(Blue Fire 05) Heartless [A] Read online

  “In either case, I think we had best look for answers closer to the dorm,” Smith said. “If the reanimation was not performed here, then near to the dorm seems the next best bet.”

  Rome popped her umbrella open. “Let’s go then.”

  The three of them walked silently out of the graveyard and climbed into their SUV. In just a few minutes, they were parked outside Leesa’s dorm.

  The rain had nearly stopped now, floating lightly down in what was little more than a heavy mist. The sky remained an unbroken black blanket, without a hint of the moon or any stars.

  The three agents donned dark blue ball caps and headed toward the side of the building. Smith and Jones carried their unopened umbrellas with them in case the rain started up in force again. Rome left hers in the car.

  When they reached the front corner of the dorm, Rome took the lead, walking slowly in a small zigzag pattern along the south side of the building, her senses alert for any signs of vestigial magic. Smith and Jones remained a few paces behind, giving her plenty of space to work. Every step by any of them produced a soggy, squishing sound.

  Just outside the rear door, Rome stopped and squatted. She ran her hands slowly back and forth a foot above the sodden turf.

  “Magic was performed here,” she said. “It feels about as old as the magic in the cemetery, so it’s a good bet the two are related. Once again, though, I sense no magic related to any reanimation.”

  Smith looked toward the door. “Whatever was done here, I think it’s reasonable to assume that the next step occurred inside.”

  He reached for the doorknob and found that the door was locked. Pulling a small black leather case from his inside jacket pocket, he withdrew a chrome lock pick and set to work. In less than a minute, the door was open and the three of them stepped inside.

  “The zombies ended up on the third floor,” Jones said. “Let’s try the stairwell and see if we find anything.”

  Once again, Rome led the way, climbing the stairs slowly in the same zigzag pattern she had used outside the dorm. One step below the third floor landing, she stopped. She moved her hands slowly over the landing.

  “This is the place,” she said. “The bodies were reanimated here.”

  Rome continued running her hands just above the floor.

  “It feels like wizard magic—black waziri, I think,” she said after a few moments. “But there is something else as well. Something very dark.” She stood up. “That’s all I can tell you.”

  “So, wizard magic, at least for the most part,” Smith said. “That eliminates the girls in the dorm, not that I ever really expected one of them could be behind something like this.”

  “The question now is,” Jones said, “did the wizard who cast this magic pick this building at random, or was he drawn to here for some reason?”

  “I’m afraid I cannot tell you that,” Rome said, straightening up.

  “I think we’ve learned all we can here, for tonight at least,” Smith said. “Let’s head back to the motel and see what we can make of all this.”

  “I could do with a bite to eat first,” Rome said.

  “So could I,” Jones agreed.

  “We’ll stop for something on the way back,” Smith said. “Pick up a couple of beers, too.”

  The three agents descended the stairs and disappeared into the night.

  Someone else was hungry that evening and out looking for a meal. The vampire Leah had crossed the river and was heading northwest, making sure to put plenty of distance between herself and the coven’s hideaway before beginning her hunt. She had considered bringing a companion along, but she had been confined in the caverns with her fellows for too long and had decided she needed some time alone. As a member of the High Council, she was still permitted to go out on her own, so that is what she had done.

  Born in Scotland, Leah had been a vampire for more than five hundred years. She had been turned by a wandering vampire who took her with him to England. For more than two hundred years she hunted happily with him, until she ran afoul of a powerful vampire queen by unknowingly slaying a handsome nobleman the queen had been eyeing for her own. After that, nowhere in the English Isles was safe for Leah, so she set sail for America. Her mentor had decided to remain in England, so Leah had roamed the New World on her own for many years before finally falling in with Ricard and his coven.

  Tonight, she glided silently through the night, her dark hair gathered in a ponytail that streamed out behind her. She skirted Middletown to the south and west, keeping to the trees as much as possible and flashing across roads and highways when no cars were visible. Just west of Middletown, she spied an isolated diner and slowed to a halt, thinking this might be a good place to catch an unwary human. The woods came to the very edge of the parking lot, providing plenty of dark shadows for concealment and a safe, convenient place to feast and then dispose of the body.

  Six or seven cars sat in the lot, telling her there were ample potential victims inside. She hoped at least one of the drivers had come here alone. Keeping to the shadows, she skulked as close to the building as she could and peered in through the long plate glass windows. Most of the diners sat in pairs or trios, eating and chatting away, but there were two men seated in booths by themselves. The guy closest to her seemed to be nearing the end of his meal. Satisfied that a bit of patience would soon be rewarded, Leah melted back into the trees and waited for her opportunity.

  While she waited, silent and invisible as a wraith, a dark SUV pulled into the lot and swung into a spot not too far from where she hid. Leah watched closely, unable to see into the vehicle past the bright glare of the headlights, but thinking perhaps she might get lucky and the driver would be alone. She readied herself to pounce, just in case

  The motor shut off, leaving the night in sudden silence. A moment later, the headlights blinked out. Two people emerged from the driver’s side—a tall man from behind the wheel and a woman from the rear door. A second man got out on the passenger side. He looked to be equally as tall as his male companion. Either one would have made a fine meal, if only they had been alone. Patience, she chastised herself. Her chance to feast would come, sooner or later. She was not going to allow her Destiratu-fueled hunger make her do something she would regret afterwards. One missing person was a mystery; three would be a major news story and would produce a correspondingly large investigation.

  Jones had barely closed the car door and stepped out into the night when he felt Rome grab him by the elbow. She tapped his forearm in a silent code that told him a vampire was very near.

  Showing no surprise or emotion, Jones nodded in understanding while unobtrusively scanning the blackness beyond the lot. Not unexpectedly, he saw nothing but shadows. Spotting a vampire who did not wish to be seen in the darkness was next to impossible.

  “I really need to take a leak,” he said quietly, knowing the vampire’s keen ears would hear every word. “You two go ahead inside. I’ll join you in minute or two.”

  “Try not to get lost,” Smith joked from the other side of the car.

  Rome circled around behind the car and joined Smith. The two of them headed for the diner while Jones walked slowly toward the edge of the trees, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. He took two steps into the woods and then pretended to fumble with his zipper.

  Even fully alert, he was surprised when a female vampire suddenly materialized in front of him and grabbed him by his upper arms, her grip like a vise on his biceps. The surprise on his face quickly gave way to a smile.

  His smile surprised Leah. She wondered if he somehow thought he was about to get lucky, that some woman had just happened to appear out of the woods for the sole purpose of showing him a good time. He would learn soon enough that a good time was indeed about to be had, but it would not be by him. She began to extrude her fangs.

  A burning sensation like a powerful electric shock shot through her body, reaching from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. For a searing instant sh
e was completely paralyzed, and then the pain disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. She had no idea what had just occurred, but she didn’t feel like she had been injured at all, so she returned to the business at hand and set about dropping her fangs again.

  Unbelievably, nothing happened. The familiar pleasure of extruding her fangs was nowhere to be found. She let go of the human with one hand and reached for her mouth, trying to feel the points of her incisors, to no avail. Her teeth were smooth and even all the way across. She had no idea what was going on—such a thing had never happened to her before. She wondered if it was related to the burning pain she had felt moments ago.

  Jones’ grin widened. “Looking for these?” he asked as two curved fangs extended down from his upper jaw.

  Leah stared incredulously at the guy’s fangs, wondering how she had failed to sense that he was a vampire. And even if he was a vampire, what had he done to her to affect her powers? She did not understand any of this. One thing she knew, though—whatever was going on, she had to get away from here, right now.

  She tried to bound away, but her muscles seemed to have lost their vampire strength. What should have been a leap of twenty feet turned instead into one short, stumbling step. This could not be happening! She would have fallen, unbalanced by the unexpected change, but Jones grabbed her by the arm. She attempted to pull free, but his grip was like steel.

  “You’re not going anywhere, vampire,” Jones said, his voice dripping with menace.

  “Who…what are you?”

  “I am the one who is going to throw you into the abyss, which is exactly where all your kind belong.”

  Leah tried once more to pull away, but it was hopeless. The man was much too strong. She looked into his eyes, hoping for some sign of mercy, but saw only her own reflection. Suddenly, she understood what had happened. Somehow, he had drained her of her powers and taken them for himself. Those were her fangs in his mouth, her strength in the grip of his fingers. She sagged in his grasp, knowing she was lost.

  “Do what you must,” she said, surrendering to the inevitable the way many had surrendered to her over the centuries.

  “That is exactly what I intend to do.”

  Jones resisted the urge to sink his teeth into the tender white flesh of her neck. Absorbing an enemy’s powers also meant absorbing their appetites and desires—appetites which he had to fight to suppress, lest he become no better than those he sought to destroy. Still, he was tempted to indulge himself in other ways, but reminded himself that his comrades were waiting for him. There would be time for enjoyment later, he hoped, if their investigation at the college bore fruit.

  He closed his mouth and grabbed Leah by both sides of her head. With a sharp twist and a yank, he ripped her head from her neck. Black ichor spewed from the stump of her neck as he carried her carcass and her head deeper into the trees. Using his newfound vampire strength, he quickly dug a hole and tossed her remains into it. After pushing the dirt back on top of her and stamping it down, he leaned against a nearby tree and waited, calming himself before returning to the diner to join the others.

  When he did, he was smiling.

  11. XENORIANS

  Shortly before noon on Saturday morning, Leesa and Cali walked out of the dorm together. Yesterday’s storm had blown out to sea, leaving a blue sky dotted with giant cotton ball clouds and temperatures that had climbed into the low fifties. The warmer air was carried by a stiff breeze out of the southwest. Leesa was wearing her grey sweatshirt with SAN DIEGO written in dark blue script on the chest, while Cali had donned a black and white striped knit sweater that had big purple streaks zigzagging down across the front. Both girls were wearing jeans.

  Dominic would be coming by in a little while and Leesa wanted to intercept him before he entered the dorm. She didn’t know that the BSI agents had been outside her dorm last night, nor did she know how close she and Cali had come to running into them on the way back from the library. Even so, she did not want to take the chance the agents might come around when Dominic was there. She had no idea how sensitive the Rome woman’s magic detecting power might be and did not want to risk her sensing Dominic’s magic. Cali had said Rome needed to touch a person to know whether he or she had magic, but Leesa didn’t know if that was true in all cases, especially with a wizard as powerful as Dominic.

  Still paranoid that the Bureau could somehow be eavesdropping on her calls, she had decided the simplest thing was just to come outside early and meet Dominic before he reached the dorm. She had brought Cali along so Cali could tell Dominic exactly what had happened when the agents had questioned her.

  They waited on the sidewalk in front of the dorm—to anyone watching, just two girls enjoying some fresh air and chatting happily. They did not see anyone who didn’t seem to belong here, but you never knew. Government agents could be very tricky—at least they were on television and in the movies. Every few moments, Leesa or Cali would take what they hoped seemed like an innocent glance up or down the sidewalk, looking for Dominic.

  Leesa spotted him first, when he was still almost a block away from the dorm.

  “He’s here,” she said softly to Cali.

  They turned and headed casually down the sidewalk to meet him.

  Dominic smiled as they drew nearer. When they were still a few steps apart, Leesa spoke.

  “Keep walking,” she told him without breaking stride. “Cross the street and go around the block. We’ll meet you there.”

  A brief flash of surprise lit Dominic’s eyes, but that was his only reaction to her instructions. He walked past Leesa and Cali without saying a word.

  Leesa resisted the urge to turn around and look back as she and Cali continued on to the end of the block and crossed the street. She was confident Dominic had understood her instructions and would meet them around the next corner, out of sight of the dorm.

  “What’s going on?” Dominic asked when they came together on the sidewalk near the middle of the block.

  “Some government people have been poking around our dorm asking questions about the zombie attack,” Leesa said. “One of them can detect magic, so I thought it would be safer if you didn’t show up there.”

  “Good thinking.” Dominic stroked his pointy beard with his fingers. “Tell me more.”

  “I haven’t seen them, but they talked to Cali. They even checked to see if she had magic.”

  Dominic looked at Cali and then back to Leesa, a questioning look on his face. Leesa had not yet had the chance to tell him that she had let Cali in on her secret.

  “I told her everything about my magic,” Leesa explained. “I trust her. I hope you don’t mind.”

  Dominic smiled. “If you trust her, I trust her. In fact, I think it’s good for you to have someone to talk to about all this, since Rave and I are not around as much as we would like to be.”

  “Yeah, it is good. She comes with me when I practice, which is a lot more fun than doing it alone, especially with my magic so weak.”

  Dominic’s eyes narrowed. “You are still practicing? Even after these people have been around?”

  “Not in the dorm anymore,” Leesa assured him. “Cali showed me a great place to do it, not far from here. I was thinking we could go there now, and she could tell you what happened.”

  “Good. I want to hear every detail.”

  Up in the stacks, the three of them sat around the old table, Leesa and Cali on one side, Dominic on the other, facing them.

  Dominic leaned forward and folded his hands atop the table. “So, Cali, tell me what happened. Everything you can remember, whether you think it’s important or not.”

  Cali recounted the details of the BSI agents’ visit, trying to remember everything they said and did. Dominic listened intently, interrupting her only once to clarify a minor point.

  “They warned me not to talk about this with anyone,” Cali said when she finished her story. “But of course I told Leesa as soon as I got the chance.”

  “I w
as going to call you,” Leesa added, “but since it’s a government agency, I didn’t know if they might be able to listen in. I thought it best to wait until you came by.”

  “You both did great,” Dominic said. “I’m glad you stopped doing magic in your dorm, too.” He gazed at the shelves full of books surrounding them. “And I think you found the perfect place to keep up with your practice.”

  “With midterms almost here, our coming to the library every day shouldn’t arouse any suspicions, either,” Cali said.

  “Do you know anything about this Supernatural Investigations thing?” Leesa asked Dominic.

  Dominic shook his head. “Not really, and certainly not by that name. I’m not very connected to any media, remember.” His voice turned extra serious. “But I’m pretty sure I know something about this Rome woman, and maybe some of the others.”

  “Really?” Leesa asked. “Who is she?”

  “If everything Cali said is true about her ability to search out magic, I believe the woman is probably a xenorian.”

  “A what?” Cali asked.

  “A xenorian. They are an ancient sect whose goal is to ferret out and stop all things magical.”

  Leesa did not like the sound of that at all. “I don’t understand? Why are they against all magic?”

  “They believe all magic must eventually grow evil, and so must be stopped before that can happen.”

  “That’s not true, is it?” Leesa asked. “All magic can’t end up evil.”

  Dominic sighed. “If you had asked me that question a hundred years ago, my answer would have been ‘of course not.’ But after what happened with my brethren—so many of them turning to black magic—I’m not so sure anymore.”

  “But you’re not evil,” Leesa said. “And what about the volkaanes? They’ve been around for ages, right? And they show no signs of becoming evil.”

  “I know. And there are other examples as well. I’m afraid I let my bitterness toward my former comrades cloud my answer a moment ago. What really matters, though, is that the xenorians believe it to be true.”