Page 28 of Blood and Bone
Eoghan exchanged another wary look with Ari before sighing and looking back up at the angry vampire looming over them. “The Agency tells us that everything is fine in Flagstaff,” Eoghan said, “as our chief thought they would. If there’s a mole at the Agency who’s helping to keep Bradshaw in power, they’re going about it quietly and intercepting Chief Deputy Priest every time she calls for status. Someday soon, they’re going to tell her to stop calling and close the case. We’re honestly hoping something happens to keep it open, but John…” Eoghan paused. “I don’t know if that will happen. All I can do is be honest about it. You deserve the truth.”
John looked desperate. “I had so hoped you’d have better news for me when you came out here. I guess I’m a stupid fool to think that I could save them.” He looked away. “I had just hoped.” He let his words trail off.
“I’ve told you everything I know, John,” Eoghan said. “I know you’re upset about it and for that I’m very sorry.”
“Thank you, Marshal Sapphire,” the vampire said sadly. Ari watched as the bright red light faded from his eyes, returning them to a normal shade as he sat back down. “I guess I have to accept the fact that my people will eventually be wiped out.” He sat back in the rickety chair looking utterly miserable.
“What about another vampire clan? Can you get help from other vampires?” Ari asked.
John grimaced. “Unfortunately, no. No one else from that quarter will come to my aid. I don’t know if you know this, but vampire clans are extremely self-contained. Before Teddy Roosevelt formed the Agency and set aside land—at our expense—for us to live on, various vampire clans were at war all the time. Often, humans were victims of violence, simply going missing, never to be found, when in truth they’d become snacks.”
Ari swallowed hard. “They just killed and drained humans like they didn’t care about the consequences?”
“Sometimes, of course, but a lot of those were turned and became vampires themselves…but many were just a meal. If a body was found drained, coroners wrote it off as an animal attack. We vampires were mythological creatures after all,” he said with a sad smile. “Of course, once we had our own land and the live donor lists became a thing along with synthetic blood to supplement us in the interim, for the most part the violence ended…between clans that is. Vampire/human violence is a whole different can of worms. There are still vampires who go ‘off the reservation’ and drain humans, and they’re dealt with accordingly by clan leaders like me and my own sire before me.”
“I see,” Eoghan said. Ari noticed how he paused before he continued. “Well, if there’s no hope for help from the Agencyand no help from other vampire clans, we’ll just have to keep trying to figure out another way.”
John shook his head, looking dispirited. “I have a terrible feeling that my clan is destined to end. There is no hope for my people and the very thought of it breaks my heart.” He pinned them with a distraught look. “Did you know the Flagstaff clan can trace our ancestry back over three thousand years?”
“I had no idea,” Eoghan said.
“Our clan originated in Egypt.” He looked directly at Ari and gave him a tiny smile. “Remember when I told you that Rudy, my mate, was dark like you?”
Ari nodded. “Yes. I believe you were making a pass at me.” He smiled.
The king grinned as he nodded. “Yes, well, now you know why. Many of our Egyptian ancestors were dark-skinned as are many of the members of my Flagstaff clan.” He sighed and broke eye contact with Ari, looking at the ground. “But it doesn’t matter anymore. They’ll all be gone soon if Tillis Bradshaw has his way. He has no incentive to keep any of them alive as long as there is a human population in Flagstaff. He might be making an entire army of baby vampires who’re completely loyal to him as we speak.”
Ari glanced at Eoghan with wide eyes. He’d never thought of that and based on the expression on Eoghan’s face, he hadn’t either.
“Shit,” Eoghan said, glancing back at John. “You’re right. This whole thing needs to be dealt with. We have to find some way to stop him.”
John broke eye contact again, sighing loudly as he shook his head. They all sat still for a few minutes as they pondered where and how they could find help to save the Flagstaff clan from extinction and put Tillis Bradshaw and all his loyal vampires down once and for all.
“What about other supernaturals?” Ari asked as the idea occurred to him.
“What?” Eoghan and John asked in unison.
“I don’t know. I’m new to all this, but couldn’t you ask another supernatural clan to help? Shifters or werewolves or something? Surely they don’t want their Agency protection to end and that’s just what would happen if humans started vanishing in large numbers to become vampires.”
“You mean that other clans would think Tillis Bradshaw is a threat if his vamps are out there draining humans?” Eoghan asked.
“Yes, because eventually some human of influence or power is going to figure out that the Flagstaff area is rife with missing persons and they’ll make a stink about it, calling for a wider investigation or the like. Hell, they might even start speculating and inventing their own reasons why folks are up and disappearing. Flagstaff isn’t that far from the Mexican border. If some stupid politician learns there’s a bunch of missing persons, they might say that there’s human trafficking going on down there in large numbers.”
“Isn’t Flagstaff a long way from the Mexican border?” Eoghan asked.
“A little more than two hundred miles as the crow flies,” Ari said, “but when did that ever stop a politician from being an idiot?”
Eoghan chuckled.
“Anything could happen and if someone picks up on a lot of missing persons from one region, the Agency might get involved which would hurt all supernaturals. I’m just speculating,” Ari said.
“You’ve got a good point,” Eoghan said. “If I were Bradshaw and I’d taken over not only meth distribution butsynthetic blood distribution in my area with plans to expand, I’d be making an army of baby vamps.”
“And baby vampires need to eat frequently and when they drink from a human, they often can’t stop. Unless they have a very watchful sire to help them understand just how much blood to take, they could cause death. Multiple young vampires could cause death in very high numbers,” John said, shaking his head. “My God, this could turn out to be very bad.” He looked over at Ari. “For someone new to the I.S.R., your instincts are good and sadly you’re right. Eventually all of the crap that idiot Bradshaw is getting up to will be picked up by the media and then the government will be forced to act.”
“Wouldn’t that be a good thing…at least in terms of Bradshaw?” Eoghan asked. “Because the Agency would start with him.”
“Except then we’re back to having a mole at the Agency working with Bradshaw,” Ari said. “Whoever this person is has a position with at least some authority to affect how the I.S.R. deals with Bradshaw. He’s probably not doing what he’s doing because he loves vampires. He’s doing it for money.” He looked between Eoghan and John. “No one answered me about bringing in other supernaturals to help.”