The windows flashed silver, rattled with the accompanying clap, and blurred with the onslaught of the downpour. "No, of course not."
"You're a liar."
The room became charged with as much electricity as was manifest in the storm. The scent of vampire spoor soured like the odor of sweat. Lyle, Zada, and even Dory were all staring at him, the weight of their gazes adding to the heaviness in the air. Ric lowered his voice, and it came out as thick as the air. "To make an accusation like that without proof is a direct challenge to my authority. Is that what you really want to do, Tuxbridge? Challenge me?"
"I want proof that you're telling the truth. If you refuse that proof, then yes, I challenge you. We all do."
It was hard to breathe. Ric forced himself to draw a slow, deep breath. "Proof? What proof do you want?"
Tux pulled out his cell phone. "Ormie and Eva need to witness this." He pressed a number. "Ormie? We need you now." There was a slight pause. "Good." He disconnected the call. "They'll be here in a minute."
The rain beat against the windows like a million tiny fists pounding to demand entrance. Gusts of wind added their force to the assault, whistling with their efforts to pierce the defenses of the old house. It was all very wrong, but there was nothing Ric could do. Nothing had happened yet to justify a response of violence.
Twin headlight beams speared the darkness and driving rain and crawled up the driveway. The blurred lights stopped, then were extinguished. Dory rose, but Ric was swifter and got to the door first. Eva ran toward him like a ghost out of the shadows, her pale hair and skin visible through the veils of darkness and rain.
"Stand back, Mr. High-and-mighty Overlord!" she yelled over the storm. "Sorry we're late, but since we've been designated the refreshment committee we thought we should stop and pick up something tasty for the meeting."
Eva burst through the doorway, the rainwater streaming off her hair and skin to add splashes of water to the wet footprints on the floor.
Ormie followed close behind. "Young, sweet, tender, and so fresh it's still wriggling. Just the way you like them. Right, boss?"
Ormie swept into the living room and came to a halt, dripping double the volume of water on the floor that Eva did. For Ormie held a second being tightly against his body with one muscular arm wrapped around the human's throat and the other around her waist. "Be very careful, boss. One wrong move and your dinner won't be so fresh, because I'll kill it here and now."
Ric kept his features neutral, but his gut clenched with the realization that his biggest fear had come true.
Shelby Cort stared at Ric with rounded eyes that seconded Ormie's plea for caution.
Chapter Thirteen.
Ric stepped back. "Are you crazy? What's the meaning of bringing the sheriff here like this?"
Tux moved to stand side by side with Ormie. Ric could see in Shelby's widening eyes the recognition and dawning disbelief that one of the town's most handsome, eligible bachelors was, like Ric, a card-carrying member of the Undead.
It was Tux who spoke. "Ormie did it on my orders. This is the proof we want. We asked you over and over to take care of the sheriff, but you said you saw no threat and did nothing but bed her. Well, she's a threat now, isn't she? It's simple, Ric. You're either on our side, or you're not. Kill her now, and we'll know you're on our side. Refuse, and we know you're not."
He looked at her eyes, still as round and unblinking as a doll's. He wasn't sure if it was fear and horror that filled them, or shock that emptied them. A wide strip of duct tape covered her mouth. "Are you mad? Killing a sheriff? Do you know the kind of heat this will bring down?"
Tux shrugged his wide shoulders. "She'll go missing, but you can be sure her body won't be found in any privy hole or anywhere else. It'll bring heat, yes, but it'll take the heat off Kyle Carver and all of us."
"And it'll be focused right on me. I've been seen with her socially."
Tux snickered. "Gee, Ric, that's too bad. Maybe you'll have to move away from Shadow Bay." The rest of the group laughed.
"My loyalty is to the council. I told you that before. What you're asking me to do is insane, but if it's the only proof you'll accept, so be it. She means nothing to me." He unbuttoned the waistcoat, threw it on a nearby chair, and went to work on the cravat, expertly untying it by feel alone. It joined the pile, followed by his white shirt.
"I have no desire to get blood all over my clothes." He stepped over to Ormie. "Give her to me."
Ormie looked to Tux, and Tux nodded. Ormie let go of Shelby, and though Ric could see she tried to keep her feet under her, she looked anything but steady. He caught her, scooped her into his arms, and stepped to the sofa.
"Move."
Lyle and Zada scattered like roaches. Ric laid her down on the sofa and leaned over her. He carefully peeled the tape from her mouth. "I'm sorry, Shelby. You shouldn't have gotten in the way."
"Don't do this, Ric. You don't have to do this," she whispered.
"Relax, my sweet, and enjoy. The pain will be over very quickly."
"No!" She sat up and struggled in his arms, pushing against his chest.
He grabbed her arms and held her still. "Don't fight it." He made it a compelling command. Almost instantly the tension drained from her arms. He dragged his mouth down her neck, reveling in skin that was warm and wet and tasted delicious. It was what he had wanted to do since the first night he had met her. He just never imagined he would be doing it under these circumstances. His lips found a spot where her blood pulsed just beneath the surface, and he sank his eyeteeth into her even as he moved his fingertips to rest against her temple. Her body tensed, then relaxed as he drew from her.
Slowly, slowly, he reminded himself, shuddering with his efforts, but she soon went completely limp in his embrace. He lowered her gently to the cushions and covered her body with the throw that draped over the sofa's back. But with the end of that moment so ended all gentleness. He was fully roused now, but far from satisfied. The fresh blood carried no fulfillment, but rage-rage that he had been forced to this-and a thirst that had nothing to do with blood but an unrelenting desire for answers and revenge. His body snapped from the sinuous repose of feeding to the head-up attentiveness of the hunt. Someone would pay for this, and pay dearly.
"This is my house, my meeting, and I am Overlord. Now that you have your proof that I'm on your side, we do things my way. I want answers, and I'll accept no more lies, silence, or denials. Which one of you really killed Kyle Carver, and who put him in the hole?"
All six vamps looked at each other, as if they were contestants on To Tell the Truth and were deciding which of them would stand up and admit to being the real privy hole killer.
"Well? Tell me!" After a moment more of squirming and shifting, Zada stepped forward. Her previous I'm-nothing-but-a-piece-of-furniture attitude was gone, and anger now accompanied her lady wrestler build.
"I killed him. I was at the Diamond Stud that night. Eva likes to taunt me and brag about how easy it is to pick up men there, even without dazzling them. She used to invite me to the Diamond Stud all the time, just to goad me. She knew I'd either be laughed at or ignored. Well, that night I decided to prove her wrong ... so I went. But I just sat in the truck in the parking lot. When this drunken human came out of the building I figured he'd be an easy enough mark, even for me. But he called me names and told me to go back to the rock I crawled out from. It made me mad to think Eva was right. I decided to show them all, starting with that good-for-nothing human."
Eva stood next to Ormie, her head thrown back and her hands resting defiantly on her skinny hips. Zada matched stares with Eva, and Ric got the impression that Zada, too, would have tossed her head if she had had locks long enough to make the effect work.
Ric broke the silence. "Go on, Zada. What happened then?"
She shifted her gaze to him. "I dazzled him into submission, told him to get into the truck, and I drove. But with all the alcohol and drugs my suggestions lost their power, and he started to argue and fight. I stopped the truck on a secluded road, dragged him out, and knocked his head against the hood. You can bet he wasn't any more trouble after that. But after I drained him I didn't know what to do with him. I didn't want to leave the body where it would be found."
"So she brought him to me," Tux said.
Ric looked across the room at him.
"You see, Ric, ever since our last Overlord left, I've been the one to take care of everybody. Me. Anytime someone had a problem or made a mistake, I was the one they came to for help. I know the backyards and woods around Shadow Bay from my construction work. There's nothing more convenient than an existing hole in the ground. Most old privy holes were filled in years ago, but once in a while I come across one still open or still collecting trash. I knew old Mr. Luslow had a hole in the woods behind his house long forgotten, so I stuck the body in it and covered it up. It never occurred to me that somebody would decide to make a hobby of digging up old privy holes."
"So you were the one who attacked Lucius Moravich." There was little doubt in Ric's mind.
Tux shrugged. "I asked you to take care of him. You didn't. He kept poking around. So once again I figured it was up to me to keep the group safe. I've been putting bodies in holes around here for a long time. I violated none of our laws, I kept our people safe, and no one was ever the wiser. Until the privy digger started digging and you showed up. But it's all right, because I still haven't broken our law. There's nothing you can do to me."
There was plenty Ric was going to do to him. But not all his questions were answered. "And what part did the rogue Joel Branduff play in all this? Why did he confess to me that he had put Carver in the privy hole?"
Tux laughed. "You still haven't figured it out, have you? Joel's my brother. My real blood-brother from birth. We almost looked like twins, but we were never much alike. I crossed first and decided early on I would try to mainstream with humans. Joel was younger, but he crossed about ten years after I did, kicking and screaming like an infant leaving the comfort of its mother's womb.
He never did try to fit in. He's gone his own way from the beginning, but we stayed in touch over the years. He comes and goes around here, but when I called him and told him I needed help, he was happy to oblige. We figured if he 'confessed' to you, you'd drop the matter and let us be. But you and the sheriff kept stirring the muck in the pond. We decided she needed to be stopped."
Tux's laughter died on his final word.
Ric was suddenly very aware of the silence that blanketed the room. The only noise was the steady rain tattooing the roof. Zada had once again melted against the wall to stand next to Lyle. Eva and Ormie stood side by side. Dory still sat near the door. And Shelby lay on the sofa, unmoved from the position Ric had put her in.
"Joel was going to take care of her, but something went wrong. The sheriff, up until now, was still alive, but I haven't heard from Joel. And he doesn't answer his phone."This time it was Ric's turn to roll a shoulder. "You said yourself he comes and goes. He left."
Tux shook his head. "No. He wouldn't have left without telling me. What happened to him, Ric?"
"What makes you think I had anything to do with his leaving?"
"Because you're the only one strong enough to make him change his mind. And because you've been much too friendly with the sheriff. I'll ask you again. What happened to my brother?"
Ric looked around the room. He didn't think a single one of the group would support him against Tux. Six against one was not good odds. Still, he had never backed down from another vamp in his life, and he wasn't going to start now. "This is my territory.
I'm in charge, not you. Not your brother. He challenged me. Since I'm here and he's not, you figure it out, my friend." Ric did nothing to stop the mocking sarcasm in the final two words.
Tux's eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. His upper lip curled to reveal modest but sharp fangs. The silent challenge gave Ric a second's warning, but there was no time to do more than know the fury was coming.
"You bastard!"
Two hundred fifty pounds of rage slammed into Ric, knocking him backward into the fireplace. The fire screen twisted and buckled under the momentum of their bodies, and the back of Ric's head hit hard against the bricks bordering the hearth's maw.
An explosion of pain shot through Ric, and, unable to keep his footing, he fell, the metal screen beneath cutting his bare back.
Tux's body was on top of him, scrambling for a position of dominance.
"Damn you! Did you send him to the True Death? Did you?"
Ric fought on instinct, trying to lay a hand on Tux, but Tux had taken the previous lesson on the Hand of Death to heart. He wisely gripped both of Ric's wrists, keeping Ric's hands far from his body. Every time Ric tried to twist or roll the metal gouged his back.
"I warned him, just like I warned you," Ric snarled between gritted teeth. "He reaped what he sowed."
A bellow of anguish interrupted Tux's concentration long enough for Ric to twist his arms and break Tux's hold. Ric rolled and was on his feet in an instant.
"Help me, you fools!" cried Tux. "He can't fight all of us."
Ric kept his focus on Tux, but he didn't ignore the others, noting their positions with darts of his eyes. Tux was by far the most dangerous, though, and demanded the bulk of Ric's attention. "I can, and I will. Listen, all of you! Fight me, and I promise you'll lose. And if you think you're free from sanction, think again. Tuxbridge is nothing but a jackal out for himself."
Tux ran a hand through his disheveled hair and shook his head. "You know that's not true. His Highness has only been here days.
I've been here for you for years."
The circle of vamps drew tighter, closing Ric in. Ormie opened his mouth for the first time. "Tux is right. He's been here for us.
You, Doctor Death, have done nothing for us since you swept into town riding your high-and-mighty reputation."
Tux nodded, clearly happy that his group was behind him. "He killed my brother. The law's on our side for that. Let's take him.
Just watch his hands."
They all pounced at once. Eva leaped onto his back, wrapping her long arms around his neck like a clinging vine. Tux and Ormie rushed him head-on, trying again to grab his wrists. But with the exception of Tux, Ric could tell they weren't used to fighting. Even Ormie, for all his muscles, wasn't coordinated in his efforts. Ric leaned forward and flipped the lightweight Eva over his head and into Ormie's arms. As awkward as the group was, though, they were persistent. Zada replaced Eva in jumping on his back, and her weight took Ric down to one knee. Tux and Lyle tried to snag one of his arms, and Eva and Ormie snatched the other. Dory was nowhere in sight. The tugging on his arms actually pulled Ric back to his feet, and he immediately backpedaled until he was able to slam Zada into the wall. The impact not only knocked her loose, but jerked the others off balance, freeing Ric's arms. Ric spun and seized Ormie from behind in a chokehold, quickly pressing his right hand against Ormie's temple. Ric let his power flow, and Ormie became a dead weight in his arms within seconds. Ric shoved the flaccid body into Tux, and both vamps went down in a heap.
"Stop it, all of you! Enough of this bloody comedy."
Ric and those still on their feet whirled to face the strange voice with the British accent. A man stood just inside the door, rainwater dripping from his shaggy hair to darken a gold and brown paisley shirt. The man was one of the Undead all right-there was no mistaking either the vampire scent or the inorganic ice-blue eyes. With the barest shadow of a smile flitting across his face, Dory stood behind the stranger.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Ric and Tux simultaneously.
"Revelin Scott."
A gasp from behind Ric accompanied a rather bored once-over from the newcomer, who couldn't have been taller than five-ten or heavier than a hundred and fifty pounds dripping wet, which he was. Even if the name hadn't been familiar to Ric, the Anthony Hopkins eyes told him that in spite of Scott's appearance, this was no vamp to trifle with.
Ric heard a reverent whisper from Lyle. "It's the P.E."
"What's a P.E.?" asked Eva.
Zada kicked her in the shin. "The Patriarchal Enforcer, stupid."
Scott smiled, but it was a tired effort that barely managed to lift the corners of his mouth. "It's nice to know some of you have heard of me." He gave Eva a look that would scratch glass. "Quite right. I'm the Patriarch's chief enforcer. And you..." Scott turned to Ric and once again dragged his eyes from Ric's black boots to his bare chest and then to his long hair. "You can only be Doctor Death."
"Ricard De Chaux." Ric was at a loss for further words. This was his nightmare come true. Not the mutiny of a handful of inept council members, but the appearance of a vampire so elevated in the hierarchy that it could mean only one thing-sanction. And it would be no mere slap on the wrist. But he wouldn't fight Scott. To do so would mean certain death. The True Death.
"I'm sure you're all wondering how I came to be here," said Scott, idly unpeeling the wet polyester sleeves from his skin. "You can thank your mate Dorsey Kreech here for that."
"That's Dory, sir. No 's,'" whispered Dory, tapping Scott on the shoulder.
"Dory, yeah. He called the Midwest office saying there was trouble in Cristallia County. When I heard the famous Doctor Death was involved, I decided to handle the investigation personally."
"Under different circumstances I might say I'm honored, Scott," said Ric.
Scott cocked his head in acknowledgement. "As might I, Doctor."
"He killed a vampire-Joel Branduff, Tux's brother," said Eva, pointing a long white finger tipped in blood red polish at Ric.
Scott exhaled a long breath. "Someone please tell the chit to shut up. She's not only ignorant, she's annoying. When I start my questioning, it won't be with a little girl barely out of her nappies."
Eva's face flamed a color to match her fingernails. "I am not a little girl!"
"Shut up," hissed Zada. "Don't talk unless he asks you a question." Scott turned to Tux. "I take it you're the adjutant, Judson Tuxbridge?"
Tux nodded.
"All right. I'll talk to De Chaux and Tuxbridge. The rest of you can clear out. Go wait in your vehicles until you're called for." Scott nodded toward Ormie, who lay in a heap on the floor, still paralyzed by the touch of the Hand of Death. "And take him with you."
Dory took one of Ormie's arms, and Eva took the other. Together they dragged Ormie out the door. In a moment the front door slammed, and Ric was alone with Tux and Scott. Scott sank into one of the easy chairs, and Ric sat protectively on the arm of the sofa closest to Shelby's head. Tux took the other easy chair.
Scott's cool blue gaze ran the length of Shelby's body. "Who's the human?"
"His lover."