The man stiffened. "I suppose I should expect such disrespect from your ilk."
"You want I should teach him some manners, sir?" Bigglesworth said, his fist swelling to grotesque proportions as he pressed it into his hand.
"No, Mr. Bigglesworth. I believe it would be a waste of time."
Maximus showed his teeth. "I'd like to see you try, goo-ball."
The man rapped his cane against the floor. "Did you ever stop to think what a vampling plague would do to the mortal realm?" He paused for a second. "Centuries of planning wrecked because you couldn't control your ego, sir. Humanity reduced to worthless rotting corpses. What use would the Brightlings have for the walking dead, I ask?" He didn't wait for an answer, instead, lashing out in a blur with his cane to smack Maximus in the head. The end of the cane rapped against the floor again. "Why, no use at all, sir."
Maximus reeled from the attack as dark blood welled from a cut on his cheek. He growled. Lunged. His body smacked against an invisible barrier, the only evidence of its existence a ripple in the air.
"What in Heaven's name is this about?" said a voice to the side of us.
I nearly had a heart attack as Barclay strode in from our left. Had he not been so focused on the unfolding drama between Maximus and the rebel South, he would have seen Elyssa and me before we dropped flat on our stomachs behind another set of crates about twenty feet to his right. The vampire wore a bowler and a suit which matched the other man's in that it looked out of an era long past. He adjusted his monocle as he slowed his stride to a saunter.
Barclay stopped a few feet from the other man, tweaked his oiled moustache, and said, "Mr. Conroy, I will know the meaning of this visit and why you're provoking my prot茅g茅."
I almost gasped out loud, instead, sucking in a breath, an even bigger mistake as dust went up my nose thanks to the close proximity of my face to the ground. Pinching my nostrils in an attempt to prevent a sneezing fit, I looked to Elyssa with watering eyes. Her mouth hung slightly open, eyes tight with apprehension.
Somehow, I avoided the classic sneeze and give away your position scenario and climbed cautiously back to my knees to peer over the crates as Barclay took up a stance to Conroy's left.
"Mr. Barclay, so good of you to put in an appearance," Conroy said, turning to present his thin profile to me. He wore a graying mustache, long goatee, and a pair of round spectacles on a nose of generous proportions. He immediately made me think of Mark Twain. I figured my mom must look like Mrs. Conroy, because she looked nothing like this guy.
Barclay ignored the jibe. "Again, I ask you, sir, what is the meaning of this intrusion?"
"I believe that to be rather evident," Conroy said, spreading his arms. "My disciples have spent countless days cleaning up the messes left behind by this fool. Already, we have quashed five different outbreaks of vampling plagues where he has attempted to convert people into vampires despite his obvious inability to do so." He shook his head as if to exaggerate his disappointment. "And let us not forget Bogota. Had a plague descended upon such a large populace, the results would have been catastrophic." He leaned forward on his cane. "Just what, may I ask, do the vampires intend to use as a food source should humanity fall victim to such a plague?"
"I believe our original deal with Daelissa was to sow chaos, Conroy." Barclay took off his monocle and polished it on a handkerchief. "I fail to see the problem."
"I'm rather surprised a vampire of your age doesn't grasp the obvious, sir. We have cautioned you to keep your prot茅g茅 under control. We have, time and time again, told you a vampling plague is unacceptable. You then created a serum and used it willy-nilly in the mortal population without properly testing it to see the results, ending up with a massacre at a high school when your recruiter turned into a vampling."
"Blah, blah, blah," Maximus said. "How was I supposed to know the serum would have that effect? Besides, no lasting harm came out of it."
"Oh, I disagree," Conroy said. "An unknown third party with access to quicksilver cleaned up the mess. I even found out from police reports