by G. K. DeRosa
“Stellan is talking to the Council as we speak, and Dani is doing some research on Alek and Fabian,” said Nico.
“We need to find out as much as we can about Alek. I had been looking into him myself for a while now, and there are some things that don’t really add up,” said Roman. “If we can figure out what he wants the ring for, we could gain the upper hand.”
“Right,” she said. “I’ll double up on my training and go to the storage to stock up on more weapons.” She had to do something productive to keep herself from curling into the fetal position and hiding in a closet.
“Maybe you should stay with Stellan for awhile,” suggested Roman.
“No, I’m not going to run away and hide from him. Besides, I can’t leave my mom unprotected. I will be fine here. Don’t forget that my aunt’s a guardian too.”
Roman didn’t approve, but he knew better than to argue. “Nico and I will keep watch as an extra measure then.”
Celeste too knew better than to object, so she simply nodded grudgingly. As Nico did a quick sweep of the house and ensured all windows and doors were securely locked, she considered the connection between the attack on Astor and the ring. There was still something missing. “What about your mom’s body? Do you think that has something to do with all of this?”
Roman smirked; he and Celeste were always on the same page. “I think it’s too much of a coincidence for it not to,” he answered.
Dani sat in the library, nose deep in old mystical textbooks. She had found hundreds of them in her database that referenced Fabian or Alek. This was going to take a long time.
Roman stormed in carrying a handful of books in his arms. “There’s nothing. I can’t find anything useful!”
“We just have to keep looking,” said Nico as he trailed behind. “It’s not like we have anything better to do.” Natalie had gone back to school the day before, and devoting himself to research seemed to be the only thing keeping him from full-on depression.
“Has Stellan had any luck in Astor?” asked Roman.
“No, he checked in with me today, but no new leads,” said Dani. “He’s going to stay there for a few more days to see if he can find something from their extensive collection of guardian journals.”
“There has to be something in those,” said Nico hopefully.
“I don’t know. I’m beginning to think we aren’t going to find an answer in any of these books,” replied Roman as he dropped another stack on the table.
“Maybe we just need to try and think like an evil sorcerer,” quipped Nico. “What would I want to do with a power-magnifying ring and the dead body of a witch-vampire?”
“Perhaps we’ve been searching in the wrong place. Maybe we should be looking into the Albsurori coven. After all, that is the common link,” said Roman. “You know little brother, sometimes you are kind of a genius!”
***
Stellan hurried Celeste through the pristine streets of Astor, eager to find Dalla. If Nico and Roman were correct, Dalla might hold all the answers they needed. They turned the corner onto a quiet tree-lined street, and walked up to the charming two-story home. Stellan stepped forward and knocked on the bright blue door as Celeste ambled up the porch, admiring the colorful flowers lining the banister. Seconds later, Dalla cracked open the door and her face lit up at the sight of Stellan. Her short silver hair shimmered in the sunlight with a lavender hue that matched her lively violet eyes. A silly grin crossed his face as he greeted her with a cordial bow.
“I hope we are not intruding, Dalla.”
“No, of course not. Please come in,” she said as she stood back, holding the door open for them to enter. She led them into the sunny parlor, then excused herself for a moment to attend to her housekeeping staff.
Celeste looked around in wonder at the quaint house. “So this is how Council members live?” It wasn’t an inordinately large house by any means, but everything was meticulously cared for and maintained, much like Astor itself. The home was filled with antique furnishings and timeless family heirlooms, with turn-of-the-century paintings mounted in elaborate gold frames. And yet with all that grandeur, it still had a wonderfully warm feeling of home to it.
Moments later, Dalla reappeared. A stout housekeeper followed close behind carrying a silver tray with a beautiful bone china tea set and a basket of blueberry scones. “I hope tea is all right?” she asked.
“Yes, thank you,” said Celeste. Her stomach growled at the sight of the fresh pastry.
“Dalla, as I’m sure you’ve heard, we’ve discovered that Alek was behind the attack on Astor,” began Stellan. “But there is also something else, something that I hope you can shed some light on for us.” The details of Celeste’s ring had been kept out of the information given to the Council and all the guardians. Roman and Stellan had argued about sharing the secret with Dalla, but in the end Stellan had won. He trusted her absolutely and had convinced the others that she was the only one they could turn to with this matter.
“I will do anything I can to help,” she responded, taking a dainty sip of her tea.
“Before I tell you, I must ask you to promise to keep this information to yourself. It is of the utmost importance that no one else knows – not even your fellow Council members.”
Dalla’s face twisted uncomfortably. “I don’t want to keep things from them, Stellan. I am new to the Council, and it wouldn’t be right.”
“I am very sorry to put you in this situation,” he replied, clasping her hands tightly, “but you know that I would never ask this of you unless it was absolutely necessary.”
Celeste remained silent during the exchange. It was obvious that he and Dalla had some sort of shared history that he was drawing upon for this favor.
After a few seconds of quiet consideration, Dalla finally responded, “All right, what can I do?”
“We believe the storming of Astor was arranged by Alek as a distraction. During the battle, Celeste’s ring was taken by one of the werewolves,” he explained.
“What ring?” she asked, puzzled.
Stellan recounted the story of Lilliana’s ring, which Roman had unknowingly given to Celeste. When he finished, a queer smile flicked across Dalla’s face.
“The legendary Albsurori ring…” she whispered reverently.
“You know about it?” interjected Celeste.
“Well, I’ve only ever heard stories of it. We thought it was merely a myth as no one had seen it in over a hundred years.”
“It is real, and Alek has it,” said Stellan.
“Is it true about its power?” asked Celeste.
“Yes, I’m afraid it is. And if Alek has it, we could all be in serious danger,” she answered, knitting her brows in consternation.
“That’s precisely why we need you to help us. We thought maybe you would have an idea as to what Alek is after. Not only has he stolen the ring, but we also believe that he has the body of Lilliana Constantin.”
Her small, slanted eyes widened. “I must consult with my coven right away,” she said scrambling to her feet.
“Please remember, you must not tell them about the ring,” warned Stellan.
“Stellan, I do not know that I can help you without my sisters knowing the truth. I will limit who I tell, but I cannot do this alone.”
Stellan exchanged a look with Celeste. “Fine,” he replied, “but please keep it as quiet as possible.”
***
The silence in the library was deafening. Dani twirled a pencil between her fingers as she flipped through the yellowing pages of another old book on wizardry. Roman and Nico had gone back home for the day, leaving Dani alone to continue the mind-numbing research. As she sat pondering her unbearably boring existence, a sudden wild wind burst through the library scattering papers and books in every direction. Dani looked up, startled, and saw a spiraling blue vortex where the door used to be. Walking out of it was a thin young man, not entirely unattractive, with platinum hair. She jumped out of her seat an
d backed into a row of bookshelves.
“Calm down, Dani Lynn. I am not here to hurt you, I merely have come to collect something of mine,” came the high-pitched arrogant voice.
“What do you want?” she asked, her voice trembling. “I’ll give you anything, just don’t kill me.”
Alek’s face twisted into a wicked sneer, and he let out a sinister chuckle. “I see loyalty is not a value you hold dear.” He took a few steps closer to her as she wriggled to stay out of his grasp. “I am here for Fabian’s spell book. Perhaps you’ve seen it?”
She nodded her head quickly and pointed to the topmost shelf. “It’s up there. Take it, just please don’t kill me.”
Alek moved another step closer to her, his face just inches from hers. He lifted his cold hand and brushed her cheek. “You are quite beautiful, little vampire. Would you like to be mine?”
“What?” asked Dani Lynn, her terrified voice faltering.
“What is a young vampire like you doing with this sorry lot? You don’t really fit in with a Guardian, a benevolent wizard and a pair of vampires with souls, now do you?”
“They were my friends,” responded Dani, the tremor in her voice subsiding.
“Yes, but that was when you were human. You are a vampire now, a creature of the night. You should be enjoying your new-found freedom, not stuck in a library with these dusty old books,” he said, waving his hand in the air contemptibly.
“Stellan promised to give me the ability to day walk. Soon I’ll be able to do whatever I want.”
“I can give you that and more,” replied Alek with a chilling smile.
Dani furrowed her eyebrows in deep thought. The idea of giving into her true vampire nature was extremely appealing. After all, her life here with Stellan pretty much sucked. All he did was boss her around and Roman practically hated her, so why would she stick around here? “All right, I’ll go with you,” she said determinedly. “As long as you swear to give me the ability to day walk.”
“Of course, my dear,” he said as he wrapped his arm around her. “Now be a good girl and get that book for me, and I’ll show you what it’s like to be a real vampire.”
***
“How come you’re not at Celeste’s?” asked Nico as he walked into Roman’s room.
“She’s in Astor with Stellan. They were going to talk to the new Council member, Dalla, who is also coincidentally in our mother’s coven.” As much as Stellan had tried to convince Nico of the Albsurori’s innocence in the ring theft, Roman was still skeptical.
“I take it by the sarcastic tone in your voice that you still don’t believe that’s just a coincidence,” Nico replied.
“No, I don’t. But Stellan seems to think that she’s the only way we’ll get answers, so I was outvoted.”
“Why does he trust her so absolutely anyway?” asked Nico, sitting down on the bed.
“They have history,” said Roman with a wink.
“What? Stellan and the new Council member are getting it on?”
“No, idiot, that’s why it’s called history. Don’t you remember what Stellan was like when we first met him?”
“Uh no, I was like, five,” retorted Nico.
“Well I do. He wasn’t always the lone bachelor sorcerer we know and love today.”
“He and Dalla were together? How did you find out?”
“I told you I was doing research on the Albsurori. I wanted to make sure that Stellan didn’t just trust them because of a gut feeling. Then, that made me wonder about him, and why he believed her so unquestioningly.”
“And?”
Roman had unearthed some of the old family albums, and distant memories had begun to click together. “And then I remembered seeing Stellan with a woman when we were little. It was her, Dalla. According to some old coven books I found,” he said, motioning to the stack on his desk, “they were one powerful couple, and they had been together for quite a while.”
“So Dalla knew our mother?”
“She must have. We know that Stellan and mother were close, so she must have known her at least by association.”
“She must have known that mother had the ring,” supposed Nico.
“Of that I’m not a hundred percent sure. And I couldn’t find any pictures of mother and Dalla together, but there has to be a link there. I’m positive of that.”
“That’s interesting,” murmured Nico. “So what does that mean for us?”
“I’m not entirely sure yet,” said Roman, “but I won’t stop looking until I find out.”
***
Stellan took one step into the library, and knew that there was something terribly wrong. It looked like a tornado had ripped through the quiet archive. Countless books were scattered across the hardwood floor, and one of the large bookshelves lay on its side in the middle of the room. He searched frantically about the house for Dani, but she was nowhere to be found. Closing the door to the empty basement, a bad feeling began to take seed, and he raced back up the stairs to the library, managing the steps two at a time. Pushing aside the heap of books, he pulled the stepladder to the tall shelf in the corner. He climbed up, all the while holding his breath. He reached up and searched behind the massive book on Magic and the Internet, but he felt nothing.
“No, it can’t be…” he murmured to himself. He began pulling books off the shelf left and right, hoping that Fabian’s spell book had only been misplaced, but deep down he knew it was gone. And he knew exactly who took it.
***
“So now what do we do?” asked Celeste, as she looked at the tense faces around the apartment. Roman and Nico sat on the edge of the couch while Stellan’s hologram wavered in and out. Celeste could tell how worked up he was by the constant flicker of his image. His thoughts were so scattered that he couldn’t even focus his energy on the projection.
“I don’t know that there is much we can do,” admitted Stellan. “I’ve been trying to track Alek down for months, and there isn’t the slightest sign of him anywhere.” He pinched the bridge of his nose as his mind raced to formulate some sort of plan. Alek with access to Fabian’s spell book, full of the darkest of magic, was the absolute worst-case scenario. There was no telling what sorts of evil he could conjure up with it along with the power of the Albsurori ring.
“How about Dani? Can’t you try searching for her?” she asked.
“I tried that before I called all of you. I had hoped I could locate her, but she’s vanished right along with him,” replied Stellan with a scowl.
“Do you think he killed her?” interjected Nico.
“No!” shouted Celeste. “He couldn’t have!”
The three men looked at each other dejectedly. No one wanted to admit it, but Alek had them backed into a corner. They were out of leads, and they still didn’t have the faintest idea as to what he was up to.
“It looks like we are going to have to wait and see if Dalla comes back with anything,” said Stellan.
“So we are just going to sit around and do nothing?” asked Roman, shooting up from the couch.
“Running off half-cocked is not always the best course of action,” snapped Stellan. “Dalla and the Albsurori may provide us with insight that we simply do not have. Be patient, Roman.”
“I’m tired of sitting on the sidelines while our fate is left in the hands of some witch coven and the Council,” barked Roman as he took a step toward Stellan’s transparent figure. Nico was on his feet in an instant and laid a calming hand on his brother’s shoulder. Celeste remained seated on the couch, silently watching the heated exchange. For once she was relieved that Stellan was not actually here in his human form: Roman’s fury was out of control, and there was no telling at whom he would lash out.
“Why can’t you just trust me?” asked Stellan, his patience diminishing.
“I do trust you. It’s everyone else that I don’t trust,” said Roman running his hands through his hair in an attempt to rein in his temper. “And maybe if you didn’t keep secrets
from us, it would make everything easier.”
Celeste’s eyes shot up toward Roman’s. Stellan glared. “What are you saying Roman?”
“Why didn’t you tell us about you and Dalla in the first place? What’s the point of hiding it?”
“Wait, what about him and Dalla?” interjected Celeste.
Nico cut in before Roman could continue. “They were close in the past,” he said diplomatically.
“So what does that matter?” she asked.
“It’s blinding him from being rational. He’s not looking at this clearly,” responded Roman. He was pacing like a caged lion, and his fists were clenched tensely at his side. “You might be willing to gamble with Celeste’s life, but I’m not.”
Celeste’s mouth grew dry, and she was finding it hard to swallow. Nico stepped over to her side and squeezed her hand reassuringly.
Stellan’s eyes went wide with anger. “Celeste’s life means more to me than you will ever know. You’re not the only one that has made sacrifices. And you are the irrational one, Roman. Your theory that the Albsurori had something to do with this is entirely unfounded. Alek is behind this without question,” shouted Stellan. “My history with Dalla has nothing to do with this.”
“I find it hard to believe he didn’t have any help,” retorted Roman.
“Enough!” cried Celeste as she sprang up from the couch. “We aren’t getting anywhere with this. I know you’re both frustrated, but taking it out on each other isn’t going to help anything.” She turned to Roman and took his hands in hers. “You know that Stellan would never put my life in danger. If Stellan trusts Dalla, we should too.”
Roman grunted and pulled away from her, stalking to the liquor cabinet to pour himself a drink. Celeste’s cheeks burned from his rebuff, but she took a deep breath and tried to shake it off.
“Celeste is right. Both of you need to remember that we are all on the same side. We need to work with the Council and the Albsurori if we want to defeat Alek. Even though no one wants to admit it, we can’t do this alone,” said Nico. He walked over to join his brother and poured himself a glass of the good whiskey.
