Woman King Read online

  Aidan put his fingers to his lips to signal someone was coming. The door opened and Gabriel stepped into the room, followed by Madeline Kline. Their faces were grim; it couldn’t be good news if their presence was required.

  Everyone took as seat as Aidan began to speak.

  “We have two pieces of information to report,” Aidan said. “First, Olivia appears to have the ability to disappear, or at least appear to be invisible when she’s hurt or when she experiences acute distress. We’ve reviewed several short videos of the robbery filmed by bystanders and there isn’t a single image of Olivia outside the building at the time the car jumped the curb and smashed through the storefront.”

  Madeline grimaced. “That’s absurd,” she said. “She’s human. It’s impossible for a human to have such a gift. Maybe she’d already left the area when the video was taken.” Her remark sent an almost imperceptible shudder through Aidan and Elsa. If someone in the room had been looking carefully for a response, it would have been seen as a telltale sign of a body reacting to a lie. But no one was watching, so it went unnoticed.

  “Not exactly,” said Elsa.

  “What do you mean not exactly? ” Madeline asked. “Either she’s human, or she isn’t. Can she be tracked with the homing device when she’s invisible?”

  “Yes, we did track her,” Aidan said. “That’s how, in addition to her own pleas for help, we knew she was in trouble after the robbery. We don’t know if she actually was invisible to those around her—we have to assume she was—but it would explain why the thieves locked on to her mentally and tried to blind her instead of shooting her dead in the street.”

  And with that, a hush came over the room. Gabriel had remained silent all this time, his lips pinched shut. Aidan looked over at him, his eyebrows raised.

  “Later,” he said curtly. “What’s your other piece of news?”

  Aidan looked down at his hands for a moment before speaking. “Olivia recognized someone from the footage we cataloged of the robbery. She saw him pacing outside Nikola’s office a few weeks ago, while she was waiting for you.”

  “Merde,” Gabriel said. “She was certain?”

  Elsa nodded. “Yes, quite. In fact she was prepared to go off herself and ask Nikola directly. Aidan stopped her.”

  “Those damned Serbs,” Gabriel said. “The whole country is crawling with the undead, and they all love to fight in wars and steal jewels.”

  “Calm yourself, Gabriel, it’s not only the Serbs,” Aidan answered. “Much of eastern and central Europe is full of Others with criminal records that stretch back to the Balkan wars and beyond.”

  Gabriel wagged his finger at Aidan. “I have asked Nikola and Zoran to remember their responsibilities to this organization,” he said. “They smile at me and then go and do whatever the hell they want. They couldn’t care less if the human race perished tomorrow.

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” Madeline said. “Both Serbia and Croatia have applied to become members of the European Union. As head of the Croatian National Bank, Zoran must maintain some semblance of respectability and ensure stability in his country. Croatia’s acceptance into the EU depends on it.”

  “I’m not sure Zoran even knows what’s happening,” Aidan said. “He’s been in Brussels for weeks now in his capacity as head of the bank. It’s possible Nikola is doing this all on his own.”

  “Alone, together or with one thousand of his comrades, it doesn’t matter,” Gabriel said. “There can be no connection between the Council and a band of jewel thieves.”

  “My friend,” Aidan said, coming to place his arm on Gabriel’s shoulder. “These thieves no doubt are all members of the Serbian Mafia. And half, if not all, of the mafia are Others, mostly werewolves and vampires that have survived for centuries, outliving the Nazis, Stalin, even Tito. Why would they care if their presence disturbs the Council?”

  Gabriel stood up, a thin, brittle smile on his face. “I’m not a fool,” he said. “I know they don’t care. And I know that many of them have little regard for humans. But we must find out whether Nikola has compromised the Council and its operations to help a crime ring. Our organization has existed for centuries to help in subtle and not so subtle ways to ensure the survival of our kind. Acting as a home base to a ring of international jewelry thieves falls outside the parameters of our mission.”

  Elsa and the rest of the group wore pained expressions.

  “Nikola is shrewd and ruthless. He will not like us looking into his affairs,” she said.

  “Then I shall have to do it with the utmost care,” Aidan said. “The utmost care.”

  ****

  CHAPTER 32

  “Wake up, sleepy head,” William said, as he opened the shutters on the windows in my bedroom. It took me a few moments to remember where I was, thanks to my recent vagabond status. When I finally opened my eyes and focused, I found William standing over me, a steaming mug in his hands.

  “You brought me espresso? Now I really am serious; you can never leave,” I said, gratefully.

  He was smiling, but said nothing as he handed me the cup. I sipped the coffee, savoring its warmth as I slowly awakened. Not long after, my stomach growled, reminding me that I was overdue to eat. It had been a late night and dinner had been an early affair—mainly snacks inside the Council as we watched the videos.

  “I’m going downstairs for a bowl of cereal,” I said. “Care to join me in the kitchen?”

  William nodded and we descended to the kitchen. Once there, I quickly got the impression that there was something he wanted to talk about.

  “What’s on our agenda today?” I asked, pouring some shredded wheat into my bowl. “I can tell you have something in mind.”

  “As a matter of fact, I do,” William said. “I’d like to take you to meet someone. He owns a school that teaches fencing and other forms of self-defense. Interested?”

  The prospect of meeting a new person from William’s world was intriguing. He was my lover and my confidant. But other than seeing his band mates, I knew very little about where he went, what he did or with whom, when we were separated. I was eager to change that and here was a chance to do so.

  “I’m game,” I said. “What should I wear?”

  “Workout clothes would be a good idea,” he said with a smile.

  “What are we waiting for?” I said. “Let’s go.”

  An hour after our conversation, we pulled up in front of a nondescript brick warehouse in a part of San Francisco known as Dogpatch, an eastern neighborhood near the waterfront. There was a small sign painted on the door of the building that read San Francisco School of Fencing, in large black cursive letters. William walked up to the door and knocked three times. A man opened the door, looked me over and then embraced William. They began to converse in a language I didn’t recognize. I stood there awkwardly, wondering when I would be introduced. Finally, the two of them turned to face me.

  “Olivia, this is my brother, Josef,” he said. “Josef, this is Olivia.”

  A petite, wiry man with short black hair and intriguing dark eyes peered back at me. He looked nothing like William and then it dawned on me that he wasn’t his brother by blood—at least not in the human sense.

  “Your father,” I said, knowing I didn’t have to finish my sentence.

  “Josef is Czech,” William explained. “My father saved him from dying alone in a field after the Nazis had wounded him.”

  “I was a member of the Resistance,” Josef said. “I was caught outside after curfew and chased into a field, where they shot me in the back, and left me for dead. William and his father had been waiting on the other side of the field to receive my message. That night, I left the human world, but I gained a brother.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said. “William, why didn’t you tell me you had a brother?”

  Josef threw an arm around William protectively. “Vampires are like onions, Olivia. It takes many peels of the layers before you know all of our
secrets.”

  “I see,” I said. “Are there any other brothers I should know about?”

  William shook his head. “No, there were only the three of us, now just the two of us.”

  “William convinced me to move to San Francisco some years ago,” Josef said. “The weather here is very agreeable. And I enjoy teaching people how to defend themselves.”

  Josef led us inside and shut the door. Following him, we walked down a short hallway that led to a large workout room. A few smaller offices lined the perimeter of the larger space. A set of lockers occupied one corner of the larger room, and in another corner, a dozen or more hooks were attached to the wall. Several fencing uniforms hung from the hooks, as well as a brown leather jacket and wool cap. A portable punching bag made of red and blue leather had been placed in the center of the room, but was designed to be rolled away when not in use.

  While I was examining my surroundings, I heard the front door open again and a set of footsteps came down the hallway toward us. Within seconds I sensed it was Elsa. William met Elsa in the hallway and shook her hand.

  “I asked her to come,” he said, turning to face me. “I meant what I told you last night, darlin. If you want to pick fights with the likes of Nikola, then you need to be prepared to defend yourself. ”

  “What do you have in mind?” I asked, feeling a little uneasy. I’d never raised my hand against another person in my life. I wasn’t sure I could.

  “I want you to train with Josef,” William said. “Elsa is here because I thought you would feel more comfortable doing the work with her.”

  Elsa tossed her gym bag down in the corner of the room. “This will be good,” she said. “I need to brush up on my skills a bit, too. It’s been ages since I had to engage in hand-to-hand combat.”

  “Hand-to-hand combat?” I repeated. “When did you do that?”

  “I’ve been alive since the sixteenth century,” she said. “There were times when I had to defend myself. Often I guarded my tribe while the men were off hunting. And then there is also the fact that time-walkers are not always welcome in villages when they appear…suddenly.”

  Josef, who had been standing slightly apart from us in the middle of the studio, was listening to our conversation. He rubbed his hands together and clapped twice. “A human and a time-walker,” he said. “This should be interesting.”

  “Wait,” I said. “Can you clarify what you mean by train?” I asked William.

  “He means that you will come and work at my studio a few days a week until you are sufficiently ready,” Josef said.

  “Ready for what?” I asked, feeling yet again as if I was entering another phase of my life where I jumped in with both feet before looking.

  “What you least expect, of course,” he said. “What you least expect. Now please, let’s get started. In my school, I teach a combination of fencing, Krav Maga and savate, or French kickboxing.

  “Why fencing?” Elsa asked.

  “For stamina and to build fast reflexes,” Josef answered. “You have to be ready to defend yourself, and to be able to quickly get away from someone who attacks you. I will not teach you to pick a fight, but I will teach you how to end one.”

  As I watched William in the corner of the room, I felt a mixture of both anger and admiration. I knew what he was doing was necessary. I did have a taste to pick a fight with the Serbs who robbed the bank, and at the moment, chances were good that I would be injured if they or their minions came after me. But I didn’t like surprises or mandates, and I felt as if I had been given both in the span of minutes: a brother I hadn’t known existed, and an obligation to work with Josef. What would happen, I wondered, if I refused to undergo the training?

  Reservations aside, I decided to give it a try. I was in good physical shape, thanks to Elsa. Surely I could at least hold my own for one afternoon.

  Of course, I was mistaken.

  We began to spar, jogging around one another. The first time Elsa took a swing at me, I fell down immediately. I simply had no will to hit back. My body rebelled against the very act; my arm felt as if it were pinned to my side. Fortunately, we were wearing a mountain of padding, so the only thing hurt so far was my pride.

  “Come on. Attack, Olivia!” Josef said to me, and so I gave Elsa a slight push with my hands.

  “Not good enough,” he said. “Come on. William tells me you taunted Nikola Pajović. What prompted you to do that?”

  “I didn’t like his attitude,” I said.

  “Try to find that energy again. When Elsa comes forward to strike you, raise one arm to block her, and with the other palm, hit her with all your strength.” We went through the exercise again and again, and though I always managed to block her, I didn’t have the constitution to hit her.

  After a few more unsuccessful bouts, Josef brushed Elsa away and leaned in next to me, his lips just inches from my ear.

  “Where is your energy, your passion, Olivia?” he whispered. “Perhaps you have not been properly schooled in the ways of passion? You are human after all. Maybe you need someone other than my brother to teach you. Maybe another vampire, who won’t be so gentle.”

  At the sound of his voice, my body betrayed me. My cheeks turned pink, and I felt my pulse quicken at his taunt. But his jeering worked. With one hand, I took a swing straight at him, my palm stiff and flat, and caught him hard across the face. With my other hand, I pushed against him, using all the force I could muster, causing him to take a step backwards. The slap made a loud noise, and my stomach lurched.

  Josef, however, was thrilled. “Yes! You see, you found it…your anger,” he said rubbing his cheek. “Don’t lose it… Nikola is ruthless! If you want to hunt him, you will need to maintain that edge.”

  I looked over at William to gauge his reaction. He peeled himself off the wall and came over to me; putting both hands on my face as he pulled me toward him.

  “Josef knows you are with me, Olivia.”

  “He goaded me into hitting him,” I said, tears lurking at the corner of my eyes. “I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to fight.”

  William wiped a tear away with his thumb. “You can’t have it both ways. You want to pursue Nikola. You want to work for Gabriel. No one wants to fight, Olivia, but when the time comes, you’ve got to be able to defend yourself,” he said. “You asked me to accept your life, your work. The only way I will be able to relax is if I know Josef has taught you to take care of yourself.”

  Josef was standing in the corner, dark and brooding. I knew what he was thinking, because I felt it too. There was an attraction between us. I could feel his desire. As usual, my thoughts came through loud and clear.

  “Vampires are competitive and covet what others have,” William said, with a gentle laugh. “It’s in our nature, though some of us can ignore our impulses. But you will be safe with Josef, he is my brother.”

  I didn’t doubt William’s sincerity, but I wasn’t so sure about Josef, who at the moment, seemed to hold my fate in his hands.

  “OK, I said, warily. “I will do the training.”

  From then on, training, reading and campaigning became the three activities that consumed my days. I rose at dawn to meet Josef at his studio—sometimes with Elsa, sometimes alone. Then, after ninety minutes of sparring, I would return home, shower and drive to Palo Alto. My days were filled with political luncheons, walking neighborhood shopping districts, visiting the editorial boards of newspapers and writing last-minute direct-mail pieces.

  Flush with additional funds from generous donors, we created targeted direct mail to send to voters, along with radio and television commercials. In the last few days, I had been on location for hours as Levi was filmed taking walks with firefighters, police officers and small-business owners. Our field operations were relentless. We worked every angle, pressing to locate as many hidden pockets of voters as we could before the campaign came to a close.

  I reported to the Council weekly, meeting Gabriel in the evenings at t
heir offices to brief him and the rest of the team. He was pleased with the progress in our race, especially since many other campaigns across the country were faltering. It’s a volatile time in U.S. politics, with the economy sluggish and so many people out of work in many parts of the nation. Incumbents of both political parties are facing tough races. For many, their only shortcoming is being the current office holder, but when mass-group dynamics take over in a race, it can be very difficult to win.

  In the midst of this frenetic schedule, Elsa moved out, taking with her the few possessions she had from my guest room. She gave no explanation, but I didn’t need one. It was obvious she and Aidan had become inseparable. After so many years of walking the planet alone, it was lovely to see that Elsa had found a mate. I didn’t pretend to understand how her penance worked or how much time she had left to fulfill her debt, but I assumed she knew. Or perhaps she and Aidan were simply happy to enjoy the time they had together.

  By comparison, my love life was tepid most of the time, thanks to the campaign. Periodically, William accompanied me to my appointments for the day, but he had his own businesses to attend to. He continued to perform with his band at night, though I wasn’t often able to watch him play. JP and Halbert, meanwhile, kept their distance. I saw them both lurking together at a debate between Lacy and Levi sponsored by the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, but neither of them approached me. JP limited his stories to current campaign events and seemed to prefer to call my staff to obtain a schedule or request a quote.

  When William wasn’t spending the night, I would crawl into bed and pore through a stack of books I’d requested from the library. Lily, who delivered the books personally, would stay for a quick drink or meet me for dinner. She also was very busy at work, but we texted one another everyday, staying in touch as best we could.