by Petra Landon
“My mother is dead” Sienna said calmly. “And if you truly meant me no harm, you’d never have kidnapped me or tried to kill my friend” she added, not bothering to hide her anger this time.
“The Guardians watch over Sienna McAlister” warned one of the Guardians, speaking up for the first time. “Be very careful, vampire.”
Bianchi ignored the Guardian to address the Alpha again.
“I’ve been hearing a lot of rumors about you, Beast Lord.”
“Have you?” the Alpha’s disinterest could not be more clear.
“Somehow I never thought to see a day where you allied yourself with Spell Casters, Beast Lord” Bianchi said smoothly, spitting out the term for wizards in a derogatory manner with particular venom. Raoul could sense the two Guardians beside him bristle at the epithet even as Sienna, clearly shocked by the words, directed an uncertain glance at the Alpha.
“I’m not allied with any Spell Casters” Raoul retorted mildly. “Feel free to take on any or all Spell Casters present here. However, if you threaten Sienna, then all bets are off” he added softly.
“We take care of our own, Alpha” the second Guardian interjected caustically. “Sienna McAlister does not need any Shifter’s protection.”
Bianchi let out a soft chuckle of pure amusement at the Guardian’s words. Jason opened his mouth to respond to the Guardian but before he could say anything, Sienna piped up haughtily.
“Sienna McAlister will decide what she needs” she directed at the Guardian who looked a tad taken aback by her sharp response. Jason subsided with a small smile though her words elicited no outward response from Raoul.
“Let me assure you again, Sienna, that I mean you no harm” Bianchi continued smoothly without missing a beat. “I’m here to escort you to your mother who waits eagerly for the reunion. After that, I will bring you back here if that is your wish.”
“You lie, vampire” roared one of the Guardians. “Lady Bethesda died in an explosion twenty-four years ago.”
“Believe what you want, Guardian” Bianchi said flippantly with obvious disinterest. “But I assure you that Lady Bethesda is very much alive and desirous of a meeting with her long-lost daughter.”
A murmur rose up amongst the group of Guardians. There were even some whispers from the Shifters of the Illinois Pack gathered behind them with their Alpha.
“Then tell her that she’s dead to me” Sienna countered, her voice choked with emotion. “She has been dead since the night she caused the death of my father and the others at the Registry.”
There was pregnant silence as everyone seemed to freeze. Here suddenly were the raw emotions of one person, amongst so many, who had been so affected by that long ago afternoon.
“Sienna, you mistake your mother” Bianchi countered persuasively. “Lady Bethesda is a wise wizard with an eye on the bigger picture.”
But Sienna stayed silent, her emotions spent. Her final response had laid bare her feelings before the vampires, Shifters and Guardians gathered there. She was done for the day – all her pent-up anger, fright, fear and anxiety finally depleted. Jason, more attuned to her than anyone else present, spoke up sharply.
“Sienna has made her position very clear, vampire. If you decide to not abide by it, then you’ll have us Guardians to reckon with.”
“He’ll also have to go through me and my Pack” Raoul said calmly, drawing the Guardians’ astonished stares. Despite the Alpha speaking up for Sienna before, they’d assumed that he would choose to walk away once her Guardian protectors surrounded her. “I’ve also been informed by Alpha Carter that I have the support of the Illinois Pack.”
For the first time, there was a trace of uncertainty in Rafaelo Bianchi’s eyes as Jerome Carter walked up to stand beside Raoul and the wizards.
His Shifters stepped forward to flank him, joined by the Shifters from San Francisco. After a few moments of hesitation and confusion, the Guardians stepped forward to join the small army of Shifters that ranged behind the two Alphas, Jason, Sienna and the two Guardians. The vampires behind Bianchi took a few steps forward almost reflexively and the Shifters seemed to go on high alert in a moment.
“Rafaelo Bianchi” Carter called out in a voice high with excitement. “Are you willing to fight us for the wizard?”
Bianchi’s eyes narrowed on Raoul’s impassive expression. When retelling the story of that night’s confrontation to Tasia much later, Hawk would talk of his own astonishment, and the consternation on the faces of the other Chosen standing with him, ready to defend Sienna. Even the seasoned Guardians’ faces reflected their shock at the unprecedented nature of this confrontation – Shifters from two different Packs and Guardians standing together against a vampire squad. The vampire’s faces reflected their bewilderment and uncertainty as they stared across at the small army facing them. Their leader cleverly paused for a few minutes to allow the enormity of what his opposition was attempting here to sink in to their collective minds, hoping that some of the factions would choose to walk away when they realized who it was that they had temporarily allied with. In the end, it proved to no avail. None of the parties backed down and eventually it was Bianchi who gestured to his leech minions to fall back into their fleet of cars.
“We will meet again, Guardian” he spat at Jason, the smooth manner breaking for a moment to reveal his true self.
“I look forward to it” Jason responded matter-of-factly.
“Nothing personal, Beast Lord” the vampire said to Raoul, his suave manner restored as if it had never been punctured.
“It will be if our paths cross again” Raoul responded gently. “You see I haven’t forgotten or forgiven what you did to my witchling.”
“Witchling?” repeated the puzzled vampire. “Oh, the wizard who was taken by accident. She does lead a daring life, doesn’t she!”
“Good night, Sienna, until we meet again” he directed a charming smile at the wizard who glowered back in response as he began walking away.
“Smile, Sienna” Jason chuckled softly beside her. “You’ve made history here tonight. Chosen will talk about this for years to come.”
Sienna glanced inquiringly at Jason, her expression puzzled.
“Look around at the motley crew of Chosen who chose to confront the Undead for you” he remarked in response. Jason knew who was responsible for creating this unlikely coalition for Sienna. One man had made sure that when Sienna did confront Bianchi, she had enough fire power to back her up and stare down anything that the leeches threw at her.
“Thank you, Alpha” he heard Sienna say gratefully as he turned away to conference with the other Guardians. Sienna was no fool as he well knew! But he also knew how ill this gratitude from Sienna would sit with the Guardians who bristled noticeably at this evidence of her comfort with an Alpha currently anathema amongst Guardians. Jason attempted to mitigate the brewing confrontation by distracting the Guardians on the pretext of bringing them up to speed with the day’s events.
“I’d also like to thank you, Alpha Carter” Sienna thanked Jerome Carter, managing to disarm him with her charm and gratitude.
“Uh, didn’t really do anything, Lady” Carter said sheepishly. “Just wanted to stand with the other Shifters, you know.”
“Whatever the reason, I owe you and your Pack my gratitude for your support.”
Jason smiled inwardly as he gave the Guardians a quick rundown of the day’s events.
“Registrar Sanders has informed us of the involvement of at least two of their employees with the kidnapping at the Registry. We will interview them tomorrow and try to get some answers on why the vampires targeted her” Guardian Robertson informed him.
“You don’t believe Bianchi about Lady Bethesda then” Jason said slowly.
“No. He’s lying” Robertson said confidently. “There’s something else going on here and I mean to get to the bottom of it.”
Jason observed that a few of the Guardians seemed cagey in their responses as if not as co
nfident as Robertson although a majority seemed to agree with their comrade’s views on Bianchi’s true motives.
“I don’t think that Bianchi is going to give up on Sienna McAlister that easily. It might be prudent to place her under Guardian protection.”
“She has Guardian protection – me” Jason retorted firmly. He had known that he’d have a fight on his hands with the Guardians after the kidnapping and had come prepared for it.
“It might not be enough, LaRue” an older well respected Guardian chimed in. “Now that we know Bianchi has her in his sights, we should have more than one Guardian assigned to her protection.”
“She has the Shifters in addition to me” Jason interjected quietly.
“You’re going to trust that bastard Raoul Merceau to guard Sienna McAlister” one of the Guardians blurted out incredulously. “He doesn’t give a flying f--k about wizards.”
“He doesn’t” Jason agreed easily. “Yet it was he and his Shifters who stormed in with me to rescue Sienna. The only reason Bianchi didn’t lay a hand on Sienna before you guys got here was because Merceau wouldn’t allow it.”
“It was also Merceau who went up against another wizard, a fellow Guardian, less than a week ago if you need a reminder, Jason.”
“I don’t need a reminder, John. I’m working with him because the First Wizard directed me to and he’s working with me at his Faoladh’s request. He’ll not let any harm come to Sienna as long as she’s part of his team.”
“Frankly, the way I hear it Anderson had it coming to him” one of the younger Guardians remarked after a short pause. “He was intent on kidnap and torture of a wizard.”
“We don’t know what Guardian Anderson’s intent was” warned Guardian Robertson. “Until he faces a tribunal of his fellow Guardians on the matter, everything is pure conjecture and rumor.”
“At least we can agree that Sienna was kidnapped under Merceau’s watch” insisted John Garibaldi.
“No, that’s one thing that I can assure you of” Jason said firmly. “She was taken from the Registry. The Registrar did not permit the Alpha access to their archives. She was helping me with some of the Registry records when I was knocked out before they took her. I don’t have to tell you that it’d be a lot harder for anyone to sneak up on a Shifter to knock him out.”
There was a short silence while the other Guardians stared at him.
“If anything, she was kidnapped under my watch” Jason acknowledged.
“We need to talk” Jason directed at the Alpha, busy eating his dinner at the kitchen table. The Guest House seemed eerily calm after the high-octane evening that its inhabitants had just experienced.
“All right” the Alpha assented laconically.
“Pack Room after dinner?”
“Yup” the Alpha nodded, focused on his dinner. Food was serious business for a Shifter. Shifter bodies demanded a lot of nutrition to compensate for their high metabolic rates.
“How’s Tasia?” Jason inquired of the English Shifter seated by the Alpha.
“She’ll be fine. I’ve patched her up and she’s resting.”
“Good. Could I request you to join us, Duncan? I could use some advice” the wizard added candidly. Jason had not failed to take note of the influence Duncan seemed to exert on his Alpha, a Shifter who otherwise tended to keep his own counsel. He rather hoped that Duncan would prevail on Merceau to overcome his natural distrust of wizards.
The momentous events of the past few hours had brought home to Jason how precarious Sienna’s position was. Bianchi would not give up on Sienna easily and Jason was loath to entrust Sienna’s protection to the Guardians. This left Sienna very vulnerable. Unless Sienna could be persuaded to withdraw from the investigation to be placed under guard at Wizard Headquarters, Jason needed other allies to keep her from the vampires’ clutches. Today’s events that shown him that the Alpha would not allow any harm to befall Sienna under his watch, but Merceau could choose to walk away from the wizards once their mission in Chicago was complete. Then how was Jason to protect Sienna, he wondered.
“Sure” Duncan agreed readily.
“That boy has had a tough day” Duncan remarked as Jason walked away.
“Hmm” Raoul’s tone was non-committal.
Duncan glanced at his erstwhile friend and one-time protégé with a significant look. “From what I hear, he defended you vigorously to his colleagues.”
“Hawk” Raoul remarked with a knowing look. “Why am I not surprised? Hawk behaves like a gossipy schoolgirl when it comes to you.”
“I heard that, Alph” Hawk’s irrepressible voice came clearly through to both Shifters.
Raoul merely looked amused, vouchsafing no other response.
“In his defense, I must point out that I’m his Were-Alpha” Duncan said placidly. “It is his job to keep me in the picture.”
“I’ve no issues with LaRue” Raoul remarked abruptly after a short pause.
“You just didn’t bargain on ending up in a situation where you were forced by circumstances to stand united with a bunch of Guardians” Duncan commented shrewdly.
“It doesn’t sit well with me” acknowledged Raoul as he finished up his meal.
The two Shifters made their way up the stairs to the Pack Room, the Alpha knocking once on Jason’s door to let him know that they were ready.
“I have another matter on my mind” Raoul remarked to Duncan once they were in the noise-proof room.
“What matter?”
“The leech that gouged the witchling was dead at the scene before we got there” he said baldly without mincing words. “When we found her, she was bleeding from her wound and terrified out of her wits, yet the leech was inexplicably dead. Like before. This time, she asked me for time to Mfector the scene. I believe she was terrified of leaving behind any trace of her magic for the leeches to find.”
“What did you do?”
“What I could to help protect her secret. Hawk staked the leech to diffuse any suspicions, just in case and I bought her the time she needed to clean up the scene.”
Duncan met Raoul’s gaze, his own eyes serious and grave.
“What the hell’s going on here, Duncan? I find her injured and terrified. Sienna’s holding her up, attempting to stem the flow of blood from her gash. Yet somehow, the leech is dead. And she managed this in a roomful of other leeches and a wizard with significant power of her own, without anyone apparently being the wiser.”
The door opened, curtailing their conversation. Jason walked in, followed by a pale and subdued Sienna who seated herself in one of the chairs without a word. This evening had been momentous for Sienna. For her, this entire trip to Chicago was a venture to get some answers about the past, as it pertained to her mother as well as her father’s death. The revelations regarding her mother had shocked and saddened her. But until today, she had never been afraid. Bianchi and the vampires’ attempt to kill Tasia had fundamentally changed her perception. If her mother truly was involved with a monster like Bianchi, then did she want to find out about the past, Sienna had found herself pondering. A half hour of quiet reflection in her room had convinced Sienna that she did. It was better to get to the truth, no matter how unpalatable, than to wonder about the past forever. She was beginning to realize that the Shifters were the right Chosen to investigate this. And she was confident that Jason would help in this endeavor, not only because the First Wizard had directed him to do so but also because he too wanted answers about the past. The Shifters and Jason formed a formidable team. Sienna was determined to play her part in this, to bring closure to the past.
“Sienna and I have a problem” Jason announced without preamble. “The Guardians are insisting that she be placed under their protection. Now that Bianchi has made his intentions towards her clear, they believe that he’ll try to get to her again.”
Raoul glanced from the Guardian to Sienna who watched Jason somberly with an undecipherable expression on her face.
“They’r
e right about Bianchi” he corroborated. “He’s going to come after Sienna again.”
“I’m loath to place Sienna’s safety in the hands of the Guardians” Jason admitted bluntly.
Both Shifters looked taken aback by the forthright statement about his fellow Guardian comrades.
“You don’t trust your fellow Guardians?” the Alpha inquired evenly.
“This particular matter has divided the Guardians in the past” Jason was candid. “The First Wizard chose me for this job for a reason - because she knows where my loyalties lie on this matter.”
“You suspect that not all Guardians see eye to eye on the matter of Lady Bethesda” Duncan remarked.
“Yes. And let’s just say that my suspicions were confirmed today.”
“There’s something else you should know” Jason continued. “You probably know that I received a call from the Registrar a half hour ago. Ostensibly, the call was to inquire after the kidnapped wizards. But he also informed me that two of his people have confessed to helping Bianchi’s henchmen smuggle the ladies out of the Registry. They’ve already been handed over into Guardian custody for questioning. The Registrar felt compelled to tell me an additional bit of news. His wizards claim that they assisted Bianchi’s men at the behest of a Guardian.”
“I see” Duncan glanced at Raoul. This was the first evidence they had of Guardian involvement in the matter. It did indeed begin to look like the Guardians had divided loyalties on this, just as Jason LaRue and the First Wizard suspected. “Does he know which Guardian gave the order?”
“No” Jason shook his head. “And now that the two are in GCW custody, it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to ascertain that particular bit of information.”
Jason kept his eyes steady on the Alpha. “If Bianchi means to come after her again, I cannot protect her on my own.”
There was a short silence.
“Are you requesting Pack assistance, Guardian? Raoul inquired evenly, an inscrutable expression on his face.
“I would accept it gratefully” Sienna spoke up before Jason could respond. “Your word is good enough for both Jason and me” the words were heartfelt.
