FAUSTINE (Bonfire Chronicles)

by Imogen Rose

  Once he had calmed down–I decided not to mention Kismet for now, sheesh–I repeated what had happened in the conference room once he had left.

  “Katerina. I never liked her,” was his comment when I finished. “What do you want me to do next? I’d like your permission to fly to New York to rescue Luke. We have the coronation to prepare for; I still have a lot of work to do, but I can hand it over to someone else.” He shrugged, looking defeated.

  “First of all, tell me how the New York faction works,” I said. “And keep it brief, we need to go to dinner in a moment.”

  “Much the same as the London one, Princess. They have the same heads and a president for the council, which happened to be Oscar before he disappeared. I guess a new one will be voted in–or already has–soon. I haven’t been able to keep up with everything going on there.”

  “What have you done about what’s going on here so far, and why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I assumed I could handle it. I was wrong, and for that, I apologize. I have placed you in an awkward position. We have a task force working on tracking down the rogue demon.”

  “Are you working from inside the police and FBI?”

  “Scotland Yard, in this case, Princess. Yes, we have demons positioned where we need them, both in intelligence and out on the streets as regular police.”

  “So, what have you been able to find out so far?”

  “Nothing.”

  Fantastic-Not. “Right, I better come up with a plan. Gather the task force for a meeting first thing tomorrow morning.”

  “Yes, anything else? What are we doing about Luke?” he asked, looking teary-eyed again.

  “I’ll take care of that,” I said firmly. “Now, let’s go down to dinner.”

  “One more thing, Princess...” Dorian mumbled.

  “Yes?”

  “Fitch is here to see you.”

  The images flashing from the television were disturbing. Dorian had turned on the screen when he returned with Fitch, who was now as glued to the BBC broadcast as we were.

  The BBC reporter’s teeth were clattering as she struggled to speak into her microphone, the strong breeze sweeping her hair over her face. She was standing in front of one of the most prominent landmarks in London–the London Eye Ferris Wheel by the river Thames; its capsules swayed in the breeze. Three bodies had been discovered in one of those capsules. The capsule in question was easy to identify–it was the one the camera kept focusing on, the one with the words Eat That, Demon Princess written on the outside in big red letters. A massacre had occurred inside. The occupants had not been identified, and, from the sketchy information the press was reporting, it would be some time before any such information would be available, if ever. The bodies had apparently been savaged to a point where it was hard to tell for sure even how many bodies there were. For now, it was presumed to be three.

  Dorian muted the volume, but kept the television on, as he turned to me. All eyes were on me.

  “Well, it’s a bit different this time, isn’t it?” I mused.

  “How so?” Dorian asked.

  “The savaged bit. Aren’t the bodies usually bled dry, but pretty much untouched otherwise?”

  “Usually,” Dorian conceded. “Though there have been at least four incidences where the bodies were torn up, but not to the point these seem to have been. However, we don’t have any of the details; the report was vague. I’m sure the police are keeping the details to themselves for now.”

  “Really!” Mom muttered. “My daughter should not be subjected to such violent images, even less expected to deal with it. She’s only fifteen. This is unacceptable! Faustine, let’s go.”

  “Lady Annabel,” Dorian protested.

  “Mom, it’s okay...” I started.

  “Okay?” she repeated. “How on earth is this okay? This is indescribably terrible. There is a spate of violent murders happening in London. I want you as far away as possible from them. Now let’s go.”

  “Mom. No. This is my responsibility....”

  “No, it’s not. This is your father’s responsibility. I will not have you involved in this. I absolutely forbid it,” she announced firmly.

  She was right. I shook my head. I was at a loss. What was I supposed to do about this? All I wanted was to be back at school and worrying about my next math test. It was totally unfair of Dad to have left me in this position. I was done with this! “Mom, yes, let’s go home and forget about this. Let Katerina have her way. Why should I care? This is all way too much madness.”

  “No,” Fitch said, quietly.

  “Fitch?”

  “I said, no. You have to deal with this.”

  “Why? What the heck are you doing here anyway?”

  “Taylor sent me.”

  “Oh, how is she?”

  “Recovering. Still exhausted from her ordeal, or she would have come herself.”

  “Why?”

  “To tell you that you have to prevent Katerina from gaining power.”

  “Why would she care?” I asked perplexed.

  Fitch shrugged. “She’s merely passing on a message from Kismet. Kismet asked Taylor during the rescue to make sure that Katerina does not gain power, and she wanted Taylor to convey that to you.”

  “And we all must do what Kismet asks,” I said slightly annoyed.

  “Actually, no,” Mom replied. “No one–apart from me–can tell you what to do. And I say we go home. Now.”

  “What’s the worst that can happen if Katerina takes over?” I asked no one in particular. “She wants my position. Chances are that if I just abdicate quietly, she’ll get on with the job that needs to be done. Everyone wins.”

  “Katerina is evil,” Dorian muttered. “Can’t you see that? Look at what she’s doing!” he said, throwing the photos of the murdered bodies on the floor. “You can’t let her take control. She doesn’t just want your position. There’s more to it.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. But I know it’s all bad.”

  “What about his other children?” Mom asked.

  “Sebastian named Faustine as his heir...” Dorian sighed.

  “True,” Mom said. “But I’m sure he wasn’t expecting her to take over quite so young, or to be placed in this untenable situation.”

  “If he thought she couldn’t handle it, he would have named an interim sovereign. We had one for years when Faustine was too young.”

  “Who was that?” I asked, feeling hopeful again.

  “Oscar was going to step in until you were ready.”

  Sheesh. And he was missing now as well, so I couldn’t even ask for support from him.

  “You have no choice, Princess. If you abandon us, we are, as you teens say, screwed.”

  “Why should I care?”

  “It would result in complete mayhem in London with paranormals fighting each other, blaming each other for the killings. The council members are already starting to mistrust each other. If paranormals are revealed to the humans, complete chaos will occur and civilization as we know it will come to an end. This is why you need to care.”

  “Why would Katerina want that? To create chaos?” I asked “Surely it’s in her best interest to stick to the status quo.”

  “I fear that she has greater ambitions,” he said sadly. “The fact that she has already started creating mistrust amongst the vampires and demons is a sure sign of that. If she merely wanted your position, she could have waited for you to abdicate in return for the safe release Luke. She knows that’s all it would have taken for you to give up the throne.”

  Dorian was right. This killing spree was utterly unnecessary. Still, like Mom said, what the heck was a fifteen-year-old Upper East Side high school student supposed to do about it? Nothing. I took a deep breath. It was the Demon Princess of London who was going to do something about it. I had to. I looked down at my ring, which shimmered back at me.

  “Faustine?” Mom asked, her voice breaking.

&n
bsp; “Mom, it’s my duty.”

  Duty, yes. But I was lost. I needed to surround myself with people and demons that I could trust. “Dorian, you said that you had a task force in place? Get them to find out what’s going on with the latest killing and report back to me immediately.”

  Dorian nodded. There was a knock on the door. It was Finna with a message from Alfred. He wanted to see me right away. Sigh.

  “Are you all right?” Mom asked, walking over and putting her arms around me.

  I nodded, then stood and followed Finna down the hallway and back into the conference room. I was relieved to see that it was just Alfred, not the whole cavalry.

  “Did you watch the latest report?” he queried as I sat down.

  I nodded.

  “This is as much my problem as it is yours. Nowhere in the media are demons mentioned, even though the notes are clearly addressed to the demon princess. It’s as if demon is a synonym for evil rather than a being as far as the media is concerned. All attention is on a vampire-like serial killer. Until now, that is. With these new killings the police are stumped again. They are hypothesizing that it’s a copycat killer.”

  “Copycat killer?”

  “A killer who is pretending–by using the same note–to be the one who killed the others.”

  “Why would someone do that?” I asked incredulously.

  “It’s fairly common, within the demon population especially. A lot of your subjects seem to find it amusing to mess with the police in this way. It’s one of the issues that kept Sebastian busy.”

  “Did you ask me here to talk me into abdicating to Katerina?” I asked him.

  I was a little surprised when he shook his head. “Just the opposite. I wanted to make sure that you had no such intentions.”

  “But I thought you wanted me to? You seemed to earlier.”

  “That was an act. I had to pretend to put the option out there after Katerina’s offer. I don’t know who we can and cannot trust.”

  “Well, to be honest, I’m fed up with this whole thing. I’m only fifteen. I’d like to head back to school and forget about all of this.”

  Alfred’s eyes narrowed. I hoped he’d keep his fangs in control, as every time his fangs appeared, I felt my fingers fuse.

  “I’m disappointed. This is your legacy. Are you telling me that your father was wrong to leave you in charge?”

  “No, of course not,” I said, hastily. “I said I’d like to. No, I’m taking my role very seriously. So you don’t want Katerina in charge?” I asked, redirecting the conversation.

  “No. Her decision to use vampires in her scheme does not sit well with me. That’s if Katerina is the one behind this. We can’t be sure of that.”

  True. “I assumed she was because of the notes,” I confirmed.

  “Yes, and you’re probably right. She’s running a very effective campaign to undermine you and force you to abdicate. By using vampires as her tool, she’s not only undermining you, she’s also undermining me. Why would she do that?”

  I shrugged. “Dorian thinks there is a lot more to her scheme.”

  “Well, that seems pretty obvious at this point.”

  “I have our task force arriving tomorrow morning to update me. Sit in on that meeting. We’ll take it from there.”

  My head was buzzing as I returned to my suite. Everyone–Mom, Dorian and Fitch–were still there, waiting for me. I was exhausted. “I need to sleep,” I yawned. “I know I have a lot to think about, but I’m fried. Any more updates?” I asked Dorian, before I fell into bed.

  “No. Sleep. I’ll wake you if I hear anything else.”

  I awoke at dawn, with Mom sleeping soundly next to me, and Fitch snoring deeply on the sofa. Dorian lay on the other couch staring at the ceiling.

  “Dorian,” I whispered. “Any news?”

  “No. We should know more soon.”

  I looked over at Fitch. What was his story? It was really nice of him to come all the way over here to pass on Kismet’s message. But, why? Did he always do what his sister asked? Taylor seemed fairly strong-willed, so that wouldn’t be surprising. Even she, however, had been brought under the Kismet spell, if it was some sort of spell.

  “Dorian, would it be all right if I checked out my dad’s digs? I’ll take Fitch with me.” It would give me an opportunity to get to know him better.

  “Yes, of course. I’ll have a car brought around for you. We have a few hours before the task force arrives, so you have plenty of time. Just be back before ten. Shall I come with you, to show you around? The house is fairly large, and it’s empty apart from day staff, who won’t arrive until later. Perhaps Lady Annabel would like a visit as well?”

  Why not? I would probably still be able to talk to Fitch. Mom and Fitch were already stirring, disturbed by our chatter.

  Dad’s mansion was just ten minutes away from Alfred’s. It was surrounded by a white-washed, stone wall and a large iron gate guarded by a sour looking elderly man, who immediately perked up when he spotted Dorian. I had already asked Mom to keep Dorian busy with chatter while I found out more about Fitch. The two of us followed behind them while we were taken on the grand tour of the house.

  The mansion bought into every cliché imaginable regarding a demon king’s home. Think lots of gilded everything and heavy dark velvet. This was not an IKEA show house, that’s for sure. A double spiral staircase illuminated by a heavy, gothic-style chandelier dominated the entrance hall. The walls were covered in canvas oils of a bunch of people I didn’t recognize. Fitch seemed to be eagerly listening to all the historical facts that Dorian was happily rambling on about. I had stopped listening, though I couldn’t help but admire the sheer opulence of the room.

  “Fitch,” I whispered as we made our way up the stairs to the residential quarters.

  No reply. He was totally preoccupied with admiring a painting of my dad, apparently painted by a famous old master, Van something. I hadn’t really been paying attention. Looking up at my father’s painting I was overcome with sadness as the haunting revelation of what happened between Suman and Dad came flooding back to me. I shook myself. I couldn’t allow myself to think about that now.

  “Fitch!” I repeated, more loudly, nudging his elbow.

  “Faustine?” he said looking down at me.

  “How long are you staying?”

  “Oh, I should have gone back yesterday after I gave you the message. I guess I should go home as soon as possible. Perhaps you could drop me off at the airport before you drive back to Alfred’s?”

  “Did you really come all this way just to give me Taylor’s message?”

  “She was adamant that I made sure that you didn’t bail. I’m relieved that you decided to stay.”

  “Fitch, who are you? Alexandra is not your mom, so who is?”

  “She was–she died a few years ago...” Fitch whispered.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” I said, taking his hand. “I didn’t mean to pry. I was just wondering.”

  “That’s okay. She was a witch.”

  “So, you’re a witch, I guess?”

  “A wizard.”

  “Right. What about Taylor?”

  “The jury is still out on that. She wants to be a witch, but her demon part fights against it. That’s why she wants to spend some time learning from Edith.”

  “Why doesn’t she want to be both? I can carry both my halves off perfectly now that I have learned to control my demon impulses,” I said proudly.

  “You only have one paranormal force to contend with. It’s different when you have two paranormal forces within you fighting for supremacy,” he sighed. “She’s really struggling with it.”

  “So, you guys live with your dad?” I pried.

  “Sort of. We don’t see much of him. He pops into the apartment once in a while, but for all intents and purposes it’s just Taylor and me. We look after each other.”

  I nodded. “I guess that’s why you’re so close. What about Alexandra? Do you have any con
tact with her?”

  “Taylor and I have dinner with her when we can, which isn’t often. I mean, she just moved here last week from Long Island. We used to head over to L.I. every other weekend so Taylor could see her. Now, Taylor seems to be visiting her more frequently, which is good, I guess.”

  “You guess? Don’t you like Alexandra?”

  “To be honest, she’s extremely self-centered.”

  Fitch stopped talking as Dorian led us through the various bedrooms. They were filled with an eclectic mix of antiques, combined with the latest high-tech gadgets. Back downstairs, we wandered through reception lobbies, offices, conference rooms, a large dining room, two living rooms and mini-ballroom. On our way out of the patio doors, I pointed toward some steps leading down. “ What’s down there?”

  “The basement. It’s restricted. Sebastian calls it his dungeon,” Dorian laughed. “I suspect it’s his hobby room, though.”

  “Hobby room?”

  “Your father builds model airplanes,” he shrugged.

  “Really?” Mom sounded as surprised as me.

  “It helps him relax, apparently. I’m just guessing, though. I have absolutely no idea what’s down there.”

  Perhaps we ought to go down and investigate. On second thought, it was probably filled with all kinds of creepy crawlies. Yikes.

  Instead, we went outdoors to the pool area, which was amazing. A gorgeous, Olympic-sized pool was enclosed in a glass conservatory, so one could enjoy it year-round.

  “And that concludes the tour,” Dorian announced. “The gardens around the mansion are magnificent and deserve a visit, but we need to head back to Alfred’s for out meeting now. Ready?”

  I nodded. I would have loved to have spent more time with Fitch, he was starting to grow on me, but I should make sure he got back home. We sent him on his way once we got back to the house.

  “Ready? They are all here waiting for you, Princess.”

  I nodded.