“Yes,” Othello affirmed. “We made sure everyone was informed. And that could’ve started it. Especially if they were vague on the details.”
“We’re starting an investigation to make sure the turned are contained within each Order,” Olivier said. “But it will take time until we can safely say it’s over.”
“The Hunters are going to split up, a few to each Order. We’ll do what we can,” Arthur said.
“Your job, Lisbeth,” Othello addressed. “Olivier and yourself will need to monitor the turned here. They cannot be told what’s happening in the other Orders, nor can any of the other turned. That is paramount to this working correctly.”
And then I sensed an undertone he wasn’t saying out loud. That this could become serious, if it hadn’t already. He saw me giving him a look of understanding, so I stayed after everyone else had been sent on their way.
“You’ve guessed it,” he said wearily.
“This isn’t just the turned grumbling, is it,” I stated.
“No. It is not.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “I don’t understand it. We give them life. We choose them to become immortal. And this is how they repay us. Ungrateful. That’s what they are.”
“I’ll do my best here,” I promised. He patted my arm and walked back around his desk to sit down in his chair. I left him there to work on what could become the worst problem in our history.
Olivier was waiting for me outside Othello’s office. She had on her serious face, and was ready for anything.
“Game plan?” she asked me. I continued walking and she followed me.
“Don’t know yet,” I admitted. “We need to talk to Cameron and Renard.” Keeping silent did not apply to them. Othello would’ve agreed. If I told him, that is.
“Agreed.”
I texted Cameron to find Renard and meet us in the smaller drawing room. They came a few minutes later, just as Olivier was finished pulling the heavy red drapes together to block the last few rays of sunlight before the sun went down.
Cameron looked from my face to Olivier’s. “Something happened?”
Olivier jumped straight into it. “The turned are starting to rebel in the other Orders.” While neither man looked surprised, they still looked upset.
“We don’t know why yet, but we’re trying to find out,” I said.
Renard’s gaze fell to me, and he looked grave. “We know why.”
I looked away. “Those executions were necessary.”
“Non. Not that. Though it did not help. You are the reason, Lisbeth.”
That threw me. Me? What had I done? Okay, I admit, I liked throwing Randall into the sunlight and watching him burn up into a worthless pile of ash. It was heavenly. But that wasn’t enough of a reason to blame me for this because he totally broke the law and deserved it.
“Why her?” Olivier asked him. I met his eyes again as he continued.
“You broke the law, and you were spared. Randall broke the law, and he was executed.”
“He killed someone,” I said flabbergasted. “He killed Arabella. That is not the same thing as what I did.”
He was struggling to stop tears from escaping his eyes at the sound of his niece’s name. “Je sais savoir, I know,” he spat firmly. He let out a breath, never breaking from my gaze. “But they are not me. They do not see it that way. Technically killing a human is not against the law. The law is preserving human life as much as possible. It does not say no killing. The law you broke is vastly more specific. And the turned are outraged.” He lost his control over his emotions and turned away slightly, rubbing his hand over his chin to try and hide the turmoil going on inside him.
I focused on Cameron. “And you? What do you think?”
Cameron was clearly effected, but in control of himself. “I think we all agree that Randall’s crime deserved death, and yours didn’t. But,” he added. “I also think that the other turned had these thoughts long before Randall, or even you, broke any laws.”
“She’s a scapegoat,” Olivier deduced. Cameron pointed a finger at her in confirmation. At least the turned here weren’t in contact with the turned from the other Orders. That would be a bigger nightmare.
Cameron continued. “They’re enraged that her life was considered more precious than his. Not just because she’s older. Because she’s Born, and Randall was turned. They believe they are being treated as inferior.”
“That’s not true,” I said.
He shrugged. “Just repeating.”
“Any ideas how we can calm them down?” Olivier asked him.
He sighed and shrugged again. “I don’t know. Honestly. They’re upset. And every time they meet to talk about it, they get even more upset. It’s getting bigger and bigger.”
Renard had recovered enough to turn back to us. “The point of no return is near,” he said, his voice scratchy. He was right. If this wasn’t contained soon, it never would be.
CHAPTER 18
I TRIED HARD TO THINK of how I could talk to the turned and steer them off this path. If we did that with all the turned in all the Orders, they’d stop causing trouble, and things would go back to normal.
I hoped.
Olivier followed me down to the turned dormitory, but it was empty. Rows of coffins, with not a soul in the room. I pushed my senses out to examine every coffin, and even the bathrooms at the end of the long chamber, but there were no vampires to be had.
I made quick work down the walkway until I got to the companion dormitory. The humans were in their living room area, watching tv and playing cards. They all stood and straightened when Olivier and I came into the room.
“Where are they?” I demanded, trying to keep my tone less harsh than I was feeling. I wasn’t about to hurt the humans, but they might try to lie about where the turned were, and I wasn’t in the mood for it. “I will not tolerate lying, so tell us where they are.”
An older woman looked terrified, but she spoke up. “They went for a walk.”
“A walk?” Olivier questioned, like that was a ridiculous idea, going for a walk. The human’s heartrate sped up.
“All of them?” I asked the woman. “That seems improbable.”
Another human took the woman’s hand for comfort. Her heartbeat slowed down just enough where it didn’t sound like a racehorse at full speed. “They do it a lot right at sunset,” said the human male holding the woman’s hand. “They just go for a walk together. They come back a few hours later.”
“All of them?” I repeated.
He shrugged and gulped. “Not usually all of them.”
Olivier grasped my elbow to turn me away from the humans. “Why are they so afraid of us?”
I glanced back at them. They did look scared. “Because I just yelled at them?”
She shook her head. “No. They looked that way before you even spoke.” I scanned the humans with my senses this time, and I saw marks and bruises on their bodies. The ultimate sign of mistreatment by their masters, for only we could make marks like the ones I was seeing. I put my hand over my mouth, trying to keep the shock hidden.
“How,” I asked her between my fingers. “How could we not have seen this?”
She sighed heavily and scrubbed a hand down her face. “Because we weren’t looking. We expected obedience.”
“We’ve been fools.” I stepped away from her. “Pack up your things,” I told the humans. “Your contracts are over. Once you’re packed, I will take you to Othello’s secretary to get your contract payout. Transportation into town will be provided for you.”
The humans got to action, but their masters returned before they were finished packing. Olivier and I stood in the doorway, a barrior between the turned and the humans.
“Have a nice walk?” Olivier said sarcastically when the turned reached us.
It was clear that the turned had a new leader now. He looked as cold hearted as Randall, though sadly more volatile. I searched my memory for his name, and came up with Wyatt.
�
�Are we not allowed to leave the premises?” he answered, with just as much sarcasm as Olivier had offered. He tried to glance over my shoulder, and saw the humans packing their things. His eyes narrowed but he managed to maintain his composure. “Did you tell our companions they could do that?”
“They’ve been dismissed,” I informed him. “You breeched the contract by harming them.”
He grinned in an innocent fashion. “Harm them? We did no such thing.”
I took a step out of the door way to get closer to him. “What, are you going to tell me those bruises happened on their own? That the humans are running their own little fight club down here?” I poked a finger to his chest. “I’m not stupid. And you’ve crossed the line. Your companion privileges are revoked indefinitely.”
He grinned down at me with full confidence, even though I still had a finger against his chest. “You don’t have the authority to dismiss our companions.”
“Actually, I do.”
“Right,” he said with humor. “Because you’re Born, and I’m turned. Is that it? Any Born can dismiss our companions, but I can’t dismiss yours, even if you’re beating it black and blue. Isn’t that true?”
He had me there. He was correct.
“That’s irrelevant,” I said firmly, but I’d already lost my control over the situation. He twisted back to his fellow vampires and gave them a knowing look.
“Like always,” he said with a practiced air. “The rules only apply to us, but not them. Never them.”
I felt Olivier grab my elbow again and push me gently out of the doorway. The humans followed her, and the turned moved out of the way for them to pass.
“No response?” Wyatt said, grinning in his triumph. I gave him a long look before I followed Olivier out of the dormitory.
CHAPTER 19
“THIS IS SO BAD,” OLIVIER whispered as we made our way through the castle. “Companions mistreated and we didn’t even notice.” Her shame matched my own. I was supposed to protect the humans here. I was failing at everything.
“They mistreated them on purpose. The turned wanted us to dismiss their companions to make a point.”
“And we walked right into it,” she grumbled. We explained the situation to Marie, who wrote every human a check double the amount originally promised, and called someone to bring a bus for them. This one time, she didn’t look at me with contempt, rather that she and I were on the same level. It comforted me, until the humans were all gone and she glared at me so I’d go away.
Othello was shocked when we relayed what had happened, but he informed us to all go to bed and try to salvage the situation the next day.
As Cameron and Renard had not done anything wrong, their companions had not been dismissed, and we brought them upstairs with us. Cameron’s companion, a young man, fell asleep on the bed in one of my spare bedrooms. I’d been decorating one for a nursery, and one for guests, in case Balthazar came back after our daughter was born.
I wasn’t in the mood for sleep. I sat outside the massive bird cage as usual, and watched my cardinal and love bird play together. Kanoa and Blythe. They were always happy. The horrible way my life was going didn’t affect them. Would that I were a bird, where my joy in life was sitting on the same branch as my only friend.
I knew exactly who that friend would be. The one I would never see again. He wasn’t my only friend, if I was being honest, but he was the only one I wanted by my side.
With my eyes closed, I consciously tried to conjure my delusion of him next to me on the plush fawn colored carpet. What would he say about all of this?
“It’s all going to hell, isn’t it?”
Knight was suddenly sitting next to me on the floor. He smiled at me and I wanted to reach out and touch him, to hold him to me, but I didn’t for fear it would break the fantasy. His eyes went down to my round stomach and I put my hand over it, as if that would hide it from him.
“You got fat,” he said. I wanted to smack him on the arm, but I just laughed in happiness that I could hear him be insulting again. Both times I’d seen him before I hadn’t really talked to pretend Knight.
“Are you dead?” I asked him, a stupid question, but I didn’t care.
He shrugged and smiled. “Am I even real?”
“Fair point,” I said with a grin. My mouth curled downward and it trembled a bit as I looked him over. His hair was longer and starting to curl past his neck. Thick black shanks of it fell forward in front of his eyes and I wanted to smooth them back. His skin looked a shade darker from being in the sun. He was wearing a faded brown and white plaid shirt with blue jeans, clothes I’d never seen him in before. His feet were bare and his toenails were caked with mud. I couldn’t smell the mud, or his scent, or anything of the man sitting next to me.
I wanted to tell him how much I missed him. How much I was dying inside without him. How the only thing keeping me above water was my child. But I couldn’t mention her around him, even if he was just a mirage. I was still ashamed, and I couldn’t bear for his eyes to no longer look at me with love. I wanted to tell him how much I needed him, how much it was destroying me inside not knowing if he was dead or not. How hard it was to live with myself after the choices I’d made.
“I’m a failure,” I said finally, letting out a big breath.
“I doubt that,” he replied.
“No. No, I am. I’ve failed the other vampires. The Born counted on me to keep the turned in line, but I failed. They’re rising up everywhere. I failed the humans. I failed to protect them. And I failed….” I tightened my hand around my stomach. “I failed you.”
“Are you still trying?” I looked over at him. He’d straightened up and was facing me, his gaze stern but gentle. “Have you given up?”
“No.”
He gave me a small smile. “Then you haven’t failed me. You promised to stay strong. That means never giving up.” His optimism saddened me, and I felt even worse than I had before I’d started dreaming him up beside me. I looked away and felt tears come to my eyes.
“You’re not real. You’re gone.”
I felt his hot breath in my ear as he planted a kiss, a very real kiss, on my cheek, and for the slightest moment I could smell his scent beside me. “I’m not.”
A knock on my door brought me out of the fantasy, and the warmth on my cheek faded, as did Knight’s image. I got up, wiped my cheeks, and answered the door. It was Olivier.
“Get everyone up. Othello’s been taken.”
CHAPTER 20
THE NEWS THAT OTHELLO HAD been abducted was shocking. More than shocking. Unheard of. Like hearing that Christmas wasn’t a thing anymore, or aliens had arrived on the planet. My brain simply could not process the information.
Othello was gone.
I stood in the bigger drawing room with its hunter green walls and velvet curtains as the rest of the Born were roused from their sleep and came down for the news.
They didn’t take it well.
First we had to tell everyone he had been abducted. Then Olivier had to describe over their shouting and talking that the turned had taken him, and that they were also gone. It was a two for one night. The shouting got louder. My senses became clogged with their fear, anxiety, anger, and shock. I could barely breathe for the emotions around me. I felt Olivier’s hand on my arm to steady me, and I heaved in several big breaths. My baby’s little feet came into play, kicking upwards at me to get my attention. Both helped me calm down enough to hear what everyone was saying.
“We have to get the Council back here now.”
“What could they do? They’re not in charge of our Order. They can’t bring him back.”
“We should question the humans in town. See what they know.”
“Maybe someone here knows something.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, no one here would willingly participate in the abduction of a vampire leader.”
“But the fact remains, we are leaderless.”
Olivier got a word in, enough t
o say, “In the event of a Head being unable to do his or her job, the leadership goes to the next oldest vampire.”
And that’s when everyone turned to stare at me.
Yep. That’s right. I was the next oldest vampire. Even Olivier was a few decades my junior. It was hard to believe that I was older than Arthur as well, but I had him beat by at least a century.
“Surely,” one of them huffed, “Othello had a say in who took over his position?” Maybe Othello had appointed someone else? Please say he appointed someone else.
I thought Olivier showed great restraint in keeping her fingers off of that vampire’s neck. Instead, she took a deep, dignified breath, and stared him down.
“Othello’s opinion on the matter is unfortunately irrelevant. Lisbeth is the next oldest of us.” I deflated in disappointment. Defeated by age. I didn’t want his job. I couldn’t even do my own job.
The question of ‘do I have to?’ almost passed my lips, but I glanced at everyone’s faces around me and knew how to slip into the position of authority, even if I didn’t want to. Reassurance.
I stood up, one hand on my belly and the other clenched into a fist at my side. Olivier helped me onto one of the green leather ottomans and helped me balance with my hand gripped tightly in her own. The room quieted just enough for me to speak.
“Tonight is a difficult night. I know you’re all upset, and I know you’re anxious for this to be resolved. We will do everything we can to find Othello and bring him back as soon as possible. And if he is lost for good, I hope…” I swallowed, and noticed a quickly fading image of Knight in the back of the room. When had I conjured him back? “I hope that I can lead you with the same dedication that he did.” They waited for more, but as pep talks went, that was my limit. “The Hunters will be on guard, so please go back to your rooms and get some sleep. We’ll start fresh tomorrow.”
They all left, Olivier included when I nodded for her to do so, leaving me standing on the ottoman feeling like a fool.
Child of the Outcast (Born Vampire Book 2) Page 9
