An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed (The Gods' Executioner Series) Read online

  “Alright, what do you need me to do?” I ask.

  “The embassies in the southern hemisphere need assistance. The vampires have already hit all the large embassies in Panama and Mexico, cutting off support to the azeman embassies in the US. Half of those have already been taken out due to their smaller size and I’ve ordered the rest to retreat to the Underworld. The vampires aren’t being subtle about this either; some of the murders have taken place in broad daylight. The media hasn’t reported a connection between all of the murders, but it’s only a matter of time before it gets out.” Maria informs me.

  “Where do you need me?” I question.

  “I need you by Reyna’s side and to hand her your phone.” Maria says.

  “Reyna, your mother needs to speak with you.” I tell Reyna and give her my phone.

  “Hey mom, what’s up?” Reyna answers and I listen in.

  “I need you to contact The Agency’s director and ask for assistance in guarding the paths leading to the gates to the Underworld in San Francisco and in Texas. All of the azeman in North America have become targets so I’ve ordered them all to come to the Underworld until we can get this rebellion settled. I was able to clear access for the North American gates to Niflheim and Mictlan. The murders of what are essentially refugees have gained media attention so I don’t think the director will mind assisting.” Maria says.

  “What about the gate to Mictlan in Mexico Valley?” Reyna asks.

  “That one has been opened to azeman as well, but Mexico has been lost and I’m not hopeful for many making it through that gate. Most azeman have already fled Mexico for either South America or the US.” Maria replies.

  “Alright, I’m sure Carla will help.” Reyna replies.

  “Good. I also need you to take a family trip down to Suriname; the Duchess needs to make an appearance at the embassy in our people’s homeland.” Maria adds.

  “*Sigh* Fine… I understand that my presence will add some hope to the situation so I’ll go, but only for a few days; it’s too damn hot there.” Reyna responds.

  “Thank you. Cole will be accompanying you, Jason, and Alice as protection.” Maria replies.

  “Alright, we’ll leave later today. Bye mom.” Reyna says and hangs up.

  “Did you get all that?” Reyna asks me.

  “Yup; sounds like we’re all taking a trip to the little country north of Brazil.” I reply, garnering stunned looks from Reyna and Jason.

  “What? I figured I should get a handle on geography so I sat down with a globe and memorized the locations of every country about a year ago.” I respond.

  “Anyway, Reyna needs to call Carla and I’m pretty sure I just felt Alice waking up. Feel free to use my phone; her private number is already in there.” I tell Reyna and hustle upstairs to Alice’s room.

  I find Alice in a state of half sleep so I lift her over the guard rail of her bed and hold her. Alice sniffs twice and sinks her teeth into my neck; she doesn’t have the hang of getting her fangs to stick out yet so she ends up gnawing at the left side of my neck with her normal teeth. Her gnawing tickles slightly and makes me chuckle before she finally breaks through the skin a bit, just enough for a drop of blood to drip through. Alice’s fangs automatically jettison out of the roof of her mouth, just behind her canines, once her tongue tastes my blood. She drinks for about twenty seconds before startling awake.

  “Uncle Cole! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Alice exclaims in a panic.

  “Don’t worry, sweetie; just go ahead and drink. I want you to work on your control, okay? No more drinking to capacity.” I gently tell her while stroking the back of her head with my right hand and supporting her up against my chest with my left.

  “Okay…” Alice softly replies and starts lapping at my neck like a cat, which I imagine looks pretty damn cute, but I can’t see it from this angle.

  “So you, me, Mommy, and Daddy are going to be taking a trip.” I inform her as she continues to lap up my blood.

  “What kind of trip?” Alice asks as she stops licking my neck.

  “Kind of like a vacation. We’re going to the azeman homeland; where your ancestors came from.” I explain.

  “Where grandma came from?” Alice questions and starts suckling at my throat.

  “Yes, and where her mother came from.” I reply, realizing that her grasp of the word ancestor is tentative at best. I stop talking and let Alice continue drinking for a few minutes.

  (Alice just reached 0.5 liters. She was at one liter when she vomited last night)

  “Alright, let’s cut her off.”

  I seal off the wounds in my neck as Alice continues to suckle at my neck with no results.

  “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” I gently ask.

  “Yeah, I guess so…” Alice quietly replies while struggling to pull away.

  “Thanks, Cole.” Reyna says, announcing her presence from the doorway.

  “Did Uncle Cole explain that we’re going on a trip?” Reyna asks and Alice nods as Reyna hands my phone back to me.

  “When we get there, there are going to be a lot of other azeman there. They will most likely give you things and be really nice to you, but I want you to be careful. Don’t accept any of the gifts, okay? No matter how nice they may seem, the people that might be giving these gifts are not doing it out of generosity. I was hoping to keep you out of situations like this until you were older, but circumstances have changed.” Reyna explains.

  “Okay, Mommy.” Alice replies.

  “Now, let’s pack your clothes.” Reyna says with a pleasant smile as I set Alice down.

  “Cole, I’m done with my mission. Can you come and pick me up?” Cheza thinks once she establishes our connection.

  “Sure, I needed to drop by the house anyway.” I reply and Cheza sends me an image of where she is.

  “I need to pick up Cheza and get my equipment from our house. How long are we staying at the in Suriname?” I ask Reyna.

  “Probably for less than three days.” Reyna replies.

  “Alright, I’ll go pack and be back in about an hour or so.” I respond and touch my Haglaz rune to port Cheza’s location.

  I arrive in the hotel room in Minneapolis and Cheza jumps me, knocking me onto the bed before I realize that she’s naked. Cheza unbuttons my jeans, pulls them off along with my boxers, rips my white t-shirt in half, and mounts me; she always gets like this after a mission.

  …

  About an hour later, Cheza lies nestled into my right side as we both try to get our wind back.

  “So, I take it the mission went well?” I ask.

  “Yeah… let’s head home.” Cheza replies, still breathing rather heavily.

  We both gather our clothes, as well as Cheza’s suitcase, and I port us to our house in Bellevue, Washington. Tia and Sara bought the house for us when Cheza learned that she had been assigned to the Seattle office of The Agency. We make our way into the master bathroom and hop into the shower together.

  “I’m going to be gone for the next three days or so; Jason and Reyna need to take a trip to Suriname so I’m going to be accompanying them.” I inform her.

  “Alright, I actually have another mission anyway.” Cheza tells me; since operators almost never go on back to back missions without at least a week of down time, I think I know what her mission is.

  “Are you being assigned to San Francisco or Texas?” I ask.

  “What? How did you know about that? I haven’t even gotten the details yet.” Cheza replies.

  “There’s some kind of vampire rebellion going on. Maria called me and asked for help. She has already given up on the US and Mexico and has ordered a full retreat. You’ll be guarding the paths to the gates to help the refugees.” I explain.

  “Why are you going to Suriname, then?” Cheza inquires.

  “Bodyguard duty. The Duchess is visiting the azeman homeland as a morale boost. I’m not sure where I’ll be going from there, but I plan on helping Maria through this.” I
reply.

  It is most likely my fault, after all. Either Loki is behind this and the vampire rebellion is an ‘event’ he planned for me, or this is the result of me having Maria kill King Byron; in both cases, I’m the root cause. Cheza and I step out of the shower, and start drying off.

  “What are you hiding, Cole?” Cheza asks.

  “What?” I reply.

  “You feel like you want to tell me something.” Cheza says and I sigh in response.

  “Loki contacted me through a bathroom mirror last night. Then a mysterious woman showed up and indicated that we’d met, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen her before. She also mentioned that she’d met you, too.” I recant; that reminds me…

  “What happened?” Cheza questions.

  “Nothing; a window was broken, but there wasn’t any confrontation.” I reply as I pull on a pair of armored jeans, wrap a cloth bandage around my left arm, and pull a t-shirt over my head. Cheza’s phone rings so I grab my phone to send a quick text to Lila while Cheza walks into the other room to answer hers.

  Hey, do you know where Charlotte was last night?

  I get a reply as I pack a couple changes of clothes into my duffel bag, before unclipping the upper portion of my holster and sliding the Diamond swords into my bag. I stick the pouch of my holster with both of my guns and my Sic dagger to my lumbar while I look at the text.

  Hey Cole! Haven’t heard from u in a while! Ya, Charlotte was with me last night. Y?

  I just thought I might’ve seen her. Do me a favor and be extra careful for the next few weeks, okay?

  Well we r at my mom’s house so I don’t think u saw her… K but we need to catch up soon!

  So I guess that clears Charlotte of being Sydney. Thinking back, I don’t think Charlotte ever met Cheza anyway. I still have no clue as to Sydney’s identity and I think that an all-black aura like hers would have made more of an impression on me. Maybe I’ve never actually met her before, unless her aura has changed recently… maybe Loki ordered her to say that she knew me just to fuck with my head… that actually seems pretty likely; Occam’s Razor and all that.

  “So that was Carla… looks like I’m going to Texas to defend the gate to Mictlan. Can you give me a lift to the office?” Cheza asks as she re-enters our bedroom while I’m putting my armored jacket on.

  “Sure.” I reply and hoist my bag over my shoulder. Cheza grabs my hand and I reach back to touch the triskele on my left shoulder, but I stop.

  “What’s up?” Cheza softly inquires. I quickly pull her into a hug.

  “I want you to be careful, okay?” I whisper as Cheza hugs me back.

  “I always am.” Cheza whispers back.

  “I know… it’s just with what Loki said… I can’t lose you…” I reply. Cheza pulls away and takes my face in both of her hands.

  “I’m going to be fine. I’m not going to let Loki or anyone else take me away from you…” Cheza gently reassures me before pulling my head down and brushing her lips against mine.

  “Now I’m more worried than ever that something is going to happen to you…” I say.

  “Why?” Cheza asks.

  “Because, that’s what every character in any form of media says when the writer is trying to cheaply foreshadow something that usually ends with the character dying…” I reply.

  “Would it make you feel better if I kept the connection open for this mission? That way if something starts to happen, you get an image and can port to my location.” Cheza suggests.

  “I can work with that.” I compromise.

  “Great. Can you take me to the office now?” Cheza asks and I touch my triskele.

  I port the both of us to the tech lab of The Agency’s Seattle office.

  “Thanks!” Cheza says and gives me a kiss. “I’ll send an image if I feel like I’m in over my head.”

  Cheza makes her way to the elevators while I search around for Ryuji and/ or Naia’s desk; I find Ryuji’s first. Ryuji and Naia are the only ones that I’ve seen on a regular basis lately. Since they work with Cheza, we regularly have dinner together and occasional movie or game nights.

  “Hey Ryuji; how are you?” I greet as I approach his desk.

  “Hey Cole; I’m doing pretty good, you?” Ryuji asks.

  “Same old. On my way to do some bodyguard business for Jason, Reyna, and Alice. This whole vampire rebellion has got everyone running around, huh?” I answer.

  “Yeah, pretty much. Carla told us a couple hours ago and has had a large portion of operators throughout the country dispatched to cover the gates in San Francisco and Houston.” Ryuji replies.

  “Yeah, Cheza is getting sent to Houston… Isn’t your birthday coming up soon?” I ask.

  “Yup, twenty-seven on the twenty-seventh.” Ryuji says.

  “Golden birthday, then. Got any plans?” I question.

  “I think Naia has something planned, but she won’t tell me what.” Ryuji replies with uncertainty.

  “Well, it will most likely be a nice surprise, knowing her. Anyway, I need to get going. See you later!” I reply and touch my Haglaz rune after moving my duffel bag’s strap to the side.

  “Hey, where have you been?” Jason asks as I port into the kitchen and notice that the broken window has been repaired.

  “Cheza needed some ‘tending’ to after her mission, wanting to get ‘full use’ out of her hotel room, and then she needed a ride to the office.” I explain while using air quotes as needed.

  “A ‘ride’ to the office?” Jason inquires while using air quotes.

  “No, just a normal ride.” I answer.

  “Well, alright then! So, are we ready to go?” Jason asks Reyna.

  “Yeah, we’re all set. Here’s a picture of the embassy, Cole. It’s already 6pm in Paramaribo so we need to get going.” Reyna says while showing me a picture of the front of the embassy on her phone.

  The embassy looks like an old style colonial plantation house with four white pillars at the entrance, dark green shuttered windows, and what appears to be a wrought iron fence at the base of the picture.

  “Alright, grab your bags.” I tell Jason and Reyna while picking up Alice and her rabbit. I support Alice up with my left arm before Reyna grabs my left hand while holding Jason’s with her right.

  “And off we go.” I say as I touch my Haglaz rune.

  Chapter 4: Ostriches Aren’t Cute

  We arrive on the grassy front lawn of the azeman embassy in Paramaribo. The salty smell of the ocean wafts in from somewhere nearby as the sun starts to set. The white rabbit falls from Alice’s grasp as I feel her go limp in my arms and immediately panic.

  “Alice! Alice, what’s wrong!?” I frantically ask while gently shaking her.

  “Damn, I forgot all about that!” Reyna exclaims, looking rather sleepy.

  “Forgot what!?” I inquire.

  “Azeman, as well as vampires, don’t have the ability to stay awake during the day until their tenth year after turning or being born. Even then, we still feel tired while the sun is up, but that can usually be offset with caffeine… or cocaine haha! I bet we could totally find some considering where we are!” Reyna exclaims in a giddy fashion.

  “I’ve got some in the medical kit.” Jason replies.

  “Why do you have cocaine in the medical kit? You naughty boy, you!” Reyna exclaims while poking Jason in the chest.

  “In case we need to perform emergency surgery.” Jason explains.

  “Well, cocaine was used as anesthesia for years…” I point out.

  “I mean, how else am I supposed to stay focused enough to perform surgery!?” Jason asks while I stare at him incredulously and Reyna laughs.

  “Are you feeling alright, Reyna?” I ask.

  “I’m good! This will pass once the sun goes down and I’ll get acclimated quickly enough; too much time spent in the Underworld with artificial daylight. Alice will wake up a little while after the sun sets and will be wired throughout the night.” Reyna explains.

>   “Well, let’s get going!” Reyna exclaims and heads across the lawn towards the embassy.

  After bending down to pick up Alice’s rabbit, I follow after her. We walk up the three steps onto the porch of the embassy with four white stone pillars on each side of us. Reyna rings the doorbell and we wait for a moment before a slightly tired looking azeman with curly brown hair answers the door wearing an apron.

  “Duchess Reyna! I wasn’t aware that you had arrived!” the azeman exclaims, perking up at the sight of royalty. She’s got an accent that I can’t quite identify, but it doesn’t sound Spanish or Portuguese.

  “We ported in so any guards wouldn’t have noticed us.” I explain and the azeman gives me a cross look that implies that ‘the human’ shouldn’t speak unless spoken to.

  “And I see you’ve brought Princess Alice with you as well! Would you like to lay her down in a room for her slumber until the sun sets?” the azeman asks.

  “That would be excellent, Miss…” Reyna says.

  “My apologies! My name is Pavithra; I’m the head maid here at the embassy. Come, I’ll show you to your rooms.” Pavithra replies and walks in to the house.

  We follow her straight in past the foyer, and up a grand staircase to the second floor. Judging by the wood flooring and style of the staircase, my earlier assessment of the embassy being built in the 17th or 18th century seems correct.

  “We will only need two rooms.” I inform Pavithra.

  I’m not letting Alice out of my sight for even a second in this place. My statement garners a discontented look from Pavithra.

  “And whom might you be?” Pavithra questions with a fake smile and ill-disguised glare as she stops and turns around to face me at the top of the staircase.

  “I’m Cole: bodyguard and personal blood bag to Princess Alice.” I explain, meeting her glare.

  “He is also correct. We require two rooms: one for Jason and myself, and another for Cole and Alice.” Reyna intercedes.

  “Yes, Duchess.” Pavithra cordially replies and continues down a hall to the right. She stops and opens a door on the right.