Page 7

“They’ll agree in the end, of course,” he added. “Of course they will. They aren’t utterlyinsane,after all. And it really is the best solution all around. For them, too. Moreover, they’ll soon realize they have absolutely no alternative to the arrangement I have brokered… regardless of their feelings around some of the stickierpracticalitiesthe solution presents.”

The vampire king gave him another sideways smile.

Faustus stared at him.

“You really never tire of hearing yourself speak. Do you, Betial?”

The vampire went on like he hadn’t spoken.

“…As I said, really, it’s all for the best. Not to mention, a far better deal than anything Quentin could have negotiated on his own. They were quite determined to kill him, you see. I helped them to them realize that really wasn’t thebestcourse of action for our new world. Bad karma, you see. Bad ju-ju. Not to mention an utterly impractical waste of uniquely useful skills. Skills we could potentially continue to tap… only in moderation, of course.”

Faustus felt his irritation intensify.

The vampire enjoyed having him as a captive audience a little too much.

“As it is, I’m reallyquitepleased at our current agreement, if you’ll allow me to say so.” Betial lilted his words, giving them more of that Louisiana drawl. “I feel quite contented with things going back to the way they should be. With only a fewminoralterations, all of which can handily be kept under control, following our last little adventure together––”

“Oh, for the God’s sake,” Faustus growled.

The vampire king held up a hand.

“Now, now. Do not get impatient, Charles. After all, this whole thing has been a long time coming.”

The energy field abruptly shut off.

Faustus jumped, unable to hide his reaction. He took an instinctive step back.

It was a mistake.

Once he did that, any chance he might have had at getting past the vampire was gone. Just like that, Faustus invited the tiger into his cage.

He allowed the tiger to fill the cage’s door.

Faustus stared as the vampire walked over the line where the energy field had lived.

His heart already hammered faster in his chest.

Those clear, cracked-crystal eyes began to change for real. Scarlet streaks grew outward from the black pupils, like solar flares around an eclipsed sun.

Charles backed up further. His mouth grew dry as a bone.

His jaw hardened as he stared at those blood-red eyes.

Brick smiled, his movements deceptively lazy.

“See, we have decided to set back the clock, Charles.” Brick stepped casually closer. “Archangel and I. We would like to forget all about your little attempt to conquer our world. We would like to forget all aboutyou.”

Charles stared at him.

It took a few beats for the vampire’s words to even sink in.

“You’re insane.” He blurted the words, his voice a half-laugh. The laugh had no humor in it whatsoever. His throat still felt closed, dry as desert sand. “Billions of people? You think you can convincebillionsof people that they did not see what they saw? It’s not possible, Betial. Believe me. We contemplated such things on Old Earth… once upon a time.”

Brick smiled.

He took another step deeper into the seer’s cell.

“You don’t need to worry your head about that, Charles.” His voice grew patient, lulling with that lazy drawl. “But really, I think you are overstating the impact you had on my world. So few really knowwhatthey saw, after all. Or what they really knew. So much misinformation around these days… so many lies. So many government agencies that can go bad. So many corrupt actors in the media, in the defense industry…”