Salome Argyros

Salome Argyros is an antagonist in The Book of Falling by Rob Pegler.

Salome is a vampire assassin, known for being absolutely ruthless and dedicated to the kill. She has spent most of her (un)life in the employ of the Chernysvet Clan, but in recent months she became a free agent and finally found herself working for vampire kingpin Johnny Fantôme.

Salome is a skilled warrior who eschews the use of firearms and considers it a point of personal pride to take out her targets face-to-face. She has extensive training with melee weapons such as swords, knives and pikes.

Salome’s history is somewhat mysterious. Born Salolmeja Walczak in 1920’s Poland, she had a twin sister named Celestyna. The twins were seventeen years old when the September Campaign was launched, and the Walczak family’s farm was destroyed by the invading Red Army. Salomeja and Celestyna vanished with the rest of their family, but three years later they resurfaced in occupied Paris, now turned to vampires, and in the company of their new “father”, Damian Argyros. The three later moved to Roseburg to join the Chernysvet Clan, which Argyros eventually came to lead. Some time later Celeste (as she was now known) experienced a falling out with their father, prompting her to leave and form her own gang. Salome remained loyal to Argyros, even following his orders to enter the employ of rival boss Xander Moorden in a diplomatic move. Some time later, after Celeste was killed by Gabriel Pope and Moorden’s clan were overthrown, Salome “went rogue” and was taken in by Johnny Fantôme. Though she has sworn a grudging alleigance to Fantôme, getting revenge for her sister’s “murder” is her chief motivation. Fantôme has assured her that allowing her to kill Gabe will eventually serve his purposes.

Weapons of choice: Lately, Salome has carried an ornate silver-bladed spear, with which she is never parted and seems to have an almost symbiotic relationship. The spear is enchanted; the blade burns white-hot in battle, and it magically returns to Salome’s hand after being thrown. While it inflicts greivous wounds on humans, it is even more lethal to vampires, capable of incinerating them completely. Exactly what the spear is and how Salome came to possess it is a mystery. Meliad briefly came into contact with the spear during a fight with Salome, and experienced a vision which led her to believe it’s an ancient and powerful artifact.

Salome first appeared in “Blood Will Out”, and also featured in “Agenda”.