The
vampires are celebrating after a successful battle. Andres makes a
surprising pronouncement.
"Actually,
I thought it took you far longer than I'd anticipated. You can be
abysmally dull witted when you're dipping your wick in a new woman."
Andres
moved so quickly, they hardly saw him. He grabbed Heinrich by the
throat, lifting him off the floor.
"You
dare to try a coup? You sniveling bastard! You were nothing when I
found you! A gutter rat of a man, stealing your way across London. If
I hadn't turned you, the bloody night watch would have killed you!
And now, after all I've done for you, this is how you repay me? I
could crush you!"
Heinrich
fought hard to free himself. Andres dropped him on the floor. Ringed
by security, Heinrich picked himself up off the floor.
"You
arrogant prick! You lord over the rest of us because you were a
minor, petty aristocrat nearly a thousand years ago! If that old sod
of a vampire hadn't turned you after the botched dual, you'd be dust,
forgotten."
"Are
you finished?" Andres drew himself up seeming to vibrate from
anger.
"I
suppose, unless you'd like me to grovel before you kill me."
Andres
grabbed the hapless vampire, fangs descending as he turned his head
to clamp down on Heinrich's throat. Staggering back, Andres clutched
his side, Heinrich's dagger wobbled in his chest. Pulling it out,
Andres sliced Heinrich's throat, roaring with fury. Blood sprayed
everyone in the room, bathing even the humans in crimson gore.
Heinrich
crumpled to the floor, his head bouncing along the floor, landing at
Phillida's feet. She kicked it away from her even as it began to
degrade. The body and blood fizzled and hissed, falling to dust.
"Bloody
hell," Silas said from the doorway. "You've ruined the
canapes, Andres!" Muttering and grousing, he picked up the tray
of dust covered food and carried it to the kitchen.
Silas'
exit broke the tension in the room. Even Andres laughed as the large
chef stomped off.
"So,
Heinrich was behind all this?" Vincent said, glaring at the
place where the body had been only seconds before.
"He'd
been building his army for some time," Phillida said, shaking
dust from her Jimmy Choo's. "He got too bold, greedy. He didn't
want to wait."
"So
it was his people who targeted us?" Drea asked. "Why?"
"He
wanted you to go to Andres for help. He hoped to recruit you to his
side when Andres refused to help. Only he didn't," Phillida
replied. "Heinrich was so sure he could drive us apart. He was
almost successful."
"Let
me guess, he introduced you to Carley," Tommy said with a smirk.
"He
did, at a party after a show. He knew exactly how to turn my head."
He touched Phillida's arm with more tenderness than Drea had ever
seen. "I'm sorry, Philly."
She
kissed him, her eyes soft. "You're forgiven, Andres. If you ever
betray me like that again...." She didn't need to finish that
statement. Her meaning was implicit.
"What
I don't understand," Kirk interjected. "Why kill Jay? He
was just a fish monger."
"He
figured out about the caterers," Andres replied. "He
supplied them too. When the illnesses were blamed on bad fish, he did
some investigating. He'd tried to contact me, but Heinrich
intercepted the call and murdered him."
"What
will you tell Carley?" Drea asked. "Surely this will break
her heart?"
Andres
shuffled his feet, cursing quietly. "She's young. She'll
recover. I thought I'd call...."
"You
won't!" Phillida said, horrified. "You'll go see the girl
and apologize for leading her on. You'll do all you can to make that
girl happy or you'll have me to contend with."
"And
me," Drea said.
"And
me," Margo added.
Every
woman in the room glared at him angrily. Andres ducked his head. The
men laughed, not unkindly, as their leader looked more like a child
than a centuries old vampire.
"As
you wish, my love."
"When
is the wedding," Margo asked Phillida.
"It
will take weeks to put together. You'll cater, of course?"
"And
piss of Silas?" Kirk shuddered. "The idea of having that
behemoth angry with me fills me with dread. How about we do the
cake?"
"Acceptable,"
Philly replied, smiling for the first time in ages.
"We'll
help you plan," Drea volunteered. "It will be the best
wedding ever."
"With
the exception of mine," Margo added. "But we'll wait until
after yours."
Phillida
laughed, hugging the women to her. She even hugged Sandra. "Thank
you. All of you."
"So,"
Scott said almost too loudly. "How do we write this up? The
missing persons aren't missing anymore. A lot of people died, but
there's absolutely no evidence linking anyone with anything. We have
a huge mystery and no official statement. What do we tell our
lieutenant?"
"Tell
him whatever you like," Andres said. "We'll back you up."
"Time
to get creative," Scott said to Sandra.
"We'll
think of something," she replied.
"In
the meantime, supper's getting cold!" Silas bellowed from the
doorway. "Do you not hear me? Are you deaf? I've been calling
you the last five minutes."
"Coming,
Silas," Andres said, offering Phillida his arm.
The
rest followed, chatting happily. Drea and Kirk lingered a moment
after their friends exited.
"So,
it was Heinrich all along. How sad. I always thought he'd make a fine
leader one day," Drea said sadly.
"You
get treated like crap for long enough, you learn to fight back the
best you can. Much as I hate to say it, Philly and Andres brought
this on themselves. They treated him like scum."
Drea
nodded. "But it's over and Tommy's one of us now."
"We
make quite a quartet, the bunch of us."
"We
sure do. The best caterers in the city—Barr Nunne."
©
2019 Dellani Oakes
THE
END
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