The Cat Burglar - 18. The Hunt

Chapter 18 The Hunt

“Our unique skills?” Gideon hissed.

I tensed. Fuck. Did anyone in the room notice the Conte’s slip-up? No one talks about a vampire’s powers, even if he calls them skills.

“Nothing will come through the privacy shield,” the Conte gritted out.

Gideon still looked as if he’d bitten off something sour. “Doesn’t that draw attention to us all the more?”

Uh-oh. And now he questioned the Master himself, who promptly arched a brow over narrowed eyes.

“I don’t work with uncouth tools.” The Conte glowered. “Every time someone tries to even look at us, they become distracted. No one will notice.”

Gideon dipped his head down briefly. “Very well. Talk!”

Arrogant Gideon was back, yay. I inwardly swore. Apparently, it was whip-your-dick-out-to-take-measure day. “How can we help, Conte?” I asked him softly, trying to run interference. My first thought was to ask if I should go fetch a measuring tape, but hey, I didn’t.

When he turned to me, the Conte’s frown immediately smoothed away. “When the wolf of silver was killed a few weeks ago, we hoped he died because a mere dispute between wolves went out of hand. Now, we think it is much worse.”

“What happened tonight?”

“Tonight, one of my soldiers discovered a drained human draped over the railing of the Ponte del Diavolo -- Devil's Bridge. Vampire bite wounds were scattered all over her half-naked body. If anyone else had found her, the Fates forbid, had taken pictures and posted them on social media, we would have been in deep trouble.”

“Shit!” I rubbed my eyes. Suddenly I felt tired. “Why would anyone do that?”

Gideon took a step forward. “And now you think this might have been planned attacks.”

The Conte nodded. “We already wondered why someone would be this reckless to shoot another wolf in broad daylight. On Burano, dozens of tourists are milling the streets every day of the week. If the humans hadn’t been so ignorant, already this death could have ended in a disaster, as wolves turn into their human form when they die. One witness even told the police a large dog had been shot and turned into the dead man. Fortunately, the woman had a little too much Valpolicella wine for lunch, and the police didn’t take her seriously. Later, we were able to retrieve the body and deliver it to the pack before the medical examiner was able to perform a thorough autopsy.”

I looked at him. “An attack? By whom?”

The Conte flashed a cold smile at me. “By the people your master brought to trial before the Species High Court a few months ago.”

“Why would they do this?”

“Maximal exposure.” Gideon watched the older vampire when he said this.

Then I saw it too. On the surface, the Master appeared collected, but there was a lot of tension in his shoulders.

“We fear the carnival has been chosen to expose the species to the human eye. One of my people examined the human’s body. The individual who killed her was a foreign vampire male. I already ordered my best trackers to learn his scent. They are trying to find him as we speak.”

“Do you have any idea who killed the wolf?” I asked.

“No, but the fact that he was shot during the day implies it wasn’t a vampire.”

“Or it was meant to imply just that, which means it could have been—”

The Conte interrupted me. “Yes, it could have also been an old vampire, who hid in the alley behind the shops. A risky move. There are only a few of us who can endure the sunlight at this time of the day.”

“And it would have also been extremely rude to enter the city without your knowledge.” Gideon smiled knowingly.

“What? Why?” I looked at Gideon.

“A vampire this powerful has to ask for an invitation into a city master’s territory, otherwise their presence will be understood as a challenge for his position.”

The master growled. “I would hunt them down and feed their ashes to the sea.”

“Oo-kay. We don’t know for sure if it’s only vampires, but it’s probable. Right?” I looked from Gideon to the still fangy Conte.

“The extensive questioning your master and his people performed leads to this conclusion, yes.” The city master growled. “These vampires see themselves as apex predators of our world and are therefore to rule.”

“Sounds to me like an idea only a crazy old vamp could come up with.” Now both glared at me.

“This is ridiculous! The Fae would never allow the current balance to be compromised by a group of megalomaniac vampires,” Gideon declared.

“Compromised is one word for it.” The Conte shook his head. “I would call it suicidal. Alone, the sheer number of humans populating the planet should tell a logical mind how insane this plan is. We would never win a war against them.”

“There is another aspect to consider. The other species will despise the vampires for endangering our hidden world, even if it’s only a small group of rogues,” Gideon inserted.

“Yes, we have been strangely lucky so far, but one day we will run out of luck.”

“The solution is quite simple.” Gideon lifted his head and met the Conte’s gaze. “We track them down and destroy every renegade we find.”

“That shouldn’t be too difficult at all.”

Now both looked at me as if a second head just sprouted beside my proven one.

I rolled my eyes. “Insert sarcasm tag here. You both just said they are stupid megalomaniacs. Exterminating sounds difficult and dangerous to me.”

“Exterminating, I like that.” Gideon grinned.

“The festivities will officially start with the great water parade on the coming weekend”, the Conte stated. “Already the streets and hotels are filling with tourists from all over the world. Many different species will be visiting, most of them humans and vampires.”

“Vampires?” I blurted out.

“Our species loves the carnival. It won’t be easy to find those rogues. Many foreign vampires will roam the city. I doubled the patrols already and raised their numbers, but—as soon as the perpetrators sense that they’re being watched, they won’t try anything.”

And I understood. “Gideon and I can hide in the shadows; they won’t see or sense us until it’s too late.”

The Conte lifted his hands, apologizing. “I don't have soldiers with your....”

“Skillset.” I looked at Gideon, but he wasn’t upset by my choice of words. “How do we know who is a ‘guest’ and who belongs to your clan?”

“You don’t, but I already thought of something. I’m able to mark my people and make you aware of the sigil. You will be able to recognize them as friendlies. This should reduce the number of vampires you have to watch.”

“If no child of yours fell for the ideas of those people,” Gideon stated.

The Conte grabbed Gideon’s arm. “We have had our differences, but this concerns our entire world, our species. Let us push aside any discord and strife for a while and work together. Hunt those traitors down, eliminate them if you must, but leave some alive to interview if possible. Help us to protect the humans and the other species.”

I hadn’t thought of the other species. “Impossible to imagine they’ll kill a Kathomi or a Perditaj and leave their bodies for the humans to find.”

“Exactly. Two Fae will join the hunt soon as well as the local wolf packs. They will patrol during the daytime.”

The city was much more crowded than when I first arrived. On the first night, we meandered through the city, trying to blend in with the tourists. As we couldn’t walk around with real-looking swords strapped on our backs, one of the Conte’s men disguised them with gaudy plastic handles decorated with colorful glass stones. Most people we met were tourists who probably wanted to see a few sights or eat at the many restaurants before the actual festivities started on the weekend. We only saw a few masks or costumes.

“See those pillars?” I pointed at the columns, overlooking the lagoon. “Ilaria and I climbed them one night.”

“What? Why would you do that?” He squinted his eyes to see the statues on top.

“I only wanted to enjoy the view, but Ilaria wanted to straddle the winged lion, and then she kissed St. Theodor.” I couldn’t suppress my grin seeing his expression.

He stared at me wide-eyed. “St. Theodor?”

“The first patron of Venice.”

“I can see you found someone who is as crazy as you.”

I shrugged. “Close.”

I stopped him before he walked between the columns. “Better go around.”

“Why?”

“They executed people here in the past.”

“And?”

“It’s a bad place. Venetians never walk between them. It means bad luck.”

“Don’t tell me you’re superstitious.” He looked around the place. “Did you do something normal too?”

“By ‘normal’ you mean touristy stuff? Sure. You met Mauro earlier—”

“The vampire you fed from?” he rumbled out.

I ignored his attitude. “He’s a historian. He knows everything about Venice. He showed me many cool places. A crypt that’s mostly underwater, for example. Real creepy.”

While we walked around, we were able to identify some members of the Venice clan, and could confirm that the master’s sigil worked. We only returned to the palazzo when the horizon over the lagoon became bluish-pink. I was so tired, I almost forgot to feed.

On the second night, we decided to crisscross the entire city. We saw many foreign vampires, but no one acted suspicious.

The first water parade opens the carnival and takes place in the evening, which meant Gideon and I were on patrol.

It was a wild party like any other, only this was celebrated on water and had colorful sprinkles. Many different boats or boat-ish devices floated down the canal, while all kinds of artists performed right on some of them, jugglers, tightrope walkers, and fire-eaters. I was admiring a woman in an elaborate long, red, and frilly dress balancing on a construct that looked like a mill wheel, when my phone vibrated in my pants pocket. It was a miracle I even noticed it over all the din.

“This is Kavan.”

“Where are you?”

I held the phone away to look at the screen. It showed Marco. He was one of the Conte’s higher-ranking soldiers. “We’re watching the water parade.”

“Come back to the palazzo! No deviations, the master’s orders.”

“What? Why?” I looked at Gideon, who was on the phone too, speaking rapidly. After he put it away, he grabbed my wrist and looked around to find a way out of the crowd. When he spotted a gap, he pulled me towards it.

“What happened?” I ran after him.

“One of the trackers found the vampire who killed the woman on the bridge.”

By now we were dodging celebrating people, some yelled at us when we rushed by them and pushed them aside.

I quickly surpassed him. “Follow me, I know a better way.”

When we entered the palazzo’s foyer, Marco was already waiting for us. When he saw us, he immediately tapped on his earbud. “He’s back.” He turned to us. “The Conte wanted to be notified as soon you were back safely.”

“Safely?” Gideon stepped closer.

“The assassin wasn’t alone. Our tracker and a second soldier were attacked with UV torches. Luckily, they had called for help before they tried to apprehend the killer. The reinforcements were able to catch two of the enemies. The killer was beheaded.”

“UV torches?”

“We secured two devices. They used modified phones; their torches emit UV rays.”

“Fuck! Was anyone injured?”

Marco bared his teeth. “Ivo and Sim, two of our younger soldiers. I sent them on patrol to learn, to get experience.” He balled his left hand. “They suffered heavy burns; the master and their sires saved them, but it was close. I never thought they would face UV weapons.”

“How young?” Gideon growled.

“Fifty-one and forty-nine.”

Gideon pulled me back. “That’s it. Kavan is even younger than your soldiers. He would never survive a UV attack.”

“If we’d known of this, we would have taken precautions. We can protect him as well as the other younger soldiers.”

“No, it’s too dangerous!” Gideon cried.

I freed my arm from his grip. “I can talk for myself. What kind of precautions?”

“Mostly protective clothes. Gloves, and one of your masks probably. Our witch will bespell it so your eyes will be protected. Your clothes too.”

“Okay, sounds good to me.”

Marco watched Gideon, who looked as if he wanted to murder him. “It’s purely voluntary.”

“No!”

“Gideon, shut it. It’s my decision.”

“I want to talk to the master!”

“The master is busy. He interrogates the captives.” A sardonic smile appeared on Marco’s face.

I touched Gideon’s arm. “Let’s call it a night, um morning. It’s okay. I want to help.”

“I’m going to test this so-called protection.”

The next night I wore a Gideon-approved black suit, and a red shirt, which perfectly matched the blood drops I’d painted on my feather mask weeks ago. Marco had an eye for detail; I had to give it to him. To protect my most vulnerable part, a bespelled silk scarf was wrapped around my neck, secured with whatever contraption, so it could flutter away. Gideon was nothing but thorough. Together with the shiny black boots and soft leather gloves, I looked like a picture book vampire. I’d preferred to wear something normal, but in case we had to slink into the shadows, our costumes had to be dark.

Poor Gideon wore a dark blue velvet suit, of all things, and a fucking cloak. The Conte loaned him a devil mask with thin golden trimmings, which kinda looked badass on him.

As most people walked the streets in groups or couples, one of the clan soldiers pointed out that two guys wandering about in fancy costumes stuck out, which was the opposite of blending in. Therefore, Mauro suggested we should pretend to be a couple. Ha-ha-hardy-ha.

When the carnival was in full swing, tourists in elaborate costumes took pictures of themselves at the most iconic spots in Venice. The gondola docks at St. Mark’s Square were one of the top photography spots. My personal highlights were NOT when people asked us to pose for selfies with them while we were on patrol trying to find crazy vampires.

The entire Venetian Carnival is one big chaotic circus. There were daily costume parades and contests and numerous parties which we had to go to. It was exhausting.

On the second Sunday of the Venice Carnival, people gather in St. Mark's Square to witness the famous flight of the angel, during which the winner of the 'Marie' beauty contest of the previous year launches herself from St. Mark's bell tower attached to a rope to reach the Doge's Palace. It was one event I didn’t have to attend as that spectacle took place in broad daylight.

After scanning the guests of several parties, we were patrolling through a quiet part of the city, when I felt something extremely confusing: agony and joy at the same time. I touched Gideon’s back and pulled him with me into the shadows.

“What is it?” he whispered.

“I don’t know yet. Something is happening behind that half-open gate over there. The one with the showy letterbox.”

“Showy letterbox?”

“Yeah, typical Venice style: a shitty, rickety gate with peeling paint that probably leads into a beautiful cool courtyard, and a letterbox with a shiny brass lion’s mouth as a mail slot.”

His gaze instantly snapped to the spot.

Together, we moved aside so we could look behind the partly closed wing.

A dark figure was bent over a prone body. I could hear ripping and gulping. The faint smell of blood wafted over.

“It feels wrong,” I murmured.

Gideon sniffed. “She’s killing a Perditaj!” Hissing and growling, he catapulted himself onto the vampire and dislodged her from her victim.

For a short moment, the vampire seemed stunned by Gideon’s attack, but she recovered quickly. Instantly crouching down, she extended her claws and bared extremely long fangs at him. Blond wisps of hair had escaped her hood and moved in the draft. It would have looked playful, if not for her bloodstained face. She tilted her head. “A shadowmelder, interesting. I didn’t know the City Master had one of your kind, an oversight, tsk.” Then she jumped the brick wall and scaled it like a black spider. From the distance, she cackled. “Too bad the humans won’t discover this careless birdie’s carcass tonight. You’re too late, though. Only his soul will entertain the queen.”

Gideon sniffed the gaping wound at the Perditaj’s throat, then lifted his nose in the air. “I can still scent her. Hide the body.” With that, he vanished into the darkness.

Hide the body? I desperately pressed my hand on blood-drenched feathers, trying to stop the bleeding even though I knew it was in vain. She’d ripped his throat out.

When I looked at the Perditaj’s face, his dark eyes were fixed on me. It felt as if he was pleading with me. At the trial, Gideon said Perditaj lost their speech. They could only whisper or sing. Both weren’t possible without working vocal cords. “What do you want? How can I help you?” Was he asking me to let him die, to kill him? Please no— In the distance, I heard voices and drunken laughter. Shit! They came closer. What if they lived in the house, or would look curiously into its entrance? They might see us if the lamp I detected in the back part of the passageway ignited. The only thing that was left was to pull us into the shadow plane.

Passing the barrier was different than before. In the past, I always felt merely tolerated. I could only move one or two meters at most. It was like walking through mud, unpleasant.

The Perditaj’s entire body instantly relaxed when we passed the barrier. He even trilled joyfully. Shocked, I looked down. What I saw was a miracle. The horrible wound was knitting itself closed. The bleeding had stopped. As if he were a vampire. And that wasn’t all. He seemed to be taller. Usually, members of this species are a little over a meter; he was two.

I was staring at an entirely different person, or so it seemed.

After a while, he sat up and turned to me. His long beak had all but disappeared; there was only a small piece of horn over his upper lip left. It looked like a small mustache.

“How is this possible?” I looked at my bloody hands.

“You brought me home.” He smiled.

“H-home?”

He spread his arms wide in an all-encompassing gesture. “This is my home. My species was banned from the shadow plane eons ago. Only after we die do our souls return. Our queen is to be alone forever, only surrounded by the souls of the dead. Sometimes though, we meet someone who is connected to this plane, either by heritage, species, or a combination of both, like in your case. They can bring us here before we die.”

“I am connected to the shadow plane?”

“Yes, as a vampire you’re dead. Only death magic keeps you alive in the other plane.”

“But not every vampire can enter this plane.”

“No, as I said, it depends on your sire, his power, and your genes. I was lucky you found me—a shadow dancer, so rare.”

“I was a normal human.”

The Perditaj smiled. “There are human tribes who are closely connected to this plane by their innate magic.”

“What? Are you saying I wasn’t entirely human?”

“Maybe the Fates sent you because the vampire killed me for nefarious reasons, but enough of that. My queen awaits me. She probably already sensed my arrival. Now I can go to her and tell her the tales of my numerous adventures and present to her all the wonderful items I found. I will alleviate her pain, her loneliness.”

Then he pulled a dark green satchel from somewhere between his feathers and opened it. After some rummaging around, he picked a yellow stone and presented it on his flat palm. “This will ease your passage through the barrier even more and help you feel more welcome. Everything will be smoother. Now, you will be a part of this place, as long you want.” He winked.

I frowned. “Why didn’t you use it to come here?”

He smiled sadly. “I was overjoyed when I found it on my travels, but then I discovered that it wasn’t for me, for Perditaj.”

He got up, stretched, and shook out his feathers. A lone, huge, black feather sailed to the ground. When he saw it, he bent down and picked it up to give it to me. “If you ever need me while you’re here, call me.”

I took the feather and ran it through my fingers. “Call who?”

He smiled. “My name is Raban Ko’lk.” His appearance had changed even more while we were talking. On his back, he now had two huge black feathered wings. They shimmered blue-black in the pale sun. A sun I never noticed before. His feet were human but with tiny claws as nails. Instead of hair, his head was covered by tiny feathers; only his face was bare.

After bowing to me, he walked away proudly erect, his satchel slung over his left shoulder.

A happy ending. My half-dead Perditaj lived. I couldn’t wait to tell Gideon.

In the past, I had always felt a little disoriented in the shadow plane. This time, I knew exactly where I had to cross over to enter Venice. I landed exactly in the passage that led to the courtyard.

Something felt wrong. The hair on my neck bristled. I wasn’t alone.

Then pain ignited on my scalp as I was pulled back roughly by my hair. A furious snarl sounded in my ear. Then an object hit my back, and I felt indescribable agony spreading through my body. Tissue snapped, organs were ripped. My body tried to repair the ongoing damage, to no avail. What was just healed snapped again. Its feeble attempts diminished; my injuries were too heavy. It felt as if my entire innards would dissolve. I fell to the ground. It smelled of piss and lilacs.

A masked woman turned my head to look at my face. I weakly lifted my hand and grabbed at a necklace that hung from her cleavage. At first, she pulled back, but I didn’t let go and held on with unexpected strength until it ripped apart.

She scoffed. “Keep it.” Then she walked away as I watched blood leaving my body, forming an ever-increasing pool. I was dying. The cold crept up my limbs. My second life didn’t last as long as I hoped.

Suddenly I was pulled up, and a wrist was pressed against my lips. “Drink!”

Gideon. I forced my eyes away from him and pushed his arm away. “No... We don’t want a bond. You’d rather die b-before—” I pressed my lips together. “Go.”

“Respect his wishes, as he did yours.”

“He’s dying!”

“As you were.”

Someone wrapped me in their arms. Master... My lips were forced open and blood dripped into my mouth. Not Gideon... I latched onto the wrist. Rich flavors exploded on my tongue: black olives, the delicious taste of espresso, a hint of cassis fruit. More…bold… a kaleidoscope of aromas of wild cherry, amid mint and berry flavors— hints of chocolate and nuts. Black pepper and fresh-cut flowers.