by Joe Fowler
Ghost hung up then.
Arria was pacing. I walked to intercept her. She looked up with a blank look on her face. She understood the deeper meanings of what Ghost spoke about. Her mind wasn’t through deciding if it could be a good thing or a bad thing.
“I believe it would be better as Darius. The Titan thing he is promoting would have to be done very carefully. I’m not sure which way it will go though.” I told her.
“Everything was going so well. Now it’s all messed up. I almost feel like the last week or so was a waste of time.” Arria was getting frustrated.
“It wasn’t a waste. Now we will have information coming in from both sides.” I wanted to make things better but I knew her response was warranted.
She laid her head on my chest as we stood there thinking. I put my arms around her and tried to stop thinking. She must have come to the same conclusion. She looked up at me with love in her eyes.
We happily spent the rest of the night without a single thought about anything but us.
Chapter 15
I stood behind Arria’s chair in the arena. The other old ones weren’t used to having a guard for one of them being so close during the fights. They understood that it was because of our feelings for each other. Arria was the last one to actually need a guard. It was just the way she presented me for these events.
The fights were intense. I was missing the excitement I had become used to feeling as Darius. Arria wasn’t betting tonight. We had silent signals for me to tell her which fighters to bet on but she wasn’t interested this time. I started out tapping her left shoulder for the fighter on the left X mark and her right shoulder for the one on the right X. Once I saw she wasn’t going to bet, I stopped giving the signals.
The other old ones were still in panic mode. Some appeared worried that this event would become a slaughterhouse. They were comforted by Arria and me being there.
When the last fight was over and the winner congratulated for winning his freedom, we headed for the after party. Orion led the insisting that I be there.
I wanted to laugh at them. They were terrified of me. Now they were requesting my presence for the after party in the hopes that I would help protect them if an attack happened.
“What can be done to stop such atrocities?” Abel asked. All the old ones were standing in a group. They were questioning Arria about the killings.
“Which atrocities? The illegal fights or the killing of the old ones? They are both regrettable occurrences. I will be heading back to Feng’s early tomorrow. We will decide the next course of action. We are still trying to gather information at the moment.” Arria told them. I felt her displeasure. She knew these were some of the violators.
“Part of me wants to return home so I will feel safe but at the same time, wouldn’t it be safer to be at an event with many of us present?” Jonas asked. He was fishing to see where everyone’s mindset was. I was learning him quickly.
“Safety in numbers sounds good to me.” Petra stated. She looked at Saul with clear meaning.
“An event would be best, if only to gather information as Arria said.” Saul agreed to let Petra relax.
“Where are the next events though?” Emelia asked. She was quiet up to then. Her intense stares at the other old ones were drawing more and more of my concentration.
“Flora is hosting. I love Italy.” Petra said, as a suggestion.
“I would like that too.” Abel offered.
“Make the call, Petra. How many others will be going with us? We know the lovely Arria must return to the council. I would hope the rest of us will stick together for safety.” Jonas suggested.
“Darius will want to go there too.” Emelia offered.
“Good. The more we have the safer we will be. Besides, I lost again tonight. I need him so I can win some more.” Phoenix lightened the tension with her comment.
“How is Darius getting along? I like to keep tabs on my former fighters. I hope he is acting appropriately.” Arria seemed interested in what they would say.
“He is so charming! I haven’t heard a bad thing from him. He seems to really care about his fighters too. He speaks well and acts properly at all times. We all love having him around.” Petra was being truthful. It made me feel good in a way.
“I wish I had his luck! He wins most of his bets, his fighters are well gifted, and he even escaped a fight with Ares alive. How lucky can you get?” Caleb smiled good-naturedly. It surprised me. I didn’t think he liked Darius.
“I am glad to hear these things. He was a bit arrogant when he was facing the gauntlet. I guess his time with the humans taught him a better way to be.” Arria’s statement had several purposes.
I doubt the other old ones would appreciate the meanings she intended though. It was a subtle way for her to warn the old ones of how arrogant they had become to hold the illegal fights in the first place. She also intended them to second guess their current path.
I smiled. Arria was sharp and knew how to handle these old ones. I could see their minds working harder. Their walls were still up but I could see how they were thinking things through.
“We could stand to learn from him in that regard.” Saul admitted. He was looking at me when he spoke. He understood every word Arria said.
The last part of her comments for them was a threat. I knew that was why Saul had his eyes focused on me. He got the message.
Arria’s plane landed at Feng’s facility. Arria went straight for the council chamber. She took me with her. The others knew the way back to their rooms.
The door guards moved from Arria’s path quickly. They saw the set of her face and knew not to delay her. I saw one of the guards swallow hard as she passed. I smiled as I followed her into the council chamber.
“Do we know anything new?” Arria asked as she made her way to her seat.
“No.” Lorac replied.
Dmitriy, Agda, Aegeus, and Feng were also present. Sabina, Alethea, and the newly added Alexander weren’t. None looked happy. They looked fairly tense. I began to wonder if something bad was discussed before our arrival.
“Where is Ghost?” I asked.
“Thinking. He didn’t refuse to come but he asked to be left out of this meeting.” Lorac said, out loud. “What is going on? For all the time I’ve spent around Ghost, you know him better. There is more to this than the attack on the event.”
“I will need to speak to him to find out for sure. I have an idea but it shouldn’t be shared yet. We will keep you informed.” I responded.
Lorac still didn’t see. I warned him before he hired Ghost. You can’t hide anything from him. Lorac was a mind reader. Ghost didn’t need that ability. Now Ghost had access to the council. He would see more than they understood. I knew why Ghost wasn’t here. I would see him before I flew out to pick up my team on the way to Flora’s.
“Are we just going to wait until it happens again? Are we convinced it is Ares?” Arria was asking. She sensed the change in the room.
“We don’t know what to think, Arria. Ares is the obvious suspect. What else can we do? Why shouldn’t we clap and cheer this kind of thing on? Our work is being done for us.” Agda was almost growling.
Arria bristled. I knew her stare. Agda stayed her ground but I was sure it was only because Feng was between them. Feng looked around in anger. He turned his eyes to me and made his decision. I knew what he would say.
“Titan, you need to hurry on your way as Darius. Flora’s event looms. Let us know if anything important if found.” Feng ordered.
“Yes, Feng.” I bowed to Arria before I turned to leave.
“Wait, Titan. What does Blur say about all of this?” Agda again. I saw Arria gritting her teeth in anger.
“He won’t be as involved moving forward.” I saw their question. They all wore the same expression. “It is hard to explain but I am finding that I don’t trust him. With all that I am already facing, I can’t add another worry to the list. I’ve spoken to him about it and he unde
rstands.”
I might be wrong but several of the council members didn’t seem to like that.
Arria and I said our goodbyes on the plane. We both knew our time would be short. I headed to Ghost’s room at full sprint.
He opened his door quickly. He smiled that twisted smile of his when he saw me.
“How tense was it?” He asked me.
“It looked bad. Agda needs to be more careful.” I replied. I watched the twinkle in Ghost’s eyes. “Tell me to make sure I’m not getting it wrong. I’m short on time.”
“I’m not sure how many are involved. That will take time. That goes for both things. I’m not sure who is taking the lead either. Again, that goes for both things. Pay attention when you are around the old ones. Not just for violators.” Ghost spoke in that testing tone. He loved making me work for my knowledge. I knew he was done speaking.
“Well, you like interesting. This is more than adequate to keep you happy. As you said, that goes for both things.” I told him. He laughed.
My plane landed at Flora’s early the night before her event. Reptile led my team and the employees to their rooms while I met the old ones in the meeting hall. As the guard announced me, I took a look around the room.
It was crowded. All of the old ones were still tense. Maybe not as bad as the other night but tense, nonetheless.
“Darius, so glad you could join us!” Flora greeted.
“I am happy you would have me. How’ve you been Flora?”
“Busy. With all the excitement over what happened at the same time of getting this event ready, I am worn out!” She laughed.
We were both happy that part of the deal was over with. We walked to join the others. They were looking at me hopefully.
“Does the council know anything?” Jonas asked.
“Not that I could see. I pressed my luck a little more than I should but I couldn’t find out anything. If they know, they aren’t sharing. The one thing I can say isn’t good either. It seems that some of the council members don’t want to know. They feel like it was a good thing. The old ones that died were violators.” I watched closely as they absorbed my words.
Saul was my main focus. He was the smartest of this lot. He took it in stride. Anger was apparent on many of their faces. I wondered how they could be so ready to break the council’s laws but be mad when the council wasn’t jumping to defend them.
“I was hoping they would know if it was Ares or not.” Petra commented.
“They are leaning that way but they aren’t sure of it. I wonder what they will do if it proves to be him. Will they try and kill him? They must know how costly that would be. He was bad 1200 years ago. He would be twice as bad now.” I told them. I said this out of meanness. I knew it would cause them more stress.
“Oh my.” Phoenix obviously hadn’t thought of the strengthening Ares would have done.
“For now, we need to close ranks. Keep to our own group here as much as we can. If possible, we need to keep other old ones from attending the events where we are.” Saul suggested.
“We will have to deal with Aegeus for this event. He is due anytime now.” Flora added.
“What is it with the council lately? We can’t attend an event without one of them showing up.” Abel showed his disgust.
“We might need to be happy about that. Wouldn’t you think we are safer with a council member present?” Emelia asked.
“Safer from being attacked but constantly reminded of their presence. It is a frustrating give and take.” Petra offered.
I knew I would need to have the council stop then. Arria wanted one of them present but now it would be best for me to go without them. I made it a point to bring that up the next time we spoke.
Their grumbling came to a halt as Aegeus was announced. He made his entrance with Flora. I watched the others settling in for the ‘play nice’ persona they all donned when the council was represented.
“Since we are all here now, how about we draw?” Flora suggested.
Everyone went to the rear of the room. Emelia took her usual place by my side. She gave me a smile. I returned it as Flora entered the slips into the drum.
“Does anyone have any exceptions?” She asked.
When none were announced, she began the draw.
I would face Aegeus in the third fight of the first round. This was interesting to me since it would involve the first vampire I ever turned personally. One of the poor humans working as a donor became ready for turning. Feng offered her to me since I didn’t have time for going out and finding my own. I turned her on the plane. Arria had given me the timing instructions so she would wake at the appropriate time.
The rest of the card was decided and the bets were made. I would have a one million dollar bet for three of my fighters since Saul didn’t want to bet against Jet. I didn’t blame him for that.
Once the betting was finished, Emelia led me away from the group. I watched her as her eyes told the story. She wanted to talk but wasn’t sure how much she would say. I was about to find out.
“How was your trip? Was the council hard to be around?” She asked.
“No. They were too concerned with the other thing to pay attention to me. I was happy to see it.” I hated this but I knew I had to do it. “Tell me about Titan. I know you wanted to meet him.”
“It was really weird. He is gorgeous and really sweet. He is genuine which is rare among vampires. Even as nice as he was, I felt like I wanted to get as far away from him as I could.” She was lying. There was some truth but overall, she was lying. “Part of me wanted to run away the whole time I was talking to him.”
Now she was confusing me again. That part was true. So how could she want to run away from me when she wanted to be near me? A new idea occurred then. I gritted my teeth before I could stop myself. He should know better!
“Did you talk long? It sounds like you were uncomfortable.” I played along.
“I took him to one of my fighters who had the healing gift. He wanted to add that one. We talked there and back.”
“Well, I wish it had been more pleasant for you but at least you got to meet him the way you wanted.”
“I will be like Hermes. I will defend Titan to everyone when they let their fears run wild. He is good.” Emelia sounded like she meant it. I wanted to smile.
“Petra doesn’t share your impression of him but I know she has been around these old ones too long. She is tainted to a degree.” I lowered my voice to make sure I wasn’t overheard.
Emelia laughed.
“It is sad the way they think.” She shook herself like she wanted to shake off something unpleasant. “So, did you miss the fights? I would have. I would watch them all day.”
I almost didn’t answer.
“I missed the excitement. Life can get dull without something to stir the plot.” I was getting fed up with all the lies and the games. I knew I needed to leave. “I think I am going to call it a night. I’ve been going and doing for a while and I just need some quiet time.”
“I understand. See you tomorrow. Hey, I’ll join you for meeting your newbie.” Emelia said, cheerfully.
“Sounds great. I will call when I’m headed to the lobby room.”
I was rounding the last corner before I reached my suite. I saw the invisible gift standing in the hallway. My mind did its Ghost impression. If I let this spy know I could see, I might expose myself. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be making any phone calls. I had the brief flash of insight and decided to follow through with it.
As I approached my door, I stumbled and bumped into the spy. I grabbed him and acted like I was shocked.
“Show yourself!” I demanded.
Instead of showing himself the spy attacked me. I let him hit me but I never lost my grip. I wanted to laugh. The last one to hit me was Gronk. After that, some young vampire like this wasn’t worth paying attention to. I struck the vampire, hard. Unconscious, she fell to the floor fully visible.
While unconscious,
I could search her mind. I looked for who sent her. Saul. I saw the conversation. He wasn’t suspicious of me but he felt I had more information than I was sharing. She was sent to find out who I was talking to. She had no other orders where I was concerned. I looked elsewhere in her mind and saw the illegal fights. She had won her freedom there instead of the arena. She had endured horrible living conditions. Often living in cellars for weeks until the next fight. She hated Saul for that even though she knew he wasn’t as bad as most.
I picked her up and carried her into my room. I sat her in one of the chairs and waited. It took some time. Maybe I hit her too hard. When she finally stirred, I sat forward in my chair.
“If you try to turn invisible, you will die instantly. Do you understand?” I asked when I saw her become aware of the situation.
“Yes. What are you going to do?” She was shaking.
“I am going to ask you some questions. If you play along, I will let you go. I may be able to greatly improve your quality of life.” I let that sink in for a moment. “Now, who sent you?”
I saw her thinking. She wasn’t protecting her thoughts. She was debating the risk versus the reward.
“Saul.”
“Why did he feel the need to spy on me?” I asked.
“He said you knew more than you were saying. He wanted me to find out any information I could about what you know and who you talk to.”
“What is your name?”
“Glass.” She was crying now.
“Glass, this may be the best thing that’s happened since you were turned. Instead of crying, you should be happy. I am not going to kill you or turn you in if you agree to help me. When the time comes, I will take you in as one of my own. Once that is done, you will have it easy and won’t be used as a spy anymore.” My words brought a smile to her face. She really hated Saul.
“What do I have to do? Spy on him?” She asked.
“Sort of but not too seriously. The only things you will need to tell me are plans for killing other vampires or the illegal fights that he attends. I would like to know his travel plans and who he talks to but I know that might be difficult. I don’t want to put you at any more risk than you are already facing. How much have you heard of what has been happening?”
