“Marik had people here on the ground patrolling all the streets prior to our arrival. The town itself is clear. Most likely, they are where they have been this entire time. Where they held you before,” James answered as he continued to drive, his eyes scanning every inch of scenery that we passed.
“And you think we can trust Marik?” I asked.
“He can’t lie about a town being cleared, Ariya. The others would be too suspicious if he weren’t honest about something that simple. With Roland and the others involved now, it’s going to be harder for him to communicate with or help Audrey. We are being careful.”
I turned my gaze back out the window, sighing. Everything was becoming more complicated. We couldn’t know how anything would turn out. Riley passed out in the back seat and I glanced over at him. I wished he weren’t here. Not that I wasn’t glad to have so many people I loved surrounding me, but this wasn’t a fair game anymore. He was coming with us again, willfully entering one of the most dangerous situations we’d been in. I didn’t know how to protect him, or what I could possibly do.
We pulled up to a line of row houses and I looked up, remembering the last time I stood in this same spot. Emma had been captured and I was going to watch James interrogate her. I had the pleasure of meeting Marik for the first time then as well. We filed out of the car and headed into the buildings before us.
Once inside the doors, the quiet street faded into the background as the bustle of work and purpose instantly surrounded us. Marik had people posted everywhere and I recognized a few council members from the barn meeting that were scurrying in and out as well, urgently discussing topics amongst themselves. Our arrival went unacknowledged, save for Marik who was leaning against a doorframe across the room. He and James looked at each other momentarily before he beckoned us with his dark eyes to come to him.
“We’ll make sure we get settled in,” Caroline said briskly, taking Riley’s arm and leaving Nick, James and me to enter Marik’s makeshift office.
“Close it, Ariya,” Marik said as I walked through. I wondered about the purpose of a closed door when everyone had superhuman hearing but what did I know about the reasons why Marik did what he did?
“What happened?” James asked urgently but not as angrily as his voice normally was when speaking to Marik of late.
“Audrey has summoned us for a meeting,” Marik replied, clasping his hands very humanly behind his back as he took us in. “She said she would like to negotiate for Ariya.”
“So now what? If no one will meet with her?” Nick said.
Marik’s eyes flicked briefly to Nick and he squinted ever so slightly. “We agreed to meet with her.”
“You can’t be serious,” James accused. “To what end?”
“To find out what she wants, James.”
“We know what she wants! She wants Ariya, and she won’t have her; it’s war! This is the same discussion we’ve been having ad nauseum.” James’s temper flared.
“James, your feelings are obscuring your tactical thinking,” Marik chided. “Just as I knew they would,” he added for no other reason than to goad James.
“Meeting her is the only way we can get a glimpse of what she intends to do. Of course, we aren’t giving up the bloodline. But we might get some intel through this that could help us win.”
“Or perhaps you’d simply like to offer Audrey all the valuable intelligence that she’ll need,” James retorted.
I watched James, shocked to see him suggesting that we were wary of Marik and his potential involvement in all of this.
Marik stood still. Then slowly, he eerily turned around to face James with a death stare on his face unlike any I’d ever seen. Even I was frightened of him in that moment.
“Are you saying I can’t be trusted?” Marik hissed. “Remember whom you are speaking to, son. You are lucky that we need your skill or you would not be anywhere near this place. Now, get out of my sight before you say something else that will make me take an action I’ll regret.”
James bowed in exaggeration. “Of course, oh, mighty one.”
He turned on his heels and flung the door open, shattering the window to the door in the process. Nick gently touched my back and I walked out in silence with him.
I nervously tried to keep in step behind James and Nick as we made our way up the stairs. The same stairs Caroline had taken Riley up before our nice, little chat with Marik. We marched past the blatant stares and shock of the other vampires present.
Coming to the end of a corridor, we entered a back room to find Riley alone. Before I could even ask about Caroline, Nick and James resumed their typical banter.
“A little over the top, don’t you think?” Nick asked James, once we were inside. His voice was teasing, and not at all surprised.
“Well, the window breaking did seem a bit overly dramatic.” James smiled and walked over to me, kissing me briefly, yet passionately, and I stood up, once again lost.
“What just happened?” I asked, trying to catch up but failing.
“Marik needs to think he’s right about James when he says he’s on edge. Paranoia over Marik’s loyalty combined with his love for you are enough for Marik to be watching his steps. Hopefully, he’ll slip up now that he thinks James is watching him much more closely.”
“Wouldn’t that make him try to be all the more careful?” I asked.
“We hope it will make him think he needs to warn whoever he might be working with.”
“And how will you know if he does that if you came up here with me?”
“Caroline’s on top of it,” Nick smiled proudly.
I turned to Riley, still not following their zillionth plan. He shrugged. “She told me to wait here a minute and she’d be back. I stopped asking questions long ago, Ariya,” he said.
In a short while, Caroline returned. “Marik left for the meeting but he hasn’t said a word to anyone about what happened. Lukas approached him, asking what that show was about, but he blew him off. We’ll have to check on him when he gets back, but for now, it looks like he may not be working with anyone,” Caroline briefed Nick and James.
“So they intend to have a secret meeting with Audrey regarding me yet none of my Protectors are involved?” I asked. This whole thing was growing more and more preposterous the deeper into it we dived.
“Meetings like this are normally done with leaders and advisors. Roland went with Marik, along with a few other key council members. It’s not strange for us to be left behind. We prefer not to show our hand in how we protect you, or where you might be at any given time, if it’s not necessary,” Nick answered.
“Besides, I’m sure all she wants to do is convince them to hand you over. They’ll never do it, though. Protectors obviously would never bargain over you, but I believe that even the council members won’t risk your life either at this point. Even if they only considered the short-term and believed it would save them from Audrey’s wrath, they’d lose their insurance and protection by your blood. Not to sound crass about your life, Ariya, but even the most selfish vampires want to live without fear in their immortal lives. They’ll surely assume that if they help you, they’ll have a better chance of having future access to you.”
I nodded curtly, still not exactly happy to know my life was being discussed in a secret meeting where we’d never hear the outcome.
“How long do you think they’ll be?” I questioned.
“No idea, but try to rest for a little bit. Once they come back, things are going to move quickly and there won’t be much time for it then.” Nick motioned to Caroline who smiled at me before leaving the room.
“You two stay here,” James said softly to Riley and me. “We’re not far, we just have to check on something.” They left in a hurry.
“And then there were two, just us measly humans,” Riley snorted. I smiled, walking over to where a few cots were set up. “Caroline brought blankets up, and we have some pillows in the car. Help yourself. They might be right about g
etting the rest while you can.” He gathered supplies for himself.
“I don’t know if I could rest even if I wanted to. I feel like this can’t be real,” I sighed, falling back onto a cot as I spoke.
“Whatever it is, it can’t last much longer. No matter what happens, it feels like we are on the edge of something big,” Riley put his arm behind his head casually as he lay down on his cot and glanced over at me.
I made eye contact with him and knew I had to say something. Perhaps I could convince Riley to try and escape.
“Maybe you should go, Riley. Chase down Helen and get far away from all of this,” I suggested.
He frowned. “That’s a sudden, random thought.”
“No.” I sighed. “No, it’s not. I’ve been thinking about it for a while. If this is where we are all going to be for some time, at least, until whatever is meant to happen finally occurs, now is your chance to get away. You weren’t safe without us before, but now the threat is here with us. You can go away and escape it all.”
“Ariya,” he sat, propping himself up on his arm, “I’m a part of this too, now.”
I rolled off the cot and walked over, kneeling beside him and taking his hands in mine. “Riley, I want you to go,” I said and hot tears welled in my eyes as I looked at him. “I can’t save everyone. I don’t even know if I can save anyone at this point. But I can save you. I can’t do it, however, knowing you’re in harm’s way. We can talk to Caroline and get you out of Mineral Point before anything else happens and you can go anywhere. Make any excuse to find Helen and be happy. You love her, Riley. Please, leave here and be happy for the rest of your life.” I sobbed out the last part and Riley got on the floor with me, taking me in his arms.
I sobbed even harder. The tears flooded out of me as I thought about our life and the past few years we spent together. How much easier would things have been if I never knew about this other world? Would Riley and I have had something lasting? Could we have had any chance for happiness? Would I have been kept a secret? A million questions ran through my head and the more I thought about everything, the harder it was to stop crying. I had stripped everything from Riley and now, I wanted, no, I needed for him to have a happy life.
“Ariya, I can’t leave you guys,” he tilted my face up to his with his strong, calloused fingers.
“You can. For me, Riley. As my best friend, please do this for me,” I whispered, gazing into his eyes with everything I had in me.
He watched me for a long time, visibly torn about everything.
“You know that you’re just going to need protection. We can’t fight the wolves by ourselves and with two of us to look out for, it would only make it all the harder for them to concentrate.” I tried to point out the logical side of our situation.
“Ariya, I could never do that to you.”
“You’re not doing anything to me, Riley. You’re doing it for me.” I cupped his face and watched it run through dozens of emotions in what felt like seconds.
He let out a deep, labored sigh. “Fine,” his brow furrowed and he seemed hurt. “Let’s talk to Caroline when she gets back.”
He stood up and left me kneeling on the ground before he walked out of the room to who knows where? I felt relieved and hopeful. Maybe he’d get out of here after all.
I lay back down on my own cot, watching a ceiling fan I hadn’t noticed before spinning around and around. One friend would be safe, and I’d do everything in my power to save the others.
I didn’t even hear when James came in, but I heard him say my name.
Leaning forward, I watched him make his way across the room. “I ran into Riley in the hall. I think that was very smart of you,” he said as he stroked my hair and sat on the floor next to me. “But you don’t need to worry. This is all going to work out. I know we are going to end this permanently and everything will be okay. Riley will be okay too and we’ll all move on from this.”
I smiled meekly. “I trust you,” I said and I leaned over to kiss him. It seemed like I’d done it a thousand times before and yet it still felt new and passionate each time our lips touched. The smallest kiss between us still managed to send tingles down to my toes. Kissing James made me feel like there was nothing else in the universe except what existed between our hearts.
I brought my hand up behind his neck and rested my forehead against his. “I love you,” I whispered.
“And I love you, Ariya,” he said.
It wasn’t long before the commotion of the group’s return from their meeting with Audrey rustled through our building. Everyone was eagerly waiting to hear what might have been gleaned from the ominous encounter with our enemy.
We were waiting downstairs as more and more vampires showed up, gathering in the small, but open room of the building’s common area. Roland slowly made his way to the back of the room, always in a position of quiet observance and thought. How different from being in on the action as Marik always seemed to be.
We all waited for Marik to tell us what was happening. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. I knew what he’d say, what he had to say. War was inevitable. But how do wars start? We know where they are, and they know where we are. What’s to stop the attacks from happening right now? My mind spiraled further and further down the rabbit hole and I had no answers when I felt James lacing his fingers through mine, and pulling me back to the present. I looked at him and smiled as he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.
“Audrey is adamant in her request that Ariya be handed over to the wolves. She has promised safety to all who obey the decision, and claims she will let everyone live if Ariya simply comes with her, and does so willingly,” Marik began.
Most of the Protectors dramatically rolled their eyes and scoffed. I noticed some of the council members glancing around at each other, as though they preferred to save themselves rather than risk it all for a human girl with whom they never interacted.
“Obviously, giving Ariya to Audrey is not, nor will it ever be, a viable option.” Marik looked around the room, as if reading the thoughts of the weaker, and more selfish among our group.
“But, let’s say we did give her up if only to buy us more time to regroup…” said a vampire I didn’t notice before. He was standing with a group whom I recognized from the barn, but his particular face wasn’t familiar.
“Have you so quickly forgotten what happened to us, Val?” another council member asked. “We had nothing to do with the girl; yet members of our council were killed.”
“Perhaps it was simply because we were with her at the time!” Another shouted.
“Many of you do not know this enemy because she is new to you,” Marik’s voice silenced the bickering. “She is not, however, new to the Protectors. While we were not aware of her current existence, we knew about her life before now. She was manipulative then; and given what has happened during these past few months, it is safe to assume she has become more powerful and more calculating now than ever before.” Marik’s voice was firm and steady. His stare intensified as he spoke the words, glaring at those who were fidgeting and uneasy.
“She has threatened all-out war just to gain access to Ariya. She will give us until midnight tomorrow. At that time, we must meet her at a clearing two miles from town and hand Ariya over to the wolves, or she will automatically begin to attack our ranks and use her army of wolves to destroy us.” Marik had an evil smirk at the last statement.
“Just let them try!” a younger looking Protector yelled in protest.
“Wolves are nothing to fear,” said another man who was leaning against a door frame at the far side of the room.
As I looked around, I realized how many Protectors I didn’t know. James, Nick and Caroline were members of the elite and strictly in charge of me, but as James mentioned, they were sometimes employed to protect many others. Their ranks had risen considerably since they were established. I had no idea how many there were now, since they first had to be turned before they could be trained. The room wa
s full though. And I wasn’t even sure if it contained all of them.
“Now what will you have us do, sir?” Lukas asked from where he sat perched behind Marik.
I furrowed my brow. Brown noser.
“Yes,” Marik nodded at him. “Now we must discuss our strategy.” His eyes scanned the room. “James. Nick. Come with me. A few others will be consulted as we choose the precise area where we will be meeting Audrey and the wolves. It will, most likely, be best if we show up there in full force. Then we just eliminate the wolves that accompany her there, and capture Audrey.”
Marik spoke as if it were that simple. As if Audrey would be defeated so swiftly and easily.
“And what about her powers?” I asked.
The room silenced and turned toward me.
“No power is stronger than us,” a Protector said dismissively.
“That’s awfully arrogant. I may not know much about your world, but even I realize that underestimating your enemy is the best way to get beaten by them. She has powers that no one here understands! Powers that created the Protector line, and my bloodline too, for that matter. That’s just reason number one. She will not surrender without a struggle and she cannot be easily defeated.”
“She won’t risk getting you injured, much less, rendered incapable from being able to help her. Destroying all of us is not the best course of action if she wishes to get to you quickly. When she hesitates in her search for you, we can use the opportunity to destroy those protecting her,” Lukas said.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “She doesn’t need protection from anything, and that’s my point.” I couldn’t understand the blatant ignorance of the group, especially since we were heading into a war. They fully believed it would be short-lived, but they should have known better.
James spoke up again, trying to calm me. “We will strategize the best outcome for all of us. We cannot underestimate her. I can personally attest to her strength and power from first-hand experience. We must be smart. We will protect you, Ariya. And we will defeat her.”
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