Warriors of Light: Chapter 21
Disclaimer: All characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Joss Whedon, while the characters from the world of Anita Blake belong to Laurell K. Hamilton. Also the world of Kindred the Embrace belongs to FOX, Spelling Television Inc, White Wolf or the copyright individual....
“There were words trapped in his eyes, a world of pain shinning there. I didn’t want hear those words. I didn’t want to feel that pain.”
(Cerulean Sins, page 227, paragraph 1)
Chapter 21
Anita was home for thirty minutes when there was knock on her front door. “I’ll get it,” she announced to the room at large before moving towards the front door. She put one hand on her gun at her waist. A person cannot be too cautious, especially her, when every Tom, Dick, and Harry decide that it’s in their best interest to try to kill the Executioner.
She opened door on the second knock, her gun at the ready. Death had come to call.
“Edward, what are you doing here?" Anita questioned, her voice rising in surprise.
Edward is a hit man who specializes in assassinating supernatural targets and is a somewhat a friend of hers. She can count the number of genuine friends she had on one hand. Everyone else wanted something from her. Be it from the Executioner, or Jean-Claude's girlfriend and human servant, or from the Lupa or Nimir-Ra. Everyone always wanted a piece of her. But not Edward. He always took her at face value. Whenever she wanted help with supernatural stuff. He was there. Although sometimes it ended up causing her to give up something, she hadn’t been willing to give.
Edward was 5'9" with blond hair and blue eyes. He also leads a double life; as Edward, he’s an assassin but his alias is Ted Forrester.
“Can't I just come for a visit?” he asked, his mouth turned up at the corner in a semblance of a smile, which didn’t quite reflect in his eyes.
“You!” Anita scoffed, eyeing him in disbelief. She knew Edward; he just didn’t drop by on a whim. He wanted something. She hoped this something didn’t cost her. She eyed him warily, and gestured him inside. “What is it?” she asked. “Is it Donna or one of the kids?’’ Ted’s engaged to a widow, Donna with two kids, Peter and Becca. He appears to have a close relationship with them, but Anita didn’t he should be in such a relationship, especially with Edward’s “job.”
Edward shook his head. “No, they are fine.”
“Then what do you want?” Anita asked bluntly. With a hand still at the gun at her waist she gesture Edward to precede her down the hallway. Even in her own home, she doesn’t allow anyone to get the best of her.
“Anita,” he chides, shaking his head. “This is how you treat a guest?”
Anita gave him an annoyed look.
He chuckled.
Anita blink, a little taken aback by his laugh. Edward doesn’t laugh. “Why are you really here?” she wondered with a frown as they reached the living room.
“I heard that Buffy Summers is in town.”
Anita stiffened. 'Buffy Summers,' she thought, scowling. 'Will she continued to hear that name until she dies?' she wondered sourly. “You've heard of her?” she asked, disbelief coloring her tone.
Edward eyebrows lifted. He nodded. “Of course, doesn’t everyone?”
“No,” Anita admitted bitterly. “How come you've heard of her, and I haven't?”
Edward shrugged. “She mostly keeps to the east and the west.”
“So what you want Buffy Summers for?” she grumbled.
Edward cocked his head to one side. “Are you jealous?” he wondered, his brows arched in surprise, hearing a peculiar note in her voice.
Anita eyes widened. “Of course not,” she denied hotly.
“You are,” he stated, amusement in his tone. “You have nothing to worry about,” he added. “You will always be my soul mate.”
Anita rolled her eyes, although she felt a felt lightness at the thought that she was number one with Edward. “I am not jealous,” she muttered, avoiding his gaze.
“You are,” he said with a laugh. “I can’t believe it, the great Anita Blake, jealous.”
Anita's eyes narrowed in warning “I am not.”
“Are too,” he rejoined.
“Enough!” she snapped holding up a hand. “I am not going to play games with you, Edward. Why are you really here?”
“Exactly what I said. I'm here to see Buffy Summers.” He smiled blandly.
“Edward, don’t mess with her, she has powerful allies,” Anita said, her voice tight.
“Ooh, I am scared,” he mocked.
“You should be,” she pointed out, worriedly.
*****
Daylight was such a blessing, Buffy thought, especially to those who feel at home in the night…like her. Over the years, as a Slayer, she found herself sleeping less in the night and more during the day. At first, everyone assumed it was because she had married a vampire; but in reality, Buffy knew that the night was her friend.
She stood staring out the window at the light. It chased the shadow that leeched her soul. Buffy pressed her hands to the glass, watching it intently. She peered at it until it wavered, and all she could see was that room. Even now she could feel it, the red-blackness of evil. She shuddered.
A few feet away, Julian watched Buffy, concern written all over his face. He could see the shadows gathering around her eyes. 'Lack of sleep will do that to you,' he thought. And he knew that she wouldn’t really sleep until this guy was caught.
The lights flickered and Whistler shimmered into the room.
“Whistler,” Buffy said, tonelessly.
Whistler frowned and he gave Julian a quick glance. “Hey there, Slayer,” he said, also noting the shadows under her eyes.
“What are doing here?” she demanded.
“I always know when you need me,” he pointed out.
“Why would you think that?” she argued.
“Your dreams,” he said simply.
“What do you know about Lissa's dreams?” Julian demanded, moving towards the demon.
Whistler shrugged. “They are warnings,” he admitted.
Buffy gave a nod. She had surmised as much. “Will I be able to stop him?”
Whistler didn’t have to know which “him” Buffy was talking about. Right now, there was only one “him.”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“You mean you won’t,” Julian pointed out. He knew that Whistler was supposedly here as a guide, but he never seemed to do much guiding. All they got from him was a lot of double talk. That was one of the reasons, he didn’t like the demon.
“No,” Whistler admitted as he shook his head. “I mean I can’t. Slayer, what do you see in the dreams?” Before she could answer he continued. “Do you see two possible outcomes?”
Buffy nodded.
“Well it’s up to you to chose the right one.”
“How will I know?” she demanded.
“You will know. Go with your instinct.”
“But that’s it, how do I know what to do? What if my instinct is off? This world is different,” she admitted.
“It is, but essentially, it’s the same,” he argued. “I have faith in you. They have faith in you,” he said looking up toward the ceiling.
Buffy sighed. ‘Great,’ she mused. ‘Now she can die happy now that she was validated by the Powers.’
“Another thing,” Whistler continued. “You and Julian need to stop repressing your powers.”
“Why?” Buffy questioned with a puzzled frown on her face.
“Because, you are going to need it.”
Buffy and Julian exchanged a quick glance. “The choice of suppressing of our powers was not chosen lightly. We did not want to spook Jean-Claude,” Julian admitted, pinching the bridge of his nose. “He wouldn’t bring us into his city if he felt that we are more powerful than him.”
Whistler nodded. “True,” he admitted after a small pause.
‘Something is up,’ Buffy said to Julian through telepathy. ‘Whistler wouldn’t be given us this warning if’s not important. “What do you know?” Buffy demanded.
“Slayer,” Whistler said with a shake of his head. “You know I cannot tell you anything.”
“But if you know…” Buffy began.
Julian reached a hand to stay Buffy from saying anything more. “What use are you?” he demands of Whistler resentfully. “You suppose to guide Lissa, but every time we saw, you give us the runaround. “
Whistler winced. “Hey, you think it is by choice, I tell you these things.”
“Yeah,” Julian said bitterly.
“Julian, “Buffy said softly. It was her turn at comfort.
Whistler shook his head. “Just like you, I am guided by my actions…what I say and do. If I tell you too much, then that will influence you in how you proceed. That in turn will influence the balance between good and evil.”
Whistler hesitated briefly before he said simply, “I can’t tell you more than what I just told you. The rest you have to figure out on your own. Goodbye, and remember I have faith in you,” he announced, shimmering out the room.
“Well, cryptic much,” Julian said with a snort.
Buffy gave him a slight smile. “You sound just like me.”
Julian gaze her answering grin. “Well, live with a person for a few hundred years, then they start to rub off on you.”
“Is that right?” she asked, her eyebrows arched in amusement.
“Mmmm,” Julian murmured in agreement.
Thanks to Julian's attempt to lighten the mood, part of Buffy felt light; yet another part felt as if she was on borrowed time. She shook her head and gave Julian a smile, a smile that still didn’t quite reach her eyes.
*****
That same evening, Anita found herself at the Twilight Bay hotel. Following Anita was Jean-Claude, Asher, Jason, Damien, Nathaniel, Micah and several were-rats as guards. And Edward, the only human.
She knocked several times on the door, and it was quickly opened by the Lunas head guard.
“Yes?” Balthazar said, giving them a questioning look.
Anita smiled. “We are here to see the Lunas.”
Balthazar ignored the smile. “Are they expecting you?” he questioned pointedly, looking at the crowd of people in front of him.
The smile slid off Anita’s face.
“’Zar’ who is it?” Buffy called from inside the room.
Balthazar gave a small sigh, turning slightly to look behind him. “The Master of the City and party,” he announced.
“Let them in,” Julian prompted, leaning back into his chair.
Balthazar nodded. He twisted around to acknowledge the group. “Come in, but you have to leave your weapons at the door,” he announced.
“What?” Anita questioned. “I don’t go anywhere unarmed,” she growled.
“Be as it may,” Balthazar growled back. “You are not entering this room with your weapons.”
“Do you know who owns this hotel,” Anita snapped her hands on her hips.
“Ma petite,” Jean-Claude warned silkily, moving to rest heavy hands on Anita’s shoulders.
Balthazar eyes swirled, changing from his normal color of brown to silver. “It may be the Master of the City’s hotel,” he noted stiffly. “But this room belonged to my King and Queen, and you and your party cannot enter with weapons.”
Anita bared her teeth and her hands fisted as she fought the instinct to reach for her guns.
Jean-Claude hands tightened on her shoulder, and Anita gave a small wince.
Trying to cut the tension, Bobby Lee winded his way to stand between Balthazar and Anita. “Pardon me,” he said his drawl as smooth as Kentucky whiskey. “Since we are all adults here, and it’s our job to protect our charges. Can you allow only the guards to be armed?”
Balthazar thought about it for a few minutes, then he gave a jerky nod. “But one weapon,” he announced. “You will be only allowed to carry one weapon each,” he warned.
Bobby Lee nodded in agreement. “Now, wasn’t that simple,” he stated, giving everyone a beaming smile.
“But...” Anita protested.
“Leave it, ma petite,” Jean-Claude stated.
Balthazar said something to some one in the room, in a lyrical language. And Adalric, the red-headed vampire, came forward and relieved them of several weapons.
“I feel naked,” Edward whispered.
“You and me both,” Anita said dryly.
“Enter.” Balthazar gestured towards the open door.
As the Master of the City's party entered the hotel room, they were surprised to see the new vampire Cash standing beside Julian Luna.
“What is he doing here?” Anita whispered to Jean-Claude.
Jean-Claude frowned.
“Cash?” Jason called bouncing over to the other man, happy to see his friend. “What are doing here?”
“Jason,” he acknowledged, clasping the other man hand in greeting. “I..,” he began only to throw up his hands in helplessness.
“Yes Cash, what are doing here?” Jean-Claude questioned. Something about the young vampire was different tonight. His frown deepened. “I thought I left you at the Circus?”
Cash gave the Master a bemused shrug. “I am sorry Jean-Claude,” he stopped mid-sentence as Julian’s hand came to rest on his shoulder.
“I apologize for my man,” Julian stated.
“Your man?” Anita questioned. She looked quickly at Jean-Claude for his reaction, but his face was blank.
“Did you know about this?” Anita demanded.
“No,” Jean-Claude growled. “But I could feel that something was wrong. I can no longer feel the blood bond between us.”
She nodded in understanding.. Whenever a vampire is new to an area they quickly adhere themselves to a Master or were considered to be rogue.
“Before coming to your lovely city, I asked Cash to visit,” Julian commented.
“Why?” Jean-Claude asked, his left eyebrow arched in question.
“Not to take over your power base, if that’s what you are thinking,” Julian said mildly.
“You don’t know what I’m thinking,” Jean-Claude retorted.
“You are right,” Julian agreed. “I don’t know what you are thinking. But I thought I would think the same if some stranger decided to come to my city under unknown circumstances.”
Jean-Claude nodded.
“Yeah,” Anita piped up in a sarcastic tone. “Why shouldn’t Jean-Claude think you are out to steal his city, isn’t that what you did in California?”
“Ma Cherie,” Asher cautioned.
“No,” Julian protested. “Let her speak.”
“Why do you own five cities?”Anita demanded.
You could hear a pin dropped in the silence that followed that question.
Julian smile was enigmatic. “Ah,” he said. “I see you heard about that.”
“Whenever you name comes up, it is whispered about the five cities you own,” she said bravely.
“I am just like everyone else, wanting to leave something for the next generation,” Julian admitted smoothly with a shrug.
“But five?” Anita questioned. “Why so many?”
Buffy moved smoothly across the room to stand beside Julian.
“In California, it’s not only power that won you the city, but bloodlines. And during an uncontrollable situation, my city had been lost. Since it was mine in the first place, I just won it back.”
“I got that, but the other four weren’t yours, were they?”
“I like you Ms. Blake. You are so direct,” Julian said with a rueful smile.
“I try to be,” she acknowledged. “Still, you didn’t answer my question.”
Julian chuckled. “Is she always this tenacious?” he asked Jean-Claude.
“Oui. Ma petite always…how do you say this?” he asked. “Ah, yes-took the bit between the teeth."
“Stubborn.”
“Oui,” Jean-Claude said with a Gallic shrug.
“You know,” Julian admitted. “Both of us have several things in common, mostly our taste in stubborn women.”
“Julian!” Buffy growled; her eyes narrowed and at the same time, Anita snapped. “Jean-Claude.”
Both men shared a look of commiseration.
“Why five cities? Wasn’t one enough for you?” Anita demanded, going back to the question.
“Yes, Ms. Blake, of course, one city was enough for me, but I was paving the way for the future. For my children.”
“Children?” Anita questioned. “Do you mean your childe?” she asked, looking puzzled.
“No Ms. Blake, my children,” he denied. “I have two natural children.”
Anita gaze snapped towards Buffy, who was watching her with amusement on her face.
“Yes, I am a mother,” Buffy admitted. “I have two boys.”
“Vampires can’t have children,” Edward pointed out, gazing at Julian and Buffy with a look of disbelief on his face.
“Yes they can,” Anita, reminded him. She said one word. “Monica.”
“Yes, but Robert was young,” Jason admitted with a frown. “Pardon me, but you must be old and powerful to hold five cities,” he noted.
“Thank you,” Julian said with a shrug.
“You must be special indeed, not only to sire children with a human after many years as a vampire, but also to continue to eat human food,” Asher said dryly. “Does the Council know about you?”
Julian eyed Asher thoughtfully. “No,” he said abruptly.
To change the subject, Jean-Claude said. “If I am bold in asking, how old are you, Ms. Luna?”
“A lady never tells her age,” she admitted sweetly.
“I have been trying to get her to tell me her age, but no such luck,” Agent Bradley Bradford admitted, as he entered living room from a door in the back.
“Agent Bradford?” Anita questioned as surprise lit her eyes.
“Ms. Blake,” he acknowledged with a nod.
“Bradley, what are you doing here?” she questioned, her eyes narrowing speculatively.
“I asked Bradley to be here,” Buffy announced.
It still rankles, Anita thought. That she knew Bradley longer, but he was able to trust Buffy much quicker than he trusted her. Was it jealousy or concern that had caused her to bring up Luna name for investigation, she wondered. Even now several hours later, she still doesn’t know.
Bradford strolled in the room and walked to where Julian and his party stood.
It looks like an old-fashioned standoff, Anita mused, eyeing the subconscious dividing of the two groups. Julian's men versus theirs. But if it comes down to winning a fight, Anita thought, her group would win by sheer numbers alone. Her entourage, she noted was the bigger half.
“I know we had finished with this conversation, but I still don’t understand what Cash is doing here?” Anita questioned.
“He was spy,” Edward announced.
Buffy frowned. “Who are you?”
“This is Ted Forrester,” Anita announced.
“Why is Ted Forrester here?”
“Are you trying to change the subject?” Anita asked with a frown.
“No,” Buffy said abruptly. “Well?”
“I'm here you to meet you, Buffy Summers.”
Buffy's eyes narrowed. She remembered all too well that a stranger said that to her many years ago. “Do I know you?” she demanded.
“Ted Forrester is a bounty hunter, out of New México,” Bradley announced.
“A bounty hunter?” Buffy questioned with a frown. “What does a bounty hunter has to do with me?”
“Nothing,” Edward admitted. “I am a fan.”
“A fan?” she said doubtfully.
“Ted specialty is preternatural creatures and I thought he could help,” Anita admitted.
Buffy nodded, but continue eyed Edward speculatively. She didn’t like to have a stranger thinking they knew her. She needs to touch him and find out more about him.
“Back to Cash,” Anita announced.
“Still on that subject,” Cash moaned. “Yes, I admit it. I was a spy. But my job wasn’t to spy on Jean-Claude as a competition, but to find out more him as a person,” he added swiftly.
“Why?”
“All in a good time, Ms. Blake,” Julian argued.
“But I wanted to know now,” she said sharply.
“Leave it, ma petite,” Jean-Claude announced.
“But...” she protested.
“For now,” he promised, his eyes meeting Julian, who gave an acknowledging bow.
****************************************
AN: Thanks Clarityfades for Beta’ing this story. And to my readers, sorry for the long wait.