1
Traskerville. Foot of the Czardanian Mountains.
Contested Xomanian territory.
It was a dark and stormy night.
The year had wound down to harvest time, near year’s end. The trees were bare and pointing their skeletal fingers at the strobing sky as their leaves, every color of fire, swept up and swirled through the air in stillborn cyclones with seconds-long lifespans.
It was, this land, presently angry, it was angry because people were fighting and killing to decide who owned it. Or who could take it by force.
But the truth was, this land had always been angry, cursed some say, certainly stained with rivers of blood over the centuries, especially the closer you get to the foothills of the Czars. There are stories, man. Myths, urban legends, ancient legends, all manner of bogeyman hoodoo.
Whether you believe that hooey or not is irrelevant. Truth is truth whether you believe it or not.
ONe thing that’s certainly true, and proven, is that there have been enough without-a-trace disappearances in this fifty klik square area to populate a medium size country. Odd that so many people actually live here. But these are ancestral, holy, deity-granted lands.
That’s why everyone’s fighting over them.
There was a statistic a few years back that said, nearly five percent of the population of this area would disappear and never be found.
Five. Fucking. Percent.
I hope they didn’t put that on their tourism brochures.
Well don’t get too wigged out. Because thankfully we are not sticking around.
We’re going up.
PROLOGUE
THE FUNDAMENTALS OF DEICIDE
deicide
The act of killing a god, or a person who kills a divine being.
The rain very quickly gave over to sleet and then slushy snow, and finally fluffy snow as you gained altitude up the craggy, unfriendly ugliness of the Czars.
But the fluffy snow was a full blown whiteout affair.
And the acoustics and the way the wind and sound worked up there made the heavy winter wind into a shrill whistling song about how murdered you were going to be.
Most people didn’t go up there.
Because why the fuck would you?
Tonight though, eight individuals were ascending these heights like shadows of a shadow.
Why were they going up?
For the one thing that never comes down.
The one being, to be specific.
The Timeless.
Remember earlier I was talking about legends and myths and all manner of hokum pokum associated with this place?
This myth is out of its own mind, batshit, buggyfuck, and one hundred percent true.
The oldest living vampire in the world lives in these mountains.
So ancient and no doubt powerful I don’t even know if they should still qualify as a vampire.
Anyone who knows a thing or three about vampus maximus will probably tell you that Nezzara Nyx is the oldest, I don’t even think she knows how old she is, but she sired the current Night Mistress Vai when she was already ancient and Vai is ten thousand years and some change.
But Timeless was allegedly ancient when Nezarra was sired. They sired her.
By looking at her.
Some say these mountains grew around Timeless.
Some say the world grew around them.
Some say they were the first.
Some say they were the source.
Others say -
“Timeless is going to die. Tonight.” The masked man hissed through his mask.
The eight of them had stopped on a wide clearing on the rocky path. They stood in a circle, waiting for their animal slaves to return with their findings. There was a great rim, nearly at the highest peak, a bowl.
It is said that The Citadel, the ancient home of Timeless, sits in that bowl. Or a portal to where it does exist resides there.
Either way it’s invisible.
All of these eight were male, very large, head to toe in shrouded black garb.
And each of them was a vampire.
The oldest not a day over two hundred.
Young bucks. Upstarts. Looking to take what is theirs.
They are from the mysterious cabal known as The Black Court.
Their lofty goal?
To kill their God and take its place.
A bat and a ferret returned to them and they all stood in their circle silently as if being debriefed by the two rodents.
When done, the tallest one smiled beneath his mask, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
With that they quietly made their way up the sloping rock into the massive bowl area.
They knew exactly where they were going, and soon they were running their hands over a cool, smooth invisible surface.
“Split up.” Their leader whispered, “We know what to look for.”
Apparently they did, because they very quickly made a quiet entrance into the Citadel.
Once inside they realized the whole damn place was made of black marble.
Somehow, they also knew pretty much exactly where to go.
To be fair, it was a big place, but it was also a very simple place.
“Holy shit.” One of the masked operators said, “You know how much that ---”
“Not out loud.”
They nodded at each other and continued on, quickly approaching the throne room, moving in absolute silence and absolute darkness.
These eight were Knights. The move was checkmate. Knight to King one.
The immortals of this world didn’t need idle mummified atrophied driftwood adhering to superstitious rules from millennia ago. The Grand Knight Traegher thought. When was the last time anyone had even sent this crusty old fossil? Yet they still hid, obeyed and applied the limitations that were his rules. Well no more. Regime change. The immortals of this world needed action, conquest, blood like rain. And with The Black Court ruling them, that’s exactly what they were going to get.
They had reached the massive double doors to the throne room, two of Traegher’s knights each grabbed a door then looked over their shoulder at him. He nodded curtly and they swished the doors open.
He stomped into the dark throne room with flourish. The other knights marched in behind him.
He could feel the electricity, the adrenaline. They were doing this! He decided in that second, he wasn’t just going to kill The Timeless. He was going to drink The Timeless. Such power!
Except...
Where the hell were they?
They could nearly see everything in the big room but, wait…movement?
There was a cha-chunk!! And Traegher was stricken blind as, the entire throne room was flooded with light brighter than noonday,
When his vision returned, he saw…The Timeless? Not a mummified bat creature, but what looked like someone’s friggin’ peepaw sitting not on some grandiose throne but an Ez Chair, smiling and drinking tomato juice.
And that’s not even what concerned him.
What concerned him were the half dozen or so heavily armed guys in black tactical gear leveling weapons at them, and the cocky little one out in front, smiling ear to ear.
“Well.” Steinz smiled, “Happy Harvest, gentlemen.”
THE BOYFRIEND SQUAD
IN
SUCK IT!
All of the bull crap that led them to this bull crap started about six weeks ago, and it started like so many great stories and adventures do: With some good old fashioned fisticuffs, baby,
1
Talk Shit, Get Bit
Arkin McCall was hanging out with his half-brother Addox Almeida.
Well, not really half.
Arkin’s biological dad’s name wasn’;t McCall, it was Almeida, but Allejandro Almeida had died when Arkin was about two. His mother had had a few bad years of it, then had met Jameson McCall, a white dude and a military police officer. Arkin had ended up taking Jimmy Mac’s last name out of love and respect for him. He was a good dude, he was Arkini’s dad. He’d cried when Arkin told him he wanted him to adopt him. White people. Jimmy Mac was still kicking too. Probably having sex with moms right now. His old ’ass parents were still freaky-deaky. Disturbing, but more power to them, he said. Addox had been born from Allejandro’s first marriage, about five years before Arkin, And when Addox’s moms died when he was ten, Arkin’s people had taken him in. Raised them up from that point as brothers.
“Ahh, okay.” Vendi said to Arkin over the din of the outdoor bar, “Now it makes sense.”
“What? Me having a white guy last name?” Arkin asked.
That got a snort of laughter from both Lawless, and Addox’s wife Xiomara.
“Amongst other things, yes.” Vendi chuckled, “Let’s get another round of shots..”
“Bitch, yeah.” Xio said.
“Oooh, look out, ol’ girl’s on a mission!” Lawless said.
It was at that point that Dexler, not a big drinker, had a suspicion graduate to a certainty. They had a shadow.
Dude was damn good too. But Dexler was better.
Seventeen minutes later, Tobiax Dexler will have broken nearly every bone in his right hand.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…
As soon as Dexler clocked the dude, across the street, two buildings down at another outdoor bar, his eyes locked with Vendi’s across the table.
“You see it, right?” His wife asked without moving her lips.
“Yes.” He answered, also with no lip movement, “Definite shadow.”
“We got twins.” Arkin said, doing the ventriloquist thing himself, he looked as though he was looking across the table at his wife, but he was actually clocking a peeper a half block down.
“Cross-watch?” Lawless asked, “That's a lot of heat, the fuck you guys been up to?”
“Alright.” Dexler said, “I’m gonna get up like I’m going to the bathroom, Arkin wait ’til I’m a ways away and do a ‘Dexler, wait up.' thing and we’ll walk out of their sight.”
At that point Lawless broke into guffawing laughter, just to seill the bit to their viewers, and Vendi and Xio instantly followed her lead and joined in.,
You guys wait sixty seconds, and then act like it’s time to go, throw a tip on the table etc. and walk slowly.”
”Who’s doing whom?” Arkin asked.
“We each do the guy we spotted.” Dexler began, “After you guys break line of sight, Vendi, Xio come back me up, Lawless you and Addox go back up Arkin. Questions?”
There were none.
“Okay, be careful, wake me when it’s over.”
He stood, being kind of loud and drunkenly, and announced to Vendi that he had to “Drain The Dragon” and stumbled off.
Dexler. God Chair. Wake you up over there, Dez?
No. I was watching my Soaps.
Okay, so, technically The Boys aren’t undercover.
Let me rephrase: officially The Boys aren’t undercover.
They were just out having drinks.
Suspecting that they’d had at least one Shadow for thirty-six hours.
They were just having drinks.
With Steinz and their ghost operator quietly, invisibly staying never farther than a hundred feet from them.
Dexler bombed out a side door and doubled-back triple time. Link us up, God Chair.
Time to get to the bottom of this shit.
Squad. Link-census please. Dez said over the link.
Go for Dexler.
Go for Vendi.
Go for Arkin.
Go for Lawless.
Go for Steinz.
Go for Cleo.
Weird line-up. Dexler thought, Good, though.
Dez. I assume you still have nothing on these guys? Vendi asked.
Affirmative, Colonel, these guys must have pounds of Gloomiron up their ass. Dez said. I can give you locations, but not much else.
Unless, it ain't Gloomiron at all, it’s somethin’ different. Lawless said,
Dexler, you planning on killing these dudes? Dez asked.
Not unless they make me.
Then grab one, Dez said, Give him to Cleo, we’ll find out how they’re blocking tepe and every other fucking question we have, and we have a lot.
Torture is illegal in this country Dez . Dexler said.
Tobiax, you know i don't like that word. Cleo said.
Sorry Cleo.
‘Illegal in this country.’ Dez chuckled, The fuck’s with you today? You can’t break laws if you don’t exist, operator. Now turn left into that next alley. He’s moving fast. He doesn’t know you’re on to him, but he suspects something.
Where’s my guy, God Chair? Arkin asked.
Arkin, Lawless, be advised, you are about to run right into each other. Dez warned, Once you meet up on Sixth and hopefully not run into each other, take a right, east on thirty-seventh Avenue and you’ll be out in front of him, he’ll be headed right for you.
Dexler was bombing down the surprisingly brightly lit alleyway., when he heard what he knew was someone climbing a chain link fence.
He was on the guy in a second. But…
The guy hanging on to the fence looked over his shoulder at Dexler and smiled, then swooped over the fence and disappeared. But that wasn’t his guy.
Dez, that wasn’t him. Where’s my guy?
Are you positive, Sergeant because I’m picking him up right there with you.
Dexler reached inside his slim leather jacket, came out with his side arm and thumbed the safety catch off.
He began to clear the alley, getting eyes on everything through his hammer sights.
Dez, where the hell is Dexler? Guide us to him. Vendi said.
Take your next left and keep following it, it’ll bring you right to him.. Dez said.
I’m forty-seconds away, Dexler. Steinz said, Coming to you now.
Dexler, having cleared the alley, pointed his weapon up at an angle and began clearing the rooftops. Dez, you got him?
I’m telling you, Lead, he’s right there with you.. Dez said.
I don’t – Then Dexler froze.
Then he looked up.
Straight up.
Red eyes looked down at him, a mouth full of impossibly large teeth barked laughter, and leapt for him.
“Fuck!” Dexler got three rounds off. Each of which would have killed a man.
It didn’t even slow it down.
It had its long-fingernailed hands around his throat before the two of them even hit the ground.
