Page 51 of Good Vampires Go to Heaven

“Oh, shit! Wonder if I’ll have to rebuild after this is over?”

No one answered his question because, frankly, they weren’t sure they would be the victor in this battle of good against evil.

“They haven’t discovered Harek’s or Sigurd’s islands yet, the shielding there being triple reinforced.”

“So what do we do about all this?” Nicole asked. She was wearing a Navy WEALS T-shirt over camouflage pants and sand-colored boots. WEALS was the name of the female SEALs unit, Women on Earth, Air, Land, and Sea. She must have come directly from Coronado.

“Mordr and Cnut can speak better on campaign strategy,” Harek said and sat down, while Mordr and Cnut stood.

Mordr, who had once been a berserker, spoke first. “Nicole, you and Trond and Camille will return to the SEAL compound and update them on certain aspects of the terrorism plots, not mentioning Lucipires, of course. You can say you have intelligence from Cnut’s Wings International Security firm. Bottom line, we need their help to handle the normal terrorist activities, as compared to the Lucipire-influenced frenzy.”

She nodded.

“Keep in mind, their goal is to destroy terrorists. Ours is to save evil humans, even terrorists, if they repent. But mainly our target is the Lucipires. So, our interests converge and diverge.”

Nicole nodded again, as did Trond and Camille, also in military attire.

Cnut spoke then, asking Harek to project something onto the one wall which was clear of maps. What came up was a different kind of map of the world. “Consider Jasper’s operation like the spokes of a wheel,” he said, “with Horror as its hub. Out from the spokes you will see the various satellite headquarters, those we know about. In the United States, Greece, Italy, Siberia, and the Arab lands. We are going to work from the wheels inward. Five commanders . . . myself, Vikar, Ivak, Mordr, and Harek . . . will command troops of one hundred vangels each to hit each of those targets. Destroy the nest and the rats have no place to scurry home.”

“What about me?” Sigurd asked.

“And me?” Trond added.

Jogeir, Svein, Regina and others asked about their roles, too.

“Sigurd, you must stay on Grand Key Island and hold the fort there. I guarantee Jasper will discover your whereabouts,” Cnut said.

Sigurd agreed, reluctantly.

“And Trond, you, of course, will be the liaison with the SEALs, as I already said,” Cnut explained. “If you find your presence unnecessary at some point, you will join one of the other operations.”

Trond nodded, too.

“Karl, you will stay here at the castle and take steps to reinforce all security,” Mordr said. “Do not under any circumstances let a single Lucie enter the perimeter.” Mordr was of course concerned about his wife and five adopted children who had moved in here for the duration.

The other vangels who had family here were equally concerned, as were Sigurd and Ivak with their brood out on that island.

“This will not be a defensive campaign,” Mordr told them. “Our end game will be the destruction of Lucipiredom. Jasper and all his demon vampires must be obliterated.”

Zeb wondered idly what would happen if they were successful. If there were no more Lucipires, would there be a need for vangels? Well, that was a question for later.

For the next hour, there was much discussion about additional missions to subvert Jasper’s plans, headed by other vangels.

“And, remember, everything is fluid, subject to change, as we gain more intel,” Harek emphasized.

Zeb couldn’t help but note that he and Regina were not included in any of the announcements. Which was a moot point, really, because just then Armod stuck his head in the door and announced, “Michael is here.”

Even more ominous, he added, “He wants to see only Vikar, Zeb, and Regina in the first parlor.”

Regina looked at Zeb and said, “This is it.”

Zeb nodded, but the question remained. What was “it”?

Chapter 11

Judgment Day wasn’t what they expected . . .

Regina was surprised to see Michael already in the parlor, sitting in one of the wingback chairs. The archangel was in human appearance today with his hair clubbed at his nape in a low ponytail. He wore a blue oxford collar shirt tucked into Levi button fly jeans, legs crossed at the ankles, and on his feet were a pair of high-end Nikes. It was a well-known fact that Michael had a weakness for modern athletic shoes. He probably had a collection of footwear up above that rivaled that of Imelda Marcos.