Sunset Strip: A Tale From The Tome Of Bill (16 page)

I dreaded what would come next. The front desk told me the room was occupied by one James Ozy, no doubt his play on Jeff’s nickname. The second he opened the door I knew that the compulsion would take over again. Who knew how much blood would paint the walls of his room before the sun rose in the morning...and how much of it would be mine?

“One moment, please,” came a deceptively pleasant voice from inside.

A few seconds later, the door opened. The room's occupant was quite striking: short brown hair, hazel eyes, and a strong chin. He was a few inches shorter than Jeff and not quite as muscular, but still solidly built. He looked me in the eye and smiled pleasantly.

“Are you Ozymandias?” A lump rose in my throat. If what I’d heard was true, here stood a guy who predated this country.

He sighed. “I suppose I am, at least when in this city. Please do come in.”

“Thanks. I’m Sally, from Village Coven.”

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Sally.” He held out a hand.

I reached out and took it, not sure what to expect, but all he did was give it a gentle shake.

Soft sounds drifted out from the interior and diverted my attention. Cartoonish voices and the occasional outlandish explosion could be heard coming from the bedroom. “Am I interrupting something?”

He raised a bemused eyebrow. “Oh, not at all. That’s just the television - a bit of a guilty pleasure, if you will. I occasionally use the downtime that coven visits afford as an excuse to catch up on my pop culture.”

I almost grinned despite myself, then quickly covered it up as I remembered who this was.

“In any matter, I assume Jeff...sorry,
Night Razor
. I apologize for my momentary lack of proper protocol.”

“Oh...no problem,” I replied, amazed to hear that last sentence. If there was one thing Jeff never did, it was say he was sorry for anything.

“As I was saying, I assume Night Razor sent you to keep me out of trouble for the evening.”

“Something like that,” I muttered, feeling my eyes lose focus. The edges of the compulsion began to take hold again.

“Excellent. Then what shall we do to kill the time? Pardon the pun.”

Almost immediately, my tongue was not my own. “I am here to fulfill whatever you desire.”

Ozymandias frowned. “Come again?”

“I am here to fulfill whatever you desire,” I repeated, internally screaming out a cry of rage.

He let out another sigh and looked me straight in the eye. “I do so hate when coven leaders send their representatives out with such painfully blatant compulsions. No offense meant to your master, but I dare say Night Razor is one of the worst offenders.” He placed his hands on my shoulders. Inwardly I tensed, certain that whatever happened next wouldn’t be pleasant. “I apologize in advance if this hurts.
YOU ARE RELEASED FROM YOUR ORDERS!!
”

I staggered in his arms, but he held me up. My god, the power behind his voice - it made Jeff’s commands seem like a whisper in comparison. How old was this guy?

“What the fuck?” I gasped, realizing a moment too late what had just escaped my lips.

“A crude, but apt question,” he replied, a grin once more covering his face. “Let’s test it, shall we? Are you here to fulfill my deepest and most disturbing desires?”

I opened my mouth, sure Jeff’s commands would come pouring out, but found that they weren’t there. I squealed with delight at the realization. “Don’t take offense to this, but not really.”

“Excellent!” he replied, dropping his hands from my shoulders.

“What did you do?”

“I overrode Night Razor’s commands.”

“You can do that?”

“Oh yes, my dear. Compulsion is considerably more complicated than just giving orders and having them carried out no matter the cost. There are many subtleties involved...one such being that a vampire of sufficient strength can cancel out or even insulate one from another’s compulsion.”

“Really? I don’t suppose you could insulate me from any more of Jeff’s orders.”

He frowned at that. “You should refer to him as Night Razor. We are in his domain and I am bound by my station to honor his edicts. As you are his charge, you must do likewise. Alas, in answer to your question, I cannot. It would be a violation of my duties to the First Coven. Please don’t take offense. Just know I take my station and responsibilities quite seriously.”

“Can’t blame a girl for trying.”

“No, I cannot at that,” he replied with a laugh. “Now, how about we begin again? What sights would you care to show me in your fair city?”

* * *

“That was simply marvelous!” James...Ozymandias, I had to remind myself...exclaimed as we walked back to his hotel room.

“You mean you’ve never had espresso before?”

“Of course. I have been around for a while. Even so, that was a particularly good blend. I shall have to remember that place for future visits. In fact, I might have to start finding excuses to come down here more often.”

I found myself genuinely smiling. That a being as old as him could find happiness in something as mundane as coffee was refreshing. A small part of me feared that a general malaise would set in after a time - years, possibly centuries, from now. With nothing of interest left, I might just find myself sitting out on the beach awaiting one last sunrise. Ozymandias’s overall attitude gave me reason to push that particular worry aside.

I had to admit, I was actually having a good time. He had no shortage of stories to tell and they were all surprisingly entertaining. I had previously met a few vampires that were older than Jeff and all of them seemed to suffer from the same affliction: being self-absorbed assholes. To meet someone so old, yet so
alive
, was a breath of fresh air. That he was wickedly good-looking didn’t exactly hurt, either.

We stopped at the door and he began digging in his pocket for his room key. “I have to say, Sally, you have been quite the engaging company tonight. It’s rare that a coven master sends someone so insightful to meet with me.”

“Oh?”

“Quite. For example, Night Razor typically sends another member of Village Coven to entertain me when I’m in town...a charming, if somewhat vacuous, redhead. Sadly, her name escapes me.”

I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing out loud.

“Anyway, we often don’t even get past the threshold of my hotel room. Don’t get me wrong - I have nothing against physical companionship. It’s just that it’s nice to be able to sit and talk outside of business with someone whose interests lie beyond the usual staples of vampire life.”

“Blood?”

“And self-importance.”

“Hah! I understand that one. What can I say? I used to be a history buff...a bit of a bookworm.”

“Used to be?”

“My father didn’t consider education of paramount importance for a woman.”

“Forgive my saying so, but he was a fool. I’ve walked this earth for many centuries and in that time I’ve developed a knack for reading people. One need only speak to you for a few moments to see the bright mind behind those lovely eyes. You could do far worse things than indulge your natural curiosity.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

I’d been holding back, mostly listening to Ozymandias talk all evening. The truth was there were a ton of vampire-related questions I wanted to ask him, but I’d been afraid. “Well then, what can you tell me about the war?”

“Which one? Civil, Revolutionary, World...”

“The Feet.”

His eyes opened slightly in surprise.

“I’ve been doing some translating for Night Razor, and I’ve noticed mentions of it here and there. It’s...”

He raised a finger to my lips. “Curiosity is a good thing, but it should be tempered where certain business is concerned. Our hierarchy is quite strict, and some are none too pleased to learn when information leaks.”

Uh oh.

“Not myself, mind you,” he continued, lowering his hand and smiling. “I would rather see our people armed with as much knowledge as they’d dare wish to burden themselves with. Alas, while my power here may seem significant, I’m little more than a cog in the grand scheme of things.”

“Somehow, I don’t believe that.”

He leaned close and whispered, his breath tickling my neck. “Neither do I.” He pulled back and raised his voice to normal levels. “But far be it from me to admit so.”

He was such an odd duck. The polar opposite of Jeff. Why couldn’t I have been recruited into his coven? He seemed like he had a lot to teach, and not just about the fluctuations of the price of drugs.

“Sadly, much of this is moot,” he continued, unlocking his door. Pushing it open, he stepped onto the threshold. “I am of the mindset that even if I were given permission to open our archives, offer free access to all who wished it, the flood of those seeking knowledge would be little more than a trickle.”

“Agreed. Not to put too blunt of a name to it, but at the very least I know my coven is full to the brim with fucking idiots.”

“I won’t join in the disparagement of a coven under my charge,” he said, “but I find myself unwilling to disagree as well. Take no offense, but your group as a whole is quite the stark contrast compared to a coven up in Cambridge that I oversee. Albeit I would probably call them the exception rather than the rule...and their overall arrogance does tend to grate.”

“Well then, Night Razor would fit right in with them...at least, until he opened his mouth.”

“I hope you do not speak that way around your master. It has been my impression that he does not tolerate insolence.”

“He doesn’t tolerate anything that doesn’t involve kissing his ass. He’s small minded, self-centered, insecure...”

“Do tell me how you really feel, please.”

Realizing I was just chewing Jeff a new asshole in front of the guy who was, in essence, his boss - a vampire who’d known him far longer than he’d known me - I quickly changed my tone. “I’m sorry. That was probably out of line.”

“It was, but honest opinion is likewise a refreshing breath of air.”

“You...won’t tell him I said that, will you?”

He leaned against the door frame and appeared to consider my words. It’d been stupid of me to get comfortable and let my guard down. I’d seen other coven members, a few of them now
former
members, get caught doing the same thing. They’d been whispering in hushed tones, making jokes, not realizing just how acute Jeff’s hearing was.

The bottom line was that he owned us wholly. When he wanted something, we knew to submit. There was no defense we could take if he chose to make an example out of us. A brief shudder passed through me as I realized just how afraid of him I was.

I looked up toward Ozymandias, ready to plead my case, but found him grinning.

“I believe the phrase is, we have a deal. I will keep your somewhat low opinion of Night Razor to myself. In return, though, I will require recompense.”

Recom...oh. I had thought Ozymandias different, but at the end of the day he was a guy and here I was, standing in his hotel doorway, wearing a dress that didn’t leave much of my figure to the imagination.

“I know,” he continued. “I shall require your eyes.”

 “Huh?”

“Not physically, of course, but I’d like for you to be my inside man...in a manner of speaking. I won’t lie. Night Razor concerns me. The Greenwich Village Coven is in a key city of this country. There should be more influence wielded, greater ambition shown. Instead, he runs things like one of those discotheques that used to be all the rage.”

“Then why don’t...”

“Because it is his prerogative to rule his coven however he sees fit. So long as the overarching integrity of the vampire nation is maintained, that is the edict of the First. I am beholden to it.”

Realization hit. “You don’t like him anymore than I do.”

“The enemy of my enemy and all that...albeit I would like to think perhaps we had more than that in common. Regardless, I would ask that from time to time when I visit, you simply fill me in on any goings-on that might be of concern. I don’t expect there to be much, but it will make me feel better knowing I am getting an honest opinion rather than the whitewashing that so many coven masters like to give.”

There wasn’t really much to consider. I liked this guy, whereas Jeff was a fucking cock. Having a friend in high places wouldn’t exactly hurt in the long run, either.

“In return,” he added, “while I won’t divulge state secrets, I will allow you to indulge in your curiosity for some matters, especially as it appears that your position in the coven puts you in the know anyway.” He held out his hand to me. “Do we have a deal?”

I reached out, but hesitated for a moment. “What if he finds out?”

“He won’t.”

“He could compel me to...”

“No, he won’t...at least not when I am finished.”

“I thought you said you wouldn’t insulate me against his commands.”

“I did and I spoke true. You are his charge. To do so would be the height of impropriety on my part. That being said, as I consider our pact to be a matter above his rank, I see no issue protecting questions regarding it.”

I laughed, then grasped his hand in mine and nodded.

“
YOU ARE TO IGNORE ANY AND ALL COMPULSIONS REGARDING THE NATURE OF OUR RELATIONSHIP!!
”

It was both powerful and subtle. Unlike a normal compulsion, which rang through one’s head and made their body not their own, this one flowed like a lazy river into my subconscious. I felt something akin to a door being locked, one that Jeff didn’t have the key to.

We stood there holding hands for a moment longer, then Ozymandias said, “The pact is sealed. It has truly been a lovely evening with an even lovelier woman. Sadly, dawn is only about an hour away. You should get back to the safety of your...”

He tried to pull away, but I refused to let go of his hand. “How do you do it?”

“Do it?”

“Stay...the way you are. You’re so...different. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re so
human
.”

“Take that the wrong way? I consider it a compliment. That is exactly my secret. I try to never forget the man I once was. He wasn’t perfect by any means, but he tried. I don’t often live up to who I wanted to be, but when I fail, I remember my friends, my family, those who are long gone. As long as I can still see their faces, that man isn’t entirely forgotten.”