by Sean Stone
“Which is why we are holding this meeting. We need to abandon all projects and prepare for their arrival in Cedarstone,” Victor said.
“What about Jeremy?” Charles asked, sitting up straight like he was wearing a wire coat hanger.
“Forget about Jeremy, he’s not a threat to us,” Richie said, waving a hand dismissively.
“But MI5,” Charles replied, his eyes wide in an almost comical way.
“If MI5 really had the resources to do anything to us they wouldn’t have sent a spy and they wouldn’t be hiding away in London letting the council do all the work,” Richie replied. Victor and Richie had already discussed the matter earlier in the night and Victor agreed with him. Jeremy was sniffing around the research labs because he wanted the weapons he thought were inside. If MI5 already had resources then they wouldn’t need more.
“He still committed treason against the clan,” Charles argued.
“And when we have time to deal with him we will,” Victor said in a warning tone. Charles slunk back in his chair and didn’t say a word.
“Alright, here’s the plan,” Richie said. “Victor make peace with the coven, do whatever it takes and then see if they can help us in any way, a bit of magic can do a lot of good. Isabella, make sure security around this manor is top notch, no gaps, nobody comes in without my say so anymore. Charles, I need you to get eyes and ears all over town. Snooping around is your talent, I want to know the moment one of those crusty old codgers lands in this town. Any questions?” There were none. “Then get to it.”
Isabella and Charles stood and left the hall at once to begin their tasks. Isabella shot one last glance at Richie before disappearing through the door. Victor remained. Once the room was clear he turned back to Richie.
“Why are we doing this?” he asked as gently as he could, not wanting to offset Richie’s temper.
“Doing what?” Richie said, feigning ignorance.
“Why are we staying? It’s folly, Richie, and you know it. We need to pack up and go,” Victor said. The safest course of action was to flee rather than stay and wait to die.
“There are four people in the Aramaya family, we have a clan of over 100 vampires. I think we have better chances than they do.”
Victor was not convinced. “How many of our guys do you think you could kill single-handed?” he asked.
“Victor…”
“How many?”
Richie sighed. “Maybe, twenty,” he said resignedly.
“Right, I’d say one Aramaya could probably do at least double that and there four of them. That’s 160 vampires dead and they might bring back up, we don’t know how large the Cult is these days.”
“I’m not running, Vic. This is our home, we built this together and we’re not leaving it,” Richie said stubbornly. Victor knew it was pointless to push the matter but he had to try anyway.
“We can build another home, a better one maybe.”
“I said no, Victor. For fucks sake, why can’t you just follow my instructions without arguing? Just go and do your job,” Richie yelled, furiously.
Victor said nothing. He looked at his friend in a stunned silence before he finally nodded once and then walked silently from the room.
After the meeting, Victor had thought about the clan’s situation in great detail. Richie could not be trusted to look out for their best interests. He was letting his pride sway his reason and that was likely to get them all killed. But Victor would not let any harm come to Isabella.
“Isabella!” Victor called, striding down the hallway towards his daughter.
“Father?” she asked calmly, turning to him.
“I’m worried, Isabella. These Aramayas are not like other vampires, I’ve heard stories about them. Their strength is… phenomenal. I don’t think we stand a chance against them,” he said.
“Are you saying we should run?” she asked, crossing her arms. She had more in common with Richie than Victor cared to admit. As much as he disliked the idea the two of them would probably make a good couple.
“I suggested it to Richie, yes.” He saw the look of disgust on her face and was ashamed. “It isn’t weakness to be afraid Isabella,” he said.
“No, but it’s cowardly to run,” she retorted. This was going to be just as difficult as he’d anticipated.
“I want you to leave town, until this over. I’ll stay with Richie and-”
“Unbelievable,” she said, shaking her head. “You still think of me as a little girl.”
“You’ll always be a little girl to me, Izzy. I’m your father, I have to protect you and to do that I need you to go,” he insisted. He’d hoped this conversation would go easier but he’d known that it would not.
“Richie needs me. I won’t leave him.” And there it was; the real truth. Isabella was in love with Richie. Victor had suspected for centuries; a parent always knows who their children love. He’d hoped that it would peter out after the first couple of rejections — Richie had always been a loyal friend, even if he did want to take things further, which Victor hoped he did not — but her feelings had stayed strong, even through the thirty years that Richie was absent. Isabella’s feelings were real and nothing was going to change that, as uncomfortable as it made Victor feel.
“Alright, I can see you won’t budge on this,” Victor said. “I’m sorry I asked, but you have to understand that I will always do what I have to to keep you safe.” He put a hand on her cheek and lightly stroked her soft cold skin with his thumb.
“I know you will and I appreciate that, Father. You know I love you, but I have to disobey you, I have to stay and fight,” she said gently.
“I know.” He nodded and closed his eyes, he didn’t want to see what happened next. Before she could figure out what he was planning he smashed her head into the wall. Fragments of stone crumbled away and she fell to the floor unconscious. He knelt down and brushed her hair out of her face. She was the exact likeness of her mother. “I’m so sorry Izzy.”
“Sir?” Dwayne said as he appeared next to Victor.
“Take her to the address in Hastings, she should be safe there. You’ll need to keep her locked up until I tell you it’s safe. She’s clever, Dwayne, she’ll try to outfox you. Do not let her out no matter what, do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir,” Dwayne said obediently. If only Isabella could have been so obedient.
“Then go,” Victor said and then he watched as his daughter was carried away.
The meeting with Adam went about as well as could be expected, Victor had given the coven the Hanley district and Adam had agreed to enchant some weapons for the clan. Adam refused to let the coven get any more involved than that, he wanted to keep his people well away from an ancient evil; he already had Nickolas Blackwood lurking around town and he didn’t want to add any more to it. Victor understood that. He’d rather not have to deal with the Aramayas either, but Richie had made the decision for him.
He began the walk back to the manor. He’d decided not to take his car, without his driver it wasn’t the same and he didn’t want anybody else to drive him about; Dwayne had been driving him around for 33 years. He only hoped he was as good a bodyguard as he was a chauffeur, for Isabella’s sake.
Walking would help to clear his mind as well. Richie was acting very aggressively toward Victor of late. At first, Victor thought he was just trying to show him who was in charge — not that Victor needed reminding — but now he thought there was more to it than that. Richie had a deeper issue with Victor and one that they needed to resolve before Cain Aramaya arrived in town. If they weren’t completely united when the enemy turned up then they wouldn’t stand a chance of winning.
As Victor walked he began to hum a tune to himself, it was slow and rather depressing but it reflected the way he felt. At the other end of the street, Victor noticed one of the lamppost bulbs flickering. To most it would have seemed perfectly normal, it was something that happened all the time, but to Victor there was something more to it, he
could sense that there was something more to it. He stopped humming and remained still. And then the light blinked out completely. Thin white mist swirled around the base of the lamppost and then started to make its way toward him. As it reached the next lamppost that too blinked out into darkness, then the next and the next. Victor looked around, searching for who was doing it but he could see no-one. His heart was thudding painfully beneath his ribcage and he put a hand over it as if that might help. A sensible move would have been to run but Victor was unable. He was rooted to the ground. Finally, the mist reached him and the one remaining light went out. Luckily Victor was a vampire and had better night vision than the average man, but it was still a struggle, the only lights remaining were those of the stars.
“Victor Redmane, is it?” a high voice said from behind him.
“That’s right,” he replied, turning, but there was nobody behind him.
“Do you know who I am?” the voice said, it was behind him again. Gleeful.
“I’ve got an idea.” He turned again. Still nobody there.
“I’m sure you have.” Behind him again, this time, he didn’t move.
“Are you going to play around all night, or can we get on with it?” he asked plainly.
“Get on with what?” the voice was distant now, and moving farther away.
“You’re here to kill me, yes?” Victor put on a fearless voice but inside he was quaking like a child. He’d lived for over 300 years and he’d enjoyed most of his time, some might think he’d had more than his fair share of time on the earth, but he disagreed.
“What would that achieve?” the voice was farther still.
“It would send a message.”
“How do you know that’s the sort of message that I want to convey?” Farther.
“Just get on with it.”
Suddenly Victor was flat on his back, the breath knocked out of him. The back of his head hit the concrete and he felt blood pouring from him before the wound quickly healed. Before he could react the owner of the voice was on top of him. Victor could make out skin that was deathly pale, hair as dark as the night and eyes that shone bright red. His lips were curled back in a snarl and long glistening fangs were displayed threateningly. Victor lost some of his composure and his arm trembled slightly, he quickly got it under control.
“If you want me to kill you then I will,” his attacker hissed.
Victor tried to move but he was pinned down with the strength of an iron elephant.
“My name is Ramsay Aramaya, I assume you’ve heard it before?” he said.
“Yes,” Victor whispered, desperately trying to put some distance between their faces.
“Good. You know why I’m here.”
“For Richie.”
“Good. Now, here’s the message. Richard is to hand himself over to me immediately. He’ll find me at the castle. Each night that he does not come people will die.” Then just like that, Ramsay was gone. So was the mist. So was the darkness. It was as if he’d never been there. Victor stayed where he was on the ground for a long time, unable to move. He hadn’t come so close to death since the night Richie had turned him. It was the first time in over 300 years that he felt mortal and he knew that he’d made the right decision to get Isabella out of town. He stood up slowly and brushed his clothes down before heading back to the manor to deliver Ramsay’s message.
*
CHAPTER EIGHT
William knew that something was going on with the vampires. Richie had agreed to make peace with he werewolf pack but nobody had said anything about the coven and yet a report had just come in saying that the vampires had relinquished Hanley and had made a truce with the sorcerers. William had phoned the club three times but Richie had refused to take his calls. He could take a trip down there but Richie would probably just turn him away and William was hardly going to be able to force his way in and demand to know what was going on. Usually, if Richie was unavailable William could at least get something out of Victor but even he wasn’t taking the phone calls. He would have liked to send somebody to watch the club but he just didn’t have the staff; Zander was in the Woodlands keeping an eye out for trouble from either the coven or the pack, and Cassie was doing the same in Wandworth. He’d had to settle for putting a few cameras outside the research labs just in case anybody tried to get to the weapons before he did. He’d managed to hire a new night dispatch controller called Rob who was picking things up fast, but he couldn’t send him out or nobody would be able to run the desk. William was probably better off not knowing what was going on with the clan anyway, he had enough problems to deal with.
There were two quick raps on his office door and then Clara Winters stepped in.
“You’re not scheduled to be in tonight,” William said at once.
“I know, I’ve got news,” she replied. Hopefully about the research labs stocks. He gestured for her to sit down and she did. “My stockbroker’s been on the phone, I am now the majority shareholder of Winters Research Labs.” He’d expected a bit more pride from her but she didn’t seem that pleased with her news; she seemed more burdened than anything. She’d claimed back her family’s company, she should at least be a little happy.
“How much of a majority?” he asked. A different person might have congratulated her but he was a straight to business kind of guy.
“Sixty-two percent. Somebody else bought the rest of Langford’s shares. It works out to about eleven or twelve percent, nothing to worry about,” Clara replied.
“Very good. What’s next?” William said. Although he had initiated the plan he didn’t know much about how business worked, he’d sorted Clara out with a business advisor so that he could handle the more technical aspects of getting them access to the building.
“I need to appoint a new CEO, it can’t be me because a, I don’t know how to run a business, and b, I already have a job. I am entitled to a seat on the board of directors, though, so I’ll make sure I turn up to meetings every now and then, just to make sure there’s nothing going on that we should know about. The problem is I have no idea who to appoint as CEO,” she said.
“Pick somebody who’s already on the board, somebody your father trusted,” William said.
“Oh,” Clara replied as if she didn’t know quite what to say.
“Are you okay, Clara?” he asked. It was obvious that something other than the business was on her mind. It was like she was only giving him half her attention.
“Yea fine,” said Clara, but she shook her head in contrast with what she was saying.
“How are things with Jamal, any progress?” A powerless sorcerer wasn’t a very good addition to the team, he needed her to access her magic and sooner rather than later.
“None at all. We’re looking into new ways of waking my powers,” she replied.
What new ways might those be? He decided it was best not to ask, he had enough problems to worry about.
“How quickly can you get the new CEO sorted?” he asked.
“Within a week,” said Clara.
“Good, keep me updated.”
Without knocking, Phil burst into the office. “Oh, sorry,” he said when he saw that William was in a meeting.
“What is it?” William asked, sensing his urgency. Phil was the day shift supervisor so if he was here at night then it must be important.
“I was in town and I saw someone going into Wiccan Wares,” Phil said, his brow furrowed with worry. He was trying to signal something to William, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.
“Who?” William asked.
Phil sighed and shot a nervous glance in Clara’s direction. “Nickolas Blackwood.”
William noticed Clara tense but otherwise she did a fine job of concealing any emotion. He wished he’d realised what Phil was signalling so he could have excused Clara first.
“Good to know,” William said with a curt nod. Phil shot him a confused expression then clocked onto what William was doing and nodded.
“Good to know?” Clara asked, agitated. “Really? You’re not bothered at all?”
“Nickolas isn’t causing us any problems right now, I don’t want to start something with him unless I have to,” William said, knowing how harsh he sounded to Clara. It was necessary, he wasn’t going to let her go running after a man who would surely kill her. The town had enough problems without adding to them.
“So you don’t think murder is a problem?” she said, her face was turning a deep shade of red. He did think that murder was a problem but there was nothing he could do about it, he could hardly arrest Nickolas Blackwood.
“That will be all, thank you, Clara,” he said finally, signalling for her to leave.
“You actu-”
“That will be all,” he said more sternly. She stared at him briefly and then stormed out of his office knocking his pen pot from his desk as she went.
“It’s not always easy being the guy who has to say no,” William said to Phil.
“I know. I have to do it when you’re not here. On the other hand, it’s no easier being the one who’s told no either,” Phil replied as he picked the pens up and returned them to the pot on the desk. “I’ve been there too, remember?”
William nodded. Phil had joined the team after his niece had been abducted. Phil had been telling people for weeks that his niece had been taken by a gnome-like creature who had appeared in the garden one day. William had believed him, not because the story sounded believable but because it wasn’t the first time he’d heard it. He’d heard a similar story on three occasions. Due to a lack of any evidence the Panomie case — the children always called the gnome Panomie — was impossible to investigate and Phil had grown accustomed to hearing the word no. William didn’t think he’d ever stopped investigating, though, and he didn’t blame him, what uncle wouldn’t do anything to find their abducted niece?
“What do you really want to do about Nickolas?” Phil sat down where Clara had been a moment before.
“Nothing for now. We’ve got enough to deal with. I’m trying to arrange a meeting between the leaders so that I can propose a… constitution I suppose. A system for governance in the town that relies on them all working together, but the only way it will work is if they can settle their territory disputes,” William said. He’d been working on his constitution for weeks and he thought he finally had one that worked. The rest of the team thought it was a waste of time; they believed the only way to restore order in town was to force the factions to obey the rules, but William would not let them turn into Jonathan Langford’s council. “The vampires have stopped fighting — not that I can figure out why — I just need the others to make a deal, but Connor Rigby is so bloody stubborn.”
