by M. Cheykota
“Hassan and Devan’s vampires attacked us here. Phedora and Lenair set you up to attack Devan. How were you supposed to know Phedora was in league with Hassan? You didn’t even kill Devan, technically.”
Christien laughs. “This is true vampire politics, ma chatte petite. If I admit that Phedora, my third in command, was not loyal to me, and indeed did successfully fool me into attacking Devan, then the Vampire Council would think that I could not control my house. If I cannot control my own house, why should they believe I could maintain control as tête de ligne de sang? Not only did I take over Hassan’s vampires and territory, I have also obtained all of Devan’s vampires and territory. Within a day, I have become tête de ligne of two different lignes de sang.”
“Oh.” I say in shock, as that is the only response that comes to my mind.
“That does not even begin my worries. If they decide to allow things to stand as they are, which is highly unlikely, they will demand my allegiance to the Vampire Council by blood.”
“You expected to have to do that anyway, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but in order to complete the oath, they could search my mind for the details of tonight’s attacks.” Christien explains, slightly concerned.
My jaw drops. “Why would they need to do that? Shouldn’t they already be able to tell if you are lying?”
“I will not lie to the Council, but there are ways to respond to questions without lying and not revealing as much as they could by simply extracting it from my mind during the blood oath. Reading minds is often done as part of the ceremony, along with gauging my powers.” Christien murmurs uncertainly.
I gasp. “If they scan your mind, they will know that you did not kill Devan yourself or they could also learn about me.”
“Possibly.” Christien mumbles.
“What do you mean, possibly?”
“I will admit that I am not fully aware of what I am capable of. I found it relatively easy to dispatch Hassan. It should not have been that easy to kill a vampire of his age or one that was my sire.”
“How old was Hassan?” I ask curiously.
“Hassan was over 2000 years old, but he was not as old as Devan. Devan was old enough to obtain a seat on the Vampire Council. I admit that Devan was more challenging to defeat, but our attack on his compound took him by complete surprise. It took me and several of my strongest vampires to subdue him long enough for Roman to remove his head.”
I whistle appreciatively.
“Exactly. I believe feeding from you during our lovemaking has given me a lot more power than I am currently aware.”
I frown. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Yes and no.” Christien replies ominously. “I may not have been the one that physically removed Devan’s head, but I was a major part of his demise and they may see that if they search my mind.”
“Nothing is ever simple with you, is it?”
Christien chuckles while he plays with my hair. “It is a good thing that I have gained these additional powers because it will only assist me in leading two lignes de sang without trouble. The extra power will also help me manipulate the thoughts of the Vampire Council to believe what I want them to believe. This will be risky, because if they find out that I am capable of entering their minds and changing their memories, the Vampire Council will immediately unleash their wrath on me.”
“Let me get this straight. If you have gained enough power to manipulate their minds, it is a good thing unless they find out that you can do it. If they find out what you are doing to them, they will likely want to kill you immediately because they can’t control you?”
Christien runs his fingers down my arms, causing goose bumps to appear. “You have the correct assumption, ma chatte petite.”
“That sucks. What are you going to do?”
“Hope for the best result and get my family out of reach of the Vampire Council. I have lost one family due to the insane beliefs of my sire. I have no intention of losing another family under any circumstances.”
I melt at his heartfelt words.
“For now, I need to inform Kayle of my new plans for the two of you to return to the United States. I also need to finish dealing with Devan’s vampires before tomorrow evening. There is a lot to do and not much time so I must leave you for a little while. You have had a busy evening. You should get some sleep so you will be ready for your trip tomorrow. I imagine with your morning sickness, you would want the time to rest now before your flight.”
My eyes bulge. “Oh no! Don’t remind me!”
“Get some rest, chatte. I will check on you later. If you need anything, just ask the guards outside the door and I will know.” He kisses me softly as he tucks me under the covers.
“Come tell me what Kayle learns from Phedora, Christien.” I yawn heavily.
Christien nods while brushing my hair out of my face.
I fall asleep before Christien reaches the door.
Chapter 19
Kayle watches Christien pick me up and take her towards their bedroom before he redirects his attention to Phedora. Alex is still packing up her supplies.
Phedora nearly killed Jess and the baby right in front of me. Kayle shudders as the thought passes through his mind.
Phedora might have been hoping for a quick death by her feeble attack on Jess, but her final attempt did stop his heart from beating, leaving his body momentarily paralyze from fear, for a split second.
The memory causes his heart rate to accelerate. Am I addicted to Jess’ blood? Is that why I feel so strongly protective of her all of the sudden?
Kayle watches Alex finish packing her supplies to distract himself from his thoughts. “Thank you for your assistance Alex. I hope you have a good night.”
She smiles warily. “Let me know if you hear from Roman tonight. Tell him to call me on my cell phone. If you don’t need anything else from me, I am going to bed. It has been a long night.”
“Are you okay? Is it the baby?” Concerned, Kayle walks over to Alex, pulling out his cell phone. “I can call Roman now and …”
“No, I am alright. Unlike Jess, I had to stay in the room during her rotting.” Alex shivers. “My stomach feels as if there is a tidal wave inside. I should have thought about that before performing that particular spell. That is usually the most effective spell against vampires though.”
“Why is that?”
Alex chuckles as she closes the lid of her suitcase. “For the most part, vampires are vain. They do not like to see themselves in any other form than perfect. If you destroy their body, their minds seem to snap. Once you prove you can restore their body back to their normal state, they will tell you just about anything in order to get you to heal them. I will admit one thing, she did hold out longer than I expected. Once the dehydration and rotting begins, I usually do not have to go any further than that before I get a confession.”
Kayle looks around the room. “Are you not concerned about the other vampires hearing what you do?”
“It does not matter. I can tell them it is all an illusion. Once they see their body decaying before their eyes, it does not make a difference what they hear me say. Their mind believes what it sees, feels, and smells.” She picks up her suitcase. “Goodnight Kayle. Let me know if you need anything. I’ll probably be up for another hour.”
“I am sure I will be fine. Goodnight and get some rest.” He replies, returning to stand guard over Phedora.
Christien posts four vampires to guard Jess in his bedroom before he returns to the family room. Two are standing in the hallway, two outside near the windows. He is not taking any more chances with Jess and their unborn child’s life. He returns to the family room, stopping to make himself a drink at the bar in the corner before taking a seat on the couch. Vampires line up around the room as Roman in human form and other werewolves in their wolf form pace restlessly.
In order to blood oath all of Devan’s vampires quickly, Christien requests the oldest vampires of Devan’s lign
e de sang to blood oath to him. Therefore, if he blood oaths the oldest master vampires in Devan’s ligne de sang, the rest will likely be blood oath to him in return. He could have done this with Hassan’s vampires, had he known who Hassan’s oldest vampires were, but instead, he decided to perform the blood oath individually in order to establish a bond with each vampire. Turned by Hassan, Demetri, or Jacques, he feels the extra bonding is necessary. He has never heard of Devan being extremely cruel with his fledglings so that type of bond should not be necessary for each individual vampire in Devan’s line, he hopes. He needs to blood oath the vampires and move on to planning his encounter with the Vampire Council scheduled to happen any day now. Hopefully, Lenair’s involvement with Hassan and Devan was solely observation and that she, too, is not plotting against him.
A brief scan of Luke’s mind by Christien reveals that many of Devan’s vampires were unhappy under Devan’s rule. Most of all, Luke is more than willing to serve under Christien’s rule.
Luke is a little older than Kayle. He is a master vampire himself with formidable powers, but lacks the desire to rule. If Christien spares his life, the addition to Christien’s get would be invaluable.
When all the vampire blood oaths are complete, Christien pulls Kayle aside.
“Wait a moment. I would like to speak with you on a personal matter.” Christien says quietly. Kayle only nods as they wait for the room to clear out.
When the room is empty, Christien speaks. “Tomorrow at dusk, you will escort Jessica back to the United States and stay with her until I return.”
Kayle is about to argue, but he is halted by Christien’s words.
“You are the only person I trust with this task.” Christien sighs. “I have not mentioned this to anyone until now, but Phedora’s betrayal stung me to the core. I know you understand, but now that I am aware of Jessica’s condition, I am even more vulnerable. Please do as I request without argument, Mon ami. I know you wished to have more time with Phedora, but unfortunately I must ask that you kill her before leaving with Jessica tomorrow.”
Kayle sighs in resignation, irritated that he will not have more time with Phedora. “Yes master.”
“For now, I will leave Luke in charge of changing over Devan’s estate to me, and allow him to run things here in France until I assign someone else to take Phedora’s place. Do not worry. I have seen his mind and I believe he will be loyal to us. Regardless, I will still be here if anything needs addressing.
Kayle agrees reluctantly. “Is there anything else I can do?”
“Actually, there is. Find out if Lenair plans on attacking me or if Phedora only planned on killing me to gain my territory.”
“Consider it done. I will have a report for you by this afternoon if I learn nothing that requires your immediate attention.” Kayle replies dutifully.
“Good. I want to lay with Jessica for a while. Let me know immediately if you find out anything useful from your questioning.” Christien nods to Kayle as he returns to his bedroom.
Kayle has Luke follow him downstairs to the dungeons where he sent Phedora under heavy guard. They walk into the dungeon and close the door behind them. Kayle does not waste any time forcing himself into Phedora’s mind. She tries frantically to keep him out, but Kayle’s power has grown monumentally since the latest infusion of Jess’ blood. Phedora screams in horror as Kayle rips through the protective barrier of her thoughts, taking no precautions in case it causes her pain. Images immediately begin flittering across Kayle’s mind. He sorts through the random thoughts and works his way to her communications with Lenair. Slowing down his invasion, he watches the conspiracy unfold from Phedora’s perception.
Scanning her personal memories first, he learns that Phedora has been unhappy for a while and started creating her own get of vampires more than thirty years ago without Christien’s permission. A quick count of the vampires informs him that she has sired over 30 vampires in thirty years. He takes a mental note to find all her vampires before moving on to Phedora’s memories of Lenair.
He grits his teeth in anger when he learns that Phedora has met with Lenair at Christien’s estate so Lenair no longer requires an invitation to enter the house. Taking a deep, unnecessary breath in attempt to control his fury, Kayle unveils Phedora’s treachery as he learns she has been feeding Lenair information on Christien’s get for years with the hope to gain Lenair’s favor. Recognizing the excitement in Lenair’s eyes as Phedora confesses Christien’s weaknesses and their get’s vulnerabilities, he instantly knows that Lenair has been planning to attack Christien for some time, not just recently.
Pushing further into Phedora’s mind, he realizes that Phedora has no idea that Lenair has been using Phedora for her gain over the years, never truly considering taking Phedora into her get. Piecing together as much information as he can from what Phedora has unknowingly witnessed or heard, he finally backs out of her subconscious, disconnecting their minds abruptly.
“You insolate child! Did you truly believe Lenair would let you rule in Christien’s stead? Most vampires do not share power or their domains. She would have killed you at her first opportunity. She used you! She used us all. She could not kill Hassan and Devan herself without heavy loss to her get. She knew Christien might be willing to kill Devan in order to get to Hassan. You have no idea what you have lost by betraying your own family. Why Dora? We loved and adored you. Christien would have done anything for you. If you told him how lonely you were, he would have allowed you to join his household as I have. What made you turn your back on your family?”
Kayle waits patiently while she struggles to keep the thoughts out of her mind. Finally, after exhaustion takes over, an image of Jess stabbing her floats through her mind.
“Jess? You betrayed our master because she bested you?” Kayle asks in disbelief, plucking the thought from her mind.
“No!” Phedora speaks. “I betrayed him because he took her to his bed. It should have been me he loves, not her!”
Kayle rakes her with an incredulous look. “You cannot be serious! You and Christien have never been lovers. I was also jealous at first of her capturing our master’s attention, but now that I know her, I realize she is an asset to our family, not a distraction. What a malicious and selfish thing you have done, nearly destroying our master and me in the process.”
“I love him!” Phedora shouts through tears.
Kayle rolls his eyes in disgust. “And now you will die for that love, Dora. As a final gesture of your loyalty to your master, do you have anything else he should know?”
Kayle presses deep into Phedora’s mind. He carefully goes over all the images Phedora has in her subconscious in regards to Lenair and all other contacts with other vampires. He pauses in his intrusion when a vision of an ancient-looking book inside Lenair’s home appears in his mind, but after a few moments, he continues with his scan. His scan takes several minutes because she is nearly as old as he is, but his mind is able to process everything quickly, disregarding unimportant information.
Phedora pants from the pain of his intrusion. “How can you penetrate my mind so easily? You should not have that kind of power. I am nearly as old as you are.”
Smiling wickedly, he moves closer to her face. Harshly grabbing her chin with his index finger and thumb, he forces her to meet his gaze. “I am more powerful than you imagine. Did you ever stop and wonder how we were able to defeat Hassan and Devan with relative ease?”
Phedora blinks in surprise as Kayle removes his sword. He pushes Jess’ image into her mind and describes what she is before arching his sword swiftly across her neck, successfully removing her head from her body.
Kayle and Luke watch Phedora’s body decay quickly and turn to ash. Still angry with Phedora, Kayle kicks the ashes around the dungeon while screaming before facing Luke.
“If you ever decide to betray our master, you should not expect such a quick death.” Kayle growls at Luke intensely, pointing his sword at him threateningly.
&nb
sp; Luke only nods in acknowledgement, keeping very still.
“Come with me.” Kayle demands as he returns his sword to its scabbard. “We have much to discuss and dawn is approaching.”
Temper abating, Kayle grabs a drink from the bar and offers one to Luke when they get back upstairs.
Luke accepts the drink and sits down at the bar next to Kayle.
“Our master has scanned your mind and he believes in your loyalty. You have yet to convince me. Nevertheless, I must prepare you for what is to come. Our master requests that I accompany his mate home tomorrow at dusk. He requests that you complete transferring all of Devan’s assets to him as soon as possible.”
“I will make sure the transfers are complete.” Devan replies respectfully.
“Good. Also, you will be in charge of the household and all the vampires in France while Christien is away.”
Luke looks up startled by Kayle’s comment. “Is the master going somewhere?”
“He was summoned by the Vampire Council almost six weeks ago. They are requesting a meeting with him to discuss his status as a vampire. Hassan has requested that the Vampire Council intervene on his behalf, stating that Christien is a rogue vampire.”
Kayle watches Luke carefully, looking for any outward sign he agrees with that assessment.
“I have seen the destruction a rogue vampire leaves in their wake. Christien is not a rogue.” Luke says informatively.
Nodding in agreement, Kayle continues. “The Vampire Council will likely send for him tomorrow evening or soon after, now that they know Hassan is dead. Do not invite them into the house. Contact Christien immediately and have him deal with the Council on his own. Do not get involved. Do not mention or think about anything that has happened over the past few weeks that they may gather from your surface thoughts. There will be many changes happening with our get. It would be in your best interest that you do as we ask.”
