attention to him, except the Chinese man, who looked politely interested. After a few seconds Zack asked for a picture of the girl, Rebecca, which the man got for him as everyone else started to watch them closely. The room went silent and glancing over Zack saw that Edom was gently holding Troy's arm.
His whisper carried across the room.
"Watch. Understand, if you can. This isn't a small thing you're about to see."
If it was anything. Zack tried to memorize the little face, the girl missing a single front tooth in the picture, which was at least a year old. That was good enough. It was the signature of her energy, the feel of her, that he really needed. It took a long time, several minutes, to find her, chained as she was to a large stone block. Several people in black and red robes stood around, chanting in Latin. That part was interesting, because he hadn't known he could hear anything through the rifts. It had to be a special node thing.
"Got her. Still alive, no one is raping her or anything, just chanting, she's in a white dress and chains. There seems to be a lot of people. More than I would have thought... Um... sixteen?" He leaned in a little, not sure on all the counts but he searched for weapons anyway, knowing it was hopeless.
"Three guns, maybe four. They all seem to have knives too, I can't tell if they're sharp or not. The points look... pointy, if that means anything?"
He moved back and shrugged, the movement getting caught halfway up, the pure tension of the moment grabbing his soul, leaving him shaking with fear. There were too many of them in that room, and he couldn't fight. All he could do, going there, was die.
"And like a dumb-ass you're going to do it anyway. Like I said before, a moron , but definitely not a wimp. Well, fuck it, let's go and kill some Satanic freaks, eh Zacko?" Mirror Him actually sounded happy about it. Like it was the right thing to do. Normally when that happened he stopped and gave whatever the situation was a good hard thinking on.
Now he just stood up straight. It was a good enough way to die, and a good enough reason. It would be better if they could get the girl out. Kind of wasted effort if he didn't manage that.
The first one to realize what it all meant was Edom, who walked around the table being used as a bar, smiling. He held out his right hand to Erin and nodded to her.
"Don't worry ma'am, Mr. Hartley and I will retrieve her. I'm sure it won't take too long. Shall we?"
Eric looked confused, " what ?"
The dark Vampire smiled his teeth showing. Before that not everyone in the room seemed to have gotten what he was and a few recoiled.
"He can carry a person through the lines. I saw him do it myself and heard that he had twice within a few hours before that. He can take me in, and I'll free the girl. Then we can return. Even if it takes days for that portion, it will be worth it. Troy can see to my work for the next few days, correct?" He looked back, and Troy, not really getting it all, nodded.
"Right. No problem. Go and... Save that little girl." He really sounded baffled and like he didn't understand, but that wasn't going to stop him from helping a kid in need it seemed.
The problem there was the Edom was heavy. Too big for him to lift, he tried to explain it to everyone, but even as the Vampire's face fell they didn't really get it, feeling too excited by the idea to really pay attention to his words.
Wu-Li looked down at himself and smiled.
"I am not the equal in battle of a Vampire of this man's age and wisdom, but I have some passing acquaintance with the subject of combat. I think that I am not so rich in muscle as this one. Would it be possible to transport the two of us? We will almost certainly perish, given the odds, but..." He smiled and bowed. "Fortune sometimes truly does favor the bold."
Looking at the man he nodded. "I think that will work. I'll pick you up, from behind, so that after we step through and I drop you, you won't have to trip
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