for a person to need medical treatment, a Kin will likely need the same. If you don't mind I do need to check on some of my other patients now." Dr. Kaye finished a notation on Martin's chart and then excused herself from the room.
"I know where you're going with this," said Buck. "And if it were any ordinary Kin I might agree, but Lateesha was too powerful to assume she just crawled off to die. Until I see her cold dead corpse, she remains a threat."
"How much of a threat?" asked Danny and Victor at the same time.
"Well, tell me Martin. What would you do to the person that brutally murdered Danny?" posed Buck.
"I'd hunt them down . . ."
"So you could bring them to trial?" Buck queried.
"They'd never make it to trial," Martin vowed vehemently.
"Martin!" Victor was aghast. Surely those words hadn't just come out of the mouth of his idealistic young son. Jack, on the other hand, simply made a mental note to keep Martin away from any cases where Danny was injured.
Danny thought he should probably tell Martin that he didn't have to go to such extremes, but that would be pretty hypocritical considering he felt the same way. He'd been completely out of control after Dornvald shot Martin. He couldn't imagine how something like that would feel now. Martin was the rock that had anchored him against madness, the compass that guided him home. Somehow during the last day Danny's very soul had become irrevocably bound to Martin's. Going on without him wasn't just unacceptable; it was unimaginable.
"That's just the way it is with mental bonds," said Buck reasonably. "I've witnessed enough mental bonds to know that Lateesha is not going to let Elizabeth's death go."
"They had a bond?" Martin was surprised. The relationship between the two women had seemed so bizarre. Sometimes it had seemed like Lateesha was the servant and Elizabeth was the master, other times Lateesha was the indulgent parent and Elizabeth was the child.
"It wasn't very stable," admitted Buck, "but it was there. I think for a long time it kept Elizabeth from acting on her darker impulses. It has only been the last four months or so that she started escalating from voluntary S&M to wholesale torture. Prior to that Lateesha had always kept Elizabeth in check."
"She started to lose control of Elizabeth," speculated Jack.
"More like she didn't want to control Elizabeth any more," countered Buck. "Maybe whatever insanity that made Elizabeth what she was had finally poisoned Lateesha too."
Danny was nauseated by that thought. For how long had those two women crawled around in his mind while he'd been too helpless to stop them? How much damage had they done to his vulnerable mind? Was he really okay or was his link with Martin just covering the damage? Now that he'd bound Martin to him had he trapped his best friend into a decent into madness?
'Don't go there Danny. You're not insane.'
'How can we know that when I can't remember most of what they did to me?'
'I remember. I watched what they did to you and I watched how you fought them, for every second, with every fiber of your being, until you couldn't fight them anymore. Then you retreated to a place within your own mind where they couldn't reach you. They never broke you Danny. They never had the chance.' For several seconds Danny's fears continued to rail against his trust in his friend. 'Come on Danny don't you think I would have noticed by now if you'd been driven into some homicidal mania?'
'I don't know Martin, you can be pretty dense sometimes.' The teasing retort drew a chuckle from Martin. He knew that Danny's fears hadn't been erased, but they had been pacified, and for the moment that was enough.
"Okay," said Jack. "New rule: no more of the talking to each other without talking, especially when others are involved in the conversation." Yet even as Jack reprimanded his men he was considering how useful this ability could be in situations were it might be too risky to wear a wire.
"I've been trying to get Chris and Vin to stop doing that for one hundred and thirty years and I haven't succeeded yet," commented Buck.
"You're a hundred and thirty years old?" asked Jack, disbelief leaking back into his voice.
"No, one hundred and sixty-five. I was thirty-five when I became Kin with the rest of the Seven," declared Buck.
Before Jack could sputter a retort, Martin instructed, "Tell us about them, the rest of the Seven."
"I should probably explain just how unusual it is for someone to actually be affected by the Kin virus, and I mean by more than just a stomach ache. We're talking maybe one in thirty thousand can be transformed. Those few we call Chosen. I think you can see how unlikely it is for even two unrelated Chosen to be working in the same office. That the two of you were partners and friends before the transformation is fairly astounding."
Danny glanced at Martin. He supposed their mental bond made more sense from that perspective. Maybe they'd even had a bond already forming on some unconscious level before Elizabeth had come along. Martin sent a wave of whole-hearted agreement.
"It was even more unlikely that seven Chosen would just happen to come together to protect an Indian village and then a nearby town, all without ever realizing our connection. Unfortunately someone else did recognize it. The first two of us were transformed against their will just like you Danny. It was ugly but they survived, mostly because Vin did the same thing as Martin here, and forged a mental bond that let Chris maintain his sanity. The rest of us were transformed within the next three years. By then our job protecting the local town had expired. We'd met several other Kin, both good and bad. We'd learned about the Kin laws; that how well they were enforced depended on the whims of the local Regent. Chris decided that making sure Kin didn't pose a threat to the rest of society was too important to be left to a whim. So we started enforcing the law. Pretty soon we were getting letters and telegraphs from Regents all over asking for our help with Kin troublemakers. So that's what we've been doing for the last century." Buck gave the men around him a moment to absorb his story. "Chris Larabee is our leader. He's a powerhouse like Danny who was a hell of a tactician long before he transformed. Vin Tanner is his second in command. Vin's got a mental bond with Chris and he's an empath in his own right. He also just happens to be Martin's great, great, great grandfather on his mother's side. I'm guessing that you inherited his empathic ability." When Martin didn't deny it, Buck continued. "Josiah Sanchez was a missionary's son. He's the most likely to travel to distant locals and usually acts as our negotiator when we need one. Ezra Standish is a former con man that does most of our long-term undercover work. Unfortunately, Lateesha took an immediate dislike to him so I got this assignment instead. Nathan Jackson is a former slave who turned himself into a doctor. JD Dunne is our youngest, literally a perpetual Peter Pan. You'll get to meet them yourself when they get here in a few hours."
"They're coming here? Now?" Martin wasn't sure he was ready for that just yet.
"Them and James Gamble, Regent of New York," said Buck.
"Where was Gamble when this city was under attack by Elizabeth?" demanded Victor.
"He was serving jury duty out west in the Gains Reckoning," explained Buck. "Not that it matters much anymore. Regency goes to the most powerful Kin in the city and right now that's Danny."
"What?" Buck couldn't possibly mean what Danny thought he meant.
"You heard me. You're transformation sealed the deal. You're the ruler of the New York Kin until someone more powerful comes along," insisted Buck.
Danny wasn't even sure he wanted to be Kin and now they were trying to put him in charge. 'What the hell have I gotten us into?'
'Better you than Elizabeth or Lateesha.' With that small thought Martin managed to convince Danny that becoming Regent was the right thing to do.
+ + + + + + + + +
Juliet carefully helped Lateesha sip blood from a straw. Cam had returned with it from a butcher shop a while back. She would have preferred to strengthen Lateesha with human blood, but Cam had been too helpful to eliminate. Besides, Juliet remembered that Lateesha was picky about which humans she drank from. Juliet was a little worried that Lateesha might get upset when she learned that Juliet had fed her Becca's blood. It was Becca's fault really. Cam had been helpfully following Juliet's commands, using the best of his pre-med education to apply first aid. Becca however had provided nothing beyond the car. All the while yammering about how horrible this was and why hadn't Juliet done something to stop them and why wasn't Juliet doing something to fix Lateesha? So Juliet had done something. She provided warm blood for Lateesha and silenced Becca's questions once and for all.
They weren't in New York anymore. They'd driven south for hours after dumping Becca's body. Juliet was glad Becca was gone. It was hard, so hard trying to think things out; make plans. That was what Elizabeth did, only now there was no more Elizabeth. Juliet couldn't remember the last time she been forced to make decisions. She knew there had been a time before Elizabeth, but trying to remember that only brought pain. Better to think on how Elizabeth took care of her: brushed her hair and gave her food and let her play and told her how precious she was. All Elizabeth had ever asked for in return was Juliet's obedience. It was such a small price to pay for Elizabeth's love. Love that other's had forsaken.
It was Elizabeth's gentle touch that roused Juliet after Buckingham's traitorous attack. She'd untied Juliet's hands before confronting the men. There'd been threats and allegations most of which Juliet hadn't understood. After all, Elizabeth wanted Daniel and Martin to become a part of their family, how could they not want the same? Then the fighting had begun. Buckingham's opening gambit of shooting Elizabeth filled Juliet with rage, but she'd stayed out of the fight for two reasons: First, because Lateesha had immediately stepped in to handle Buckingham. Second, Elizabeth had sent Juliet a mental order not to interfere, and Juliet could never disobey her mistress. Juliet had barely dodged out of the way when Lateesha and Buckingham took their battle back out into the hallway.Staying in the kitchen near her mistress, Juliet watched as Daniel and Martin tried to flank the bleeding Elizabeth, their knives ready to attack.
"You won't kill me, Daniel. You already belong to me," whispered Elizabeth in a voice that Juliet knew could only speak the truth.
It made no sense when Daniel darted forward, swinging the serrated edge, shouting, "I'm not your possession!"
Elizabeth dodged Daniel's attack but not Martin's from the other side. Now she had a long gash joining her bullet wounds. Juliet for the first time started to fear for Elizabeth's survival. Overwhelmed she'd huddled in a little ball of whimpering her distress. Elizabeth managed to push Martin back into a rolling cart, which gave way beneath his weight allowing both to crash to the ground. Still, it was clear she was weakening. Daniel closed in again but this time Elizabeth didn't just evade his attack. She knocked his blade arm away and then grasped the back of his neck, using the contact to tap into his life force. Juliet saw Daniel's eyes roll back in his head as he struggled against Elizabeth's will; still she sucked the energy from him. "I didn't want to do it this way Daniel, but I won't let you go. I'll see you dead before I give you up."
"Not if I kill you first," warned Martin as he rejoined the fray. His simple bull rush slammed into Elizabeth, forcing her to release Daniel.
Elizabeth tried the same tactic on Martin but somehow he met her stare for stare, blocking her from the precious energy she needed. She let loose a frustrated scream then threw Martin across the room expending most of her remaining strength. Martin crumpled to the ground after hitting the far wall with thunderous force. That should have been it, but somehow when Elizabeth latched on to Daniel the second time, she wasn't able to drain energy from him. Then Elizabeth was falling and dying beneath Daniel's blade.
Juliet crawled from the kitchen overwhelmed with despair. In the hall she saw Lateesha being treated urgently by Cam with Becca hovering near. Somewhere in Juliet's crumbling world an idea formed. She couldn't save Elizabeth, but she could save Lateesha. Commandeering Cam and Becca, they had fled.
Juliet wasn't sure how long it would take for Lateesha to recover, but she hoped it was soon. Then she could stop making the decisions and go back to following a mistress, her new mistress. Maybe if was obedient enough Lateesha would love her the way Elizabeth had. Then they would destroy the ones who had taken Elizabeth from them.
+ + + + + + + + +
Despite a chilly breeze the sun still warmed Danny's skin, stinging his eyes a bit with its brightness.
"Here, put these on," Martin instructed tossing Danny a pair of sunglasses. "Enjoying the sunshine?"
"I know they told us that most of the legends surrounding vampires didn't apply, but I just needed to be sure," insisted Danny a bit self-consciously.
"Relax, Danny. I get it," assured Martin. "So how is Elena doing?"
"She'd finally given up on going back to work, and was resting when I stopped by," detailed Danny. "What about your Dad? What did he want to talk to you about?"
"Potential career advancement for those with the right sort of abilities," Martin smirked.
"You're not serious," said Danny. When Martin shrugged, Danny shook his head. "Your dad has serious issues."
"Yeah, I know," Martin agreed affectionately.
"This doesn't bother you?" Danny was fairly certain that these were the type of 'talks' with Victor that usually sent Martin off into quite the self-righteous snit.
"It's hard to get mad at him when I can feel what an emotional wreck he is about the whole incident," Martin shrugged in bemusement. "Anyway I figure I should save my energy for our meeting with James Gamble and the rest of the Seven. Buck said their plane landed twenty minutes ago."
"Right, because now I'm supposed to assume some sudo-royal position of leadership while you make small talk with your three-times great grandpa," mused Danny.
Martin grinned, clearly having a little too much fun with the situation. "Transformation has certainly made our lives more interesting," he pointed out.
Danny studied the way the rays of sunlight filtered between the city buildings. Beside him he could feel Martin not just leaning against his arm, but also his laughter in Danny's mind and his warmth in Danny's soul. He'd heard people talk about unconditional acceptance before, but he'd never understood what it meant until now. If this kept up Danny could definitely get used to interesting.
'Me too, Danny. Me too.'
The End