Dead Certain (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 3) (5 page)

“Eve! You are well again, and
whole, already? Young Zackary suggested that it might happen thusly, but to see
such is a miracle worthy of great tales. I have been seeking a way to save the
life of my maker and wife, but other than destroying the Greater Demon known as
The Bold, I have not found any. You, perhaps, have something that might bring
success in this area?” He seemed interested in that, but was still holding her
in the air, and spinning a little.

 “Maybe. We need to kill one of
them, but they don’t have to
stay
dead. Once the link is broken it will
stay that way. We have a meeting with Fram in three weeks, to really look into
getting that done. No tricks or anything. We should get with Zack on it, and
Darla. Keeley, too, since if nothing else, we can ambush Fram with her, and
make him kill himself. She’s done that to him before, so it could work. Really
though, as long as we don’t get in his way too much, I doubt he’s going to be
that big of a pain about it all. On the bad side, he’s working on a plan to
start a war, between the Humans and Vampires. He’s not the only one of his kind
in on it either, so that isn’t good. I think we need to stay out of that
though.
I
do, anyway.”

Lenore nodded, and Bey just
looked at her, his face filled with character, and hope. Possibly that Maggie
would survive the whole thing.

He made that part pretty clear,
too.

“You do not seek to remove them
both from this world, for what was done to you? It was a great harm, and none
could place blame for your rage, but you hold your hand? Truly?”

“Yeah, I know, it probably means
I’m an incredible pussy, but the real facts here say that I don’t survive
trying to do that. As long as I just focus on the one little thing though,
breaking that link, maybe it can happen? Before you ask again, yeah, I really
do
want them both dead, on a certain level. I’m willing to admit that I’m being
petty about it though. Fram, he used her against me like that on purpose, I
bet, knowing it would hit all the right buttons to set me off. It
burns
inside that he did that to me. I can’t let that feeling win, or it will cause
me to make the wrong moves. So we do this instead, and call in whatever help we
can to make sure it isn’t some kind of trap.” She smiled, and put her arms
around Bey’s back. He was very firm, and incredibly strong, she noticed. He was
still holding her up, and smiling.

“That is a wise way to be. Yes,
it may be hard, but at times we must all make compromises in order to reach the
best outcome. Now, we should practice your Russian. I don’t doubt that Marissa
will do her very best, but being prepared never harms anything, in my
experience.”

Then, without waiting, she got to
clean, and then go help Nikki, while Bey followed her around, drilling her
non-stop in a different language. She was starting to learn enough that about
half of it even made sense when she heard it now. If she really focused she
could work it out, most of the time. That wasn’t going to hold when people were
speaking it for real though, since Bey was going slow for her still, like she
was a little kid, and pointing at things to help her remember what the words
meant.

She answered though, her words
clumsy and syntax horrible, she didn’t doubt.

They ran errands for a while,
mainly getting food for the people that ate it, until shortly after noon. That
was when Marissa called back in. Crying. That it couldn’t be real didn’t
matter, because it was so heartrending.

After a moment, she gave them the
orders from the Council herself.

“He, and his people, refuse to
bend on this matter. They have declared themselves against us, openly. There is
no room now, to allow them to survive. You must do what is needed.”

Bey looked sad, but nodded, his
pale face blank.

“I understand. We shall leave at
once, and take care of this. I’m so sorry, Marissa.”

“As am I.”

Eve was too, even if she didn’t
really feel it yet. That would come, she didn’t doubt.

It always did, when the guilt
hit.

Bey sighed and clasped his hands
in front of him, then waited for a bit, looking toward the wall behind Eve. The
phone in Lenore’s office had been hung up, and the woman herself just sat
there, watching her maker, with a blank expression. Her dress was an odd golden
colored thing with little flowers on it, that had faded over the years. It was
a bit drab really, compared to the bright and sparkling shop out front.

The ancient Vampire looked at his
child, sitting there and then made a face that told them he was legitimately
sad. That he wanted them to think that anyway. It worked pretty well.

“It is always sad when a parent
must lose a child. We shall leave as soon as arrangements for travel are made.
Eve, you will go as my second in this, acting for the Council. We have three
weeks, how do you propose we do this?” He seemed pretty relaxed about it all,
once he started looking at her, as if just asking for academic reasons.

She thought about it, then asked
to borrow the atlas that Lenore kept on the shelf behind her desk. It was
probably a bit out of date, and well worn, but the land masses would still be
about the same, so it should work.

“Well, I
get
that I could
ask Zack, and it would probably work, but that might be a little bit too
expected right now. Over the last few years a lot of things have been handled
that way. Other than that, showing up at an established Node, where we can be
ambushed and almost certainly would be… They’ll be what, watching the ports?”
She glanced at the others, but they both just held still, not answering her
question. Even if it was a pretty good one, she thought. “That means we should
avoid those, too. If we go through Alaska, here, and then get a small boat, we
should be able to come in from the east, and run in? It’s a lot more work than
the other options, but might let us go in tomorrow, during the day.”
If
she didn’t die from the pain, and boredom. What was being proposed was an
insanely long and hard trip. Even her finger, just rubbing on the page felt
like it was taking too long.

She drew the line to Russia with
her finger, and Bey took a deep breath.

“It is a decent idea. A hard one,
as well. I would like to arrive in four days however, having business to attend
to before we leave.”

She thought for a second, and shrugged.

“Um, Nikki and I could leave now,
and wait for you, around here? On the border of Russia. Then we can all go in,
the morning you arrive?”

Bey Blinked at her, and instead
of asking what she was getting at, nodded. Then he clapped, three times.

“Very well. I have the location
of a trusted Vampire that will house you, until I arrive. Will you be leaving
from here directly?”

She nodded, not knowing if her
Russian would really be up to it. That part was a bit scary, but when in doubt
they could always just come back.

Her mentor didn’t wait, going to
find his other daughter first. She was at the far end of the mall, but when
they got there, he simply bowed to the red haired punk girl.

“Nicole! You have been given a
duty, by the Council. You, young Eve, and myself shall go and put down the
budding rebellion in Russia. Eve knows your travel plans. You two will go ahead
and see to scouting the area first. Do not engage, unless it becomes needful.
If that happens, execute them all. Do you understand? This is a
great
honor. One that I hadn’t thought you would ever be allowed. I’m very proud of
you.”

Then he turned and walked away,
getting both of them to follow along. Nikki, who was a decently old Vampire,
about the same age as Lenore, most likely, started to whine a bit, almost
instantly. Like she hadn’t even heard the part about it being a great honor?
Even better, that Bey, her maker, a being that was practically her father, was
proud
of her?

No, that didn’t seem to be the
case. Instead she kind of seemed like a wimp, as they covered the slightly
sparkling red brick of the main walkway, heading back toward Yoghurt World.

“I can’t. I have things to do
here. Besides, how are we getting there? I don’t really like long ocean voyages
that much, if it’s all the same. I get seasick.” She plodded along, grumpily,
which did seem pretty realistic
if
it was all about pretending to be a
Human. For a Vampire talking to The Bey, it was practically suicidal. She had
things to do? More important than putting down a freaking rebellion, and saving
innocent people from almost certain death? Not that anyone had mentioned that,
but any fight Vampires had planned would end up getting innocent people killed,
wouldn’t it?

Bey gave her a tolerant smile,
and clapped, happily.

“Wonderful, Nicole, you have
already discovered the plan! You shall run the distance, except for the smallest
of journeys by water craft. You have two days to make the trip, and then two to
get the lay of the conditions there. I trust that will be enough time?” He was
being willfully mean about it, acting so happy and like it was an easy thing to
do.

“Two days? No one can do that? It
must be six thousand miles! We won’t have enough night to make it.”

Eve took over then, moving a
little faster.

“So we go in during the day, too.
Really, we can do it in two major legs. The first to the coast, in Alaska, then
the rest of the trip, once we get across the ocean. That should only take about
ten hours, even if we run slow. You
have
super speed, and so do I.” She
looked at Bey, and then shrugged. “I get that we’ll need to be careful on the
ground over there. Hiding, and all that, while we travel. No one has officially
announced that other countries have Vampires, yet. We need to keep that secret
for them, until they’re ready. Still, other than being boring and hurting, it
won’t be an issue. We can go eat now, so that you’ll have fresh links for it. Think
of it as a road trip?” Eve hoped that Nicole would leave it at that, but didn’t
really count on it happening.

She was psychic, apparently, on
top of her other powers it seemed, since the woman managed to complain the
whole freaking time they were getting ready.

Eve ignored it, trying not to
seem like she was about to tear into the local Proctor physically. That she was
actually being edged toward that, well, it was a sign of her own weakness,
wasn’t it? She had to be stronger than that, and controlling herself was a big
portion of what she needed to be doing. While it might be tempting to give in
to her anger, she knew that if she did, people would die. Ones that shouldn’t.

Thankfully, they were able to
start shortly after that, Lenore having given them a nice and brightly colored
printed map. It had the complete route marked out, along with instructions on
how to find the right house once they got into place. Otherwise they’d probably
end up lost and wandering around, until they were killed for their nifty
running shoes.

She
had on those, at least. Nikki
had boots. It wouldn’t really matter, except that they were going to end up
being ruined by the distances traveled. Her shoes would too, but they’d only
cost about twenty bucks at Wal-Mart. The boots on her new companion’s feet
looked expensive, and had cool buckles on the sides that were a shiny brass
color.

No one was going to give her a
chance to back out though, since Eve was supposed to keep her awake from then
on, and had to be with her for that to happen. They’d started once already, and
she wasn’t going to do the first day over again, now that they had a good start
going for the second time.

So they ran. Walking really, and
while it was a bit uncomfortable, she kept them going at a steady pace. It was
dark out when they left, or nearly so, and that veil of darkness was following
them as they traveled, heading the direction they were. They didn’t go very
fast though, only about half what Eve could really have managed, if she were
alone. That made the whole thing worse, since it took longer to finish up.

When they finally got to the
coast of Alaska, which was still white with snow where the map took them, Nikki
stopped, then screamed into the early morning light.

“
Fuuuuck!
” It wasn’t
exactly directed at her, so there was that, for once.

Eve smiled, waited a beat, and
took a deep breath.

“We need to find a boat or
something, and then get across before it gets light out. Unless you’re up to
swimming?” It was about ninety miles, but she wasn’t all that great in the
water herself. She could keep her head above the surface, maybe, but it seemed
like a bit much to ask for.

Nikki glared at her, but pointed
down the rocky coast, to where a small boat sat, away from the beach a good
way. It meant running down and stealing it, but no one came to stop them, so
they were in the water, paddling fast, before she noticed the leak. Eve pushed
herself into pain then, and propelled them through the water like they had an
engine in the back. It worked well enough, especially once Nikki got it and
started to bail the cold salt water out with her hands.

In a way it was harder than
running would have been, since she didn’t really know what she was doing at
first. It took hours to get across too, and was daylight when it happened.
Still, they weren’t met on the beach when they got there, even though they did
see people.

Instead, they just waved, hid the
boat in some bushes, and started to run again. That part was way harder, since
they had to hide a thousand times before they got anywhere near their
destination. Nikki kept trying to take breaks too, signaling to Eve that she
couldn’t take anymore. That wasn’t true though, so after the first few times
she simply ignored the other Vampire, pushing faster when she tried to wave to
her, as if she were urging her on.

It still took forever, compared
to what they could have done, but they made it. Two full days, and nights,
later, they were there, looking for the right house in a small town that held a
few thousand of them. They were all mainly big places, ones that held lots of
no doubt tasty people. Still, she thought they had the right location, finally,
and Nicole agreed, pointing out the numbers on the houses helpfully.

People on the street looked at them
funny, but no one attacked them or called the cops, so that was a good sign,
Eve thought. They all just looked a bit bitter and frowned, except for some of
the men, who seemed a lot more pleased to see them than the others did. They
didn’t have time to stop for a date though, so Eve waved to them, and kept
Nikki moving to their destination, which was a large blue painted door in the
side of a gray house that had at least three stories.

She moved to it and knocked,
hoping she was close to the right place. It was dark out, which wasn’t a
hardship for them, but would make it look wrong if they had to pound on too
many doors, looking for the right place.

After a minute the door opened,
and a woman, who looked to be about thirty, was wearing a plain blue dress and
was as dead as they were, saw them and made a rather annoyed sound.

“You are from Council?” The
English was accented and stilted, so she nodded and switched to Russian. It was
the language of the place after all, and she needed the practice.

“That’s right. Bey sent us? This
is the right place, then?” She hoped the woman would be able to understand her.

That seemed likely, since there
was a soft exhalation, rather than the lady asking if she could please save her
ears by speaking English.

“Ah, you speak very properly.
Very well, it will save a lot of effort. I haven’t used the tongue of the
English for more than a century. I do not think what I know is even accurate
anymore. Come, be welcome. Do you need food, or drink? I have some vodka that
I’ve been saving for guests?” She seemed pleased by that announcement, but Eve
didn’t really drink. Not that they’d
get
drunk, but there was too great
a chance that it would be poisoned, or make her sick somehow. Wasn’t alcohol
mainly carbs? She’d been warned away from those well enough that she hadn’t
even been tempted to try any real food yet.

Nikki however nodded, and spoke
in flawless Russian to the woman. Naturally, and like that was why she’d been
asked to come in the first place. It was hard to remember how old she was
sometimes, looking like a punk rock reject like she did. Young, and decently
pretty. Face piercings, and leather jackets, could throw a person off in some
ways. There it was though. She sounded nearly like a native.

“That sounds wonderful, thank you.
It was a long trip. We ran in on foot, from America.”

It was a bit of a surprise, as
they went in, but Nikki, for all she was a lazy, wimpy, whining waste of space
as far as travel, or being up all day, went, was actually pretty good when it
came down to making nice with the natives. The woman, Iryna, was totally
charmed within a few minutes, and chatting away with them both like they were
all old friends, no more than an hour later. She was, as it turned out, for all
that she seemed like a housewife, actually the local area ambassador. That put
her in charge of the eastern half of Russia, more or less.

“I have held that position here
for seven years now. Before that I worked in Moscow. I was a dentist. There was
much call for one of those that worked the night shift. I don’t really do well
in the daytime. It’s a weakness of mine, but no one else wanted the job, and it
pays enough to be worth doing. How about the two of you? The Lord, he did not
tell me why you were coming here, to our country?”