BloodWise

BloodWise, Chapter 12

Reyna exhaled. She left the cab of the pickup which was now slicked with Winston's blood. She went to the Oldsmobile, opened the trunk and pulled out a small travel bag. She reached in and removed two, small plastic packs that contained blood. She handed them through the window to Winston. "They were the only ones that survived from your blood bank, Winston. I guess you earned them."

Winston tore at them and sucked both down without pause. Then he gasped. She watched as the long cut in his belly healed itself. "What's going on," he asked Reyna. "Where is Noah and the others?"

"Haven't you figured it out, Winston? Fitzgerald hung you out to dry."

"He told the Prestons?

"Yes. He tipped them off that you were coming. That's how they found you. The whole situation isn't what you think, Winston. Fitzgerald was the one who organized the bombing."

"Why would he destroy his own project? That doesn't make any sense?

"The blood bank was just a pawn in  a bigger game. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a pawn to win a bigger prize."

"But what prize?" Winston demanded. He still couldn't see how it all came together.

"The ultimate prize for most vampires: territory. You see, both Fitzgerald and the Prestons have been looking for a way to expand their hunting rights,  and there are a lot of little families and houses who looked ripe for the picking, but because of Baltimore's unique political situation, you can't just go around declaring war on other houses."

Winston nodded soberly. "I understand. If Fitzgerald started to attack smaller houses, then the small houses would align with Zulu."

"Yes, and Fitzgerald doesn't have the strength to go head-to-head against Zulu. So he crafted a scenario. He planted the truck bomb and the forged letter from Marlo Longknife. He made it look like Marlo was the aggressor in the situation, and it was certainly within his right to send Noah and Ivan to attack the Longknifes. Not only that, but a war with the Longknifes does not appear to benefit Fitzgerald in any way because House Fitzgerald and the Longknifes have no common border."

Winston finally caught a glimpse of where she was going with her story. "With the Longknifes weakened, then its easy for the Prestons to swoop in and take control of the Pine Knoll Fairground. But what does Fitzgerald get in turn, Reyna?"

"Some time next year, there will be a major attack against the Prestons. The attacker will appear to be the Lucas or House Redhive or some other patsy."

Winston released a breathy moan, half in pain and half in disgust at the two years of loyalty he'd shown to Fitzgerald. "So the attack will be engineered by Fitzgerald and the Prestons, but everyone will assume the patsy is behind it. Then the Prestons will proceed to punish the patsy and once the smoke has cleared, Fitzgerald will march in and take over."

She reached into the travel bag and handed him a thin raincoat. "The genius of it is that it won't raise any red flags. Both Fitzgerald and the Prestons will have expanded their holding without appearing to be aggressors, and that means the smaller houses won't ally with John Zulu out of fear."

It took Winston a long time to slip the raincoat over his torn, blood-soaked clothing. Then she gave him the bag. "There's a gun and money in the bag. I put a cane in the Oldsmobile's trunk. You have to go. You can never come back."

Winston let her help him out of the pickup, but then he stopped an looked at her. "How long did you know, Reyna?"

"For a long time, Winston, but Fitzgerald is my lord. He owns me. The order was that you were supposed to die. You were his gift to the Prestons, but I couldn't stand by and..." She trailed off. "I couldn't let it happen, Winston."

"I see."

She guided him to the Oldsmobile.

"They're going to find out that you saved me. The Prestons will tell."

"Maybe not," she said. "It was dark, and I drove in fast."

"They'll know, Reyna. The car you were driving was Fitzgerald's limousine, and you're his driver. They;ll figure it out in a few nights. Fitzgerald will have you punished. You need to come with me."

"I'll be okay. Fitzgerald needs me."

"Reyna please. If there's one thing I'm discovering is that vampires who lead houses only see others as tools. Even if he needs you, the Prestons might put pressure on him."

"No."

"If you stay, you might die."

"That's a risk I'll have to take."

Winston took the keys out of the Oldsmobile's transmission. "Then I'm staying too."

"No!"

"You saved my life, Reyna, I can't just leave you."

"You're a pitiful idiot, Winston," she growled.

Rage flashed across her face and then resignation. Winston saw them clearly. She had resigned herself to death. It showed in the short breaths she took and stillness of her eyes. She didn't have to tell him. She knew it and now she knew that he knew.

Winston stood quietly for a long time.  Then he asked. "Why?"

Reyna looked like she was trying to make up her mind about something. She licked her lips. "It's my family. My human family. I have a sister and a nephew who live in Baltimore. Fiztgerald knows about them. He has someone watching them, and he'll kill them if I run."

"Maybe we can stop him."

"No, Winston. I already know what's going to happen okay. They're going to kill me." She bit her lower lip until it turned white. "They're going to kill me and that's okay because some good will come out of it. I get two good things. One is that my sister and nephew won't have a a death threat hanging over them anymore, and you'll be alive to, and that's good because you represent a change in the world. Your a vampire whose going to make it so less mortals die. That;s my legacy. But you can't do it here. Not now. Baltimore 1977 is not the time and place for you, Winston."

"But-"

"Just go! I saved your life, so you owe me a favor. That's the favor!" She looked scared and furious now. A clerk peeked out through the grocery store window to see what the yelling was about.

Winston looked at the clerk and- for a moment- had to suppress and urge to smash through the storefront window, grab the clerk and rip his throat open. He looked back at Reyna.

"Go please," she said. "Stick to the side road so you won't attract attention. For all we know, the Prestons are still following us."

He couldn't answer her. His throat hurt too much, but he got into the Oldsmobile, put the key back into the ignition and drove onto the blacktop.

He glanced back once into the rearview and saw her still standing in the parking lot, clutching her jacket closed across her chest and staring at the night sky.