Fallen (13 page)

“Who better than someone the mortals won’t
miss walking among them?” She had no intention of arguing an old
point with him, but she had never been able to simply let his
disdain fall upon her unchallenged.

“Humph,” was his only response.

“I see you’re out in force tonight,”
Charlotte said. “Did your master misplace a child?”

Sinister turned abruptly on her, his eyes
blazing with fury. She could see that he wanted to speak, but was
holding back nonetheless.

“Interesting,” she said.

“And none of your concern, Sister,” Sinister
replied, gaining control of emotions he rarely allowed to surface.
“Remember that it is I who stands between you and my master.”

Charlotte held his gaze impassively. “I have
not forgotten.”

He softened slightly then, turning back to
the Breed scattering before them under the pale moonlight. “Then
wish me well, Sister, and leave it alone.”

“I always wish you well, Brother—” she
said.

He was already transforming, taking flight
again as the mysterious hunt continued. She stayed behind on the
small ledge of the great steeple, watching him go.

“—but I cannot leave it alone.”

Tom and I ran through fog and the amber glow
of diffused gaslight for our lives. We were human again, having
shed our animal guises as soon as we had reached the boundaries of
Mr. Black’s estate. My chest was aching terribly, huffing and
puffing throughout our trek through the streets. On occasion, we
passed groups of gay voices enjoying their drink, singing merrily
together like ghosts in the fog; heard but never seen.

“Can we stop and rest yet?” I asked,
following Tom and staying as close as possible so that I didn’t get
separated from him.

“Not yet,” he said. “The Breed are hot on
our heels.”

“I don’t hear anything.” Even as I said it,
I knew that this was almost certainly because of their nature.
These predatory fiends could be on your throat before even a
whisper came to your ear to alert you to their presence.

“You would do better to keep running and ask
fewer questions,” Tom said. “After all, I am risking myself in
order to save you.”

I hushed for a moment before responding,
considering Tom’s complaint. He was right, of course. He didn’t owe
me anything, yet he had certainly put himself in Mr. Black’s
crosshairs by helping me to escape the man, or whatever he was.

“Thank you for that, by the way,” I
said.

We ran down another alley before Tom slowed
his pace, finally coming to a stop near a retaining wall
overlooking the Thames.

“You’re welcome,” he said, breathing
heavily. “But keep your wits about you. We’re not out of danger
yet. I’m trying to figure out where we can go without them being
able to follow.”

“What about your special place that you
created in Faerie?” I asked.

“If I open a portal into Faerie they’ll be
able to follow,” he said. “It’s more complex than you might think.
There are traces left behind. Just trust me.”

And I did. Tom knew about these things that
I was only just beginning to have any knowledge of. Beside the fact
that he had saved me from the hanging and looked after me ever
since.

“Is there something they’re afraid of, maybe
a place where they won’t go?” I asked. “I’m assuming the sunlight
thing doesn’t bother them since Sinister goes out during the
day.”

“True,” Tom said. “A lot of that stuff was
made up by people. Sunlight doesn’t bother the Breed at all, though
their appearance is harder to mask in the sunlight. Right now, I
wish it
would
kill them. We could take a portal and come out
around the world where it’s daylight.”

“Then what?”

Tom looked around us, searching for the
Breed in pursuit. “You need some understanding of your power,
Brody,” he said. “If something happens to me, you’ve got to be able
to defend yourself. You’re powerful, even if you don’t yet know how
to use it. I saw the gleam in Black’s eyes when you turned that
fire back on him.”

“So what?” I said. “It was just a dumb
test.”

“Not dumb. Revealing!” Tom said. “Not many
have that power; especially not when Mr. Black is the one testing
you. I couldn’t have done it.”

That statement gave me pause since I
considered Tom to be quite gifted with these abilities. “So what do
I do?”

“Think about what you want,” he said. “Form
your desire in your mind and then push out into the real world with
it. The power is there waiting to respond. It’s really not that
hard once you get used to doing it.”

“Like riding a bicycle?”

Tom smiled. “Sure, like that. It requires
balance, energy and lots of practice. But, once you’ve got it, you
never forget!”

“I think I can do it, if I just had time to
practice,” I said, feeling a bit more confident.

“Let me see your hand,” Tom said.

I held it out to him palm up. “Why?”

He produce a little pocket knife and slashed
it across my palm quick as a flash. I cried out, clutching the
wound as blood welled up around my fingers. Before I could say
anything, Tom had done the same to his own hand. He grabbed my
wound, clasping them together palm to palm.

“If we should become separated, I want you
to search for someone who might help you. But just in case you’re
ever unable to find me, remember this scar. It’s a blood bond.
You’ll be able to come to me, or I to you as long as we both
live.”

“Who is it I’m to look for?” I asked.

“Oliver James,” he said. “Don’t forget that
name. He’s not associated with Black or Sinister, but he’s very
knowledgeable, if you know what I mean.”

“If you say so, but can’t you show me some
things quickly right now?” I asked.

Tom grinned in his mischievous way. “No
time, mate,” he said. “The Breed are already here.”

I looked up instinctively, searching the
buildings at our back. Thinking back now this is what Tom had
expected. While I was distracted, he quickly grabbed my hand
performed a transformation spell and pushed against me with all of
his strength. My body was already changing as I fell backward over
the retaining wall, plunging down into the dark water of the
Thames.

Charlotte soared high over London, keeping
her distance from the hunt happening below. Vampires were now
closing a circle upon their prey, the majority beginning to move
toward the river where tonight’s bright moon was reflected in ever
shimmering tones. Her brother was among them, organizing the
chase.

It was never wise to run from the Breed.
They had their ways. Of all the Descendants of the Fallen, they had
the keenest sense of smell, not to mention the rare ability to see
the body heat of their prey. One might get a good head start,
perhaps even a city away, and still not lose them once they were on
your scent.

Her raven form did not descend toward the
river; not yet. She was looking for a perch where she could have a
good vantage point over what was about to happen. Steeples were
wonderful things, but none were available in this district of the
city. However, the Breed were going to ground as they closed in. If
she only remained above them atop a building, she could then see
what had caused so many to be out tonight.

That they might be pursuing her friend and
ally, Oliver James, crossed her mind, but Mr. Black had never done
that before. It was well known by both parties that Oliver had no
fear of the Breed. His great power had proven to be more than they
could handle on a number of occasions over the years. It seemed
unlikely that he was their prey tonight.

So who?

Charlotte’s raven form glided down, still
trailing leisurely behind the enveloping presence of the Breed
ahead. She heard the first explosion then, coming from a place near
the river. She perched upon a beam standing out from the rest of a
ramshackle construction and watched.

She spied someone running below. The Breed
were in pursuit. Charlotte gasped, realizing that she knew this
person; had even been at one time close to this person.

“Tom?”

But how could it be him? Tom had long been
her brother’s closest companion and confidante. Why would the Breed
be chasing him? Still, it did explain why Sinister had been so
agitated.

As the Breed closed in, Tom attempted to
evade them by phasing in and out of dimensions; disappearing then
reappearing in different locations. Normally, the Breed could
follow, but there was no need. Tom wasn’t materializing very far
from the places where he passed from the physical world.

Tom was a master of deception. As an elf, he
had a particular flare for creating in spiritual realms like
Faerie, as well as the ability to create portals to and from. He
could shape shift especially well also, but he did not possess
highly defensive abilities. His specialty lay in covert operations
rather than overt.

The Breed were closing in. Charlotte
wondered why Tom didn’t attempt a greater leap from the mortal
world, take the chase into Faerie where he could more easily evade
his pursuers, or disguise himself beyond all recognition. She knew
that he was too good at what he did to not see a way out. It was
almost like he wanted them to catch him.

Charlotte remained on her perch until she
could stand it no more. She flew away from the building, plunging
down toward the fray. Her brother had warned her to remain out of
the situation, but this was more personal than she had
realized.

Tom stood cornered against a building,
watching as the Breed warriors closed in from all sides. Sinister
was at the forefront now, walking toward his second in command with
a disappointed look upon his face. Charlotte lit upon the pavement
right behind him.

“Brother, what are you doing?” she
cried.

Sinister halted in his place, turning on
Charlotte, his anger burning even hotter now. “I told you to stay
out of this!”

“Why are you chasing Tom?” she asked,
walking right up to him. “He has always remained loyal to you.”

“Hello, Charlotte,” Tom called
light-heartedly, as if he were calling on a friend for tea.

“He
was
loyal,” Sinister said,
grinding his teeth as he turned back to Tom. “Where is the boy?
Don’t you realize Black will kill you for this?”

“What boy?” Charlotte asked.

The Breed warriors glared at Charlotte. She
was considered an outcast by most of their kind, though no one was
willing to attack her. She was Sinister’s sister, but she was also
a cunning warrior. So, they did their best to ignore her unless she
directly interfered.

Sinister ignored her as well, keeping his
attention on Tom. “After all that I’ve done for you,” Sinister
said, “this is the thanks I get?”

Tom fired back at him. “The boy was
innocent. He knows nothing about who he is or this war! He should
have been left alone. Black did not need to know about him.”

“Unlike you, I’m loyal to my master, Tom,”
Sinister said.

“You’re his puppet!” Tom shot back.

Sinister’s arm whipped out to snatch Tom by
the throat. Tom’s form fell apart into the bodies of thousands of
cockroaches, all of them scurrying in every imaginable direction.
Some had landed on Sinister and the other Breed warriors who were
all swiping the miserable creatures away. Some flew into the
darkness, while others disappeared into the crevasses in the wall
and cracks in the pavement and anywhere else they could go.

Charlotte attempted to track him by heat,
but Tom was too clever. Even if he had possessed body heat in this
form, he was too small for even the Breed to find him, and he had
left too much distraction behind. Only one of the roaches,
Charlotte knew, had been the real Tom. The other thousands had
simply bought him the time he needed to escape.

In his fury, Sinister began stomping at the
minute beasts, but they simply evaporated beneath his boots; mere
mirages. He turned back to Charlotte, giving up on a lost cause as
his Breed warriors continued their futile attempt at crushing the
right one.

She grinned at him, something she rarely
ever did. “Clever.”

Sinister stared at her for only a moment.
“But will it do him any good against Black?”

Sinister transformed into his raven form,
leaping into the sky away from her. The other Breed grudgingly gave
up on Tom. Within moments they had left the area as silently as
ghosts. Only Charlotte remained, puzzled by Tom’s dissidence and
the mysterious boy they had mentioned. Whoever he was, he was worth
Black’s time, and that would be something Oliver would want to know
about.

There was no pain as my body began to
conform to the animal form that Tom had chosen for me at that last
moment before hurling me toward the rushing river below. In fact,
had I not already experienced several transformations by now, I
would not even have realized the sensation was anything more than
mild dizziness. But that could have been from falling.

That sensation, like I was plummeting from a
building toward the pavement, was the most terrifying. Then the
shock of cold enveloped me. The dark water immediately swept me
away into its unrelenting rush.

I attempted to fight the current, but it was
difficult to see anything around me. However, after being tumbled
about for what seemed an eternity, I began to swim with the river.
I breached the water’s surface, taking in air; though it seemed I
should have drowned by now. Still, it was air and a welcome
sensation to my lungs.

Whatever Tom had transformed me into, for I
had no mirror to see myself, I was at least a mammal having lungs.
Upon inspection, using the bright moon as my lamp, I found brown
fur and clawed appendages. I had seen similar creatures but needed
to be sure. Checking my posterior, I found a paddle for a tail. Tom
had left me safe in the guise of a beaver.