“Fair enough,” Darius responded, and I could tell he was impressed despite not wanting to be. “Good luck.”
“I’ve already used up my quota for the year. Right now, there is only skill, opportunity and will, and this is what I do best.”
Richter paused for a beat, possibly to select his best response to that. In the end, he settled for a terse “Right” and hung up.
As soon as we were disconnected, I dialed Alicia’s prepaid cell number. It went immediately into voicemail. “Richter may talk to his friends at the DEA about the attack, and he’ll expect them to at least know about it. Their confusion might make it necessary to find a new security team before he starts asking questions he won’t want the answers to. Ask Bondermann about the people he mentioned to me at the scene; one of them can probably help you out.”
After hanging up, I entered Jeffrey’s building through an air conditioning duct on the roof. Within a few minutes, I had opened a grate and poured myself into his apartment. I stood silently in the darkness, pinpointing the location of the occupants. They were both together in the dining room, eating what I assume would be considered lunch for people who kept their hours. I found it endearing that he did his best to leave the office each day and share a meal with his wife. He was a better man for Cassia than I would ever have been.
Not wanting to step into the room unannounced and cause one of them to choke to death, I extended my mind and, after waiting for her to swallow her mouthful, called gently to Cassia. I heard silverware clatter against tableware, and then Jeffrey asked if something was wrong. I informed her of my presence and my desire to speak with them both. They whispered back and forth for a few moments, and I sat down on a couch and waited for them.
A minute later the light overhead snapped on, and despite the fact that they were both aware of my presence, they still jumped. Jeffrey’s shield was still down, and I took that as an encouraging sign. He had on his usual suit, and he wore an expression that was as angry as it was alarmed. He wasn’t used to revenants barging into his home, and though he did not like it one bit, he liked even less that there was nothing he could do about it.
Cassia was another story. She looked at me with an odd mixture of emotions that I could not break down, but she was clearly expecting a visit from me. I had not seen her in several years, but I still remembered her easy beauty, now complemented by a natural sophistication that rivaled Jeffrey’s even in jeans and a sweatshirt. She was his equal in every way, and they clearly belonged together, an observation that made the purpose of my visit that much easier.
To keep myself from staring, I turned to Jeffrey and spoke. “I apologize for interrupting your... lunch?”
“We call it a late dinner, but it’s no big deal. We were almost finished,” Cassia answered, both of them noting that I had apologized only for my timing and not my intrusion. Jeffrey shot her a thinly veiled look of irritation, a fair bit peeved that she was so quick to extend me hospitality. There was something else in that look, something that bore a striking resemblance to panic.
“Thank you,” I replied, pleased by her calm. Perhaps we would both get what we wanted out of my visit. “Jeffrey, I need you to set up an offshore account for Alicia and transfer one hundred million US into it. Also, find her a trustworthy person to handle her finances, someone outside your firm. She no longer has any ties to me.”
“This could have waited until I was back at the office, Jason,” Jeffrey said sharply, and if I hadn’t understood the reasoning behind his tone, I might have answered it differently.
“True, but that’s not really why I came. I need to speak with your wife, and I need to do it alone.” I tried to be as gentle as possible, but I knew it was a bombshell, for him at least.
“I don’t think-” he began immediately.
“It’s okay, Jeff,” Cassia interrupted, holding up one hand. “This has been a long time coming.”
“I’m not here to hurt her, Jeffrey,” I offered.
“I’m not worried about that,” he snapped, immediately realizing that he had revealed too much with that simple statement. The unspoken words lying beneath hinted at his secret doubts of Cassia’s commitment to him, and the sudden look she turned on him gave him little comfort. It was more surprised than angry, which made it seem more like the guilty kind of surprise. Or maybe he was simply projecting.
I kept silent, knowing that any words from me could only do more damage, but I couldn’t stop myself from whispering a bit of advice into Cassia’s mind. You should be angry.
Instantly, her eyes narrowed; she had always been quick to take her cues from me. “What are you worried about, then?” Cassia asked sharply, and I could see hints of relief break on Jeffrey’s face. He did not answer, suddenly afraid of self-fulfilling prophecy. Instead, he turned without a word and left us alone, which was probably the most difficult thing that has ever been asked of him.
We stood there staring at one another for several minutes, and it seemed that she was drinking in the sight of me as much as I was doing the same to her. I write “seemed” because I avoided reading her mind. I wasn’t ready to face the possibility that Jeffrey’s suspicions might be accurate, mainly because I wasn’t sure how I would handle it.
“You look different,” she said on a whisper, her hand automatically reaching out to touch me and stopping short.
“I am different. Being with Alicia has helped me understand why I failed you.”
Her eyes closed, tears spilling from beneath the lids, and I felt her pain so acutely that I understood what I had to do. I opened my mind and merged it with hers, all of our thoughts and emotions crashing together with tremendous force. Sharing my mind with her again resurrected the remnants of our lost love, and as it clawed its way from the earth, I lost sight of my purpose. Though mere threads holding just a fraction of their original power, I’d thought them lost forever and was monumentally unprepared for their sudden return. They picked me up and hurled me to a place I never expected to be allowed again, and for a moment, I forgot all the reasons why this could not be allowed to happen.
Before I was even aware of it, Cassia had launched herself into my arms, and I swear my soul sighed as our lips touched. At the risk of sounding horribly cliched, it felt like coming home. There’s really no other way to describe it. Her tongue slipped past my slack lips and nearly undid everything, and if it hadn’t been for the taste of her tears, I would never have found the strength to pull back from the edge.
No, even worse, I would have happily plunged straight into the heart of hell, committing an act of unforgivable evil and leading myself straight to the dawn.
I tore my lips from hers, pushing her away and, if her gasp was any indicator, possibly hurting her in the process. “No, Cassia. No,” I whispered, the world doing an Olympic class tumbling routine all around me.
There are no words to describe the look on Cassia’s face. “But.... you said... Why not?!!”
“Because then I’ve learned nothing,” I spat out, disgusted by my loss of control. “To be with me, you’d have to give up everything that makes you special, and I won’t do that to you. I won’t let you do that to yourself.”
“So we’re back to that again?!!” she cried, her eyes on fire, a powerful anger coiling within their depths.
“Yes!” I yelled back, “but for the right reasons this time! It’s not my own selfishness. It’s because I know you won’t like who you’ll become, and I know you won’t be able to live like that. I don’t need you to change my identity anymore. I am what I am. I’m okay with it, and that’s enough.” I paused for a quick, fiery breath, forcing a calm by sheer act of will.
◆◆◆
Only one room away, Jeffrey felt like he had been teleported to another planet. He was entirely numb, from his little toe to the top of his head, and even though he could not bear to hear another heartbreaking word, he simply could not move. He could only stand there and let each word tear another chunk out of his demolished heart.
◆◆◆
“Your husband needs you, and you need him. You can’t see too clearly right now thanks to the mess I’ve made of this, but I can see it, inside you. It’s a sacred thing, and I will not defile it. I refuse to rob another person of it just because I may never find it myself...”
My words trailed off for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that my voice failed me. In the weighted silence, I became aware of the cry of Jeffrey’s tortured mind. Her words had fallen like a meteor, digging a crater beneath his feet that threatened to swallow him whole. Rage ignited every cell in my body. I could not let this happen. I would move heaven and Earth to avoid being responsible for the death of another union!
Taking the reins of Cassia’s mind by force, I employed every ounce of mental strength and skill to chase away the storm of chaos, and as the clouds began to clear, she panicked when she realized that Jeffrey had heard her lapse. What have I done? her mind cried out to mine. Her pain at the prospect of losing him was greater than either of the times she had lost me, and in that pain, I found what I needed.
I can fix this, I told her. Trust me and say this.
Cassia straightened, wiping her tears. My artificial calm was replaced by her own, genuine version, and as its stronger roots took hold, a serene smile settled on her face. It was so beautiful a sight, I might have wept if I wasn’t holding my breath. “You really have changed. I’m sorry about taking a page from Gisele’s book, but I had to be sure, and I couldn’t think of a better way.”
“A test,” I answered, my voice flat despite the fact that I could barely contain my elation.
“Yes.” She reached out and took my hand; the words that followed were her own. “And now I can give you what you came here for.” She took a breath, realizing the weight and importance of what was about to happen: one chapter closes and another begins. Eyes bright with the promise of the future, she turned the page. “I forgive you, and I hope you find your way. I see now that you’ll appreciate what a gift it is.”
I leaned in to kiss her lightly on the cheek. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” she whispered, and a blink later, I was gone, as was the last piece of mortal baggage that I had been lugging around for far too long.
◆◆◆
Jeffrey did not even realize that Jason had left until Cassia entered the room, startling him. She threw her arms around him and buried her face into his neck, her grip fierce. Jeffrey sucked in a shuddering breath, the very scent of her beating back his demons. With difficulty, he managed to pull back enough to look her in the eye.
“For a moment, I doubted you,” he confessed, his eyes admitting to her that it was a lot longer than that.
“It’s okay, baby. For a moment, I doubted myself, too. I said I was testing him, but I was really testing myself, and...” She took a fortifying breath. “...I almost failed. When it came right down to it, I nearly did the same thing to you that he did to me, but he wouldn’t let me. In the end, he saved me, and that was enough for me to let it all go.” She fell silent, watching her husband process it all, and she went over it again in her head. Every word was true, more truth than she had actually intended, and she could live with the parts she had left out or understated. She could forgive herself, put it all behind her, and focus on making up for the lapse every day for the rest of her life.
She knew one way to start, holding out her hand to him, pleased to see that it was steady. “Let’s go make our family,” she said, holding her breath as he looked back and forth between her hand and her face for a long time, eyes dancing with all sorts of thoughts and emotions. Then he took her hand, both of them releasing a pent-up breath and a smile.
And just like that, all was right with the world. Well, at least our little corner of it, anyway.
◆◆◆
I suppose it was a bit theatrical of me to have Azriel assemble the entire Ekhaya for my return, but hey, what the hell, right? It’s only good to be the king if you act like the king every once in a while.
Modifying my shield to temporarily cloak my presence and my power signature, I entered the Ekhaya swiftly at the exact time that the assembly was to begin and waited outside the Great Chamber for Azriel to call everyone to order. Once in such close proximity, I wasn’t able to hide from the other Ancients or Phobos, but to their credit, none of them spoiled my Grand Entrance. As I walked down the center aisle, the rise of whispers and murmurs indicated that the rest of the Ekhaya was appropriately surprised by my arrival.
I walked to the raised platform at the front, and Azriel bowed slightly before taking a seat with the rest of the Ancients. I held up my hands in a call for silence, and after a small amount of time, it was heeded by all.
“Hello, everyone. I apologize for being gone so long, but sometimes you just need to be alone to figure things out. I sense that the Ekhaya has been in capable hands while I was away, and I thank Azriel for his effort.” I paused to nod at Azriel. He nodded back, and I continued. “While I was gone, I thought mostly about whether or not I wanted to continue ruling this Ekhaya, and given everything that’s happened, if it’s right that I should.”
A small roar erupted, as I knew it would, and I let them have time to chatter. Even the Ancients seemed a little surprised by my candor, especially as none of them had expected that questioning my desire and right to rule might be among the issues I grappled with during my mini-exile. When the noise began to die down on its own, I called for silence again.
“Stepping down would force me to leave the Ekhaya; it wouldn’t be fair for me to stay, even if I agreed to obey whoever took on the role. Part of leading is being able to enforce the law, so my presence in the Ekhaya would undermine any leadership except my own. I don’t want to leave the Ekhaya, and I believe that I’d be ignoring one of the responsibilities of my Blood if I did, not to mention a debt to my mentor who helped to create it.” I paused to gauge the reactions, and it was nice to know that the majority of the Ekhaya preferred my rule to anyone else’s.
“However,” I continued, “I also feel I can’t leave things as they are, so far from the original vision of its founders. If Nekros could see what we’ve done to his dream, it’d drive him to watch the sunrise again.” I took a breath, the shame in my words making me wince.
“In an attempt to repair some of the damage, I’ve decided to reform the Council of the Founders. Azriel, Octavian and Maximilian will take three seats, and the other six will be held by other members of the Ekhaya, elected by all of you to ten-year terms.” The murmurs graduated to a buzz at my exclusion of Gisele from the Council. I expected her to be a little put out by my decision, but she realized that I had also excluded myself, and she understood the reasons behind both. Still, I looked right at her as I addressed the matter publicly. “As a consequence of our recent actions, Gisele and I forfeit our right to sit on the Council, and I’ll explain the significance of that in a few moments.”
The buzz threatened to become a roar before dying out completely. Apparently, everyone wanted to hear the rest more than they wanted to gossip. Something like that could go to a guy’s head. “The Council will be granted the power to make new Ekhaya law and change existing Ekhaya law by two-thirds majority. They’ll also have the power to veto my decisions by two-thirds majority, as I’ll have the right to veto any proposal passed by anything less than unanimous vote.”
“The loss of my seat on the Council ensures that I can’t block a unanimous vote, and the loss of Gisele’s seat guarantees that the Ancients cannot, by themselves, defeat any proposal that the rest of the Council wishes to vote into effect.” I paused again for a quick reaction check, and though the Ancients were difficult to read by their reactions, the rest of the Ekhaya approved.
“There’s only one exception to the voting rules, and that is a proposal to put an Ekhaya member to death. It can only be passed by unanimous vote from both the Council and me. Breaking the First Law is no longer an automatic death sentence, and normal voting rules st
ill apply to permanent exile and MindCleansing.” I looked at each of the Ancients in turn, waiting until each one met my gaze before I moved on, and then I completed my well-rehearsed speech. “If you don’t like these changes, I suggest you take advantage of the Council’s ability to change them once it’s been reestablished. Any questions?”
I spent the next hour or so fielding questions, most of them “what if” scenarios, and the only one of note in all that time came from Gisele, of all people. I was surprised when her hand went up to request the floor, but I don’t think I let it show as I granted it.
“Can a vote be made if you or any member of the Council is not present?”
I immediately wondered why I hadn’t thought of that, and I made a face to that effect. “Good question,” I commended while thinking of an equitable answer. “I’d think as long as there are six members of the Council present, a vote can be held because two-thirds majority is calculated by the total number on the Council, not the total number of those participating in the vote. Can anyone see a problem with that?” Before I could even look around for raised hands, Gisele’s went up again.
“Gisele?” I said, acknowledging her again.
“I would like to propose a slight change to the voting rules for the times when you may be away from the Ekhaya during a vote. I believe that to counteract the loss of your veto, a three-quarters majority should be instituted. This prohibits the non-Ancient portion of the Council from making changes in your absence without the agreement of at least one Ancient. Changing this should also require ten votes.”
I couldn’t help but smile as the elegance of her solution came across. It served the Ancient agenda by making sure that the non-Ancient members of the Council could not gang up on them in my absence, but it also served the entire Ekhaya because such an abuse of power would fracture the Council and drive the Ancients to enforce their own law until my return.
“Your proposal is both elegant and wise, and I see no reason why it shouldn’t be incorporated. Do you?” I asked of the Ancients, and none of them disagreed. Turning, I posed the same question to the rest of the Ekhaya. I could tell that quite a few of them did not like the new proposal, but none of them could find a valid reason to refute it, and to do so without a reason would only prove that they had indeed been thinking of ganging up on the Ancients in my absence. “Okay, then. I open the floor to anyone wishing to make their case for being elected to the Council, and then we’ll vote.”
Corrupting Alicia Page 45
