The Ancients: Book 3 in the Cedarstone Chronicles

by Sean Stone

  "I certainly did. We can both agree that Osiris was no good, though?" Richie asked. He moved straight to his drinks cabinet and poured them both a glass of bourbon.

  "We can." She smiled. "And now we are both free of him."

  Richie passed her one of the glasses. "Well then, let's toast. No Nick, no Cain, no Ramsay, no Osiris. To our freedom."

  "Freedom. To do whatever we want." Their glasses chinked in the air but they never made it to their mouths. Lydia pounced on Richie, wrestling him to the floor, kissing him furiously. He kissed her back, not knowing what was going on, but not caring. Clothes were ripped and scattered across the room. When they were finished Richie rolled off her and lay panting on the floor.

  "It was certainly worth the wait," he said.

  "Yes, it was," Lydia agreed.

  "What changed? Why now?" he asked.

  "Like you said, we're free now. Free to love who we want." She rolled onto her front and looked him in the eye. "Now I can love you without the risk of anybody using you against me. Or anybody deciding we shouldn't be together." Cain had always described Richie as an undesirable companion for his daughter. Ramsay did not like the idea of them being together either but his reasons were a bit different.

  "What about Michael? What will he think about us?" Lydia's other brother was more placid and his feelings towards Richie were unclear.

  "It doesn't matter. He's gone. As soon as Osiris died Michael took charge of the Cult and led them out of town. They're heading east I think."

  "And he didn't want you to go with them?"

  "He did but I said no. I'm not following anybody's orders ever again. I'm a free woman."

  "Glad to hear it. You know what, Victor has been on at me to appoint a new elder for so long now. And I think I've found the perfect candidate." Richie stood up. "I think I'll go and fetch us some dinner if you feel like it?"

  "Absolutely," she smiled.

  "Don't move a muscle," he instructed. He whipped his jeans on and then headed upstairs. There were humans all over the dance floor. What was a vampire party without any snacks? Richie searched around for one that was suitable to share with his new mate and then headed back downstairs. He felt like a giddy schoolboy. His love had finally given in to him and he had no enemies to worry about. For the time being at least. He re-entered the room and froze. Isabella was standing in the middle of the room staring at him like a deer in headlights.

  "Izzy, what are you—" His eyes moved down and saw Lydia. She was lying right where he'd left her but now there was a dark wooden stake protruding from her chest. Her naked flesh had turned grey and her eyes were glassy and lifeless. Blood pooled around the stake and ran over her ribcage onto the carpet. "What have you done?" he asked, the words catching in his throat.

  "I didn't… I didn't mean to."

  Richie ran at her but she was gone before he could snatch her. He didn't go after her, he fell to the floor. "Lydia," he sobbed, pulling her body towards him.

  He knew it was too good to be true. Everything he'd ever wanted all happening in one night. Now it had all been snatched away within moments of him getting it. He sat on the floor rocking back and forth, his lover in his arms. When he finally pulled himself together again he had only one thought. Revenge.

  *

  Genevieve was weak. The fight in the park had taken more power than she'd expected. As soon as she got home she had a bath and headed straight to bed. As she lay under her duvet she thought about how great it had felt to follow a true Winters sorcerer into battle. Whether or not Clara realised it, she had led the coven tonight, and she had done a fantastic job. With Adam in a coma, they needed a new dynast. Genevieve would step in for now, but ultimately it was Clara she wanted. And the coven wanted her too. Clara had persuaded them to stand up to Nick. It was a feat that Adam and Genevieve had failed to do. Not only that but under Clara's leadership, they had defeated Nick too.

  The bedroom door opened and Elizabeth walked in. She sat down on the stool by the bed and stared at Genevieve. Elizabeth had remained in the house during the battle, Genevieve had insisted.

  "Elizabeth, I know you're upset because I wouldn't let you come."

  "I'm not. There's something else on my mind," she said ominously.

  "Okay," Genevieve replied.

  "It's about Adam."

  "Oh. This is about the bind." Genevieve was surprised it hadn't come up sooner, it had been a week since the fight with Henry when Genevieve had told her daughter that there were good reasons for binding her powers. Elizabeth was probably too scared to ask before, she was such a timid young girl. Genevieve had known that one day she would have to tell Elizabeth that she had accidentally killed her father but she'd hoped it wouldn't be for a few more years. Secretly she'd hoped she'd never have to tell her. "I will tell you everything you want to know but please wait until the morning. I'm very tired. Fighting an immortal warlock with the power of both a jinni and an ancient is rather exhausting."

  "I only have one question. And it's not about the bind," she said. It was clear that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. It was most unlike her, she usually just did as she was told.

  "Really? What is it?" Genevieve couldn't imagine what could be more important to her than the bind of her powers.

  "When you sent Adam to Montford Manor, did you really expect him to get any power, or did you hope I'd kill him for you?" Elizabeth stretched her lips in the most horrifying smile Genevieve had ever witnessed.

  "What?" she tried to say, but her throat was dry and all that came out was a small croak.

  Elizabeth reached into her cardigan and pulled out an athame. "I've been thinking about it ever since I found out that you sent Adam to my house. I mean you must have known that he wasn't powerful enough to take all that magic. So you must have been trying to get him killed, you devious old cow."

  "Henry?" Genevieve asked, too scared to move. How could he have gotten inside her daughter without her noticing? She thought back to the day they'd expelled Henry from Adam's body. She had felt something odd at the time but she'd assumed it was some sort of aftershock of the spell. Not for one minute had she considered that Henry might have possessed her daughter.

  "Oh come now, you didn't really think you'd beaten me did you? Oh, you did. Stupid woman. You robbed me of one body, so I found another. And this one has boobs!" He cupped Elizabeth's breasts with her own hands and jiggled them about, laughing as he did. " And let me tell you that being torn out of a body is the most uncomfortable sensation I have ever felt. But I've got a new body now so no hard feelings. I'm going to have a lot of fun in here. Shame I'll have to start gathering power all over again, though. But, oh well, at least I have a good starting point!"

  Genevieve stared on with revulsion as the man inside her daughter thrust the athame into Genevieve's chest. Genevieve gasped but said nothing. She was at least thankful that her death was swift.

  *

  Late Sunday morning Clara stood at the side of the boat with Phil next her. This was the final piece of her victory; the icing on her cake. The sarcophagus containing Nick was hanging from the winch fifty feet above them over the side of the ship.

  "Ready?" Phil asked, waiting for her go ahead. Not because she was in charge but because he respected what this moment meant to her. Now that the battle was over Phil had resumed control. He was still a bit bitter about having to follow Clara's instructions but he seemed to be getting over it. Sidney had been impressed with their accomplishments and despite the severe damage caused to the town centre he had managed to dissuade MI5 from sending more agents in. The damage would be cleaned up in about a week anyway. The town council was footing the repair bills much to the annoyance of Bradley Carter, the mayor. Cedarstone was safe. Or at least it would be after they'd finished what they started and made sure that nobody could ever find Nick.

  "I"m ready," she said, smiling like a kid at Christmas. Phil raised his hand. There was a loud metallic sound and the winch released the sarcophagus.
It fell fast, crashing into the water and sending up a massive splash which just narrowly missed the ship. Clara moved forward, right to the edge and watched. The sarcophagus quickly disappeared from sight as Nickolas Blackwood sunk to the bottom of the icy depths of the Atlantic Ocean.

  *

  Alistair tore away the police tape blocking his entrance to Cedar Park. The two standard police officers who'd been guarding the gate were already dead. SIT had closed the park off on account of the petrified ancient in the middle of it. Alistair could still feel the residue of the power which had been expended the night before. It wasn't the sort of power that could be harnessed, mere echoes of the battle which had taken place. He smirked when he thought about how different it might have gone had Nickolas not been so exhausted when the armies of Cedarstone arrived. He passed the statue of the woman that stood under the cedar tree and continued across the grass. He stopped just before a holly bush, knelt down and reached under the leaves. His hand found it straight away. The thing that everybody else had missed. They would kick themselves if they ever found out how foolish they'd been. He lifted his hand and gazed at the ambrotos dagger. He slid it into the pocket of his overcoat and then returned the way he'd come. He stopped at the statue and looked at it. Her face was so pained. So frightened and sad. And yet he could see love in it still. Love for that boy.

  "Even now, after all, the betrayals, you still love him like a son. I suppose in my own perverse way I've come to love him too. Or at least appreciate him if not love him. Love has always been a rather alien concept to me," Alistair said. "I know you can hear me, Kayla. I know you can see me. That's what makes this all the more satisfying. You have to stand there and do nothing, knowing what I intend to do now. All this time you kept me away. All you had to do was stay away yourself and it would never be possible for me to complete my plans. I suppose I should thank you really. For being so foolish. I have waited so long for this moment. So long. I only wish I could stay and gloat for a century too but I really have wasted enough time here." His skin started to bubble and shimmer. His bones cracked and moved. His wrinkles smoothed out and his nose grew shorter. His ears lost some of their pointedness as they morphed. His thin grey hair thickened and turned golden blonde. As he smiled his light grey eyes turned an eery light blue and the last of Alistair was gone. In his place was the man he had always been underneath. Set. "Enjoy your time in Cedarstone, Kayla. I've been here for centuries and it's really not as bad as it at first seems. It's the residents that make it really interesting. I wish I could stay and help you settle in but it's time for me to go home. After all, I have an appointment with a jinni."

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  Also by Sean Stone:

  The Cedarstone Chronicles

  Cursed

  The Cult of Osiris

  The Ancients

  The Cedarstone Chronicles Books 1-3

  Arcane Inc.

  Warlock for Hire

  Warlock Wanted

  Short Story Collections

  Horrors from Cedarstone

  Horrors from Cedarstone II

  Horrors from Cedarstone III

  Keep up-to-date by visiting seanstonewriter.com

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23