“So… Todd said you could get me back to the city fast. I’m going to be late if he was wrong.”
I nodded, “I can, just let me know when you’re ready and I can get you to your apartment.”
She looked at her watch, “I really should go.”
“Alright, stand up, close your eyes, and don’t open them until all motion has stopped, which will take about four seconds. Otherwise you’ll get very dizzy.”
She looked a little nervous, and I grinned teasingly at her. Of course, it had the expected effect, her visage turned stony and she stood up and glared at me, all five foot two of her cuteness. Nothing like a little anger to chase away the fear of the unknown. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be too mad at me.
I surrounded her in air, and after checking to make sure it was all clear, I waved goodbye and sent her to her apartment in the city. Of course, I couldn’t help but remote view a few seconds longer, I was dying to see the look on her face…
It was still fairly early when I got the text from Ceara inviting me to come by. I considered appearing in the room she was in, simply to put her off balance. I decided however that showing off would be a stupid use of my power, it was only a short walk from my office after all. The other reason was I really didn’t want to talk to her badly enough to rush, and might have even been putting it off.
When I walked into the building I was surprised by who was standing there. All I’d really done was check to make sure it wasn’t another trap, I hadn’t dug into the details of my visit or what she wanted. Truthfully, beyond her not planning to kill me, I didn’t much care. Still, the political thing to do was to make peace, and I firmly reminded myself that she voted no.
Either way, the surprise was the person that was waiting for me at the elevators. She was wearing a conservative light blue dress, appropriate for work. Her shiny dark blue black hair stood out against it, and her gray eyes were welcoming.
Caroline smiled impishly at me, “Hello again.”
“Hi Caroline, how did you get stuck meeting me?”
She smirked as we got on the elevator, “No one else wanted the job, too scared.”
I raised an eyebrow, “You’re not?”
She hit the button, for the right floor I noted, and said, “Of course not, you saved my life, and my family’s. Sure, you could cut my head off with a look, but that’s not who you are.”
I faux scowled at her, “It also takes a small effort of will you know.”
She laughed, “Not funny,” as the doors opened she said, “This way Mr. Edwards.”
“Mr. Edwards?”
“You’re the boss, I can call you Ben then?”
The boss?
I didn’t get to ask that question, as I was shuffled into a conference room with Ceara, and Caroline closed the door from behind me staying in the hallway.
I nodded politely, “Ceara.”
She waved to a seat and I took it. There was a folder in front of me, and I was both confused, and despite myself, a little curious.
Ceara said, “I’ve compiled a financial statement for you, take a look.”
I opened it up and scanned the summary on the first page, and my confusion increased. It listed five thousand properties with a joint value of three point two billion dollars. Hundreds of businesses that had a combined estimated worth of over four billion, and last but not least, a combined total of eleven bank accounts in excess of one point five billion dollars. What the hell was this?
I looked up at Ceara questioningly, and her eyes widened with understanding.
Ceara explained, “That is the combined worth of all the liquid and business assets that Charis and Alexios built over the last two thousand years. They are yours now Ben, it’s how our world works. Of course, they were transferred to a different name, and if you look in the folder pocket you’ll find identification for a Ben Franklin. You see, transferring that much to your real name would open up too many questions. It’s better if you file as two separate people.”
Ben Franklin, really? I almost laughed.
“I had no idea, I was just defending myself.”
Ceara shrugged, “It is what it is. Of course, that packet includes the building we’re sitting in now. I’ll vacate it within the next couple of days. The staff of course will stay, but I felt it prudent to move to another city entirely to keep down confusion, which means you are also in charge of Chicago.”
In charge of Chicago. I nodded inanely like I had a clue what that meant. Then I remembered what I was, and pulled all the information and tried to make sense of it. Well, it cleared up one thing, Caroline called me boss because she was now my personal assistant, and she was here to keep an eye on the company for me. She was also my liaison and interface to the other vampires that worked here. In addition to their normal work, the vampires here would respond to circumstances needing to be covered up to maintain secrecy.
Caroline was newly made vampire, less than a handful of months, but the rest of the vampires in Chicago were terrified of me, so much so that apparently they wouldn’t have problems accepting her authority in my name. She was trustworthy too, and probably too nice for the position she was in, but she could handle it.
Apparently I only needed to get directly involved if there was a rogue the senior people couldn’t take out, or if someone came in to try and takeover. Oh, and I was insanely rich.
Ceara was going to Seattle to rule the vampire race from there, as well as try and find replacements for Charis and Alexios, but didn’t plan on telling me that. She was worried if we were both here, it would confuse things as to who was in charge, and who the vampires in this building reported too. There was also the practical matter that as the ruler of the vampire race, it wouldn’t look right if she reported to another being, and was seen to be subservient to me.
After yesterday, that meant her only choice was to move.
I kind of got that, she would already have enough problems keeping them in line with the death of the other two councilors. She wouldn’t have an issue taking over there, a vampire already ran it who was her ally, and she had a number of businesses there already.
As far as the rules of the vampire race, Ceara would be in charge, as far as this business and covering up supernatural shenanigans in Chicago, apparently I was. This was crazy, and a complete surprise. Aitheria was laughing on my shoulder, no doubt enjoying my shock. I made a note to myself to pull information on business, both here and internationally. Apparently I had people that took care of that now, but I’d need to be able to check up on them.
It sounded not fun, but being as I was ridiculously wealthy now, I supposed I could bear it.
Then of course there were my family’s enemies, who seemed to have a lead on me already. How the hell was I supposed to lay low running a damned city? Then again, it was more just a lot of responsibility, and not all that much authority. I just had to make sure exposure didn’t happen.
“I wasn’t expecting any of this, but I can accept it.”
If I didn’t, then who would? Ceara was the only one here capable of it, and she was leaving.
Ceara said, “If you have any questions, you can contact me, or use Caroline if you don’t wish to speak to me directly.”
I nodded, “Not right now, but I’ll let you know.”
Caroline was still waiting right outside, and we exchanged numbers before I left. My life was really weird sometimes. It was also complicated, somehow I’d gained a lot and it all related to a close friend’s death. I didn’t know what to do with all my feelings, they were all over the place.
I wondered how to break the news to Sierra. Oh, yeah, I’m a billionaire now, and I have a new personal assistant that could be a model. Nope, I think I’ll try a different approach. Of course, I wasn’t really that worried about the latter part, she would know there was nothing to that. It was my human upbringing that skewed my thinking there.
“Excuse me, are you Ben?” I heard a voice ask as I stepped outside.
I
turned toward the voice and saw a woman that looked right around thirty. She had light brown hair, hazel eyes, and despite only being five foot three, willowy was the best way to describe her. She had a friendly cute face that was fairly attractive. I was a little wary about this person, who seemed to know my name, so I reached for her information, and nothing at all came back. I reached forward with my power and felt… nothing. She was shielded.
She rolled her eyes, “That’s rude, cut it out.”
I pulled back my power and raised an eyebrow, “Really? So is ambushing someone as they walk out of a building.”
She smiled, “Point. I’m sorry if I made you feel nervous or defensive. I’m Melody Shore. Now that we’re not strangers, want to get a coffee?”
I had no idea who, or what, she was. Much less what she wanted. I was also sure revealing my ignorance by asking would be a huge mistake. Really, there were only two options, an earth sorceress, or some kind of supernatural I’d never met or even heard of before. And I’m only guessing that, because I couldn’t sense her shields at all.
Sure, a witch could do it too, but they were more likely to mix all four elements into a shield, and I’d feel the other three. I was also getting the idea she only looked thirty, but was probably around ten times that.
I sighed, “How did you know my weakness? Coffee sounds fine.”
Her laugh was tinkling, and had an ease to it. She was very self-assured, confident. It was a little frustrating trying to read someone only by body language. We walked over to the Starbucks, and grabbed a couple of coffees. Like me, she went for a simple coffee and we found an empty table and took a seat.
“So Melody, what prompted you to seek me out?”
Melody winked, “I heard what happened yesterday, I’ve been friends with Ceara for centuries, and wanted to check up on her. Honestly, I was quite shocked when she told the story that you didn’t simply kill her.”
She put on a conspiratorial look and whispered, “Most of our kind are complete jerks that way.”
Well that settled it, she was a sorceress of earth, that was why I couldn’t feel her at all. I was completely blind to her magic, which meant for all I knew she was preparing to suck me down through the floor and into the earth. Still, running for my life seemed like a stupid idea, if she wanted a fight I wouldn’t get far, and she seemed nice enough.
I shrugged, “She voted no. I was also concerned half the vampires would go rogue if they didn’t have anyone to keep them in line, but really, it was mostly that first one. She’s also the only decent one of the three. Don’t tell her I said so, but I’ve always liked her best.”
Melody tilted her head, “Maybe, but she went along with the vote. Granted, she didn’t have much of a choice, but like I said, most of our kind wouldn’t have been that understanding. So I wanted to meet you. Maybe trade contact information?”
I smiled, “We can do that. If only because you’re the first of our kind that didn’t try to kill me at our first meeting. Not that I’ve met all that many.”
She grinned and said teasingly, “Isn’t that a bit presumptive? After all, this is still our first time meeting.”
I laughed, “I suppose I’m a bit of an optimist.”
She shook her head and looked wistful, though I was pretty sure it was faked, “I remember those days,” and pulled out her phone.
I took mine out and we shared contact cards.
She shrugged, “There’s always meeting number two. I just wanted to say hello today, I need to get going. It was nice meeting you Ben.”
I said, “You too Melody,” and found that I actually meant it.
I watched her as she left the store. It was a strange meeting to be sure, but I was fairly confident that she wasn’t an enemy. I supposed time would tell…
Chapter 11
Friday, June 10th, 2016, 10:02 AM
It was still so early in the day, and I was already considering calling it quits and hanging out at the house. I had no idea when I decided not to simply leave the city that I’d be in the middle of so many complications, or so bright a spotlight. In retrospect it was stupid for me not to expect it. Alexios, Charis, and Ceara were the council over all vampires for over a thousand years, of course the news would travel wide and fast like a grassfire. No doubt that’s what Zale had picked up on…
Although, to be fair, I couldn’t have expected the money, or responsibility for Chicago. Ceara had just dumped it on me, and I felt obligated to accept. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be too many problems, if the vampires of the city were truly scared of me maybe they’d behave. I wasn’t worried so much about Tara and the pack, who comprised all the witches and werewolves in the area I was aware of. Then again, there was no shortage of stupid in people, and in the end, vampires were simply people that had blood as a staple in their diet, and quite often delusions of grandeur.
A man in a dark gray suit walked in my office, he looked like a Fed to me.
“I’m Ben, can I help you?”
“Krantz, FBI. Major crimes division. I was hoping you could help me.”
As I pulled the information, I realized as the head of Chicago I should immediately beat myself up. I’d had way too much good exposure in the press lately, and even the police believed me as a whole and leaked information to the press.
I held in a sigh as agent Krantz pulled out a stack of photos and started to lay them on my desk.
He gave me a challenging look, “You can find missing kids, can you find these men? They’ve all killed people while committing other crimes, and are on our wanted list. Real monsters.”
Damn. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to help, but saving children from either evil, or even themselves on occasion, was my exception to the rules. Even when I found out what I truly was and understood I shouldn’t draw attention to myself, the investigations were something I didn’t, or couldn’t, give up. The last thing I needed to do was bring more scrutiny on my life, human or supernatural.
I knew I was a terrible liar, so I put a little bit of mesmerizing power behind it to convince him I spoke nothing but truth.
“I’m sorry agent, I’d like to help you, but my psychic ability is tuned toward missing or kidnapped children. It’s not something I can control.”
I think I might have even blushed from the bald faced lie. But he just stared at me a few more moments and then gathered up the photos. I also felt a bit guilty, because I already knew where each and every one of those men were. But I was part of a different reality, and I couldn’t save the whole world. Maybe if I keep telling myself that it will actually sink in, I think I had a hero complex.
Agent Krantz said, “I understand, have a good day Mr. Edwards.”
I nodded in acknowledgment as he turned to leave. I just hoped that the fact agent Tom Kilmer hated me, would prevent the FBI’s kidnapping division from approaching me. I knew I should probably back away from it all, but I also knew that would never happen.
My phone went off and I took a look. Caroline wanted to meet for lunch, and the stabbing pain in my chest took me by surprise as I remembered all the times Diana and I met for a midday meal. When it passed, I replied that I would, when, and where…
Caroline looked stunning in that same light blue dress from this morning, but truthfully I hardly noticed. I was young, and a guy, so I did notice a bit, but I think it was a mixture of Diana’s death still affecting me, and getting used to being around beautiful women all the time in general. The supernatural world was full of them, including all the other women in the pack who were quickly becoming sisters to me. I remembered as I sat that Caroline had been changed simply because her dead vampire sire had wanted her as soon as he laid eyes on her. At least the sick bastard had good taste.
I also supposed having a beautiful mate might have something to do with it as well. I no longer worried about my awkwardness, and the fact I hadn’t had any good long term relationships, not now that I’d finally found the right one. Sure, the awkwardness wasn’t completely gon
e, but enough of it was that I could ignore it.
Caroline’s smile was a little unsure as I joined her, “Hi Ben, I thought we should talk a bit, and if you have any questions about the coven…” she trailed off.
I managed a real smile and replied, “Sounds good. So, you seem to be doing very well?”
I could have told her I could learn anything about the coven I needed to know of course, but it seemed prudent not to advertise my abilities all that much. Plus, it would be good for our working relationship to interact and for her to get to know me. I realized a danger of my power would be to simply take what I wanted information wise, and not care for others in my life.
Oh, not my family, or the pack, but everyone else. In a way it would be easier. But I still saw it as a trap, I didn’t want to use Caroline, or anyone, simply as an information resource. I knew if I did I’d eventually grow secretive, and be cold to all those around me. That was one of the more obvious pitfalls of being a sorcerer of air.
She nodded and her smile got a little strained, “I am. I miss them of course, my old family, but the coven isn’t so bad, and Ceara has been helping me. Most of the others aren’t too bad. I think I surprised her when I volunteered for this.”
She smirked, “Most of the coven, they think I’m crazy.”
The conversation paused as the waiter came by and took our order.
“So things are quiet right now?”
She nodded, “Ceara kind of told me what to expect. Right now everyone is scared to move lest you stomp them like a bug. But human nature will reassert itself, that will wear off after it keeps not happening, and they’ll start pushing the rules again. Rogues from out of town won’t be too big a worry, because the ones that hate the council will go wherever Ceara ends up to start trouble there instead.
“Internally, the coven is pretty stable. Up until…” she waved a hand, “You know, the council was here, so all the vampires in Chicago are fairly stable individuals. The idiots didn’t last very long.
Sorcerer: Betrayal: Power of Air (Book 4) Page 6
