0271: The Vampire's Daughter, Book Three

Gan and Sol watched as the vampire walked back to the caravan with which she arrived. Several male vampires came out to meet her. They stood talking for some time, before Sol asked, “I can’t read a thing, can you?”

“No, they are covering their thoughts well,” Gan replied.

“What do you think they will do?”

“Sol,” Gan said, turning to him, “it doesn’t matter. If they attack, they will not take the castle. Even if I have to destroy this place myself to prevent their success.”

“That is not comforting,” Sol said.

“It wasn’t meant to be. It is a simple fact. I’ve wired the entire castle with explosives for just such a situation. From day one, I had a backup. At first it was nothing more than strategically placed barrels full of gunpowder imported from China. The setup is far more complicated today, but should be equally, if not more, effective at destroying the castle and all of those inside.”

“Yourself included?” Sol asked.

“If necessary.”

“And what if I don’t particularly wish to be in your castle when you start playing violins and blowing the place up?”

“Then you should have hired a different assassin,” Gan said with a smile. “Besides, I’m not convinced they are ready to fight. They have a large army, but they know my men can defeat them, especially with the castle. The only real way to hurt us is from the air, but I doubt they could muster an air strike without drawing undue attention. That means it needs to remain a small skirmish in which I have the upper hand.”

“So what do you believe they will do?” Sol asked.

“They’ll sit and watch,” Car said.

“They will try to stop you from ever leaving,” Belinda followed.

“Yes,” Gan said, “that is what I believe they will do. They will set up camp and try to reason with me some more while ensuring that you do not escape. Of course, they might try to send an assassin to kill you, but that would be folly, at least for the assassin.”

As he said that, another vampire walked toward the castle.

“Gan,” the vampire yelled well before reaching the gate.

“Henry,” Gan replied, “it’s nice to see you. What brings you for a visit?” To his men, Gan said, “Open the gate.”

Henry laughed as he walked up to Gan, Sol, Carmelinda and Belinda. When he got close enough, Gan said, “Henry, this is Sol, I think you know him by reputation.”

“Yes,” Henry said, putting out a hand to Sol. Sol, hesitantly, took hold of the offered hand and shook it. “This is nothing personal, you know. I, for one, am not particularly fond of the Zionists, at least not since that annoying rat took over for John Paul. That said, the old crowns seem to think rather highly of the clan.

“They never did quite understand why John Paul picked up and headed to the New World. He was, to some degree, discredited, but they still listened to him. I think it makes them feel like they are still in God’s good graces to support the clan, even if it meant supporting Paul. Funny thing is no one really liked the bastard. Glad he’s dead myself.” He laughed again. It was a full-bodied and honest laugh that made Sol want to trust him.

“No,” Henry said, “I don’t see the point in this. But orders is orders, so I’ve got to do something here. I tried to tickle Gan’s fancy with a little eye candy, but I didn’t really expect it to work. I even brought along an old flame of his for the job.”

“That was an interesting touch, but ineffective. At this point, I’d much rather kill her than do anything else with her. You do remember that she betrayed me, don’t you?” Gan asked.

“Yeah, but that was so long ago,” Henry answered. “Anyway, I figured it was worth a try. You know, settle this thing peacefully.”

“You consider my death peaceful?” Sol asked, a little perturbed.

“Well, as peaceful as possible,” he answered with another big laugh. “After all, I know of you, but I don’t really know you. That said, I’m getting a good feeling about you. You have some spunk,” Henry said, again laughing. “Anyway,” he continued, but more seriously, “I don’t want to see lots of good vampires die. Do you guys have any ideas on how to end this without a fight?”



[The Vampire's Daughter: An ongoing vampire story. Copyright Reuben Gregg Brewer, 2005, 2006, 2007. All rights reserved.]