The man who walked over the rise and toward the shore was Charles Lightman. He had his hands shoved into his jacket pockets and seemed to be wearing a wry grin. Or a sneer of disgust. Hard to tell, there was such a fine line between the two.
He was here to see to his general. He stopped a few feet away from Roman. Close enough to kick dirt on him, if he wanted. Roman had stopped trying to sit up and merely lay on his back, arms splayed out, staring up.
“Dux Bellorum. Gaius Albinus,” Lightman said. “Nice try, I suppose. I mean, who could have predicted the bitch had a trick up her sleeve? Regina Luporum. Shit.”
Lightman paused for a reply, but Roman didn’t seem to have anything to say. I could make out a smile on his cracked lips.
I was aware that I was lurking, a wolf among trees, and that they very likely knew I was here. But as long as they didn’t come after me, I didn’t move.
The man in the suit regarded his surroundings, a guy out for a stroll, unmindful of the chill. He looked like he was surveying the shoreline for a condo development. The wide expanse of the lake didn’t seem to impress him.
“So close,” he muttered. He kicked the toe of his shoe into the soot and grime. “Ah well. There’s always another time. Always another tool. I’ll wait.”
He glanced over and looked right at me. Shook his head with a kind of disgust, and walked away.
Go.
Wolf attacked, salivating at the thought of closing jaws around his throat, tearing skin, tasting his blood pouring over our tongue. Didn’t matter whether attacking him was possible, whether the guy even had blood. We will kill him.
I sprang, claws outstretched, ready to slash—
And fell hard against the ground, stopped cold by an outside force. Roman had grabbed the cuff of my jeans and held tight, pulling me up short.
I snarled, kicked at him. He didn’t have the strength to keep hold of me and I broke free. But it was too late. Ahead of me, Lightman had disappeared. I’d missed my chance. Not that I really would have been able to rip Lucifer’s throat out. But it would be nice to at least say that I tried. He was just gone, leaving me with his servant—still his servant, even after everything.
I crouched near Roman, jaws locked in a permanent growl. The old vampire didn’t watch Lightman go, didn’t call after him, didn’t say a word. Lying in the dirt, with burned bits flaking off his finger bones, he chuckled. Then coughed, as if the air had caught in his windpipe on the way out. The gleaming eyes flickered in my direction, then closed.
After a long moment of silence I said, “He just left you.”
“Of course he did,” Roman said, his damaged voice croaking. “That’s what he does. He’s the Betrayer.”
“Why did you follow him, then?”
“I didn’t have anyone else.”
I sat, hugging my knees to my chest. Not sure what happened next. I wondered what he would do. Maybe that was why I stayed, to watch. For the first time, I wasn’t afraid of him.
“Why are you still here?” he asked.
“Because I kind of always wanted to just talk to you. Old vampires usually have such good stories.”
“Your standards are low. I’ve listened to your show.” He shuddered.
I had never seen a vampire so injured and still moving. It was a shock, seeing him like this. He was the vampire other vampires told stories about to scare each other. My friends and I had spent years opposing him. And now, weirdly, perversely, I felt sorry for him. He was a horror.
Blood would heal him. If an injured vampire survived long enough to have a conversation, he’d live. But he needed blood. I’d moved out of his arm’s reach for a reason.
“I met Kumarbis,” I said.
I couldn’t tell this time if he was chuckling or coughing. “So I gathered. What did you think of him?”
“He was crazy.”
“He was crazy from the start.”
“You probably guessed this, but he’s dead. Ashtoreth destroyed him.”
“Stupid old man. Thought he heard the voice of God. It wasn’t God. He’d been a vampire for four thousand years, did you know that? He couldn’t even remember being alive anymore. He didn’t remember what his name had been, where he was from. He was a fossil walking the earth.”