'Which was the result of the Council's starting the world wars,' Adrian said. 'Shadowspawn perceptions of the future do not altogether free us from the law of unintended consequences.'
'Granted. Though the wars were amusing as well…But that is all the more reason to end the project of science. It will let them acquire far too much understanding of the Power. That we cannot allow, and killing too many individual scientists again risks revealing presence by absence.'
'Then you will back the EMP attack?'
'No, no. You-and your sister-are quite right there. Far too dangerous. Let it be the plague; we and our servants-' He smiled grimly. 'Our renfields, as the younger generation put it…Did I ever mention that I met the man Stoker? He was invaluable to us…In any case, we will be prepared, and when the humans despair we will step forward and stop the pox…when their numbers have been culled sufficiently. One-sixth or one-fifth the current total, that would be more than sufficient. As many as there were when I was your age.'
Seraphine smiled; the long, lean, aquiline face of the Somali girl she wore made it extraordinarily wolflike, and her yellow eyes glowed.
'And then the world will be as we wish it, wild and free. Enough humans for servants and food and amusement, enough to make the things we need. Few enough that once more the world will be sweet and uncrowded, the air and water clean, with many plains and woods and mountains empty save for great numbers of beasts. We will have the jets and yachts and things for our palaces and estates, and the humans will have just as much as we choose to give them, and they will worship us. As we wish it, forever.'
Ellen sipped more of the brandy. The horrible thing is, that isn't even the worst possible alternative.
'Ah…would you need science for that?' she asked. 'Ignorant serfs wouldn't be much use in keeping the central heating going.'
'No, no,' Seraphine said. 'Not science. Only engineering, really. Science we could gradually abolish. A tiresome thing, in any case.'
Adrian sighed. 'I suppose I must support your position, then, Greatgrandfather,' he said. 'Option two it is.'
He and his progenitor locked eyes for a moment, and then he finished his brandy.
'It will be useful to have your support in Tbilisi, my descendant. You inspire a good deal of fear, which is of course in the end the basis of all respect.'
Adrian's bow was graceful. 'Thank you for the excellent dinner.'
'You would not care to join us for other fare?' His molten-gold eyes paused on Ellen. 'Your…wife could participate, in a number of different ways.'
'A thousand thanks, but not tonight,' Adrian said.
Ellen buried her face in her hands and huddled against Adrian in the back of the limousine.
'Oh, Christ,' she said.
'You were splendid, my sweet. You were brave as a lioness.'
His arm went around her shoulders, and she could feel the chuckle rumble through his throat. 'And it is because of you that we know about the plague that Adrienne and her conspirators developed. And even now the Brotherhood is preparing.'
She took a shuddering breath and let it out slowly. 'Yes. Will they have enough vaccine?'
'Enough, and knowledge of how to make more. The Council may plan to step in as saviors; instead they will be exposed, and their numbers are so few that even the Power would not be enough, not against a humanity knowing what they are and united against them. Nothing is certain, but it may be the turning point in this long war!'
'Well, that's good to hear. At least this wasn't a complete wash.'
'No. And-' He frowned.
'Aha! That's your portentous frown.'
'I had a flicker. When Etienne mentioned the children. Something…yes, portentous. A shadow from the future. Something involving them; some decision I will make concerning them. That is…is becoming…a crucial point on which much will turn.'
'What sort of decision?'
He smiled. 'That is impossible to know at this point.'
She punched his shoulder; it was like striking a layer of resilient hard rubber through the fine cloth.
'In other words, you know it'll be important, but not how. And you don't know whether deciding one way or another will make things good or bad!'
'It is often that way when many adepts surrounded a nexus. The most fortunate choice will gradually become clear.'
Ellen made an exasperated sound, and then a little squeak as his hand gripped the nape of her neck.
'Perhaps you worry too much, and about the wrong things, my sweet.'
Ellen fluttered her long fair lashes. 'Why, whatever could you mean, good sir?'
CHAPTER TWELVE
Dream.
The sense of sick dread got worse as the flames erupted through the door and Eric Salvador was flung back to lie helpless in the dust of Afghanistan that had eaten so many soldiers' bones in so many wars. This time he could see the figure who walked through the fire.
It was a woman, young, naked, her face doll-like and pretty, with slanted eyes, hair piled up on her head in an elaborate coiffure that looked Asian. If he'd seen a picture like that he'd have gotten horny. Instead he felt as if giant fingernails were screeching down slate everywhere in the universe, as if he should run and run and run, and there was a stink that wasn't physical at all, and he retched hopelessly.
'Who's been a naughty boy?' she crooned. 'Naughty, naughty. I'm naughty too, sometimes.'
Then she knelt by Johnson's body, only it wasn't Johnson anymore, it was Cesar, and he was naked too. They rolled in the dust, coupling like dogs, but Cesar was screaming. When she raised her head, blood masked her mouth and dripped from her chin and poured from Cesar's throat. Yellow flecks sparkled in her dark brown eyes. 'I just love brave men,' she said. 'They're delicious!'
'Christ!'
This time there were cigarettes under his searching hand. Eric fumbled the lighter twice. The dark coal glowed like an eye as he sucked in the smoke. He fumbled for the light switch and sat with his feet on the floor, then pulled the smoke into his lungs again, coughed, inhaled again. After a while his hands stopped shaking, and he looked at the time. It was just three o'clock, which meant he'd been asleep a bit less than two hours. The air in his bedroom smelled close, despite the warm breeze that rattled the Venetian blinds against the frame of the window. Sweat cooled on his back and flanks.
He looked at the phone. 'I'm not going to call. Cesar puts up with a lot, but he's not sleeping alone this last month. I can't tell him I had a bad-'
The phone rang. He picked it up. ?Jefe?
'There's anyone else at this address?'
'Get over here. I've got something you need to see. About the Breze case.'
Eric Salvador knew something was wrong. He could feel it, a prickling along the back of his neck. Cesar's house was completely dark except for the light from the street lamp, which was very damned odd even at three thirty, since Cesar had just called him. His partner's new Chinese import was parked in the driveway; the ground between the road and the house was gravel, with a few weeds poking through. The neighborhood was utterly quiet, and the stars were bright. A cat walked by, looked at him with eyes that turned into green mirrors for an instant, and then passed. Nothing else moved.
Shit, he mouthed soundlessly, and pulled his Glock 22, his thumb moving the safety to off.
Then he touched the door. It swung in. He crossed the hallway, instinctively keeping the muzzle up and tucking his shoulder into the angle between the bedroom door and the wall. Then the smell hit him. He looked down. It looked black in the low light, but the tackiness under his foot was unmistakable.
