The Immortal Coil (22 page)

“Who did you lose?” I asked.

“We should speak elsewhere,” she suggested. “I have a limousine waiting for me on the next street. If you’ll join me I will share my story once we have reached the safety of our shelter.”

“Not without Lyle,” I insisted.

“Noah is retrieving him and will meet us there.” Vivian collected the briefcase and walked to the ledge. With remarkable agility for someone wearing a tight skirt and business suit, she jumped down to the pavement, landed on her feet, and kept walking. Not wanting to be shown up, I dove off after her, also landing successfully.

As she said, there was a limo waiting for us one block over. One of the darkened buildings we passed was filled with sounds of violence. I opened my mouth to redirect Vivian’s attention, but before I could get the words out she refuted my concern.

“We have Outsiders, hired mercenaries, clearing out the buildings we have sealed off.” Getting in the limo with her was awkward after our argument. It would be my own fault if I fell into a trap after all the experience I had with them. The ride was quiet, and short. The shelter she referred to was a police station less than a mile away. Our driver escorted us to the door.

“Why a police station? I’d think a four-star hotel would suit you more,” I asked.

“I prefer to travel in luxury, but this is business and I’d rather my business be secure.” The station was abandoned and pitch-black until she turned the lights on and entered all the correct passcodes to bypass security. We made our way to an office on a lower level, locking all doors and security gates behind us. Inside was another briefcase and her engraved
katana
sheathed on top of a desk.

“What happened to all the police officers that worked here?”

“Reassigned to another precinct overnight while the building is closed for inspection, as per the commissioner’s orders.”

“You mean your orders.”

“I won’t take all the credit. He practically handed the keys over on bended knee without any supernatural influence. Not a wise man, but a simple one, and there is something to be said for that.”

“And that is?”

“I don’t know, you would have to ask his wife.” Vivian busied herself with files on the office’s computer while we waited.

“Shouldn’t Noah be here by now?” I was starting to get nervous again. It wasn’t like him to not be ten steps ahead.

She produced a cell phone from her suit jacket, although I wasn’t sure how she had room for it in something so formfitting. “He’s on his way,” she let out a sigh after reading a message. “Trying to scare Monsieur Turner by traveling via rooftops.”

No surprise there.

“You have a cell phone?” I didn’t want it to come off as insulting. The Archios definitely kept with the times, but still it was kind of amusing and the tension between us was making me antsy.

“Of course, love. It’s the twenty-first century,” she said, so blasé that I felt stupid for asking.

I sat in a chair across the desk from her playing with the pens and paperclips by levitating them.

“It’s good you are finally practicing your gift.” She smiled, keeping her eyes on the computer. “When you first arrived at the chateau you were too timid to even admit you had it.”

“I guess I’ve had my back against the wall one too many times not to,” I said and showed off a little by trying to create patterns in the air with the office supplies.

“Sometimes that is the best way to find out who we truly are and what we are capable of.”

“Yeah, Noah kinda simulated that a little too well back in France.”

“Boys will be boys, even when they are almost two hundred years old.”

I had never spent this much time with Vivian until now. It was almost pleasant and made me laugh inside thinking how jealous Lyle would be if he knew. She turned off the computer monitor and stepped in front of a floor-length mirror to freshen up. I couldn’t keep myself from staring. If I had difficulty looking away, then Lyle was a lost cause.

“You promised to tell me your story,” I reminded her. “Who was it that you lost?”

“My dearest friend, Jehanette. I was born of noble blood in France during the early 1400s. My brothers had died in the war against England before I was old enough to remember their faces. Because of this I was kept at my parents’ side under close watch. My only friends growing up were the children of our servants.

“When I became of proper age I was allowed trips into town disguised as one of the servant’s children while they tended to the family’s errands. It was there that I became acquainted with young Jehanette. I was her senior by several years, yet she had a fire in her much like my own. We conversed on all manner of things, including the war with England. I questioned what a peasant girl would know of such diplomatic affairs, but she seemed as well-versed as any king.

“Some time later I accompanied my family to a formal gathering of nobility near Paris. I attended under instructions of my father not to speak of political matters, as it was not my place. The event quickly became an inquisition between noble houses to see where each stood on the war. Defying my father, I found it difficult to remain silent on issues I felt strongly about, such as my displeasure with our King’s failure to drive out the English and restore France to its former glory.

“I caught the ear of another noblewoman, who agreed with my views and expressed the same disgust in our mandated silence due to gender. We spoke more in private. I confided my friendship with the peasant girl to her and how even she could see clearly that changes were needed.

“I was invited to stay and talk more with her. I expected my father to decline such an invitation, but after a brief meeting with her he agreed with a surprising amount of enthusiasm.

“The very next day the woman was nowhere to be found. Her servants reported she had taken ill and had requested privacy while resting in her chambers. That night, however, she greeted me in fine health and high spirits, apologizing for her absence. She spoke passionately of sending the English back across the channel and of a lovely dream where we instead ruled them.

“Our conversation took a turn to religion and the supernatural as the night drew on. I thought she was daft at first or the wine had taken hold of her, as she preached of a power to rule them all right under our noses. I politely agreed, but felt uncomfortable with the heretical discussion and excused myself for the remainder of the night.

“The noblewoman appeared in my bedchambers so inconspicuously I was certain it was a dream. Her speech from earlier continued as if there were no pause while she stood over me. A bit frightened, yet intrigued by her ambition, I agreed we had much in common and should work together to make our dreams reality.

“I knew not what deal I made. Immediately her fangs at my throat took my life from me. The blood in my veins was replaced with the divine ichor flowing from her wrist. Over the next few nights my new life was explained to me. The woman had a plan that included my peasant friend back home. As noblewomen, our presence would draw much unwanted attention, but hers would go unnoticed until the time was right. She sent me to Jehanette under the shroud of night, impersonating the saints she prayed to.

“With the ability to easily influence a mortal’s mind and new angelic features, along with clever costuming, I assumed the guise of a holy spirit. I explained the plan to infiltrate our military and how to strike a critical blow to the English. While dear Jehanette marched onward with the guidance of a ‘divine spirit’ behind her, I worked from the shadows to manipulate the minds of all she encountered, paving an easy road to victory.

“The noblewoman’s plan unfolded flawlessly. I returned to her chateau bearing the good news. While I was away I received word that Jehanette had been captured. She had taken up her own crusade, believing the silence of the Holy Spirit was a sign of displeasure at her idleness. I immediately sought to rescue my friend, but was stopped by the woman. Jehanette had played her part, she explained. Her death would close the book on any suspicion of supernatural involvement that may lead an investigation back to us. I argued to save the life of my friend as she was worth more than a few military victories. My pleas were denied. Rumors were spread that Jehanette’s divine guidance was nothing more than bouts of insanity, and the charges of witchcraft were dropped. I was witness to her burning at the stake and I felt every bit of her pain as if it were my own.

“Years later I was made wise to hidden truths behind the war. After the Black Death, when many kingdoms were weakened, high-ranking Archios were given land to watch over so as to prevent any further turmoil while humanity rebuilt from the ashes. The Archios controlled both England and France at the time of war. Those in charge endeavored to expand their territories by overruling the other, which caused the war.

“Feeling betrayed that I had based my trust on a lie, I confronted my master. She confessed both kingdoms had been under her control. To her, the war was an annoyance, as is the squabbling between her children to a mother. The deaths of my brothers, my closest friend, and countless others was at the hands of the very people I served blindly.

“There was little I could do, and I was not fool enough to directly defy the progenitor of our coven. Instead, I strived to rectify the injustice tainting the legacy of my good friend’s name. Using the same methods I was taught that led her to death, I coerced the Church to reexamine her trial and under new evidence I produced, her honor was restored. Since last century she has been canonized as Saint Jeanne d’Arc, La Pucelle d’Orléans.”

“Here’s your pet,” Noah said, bursting in on our conversation and dumping Lyle on the floor.

“Perfect timing,” Vivi greeted them.

“Duh.” Noah pulled my chair out from under me, sat in it himself, and threw his feet up on the desk.

“Slow down a second,” Lyle said, looking at the three of us. “What’s going on? Should I be running for my life or not?”

“No, dumbass,” Noah sighed. “If I was going to kill you I would’ve just let you fall from one of those buildings on the way here.”

Vivi smacked Noah’s feet off the desk and presented Lyle with the briefcase. “There isn’t much time left to waste. This contains a copy of everything I used to absolve you from your false charges. The memories of everyone involved have already been altered to reflect the alibi I created. You can walk back into work as a hero.”

Lyle was wide-eyed and speechless as he flipped through the papers. It was like watching a kid on Christmas morning open a present he had been waiting all year for. “I don’t know what to say. Why did you do all this?” he asked her.

“There’s no reason for you to have been involved in our mess. You’ve been nothing but selfless, so it was only right for me to correct the mistakes made.”

“It’s just who I am. I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you.”

“You could take a shower,” Noah mocked, while checking out his own reflection in the mirror.

“Just live your life as you would have if we had never met,” she told Lyle. “There is a limousine upstairs waiting to take you to a hotel outside the city limits for the night. By dawn tomorrow this will all be over.”

“No,” Lyle said, firmly placing the briefcase back on the desk. “I’m not leaving until it is. This is my home and I’m here to fight for it. You already saved my life twice. I could never just walk away after that.”

“The conflict ahead is no place for —” Vivi started.

“A human? I’ve been getting that a lot lately, but I’m still here.” Lyle stepped closer to her. “If you want me gone then you’re going to have to make me, because I’m not going anywhere.”

“That can be arranged, monsieur.” Vivi’s eyes began to glow as they locked with his. Before her hypnotic influence could take effect, Lyle closed his eyes and leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. The kiss continued for several seconds as I watched in astonishment.

“Gross.” Noah raised an eyebrow and walked out of the room. “I’ll be outside working if you wanna join me, Vivi.”

Lyle flipped Noah the middle finger and continued his impassioned embrace with Vivi. She rested her hands upon his chest while he held her face.

“I think you’ve made your point, Monsieur Turner,” she whispered to him after finally breaking away. “Your choice is yours to make.”

For the first time since I had met her, her reserved professional behavior seemed to melt just a bit before she could collect herself again.

“Meet us upstairs and I will fill you in on what lies ahead,” she said, picking up her
katana
on the way out. “You’ll be needing the weapons in that briefcase.”

“Don’t forget I was the one who introduced you to her,” I joked, and tried not to laugh at his grin.

“I love New York,” he said, putting on the holsters and loading ammo into his new guns. “Even when it’s bad, it’s good.”

“You know, she probably planned on that happening the whole time. I mean, she already had it all set up with the handguns and everything.”

“Even better,” he laughed on our way upstairs.

“Shall we, boys?” Vivi had a map of Manhattan rolled out on a table upstairs that she and Noah were inspecting. “The areas I’ve circled are where the highest concentration of infected are.”

The Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Penn Station, and South Street Seaport were all highlighted.

“I’m not seeing a pattern,” I said. “If my apartment was ground zero, then why didn’t the plague just spread outward from there?”

“The Carpathians slipped into the city from the southern docks and traveled north through the sewers to your neighborhood. Once hospitals here were overwhelmed, patients were transferred west across Central Park. After you left the city, the Carpathians began infecting people at Penn Station, allowing the plague to spread by the subway systems.”

“All these people dead because of me. Why didn’t they just attack directly if they knew where I was?”

“The same reason we didn’t,” Vivi answered. “Nobody knew what you were capable of. Rushing in ran a high risk of failure. Don’t be too hard on yourself; the Carpathians had been scheming to do something like this for quite some time whether you were involved or not.”

“Let’s just be glad the Archios were here to help,” Lyle said. “How do we end this? I don’t see it all going away by dawn.”

“Luckily, the infection spreads through direct fluid contact and isn’t an airborne disease. Sectioning off areas and eradicating the creatures isn’t much of a problem, but we have to stop the source. We’ve closed down the docks and sent the Outsiders in through the sewers to flush out any remaining infected for disposal.

“It’s the Carpathians that are the problem. We have reason to believe there is at least a small group hiding in the city that is helping the plague spread more each night. The plan is to clear out as many infected as we can in our own small groups to lure the Carpathians out of hiding. They are going to be somewhere around a high concentration of the plague. This was their focal point, and it would make sense that their hideout is near here. The Carpathians are also going to want to stay close to watch for Dorian’s return.”

“You think they’re in his building?” Lyle asked.

“No, we’ve checked there already. There are three hospitals within a few blocks. If the Carpathians wanted to stay close enough to watch for you and continue propagating the outbreak, the hospitals would make the most sense.

“We’ll split up to cover more ground. Noah and I will each take a facility, you and Dorian will take the third.”

“Good thing we stayed, huh?” Lyle said as he patted me on the shoulder.

“We never said we were letting Dorian leave, we just weren’t going to kill him,” Vivi said.

“Right as I was starting to like you too,” I frowned.

“It’s nothing personal, dear. Business is business, no matter how unpleasant. I wish no harm to come to either of you.”

“Aren’t you going to get in trouble with Aurelia, returning without our heads on a platter?” I asked.

“I’m always in trouble with Aurelia,” Noah shrugged.

“Our success in driving out the Carpathians will trump her other orders. She’ll surely be displeased, but investing more time in tracking you down, assuming you’re even still alive, wouldn’t be worthwhile. As long as Monsieur Turner keeps our existence a secret, Aurelia will not concern herself over him. Her real interest was in Dorian for his potential to become a threat, but we will try and convince her otherwise should we need to.”

“What if you just ran away?” Lyle suggested.

“She does not need to be in range to exact her mental dominance over others, especially her own progeny,” Vivi explained. “As with all other Ancients, her power is something we could never hope to overcome. Aurelia’s machinations may be unclear to many, but once you learn how to coexist things can be quite peaceful. It may not be a perfect afterlife, but I’ve come to accept it. The perks even make it entertaining at times.”