Eternal Kiss of Darkness

Then he hung up even as Bones began to sputter out a demand to know where he was. When his mobile rang again with the same number flashing up, he didn't answer it.

He'd wait an hour, enough time for Bones's e-mail to circulate - and Bones would send it, no matter how furious he was. Then Mencheres would call Radje and listen to the Law Guardian set terms for Kira's release that Radje had no intention of fulfilling.

He knew without a doubt that Radjedef had her. If any other Law Guardians would have snatched Kira, they would have been the ones to contact Bones, not Radje. The only question was whether Radje was smart enough to keep Kira alive.

Bones called five more times in the next twenty minutes. Mencheres ignored each one.

Exactly sixty minutes after he'd hung up with Bones, Mencheres rang the number Bones had given him for Radje.

"Yes," Radje answered after several rings. He sounded angry.

"I am here," Mencheres stated.

"Menkaure, I am disappointed in your co-ruler. It seems he lied to a Guardian when he said he had no way to reach you," Radje purred, losing his hostile tone.

He almost smiled. "Bones was overzealous in attempting to deliver your message. He sent your number to all our people and their property, urging them to forward it to everyone they knew in an attempt to find someone who could reach me. You can spend your time searching through that list of thousands to see who was successful, or we can talk."

Radje let out a short laugh. "Clever. That explains all the recent hang-ups and anonymous threats. Your people are very loyal to you. And now I need to change this number."

"You have what I want," Mencheres said, too concerned for Kira to indulge in Radje's usual cutting banter. "I have what you want. Either we discuss a trade, or I end more than this call."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Radje said with feigned innocence.

"No need to pretend," he replied sharply. "If I went to the council to accuse you of taking Kira, they would only imprison me on sight, and you're too careful to admit to anything over the phone that I could record and play for them later. You have no audience except me, and I grow impatient."

A low whistle sounded. "Why, Menkaure, you sound like you lost your newest vampire. I wish I could help, but I haven't seen her since the night you changed her." Radje was still taking no chances that their conversation was monitored, in person or by electronic device. Mencheres's power throbbed inside him with seething, lethal waves that were only matched by his fear for Kira. If Radje had killed her . . .

"You know I long to be quit of this world," he said in tones of ice. "I can accomplish that in two ways. One is to go straight to the Guardian Council to claim responsibility for all charges levied again me. My sentence will be death, and their justice will be swift. Or, I can go to you and exchange myself for Kira's safe release. I will do one of these things in the next twenty-four hours. Which will it be?"

Radje was silent. Mencheres waited while his rising anger and fear made the walls tremble around him. Radje had claimed that he was irrationally in love with Kira for his own purposes, but he'd never really believed it. Radje might have guessed he cared for her, but would his ignorance of Mencheres's true feelings mean the Law Guardian hadn't thought to keep Kira alive as blackmail? What if he'd killed her to incite Mencheres to rashness in an attempt to further turn the council against him?

Mencheres knew they shouldn't have returned to Chicago as she insisted. They could have acquired proof against Radje another way. If he hadn't agreed to Kira's plan, she would still be with him now . . .

"If you are to turn yourself in, as a Guardian and your only living family, I would urge you to come to me," Radje said at last. "I would hate for you to die beleaguered when I could give you ease before your demise."

Mencheres closed his fists while relief washed over him. Radje was still being cautious in his speech, but his meaning was clear. Kira was alive, and Radje was offering her in exchange for Mencheres's power - and death. Radje wasn't even pretending he would let Mencheres live afterward.

"Then the death I already sought will now be spent in barter for one of my people. Tell me, if you hadn't taken Kira, who else would you have leveraged against me for your purposes?"

"As a Guardian, I would never blackmail anyone, but if I were seeking leverage against you, Menkaure, it would not be difficult. You are never short on those you care for," Radje replied with cruel satisfaction.

"And you have never let yourself care for anything but power. Even with all of my many regrets, I would not trade my life for yours, uncle, no matter if it gained me another four thousand years."

"I weary of this exchange," Radje snapped. "I will see you at midnight tomorrow on the top of the Bank of America plaza in Atlanta. Come unarmed and alone."

"I require evidence that I will not be acting in vain," he countered. "Your word is not sufficient."

Radje chuckled. "If I had taken Kira, I would not bring her anywhere near you. You would simply kill me and any guards with that formidable power of yours. I take great risk meeting you alone to bring you before the council, but I console myself with the knowledge that should anything happen to me, actions will be taken later that ensure your punishment."

Or, if you don't check in with Kira's guards at an appointed time, they will kill her, Mencheres filled in cynically. He'd suspected as much. Ruthless Radje might be, but foolish he was not. No, Kira would be far away from the place where Mencheres met Radje. The only reason the Law Guardian didn't fear Mencheres's finding her beforehand was because his power to locate people had vanished along with his visions.

I'm coming, the dark underworld of Duat seemed to whisper to him.

Not yet, Mencheres told it.

"I trust you'll find another way to give me the proof I require. I will see you on the roof of the Tower at midnight tomorrow," he stated, and hung up.

Vlad walked across the room, his hands behind his back, his gaze hard.

"You don't really intend to go alone, do you?"

"To Radje?" Mencheres gave him a grim smile. "Oh yes."

Kira could hear Radje talking to Mencheres in one of the other rooms of the ancient complex he had secured her in. Images of plumed serpents, war, and warriors were carved onto the pale stone walls around her in this partially collapsed temple, providing the perfect eerie backdrop for the Law Guardian's twisted plans. Kira could almost imagine that she still heard the screams from unwilling sacrifices echoing through the ruins of the huge, formerly great Mayan city.