Sleight of Hand (5 page)

I had just gotten back to the main trail when the watcher attacked.

The scrub gave him enough cover for me to get close without being able to see him and he came out at me like a cat after a bird. Unfortunately for his plan, the day had wound me up like a spring, and I was good at this.

He came in too high, going for the head. Working on instinct honed in long hours of practice, I ducked and twisted, using his momentum to throw him past me while I rolled on the trail. We came up together. He was dressed in running gear like the other park users, but his outfit was dark and had been difficult to see when he hid. Smart man. He wasn’t much taller than me, more heavily built, but wiry rather than bulky. In an out and out strength contest, I knew he would beat me. I also knew he was fast, but I had learned my fighting in a very hard school.

He closed quickly, not bothering with feints, putting all his effort into getting a quick result. Too predictable. His punches went wide or were turned aside by my blocks. My single reply hit him mid-stomach and knocked him back hard enough to take out most men.

He shook it off as if it were nothing and lowered his head like a bull to come in again. This was going to get rough. This time his approach suddenly changed and instead of swinging at me, his weaker left jabbed out and took me on the chin. I had it covered and went with it to take the sting out, but I couldn’t take the sting out of my own evaluation of myself. I had gotten overconfident; because he came in one way, he wouldn’t come in any other way. He shouldn’t have been able to land a touch on me. I was furious with myself and I was going to take it out on him.

A girl jogged around the bend about fifty yards from us.

His arm twisted, the elbow lifting as his fist relaxed. We smacked hands overhead, trail dust puffing out in a cloud.

“Shit! David, you can’t do that to me!” I yelled at him, sticking my hands on my hips.

We stood laughing as the jogger gave us a wide berth and the type of look you give crazies who have been rolling in the dirt.

“Goddamn it, Amber, you’re still too quick. I gotta get some advantage.”

“Have you been stalking me?”

He grinned. “Nah. Parked and recognized your car. Hood was still warm and I guessed you’d do the run round the lake.”

That concerned me. If he could predict where I’d be, then so could someone else. David must have seen something of that thought on my face. “Problem?” he asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe. I’ve had a feeling someone’s been watching me this afternoon.” I squinted, looking up the trail and rubbing the back of my neck. “Walk and talk, or you really want to run?”

“I’m good to talk,” he said easily and we fell into step. He opened his mouth as if he were going to say something more, but closed it again. He glanced up and down the trail.

“Who managed to bruise you?” he asked. That wasn’t what he had started to say. I’d have to find out what that was about.

“Mack truck,” I replied. He snorted.

I had met David three months previously, and he’d turned my world on its head. Not in any romantic way, though he was easy enough on the eye.

Two years ago, when I’d come around from my attack, I’d been in restraints, in an isolation cell. I still had nightmares about that. The army finally and reluctantly let me go, with conditions. Everything about my entire time in Ops 4-10 and especially what had happened to me at the end was secret—national security, special access program level secret. I had to cut off all contact with my old unit. I had to submit to regular checks on my progress. If they suspected I was becoming a danger to the public, or heaven forbid, I infected someone, I would be back in the isolation cell. Meanwhile, I was to ‘seek ways to communicate with or infiltrate any community associated with the type of attack suffered.’ They still couldn’t bring themselves to write ‘vampire.’

My one tool for my task was the knowledge that I had smelled and sensed the vampires that had stalked and killed my unit in the jungle. It was difficult to describe, but I had been certain that I would know if I were close to a vampire again. I had been right.

David was, in his words, an Aspirant, a person in the process of becoming a vampire. He smelled maybe halfway vampire. He’d become my friend. I was spying on him. It chewed my gut and I still hadn’t spoken to the colonel about him in my regular meetings. That shocked me—how much I had changed in the past two years. The ingrained military obedience wasn’t working any longer.

“So, how’s it going?” I opened neutrally.

“It’s good. Really good now.” He filled his lungs and let the air sigh out contentedly. “I haven’t told you before, but since I started sparring with you and taking your advice on training, I’ve moved up three grades. Three months, three grades.”

“Fantastic!” I thought back on his description of what he was going through as an Aspirant and my heart skipped a beat. “Hold on, that means—”

“Yeah. It means I’m ready.” He was looking ahead, smiling into the distance at nothing. Or at something I couldn’t see. My heart went out to him. I hoped it was good, whatever it was he was looking towards. I hoped it was worth the effort he had put in, whatever sacrifice he would have to make. Above all, I hoped it was the right thing for him. But at the same time I knew, however much my view of vampires had changed since my attack, I couldn’t believe it was the right thing for me.

As if he had heard my thoughts, his mood changed and he grabbed my arm.

“Amber, please,
please
change your mind. At least come talk to them.”

“No.” I took his hand from my arm as gently as I could. We’d had this conversation before. “I don’t think I can just talk to them. And I’m not going to become a vampire. End of story.” I walked on and he had to follow.

“From what they tell us, you may not have the choice. You’ve been bitten and you’re already on the path. They say that if you change out in the community without support you’ll go insane. You could die, Amber.”

I sighed. “Listen, you were first bitten about the time we met, three months ago?” He nodded. “And they’ve told you it takes three bites to convert you?” He nodded again, his eyes losing a bit of focus. Whatever went on with the biting was having a profound effect on him.

“And the last one is due now you’ve passed your Aspirant training?” My heart skipped a beat again at that thought. One more bite and something dramatic might happen to my friend. “Tell me, what happens if an Aspirant doesn’t pass training? Or decides not to go on? Do those people go mad and die?”

“No. I don’t think so,” he said reluctantly.

“It wears off. The body recovers.” I wasn’t pressing the point just for his sake. This was important to me. There was a flutter of worry in my stomach that I was just whistling in the dark.

“I don’t think that applies to you.” He threw up his hands in frustration. “I can’t ask all the questions I need to. We agreed to keep all this secret between us, so it’s difficult to make up a reason for asking. And even if I did get an answer, I’m not supposed to talk to anyone other than an Aspirant about it. If only you would come talk to them yourself.”

I waited him out. Finally, he went on. “Our training is carefully managed. I get the idea that it’s a very dangerous process otherwise. From what I can piece together, someone bitten out in the wild, by a powerful vampire, can get the full dose in one bite and is really at risk.”

He was fishing. I had told him the bare minimum, but David was one smart guy and he had filled in some blanks.

I held my hand up to stop him. “Back to my point. You were first bitten three months ago. I was bitten over two years ago. I’m stable, David. It’s not happening, okay?” A cold wind found me, touched my cheek and chilled the sweat from my run. I shivered. “But anyway, you watch my back, I’ll watch yours. Whatever happens. Deal?” I held out my hand.

He took my hand and shook without hesitation. “Of course. But I’ve got them watching my back. You’ve just got me.” I didn’t challenge him on that. I didn’t want to explain I had the US military watching my back. And looking over my shoulder.

We had reached the parking lot where several more cars had appeared and an enterprising food van had set up. Selling ice cream. Not fair.

I opened my mouth to speak, and he was already snickering. “Yeah, I know. Big, bad ninja lady wants an ice cream with a piece of chocolate in it. I got it.”

That saved me fishing for money in my bag with the barrel of the Heckler Koch poking out, so I let him live, this time.

We stood leaning against my car to eat the ice cream. It wasn’t Lario’s dessert, but it was going to have to do today. David ate quietly, his eyes going back and forth.

“Look, David,” I said as we finished up. “I need to say some stuff, because I’m worried about you. Promise you won’t get upset.”

“Shoot,” he said, looking sideways at me.

We stopped talking as a couple with kids passed within earshot. We edged together and lowered our voices slightly.

“From the outside, you understand, only from what you’ve told me, I can’t tell the difference between this vampire community you describe and a cult scam.” He stirred a bit, but didn’t say anything. “I’m talking specifically about the ‘us and them’ feeling that they’re creating in your head.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Okay. You’re sure it’s not like that, and you’re a smart guy and you’re on the inside, but I can’t tell from the outside. From where I stand, it looks as if Aspirants are isolated from their old friends before they get to pass the grades. But let’s park that for the moment.” I took a deep breath and stopped hedging. “You’ve been pretty secretive, but I’ve picked up that you think there are a few dozen vampires in Denver. Right?”

I waited till he nodded before I went on. “I don’t know how many Aspirants there are, but I’m guessing maybe twenty? With about three or four at your level, about to become vampires?”

He grunted and looked away. I knew I was close enough, so I pressed on. “And this is not a special year with a bumper crop of Aspirants? And this has been going on for a while?” He twitched; I had him now. He knew where I was going. I stopped and waited for him.

“Yeah,” he sighed eventually. “Where are all the vampires going?”

“I think we’d know if vampires were being staked out in the community,” I said. “So that leaves one of three things, to my thinking. One—vampires don’t live for as long as they claim. Two—something’s killing vampires outside of the human community. Three—and here I’m getting really worried for you—moving from Aspirant to vampire goes wrong more often than they let on. That may be one reason why they isolate Aspirants from other people.”

“Or four—they move away,” he said. Good. I might have upset him, but he was still thinking.

“Okay, four,” I conceded. “But the description of the vampire community that I’ve pieced together from you suggests that’s not the way. Why are they not explaining these things to you?”

Forget finding out for the army, I wanted to know for myself. It was frustrating. We had to keep our friendship secret—he wasn’t supposed to talk to anyone. I was trying to watch the Denver vampires without them realizing. But this way, we’d lost the best chance of finding things out.

Most of my background knowledge on vampires, I’d put together with the colonel in preparation for being released. Vampires didn’t burn up in sunlight or cringe away from religious icons. They had communities and some way to remain hidden, even with their need for human blood. It was the details that eluded me. Important stuff, like how long can you go after you’re bitten before you turn? How can you tell you’re turning? And, is there any way to reverse it?

“You’re right,” he said. “You’re absolutely right. It’s something I think I get the answers to before the last step.” He bounced on his toes and started to warm up. I could see he wasn’t ready to talk about this yet. Maybe he was like me, and he found running a good way to mull things over. His lips curved up a touch. “I’m sure they’d answer your questions if you asked them. Listen, I gotta run.”

I’d said enough. I couldn’t live his life for him. That cold wind touched me again. “Whatever happens, David, I’m here for you as a friend.”

He stopped bouncing and looked me in the eyes. “Thanks. Look, you know, I’m really not allowed to tell you about what goes on when I meet them.” I watched him struggle with his conscience. “But I was there a little early last evening. Heard something I probably shouldn’t have; your name.”

I raised my eyebrows and my heart skipped a beat.
What the hell?

“There’s this security committee meeting—”

I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing, which was plain rude. “Vampires have committees? Oh, David, you really are doing the full sales talk on me now.”

He smiled tightly, but pushed on. “Come on, Amber, it’s serious. The security meeting handles stuff like vampires who’ve gone rogue.” A shiver ran up my spine at the word, but he didn’t notice. He ran fingers through his curly black hair. “I didn’t hear anything to suggest that you were regarded as a rogue, just a concern. I shouldn’t be telling you any of this, but when you said about thinking you were being watched? I’d lay odds you’re right.”

I had mixed feelings about this. A security issue could be anything. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t been expecting something, sometime, as a response from the vampire community to my poking around. There was nothing I could do about it immediately, other than stay alert and be careful.

“That’s why you’re a bit on edge today?” I asked, and he nodded. He couldn’t afford to be seen with me if I was a security issue for them. It was a remote chance, but he’d staked a lot personally on this.

“Thanks, David. I appreciate it. Next time, the ice cream’s on me,” I said. We bumped fists and he jogged off back into the park to do his full circuit, hopefully without leaping out of the bushes on any more unsuspecting females.

I never had a brother and I guess David filled the role. I felt very bad about not telling him everything that was going on. I needed him because I wanted information to understand my condition and maybe find a cure for it. I hated that I needed him to become a vampire to be of any use in that role.