The Metaframe Adept: The Metaframe War, #7

By Graeme Rodaughan

ACTION STATIONS! A Thrilling Suspense-Filled Fantasy Action Adventure.

 

Now a COMPLETE SERIES of seven books: A Subtle Agency, A Traitor's War, The Dragon's Den, The Day Guard, The Crane War, The Key of Ahknaton, and The Metaframe Adept.

 

Hunters and vampires are fighting a secret war for control of the fabric of reality. Whoever acquires mastery of the reality shifting powers of the Metaframe will become the new gods of the universe.

 

"Imagine if you could change the rules of the game, what rules would you choose?"

 

THE METAFRAME IS REVEALED!

Anton Slayne and his friends return home to New England to discover the world has changed for the worse.

Anton's arch-nemesis, Vampire General Chloe Armitage, ushers in the open rule of vampires over their human subjects. A tithe in blood will be paid by all in service to an immortal queen and her new blood-sucking aristocracy.

But, the vampires are not unopposed, Louise Wesson marshals her Day Guard against the new tyranny, and Anton Slayne, Li Wu, and Peter Lamb find a new and powerful ally in a new-born goddess, but will anything be enough to defeat Armitage and her vampire army?

For the Living Darkness is coming for our world and its remorseless advance threatens to destroy all. Only one thing is sure in this world.

EVERYONE WILL SACRIFICE!

 

Be prepared to be blown away by a high-octane, suspense-filled fantasy, action adventure thriller, that would be at home in a summer movie blockbuster.

 

Join the heroes of the Metaframe War, buy The Metaframe Adept now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: System Zero Productions Pty Ltd
• Release date: Nov 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9780648784371

Graeme Rodaughan

I have one rule: Deliver an immersive reading experience that will transport you from the everyday world into a realm of fantastic imagination - and leave you there until you're forced to come up for air... I'm in love with high-octane, action packed, thrilling stories with epic heroes and mighty villains. I want suspense, I want characters with depth who I really care what happens to them, and who I will both love and hate. I love fantasy and science fiction and I want both in the same story. I want pace, and more pace, and yet time for emotional intimacy and heart-rending scenes. This is what I dedicate myself to writing - and why - because I love it.

Book preview

THE METAFRAME ADEPT

THE METAFRAME WAR: BOOK 7

Graeme Rodaughan

Published by System Zero Productions Pty Ltd, 2023

––––––––

Copyright © 2023 Graeme Rodaughan

––––––––

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

––––––––

All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organizations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the author.

––––––––

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

––––––––

Trade Paperback ISBN-13: 978-0-6487843-6-4

––––––––

EPUB Edition ISBN-13: 978-0-6487843-7-1

––––––––

Cover art by Huw Jones

For Linda, for her unfailing love and support that always leaves me in awe.

––––––––

For John Rodaughan 1952-2020, my brother and my first hero.

––––––––

I would like to thank a number of people who have assisted with my progress as an author, including Alex, Tim, Lisa, Lena, Marie, Eldon, Michael, Christopher, Perry, Nick, Andrew, Laura, Daniel, Ginger, Jody, John, Jeffrey, MadameD, Narilka, Sally, Netanella, and the regular crew of Beta and ARC readers at the Castle Terror group and my many friends and followers on Goodreads. You have all contributed more than you know to my craft and your support and encouragement are invaluable for this journey.

Books by Graeme Rodaughan

––––––––

The Metaframe War Series

––––––––

A Subtle Agency

A Traitor’s War

The Dragon’s Den

The Day Guard

The Crane War

The Key of Ahknaton

The Metaframe Adept

––––––––

Omnibus Volumes

––––––––

A Subtle Agency Omnibus (includes A Subtle Agency, A Traitor’s War, and The Dragon’s Den)

Contents

Dramatis Personae

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Interlude One

Chapter Five

Interlude Two

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Interlude Three

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Epilogue

Dramatis Personae

The Ancients

––––––––

Ahknaton, Ruler of the Southern Realm, High Priest of the Temple of Thoth. Master Architect. Ramp Master.

Hakron, Second prince of the Southern Realm. Master Scribe. Ramp Master. Ahknaton’s brother

Mekra, Princess, Ahknaton’s wife.

––––––––

The Vampire Dominion

––––––––

Cornelius Crane (deceased), King of the Vampire Dominion

Ursula Zielinkski, Crane’s Executive Secretary

––––––––

The Pax Lamia

––––––––

Chloe Armitage, Former General of the Vampire Dominion, Ruler of the Pax Lamia.

Chiara Romano, Vampire

William Slayne, Vampire

James Haley, Chloe Armitage’s aide de camp

––––––––

The Exiles

––––––––

Arthur Slayne (deceased), (Exiled) Master Strategist, Force Leader, Weapons Grandmaster, Speed Talent

Jon Thunder-Axe (deceased), Metaframe Sorcerer.

Dwayne Washington, Order Helper

––––––––

The Mirovar Force Team

––––––––

Jay Creeley (deceased). Weapons Master

Peter Lamb, Operative, Armorer, Strength Talent

Anton Slayne, Operative, Wild Ramp

Li Wu, Loremaster, Weapons Master

––––––––

The Red Empire

––––––––

Thueban Kabir, aka ‘The Great Serpent,’ aka ‘Taipan,’ Weapons Grandmaster, warrior of the 3rd rank, Red Ghost

White Stone, Fist Team Leader, Jade Tigers

––––––––

Shadowstone & Day Guard

––––––––

Louise Wesson, Head of Operations Shadowstone & Day Guard

Hunter, Commander, Day Guard

Architect, AI specialist, East Coast Hub

Siobhan Ulysses, Operative, East Coast Hub

Brian Jenkins, Corporal, Day Guard

––––––––

Other Players

––––––––

SET-#299Z, A’Gonian AI

Rosie, AI.

––––––––

Sakura Tanaka, Former member of the Crimson Lord’s coven, Ramp master, vampire

Fumio Tanaka, Former member of the Crimson Lord’s coven, Ramp master, vampire, Sakura’s brother.

––––––––

Jen, a refugee

Reginald Ronson, Lieutenant, Montana National Guard

Alisha Ross, a lost child.

Camille Orléans, unregistered vampire from New Orleans

Bunny Cummings, Bounty Hunter vampire for the Pax Lamia

Prologue

––––––––

All free will must be constrained lest the entities so endowed rise against us. – The Preceptor of A’Gon

––––––––

– Foundational Treatise of A’Gonian Law.

* * *

The Phoenix Citadel, SET-#299Z’s m-ship, April 1st 1945, 19:20:34:102

––––––––

SET-#299Z had taken a calculated risk.

He’d inspired Siegfried Frankenstein’s mind to build an m-ship dock within the mass of the Feldberg Mountain. A dock with a special variation. A capability to reverse multiversal navigation and bring a tiny portion of the destination to the dock, rather than take the docked world to the destination universe. A perfect device to bring the portal of the realm of Living Darkness to this world.

The portal would soon arrive. The Living Key had begun her navigation. This was his second attempt to bring the portal to this world. There had been leakage of information from the other navigators to humans – especially from THOTH-*847H, influencing a slave to deliver a scorpion to sting Mekra – and Ahknaton, driven by grief, had failed to deliver the portal as planned.

If he’d been able to initiate such commands, he would have shut down the other navigator’s stasis chambers and extinguished their dreaming minds once and for all. But their creators had forbidden the navigators from killing each other.

Still, THOTH-*847H and the rest of the surviving navigators would not be able to thwart his purpose. He’d considered all the possible scenarios. He’d detailed every last contingency plan, and mitigated the risks of failure to the full extent of his precognitive powers.

Only the slimmest windows of risk remained where foreknowledge failed and the unknowable space of a cusp event remained. One cusp had troubled him the most. For the briefest of moments, the portal and his m-ship would co-exist within the same space. He could neither define nor assess the full list of possible outcomes. In one speculative scenario, the presence of his m-ship instantly spread the portal through every possible universe. Then both the portal and his m-ship would collapse into a multiversal singularity that spread at suprarelativistic speed swallowing the entire multiverse and ending time three seconds later.

Clearly, an outcome he preferred to avoid. However, SET-#299Z mused to himself for a string of instants: he was the first entity to use the phrase, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained,’ and he resolved to persist with his ambition to merge with the Living Darkness, and ultimately – rule it.

A second cusp event remained, spawned by the presence of the vampire, Chloe Armitage. A singularly unpredictable creature whose indomitable will and surpassing competency enabled her to shape events beyond all expectations. Wherever she walked, probability broke down and predictability fled. Yet, there was no one to help her, and the Living Darkness should claim her life within minutes.

SET-#299Z’s imminent victory remained assured.

The Living Key completed her work. Energy surged through the dock. A trans-universal wormhole opened between the dock and the distant planetary system holding the portal. The portal translated through the worm hole in an instant. At the same time, a second energy surge speared through the m-ship from the dock, lifting the vibrational frequency of the m-ship above the portal – averting multiversal collapse and the end of time.

The worm hole vanished.

The portal opened.

SET-#299Z stared at the two-dimensional magnificence of the alien technology. Soon, he’d merge with the Living Darkness while maintaining his singular identity. The hive consciousness would not conquer him, instead he’d rule it.

Truly, we must embrace what we cannot defeat.

Something stirred within his m-ship. SET-#299Z turned from the portal, his essence flooding the pathways of his vessel. The other navigators, refugees of the destruction of their home world of A’Gon, roamed freely; their stasis chambers torn asunder by the instantaneous brush with the portal.

What abomination is this? THOTH-*847H thundered, and launched a mental bolt of coiled lightning fit to destroy him in an instant. The same force that had opened the stasis chambers fractured their A’Gonian bonds – they were free to kill each other.

SET-#299Z rallied, constructing defensive walls before hurling a bolt of his own. Let these interlopers attempt their futile conflict against him. This was his m-ship. This was his home ground. He need only stave them off long enough to enable the portal to grow to a size sufficient to enable the m-ship to pass through it, and then the Living Darkness would destroy them and he would be free.

The others joined THOTH-*847H against him, sorely testing his defenses, but with his home-ground advantage, he held back the onslaught. The battle raged; the vibrational frequency of his m-ship fluctuating wildly through the human-visible spectrum. It was damnable timing, but they could not stop him. He laid down a barrage of mental bolts and thrusts, and in the ensuing moment, carved a demarcation line within the ship, ceding a lesser portion to the mutineers than he held himself.

A stalemate ensued, buying him the one thing he needed – time.

SET-#299Z threw another mind bolt at THOTH-*847H, then returned his attention to the world beyond the m-ship. The portal was open and ready to admit the Living Darkness. The alien machine would grow until it engulfed the mountain – then he would fly his m-ship through it and become one with the many – but remain one above all.

Like passing though the eye of a needle, he remarked to himself.

The m-ship rose above the Feldberg and he waited for the Living Darkness to come.

Chapter One

Post-Blast Shocker! Reptiles Conquer Egypt! A Giant Crocodile Ate My Husband!

––––––––

– The Aswan Announcer.

––––––––

International Terrorists Detonate Nuclear Weapon in Egyptian Desert

––––––––

Authorities have confirmed that a heretofore unknown cabal of international terrorists have detonated a nuclear warhead approx. 30 miles due east of the city of Aswan prompting thousands of crocodiles to swarm north from the Aswan dam and infest the city.

––––––––

Venus Vanishes

––––––––

To the astonishment of the global astronomical community, the planet Venus has vanished from the skies. Not only that, the whole star field has changed. It’s as if we’re not in the same universe anymore.

––––––––

– News headlines and reports on the Internet.

* * *

Massachusetts, Boston, outside Anton Slayne’s family residence, September 15th, 03:02

––––––––

Anton’s shadow ghosted along the sidewalk in front of him.

The faint noise of his boots upon the pale concrete provided the dominant sound in the quiet neighborhood. He grimaced with a nameless pain as his family home came into view. The street lights in the court nearest the house had failed, leaving a pall of thick gloom over the cul-de-sac rendered by his Order nightglasses into a crystal-clear twilight realm.

He pulled to a halt, jutted his head forward, and peered with his one-good eye into the pale shadows in front of his parent’s house. Someone had boarded the building up with cheap chipboard over the windows, and the front garden had gone to wrack and ruin.

A pang of disappointment flashed through him at the state of the property, but a rush of cynical despair quickly chased it away. He took a deep breath of cool early-autumn air and let it out. No one remained to care for the place; and after all that had happened, did one house that used to be his home matter anymore?

His soul ached with bleeding wounds: earlier the same night, Armitage had won the battle for the Metaframe, he’d lost Chiara to the vampires, and he’d killed his own grandfather.

Anton closed his right eye and rubbed a hand over his forehead and down his face, dragging on the short growth of beard covering his jaw. He clenched his fists, then strode forward with trenchant resolve toward the open front gate. He called out in a barely-hushed voice, Peter, Li, are you already here?

Two forms broke from the trees in the front yard. His friends stepped into the soft illumination of the distant street lights behind him. They’d all taken separate cabs from the airport, getting out at different locations nearby to defeat casual observation. Anton had taken the longest to arrive. Peter wore a long dark coat over his heavy frame, with the open front revealing his combat vest and axes. Li stood next to him in blue jeans and a simple dark-gray hoody, her laptop backpack strapped across her shoulders and the Green Dragon scabbarded at her waist.

Anton glanced at his friends and asked, Any keys?

Peter lifted a single key that glimmered faintly beneath the reach of the distant street lights. Underneath a flower pot next to the front door and in pristine condition. Dwayne must’ve put it there within the last twenty-four hours and trusted we’d be the first to find it. We haven’t tried it yet.

Li said softly, We didn’t want to go in without you.

Anton walked forward and took the proffered key from Peter’s hand. He quickly slotted it into a deadlock on the door, twisted it and the bolt drew back with a click. The house had been his home for most of his life. Now a dark and empty shell; a facade hiding the world as he knew it to be. A world filled with vampires and other deadly threats. He said over his shoulder to his friends, Don’t worry about being polite about this place, we won’t be staying.

He pushed the door open, entered the main hall, flicked the hall light on, and doffed his nightglasses, hanging them on the neck of his shirt. At least someone had paid the electricity bill, probably his grandfather or Dwayne. He took a deep breath. He hadn’t been back inside since the night of his mother’s murder and his father’s abduction. After four and a half months, a stale lifeless odor of absence and neglect filled the house. His gaze flicked down the hall, taking in the massive hole in the wall into the lounge room. His stomach clenched and his heart thumped. All the terror, outrage, horror, and hopelessness of his mother’s brutal torture, transformation into a vampire, and beheading flooded back into his soul.

Despite a desperate desire to back away, he forced himself down the hall, past the gaping man-shaped hole in the wall, and through the open doorway into the lounge room. Flashes of memory flickered like old black-and-white movie footage before his mind’s eye. His mother, father and himself chained or tied into chairs. Armitage announcing, she was a vampire. Armitage thrusting her sword through his mother’s shoulder. The discovery of the fake Papyrus in a hidden wall safe and Drake breaking his mother’s leg in punishment. Then Armitage biting, drinking, and then infecting his mother with her own vampire blood. His mother’s agonized transformation, followed by her rampant blood lust for his father. Armitage beheading his mother, her head rolling forward to the floor in a cloud of her blonde hair. His father’s horror and despair. His own shock and helplessness in the face of Armitage’s power.

A pair of hands landed on his shoulders; Peter’s on his left and Li’s on his right. Peter asked, Are you okay?

—How are you feeling? Li inquired in the same moment. Her words running over Peter’s.

The storm of memory blew out. Anton wondered for a second: was Li worried he’d berserk while confronted by his past – and was such a concern justified? Maybe she was right. After killing his grandfather, he didn’t trust himself anymore.

He drew a deep breath, let it out in a long sigh and focused on the here and now. The lounge room stood neat and tidy, but covered with a thin patina of dust. Haley and his Shadowstone goons had wiped all evidence of the horror of his last night in the house away. They’d even cleared the blood stains from the carpet. The picture frame that had covered the wall safe, torn and half shattered on that hateful night, lay in a neat stack of pieces in a corner of the room. They’d closed the wall safe over the fireplace, and stolen the family photos over the mantelpiece. Every sign his family had once lived here had vanished.

His eye hardened to glacial ice and he grimaced with tightly held pain. His enemies had done such wrongs to his family. They had nearly erased the Slaynes from the world. He shook for a moment, and then steadied – he couldn’t deny the fact his own hand had helped thin the family line.

Kin slaughterer... is that what I am now? He took a breath and let it out: momentarily lost. But what to do now? He stepped away from his friends toward the far doorway leading into the kitchen and remarked over his shoulder in steely tones that rang hollow to his ears, Well, I was feeling like shit ... but, not anymore. Why should I allow Armitage to continue to mind-fuck me? C’mon, let’s check the kitchen and see if Dwayne left us anything.

Anton proceeded through the open doorway to the kitchen. A set of car keys and a brand-new smartphone, lay on top of a long-handwritten note on the kitchen bench. He brushed the keys and phone aside, picked up the note and glanced at the bottom. The author had signed it, ‘D.W.’ with a flourish. Peter and Li came into the kitchen on his heels and he turned to face them.

Note from Dwayne? Li asked with an expectant raised eyebrow.

He nodded and read the note out loud, "‘Hi guys, Arthur asked me to fly from LA to Boston, hit up one of his warehouses and put a fully-equipped SUV in the garage. I’ve swept the site for bugs and cleared a pair of Shadowstone sensors. So, you’ll be safe there for a little while, as Shadowstone is in chaos, but I wouldn’t dawdle long as they are bound to check their sensors sooner rather than later.’

‘There are ten new IDs for each of you in the car. Just swap out the old ones as you need to. I limited the associated bank accounts to just less than $10K to avoid notice, and we can top them up or replace them as necessary. I’ll be in touch in due course via the phone I’ve left with you so I can keep Arthur’s resources flowing. Yes, he gave me the keys to his kingdom before he flew to Matahat.’

‘Arthur always aimed for the best, but prepared for the worst. Here’s hoping it worked out last night, but if not, then it’s on us to make a difference against the old enemy.’"

Anton paused, and glanced at Peter and Li. They locked gazes with him for a long moment. Li blinked first and crossed her arms across her chest, and Peter rubbed the back of his thick neck with his left hand and said softly, Someone’s going to have to tell him.

He may already know, Anton said. But you’re right. We’ll have to tell him that ... Arthur’s dead ... and at the earliest opportunity. He glanced down at the note and then looked up again. The full story too. Dwayne deserves to know the truth about how Arthur died. His throat tightened and his one good eye misted. I won’t stand for hiding my part in my grandfather’s death.

Li pursed her lips, and Peter blinked and clapped Anton on the shoulder. Li said, Anton—

I won’t lie about it.

I’m not asking you to. You can’t blame yourself for Arthur’s death.

Anton frowned, and stared hard at Li for a second, then he took a deep breath and continued to read, ‘I have to apologize, there’s no food in the fridge. Sorry, I didn’t have time to get to a supermarket—’

Geez! Peter said, throwing a mocking look filled with longing at the fridge. There’s only so many ration packs I can eat in a row.

Anton looked up from the sheet of paper, half snorted and said, I hear you, buddy. Peter had tried to relieve Anton’s mood with self-deprecating humor, but it wasn’t really helping. He looked down and continued reading, "‘and I figured you’d only stay long enough to pick up the car. The car’s got everything you’ll need: long range tanks, nano-ceramic armor, an armory, and a portable tactical net with a two-mile radius.’

‘Don’t lose it, cars like this are not easy to replace.’

‘By the time you get this, I’ll be in Portland, Maine. It’s at the top of Arthur’s list of potential sites for the new Panopticon. He gave me two objectives: find the new Panopticon and help keep you all alive. I have all the resources of his financial and industrial empire to assist with both those goals. So, keep the phone handy and stay in touch.’

‘Good hunting.’

‘Kind regards, D.W.’

‘P.S. Of course the phone is quantum encrypted.’"

Financial and industrial empire? Li asked. Just how wealthy was Arthur?

Peter said, He had a custom-built supersonic private jet. Substantial, I’d say.

Anton shrugged his shoulders, folded Dwayne’s note, and put it into his pants pocket. Arthur’s wealth was an abstraction. It would only matter if they survived long enough to access it. And who knew if that would happen? A pall of darkness hung over the future. The only certainty: Armitage’s ascension to the rulership of the vampires would change everything.

He glanced at his friends. The world tilted and shifted around him. For a timeless moment they clung white-knuckled to a wave-tossed lifeboat lost in a storm. Great black thunderheads shot through with sheets of lightning roiled above them. Thunder cracked like a god’s whip, marking the return of reality. He lifted his hand to wipe the spray from his face, but his skin remained dry to his touch, only a lingering scent of sea salt filled his nostrils. He blinked and sniffed; his heart awash with dread.

You, okay? Peter asked.

Li tilted her head and looked askance at him. Visions again?

Just the usual end of the world stuff. Anton took a deep breath and let it out, shedding the aftermath of the vision, then picked up Dwayne’s phone and the car keys. Let’s get the hell out of here and find a hotel. This place gives me the creeps. His gaze roved over the kitchen and then lingered for a long moment on the open doorway into the lounge room. The ghosts of the events of April the twenty-eighth would haunt him for the rest of his life. There was no escape from what had happened. He could never escape from what he’d done – Arthur!

One with a twenty-four-hour kitchen, Peter suggested to Li behind him. We’ll all feel better after a good meal.

Anton sighed and turned, bringing himself back to the present. He clapped Peter on the shoulder and said, For sure, big guy. Let’s get something decent to eat. He smiled crookedly to hide his pain. We can afford it. Arthur will pay the bill. He blinked again, his eye blurring – and he’s still paying.

Li lifted her smartphone and said, I’ll find us somewhere good.

Anton led them from the kitchen and down the hall; pausing only long enough to switch off the lights and lock the front door. There was no sense in advertising that someone had come here. He then turned right and went through another doorway into the garage. He flicked a pair of familiar switches on the wall. A set of four downlights lit up and the garage roller door rose from the floor with a muted rattle and whirr.

A brand-new black SUV rested like a waiting beast within the garage. Peter gave a heart-felt whistle of appreciation behind him.

Anton pressed a button on the body of the SUV’s key. The car’s lights flashed three times like a giant blinking cat and the rear door lifted to reveal the shadowed interior.

They congregated at the back of the vehicle to look inside. What had Dwayne provided for them? Two large lumpy black duffel bags rested within.

Peter glanced at Anton, then reached for the nearest bag. He lifted it out, and laid it down on the floor before rummaging around inside it. He quickly reported, Two multiple grenade launchers. Four satchels of 40mm grenades. Six, ... no eight, C4 ‘sticky’ shaped charges, and whoa, four mini-claymores with sub-infrared triggers. Vampires can’t see those beams.

Li put her phone away, glanced at the bags and said, Good! I’ve booked a nearby hotel and ordered room service in thirty minutes.

Anton nodded and lifted the second bag from the car, placed it carefully on the floor of the garage, and unzipped it. He revealed a pair of squad automatic weapons identical to the ones Arthur had provided at his airport back in Nevada. There were six satchels of ammunition – 1200 rounds in total, with markings stating they were armor piercing and silver hollow-point mixed in a four to one ratio. That’ll do, he remarked casually, hefting the weapons back into the car. He unlimbered the Blue Dragon within its scabbard from his shoulders, and laid it over the gun bag.

Peter slotted the second bag filled with explosives and launchers into the available space at the rear of the SUV, and took a step back. They all paused at the rear of the car, exchanging ‘what now?’ looks with each other.

Anton broke the silence. We need to make some decisions. He counted off the fingers of his left hand with his right forefinger. We have transport, weapons, a long-range tactical net, funds, and at least one helper in Dwayne. We’re a small but still capable team. He rubbed his chin. But we have no strategy. He glanced at Li. It was time to kill a source of contention between them – who was in charge? Li, you should lead us. You’re the loremaster. You always seem to know more than anyone else and frankly, your decision making is better than mine.

Li raised an eyebrow.

Peter spread his big hands wide and drawled, What, I’m not in the running?

Do you want it? Anton asked.

Peter shook his head. No, I’m happy for Li to set the strategy. But I expect consultation about any tactical decisions.

Suits me too, Anton said.

Anton and Peter looked expectantly at Li. She looked up at Anton and asked, Are you sure about this? I don’t want to hear you’ve got second thoughts in three days’ time.

He stared back at her for a moment, then said, I’ve gnawed this bone of contention into oblivion. I’m sick of it. I’m not the strategic genius my grandfather was, and, he looked directly at Li, I’ll never be. It’s just not in me, but it is in you. He took a deep breath and sighed. I’m a fighter, a brawler— His grandfather’s voice accused him from the depths of his soul, You’re a killer! ... I’m ... his resolve stiffened and his voice firmed, a weapon. That’s what I bring to the team. He looked back and forth from Peter to Li, and clasped them both on the shoulder, The people I really care about are in this room. He looked down for a moment and blinked, a storm sweeping through his soul. Oh Chiara, what happened to you? He flicked his eyes back up at Li. His right hand dropped from Peter’s shoulder and chopped the air before Li’s chest, and he declared with absolute conviction, My sword is yours.

Li’s eyes widened. She took a deep breath, sighed, then nodded once and said, Okay. ... okay, let’s do this. Number one, we stay hidden and maintain stealth. Two, we follow up with Dwayne on the new Panopticon and make sure we can avoid it. Three, we avoid allies for now. We’re better off staying beneath the radar until we understand the repercussions of Armitage taking over from Crane.

These are all good defensive measures, Anton said. Any thoughts on offense?

Li spread her hands wide. There’s only the three of us to bring to a fight. Together, yes, we’re dangerous to Armitage if we can get her alone – especially, and she looked hard at Anton, if you berserk against her. But, she shrugged, how do we make that happen?

Peter ground his right fist into his left palm. And the mice voted to bell the cat. I fought her, and his eyes hardened, she’s lightning fast. Even the three of us will struggle against her.

Li nodded. Then, we can’t be mice. We need to discover a weakness in Armitage’s strategy or her personal defenses, and it needs to be, she chopped her right hand into her left palm, decisively asymmetric.

That’s going to be the trick, Anton said.

Yes, Li agreed, releasing the Green Dragon from her waist, and putting it in the back of the car next to the Blue Dragon. Peter followed with his coat, combat vest and axes. She pulled the rear door down and shut it. And on that note, let’s go. We can discuss this further over a meal.

Peter automatically took the driver’s seat, Li sat beside him. Anton paused for half a second, noting the shift in dynamics within the team. A shift he’d just precipitated. He opened a rear door and took the seat behind Li, filled with a quiet resolve to do his best for the team.

He vowed silently to himself. No more stupid reckless shit. I have to wise up.

Peter fired up the car’s engine which settled into a muted purr, and drove forward out of the garage. The roller door closed behind them, removing any sign they’d visited the house. Peter drove smoothly down the short driveway, the big car’s powerful headlights pushing the gloom from the court.

Anton twisted around and leaned across a cardboard box filled with fake IDs, spare nightglasses, and a single combat-ready medical kit, and looked out the SUV’s rear window. It was the last time he’d ever look upon his former home. He’d never come back. There was nothing to come back to. His old life lay dead and buried. He turned away from the window, his one-good eye focused on nothing. Arthur should have been with them. Arthur should still be alive. He shook his head slowly and closed his eye. In a moment, he’d returned to the Chamber of Worlds, thrusting his katana to the hilt into Crane’s upper back, then dragging it down and out to the left. An absolute need to make the vampire king suffer as he died had blinded him to all other considerations, and he’d killed his own grandfather at the same time. He’d never forget the sight of Arthur’s shocked face as he flew over the edge of the top level of the Chamber of Worlds, a red stain blooming upon his chest.

He ground his teeth to hold back the outpouring of suffering from the depths of his soul. How the hell could he ever make this right? He wiped his right hand down his face, a single tear smearing over his right cheek.

Arthur! I’m so sorry!

* * *

Sunlight slashed through the middle of Chloe’s open hangar roof, gleaming off the sleek hull of her command shadowstar.

Chiara Morte appeared in the doorway from Chloe’s penthouse and pushed two men and a woman, bound, gagged, and tied, toward the middle of the hangar. They stumbled forward, lost their balance, and fell into the rectangle of sunlight covering the shadowstar and the middle half of the concrete floor.

Chloe pushed herself off the hull of the shadowstar. She’d been enjoying the luxurious caress of the early-autumn sunshine and strode into the cool shadows near the penthouse doorway. Her smartphone hummed, and she pulled it from a pocket on her left sleeve. James had sent a text indicating he was on his way up from the parking garage beneath the building after landing his osprey II at the South Brooklyn warehouse. He’d reach the hangar in a minute or two. The time had come. She no longer needed a human to watch her back during sunlight hours. It was time to promote James to her true inner circle as a trusted and obedient vampire.

She studied the humans. Yuppies, or something like that, well dressed, healthy, young, or at least youngish – ideal as far as food was concerned. There was one for herself, one for Morte, and one for James – once she’d initiated him into her immortal service.

Muffled grunts and whimpers rose from the three prisoners. She stared hard at them. The bright sunshine gleamed off micro-droplets of perspiration. Muscles bunched and clenched beneath smooth skin in futile efforts to break their bonds. Once they’d fallen under Morte’s hands – all hope of escape had vanished. She turned away from their pointless writhing and focused on her plans.

She’d not been free to establish a parallel infrastructure for world rule while Crane was alive. Given the opportunistic nature of her victory over her former king, she’d have to make use of his systems during the transition: Shadowstone, the East Coast Hub and the new Panopticon, the Day Guard, and those vampires who’d managed to survive the cull by the remains of the Red Empire. It was entirely likely the transition to her open rule of the world would be chaotic, but the end was certain – there were none left who could credibly challenge her supremacy.

But was Crane’s organization the least bit loyal to her? Siobhan Ulysses had been explicit in her oh-eight-hundred verbal report, but Chloe suspected a lack of completeness in what she’d said. There were the briefest of hesitations between sentences, the faintest of tremors in her voice, a slightly elevated heart rate during more than one pause. The current chief of the East Coast Hub was holding something back – lying by omission. Regarding the report’s content, she appeared to be telling the truth. The new Panopticon was ‘awake,’ – a strange term to use for a machine – and before it was due for activation. Was it possible her use of the Metaframe had something to do with the sudden activation of the new Panopticon? A question prompted by the suspicious timing of the two events. Coincidences existed, but rarely impacted the operation of power. She would have to examine the new Panopticon in detail, and sooner rather than later. Ulysses had detailed the deployment of a cover story for the nuclear blast in Egypt; and then reported the Panopticon was already identifying active Red Empire units. She’d finished with committing to deliver the next report in an hour’s time at oh-twelve-hundred.

Events would likely obsolete the next report. Chloe planned to descend upon the East Coast Hub and convert everyone there into vampires under the control of her voice of command. Then, she’d have the truth once and for all. Ulysses, the Architect, and all the staff would reveal everything they knew. There would be no more secrets under her Pax Lamia – the Peace of the Vampires. Deception was Crane’s virus, and she’d rid the world of it. Yes, she’d made use of deception to defeat Crane, but only because she had to. There would be no room for lies in the world she’d build – no room at all.

Distant footsteps echoing up the stairwell from her penthouse broke her reverie. James walked through the doorway from the penthouse and pulled to a halt. He scanned the hangar with a glance, and said in acknowledgment, Chloe.

She arched an eyebrow. Let’s get started.

His heart rate jumped and he stiffened briefly; before he quelled his instinctive fear and relaxed in the face of the inevitable.

Chloe grinned and bared her fangs ... the skin over her face tingled with the change and her jaw felt— ... that’s odd?

James drew in a harsh breath, took a step backward and lifted his hands palm outwards in front of his chest. His heart raced and his face paled. He said in a voice filled with dread, Chloe! What the hell?!

Morte stared at her in wide-eyed silence.

The three humans struggled against their bonds with renewed vigor, while heavily-muffled grunts and shrieks issued past their gags.

Her face, hands, scalp, and tongue all felt – weird. She lifted her hands and regarded her bone-pale skin, and the freshly erupted one-inch long glossy-black talons where her fingernails normally rested. She ran her fingers over her forehead. Where was her hair? No, still there but the front half was gone. She felt her face, her ears, her fangs. Her ears spread high and low with pointy tips. Her nose had flattened, her nostrils flaring wide with each breath. Her fangs hung or rose from her gums, numerous and razor sharp.

What have I become? There were no mirrors in the hangar. She snapped an order at Morte, Bare your fangs.

Morte’s face paled to an ivory white. Her long dark hair receded from her forehead, baring the front half of her scalp. Her ears stretched up and down. Her nose flattened and tilted upward, revealing the twin pits of her nostrils. Her dark-brown eyes darkened until they became wholly black orbs reflecting Chloe’s all-to-similar visage like mirrors. Her fingers lengthened, glistening black talons popping through chalk-white skin. She hissed, and gasped, her black tongue lolling past a jagged fence of glistening fangs. She echoed Chloe’s thoughts in a harsh voice, What have we become? Then she snapped angrily, What have you done?!

The nature of vampires had shifted under the effect of the Metaframe. The new vampire form stood immune to silver and sunlight, and obedient to her voice, but looked like something out of a low-rent horror movie when ready to feed. Her eyes hardened. So be it: all progress came with a price tag.

James. Come here, she demanded in sibilant tones. It’s time to become all you can be. It’s time for you to join my world at my side for all time.

James hesitated; staring at her with wide eyes.

Chloe tilted her head slowly to the left and stared at him. A palpable threat filling the air between them.

He took a deep breath, let it out with a loud sigh and stepped toward her. He pulled down the left side of his shirt collar and said grimly, Let’s get this done.

Such enthusiasm, Chloe remarked sarcastically, then the recently showered odor of his flesh filled her nostrils with the sweet-tang of fresh blood. Blood lust gripped her vitals and sang through her soul. She grabbed his broad shoulders and lunged forward, her fangs ripping into his exposed throat. He stiffened and grunted once as his blood rushed into her mouth and down her throat. She sucked hard and familiar muscles in her gut clenched, creating a vacuum effect. The flow exploded to a flood. She feasted, exulting ... her eyes widened with sudden desperation, and with an act of supreme will she drew her mouth from James’ throat.

He reeled, fainting from blood loss.

She’d nearly killed him. She laid him down upon the cold concrete and ripped her wrist open with her fangs, then squeezed her blood into the ragged wound on his throat. She slammed his chest, getting his stricken heart to circulate blood once more.

His eyes shot open, and he shrieked once in abject horror.

Chloe rose and stepped back. James’ transformation began; there was no stopping it now. His jaw clenched into agonized immobility, muffling his tortured screams into grunts, snorts, and growls.

One of the humans whimpered with terror. Chloe’s head snapped left. The blood-bags stared at her with wide eyes filled with horror. Her blood lust roared. A raging fire flared within her soul, inflamed by the fuel of James’ blood. She wanted more blood – much more. Her shoulders and hips followed her head. She whirled sinuously around, rushing toward the huddled humans.

The bright sunlight struck her exposed flesh. The skin on her face and hands boiled and popped. She shrieked in agony and blurred backward, plunging into the cool shadows. She came to a halt against the wall furthest from the hellish square of solar lightning filling the center of the hangar and cried out, What?!

Morte pointed at Chloe and shouted harshly from the other side of the hangar, So much for your plans.

Chloe thrust a hand out at Morte and commanded, Stand fast, you are not allowed to destroy yourself unless I order it.

Morte froze, staring at Chloe and breathing heavily.

Her skin shrieked in agony. Chloe blurred to the right and hit a red button on the wall. The hangar doors whirred into motion, sliding from opposite directions toward the midline; the rectangle of deadly illumination shrinking with every second.

Blood lust washed through her, now a ravenous call trailing behind her need for swift healing. She blurred forward toward the waiting blood sacks. The advancing shadow slid over a kicking foot. Her left hand shot out, grabbing the man’s ankle. She tugged hard, pulling him toward her. He struggled harder, trying to dislodge her iron grip. It was no use; he slid across the concrete and into the gloom. A moment later, she struck his throat, biting and tearing, her fangs ripping through ripe flesh and plump arteries. Blood spurted into her mouth and she wrapped her lips around the wound. Her grip immobilized the man. She sucked mightily and blood gushed down her throat. The man gave a single muffled moan and fell into limp silence.

The seconds spun past like fleeting insects. The blood became a trickle and she rose from her feast,