As we stepped inside, everything looked a little bit different than usual. It looked like a basement. It was finished, walls of paneled wood somewhat reminding me of the vampire home, but there were tables and chairs and furniture, even a bar at one end. A fireplace crackled with flames, reminding me of Barden’s office, though no smoke drifted out, which suggested to me it was a magical fire.
When we were all inside, Barden closed the door, sealing it again with a surge of power. He turned back to us, clasping his hands together. “Now we can speak openly. Why don’t we take a seat and to get comfortable?”
“Barden?”
He shook his head. “We need to hear from the elder before we decide what we’re going to do.”
“We need to figure out what happened to Matt.”
“If he was taken by his people, there isn’t anything we can do.”
I wasn’t as convinced as Barden there was nothing we could do, but he had a different view of Matt and his people to me. It was possible Barden knew more about Matt and his people than I did, though whatever he had uncovered would likely be kept close to him. I had a hard time believing Barden would share anything he might have uncovered, at least while Jean-Pierre was around.
I took a seat in a chair facing Jean-Pierre. Supple leather sucked me in, reminding me of the sofas in Barden’s office. Those were incredibly comfortable, and I remember Kate warning me about them, a warning I completely agreed with. They were every bit as comfortable as she claimed.
Barden stood near the fireplace, one hand resting on the wall, his back to me. “Why don’t you tell her,” Barden said.
I glanced from Barden to Jean-Pierre. “Tell her what?”
Jean-Pierre sat back, clasping his hands over his stomach. Somehow he managed to look as if he were completely comfortable, as if this was exactly where he wanted to be. Even when he had been injured, recovering from what should have killed him, there had been nothing about him that felt as if he were disconcerted. What must it be like to have lived as long as him and to have seen everything he had, while also having the confidence he obviously possessed? I couldn’t even imagine it.
“I am sorry you became caught up in this, Dr. Stone.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s all because of Matt.”
“Unfortunately, that is not entirely true.”
“What do you mean?”
Jean-Pierre smiled at me, a hint of the fangs hidden within his mouth visible. “You were not to have been caught up in this. It seems your friend decided to take matters into his own hands, and because of that, it places me into a position I didn’t want to be, either.”
“Would you care to elaborate more, or do you intend to continue to dance around the subject?”
He smiled. “Vampires are unique creatures. Apex predators, I suppose you would call us. With that comes a constant struggle. The Council of Elders has minimized that somewhat, but not entirely. Unfortunately, there remains an element of struggle despite everything the Council would establish. And the peace we offer is considerable.”
I glanced over to Barden before looking back at Jean-Pierre. “I thought vampires didn’t attack vampires.”
“Not directly.”
“Which means they do so indirectly.”
Jean-Pierre nodded. “When I was attacked, it was not the first time I have been targeted. Given what has happened over the last few days, I doubt it will be the last time, either.”
“You nearly died.”
“So you have reminded me. It does, however, takes a lot more to kill an elder vampire than it does even the head of the family.”
I snorted. I had been over the events of the day he had rolled into the ER again and again. Those events came to me, far too easy to remember, mostly because it was how everything started for me. Were it not for that attack, and his visit, I might never have called Barden. I might never have learned I had access to magic. And I might never have needed to draw upon that power. There were times when I questioned if that was a good thing or not. Most of the time, I believed that what I was learning of magic had value. Even if I chose not to use it—and often I thought I might choose to ignore it—there was still the understanding that power such as I was able to grasp had value and meaning to me.
“Your heart had stopped. To be honest, I didn’t know vampires had hearts or blood or anything at the time, and I thought you were just another patient, but you were dead when you came into the ER.”
“I suspect merely warming me would have allowed me to survive.”
I frowned at him. Was he actually trying to claim I hadn’t done anything to help him? I shook my head. I wasn’t going to get sucked down that pathway with Jean-Pierre. “Why give me a token, then?”
“The token was my way of thanking you. At the time, as I told you, I believed you were a familiar.”
“How many familiars are doctors?”
“You would be surprised. There are people from all walks of life who pursue power, and they view the vampires as their way of reaching it.” He leaned forward, meeting my eyes. His were flat and hard. I wanted to look away, but he had already told me he was an apex predator and I knew you did not look away from predators. Instead, I steeled myself, forcing myself to meet his gaze. “We have agreed to conceal our presence from the rest of the world, and over the last few centuries, we have not fed upon anyone that we should not. In doing so, we have hidden.”
“I’m sure you have hidden intentionally.” It wasn’t a big leap to figure out what the vampires did to draw out familiars. I had felt the effects of it often enough to know they had ways of influencing that could be compelling.
“Regardless, we wouldn’t be able to influence anyone without a desire. And as I’ve said, there are many people from all walks of life who seek power. They view my kind as a way toward it, even if there is little they will gain.”
“Why not?”
“There is a hierarchy of power,” he said. “Predators do not care for other predators. Our numbers are carefully maintained, intentionally so.”
Barden laughed softly. “What he’s not telling you, Dr. Stone, is that if the vampires increase their numbers too dramatically, then they would gain the wrong kind of attention. They recognize how tenuous their hold on the world is, and because of that, they are cautious. Why reveal themselves when they can hunt from the shadows and the darkness?”
Jean-Pierre glanced over toward Barden, watching him for a moment. “As if the Dark Council is any different.”
“The Dark Council operated out of necessity. Now we are free—“
“Are you really free?”
Barden turned toward us. His brow had furrowed, and he pressed his lips together for a moment in consternation. “Unfortunately, we are not. In time I intend to ensure we are, but…” It was something Barden didn’t talk about often, but I knew there was an aspect to the dynamics between the councils that still troubled him.
“What does any of this have to do with what took place last winter?”
“Last winter was an attempt to remove me.”
“Right. And Matt revealed it might have been sanctioned by his organization.”
Barden jerked his head around to look at me. “He did?”
“I haven’t decided how far I can trust him, Barden, so I think we need to take whatever he tells me with a grain of salt, including that particular piece of information.”
Barden smiled. “Of course, but the idea that the operation may have been sanctioned changes things a bit, doesn’t it?”
Jean-Pierre shook his head. “It changes nothing.”
“Why nothing?” I asked. It seemed Barden and Jean-Pierre had already discussed aspects of what was taking place without me. I needed to catch up. Fortunately, that was a sense I often had.
“You knew.” Barden took a step away from the fireplace, and he looked down at Jean-Pierre.
“I was aware the organization had been contracted.”
“Contracted?” I glanced fr
om Barden to Jean-Pierre. “I thought they existed to maintain stability?”
“Is that what he told you?” Barden asked.
“He said they help ensure a balance. That they worked to make certain that power doesn’t get disrupted.”
“Hmm. I’m not sure I would describe it in such terms, but it certainly makes for a pleasant belief.”
I thought about what Matt had said, the way he had described the work he did. Was it not what he claimed? “You were trying to figure out who contracted for your removal?” I asked Jean-Pierre.
“I was.”
“And what did you find?”
“Nothing.” He clasped his hands together, staring at me. “I work through various back channels, searching for information that might be able to explain who was responsible, but the closest I got was reaching out to Dr. Stone’s friend. Even in that, there was little I was able to ascertain.”
“You reached out to Matt?” Jean-Pierre nodded once. “But you were fighting with him.”
“I might have reached out to him, but he took that as an opportunity and a signal for weakness.”
That didn’t strike me as anything Matt would have done. “What happened? Were you responsible for killing John Adams?” It had looked something like a vampire attack, but Matt hadn’t believed that it was any type of vampire attack he was familiar with. That couldn’t be just chance. Given what we knew about Jean-Pierre and how powerful he was, it was highly likely his type of attack would be different from others. I sat back, my head spinning. Could he have been responsible for killing John Adams? If he was, Matt coming to me, wanting to draw Jean-Pierre out, made sense.
“One of the things you will learn when you understand the nature of the vampire families is that the elders do not kill.”
“You have already told me you’re a predator.”
“I’m a predator, but I have others who function in those roles on my behalf. I have no need to get involved.”
“That’s not a denial.”
“I never claimed it was.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did you kill him? Or have him killed, whatever the case may be. Was it because he had targeted to you?”
Jean-Pierre waved his hand. “There have been other attempts on me over the years. One like that means very little to me.”
“Then why?”
“I did not.”
“Then who did?”
“That is the question, Dr. Stone. Unfortunately, I don’t have that answer, much like I still don’t have the answer as to who from the families betrayed me.”
“What if it wasn’t anyone from the family?” I glanced from Barden to Jean-Pierre. “What if it came from the Council itself?”
“The Council is unified,” Jean-Pierre said.
“Is it? You get along in all things? You don’t have any disagreements?”
“None that would spill out in such a way. The Council wouldn’t make a mistake like that.”
“What sort of mistake would you make?”
Barden chuckled. “I think he made a mistake in underestimating you, Dr. Stone.”
“Why?”
“You ought not to have been at the Vangalor family home.”
“Where was I supposed to be?”
“Working. You are a physician, are you not?”
He held my gaze for a long moment, and I glanced over to Barden, a question burning in my eyes. I was missing something, but what? “You wanted Matt to be there?”
“The Vangalor family is the strongest one in Minneapolis. Their fortifications should have been enough to secure him. Unfortunately, it seems as if he were slightly more skilled than I had anticipated.”
“He wanted to go there.”
Jean-Pierre smiled. “Did he? Or did he get guided there?”
I felt as if I were playing a game I was ill-suited for. Jean-Pierre played at manipulation and other things in ways I didn’t fully understand, and maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. Then again, Matt had wanted to be there. I felt certain of that. “In your mind, Matt is responsible for what happened?”
“I doubt it, but he is connected in ways I do not fully understand.”
“How so?”
“He’s the one who will explain who contracted for my removal.”
18
I waited off to the side of the room, every so often glancing in the direction of Jean-Pierre. For whatever reason, I had believed that possessing his token would provide me with protection, but instead of protection, it seemed as if it had placed me in even greater danger. Barden and Jean-Pierre were speaking quietly to each other, leaving me to my thoughts. I didn’t have answers, and the longer I stood there, the longer I waited, the less likely I thought that answers would come.
Why wasn’t I surprised that this was all tied to what had taken place nine months before? An attack like that would have to have consequences. Regardless of what Jean-Pierre claimed—the fact that he said he had been attacked previously—I had a sense that it angered him that someone had the audacity to try to harm him. If there was one thing I was good at, it was reading people. In the case of Jean-Pierre, I could tell he didn’t think he was in any danger.
Having seen the way he’d battled with Matt, I wasn’t sure whether that was true or not. Matt was a hedge mage, nothing more, but he was an incredibly trained hedge mage. There were others like him, which meant that were Jean-Pierre targeted by others with similar skill sets, it wouldn’t be altogether surprising to learn he didn’t come through it. Why couldn’t he see that?
Then, there was what Matt had said—and what I had seen. Matt had helped stop the attack on him. Regardless of what else I might have believed about Matt, if he had wanted to harm Jean-Pierre, that would have been the time to do so. He could even have taken out his people in doing so. I wouldn’t have been any threat to him, but Matt had left the vampire elder to me, and because of that, I had gotten him to safety. It didn’t fit.
What did fit was that someone was trying to set up Matt. On top of that, there had still been an attempt on Jean-Pierre. Which suggested to me there was something deeper taking place.
Barden headed toward me, and I straightened, forcing a smile. “What were the two of you talking about?” I asked.
Barden glanced back at Jean-Pierre. “I was trying to convince them of the value of sharing with me the names of the Council of Elders.”
I laughed, thankful I could, despite everything we had been through. “I’m sure that went over well.”
“About as well as I imagined. I think that with a few more attempts, I might be able to coax him into sharing.”
“You’ll have to let me know how that goes.”
“You don’t have to remain here, Dr. Stone.”
“Am I safe leaving?”
“Most likely.”
“That’s not particularly reassuring.”
“I think I would have told you that you were in no danger before, but with everything we have seen, and with the nature of the attacks that have come, I can no longer state that with any confidence. Your friend has proven that whatever protections I believed myself capable of placing around my people and my locations need work.”
“Maybe you need to hire him,” I said.
“There are two scenarios I can see.”
“What two?”
“Let’s assume your friend did not harm his superior. Let’s also assume he is believed within the organization, and that they don’t mind him bringing an outsider into a heavily secured location to try to use her connection to the vampires. A man like that would still be well enough connected to this organization that he would be valuable. It would be unlikely he would ever consider betraying said organization.”
“I never got the sense from Matt that he would betray his organization.”
“Neither did I, and yet… There is something about him I can’t quite place.”
“I’m sure that annoys you.”
“More tha
n you realize.”
I chuckled. “What is the other scenario you can foresee?”
“The other possibility is that he was made to look as if he were responsible. Perhaps he is pursued the way he claims. In some regards, that is almost a worse outcome.”
“Why would that be a worse outcome?”
“Because it means we could have protected him, but we did not.”
“There is still a chance to do so,” I said.
Barden shook his head. “I wouldn’t risk my people going against theirs.”
“We wouldn’t have to go against theirs. We just have to draw out anyone who might be responsible.”
“And how do you intend to determine who might be responsible?”
“In the second scenario, everything Matt has told me is accurate.”
“That would be one assumption.”
“If he’s been set up, why wouldn’t he be honest with us about other things?”
“That is a reasonable consideration.”
“Anyway, if he’s been honest with us about that, and if he is not responsible for what took place, what if the rest of what he’s told me is true?”
“Including the part about serving as a balance.”
“That’s the part I’m referring to.”
“Then someone is playing a different game,” Barden said.
He glanced back to Jean-Pierre, watching him for a long moment. As he did, I had a hard time believing Jean-Pierre would lead an attack on the organization. He might have been targeted by them, and because of that, I could see him wanting to try to determine what had taken place, but Jean-Pierre didn’t strike me as the kind of vampire who was willing to sacrifice too many of his people in order to get revenge. Someone who lived that long would have a different means of solving problems.
Then there was the part that Jean-Pierre believed, that there were some within Matt’s organization who could be hired as assassins. While that might be true, I had a hard time believing Matt wouldn’t have known that. If there were such individuals, I would have expected him to have been aware of it. He believed in what he did, and that fit with the little I knew about Matt.
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