Blood of Angels (24 page)

Talk to Mihaela,
Maximilian commanded.

Jesus, I’m bored with humans. Can’t you let up?

No.

She projected her irritation before she broke the telepathic connection. But in fact, her curiosity was aroused. Beyond that, unease seeped through her. Something was wrong if Mihaela was seeking her help.

She rose and went down to the bar, forgetting she was wearing the loose, red dress instead of her professional and sexy black. At least she’d cut her hair. If she’d cared, the wide-eyed admiration of the bar manager would have consoled her. As it was, she walked past him to the side of the counter that remained in the shadows, just as Mihaela came through the door.

Their eyes met. It was tempting to make it difficult for her, but when it came down to it, Angyalka couldn’t be bothered. She just opened the bar hatch. “Come through,” she said and let Mihaela follow her into the dim staff area away from the sun.

Immediately more comfortable, she sat down and indicated Mihaela should do the same. The hunter was talking before her behind hit the seat, words spilling from her like water from a fountain.

“No one’s holding you.”

Angyalka curled her lip. “No one can hold me.”

“Did they try?” Mihaela asked urgently.

“Who?”

“Basilio.”

“Of course not. You’d better tell me.”

Mihaela took a deep breath. “Basilio and Jacob and two local vampires have taken István prisoner in his own apartment.”

All Angyalka’s stolen blood, including István’s from last night, rushed into her head and drained rapidly away. It made her feel sick.

“They’re forcing him to finish the device in order to find and take Elizabeth. Through her and the child, they’ll control Saloman. If they can’t, they may just kill them.”

István in their power… Never. He wouldn’t do it. They’d destroy him. Basilio would destroy him.

“Take me there,” she said stonily. “I’ll get István back for you.” She’d kill the bastards, every one.

“It’s not that simple,” Mihaela objected. “They have some kind of hold over him. We need to go in there in strength and finish them so quickly they can’t set off whatever it is that’s compelling István to work for them.”

“I’ll bring help.”

“Angyalka, I need you to do something else with that help. Protect Elizabeth.”

Angyalka stared at her. “Dmitriu will protect Elizabeth. What about István?”

“I should have hunter help by midnight.”

“You’re waiting until then?”

“Daylight would be better,” Mihaela agreed. “They’d be surprised and have nowhere to run. But it won’t work with just me, or even just me and my boss. I don’t know how wide this conspiracy is. The other American vampire, Gabby, isn’t with them, so presumably she’s up to no good somewhere else.”

“She’s young,” Angyalka said impatiently. “She’ll be useless until dark.”

“Really?” Mihaela sounded so pathetically hopeful that Angyalka’s guts twisted in fear. How could so few vampires have tied them in this impossible knot? “Can you go out in the dusk, before it’s properly dark?”

I don’t know…
“Maybe.”

“I think we need to do this as soon as we possibly can. As soon as my colleagues get here. And if you were protecting Elizabeth from as soon as the sun goes down…”

“Elizabeth will be protected,” Angyalka said grimly. She managed a fleeting smile at the hunter. “Saloman will so owe us.”

The trouble was, she didn’t care. She only wanted István safe.
If they kill him, I’ll turn him,
she thought suddenly. Then it wouldn’t matter that she was a vampire.

****

Mihaela went home to change and gather her weapons. The other hunters should be home by midnight. Their plane should be taking off now. She could depend on fellow hunters. But the one she
wanted
to depend on wasn’t here.

Konrad should be rescuing István with her.

On impulse, she tried his number again. No answer. She threw the phone back in her bag and glanced at the sky. She wished Maximilian were here in time for sundown instead of sunrise. If she died tonight… If István did, if Elizabeth did…

Would István really risk all this for one being?

In theory, no. That wasn’t the way hunters worked. In practice, there was always someone who changed your priorities, upset your careful, logical reasoning. For her it was Maximilian. And Robbie. For István, it appeared to be Angyalka. Surprising, to say the least, and yet no more unlikely than Mihaela and Maximilian. Something was certainly lifting him up since the night of the party.

Her gaze fell to the street, to Andrea’s house opposite.

Andrea. How had Andrea got mixed up in any of this? She’d gone to the art gallery, and then she’d turned up at the Angel because someone had sent her there to be with István. Why would she do that, if István’s interest was in Angyalka?

More to the point,
who
had sent her there? …

Mihaela ran downstairs and across the road. The detector clutched in her fingers was still and silent. No vampires. And possibly no Andrea. She rang the bell.

When the door opened almost at once, Mihaela gripped the stake in her pocket, but Andrea stood on the doorstep, smiling a welcome.

“Mihaela! Come in.”

“I can’t stay long,” Mihaela said quickly. “I just came to ask you something and make sure you were all right. István told me you went to the Angel.”

Andrea flushed. “Yes, well, not my finest hour. I must have been pissed or something.”

She led Mihaela into her cozy but immaculate sitting room and sat down on the sofa.

“When did you last see István?” Mihaela asked.

“At the Angel that night. He sent us home in a cab.”

Mihaela sat beside her. “Andrea, how do you even
know
about that place?”

Andrea shrugged, looking embarrassed. “He told me not to tell you.”

“István told you that?” Mihaela asked in disbelief.

“No, no, your other colleague.”

Mihaela gazed at her. “Konrad?”

“I think that was his name. Look, because of all that stuff Lara said, I followed István on impulse one day and saw him go up to the Angel. When I tried to go after him, someone stopped me. He said he worked with you and István and that some organized crime network operated from the club.”

Mihaela took out her phone and found the photo she wanted of Konrad with István and Elizabeth. It had been taken last summer in Turkey. “Is that the man?”

“Yes… So he does work with you?” Andrea sounded relieved. “I was beginning to wonder about the whole thing. I
will
go and meet him tonight.”

Mihaela felt her jaw drop. “Tonight?” she repeated stupidly.

“Well, now, really. To be honest, I was just about to leave the house when you rang. He wants me to do something for him.”

Don’t. Fucking hell, don’t.

Mihaela drew in a deep breath. How to play this? If she went with Andrea now, Konrad could easily bolt again. Besides, she really needed to be back on surveillance of István’s, ready to go in as soon as the third team arrived. What she
should
do was report this to Lazar.

“Promise me one thing, Andrea. No, promise me two.”

Amused, Andrea smiled. “All right.”

“Don’t take anything from Konrad for delivery anywhere under any circumstances. And do not go anywhere near the Angel.”

****

When he was finished, they’d kill him. He knew that.

On the other hand, he’d no intention of making it easy for them.

At least his neck no longer hurt. When he’d felt the power of Elizabeth’s healing, hope had surged. If Elizabeth knew he was in trouble, then so did the hunters. And other vampires loyal to Saloman. Maybe the vampire community would even rescue Angyalka.

And yet the day wore endlessly on and nothing happened, except he worked on his substandard magnifier and the tension among the vampires rose. It wasn’t quite dusk. He could still catapult himself out of the window. None of them would be able to follow, and he might survive, though whether or not in a useful enough state to help Angyalka or Elizabeth remained to be seen.

At least he’d managed to palm the prototype bungee reel from his toolbox earlier this afternoon, and transferred it to his pocket with the invisible penknife. It gave him a chance. And if he left it until the last possible moment, there would be no point in hurting Angyalka to compel his obedience.

“Last chance, hunter,” Basilio hissed.

István lifted his head, stretching his stiff neck. “It’s done. Test it.”

Chapter Nineteen

Konrad breathed a sigh of relief when Andrea slid into the seat opposite him in the café. He really needed to get out of Budapest before anyone realized he hadn’t already left. If he hadn’t hated unfinished business and despised failure, he would have gone days ago like his ally Rabbat. Andrea would finish that business, reverse that failure, tonight. And then he could leave the country and move on to the second phase of his plan.

“I’m glad you came,” he said warmly. “I have something I need you to do after all.”

He was about to kick his carrier bag gently over to her side of the table. Inside the carrier was a small handbag which the bouncers at the Angel wouldn’t think of checking. Unfortunately for them, since it was packed with twice as much powerful explosive as his vampire fledgling had carried in the last time.

Andrea took a piece of paper from a larger handbag and passed it across the table to him.

“What’s this?” he asked, frowning.

“Read it and see.”

Konrad read.

****

When she’d given Béla his orders, he nodded once, casually, as if she’d asked him to change a beer cask. Then he said, “And you’ll look after things here?”

Angyalka’s smile felt twisted. “Of course.”

How much of existence had she missed over the years by “looking after things here”? There was more to the world than the Angel. The travel business, the gallery, had been her first struggling acknowledgment of that, and yet they hadn’t really touched the problem, because she could still run it all from the Angel.

“I will look after things,” she said to Béla and closed him into the elevator.

She had no real choice. Unease twisted though her because Dmitriu wouldn’t answer her. She didn’t know where the wily vampire was, and if he wasn’t protecting Elizabeth…

Elizabeth had protection. It was István who needed her. Despite her words to the contrary, she’d read that in Mihaela’s face.

Angyalka walked into the bedroom, put on one of her signature black dresses and a pair of boots with sharp wooden heels. She picked up the wooden stake—the vampire barkeeper’s equivalent of a baseball bat—and dropped it into her dress pocket. For emergencies only. She had every intention of ripping out Basilio’s throat and draining him dry.

If she could just force herself to go outside.

She should walk out through the club, discreetly. It was, after all, not yet dark, although the sun had dropped below the horizon and the grey of dusk was settling over the city. Angyalka opened her bedroom window, through which Béla had delivered so many human snacks over the decades.

If she went through the club, it would weaken her. It had
becom
e her, held her back. And she needed all her strength to save István. Basilio was far stronger than she, and she’d have to fight a lot harder than she did breaking up barroom brawls. Anxiety, cold fury sat in the base of her stomach, demanding action, retribution, and yet the only way she could get past her stupid fear was to throw herself out of the window.

So she did.

And God, it felt good. It had been a hundred years since she’d taken such a massive jump, felt the wind rush through her hair, battering her body while her stomach seemed to whoosh into her throat. With it came a blast of excitement that wasn’t quite joy. It was satisfaction because she was going to kill the bastards who’d dared to lay a finger on a better being than any of them would ever be.

She landed in a crouch behind the Angel building and began to run. Since she’d become a vampire, she’d never been out this early in the evening. At least she’d aged and strengthened in some ways during her splendid isolation. So now, although she could feel the remains of the daylight tingling her skin, it didn’t burn.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

She’d need it all to fight Basilio, to face whatever had been done to István. And to walk away from him again.

****

Basilio turned the device in his hands, staring at it. “If this doesn’t work—”

“Trust me, I get it,” István muttered. He sat slumped in his chair, the “invisible” penknife in his hand. As Basilio held the device in front of him, and all three other vampires gazed expectantly at him, István hacked surreptitiously at the right leg of his chair.

Without warning, a massive bang slammed shut all the doors in the house.

Basilio laughed softly. “Nice.”

Basilio turned his gleaming gaze on István, who immediately stopped sawing. “It works. Well done.” His eyes widened, seemed to flash like an electrical discharge, and István flew across the room in his chair, crashing against the wall and tumbling onto his back. The wooden spars dug into his already aching spine. He felt like a flailing beetle stuck on its back, except he couldn’t move his legs. Unbearable pressure dragged at his ankles, threatening to snap his bones.

Oh fuck, not again…

Dazed, he realized the table had been dragged after him and now stood skewed across the living room floor, slightly off one leg. This was actually a good thing, he thought through the vampires’ awed laughter, because it meant they could see less of what he was doing.

Providing his ankles didn’t break.

Basilio’s face appeared above the table, and István realized his time was up. He wriggled, grabbing the half-cut piece of wood, ready for one almighty tug when the vampire came close enough. He’d only get one shot at Basilio. He knew that. And if he didn’t kill him, the bastard could still go after Angyalka.

But it was almost dark. Angyalka had friends—Béla, other staff who would surely help her…?

Basilio reached for him.

“Hunter,” Jacob said suddenly. “I smell hunter.”

Basilio whipped away so fast he didn’t even see the shard of wood István had ripped from the chair leg.

Mihaela
, István thought, almost closing his eyes as the wave of relief washed over him. Now they had a chance… Providing no one sent the message to kill Angyalka.

They were peering out of the windows, listening.

“How many?” Jacob demanded.

“One…” Basilio sounded uncertain. Perhaps Mihaela was using the disruptor he’d given Lazar for testing. With his powers magnified, perhaps Basilio could see through it to some extent. Interesting…

How many hunters
had
she brought with her? István tensed, waiting for the next move.

“It doesn’t matter,” Basilio said dismissively, turning back to face István. “Gabby’s bringing the others.”

Angyalka…

Something crashed through the living room window. A woman in a black dress and sexy boots. She looked like Angyalka, as if his anguished thought had conjured her up.

The vampires all spun to meet her, and for an instant, the scene looked to István like a still picture—Angyalka, fangs bared, facing all four stunned vampires.

Basilio said in fury, “You don’t go out!”

“Yes, I fucking do,” said Angyalka and leapt for his throat.

István jerked, trying to heave himself upright. His ankles screamed in outrage. Holding on to the shard of wood in his left hand, he tried to reach his ankle bonds with the knife in his right.

Someone was ahead of him. A knife sliced through his ankle bonds and moved to hack the ropes that bound his body.

István stared up at Konrad’s focused face.

Konrad’s gaze flickered to his, without the remotest smile. Konrad was suffering, reliving, repaying.

Words stuck in István’s throat. All that came out was, “I’m all right.”

And Konrad’s eyes lightened. He yanked István to his feet and shoved a stake in his hand, just as Mihaela burst through the living room door and staked the local vampire that flew at her.

Angyalka
, István remembered. Angyalka came. His gaze flew back to the confrontation by the window.

Basilio sidestepped Angyalka in a blur that clearly took the vampiress by surprise. Basilio laughed as Jacob seized her by the shoulder and spun her around. Fangs bared, he lunged for her throat. Angyalka plunged her stake into his back, and he exploded into dust.

As she flew at Basilio once more, István leapt forward to contain him. In a sweeping blur, Basilio disappeared, shooting out of the window. For an instant, Angyalka and István stood facing each other in perfect stillness.

There was blood on her lips. Her eyes spat cold, alien fury. And no one had ever been so beautiful. He tried to tell her, but as his lips parted, Mihaela yelled, “Lazar!” And bolted to the window after Basilio.

István snapped his brain back to what mattered. “Who do we have out there?”

“Just Lazar,” Mihaela answered. “He’d have come in with me, but when I saw Angyalka on the roof, I knew I’d have help.”

As Mihaela’s gaze flickered to her, Angyalka inclined her head, half wary, half mocking.

“Elizabeth?” Mihaela asked.

“Safe,” Angyalka said. She lifted her head. “But there are more vampires coming here. Gabby and two of ours. They’re weak. Basilio has gone to them, I think.”

“We need to get to Elizabeth,” István urged. “And they’re not all that weak. They have a device that’ll store and magnify all their energy.”

“By much?” Mihaela demanded, visibly relaxing as Lazar strode into the room.

“No,” István confessed. Reaching across the table, he fished under the flap of his satchel and pulled out the little statue of Angyalka. “It’s missing an important element of magnification. But enough to make a difference. I think Basilio can find her, and he’ll get there faster than us.”

Mihaela shifted her baffled glance from the ornament to Angyalka herself, and this time her gaze was accusing. “Is Dmitriu with her?”

“I don’t know,” Angyalka admitted. “I haven’t been able to find him.”

“Oh shit.” Mihaela dragged her hand through her hair in a familiar gesture of frustration.

“Elizabeth is protected,” Angyalka repeated. She looked at István as she spoke. Her eyes were unreadable, yet they seemed to swallow him. One closed in a wink. Her shapely lips curved. And then she turned and walked out of the window as if she was on a level catwalk.

Mihaela let out a reluctant laugh. “She is pretty cool. But I asked her to look after Elizabeth.”

“She’ll have sent Béla,” István said. “He’s almost as strong and twice as mean.” He rubbed his head, trying to think. Somewhere his heart was singing, because she’d broken through her fear and come here. Not to do the right thing, or to please Saloman, but to save
him
. “And that’s where she’s gone now. Mihaela, we need to kill Basilio.”

“Let’s go.”

As one, both she and István turned to Konrad who stood silently at the door behind Lazar, who only just seemed to have noticed him.

“Coming?” István invited.

Konrad’s smile was twisted. “No. You kill that bastard for me. Trust me, it’s cathartic.”

István held out his hand. It was at least half plea, and Konrad probably understood that. “It means a lot that you came.”

Konrad’s eyes closed as he grasped István’s hand blindly. “Fuck, István, I couldn’t leave you to that.”

“Don’t leave Elizabeth either,” Mihaela urged. “Come with us. We need you.”

Konrad dragged his hand free. He shook his head. “Maybe. Humanity needs me more—needs you too, but you won’t come. And much as I value Elizabeth, I won’t lift a finger to save her vampire child.”

The words were like a slap. Mihaela gasped. Even Lazar stepped back in distaste. And so Konrad was able to walk out of the house without anyone stopping him.

“Mihaela,” István said more sharply than he intended. “Do you know where Elizabeth is? Can you find her?”

****

Basilio was almost dizzy with triumph. Possession of this magnifier more than outweighed the loss of Jacob and the two stupid vampires who’d helped guard the hunter. He would have liked to have eaten the hunter before he left, but no matter, that could wait. After tonight, he’d be able to eat as many hunters as he could stomach.

Plus, Gabby had brought another two vampires, her own recruits, and although even weaker than the ones he’d just lost, the device would take care of that. Already, he was almost flying across the city, faster than he’d ever gone in his entire existence, dragging the others in his wake. And he could smell Elizabeth Silk, feel the power of the Awakener, the healer, shining like a beacon through the tangled host of masking enchantments that bound Saloman’s hidden residence in the heart of Budapest.

He really was defeating Saloman. It was within his grasp. Once he had Elizabeth Silk and her unborn child, Saloman was his bitch.

He was almost there. Slowing, he soared down from the rooftops and came to land in a wide, gracious street lined by large nineteenth-century houses. Mostly, they’d been broken into flats, with ugly porches, and extra stairs added on to accommodate all the extra entrances. All except one that seemed to shimmer in the darkness, because it contained the Awakener and a thousand powerful enchantments.

With Gabby and the new vampires on either side, Basilio advanced upon Saloman’s shining palace. With his enhanced telepathy, he reached out, searching for her.

Elizabeth. Elizabeth Silk, I’ve come for you. Give yourself up to me, and I will not harm you or your child.

There was a pause, and yet he knew he’d reached her. He hoped it was fear that kept her silent so long.

No one will harm my child,
she returned, and her telepathic voice was crisp with certainty. He could trace no fear, and that made him smile. He enjoyed dissecting and destroying a worthy opponent, reducing bravado as well as bravery to cringing agony for as long as possible before he took the once-great life force in their blood.

Not that he’d kill her, not until the child was born, or he’d lose any hold over Saloman, but he could enjoy her blood—the strong, rich blood of Saloman’s Awakener—and her pain.

I’m glad we understand each other.
He came to a halt in the middle of the road and turned to face the closed wrought iron gates that guarded Saloman’s palace.
So are you coming out? Or am I coming in?