Birthrights

by Butler, Christine M.

  Seth got a towel out of the back of his truck to wipe off as much of the blood as he could. He'd have to throw out his shirt when he got back to his hotel room. He started the Escalade. and drove back out on the road. His next step would be to call Councilman Samuel Dirk and get a meeting with him. He would have to try to persuade the councilman that Marc was dangerous to the Vampire Community. Fortunately for him, he had the backing of the High Council but there were only a few that he trusted, and those few were quite doubtful of Marc and his ability as leader of the Vampires. Seth was going to have to play upon those doubts but he had to do so quickly, before Marc was able to bring proof that the girls were part of the prophecy. If that happened, the council wouldn't rest until it destroyed any threat of the prophecy coming true.

  Samuel had been a friend to Darren, and suspicious of his death. Maybe Seth could use that as a way to help force the councilman's doubts about Marc. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed the Councilman's office number. It was close to eight in the morning now, so someone should be there.

  "Mr. Dirks office. May I help you?" answered the sweet voice on the other line.

  "Yes, I need to speak to Mr. Dirk. Tell him its Seth."

  "One moment please" the secretary said as she patched the call through.

  "Seth, where the hell have you been? I've been trying to reach you for hours!" the booming voice of Samuel Dirk came across the line.

  Seth blinked for a moment and glanced at his phone. 4 missed calls. "Sir, I'm sorry. I've been a bit, um, indisposed. Why were you calling?"

  "We have an emergency High Council meeting tonight, boy, and you are the guest of honor."

  ***

  Casting Out the Truth

  The girls were up bright and early the next morning. Neither had slept well thanks to the over-load with the previous days events.

  Caislyn, clad in her pajama pants, over sized t-shirt and Gnome slippers met Jaxon in the kitchen as she was fixing toast. "Did you have any more dreams with your dad?" Jaxon asked her.

  Caislyn gave a small smile to her roommate, "No. I had really hoped I would but I don't think I ever relaxed enough to go deep enough to dream-walk."

  "I didn't sleep well either. I kept dreaming about fights and Seth. Its bad enough he keeps showing up in my real life, now he keeps ruining my dreams too," Jaxon complained.

  "Okay, so what is going on between you and Seth? And do you think it's wise?" Caislyn asked Jaxon after she finished buttering her toast.

  "Nothing," Jaxon said as she looked away, trying to hide the smile that was betraying her true feelings. "He just shows up."

  "Mmhmm," Caislyn gave a hard look to her friend then softened a bit. "Look, I'm just worried. He's freaking sexy, there's no denying that, I am just worried about his agenda. I mean every time we get an answer from him I feel like we only get half the answer and two more questions."

  Jaxon cracked, "I know, that's the frustrating part. Every time I look at him, my first reaction is to want to tear his clothes off, but then I have to wonder what the hell he's doing there to begin with because he just shows up. Now he's showing up in my dreams too. Its so aggravating!" Jaxon sat back not even pretending to sip her drink and instead taking big gulps of it to try to ease her frustration.

  "Whoa there girl! First, I don't want to know what you and Seth are doing in your dreams and second, it looks like you have a drinking problem!" Caislyn laughed as Jax threw a dish towel at her. "I don't know what's going on with him, or if we will ever know. What I do know is that he feels like ripping your clothes off too."

  "Umm," Jaxon looked up over her cup at her smiling friend, "Thanks, as if the confusing circumstances weren't bad enough."

  "What? It would be better if he were repulsed by you?" Caislyn teased.

  Jaxon emitted an exasperated sigh and continued to drain her glass. "I just wish there was a way to get him to tell the truth." She hadn't really meant to say it out loud, but Caislyn heard her and ran with the thought.

  "What if there was?"

  "Huh?"

  "...A way to get him to tell the truth."

  Jaxon looked startled for a minute, "Did I say that out loud?"

  "No, dummy, I can read your every thought." Caislyn said as she tried to stifle a laugh.

  "Ha ha, very funny, pick on the newbie vampire witch who doesn't know anything. Damn, a girl can't even mumble to herself without being picked on."

  Caislyn continued laughing at her friend, a rare moment of laughter that was much needed after all the stress she had been under lately. "Seriously, though, there is a way to get him to tell the truth. The only catch is, he's a vampire, so you have to be real specific with your questions or he will be able to skirt around the truth."

  "Really," Jaxon asked, eyes sparkling with mischief. "I think we should do it. We need to know everything we can, and if he's holding out on us, we deserve to know what it is. After all, we are the ones getting attacked every time we step outside, not him."

  Caislyn stood up and pulled her friend up with her. "I agree. We will make a potion and slip it into his tea. A few minutes after he drinks it, he will tell the truth to any question we ask." Caislyn led Jaxon down the stairs and to the back room. She opened the French doors and the girls stepped into the lush green grass of the amazing indoor garden room.

  "This room never fails to amaze me." Jaxon said as she felt the blades of grass brushing across her still bare feet. "So how do we get him here to drink the tea?" Jaxon asked looking around the room.

  "We call him to us." Caislyn said as she started to light the gas lamps, but Jaxon stopped her. "Here let me try."

  Jaxon concentrated on the lamps, seeing the wick in her mind's eye, and focusing her emotions on the wick. A few seconds later, all the lamps in the room flickered and burned brightly.

  Caislyn smiled, "Cool! I might need to turn them down a bit, they're burning on high."

  Jaxon smiled widely, "It is pretty cool isn't it?"

  Caislyn laughed at her friend, "Yes, some witches, like yourself, can tap into a specific elemental energy with great proficiency. Yours is apparently fire."

  "So what is yours?"

  Caislyn headed towards the rows of drying herbs after turning down all the wicks in the lamps. "My Mom and Dad taught me how to handle all the elements," she paused for a moment as a thought came to her. "You know, that's probably because I'm part Fey. They have that ability too as long as they are in nature and not inside a building. Metal weakens them. That's probably why I was always made to practice outside or in this room."

  "Sweet!" Jaxon exclaimed. "What else can you do, Miss Super Fairy Witch?"

  Caislyn rolled her eyes at Jaxon's teasing comment. "I can also talk to animals, well, not talk to them but they listen to me, sometimes. It’s not something I really practiced on much. I didn't see a need for it when I was younger. I used to be able to call butterflies to dance with me when I was little. I think I liked the butterflies so much that I never really thought to try other creatures." She sighed remembering her mother and how much she had tried to get Caislyn to pay attention to her powers and practice her control. "Mom always told me it was important to know exactly how to use all of my gifts in case I needed them one day."

  Jaxon walked over to her friend and gave her a sideways hug. "We will find her. I promise. We're bad ass witches, err vampire, umm Fey, witch type people. Any way, regardless of what we are, it’s who we are that matters. And we are good people, Caislyn, with lots of awesome powers." Jaxon wiggled her eyebrows up and down for emphasis making Caislyn giggle and relieving some of her sorrow. "We will find your parents. And we will do that by making a truth potion for our dear, sexy, vampire stalker friend!" Jaxon said with a sly grin.

  Over the next hour, Caislyn showed Jaxon what herbs were needed for their truth potion and how to grind them just right to make the mixture smooth. They were just getting ready to apply the finishing touches when they heard the buzzer go off indicating that someone was at the doo
r.

  "Damn, we aren't ready yet," Caislyn said. "He always shows up at the wrong time."

  "Stalker boy is notorious for it," Jaxon agreed. "You try to finish the potion and start brewing the tea and I will go stall."

  "Sounds good, stall for a while though. It's going to take me a few more minutes to finish this and a few more still to brew the tea."

  Jaxon left the room closing the French doors behind her as she went to the front of the store to answer the door. When she got closer she realized it wasn't Seth standing there, but some businessman with a briefcase. "Great," she said to herself, "Some nerd needs a book desperately, despite the fact that we have a closed sign on the door." She thought a moment about Caislyn rushing to finish the potion and decided to warn her. "Caislyn, it's not Seth."

  "Okay, great!" Caislyn called, "who is it?"

  Jaxon ignored her for a moment as she answered the door. "Hey, we're closed right now. I'm sure if you come back during posted business hours we will be able to help you."

  "Edgar Whitney, of Whitney, Bryce, and Jones," the stranger began to introduce himself, but Jaxon interrupted.

  "Look, man, listen, we are closed." Jax was trying to be polite, because she didn't want to chase off Caislyn's source of income, but this man didn't look like he was going anywhere.

  "Ma'am, is Miss Vadoma home? I have papers she needs to sign regarding her parents."

  Jaxon was a little taken aback by that. "Her parents?"

  "I've been trying to reach Miss Vadoma, however; she's been quite insistent that she not go along with her parent's wishes. You understand, I know it is not a pleasant situation, but I am obligated by law to present this information to her."

  Jaxon just stared at the man as she yelled back over her shoulder, "Caislyn!"

  Caislyn yelled back, "What? I'm almost finished here."

  "Umm, I need you for a minute, please." Jaxon gave a pleasurable smirk to the man before her then she continued, "some old pompous dude spouting crap about the law to me!"

  "What?" Caislyn yelled as she came out of the back room headed down the store to the front door. Then Caislyn noticed who it was. "You!" Caislyn was seething at the sight of him and before anyone could say anything she flung her wrists out and the front door of the shop closed in the man's face. "Go away, you old fool. I already told you my parents are not dead!"

  Jaxon's eyes widened as she saw the fiery side of her friend that was usually well hidden. "Umm, what's going on?"

  Before Caislyn could respond Mr. Whitney began talking exceptionally fast, "Miss Vadoma, this was what your parents required me to do. I have no other recourse, you see. Please, read the papers." Mr. Whitney slid the papers through the mail slot on the door and walked away at a rather brisk pace.

  Jaxon caught the envelope as it slid through the slot. "Well, it came through okay, so I guess it isn't dangerous."

  "It's plenty dangerous! It means my parents have officially been declared dead."

  "What?" The shock that was evident in Jaxon's voice didn't compare to the look she was giving her friend.

  "Apparently my parents set up their last Will and Testament to reflect them being missing for any length of time too. If they were to be missing for more than a year, then they should be legally declared dead, so that I could inherit their estate. I know they just did it to protect me, but I refuse to look at papers that say they are gone."

  Jaxon understood what her friend was going through, having lost her own parents and having to deal with the aftermath. "Cais, just because they left everything to you this way doesn't mean you have to give up hope of finding them. Come on, I will read through this stuff with you, and we can figure out how to get Seth here to drink the potion."

  Caislyn and Jaxon went to the back room again and began going through the papers. Caislyn was shocked to learn that her parents owned properties all around the world and now she owned them too.

  "This is a bit much to take in." Caislyn said, "I never knew they owned so much."

  "Wow," Jaxon began, "well, damn. At least you know now that you don't really have to worry so much about keeping the book store open regularly. You're pretty much set for life with what they left you."

  "Yeah," Caislyn said distantly. She wanted to change the subject so she put the papers up on one of the shelves and reminded Jaxon that they had other things to take care of. "Now, all we need is to call Seth here and fix him some tea." Caislyn said satisfied with their creation.

  "What do you mean? Like do a spell to call him here?" Jaxon asked curiously.

  Caislyn thought a moment, "Well I suppose we could do that. I do have a spell for that, but I was thinking just call him on his cell phone."

  "Oh, yeah. That's pretty simple. I can do that." Jaxon said as she pulled her cell out of her pocket. "I think I have his number somewhere…"

  Her phone jingled as she started looking for Seth's number. Jaxon looked up to Caislyn, "Well that's weird. It’s Seth."

  "What's up Stalker boy?" Jax answered good-naturedly.

  "I am not a - never mind. You and Caislyn need to be very, very careful. This whole mess about the prophecy has gotten a little out hand. I'm going to take care of it soon, though. But I would suggest the two of you stay there until you hear from me again."

  "What do you mean? What happened?" Jaxon asked suddenly serious. She put Seth on speaker phone so that Caislyn could hear as well.

  Seth paused a moment, "That vampire Frank told people about how you kicked his butt, Jaxon. So now there's speculation, but I'm going to handle it, there's nothing to worry about. I would just suggest that the two of you stay in until you hear from me. That way there's nothing more that can happen."

  Caislyn and Jaxon shared a look before Caislyn spoke. "Seth, this is Caislyn. I think you should come over and talk to us in person about what happened. I'm a little confused by it all."

  "I agree Seth. You just come here and we can talk about it. See you in a few." Jaxon said and disconnected the call before Seth could make another excuse.

  "Cool. Let's go get some tea brewing before he gets here."

  About ten minutes later, Seth rang the bell at the front of the bookstore announcing he was there. Caislyn checked the video from the apartment and released the lock. "It’s open." She said into the mic. "Wow, he doesn't look too happy to be here." Caislyn giggled as she warned Jax of Seth's mood.

  With a quick knock on the apartment door, Seth entered, his face showing his cloudy mood. "I really do not see the reason for me to be here. As I explained on the phone -"

  "Oh just sit down and take a load off, Seth. Here have some tea. It will help relax you. Trust me, you need it. I can feel the stress just pouring off of you and its bringing down my mood." Jaxon rambled as she led Seth to the chair he always sat in and ushered him into it.

  Caislyn brought in three mugs of tea, and handed Seth the one she had specially prepared for him. She set the tray down on the table and grabbed her own mug so that he would not get suspicious.

  Jaxon sat down on the couch beside her roommate and also grabbed a steaming mug. "I absolutely love this tea. It does wonders to help you relax."

  Seth sat in the chair holding his tea, looking rather annoyed. "As I said, there was really no reason for me to come over. It’s not that big of a deal."

  "Obviously it was since you felt compelled to call us and tell us not to go outside." Caislyn said as she drank her tea. "Besides, what if your master plan went wrong and we didn't hear from you again? I mean I have supplies, but I don't have the forever kind of supplies in that case." Caislyn was purposely rambling to try to give Seth more time to consume as much tea as possible.

  Seth sighed and took another sip of tea. Caislyn had a point but he wasn't about to share everything that happened with the girls, especially the part about Frank's demise.

  Jaxon shared a look with Caislyn then decided a bit of truthfulness might be a good idea. "Seth, honestly we wanted you to come here because we need to talk to you. We
don't feel that you've been completely honest with us. We think you know more than you are sharing with us."

  Caislyn's eyes grew wide for a moment as she didn't expect Jaxon to come out and call the vampire's bluff. She hoped Jaxon knew what she was doing.

  Seth looked at both the girls. He didn't really know what to say so he drank more of his tea to give him some time to think of an excuse. "What makes you think I'm not telling you everything?"

  Caislyn spoke first, "It’s just a feeling that we get Seth. And usually I'm pretty accurate on my gut instincts. What happened today that made you call us and tell us to stay inside?"

  Seth had no intentions of telling them of the events he had over the last few hours, but he found he couldn't lie to them. Instead he chose to give them a very watered down version of what had happened. "I left here and called my employer to see if I could find out more about Frank. Then I went to see Ve, where I was able to find out information about the Seer, but I still didn't know who was behind everything until I ran into Frank. Once I handled Frank, I decided that the best course of action was to go to the Council directly, but they have already called an Emergency Meeting of the Regional High Council for tonight. I have been commanded by the High Council to report on everything I know." Seth shook his head slightly when he realized that even that version had given them far more information than he wanted to share. He drank more tea to keep himself busy.

  Jaxon and Caislyn sat in shocked silence at the admission Seth had just given them. It took them both a moment to process everything and ask him more questions.

  "Who is your employer?" Caislyn took the lead in questioning.

  "Marc Pithview."

  "Marc owns the galleries." Jaxon explained to Caislyn. "Who else do you work for?"

  "No one."

  "Why did you go see Ve to find out more information about the Seer?" Caislyn took over again.

  "Because you had seen the Old Seer outside of Ve's place; therefore, Ve had something to do with the Seer."