Left for Undead (24 page)

Across the room a gleaming oval table was set in the
far corner with two dome-covered silver serving trays. All she or Hunter had to
do was speak the requested menu item of their wildest dreams and then lift the
dome—Fae room service had no competitors in the human world. Same deal with the
cleaning service. All she and Hunter had to do was drop their soiled clothes in
the hamper provided and freshly laundered clothes would be there in the
morning. That is, if one wanted their old clothes back, because the handcrafted
armoires and bureau drawers offered the finest array of choices made out of the
best cottons, linens, silks, and leathers one could ever hope for. Muddy boots
went outside the door, and sometime in the bewitching hour of the night
fresh-polished shoes would return, courtesy of the castle Elves.

The suite that Rupert now dubbed “their castle suite”
was furnished with royalty in mind. Exquisite chaise lounges tastefully dotted
the room, along with overstuffed Queen Anne chairs, a thick hooked rug, and
pretty silk-covered settees near the fire. A four-posted rice bed sat alone
with polished step stools beside it, the bed loaded with insanely soft pillows,
a hand-embroidered goose down duvet, and sheets so soft that they felt like
they were petting her.

The warm earth and moss tones of the forest that
surrounded her calmed her weary mind while the call of the soft bed drew her across
the room as though she were in a trance. All of her good intentions to wait up
for Hunter and to check on him slowly evaporated as her body sank into the
pre-heated warmth of the bed. Her thoughts drifted lazily between
semi-conscious awareness and her knowing that her family was safe. Even Crow
Shadow’s new wife and Bear Shadow were collected by the Fae and brought in by
Dragon escort. Just for a few hours, everyone and everything was all right.
Sasha smiled as she drifted off to sleep stroking the place on her belly where
Hunter had left a kiss.

The old crone screeched and held the Fae missive
aloft. “Book! Fetch thee here and take a memo!” She waited until the dusty
black tome hovered in the air before her and opened itself to a blank page, its
mate pen poised just inches above the ancient living parchment. “There has been
mischief and malfeasance afoot!” she exclaimed. “Involving all of the usual
suspects. Enter this Fae missive into the official record.”

Elder Kozlov snarled as his henchmen held down the
screeching gargoyle and skinned it alive for his council.

“They have tortured a creature of this council,
burning a declaration of war into its very body,” a red-eyed Vampire hissed,
extending the bloody skin out for Elder Kozlov to inspect.

“It appears the Fae wanted to get your attention, Your
Eminence,” one of the Council Elders said in a low, lethal tone. “They
certainly have mine. This is highly unusual, even for the Fae.”

Elder Kozlov flung the dripping, scaly gargoyle skin
on the table and then summarily sent a black bolt toward the squealing creature
to silence it. “If these charges are true.   then, gentlemen, we have
a very disturbing problem in New Orleans.”

“Where is Caleb?” Elder Vlad bellowed, snatching the
closest mercenary to him with a fistful of his leather coat.

“He did not come back with us, Your Grace. He said
that he would search for the girl into the very dawn.”

“Which is only one hour from now!” Elder Vlad flung
the mercenary against the stone wall, causing the others around him to
carefully back away.

“The Fae have brought in Scot Dragon riders,” the
crumpled soldier said.

“And Brits, and Welsh, some Irish, it seems,” another
amended.

“Then if we cannot find the Chen girl, take all of New
Orleans’ human population hostage, if that will bring her to me!”

“Yes, Your Grace,” the fallen Vampire said as he
slowly stood.

Elder Vlad smoothed a palm over his bald scalp. “Leave
me!”

He waited until the room was cleared and then walked
over to the large fireplace mantle near his throne and closed his eyes. In his
mind he could see Elder Kozlov deep within the subterranean lair in
Transylvania that never knew sunlight. Elder Kozlov looked up from his council
throne and made a tent with his spindly fingers before his mouth, his expression
unreadable.

They have beset us with Dragon riders from Scotland to
England and all small provinces in between, Your Eminence, and have decimated
your gargoyle reinforcements. We may need more support.

Elder Kozlov closed his eyes.
Request denied.  
on the grounds of possible treason
. The ancient Vampire took a shuddering
breath.
Explain to me about the Erinyes, Vlad.

Caleb stumbled through the brambles, sloshing through
the marshy bayou bog. Tears stung his eyes as he dropped to his knees and
called out into the night, “Crone! Sanctuary, old woman!”

Slowly the UCE council building lifted out of the
swamp and Caleb glanced at the dawning sky.

“Sanctuary for a testimony, I beg you!”

The doors opened and the old crone took her time to
walk down the long, flat marble steps.

“What do you know of this unfinished business with the
Erinyes?”

“Enough to have me tortured for a hundred years under
Vlad Tempesh,” Caleb said, swallowing hard.

“It will be daylight in less than an hour.”

“Rather to burn and end it all than to be locked in a
tomb, starving to death, going insane for a century,” Caleb said quietly.

“They will surely kill you for your blood oath in the
book.”

Caleb shook his head sadly. “No, they won’t. Death is
a release, and my kind is so much more creative than that.”

“Erinyes, hear me!” Megaera shouted to the numberless
throngs of demons that perched on the hot crags and cliff ledges. She sent her
withering gaze into the darkness, breathing in the sulfuric fumes that issued
up from the bubbling lava pits. “We have bargained well and victory is at
hand!”

A collective screeching cheer went up as Erinyes
bumped and resettled themselves amongst the rocky inferno.

“Soon, we shall have the bodies we need to travel
freely. The Dark Lord wants our legions to roam the earth, unencumbered by the
demon incarceration rules set down eons ago to contain us in servitude!”

Again jubilant chaos broke out amongst the Erinyes,
and Megaera turned away from the raucous crowd to tend to her fallen sister.

“Our plan worked beautifully, did it not?” Alecto
stroked their injured sister’s serpent-twisted hair and then gazed at Megaera.

Megaera nodded and hissed. “The Dark Lord feeds on all
compromised human souls himself, as was struck in the great bargain at the dawn
of time. But he has graciously given us any wills that we might claim from the
supernatural world. That is a bargain indeed. We have found our carriers.”

“Truly,” Alecto croaked, and came nearer to the rocky
ledge where their fallen sister, Tisiphone, lay. “I wish it could be the
Vampires, though. Such power.  ”

“The Vampires are of no use to us, as their souls are
already given over to our Master the moment they take a human life to feed.”

“And their bodies go to ash and embers when killed in
battle,” Alecto said with a cackling laugh. “Ah, but the Fae.  ”

“Yes, the Fae are another matter entirely. Mother
Nature holds their souls in her orbs of light—”

“Unless they strike a poor deal and bargain it away
from her, like Kiagehul did.”

Megaera nodded. “Yes.   like Kiagehul.”

“And of the wolves?”

Megaera shook her head. “Too close to human, they are
not immortals but simply have longevity. Unless one turns to us, like Lady Jung
Suk did, the battle for their souls falls into the realm of the great bargain.
The Light and the Darkness must fight to sway it and claim it.”

“But she came to us..   We cannot be blamed
for her barter.”

“Calm yourself, Alecto,” Megaera crooned. “She was
already dark when she came to us. The Dark Lord already had her in his records,
so that upon her death he owned her. But she was wise and struck an accord for
self-preservation to extend her life, even if her body was destroyed. She
seduced Kiagehul and got him to call upon us to strike such a deal.  
and got him to implicate a foolish Vampire.”

Alecto released a screeching laugh. “Fools. Now the
Unseelie and the Vampires owe us, because they never delivered the Chen girl as
a sacrifice.”

Megaera smiled and wagged her gnarled talon at Alecto.
“What the Vampires remain ignorant of is, the debt can easily be settled by the
Vampires giving us any young virgin for Lady Jung Suk to occupy, although why
she would want a virgin is beyond my comprehension.”

“Or the ice queen could end it all by doing so.  
true?”

“Ah, but, Alecto.   our ice queen has found
a warm heart within her frozen chest, and her summer king will never allow the
butchering of an innocent human girl. Thus, as long as the Vampires remain
ignorant, they will not fulfill the sacrifice. Kiagehul was very shrewd not to
tell Baron Montague of his conjurings.   just as Lady Jung Suk did
well to leave a back door open for herself in case she was betrayed by the
Unseelie or the Vampire. However, we must now act quickly to put pressure on
the parties to go to war, lest the Vampires learn that all we need is a
sacrifice to replace Amy Chen.”

“Then why not release our legions on the Unseelie
before the dawn and butcher them all? We could then inhabit their bodies and go
free in the morning and it would be glorious!”

“Not so simple,” Megaera warned. “Although Lady Jung
Suk gave us the spell that would allow us to host within the Unseelie bodies
before her demise, we cannot give ourselves a sacrifice. If it were that easy
the demon legions would have been freed eons ago. It requires the willing or
those in our debt to cast the spells and to let the blood. But our patience has
paid off. Kiagehul opened the door..   who knew the ice queen would
reunite with her estranged ex-husband? That now gives us access to the Seelie
as well. But we cannot slaughter them. It must be done by those who have an
outstanding debt to us—the Vampires—or it will not be seen as a sacrifice and
we will not be able to inhabit their bodies. Cerridwen will not kill for us,
but the Vampires had no qualms.”

The heat of Hell slowly brought Tisiphone around. The
injured she-demon awoke with an agonized screech and her sisters held her down
while small, ravenous Harpies bickered and shoved her disemboweled innards back
into her splayed stomach cavity.

“Think of how easy it has been to send all of New
Orleans’ supernaturals to war,” Megaera murmured, “and summon patience.”

“If we cannot kill them, then yes, let them foolishly
butcher themselves,” Alecto hissed. “And we have the snow leopard to thank for
sharing her embodiment spell.”

“Let us not forget that fool Kiagehul, who opened the
door and thought that he could negotiate with the likes of us.”

Alecto nodded. “But what of the Chen girl?”

“She is of little consequence, a mere pawn to make the
Vampires attack and to raise the ire of the Fae. Focusing on the girl also
brought in the wolves as allies, increasing the Fae garrisons from far and wide
so that the Vampires would use ultimate force against them. It is a beautiful
plan. When it is all over, the death toll of the Fae will be counted as their
sacrifice
to us for late payment on a debt owed and we will inhabit the fallen.”

The two sisters erupted into foul screeching laughter
as they dug their claws into Tisiphone to continue to hold her down.

“Megaera, how long until the army of darkness is
built?” Tisiphone rasped.

“We are one war away from having enough bodies for all
our sisters, and then we shall gather the soulless fallen and be free to roam
the earth as we so desire. All of the combatants are poised for confrontation
by the next sunset. No longer will we be trapped in the pit waiting to do the
bidding of those who summon us for a specific task. No.   my sisters.
We shall inhabit the bodies of dead Seelie and Unseelie Fae alike, and Vampires
will do our killing for us. If no blood be on our hands and a question of
pending debt to us be in the Vampires’ intention while they are on the killing
field, then we will accept those deaths as payment and the spell comes to life.  
and so will Lady Jung Suk.”