Olivia spoke with barely restrained fury, "Traversera? That bastard is using the circumstances of my mother's abduction to eliminate Anderson? When did he become a vampire's catspaw?" The vampires had stripped her of her tracking devices and Alucard; they taken her out of her country and away from her troops. Now they had brought in someone they apparently expected to eliminate her remaining resource. Her hand itched for a gun, but that had been left in London with her clothes.
The priest glanced at Olivia for the first time and his mouth twisted in a sneer. "The Hellsing woman who consorts with vampires and allows the damnation of a man who had been a true servant of God. 'He that toucheth pitch, shall be defiled with it…' You are defiled and have contaminated those around you."
Anderson had spent many years trading biblical barbs with sinners and could not let the slur on Sir Olivia go unchallenged, "'Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.' What ye are doing here is not God's will, but the will of a vampire who is using yeh to do her dirty work."
The Iscariot stepped closer to his much taller adversary, "'Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.' I would not believe the words of an apostate. You have betrayed even the betrayers, creature."
"'They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.'" Alex shrugged at the man. "I can do this all night, assassin. Shall we begin a Bible study group with the vampires who are watching us? Has Iscariot's training slipped so badly that ye can't feel their eyes on us?"
His opponent flicked his eyes around the garden, but returned them to glare at Anderson once more, "If there are more vampires here, I will destroy them when I am done with you." He feinted at Anderson and watched as he was easily evaded. The priest struck again, gauging the tall man's speed and skill.
"If one of us is to die tonight, tell me your name that I may pray for you tomorrow, Father." Alex didn't think he was going to get off as easily with this man as he had with the previous pair of would-be assassins. He would be taking another step down the road to utter damnation if he was forced to kill an Iscariot.
"For the Alexander Anderson who was, I will tell you," he paused to strike again and was again dodged by the unarmed vampire. "My name is Stephen Elias."
Anderson tried to use his speed to take advantage of Father Elias and was surprised by how quickly the fireplug of a man moved and reacted. Apparently Traversera hadn't sent a second-stringer this time. His eyes darted around the garden for a weapon, but found nothing.
The priest overextended himself on another testing strike and Anderson landed a bone-breaking blow on the man's shoulder, earning himself a searing cut on the leg in the process. The two men faced each other and Alex watched the man rotate his shoulder to the sound of bones grinding against each other. The slump of broken bones disappeared in moments and Father Elias stood in front of Anderson, hale and uninjured once more.
"A regenerator to kill a regenerator? We could be here all night."
•••
Olivia had been watching the exchange between the two men with half her attention; the other half was directed around the garden looking for something, anything that could be used to her advantage. She startled when the vampire who had first met them in Madame Tussaud's spoke up behind her, "They are interestingly single-minded, aren't they?"
"What is it with your sort? Is it a vampiric prerequisite that you must appear out of nowhere to start conversations with the unsuspecting?" Olivia was annoyed with herself for betraying her surprise to this creature.
"My Lady Hellsing, how else would we find our dinners? They don't stock human blood at the grocer's and most humans have this narrow-minded objection to allowing a complete stranger to bleed them for nourishment." She glanced at him to see if he was joking or serious, but his face gave her no clues.
He nodded to the battling men, "While the spectacle of their meeting is highly entertaining, I regret to inform you that your presence is required elsewhere. Follow me and I will take you to your mother. Please don't forget the paintings." He gestured to the tube Anderson had set aside.
Olivia was caught. They had divested her of her every defense. She was unspeakably angry with herself. She should have thought of something better. She should never have submitted. Her ancestors would be horrified if she had brought down Hellsing through sentimentality.
Master, if you can endure just a little longer, I will punish these upstarts. Do what you can to keep them from fulfilling their plan.
Olivia didn't know whether these vampires, who had anticipated her at every turn, would give her enough time for Alucard to arrive. She followed the vampire back into the villa, skirting the dueling pair. She saw Anderson distracted by her passage, and the priest took advantage of it to propel his sword into her vampire's body. Her last view of Anderson, as her escort caught her arm and pulled her into the villa and out of sight, was of Anderson sinking to the ground with the sword caught in his chest.
•••
Damn, that hurts! Alex was on his knees. He could hear the Vatican's killer reciting a prayer, he assumed in preparation for a coup de grace. The silver sword had a blessing on it that burned through him. He shoved the pain away and threw himself backward as Father Elias' smaller blade flashed down where his head had been. He was gratified by the shock on the priest's face. Ah, he thought that I was paralyzed like a lesser vampire would be.
He was reminded of Alucard as he rose and pulled the sword out of his chest with a grunt of pain. The silver wire bound around the hilt of the sword burned his hand, but that was not nearly as important as finishing off his opponent and finding Sir Olivia before something dreadful happened. He hefted the sword to test its balance and swung at the smaller man.
Father Elias was inhumanly fast. Alex and the Iscariot fought across the garden. Alex could see pale figures at the edges of his vision. Apparently the vampires weren't bothering to hide themselves any longer as the battle escalated. Eventually the vampire's greater reach and speed began to turn the fight in Alex's favor. The first time he drew blood from the Catholic, his eyes narrowed and he licked his lips unconsciously. The scent of power and an indefinable something that came with the blood was distracting.
Stop playing with the Vatican toy, Judas Priest. My Master is alone in there and I will make you pay if anything happens to her.
Anderson's attention flagged when Alucard spoke in his mind. It cost him another wound from the priest. Will you be here soon?
Soon, but not soon enough if they move quickly. Finish your little friend and get in to Sir Olivia. They're taking her up to the second floor. Don't waste time looking for her on the ground floor.
Alex needed to pull out the stops. He had been holding back on using his magic out of shame. He didn't want the man who was essentially his replacement in Iscariot to see the black pages. The new manifestation of his magic humiliated him, but he couldn't afford the luxury of embarrassment.
He heard a murmur of conversation spread among the observing vampires as his black writ flew from his body and surrounded the priest with its slicing edges. The murmur increased as the black pages were met and repelled by the swarm of holy writ that the priest released. The two men were locked in both physical and metaphysical combat and were deadlocked. Alex's anxiety for the safety of the Hellsing leader was growing by the second. He put his pride aside and summoned his writ to carry him away from the Iscariot priest.
The abandoned priest whirled around, searching for his opponent, before he turned his battle-crazed gaze on the vampires surrounding him. Some of them flinched at the feral grin that he directed at them. "I see my work here is far from finished after all."
•••
Olivia kept herself calm by taking in every possible detail as she was escorted inside and upstairs. The villa was exquisitely furnished and filled with Renaissance-era pieces. She supposed that a vampire would have plenty of time in which to collect antiques. Which didn't explain the thefts.
She was ushered into a spacious solarium. Would it be a lunarium for vampires? Her escort backed out of the room, closing the door behind him. There were stands scattered around the periphery with paintings on display. She recognized the stolen paintings as well as some that had fallen out of public view and had been listed only as "in the hands of private collectors."
She examined one near the door depicting a woman on her knees in the process of driving a spike into a sleeping man's head. Artemisia Gentileschi seemed to have a fascination with women killing men in somewhat gruesome manners. The subject matter was disturbing, but the rendering was wonderful. The gold of the woman's gown was particularly striking.
"It is called 'Artemisia Gold.'" Olivia's shoulders stiffened, but she was done letting vampires get the better of her.
She turned slowly to regard the new speaker. It was the woman in the lioness-head mask. The two women regarded each other silently for a moment before the newcomer removed her mask. The vampire was neither beautiful nor plain; she had the typical pallor and dark hair. If it weren't for the glaring red of her eyes, she would have looked like a serious and studious young woman rather than the head of a vampiric cult.
"I don't mean to be antagonistic, but where is my mother?"
"She is here and unharmed. I'll take that," with a nod to the tube in Olivia's hand.
Olivia handed over the tube and watched as the woman removed the paintings and unrolled them. She smiled and nodded before returning them to their container. "You've upheld your part of the bargain. I've sent for your mother." The door to the solarium opened and Beatrice Vanderpoort Hellsing entered.
"Livvie." She crossed the room and took her daughter's hand.
"Are you alright, Mum?"
Beatrice threw a look over her shoulder at the watching vampire. "I'm fine. The unexpected goes with the Hellsing name."
She squeezed her mother's hand briefly before releasing it and becoming businesslike once more. "I must retrieve my employee before we leave."
"I don't believe that anywhere in the instructions you received was there a mention of your leaving. You have been given custody of your mother in exchange for my paintings. You have not yet negotiated your release."
They all turned toward the sound of riffling paper in time to watch a curtain of black pages appear and then part to reveal Olivia's missing bodyguard. "Ye might want to give more thought to yer people than to double-crossing Sir Hellsing. I left the fox among the chickens in yer garden."
The woman cocked her head as though listening for a moment before her face changed from that of a civilized woman to the visage of a creature from hell. It was as though her features had physically rearranged themselves, leaving her face more bestial and her teeth ghastly huge in her mouth. The glare she shot Anderson was not one that Olivia would want directed at her. She strode through the closed door without a word to them.
"Sir Olivia, I'm sorry we were separated. I joined you as soon as I could. Is this your mother?" He bowed slightly in Lady Beatrice's direction.
"Yes, she's unharmed. You will do everything in your power to see that she remains that way." Alucard, where are you?
Near, Master, but not near enough.
A/N The painting I described is real as is "Artemisia Gold." It's worth a quick google if you're at all interested in art history. Part two of the note is just a minor complaint about the fact that I find writing fight scenes to be very difficult. I don't even enjoy them all that much when reading novels and tend to skip them. So I apologize if the fights ever seem truncated.