Page 31
Story: A City of Swords and Fangs
CHAPTER 31
M y head was spinning, but I was aware enough to cast my shield and a glamor. I walked to the bridge and across the river, then continued along the embankment, watching the lights on the water. It was still early enough that people were out—couples walking arm in arm, even though the city had gone homicidally crazy.
I tried to blank my mind, to just feel and enjoy the night, but Nicola had planted a worm in my head. Did I know who I was? Did I know what the hell I was doing in Zürich? What did I want to be? I came to study, to learn. But the things that I learned so far—had I learned anything about myself? And was that even important?
Something she said really worried me. Why did she think that I might fall in love with Nikolas Müller? I had said nothing about him, and neither had she until the end of our conversation. She read auras. I wondered if the strigoi might think I could craft an artifact to benefit them. Or did they think that I was a weapon they could use against Müller? Even as young as I was, I was fairly certain I was strong enough to kill him. But I truly tried to avoid murder. Of any kind of sentient being.
Slayer. That’s what vampires called me. When I worked as a tracker in Queen City, I was paid for the heads of the vampires and werewolves I killed. Not for tracking them. I did have a talent for tracking people, but in Colorado it could be a euphemism for slayer. I realized for the first time that’s what the supernaturals thought of me. Not something that made me feel better about myself.
Was I a different kind of weapon? If so, what kind of weapon might that be?
A man was walking toward me, and something about him seemed familiar. As we drew closer to each other, I recognized Nikolas Müller. When only about twenty feet separated us, a dark streak flew out of nowhere and hit him in the head.
Müller reacted by trying to brush whatever it was off him, then he let out a cry. I realized it was Sima, clawing and biting him in the face. The man staggered, fighting to dislodge the cat with both hands, but without any luck. Then he went down.
I stood and watched until Sima separated herself and disappeared in the darkness. I hurried to the man who lay huddled on the ground. His face was bleeding profusely, and he was whimpering.
“Are you all right?” I asked, crouching beside him and dropping my glamor.
“What the hell was that?”
“I, uh, I don’t know. Some kind of animal, I think.”
He reached up to me, and I saw his hand was covered in blood. A brief flash of headlights from a car going past showed that his face and neck were shredded, and he was bleeding from dozens of bites and deep scratches, including four deep ones across one eye.
“Damned animals! You see what this city has come to? We need to clean it of all the vermin. Man can’t even walk down the street without being attacked.”
I helped him to his feet.
“You need to see a doctor,” I said.
He shrugged my arms away from him. “I’ll be all right, as long as it doesn’t come back.”
“Let me help you.”
Müller pushed me away. “You can help me by admitting we need to exterminate the vermin infesting this city,” he said, brushing past me, and shambling away down the street.
I watched him go, then hurried home. When I got there, I found Sima sitting in front of my bedroom door, staring up at the knob. I had no idea why she put on the pretense, since she seemed able to go anywhere she wanted. I opened the door and let her in. She jumped up on the bed, then nestled into her pillow, and began cleaning herself.
Light shone under the Master’s door, so I knocked. I heard a bit of rustling, then he opened it.
“Ah, I was hoping you’d stop by. Come in.”
He led me to the table in his sitting room and held up a bottle of brandy with a questioning look on his face. I shook my head and sat down.
“So, how was your visit with Nicola Müller?”
“Interesting, I think.”
“What did she want?”
“She wants me to be her friend, or that’s what she said.”
“Really?” The look on his face was priceless.
“Yeah. She said she didn’t have very many friends.”
“I’m shocked.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, who would have thought? She also wanted to warn me about her nephew. She said I shouldn’t fall in love with him.”
“I didn’t think you were tempted.”
“About as tempted as jumping off a cliff. Master, are strigoi empaths?”
“I’ve never heard that mentioned as being among their powers.”
“She said that she still has some magic, and I could feel it. Not elemental magic, but she said she could read my aura, and she said she can still feel magic.”
He pursed his lips. “I don’t think I’ve ever had that conversation with a mage who’s been turned.”
“She thinks I’m a nexus.” I wasn’t entirely sure what that was, so I waited for his reaction.
“People often think that about spirit and ley line mages when they show up in times of turmoil. You have certainly attracted attention, at least among the Müller clan.”
“Master, you mentioned the Fae. I’m not entirely sure who they are. Could Sima be Fae?”
He gave me a startled look. “Why would you ask that?”
“She showed up—inside Nicola’s room—while I was there. Nicola asked if she was my familiar.”
Shaking his head, he asked, “Is that all?”
I told him about our encounter with Nikolas Müller, then said, “She also showed up one night while I was coming home. I ran into a group of young Knights, and she attacked one of them so I could escape. There is something strange about that cat.”
“She attacked Müller? Was he harassing you?”
I shook my head. “We weren’t even close to each other. Neither of us had said a word.”
“Yes, I would say your evening out was interesting.”
“What about your meeting with the archbishop?”
“Not productive. I’ve known Archbishop Favre since he was a boy. His father was a friend of mine. He doesn’t have any magic, and he’s deeply suspicious of the Knights. But he’s also deeply devout, and if the Prelate says the supernaturals are minions of the devil, then he accepts that and backs the Knights. Our only consolation is that he’s also deeply suspicious of Nikolas Müller.”
We parted soon after that. I found Sima asleep on my bed, gave her some treats while I brushed my teeth, and then turned out the light.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31 (Reading here)
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44