Deadlocked (The Harry Russo Diaries Book 3) (9 page)

“Your plan sucks, Isaac.” I whined again for the
tenth time. We were on our way to Dante’s to see Salvador and it wasn’t even a
required visit. Although technically it had been a week since the last time I
had seen the Magister, he hadn’t called to arrange this week’s ‘date’, so as far
as I was concerned this one should have counted for extra credit.

Isaac shot me a look I’m sure is similar to that worn by
many a parent at their patience’s end when dealing with a pain in the ass
offspring. I clamped my mouth shut. I couldn’t really complain about him
treating me like a child when I was acting like one.

“The plan has merit,” he said. “It will work.”

“Easy for you to say,” I mumbled to myself, turning to look
out the window. I turned back to look at Isaac. “You know, you’re supposed to
be looking out for my safety, not setting me up in a room full of vampires.”

“You will be perfectly safe, of that I can assure you.” He
gave me a calculating look. “Besides, aren’t you the one who always says she can
take care of herself?” His gaze flicked upon my katana where it was strapped
across my back. Isaac had seen it enough times to know it was there, the small
‘no-see-me’ magic I had cast on the sheath no match for his mind’s perception.

“Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I go around stirring up
hornet nests.”

“Trust me Harry, this plan will work and it will take care
of two birds with one stone.”

I shrugged. I certainly hoped so. I was being a whiner
because it involved having to see Salvador - I was still working through my
‘daddy issues’. Isaac’s plan was sound and it had the added benefit of
eliminating a growing threat to my safety, the second bird in this case.

Ever since I broadcast my capabilities as a necromancer,
there had been a faction of vampires afraid of my powers that wanted me
eliminated. Although they didn’t come right out and say it to Salvador’s face,
not wanting to antagonize the Magister nor brave enough to defy him, they were
quietly amassing a strong following that believed the only good necromancer was
a dead necromancer. One particular vampire, a Vlad name Petyr, was the driving
force behind the whole ‘kill the witch’ movement. If everything went according
to plan, Petyr wouldn’t be a problem after tonight.

The plan hinged on Hilde, who had left for Dante’s earlier
in the evening. She was probably already quietly insinuating herself among Petyr’s
group. The idea was that she would help to fan the flames, hopefully inciting
Petyr enough that he would make a move on me tonight. Okay, so maybe it seemed
a little crazy; "let’s use Harry as vampire bait" didn’t sound all that safe.
But, like Isaac said, I could handle myself and the real goal was to set up the
opportunity for Hilde to come to my aid, thus earning a boon from Salvador. We
were going to use Salvador’s penchant for doing things ‘old school’ to our
advantage. I just hoped the whole thing didn’t turn out like the parley where I
ended up kidnapped by a lunatic, another one of those long stories I keep
talking about.

The real problem I had with the plan was that it also
required me to ask a boon of Salvador, or at least go through the pretence of
wanting to ask. Since I had rid Salvador of the Navarre problem and had yet to
receive any sort of reward, Isaac thought it was completely acceptable that I
should ask for a favour from Salvador. As far as I was concerned, if I was
lucky, Petyr would try to kill me before I had to ask anything of Salvador. Yeah,
I know, major daddy issues.

I was just stepping out of Isaac’s
Escalade
when I
felt a familiar tingling sensation. I looked around and I have to admit, my
breath caught in my throat at the sight of Nash walking up to me dressed in
motorcycle leathers. Be still my beating heart, that man was sex on a stick.
I wanted to lick him from head to toe and back again. His gaze heated in
response to mine.

“Cian,” I said breathlessly, swallowing back a heavy dose of
lust.

“Harry,” he frowned at me. “What the hell are you doing
here?” And wham! Just like that, Nash the alpha pain in the ass was back - more
effective than a cold shower.

“I have business with Salvador.” I crossed my arms and
glowered at him. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have a murderer to
catch?”

Nash, ignoring my standoffish manner, stepped up close,
pushing me back against the vehicle with just the proximity of his body. He
took a deep breath, pulling in my heated scent which seemed to calm him and
excite him all at once. He narrowed his eyes looking slightly over my right
shoulder. I could see the instant the katana snapped into view for him and he
gave a little satisfied nod. Damn, another one now immune to the spell. I was
seriously going to have to think about recasting it with something a little
stronger.

“I also have business with Salvador.” He tilted his head to
look at me. “What are you here about? Have there been more ghosts?”

“No, nothing like that. I would have called you if I had
information about the murders.”

Nash leaned in further, pushing my arms down and away from
my chest with his hand. He put a hand against the
Escalade
right beside
my head, caging me in against the vehicle. His hand left my wrists and found
my waist giving it a squeeze as he leaned in closer, his lips against my ear.

“I can’t wait for our third date,” he growled. “Do you have
a three date rule?” His eyes flashed with a mix of humour and lust.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” I snorted, giving him a little
push. “Now if you will excuse me, I have business to attend to.” I ducked
under his arm and began walking towards Dante’s where Isaac was waiting, in his
usual unobtrusive way.

“No problem,” Nash said, an edge creeping into his voice.
“I’ll go with you.”

I flashed a panicked look at Isaac, but his indifferent shrug
was no help at all. With a frown, I turned back to Nash as he came up behind
me, putting a finger on his chest to stop him. “Listen Nash, some things might
go down in there that you aren’t going to like, but I want you to just trust me
and stand down.” I gave his chest another little poke. “Can you do that?”

Nash grabbed my finger, bringing it to his lips. His tongue
darted out to circle the tip of it and I felt a flush race through my body. I
cleared my throat and tried to wipe the lust filled thoughts from my mind.
Nash smiled wickedly. He knew what effect he was having on me. I yanked my
hand from his.

“I mean it, Nash. Don’t interfere.”

Nash huffed out an exasperated breath. “I can’t make
promises when I don’t know what you have planned.” He raised a questioning
eyebrow.

I chewed my lip for a moment and then shook my head. “I
don’t have time to go into the details. Just trust me.” I turned away and
then turned back. “And if you can’t trust me, then trust that Isaac would
never let anything happen to me.” I spun on my heel and hustled into Dante’s,
taking the steps down to the basement where Salvador would be holding his
weekly audience. I could hear Nash sputtering a protest behind me, but I
blocked it out, hurrying forward.

The audience room was about half full. I guess there wasn’t
anything gawk-worthy on the agenda or else everyone was off scurrying around
getting ready for the Mariposa’s visit. Because I was coming as a petitioner,
I had to enter through the big, main double doors. This meant I would almost
have to walk the entire length of the room to get to the dais where Salvador
sat like some sort of despotic king. Somewhere along the route, I would
hopefully be attacked by a goaded Petyr. Wow, my life had really taken a turn
for the weird.

I waited just inside the doors while Salvador finished up
with the current petitioner. His eyes flicked to mine, his eyebrows rising in
surprise. I was dressed to kill, or at least fight, in a kickass halter neck
jumpsuit. Made from a black, textured jersey, it clung to my curves, the
plunging neckline so daring, I had taped it in place with body tape. There
would be no ‘wardrobe malfunctions’ on my watch. I had been wearing a short, black,
swingy trench over top, but I had left it in one of the side rooms before entering the
audience chamber. As I scanned the crowd I spotted Nash off to the side
looking ready to blow a gasket. I was
pretty sure he would have tossed me over his shoulder and dragged me home, if
he had seen what I was wearing when we were outside. I looked pretty hot, if I
do say so myself. The jumpsuit made my legs seem to go on forever and there
was enough skin showing, especially on my bare back, to get all the little vamps
a-tittering. Nash took a step in my direction, but Isaac was suddenly there,
whispering in his ear and holding him back with a hand on his chest. He started
to scowl and threw me a ‘you are in so much trouble look’. What else was new
when it came to Nash? I gave him a playful little shrug and a finger wave
which only darkened his scowl. I swear I could almost hear him growling at me
in my head. I pulled my gaze away. I was letting him distract me and I needed
to focus.

The crowd closest to me began to grow restless as they
became aware of who was standing in the doorway. The news of my arrival flowed
out like a wave from where I stood. I could see it happening as they began to
turn their attention to me. I continued to scan the crowd looking for Hilde,
but I couldn’t spot her anywhere. Salvador finished up with his current petitioner
and waved him off impatiently. I felt the full force of his gaze fall on me.

“My dear…Harry,” he beckoned me forward with his hand. “Do
come closer. Always a pleasure to see you.” He sat back, relaxed in his
chair, his elbows on the armrests, his fingers steepled together in front of
his chin.

I slowly strode across the space, my senses on high, alert
for any sudden movements. When I came to stand about ten feet from the dais, I
stopped and looked up at Salvador. My brain was in overdrive. I had really
expected Petyr to strike by now. Where was he? Maybe Hilde wasn’t able to
rile him up enough.

“Good evening, Magister,” I said, trying to quiet my
churning thoughts.

“So formal, Harry.” Salvador smiled a cold, calculated
smile. He knew I was up to something.

I tipped my head in acknowledgment. “I’ve come to –”

“THE WITCH MUST DIE!”

The voice came from behind me and to the right. I spun to
face my attacker, my hands flying up to the hilt of my katana. Hilde was still
nowhere in sight as I slid my blade out of the sheath, chopping down, knocking
away the upward thrust of the blade gripped in the hands of my attacker. I had
a split second to register that it wasn’t in fact Petyr that was attacking, before
he recovered from my parry to thrust at me again. I easily blocked his blade,
the sound of metal on metal ringing through the now silent chamber. We traded
several more blows, each easily blocking the other’s attack. The guy was okay,
but I was holding back.

“
Harry, quit toying with him and just end it
.”
Isaac’s voice in my head had the long-suffering tone of that of a teacher to a
particularly dense pupil.

“
I’m not toying with him. I’m just trying to stop him
from killing me.
”

“
Then kill him and get it over with
,” Isaac replied
impatiently.

I grunted and brought my blade up almost too late,
deflecting the vampire’s latest attack just in time. My conversation with
Isaac was distracting me. I quickly shifted my stance, swinging my blade down,
thrusting under his guard to score him across the stomach; first blood to me.
Although it was a slugglish ooze, vampires do bleed.

The vampire’s eyes flashed, a look of rage passing over his
features. His fangs descended and he snarled at me, tossing his blade to the
floor. He charged me like a wild animal, any semblance of humanity gone. At
the last second he lunged at me and I ducked under his attack, swinging my
blade down to effectively hamstring him. He fell to one knee, slightly turned
away from me. I didn’t hesitate. I brought my blade across in a sweeping
blow, taking his head off at the neck. I stood for a moment, frozen, watching
as the vampire’s headless body toppled to the floor.

“Get down!” A voice echoed through the chamber and I saw a
flash of black as a body hurled itself in front of me. Hilde fell back, a
knife buried to the hilt in her chest. My eyes widened in surprise as they met
Petyr’s from across the room. He turned as if to flee only to crash into Isaac
who grabbed his head and with a sickening twist and crunch, tore it from
Petyr’s shoulders. Isaac casually tossed the head next to the first attacker’s.

I rushed to Hilde who lay still on the floor, a slow, thick
trickle of blood oozing from her wound. I didn’t think it would be enough to
kill her. I looked up and found Nash in the crowd. His eyes were furious. I
deliberately slowed my heart rate and tried to send him a feeling of calm as an
apology. His eyes narrowed and he took a deep breath. I turned to look at
Salvador.