Changing Fortunes

Part 17

"You're wrong. My mother didn't die in childbirth," Cam told Angelo even though it was really none of his business.

"Oh? Then she didn't die?"

Cam gulped, at a loss for words for a moment before regaining his composure. "Not in childbirth. Not even because of it," he insisted.

"If you say so."

"Stop patronizing me!"

"What killed her then?" Angelo asked as if he was humoring Cam.

The reason Grandmother Hathaway had given, dripping with her derision, was a broken heart. That Pamela had been so in love with Yves Dumoutier that when he left her pregnant and alone she was devastated. And he'd never questioned it. What reason would his grandmother have had to lie?

But now his grandmother's words sounded so ridiculous. "I don't know."

Angelo snorted and knelt on the ground next to Ragnarok's corpse, methodically searching for anything valuable like a wallet. "You know why we kill our mothers?" Angelo pulled a billfold out of Ragnarok's jeans pocket. "We drain all their resources throughout the pregnancy and by the time they give birth, we get so hungry that we consume them. Literally. Their blood and sometimes even their flesh. And even that isn't always enough for us to survive. Those who do survive tend to be strong."

Cam shuddered. "You mean we're nothing but parasites?"

Angelo pocketed the money and shrugged. "Aren't all babies? Why do you think human mothers get cravings? Or are more hungry than normal during pregnancy? It's the same thing, Cam."

"Human babies don't… eat their mothers alive."

"Sure they do. What do you think the placenta is? It provides nutrients to the growing fetus. The only difference is that the feeding doesn't kill the mother." Angelo rose to his feet. "If the mother is fullblood Sangsue then the mother's kills would be enough to nourish the baby. Then after the baby is born, it feeds on the mother's blood as well as her milk. Unfortunately, most partbloods don't know what they are so they don't get the extra blood they need and can't sustain themselves and the baby. Norm mothers do even worse because they are weaker than Sangsue to start with. That's why partbloods are stronger if the mother was Sangsue."

No wonder Cam's grandmother hated him. Not only was he a product of a love affair she couldn't abide, he was the reason for his mother's death. The thought filled Cam with a depression that sank his heart like a stone.

"Well, can't the mother get a transfusion?" Cam asked.

"Do you know how much blood it would take to replenish what the baby takes? It takes several kills, dearheart. A night."

Cam didn't even want to think about it so he immediately changed the subject. "Shouldn't we be heading off to Sarin's soon?"

"Being alone with me is making you that uncomfortable, is it?"

Was it Cam's imagination or was there just a hint of resentment in Angelo's voice?

As if on cue, Weasel and Balint returned, dragging the bodies of Marko and Lukas. "Where do you want these?" Weasel asked Angelo.

Angelo thought a moment. "We can place them with their comrades," he decided. "Rub the fact that his minions are helpless against us right in Araby's pathetic little face." He walked over to Weasel and handed him a silver ring. "For you, beloved."

Weasel grinned. "Nice trophy." He pocketed it with his free hand. "You get anything useful from Ragnarok?"

"Sarin's HQ. How about you?"

"Not really," Weasel sighed. "They didn't know shit except where Sarin was."

"It's not as if Sarin is about to reveal anything to his underlings that could place him in any sort of danger," Balint pointed out.

"No," Weasel agreed, "but I was expecting that they'd at least know what Sarin was planning against us. They didn't even know that."

"Like they're gonna tell you?" Cam said at disbelief at Weasel's naïveté.

"They wouldn't have to," Weasel explained. "Anything they know, we know."

"You mean you read them? Don't they have the same landmines Ragnarok had?"

Angelo laughed at Cam. "You want to tell the Breather or should I?" he asked Weasel.

The contempt was back but even stronger than before. Or had it ever been gone?

"Knock yourself out," Weasel replied.

"We don't just take blood," Angelo told Cam. "We drink in their life. Their souls. As long as their blood is in our veins they're inside us. In our heads. Everything they ever felt or thought up until their time of death."

Cam blinked. "Don't they drive you crazy?"

"They don't stay with us, you idiot, once we use up the blood, they're gone. Most of what we get is when we drink from them." Then he grinned evilly. "But you'd know that, wouldn't you, lover."

Not contempt, Cam recognized. Hostility. And bitterness. With shock Cam realized that Angelo was retaliating against him. Angelo's contempt was easier to deal with than this… this… anger. Anger that could only mean that Angelo had cared about him more than Cam would have ever given him credit for.

Love. Hate.

Cam had not been intimidated by the volatile beauty and he was not about to start being intimidated now. But it would be stupid to deny that Angelo's hatred was dangerous. Fatally dangerous. Giving into Angelo was not even an option. However, he didn't have to make matters worse by reacting how he usually did to Angelo's button pushing. Instead he asked, "Then why didn't you just kill him right off the bat and find out about Sarin's whereabouts that way?"

Angelo had obviously wanted a fight and saw he wasn't about to get one. Disappointment momentarily flickered in his dark eyes, only to be replaced by cold amusement. "It's more fun to play with my prey first."

Slap! Cam got the message loud and clear. Prey was all Cam was to Angelo. But why did Cam even care about how Angelo felt about him?

Cam saw Balint's eyes move from Angelo to Cam, back to Angelo again, an unasked question on his face. A question the reticent Balint would never ask. A question Balint knew he had no right to ask because of his own swollen lips and the clothes that were so hastily put back on.

Weasel, however, just nodded, as if he was answering his own question. He didn't look surprised at all. Not in the least.

Cam hated that.

"You know we're not gonna make it back to the Nocturne in time, Angel Boy," Weasel remarked. "Is there a safehouse nearby anywhere?"

"From where Ragnarok described, I think that's not far from the old munitions warehouse. It won't be a palace but at least it'll keep us protected from the sun's rays."

That was right. A vampire, or whatever they were, could be incinerated by sunlight. The meaning of that suddenly hit Cam: Balint would only be able to be with Cam at night. There would be no more days. Either Cam would have to live a nocturnal existence or he'd never see his partner.

Angelo must have seen the look on Cam's face because he smirked nastily without saying a word. The bastard didn't have to.

"Remind me to get a stake," Cam muttered.

"You know," Angelo said sweetly, "if I really felt you meant that, vache, I'd tear your throat out."

"Do that and you'll have to deal with me," Balint growled, his eyes glowing red.

"Calm down, love," Angelo told him, "as long as your lover bears me no malice, I mean him no harm."

His words were meant to mollify Balint but they were also a warning to both him and Cam. One that Cam knew was deadly serious.

The reddish glow faded back to Balint's usual hazel. "I won't let you hurt Cam," he declared.

To Cam's surprise, Angelo laughed. A genuine laugh. "I daresay you won't, mungaki." Then he turned to Weasel. "If we're gonna take Sarin, we'd better go now. Time is growing short."

"Let's go then," Weasel replied.

Angelo, Weasel and Balint carried the bodies over to where the moldering carcasses of the Black Guard lay, placing them beside them. Then they began the trek to Sarin's mansion.

"Have you figured out how we're gonna get the invite?" Weasel asked Angelo.

"Invite?" Balint asked.

"Can't get into a private place without one," Angelo explained. "Or rather, we can, but it hurts like a bitch."

Another part of the legend that was apparently true.

"Guess that means that I'll be the one going in and gunning him down," Cam remarked. "That is, unless Angelo thinks I can't handle things by myself."

Angelo glared at Cam. "What-the-fuck-ever," he muttered. Then he turned to Weasel. "I'm gonna go check things out beforehand so we know what we're up against," he said before taking off in a huff.

"You didn't have to be so sarcastically nasty, Cam" Balint said quietly. "In his own way, Angelo does mean well."

"So now you're taking his side?" Cam snapped.

"This isn't a matter of taking sides, Cameron. It's a matter of not making enemies when you don't need to." As usual, Balint was trying to pacify Cam, his voice soft. Soothing.

Familiar. And Angelo was right. Cam would never even know Balint was doing it if it wasn't for the familiarity of that caress of a voice.

Fuck that! "Stop it, Balint," Cam snarled. "Nudge me again and we're done."

Balint never had a chance to respond to that because Angelo suddenly came back, swearing and jabbering nonsense Cam couldn't even understand.

Weasel instantly froze. "What's up, Angel Boy?"

Angelo answered by babbling in that same gobbledygook and Cam noticed that the dark eyed boy's face was pinched with… fear?

Yeah. Fear.

Weasel threw his arms around Angelo, comforting him. "Tu parles en grec, Angelo. Parle en anglais," he said softly. "Take a deep breath and slowly tell me what has you so spooked." He stroked Angelo's hair.

After pausing a few moments and taking the breath Weasel suggested, Angelo managed to get out one word. "Wards."

Weasel frowned. "You've gotta be kidding!"

"Signomi," Angelo said before taking another breath. "I'm sorry," he translated. "Sometimes I don't think in English so the words come out in Greek. But I'm not kidding Weasel. I got within a few feet of the gates before I couldn't go any farther."

"What are they protecting against?" Balint asked.

Cam stared at his partner. The partner he realized he really didn't know at all. "You know about this shit? What the fuck is a ward?"

"Protection," Balint answered. "Not unlike a shield."

Angelo sighed. "Could be a ward against demons. It'd explain why I couldn't get near it."

Fuck, this was turning into one big night of bombshells. "You're a demon?" he asked Angelo.

Angelo glowered at Cam. Obviously, his terror wasn't enough to lessen his anger. "Part demon. An incubus. That's how I can astrally fuck around with you or anyone I touch. You got a fucking problem with it?"

"Easy, Angel Boy," Weasel said calmly. "Losing your temper will only make things worse."

Cam realized he was seeing the steel he'd sensed in Weasel from the first time he saw the blond. Ice to cool down Angelo's fire. They balanced each other out.

"You're right," Angelo admitted.

"Now, tell me what kind of wards they were," Weasel said. "Energy or blood?"

"Fuck if I know. I couldn't get close enough, kaloz mou."

Weasel smiled thinly. "Then we will have to go there so I can divine the type of ward. Then I'll know if I can lift it."

Angelo shook his head. "My love, you're a beginner. This is magic your fucked up aunt hasn't taught you yet."

"I'll be okay," Weasel reassured him. "And if need be, I will make Angelique teach me."

Magic? "There's no such thing as magic," Cam declared.

"Like there's no such thing as demons?" Balint remarked. "Or vampires?"

Balint had a point. Cam hated to admit it. He rolled his eyes. "Fine, Weasel is a magician or whatever."

"Not a magician. A witch." Weasel eyes glittered dangerously. "Half one, I mean. Are you done, Cam? We've got enough shit to worry about without your fucking tantrum."

For once, Cam didn't have a snappy retort. He had nothing to say at all because he knew he was way out of his league.

They made their way to Sarin's, almost reaching the gates before Angelo, Weasel and Balint abruptly stopped.

"Fuck," Angelo exclaimed. "It's against our kind. You realize what that means?"

Now Cam understood why Angelo had panicked. If Sarin had placed these kind of wards, that could only mean one thing.

Sarin had known all along what Weasel and Angelo really were.

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Last updated 2/13/03

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