Chapter Eight : If I Die Young
Angelique allowed Sebastian to drive her home, curled up in the back seat of his vehicle, while Matthew took the front. She called out directions, sighing when she felt Holy Ground welcome her as soon as they turned onto Vetter Drive.
"Seb, its the Victorian on the right here. Park either on the street or pull in behind the FBI car. You both felt when we set foot on Holy Ground. This entire block and the block over are. It was built on an old cemetery."
"You always do find interesting places, Cousin." Matthew said as Sebastian shut off the vehicle and they all climbed out. Angelique waited while Matthew retrieved his sword from the FBI sedan.
"It sounds like your partner listened. I hear Skylar baying at the door." Angelique said taking the main stairs easily and letting herself in, the other two Immortals following behind. The sound of barking was muffled. She went to the laundry room, and popped the door open, blocking it with her body, so that the pit bull mix met her mistress first.
"Hello my girl. Yes, people are here. I know, I know. You want to say hi, don'tcha?" Angelique baby talked the dog for a bit as the brindle animal whined and whimpered, wiggling and licking enthusiastically. Angelique waited for the dog to calm down before she took a hold of the collar and turned to Sebastian, who was waiting patiently for the introduction.
"Sebastian, this is Skylar. She's about two years old near as the shelter can tell. Skylar? Ami. Ami. Go ahead and let her get your scent."
"You trained her in French?" Sebastian asked, holding out a hand in a loose fist, expecting the licking he received once the dog had his scent.
"Of course. If I'm home she will not be on guard until I go to bed. If you've been introduced as 'friend' she may whine and sniff at you when you get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but it won't be full scale baying to wake the dead."
"Makes sense." Matthew said after being introduced to the dog who was now whimpering in excitement, but remaining on all fours, only, he suspected, due to the fact that Angelique held the collar.
The sound of cautious footsteps on the stairs to the second story caused Matthew and Sebastian to turn. Angelique looked up as well, with a friendly smile.
"Rachel Thomlin, I'd like to introduce you to Angelique." Matthew said, nodding to the red haired woman that appeared no more than twenty.
"You'd know me as Du Orleans, I'm going by Raven-Leon. I'd shake your hand, but, well, Skylar." Angelique said with a half shrug as she controlled the happy dog. She then went through the same introduction with Rachel as she had with the men. She then let go of the dog who went trotting off through the house.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance. I want to say now, I stayed out of your bedroom." Rachel said with a cheerful grin that lit her hazel eyes, which caused Angelique to laugh.
"Matthew, I like her already. My last watcher before the new kid? I came home one day and he was in the middle of my bedroom going through my lingerie. Skylar was baying to the gods, so I knew somebody was in the house. I left her in the laundry, and did a room by room. Stabbed him in the ass, and threw him out of the house bodily. I was pissed. The Watchers nearly verbally tripped over themselves to apologize for his behavior. Today the new kid showed up."
"Its all over headquarters. They released a organization wide memo. And I quote, 'stay out of your Immortal's bedrooms or they may just take offense and stab you in the ass, literally.'
"Well, strange man, in my room, pawing through my intimate apparel. Yes, I'm going to be offended. Not even I am a saint. Idiot." Angelique said with a simple shrug.
"Hell, I think any woman would do the same." Sebastian said. The three immortals dissolved into giggles briefly.
"I really don't think the contents of my underwear drawer need to be in my Chronicles. Though, that probably got the notation of 'defends her privacy'." She sniggered again at the thought.
"Though, that does remind me. Rachel, I'm certain you noticed the lock boxes in each bedroom."
"Yes, why are they there?"
"Weapons. Some of the Immortals I call friends do occasionally carry firearms for personal protection, against mortals. For some reason, idiots don't seem to realize how deadly we are with swords. Matthew, I don't begrudge you your sword, or even a dagger. However; I will ask you to surrender your main gun and back up into your Watcher's keeping."
"Understandable, and agreeable." Matthew said, stripping himself of a 9 mm Browning and a .45, which he handed to his Watcher without qualm.
"Okay?" Rachel said, taking both weapons from the Immortal, but confused.
"This entire neighborhood is on Holy Ground. It means we won't try to behead each other on this ground. However; I don't put it past somebody to try and shoot someone else and drag them off to finish the job. Locking up the guns prevents that from being a possibility." She watched the Watcher bristle at the implied slight.
"Easy Rachel. I would have asked the same thing in my home as well. Expecting treachery keeps you alive."
"I'd rather slight him by implying he would than assuming he wouldn't and losing my head for it." Sebastian said with a shrug, as pragmatic as his teacher in that respect.
"I'm betting you picked out rooms for yourself and Matthew, already?"
"If that's all right with you?"
"Fine by me. If you didn't take the corner room that overlooks the back yard, Sebastian, that one is yours."
"I leave for nearly sixty years and you are still dictating, why me?" The grin was cheerful and the complaint was familiar and teasing.
"Your other choice is a twin bed, unless you really don't want the full size ..." She shot back with a grin.
"Corner room, yes ma'am." Sebastian said with a laugh, hands raised in surrender.
"Get settled in then, it'll give me a bit to change. I'll take you down to the training room after." Angelique said, stepping past the collection of people and into the kitchen to flip on the lights. She listened to the trio of people troop up the main stairs and then ducked through a door that opened onto a set of servant's stairs.
Angelique lay her sword across her queen sized bed in easy reach before she undid the buttons on her blouse and slipped out of her skirt. Both pieces went over the back of a convenient wing chair, and she set herself down on the chair to take off her shoes and peel off the stockings she wore before wiggling out of the slip. She changed into a gray sports bra, a pair of cut off gray sweat pants she'd turned into shorts and then pulled on a green tee she'd cut the neck out of. She gathered the tee, and then tied it tight with a knot at her right hip. She slipped into the adjoining master bath to grab a pair of hair ties and a few bobby pins. The silver Celtic cross came off as she walked out of the bathroom. It was laid on her bedside table as she scooped up the sword one handed and padded barefoot out her bedroom door.
She rapped on the door frame and Sebastian turned to her, sword in hand. She watched him do a double take. She just smiled.
"You look like some college student, or dancer."
"Ease of movement. Not much to get caught on a blade or point. And I know I'm going to be sweating pretty hard before I'm done. Besides, you remember that day in '48 where we were both still hung over and drunk on top of it?"
"The day I puked all over the ballroom floor, you slipped on it, and still managed to disarm me? That one?" His nose wrinkled at the memory that still made him queasy.
"That one. At least the lesson stuck. You have to be able to fight, even drunk, hung over, hurting, or insane with grief or pain. I've not had enough to be drunk, but I've had enough to dull the grief enough. I don't expect anyone to be puking on my floor tonight though. Bleeding? That's another story."
"That just sounds disgusting." Rachel said from her doorway. Angelique just inclined her dark head in acknowledgment.
"Not exactly my finest teaching tool, but I knew the risk when I kicked him in the stomach. We didn't pause to clean it up, he maneuvered me back onto that section of ground, I tried to skirt, literally put my foot in it at a bad moment and used a desperation counter that sent his sword flying as I landed on my ass."
"And then you made me clean it up while you took a shower."
"Sebastian? She was puking her own guts out in the shower while you cleaned. You told me about that one, Cousin."
"And I haven't gotten drunk like that since, for that reason." Angelique said as she turned easily to face Matthew. She then motioned towards the stairs.
"I didn't hear you come up them." Matthew said as he started to descend and then sidestepped as Skylar suddenly barreled up them, doggy grin stretching her lips. Angelique merely scratched the dog behind the ears and continued on her way down as the dog continued up the stairs.
"There is a set of servants stairs off the kitchen. I used them. I usually do. Most people don't know the house well enough to know that those are there. Rather a nasty surprise to my last Watcher for that very reason. And Skylar runs up the stairs, found it safer to just use the others."
"I've looked at your Chronicles on occasion, since you've crossed paths with Matthew once before, amicable meet and part the first time, so its just a footnote. When I found out who your teacher was, it made a bit more sense why you dropped in on him two years later, when he was training Nick Wolfe."
"And nearly gave Nick a heart attack. Of course, you weren't too happy to see me, either, Cousin."
"I thanked you afterward for showing Nick exactly what to expect, though you'd have thought he'd have picked that up with Amanda."
"Amanda is more of an acrobat a than heads on fight type of gal. He's flying on his own now?" Angelique asked as she stepped into the kitchen and walked over to what should have been the pantry. She opened the door and walked to the paneled back wall, where cases of soda and cans were stacked against the wall.
"Yes, um why are you in the pantry?"
"Sebastian? This trigger is the same as the one in Paris. Open it for me?" Angelique said, stepping out of the pantry and directing her student inside. She waited with a simple smile as Sebastian ran his hands carefully over the wood, then nodded when she heard the faint click and a section of the paneling swung away from them.
"Okay, nobody knew about that one. Neat." Rachel said, peering at the opening. Angelique pressed on another knothole in the wood and started down the set of stairs that was suddenly illuminated.
"Step over the case of soda please. I leave it as is so that people didn't realize I had a custom built sparring space below."
"Why?" Rachel asked.
"If I have a home gym above, what would I need with a basement below with hardwood floors, mirrored wall, a barre and several racks of swords?"
"Good point. Not to mention it would drive another Immortal batty if they could sense but not find. We know that you had this place built in 1910. I will respect your privacy and not mention this in my reports. It wouldn't surprise me any if Matthew had something similar in one of his old homes..."
"All right, Seb and Rachel, get behind that half wall over there please. You can sit at the bar and watch. The half wall will keep us from accidentally blundering into you. Don't give me that look Matthew, I'm remembering Wolfe driving me into a mirror because he was so focused on taking my blade he forgot his space restraints." She smiled slightly when Matthew winced.
"This is beautiful, and wow are there a lot of swords here." Rachel said as she looked around the cavernous room. Ten foot ceilings with recessed lights meant that the room was dug deeper than a normal basement. The floor was a rich soft gold, native pine with a coat of protective lacquer and wax. The east wall was mirrored along the length, with a ballet barre bolted to the end. The other walls were white and mounted with pegs. Swords lined the northern, western, and southern walls. There were no windows.
"Every blade on the wall here is a fallen opponent. The matched crossed set of rapiers on the south wall behind the bar is one opponent, not two. He was a bit devious."
So there are a total of …." she trailed off as she twisted around and counted up swords,"Thirty blades on the walls. Wow."
"The true total is somewhere around fifty five. Some of the blades were true junk, others were so evil I just left the sword where it lay and walked away." She slid her blade free from its sheath and then lightly tossed the sheath towards her former student, who caught it handily. She was focused on Matthew as he borrowed the bottom step to pull his shoes and socks off. His sport jacket and tie also came off, so he stood in a white business shirt and gray slacks. Matthew followed her lead, and smiled slightly as she walked backwards to the center of the floor and lifted her naked blade in salute.
He closed without a word, steel ringing on steel. She pivoted left when he thrust and then leapt back cat quick when the thrust morphed into a slash mid-swing. She admired the twin falcons that adorned the pommel and ducked when the blade reversed along his arm and he battered at her with the pommel, giving her an up close look. She grinned as she slashed, watching him suck in a breath and contort to avoid the tip that still sliced through his shirt. The shirt didn't redden, so she knew she hadn't hit skin. Steel then rang again as she backed up, soft footing her way backwards across the floor, trying to draw him with her. He went. She suddenly rushed and struck hard, shoving five inches of steel through his heart. Rachel screamed. She stepped back, drawing the sword with her, he went to his knees, gasping for breath and choking on blood. She gently laid her sword across his throat and then deliberately took a handful of steps more back and dropped to her knees to wait as he died, sword settled across her bare thighs. She caught the bar rag that Sebastian automatically tossed at her. She wiped the blood from her blade and flung the bloodied cloth back.
"Seb?"
"He followed you when you were leading him. He forgets you spar hard, I would guess." Sebastian answered automatically, since it was still a habit for his teacher to ask what had been done wrong. She didn't take her eyes off Matthew's body which was slumped to the side.
"Why did you lay your sword to his throat? He was already dead from the stab." Rachel asked, composing herself, but fear still laced her voice.
"To remind him, even if we are on holy ground, the next strike would have taken his head. The move is also ingrained in the teachings. The finishing move is always to take the head." Sebastian answered as his teacher smoothly got to her feet as Matthew gasped in a breath.
"It won't be permanent for either of us, Rachel. I suspect he'll kill me a few times before I swap partners." Angelique said, standing with blade at rest against her right side as Matthew scrabbled for his blade and surged to his feet. Angelique then threw herself backwards to avoid that first vicious swing.
She tumbled across the floor, sword clattering on the wood as she gained distance and her feet. She swung up in a parry trying to slide the strike along her blade even as Matthew closed again, now sparring in truth. She faded from under his blade and attempted to circle left, only to be cut off by a swing aimed for her torso. She backed up and blocked then cut again, eyes focused on his hands and hazel eyes. She sucked in a sudden breath when his broadsword sliced across her arm, leaving a trail of blood. She backed up, knowing she was coming up on the northern wall. She lashed out with a kick, which opened just enough room to follow with an unbalanced thrust. She over extended and Matthew knocked her feet out from under her and placed his sword to her throat. Her sword was at his groin. She pressed lightly, just to get his attention.
"He cornered you, you tried a desperation counter, it failed." Sebastian called from the bar as Matthew withdrew his blade and nodded as he offered a hand up. They both returned to the center of the room.
"What would have been better?" Matthew asked as he lifted his sword again, then paused to wait for the answer.
"If she'd risked being stabbed by stabbing you. You would have fallen back and she would have had room."
Angelique nodded at the answer, "Yet, I had my blade to his groin. If I'd thrust up, as he swung back to take the final strike, I would have disabled him for a few seconds, enough to turn the tables." She then lunged, hoping to catch Matthew off guard. He blocked easily and they started again. Both heard Sebastian suck in a surprised breath at that statement.
"Isn't that rather dishonest?" Rachel called as they broke apart and started circling.
"Matthew outweighs me by what, thirty or forty pounds? He's got an inch on me. He uses a heavier blade." They closed clashed briefly, then came apart again, "When you are fighting for your life, honorable goes out the window. Hey, if its not severed from the body, it'll heal. I didn't actually follow through on the move, just showed him where I was."
"For a woman, treachery has to be the same as breathing. Besides, she trained with Max for a while. Winning was all that mattered." He twisted out from a slash, lessening the impact as he started to bleed. Angelique's shirt was torn and bloodied from a slash that also destroyed the sports bra beneath. They broke and circled again.
"Most of my opponents are going to outweigh me. Their blades are going to weigh more. Its the reason I, and most other female immortals, don't use the heavy swords, we tend to go lighter and more flexible. And we are brutal in a fight." She closed again, then gasped as Matthew's sword was suddenly there. She gasped again and crumpled to her knees. As her vision dimmed, she saw Matthew stepping back.
She came back with a sharp gasp, feeling the thrust that had killed her, then the slash she had taken across her chest. She shoved herself to her feet, wobbly, but ready as she swung her blade up again. Sebastian stood across from her, barefoot and waiting. She realized that they had changed out on their own.
"Ready, teacher mine?"
"As always." Angelique said, her legs rapidly running towards stable. They closed. She watched his hands and eyes even as his mouth twisted into a grimace and he made a tentative thrust which she easily avoided, then paid back with a thrust that twisted against muscle even as she withdrew the blade from his gut. He stumbled back, blade automatically going up to ward off a strike as his left hand came off the blade and protected his wounded side.
She went again for the same side, he slapped her sword away, opening himself for a circling thrust, which she delivered shallow and then stepped back, headed for the east wall. He followed for a step then halted, giving her distance and not falling for what he thought was a trap.
Angelique held her sword in her right hand, her left was behind her back as she skirted the wall, plucking a ring hilt dagger from its place in a sheath. She closed again, second blade held behind her back. She stabbed, sidestepped a slash, and then brought the dagger into play. She saw his eyes widen at the sudden appearance of a second blade. She smiled, feinted with the dagger, which he automatically tried to block, so she laid his left arm open with the point of her sword, reminding him both her hands were lethal. She backed off to give him time to heal, and spun the dagger in one hand, changing her grip.
"Where'd that –?"
"The wall. She plucked it when he stopped following her. She lived through the 16th century. So she probably learned rapier and dagger." Matthew answered lowly, and she let his voice drift over her, focused on Sebastian.
He twisted his grip and closed, accepting the fact that there was blood on the hilt of his blade as he brought his left hand back to bear. He closed, thrust and caught her in the right shoulder. She shoved the dagger into chest as she forced herself a step forward and to the side, driving the sword deeper. She watched his eyes dim and gasped as his hands went slack on the blade.
She used her left hand to support the sword in her shoulder as she stepped back, her own blade held only by sheer will. She let him crumple, dead at her feet as she staggered back another step, then used her left hand on the bare blade and yanked it loose, slicing her own hand open in the process. She lay the bloodied blade down, and then backed another three steps to drop to her knees, her sword chiming on the floor. She then tipped over, life dimming as she realized the blade had slipped on entry and had nicked her heart when he let go.
When Angelique came to again, her sword was sheathed next to her. Matthew and Sebastian knelt on either side of her, and the dagger had been returned to the wall. "That is why-" she gasped and coughed, grabbing her shirt as she coughed up clear fluid, "you never take your mind off the fact that-" she hacked again, "an opponent has two in hand."
"She's right. She would have revived before you with the dagger still inside. She would have taken your head."
"You never showed me that."
"I probably went for it because I never did. It was something Max drilled me in until I could do it in my sleep. He taught me how to kill him a few different ways, even when I would have to take a strike that would cripple. Matthew was right, women cannot fight "fair" much of the time. I don't usually carry a dagger anymore. Besides, most of our opponents don't either." Angelique said as she pushed herself to her feet. She swayed a bit but headed for the bar and the mini fridge.
Rachel handed her a bottle of water, which she cracked open and drained. She set her sword on the bar as Matthew asked,"Where do you keep the cleaning supplies?"
"Door under the stairs. There's also a small sink in there for a quick wash up." Angelique dropped the empty plastic bottle in the trash and pulled off her ruined shirt. She walked over to the mirrored wall and realized that the sports bra only had a slash and a stab through it, for the most part it was holding, even if it was soaked through with blood. She crumpled up the shirt and used it to wipe off her bloody left hand and then start mopping up some of the blood on the floor.
By the time the room was back in order she'd wiped off the worst of the blood on her flesh with a wet bar towel and had pulled on a clean gray tee. The blood spatter on her shorts didn't bother her too much, it would wash out for the most part. The guys had done the same, pulling on the extra large gray tees she kept stored with the cleaning supplies. All three swords were cleaned and checked for damage, and all came up fine. Only then did the trio of Immortals and the slightly awed and queasyWatcher head up the stairs for showers and bed.
"You know, I don't think I'm ever going to get used to the idea that sparring means you killing one another." Rachel commented as Angelique hit the knot that closed the panel behind her, then hit the one that shut off the lights.
"We're all fully trained, Rachel. And we all know we are on Holy Ground. Makes us better when its for real though. Fighting past pain means inflicting it readily."
"Besides, Seb won't make the mistake of forgetting about a second blade for a while." Angelique said as she absently scratched Skylar behind the ears. "Well, I'm for a shower and bed. Skylar will be loose in the house. And I plan to run in the morning. I'll leave notes on your doors. Sleep well."
Angelique closed her bedroom door, dropped her sword on the bed, and stripped off her clothes as she headed for the bathroom, hopping slightly as she got her shorts and underthings off. She backtracked after tossing the clothes in the hamper to retrieve her sword, realizing she was more tired than she thought if she was leaving the blade behind. She dropped the baldric over a towel hook on the back of the door.
She took a fast shower to scrub off the remainder of the drying blood and scrubbed her hair repeatedly before she felt it was sufficiently clean. She toweled off, combed and braided her wet hair, then slipped into blue fleece pants and a cut out necked tee. She fell into bed with her sword propped against the nightstand, she was more than ready for sleep.
Author's Note : I've had The Band Perry's If I Die Young in my head while writing this chapter... no clue why either. Seems to fit though.
