Fallen Stars (The Demon Accords) (25 page)

The man waiting for us fit the room.  Buzz-cut gray hair, square physique, and a square jaw that framed a serious pair of penetrating blue eyes.  A full Inspector and a Deputy Inspector stood to either side of the big desk.

“I remember asking for Gordon and only Gordon.  Did I ask for anyone else, Larry?” he said to the Inspector but kept his eyes on the Lieutenant, who about crumbled under the scrutiny.

“He had the choice of bringing all of us or none of us,” I said, immediately hostile to the man for reasons I couldn’t put my finger on.  He was impressive and commanded respect, but I had almost a visceral hatred for him on sight.  Stacia had told me I had worked for the NYPD until my group was disbanded.  Maybe some part of me remembered who was responsible for that.

“In
this
City, it should have been
you
with a choice—of handcuffs or not,” he growled at both the L.T. and me.  “Bringing a troupe of models and a wooly mammoth was not part of
my
instructions,” he said.

“Hmm, models… perhaps that is a complement?” Tanya said, catching his attention.  “I will choose to take it as such.  But
my
name is Tatiana Demidova, Commissioner Rielly, and
I
pay a big slice of the taxes that give you all this,” she said with a sweep of her hand.

Rielly was quick, I had to give him that.  My first sight of the vampire princess had almost left me witless… more witless.  He not only handled that but also managed to attach some sort of recognition to her name, which appeared to be a big deal.  Both of his lackeys straightened unconsciously, looks of mild panic flitting across their faces.  But the Commish just raised his eyebrows as he visibly recalculated the situation.

“A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Demidova.  I’m afraid your manner of dress and beauty put me in mind of fashion models.  My apology,” he said with a wave at their clothes.

I hadn’t really been paying attention at the time, but the clothes that Stacia had pulled on were black leggings and a clingy blue top.  Platinum blonde hair, green eyes, wearing blue and black, next to a girl with galaxy-black hair and blue eyes, wearing green and black, they looked exactly like deliberately dressed super models.  Nika and Lydia both wore sleek pantsuits; Nika’s red and black and Lydia’s just black.

“Well, we weren’t expecting an armed summons," Tanya said. "My fiancée has been away, Commissioner Rielly, and somehow, your troops found him within minutes of his arrival back in the city.”

“We’ve got a new vehicle recognition program that uses the city’s traffic cameras.  It was looking for that Volvo,” he explained.

“Ah yes.  I believe one of my companies may have
built
that for you,” she said, nodding thoughtfully.  “But perhaps we can get to the reason for your interest in my Christian?”

Her tone and words were very clear.  She would use every resource at her disposal for my protection.  Katrina had explained a little bit about some of those resources, and what little I knew boggled my mind.  And that was just the public Demidova Empire.  It did not include the massive Coven that backed the young vampire princess.

The wheels spun and turned in Commissioner Rielly’s head as he reevaluated the situation.

“Perhaps we’ve started this on the wrong foot.  Gordon, this city is facing a problem we have no solution for.  When I came into this office with the Mayor, I was given some bad advice by an agent of Homeland Security.  Had I known then even a part of what I know now, I would never have disbanded the Special Situations Squad.  But I did.  And now we have a… problem.” 

His phone buzzed at that moment and the Inspector standing by the desk picked it up, listened for a breath, then said, “Commissioner, they’ve arrived.”

At a brisk nod from his boss, the Inspector said into the phone, “Send them in.”

The big door behind us opened and a white-haired man, wearing the robes of a Catholic Cardinal strode in, accompanied by a pretty Hispanic woman with dark hair and dark eyes.

“Have you told him about the demons yet?” the man asked.

Chapter 26

“Chris Gordon, meet the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Kellan,” the Commissioner said.

Apparently this was my first time meeting him, which was a relief.  Coming face to face with dozens of people you’re supposed to know but don’t is really stressful. You don’t even know what you don’t know anymore.

“And you already know Gina Velasquez,” he said, waving at the woman who was completely foreign to me.  She watched me with steady, careful eyes as she shook my hand.  “We’ll get caught up later,” she said. 
She knows I don’t remember
. I could just tell that from her expressions and mannerisms.  Then she hugged the little punky vampire, the blonde vamp, and my vampire as well.  So she was clued in, but she was clearly human.  One who was comfortable hugging vampires.

The Cardinal’s eyes had widened at the sight of the three vampires with me.  While the police brass hadn’t shown the slightest sign that they recognized the women as anything other than inordinately attractive females, the Cardinal showed a hint of discomfort that, once you saw it, was definitely fear.       

“Mr. Gordon, I’ve heard a great deal about you—all good,” he rushed to add at my frown.

I was frowning because it seemed like an awful lot of people knew about me, apparently including the highest-ranking member of the Catholic Church in New York State.  What the hell had I been up to for the last two years?

“Has the Commissioner explained our problem to you?” Cardinal Kellan asked.  I shook my head.  Kellan looked at Rielly with raised eyebrows, and the Commissioner took the hint.

“Eight days ago, police responded to a 911 call in the Bronx.  Domestic disturbance in a third-floor apartment.  When they got there, they found three dead bodies and a crazed woman with a knife who they had to shoot in self-defense.  But when they checked with other residents in the building, they found more bodies and at least one more crazy, this one male.  That one they Tasered into submission, but it took two cops with
two
Tasers to do it.  Twenty-four hours later, he had chewed the veins in his wrists open and committed suicide.

“There were eight apartments in that building.  One family was away, traveling.  Another was barricaded in place and only came out when officers could convince them it was safe.  Several other people were at work and missed the fun.  But everyone else in the building was dead—butchered by their fellow residents.  As near as we can tell, it started with the basement apartment, where a young artist killed his boyfriend and then himself.  Two days later, his upstairs neighbor smelled decay and broke in. Shortly after that, we think
that
neighbor went crazy and killed his girlfriend.  It seemed to spread, with one or two of the inhabitants attacking and brutally killing the others.  The investigating cops started to feel nauseous, so we cleared the building and sent hazmat crews in. 
They
got sick as well.  But everyone who felt it got better as soon as they left the building,” Rielly said.

“That’s when the Church got involved,” Cardinal Kellan said.  “One of my priests is what you might call sensitive.  He was drawn to the crowd of onlookers, and when he got close enough to the building, he got a vibe.   A bad vibe, if you get my drift.”

“Demonic?” I asked, intrigued and more than a bit horrified.

“Exactly.  He reported up his line of authority, and it got to me.  Rielly and I have known each other for several decades, so I felt he might listen to me.  He didn’t.”

“Not until I experienced it myself!” Rielly said quickly.  “All the hazmat tests came back negative, so I went in with a small team which included two of the Cardinal’s experts.  Felt it instantly.”

“Dispair?  Hopelessness?  Feelings of worthlessness?”  I asked.

The Commissioner looked startled, then nodded slowly.  “Yes, although those words don’t do the emotions justice.”

“Yeah, it’s like nothing will ever be right again and, in fact, there is no reason to even hope it could be.”

The Commissioner blinked at me for a second, then turned to the dark-haired Gina.  “Okay, so he understands.  But can he do this?”

“
He
has been doing this his whole life, and
he
is standing right here,” I said, immediately annoyed.

Everyone looked at me like I had three heads.  Okay, so maybe I jumped into angry mode a bit quick, but I was frustrated with everyone treating me… well, like they had been treating me.

Tanya, who was standing very close—a fact I had been intensely aware of—touched my left hand with her right.  I instantly felt better.  And slightly embarassed.

“Chris, this sounds like more than one,” Gina said carefully.

“He handled three at once a couple of days ago and closed a major gate the day after that,” Stacia said. 

“You closed a Gate?” Gina asked.  Tanya and the other two vampires were staring daggers at Stacia, which distracted me.  It also raised my blood pressure enough that I moved two steps away from Tanya, whose attention shifted instantly from the wolf girl to me.  I met her gaze for a couple of seconds before answering Gina with a nod.   I didn’t remember any of it, but a lot of werewolves had told me I had, so I had to go with that.

“It was as big as that wall,” Stacia said, directing her comments to Gina and the men while ignoring the vampires.

Awesome.  Hey campers, today’s conditions point to a high potential for getting caught in the middle of supernatural catfight.

Gina, the Cardinal, and Commissioner Rielly were all contemplating the big wall of awards and photos that the blonde girl had indicated.  Gina turned back to me, although I saw her read the tension among the women in a single glance.  She looked thoughtful.  This Gina impressed me.  She was calm as a cucumber in the midst of vampires, werewolves, Police Commissioners, and the Archbishop of New York.  She radiated intelligence and perception.  It made me wonder how well I knew her—you know—before I lost my mind, or at least a big chunk of it.

“So, Mr. Gordon, it seems you
can
help us. The question, therefore, is
will
you help us?” Cardinal Kellan asked.

I reflected on that for a moment, just a moment, and realized I had a choice.  I
could
just walk away.  In fact, I had no idea how I had closed the Hellgate down south, so maybe I should skip this one.  Something squirmed in my brain, down by my left ear.  It wasn’t a physical squirm like some parasite but a roiling of the synapses.  A chunk of information ready to be used.  I thought of Hellgates and it did it again, that little writhing feeling.

I got the impression that everything I needed for closing the gate was still there, so that wasn’t an excuse.  And I thought about my family… dead for fifteen, no, seventeen years at the hands of a Hellbourne.

“Yeah, let’s do it,” I said.  Instant relief flooded the faces of the Cardinal, Commissioner, and the other men.  Stacia just nodded once, and the vampires stayed poker faced.  Gina studied me, a flicker of something like surprise crossing her features.

Chapter 27

They drove us there late in the evening in a hazardous materials van, complete with police escort.  The cover story had to do with chemicals spilled in an illegal basement lab or something equally implausible.

We had the back of the van to ourselves: the three vamps, Gina, myself, the wolf girl, and my woolly masta-dog.  It occurred to me that I hadn’t been this close to this many beautiful women ever… that
I
could remember.

No sooner had the van doors closed and Gina was asking for the sorry details.  Which meant Stacia did most of the speaking.  She explained our entire trip south.  I listened carefully, hoping something would trigger a memory or two.  Nothing.

“So Chris,” Gina began when Stacia had finished, “what’s the most recent thing you can remember?”

I had spent a lot of hours on the trip north working on that very puzzle.

“I remember testing for the NYPD Academy and getting in.  I remember talking about it with Gramps, er, my grandfather, that is.”

“We know your Gramps, Chris.  Quite well,” Gina said with a gentle smile.

“You do?” I asked, truly shocked at the thought of him meeting this particular group of women.

“Nika has only met him once or so, but Lydia and I talk to him somewhat regularly.  I’ve stayed at the farm many times.  In your room.  The one with the mounted stuffed moose on the wall,” Tanya said softly.

She had seen my stuffed moose trophy?  It wasn’t a real moose head, but a blatant toy, a stuffed animal moose.  A silly gift from my father.  Dad and I had been reading
Call of the Wild
together at bedtime and I had told him that he and I and Marcus, my brother, should all go moose hunting in Alaska someday.  It was two weeks before my seventh birthday and when I opened all my presents, there was the moose.

I stared at her, shocked that she knew all about my moose while I didn’t have a single complete memory of her.  Of any of them.  It was like a bad dream.  The kind where you don’t know anyone around you or what you’re supposed to be doing, but everyone knows you.