Persephone Alcmedi 00 - Wicked Circle

distinctive features; Heldridge could have modeled for comic book artists. His chiseled jawline and broad-shouldered body had brought him much admiration.
    Tonight, however, being easily recognized was a problem.
    On K Street he strode directly toward the massive building where VEIN was housed.
    With an easy gait he passed the building, examining the security. Two vampire sentries stood under the awning on either side of the revolving door, chatting. Though they scented him, it was a superficial effort. They detected the terrible cologne and dismissed him as a mortal.
    Behind them the lobby inside was empty except for the receptionist at the desk. Relying on cameras, they kept the real security forces out of sight. This maintained a nonaggressive appearance in the nation’s capital—where lawmakers would be more than pleased to have an excuse to deem VEIN a threat.
    Heldridge snapped his fingers and turned as if he’d forgotten something, then hurried back the way he had come. At the last second, he rushed toward the revolving door with inhuman speed.
    He walloped the vampire on the right, grabbed his shoulders, and dragged him into the space of the spinning door. The unconscious sentry suffered a secondary impact with the floor as Heldridge used him as a temporary doorstop to block the other vampire from entering.
    Inside the scarlet and dove gray interior, the lovely receptionist picked up a phone and pushed buttons. Heldridge sped by her, running directly to the elevator in the rear of the lobby, discarding the hat and overcoat on his way.
    The doors parted, revealing a sentry vampire in a stark white shirt, black dress pants, and shiny shoes. His collar had been loosened. He was posed to keep whatever he was holding hidden behind his thigh. Smiling, he said, “It must be my lucky night.”
    Heldridge was taller and broader than the guard, but vampiric strength was based on age rather than size. With immortals that was never easy to tell at first glance. “Escort me to the Excelsior.”
    “Gladly.” The sentry showed fang as he produced a machete from behind him. “Part of you, anyway.” He stepped out of the elevator, advancing toward Heldridge.
    Heldridge widened his stance, preparing for an attack. “I am a haven master and I demand to see the Excelsior!”
    “Dunno what you’ll see, but I promise to keep your eyes open for you, traitor. There’s a bounty for your head. The rest of you is optional.”
    Heldridge hissed, “I want an audience with the Excelsior.”
    The elevator doors began to close. Heldridge surged forward. He blocked the vampire’s machete-swinging arm and hit him in the solar plexus, knocking him backward into the elevator car. Momentum carried Heldridge in also, and the doors shut them in.
    The guard didn’t have room to effectively swing the long blade and resorted to jabbing with it. Heldridge caught the vampire’s arm, twisted, and felt the elbow break. The machete clattered to the floor and Heldridge slammed the guard’s head against the elevator wall, denting the shiny metal.
    When the doors parted on the next floor up, Heldridge wedged the machete in the opening to keep the doors from closing and, more importantly, prohibit the car from picking up reinforcements. There were other elevators and stairs, but he didn’t have to make it easy for his opponents.
    He dragged the unconscious vampire by his unbroken arm. The hall was nondescript gray with a slate floor and plain wall sconces for light. At the next checkpoint, six sentries blocked his path.
    With minimal effort, Heldridge sent the body sliding to the sentries’ feet. “I want an audience with the Excelsior. He told me no.”
    “Do you think our answer will be different?”
    Heldridge could have torn both the door guards and the machete-wielding sentry apart, but he’d hoped his restraint would gain him a measure of consideration instead of indicating he was weak. They had been individual foes, however. With six vampires before him, his options were fewer.
    He was willing to kill his way through the building if it became necessary, but as it would undermine his claims of acting in the best interests of VEIN, he preferred to consider slaughter only as an emergency exit strategy.
    He gauged his adversaries as he calmly resettled his suit jacket. “I do not wish permanent harm to anyone, but the information I have for the Excelsior is worth any risk.”
    More sentries burst from a stairwell behind