JAVIER (6 page)

“I don’t need looking after. I’m fine as I am.”

She had retreated from him; her defences going up
almost visibly.

He was just about to press her further when the
kitchen door was pushed open and Gabriel looked in, his expression urgent;

“There you are, I have been looking for you. We have
an interesting development.”

“What’s up?” Javier got to his feet quickly.

“Andreas took over the night shift with his team;
there was no movement, none at all and the lack of lights made him really
suspicious. Nothing more than a gut feeling. He entered the house and found
three dead Empaths. The day shift says that only one car visited the house. We
need to get in there and take a look ourselves.”

Cassia looked at the two men;

“How can you have a day shift?” she asked

“Half-bloods. We have a whole brigade of them. Always
have done. They are good warriors.” Javier answered distractedly.

That was a surprise, thought Cassia; she had never
known that the Warrior’s Council accepted half Human hybrids. It was a
pragmatic decision though, they could tolerate sunlight. That would be very
useful indeed even if they lacked all the abilities of pure bred Vampires.

Javier and Gabriel left the kitchen and Cassia
followed right behind them;

“If you are going back to that house you should take
me with you.” she said

Both the men stopped and turned to her at the same
time;

“Why should we do that?” Gabriel asked flatly;

“Because I know things about that house that you
don’t. There is a safe hidden in one of the downstairs rooms and there is a
secret cellar behind one of the panels in the hall. The ones who killed the
Empaths may not have known…there might be clues.”

Gabriel stared and Cassia was sure she saw a
suppressed smile.

“You’re very thorough before you commit a robbery
then.” he commented dryly.

“Extremely.” said Cassia, “I always like a clear
picture of the lie of the land; that way there are no nasty surprises.  I do my
homework carefully.”

The two men looked at each other then Javier spoke;

“Alright. You will shift with me as before and do
exactly as I say…exactly Cass. Are you clear on that?”

“Crystal clear. I’ll need my set of picks back
Javier.”

“Tools of the trade?” he asked, as he fished them out
of a pocket and handed them over.

“You don’t know the half of it. I never go anywhere
without them.”

Cassia followed the two men as they crossed the hall
and descended a staircase into a long stone flagged underground passage.
Looking around covertly she noticed cameras and sensors along the walls. All
the doors leading off this corridor appeared to be metal with biometric
security panels. This must be the real hub of activity on the Island thought
Cassia, not the elegant chateau above ground.

Javier leaned forward before a retina scanner and
turned to Cassia as the heavy door swung silently open;

“Don’t touch anything in here.”

The massive room they entered had an oily metallic
smell and Cassia gasped as she looked round. It was obviously an armoury. She
had never seen so many lethal weapons in her life. Both Gabriel and Javier had
guns tucked into their belts; what more did they need? Nervously she plaited
her hair quickly into one long braid then twisted it up at the nape of her
neck; she liked her hair out of the way when she was working. Now both men
appeared to be signing out big guns she recognized from TV programmes as AK-47
assault rifles. This was all normality for them; just a part of their job.
Javier smiled at her reassuringly;

“Don’t worry, just being prepared. Let’s go.”

Cassia followed the two warriors back into the
corridor. They barely spoke but seemed in total accord and she realized it came
from decades and decades of living, working and fighting together. There was a
similarity about the way they moved; Gabriel catlike and lethal and Javier with
that stealthy grace she had noticed earlier. They were practically shoulder to
shoulder, both of them about six feet five and she could suddenly see why the
civilians of her race were in such awe of their powerful protectors. She felt
slightly ashamed of the way she had always taken them for granted.

Now they were just outside the chateau and Javier
reached for her. Cassia felt a flash of irritation as her stomach seemed to do
a flip when he pulled her in close. Really, it should be against the law for a
man to smell that good. She couldn’t stop herself taking deep breaths; the
scent of him was intoxicating.

They materialized in the hallway of the house she had
left so dramatically a short time ago and all three of them scented the air and
stiffened;

“Blood. A lot of it. Cassia, stay here. Don’t move
till I come back.” Javier muttered.

The warrior Andreas appeared in the doorway Cassia
knew led to the living room;

“One in here Sir, one in the study and one just inside
the kitchen door; looks like he was trying to make a break for it.”

As Javier and Gabriel moved from room to room checking
out the bodies Cassia eavesdropped on their quiet conversation.

“Messy, a single bullet each would have done it. The
killers enjoyed their job.”

“They were caught by surprise; see, no blast marks.
They trusted their killers.”

“We need to get Chronus here; this is an Empath house,
his jurisdiction.”

“Andreas, send Stephan to fetch him. I’ll phone ahead
to warn him. Wish I could see his face, he hates shifting.”

“Empaths usually do.”

Cassia jumped as heavy boots pounded down the stairs
and two more armed warriors pointed their weapons at her;

“It’s all right, she’s with me.” Javier appeared in
the doorway of the study then turned and spoke over his shoulder;

“Cover him up with something. Cass, where’s that
safe?”

Cassia pointed;

“The study. Behind the second rate landscape.” She
moved to go into the study but Javier held her off for a moment then gestured
with his head, his expression grim;

“Alright now.”

Cassia moved swiftly across the room avoiding the
shrouded figure on the floor. The smell of blood was overwhelming and she
swallowed then concentrated on moving the picture to one side.

“I wasn’t interested in the safe, my target was the
Goya in the living room but I like to familiarize myself with the full set-up
so I knew this was here. It’s a pity I don’t have any of my equipment; this
isn’t a hard design to open.”

Javier peered closely at the safe;

“Should I try shooting out the lock?”

“Not sure that would work. Hold on, let me try
something.”

Javier watched, intrigued, as Cassia approached the
desk and opened the top drawer then ran slim fingers round the edge and
underneath. She shook her head then repeated the same action on the second and
third drawers, her face a picture of total concentration. As she ran her hand
under the last drawer she suddenly smiled at Javier in triumph then pulled the
drawer completely out and unpinned the piece of paper stuck to the bottom with
a drawing pin;

“They do it every time, so predictable. No shooting
required Javier, here’s the combination.”

She had the safe open in an instant. Javier rifled
through it; two handguns, jewellery, some documents which he handed to Cassia
and a blue velvet box. He opened the box and frowned; the item inside had been
removed but it had left its imprint and it looked familiar. Javier went to the
door and shouted for Gabriel then came back to the desk and checked through the
documents;

“These are old, all in Latin…”

Cassia peered at the writing;

“I read old documents all the time. This is a covenant,
very old. See all the signatures? This newer looking one is a copy but updated.
See the heading? Flavia and I heard correctly…The Knights of the Obsidian
Dagger…” she stopped abruptly as Javier exhaled on a hiss.

“But that’s a myth isn’t it? I mean, it doesn’t exist.
Javier?”

At that moment Gabriel came in and Javier opened the
blue velvet box;

“What do you think was kept in here Gabriel?”

Cassia watched with alarm as Gabriel visibly paled and
raked a hand through his hair;

“Oh shit, I really hoped it had been lost over the
centuries. The legend must be accurate, we have captured four of them, there is
at least one other out there, possibly two. It’s all starting again.”

Cassia grabbed Javier’s arm;

“What? What’s starting? Are you telling me it isn’t a
myth? The Obsidian Dagger? It’s not possible.”

“It’s no myth I’m afraid,” Javier’s expression was
tense, “The daggers exist, I have seen what happens when they are used, so has
Gabriel.”

Gabriel nodded, “They exist alright. Cassia, where is
this hidden space you mentioned?”

Cassia stared at the two of them then headed into the
panelled hallway; now where was it exactly? Running her hands over the ornate
carving in the wood she shut her eyes; sometimes the body remembered better
than the mind. Delicately her fingers traced over the wood until…there it was,
she pressed firmly. The panel slid open silently revealing a dark yawning
emptiness.

She heard it first, the faintest of scuffling sounds.
Jumping backwards she grabbed Javier;

“There’s something down there!” she hissed.

Javier motioned to Gabriel and they both listened
intently; there it was again. Carefully Javier reached round the edge of the
panel and felt about then smiled. A light clicked on revealing steps descending
into the gloom. Levelling his AK-47 he started silently down the stairs with
Gabriel close behind. They didn’t instruct her not to so Cassia followed them.

The steps led down to a large dimly lit cellar. It
appeared completely empty. Gabriel moved slowly round one side and Javier
covered the other then Gabriel turned and caught Javier’s eye. He made a quick
hand signal pointing to a shadowed corner of the space partially obscured by a
pile of boxes. Cassia attuned her hearing to its most acute and caught the
sound; a frantic weak heartbeat. The sound of extreme fear. The men were
hearing it too, she could tell from the way their bodies were poised. Javier
inched silently into the shadows then darted forward so fast his body appeared
to blur. When he emerged he was holding someone by the scruff of the neck;
briefly he stared then gently lowered his prey to the ground.

“Dios! It’s a young girl.”

The girl was filthy; long blonde hair cloaking her
shoulders as she gazed at the two men in terror and tried to crawl backwards
making small breathless sounds of distress. She was one of them; a young
Vampire not long past adolescence.

Cassia inched forward slowly, murmuring;

“Pull back, she’s terrified, let me…”

Dropping to her knees in front of the girl she reached
out and gently swept back the tangled mass of hair, her heart contracting as
the girl cringed.

“It’s okay sweetheart. I’m Cassia, those big guys are
here to rescue you. We are your kind. You’re safe with me, understand?”

The girl fixed huge dull eyes on her and nodded then
looked again at Javier and Gabriel who had retreated a little distance away.
Her face was chalky white and when Cassia touched her cheek it was icy. She was
in desperate need of blood. Slowly, so as not to startle her, Cassia put an arm
round the girl’s shaking shoulders and pulled her close. Then she raised her
wrist, scored her own vein and held it to the girl’s lips;

“You need to take blood right now, come on, try.” She
said gently then flexed her wrist slightly to increase the flow allowing blood
to drip onto the girl’s mouth; surely that would trigger her feeding impulse.

The girl whimpered weakly then, to Cassia’s relief,
her canines descended and she struck Cassia’s vein hungrily, hard and clumsily
enough to cause pain. She couldn’t help it, thought Cassia as she suppressed a
gasp, she was desperate. She drank in long thirsty drags making small
whimpering sounds; snuggling in closer like a frightened child.

Something soft and warm was draped round the two of
them and looking up Cassia saw that Javier had covered them both with a blanket
and was sitting on an old box, out of the girl’s line of sight.

Gabriel was examining something that covered the walls
and other surfaces of the room; rubbing it between his fingers. He turned and
raised his palm towards Javier; it appeared to be covered with fine grey ash.
Then he pointed silently at the centre of the floor. Cassia followed Javier’s
eyes; there was an odd starburst pattern marking the old stone flags. She
wondered what it meant, both men clearly knew because Gabriel’s eyes darkened
with fury and he took a deep breath and moved across the room. Javier joined
him and the two of them talked quietly.  Cassia tried to listen but she was
concentrating on the girl, rocking her gently as she started to sing a lullaby
in the old language.