The Wages of Sin (Blood Brothers Vampire Series Book Two) (15 page)

“If you’re in there with a woman, I hope she’s
dead,” Thor called from the courtyard.

Heimdall was standing on the balcony of Jewel’s
apartment having a cigarette. His eyes went wide and he glanced
back into the house. Jewel was in the restroom and the roommates
were still out.

“She is,” he lied.

“I’m coming up.”

“No.” Heimdall jumped from the railing and landed in
the grass in front of Thor. “Let’s just go.”

“You’re lying to me. If you’ve done something that’s
going to create a problem for us, I want to know about it.”

Thor started to climb the stairs to the apartment
and Heimdall grabbed him from behind and flung him onto the grass.
“Back off!”

“This is for your own good. If there’s someone alive
up there, somebody has to resolve the situation.”

“Nothing you’ve ever done has been for my own good.
You ripped me away from everything I had, you ruined my girl’s
life, and you turned me into a monster. If you want to do something
good for me, fuck off.”

Thor was silent for a moment. “You remember…”

“Yeah, I remember. I remember enough not to trust
either of you. And now that I’m out, I’m not coming back. If you
and your asshole Brothers don’t come after me, I won’t come after
you.”

“It’s her, isn’t it? The girl up there. She’s the
same one from the other night.”

“You mind your own business and go.”

“You picked up your old life where it left off. You
returned to the relationship. This is… This is the worst thing you
can do.”

“Thor, you’d better pretend you didn’t find me.”

“Don’t make threats. I’m here to help and they
wouldn’t change things if I wasn’t.”

“I mean it. Tell Loki I up and vanished.”

“We’re going to have a conversation first.”

“—And if you mean to kill her you better kill me
first, because I swear on everything holy if you harm one hair on
her head—”

“Clichés, clichés. You used to be a writer.”

“I’m serious. Walk away.”

Thor shook his head. “I wouldn’t do anything to harm
you, Heimdall. I don’t know how much you remember, but you did save
my life. That said, I’m not going anywhere until you and I have had
words, so here are your options: we either go to my car and talk
there, or we talk upstairs with your girlfriend and she finds out
all about what you’ve become. I think it’s probably easier for the
three of us if you and I go to the car. Would you say so?”

Heimdall looked over his shoulder at the apartment.
If Loki was here too and they wanted blood, he didn’t stand a
chance. “I’ll give you ten minutes.”

“I think I can make that work.”

Thor and Heimdall sat in the front seats of the
Rolls Royce with the windows up and spoke in low voices. Yet again,
Thor was stuck bearing witness to a situation forbid by the holy
texts, but he meant to make this conversation the last one of its
kind.

“I know it’s only been a couple days for you and
you’re still getting used to this whole idea, coming to terms with
the kind of life you’re going to have to live from now on, and I
can respect that. I also know the rest of us have told you how
dangerous it is to associate with humans and to break the rules
Ofeigr set in stone a long time ago, but I’m not convinced you’re
aware of just how much potential danger you’re putting yourself and
the rest of us in, so I want to be sure we’re completely clear on
this.

“We are being watched, always, by a group of
vampires called the Chosen, and we’re not sure just how many of
them there are or whether it’s possible to pull the wool over their
eyes, but it’s safe to assume the worst. There’s a very real
possibility, given how fucked up things have been around Loki’s
house the last few months, that we’ve been under scrutiny for some
time. There’s a good chance they’ve had their eyes on you since the
moment you were reborn and they’re watching us right now. I’m not
saying this to scare you exactly, I’m just trying to be open with
you.

“
I don’t know if
you’ve had sex with this girl yet, and I don’t want to know because
my odds of survival are better the more ignorant I am, but the fact
is this: if these guys are watching you, or if they come to begin
watching you, and they find out you’re romantically linked with a
human, they’ll kill her, and they’ll probably kill you too. And if
you’re sleeping with her—or if they
think
you are—and if she’s
pregnant—or they
think
she
might
be—they’ll kill her, they’ll kill you, and then, probably,
they’ll track down me, Loki, and Tyr and kill us too. All four of
us will probably be tortured, and you’ll get it worse than anybody.
That’s the reality of the situation. Is that clear?”

Heimdall wouldn’t keep eye contact. He stared ahead
into the empty parking lot and when Thor asked him a direct
question he turned his eyes and looked out the window with a
sigh.

Thor shook his head and lit a cigarette. “I should
go in there and kill her right now, and if I was Loki, I would. In
fact, if I was Tyr—much of a hypocrite as I’d be—I still probably
would. This isn’t something you fuck around with. It puts our whole
species at risk of being found out and there are forces in place to
make sure that doesn’t happen. And considering we’ve been around as
long as humans have and there have been few cultures and few times
when anybody has taken us seriously, the forces in place are
obviously pretty damn effective.

“
Where you’re
lucky is it’s only me who’s here today, and I’m not gonna kill you
or her for two reasons. The first one, like I said, is I’d be dead
without you—that counts for something. The second one, which is
just as important, is that Loki and Tyr have been just about as
fucked up as you lately and I’m not particularly interested in
being around them anymore either. You caught me at the right time,
because I’m done. I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m removing
myself from the equation. When one of the three of you inevitably
brings the others down, I’m going to be far away and as
disconnected as possible and
hopefully
that will stop me from
suffering with the rest of you.

“I’m not telling you what to do, but as far as I can
see you have three options. The first is to go back to Loki and let
him guide you through this, but I don’t think you want to do that
and I don’t blame you. The second is to go it alone as a grossly
inexperienced vampire, take your chances with a girl who is going
to get old and die before you age a day, and pray that you don’t
get caught or get her pregnant and get us all killed. And the third
choice is to come with me, now, and kill her if there’s any chance
at all you impregnated her tonight—and I’ll do it for you if you
ask me to—and I’ll show you how to live this life safely and
enjoyably. Those are your choices, but you have to decide now.”

Heimdall said nothing for some time. He stared ahead
and scowled and shook his head. “Why didn’t you guys just kill me?
What was the point? I ripped a woman’s throat open last night—I
mean, murdered her in cold blood for no reason—and you’re talking
about killing another one.”

“You’ll kill tons of them; that part’s not optional.
One every few nights, at the least. That’s life.”

“Why? You take years off their lives to give
yourself a few days and then do it over and over to live eternally?
That’s not your right.”

“You shouldn’t remember. That mortal life is over.
It isn’t worth—”

“It’s not over for me! I remember. All of you are
deluding yourselves because you can’t survive if you don’t, but I’m
not. I won’t.”

“I really think you should come with me,
Heimdall.”

“My name is Jonathan. This Heimdall character—that’s
who you want me to be, and I’m not. Fuck you, Thor. You and your
friends are sociopaths. There’s no justification for what you
do.”

Heimdall got out of the car and shut the door.

Thor finished his cigarette and stubbed it out in
the ashtray. He’d hoped for another answer, but he’d gotten the one
he was expecting.

That was that. He put the car into reverse and
backed out of the parking lot. Dawn was getting close. There was
still a room in his name at the Excalibur. He’d spend the day
there, and when the sun went down he’d catch a red eye somewhere
new.

Thor had hardly turned out of the parking lot when
he heard movement in the back seat and a voice said, “Just circle
the block, Thor. I’m not going far.”

He jerked his head around. The nameless vampire. The
guy the newspapers called The Wandering Butcher. A few weeks
earlier they barely knew who he was, now he was everywhere at once,
pulling strings and making the rest of them dance on the stage.

“Butcher. How like you to stop by uninvited.”

Thor was terrified. None of them knew who this
enigmatic vampire was or why he’d taken the sudden interest in
them. He could have been Chosen, or a hopeful vigilante looking to
get Ofeigr’s attention. Whoever he was, he’d just witnessed a
conversation between Thor and Heimdall that gave him more than
enough to incriminate both of them if he was so inclined.

The Butcher climbed into the front and took a seat.
“How have you been? Sounds like things are a little rough.”

“Why don’t you cut through the bullshit for once?
What’s your interest and what do you want from me?”

“My interests are broad and general. I just like to
watch, same as you and your Brothers. Well, maybe not your
Brothers.” He laughed. “Seems like they’re not satisfied with
watching anymore; they want to participate.”

“It’s true. They’re getting irresponsible. That’s
their problem, not mine. If you’ve got an issue, take it up with
them.”

“I don’t. I don’t have an issue. It’s a good time
watching them. You too. It’ll be a shame to see you go.”

“Well, that’s the way it is. They get their shit
together, maybe I’ll come back. But it’s time I stepped aside and
let them sort it out.”

“So you side with Loki and go?”

“I’m not siding, I’m just going.”

“You tracked Tyr down, set his house on fire, tied
him up, left his girlfriend with Loki…”

“So you’re on Tyr’s side? You think I should have
helped him? Is that your point?”

“You think Loki’s gonna kill them?”

“What do I know?” The truth was he hadn’t let
himself think about it. He couldn’t see Loki killing his Brother,
but Eva… well…

“The girl for sure, right?”

“So what’s my stake in it? What’s yours?”

“Oh, nothing. I’m just interested in relationships,
and the one between you and your Brothers is fascinating.”

“Yeah, well, maybe get your own relationships and
don’t worry about ours.”

The Butcher laughed. “Fair enough. Of curiosity
though, what’s with the black rose tattoos you’ve got on your
chests? I’ve noticed them a couple times. Some sort of gangland
insignia, or is it supposed to be some kind of bond? Something to
do with loyalty or something?”

Thor put his hand on the tattoo. “You know you’re
pushing your luck stalking us. You’re older than I am, maybe even
older than them, but there’s four of us and one of you.”

“Four? I count one and one and one and one. They
only make four if you put them together.”

“If you have a point, reach it. If you’re gonna kill
me, do it. Your lectures are boring.”

The Butcher gave another short, snide laugh. “It’s
all about killing with you three. All those casualties over the
years have fucked you up. No, I’ve no point. Drop me at the corner
here. I think I’ll spend the day here and speak with your new
friend when there’s time.”

Thor put the car in park. “Are you going to kill
him?” He was more bothered by the idea than he would have
expected.

“Listen to yourself. ‘Are you gonna kill him?’ ‘Are
you gonna kill me?’ ‘Should I kill him?’ ‘Will he kill me?’ Do you
ever stop thinking about murder for ten minutes?”

The Butcher got out of the car without giving an
answer.

Thor could have refused to drop him off. He could
have put up a fight. But it didn’t feel like he had the upper hand
and short of killing the Butcher there wasn’t much he could do to
prevent whatever he had in store.

He put the car back into drive and headed for
Excalibur, but he had to pull over in a parking lot a few blocks
down the road and loathe himself. Ten minutes ago he’d been happy
to bail on everything. Now he felt he was leaving Tyr in an unfair
position. The conversation with the Butcher had left him none the
wiser in regards to the stranger’s motivation, but he knew damn
well he was being led in the direction of setting Tyr loose—evening
the odds.

He unbuttoned his shirt and looked at the tattoo,
contemplating it for the first time in ages.

The Black Rose.

It didn’t mean as much as it used to, and the events
it stood to mark were long before his time, but the mark was still
there and it would be as long as he walked and bled.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE

Tale of the Black Rose, Part II

The Birth of the Blood Brothers

They came at dusk. Dragonboats. Hundreds of them.
Minutes after the sun passed under the horizon they were there on
the sea, out in the distance where you might have spotted them in
the light of day but where at night they were invisible. An hour
later they came adrift on English shores, all over the east coast,
and the men who stepped ashore had spears and axes and hard ons.
They were called Vikings. In the eleventh century, it could be
assumed that a large man with a spear and an erection was a
Viking.

Off the hundreds of dragonboats stepped thousands of
Vikings with tens of thousands of weapons and they marched into
Yorkshire headed for the city of York.