Anna was tired. She was unbelievably exhausted, more so than ever before. For months, she was running after the events, trying to find out who's doing what and why, and when she finally got all the pieces more or less together, she suddenly was on the run herself. Then, before she even had time to hatch a plan, everything went south, big time. She failed on every level, on several occasions and truth to be told, she was seriously pissed about it.
Not like she had any time for brooding. The last two weeks since New Year's Eve was the living hell for the city of London. Those who didn't manage to leave the city in time were barricading themselves at home while wild vampires, ghouls, zombies and flesh-golems scouted the streets, hunting for anything living.
The Internet went down on day one, and didn't really make a comeback since. It worked sometimes, for minutes, and that was true for the phones as well. The police had fallen, so did the army. The only force to reckon with now was the new SRU, but as it turned out early on, Commissioner McLoad embraced the chaos instead of fighting against it and used it to take down her personal enemies unnoticed. The vigilantes who didn't fall in line to serve her started to disappear, one by one. Because life wasn't complicated enough without that bullshit, Anna thought.
'Man, the whole city looks like some cheap post-apocalyptic young adult movie, and not the one with the really hot chick,' said Cannon.
'Thank you for that,' frowned Anna, even though the boy couldn't see her face behind her fae-helmet.
'No, I mean, you are hot, not like I say I'd hit that, I mean, I definitely would, but I just…'
'Just shut up, please,' sighed Anna.
After the battle in the old movie-theatre, Cannon spent every waking minute to hunt down Anna. When she got bored of that, ambushed the boy, who confessed that he wasn't exactly sure that he was on the right side to begin with, and they never told him that they were sending him after the Gentleman. The man was a living legend amongst vigilantes, the young ones like Cannon idolised him. Anna agreed to work with the boy; even though he was annoying to no end, he was actually very competent and reliable. Plus there was nobody else who was willing to team up with her anyway and she desperately needed help. With all the creatures lurking and with the SRU and McLoad going rogue there were no days when she didn't have to fight for her life.
'So what's the plan then?' the boy asked now.
They were hiding in the shadows, watching over the pub-boat called Crossroads that was anchored next to the floor bridge, the same spot as last time Anna was here. There was no movement inside now, but at least ten guards protected the only entrance.
'You are staying here, eyes wide open. For anything suspicious, like, SRU officers arriving or me screaming for help, the smallest sign of trouble, you come running, making as big of a mess as you possibly can, so I could escape. But don't jump on shadows, I don't want to piss off the big guy if I don't have to.'
'Got it. Make a mess. I'm good at that. Who is this guy again?' asked Cannon.
'I don't know his name,' answered Anna. 'I think he is a vampire, but more importantly, he is a dangerous man with a small army serving him, and I owe him a favour.'
Unsurprisingly, her plan to take down the man at the Crossroads before he can use his favour, didn't work out. She might have been able to do that, given time, but time was exactly the thing she never had enough of. There were just too many things to take care of.
'You shouldn't get involved with people like this,' noted Cannon so naively and concerned that Anna wanted to kiss his face and make him some cocoa.
'Yeah, well, the deed is done so I might as well hear him out,' she shrugged. 'Wish me luck!'
With that she grabbed the metal handrail of the bridge with her mind and swung into the air. She landed on the boat, without anyone noticing her. The guards were there to stop the undead attackers, not for spotting people wearing magically enhanced camouflage coats in the darkness.
The window she left last time was open. Anna wasn't sure if vampires can feel cold or not, but it seemed like an odd decision anyway.
'You are late,' said the man inside. He was sitting in a throne-like leather armchair, facing the window. He had a drink in his hand. 'I started to think you won't attend.'
'I wouldn't miss it,' Anna answered, climbing in the room. 'Especially after you reminded me that I have no choice.'
The man nodded. He was still way too handsome with his dark hair, dark eyes, few days old stubbles and slightly too big a nose. He wore a black suit, without a tie.
'I wanted to make sure you will come,' he said. 'Care for a drink?'
'I'm not exactly keen on showing my face,' the girl said.
'I think we have passed that whole childish nonsense with the so-called superheroes and their secret identity, but have it in your way,' he shrugged. 'Please, sit.'
Anna set her helmet to night vision and looked around, searching for traps. They were alone.
'I have a few very nervous friends outside, waiting for my sign to attack this boat if needed and I don't want to make them even more worried, so how about you get to the point?'
She didn't sit down, out of sheer stubbornness. Instead leaned to the wall, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
'Please,' the man giggled. 'It's a little offensive that you think I don't exactly know when and with whom you arrived.'
Anna shrugged again. She just wanted to get over with it and leave. This man had an effect on her she didn't like at all.
'Very well,' the vampire nodded, when he realised Anna won't react. 'Let's talk business. Do you agree that you owe me a favour?'
'I… What? Yeah, I mean, your information was kind of useless, I was supposed to stop Kovach with it, which obviously didn't happen, so…'
'You wanted to know who was behind the vampire-attacks, and I gave you a way to find that out. It's not my fault that you decided to let New Year's Eve happen,' he pointed out cheerfully.
'I didn't… You know, what?' Anna let her hands down, so they were close to her utility belt in case she needed anything from it. 'You have ten seconds to spit out what the hell you want, after that I'm leaving.'
'As you wish,' he took a slow, long sip of his drink, using up all ten of the seconds, dancing on the girl's nerves. Then he looked at Anna. 'I need you to take down Attila Kovach.'
She scoffed.
'And just how am I supposed to do that?' she asked. 'He is the freaking Priest-guy. I met him once, you know. I'm not even sure he realised I was actually attacking him while he mopped the floor with me. And as they say I was still lucky to get away alive.'
'You most certainly were,' the man nodded. 'He is… Special. Probably one of the most powerful creatures of our time. His power is lurking over me as we speak, I can feel his mind around.'
'How come you aren't under his influence, then?' asked Anna with real curiosity. As far as she knew all of the vampires served Kovach now.
'He isn't omnipotent,' the vampire said. 'He can control the lesser, younger vampires, hundreds of them and I have no doubt he could make me and the other older vampires his servant, too, if he was to concentrate all his energy on any one of us. Or maybe he couldn't, I'm quite powerful myself, but it is a question I'm not seeking an answer for.'
'How old are you?' frowned Anna. She knew that vampires developed all kinds of mysterious abilities over time but being able to resist The Priest seemed like the ultimate power.
'Let's just say, when that moronic baker burned down half of the city in 1666, I already had a few centuries behind me,' he said easily.
Anna nodded. She was glad that her helmet hid the awed expression on her face. What did that mean, 700, maybe 800 years? Could be even more. Just to think about the things this man must have seen blew her mind. But this was not the time for geeking out.
'How does he do it, anyway?' she asked casually, trying not to sound too impressed.
'Necromancy, not unlike shamanism or being a halfling,' he nodded towards Anna. '...is something people are born with. Cannot be taught, if one does not have it in them. It's a rare and dangerous ability on its own, but Kovach is also an extremely powerful and skilled sorcerer. He had time to learn all kinds of magic, rituals and spells that are lost for the modern sorcerers.'
'So how am I supposed to stop him?'
'You won't,' he smiled. 'Your friends will. Montgomery and Carano. Together they could defeat him, if only they would happen to know where to find him. Which, needless to say, I can tell.'
Anna shook her head.
'Sorry to break it to you, pal, but that's not gonna happen,' she said. 'We are not exactly close friends, and they probably think that I'm a murderer. Besides, it's the worst kept secret ever that something happened to Montgomery's brain and he can't really do magic anymore. As of Jenna... Nobody saw her since New Year's Eve and rumour has it she died protecting a bunch of rich guys at her father's party.'
The man took another sip and nodded.
'Maybe so. On the other hand, I've spoken to several eyewitnesses who all claimed that Mr Montgomery killed around fifty attacking ghouls by himself, then flew out of a window, carrying Miss Carano. I believe they went to the pub called Broken Shield, they did seek sanctuary there before. Miss Carano, although was seriously injured, is alive. Another member of their party, however, died indeed on that evening, a young lady called Rose.'
Anna nodded. She remembered Rose from the time they were hunting down Jenna's stalker. She seemed like a nice person. What a shame…
'Let's say Jenna is still alive,' Anna said slowly, starting to pace around the luxurious room. Moving, doing something always helped her think. 'Let's say Montgomery found a way to do magic again. Let's also say that their cop or agent or whatever friend won't arrest me on the sight for a murder I didn't commit. I still don't understand what makes you think they can defeat Kovach. They tried before and they failed.'
'True,' nodded the man, while he crossed his legs 'Kovach has a self-healing ability beyond even mine. For me, a stab in the heart or a bullet in the brain could be deadly, but for him? Just a scratch. However…' He reached under his suit jacket and took out a little glass vial. It had something black in it. 'This is a… We can call it poison, I think. It was extracted from a magical plant that went extinct a couple of hundred years ago. Extinct, as in, someone paid a horrible amount of money to someone else who had enough free time and knowledge to wipe the thing out for good. Later on, it turned out even though the petals contained the poison, the stem could have cured the flu forever, but by then it was too late. This is all that remained. A regular human would die in ten seconds just by having a drop of it on his skin. Now I have no real way to test it, you understand, because I don't have enough…'
'Also, killing people is bad,' added Anna.
'Yeah, that, too,' he waved. 'Still, I strongly believe that this poison, provided someone is skilled or lucky enough to inject it to Kovach's bloodstream, will if not kill him, but weaken his healing abilities enough so a powerful sorcerer, or two, namely, Mr Montgomery and Miss Carano, could finish him. So, this would be the favour I'm asking from you: take this, give it to them, tell them where he is and make sure they will kill him.'
'That's it? That's all I have to do?' asked Anna. It seemed too easy. The Gentleman, although he never said it out loud, looked like he had some seriously traumatising memory about whatever he had to do for this man.
'Well, I had plans for you,' the vampire nodded. 'They were highly dangerous and I'm sure you wouldn't have liked the goal I was working towards. However, for the moment being this is simply the most useful thing you can do for me, so yes, that's it. This is the way how business works, you know: some investments will pay big time, some won't.'
Anna reached out and took the little vial, alongside a piece of folded paper with the address where Kovach was hiding. She was curious how the vampire found that one out, but she was smarter than to ask. The man wouldn't have answered anyway.
'You do realise that from now on I don't owe you anything, and you just told me that you are after something I won't like, right?' she asked.
The man smiled, his dark eyes sparked up. He was dangerously handsome.
'If and when I will have to put you out of the game, because you are in my way, will be a sad day for me, Miss Horvath. But don't have illusions: I will do it nevertheless.'
Anna's eyes opened wide.
'How…?' she practically groaned the word.
The vampire gave him another disarming smile.
'You didn't think, for one second, that some fae metal would protect your thoughts from me, did you? I am most likely the oldest vampire ever walked on this land, sweetheart. I have powers you cannot imagine. Now go; you have things to do.'
He made a dismissing gesture and Anna felt the urge of leaving in her mind. It wasn't too strong, it wasn't an order, but it was there, nonetheless and it was terrifying. She pocketed the vial and the piece of paper and left without saying anything else.
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