The Guardian Lineage (21 page)

What a crazy, hideous, maniacal ingrate…
Mike was starting to understand why Steph spent most of her time at the Manor, even though she and Garzan weren't exactly close. Which reminded Mike to call Alexis – that was her name, right, the girl who was taking care of the Headmage – as soon as they were out of there—

Wait, where was she?

Mike scanned the room for Laura, but he didn't see her…

Of course not
.

She didn't care enough to stick around. To talk for a minute, to catch up, to see how he was doing…

Mike cleared phlegm from his mouth and spit on the floor, not caring that he was right in Cassandra's line of sight. He was disgusted with how things had turned out. He waved the Guardians towards the elevator shaft, barely able to control his frustration.

“Come on,” he said. “Let's get out of here.”

But there was one more thing he wanted to do first.

He waited for the opportune moment. Then, as Steph walked past, Mike grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear.

“This is not over.”

Steph stared at him from out of the corner of her eye. Then she ripped her arm away and stomped towards the exit.

 

 

Mike stormed out of the warehouse and stalked away from the group, heading towards the vehicles. He needed to be alone. Whether it was the embarrassment that his mission had gone awry, or his being upset that Laura had avoided him… maybe the concept that Steph could be the spy, or maybe the fact that his
freaking
life
was
in
danger
… whatever it was, his nerves were on edge. Mike walked towards the pier, hands in his pockets, staring at the sky. It was a clear night, with few clouds. He was sweating in his leather outfit, but the wind off of the Hudson River blew salty, cool air in his face, which helped with the heat. Water lapped against the wood. The sound was calming, allowing him to relax just enough to realize he had phone calls to make. Or necklace calls, as it were.

Alexis reported no improvement with the Headmage, but no decline in his health, either, which was probably the best news they could hope for. Mom didn't respond, but Mike had expected that – she had said she'd be in touch with them, not the other way around. Jakkus or Yaris didn't respond to Mike's Amp, either, which worried Mike much more than his mother's silence. He hadn't heard anything from them since they had left Blackrock Castle, and he was starting to think that if he found Jakkus and Yaris, he would find the rest of the clan. Whether that was a good thing or not, he didn't know.

The Guardians retreated to Windham Manor for the remainder of the night and a good part of the morning. Steph volunteered to take the first watch, and although Mike didn't like it, he realized he couldn't stop her from being a Guardian just because he suspected her. Even Mike realized he needed Steph around; she was one of only three healers, and the other two were busy trying to keep the Headmage alive.

He tossed and turned all night, rotating through a series of dreams that depicted his own demise. He first dreamt that Steph turned him over to Dementae – even though he didn't know what Dementae looked like – who promptly killed him. Then it was Aaron's turn to become a traitor, this time betraying the clan to Cassandra, who slit everybody's throats. Finally, and most troublesome, his mom came riding in with an army of gargoyles, obliterating the Skyfires and claiming the world as her own.

The last dream woke Mike in a cold sweat. He jerked upright in bed, screaming at the top of his lungs. This roused Aaron, who had brought his mattress into their room and slept on the floor, just to be safer. Aaron cursed Mike out with various colorful words, then went back to sleep. JB was out, still working on the tapes; otherwise Mike guessed he would've woken him, too.

But he couldn't go back to sleep. He knew he was being paranoid; his mom wasn't a traitor, that was ridiculous. But Steph… for some reason, he couldn't stop thinking about her.

If he had it right, things had gone down like this: the Skyfires, for some reason, had proposed to reopen an alliance with the Slayers. This had caused—

Wait.

That made no sense.

Garzan himself had said that contact with the Slayers would put the clan in mortal danger. Mike had experienced that firsthand – his mom had been kidnapped by Magistrate DuBois, as a response to Mike's “parlay with the Slayers.” Even Steph had feigned ignorance when they'd met up with the Slayers in Central Park…

So why had the Headmage himself tried to contact them, to form an
alliance
with them?

Mike rubbed his temples. This was starting to hurt.

Maybe this had been a secret rendezvous, something the other clans wouldn't have found out about. Maybe because of Garzan's relationship with Cassandra, he'd wanted to help them. Maybe there was a difference between a meeting in public and a meeting in private…

Shifting in his bed, Mike forced himself to move on. He didn't understand why Garzan had tried to make an alliance with the Slayers, but the Headmage definitely had done so. That much was clear. And Cassandra had accepted it, only to have her group murdered the night of the agreement. Except that the Guardians had also been ambushed, as well, which naturally caused both sides to suspect each other and created even more animosity than had been there originally.

Which brought Mike back to Steph. She was both Slayer and Guardian – she would've been able to inform the Brethren about both group's movements. Which would've led to the easy ambush.

The thing that kept nagging him was… it was just too easy. Daughter of a secret affair between the leaders of the Slayers and Guardians. Mistreated by both leaders, probably because of their embarrassment from the ordeal. Shuffled back and forth between hideouts. Trained in both Slayer tactics and Guardian magic. It was too perfect.

Besides, there was a decent possibility that he was making this all up. Mike didn't think so, but he had to admit, it was entirely possible. There could've easily been someone else running behind the Guardians' backs, someone he haven't even met... and then he would be incriminating Steph without so much as a shred of evidence… just because he
thought
she was acting weird didn't mean she actually
was
… after all, how long had he known her? A week? And how much time had they spent together, exactly?

Mike punched his pillow in frustration. The whole situation was infuriating.

He realized there was only one thing he could do to make himself calm down again. He threw off his bed sheets and headed for the door.

Steph
? Mike thought as he touched his Amp. He knew he wouldn't be waking her – she was on duty now with Annabella.

For a moment, there was no response, and Mike thought she would ignore him. Then:

Yes, Mike?

Can we talk?

Steph didn't respond.

Please? I just need to—

Greeting Hall, five minutes.

Mike sighed with relief. He went to get socks and shoes, then looked for his running shorts.

***

“Hey,” Mike said as Steph hit the bottom of the girls' stairwell. She was dressed casual, in jeans and a white tank-top. Mike smiled to himself. Even at a time like this, she could look totally chilled. And pretty beautiful.

“What's up, Mike.” Steph said it as a statement. Her hands were jabbed into her pockets, and her hair hung loosely around her shoulders.

“Listen, I've been a bit… nuts lately.” Mike stared at the floor, searching for the right words. “I've become a bit paranoid about Garzan's spy theory, and, well, I just wanted to...” A dry spell hit Mike's throat, and he coughed.

“And you thought it was me.” Steph stared at him.

Mike met her gaze for a moment. She was piercing, angry… insulted. Then he glanced away.

“Yeah, I guess.”

Steph stood there for a long time. Then she smirked, ever so slightly. “Funny, I thought it was you.”

Mike looked up. “What?”

“Come on, Mike. You're descended from Rafael. You were the target of the vampire kidnap attempt, which resulted in our leaving Windham and Toad getting killed. Then you led us straight to the Slayers, where we were ambushed by a million vampires. So who's been shadier these days, me or you?”

“But that's ridicu—”Mike stopped himself. It wasn't all that ridiculous, actually. From an educated bystander, it was actually pretty logical.

“Does anyone else think like you?”

Steph nudged a pebble with the toe of her sneaker. “I don't know. But I can't imagine why it wouldn't cross their minds. Unless I'm way off here. I mean, I know my dad said you weren't the spy, but he ended up in a coma.”

Mike didn't have a chance to respond, because he heard a voice in his head.

Mike?

It was Julius Brutus's.

Mike fumbled for the Amp that lay on his chest, then touched it with a finger.

Yeah, JB?

Uh… about the video…

There was a long pause.

There's something I think you should see.

 

 

Mike loathed to leave his conversation unfinished, but JB sounded pretty desperate, and Steph agreed to wait for him in the Greeting Hall. He invited her, but she made some excuse about not wanting to be bothered with that stuff.

As he turned into the stairwell, Mike saw Zachariah and Annabella heading in that direction, as well. That got him nervous.

“You got JB's message, too?” he said warily.

“Yeah,” Zachariah said, yawning. He'd probably been staying up with Annabella during her watch.

“You know what this is about?” Annabella asked.

Mike shook his head. “Not at all.”

The surveillance room was in the basement, next to the Sparring arena. The place looked like a hacker's haven. Which it very well might have been, if Julius Brutus had enough time to work. JB sat in front of three computer screens. There were a bunch of computer towers set up around the room, each with a security camera plugged into them. Mike noticed the empty soda bottles and bags of potato chips.

Julius Brutus nibbled on his fingernails. “Um, here's the deal, kids.” Mike thought it was funny that JB was referring to them as
kids
– as if he himself wasn't one – but let him continue. “When I went through the video the first time, I found a charm that was placed on the cameras. Simple, nothing elaborate, but a charm nonetheless.”

Zachariah said, “Which means somebody altered them?”

“Precisely,” Julius Brutus said, pushing his glasses further up his nose. “After I disabled the charm – pretty easy, actually – I found, um, well…”

Julius Brutus stopped and sputtered, as if he were a car engine that just wouldn't start.

“What is it, JB?” Mike said.

Julius Brutus swallowed. “Um, why don't you look for yourself?”

He hit a button on one of the computers, and the screen came to life. “Here's the original video.” The screen showed a mob of angry vampires swarming into the Greeting Hall like ants fleeing an anthill, along with several black-robed magicians firing spells everywhere. A few Guardians ran into the room, only to fall to the massive invading army.

“And here,” Julius Brutus said nervously, looking directly at Mike, “Is the uncharmed version.”

The swarm entered the room again, an exact mirror image of the first clip. But there was someone leading the way. Someone barking orders and pointing in different directions. As JB zoomed the camera in, Mike gasped. The face was unmistakable.

It was his mom.

 

 

Mike just stared at the screen, unwilling to believe. He felt his stomach drop and his head ache, as if he was on Stuntmans Freefall in Six Flags. It couldn't be… his own mother, leading the Black Brethren, allied to Dementae…

Zachariah swore, his gaze fixed on the screen. Then he turned to Mike and flipped open his lighter. “You'd better get to explaining how you're not involved in this, Prior. And talk fast. Or I'm gonna fry your unloyal ass faster than a vampire at sunrise.”

But Mike didn't say anything. It was like his mouth was tied shut. His mom… his
mom!
There had to be some mistake. Maybe she was really trying to fend off the vampires? No, the video was clear. Maybe someone had tampered with the video, to show that… but how would they be certain Julius Brutus would break the charm on it? Maybe she had been taken captive, and mind-controlled… that was the only explanation for it…

Or maybe Mike's lineage really was corrupted.

“Put that away, Zachariah.” Annabella stepped in between them. “You're gonna cause a fire or something.”

“Well maybe that's exactly what I want to do,” Zachariah snarled.

“There has to be a mistake,” Mike mumbled. “There has to be a mistake…”

“Prove it, Prior!” Zachariah stepped closer.

Mike didn't even throw up a shield. As if getting killed now could even hurt him. He was already destroyed inside. His mother, his freaking
mother
…

“Zachariah, stop it, will you,” Annabella said, grabbing the lighter out of his hand.

“Hey!” Zachariah made to get it back, but Annabella pushed him away.

“Look at his face, Zachy. Look at him!”

Mike saw Zachariah turn to look at him out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't care. He was glued to the screen, as if searching for something to prove it wasn't true. His eyes were wet, the tears stinging his cheeks. Unless Zachariah and Annabella could bring his mother back, or they could demonstrate this was all a sick joke, there was nothing they could do for him. Zachariah could fry him for all he cared. It probably would feel better than this.

He saw Annabella throw an arm out in his direction. Mike flinched, but she wasn't trying to attack him.

“Does that look like a guy who's about to turn us over to Dementae? Or a kid who's just found out his clan is either dead or kidnapped and his mother's probably the one who turned them in?”

Mike felt like he was going to throw up. No, it couldn't be… he had seen his mother's reaction to everything… she was heartbroken, destroyed…Mike fingered his Amp. He could just call and ask her… Yeah, right. Like the answer would be, “Actually, I
am
a Brethren spy. Care to join me?”

“Maybe you're right,” Zachariah allowed. For a long moment, there was nothing but silence. Then Mike felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Zachariah in his face, but not in a challenging way.

“Listen, man. You okay?”

At first Mike didn't understand. His whole body had cringed the moment he felt Zachariah put a hand on him, expecting some sort of attack. But the honesty in Zachariah's voice caught him off guard.

“No… no, I'm not. But…” Mike wiped a tear. “Thanks.”

Zachariah nodded. “Maybe it's time to stop this ‘who's the spy' talk and start thinking about how we can stop this Dementae guy.”

Annabella said, “Do we even know what he's trying to do?”

Julius Brutus fiddled with a few buttons, bringing up another screen. “Well, the Brethren took some stuff from the basement. Maybe we can figure out from there.”

“The Sparring Room?” Zachariah said, sticking his nose in closer to the screen. “What could they steal from there?”

Julius Brutus shook his head. “Not that basement.
The
basement,
underneath
the Sparring Room.”

The video switched again, and the screen showed a room Mike had never seen before. Rows of glass armoires lined the walls. There were purple lights that illuminated the room. Mike had no idea what those were for, until the camera switched to the far end of the room. There Mike saw what looked like a small nest made out of stone, and what appeared to be broken egg shells lining the bottom.

“What the…” Zachariah breathed. “Gargoyle eggs?”

“Not anymore,” Julius Brutus said. He punched a few keys, and the video showed the vampires smashing the eggs with fists and hammers. They also ransacked the furniture and took some items for themselves. For what, Mike had no idea.

“What's in those closets, anyway?” Zachariah asked.

Julius Brutus zoomed in on one of them, but the picture wasn't clear, and shards of glass obscured any objects that had remained. “It's hard to tell. Probably items of magical value.”

“What would they want with that stuff?” Mike asked, his voice breaking slightly. He struggled to keep his emotions in check. Analyzing the videos was helping, but he still couldn't keep his mind off—

All of a sudden, Mike's thoughts were jarred by the frantic screeching of the building alarm. Red flashing lights went off in the video room. Julius Brutus's fingers flew over the keyboard, and instantly the surveillance cameras came up. To Mike's horror, the lawn was crawling with vampires.

“To the garage!” Mike yelled. The Guardians stumbled out of the surveillance area and ran into the Sparring room. But as soon as they entered, a horde of vampires burst through the door on the other side.

Julius Brutus screeched. Zachariah responded more practically, throwing up a wall of flames. Mike grabbed electricity and threw it recklessly into the horde, then he thrust Zachariah's flames forward. The vampires stepped back, but did not retreat.

“Come on, this way!” Mike led the Guardians back out the way they came. He rushed past the video room and into an ancillary stairwell.

“How high should we go?” Zachariah called from behind.

“Garage is in the eastern wing, main floor!” Annabella yelled down.

Mike reached into his shirt as he flew around the stair corner.

Everybody, get up! Now now, go go go! Meet us in the parking garage, there are vampires everywhere!

They had climbed one floor when Mike heard Alexis's response.

I can't leave the Headmage!

Mike said in his head,
You can automate your spells, right?

Two floors. Now the vampires were starting to pour through the basement door. The stairwell filled a rotting odor, causing Mike to wrinkle his nose.

“Get off the railing!” Mike put out the lights from overhead and sent the electricity running through the metal handbar. Screams filled the air, and the stench of burning flesh wrecked Mike's senses.

Yeah, I can, but…

Then do it, Alexis! Throw a locking spell on the door and leave Garzan inside. You can't help him if you're dead!

That seemed to convince her, because she didn't respond. Either that, or she had been discovered. Although, Mike would've heard her scream …

Finally Mike reached the floor and flung the door open. He waited for the Guardians to file in, then slammed the door shut.

“Annabella!” he called, and she understood. She pulled out a water bottle from her pants pocket and iced down the hinges.

The Guardians ran down an office-building-type corridor. After a quick left, they found themselves in the Dining Hall.

Suddenly, Steph, Aaron, and Kiva ran in from another entrance.

“Let's get out of here!” Steph yelled as she approached the group.

“Where's Caroline and Alexis?” Aaron yelled.

“They're with the Headmage, they'll meet us,” Mike called back.
Hopefully
, he didn't have to add.

“Which way?” Zachariah called, his arms raised.

There were six doorways, each leading a different direction. Mike knew choosing the wrong door meant losing precious seconds. As if on cue, vampires began charging through the glass doors that led from the Greeting Hall, their rancid smell filling the room.

This was starting to feel like a bad video game.

“Which one leads to the garage?” Mike yelled.

“I have no idea!” Aaron and Zachariah called back simultaneously.

Mike chose the closest one and ran towards it. He threw it open and held it there for everyone to run through.

Zachariah lingered for a moment, making sure he was the one bringing up the rear. He fired volley after volley, keeping the vampires away from the door area and not allowing them to extend their reach. Then Mike saw something slam into Zachariah's shoulder. Zachariah fell backwards. The flames stopped, and the vampires started approaching.

“Zachariah!” Mike ran towards his fallen comrade, thrusting telekinesis in every direction. Some vampires fell away, but then more came crashing through, like sharks in a feeding frenzy. Zachariah was lying on the ground, stunned. A dagger was lodged in his shoulder. Mike grabbed the handle and pulled it out. Zachariah screamed as the blade exited his tissue.

“Come on, you'll whine about it later,” Mike grumbled as he clasped Zachariah's other hand and pulled him to his feet.

By now Aaron and Steph had seen what happened. They ran furiously in Mike and Zachariah's direction, firing at will.

“Let's go!” Steph screamed. The four Guardians ran towards the opening. Julius Brutus was holding the exit open for them. As soon as they cleared the doorway, JB let the door slam. He muttered a few words, then flew down the hallway with his arms flailing in the air, like a soldier who'd just planted a mine.

Turned out that was exactly what JB had done. As Mike heard the door crash open behind him, he turned to see scores of vampires caught in a stasis trap. Mike didn't need to see anything else. He tore down another office-building corridor towards the parking garage. He saw Steph running next to Zachariah, a hand on his shoulder, her mouth moving silently.

Amadeus, Nukes, we're gonna need some help as soon as we get out of here!

Nukes was the one who responded.
Get to the garage, we'll clear the road for you.

Aaron was leading the way now. The Guardians turned right, then left… the sounds of the invading army were dying down behind them—

Suddenly wood came crashing in from all over. Angry vampires filled the corridor, blocking passage on both sides.

“Get back to back!” Mike screamed as he shattered the lightbulbs from up top. He formed a shield with his right hand and fired electricity with his left. Then he grabbed one of the splintered fragments with his telekinesis and thrust it forward. A vampire burst into dust, and Mike looked for another piece of wood.

“We're not going to make it,” Zachariah said through gritted teeth, a hand on his bleeding shoulder. Steph had been separated from him in the commotion, interrupting her healing spells.

Mike felt sweat pour down his forehead. He killed one vampire with the dagger he'd removed from Zachariah's shoulder, then another… but there was always another creature to replace it…

“We're through!” Aaron called from the front. Mike fired one last volley behind him, then threw up a telekinetic force field to try and block the vampire approach. He'd only read about it, but never tried it… but the spell seemed to work. The vampires charged, only to bounce backwards off an invisible force. Mike didn't know how long it would hold, but at the moment, even a few seconds made a difference. Something stuck in his mind about the shield needing more incantations, but Mike couldn't remember them. So he did the next best thing – he turned and ran.

As soon as he entered the parking garage, Mike's breath caught. Another wave of vampires was waiting outside the wide-open garage doors. They were stationed there, unmoving, as if waiting for instructions. Mike looked behind him. His barrier was beginning to weaken. In a few moments, they would be trapped on both sides.

“We'll never make it,” Zachariah whispered, looking all around at the approaching enemies. “She'll… she'll never make it.”

“Yes we will,” Mike responded immediately, not noticing Zachariah's change in pronouns. “Where are the car keys?” Mike said as he searched the room frantically. Hadn't they been right near the door…

“Mike,” Zachariah said from behind him, “You saved my life twice this week.”

Mike twirled all around, barely paying attention to Zachariah's babbling. This was no time to freak out, and
where were the car keys?
If there were no keys, they were totally screwed…

“Yeah, and I'm trying to do it again, dude, help me find—”

“I think it's time to return the favor.”

Mike stopped dead in his tracks. He whirled around, but before he could say anything, Zachariah stepped backwards into the hallway and slammed the door shut, leaving the Guardians in the garage and Zachariah in the corridor.

With all the vampires.

“Hey, what are you doing!” Mike tugged on the rustic doorknob, but it wouldn't open. He stared at Zachariah through the square glass view hole. A locking charm?

Zachariah glanced at the vampires, who were starting to break down Mike's barrier, then back at Mike. A tear crept down his cheek. When he spoke through the muted glass, it came out almost like a whisper.

“Tell Annabella I love her.”

Mike's eyes widened.

“No, no no no!” Mike jerked on the doorknob with all of his might, but the door wouldn't budge. He tried to smash the glass with electricity, but the locking charm held fast.

“Zachariah,
Zachariah
!” By now flames engulfed the corridor, so much so that Mike couldn't see what was happening. One body hit the floor, then two… Mike couldn't see if it was Zachariah or not….

“Come on Mike, time's up!” Aaron screamed from behind.

Mike turned to see Aaron holding a car key and gesturing towards the vehicles. A group of vampires had made their way past Amadeus and Nukes and were starting to converge on the Guardians.