Violets Are Blue (Alex Cross #7)(49)
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"The force harnessed here knows no limits. Believe in it. Believe in yourselves. Tonight is a special night. So come with me to the next room. The next level. Come, if you believe - or even better, if you don't.'
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Alex Cross 7 - Violets Are Blue
Chapter Seventy-Three
I had never seen anything like this. Jamilla and I were quiet and wide-eyed as we entered an even larger chamber in the basement. The room was lit by wall sconces, most of them electric. The brutal fangs gleamed everywhere. The white tiger had begun to growl, and I recalled the bites into human flesh. If you hunt for the vampires. What was happening in this eerie cellar? What was the purpose of tonight's gathering? Who were these ghouls - hundreds of them? Daniel and Charles stood beside two tall, handsome, dark-haired men in satiny black robes with capes. They looked to be in their early twenties, maybe even younger. They looked like young gods. Everyone crowded forward to see what would happen next. T am here to anoint two new vampires princes,'Daniel announced with grave authority. The persona was the same one he used onstage.'Bow before them!' A woman at the front shrieked. 'Our princes! Dark princes! I worship you!' 'Silence!' Charles shouted. 'Take that stupid cow out of here. Banish her.' The lights suddenly blinked once, then went out completely. The few burning torches were doused. I reached for Jamilla, and we slid back toward the nearest wall. I couldn't see anything. I felt a cold spot at the center of my chest. 'What the hell is happening, Alex?' 'I don't know. Let's keep together.'
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It got crazy very fast in the darkness. People screamed. A whip cracked nearby. It was madness. Chaos. Sheer terror. Jamilla and I had our guns out. But there wasn't anything we could do in the dark. A minute or so passed. Everything was inky blackness. It seemed like a very long time. Too long. I was afraid of being stabbed. Or bitten. A generator kicked in somewhere in the house. The lights in the cellar flickered, then went on again. Then off. Then on. I saw afterimages, rings of color. And then-- The magicians had disappeared. Someone shouted, 'Our princes are dead.'
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Alex Cross 7 - Violets Are Blue
Chapter Seventy-Four
I pushed my way through the shocked crowd and didn't meet resistance. Then I saw the bodies. The two young men in black robes lay sprawled on the cellar floor. They had been stabbed and their throats cut. Blood was pooled around the bodies. Where were Daniel and Charles? 'Police!'I called out.'Don't touch them. Back away.' The men and women closest to the bodies slinked away. I wondered if they had been about to drink the spilled blood. Wasn't that the ritual? The pattern for the ghoulish murders so far? 'There's only two of them! Two cops!'someone shouted. 'We will shoot you/Jamilla called out in a loud, clear voice. 'Back away. Do it. Where are Daniel and Charles?' I shouted. The crowd began to close in on us, so I fired off a warning shot. It echoed loudly. There was chaos in the cellar. Men and women began struggling to get through the doors. No one would get away though. FBI agents were waiting outside. Jamilla and I pushed our way into a connecting room in the basement. We started down a narrow hallway lit only by candles. Daniel and Charles could have come this way when the lights went out. It seemed likely; they knew the house. There were small rooms crowded next to each other on either side of the dusty tunnel. The layout reminded me of ancient catacombs. Everything was closed in - musty, damp, depressing as hell, scary. 'You okay?' I glanced back at Jamilla. 'I'm fine. So far anyway. This place is starting to grow on me.' She -------------- 198 --------------
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made a wisecrack, but her eyes were darting about. I could hear Kyle's voice calling to us. The FBI agents were inside now/Anything up there? Alex?You see anything?' 'Not yet. Daniel and Charles took off when the lights went off. No sign of them.' We moved cautiously, checking each of the rooms. Most of the space seemed to be used for storage. A few were completely empty. Dank and eerie, like tombs. Atmospheric, I suppose. Spooky for sure. I kicked open another door. Jamilla and I peered in. She gasped, her mouth open in a silent scream. 'Oh Jesus, Alex! What the hell happened?' I reached out and held onto her arm. I couldn't believe what I was looking at. I couldn't make myself believe it. My knees went weak. Daniel and Charles were laid out on the floor of the room. They had been murdered. I was too stunned to speak. Kyle came into the room behind us, said not a word. We moved closer to the bodies, but I knew they were dead. The throats of both men had been cut. And there were deep bites, fang marks. So who was the Sire?
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PART FOUR
HUNT
Alex Cross 7 - Violets Are Blue
Chapter Seventy-Five
Late the following afternoon, Jamilla had to return to San Francisco. She pretty much admitted that she was bumt-out and baffled. I gave her a ride to the airport, and we continued to talk about the murder case all the way there. We realized we were both obsessing. What had happened the night before changed everything. We had tracked down the supposed killers - and they had been killed. This was a complex and thoroughly frustrating murder mess in which anything seemed possible. The killers weren't necessarily clever, but they were full of surprises. 'Where do you go from here, Alex?' she asked as we turned into the airport. I laughed. 'Oh, now it's where do I go?' 'You know what I mean. C'mon.' 'Kyle has asked me to stay down here for another day or two to help out. Everyone who was in the house is being held by the New Orleans police. That's a lot of freaks to be interviewed. Somebody has to know something.' 'If you can get anything out of them. You think the New Orleans cops are cooperating now? They sure weren't before.' I smiled.'You know how stubborn local cops can be. We'll get what we need. It just might take a little longer. I'm sure that's part of the reason Kyle wants me to stay on.' She frowned at the mention of Kyle's name. I knew she was disappointed to be leaving though.'I have to get back home, but I'm -------------- 203 --------------