Embracing the Shadows (4 page)

I woke up the next day to a boom of thunder.
Rain was pouring down, and weather reports said it wouldn't let up
for a while. I checked the Planner and saw that, because water in
the tunnels would be high and fast, my chore schedule had
changed.

First on the list was a daytime task to wait
for a delivery at a warehouse and take the supplies back to my
place for the time being. After that, I had to go make any
necessary repairs to the pipes in a long steam tunnel under UMKC's
college campus. The flag note pinpointed an obscure access grate
for me to use to get down there, and suggested a few types of metal
patching material.

Six hours later I was spraying a crack with
specialized sealant, wondering what was in the small crates that
I'd picked up earlier. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that
when a woman's voice said, "Well, hello again" just a few feet away
from me, I jumped about a foot off the ground.

"Aw, did I scare you?" she said with a
chuckle as I turned to see who had somehow snuck up on me. Shit, it
was the derelict, Audra. The tunnel was lit, so I could see her
much better this time. She was wearing all black - sneakers, sweats
and a hoodie. Her glossy black hair was pulled into a tail, hanging
over the backpack slung on her shoulder. She had a mischievous
glint in her green eyes, and lips curled into the grin that I
remembered. And that body . . . Dammit, she looked better than the
first time I saw her.

"What - what are you doing down here?" I
stammered.

Audra put a hand on her hip and answered with
a rhetorical question. "Did you think your boss is the only one who
knows all the ways to get into the admin building?"

Why in hell would a hemo care about student
records? "No, I mean . . . I just didn't expect -"

She reached out with a fingertip and softly
grazed it along the scar on my cheek. "Hmm, nice; did you get this
as a normal human, or was it caused by Deviant blood?"

"What? No, uh, I was wounded in combat, in
Afghanistan. My unit was on a mission. We tripped an IED. Uh,
that's a kind of bomb." Holy crap, I was talking like a dork.

Audra's grin widened. "Calm down, handsome.
No need to be nervous with me. Your boss is a good customer; I
won't do anything to ruin that." She moved closer and said with a
sultry voice, "Too bad you already belong to Stone. We could've had
some fun."

"Uh, fun?" Getting freaky with a hemo? I
hadn't really thought about it. Okay, that girl Macie with the big
tits crossed my mind a few times, but that was before I found out
what she really was. I was getting warm and sweaty; I blamed it on
the steam tunnel.

She gave the slightest of shrugs and ran her
hand down my arm. "I don't normally play with my food, but yeah -
fun." I guess Audra saw the confusion in my eyes. "You haven't been
told about vampire sex yet, have you?"

I gave a shrug of my own. "To be honest,
ma'am, no, but I figure it involves blood. Uh, no thanks."

I had no idea what Audra's response was,
because I suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to reach some
destination. I wasn't sure where, but the intense need to
immediately go blotted out any other thought. Audra forgotten, I
turned and ran back to the ladder at the near end of the tunnel. I
didn't just lift the heavy access grate, I tossed it. Luckily, no
one was between me and the van or else I would've run right over
them. I burned rubber off the tires peeling out and gunning it
every chance I got.

Once I got onto an inner-city highway, I flew
north toward downtown. It slowly became clear to me where I was
headed: the Realm Management building. Specifically, I was being
pulled toward Emmeline Le Meur. There was no way in hell I wanted
to go there or be anywhere close to her again, but I couldn't stop
myself. I was on a collision course with trouble. Ah, deep shit, we
meet again.

BECKONING

If the downtown streets weren't so empty at
that time of night, I would've killed someone . . . and without
much dignity. Death by panel van and a couldn't-give-a-shit driver
is no way to go.

Taking the last corner on what might've been
only two screaming tires, I saw a small group of people out front
of Realm Tower. How nice - a welcoming party. I drove the driver's
side of the van up onto the wide sidewalk and screeched to a halt.
As soon as I hopped out, two of the men outside trained their
assault rifles on me. They stood fifty feet away on either side of
the main entry; big glass doors which opened into a huge lobby that
I'd walked through a couple times before.

Besides the two armed guards, there was some
dude off to the left who was lingering casually up against an
ornamental light post. There was also a silhouetted figure watching
from the dimly lit lobby. I practically ignored them both, instead
focusing on the guy standing in front of the doors and between the
guards. It was Evan Dean, Adept and douchebag extraordinaire.

I started walking right for him. I was less
than halfway to the doors when a single round went off loudly, and
a bullet pinged off the cement in front of me. I resisted the
demanding call that urged me forward, but just barely. I was
shaking with the effort of standing in place.

"Ah, so the rumor was false," Evan said with
a smirk while lazily swinging chains in his hands. "Myself, I never
believed a single thing your dog-woman ever mumbled through her
dirty scarf. Who would take the word of a disgusting Deviant? They
are nothing but unhinged thieves and liars, all of them. And now
you stand here before me, Mr. Beck, proving my words true."

"I don't want any trouble," I said through
gritted teeth. "I just need to go see Le Meur."

"Well of course you do. A calling of immense
power, was it not? I'm told that my Lady made a strenuous effort to
beckon you, the troublesome and tenacious human that rightfully
belongs to her. But I can't let you go storming into Realm
headquarters without an escort. That would be imprudent and against
orders. No, no, Mr. Beck," Evan explained as he held out the chains
that I suddenly realized were two sets of shackles, "you will be
presented with the proper attire. Now, remove your weapons and
kneel."

Slowly, I stepped forward - not with a surge
of bravery, or because I had balls too big for my own good. The
pull, the mental summons, was dragging me forward. And I sure as
hell wasn't going to kneel in front of that cocksucker. "No," I
growled, taking another step. "Your guards are gonna have to kill
me."

Another loud report went off, and I felt like
I got hit in the stomach with a hammer. Evan laughed when I doubled
over clutching my midsection. "Rubber bullets, Mr. Beck - I'm sure
you'll survive. And as much as I would enjoy giving the order to
have you put down like a dog, Lady Le Meur demanded that you be
alive and coherent when you submit to her once again. She would
much rather enjoy you groveling at her feet than having to dump
your corpse down a storm drain."

I looked down at my boots, willing them not
to move. As my right foot began to slide forward, a brown rat
darted in front of me, paused, and then scurried off. My mind
flooded with thoughts of Viggo; his honor, the respect and trust he
gave, and the expectations of his favor. I couldn't let him down,
couldn't be weak. I raised my head and stared Evan in the eye.
"Fuck you, and fuck your Lady, too. I'm leaving."

His expression changed from smug to stunned,
which strengthened my resolve. The guards lifted their guns to take
aim; they were gonna have to shoot me in the back to stop me. As I
turned, I saw the guy off to my left make a simple gesture. I took
half a second to look him over. Black dude, average height,
athletic build, cardigan and slacks, short hair, thin beard, and
held a cane in his hand. It was Moses Dupree, the toady of
Tomasino. He wasn't looking at me, though. He was looking behind
me.

I spun, turning my back on Evan, the guards,
and Realm Tower. Standing in front of the open van door, sporting a
jacket with the Realm logo on it, was my former dojo instructor
Phillip Aoki.

Shit, because of me, some Adept bastard got
Phillip. Behind me, I heard Even say to the guards, "Save Mr. Aoki
the trouble. Subdue the target."

As I quickly whirled back around and pulled
my Glock, another voice loudly said, "No."

Crouched, I hesitated. So did everyone else
except for Evan, who was looking back at the opened glass door of
the building. Enric Tomasino stepped out from behind him with a
stern expression on his youthful face. Tomasino was a clean-shaven
and handsome guy with wavy brown hair and a predator's gaze. I knew
the look; some battle-hardened vets had it. He wore a suit without
the jacket, and a sword strapped on his back.

"What is this, elder?" Evan asked while
Tomasino strolled a few paces out to my right. "I have orders."

"You were going to have the human attacked
while his back was turned, Mr. Dean," Tomasino replied with a
scornful tone. "Your complete lack of integrity prompted me to step
in. If our Doyenne wants the man detained, then of course he will
be. But not by an act of cowardice."

The guards lowered their guns. Somewhat
relieved, I turned back to Phillip. "We don't have to do this,
okay?" I said to him. "Let's just hop in the van and go somewhere
to talk it through. Hell, I even know a great little Chinese place
-"

"No, Leo, I'm sorry," Phillip said, cutting
me off. "My Lady Le Meur told me to bring you to her." He glanced
at my gun. "Are you going to shoot me? I was told you'd given up
your honor, but I'd rather not believe it. Face me as you
should."

Fuck, fuckity-fuck. There was no way out of
it. There were rubber bullets and a sword-wielding hemo at my back,
and my former sensei in front of me getting into an attack stance;
two crappy choices. Blowing out a sigh, I pressed one hand to my
bruised stomach and looked at Phillip. He was calm and patient and
dead-set on bringing me to the hemo bitch. Resigned, I put the
Glock away and slipped the holster off.

Phillip wasted no time. As soon as I stepped
back with a defensive posture, he attacked. I was forced to block
or evade his initial barrage of jabs and low kicks. That flashy
aerial bullshit doesn't happen in a real fight. I threw a few back,
mainly gauging any advantage I had. His technique was speed and
discipline, while my military training was all about survival and
quick subdual. Phillip was always quick, but he was now stronger
than I remembered; it was harder to deflect his direct strikes.

I quickly realized that I had superior
strength and position speed, whereas Phillip had smoother attacks
and better accuracy. He was using them to try to wear me down and
pick me apart. I had an opening and let it close, all because I
didn't want to seriously hurt him. I got a hard kick in the thigh
for my stupid consideration. That wasn't going to happen twice.

Feigning a punch and leaving myself open,
Phillip took the bait. I slipped the straight kick he aimed for my
solar plexus, came in close and hooked a knuckle punch to the side
of his neck. When he winced, I drove a knee into his ribs, grabbed
under his arms and heaved him backwards at the side of the van ten
feet away. The impact was almost scary - he crashed into it a lot
harder than I intended. Oops.

Stunned and winded, Phillip leaned against
the now-dented van for support. I rushed forward and threw an
uppercut. He couldn't quite dodge the punch; my fist caught him in
the eye instead of on the chin. The hard shot hammered his skull
back against the van with a metallic thump. Phillip Aoki dropped to
the concrete with his eyes rolled to the back of his head, but at
least he was alive.

I didn't have time to feel sorry for Phillip
or congratulate myself. One of the guards behind me was yelling
something, and I heard a low but constant noise of unsettling
motion. That noise was growing. Turning my head to the left, I at
first couldn't quite make sense of what I saw. Under the glow of
nearby streetlights, a massive undulating and thick carpet was
flowing from the pavement onto the sidewalk, coming toward us from
a distance. When it came close enough, I saw that enormous swath
for what it actually was. Rats.

LEGIONS

There had to have been thousands of them, a
low tide of brown and gray and black swarming toward the front of
Realm Tower. The throng of rats I saw down in the sewer was nothing
compared to it.

More rats came from underneath and around the
van, parting to avoid me. Another vast horde was coming from the
other direction. Tomasino and Dupree were backing up toward the
building entrance, both with blades in their hands. The guards were
spraying rounds wildly, trying to keep the oncoming wave of vermin
at bay. Evan was already inside the lobby, attempting to lock the
doors.

Forming a wide semicircle around the building
entrance, the army of rats suddenly stopped. Tomasino and Dupree
looked confused. The guards, who were already out of ammo, backed
up against the locked doors; they looked ready to shit their
pants.

From my angle, I saw a void of inky blackness
form in the lobby behind Evan. It flickered and expanded, and then
Viggo stepped out of it. He wore his dark hoodie and overcoat as
always, but this time the hood was pulled up. Under it was . . .
nothing - literally nothing but blackness, like he placed a part of
the void over his face. I hadn't seen that grim reaper guise
before. Once was enough for me.

Poor, stupid, cowardly Evan never knew what
hit him. Viggo grabbed him by his blonde hair and back of his
jacket, lifting him off the ground without any effort. My commander
then swung the douchebag like a battering ram at one of the glass
doors. That glass was thick and tempered, probably able to
withstand wind and debris from an F4 tornado. Viggo shattered it
with Evan's face.