The Dark Edge Chronicles - Clan War

Chapter 2: City Streets

It took the rest of that day to get back into Frankfurt. As the sun started slipping below the horizon, Lash pulled the Land Rover off the 661 Autobahn running into the heart of the sprawling city and quickly into the Kaiserlei District, south of the Main River. Here he knew were a number of Ventru safe houses, each equipped with a garage. Hopefully they would not only have the supplies he needed to continue his quest for vengeance, but full garages as well. He needed to swap out the Land Rover in case Orin had told the Hand which vehicles had sat in the hunting lodges garage, or he was somehow observed leaving the hunting lodge property.

Orin; Lash could feel his teeth grit in impotent rage as he turned into the subdivision his memory told him was the location of the nearest safe house. Orin's betrayal was like acid on his mind, burning and searing its way through memories of better times, and twisting them into shallow mockeries of what they once were. He had trusted him with the lives of his sister and extended family. Only to have that bastard firmly paint the target on their backs for the Council's goons to shoot at.

Spotting the safe house's familiar lines, the big vampire brutally pushed his searing emotions aside to focus on the moment. He needed to have a cool head here; there was a damn good chance the Council had tortured out of a captured Ventru hierarch where their most valuable assets were located. Assets that would include safe houses and their contents.

It was common knowledge that the Ventru were centralized in and around Frankfurt. Knowing that, even if said hierach wasn't captured and tortured, their enemies would inevitably reason out that a good number of assets would also be located in and around the old human city. And that meant the Council would be combing the city for not only Ventru, but for those assets as well.

So it was with his Shiva drawn that Lash slowly eased out of his SUV just as the street lights flickered on, his eyes searching every shadow. Now that he knew the Hand wasn't above ambush tactics, any one of those shadows could be holding his death. The EMF armor that Mordecai had given him was useful against psionic energies and most kinds of small arms fire, but it wouldn't stop a .50 caliber vampire killer. Or a well-placed car'dieth, for that matter.

Closing the SUV's door behind him, he slid around the vehicle's front end and across the sidewalk. The sooner he got into the safe house, the better off he'd be. A quick glance to both sides and he was carefully moving forward, heading for the house's side entrance, which he could see from where he had been standing on the sidewalk.

Lash had was just about to the corner of the house that would've hidden him from the left hand side of the street when he caught it: motion, smooth and quick, through the shadows at the far end. Swinging around the corner to give himself cover, he leaned around the corner to focus on those shadows, the grip on his Shiva suddenly tight.

There, almost invisible in the growing twilight: several figures in dark tactical armor and gear, quickly moving from shadow to shadow, heavy assault rifles held ready. Their quick, economical moves said 'soldier' without the effortless motion that said 'Qos Viran'. That left only one possibility. One of the more powerful clans, like the Styr, had lent their personal military to the Council's efforts to purge the Ventru.

That tightened Lash's features further. Taking down arrogant incompetents like the Hands of the Council was one thing. Going up against one of the militaries from which the covert specialist Qos Viran were drawn was quite another. These vampires were professionals, and likely veterans of not only battles with other clan militaries, but with psionics as well. If he wasn't careful, there was a very real chance that they'd cut him into little pieces if he tried to take them out head on.

Easing back from the corner, he glanced down along the side of the house to the entrance. It was obvious the soldiers were advancing on the safe house. The question was: did he have enough time to get inside and retrieve what he needed before they were on him? He grimaced. He was out of supplies and had a hot vehicle. Which meant he had no choice; he had to try to get inside and get not only more supplies but another vehicle or he'd be exposed and without options.