Duel Nature (28 page)

“Fedor was better than this Vladislava?” I
asked, trying to picture that. My own interactions with the
deceased Fedor hadn’t left me in his fan club. Plate empty, I
headed up for a refill.

“Tough to believe, but actually he was. The
point here is that these two will not be your friends.”

“Hey, wait,
I
didn’t bump off Fedor… a
pissed off god did,” I protested.

She waved away my comment with one
well-manicured hand. “Fedor died in your presence and it’s pretty
well understood that he was in the process of killing you when your
god friend intervened.”

I glanced at the furry mound of sleepy bear
on the floor of the room. Awasos’s brown eyes met mine from where
his half-keg sized head rested on his paws.

“Well, that chain of events worked out pretty
well for me, so I’ll have to live with their hate,” I said.

“That’s the trick, Chris…living through an
old vampire’s hate. You’ll need to watch out for them.”

“Either of them vying for the right to be the
next Elder?”

“No, not according to the Darkkin rumor mill.
There appears to be three contenders for the title. All three are
from Europe, which makes senses, as the Elder, once appointed, will
take charge of Fedor’s old haunts, unless Senka wants them. She
won’t.”

“Why not?”

“Cause she would have to give up the Americas
and she’s pretty attached to North America and the East Coast in
particular,” Nika said, looking at me with a direct gaze.

“Oh, right, because Tanya is here, part of
the North America Coven.”

She nodded. “That’s a big part, but she
always liked these continents better. It’s been argued among
Darkkin for decades that she was given charge of the dregs of the
world when she was elected. But during her watch, Canada and the US
were both settled, as were many parts of South America. Now the US
is one of the richest countries on the planet, Canada is supplying
oil, natural gas, timber and other natural resources to the world,
Brazil is fast emerging as one of the strongest new nations, while
other South American countries are beginning to thrive.”

“And in the meantime, Europe is having
difficulties,” I added.

“Exactly,” she said, smiling. “But many of
the older vampires still live in Europe, and still consider it to
be the end all of vampire existence.”

“I would think there would be more old
vampires in Asia,” I suggested.

“There may be, for all we know. Tzao isn’t
really saying and the ones we do know don’t ever step out of line.
A close knit group, that’s for sure. If they fight among
themselves, they sure keep it well hidden. Europe on the other hand
is one big dysfunctional family.

She laid out three cards next to each
other.

“The three contenders: Lison, currently
living in France, Frimunt, Austrian by birth region, and from old
mother Russia, Mausya. All in their late 800’s. All pretty nasty
pieces of work. Lison is ambitious, but not particularly motivated
to help the Coven. She just wants power and influence. Frimunt has
the whole German devotion to duty thing going for him, as well as a
healthy dose of ruthlessness. Mausya…..well, Mausya is one evil
tempered, nasty, devious piece of shit.”

“Nika, you can’t hold back if you want me to
learn. Tell me how you really feel?” I said, with a deadpan
expression. I had actually never heard her exhibit such emotion
before.

She grinned, then went all serious again.

“Honestly, Chris, they’re all bad news but
Mausya is the worst. My personal preference would be for Frimunt to
be selected, but even Lison would be better than Mausya,” she said
with a shudder.

I studied all the cards she had laid out.
Tavian was dark of hair and looked aristocratic, probably
considered handsome. Elisabeta looked cold but very attractive with
deep red hair and penetrating gray eyes. Lison had black hair and
fine, delicate features, looking like a French actress or model.
Frimunt was blond, blue-eyed and broad shouldered, every inch the
Aryan ideal. Finally, I came to the uber-bitch, Mausya. Mausya
was….beautiful. Brown hair, brown eyes, long graceful neck. She was
smiling for the camera, but when I looked close at her eyes, the
smile wasn’t in them.

“Who makes these cards anyway?” I asked.

“It has varied over the centuries. Before
photography, a particularly skilled artist would be commissioned to
capture all the likenesses. Now, we just have them submit a digital
photo to a Coven owned publishing company in Paris. The decks are
produced or updated only when a change occurs. Darkkin collect them
and display them. It’s a visual history of our most influential
individuals,” she said. “Senka has a really neat collection,
including one deck almost a thousand years old.”

She laid out four more cards.

“Liu, Sun, and Tan; all from Asia and staying
home. Their votes go to Chika and Hosokawa-san. And the final
Patron, from Peru, Jarib Salazar.”

“So how does this voting thing work?” I
asked.

“Each of the Patrons gets two votes. There
are also several other vampires like Hosokawa who are considered
Officers of the Conclave. They each get one vote,” she said, laying
out three more cards and moving Hosokawa’s card down with them.

“Hosokawa is Guardian of the Conclave. He
either keeps the peace or oversees formal Challenges. Atta is
Registrar. She records and tallies all the votes, keeps the minutes
such as they are and writes the formal pronouncement of the
Conclave. Gault is the Prolocutor. He runs the Conclave, keeps the
meeting on track, that sort of thing. He’s got a tough job,” she
said, giving me a look.

I could just imagine trying to keep order
among the giant egos of old vampires.

“Berit is last. She is the Adjudicator,” Nika
said, her voice a little tight. I raised one eyebrow and after a
moment she explained. “She is a powerful telepath, like me. When
the Conclave requires testimony, Berit will rule on the witness’s
truthfulness.”

“Nika, what kind of testimony would the
Conclave need to hear?” I asked slowly, a bad feeling in my almost
full stomach.

“Conclave’s are only called when an Elder has
died and must be replaced. It is traditional to establish the
details of the Elder’s passing prior to selecting their
replacement.”

“So it’s like a murder trial?” I asked.

“No, not really. It establishes the sequence
of events leading to the Elder’s death. In some ways it’s like an
education for the new Elder on what to avoid and how to survive. It
lays out the framework of who did what to whom. Alliances may be
revealed or secret enemies exposed. But that’s just the beginning
of the show,” she said, getting up and helping herself to a bag of
blood from the fridge. She popped it into the warming unit, which
uses a bath of spinning hot water to heat the blood to body
temperature. Kinda like a wine chiller in reverse.

I, myself, had been steadily refilling my
plate and had finished off the entrees. I moved onto the pie and
sherbet.

“So, you’re saying that I’m likely to be
called to explain what happened to Fedor. All of his fans will hate
me and Berit will rummage through my head like this deck of cards,”
I said, picking up the remaining pile of cards. There were a few
left so I fanned through them.

“Hey, you’re in here! And Tanya too!” I said,
looking at a picture of a toddler-sized Tanya.

“Well, I’m only in there because I am Berit’s
backup…you know, in case she meets with an accident or something.
“Tanya is in there because she is Tanya,” she said with a
shrug.

“So what do I expect and when?” I asked.

“First, when all the players have arrived
there will be a welcoming event held by Senka and Tzao, as the
remaining Elders. After that, Gault will convene the Conclave and
the Elders will excuse themselves from the proceedings,” she said,
pouring and sipping her newly warmed blood. I reflected that such a
sight was totally normal for me now. She smiled at my thought.

“Wait! What do you mean the Elders excuse
themselves?” I said, suddenly panicky.

“The Elders
never
attend the actual
Conclave. They may, after a new Elder is selected, object or
Challenge. Usually they’ve already removed any contenders that they
don’t feel they can work with before the Conclave gets
started.”

“By object and remove, do you mean kill?” I
asked. She nodded.

“Kind of defeats the whole democratic process
doesn’t it?” I asked.

“Chris, we’re in no way, shape or form a
democracy. Strength rules, period,” she said, patiently, as if she
were working with a particularly slow pupil, which technically I
am.

“Stop being so hard on yourself. You have
adapted to our world remarkably well in an incredibly short period
of time. Most new vampires spend the first ten years well away from
the rest of our society, cushioned and sheltered from the dangers
of older Darkkin. You’ve been thrust right into the middle of it
and in the most visible way possible.”

“That’s not making me feel better, Nika. I’m
not a vampire, I smell, look and sound like a human, I’m bound to
the most controversial vampire in the history of vampires and now
you’re telling me that the two Darkkin who might prevent me from
getting myself killed won’t be in the room when I am!”

She smiled. “That’s all pretty much true,
Chris. I won’t lie to you…you’re right in the thick of it. But,
don’t worry. I’m fairly certain that Senka and Tzao will take steps
to make sure the Patrons know your importance to them,” she said,
then we both turned to look at the door.

I had felt Tanya’s approach, and Nika likely
‘heard’ her thoughts.

Tanya popped through the door and glanced at
our card party for a moment. Then she turned to me. “Off with the
shirt!” she commanded.

Not even bothering with a snide comment, I
pulled off my borrowed sweatshirt. The two ladies examined my naked
torso for a moment.

“That’s amazing!” Nika said. “He has filled
out already.”

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Tanya
said. “But now he should probably sleep to speed up the recovery.
Plus, Grandmother requests your attendance.” The last was directed
at Nika, who nodded.

“Chris, study those cards when you can,
alright, and we’ll work on it some more later.”

They left and I fell into bed and passed
out.

Chapter 28

When I woke, I found five hours had slipped
by. It was late in the night or early in the morning, depending on
your point of view, I guess. I ate a huge breakfast, courtesy of
Remy’s kitchen, then went looking for answers. Chet Akins was
yawning and rubbing bleary eyes in his computer alcove.

“Hey Bud, how’s it going,” I said.

He hopped up and gave me a bro-hug, then
collapsed back into his ergonomic computer chair.

“Dude, it’s freaking busy around here,” he
said. “I’ve got dozens of groups of vamps coming into Citadel, each
packing sophisticated electronics, each trying to get one over on
our systems. I’m blocking viruses, frying bugs, scrambling signals
and pulling lots and lots of file searches for the Elders. This
Conclave thing is crazy!”

“Any problems?” I asked.

“Only every other minute!” he said. His long
piano-player fingers darted over his keyboard and a video box
popped up on his main monitor. “Check it.”

The security camera feed showed one group of
vampires passing another in one of Citadel’s broad passageways,
both parties tense. Suddenly the footage blurred and the parties
were merged into chaos. Security vampires appeared and waded into
the fray with Darkkin stun guns, which make standard Tasers look
like toys. Liberal application of the zookeeper-grade prods sent
vampires leaping to the walls and ceiling, finally leaving the two
groups separate.

“Some of these groups really hate each other.
I gotta flag each of these clips and send them to Lydia’s team.
Some seem to get along pretty well and those are even more
important for the Elders to know about,” he said. “Which reminds
me. Senka asked me to make a file for you on the major
players.”

He handed me an encrypted zip drive. “She
wants you to get up to speed on the contenders for the Elder
position. She also wants you to keep a low profile and stay out of
sight as much as possible.”

“She’s afraid I’m gonna start some shit or
something?”

“No…she’s afraid some
visiting vamp will start some shit and
you’ll
finish it, creating a political
nightmare. These foreign vamps are an arrogant bunch, think their
shit doesn’t stink. We’re already having problems with assaults on
the human staff. Arkady even assigned two of his guys to
escort
me
around
this stack of concrete.”

He pointed across the room and my eyes
spotted two vampires that I knew worked for Arkady. They were
talking to four others that had arrived in the room the same time I
did. My own security shadow appeared to be back on the job.

“Chris, I gotta get back at this. I don’t get
to go off duty till the sun comes up,” he apologized, pulling his
chair back in front of the console. I waved goodbye and headed back
toward my quarters. The four lounging Darkkin suddenly ‘felt’ the
need to go in the same direction, two out in front of me and two
behind. The hard plastic shape of the zip drive felt like it was
burning a hole in my hand and my curiosity was riled up.

A strange vampire came around the corner
ahead, quickly followed by two more. All in their third or fourth
centuries, they wore matching dark Italian suits. My security
shadows tightened noticeably at the sight of them. Another group of
Darkkin appeared about ten feet behind them, also dressed in high
fashion, three females and two males, followed finally by three
more dark suited types. My ‘age’ sense was jumbled by their close
proximity to each other but they seemed in line with the front
bodyguard guys, that is, until the middle female became visible
enough for me to get a good look at her.