Changeling (17 page)

When Trey turned to face her again he saw that she was crying, and the sight of her tears tracking down her cheeks sparked a memory in his head of that night. ‘Where’s my bag?’ he said.

‘Bag? What bag?’

‘Don’t tell me that I didn’t have it with me when your dad picked me up? I had a bag with me when I left the station.’

There was a knock on the door and Lucien came in. The smile that spread across his face when he looked at Trey filled the teenager with an odd mixture of happiness and guilt. He thought about the way that he’d treated Lucien up until now, and how he had done nothing to thank him for the kindness and care that his guardian had shown him.

‘So, you’re awake? Excellent. We were getting a bit worried about you for a while there. How are you feeling, Trey?’

‘Sore, beaten-up, stupid and strangely emotional, like the least thing is going to set me off into floods of tears,’ Trey said with a smile. ‘But I’m guessing that I’d feel a whole lot worse if it hadn’t been for you, Lucien. Thank you … for everything.’

Lucien nodded his acknowledgment and crossed the room to pull the curtains open.

‘I’d like to get up,’ Trey said, as the sunlight poured into the room.

‘I really wouldn’t recommend that right now,’ Lucien replied.

‘I’d like to get up, Lucien,’ Trey said with more emphasis, and after a moment Lucien nodded. He moved round to the side of the bed that Alexa was standing by, looming over the prone figure on the mattress.

‘We’ll see how you do. If you start to feel faint or sick, we’ll bring you straight back. Now, will you try to stand or would you like me to carry you?’

Trey looked up at him and realized that he was quite serious. ‘I’ll walk, if it’s all the same with you.’

He held his breath as Lucien helped him up on to his feet, trying to ignore the signals of hurt that his body fired off in volleys to his brain. He held his breath again once he was upright and tenderly felt the area around his stomach with his fingertips.

‘I’m hoping that’s the worst bit over with,’ he said.

He walked through to the lounge after Lucien and Alexa had helped him into his dressing gown, ignoring the disapproving scowls that Tom shot in his direction when he saw that he was up and about. Sinking into one of the chairs, he blew out the breath that he had been holding during the short journey, and managed a smile up at the three faces surrounding him.

‘A cup of tea would be nice,’ he said.

‘Lucien,’ he went on, as Tom went over to put the kettle on, ‘where’s the bag that I had with me when you picked me up? I
did
have a bag with me, didn’t I?’

‘Yes, you did,’ his guardian replied. ‘It’s in your bedroom near the window.’

‘Alexa, would you like to get it?’ he asked, relieved to know that it had been fetched back along with him and that it was still safe. It was strange how important he felt that bag to be. It was as if deep down he’d attached a symbolic status to it, and the news that it was still in his possession filled him with a happiness that was at odds with the value or importance of its contents.

Alexa came back carrying the Liberty bag. She placed it on the table, frowning at Trey.

‘Open it, Alexa, it’s for you,’ he said, smiling. ‘I had to go through quite a bit to get that back here in one piece, so I hope you like it.’

Tom placed a steaming mug of tea in front of him and they watched as Alexa pulled the ribbon from the box and lifted the lid. She gasped when she saw the dress within, and looked up at him with a smile that made his chest tighten and the blood race around his body just a little faster.

‘It’s a present,’ he said. ‘Well, more of an apology really. I wanted to say sorry for the things that I said to you the other night – I had no right to treat you like that.’ He turned to face Lucien. ‘It’s all right, isn’t it? To buy it for Alexa with the money that you gave me?’

‘It was your money, Trey. You can choose to spend it how you like,’ Lucien replied.

‘I’d like to thank you all for the kindness that you’ve shown me,’ Trey said after taking a sip of the hot, sweet tea. ‘I’ve been a bit of a jerk, and I don’t think that I’ve given you all a fair chance really. It’s been a bit hard for me … coming to terms with everything, but I know that you’ve all been trying to make it as easy for me as possible, and I’m grateful to you. Thank you.’

The phone rang on the wall and Tom moved over to pick it up, listening to the person on the line before replacing the handset. ‘That was Charles from downstairs – they’ve picked up a signal from the Ring of Amon. It looks like Caliban is going to use it as we suspected.’

Trey had no idea what the message was supposed to mean, but judging from the looks that passed between the other three people during the silence that followed, he was willing to bet that it was something very, very bad.

Tom dug around in a cupboard and produced a packet of doughnuts that he placed on the table along with Trey’s second mug of hot tea. He had helped Trey to move into the kitchen, and Trey thought it odd how this man, whom he had thought of as harsh and brusque, seemed to fuss around him far more than his injuries really merited.

Alexa had rushed off downstairs following the telephone call, and Lucien explained to Trey that she had been researching this Ring of Amon for some time now and that she would need to see the new data.

The three of them spoke openly about the attack on Trey at the underground station, and Trey described the fight that he had had with the two demons. Lucien kept stopping him and asking him questions about specifics that Trey had thought were unimportant at the time. But the vampire sat in silence as Trey described how he had killed the two demons and how their dead bodies had simply disappeared in front of his eyes.

‘Their bodies would have turned up in the demon world,’ Tom explained. ‘Although from what you say about Harelip getting splattered all over the front of the tube train, I don’t suppose an awful lot of
him
would have turned up.’ Tom looked over at Lucien and raised an eyebrow. ‘Tough as old boots, this one,’ he said, nodding his head in Trey’s direction.

‘I thought we’d established that the other day during our training session,’ Lucien replied, smiling back at the Irishman.

Tom screwed his right eye up. The overall effect, with the huge ugly scar on that side of his face, reminded Trey of something out of a zombie film he had once watched. ‘Ah, but
then
he was just fighting an old fart like you. Taking out two
young
Shadow demons takes some doing, I might suggest.’

Trey looked at the two figures on either side of him and realized that Tom was teasing Lucien, hoping to get a reaction.

Instead Lucien picked up his tea and finished off the remains from the bottom of the mug. His eyes glinted with amusement over the top of the ceramic rim.

Realizing that Lucien was not going to rise to the bait, Trey felt stangely obliged to defend him a little. ‘Lucien’s not that old, Tom. What are you, Lucien? Forty? Forty-five tops.’

Lucien lowered the cup and his smile broadened as he held Tom’s eyes. It was his turn to raise an eyebrow this time. Eventually he turned back to Trey. ‘I’m almost two hundred and twenty-years-old, Trey. But thank you. Some people have natural tact and diplomacy, some do not,’ he said, nodding in the direction of the Irishman.

‘Bet you feel bad now, don’t you, Trey?’ Tom said, a glint in his eye suggesting that he was not quite done yet. ‘Beating up on a poor old decrepit man like you did. The youth of today – bloody disgrace.’ He grinned and tousled the boy’s hair, standing up to clear the cups from the table.

Trey stared again at the vampire sitting by his side, amazed at this latest revelation that had been dropped on him.

Lucien looked over at him and, as if reading his thoughts, smiled and added, ‘Think of it as a kind of dog’s years, but for vampires.’

‘What happened to Hopper the other day, Tom?’ Trey asked after another long pause.

‘That is a question that I have been asking myself since our little friend disappeared,’ he said, moving over to the kitchen to put the cups into the sink. ‘None of our people have managed to locate him, and demons wandering around in the human plane are usually easy for our people to trace. He’s completely disappeared off the radar.’

‘I think it is safe to assume that we unwittingly invited a rat into our camp,’ Lucien said. ‘And that said rat is working for my brother, Caliban. If that is indeed the case, there is no doubt in my mind that my brother will have been responsible for setting those goons on to Trey the other day in an attempt to kill him.’

Tom nodded and glanced at his employer. ‘Hopper came highly recommended from one of our people, Lucien. I swear to you that if we had even the slightest inkling that there was anything untoward, we would never have used him.’

Lucien held up a hand to stop him. ‘Nobody is blaming you, Tom. I know how careful you are when choosing personnel. It does not change our plans, but it may add to the urgency of the matter. Caliban will definitely use the ring sooner now.’

‘What ring?’ Trey said.

‘The Ring of Amon,’ Lucien answered. ‘It’s an ancient artefact from the Netherworld. It was believed to have been destroyed a very long time ago. The ring, when used in conjunction with a particular incantation, has the power to change people: it reverses their moral compass, and makes normal people do things that they would never have contemplated before falling under its spell. The ring has the power to unlock all the potential for rage and evil that people have. Normal people – good people – will commit acts of vile butchery on those around them, even those that they love and hold dear. We think that Caliban hopes to use the ring to turn humankind against itself. And when he has done so, he wishes to create a vampire dynasty within the realm: a vampire empire with himself as ruler.’

‘If he’s as powerful as you say he is,’ said Trey, ‘why doesn’t he just walk in anyway? What does he need the ring for?’

Lucien glanced at Tom and a smile momentarily flashed across his features before disappearing again. ‘Human beings are a particularly obstinate species when it comes to their subjugation. In the past, Caliban and others like him have sought to bring the human world to its knees by destabilizing the people of earth through wars, disease and famine. The ring is the perfect weapon to create a state of chaos and break the human spirit.’

‘They want to wipe out humanity?’

Lucien looked at Trey, considering how best to respond. ‘No, Trey, they do not want to destroy humanity. In fact, quite the opposite. We vampires
need
humans. We have existed in this world for as long as anyone can remember, feeding on the blood of the living to guarantee our own survival. For century upon century we did this without discovery. We were the rulers of the night. But we got careless. We became complacent and the humans discovered the truth about our kind. They learned that we were not invincible and they learned that we could be killed. Our numbers, never great, dwindled as we were hunted down and destroyed. We hid in the Netherworld, only venturing into the human realm to feed, and dreamed of a day when we could return.’ He turned his head and looked out of the window. ‘The ring could make that dream a reality: a limitless food source that is broken, that lacks the coordination to fight back against those that seek to feed upon it. For my brother it is a dream, for the rest of us, a nightmare.’

Trey looked between the two men, trying to take this in.

‘We had a tip-off,’ Tom said, ‘from one of our people who is working inside Caliban’s organization, telling us that he had somehow acquired the ring. At first we were not too concerned and believed that the damage would be minimal – as Lucien says, the ring-bearer must be heard by anyone that he wishes to convert
.
But then we discovered that he intended to use it in conjunction with mobile-phone networks. A technology-embracing, modern-day monster is Caliban. He has friends in high places in all the mobile networks throughout the world, and we believe that he might be able to broadcast simultaneously to every telephone number on any particular network. He plans to try a dry run in Amsterdam next month.’

‘Why Amsterdam?’ asked Trey.

Tom shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘Why not? To Caliban one place is as good as another, but west Holland has the highest level of mobile-phone ownership in Europe. If you were going to try to use the ring in this way, I can’t think of a better place to use as a test bed.’

Lucien stood up and walked to the window. ‘If he succeeds, Amsterdam will turn into a living hell for its inhabitants. Whole families will be wiped out by the very people that they love.

‘Our sources tell us that he intends to use Holland as an experiment and, depending on the level of success, will then use the ring around the world to spread death and misery across every continent. Earth will become a hell where the evil that vampires do will be as nothing compared to what man will do to man.’

Lucien studied the floor for a moment before adding, ‘As a strategy, this is not entirely unprecedented. Many rulers of the Netherworld have sought to destabilize the human world in order to take it over for themselves. For the vampires it has always been about blood, but for others it has been the very souls of mankind that they sought. There hasn’t been a dictatorship, war or massacre on earth that they have not had some part in. But with the ring, used in the way that he intends to, I fear that my brother will finally bring those that would defy him and his kind to their knees.’

‘He has to be stopped,’ said Trey.

‘Yes, he does.’ Lucien turned from the window and looked at him. ‘But there is something else, Trey, something that concerns your personal safety. We have been helping to “shield” you since your arrival here. Alexa has the ability to mask the tell-tale signature signs that are created when you transform. Caliban would have assigned a number of the people in his employ to look out for any such signs, just in case he hadn’t succeeded in killing you in the fire the other night. My brother believes that you are a great threat to him. He knows how your powers will continue to grow as you mature, and as the murderer of your parents Caliban is naturally concerned that you will one day seek revenge for their deaths. And then there is the matter of the Theiss legend.’ He held his hand up to stop Trey’s protests. ‘My brother has made up his mind that he wants you dead, Trey, and he will stop at nothing to get to you and make sure that happens.’