Ten minutes later, I was out of the Blight and in front of the Tower Plaza entrance. Unlike the area that Kingston had laired in, this wasn't multiple skyscrapers rising around the street. There was just one massive building that extended like a mountain above the entrance and many blocks on either side. The walls were obsidian, reflective but not mirrored. On either side of the entrance were two large men dressed in tuxedos. This was more than a bit odd since I was pretty sure that style had gone out the way of the dodos almost a hundred years ago. Despite the recent resurgence in all things 20th century, this looked a little too authentic. I concentrated slightly to examine their auras and only got a quick glimpse of them before I was staggered by a tremendous lancing pain in my skull. My loose use of my talents had finally come back to roost. Groaning, I massaged my temples as I approached the guards.

“I am here to see the master of the city,” I told the nearest. “I had an appointment at midnight.” The fellow stared at me expressionlessly for a few seconds. The brief flash I had of his aura before my brain had self-destructed had shown him to be a middling powerful vampire. Perhaps he had nodded off. I turned to the other one. “Your friend seems to have fallen asleep. Could you let your boss know that Derek is here to see him?” Another flash of agony speared through my head. I guessed that one of them had sent a telepathic message to someone. How useful it was to know that overuse of one's talent could turn me into a mental energy detector. Maybe I could learn how to Morse code in screams. I was about to turn and totter over to a bench for a well-deserved sit down when the first guard finally responded.

“Welcome, Mister... Derek,” He paused at my name. I suppose most people have a last name, but I never really saw a need for one. “You are expected, although late.” This time I could feel his attention on me as he actually turned his head to look at me. “You seem injured. Do you need assistance?”

I suppose I did look like I had crawled into and out the other side of a meat grinder, but my physical wounds were almost gone except my budding new tooth. It was just my brain that wanted to crawl into a deep hole and hibernate for a week. “Thanks, but no. I could use a moment in a restroom, though.”

“Please enter. Follow the lights,” the man commanded and went back to ignoring me. Perhaps the sight of my blood offended him... or maybe since he was a vampire, he was concentrating on not jumping the tasty human. Great, perhaps I should have cleaned up beforehand. Shrugging to myself, I walked through the now open doors to beard the lion in his lair.

I stopped just inside in surprise. The entrance was a huge atrium with an outdoor motif. Parts were made of meadows. Further in was an actual forest with some impressively sized trees. Above us was a starlit night sky with a full moon. That kicked my sleepy brain into gear; the sky, at least, was a hologram. The trees and grass looked real, but since I was too pooped to examine their auras, I suppose that the only way I would find out for sure would be to go over and touch them. To heck with that. I just wanted to go to my meeting and then head to bed. I hadn't planned on sleeping deeply for a few more weeks, but tonight had tuckered me out.

A flash of light caught my attention, and I turned to look at a softly glowing orb of light gently bobbing in the nonexistent wind. Wait a second, there actually was a breeze, and I think I smelled grass. I would expect this kind of illusion from the shifters if they had the money, not the vampires. If I saw puppies frolicking in the meadow, I wasn't sure if I could resist puking. I nodded in greeting to willow wisp. “Take me to the restroom.”

It bobbed sharply and headed off to the trees. Following it, I admired the scenery. Honestly, it looked nicer than the government-maintained parks in the city, and those were almost like campgrounds. A little way into the trees, a bush sparkled and then reformed into a modest little door with a gentlemen's symbol on it. I walked in and noted a spacious but utilitarian bathroom. A door marked 'showers' was on the far side, but I simply went over to the sink and examined the damage. I had already known my clothes were trashed. My coat was lying in tatters on me with copious dribbles of dried blood on it.

Opening up the front, I noted that the shirt I had underneath was in a much better state—only small spots of blood and a few tears. I think I may have gone through the building headfirst because my pants were almost free of damage. Mostly dusty. I tossed the coat in the slot in the wall marked trash and patted my clothes mostly free of concrete. The building's ventilation system efficiently whisked away the cloud of waste I stirred into the air.

Then I examined my face. It was caked in blood, but my flattened nose had reconstructed itself, and it now looked like someone had bled on me instead of the other way around. Appreciating the old-fashioned water faucet instead of the more common sonic cleaners most modern businesses used, I went to work scrubbing my face and hair of the blood. I understand all the supernaturals in the city were encouraging the retro trend. Not only did the sonic cleaning drive them batty, but many of them were from simpler times. They actively promoted the fad since they felt more comfortable in that environment, regardless of how ecologically unfriendly it was.

The water was briefly stained with red before running clear again. After a few minutes of soapy activity, I looked up again and was able to see my face once more. A bit pale and tired, but definitely better. I sighed, back to the work at hand.

Exiting the room, I saw the wisp bobbing in the air, patiently waiting for me. As the door faded behind me, I followed it deeper into the woods, where another door appeared where a bush once was. This one seemed to be an elevator. As I approached, the doors slid to the side, and I stepped in. The inside was more traditionally set in chrome. Over the door, there were numbers, but there were no controls. I suppose you weren't coming up unless you were invited.

The numbers above the door rapidly changed; however, I felt no movement. I suppose they could be using momentum compensation. Still, Jeremy said that it was notoriously expensive and remarkably buggy unless you used the proprietary systems in the air cars, which were for short sharp shocks. Most tended to overcompensate if used for more than a moment, and after a brief spike of over a hundred gravity force, there wasn't much left of a human except jelly glued to the wall. I made a mental note not to let Jeremy visit. A minute later, the door opened into a wide, though not an absurdly large, hallway. Unlike the atrium below, people were bustling to and fro, obviously having far more exciting things to do than look at me, though I think I did draw a glance of disdain from a few.

The glowing orb floated sedately down the corridor, and I followed behind while I looked at all the people I was passing, trying to guess which ones were vampires and which were humans. I was pretty sure the ones that slinked down the hall with superhuman grace were vampires, as were the ones wearing clothing from the wrong era. The others I really couldn't tell without making my brain explode again. Since the agony was just now dying down to a dull throb, it wasn't that hard to restrain my curiosity.

After a few minutes of shuffling down seemingly endless corridors, I arrived at a rather ornate double door. The designs on the borders were reminiscent of another era, something I suppose I would be getting used to if I dealt with bloodsucking immortals long enough.

I politely knocked once and walked in. I may have acted a bit too soon since a middle-aged gentleman, seated at a long dinner table more suited for a party of twenty rather than one, was just waiving a manservant towards the door. The gentleman had graying temples, an elegant aristocratic nose, and a well-groomed mustache. He had what appeared to be a fluted glass full of wine in one hand and a sheath of papers in the other. With a raised eyebrow, he nodded towards me. “Won't you come in, Derek?”

“Greetings,” I nodded and smiled. It was evident that this was more of a casual dining room than an office. “Are you Mr. Fiero? Nice to meet you and...” My eyes swept the rest of the table and took in the other two people at the table. One was an apparently young woman sitting demurely to the man's left. She was a dark-haired European beauty dressed in the classic sleek black dinner formal. To her left sat a familiar-looking vampire. The smile left my face.

“I see you recognize me,” the man stated dryly.

“Well, you left a strong impression on me, despite our short acquaintance,” I replied uncomfortably. I did indeed know the man since he had tried to assassinate me barely a day before. He was dressed smartly in a black and scarlet suit, having abandoned his work suit and tie for something more fashionable and less reduced to small rags.

He had come somewhat closer than I liked to success, and it occurred to me that I was in a room with at least two very old vampires. Perhaps three if the girl was more than she appeared to be. True, the vampire was more dangerous to me due to his formidable dagger than his personal power. Still, if one old vampire had a magical weapon, there was no reason to think that other vampires may not have similar tools. The fact that he was here spun this encounter into a more sinister twist. My eyes flickered from the assassin to the master of the city.

“Well, this puts a different bent on things,” I said mildly to Mr. Fiero. “Does this mean that you don't truly need my services?” This might not only put a crimp in my master plan but bode ill for my health. Still no point in standing around looking stupid. I could be in a comfortable seat and achieve that. I shrugged to myself and sat at the corner of the table, where I had a nice view of the three. The woman smiled slightly at this while Mr. Fiero's rather bland expression was interrupted by a facial tic.

“Actually, Sebastian is visiting at my request,” the master's nodded in the assassin's direction. “I belatedly heard that he had... engaged his services and was working at cross purposes to me. I asked him here to ensure that all parties knew that such behavior was ill-advised for the city’s greater good. I am sure there won't be any more troublesome incidents.” At the last statement, the pleasant look toward Sebastian turned sharp before fading back to the original friendly mask.

I nodded and smiled. It was all a happy circumstance if I was to take it at face value. It also made a certain amount of sense that they wouldn't try to kill me right after agreeing to work for them. Of course, it could be a conspiracy. Oh well, I would take the easiest route for the moment. I was too tired to overanalyze it at the moment.

“If I had known that our master had plans in place, I would never have taken actions against our interests,” Sebastian declared earnestly, one hand on his chest and a devilish glint in his eyes. I usually appreciate sarcasm, but since the bastard had come very close to seriously injuring me, I was not an appreciative audience. “I will, of course, contact my employer and inform him that I will have to forgo our agreement.”

“Don't bother. I've already come to terms with him. No doubt you'll hear from him soon,” I stated shortly. Then my nose caught the scent of something delightful. I registered that the table had some food on it for the first time. Actually, it had a lot of food on it, primarily French cuisine I was not familiar with except for its nationality. I looked at it and back to my host in puzzlement. Vampires don't eat, though they may drink almost anything. Either the female was not a vampire, or this was intended as a more sociable setting than I had thought. Mr. Fiero noted where my attention was.

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“I apologize for the food not being as fresh as I would like. I was expecting you a little sooner. You look a little worse for wear. Did you run into any problems?” he asked me politely, giving a minute look at our local psychopathic killer.

“Yes, well, I took a shortcut through the Blight and got jumped by a freaking fairy-lover,” I grumped. Maybe I was still a little bitter. Sebastian's eyes narrowed, and I could see he was thinking about what was directly across Blight and at what time I would have been at his employer's.

“Now, now Derek isn't that a little bit close-minded of you?” the woman spoke up for the first time. I'm afraid I didn't really understand her reference, so I looked at her in puzzlement.

“Um, no, not really.” I put it out of my mind and started piling my plate with the food in front of me. Apparently, it was all for me, and it seemed a pity to let it go to waste. “So, your fellow... what's his face, tell you what I needed from you in order to accomplish what you want?” I asked in between mouthfuls.

“I admit he was somewhat incoherent. He seemed to be recovering from some sort of debilitating illness,” he stated slowly as he watched me eat with a slight downward curl of his lip.

“I hope he's feeling better,” I muttered. I may have mentioned that my family line has some inherited skills that run towards cooking and alchemy. It's not usually very useful since I don't brew potions, though I occasionally cook something fancy for Jeremy. These mostly dormant skills were slowly prodded to life as I noted that one of the spices seemed out of place. One of the dishes I had scooped onto my plate was laced with enough powdered silver to send a lycanthrope into convulsions. It was delicious; I had never thought of putting precious metals into food before. Tasty, but definitely not normal. Like eating a treasure horde. I got a second and third helping of that one.

“He is. He was back to normal within an hour, though he still seemed somewhat incoherent.” I made a note of the recovery time and side effects. I tasted another dish and noted traces of arsenic and wolfsbane. Okay, that was definitely not normal. I was pretty much immune to poison, but either they were trying to kill me, or I was in the middle of a fishing expedition. Sighing sadly to myself, I pushed aside the food. I promised myself another nice fresh turkey when I got home. I glanced at Sebastian and wondered if he was responsible for ruining my dinner or if the other two were involved. He looked remarkably innocent for a cold-blooded killer.

“Anyway, you asked me here because you're experiencing a rash of destructive creatures. Well, you're in luck. I happen to know why it's happening and how to fix it.” I paused as Mr. Fiero stiffened in his seat and the woman's eyes narrowed into slits. Sebastian's face took on a smiling expression. He seemed to be waiting for more.

Mr. Fiero leaned forward in his chair, and I could feel his aura flare outward, blanketing the room like a thick invisible smog. I knew this trick. Most supernatural creatures could flare their auras, sort of push out their intrinsic magical nature. It was some kind of magical pissing contest. The more extensive your magical reserves or higher on the mystical pyramid, the more you could make yourself felt. Mortals could often be frozen in fear by the strange sensation. It triggered the fight-or-flight run in lesser entities. Aside from that, it also made most technological-based sensing or recording devices incoherent, and the more modern technology-based on quantum logic computing was utterly shut down by it unless it was shielded. It did something to randomize the electron spin. It just seemed to blow my stuff up at my house, so Jeremy had to replace it.

“In truth, I was hoping you could identify the creatures. I wouldn't have expected a professor to know more,” he stated menacingly, his eyes almost glowing with energy.

“Then you really lucked out; I can do that too, most likely,” I smiled charmingly. At least, I liked to think it was charming. Jeremy says I look like an ass when I do that expression, but I am positive it's lovely. Sebastian's smile widened. Hmm, perhaps I did look like an ass.

“Mr. Derek, if you have come to blackmail us with your beasts, you'll find this to be your last dinner,” Mr. Feiro stated slowly, each word having a weight. His aura deepened, becoming almost visible, and the lighting started to flicker.

I raised my eyebrow in surprise. He had gotten the wrong idea about me. I chuckled and was shocked when my host sprang up, leaped across the table, and grabbed my throat. If I had been human, I don't think I would have seen him move. He tightened his grip, and I think a mortal would have been choking. I frowned; this was disgusting. An undead construct was touching me.

“If you don't remove your hand from my person, I will remove your hand for you,” I stated deliberately. He blinked. Perhaps it was my lack of pain, or maybe he had noticed that my throat didn't have the slightest indentation from his hand. There was a significant pause, and I was about to make good on my promise when another interfered.

“Enough!” The woman had stood up and extended her aura, completely subsuming master Fiero's. Hers actually made my skin tingle a bit.

“But Vivian,” the master began. He was immediately interrupted.

“Let the man go, Vincent,” her voice was cold and flat. Clearly, she was a more significant personage than I had initially thought. “You have jumped to the incorrect conclusion regarding Derek.”

Mr. Fiero looked from her to me before releasing my neck and turning with flair and drama and walking to the head of the table. “Then perhaps he could clarify his position.”

I was still unhappy at his rudeness but decided not to pursue it. Barehanded vampires weren't high on my danger meter, but I was in a building full of them, and Sebastian looked far too entertained at my expense.

“It so happens that there is a wizard in the city. Our best guess is that he is likely making arrangements to open a large portal to summon a greater demon.” The three vampires had fixed me with their stares, each apparently in various stages of disbelief. Well, at least I had their attention. “Naturally, a lot of time and energy goes into such a portal, and to get enough energy for such an undertaking, this fellow needs to find a huge node of energies.”

“And I suppose he is summoning the monstrous riffraff because he is working his way up to a demon?” Sebastian asked with a sneer. Vincent had calmed down enough that he was merely glaring at me. I could see he was also considering my words but remained skeptical. The woman, Vivian, looked at me expressionlessly.

“No. I am guessing that his apprentices are examining the nodes in the city, trying to map where the most ley lines cross and where his can most easily open his gate to hell.”

“And how did you come across this information?” Vivian asked blandly.

“The wizard, Jin, has several enemies that have been tracking him for some time. I was fortunate enough to meet one of them and offered my assistance.”

“As interesting as this is, I fail to see how we should get involved.” Vincent interrupted. I sat staring at him in wonder for some moments afterward.

“Are you telling me that you really just called me here to categorize some extraplanar animals for your zoo? That you're okay with a cabal of wizards poking holes in your city’s dimensional wall, and you don't see a problem with him summoning a greater demon in the middle of your territory?”

“Could be fun,” the assassin snarked. His smile was back in place.

“I would have thought you'd be more concerned about not being at the top of the supernatural hierarchy anymore. You were very proactive when you found out about the zombies. Not very effective, mind you, but energetic.” The master vampire winced at this description, and Vivian gave him a sharp glance.

“There were zombies raised in the city, and you didn't notify the council,” she asked sharply.

“They were dealt with,” Vincent muttered, avoiding the woman's glare.

“Ahem, they were torn apart, actually. The next night they pulled themselves together and went on their way,” I offered.

“And how would you know?” Vincent growled at me.

“The police brought me in as a consultant. Similar to what I thought you were doing in regards to your dimensional infestation.” A thought occurred to me. “You do know something about ley lines and node points, right? Eric didn't, but I assume he was just turned; he had such negligible psychic ability...” I trailed off—crud, what kind of lame-ass vampires were these?

Vivian gave Vincent a sharp look. “The older ones are trained, but magic is sparse in this age since the Moscow Event, and the old stories on dealing with it have been ignored.”

“Hmm, well, I suppose after all this goes down, I can come back and identify your beasties for you, but if you're not interested in keeping the city demon-free, I am going to have to figure something else out.” What the hell was the Moscow Event? Probably another obscure disaster Jeremy hasn’t gotten around to telling me about. I put it on my mental list of research questions. This wasn’t the time.

“Oh, for crying out loud, Vivian, surely you aren't going to pay attention to this nonsense.” Sebastian snorted with disbelief.

The woman sat back down in her chair and composed herself. “Perhaps I wouldn't, except I met Jin several hundred years ago.”

“He must be a fairly powerful vampire, then, but I hardly think he could be a wizard.” Vincent offered hesitantly. Obviously, the subject matter was leaving him off balance.

“Vincent, he is not a vampire. He may even be a demon, though I suppose this would be unlikely if he wishes to summon one. He is a wizard of significant power.”

“So there really is a wizard running around trying to open a doorway into hell,” Sebastian interjected with a grin. “Fantastic, this city was getting dull.”

Vincent sent an evil look my way. He was obviously still unhappy about our previous misunderstanding. “I suppose this means that we need to hunt this creature down. There are reasons wizards stay hidden these days.” I smiled hopefully; now we were getting somewhere.

“No,” Vivian spoke quietly. “We will not be hunting Jin.”

“But Vivian...”

“You were not in a position to know at the time, but five hundred years ago, the Council clashed with Jin. After he killed half the Grand Council, we were forced to come to an agreement with him. He stays out of council business, and we stay out of his.” Her hushed voice communicated unpleasant memories.

“Okay, say he is a wizard, and he is planning on summoning a demon... doesn't this break the agreement?” Sebastian offered, halfway seriously.

“The Grand Council suffered huge losses and inflicted almost no injuries to Jin. You will not be able to convince anyone on the Council to break our agreement until there is overwhelming evidence that he has already broken it.”

“That may be a little too late,” I interjected, not liking how this was heading.

“But,” Vivian continued, ignoring my comment, “Since our interest in an infestation is valid, perhaps we can engage Mr. Derek's services to find these weak spots in the dimensions so we can gather up the vermin with less effort.”

I chewed on this for a moment. They evidently were not going to enter into direct conflict with Jin under any conditions but would be willing to provide information to Jin's enemies and hope he was destroyed. There was a flaw in this plan.

“I appreciate the vote of confidence. However, there is no way I will be able to canvas half the city for the location of the nodes. It would take me months. I came hoping to get your help finding the ones in your territory.”

Vivian looked at the table before her, deep in thought. Vincent had finally come out of his fit of pique to offer his opinion. “I think we can arrange to have these locations mapped.” Vivian gave him a warning glance. “It's about time for the voting on several minor issues. I think we can arrange just to be extra aware of our surroundings while we put up the flyers and make other preparations,” Vincent offered, and Vivian slowly nodded after giving it some thought.

“We can do that. Be aware that any aggression towards Jin by one of us will be dealt with harshly and with overwhelming force by the Grand Council. But as long as you are just going about business as usual, I don't think they need to be disturbed about these things,” the woman told Vincent, snapping out of her reverie and finishing her statement firmly.

“Fantastic,” I enthused. I had been worried for a moment. “Um, any idea when you could have the points mapped out? We have reason to believe something irrevocable is going to happen on the solstice or equinox.”

“We will put up the flyers tomorrow. It will likely take a week to ensure people with sufficiently attuned senses place the notices in the correct locations,” the master stated somberly.

That must be code for combing their territory for nodes. “Great! Just send me the information, and I'll make sure it's used in the right way,” I gave an exaggerated wink to convey my understanding.

Vincent gave me an unamused look while Vivian tiredly rubbed her brow with her fingers. I think Sebastian got the joke, but I still felt resentment towards him for trying to kill me. Or rather coming a bit too close. He didn't count. “I will send Eric to you when we have the information. Vivian and I have some issues to discuss. Sebastian can show you out.” At that, he and the woman excused themselves and left the two of us alone.

“So...” I ventured, looking at the smiling vampire across from me. “Slaughtered any innocents lately?”

“I only have bloodbaths on Mondays and Wednesdays,” he riposted with a casual manner that brought a smile to my face despite myself. He stood and gestured towards the door. “Shall we go? This building is so damned huge; it’s going to take forever to reach the front door.”

It didn't entirely take forever; it just seemed that way.