Chapter Fifteen
"A couple of issues," Carlos said slowly, putting his hands behind his back. Spending a whole twenty-four hours underground waiting on resources was nearly more than his nerves could stand. Each time he had to come before the table put his survival on the line. But he needed the resources badly enough to withstand the drama. Still, he hated having to rely on others to bestow anything on him.
Following protocol, Carlos waited until receiving the chairman's nod, and he ignored the scowl coming from the counselor at the table. "There are four clerics, that no doubt, you have seen me interact with?"
The chairman smiled and made a tent with his fingers in front of his mouth, only nodding.
"Infidel!"
The chairman held his hand up to the counselor. "Speak."
"These men are how I have an exact location of the huntress. Between my comprise of them," Carlos said quickly, "and of her guardians, I can get to her at will." A half smile appeared on Carlos's face. "One of them, I believe, is a lower gen. An eighth or ninth in my line. How can I use him?"
The chairman sighed. "Insignificant. By that generational level, his effectiveness is so diluted and his status within our ranks is so negligible... they're not even what I'd consider true vampires. They're a subclass of a subclass, an actual embarrassment to all we hold dear. After the fourth generation, they can't even produce fangs - totally useless vermin."
"But he's a tracker, and a cleric, and can cross prayer lines. Our Neteru trusts him because he wears a collar. So do the others." Carlos waited, his gaze locking with the chairman's.
The chairman lowered his hands, his smile broadening. His countenance relaxed. "Yes. As always, done with flair, Rivera. But your point?"
"I need them to be off limits... if they get rushed, or bitten - "
"No one will flush your hunt and terminate your compromised informants while you are abroad, Mr. Rivera... will they, Mr. Counselor?" The chairman shot a warning glance toward the counselor and then looked at Carlos. "I do understand your concern about things going awry in your absence... another reason I insisted on this meeting before you left - so that we are all clear." He cast his narrowed gaze around the five points of the pentagram-shaped table, and waited for nods of agreement before speaking. "If you find your travels expand, simply call an exterminator, look into its eyes, and a safe location will be shown to you."
Imperceptibly, Carlos let out his breath. That's all he'd need was to come back to the cabin and find four corpses. Not to mention, the last thing he'd need would be to have Damali's crew wiped out over there. That would freak her out and send her into a spiral of pain that she'd never recover from.
"This is your mission, Mr. Rivera. We are all clear... albeit your methods are unorthodox, they have been effective thus far."
"Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to be sure they don't take a body while we're in Brazil. Can't have it. Over there, I call the shots, or send me alone. This part is nonnegotiable."
"Are you mad, Rivera!" The counselor was on his feet, and two of the exterminator bodyguards snarled their discontent at Carlos's statement. "These are highly skilled, trained assassins that eat well. We've removed them from our borders, at your request, for this ill-fated mission to collect a girl that will probably get on a flight after shopping! This is valuable vampire power gone to waste, and now you don't want to feed them in one of the adrenaline capitals on the planet? Mr. Chairman," he urged, opening his arms so wide that his black robes swept the table, "we cannot continue to suffer these offenses, these indignities. These methods are of a rank amateur who hasn't - "
"You draw a hotel or stadium police sweep, and get foreigners detained at the airports, you make my job harder," Carlos argued coolly. "Obviously, it's been a while since you've been topside. This is my era, the twenty-first century - it ain't the horse and buggy days."
"I am from the Roman era, when evil was at its apex on the planet - as was shrewd, duplicitous politics and aggression. The days of chariots; not horse and buggies. So don't you dare presume - "
"You make her afraid, or worse, flush her to go hunting, you'll take my cargo deeper into the badlands of the Amazon jungle looking for the source of what ate a few concertgoers. Hurt her team, and she'll never leave Brazil until she finds out what killed some of her guys. That's Neteru nature... if you ever had one, you'd know, motherfucker."
Carlos studied his nails as he spoke, and then glanced at his watch. The counselor didn't have an immediate comeback and was silent. The chairman seemed amused. The others at the table appeared anxious for a heart-ripping to take place - and from the looks of their expressions, it was a fifty-fifty split who they were betting on. Whatever. He was wasting time. The concert was probably almost over, and he needed to get to Damali while he was still sure of exactly where she'd be. All he needed was to have to search through the clubs and hangouts all over Rio to find her; some poor innocent might become his dinner.
"There's plenty of drug dealers in the jungle hiding cocaine and heroin plantations that the authorities won't miss, or don't care about, and that the Neteru won't be upset about if you guys get hungry
20
