We were still sitting at the table when Lucas left, giving Wendy an absentminded buss on the top of her head on his way out the door, his mind already on the journey ahead of him.
I sat back and pushed my plate away. I could only hope, for all our sakes, that the Elder in Portland was more open to listening than the other Elder Vampires I’d had experience with.
#
The helicopter set down with a jolt and Lucas winced. He alighted to heavy winds and looked at the darkened skies. Storm was a coming. He rather thought it reflected his mood. It didn’t help that the landing pad was atop Shayla Silver’ penthouse on the fifteenth floor. He arrived to a welcome party of several guards. Their pallid skin and cool light eyes gave him all the indication he needed that they weren’t human. But he supposed you didn’t live to be as old as Ms. Shayla without beefing up the security. There was always some young blood in line bucking for your position. And Vampire Elders didn’t resign—ever.
He greeted the guard without a smile. “I called ahead. I believe she’s expecting me.” He noted to the shorter, stockier vamp who seemed in charge.
He shrugged. “She’s waiting. Along with rest of the council. I hope what you have to say doesn’t displease her.”
The threat was obvious. But Lucas Seul was in no mood to play games. “Don’t presume to step above your pay grade. Shayla and I go way back. You and I do not. Do your job and leave the posturing to those of us that are good at it.”
The vampire’s eyes lit up and his teeth ground audibly and Lucas figured he wasn’t that far away from a bite. Tough, he didn’t have time for childish games.
They moved down a set of stairs and along a short hall to the elevator before taking it to the sixth floor and Shayla’s private offices and conference rooms. Unlike many modern business buildings, Shayla’s did not showcase a lot of glass and light, instead the entire outer surface of the building appeared to be skinned in chrome. He imagined the reflection in daylight would be blinding. But inside, no expense had been spared. The color purple seemed to be a theme, reflected in the dense carpet thick beneath his feet and the deco, decidedly feminine and overdone in his opinion. But again, Shayla had created her space to please herself. He imagined if he were as rich as Midas and a thousand years old, he might do the same.
The lead vamp showed him into an outer office and without a word closed the door and left him. A young secretary sat at a desk and gave him a friendly smile, not bothering to hide her sharp teeth. She appeared no older than seventeen, but with vampires, appearances could be deceiving.
“Good morning, Mr. Seul? I’ll buzz through and let them know you’ve arrived. Would you like coffee delivered? I think we have some around here somewhere. Some of us still adhere to a few human traditions.” She gave a light giggle and Lucas shivered.
Lucas shook his head. “No, I’m good.” He wasn’t willing to risk the creamer.
Only a space of minutes later, he was buzzed through. Shayla Silvers answered the door herself. As always, her beauty and youth struck Lucas. Shayla silvers was a tall, call her statuesque, woman of color. Her coffee au latte skin looked like smooth caramel cream on her youthful figure, richly attired in a thousand dollar suit trimmed in lavender. Her eyes, dark brown, tilted just so at the corners, hinting at an exotic part of her heritage somewhere along the way. When tall and thin seemed to be all the rage, Shayla had opted to embrace buxom and healthy and make it sexy. He wasn’t interested, but he could appreciate her beauty and admire her self-confidence.
“Lucas Seul! It’s been years. So good to see you. Come in and join us.” She breathed, her voice young and breathy. But her eyes were old and cool with speculation.
He entered the conference room and took a seat at the long oak table that sat a minimum of twenty. He took the first available empty seat and frowned. He’d requested a meeting with Shayla. Not her entire Council. Almost every seat was full.
Shayla returned to her seat at the head of the table. Behind her it appeared that the outer wall was made entirely of glass, reflecting a night sky and the winking lights of the city of Portland. It was a neat trick, since he knew it to be only 3:30 in the afternoon.
She stared at him for the space of several long moments before speaking, taking his measure and trying to make him nervous, he imagined.
“So, to what do we owe the pleasure of this emergency meeting in the middle of the day. I believe you may have given me a wrinkle?” She smoothed a manicured hand over her cheeks.
“I doubt that. Fishing for a compliment Shayla?”
He heard a couple gasps. But she merely smiled in appreciation at his candor.
“Why are you here, Lucas Seul?”
Ah, the posturing was over. “Because we, you and I, have a problem.”
Her eyes narrowed, “I doubt that, but go on.”
“You have a Judge Fino Vas in charge of the Seattle office and the surrounding area? He is responsible for the recent attacks in Drae Hallow. I’m sure you’ve heard of those? He entered the dimension of Wyndoor and poisoned the vampires there. They went rogue and last week several entered Bitterroot. My infirmary is still full from the resulting massacre.”
Her expression never changed and Lucas went on. “He has attacked several of our students as well. I know for a fact that his own council is in an uproar over his heavy-handed treatment regarding several minor infractions that have been met with capital punishments.” Still no reaction. Lucas began to sweat. Maybe they weren’t surprised because they were part of the Shadow Guild themselves. If that were the case, he’d just invited himself to his own funeral.
Shayla sighed. Nobody cracked a smile. Bored, they looked like maybe he’d wasted their time.
“Mr. Seul, we know that Mr. Vas is unlikely to win any popularity contests with his sect of vampires. I haven’t stepped in because I don’t believe in micro-managing my people. Makes them over interested in stepping into my job. I’ve stayed in this position, and alive I might add, because I don’t interfere unless I have to. I would like to thank you for bringing this to my attention, but I don’t see how this affects me.”
Lucas’ expression hardened and his lips firmed. “Well then. Would it be of more interest to you if I told you he has formed his own secret society called the Shadow Guild?”
Shayla smiled. “There is little that goes on I am unaware of. We know all about the Guild. We’ve been watching them for some time.”
Lucas tried to contain his temper. This was going nowhere fast.
“Were you also aware that he left a couple of students to die in Wyndoor? He didn’t want them to come back and let everyone know of his plans. He is not just looking at experimenting in Wyndoor, he has plans to poison the blood banks in Seattle and other cities. When they go feral and attack he means to look like the hero and step in and save the day. He wants control of all the Magicals and humans. And when he’s done there, where do you think he plans to come next?” His eyes were hard on hers. “Does that get your attention?”
Shayla Silvers smile vanished and her eyes cooled by several frosty degrees. Lucas felt goosebumps erupt along his arms.
“Well then dear friend, yes, I do believe it does.”
#
The Judge was missing and that worried me. Maybe he’d gone back to Seattle, confident he’d left no loose ends and that no one was on to his scheme to rule the world. But then again, we weren’t exactly known for being that lucky. I didn’t like that I didn’t know for sure. Beside me, holding my hand, walked Nicholas, his tall dark form silent and deep in thought. I wondered if he was having the same misgivings I was.
We’d left Elise behind with Emerald and their strange friend to pick up the pieces.
“We should see if they need help.” Nicholas spoke up.
I nodded. “Cleaning up Jerry’s cabin, you mean. I thought of that too. What a mess.”
“I think we should keep our guard up too. I don’t trust that the Judge hasn’t lingered here in Drae Hallow or around
Shephard’s Mountain.” He confirmed what I’d been thinking.
“No. I don’t believe he took tail and ran back to Seattle. I don’t think he’s finished here.”
#
Elise held the passageway door open and looked back before heading down. Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer in her chest as she imagined what she might find at the other end. There was no way of knowing if the antidote had worked. There’d been no way to test it.
Emerald stood behind her, talking quietly to Bale, who had accompanied them this far, but was now refusing to enter the darkened tunnel with them. So for now at least, he would remain on the outside.
Emerald closed the door and the darkened passageway closed them in. Their excellent night vision took over and they could see well enough as they moved the several hundred yards of tunnel that ran beneath the small sliver of prairie that bisected the woods and Wyndoor Castle.
They neared the end and the door in the wall that led down into the keep where they kept the prisoners. Elise paused beside it and opened the door to listen. Nothing.
She closed it back up and together they climbed the short set of steps to the set of double doors that led into the open courtyard, the scene of the battle where they had all almost died the day before.
She shuddered at the memory.
Emerald moved up beside her and together they listened. It was broad daylight and everything should have been silent. But voices, muted and rising and falling in an unrecognizable cadence, reached their ears. But no screaming and no panic.
“Be prepared to run on my mark, Emerald. If you do? No turning back, no matter what. I’m sure Bale is waiting on the other end.”
Emerald’s lips twitched at the doom and gloom tone. “Open the doors, mother.”
Elise shot her a mulish look but reached out with shaking fingers and inched them apart. The blaze of brilliant sunshine blinded them both temporarily as it flooded the corridor behind them, spear like fingers reaching beyond for several yards.
They both blinked, squinting in the brightness. Shadows that became figures that became people they knew cleared and came into focus. All speech in the courtyard had stopped as they turned to stare in curiosity at Elise and Emerald.
Elise’s jaw dropped open. The first person she recognized was her grandfather, Morei. The grandfather she’d thought was dead.
A gasp beyond him pulled her confused attention with a jerk. Standing tall and freshly showered in the middle of the courtyard and staring at them both with devastated eyes was Jorta.
Elise whimpered as she stared at her husband, unable to breathe. His frantic eyes lit on them both in recognition. Gone was the mad gleam of insanity—the uncontrollable hunger and rage. This was the man she remembered and loved.
Yet different, too. The years for a vampire passed slow. A day for a human was a century for a vampire in terms of growing older. Still, Jorta had aged. Thin lines crinkled the corners of his eyes and pulled his mouth down in a serious moue of guilt and longing. He took a step in her direction and Elise felt the pull as her own feet moved her forward. And then he was there, lifting her up and holding her so tight she felt the crunch of his muscular arms in every rib bone. He moved back enough to claim her mouth in an emotional kiss that curled every one of her toes twice.
She felt a shift of movement and his long arm reached out and grabbed Emerald as well, snugging her in close. Over his shoulder, her eyes fell on Ab’et. He stood stoic and proud beyond them, his expression full of remorse.
His hands cupped her face as he sat her back on her, strong yet gentle. This was the man she loved.
“I’m so sorry Elise. For everything. I should have been stronger, fought harder…”
Elise reached up and placed her fingers over his lips to still the rambling tirade. “Shut up, Jorta. You weren’t yourself, none of you were. You aren’t accountable for your actions any more than a child that gets the chicken pox. We just deal with it, you and I, and move forward. That’s what we all need.”
Jorta’s lips firmed, and he attempted a small smile. But Elise knew it would be awhile before the shadows in all their eyes went away.
Morei spoke behind them. “If you are done having your family reunion, we have a lot to do here yet. Days a wasting, can we get back to work?
Elise turned to her grandfather. “And you… how did you survive. I went by Sarin Castle; it was a wreck and you were nowhere to be found.”
His eyes flashed in remembrance. “That’s true, but I haven’t survived as long as I have without having a good escape plan in place to cover any eventuality. My sentries had me out of there in a flash when they attacked. They moved me to one of my secret bunkers. We’ve just been waiting for the dust to clear, so to speak. I was more worried about you and Emerald. I had no way to get hold of you.”
Elise shrugged, looking at her grandfather curiously. “I have friends and they helped take care of us. What are you doing here, though? Why aren’t you back at your own castle repairing the damage?”
A cool smile lit his features, distorting them to something frightening. “Who said that wasn’t happening? My lieutenant Arret is seeing to that as we speak. When things are progressing nicely here, I’ll return there to oversee things. Now that you are here, that may happen sooner than I’d anticipated. I only stepped in long enough to get things rolling in the right direction.”
Emerald reached up and tugged on her mother’s shirt to get her attention. She whispered in her ear.
Elise nodded. “What about the survivors, the humans that were in the hidden room? Did any of them make it?”
Morei nodded. “I know how important your humans are to you. I sent a detail here days after I went into hiding to sneak them out. They’ve been living high and eating all my food. They are en route here as we speak. I’ll be glad to be rid of them.”
Elise could only stare at the stranger in front of her. “Since when do a bunch of humans mean anything to you?”
He laughed, the sound like the grating of rough sandpaper. He scoffed, “They don’t. But they mean something to you and that’s enough reason for me.”
Elise smiled, the expression reaching her eyes. Something flickered in his; before he cleared his throat noisily and straightened as tall as any thousand year old vampire might. “Enough with the maudlin soft fuzzies. It’s time to put you and Jorta to work. I’m leaving you both in charge. I’ve wasted enough time here.”
Elise had to add. “We aren’t done, you know. There are still several packs of vampires beyond the walls that need the antidote and we are fresh out. I’m hoping to have more of that in a couple of days. My favorite human scientist, Mr. Waverly, is creating more.”
Morei grunted and gave a sharp nod. “Good. When it arrives, I’d appreciate some of that. I’ll get my guards on disbursing it to those cells. I’ve already grown soft in my old age. I sent three patrols to help round up and restore the Demon wolves villagers to their homes.”
Elise chuckled, “you old softy. It only took you a thousand years to come around.”
Morei’s eyes slid sideways, landing on his great granddaughter with pride. “I’ve been inspired lately,” he admitted.
#
Morei stood in the bedroom doorway and watched his great granddaughter put things to rights. Books that had been pulled from shelves were replaced, and shredded stuffed animals were rounded up for the burn pile.
“Come in. I know you are there.” She murmured, not bothering to look up from what she was doing.
He chuckled. “Good ears.”
Her eyes raised and met his, concealing her expression. “Did you want something?”
He nodded, his bright smile slipping in unexpected confusion.
“Yes—a chance to get to know you better.”
She continued to stare at him until he had the good grace to flush and look away.
When had he lost the upper hand here to a vampire tween?
“You will need to work harder to make better c
hoices then. You don’t fool me, you know. You are making all the right moves to gain our trust and attention. You need to make them instead because you feel them and it’s the right thing to do.”
His eyes hardened and his mouth moved in a thin line. “I’m a vampire. We are the monsters in the night…” he began.
She laughed. “Oh please, enough with the gloom and doom. You are what you want to be. Choices—make the right ones for the proper reasons and I’d like to get to know you better.”
Morei frowned and changed the subject. “Have they gotten any better?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The headaches you get after you go on a walkabout in your mind?”
Emerald froze and her eyes narrowed. She’d never thought to call them that, but it explained what happened when she zoned out and experienced her waking dreams that often came true.
“Not really. The pounding is fierce in the moments right after I have one. And I only ever see bits and pieces. It’s always up to me to figure out what it all means. I don’t always get it right. And how do you know about them, anyway?”
Morei nodded. “I know because I’ve had to deal with the same thing all my life. They’ve helped keep me alive and kicking for a long time. It’s convenient when you can see the enemies’ approach before they take their first step, right?”
A slight smile tipped her lips but didn’t reach her eyes. “Perhaps.”
“I can help you with the headaches if you’ll let me. There are things you can do to lessen the pain and make the pictures clearer. If you’re interested.”
Emerald bent down and gathered her comforter and tossed it onto the bed, the flowered pattern flowing into smooth lines as she made it. She looked up when she finished and speared her great grandfather with gleaming emerald eyes, her expression candid.
“I’ll think about it.”
#
Morei left later that afternoon with a promise to return within the next few days. Elise, along with the rest of the recovering vampires, were amazed at the number of humans that came back and regained their residences in the castle. But they’d grown up in the walls of Wyndoor, many of them having been there through countless generations as caregivers, and volunteer donors.
Rule 9 Academy Series Boxset: Books 3-5 Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy (Rule 9 Academy Box Sets (3 Book Series) 2) Page 47
