Robert trudges on, stepping heavily as he does. Ahead, on a small piece of land, I hear the werewolves have made their dwelling.
“On my recent travels, I spent a good deal of time with African witch doctors and the like. Now I don’t quite know how I lost so much time to them.” As a traveler, I have always had the unique ability to leave my body and possess those around me. From time to time, I enjoy the effects so much that I don’t leave for a very long time. My body continues to live at the time, but my mind, my spirit – it’s stuck and clinging to the times it has been removed in. This means that I have lost two hundred years in time but gained two hundred years’ worth of knowledge in a time that’s dead. “Do you know what I learned from them?”
Robert shakes his head.
“It is better to hunt alone.” I strip out of my jacket and my shoes. “I have it all under control. Go home. I will meet you there.”
The adjustment to the new world once I return is a shellshock. This, the worst. Before now, I have not traveled for more than thirty-four years, and even in that time, I found it hard to adapt to everything that has changed. The water between the mainland and the small piece of land in the middle of the lake is deep. I wonder about all the creatures lurking in the depths. How badly they would love to grab onto me.
But they won’t. They wouldn’t dare.
The swim doesn’t take long. A few minutes after I departed the mainland and I’m on the wolves’ small spit of land. I know they’re here. I can smell them before I feel them. I hear them before I see them. The world’s greatest hunters? Maybe the title should shift to something a little less clumsy.
One steps out from the shadows. A big, strong wolf. His wide, skulking frame coinciding so beautifully with the dark shadows of the forest.
“Hello.” I jam my hands into my wet pockets and step toward him.
The wolf snarls.
“I’m sure you would rather not do that. Now, how about you take me to your alpha.” He charges. A loud bark and a few more come out. They circle me, but only the one is heading toward me. He launches forward with one powerful thrust. I let him come for me, his wide frame heading directly at me. I brace and, as his shoulder is just about to strike, I throw my right hand directly into his jaw. His body goes limply into mine, and we tumble to the ground.
“You may want to have those wounds tended to in human form. The jaw is quite a bad place for a wolf to have lost,” I whisper to the hunk of meat on top of me before throwing it over. “Now, I am not here to fight you, however fun that seems,” I assure the others that have surrounded me. “What I am here for is to speak to your alpha. Will you comply?”
They’re all still hostile. None of them know what I am, and none of them understand it. I can tell they’re afraid beneath their false bravado. Fantastic.
“Someone bring this man to a doctor. The rest of you scatter,” I demand, and suddenly I hear the crackling of a shift. From behind the veil of darkness, a man emerges.
“You’re looking for me then?” Unlike the others, this one is truly fearless. A man that has lost too much to care about petty emotions. This is the alpha I seek.
“Yes. I have a use for you.” Our eyes meet. His long hair and beard are greying. An old man, it seems.
“Well, I ain’t interested,” he replies, turning around.
“And what if I say I have a way you can speak to your family again?” This caught his attention.
“What do you know of my family?”
I sit down, cross-legged with my hands over my knees in a monk’s pose. “I know more than you could possibly understand. I merely ask for fire.” I take from my pocket a few items: a diamond, a small tub of gunpowder, and an eagle’s feather.
“What for?”
The gunpowder is placed at the bottom of a pile with the diamond above it. The feather is beautiful, though wet, and I play with it in my hands for a moment. None of them quite understand what I’m doing here, but this is also fine.
The feather is placed atop the diamond and gunpowder carefully.
“Do you remember where you keep all your traps? Because I do,” Waving my hand over the tower of garbage before slapping the earth, and an explosion erupts at my side. Fire takes the small circle of earth before me.
“Why, you ask, do I need fire? For this…” I speak the languages I learned in Africa during my most recent travel, and as I’m speaking, the fire begins to dance. It comes to life. Two figures form. Their features start off distorted and slowly turn into the familiar two Romulus once knew.
“You may have your moment, and then we will speak.” I stand and walk away deeper into the forest where his pack calls home. I do not need to be there for his return with his family. I see them enough in my own time.
Entering the village just makes for awkward stairs and uncomfortable lurking from the wolves in human form. Children younger than ten only know this land. Older members only know what the alpha has dictated in times of war. Simply put, outsiders don’t seem welcome, apart from the odd witch that would have to come around to prepare the wards and safeguards. So, I sit and wait. No one dares speak, yet they do not leave.
To command such power must be a truly remarkable experience.
Twenty minutes pass. I still feel the energy I have brought into the world, but it is dimming. Dwindling. The alpha has come to terms with the loss now. He has his answers and has said his true goodbyes. There’s nothing more he or they can do.
He comes to me.
“Thank you,” is his first response.
“You’re welcome. I have heard a lot about you from them, and I found them by pure chance.” His intrigue is greater than what I am willing to explain. “But that is a conversation for another day. I am here for you, and we are here now. Are we going to talk?”
“Yes. I owe you that at least.” Our eyes meet again. The sheer determination and intent to kill from the first time is gone, replaced by a soft, humble, hat-in-hand expression.
Good.
“You owe me a lot more than just that.” The expression changes. “But we will get to all that eventually. For now, I know what happened to your family. and I want to help you get your revenge. In turn, I will be getting my own. It’s quid pro quo. Services for services. Simple.”
“And what do you get out of this?”
“That vampire has taken over a piece of land that has been mine for years. Just because I haven’t been around does not mean that I haven’t been watching. I’m going to take what’s mine, and you’re going to help me.”
“And why would I help you?”
“You’ve been fighting for ten years and haven’t made any progress.”
“I know nothing about you.”
“And you don’t need to. You just need to know that we are changing the way the game is played.”
He pauses a moment. I’m not sure what his reaction is going to be. The stern, dead look. A look of deep contemplation.
“And what exactly do you need me for?”
“You took the neutral lands in bad faith in order to show that during this war there will be no peace. I need it.”
“You want a place to stay?”
“Yes, you can call it that.” I smile.
“Then so be it. Build your home wherever you wish.” How easy it is to bring a man to his knees when he is under the influence of his family.
“The edge of the island, where I arrived. Clear the wards off there. I will put my own up. I won’t need much land, just enough for a log cabin. I trust you can have it done by week’s end?”
He nods.
“Then I have other business to attend to. I will be in touch soon.”
Chapter Twelve: Jack
“You should have told me,” Madison is angry. I can understand why. I flew her down to the UK, and she went to her childhood home. Memories must have flooded in before I ripped it all away.
Furiousness is welcomed.
“How do you tell a person her family is dead?” I rep
ly. The plane ride back was much like this, but I also didn’t want to upset her so close to after the fact. Now? I’ve tried all I can. There’s not really much more I can say on the matter before it’s just going to lead to this anyway.
“You say, ‘no I don’t want to freight you across the world because your parents are dead.’”
That was an interesting statement.
“Do you at least understand why I didn’t tell you?” I try and reason with her.
“Yeah, but whatever. We will talk about this later.” She strokes my chin and smiles. I can see that it’s deeply condescending, but even so, her soft fingers on my chin, the warmth that her cold smile still displays.
This is not at all what I should be thinking about while sitting here with Madison. Especially not when I could be focusing on her well-defined body in training gear.
No, even that is wrong.
“Right, so, Vicky is the best you’ll be getting. She’s been my partner and friend since the day we heard you went missing. You should just know she’s strict. Things might be different because you’re not necessarily a part of the Agency, but you’re learning some dark and deep stuff. Don’t mess around.” Straight to business.
“Got it, boss,” she teases, even after I said none of that.
This one might be trouble.
Chapter Thirteen: Mason
“So, you know what to do?” Ankh is at my side on the dock, looking out to the small ground hovering out of the lake.
“I do. The Forsaken and the werewolves have had no issues in the ten years. We also haven’t been truly allied since. I’m not sure how Romulus will take to me being there.” Yes, he probably won’t take kindly to anyone coming onto his land.
“If you are uncomfortable, you do not have to go, Ankh.” Sitting down on a log, I can tell they know we’re on our way. Their scouts are everywhere, and the island is small enough to have nothing need go unnoticed.
“No, I will go,” he finishes. A click of his fingers and Ankh’s staff appears in his hand. Two taps on the wooden dock before us and a golden boat forms in the water.
“Fancy,” I tease. He boards the boat.
“Jealousy makes you nasty.” The boat begins moving without any need to row. Ankh steers and moves it with his staff. Jealous? No.
Well, maybe.
He’s not halfway across the water before, out in the distance, I spot people bringing a boat of their own from the wolf lands. This may be slightly easier than I expected it to be. Ankh noticing this, too, twists his staff. The boat disappears and reappears facing our side of the shore and begins making his way back to me.
When he gets back, we wait.
It’s not long before the two men setting up the boat were across. Thin, small, and frail, it seems they are.
“What do you want, Mason?” one of them says.
“Are you testing me? Because that wouldn’t end well for you.”
“Romulus wants your kind dead. He doesn’t want to see you. War has been declared on your kind,” They’re standing here far too arrogant for the power they display.
“So, what? He sends the two expendables of the tribe in case I end up losing my temper?” I’m still calm. Calmer than I would have been in one of my many previous lives. This reincarnation has kept his head cool. No need for mindless slaughter, it seems.
“So, tell us what you want. Threats aren’t going to do much for you now. We will carry the message across to Romulus.”
“You tell Romulus that if he doesn’t come to see me soon, there will be bad blood.”
“There’s bad blood already, Mason. You let his family get killed. You promised him you wouldn’t let anything happen to–”
“The girl. I promised nothing would happen to the girl,” I cut the man off.
“Go back now. I see where this is going. I will return. I might not. If I don’t, wouldn’t you be lucky?” I stay seated, and Ankh sits next to me. The two men begin their journey back.
“Why has he thrown a tantrum?” I ask.
“His family was killed.”
“Yes, but would you burn your bridges because of a loss?” I reply.
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had one, but don’t rush him. You’ve been gone for ten years, Mason. He’s become a recluse. He’s not the same man you know because you weren’t here to explain your decisions.”
“I suppose. Come now, Ankh. We have a long day ahead of us.”
Chapter Fourteen: Zeus
Ever since our last encounter, I have never enjoyed coming here. The smell of death and decay that the night walkers hold is truly indigestible.
Yet, I am here on a mission. A mission dictated by the king.
And best of all, there is no fear in entering his home. He is weak. Weaker now than ten years ago when the trump card of the girl was in his possession. We appear in his throne room. Myself, my son, my daughter, Odin, Thor, and Loki.
We stand at attention, his own guards surrounding us. Daffyd knows to attack us now during the day, even in the solitude of his walls the day could end in bloodshed. Not of my kin, but of his.
“Wow, that’s a big party for peace talks,” he says, entering the room from behind and walking toward his throne. At his back is the vampire he’s brought to many of our previous meetings. If I recall correctly, his name is Hamish.
“And these are many guards for a man asking for peace,” I return.
“Merely a formality of our kind. I know that you have your own odd customs.”
I wait a moment, our eyes locked on one another. The first one to break contact is the one that loses this war. Luckily for him, it’s neither. Hamish speaks up.
“So, we all know why we’re here. We’ve spoken long on these peace talks, and none of us have gotten anywhere. You’ve rejected our past proposals merely because you don’t think they’re good enough. This time, we offer you the option to tell us what compensation you would like. In our war efforts, the only losers have been us.” He’s trying to win me over with sweet talk. It’s endearing, but pathetic.
“The only losers have been you? Explain,” Odin chimes in from behind.
“Well, since day one, the only true people you’ve lost through our war were a few followers of your various causes. With the knowledge of the Forsaken...or rather, the gods truly existing, you have claimed them back in magnificent numbers, wouldn’t you agree?” Hamish goes through a stack of notes until he finds one in particular. With each comment he makes, I can see Daffyd growing more upset, but he knows that if he speaks up now he will only prolong a war they are losing. “Those few petty victories from us equate to under three thousand deaths, with none of your kind being killed. That being said, the Forsaken have sentenced eight hundred and forty fledglings, seven thousand, eight hundred and ninety-two fully established vampires, seventy-two lieutenants, and three section leaders to the true death.”
“Your numbers mean nothing. You called for war, and there are no rules on the battlefield. Unlike the humans, we do not call for peace on these discussions, and saying this, I know at any moment you may attempt to strike. So, what we want is for you, Daffyd, to come here, bow down, and kiss my ring.” It’s just as I say this that Brooke, the queen, enters the room in a huff.
“Now, that I got to see,” she throws in.
“I don’t care if you acknowledge me as your savior. Hang your head in shame or return to your war room to plot your next attack on us once it’s done. You have nothing to offer us except bending down to a higher power.”
Hamish can tell I won’t back down and will not argue for me to surrender this decision. Daffyd knows the same. He takes his time to think.
“Take your time to think about it. We’ve got an eternity to wait,” I add. His eyes never leave mine, deadlocked in a stare that holds great contemplation.
“You want me to kiss your ring?” Stone cold. Dead eyed. “Then so be it.”
Daffyd raises from his seat and walks over toward myself and the Forsaken aroun
d me. Shorter than I, he looks up and, with a wicked smile, he bows down onto one knee and presses his lips to my knuckle. I’d never expected it to actually happen.
“I never thought you’d stoop so low.” A comment to merely raise his ire. “But we are square, Daffyd Llanneli. There is no bad blood between the vampires and the Forsaken any longer.”
He returns to his throne. The rest of the room is silent, even Brooke who, like me, never expected that Daffyd would do such a thing. Not now, not ever. A small squeak may have even amounted from her.
He’s up to something.
I know it.
The only thing is, there’s no way telling what.
Chapter Fifteen: Ankh
There’s never been a time where Mason hasn’t accepted my toys with a concern. That doesn’t mean he always accepted them, and often times he never used them, but I always find a distinct joy when presenting him with his latest little present.
It’s seldom that I find myself excited in the unveiling. After all, it’s usually an asked-for item that’s specifically tailored to one single mission before it is no doubt discarded or kept hidden from the world in a personal vault for in case he ever needs it again.
It’s in the rare case where I work on an item in my own time to show him that there’s too much going on that he has no time to appreciate it. This time, I have no doubt, things will be different. Or at least, I hope so. Though they were a quick job, in terms of our extent, the weapons I created this time were one of the more precise and accurately created. Maybe, had Mason not dropped off the face of the Earth for years on end, they would have never come into existence. They would have fallen onto the backburner until he finally found it necessary that he had to ask for them.
His disappearance was a blessing and a curse.
“Ankh, I know you’re behind the door. Open up already.” His only comment. In my time. I’ve found that Mason wouldn’t step out of line in terms of my comfort. He wouldn’t enter my home without the proper invitation, even after I’ve given him all the allowance he could possibly ask for.
The Vampire Touch 2: Into the Uknown Page 4
