A Cat's Chance in Hell (14 page)

His accent was almost impossible for her to pinpoint exactly. He had a carefully neutral accent, probably English, but not one of the broader British accents. In fact, it reminded her of the accents of those from the British colonies; a clean upper-class accent without blatant inflection and slang, but also without the clipped, pompousness of royalty. She could imagine him speaking several languages without altering his basic accent at all. Perhaps that would explain his neutral accent; if he had been around for as long as she suspected, then he probably had learnt several languages and lived in several countries over the course of his lifetime.

Then there was his name; she wondered if it was the name he had been given at birth or if he had assumed it somewhere along the line. It was obviously a popular name in ancient Rome, but she doubted he was actually that old, maybe it had made a comeback at some stage and become popular again sometime in more recent history. His build and colouring suggested an Anglo-Saxon bloodline in his background, but not knowing his exact age was making it almost impossible to be sure of anything about him.

If he was aware of her scrutiny he pretended ignorance, continuing with his chronicle of Vampire history. He explained that the remnants of the Eastern European Vampires had scattered into the rest of the world, many to Western Europe and the British Isles, but some adventurous ones took on the ‘New World’. They concentrated on keeping a low profile and quickly dispensed with any Vampire who threatened to expose them again. For a while they had shunned the company of humans, only coming into contact with them to feed, but there were so few Vampires left that loneliness had eventually driven them to begin the dangerous process of ‘turning’ humans. Slowly Vampires began rebuilding their decimated numbers, creating families for themselves.

The first ‘family’ of any note was one in Scotland in the mid eighteenth century. A female Vampire, named Ilyana, had fallen in love and turned a Scottish nobleman into a mate for herself, and between them converted most of his direct family into Vampires. Several other older Vamps had latched onto her idea and they in turn changed a number of other Scottish and English families. Ilyana became the ‘Matriarch” of the McCullum Clan, taking on her mate’s name, and this blueprint for a new type of Vampire Family had quickly spread throughout Britain and Europe. Vampires were now living a similar existence to their Eastern European heyday, but spread out in solid family groups, each ruled by a powerful Matriarch or Patriarch, known as a Master Vampire. The Master Vampire was expected to keep tight control over all members of the Clan, enforcing secrecy and curbing Vampire related deaths, ensuring humans didn’t learn of their existence. It was after a number of Clans had been formed all over Europe and Britain that they began forming mutually beneficial bonds with Werewolves and in some cases even Magi and Shapeshifters.

“
Of course over the past century the Clans had started to become more like business enterprises than true families,” he said, “businesses that employ the majority of the Vampires and many of the Weres in each city. Cities are regarded as territories, and generally only one major Clan lives and rules in each city. Positions of Master Vampire in the larger cities are highly prized, and only the strongest Master Vamps get to hold these positions. It has, in short, become a political game. He or she with the biggest influence and the strongest supporters wins. If a Master slips up there are numerous others waiting to take him down and replace him.”

Now the story had begun to interest Gabi.

“
So you’re telling me you had to fight to be Master of the City?” she interrupted him for the first time.

“
Yes,” he replied solemnly, “in more ways than one.”

“
What do you mean?” she

“
Well, for the most part only the oldest, most powerful of us get to a point where we can challenge another Master for a prime position. If we are not considered powerful enough to maintain order in the Clan, other Masters will join forces to eliminate us as possible contenders. A Master first has to prove himself strong enough and ruthless enough to control a Clan, before he would be allowed to challenge.”

“
Let me guess,” she drawled, “you weren’t considered ‘old’ enough for the position.”

Julius seemed startled that she’d reached the correct conclusion; she realised that most people would’ve automatically assumed he wasn’t powerful enough. She knew better; she could sense his power.

“
Yes, as a matter of fact I
was
considered too ‘young’ by Vampire standards,”

“
So, what are the Vampire standards for a Master Vampire?” she queried. “Is there a certain age, a kind of test, what exactly makes a Master a Master?” She’d decided to push him and see how far he would go divulging intimate details of Vampire Society. Any information she could gather was more than they had now, and she was sure that Byron would find it fascinating.

“
There aren’t really any specifics involved. It has more to do with mental power and strength, as well as ruthlessness and experience in playing the political side of things. A Master is a Vampire who had reached a point where they can do things that other Vamps are not capable of. Such as,” he continued as he saw the demand in her expression, “not having to sleep through the daylight hours,” Gabi’s felt her eyebrows shoot up at that piece of news, “not needing to feed as often, being able to mentally compel another Vampire to do something and having control over Weres and other animals.”

He said the last few words with a discreet look at her, as if watching for her reaction. She felt her eyes narrow in contemplation, and quickly concealed her interest by burying her nose in the coffee cup.

“
Go on,” she said in a carefully neutral voice, filing away that enlightening piece of information for later consideration.

“
Not all Vampires have the ability to become Masters. Many can live to be a thousand years old and not ascend to that higher level. It is something innate, the ability is either there or it isn’t. Something like an Alpha wolf; if you concentrate on the ability and have the determination to strive for the higher level you will eventually be able dominate others, but if you’re not quick enough, strong enough, powerful enough, clever enough, another will take you down before you hit the top. The age old story of ‘survival of the fittest’.”

Gabi nodded, it made a lot more sense to her once he compared it to the Alpha ability.

“
What made you a Master before the rest of them thought you were...” she paused looking for the right word, “experienced enough.”

“
I had, shall we call it, a certain advantage over others of a similar age to me,” he said cryptically, leaving her to ask him the obvious question.

She simply raised an eyebrow and waited, refusing to be baited.

He bit off a slight smile and gave in. “I have been able to compel other Vampires to do whatever I want them to since I was first turned. And I have very strong mental defences against the ability in other Vampires.”

“
So, in short, any other Master with you in their ‘Clan’ would always be looking over their shoulder, wondering when you were coming for them,” she surmised almost to herself.

He smiled wryly; apparently she’d reached the crux of the matter.

“
Yes,” he confirmed. “That’s the main reason I was allowed to challenge for my own Clan at such a comparatively ‘young’ age.”

“
So,” she took her eyes off him to study the pastry she’d pulled from the bag and nonchalantly asked the question that was burning a hole in her, “how old are you actually?”

He actually let out a burst of laughter, which startled her more than anything else he could have done. “That is personal information, and not relevant to our discussion,” he said, “but I might be tempted to divulge the answer for some personal information from you in return.”

Gabi’s expression turned instantly wary. “Maybe another time,” she said, her voice implying that he had about as much chance of that as a Vampire had of surviving five minutes in full sun.

A teasing grin touched his masculine features. “You don’t even know what I would ask you. Aren’t you even the slightest bit curious to know what I would like to know about you?”

The curiosity was gnawing at her like a million termites, she had a thousand questions she wanted to ask him, but she wasn’t going to admit that to him.

“
Are you going to get to the point of the meeting sometime before the sun comes up?” she asked instead, stifling a yawn. “Some of us do have work in the morning.” Weariness was starting to make her crotchety, probably not the best attitude to have when trapped in a building full of Vampires.

The grin disappeared from his face. “Yes, of course. I forget sometimes that others do not keep our hours. I will try to summarize this as much as possible.” He took a deep breath, reminding her of another question to add to the growing list in her head. “There is a challenger for my position as Master of the City. This of itself would not normally be a problem to the citizens of the City. For the most part fights for this kind of position take place only in the presence of a select few, along the lines of the ‘duel at dawn’ scenario. They would rarely affect anyone in the contested city, besides the top level of Vampires associated with the two Masters. This case, however, is not a normal contest.” He paused for a moment, as though fighting down anger, but before she could interrupt with a question he continued. “The challenger to my position is something of a radical in our world. He has not been ‘approved’ by the other Masters to challenge me, but they will not stand against him either.”

Gabi was confused. “But everything you’ve told me so far indicates that the Masters as a whole will not tolerate anyone overstepping their given authority. So why is the challenge against you any different, and why would this affect the rest of us?”

A number of emotions crossed his face as he looked down at the desk for a brief moment, and Gabi’s heart rate jumped as she recognised unease and guilt as two of them. Abruptly his face went passive, as he exerted rigid control over those emotions and looked back at her.

“
The challenger has some unique talents, and some unique allies; making him a virtually unstoppable force. The other Masters would not be overly distraught to see the end of me, as I do not play the political game the way they think I should, and I am too powerful for them to force me to play it their way. They are also hoping, of course, that once he takes the City from me he will be content to stay and play here rather than challenge them for their cities. If I defeat him, they are no worse off than before; if he defeats me they believe he will leave the rest of them in peace, so they believe that either way they will win in the end. They have decided to be Switzerland in this case, and will not interfere or assist either side.”

“
So spit it out,” Gabi demanded, “why is he such a threat to you.”

Julius looked her straight in the eyes. “His biggest strength is the ability to control Demons. He has power over them like I have power over other Vampires. He also has a Magus allied to him.” Gabi’s blood ran cold as she knew intuitively what he was going to say next. “She is one of the very rarest types of Magi; one you would call a Dark Mage, one who can open gateways in the Veil; pathways for Demons to cross the Void to our world. I believe he is planning to attack us with an army of Demons at his command.”

Gabi sat in stunned silence. She realised the implications of this challenge to Julius’s position without him having to lay them out for her. She’d already had a taste of what would be sent against them. A number of things clicked into place in her head at the same time. This revelation explained the unusual behaviour of the Demons, their willingness to work together, the appearance that they had goals in mind, the sheer number of them appearing in the City. She tried to clear her chaotic thoughts, filtering out things she could discuss with Byron later, and figuring out what other information she would need from Julius before her meeting with the Council.

“
The Masters who make the decisions, the old ones…” Gabi said.

“
We call them the Princeps,” Julius supplied helpfully.

“
Alright, the Princeps,” she continued, “you said they are adamant that secrecy is maintained, that it’s one of the oldest and most unbreakable rules. If this contender…”

“
Dante,” he supplied again.

“
Ok, if this Dante is bringing hordes of Demons against the City, it is going to be obvious that there’s something supernatural going on here. You can’t hide dozens of Demons from the human population for very long. Why are they going against one of their oldest rules and letting him attack you? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Julius sighed broodingly. “It doesn’t make sense to me either, and I can’t give you a straight forward answer to that. I can only surmise that they assume they can limit the fallout, somehow keep it contained within the boundaries of the City, and later, once the dust settles, find a way to blame it on some other source. Mass hallucination, rabid animals, tainted water, something like that. They seem actually scared of him. Of Dante. Their main concern at the moment seems to be to keep him from challenging the rest of them. They seem to think he will be content with my City; they don’t realise he has a much bigger plan in mind. They don’t realise how much of a radical he actually is. And they don’t realise he is almost completely insane.” Julius’s voice had a morose edge to it.