by Laura Hysell
He paused dramatically as Mark stepped forward. “This is Mark. He was one of the first to be part of these experiments. He has undergone worse pain than you can imagine to rid himself of vampire control. We have tested him repeatedly, and found he is finally free. But it wasn’t easy, and it took time.”
“You sure he’s free?” someone asked.
“His blood tests look the same as yours or mine,” Jed replied. “If you’re still unsure, the true test will come in a few weeks, when that same vampire returns.”
“What if it doesn’t work? What if you can’t get rid of their control?” the same person asked again, and several others muttered their agreement.
Jed shrugged his shoulders. The sun beat down on his head, yet he still wore jeans and a flannel as though the heat didn’t affect him at all. “That is a simple solution. We kill the vampire in control.”
This last remark was met with a chorus of cheers, and a few chuckles. I grinned, thinking how easily Jed had turned the tide of thought away from fear and doubt. Mark still stood beside Jed, his hands clasped behind his back. The smile slipped from my face as I looked at him. He was far too serious, dressed in jeans and a plain black t-shirt. My eyes moved to John and Hugo, also dressed the same. John, however, wore a gun visible in a shoulder holster.
Jed held up his hands for silence, and the crowd quieted down. “The time has come to fight back. You all know that the vampire named Henri seeks to bargain with us and join forces,” Jed began. A few people grumbled, but Jed held up his hands again, silencing them. “In two weeks, Henri will return expecting our answer. He has given us everything we asked for so far. We have the layout of Petrivian’s home, guard routes, Petrivian’s arrival time, and details on the man himself. Henri has been mostly forthcoming, but we know he holds things back.”
“He’s a vampire! They can’t be trusted,” someone yelled from behind me.
“You’re right, he can’t be trusted. While he has given us information, I know for a fact he has held back crucial details. For starters, Petrivian himself sired Henri.” This newest revelation was met with a flurry of mutters, shouts, and angry words. I sat in stunned silence, thinking of the repercussions of what he had just said. How on earth did Jed know that? Questions were shouted at Jed, but he simply held his hands up again and silence slowly descended.
“When we rescued our own Mark and Isabella from Henri, there was another vampire there who stayed to have a chat with me. He easily could have fled, but he willingly stayed and risked himself in order to speak with me. This vampire, Thomas, was the one who told me of Henri’s connection to Petrivian. It is one of the reasons Henri is obsessed with taking Petrivian down, and one of the reasons Petrivian hasn’t decided to kill Henri outright. As I understand it, most vampires can control those they sire. There is a distinct risk that Petrivian can control Henri if they are in close proximity. Perhaps he controls him now.
“Of course, Henri doesn’t want us to know that. Even if Petrivian can no longer control Henri, there is still another concern. We know little about Petrivian, but we know a great deal more about Henri. It has been said that vampires inherit variations on the skills of those who made them. These skills develop and grow with time. Henri is not only very old, but very powerful. Meaning Petrivian is even older and even more powerful.”
Jed stopped and let his words sink in, then he turned to me and motioned me to the stage. I suppressed a groan and walked up onto the small platform, wedging myself between Jed and Mark. “Tell them about Henri,” Jed said to me softly. “About his powers.”
I nodded and Jed stepped back a step, leaving me at the front of the stage. He held up his hands again and everyone grew quiet. “While I was human, Henri controlled me completely. He’s manipulative, and used my worry for my brother and my friends against me. There was a time when he only lightly pushed suggestions onto me. I thought that was it; the extent of his powers. When I tried fighting him, he showed me just how powerful he was and how much he’d been playing me for a fool.”
I stopped and swallowed the lump that formed in my throat. Mark stepped up behind me and took my hand, squeezing it reassuringly. I could do this. “Henri has the power to make you see and feel things that aren’t there. He calls himself the Master of Dreams, and he’s not kidding. He entered my dreams repeatedly when he wasn’t at full power. At full strength, I watched him confuse a room full of humans and vampires into seeing things that weren’t there. The sun, darkness, a beach, whatever he could dream up, he could project. He also projected pain. At the height of his power he was able to hold me completely still, unable to move, while inflicting the sensation of pain all over my body.
“Now, if Henri can do all that, I can only guess what the one who created him can do. My brother met Petrivian, and he was unimpressed by him. To him, he seemed small and weak. But his girlfriend fell all over him, ultimately becoming a vampire to please him. Now, I have to wonder if Petrivian holds similar powers. This whole time, has he been confusing the world into seeing what he wants us to see?”
Silence greeted my words. I hadn’t meant to voice my musings aloud, but the thoughts came unbidden to my lips as I spoke. It made an eerie kind of sense. Jed looked at me and nodded in agreement, then gestured for me to leave the stage. I didn’t waste any time jumping off the platform and rejoining Vanessa on the grass. It felt like a million eyes were watching me.
Jed cleared his throat again, turning the attention back to him. “These vampires hold power greater than your average blood-sucker. As such, we need to proceed with caution. But we can’t sit idle any longer. That vampire I spoke of earlier, Thomas, returned last night with a bargain of sorts. From another group of vampires.”
“Another group?” Lucas asked, and Jed turned to glare at him. He tolerated interruptions from other Packs, but he had made it clear that all members of his Pack were to remain quiet and agreeable.
Jed continued, answering Lucas’ question. “This other group has remained in the background, secretly infiltrating the other organizations. Thomas, in fact, has bounced around gathering information. This group is run by several bosses, and all of them are in agreement. They want Petrivian gone as much as we do, and things back to the way they used to be. These vampires are very old, from what I understand, and they don’t adapt to changes very easily. They have agreed to help us, joining forces against Petrivian and any backstabbing we might encounter with Henri. In addition, none of the vamps under their control will harm any werewolves under my leadership for one year. We must also agree to not harm any of these vamps as well, for one year.”
His words brought even more questions and comments.
“How do we know who is under their control?”
“We shouldn’t trust any vamps!”
“Just kill them all!”
“How do we trust them?”
“What guarantees do they have?”
Jed let everyone speak for several minutes as he quietly assessed the situation. He turned to Declan and indicated the man should step forward. Declan moved, holding his hands up, and a flash of green light spread from his fingertips. Silence descended immediately. The smell in the air turned fearful, and a little angry, and sweat trickled down the middle of my back. My heart pounded loudly, and I knew I wasn’t the only one.
“I am Declan Murphy, and I have spent my life dedicated to ancient mystical arts. Call me a magician, if you will. My people have worked longer than any of you to eradicate the vampire threat. Generation after generation, we have passed down spells and information. In times of greater vampire threat, my kind has stepped forward to help. It has been centuries since a vampire threat has grown so great as this, and I fear this is the greatest ever in the history of our world. Magic long thought dead has surfaced this past year. And not just among my people.”
He held out his hand, and Jed placed a paper in it. I knew what it was even before he opened it. The contract. “This is a contract given to Jed by the vampire called Thomas.
I have inspected it thoroughly. Held within the signatures, and bound in blood, is magic. It binds this contract. Jed has not signed his name, but the vampires have. As such, I can already feel them. There are 184 of them. I will easily be able to mark anyone under this contract with magic, so you’ll know who is under contract and who is not. The person who created this contract is not on the same level of magic or knowledge as I am. As such, I can make minor changes to the contract up until the point Jed signs. As it stands, this contract will not stop a vampire from attacking you, but it will kill them instantly should they try. The same will hold for any werewolves as well.”
Jed nodded and took the contract from Declan, but Declan wasn’t finished speaking. “That is not the most important part,” he continued. “The means for making such a magical contract are ancient. Most of our own magic has faded with time, and none of my people created this. Whoever created this may not be as strong, but that does not mean they are not a threat. And there may be other wielders of magic involved with these vampires. As such, my companions and I will stay and assist you in defeating this vampire threat. I have also called in others, who are making arrangements to travel here as we speak.”
“What do you suggest?” Jed asked as he carefully folded the contract.
“Sign the contract. There are plenty of other vampires to kill who are not under this contract. I can feel them all. We can amend it so death won’t result in betrayal, if you wish, and we can amend the time frame. You will also need to gather more wolves under you. Your Pack will be part of this agreement by default, but the other Packs are held by other Alphas. This won’t protect everyone, unless you take leadership of all the Packs,” Declan returned.
Jed nodded and turned to the waiting wolves. “You have heard Declan’s words. Never in our history has one Alpha sought to lead all the Packs, but this may be our best hope. It gives us assurances that we sorely need. The vampires outnumber us. Drastically. Our only other option is to attack Petrivian alone, with no vampires. But they all know too much. I don’t think we could do this without their knowledge, and without the worry that they’ll attack us from behind. Better the enemy we know by our side, than behind us.”
“We could just let the vamps kill each other off,” someone suggested.
“That’s what we’ve been doing,” Jed countered. “While we’ve been waiting for them to kill each other, they’ve only been growing bigger and stronger. They control most of the human population, making our every move known to the vampires. Distributing a counter-vaccine will only do so much.”
Jed looked around at the assembled wolves, waiting for someone to disagree with him. No one spoke, and he nodded sharply. “Speak to your Alphas. We need an agreement by the full moon. With all the Packs, and those bands of humans who have already agreed to help, we would probably die before we even reached Petrivian. With some vampire help, we might just be able to take out the one blood-sucker who can change the tide on this whole mess.”
Jed said no more as he stepped down from the platform. Mark, John, and Hugo followed suit like bodyguards. Declan moved off toward the house, with Ivan and Brody hurrying after him. The wolves dispersed quietly, with most shifting into wolf form in order to communicate with their Alphas. After everyone had left, just Jed’s Pack remained around the base of the platform. We congregated together in a tight circle. Several of us were missing, presumably on watch around the property, and others I barely knew were in attendance.
“We must show a united front,” Jed said, looking at each of us in turn. “What say you?”
“I’d be the first to say not to trust the blood-suckers, contract or no, but I’ve been out there. I’ve seen what has happened in the world first hand,” John said, his deep voice gravelly. “We must fight alongside the vampires, and what better way than with a contract of assurance. A year may be too long, or not long enough, but we don’t have time to debate this. I say we join the mobster. After a year, if all goes well, we can go right back to killing the leeches.”
“Mobster?” I chuckled, thinking how apt his description of Thomas was.
John shrugged and said, “What else would you call him, and his bosses?”
“We’re dealing with a bloody vampire mob,” another man with shaggy brown hair said from behind me. I didn’t know the werewolf, since he lived far from Jed’s home and only came for important meetings. I thought his name was Aaron.
“Perhaps we are,” Jed agreed, looking at the list of signatures on the contract.
“It’s the best choice out of a lot of shitty choices,” Logan said. “Our position is only getting worse. If we don’t fight, those vamps will bring the fight to us, guaranteed.”
“I agree,” a soft voice said, and I turned in surprise to see Beth step forward. “I think we should fight. I trust you, and whatever decision you make.” She looked directly at Jed as she spoke, her chin held high and her back straight.
“We all trust you,” Lucas agreed, serious for a change. “You’ve never steered us wrong before and I know most of us are alive today because of you.”
“You saved me,” I said. “You all did. I will stand with whatever decision you make, and I will fight to the death beside you.”
“Fuck yeah!” Jared yelled, jostling me from behind. He grinned widely as he put an arm around my shoulder.
“Are we in agreement then?” Jed asked, looking around at his Pack. “We sign the contract?”
Everyone nodded, and several mumbled their ascent. With no one arguing against the idea, Jed nodded his head and stepped back. “Now we wait for the others to decide and hope like hell this works. Before we meet again, I want to make an announcement.” Jed waited for everyone to quiet down before he spoke again. “Mark is once again my second in command.”
“What?” I asked, my words slipping out.
“I asked him to take over,” Hugo said. He took a deep breath and patted Mark on the back. “We’ve always known Mark was the second. I never wanted this job. With war coming, we’ll need all the leaders we can get, in the right positions, and that person can’t be me.”
“Hugo has done a fine job, and this was his decision,” Jed stated. “I am in full agreement.”
Hugo sighed loudly, his shoulders slumped. “My wife has been diagnosed with breast cancer,” he said softly. “The doctors want to give her the vampire vaccine. They’ve been experimenting with it on cancer patients, and they think they can cure her, but we all know it’s no cure. I need to be there for her. When the time comes, I’ll fight beside all of you, but I need to take some time off to be with my wife. She’s still human, and a doctor. She has a duty to her patients, and herself, and I have a duty to her.”
“Oh, Hugo,” I said, tears welling in my eyes. “Is she going to seek treatment?”
He shook his head. “There are too many vamp-controlled humans. We’re working to get the cure in the hospital she works with, but it’s not easy. They’re a suspicious lot. We can’t get her treatment until we can be sure someone won’t slip her the vamp-cine.”
“Vamp-cine?” I smiled at his name for the vampire blood-filled vaccine Petrivian’s forces had been spreading to the masses.
He shrugged and said, “It’s what Mirabelle started calling it.”
“I like it,” I replied.
“We could make her one of us,” Vanessa suggested.
Hugo nodded, but said, “We discussed it. She doesn’t want to take the risk. Not now.” He choked on his words and looked down at the ground. We all knew the risk of becoming a werewolf, and those injured or sick faced further complications. For women, that risk was compounded. Being a doctor surrounded by werewolves, she had seen up close what could happen.
“Full moon is in a little over a week, and our visit from Henri will be shortly after,” Jed said, changing the subject. “Izzy, I want you to stay in the barn again. You’re just not ready to be out loose, especially considering how many wolves are here right now. The pull of the full moon is different t
han just shifting on your own. John and Mark will patrol the western ridge. Vanessa and Jared, I want you to take the northern area. Logan and Lucas, take the east. I will cover the south and the house, along with Hugo in wolf form. I want one of you in human form, the other in wolf.”
“I can help cover the house and barn,” Beth said. Jed’s eyebrows rose in surprise as she rushed on. “In human form. If I have problems, then I can put myself in a cage. Plus, you’ll be nearby.”
“Alright,” he agreed, nodding his head.
Vanessa and I exchanged a frown and Jared scooted his mouth up to my ear. “What’s up with that?” he asked. I shrugged in response as Jed dismissed us.
Mark broke away from Jed and walked up to me, where I still stood with Vanessa and Jared. Jared glanced up at him but didn’t remove his arm from around my shoulders. “I didn’t have a chance to tell you,” Mark began. “Jed and Hugo grabbed me this morning.”
“Do you want to be second again?” I asked him, getting to the heart of the matter.
He took a deep breath and looked out beyond me, as though seeing answers in the forest beyond. “It’s where I’m meant to be, with you by my side,” he added as his eyes turned back to me.
I smiled and Jared suddenly grabbed Mark, pulling us into an awkward three-way hug. I grabbed Vanessa’s arm, pulling her in as well. She laughed as she stumbled into us, and the tension in the air broke.
“What do they call the second in command?” Jared asked suddenly.
“There’s not really a name for it,” Mark replied.
“Yes, there is,” Vanessa stated. We pulled away from our hug to look at her. “It’s a Beta.”
“In all the years I was Jed’s second, I never heard that term,” Mark retorted. “You’re making that up.”
