Page 10 (1/1)
Derek said into his ate, one static, one roving Blood-servant guard Another in a tree stand at four o’clock" Derek’s low-light headgear units with infrared scopes had coht as human, but showed cooler body teround in the trees at ten o’clock," he said, " a perimeter" The direction of the vamps put them deeply into the wood, scrub, and steep hills, which meant Shaddock had a well-trained security detail, composed mostly of vamps instead of human blood-servants Like a vamp army "That make sense to you?" I asked
"Not so much," he said on the command channel Which meant his spidey sense had been activated by so ain at a steady, slol, and I watched the blood-servant lock the gate behind us My Beast did not like to be caged in She proithinkilling teeth
The house at the end of the long drive was situated on a sranite The house was tiny, a brick and stone dollhouse with arched s, arched entry, four chiles Chen exited the limo and opened the heavy front door, punched a sequence into the security panel, squelching the squeal of the alar in for a fast reconnoiter Derek held a co shoulder weapon--a subh on his chest Wrassler stood at the door, not trying to hide his weapon, an ACR--Adaptive Coas-piston-driven systeuration, supported by a strap around his ear and atching out over the trees that circled the place Boys and their toys Out here in the boonies we didn’t have to worry about collateral daot out of the SUV and stood close to it, protected by the engine block, studying the trees at the edges of the property, the cool night air whispering The moon was up, and the shadows under the trees were intensely dark No hint of security lights anywhere up here; vaht be better than Beast’s My shoulders ached and I realized I was holding thehtly I forced them down into a neutral position; a relaxed posture wasn’t possible Derek reappeared and waved us in I went to the lioire followed Lincoln Shaddock and his blood-servant inside and I felt secure only when the door closed behind us with an airtight thump
The inside of the Clan Ho to allow for the knos of physics Derek said, "On the entry floor we have an expanded foyer, library on left, guest suite on right, and a wet bar Steps down Checking the lower level now"
"Wait here, please," I said to the varand piano, which I stepped around, double-checking behind Derek, verifying his assessed since he did a sweep Most of the entry level was a large deck overlooking the botto space was on the lower level, with the ceiling opening up three stories overhead, and the public area of the living space laid out to view It was also carved into the rock heart of thean extraordinary panorahts They showed a narrow stream, a waterfall, tall trees, and tumbled rocks the size of small cars The view opened up and down, and it was spectacular Shaddock had ing the environ cool Not that I showed it Through the s, a lone oas poised in the top of a dead tree, searching for dinner "Niiiice," one the security guys said softly into his h the foyer and down the stairs, my boots silent on the stone, one of the twin Walthers pointed down atit Derek preceded me, a weapon in each hand I followed slowly Vamps like hidey holes and they move faster than a human can see, hence the search--always paired up
The living room was on the lower level, and open to the upper foyer Shaddock had decorated in shades of char-coal, taupe, forest green, black, cloud-gray, and ht view outside, with lots of natural stone, bronze, and wood that was obviously all very old I remembered froe business, buying buildings that had fallen into ruin, tearing the the wood Here, old barn boards had been worked into the design of his clan hohuether, Shaddock’s heir and spare, Dacy Mooney and Constantine Pickersgill The tere crafty and dangerous Dacy had been a Southern belle when alive, and after being turned, had been a US spy in World Wars One and Two, under different naill had been the power behind six US presidents Both had lived in the world of hu themselves ahich meant they were smart, coercive, and very cool under fire They were dressed in casual clothes, not expecting us And they each acknowledged me with a nod when ht of the living area--his personal sleeping space, not his lair None of us would ever see that I took in the understated roo-sized bed with luxurious linens, the headboard crafted from found articles: two narrow coluate, and a carving of a swan, its long neck reaching back to ruffle its feathers, wings outspread Things that didn’t go together except here The floor was bare, finished wood Shaddock, whoed as a hillbilly, had the soul of an artist
A black leather recliner and a bronze antique swan-shaped lae walk-in closet and h to hold a party in Back in the living room, I took two seconds to scan it The floor was covered with a taupe, handray water in a rush of froth in the sitting area The back as the finished stone of the , and one antique banker’s desk Co the living room a work space and Shaddock a very unusual va to a world filled with modern electronics Four couches, half a dozen chairs, a fireplace big enough to roast an ox or twoarea Bronze statues of wild ani taxider and wanted to study Later, I thought at her
On the other side of the living space was a barrackslike bedroom--if barracks had silk sheets and feather pillows; six bunks, reen It was the blood-servants’ sleeping quarters Two utilitarian baths and a locker room, all neat and Spartan Tucked away in the corners were s with tapestries and beds in silk Windowless Vauest rooms I pushed aside tapestries to reveal rock walls No as sunlight getting in here "Clear Let ’em in," I said into the e, three-story s just as Grégoire reached the bottom of the stairs He looked nonplussed, which e to experience He waved a s pained
Shaddock lifted a remote device from a table and pressed a series of buttons InstantlyAs I watched, foldingthe s One of the security guys cursed softly into the miked system I couldn’t say I blamed hinome’s house, tiny, old-fashioned, and impossible to secure Instead it was a fortress It took a little over thirty seconds for all the metal panels to close fully, and another fifteen for the automatic latches to seal Over theoire sers in a circle "Air? Water? Fire?"
"Got me an air duct cut into the rock Fan works on solar batteries A cistern with a thousand gallons of water," Shaddock said He pointed up "Sprinkler systeh to last the blood-servants for a year" Chen stood to the side, expressionless, but conveying irritation in his stance His boss was giving away trade secrets
"Escape? Security systeoire asked
"Got them too" Shaddock didn’t volunteer the location of other protective ot to see all that we did Vamps were private creatures, and the fact that he let us see all this only meant he had a lot more security stuff hidden Stuff he wouldn’t tell us about, and certainly wouldn’t show us
"Your scions?" Grégoire asked
Shaddock led the vamps into his bedroo unit hu a narrow door, steel, banded withfour manual locks, and opened the door The smell of stone, cool cave air, vah Before I could stop hioire followed I flew through the doorway after the with teapons drawn, feeling stupid Especially when Chen raced in after ave him a weak smile and holstered the Walthers He frowned and reluctantly holstered his own
The only scion-lair I had ever seen had been run by crazy psycho-va-chained scions--uncured vamps who had never found sanity and who should have been destroyed centuries earlier I had no preconceptions exceptvamps were kept chained to the walls until they cured Not so These vaht feet Bare mattresses on stone floors The uncured-scions-to-be were naked Vaht down Beast’s growl She hated cages, and rogues almost as much