I'll give the vampires props for not screaming much. There were a few shrieks while the explosions were going off but mostly there was a panicked exodus toward the door, resulting in some being knocked down and injured. I, on the other hand, was just about to see how many vampires I could carry as mist. It turned out to be most of them.
My nose became my best ally that night in gathering up vampires. If they smelled tainted in any way, I left them behind, gathering up the others instead. In all, I picked up five hundred forty-seven vampires (I didn't learn this until later when Gabron told me) and carried them, first through the ceiling of the cave and then out and over the streets. We all watched as a huge bowl caved in beneath us, blowing a tremendous cloud of dust and debris skyward. Any vampire left inside that cavern died. I now had the name of a new enemy—Farimak. He was on my list of the next to die if I had anything to say about it.
Gabron, where do you want me to take you and the others? I'd thought about the Council Chamber but didn't know where it was from above.
My library, he returned. I knew where that was; I'd come out of there and would recognized the building from overhead. I flew in that direction and in less than ten minutes, I was above the building, listening to more than five hundred vampires scream mentally as we descended right through the roof. We then streamed downward more than two hundred feet until I was surrounded by the bookshelves in Gabron's library. Hoping that five hundred vampires could sort themselves out, I dumped them in the widest space inside Gabron's huge collection. Some of them ended up stacked a few deep, but they were alive.
Gabron took charge, thank goodness, and ordered some to separate the injured from the others so they could be treated for their wounds. I helped as much as I could and Briden, who appeared out of nowhere, heaved a huge sigh of relief when he saw that Gabron and the others were all right. He found water and medical supplies; what was needed for vampires, at least. A few present had some sort of medical experience—they were helping set broken bones. Vampires are a hardy bunch and aside from being a bit grumpy over the whole thing, they came out all right. The broken bones and other injuries would heal during their next rejuvenating sleep. Gabron pulled me away after a while and all the Council members followed silently behind.
A hidden room behind a heavy shelf was where I was taken; Gabron's palm was what it took to get us inside and away from the others. It looked like a war room to me, with electronic maps of the city shining across a lengthy, glass-surfaced table. Chairs surrounded the table and we all took seats.
"Farimak will believe we are all dead, unless we lead him to think otherwise," Gabron began. That was exactly what I'd been thinking, so I didn't interrupt. "Therefore," Gabron continued, "we will remain dead for the time being."
"How will we feed ourselves? There are more than five hundred, out there." One Council member gestured angrily toward the library itself.
"I have stores set aside," Gabron sighed. "I was afraid that Solar Red would take the city and we would have to provide for ourselves while we fled. I have enough in the chamber behind this one to feed us for nearly a month. It is frozen at the moment, but that can be remedied."
"Then my most persistent worry is averted," the Council member relaxed a little.
"Your assignment is to go out and inform the others that we will remain in hiding until the evening of the ritual, allowing Solar Red to think they have crippled the vampires," Gabron continued. "With these five hundred or more gone—our most powerful vampires seemingly killed through treachery—the others that are left will be leaderless and abandoned. We must allow them to think this and give no indication otherwise. It is only for a short while, before we will be free again and rid our city of the taint that grows within it. Are there any objections or alternative suggestions?" Gabron surveyed his Council. I think they all saw the wisdom in his words—nobody said anything.
"Good. Go perform your duties. Place compulsion if you must. Lissa and I have an errand to run." All the council members were still covered in dust from the explosions and cave-ins and looked as if they were mighty grumpy on top of all that, but they rose silently and walked out the door to inform the others.
"Lissa, we must go to the Solar Red temple," Gabron turned to me once the others were gone. I'd sat quietly beside him while he talked to the others.
"As mist," I nodded. I think he and I were on the same wavelength. This was such a welcome change from dealing with Wlodek and the others. I think he and I both knew that Farimak posed the greatest threat to us, and more than likely Solar Red had imprisoned him after the cave implosion. Who knows what plans they had for him—after all, they'd not shown any sympathy toward his co-conspirator, Mirazal, leaving him to die inside the chamber with all the others. I also wanted to check out the damage around the cave-in; a street ran overhead but there were buildings nearby. I wanted to see what was being done and if the warrens and caves surrounding the cave-in were in danger of being discovered. Farimak came first, however.
"Are you ready?" I asked Gabron.
"Yes," he jerked his head in a curt nod. I didn't want to be Farimak, right then. Gabron was angry and had held that anger back until now. I turned to mist, pulled him into my mist and we went through the ceiling like a rocket.
* * *
"She's fine," Dragon patted Karzac on the shoulder. Karzac could Look for himself, but was afraid to do so. News crews were already covering the scene and while the general population had no idea that vampires existed, Solar Red was now consenting to do interviews, alerting the population that there was an evil among them and offering to give evidence at the ritual. Dragon snorted at the announcement; Solar Red was threatening to expose the vampires to give the citizens a common enemy; one that Solar Red would be more than happy to help eliminate in an effort to gain a better hold on the planet.
"They won't even realize the vampires have been living among them peacefully all this time," Karzac grumbled. "Solar Red will describe them as terrible monsters, when they themselves are the ones." He walked into the kitchen to make a cup of tea.
"The population is unsettled and Solar Red will take advantage," Dragon agreed.
* * *
It was too bad that Farimak hadn't known I could mist through walls and ceilings. Only the Council had witnessed that little trick and I had the notion that Gabron might have ordered them to keep quiet about it. Now, not only five hundred vampires or more had survived what should have killed them all, but at the moment, we were dropping through the roof of the temple in order to find Farimak—the treasonous little bastard.