Chapter 6

It turned out the wizards had arrived not via magical means, but an old beat-up SUV. It had seen better days, and wasn't built as large as American vehicles, so fitting five wizards in must have been tight.

Six was overly friendly.

I ended up in the back seat beside Penny, with Anya perched on my lap. The vampire seemed to enjoy that a little too much, and silver streaks appeared in her eyes as she lazily looked me over.

I might have normally enjoyed it, but even as light as she was, Anya was making all my aches throb. And as tempting as it was to let her feed on me, to try and allow both of us to heal, I wasn't about to do that in front of the others. So I gave a slight shake of my head, and tried to keep my attention off her squirming motion in my lap.

"Tell us about Salvago," I said, turning toward Penny and Nelson, who rode in the back with us. Simon was driving, and Moretti was up front with him.

Nelson nodded his head, as if considering what he was going to share. "I can't tell you everything. Partly because of White Council security, and partly because I just don't know."

"I'll take what you can give me."

Nelson's bald head bobbed again. "Yannis Salvago is — was — a warden of the White Council. I guess you could say his focus was on magical research. He spent a lot of time studying every form of magic, even those he wasn't proficient in."

"So he's a book worm?" I asked, thinking back on the man I'd seen. He hadn't been as large as the other man — Peña, someone had called him — but he'd looked more like a field agent than an analyst.

"Hardly," Nelson said with a grimace. "Salvago has seen as much action as the most senior wardens. He fought against… enemy combatants during World War II. He fought in a secret campaign years earlier that all but obliterated a supernatural species. And he helped reform the Brute Squad after… after the war started."

"Okay," I said, not really understanding any of that. Which was becoming too much of a habit. "So, a general badass."

Simon snorted in the front seat. "I suppose you could say that."

"Salvago's strength wasn't necessarily in combat," Nelson explained. "He studied the enemy to better understand them, in order to obliterate them. In the Secret War, he studied the ways of… the enemy, and helped construct a strategy that would quickly and efficiently destroy them."

"He's talking about the Blamps," Anya said, drawing eyes to her.

"Ah, right," I said with a nod, recalling some of what she'd told me.

"What?" Penny asked.

"Blamps," Anya repeated. "Black Court vampires."

"How…?" Nelson said, surprised by her knowledge.

"Not all of you wizards hold us 'monsters' in such disdain," Anya said, her words pointed as she looked in Moretti's direction. "There was a time my family worked with some of your people. Stoker's manual being one of them."

"Of course," Nelson said, his eyes tightening as he re-appraised Anya.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Penny asked, clearly confused.

"A hundred years ago or so, a number of people from different factions worked together to exterminate the Black Court of vampires," Nelson explained. "There were several high members of the White Court involved. They helped gather intelligence, and organized the seemingly disorganized mob gatherings that confronted the vampires. Not to mention assisting with Stoker's Dracula."

And as he spoke, I realized what was behind that calculating look Nelson had sent Anya's way. In revealing that she knew of the secret war against the Blamps, she'd inadvertently revealed just how high up she was in the ranks of the Wamps. As Lara Raith's personal protege, she knew more than she should.

"Blamps? Penny said, confused.

"Blamps, as in Black Court vampires" I explained. When the others looked at me, I shrugged. "Sorry. Product of the generation; I don't like running around calling them all 'Whites', 'Reds', and 'Blacks'."

Nelson seemed to consider that, and gave a slight nod, while Moretti just sighed and shook his head in the front. "Monster lover."

"Salvago was involved with that as well," Nelson continued. "He spent a lot of time studying the… Blamps, as you say. Rumor has it he spent time dissecting them, to see what made them tick."

"Gross," Penny said with a slight shudder.

"So I guess he's older than he looks," I said, recalling the wizard I'd seen that was purportedly over a hundred years old, but only looked to be in his fifties.

"He was born here, on this island, around 1800 or so," Nelson said. "He's been a Wizard of the White Council since he was twenty, and a warden almost as long."

"Until he apparently went bad," I observed.

Nelson sighed. "Yes. Several years ago, Salvago left the Council. It was kept very quiet; almost as if those in charge were worried that drawing attention to him would do more harm than good. As far as our files show, he came back here, and has been quiet ever since."

"What changed?"

"I don't know," Nelson said honestly. "Orders came down from as high as they come several days ago, ordering a warden strike team to take Salvago out." Nelson's face was grim. "Not to bring him in; not to question him. Just kill him."

"Which went swimmingly," Anya observed sardonically.

"Clearly," Nelson said, while Penny shot the punky vampire a frown.

"So the strike team took a shot at him, and all but killed him," I said, picking up the story. "The Hound came to take his soul if he died. But he subverted it somehow. And then he went after the strike team."

"That's our understanding as well," Nelson agreed. "When the strike team didn't report back in, their COMMO agreed to help coordinate our own efforts."

"What do you mean, 'your efforts'?" I asked with a frown. "You aren't a second strike team?"

Nelson began to speak, but Penny cut him off. "One of the strike team members is my master," she said, swallowing nervously. "I was worried, and asked the others to help me find him."

"So why hasn't the Council sent another strike team?" I asked, bewildered at the lack of response to what was clearly a major threat.

Nelson looked away. "There are… other events occurring high up in the Council right now that have diverted resources elsewhere," he said vaguely.

"More important than a dark wizard enslaving other wizards and raising the dead?"

"We didn't know about any of that until this morning," Simon said from the front. "We told Vaccaro, and he's going to run it up. But with everyone looking for Morgan—"

"Phane!" Moretti snapped from the passenger seat, shooting a glare at Simon.

"Oh. Right," the driver said, looking slightly chagrined.

"Donald Morgan?" Anya asked with a frown. "As in second in command of the wardens?" Clearly she knew more about the wizards than she'd ever told me. Of course, she was apprenticing under Lara Raith.

Nelson sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't suppose you could forget that was said?"

"Of course. Sure," she said, shooting me a look that clearly said she'd be calling Lara Raith with an update as soon as possible.

"It's no big secret," Simon said somewhat defensively. "Vaccaro just told us that someone's put a contract out. Every mercenary across the planet is looking for him."

"Shit," Moretti said, his jaw working tightly.

"That's no reason to disseminate too much information," Nelson said reproachfully. Simon just sighed in the front.

"Okay, putting all that aside," I said, waiving off what was clearly an awkward subject. "There's no-one available to hunt Salvago. So how'd you all come to it?"

"I asked Simon for help trying to find Master Argondian," Penny said. "He said we should bring Nelson in."

I shot a glance toward Moretti. Nelson picked up on it. "When we spoke with Vaccaro, and told him what we were doing, he recommended that Serg be brought on. They're both based out of New York, and they've worked together in the past."

"And Rai?" Anya asked, her tone soft.

Penny glanced at Nelson, who looked pained as he said, "Rai is sort of my apprentice."

Oh shit.

No wonder he was clinging to the idea that Rai might still be alive.

The vehicle grew silent as we rode into town. The graveyard had been adjacent to a church set a short distance from what turned out to be a small village, and it hadn't taken us long to get there. I looked out over the pale stone buildings, some of which looked like modern construction, while others looked like they might have been around since Salvago was a boy.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Avgonima," Simon replied. There was a map on the dash board. "It looked like the closest place."

I noted quickly that this was no resort town. Most of the buildings were old stone, clearly of a Mediterranean style. It was quaint, and if we hadn't been on a mission to save my girlfriend from a dark wizard that had enslaved her and was raising an army of the dead, I might have enjoyed the place.

Instead, I disembarked with the others, and headed toward what looked like a grocery store. Moretti and Simon remained outside, watching the vehicle.

"Excuse me, do you speak English?" Nelson asked the man working behind the counter.

"What was that?" the man replied.

Nelson looked around, his lips pursed. "Damn."

"Uh, what?" I said to him.

"I guess they don't get many visitors through here," he replied. He turned back to the grocer. "English? Is there anyone that speaks English?" he asked, gesturing around the town.

"Didn't he just…" Anya began, but stopped when the man spoke again.

"Americans," he sighed, looking back further into the shop. "Shali! Shali! Come translate for me!"

"Excuse me," I said to him, causing his head to snap back around.

"Yes? How can I help you?" he said, nodding politely with a relieved smile.

"You speak Greek?" Nelson asked, pleasantly surprised.

"No, I don't," I said with a frown.

Anya slapped my arm, and when I looked to her, she put a finger to my lips. It took me a second to realize what she was implying.

The gift of knowledge Rose had given us not only let us understand Greek, but apparently allowed us to speak the language as well. I hadn't even realized that type of power was possible. Not to mention that it seemed to work automatically. As far as I knew, I'd been speaking English to the man. But apparently he heard something else.

"Oh, right," I said, turning back to the grocer. "I think we're looking for a place to stay? An inn or hotel?"

The man pointed outside. "There is a bed and breakfast across the way there." I looked out the window toward where he was pointing, and saw a sign. "Yes, just there. They will take excellent care of you."

"Thank you," I said with a grateful nod.

We made our way outside, with Nelson and Penny looking a little confused about what had just transpired. My denial of knowing Greek, followed by my apparently fluent linguistic skills, had them sharing looks.

Simon pulled the vehicle around while the rest of us walked across the square toward the inn. "What are we going to do about paying? I don't have any Greek money," I said to the others.

Neither did they, but the clerk at the bed and breakfast not only spoke English, but accepted most major credit cards. There were three rooms available, which we quickly reserved.

Anya and I took one room, while the others split the other two. We agreed to meet up after we took some time to freshen up, and then we'd figure out where to go from there. I was just as impatient as the others, but the long and brutal day had me dog tired and ready for a nap.

As I closed the bedroom door behind us, Anya was stripping off her leathers. I wasn't terribly surprised to find her going commando, and as her pale ass cheeks disappeared into the bathroom, I shrugged off my outer clothes and shoes, and laid back on the bed.

I hadn't even realized I'd fallen asleep until the punky vampire woke me, nudging my shoulder. "Go freshen up."

I somehow managed to pull myself up, doing my best to ignore her state of undress. She had a towel wrapped around her, but as she'd only tied it around her waist, her upper body was on full and glorious display. My eyes trailed over the thin lines of her silver tattoo that curled like vines up both sides, across her belly, and down her arms. They reappeared further down her legs beneath the edge of the towel, and I knew from experience that the argent coils curved around to her back.

Despite my exhaustion and worry, I felt a stirring in me. I quickly pushed those thoughts aside as I headed for the shower, which I found to be a shared bath with another of the rooms. Anya had locked the door from our side, and I heard some of the others beyond.

"..sure about this?" Moretti said, disapproval in his tone.

"Yes," Nelson replied, his voice sounding more weary than it had before. Maybe Moretti grated on everyone's nerves.

Rather than eavesdrop, I climbed into the shower, which was about the width of my shoulders, and crouched down to try and get beneath the spray. European facilities seemed to be somewhat skimpy on extra space. The room itself had only consisted of a bed and a dresser, and I wasn't even sure that Anya and I could have both been in the bathroom at the same time, much less shared the shower.

With those thoughts running through my mind, I turned the tap to a colder temperature, and finished up my quick scrubbing, before drying off and joining Anya back in the room.

She was beneath the covers, wearing only a seductive smile as she patted the twin mattress. "Will you walk into my parlor?" said the vampire to the man, an eyebrow twitching up suggestively.

I locked the door to the bathroom from our side, and then made my way over.

Two hours later, the aches and pains that I'd felt were gone, and I awoke refreshed and energized.

Anya stirred beside me, a leg and arm draped over my body as she snuggled close. I shifted gently, extracting myself from her embrace. As I rose, I was thankful to see that my undershorts were still on.

My relationship with the the lust vampire wasn't exactly normal. Despite appearances, we didn't have much of a physical relationship. I considered us good friends, and Anya seemed to be on the same page. She had no romantic feelings for me, nor I for her.

Yes, we cared for each other. When a White Court vampire fed on someone as deeply as she'd fed on me, and they somehow managed to survive, a bond was created between the two. But it wasn't romantic love; more like best friends that cared for each other deeply.

And yes, we were attracted to each other. She was beautiful, and had the charms and benefits of not only the lust demon fueling her, but generations of excellent breeding. White Court vampires were particular about who they reproduced with, and when you were as beautiful and as powerful as they were, you tended to have your pick of the litter, supernatural seduction skills aside.

But despite the attraction, and our frequent experimentation with using her hunger to fuel my recovery, Anya and I had never actually had sex. Violet hadn't been opposed to the idea; in fact, I think she'd harbored some thoughts of the three of us having some fun together. Knowing how Anya's tastes ran, I was sure she'd be into that as well.

I was the one that had hang-ups. Call me a fool, but I considered myself in an exclusive relationship with the immortal Lampad that was likely thousands of years older than me, who'd likely had countless lovers in ancient times. Stories about nymphs probably came from some kernel of truth, and Violet was even more beautiful than the punky vampire. For all I knew, she wasn't even really like me; some theorized that the ancient beings of power had shaped themselves after humans, having predated our existence.

None of that mattered. Nor did it matter that our love wasn't what you'd call 'true love'. As Anya had explained, two people in 'true love' were toxic to her kind. Love was the bane of the White Court, and was toxic enough to prevent any Wamp from feeding on us.

But apparently our love wasn't enough.

I'd spent some time analyzing that, trying to figure out what it meant.

I still didn't have an answer.

After using the facilities, I managed to get dressed and headed out, leaving the vampire in bed. I found Nelson outside, sitting in some meditative pose in a small garden. The space wasn't very big, and was even smaller considering Penny was lying on the grass, propped up against a small tree.

"I'm surprised you're up," the bald wizard said, his eyes not open as I circled around him.

"No rest for the wicked."

"Indeed," he replied, his eyes finally opening. When he saw me, he frowned, his head cocking to the side. "You're certainly… healthier than I imagined."

"I recover quickly," I said vaguely. I was cautious about how much I shared with others. My ability to heal, even without Anya's help, was somewhat rare in the mortal world. I had irrational worries about dark wizards cutting me open to see what made me tick.

Irrational, until I'd heard their stories about Salvago earlier.

"No, I meant…" he said, before trailing off.

"Ah," I said, understanding. "You meant for someone that was fed on by a vampire."

"Sorry," he said, and seemed to mean it. "When she began, I felt… something, through the walls. It felt odd. I came out here to get away."

"She has good self control," I assured him. Which was the truth, even if she hadn't always. When we'd first met, she'd struggled with her hunger. Unlike the older, jaded Wamps, Anya didn't accept that she had to kill humans to live. She had resisted her hunger as much as possible, refusing to hurt others.

All that had done was made her demon starve, leaving her less in control when she finally did feed.

Our relationship had changed her. She finally had a way to feed on someone without hurting them, as well as a Guinea pig to practice self-control. She still fed on others, but was able to do so without bringing undo harm.

"I see," the wizard replied, taking my statement at face value. Or maybe he was just being polite. "Well, you and Penny are probably in the best shape out of all of us."

"How's she doing?"

"She's got a strong basis in water and flora magic," Nelson said, looking toward the girl. "Give her some foliage and some time, and she's good to go."

"She's also awake," Penny said, not bothering to shift from her position against the tree.

"Well, we won't say anything too nasty then," Simon said as he came up behind us, a smile on his face.

"Any luck?" Nelson asked the new arrival, who leaned against the other wall of the small enclosed garden. With four of us out there, we were suddenly out of free space.

"No," the dark-haired wizard said with a shake of his head. He tossed a dark stone up in the air, the same which I'd seen him with earlier. "Still no contact with Argondian's, and Peña's is no longer responding either."

"Damn," the bald one said, cursing softly. "They must have figured out how we found them."

"How did you do that?" I asked, looking at the stone Simon was fiddling with.

"Oh. With this," Simon said, wagging it in the air. "It's a communication stone. Let's us talk over distance with others."

"So, the wizard version of a cell phone?" I asked, amused.

"More like the Emperor's hologram from Empire Strikes Back," he countered.

"Cool," I said, suddenly jealous. My ability to use a phone had diminished somewhat over the years, as my exposure to magic and magical constructs increased. I'd previously been able to use a smart-phone, but was now relegated to old flip phones that frequently crapped out.

"Anyway, Peña and Argondian both had communication stones on them when the team went after Salvago," Simon continued. "Vaccaro has been helping us track Peña's stone, which is how we located them in the graveyard last night. But there was no sign of Argondian. And his stone isn't responding."

"So the plan was to meet up with the strike team?" I asked.

"Yes," a terse voice behind me said. I looked over to see Moretti in the doorway. He'd replaced the torn shirt, leaving his steel arm covered under a long sleeve. A glove covered most of his metal hand. I did my best not to stare at the glint visible around his wrist. "It was a simple reconnaissance mission, until we were forced to act."

"Can we please focus?" Penny asked softly, surprising us all. The girl sat up, her long hair free of her braid as she scowled up at Moretti. "It's not their fault. Let's just focus on finding Reon, and then we'll worry about the others."

At the unfamiliar name, I glanced at Nelson, who nodded. "Reon Argondian, her master."

"So he wasn't the lightning guy," I said. "Who was that?"

"Somboon," Moretti said, his tone still curt but at least somewhat civil. "Another experienced warden."

"And the big guy. You said he was Peña?"

"Yes," the steel-armed wizard said, frowning. "The strike team consisted of Peña, Somboon, Sidorenko, and Argondian. Peña was in charge; why he and Somboon are now working with Salvago is beyond me."

"I think that has to do with the Hound," I said cautiously. When the others turned to me, I sighed, realizing I'd have to tell them something. "Salvago did something to the Hound, allowing him to control it. He did the same thing to Violet the next night. It might be the same thing he's done to the Wardens."

"Violet?" Nelson asked, arching an eyebrow. The guy was far too observant.

"She's a Greek Lampad," I explained.

Most of the others didn't seem to understand that, but Penny sucked in a breath. "Oh. My."

"What is she?" Nelson asked, looking between the two of us. Penny deferred to me.

"Very powerful," I told them. "Immortal. That torch she carries is the source of her power, and I've never encountered anything even remotely near its equal."

"So, two friendlies suborned by mystical means to help the enemy," Nelson concluded, thinking it over. "Some sort of mind control, perhaps?"

"No way," Moretti said firmly. "It'd be impossible to control a wizard like that. Especially hardened veterans like Peña and Somboon."

"True," Nelson conceded, inclining his head. "But it's equally hard to believe that he's convinced them to join his cause."

"Violet wouldn't join him," I said with conviction.

"Neither would Peña," Moretti said with equal confidence. "They were friends once, but they had a falling out when Salvago left. And even if he was sympathetic to Salvago, Peña wouldn't betray the Council."

"No more than Morgan would?" Simon asked softly.

Moretti stiffened, but didn't have anything to say to that.

"Clearly we don't know enough," Nelson said. "Finding Argondian might provide us with some answers."

"What about that other one?" I asked. "Sidious?"

"Sidorenko?" Simon asked, a bemused smile creeping to his face at my mispronunciation.

"Yeah."

"We're hoping she's still on our side," Nelson said. "Unfortunately, we don't have a way of tracking her. So we'll have to hope she's with Penny's master."

"But you said Argon… Argondola…"

"Argondian."

"Right, him," I said, rolling my eyes. "You said his stone isn't working. So how are we going to find him?"

Nelson looked to Penny, who stood up. She'd been braiding her hair, and looked just as refreshed as I felt. One hand slipped into a pocket of her loose coat, and I saw her withdraw a small vial filled with a red substance. "We can track him with this."

"Is that blood?" I asked.

"No," she said, holding the vial up. "It's paint."

As if that explained it.

Rather than asking, I simply nodded. "Okay. Let's find him, and get some answers."

I wasn't going to tell them what Rose had said. That Salvago had killed at least one of the strike team members in their initial encounter, and wounded the other. It seemed even odds that Argondian wasn't going to be of any help, but telling them that would only crush the girl.

"Enough jabber," Anya said, surprising all of us except for Nelson, who was a little too cool for school. We all looked up to find Anya was perched on the balcony overhead. I hadn't realized our room was right there. "Let's go find your master."

Penny nodded, and I could tell Anya's words had helped. The others all made to leave, and I winked at the vampire.

"Q called," she said, holding up her satellite phone. "He's on his way."

My grin was fierce as I followed after the wizards, finally feeling like things were coming together.