Tasia froze as the door to her home slammed open. Diego de la Vega, wearing that silly little outfit stormed into her living space. Innocenzio stood and reached for a sword that was not at his side. "Diego, do come in and rest. Tea?" she greeted him.
The flash of anger in the masked man's eyes made her laugh. The laughter was cut short when another guest entered behind him. "Tasia, it's been years," Esperanza said.
"Decades really."
"Too long," Esperanza replied with a grin.
Tasia would not play the game of human civility that Esperanza was playing. "Not nearly long enough in my opinion. An opinion you will probably share if you do not leave this area at once."
To her fury, Esperanza laughed as she jumped over Tasia's high-backed chair and landed in it. She tucked one booted foot beneath her and placed the other boot directly on the silk ottoman. Tasia's fingers itched to claw her eyes out.
"Relax, my dear," Innocenzio said, taking one of her hands in his and lifting it up for a kiss. "We have guests. Robert," he said to the servant who had just stumbled into the room. Robert's eyes were large, and Tasia could smell his surprise and fear. "Bring us some tea, please."
Robert looked to her and she nodded. She would trust her lover. The area was his old hunting ground, and Zorro was his old enemy. She knew he had her best interest at heart. She sat down next to him. "Please, Diego, have a seat."
The other man flinched at his name, but he sat. "I know what you want, Tasia. I'm here to tell you that you're not going to get it."
Tasia smiled. "Really."
"Really," the man's confidence almost startled her. Almost.
"So you are-"
"Here to declare war," Esperanza said.
To Tasia's surprise, Innocenzio laughed. A deep belly laugh. "Oh, Diego, how like you. Wouldn't it have been more efficient to attack us like you did Miguel? Surprise is a useful weapon, Diego."
Esperanza answered again. "I made the same arguments. He wouldn't listen."
"I will win this war, Tasia," the man said as Robert entered with their tea.
She said nothing as she poured the hot liquid. She handed Innocenzio his and then poured Diego's. She stood and sauntered over to him. She sat down in his lap, and heard his gasp. The Call was a powerful weapon. "Are you sure?" she said, leaning forward to whisper in his ear.
To her shock, he pushed her away without a struggle. His eyes were clear. No lust. No confusion. Nothing clouded them. "I'm sure," he said, standing. "I will win."
He turned and left the room. Tasia could only hope that the shock on Esperanza's face was not matched on her own. "You know," the other woman said, standing. "I'm starting to believe that he can." She poured herself a cup and gulped it down in one swallow. "Thanks for the tea, Tasia." Her grin was large. "And the entertainment. We will have to do this again. In another hundred years or so."
Z Z Z
"Very good, Diego." Diego turned to look back at the house he had just escaped. Ramone stood at the doorway, casually leaning against it. "The Call is very powerful, or so I'm told."
Zorro stood, desperate to run away from the horrors inside that house. Another part of him needed to offer Ramone a chance. Maybe another old habit that needed to be broken. "You don't know yourself? Esperanza said all that could be turned into a vampire feel the Call when they meet a Vampire."
"I was unconscious and in a lot of pain, Diego," Ramone said, walking out into the garden. "You and I fought on that wall. It seemed so important to me. When I finally grasped that mocking mask and ripped it from you face, I felt free. Then I was falling. When I woke up a few days later, everything was different."
Diego remembered the free feeling. The mask gone. Only seconds of honesty between them before Ramone fell and sadness overtook him. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize, Diego." Ramone laughed and looked up at the stars. "Best day of my life."
"Ramone, take her and leave this area."
"I lost my memory. I don't know if it was from the fall or the trauma of becoming a vampire or both. The whiteness of my mind frightened me. I wanted, needed, to know my past. Tasia gave it back to me. And I thought I wanted revenge on you."
"You don't?"
"No," he said. "It's foolish, unimportant. If you were wise, Diego, you would take Tasia up on her offer. You could help rule the world."
"I will stop her."
Ramone shook his head and continued to stare at the stars. "No, I won't let you win this fight. It's too important to her."
"I have too much to lose, Ramone."
"Perhaps." He finally looked at him. "You have many amazing strengths, Diego. Resisting the Call tonight was impressive, and I'm not unduly shocked by it."
"But?"
"I know you. I know your strengths, your weaknesses, and how to make them work for me. You'll never be able to kill, Diego. It's not in you. Besides, the moment I removed your mask, you became a man to me. And a man can always be beaten."
Doubt whispered through his mind. "You aren't alive."
"Strange. I feel alive. I look alive."
"I will win this war." He wished his voice sounded surer. He wished he felt surer. Ramone did know him. What if in the end he couldn't do what he needed to do?
"I really don't think so, Diego." Ramone turned and Diego noticed that Esperanza was standing behind them.
She watched him go and then said, "You ready?"
For a brief moment, he allowed his doubts to overwhelm him. Then he thought of his child. Of his wife's faith. Of his father's. "I'm ready."
Z Z Z
"I don't understand." Her hand trembled. Her hand trembled! Rage she had long ago forgotten soared its way through her body. "He resisted."
"I warned you not to underestimate him." She glared at him, but he only smiled. "You will overcome him, my dear, but he will cause some minor injury to the campaign."
"I studied that prophecy for years."
"Tasia, my love, when will you realize that the prophecy is unimportant?"
"Unimportant?" The world slowed around her. Robert froze in the act of picking up shards of a shattered tea cup.
"Unimportant."
Reyes had taken her in his arms and changed her life. Had told her that she was important. A street girl who could hardly find food for herself was going to be ruler of the world. He promised. She had lived for that prophecy and what it promised her.
"It says I will rule the world. You honestly consider that 'unimportant'?"
Innocenzio shook his head. "No. If you want to rule the world, Tasia, I will do everything in my power to see it happen. It's important to me because it is important to you."
Again, the strangeness. Her desires ruled his desires. Unnatural. Frightening. Intoxicating.
"If I decided to leave tonight-"
"I'd follow."
Stepping forward, she laid her hand on his chest and studied the tilt of his head, the passion in his eyes. He appeared to mean it. "You'd follow."
She turned and walked over to the fire. She always stood too close to fires. Innocenzio was right. The prophecy was unimportant. It may have helped create her drive, but she was the force creating change. She had worked for years carefully cultivating relationships. Her plan was almost complete, and no human would keep her from getting what she wanted.
"I want to rule the world."
His hands came to rest on her shoulders. "What do we need to do?"
Z Z Z
"What are we doing, Zorro?"
Esperanza stared at the man leaning against a tree. He was motionless. It appeared as if he stopped breathing. Bottles of the fowl liquid were lined beside him, but they had been there for over an hour. He had explained nothing to her as they emptied the saddlebags, and he continued to do nothing but study several feet in front of them. The party atmosphere kept them hidden away from the revelers, but every instinct she had said fight. Now.
"We are waiting," he finally answered.
"For what?" They needed to strike now. Tasia was not one to wait, and she knew her position was being challenged. Modestus was one of the weakest links, and they needed to break that link before Tasia had a chance to strengthen it.
She heard hoof beats in the distance. "Damn."
"They're coming." The smile in his voice shocked her.
"Yes, they are coming."
Even from this distance, she could see that Tasia was surprised by the party atmosphere. She had realized Esperanza's plan obviously. Esperanza grit her teeth and reached to gather their weapons.
"What are you doing?" Zorro asked, standing straight.
"Our surprise attack won't be a surprise now."
"No, it won't. What is he saying to her?"
"Modestus?" She listened. "He's asking what she's doing here."
"Good." Her companion stood suddenly and grabbed two bottles. Esperanza tried to stop him as he strolled out into the open. "She came to warn you about me!" His voice was firm and could easily be heard, but it was not a yell. The wind blew around him, causing the cape to blow out. Even from behind, he created an impressive figure.
Unfortunately, that impressive figure would soon be dead. The Destroyer had lost his mind. They were in no position to attack this of group of vampires without the aid of surprise. "Zorro!"
"Put your mask on," he whispered, looking over his shoulder for only a moment. Then, he continued his speech to the startled vampires. She bet he looked great and imposing to them. "I think you have heard of me. The Dark One. The Destroyer. Now is your only chance to leave alive."
Tasia laughed but the rest remained silent. Unsure of this mad man. "You are but one man, Senor."
"I am the Destroyer," he said. The words sent a shiver up Esperanza's spine. Then he tossed the bottles. And the screaming started.
Z Z Z
Vampires scattered. Horses that had been held captive as the vampires drank their blood neighed. The beating of their hoofs pounded into the air. Tasia's screams of fury made Diego smile.
"Let's finish this," he yelled to Esperanza as he rushed back to jump on Tornado's back.
She struck a flint stone against a piece of steel to light one of the oil-soaked torches. She lit three others and tossed him two before he raced out to fight the remaining vampires.
The blood pounded in his veins. He concentrated on Tasia's voice screeching orders. Needed to concentrate on her voice to keep from thinking about what he was doing. He put a flame next to a being that looked exactly like a man and raced away as he burst into fire. He tossed bottles of chemicals that were making creatures that looked like humans ill.
His blade remained at his side as he continued fighting. He jumped off of Tornado's back and fought as a man. Punching. Hitting. Kicking. And flames. Lots of flames. And breaking glass. But no sword. He refused. Never again would he know the feeling of a blade cutting its way through flesh.
Z Z Z
Esperanza laughed when she realized that the fight had changed. No longer was it her and Zorro versus a group of vampires. Now vampire was fighting vampire. Some were grouped together fighting others groups. And she and Zorro were continuing their work, promoting the chaos around them.
Her eyes burned from the chemicals in the air, but the mask Victoria and Diego had made her appeared to be working. No nausea. She could fight past the burning sensation on her skin when she neared the chemicals. She'd pay the price tomorrow.
Tonight, she was following a mad-man. A mad-man who might just win the war before it even started.
Z Z Z
"I warned you, Tasia," Modestus yelled over the noise.
He appeared before her. His jacket was covered in dust. His lips were bleeding, and his left eye was swollen shut. The blade grasped in his hand warned her to be prepared.
She stepped back against Innocenzio and drew his sword as he punched another vampire in the nose. All of her hard work. Destroyed. Years of planning. Destroyed. By him. By the Dark One.
In any other circumstance, she knew her chances of winning against Modestus were remote. But he was injured. And furious. She had the advantage and she pressed it.
Their blades crossed and battled. She expected a war of words as she attacked and retreated, but Modestus remained quiet. The silence unnerved her far more than any of his taunts could.
But as she pressed forward to take advantage of his growing weakness, he appeared. Zorro. She heard his blade draw from its sheath and then his sword stopped hers. Inches from Modestus' throat.
"Go," he said, not looking at Modestus. "Go, and tell them all that Tasia has lost to me. And that they are to stay far away from Los Angeles."
Modestus took a moment to study this man of legend. She knew him. Knew him well. Could see the desire to fight him in those black eyes. Instead, he looked at her and spat at the ground. "I will have my revenge, Tasia." He looked at Zorro. "If he does not get it before me."
Z Z Z
Diego studied the bloody and dirty woman before him. Gone was the lust. The drive to be like her that he hadn't understood. It had almost destroyed him, his soul. But Victoria's love had protected him.
He grasped the sword and questioned his determination not to use it to draw blood. This woman was a threat.
Ramone stepped forward. Blood dripped onto his shirt from his temple. The two men stared at each other. Finally, Zorro dropped his sword. He owed Ramone. Perhaps the man had deserved to die. But on the gallows, after facing a court of law, and not from a fall caused by Zorro having fun instead of paying attention to the possible dangers.
"Go," he said again. "Take her far away from here."
Ramone laughed. "You're letting us go?"
"Her plan has failed."
"It's only been postponed," Ramone snarled.
Zorro could see that Tasia knew. Like he did. It was over. Whatever chance she may have had through destiny had been destroyed tonight. Wherever she went, rumors of her failure would always arrive before she did. Wherever she went.
"Go."
Ramone nodded his head, took Tasia's hand and walked away.
Z Z Z
Esperanza fought the urge to race after the retreating vampires. The fight was over. It looked like even the war itself was over. The loco man in black had done it. He'd used his reputation to their advantage.
She walked over to where he stood and enjoyed the breeze. Soon the smells in the area should be gone. Then, she and Zorro could burn what evidence remained. "It's over."
She turned and looked back at their battlefield. Some corpses remained, headless. The fact their bodies remained spoke of their relative youth. Old vampires turned into dust as soon as they lost their heads.
Those bodies were her work. She'd noticed Zorro's refusal to use his blade. During her recent stint in Los Angeles, she'd heard the rumors of his hatred of death and injury. Tonight she began to understand what their war might be costing him.
The scent of blood played on the air. She inhaled deeply. His blood. Turning on her heals, she rushed over to him. "You are injured."
He nodded. "One of the vampires got me with his dagger before I could block him with my torch. It's nothing."
The amount of blood she smelled said differently. Reaching forward, she pressed her hand against his side. The warmth of his blood oozed through her fingers and he gasped. "You're injured."
He looked down at his blood-soaked sleeve, but she knew his mind was elsewhere. "I let them go."
She had a million arguments on why that was the wrong choice to make. But she wouldn't give him a single one. He had done his job. Now she would take care of the rest. The remaining burden she would carry alone.
"I owed him."
Ripping off her jacket sleeve, she said, "Owed him?"
Zorro nodded in the direction of their retreating enemies, paying no attention to her ministrations. "He loves her. He really loves her."
Esperanza chuckled and continued to apply pressure. "Doesn't say much about him in my opinion. She's a viper, and it takes a viper to love her."
"He always had ambition. If he worked as hard as he schemed, he could have made something of himself," Zorro admitted through gritted teeth.
She nodded her satisfaction at her makeshift bandage. "You'll need to get that looked after as soon as you get home. Victoria might have to sew it."
"She's done it before," he admitted. He finally looked at her. "She's a wonderful woman."
"I know."
"And I almost lost her." He shook his head. "I owed Ramone the chance to take her from Los Angeles."
"What if they don't leave? Tasia's not one to give up."
Zorro was silent for a moment. She could hear his pain in his breathing. "She knows it's over."
She frowned. "You're certain?"
"She knows the war is lost."
"I've never known her to give up so easily. Please don't underestimate her, Diego."
"I have-" He tensed, and his fist clenched by his sides. His breath left him in a hiss. "I've underestimated her. She's giving up the war but not the battle."
Esperanza looked at the desolate field around them. A few fires still flickered, but the silence seemed oppressive. "The battle is over."
"Not until she hurts me." Lifting an eyebrow, Esperanza gave a pointed look to his side. He shook his head. "This-this is not hurting me. She's going after Victoria."
Z Z Z