The House (37 page)

“We will take
the back alleys to the docks as far as we can. Catherine has
printed off some maps for us; we don’t want to get lost,” Marlow
continued. “I want everyone to have a map and a light to read it by
in case it gets dark while we’re out.”

“Why are we
dressed in black if we’re going out in the daylight?” Eddie asked.
I had wondered as well but I hadn’t wanted to question Marlow. I
had a feeling that he was the one that was going to keep the rest
of us alive.

“Because it
will probably be dark where we want to sneak around. It’s also the
afternoon already, it will get dark in a few hours and it may take
us a while to get there.” Marlow looked around us, apparently to
see if there were any more questions before continuing. “You all
need to follow me closely but don’t walk into me, you need to pay
attention. We may need to split up at some point but we won’t split
into more than two groups and either myself or James will be in
each group.” He took a breath and nodded to James.

“Weapons. In a
perfect situation you won’t need them and we aren’t entirely sure
that this is a good idea since you haven’t been trained. Yet we
think that it might help you, especially if we end up coming across
vampyre.” He held up a knife. “This is steel and it’s been treated
with a spell to degrade vampyre flesh. If you aren’t against a
vampyre it will act like a normal knife. “

The legends
about wooden stakes and vampyre aren’t true. Of course, most things
will die if you stick a large piece of wood through their heart. It
was very difficult to spell a weapon to hurt a vampyre; they healed
very well. It was also possible to spell a weapon to hurt shifters,
which is probably where the silver myth came from. We wouldn’t want
to carry them ourselves though because of their potential to
backfire.

James gave me
a spelled knife in a sheath and gestured to my leg, apparently it
went around my thigh. When I couldn’t figure out how to attach it
Marlow took it from me and attached it so tightly that I feared for
my circulation.

“It’s better
to be tight so that it doesn’t fall down. Here,” he said and handed
me a belt with straps to attach to the sheath to prevent any
slippage. He also gave me an old bum bag to put my phone and light
in. It wasn’t entirely comfortable, since it slid down over my hips
instead of staying at my waist, but it actually didn’t look that
bad.

“Be careful with the knives,” Marlow told us. “I’d say only
use them as a last resort or if there actually are vampyre there.”
James also handed me a smaller blade, which I had no idea where to
put. “These small knives fold away and it will be difficult to
someone searching you to find them. You’ve got them in case you get
caught and have to cut a rope or wire to escape. They are
very
sharp. Scissors
would be better but we don’t have any that can be easily
hidden.”

The boys put
theirs in their waistbands. Mine had a small length of string on
it, so I tied the string to the back of my bra and slid the knife
into the cup. It was very cold against my skin but managed to be
not altogether uncomfortable. I figured I could get at it whether
my hands were tied in front or behind me. James just nodded at my
placement. I was hoping that I wasn’t going to need the little
knife, or the big one for that matter. It would mean we were
fighting and I wanted to avoid that as much as possible. Our
chances of winning weren’t all that great.

The doorbell
rang just as James was showing us a few moves we could do with the
knives. I went to answer the door since there was no way I was
going to remember anything anyway. My plan if anything attacked was
to hit them really hard and hope they passed out. Or try and use
telepathy, but I wanted to avoid doing that if I could. It wasn’t
likely to endear me to the High Council of witches if I used it all
the time. Well, that and I still wasn’t entirely confident in it. I
couldn’t risk knocking all of us out and missing one of the bad
guys.

Hunter was
dressed in black like the rest of us; black jeans and a black top.
He’d even put on a bandana to hide his hair. Hunter was big but he
didn’t give off the vibe of danger that Marlow and James did. It
had allowed him to walk from Jen’s to ours without someone calling
the police. At least, I didn’t think anyone had called them because
Hunter didn’t look overly worried and I couldn’t hear sirens.

“Come in,
we’re getting a lecture on weapons,” I said.

“I thought it
was a lesson,” Hercules shouted from the other room. I had to
smile; it was definitely more of a lecture.

“I’m sure
James and Marlow will be happy to repeat everything for you.” I
smiled at Hunter, flashing my teeth. I was starting to get pumped
up for what was coming. It was exciting in the weirdest way. I knew
there was danger, and I knew that it bordered on suicidal to do it,
but I was still eager for it. I’d wanted to find everyone for so
long and it finally felt like we were doing something.

“What happened
to your face?” Hunter asked as he stepped through the door. To my
surprise I saw the outline of what could only be a gun holster
under his arm. There was also a strap across his body that held a
shotgun across his back. I jumped as he walked past me making the
guns visible. I wanted to know how he’d gotten from Jen’s to the
House without anyone calling the police. I completely forgot that
he’d asked me a question.

“We were
training,” Hercules said. Apparently the knife demonstration was
over. Hercules didn’t look particularly comfortable standing there.
He, like me, had a thigh sheath for his big knife but I pulled it
off better. Maybe it was because my jeggings were tighter than his
jeans which bulged around the sheath. Or maybe it was because it
seemed like such a girly place to put a knife.

“Wow...some
training session, Trix.” Hunter sounded strained and I knew that he
was worried about his brother. The boy was forever getting himself
into trouble but Hunter never got used to it. I thought that Thomas
had probably found something he couldn’t talk himself out of this
time. There was even a small, sadistic part of my mind that said it
was about time, but I pushed it away. Whatever was happening,
Thomas didn’t deserve it any more than the others.

Hercules
handed Hunter a map. He already had a torch attached to his belt
and pocket. Hunter folded the thing and slipped it into a small bag
that was sitting on a second strap across his chest. I hadn’t even
seen it. I was going to be useless when it came to noticing things;
I just wasn’t used to having to think about weapons and hiding
places.

I went back to
James and Marlow in the living room. They were loading themselves
up with weapons and it was terrifying to watch. I was amazed that
they managed to get so many weapons on them and not rattle when
they walked. James had two guns, three knives and several bottles
of liquid that I could see.

The bottles
were of crystal glass and they glowed slightly as the light hit
them. Spelled water probably. You could spell anything if you were
good enough, but water is cheap and seems to take spells quite
well. Spells like that were expensive. I wanted to know how James
had got them. I was betting some of them weren’t exactly legal
either.

Marlow looked
like he was encrusted in weapons. He had put on a stab vest which
seemed to have endless pockets to put nasty things in. There was a
knife on one thigh and a small gun on the other, as well as knives
down both his calves. I could see at least three other guns at
various places and he also had several glowing bottles. I was
fairly sure there was a can of mace, or pepper spray or something,
on his vest as well. He was certainly going in very well
prepared.

I did wonder
where the boys had been keeping all of this stuff. Marlow must have
brought his gear with him from home when he came to tell us about
Shayana. I knew that Marlow was an assassin. It was vaguely less
frowned upon in our community than amongst the mortals, as long as
he didn’t get caught at least. I just had never really appreciated
what it meant. Marlow knew how to use each and every weapon he had.
It made me feel faintly inadequate.

“When are we
leaving?” Hunter asked. He sounded excited now, tightly wound and
eager to be out. I could sympathise, I wanted to be moving as well.
I just wasn’t quite so enthusiastic about what we were doing after
seeing all the weapons. It made me think we might need them. I
patted the knife down my own thigh to make sure it was still in
place and checked that I had everything in my little bum bag: map,
light, phone and keys.

“Now,” Marlow
snarled just as I looked up.

The walk
through the garden was exciting. It felt like we might all laugh.
The tension was definitely building between us, the sense of the
unknown filling us up. I had never been on a rescue mission before.
I’d been rescued though and wondered if that would help. I’d also
seen some pretty awful things in my life so I was fairly sure that
whatever we saw I could handle it, that I would be able to keep my
composure no matter what. I didn’t really have much of a choice. If
we failed we’d probably all die horribly and it was slightly
worrying how easily I had accepted my fate.

I had been
surprised that they consented to me going at all. I suppose since
male shifters were now missing as well it had become clear that
they weren’t just targeting the girls, so I was no more their next
target than any of us. It was the ‘any of us’ that worried me. It
would be very difficult to take James or Marlow but if we lost them
we were completely screwed.

The trees
swayed as we passed underneath them, as if the garden was saying
goodbye. It unnerved me and I had to remind myself that they were
just trees, that they weren’t sentient. The front of my mind bought
it but in the back of my mind, there was an edge to the air. It was
already starting to grow dark by the time we left and it felt like
the air pressure was building. Only, it wasn’t. It was already a
clear and perfect sky.

We locked the
gate behind us and hid a key just in case we lost everything and
had to run home. At least we’d have a way to get in, although if we
lost everything we would try not to lead them back to the House. It
was common sense; you don’t want the bad guys to know where you
live. I hoped that I remembered that if I had to run for my life.
Mind you, the chances that I would find my way back through the
maze of alleys were slim to none.

It started off
straightforward enough. We entered the back alleys by the same gate
as when we went to the Covenant. It felt like a lifetime ago that I
had led everyone there. A peek into my past that none of them
needed to get.

I lost track
after the first few turns. Marlow was leading our little group but
Hercules had the map. I was just behind them, followed by Eddie,
with James and Hunter bringing up the rear. We all had our lights
out.

I had
forgotten how dark the alleyways got. There was no artificial
lighting down there and it was beyond creepy. I normally avoided
the alleyways all together, but especially once the sun was low
enough not to penetrate them. Which to be honest was anything
except from about noon to two in the afternoon.

Every alley
looked the same; blank concrete walls. Only the occasional graffiti
to set them apart and even that didn’t help in the dark. I wouldn’t
have been able to identify our route even if it had been light. I
tried to stay as close to the middle of the alley as I could; you
never knew when there might be a door you didn’t see.

It wasn’t long
before we came across the first girl. She was wearing the
proverbial miniskirt and crop top combo. She also looked spaced out
of her mind. There was a little lamp on the wall above her and a
door only a metre away. Apparently she worked somewhere; they just
didn’t have all their girls outside so early in the evening.

The brothel
wouldn’t open onto a main road at all. The access would be solely
via the back alleys. It was a modern hidden room. Nothing on the
plans, no indication it was there unless you started to measure the
rest of the building. I’d bet they were soundproofed too. You could
live right next to one and never hear a thing. It was one of the
few things that really scared me about our modern world.

I spared a
glance at the girl as we passed. She barely even noticed us. She
certainly didn’t see the mounds of weapons on the boys. It was like
unless we were customers she couldn’t see us. Or maybe she couldn’t
see her customers either and they had to lead her back inside. I
didn’t think very highly of her chances in that state.

The next girl
we saw was in better shape. She slipped back down a side alley as
she saw us coming; Marlow practically radiated purpose and
violence. We never saw her face, just the flash of pale flesh as
she hid. Smart girl, she might survive with an attitude like that,
for a while at least. Something or someone always got them in the
end.

Sometimes I
wondered how often it was one of us that did away with them, but
there were plenty of humans with the strength to dispatch an
unarmed girl, especially when nobody cared. The vampyre would deal
with them for blood but it was highly déclassé to kill off your
life line.

We passed
several drug dealers who all turned away at our passing. They
didn’t know what we were doing and they wouldn’t ask. They would
just stay out of our way and would do their best to forget they
ever saw us. As an experiment I dipped into the mind of one of the
men we passed. It was horrible inside his head, he was definitely
on something.

I gently
pushed the memories of us passing out of his head. He definitely
wouldn’t remember us and, if he was anything to go by, neither
would his buddies. They were all so strung out I’d be surprised if
they remembered their own names.