Brian nodded in agreement.
"We're better off staying here, rather than going somewhere they can find us."
If they did that, thought Darwin, they'd be dead within a week.
"It's only a matter of time before they find us.
We've got to keep one step ahead."
Jules glared at Cassidy.
"They're probably already onto us.
Is it just me or does anyone else find it really fucking offensive that she's here?"
"She's on our side," Darwin protested.
"If it hadn't been for her driving, we wouldn't even have a minibus.
She stays!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Darwin," Jules retorted sarcastically.
"I thought for a moment that Honest Tom was in charge here."
"We can always take the van and leave," Darwin shot back.
Honest Tom slapped his palm against the table a couple of times.
"Quiet!
Quiet!
No-one is going anywhere.
Not until we figure out a plan."
"Never did like him anyway," Jules muttered to Brian.
"Fucking half-breed."
"Quiet!"
Honest Tom repeated.
Monk raised a hand timidly skywards.
"I thought the plan was to escape into Venefasia?"
Darwin turned his attention from Monk back to Honest Tom.
"Yeah, I thought so too.
What's changed?"
"We don't want to leave before we've rounded up as many survivors as possible.
We only get one shot at this, we don't want to leave anyone behind we don't have to."
"Fuck that," said Brian.
"It's every vampire for themself.
Besides, the longer we wait, the greater the chance that something follows Darwin's trail here."
"I checked," Monk sighed.
"No-one was following him, Brian."
"That you know of?
Far be it for me to agree with Darwin, but he's right, we need to leave now... while we still can?"
"You can't just leave people behind.
We're so few as it is."
"Maybe you've been hanging out with your wolf packs too long Monk, but there's a reason we all survived and that's because we chose not to buy into Metzger's Vampire Council bullshit."
Monk waved his arm around the room.
"You think this is enough to save our race?
Six of us?"
"I don't care," said Brian.
"I don't care if only Jules and I survive."
"Fuck you too," interjected Darwin.
"Well at least I'm being honest.
Don't pretend that when it comes down to it, you'll act any nobler.
You'll look out for yourself and fuck over anyone the moment it becomes advantageous to do so.
So cut the bullcrap about finding survivors and give me a solid plan."
"Who we still got out there?"
Monk asked Honest Tom.
"There's Butler, but no-one's heard from him in days.
He was supposed to be holed up with twenty vampires in Manchester.
And then there's D'Toeni?"
"D'Toeni?" asked Darwin.
"Where?"
"Swindon, apparently.
He phoned Brian with his location a couple of hours ago"
Darwin looked around the room, his eyes wide.
"We've got to go and get him."
"Wait a minute," said Cassidy.
"A moment ago you wanted to just leave."
"Yeah but D'Toeni.
He's like... a legend.
I bet he could face those things off single-handedly."
"He's an arsehole, that's what he is," commented Honest Tom.
Darwin huffed.
"What, you still pissed that he went up against Metzger?"
"...And lost."
"So what?
Look, no offence but we've not got a lot of fighters.
Brian and Monk might be handy in a fight, but Stevens, he's a fucking accountant, and you Tom, when was the last time you even had to hunt for your food?"
"That's not the point," protested Stevens.
"Really?
Cos if I get to a gateway and find a load of those things waiting for me, it'll absolutely be the point."
"Don't let your personal dislike of Metzger cloud your ability to assess character."
Darwin raised an eyebrow.
"What does that even mean?
Look, Cassidy and I will go, none of you need come with us.
Quick drive down there and back, you'll never know we were gone."
"Darwin," Cassidy whispered.
"I'm not going to Swindon."
Darwin turned and looked at her.
"Come on, Cass, don't be silly.
This is important.
What's wrong with Swindon?
That's where you're from anyway isn't it?"
Cassidy nodded.
"And a reason I don't want to go back."
She made puppy dog eyes at him.
"Please, Darwin."
But the plan was perfect in Darwin's view.
D'Toeni was a legendary vampire, a traditionalist who'd fed on more than one battlefield, who had frequently gone up against Metzger and
Die Neuen
.
In Darwin's opinion there was no better person to lead the vampires.
Of course, his dislike of
Die Neuen
meant that he'd not had any time for the likes of Darwin, but if D'Toeni was to be rescued by Darwin.
Heck, then he'd see how valuable he was to his race.
Maybe he'd make him a Lieutenant or something.
Cassidy's apprehension was a surprise though.
He'd not figured on her being unwilling to go to Swindon.
It's where they had first met, a time that seemed more distant than it actually was.
She'd been fine to be there then, and he didn't understand why she had a problem now.
Tough really, he was going to Swindon whether she liked it or not, and she was driving.
As he saw it, this was his moment to prove himself.
If he did well, helped them all escape, rescued D'Toeni, well then they'd see he was really one of them.
"Fine," he said.
"It's decided then.
Cass and I will go and fetch D'Toeni."
The looks round the table seemed to indicate that it wasn't decided, but Darwin didn't care.
No matter what they thought now, they'd thank him for his decisiveness later.
He was convinced of it.
CHAPTER THIRTY - An Unlikely Benefactor
Joseph had warned Maureen that New Salisbury police were beyond useless.
In a city full of magic wielders, ordinary men with truncheons were little deterrent.
Yet, she'd still insisted that they go and make a report about the elves.
"We're doing the right thing," she insisted as they sat in entrance hall of the police station.
Long benches lined the walls before a barred counter.
Had Maureen not known otherwise, she would have assumed they were in a bank.
Joseph huffed.
"The right thing would be to go to Rofen."
Maureen could forgive him for being a little grumpy.
She'd tried to persuade him that he needed to get his shotgun pellet wound taken care of, but he'd shrugged it off as if it was a scratch.
She knew that trolls were quite hardy but she worried it might become infected.
Stubborn old fool, she thought to herself, and then wondered if that referred to Joseph or herself.
"No, we're not going to Rofen," she said.
"If he'd found what we'd been up to...
We'll report it to the police and then leave it at that."
"But George..."
"He's a wizard, we're not.
He helped us escape."
"... to hopefully bring other wizards."
"That'll be for the police to decide."
"Don't expect much," the troll grumbled.
She'd felt bad about abandoning George; she'd been the one at the time who'd suggested going back to help.
But Joseph's view had been to get away and then get help.
Now the roles were reversed and it was Maureen who didn't want to help.
She couldn't.
Rofen wouldn't understand; he'd sack her.
Besides, she thought a man who could blow up half of Mullen's farm and create giant whirlwinds probably didn't need much in the way of assistance.
"Adam Troll?"
a man at the counter called.
Maureen snapped out of her thoughts as Joseph stood up.
"Yes," he said.
Maureen had suggested they give false names, and since troll names were unpronounceable, all trolls tended to be known by the surname Troll.
Maureen stood up and followed Joseph to the counter.
A small man stood on the other side.
So small in fact that Maureen's first thought was that she was dealing with a dwarf.
The counter almost reached his shoulders allowing him to cross his arms on it, level with his chin.
"I'm Inspector Thackery.
I understand you've got some trouble with elves."
The man's bushy toothbrush moustache drew Maureen's eye, its jet black in stark contrast to the middle-age sliver of hair.
"That's right," she said.
"We don't tend to get involved with racial disputes as a matter of course."
"This isn't a racial dispute, they took us and a wizard prisoner."
"Prisoner?"
The inspector picked up the folder under his folded arms and started filing through the pages.
"Yes, we told all this to the desk sergeant."
Thackery didn't look up from his notes.
"Well," he said as he flipped through the pages, "we don't tend to get involved with wizard disputes.
They deal with all those things internally.
On account of," he held up a hand and wiggled his fingers, "the magic.
Can get a bit messy if my boys get involved."
"Inspector," Maureen said, finding herself becoming more irritated, but determined not to have Joseph say 'I told you so', "we suspect these elves have murdered a wizard."
"There you go," the inspector responded looking up from the notes, "the 'w' word.
I wish I could help, I really do, but it's outside of our jurisdiction.
I can point you in the direction of the Friary, if that helps?"
"No," said Maureen.
"I would just like you to do some policing."
"I appreciate you're frustrated Mrs..." he looked down at his notes and turned a couple of pages, "...Smith, but we have limited resources and an entire city to police.
And from what you say, this took place, outside the city.
I've not got enough men to do a proper job inside New Salisbury, let alone worry about what happens outside it."
"But..."
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do, except point you in the direction of the Friary."
He held up the folder.
"People's lives might be at stake here.
They might be planning to attack the city."
Inspector Thackery shrugged.
"Until they do, there's nothing I can do.
I'm sorry.
Now is there anything else I can help you with?"
"I severely doubt it," Maureen mumbled under her breath as she turned round and headed out the building.
"I told you they were useless," Joseph said with a smirk.
Maureen said nothing.
They walked out of the police station and into the square its Victorian building sat in.
Rows of market stalls, topped by red and blue striped canopies, surrounded a large market cross in the centre of the square.
Apples, pears and a strange fruit that looked like a watermelon called a seff were all on offer.
Maureen would have been tempted to buy a seff to take home with her and try if it wasn’t for the fact that she didn’t have any Venefasia money.
Besides, she had no idea whether the market seller was offering her a good deal or not.
Maureen wandered aimlessly around the stalls as the traders began bringing in their trucks and carts to load up their stock for the homeward journey. A clock tower in the corner of the square sounded out the hour.
"Where we going?"
Joseph asked.
Maureen turned around and threw her hands in the air in frustration.
"I don't know Joseph, I really don't know."
She was still fuming from her encounter with the police and didn't mean to take it out on Joseph, but why should she have all the answers?
It seemed no-one in this realm wanted to actually do anything about Ernest's murder, and she was starting to feel the same.
Maybe it was something in the air?
She'd tried to do what she considered the right thing, but now she was in way over her head and didn't know where to turn.
The police had wasted a couple of hours for nothing, and if she went to Rofen ...
She turned to look at Joseph.
"We don't know that George didn't escape?"
"We don't know that he did."
She sighed.
What was the wizard even doing there anyway?
"If we hadn't been there, he'd still be in the same predicament," she said.
That made up her mind.
Yes, their being at the farm had not put George in any further danger.
He'd got himself into that mess, and so she had to presume he'd taken sensible precautions and told someone where he was going.
It wasn’t going to sit on her consciousness.
She had done all she could.