“Thank you, My Lord.”
As if by magic, Drake appeared to escort them to the library. They said their goodbyes to Heath Greenshire, but he didn’t reply. If Ryver's state was anything to go by, Heath was still absorbed in the awful memories.
As they left Ryver leant on Lena, seemingly physically drained as well as mentally. Hearing the story and seeing Heath's distress had been bad enough. She could only imagine what her friend had experienced in seeing and feeling it through Heath's mind.
Drake opened the door to the library and ushered them in.
Wow.
Books lined every wall from floor to ceiling. They were the expensive kind too, with leather bindings and gold writing. In the centre of the longest wall, opposite full-length sash windows stood one of the biggest fireplaces Lena had ever seen. A life size portrait of a mother and daughter hung above the mantle. The painting seemed to glow in the candlelight and as Lena looked up, she thought she had never seen anything so beautiful in her life.
Cassandra Greenshire had hair that was blacker than night and eyes bluer than the ocean. She was voluptuous and curvy, quite different from Lena’s tall, athletic build. Her heart ached as she looked at Cassandra; the woman's gaze held the kind of adoration only a mother could have for her daughter.
“She was beautiful,” she said aloud.
“Even more so in the flesh,” Kaden said.
“You knew them both, then?”
“Yes. She was an amazing woman. I never heard a bad word said against her from anyone, even people who'd never met her.”
Lena looked back at the painting. Eden was beautiful too. Well, if you thought children were beautiful, which Lena generally did not. Nevertheless, even she had to admit that Eden was a pretty baby. She had the same aquamarine eyes and dark hair as her mother. She was chubby in the face though, and where Cassandra’s hair was all luscious curls, the daughter’s hair was poker straight.
As she stared at the young Eden, Lena felt a strange sense of contentment. She looked at the child’s eyes and found she couldn’t look away. Completely absorbed, one thought blazed across her mind: I’m going to find you.
As the sunlight threatened to breach the horizon, Lena and her parents made their way home after a hard night’s work. Tired, hungry, and not on their guard they ran straight into a group of Fallen.
Lena was too young to dematerialise, so her parents had no choice but to stand and fight. Neither Rayne nor Greene were trained warriors, but they fought for their daughter, for each other. Lena cowered behind her mother as she watched her father fight so courageously. Moving quickly and decisively he vanquished three Fallen with his bare hands before the tables turned. They were too strong and too many.
As Greene lay beneath the foot of one of his attackers, he craned his neck to look at Rayne and his daughter. He had such a look of fear in his eyes. Not for his own life. He knew his fight was lost. He feared for his mate and child.
The Fallen held his blade aloft, poised to deliver the fatal blow, and Greene screamed his final word: “RUN!”
And they did. They didn’t even look back when they heard that blade driven home. Lena knew instinctively that the Fallen had guided his sword through her father’s heart; it was one of the few things guaranteed to kill a Vampire and make sure he stayed that way.
Rayne must have felt the moment her mate died. Through the bond they shared, she would know that loss, feel it spreading through her like wildfire. It knocked her feet from under her. It was just what the Fallen needed. They reached her in no time.
When Lena stopped to look back at her mother, Rayne looked her straight in the eye and mouthed, “Go.” Then she bared her teeth and faced the Fallen. Alone.
She ran. And ran. And ran. With daylight threatening to break over the horizon, she took refuge in the forest. She found an old oak damaged in the winter storms and hid between the roots of the fallen giant. She stayed there all day.
Hardly daring to breathe, she prayed that the Fallen would not find her. Dusk came and went and still she waited. Finally, she crept out from her hiding place. Fallen didn’t jump out on her, so she cautiously made it back to where she had last seen her parents. Deep down she knew she would be too late, but she had to see for herself.
Two scorch marks in the earth confirmed that both her parents had gone. The brihla created when they perished had been scattered to the wind. There were patches of dried blood near both marks meaning that at least Rayne and Greene had fought back. The blood had to be Fallen. Vampire blood would have been incinerated along with its owner.
Lena knelt at both sites and offered up a prayer. To whom, she wasn’t sure. It just seemed the right thing to do.
With nowhere else to go, Lena retraced her steps to her parent’s employer. When she arrived, the Meadows’s were shocked and surprised at her condition. She was covered in mud, had what appeared to be soot on her hands and knees and blood on her clothes.
When the terrifying tale emerged, they recoiled in horror. They washed her and gave her new clothes. They made sure she was well fed and gave her a bed to sleep in. For a few nights, Lena felt safe, though she woke in the day screaming.
She had been there a week when a huge man clad in black leather arrived. He explained that the family could not keep her since they had four children of their own. He took her by the hand and led her out to a huge, black stallion. He told her not to be afraid and gave her sugar lumps to feed to the charger whose name was Midnight. Then he hoisted her up into the saddle and cradled her against his chest as he took the reins.
She couldn’t be sure now, but back then, she thought she saw a look of pure disgust on that warrior’s face when he glanced back at the Meadows family who had filed out to see them off. Lena and her warrior were off to stay with something called the Order where the warrior and his brothers would care for her. She was just twelve years old.
In the coming years, that Warrior would take the anger and fear she felt that day and train her to use it. To fight back. To never be a victim again. She would be forever in his debt.
The warrior’s name? Keeper of the Watch, Kaden of House Blackwood.
“Lena?”
Was someone talking to her? A huge, male hand waved in front of her face. She jumped. “What the hell are you doing?” she said, wide eyed.
“Unbelievable! I’ve been talking to you for the last five minutes. You haven’t heard a bloody word I said,” said Kaden.
“Yes I did!” Lena replied.
“Oh really? And what, pray tell, did I say?” Sarcasm rolled off his every word.
“Something about a strategy meeting,” Lena guessed.
Kaden was always planning, holding or talking about a strategy meeting so it was a pretty good bet. There was no way she would admit to the little mental time out she had just given herself. She hadn’t thought about her parents in decades and she was still shocked that the memories had come flooding back to her. In Technicolor.
“Guess again, treacle. Why can't you just admit you didn’t hear what I said? You’re so fucking stubborn sometimes, Lena. It was the same when you were a kid.”
Lena hated being reminded that Kaden basically raised her. Not that she wasn’t grateful, far from it, but it made her feel like he was treating her differently from the rest of the Order, like the child he once rescued. She just wanted to be the same as everyone else. Kaden had never tried to be her father. Instead, he had been her brother, her mentor and her instructor. Now he was her boss. It was the only way Kaden knew, but occasionally he liked to throw it in her face just to embarrass her. It annoyed the crap out of her.
“Kaden wants us to go and check out the Fallen archives,” Ryver said. His voice was rock solid once again showing he had recovered from the physical effects of the reading he had been doing with Heath. He still looked miserable.
“Right.” She drew the word out to emphasize her sarcasm. “Brilliant idea. What are we going to do? Just knock on the door and say 'Hi. Mind if
we come in?' Genius. You don’t even know where the archives are!”
“Thorn has some ideas on that front,” Kaden replied.
Of course he did.
“Alright. But tell me this. Why have the Order not been looking for Eden all along? Two hundred years is a pretty long time you know.”
“It’s complicated.”
“I’m listening.”
Kaden sighed. “Heath led the missions himself. He said his family’s honour was at stake and it was up to him to see her returned. He didn't want our help.
“With each passing year the bond with Eden grew weaker, the missions became more difficult and yielded fewer results. Each failure was hard for Heath to bear, but it was worse for Cassandra. Eventually she couldn't stand it anymore. When the hope that went with Heath’s last operation ended in yet more disappointment she asked him to stop. She said she could learn to live with the fact that Eden was alive somewhere, but she couldn’t handle the heartbreak of shattered hope anymore.”
“Why was he leading missions without the Order though? Just because he’s an ex-Keeper doesn’t mean —”
“He’s not just an ex-Keeper.” Kaden cut in. “He’s a Shield Bearer.”
Jesus. There was no rank higher than a Shield Bearer, save that of the King himself, though Lena, and evidently Ryver — judging by the shock on his face — had never heard of anyone who had actually held the title. Kaden had been Keeper and Commander of the Order for seven hundred years and she was willing to bet that no one else in the order knew Heath was a Shield Bearer either.
“He was already a Shield Bearer when I took over as Keeper. Logan invested him after he took out Karag. It was his last official act as King. Jett and Thorn both honoured their father’s wishes.”
“Why didn’t he stay on?” Ryver asked.
“For Cassandra. She never asked him to, but after the death of Deanna, Heath realised Cassandra would never truly be safe if he was still the visible head of the Order. He resigned and they were happier than they had ever been.”
Well wasn’t this the day for revelations.
“Why the hell don’t we know who Heath Greenshire is? The guy’s a fucking legend and I didn’t even know his name until tonight.”
“Some things are just too painful.”
Lena wasn’t satisfied with that answer, but she could tell by the set of Kaden’s jaw that the question and answer session was over.
“So why does Thorn think the Fallen are involved?” asked Ryver. He could probably have got the answer straight out of Kaden’s head, but it was rude to get a read on your friends without their permission, let alone your boss.
“There are very few people that knew Heath was the one to send Karag to meet his maker. For the Greenshire family’s safety, we kept it that way, but Thorn suspects that the Fallen knew all along. If they did, then kidnapping Eden would be the perfect punishment. We all know the Fallen don’t take defeat lying down and a Vampire taking out someone like Karag would have been the ultimate disaster for them.”
“Makes sense I suppose, but why isn’t she dead?”
Kaden stayed silent for what seemed an eternity. Ryver answered the question. “He doesn’t know.”
“Stay the fuck out of my head Ryver.”
Ryver smiled “I wasn’t in it. It’s written all over your face, so keep your knickers on!”
Kaden growled. Ryver stopped smiling.
“Alright ladies. Calm down,” said Lena whilst trying to swallow a laugh. “What’s Thorn’s brilliant theory on the Fallen Archives?”
“He thinks they’re in Friarsfield.”
“Friarsfield? As in the Friarsfield, that’s less than an hour from here? Why on the Goddess's good earth would the Fallen Archives be in a shithole of a town like Friarsfield?”
“Because humans used to maintain a huge army barracks there. There are a lot of disused military buildings, and an underground network left over from World War II. It is well defended, there are no civilian Vampires in the vicinity and it’s a perfect training ground. With that bastard, Asher trying to establish some sort of order and command structure, it would make sense.”
“Alright, what’s the plan?” she asked, an edge of doubt evident in her voice.
“We leave at first dark tomorrow. Thorn, Mercury and Phoenix have already scouted and determined the weakest defences. The far east corner of the compound leads directly into the forest. They still have razor wire, but it's not monitored as well as the others. We can dematerialise under cover of the forest. It’s our best bet for getting in unnoticed and, if the Fallen were involved in Eden’s disappearance, the archives are the place to start.”
“Sounds good,” said Ryver.
“We’re all staying at HQ tonight. You too Lena. We’ll get some food and some rest, head out first thing tomorrow night.”
Lena looked back at the oil of Cassandra and Eden. The child’s eyes seemed to look right into her own. She agreed with everything Kaden said. Well everything apart from the leaving-it-until-tomorrow-night part of the plan. She was still staring at the child when Kaden put his hand on her shoulder.
What? Oh right, yeah, they were leaving now. What the hell was wrong with her? By the way Kaden was looking at her, it was clear he was asking himself the same question.
There was just something about the look in Eden’s expression that she could not let go of. It was almost like she felt a connection with the girl. It did sound stupid though, so she didn’t say it, not even to herself.
Drake showed the trio out and thanked them for coming to the aid of his master. Lena, Kaden and Ryver stepped outside the front door and dematerialised back to Headquarters.
Chapter 3
Thorn, Mercury, Skylar and Phoenix were waiting for them.
“Well?” Thorn asked, almost as soon as they took form.
“Just as we suspected,” Kaden replied. “The old man’s story is exactly the same. I don’t doubt his memory; it’s just there isn’t anything new to tell us.”
Thorn just nodded and shot a pointed look at Ryver. Kaden had to feel sorry for the guy. Ryver's telepathic ability was a real asset to the Order and he never shied away from using it, but tonight had been rough on the Guardian. Kaden had seen the effect Heath's memories had had on him and he knew Ryver felt everything that Heath had. Heath was used to harbouring such sorrow; Ryver was not.
The telepath looked at the King and shook his head. Satisfied with the response, Thorn moved on to outlining the plan for tomorrow’s mission to the Archives in Friarsfield.
Kaden and Thorn had already discussed the finer details. Lena, Kaden and Mercury would lead the initial assault. Mercury, apart from being a smart-arse, was the Order’s technical whiz kid; what he didn’t know about surveillance, alarms, security software, and PlayStation cheats just wasn’t worth knowing. Besides, Kaden trusted him, which was more than he could say for Lena.
She might be great in the field, but he just couldn’t trust her. He'd lost count of the time he spent tracking her to make sure she didn't get herself killed.
Though he had an innate ability to track his people, he generally knew where everyone was. Well, everyone except Lena; she was never where she was supposed to be. The way she had been looking at the painting bothered Kaden and it wouldn’t surprise him if she went against orders. Again.
“So we're all agreed? Kaden, Lena and Mercury lead the first assault and Skylar, Ryver and I are back up. Phoenix you'll be on standby in case we need a medic,” Thorn said.
Everyone seemed satisfied with the plan, except Lena of course, but Kaden would deal with her later. He still hadn't figured out what to do about her little escapade with the Fallen the other night. He loved her like a sister but she could be a right pain in the arse sometimes.
“Good. Let's go eat!” Thorn smiled as he and the rest of the Order headed towards the dining room.
Thank God! The smells from the kitchen had been wafting down towards the Command Centre for a while now and
Kaden for one was famished. He followed his comrades back up the corridor to the main house. When he reached the dining room, the meal was already in full swing and Kaden had to smile to himself as he watched his brethren tucking in.
Whilst blood sustained them, Vampires still needed regular food. If the Order was anything to go by, Vampires loved their food. As always, the table catered for every taste; there was everything from roast beef and potatoes, grilled chicken and fresh vegetables to, Goddess forbid, salad.
The guys in the room were definite meat and two veg type of Vampires. The salad was for Lena who was always going on about how they should all watch their waistlines. The thought made Kaden smile even more. Vampires had such a fast metabolism that even the most gluttonous would have to work really hard at getting fat.
Kaden took his place at the table, loaded his plate with beef, and contemplated adding some chicken too. His gaze wandered across the table and landed on the untouched salad. Untouched? Surely, Lena hadn’t finally had enough of Mercury’s jibes and loaded up with some decent carbs and protein? He was about to say something when he realised she wasn’t even there. How in the name of Blackwood had he missed that? There was no questioning where she had gone either. Kaden’s fist shook with fury and the knife he held disintegrated.
“God damn it, Lena!”
Lena just couldn't wait for first dark tomorrow. It wasn’t a great surprise since she had never been blessed with the virtue of patience, but there was something pushing her now. She couldn’t get the picture of young Eden out of her mind.
She had watched the rest of the Order laughing and joking as they made their way to the dining room. Kaden brought up the rear as usual. Once the Keeper disappeared through the door, however, Lena hot-footed it to the underground garage and dematerialised to the Forest of Friarsfield.
When she landed, it was just as Thorn had described it; the dense forest gave way to the east corner of a large military compound. High, metal-link fences topped with razor wire surrounded more than a dozen single story, former garrison buildings. The barracks were situated just to the left of a large expanse of concrete, presumably the former parade ground. To the right there was a pre-war two-story building with a flagpole on an overgrown patch of grass in front of its dilapidated front steps. Lena assumed it was the original Command Centre and she was betting its usage had not changed that much.
Bound to Blackwood Page 3
