The rest of us halted our horses. I hung back slightly, trying to get a feel for the situation. “Well, hello to you too, Damon,” Samuel replied, a tinge of hostility coloring his voice.
I frowned at the exchange, but the third vampire spoke up as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. “It’s about bloody time you came back here, Samuel. I started to think you’d forgotten about us,” he said. He was a few inches shorter than the other two and had fair skin and auburn hair.
“I have never forgotten about you all, Adrian,” Samuel answered. A small smile appeared on his face, but it disappeared almost as quickly.
“Matthew, Mary Anne, it’s good to see you.” Elizabeth looked back at Samuel. “Who are your traveling companions?”
“Stephen is a friend of ours for the last few years. The other vampire is Julia, my fledgling.”
Recognition of my name was evident the faces of all three. Damon smiled and said, “Even lovelier. He brought the traitor with him.”
I flinched at his words, but Elizabeth simply said, “We’ve discussed this, Damon. She is as welcome here as any other Resistance member.” She headed toward the city. “Come. We have lots to talk about.”
“I still want to see proof,” Damon muttered as he followed.
I looked at my group, not entirely convinced it was safe to proceed. “Ignore him,” Samuel said, looking back at me. Mary Anne nodded as they mounted their horses and continued on.
I glanced at Matthew, who rolled his eyes. “Damon has been a grumpy old cod since the day I met him.” He looked at Adrian who was still standing near us.
The man nodded. “For a couple hundred years before that, Matthew.” He winked at me. “Damon’s just jealous.”
I raised an eyebrow but he simply headed in the direction of the others. Matthew shook his head and chuckled and I was left to wonder what the hell had just happened.
***
An hour or so later we were seated in Elizabeth’s common room. “Stephen, Julia, this is Diana. Claudia is out hunting with our youngest members,” Elizabeth said, glancing at the rest of my ka-tet. Diana smiled at us, although the rest of her face held grave concern. Adrian sat next to her; Elizabeth sat down facing us. Damon sat in the far corner, glaring at us. Elizabeth spoke again. “You should have come here as soon as you fled England, Samuel.”
He shook his head, but said nothing.
“We weren’t thinking,” Mary Anne replied. “We just knew we needed to put distance between us and Valentino.”
The three of them exchanged glances. Adrian sighed. “If you suspected she had the ability to communicate with the dead, you seriously should have come here. We could have provided stability, training . . . I know you three have never seen it before, but some of us have.”
“We didn’t know. We thought her sanity was slipping,” Mary Anne protested.
Adrian’s comment surprised me and I studied each of the group carefully. Elizabeth was Samuel’s age, but the other three were even older than they were.
“That power can unhinge even the strongest minds when it’s first developing,” Diana said.
“It scared one vampire with the ability so much, he took his own life,” I murmured.
My group looked confused, but Diana nodded. “Yes, it did. How did you know? He died centuries before your time.”
“The woman in white told me. Marie.”
Matthew looked at me and smiled. “So she really was your daughter.”
I nodded as Diana said, “I’m surprised your mind isn’t unhinged, considering you had very little help or understanding,” she said.
“When I figured it out a few months ago, I did my best to start training her,” Matthew replied. He shook his head and pulled out the ancient journal. “But it’s minimal at best. This was all I had to go on.” He handed it to Adrian who studied the first couple pages. Diana leaned over, her blonde hair falling into her eyes as she did. Impatiently she brushed her hair aside and continued examining the book.
“It was better than nothing,” she finally said as Adrian handed the journal back to Matthew. They locked gazes for a minute, and I could only assume they were talking telepathically. She turned to me. “I know you are not staying here very long, but Adrian and I can provide some additional training if you want it, Julia.”
I stared at them in surprise. They were strangers. All they knew about me was that I betrayed the movement and yet they were offering me help. “I would appreciate any assistance you can give me,” I replied.
Damon made a sound of disgust. “Why are we volunteering to help her? She should have been killed years ago.”
“Damon, enough!” Adrian snapped. He and Diana looked at Elizabeth, but their leader was preoccupied.
“Samuel, why didn’t you come to us? Why did you go back to Italy, especially Rome? That couldn’t have been good for you,” Elizabeth asked again gently. “Talk to me.”
“I didn’t know where else to go. I was trying to keep her safe,” Samuel finally whispered. He shook his head, staring down at his lap. “I made the wrong choice there too, I guess.”
I stared at him in confusion but Elizabeth sat back, her brown eyes filling with sadness. She glanced at me. “You didn’t come here because you were afraid we would kill her. Samuel . . .”
“Everything I’ve done the last few years has been wrong.”
Damon snickered. “Valerie never should have wasted her time with you,” he said. Samuel’s head shot up. He glared at the older vampire before leaving the room. Stephen and my ka-tet stared after him in stunned silence.
I started to get up, but Elizabeth shook her head. “Stay here, Julia.” She and Diana stood and she turned her attention to Damon. “That was uncalled for. Go find Claudia and the others. You don’t need to come back here till dawn.” He glowered at her, but got up and left. She looked at Adrian. “Can you keep the rest of our guests company? Diana and I will go talk to Samuel.”
He nodded; his hazel eyes filled with concern. “It’s been a long time since Samuel’s done that,” he muttered as they left the room.
“Not that long. Why do you think we ended up in Rome? Samuel disappeared and Julia and I tracked him down,” Matthew said.
I looked between Mary Anne and Adrian. “He really thought your group would kill me?” I asked, trying to process what had been said.
Mary Anne nodded and said, “No offense, Adrian. We didn’t know who we could trust. We knew we were still tied to Julia through the ka-tet. We didn’t understand what that meant other than we still had to protect her. We just tried to get somewhere we knew, and far from Valentino’s reach.”
Stephen shook his head. “I don’t think any of you were thinking clearly at the time.”
“I can believe that,” Adrian said as the other two looked at each other and nodded.
I sighed. “Maybe I should go after him. I don’t know if they’ll find him.”
Adrian shook his head. “Trust me, we have more than enough experience finding him. Give them time to calm him down and talk.”
I smiled a little. “Is this the original group from when he was with you?”
“Everyone except Jacob and Samantha. They are barely a century old. Since they have never been around Samuel, we thought it best they were occupied elsewhere.”
“I thought you didn’t have them here because of me,” I said.
Adrian shook his head. “You weren’t a worry to us, Julia. From information we gathered we started putting the pieces together long before you arrived. However, we know Samuel’s disappearing acts can be unsettling to some.”
I nodded as questions flooded my mind. “What the hell is Damon’s problem? I can understand if he doesn’t like me, but he seems to have something against Samuel as well.”
“You mean besides being an insufferable curmudgeon?” Matthew asked.
“Yes, besides that. You said something earlier about him being jealous? And why is Elizabeth leading when she’s one of the youngest?” I
asked, looking back at Adrian.
He laughed. “Diana and I have no interest in leading. Claudia isn’t strong enough. She is one of the weaker vampires in our group. Damon is Valerie’s maker and resents both Elizabeth and Samuel. Elizabeth was turned by Valerie a year or two after Samuel joined us. She’s stronger than Damon and it infuriates him that both Valerie and her fledging were stronger than him.”
I smiled and said, “Are Elizabeth and Samuel close, since they are near the same age?”
Adrian nodded. “Like a brother and sister. Valerie had taught Samuel a lot by then, but there were just some things he couldn’t figure out. Since Elizabeth was learning herself, she had a fresh perspective on how to approach some of those things. Valerie eventually let them teach each other those last few things. It was strange seeing a week-old vampire teaching an older vampire things, but it was also funny as hell.”
The others were quiet as I said, “I’m sorry if I’m bothering you with all these questions.”
Adrian shook his head. “I welcome them, Julia. Ask away.”
I thought a moment, remembering that Samuel told me that Valerie had argued with her maker about letting him stay. “Does Damon just hate Samuel because he got to stay here against Damon’s wishes?”
“Not exactly.” He scratched his head and said, “Damon always thinks he’s right even when he isn’t. He also has a jealous streak that would put a queen to shame. He’s resented Samuel ever since it became evident that he could adapt to being in a group. When the ka-tet formed a century later, it only fueled his bitterness as he watched Samuel flourish, organizing and making the Resistance thrive.”
I absorbed the information and asked, “Why do you think he’s jealous of me? I’ve been a disaster for years now.”
“He’s envious of your power, of course. You’re strong, Julia, and in more than one way. Diana wasn’t exaggerating when she said your ability can do bad things to an untrained mind.” He sighed. “It’s getting late; I should show you where you can sleep.”
We got up and followed him through the house. I wondered about Samuel, but as I passed a bedroom door, I could hear soft talking from inside. I recognized the voices and looked at Matthew and Mary Anne. “They found him,” I whispered in amazement.
Matthew nodded. “I hope they can help,” he replied as we parted ways. He and Stephen were sharing a room and I was to share one with Samuel. Mary Anne had the smallest one to herself.
I looked at Adrian. “Are you sure you don’t want to give Samuel a room by himself? Mary Anne and I can share.”
“Trust me,” he said with a smile. I gave him a skeptical look, but retired without further questions. Our trip had been rough and it felt luxurious to sleep in a bed.
Chapter 30
When I woke, I was surprised to realize Samuel had indeed slept the room we were given to share. He was no longer in there, but the blankets on his side of the bed were rumpled and his sword was lying on the small table next to it.
I stared at it for a moment before heading for the common room. When I entered, I saw both my group as well as Elizabeth’s group in their entirety. Elizabeth greeted me. “Evening, Julia. I hope you slept well.”
“I did, thank you.” I glanced at Samuel and saw a calmness in his expression I hadn’t seen in a long time. I didn’t know what they’d talked about late the night before, but it seemed to have helped. As I sat down between him and Matthew, he reached out and took my hand. I gave his a squeeze and looked at the assembled group, including the faces I didn’t know.
“We were just informing your group about some of Valentino’s recent movements. Amita arrived in Paris a few weeks ago and she is Valentino’s third-in-command after Johnathan.”
“Why couldn’t he have gone to Italy so we could have killed him?” Matthew whined.
“Shh,” I scolded before looking back at Elizabeth. “Go on.”
“There’s been another rash of disappearances around Paris again.”
“Disappearances?” I echoed in confusion.
Elizabeth glanced at the other ka-tet members. “She doesn’t know?”
Samuel shook his head. “She’s young, Elizabeth. I haven’t told her everything. And as I explained last night, we’ve kept her in the dark for the last few years.”
She nodded and explained, “Every so often a large number of humans disappear around the area of Valentino’s castle. There’s never a pattern as to when it occurs and no one knows what happens to them. We assume he uses them as food sources, but we honestly don’t know.”
I frowned. “I see. The humans around there must be terrified.”
“The villagers tell stories about him. How much of it is true, it’s hard to know,” Diana said with a shake of her head.
“We tried sending a couple scouts to Paris to see if we can learn anything else, but Valentino has his defenses on high alert. They barely made it out with their lives,” Elizabeth said with a sigh.
Samuel nodded. “I’m not surprised. He might have been afraid Lane followed Amita.”
Elizabeth’s group looked at each other and then at me. “Tell us about Lane. I am quite curious,” she said. Everyone else leaned forward eagerly.
I told them of my first encounter and how it evolved into our strange alliance. Matthew and Samuel jumped in at times, adding their own knowledge and insights.
When we were done, Elizabeth leaned back and said, “So Lane isn’t insane. He is more like you, Samuel.”
“Yes, in a way he is like me. However, there are differences between Lane and myself.”
“Are the differences because of how much more time Lane has spent alone compared to you?”
Samuel nodded. “A lot of it is, I think. Lane has spent decades alone. He doesn’t trust anyone because he’s been shunned and hunted because of the stories and the fear of his power.”
“But as you said yourself, he does hypnotize other vampires and feed off them,” Damon suddenly said. “That makes him dangerous. At least you had the sense not to take him in. Of course, Valerie would have been disappointed in you, most likely.”
Samuel scowled as I said, “He does it so he doesn’t kill innocent mortals. Lane doesn’t know how to feed properly from humans. So he’s found a way to get around it.”
Damon made a sound of contempt. “Thanks for that little insight, traitor,” he said.
I glared at him as everyone shifted uncomfortably. “Honestly, Samuel, I am somewhat surprised you didn’t take Lane in,” Adrian said. “When we first got word that you were dealing with Lane that was exactly what we thought you were going to do, considering your own past.”
Samuel studied the wall. “It wouldn’t have worked. The first time I saw him, I knew I couldn’t teach him. Not on my own, I wouldn’t even know where to start with him. He also didn’t trust us enough for it to happen. He tolerated us, nothing more.”
“He tolerated some of us a lot better than others,” Matthew added, grinning at me.
“Do you think it’s possible you will see him again?” Elizabeth asked.
“I don’t know,” Samuel replied.
“Well, Samuel, you offered him our help,” Matthew said, rolling his eyes at Elizabeth.
Samuel snorted. “And what are the chances that Lane will need help?”
“Honestly, if someone ever does earn Lane’s trust they would get a powerful and loyal friend out of the deal,” Mary Anne mused. “He didn’t trust us, but once he decided to help he didn’t stop until the threat was gone,” she replied. “That’s a lot of loyalty toward someone he doesn’t even trust.”
I nodded as the group dispersed to do their own thing. Adrian and Diana took me out to the yard to see what I could do and devise a training program. The rest of the night went by very fast.
***
A few hours before dawn I returned to our bedroom to find Samuel already there, standing next to the bed. “How long do you think we’ll stay?” I asked.
He turned and said, “A couple
weeks at most. Being so close to Valentino’s stronghold makes me hesitate to stay any longer than that.” He paused and said, “I hope that gives you time to learn what you can from Adrian and Diana.”
“Thank you,” I said and walked to him. “Samuel, do you really think every decision you’ve made the last few years was a mistake?”
He looked at me and said, “Most of them.”
I frowned. “You said you were trying to protect me. Did you honestly believe your former group might have killed me?” He turned to sit down on the bed. I followed and sat down beside him. “I’m trying to understand, but it feels as if I am missing a million pieces. Talk to me, Samuel. Please.”
He sighed. “Maybe it’ll be easier to show you.”
I stared at him in confusion until I felt his mind brush against mine. His walls were down for the first time I could remember. “Memories. You want to explain by showing me memories,” I said. He nodded and I whispered, “Show me.”
I closed my eyes as the first of many images flooded my mind. I saw myself bound and unconscious on the floor at Kali’s family home as a bitter dispute broke out between the rest of the ka-tet on whether or not they should spare my life. Samuel won that fight with Kali’s suggestion of keeping me drugged until they found a safe destination.
Another showed Rab and Cain both denying Samuel’s group sanctuary if they still had me with them. Other Resistance groups followed the two Council members’ lead, leaving the ka-tet and the two humans with them to flee to a small city in Greece. Samuel deciding not to ask Elizabeth for help, fearing rejection from his closest friends outside the ka-tet. It was there that Sandro’s group offered to let them come to Florence on the condition the ka-tet explained the situation and promised to exclude me from the Resistance’s meetings.
Matthew left. Diego and others were appointed to the Council to fill the open positions that had been left by Valentino’s attack. A couple discussions were held about my potential ability that all ended the same way: with the conclusion that it was not possible and at best I was mad and at worst a traitor who wished to end the Resistance.
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