“Let me go,” Eliza said so softly that Veronica almost couldn’t hear it. “I’ve got to go talk to my team.”
“No,” Veronica said, gripping the vampire as tightly as she could. “Not until you let me finish. I’m going to try and convince my bosses to change their mind. Cutting you out of the loop is the dumbest thing they could do. But regardless, don’t let this come between us. Please?!? I still love you!” She felt Eliza’s muscles relax a little and the vampire raised her arms, giving Veronica a light embrace.
“I know,” Eliza said at last. “And I love you too. But you need to let me go now. You have a job to do, and I have to gather up my team and leave.”
Veronica hated this. She knew that getting involved this deep with someone in the middle of that kind of conflict would lead to problems, but she could have never imagined that she would be feeling that helpless. “Look me in the eyes,” Veronica requested.
Eliza finally lifted her chin up. The vampire’s eyes were filled with smoldering rage. She hadn’t wanted her lover to see them. This wasn’t Veronica’s fault.
“Tell me again that you still love me,” she pleaded.
The vampire sighed. “I still love you,” she said. “I just think I need to go before I say something I’ll regret.”
As Eliza started to walk away, Veronica thought of something else she needed to say. “I couldn’t get Kelik assigned to Fort Crass, but I did get word to him that you wanted to talk to him. I didn’t get a chance to wait for a reply, but . . .”
Eliza looked over her shoulder. “Thanks,” was all she could think to say before wandering off to find her team.
Veronica watched the vampire walk away. She couldn’t believe the bad turn of luck her life had just taken. Not only was a valuable weapon in the battle against the Purity being cast aside by bureaucrats with no field experience, but she also was about to lose access to the most fascinating woman she had ever been with for an indefinite period of time. “What else could go wrong?” she asked herself.
————— ————
A week later . . .
————— ————
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Allyson Murgo wandered into the conference room and had a seat beside her husband. Wyrm was hooked into about a dozen data streams trying to find some information that Eliza had asked for, and Thug was over next to the door looking out into the courtyard.
“How long has she been at it?” Allyson asked of Thug.
|| ABOUT AN HOUR. SHE ALREADY BROKE HER FIRST HEAVY BAG, NOW SHE’S BEATING THE HELL OUT OF THE SECOND ONE, || the troll responded. He had been watching Eliza go to town on her punching bags for a while. Ever since the group had their services terminated by the government, Eliza had been living in a state of constant irritation. She had accepted the job of protecting the Dead Man’s World in the first place so she would be part of the crusade to reopen the gate to Terra, she had done her job, but she had been fired anyway. Technically, the entire group could’ve retired right there on the spot, but none of them were willing to do that yet. The mission wasn’t about money anymore. Eliza had Wyrm researching humans that had been denied acceptance into Terran academies of magic after some humans had begun to show magical aptitude. The sorcerer who had closed the gateway had used some kind of incantation along with a mechanical contraption to activate the magic of the Heaven’s Eye. Anyone who actually had trained for any length of time at a real school of magic would know that incantations were just window dressing; magic was controlled by will, not words. The spoken word could give the caster the illusion of control, though he or she probably didn’t truly understand what was happening. It was likely that the sorcerer was a human, since most vampires grew up knowing these things, whether they were sorcerers or not.
Besides that, Eliza had distracted herself in any way she could. She knew Thug was watching her, but she didn’t care. The people she had worked for had hamstrung her, and she was struggling for a way to stand on her own. On top of everything else, she hadn’t been sleeping much. A few days earlier, the dreams had started.
Like most sentient beings she knew, Eliza occasionally had some fairly realistic dreams. Sometimes she had erotic dreams. But for the last two days, she had had the most incredible dreams of her life. Both times the dreams had revolved around Eliza and Veronica. Neither woman spoke in the dreams, but they weren’t dreams about conversation. The first day, the dream had consisted of the two of them making love on the beach. The second day, they had been getting it on at the top of a rock formation out in the deserts of Arizona. Both times, Eliza had woken in a warm sweat and cum-stained sheets. Each time, she had woken up after she had climaxed in her dream, and her orgasm followed her into the waking world. She had so much wanted to hit her biological snooze alarm and go back to sleep, but she was never able to do it. Her frustration was compounded by the fact that she hadn’t been in contact with Veronica since Eliza had been canned. So as weird as those dreams were, they were all that the vampire had of the blonde-haired envoy.
Finally, Allyson braved the chill night air and went out to talk to the boss. “Hey.”
“Has Wyrm figured anything out yet?” Eliza said, snapping a jab off at the bag.
“Not much for small talk these days, are you?”
Eliza grimaced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take things out on you.”
“Thank God,” Allyson said with a smile. “I don’t think I could take the pounding you’re giving that bag. And no, Wyrm hasn’t found anything. I think he’s taking a break and reading porn stories on the web.”
Eliza smiled. It was the first time she had done that in a while, except when recovering from her dreams. But as quickly as it had arrived, the smile was gone. She sat down on the bench and Allyson sat down next to her.
“Is there anything I can do?” the human woman asked.
“No,” Eliza sighed. “I wish . . . I can’t even explain what’s going in my head. I used to feel I could be prepared for anything, now I feel like everything’s spiraling out of control.”
“You’ll land on your feet boss. You always do. By the way . . .”
Allyson was cut off by the sound of the front gate buzzer being rung an annoyingly large number of times. Everyone dropped what they were doing and went out to check the security monitors. There was a singly heavily armored and unmarked transport craft parked out front.
“Who the fuck . . .” started Dennis. He pressed the intercom button. “State your name and business.” They watched as the window to the vehicle rolled down. An arm reached out and pressed the button at the gate end of the intercom.
“I’m looking for an incredibly strange young woman from Terra. White hair . . . stubborn . . . one hell of a temper. Have you seen her?” came a voice from the vehicle.
“Kelik!” Eliza almost shouted, bounding out the front door and down the driveway. The gate was opening by the time she got there. Apparently, Wyrm had decided this was an acceptable visitor. Eliza jogged along side the vehicle until it came to a stop, and an aged vampire got out the side. Kelik was wearing his ambassador’s robes, which gave him a very regal look. But unlike Valar, Kelik was completely lacking in pretense. When she was a child and Kelik attended a dinner or function at her parent’s estate, Kelik had always preferred the company of the non-aristocrats. He would talk with everyone else though. From the children to the servants, Kelik would discuss anything with anyone. He valued the opinions of the farmers as much as those of kings and other royalty. And he always had made time to talk with Eliza. She briefly smiled as she remembered a time that this vampire, who had been walking the ground of Terra for six hundred years before Eliza was ever born, had once sat in her room next to her dolls and participated in the vampire equivalent of a childhood tea party.
Once outside of the vehicle, he quickly gave Eliza a hug. [[ So, how’s my favorite little girl? ]] He glanced her over. [[ Though not quite as ‘little’ as I remember. You grew up well, ]] he added.
[[ And you look venerable as always, ]] Eliza returned. She knew he hated being teased about his age, which is why she always did it. [[ Why didn’t you call me and tell me you were coming? ]]
Kelik sighed and rolled his eyes. [[ Damn bureaucrats and politicians have got everyone jumping at their own shadow. Of course, they have their reasons. There have been a number of attacks against our kind since the dimensional gate closed. And these humans seem to be under the delusion that I’m important somehow, so they wouldn’t let me send any kind of electronic communication. I had to almost literally throw a tantrum before they’d even let me come out here. You have NO idea how annoying it’s been being cooped up with a bunch of ‘intellectuals’ trying to pick my brain about recent proceedings. ]]
Eliza found herself smiling again. [[ Won’t they at least let you talk to engineers or scientists? ]] Human science and technology had fascinated Kelik since the gate had opened. That, combined with his patience in dealing with different types of people, had made him the perfect candidate for Terran Ambassador to Earth.
[[ You thought it was bad for you? I had to deal with Valar for months. ]]
[[Ouch. Okay, you win. ]]
About that time, Thug showed up.
[[ Damn, I forgot how big you were. How are things going Thug? ]] Kelik and Thug had known each other since the troll and Eliza had become friends, and Thug’s loyalty to the vampire had given him points in Kelik’s eyes.
|| FINE, I SUPPOSE. NEED ANY HELP WITH YOUR BAGS? ||
[[ Yes please. ]] He turned to Eliza. [[ Be a dear and warm me a cup of blood. It’s been a long trip. ]] Eliza hugged him and then ran back into the house. Thug unloaded Kelik’s luggage, then the aged statesman dismissed his escort, telling them he’d call them in a few days to retrieve him. Then the vehicle left, and Kelik turned back to the troll.
[[ So, how is she? I understand she’s . . . changed a bit recently. ]]
Thug grabbed all of Kelik’s bags as he responded. || SHE’S SURVIVING. THAT’S WHAT SHE DOES. BUT I’M GLAD YOU’RE HERE. SHE NEEDS YOUR WISDOM. ||
Kelik chuckled. [[ I doubt she needs me that much. She was always a strong-willed child. I can’t imagine she’s any less strong as a woman. ]]
|| EVEN THE STRONGEST MOUNTAIN CAN BE BEATEN DOWN IF THE WIND IS FIERCE ENOUGH. ||
[[ Enough! You’re quoting me, and I hate that! ]] Kelik chuckled again though. Unlike most, he had never underestimated the troll’s intelligence or sophistication.