The First Vampire Part 23

She left the bedroom and followed the hallway back to the main staircase. At the second floor, she gave in to temptation and stuck her head into the prep room.

It was empty. All the work for this night was done, and most of the blood was already winding its way into the chandeliers. Only a small amount remained in the vats.

Toria grabbed a clear plastic measuring cup from a shelf near the door and headed for one of the four large open cylinders on the floor. The dark red liquid bubbled as she dipped her cup in. She raised the warm concoction to her lips and let the fragrant syrup course down her throat.

It had a pleasant burn to it this year. She wiped her mouth with her hand and rose from her crouch, tossing the cup into a large sink on her way out.

CHAPTER 52.

They found Keller in his room sitting on his bed. A single lamp burned on the desk, serving little purpose but to cast the rest of the room in shadow.

The former monk was wearing a coarse brown robe over a pair of old blue jeans. He sat very still, hands folded in his lap, but Luc had the impression he was waiting for something. Or someone.

Whatever he was expecting, it certainly wasn't them, Luc thought. When they entered, Keller looked from Luc to Ash and back again.

"What are you doing here?" he barked.

Ash looked at Luc, offering him the first crack.

Luc turned to Keller. "Why don't you start by explaining why you seem to think I should be elsewhere?" he said. "We know you're involved in the disappearances and that you sent someone to grab me. So just tell us where the missing vampires are."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but you're not welcome here." Keller turned to Ash. "I'm expecting someone, and he won't be happy to see you. You should go down and join the others."

Ash's eyes narrowed.

"We didn't come here for advice," Luc replied. "Just answer the question."

Keller smiled and closed his eyes. An invisible blow sent Luc crashing into the closed door. He landed on his feet, but couldn't help being stunned.

"What the hell?" he queried, looking blankly at Ash.

Ash never took his eyes off Keller. "It seems someone has been teaching our old monk new tricks," he said.

"My faith has been rewarded with knowledge," Keller explained, "and my actions will be rewarded with redemption."

"What actions?" Ash asked, his voice gritty with suspicion. "Breaking and entering?"

Keller smiled softly at them, his green eyes eerily alight. "Restoring God's natural order."

Luc looked up from dusting himself off. "Maybe you could translate that into not-crazy for us?"

Keller's smile faltered, and for a moment he glared at Luc. "You should not be here."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked. "Who told you they were taking Luc?"

Keller looked confused. "No one. He was banished from Council House."

Luc looked at Ash and wiggled one index finger next to his temple while nodding in Keller's direction. Again, Luc went sailing back into the wall for no apparent reason. He looked up in time to see Ash suppress a grin.

"Will you please make him stop doing that?" Luc complained.

"Oh, all right," Ash said.

Suddenly Keller was hanging in mid-air, arms and legs flailing in every direction. "I apologize for Luc's rude behavior," Ash said, "but we did come here for answers. If you don't start talking in more than riddles and nonsense, I'll embed parts of you in every wall of this room."

Luc raised his brows, thinking he might actually like to see that.

Keller struggled against the invisible grip holding him in the air. Fear showed on his soft features, but it was belied by his strident tone.

"You spewed forth all the horrors of our race," he said to Ash. "You turned us into the demon spawn of she who was cursed by God. I'll not answer to you for what I've done, when I've only attempted to undo your accursed bargain."

Ash sent Keller clattering into the far wall just as Keller had done to Luc a moment ago. Before he could rise, Ash was standing over him. He hauled Keller up over his head as if he were a rag doll, and Keller gave a high-pitched yelp.

"That's just the smallest fraction of what I can do," Ash said through gritted teeth. "I didn't come here to kill you, but I will, and slowly, if you don't tell me what I need to know. Now, where is James? And what were you doing at Hemogen?"

Keller didn't speak, and Ash looked down at his dangling feet. The edge of Keller's robe burst into flames. Keller began to scream. Ash again threw him into the corner of the room. A tower of books toppled over. Keller scrambled out from under it, tore off his flaming robe, and started batting it against the floor.

"I don't know where James is," he gasped, "but I'm sure he's fine."

Ash's eyes flew to the dusty laptop that had been at the bottom of the teetering stack of books. "Keller," he began slowly, waiting for the monk to finish extinguishing his burning robe, "who have you given your password to?"

Keller looked confused for a moment, and then his expression cleared. "My computer password? Just Memnon."

Ash's jaw dropped open. "Memnon?" he repeated.

Keller nodded.

"Who's Memnon?" Luc asked.

"He is the second oldest vampire in the world," Keller replied.

Ash nodded. "He was the first one I ever turned," he confirmed, "but he was buried in the eruption of Vesuvius a thousand years ago."

"So how did he get here?" Luc asked.

"An archeological dig," Keller explained. "Almost a year ago. They freed him."

Ash turned again to Keller. "Are you telling me he's alive and in New York?" Disbelief still lingered in Ash's eyes, but his jaw was set firm.

"Yes," Keller answered. "He is here for the Feast. Not to partake, of course." He hurried to explain. "He was allowed to take the rites and join the brotherhood of my old monastery at Clonfert."

Ash's brows shot up. "Is that so?" he queried. "And who told you this?"

"He did. He has become highly regarded amongst the brethren. He has even promised to get me reinstated there."

Ash sighed. "In return for what, exactly?"

Keller hesitated. "In return for delivering the cure the brothers developed to all of Council House."

Luc's stomach sank into his shoes. He saw Ash's face fall and knew they'd had the same thought.

"Cure?" Ash asked.

"That's right," Keller said, his green eyes brightening with his growing enthusiasm. "They found a way-using the notes I borrowed from your company, I believe-to return us all to our original human state."

Ash stood silent for a moment, but Luc didn't miss the brief look of hope that had flared across his face.

"Oh, good grief!" Luc said, throwing his hands in the air. "This is ridiculous." He marched closer to Keller and poked him in the chest. "What gives you, you babbling fruitcake, the right to decide for us that we should all be human again?"

Keller looked as if he didn't understand the question.

"Never mind that," Ash dismissed. "Do you know what Memnon has been doing with the vampires he's taken?"

"He needed them for testing," Keller replied. "He's only recently perfected the chemistry."

"And have you actually seen this cure work?"

Keller's brow furrowed. "Well, no, but Memnon has, and some of the other monks as well."

The noise from the party down below suddenly grew much louder.

"I'll go check it out," Luc offered, already making for the door of Keller's small room. "You stay here with the crazy man."

"Wait," Ash called out. "You should stay here with Keller. You are banned from Council property, remember?"

"How could I forget?" Luc sniped, turning around. He grabbed the little chair from under the desk and spun it around to face Keller. "And just what am I supposed to do if he hurls me into another wall?" he asked.

"He won't," Ash replied. "I can control him that much from downstairs."

"Must be nice," Luc muttered to Ash's retreating back.

Ash left Luc to the interrogation and went out into the hall, heading for the main staircase instead of back toward the elevator. He wanted to be able to see what he was walking into.

Just as he got to the top of the stairs, he became aware that he wasn't alone. One foot hung suspended for a moment in mid-air before he turned cautiously on his other heel.

A figure stood in the dimly lit corner, and Ash could have sworn it hadn't been there just a moment ago.

"Memnon?" he asked.

Only silence greeted him.

The stranger stepped forward and Ash felt his jaw drop.

"Nancy!" he exclaimed.

CHAPTER 53.

Luc waited for the door to close and then turned to Keller. "So, how's it supposed to work?" he asked. "This cure you think you have?"

Keller shook his head. "I don't know how it works, only that it does. Memnon and the other monks developed the actual serum. I was just the deliverer."

"Was?" Luc echoed. "You mean you've already done it?"

"Yes, it has already begun."

Luc flew out of the tiny chair, sending it crashing against the desk, and pulled a short knife from his boot. It wasn't much to look at, but its silver-coated tip would get the job done. He was about to threaten Keller with it, when a piece of paper on the desk caught his eye.

It hadn't been visible before, and Luc stared at it for a minute, frozen, then slowly lowered the knife and pulled the single sheet farther out from under the newspaper that covered it. His mother's name was what had caught his eye, but there were even more worrisome details written there.

The author of this little family tree had started with Luc's mother and worked backward. Luc recognized the names of his seven aunts and one uncle. They were printed in block letters with rectangular boxes around them. Lines connected them to other boxes containing the names of their children. Luc's name was there alongside those of his four brothers and four sisters. On it went until, at the bottom of the page, was written another name he knew.

"What is this, Keller?" he demanded, gesturing with his knife to the newly revealed genealogy project.

"My research," Keller answered.

Luc gripped the knife more firmly. "My family is none of your business."

"Quite the contrary," Keller replied. "It is all of our business. The Verses speak of human women who can bare a vampire's child. Until I saw you, of course, I had nothing to go on, but with enough time and access to the right records, I hope to be able to trace the Lilith gene backward from your mother and perhaps even predict who will be a carrier."

"What Lilith gene?" Luc asked.

Keller shrugged. "That's just what I've been calling it-whatever it is that allows some human women to mate with vampires. I think it must be a genetic mutation of sorts."

Luc eyed Keller suspiciously. "Why are you trying to find breeders?" he asked. "I thought you wanted fewer vampires, not more."

"I am a scholar, Luc," Keller said. "I pursue truth for its own sake. Though, in this case," his brow furrowed, "it was Memnon who asked me to trace the future generations."

"Memnon has seen this?" Luc asked, his voice rising with alarm. He looked again at Ariana's name on the bottom of the page. Her father, Thomas Dupree, was a descendant of one of Luc's aunts.

"I don't know," Keller said.

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I haven't shown it to him, but he can see us all any time he wants to. If he concentrates, he can observe any vampire without them ever knowing."

Chapter end