CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
What was I going to do? I was thousands of miles from home, in a country that didn’t speak English, with no idea where I was, no money, no friends. Sure, I could pack up and do a grand exit, but I opened my door and the demon on guard looked at me quizzically.
“Do you need something?”
“No, no thank you,” I pulled the door closed. It wouldn’t be much of a grand exit if I couldn’t get beyond my bedroom door. Running home wasn’t an option. I didn’t think having Jean-Louis was an option either, so I settled for huddling in the chair wrapped in a blanket. Too bad I was too old for my old stuffed elephant.
The fire was dying and the logs sighed as they settled into ashes. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind when I heard a soft rustling. Where was the sound coming from? It got louder, with no direction. It was like birds. A bunch of birds. A flock of birds flying around and around. No birdsong, just the rustling, rustling wings, around and around. Getting louder, getting faster. Was it coming from the windows, from the chimney? Were the birds in the room?
A pattering noise, like the beginning of a spring rain. No, it was bird’s feet, knocking against the windows and pattering across the sill. I tried to put my hands over my ears but my arms wouldn’t obey. When I lifted my right arm, it flailed around, waving circles in the air until I bolted awake. There was a tapping sound at the door and I ran for it, jerking it open and barreling into Pen, who was standing in the hall with the demon guard.
“We must have waked you,” she had a faint smile.
“I didn’t realize that I fell asleep,” I frowned. “I was having an awful dream. I dreamt there was a flock of birds flying around the room.”
The guard started. He tore into my room and raced for the window, speaking rapid Hungarian into his communicator. He ripped back the curtains and suddenly the outside was lit up like noon, I heard running feet and lots of what sounded like orders. Then just as suddenly, the light went out.
Pen had stayed in the hall and when the demon came back they had a rushed conversation in Hungarian before he turned to me.
“I’m sorry ma’am, the Huszars sent a scouting party over to look for any chinks in our security. They managed to fly in over the roofs and evade the movement sensors. You must have heard them probing the windows.”
“May I come in? I think the furor is over for tonight.” Pen walked through the door. “Carola told me that you had some questions.”
This was the first time I’d been alone and up close with Pen and her beauty was astounding. Her skin was almost translucent and where most of the others glimmered, she glowed. She had dark eyes and sleek dark hair worn in a chignon, accented with a diamond clip. She had changed after dinner and was now in a filmy white number designed in the Empire style. She could have sat for a David portrait. When she realized I was gaping she nodded. “Yes, I did sit for Jacques-Louis David. My portrait isn’t like Madame Recamier’s and it’s not in a museum. Stefan still has it. He indulges me. I’ve been painted by several people, even Matisse. All the sittings have been private and the artists were so well-paid that they never spoke of it.”
She was casually talking about artists I had only seen briefly in exhibitions. I finally got my jaw off the floor and working.
“I do have questions. I’m not even sure what I want to know, though.” We took chairs in front of the fire, now stoked by the guard. “I get so confused when I have these dreams.”
“These dreams are just letting you share our realities,” Pen grew serious. “As you’re not one of us, you can’t experience the substance of our lives, but the dreams will allow you to feel some of our world. This will make it easier to work with us—and for us to work with you.”
God, if their world was all loud noises, swirling mists, slavering animals, confusion and fear, I didn’t want to be part of it. Everything comes at a cost though, and maybe this was the cost I’d have to pay for private jets, castles, Parisian shopping trips. And for being near Jean-Louis.
“Yes, Jean-Louis.” Pen hummed. Damn, I didn’t know that these vampires were mind-readers.
My face must have shown astonishment because Pen smiled coolly. “We can’t really read minds, you know, we just have an ability to pick up body language and are good at reading faces. I don’t think you regulars have any idea how much you broadcast thoughts and emotions non-verbally.
“Now, Jean-Louis. Carola said she told you that we think he’s interested in you and we’re concerned about that.”
I took a deep breath. “She did tell me that. And she said that the Huszars could use me as bait, which makes Jean-Louis vulnerable.”
Pen’s eyes grew even darker. “It is worrisome. Any time one of us is threatened, all of us feel it. We may be in different bodies, but we’re of the same blood. If Jean-Louis is threatened, it’s deeper. Stefan set up the family carefully and picked Jean-Louis as his second leader. We watched other families, and particularly the Huszars, fall apart and have destructive wars for years over succession and power.
“Stefan wants to avoid all of that, so we have a structure, but we also have an open governance. Any one who has a complaint can request a hearing before the Council. It’s kept us functioning without much friction for years. If a family doesn’t have a way for dissidents to air grievances, or for individuals to salve slights, they fester. Someone’s hurt feelings can become backbiting and rumors lead to factions and war.”
I saw that vampires may have been different from us regulars, but underneath they had the same ambitions and hunger for power. I was willing to bet that their skirmishes and wars were a whole lot more dangerous, though. They could wipe a whole clan out. Were their pacts and treaties and alliances as intricate and byzantine as ours? Probably more so. They would bring in demons and shape shifters and beasts as participants.
“I’m beginning to see how I could make Jean-Louis and the Kandeskys vulnerable. I’m really just a pawn, or more like chum, but I’m certainly stirring things up. Should I think about doing something?”
The vampire’s great eyes turned on me. I felt she could see beyond my soul, an eerie sensation. I knew she wouldn’t attack me, but would she send me on a journey or a quest that would separate me from the family—from Jean-Louis—forever?
“It would probably be best if you went back to Los Angeles,” she snapped and my blood ran cold. I knew it. I was being sent away, not to keep me safe but to keep Jean-Louis and the family safe. A giant void was opening and I was the one being sacrificed to keep the world spinning upright. Tears flooded my eyes and ran down my face; I stammered “If you think that’s best...”
“You great ninny,” Pen’s mouth curled in a smile. Was she tasting triumph at getting rid of me?
“You mean I’m not fired?”
“No, you’re not fired. I don’t even have the power to fire you, only Stefan can do that, now. I think you need to be away from here to give Stefan and Jean-Louis time to come up with some strategy to neutralize this, this....oh what should I call it? Contretemps?”
“Contretemps? It feels like a lot more to me.” I shuddered.
Pen rustled in her chair, sounding like the earlier wings. “This has been a constant undercurrent for years,” she sighed. “It escalated when the current Huszar leader, Matthias, usurped Felix. Stefan and Felix had a, I suppose you could call it a non-aggression pact, which defined both the territories and types of hunting each family could do. When the Nazis invaded, Matthias saw a chance to break out of the stifling terms. He enticed a group of younger vampires into aligning with the Nazi SS and they began hunting Jews, Communists, Gypsies and peasants.”
Pen was living in the time, not so long past in her history, as she told the tale of seventy years ago. The Nazis were after the Jews, Communists and Gypsies, the Huszars were primarily after the peasants, but didn’t pass up the blood feast after the Nazi killings. When Felix realized what was happening, he tried to stop it but Matthias’ followers, including packs of werewolves, were too far into bloodlust to slow down. They turned on Felix one dawn at the edge of the forest and killed him. When they came back at nightfall, he was gone. Matthias was acclaimed leader as he consistently found fresh food.
“It’s been difficult.” Pen shook herself back to the present. “Stefan and Jean-Louis have tried and tried to sit down with Matthias and work out some kind of an agreement, but he’s just too rash and too vicious. He has the whole Huszar clan under his thumb—ironically with tactics he also picked up from the Nazis. They’re making plans now to turn some of the Huszars against Matthias and instigate a coup.”
This was getting more and more intricate. “Is that why the Baron and Jean-Louis were whispering together before dinner?”
“You are so contemporary American!” Pen just shook her head. “They were discussing a meeting they were going to this evening. Whispering together! You’re a naïf, my dear. I’m not sure if I can fathom why Jean-Louis is interested in you, but he seems to be and so it’s up to us to watch you.”
“Then why are you sending me away?” This history was giving me insights into the family but I was on a single track tonight. I heard from Carola and now from Pen that Jean-Louis was “interested” in me. If that was the case, why was he allowing me to get sent home like a misbehaving child?
“If you’re not here, we hope Jean-Louis will focus his attention on attracting young Huszars into the coup. And the second things is that we need you to go back to work. Part of the usurpation plan is to set up a new edition of SNAP somewhere in Middle Europe, spin it off as a subsidiary, and let the Huszars run it. It won’t be as lucrative but will give them a slight entree into what they see as a world of glamour.
“We need you in LA to help us set this up. You’ll have to find and hire regulars for production staff positions. Jean-Louis will pull together a team of vampires to train the Huszars in management—and get them to stop indiscriminate attacks. It takes a while to wean off of fresh blood to our diet.”
Pen looked at me. “I want you to know that I did not endorse this plan. I was overruled by Stefan and Jean-Louis. There’s been animosity between us and the Huszars for years and years. Stefan thinks that keeping them close...bringing them into our circle...will bridge some of the differences and cut down on the jealousy. And Jean-Louis thinks that by putting you in charge of getting this new SNAP product off the ground, you’ll be bound closer to us and we’ll be more likely to accept you.”
Now I wasn’t just prey to the Huszars, I was going to be their teacher. This was insane. How could I give in to this idiotic scheme? I closed my eyes and an image of Jean-Louis popped up. He was leaning over me before dinner, whispering how good I looked. His fine, dark hair was feathered over his ears, his face looked sculpted from marble and his dark eyes were flicking around the room.
My heart plummeted into my stomach. God, this man was stunning. Then his eyes met mine and, as he smiled at me, his glimmer increased until he was lit from within by gold. Of course I’d be part of his plan. Anything to stay close to him.
I shrugged and glanced at Pen who had a knowing smile. “I guess you know my answer is yes,” I sighed. “When do I leave?”
None of the Kandeskys ever knew exactly what happened to Felix Huszar.
Well, they knew he’d been shot at the edge of the forest. And the silver bullet looked like the same ammunition used by the Kandesky demons. A couple of them found the body and reported to Stefan, but by nightfall, when the Kandeskys went to investigate, the body was gone.
The Huszars tried to mount a campaign about the killing but the Kandeskys disavowed any involvement and Matthais wrested the leadership role of the Huszars away from Felix’ second in command.
Now that he held the power, and consolidated it by blaming the Kandeskys, or their demons, for Felix’ death, Matthais began reign of violence. Huszar vampires roamed out across the middle of Europe, hunting, always hunting, and covering their tracks. Their werewolves and feral pigs had constant and unlimited access to all of the land in the Neutrality. A Kandesky caught there was killed and his or her body deposited at the edge of their land.
Matthais took revenge for years of imagined slights by both vampire families. He hadn’t yet declared open warfare when the rest of the world did it for him. When Hitler swallowed up Czechoslovakia, Austria and then Poland, Matthais sat up and took notice. Here was something he could use for more control. He enlisted dozens of the Huszars for hunting parties that trailed behind the German army as they overran miles of land. Now they didn’t have to cover their tracks by making their kills looks like accidents or murders. There were bodies everywhere; nobody knew or cared how they died. With a secured food supply, Matthais’ power seemed unlimited.
The Kandeskys still held out and, by the end of the regulars’ war, felt comfortable enough to go into the old Neutrality lands. They even felt comfortable enough that they sent a diplomatic envoy to Matthais.
Simon, Bela and Jean-Louis, along with four armed demons, headed out across what had been the Neutrality.
“I don’t like this,” said Sandor, who headed up the demon squad. “I’m sensing something.”
“Huszars, their werewolves, the feral pigs, have had the run of this land for years,” Jean-Louis kept his vice calm. “I imagine you’re sensing a lot of presences.”
Simon spoke up. “Even a few years ago, before Matthais took over, they claimed a possible poacher was using this land. That was when Belon and I were caught in the illegal rigged net. Strangely, they may have been right. We just never believed them enough to investigate.”
“I don’t think it’s a poacher,” Sandor closed his eyes and turned his head toward the sky, sensing. “It’s malevolent, cold and evil. And it knows we’re here.”
“That’s no surprise, we sent word to Matthais that we were coming,” Jean-Louis began. He was interrupted by werewolves, a pack of them charging from the brush with wild bays and snarls. Three Huszar vampires, fangs shining in the moonlight and hissing with hatred, followed them.
Sandor and the demons fired off warning shots, which didn’t slow the charge, then took aim and killed one of the Huszar vampires. That slowed the other two just long enough for the Kandeskys to arm themselves. They whipped out silver knives and went after the wolves, who were circling and snarling, their eyes shining red.
“I’m hit,” one of the demons shouted as a wolf ripped a gaping wound in his arm. His compatriot grabbed the wolf by the throat and threw it against a tree, where it sank down, taking on its human shape. Sandor whirled around and loosed four more shots, hitting one wolf and another vampire. This seemed to slow the attack. The remaining Huszar vampire and three wolves, now shape shifting into strong, heavy men, circled off and stood, watching.
“We came as a diplomatic mission,” Jean-Louis shouted. “We were looking to work out a pact again and bring back the Neutrality.”
“Not a chance,” the Huszar vampire sneered. “Matthais hates you. He won’t be satisfied until you’re under his power or dead.”