Kelton waved him off. “That’s okay, Trey. I’ve got this. Go and get some sleep.”
“Thank you, sir.” Trey quickly turned and scuttled off, as much as a boy of his size could scuttle, the look on Kelton’s face making him move even faster.
Turning back to Kayleigh, “No rest for the wicked, huh?”
“You go and deal with whatever problem it is that they’ve got out from and I’ll go and check on the injured.”
“I think you’ve probably got the best job.” He grinned.
Kayleigh playfully smacked him on the ass as she moved by him and Kelton regretfully locked the door behind them before moving off in the opposite direction.
Walking slowly through the building, Kelton was happy to put this off for as long as he could. He had more than enough problems to deal with already. His shoulders were starting to falter under the weight. Thankfully, he didn’t come across any students on his way, enjoying the momentary silence that surrounded him.
Unfortunately, the suite that he shared with Kayleigh wasn’t all that far from the front of the building and he rounded the corner to the reception all too soon. Moving straight over to the security monitors, he glanced at the screens, wondering who it was that was here to see him so soon after sunset.
Pushing Jonas aside, which was no mean feat seeing as the warrior who was covering security detail was nearly as big as him, Kelton focused intently on the screen.
“You said not to let anyone in, under any circumstance.”
“I did.” Kelton replied gruffly.
He was surprised that he wasn’t seeing some stiff suit from the council, but a lone elderly man. He was standing hunched over and Kelton was unable to identify him for a moment. Watching as the male carefully straightened up with what looked like immense effort, Kelton felt himself turn to stone. The image on the monitor showed the old man running a hand over his weary face.
The stoop was familiar.
The way that the man held himself in general was familiar to Kelton.
Kelton knew this man.
It was impossible.
It couldn’t be.
Kelton suddenly lurched forward and pressed the buzzer on the intercom. “Hello?” His voice had a quiver, which was perfectly understandable considering the situation. Kelton looked like he had seen a ghost, which he had for all intent and purposes. This vision had totally thrown him off balance. He needed this man to look up, to speak, to confirm that what he was seeing was the real thing.
The elderly gentleman looked up expectantly into the camera that was placed above the entry way, his crooked hands twisting, his watery eyes pleading. “Sire? Master Kelton? Is that you?”
Holy shit. Kelton thought that his eyes and ears must have been deceiving him. They had to be. This couldn’t be happening.
Bypassing the button on the control panel, Kelton vaulted over the high desk and lunged towards the glass doors. Swinging one side wide open, he stopped dead with a wild expression of disbelief on his face. “Sire? May I take sanctuary within your home?” The old man asked, his voice tired, old and pleading.
“Marshall? How the hell?”
Chapter Four
Ushering him inside, Kelton took his elbow when he saw how much effort it took for the old man to move. He watched him as he shuffled slowly forward with precise, painstaking steps. Marshall was truly ancient, even by Lamia standards. He had aged dramatically since the last time Kelton had seen him. Marshall had been serving the leader of the Lamia Matris for longer than Bartholomew had been in power.
“Come with me. You’ll be safe in here.” Kelton continued to hold on to Marshall’s elbow as he guided him through the winding corridors that led to his office. It was the only place of privacy that he could think to take him to. Kelton was desperately hoping to bump into Kayleigh on their way. He needed her support and strength greatly right now. His legs were starting to shake. He had truly seen a ghost.
Kelton shook his head slightly to clear his jumbled thoughts. The past couple of days had thrown more at than he had to deal with in the last decade. He wasn’t sure quite how much more of it he could stand.
He spotted a student up ahead of them. “Trey!”
Spinning on his heels, guilt was clearly written all over the boys’ face. He knew that he had been ordered back to his room to get some well-earned rest, but he had wanted to creep back down to check on his friends in the medical suite one last time. Trey felt hopeless, sitting around doing nothing. Sleep failed him. Now, Kelton had busted him.
“Warrior Kelton. I’m sorry, I...” he started to try and make up some lame ass excuse, but Kelton held up a hand to cut him off.
“Honestly, I really don’t care what you have to say for yourself. I need you to go down to the medical suite and find Kayleigh for me. Then, you will go to your room and you will stay there.” Kelton glared at him fiercely and didn’t have to add the ‘or’’ at the end. “Am I making myself clear?”
“Yes, sir. Crystal.” Trey turned away, hiding a smile because it was perfect. He’d be doing just as Kelton asked him to do and he’d be able to check on his friends at the same time.
Kelton briefly watched as the trainee ran off to pass on his message. Trey was not a problem for him and he could completely understand his concern for his fellow trainees. Trey was so far down on his list of problems right now that he didn’t even register. Normally, a trainee that defied a direct order would have felt the wrath of Kelton coming down on them like a tonne of bricks, but he had way too much on his mind today to even give it a second thought. Marshall appearing on their doorstep had thrown him for a loop. He was currently looking at a man that had, in his mind, returned from the dead.
Moving slowly into his office, Kelton was relieved to find that the space was finally empty. The warriors had transferred all the incoming calls through to one of the conference rooms so that they all had more room to stretch out and work comfortably. Kelton helped the old man get somewhat comfortable and knelt down in front of him, carefully looking over him. What had happened to him out there? The haunted look in his eyes was agonising.
“Can I get you anything? Something to eat? Something to drink? Do you need to rest?”
“No, son. Thank you. That’s fine. I’m fine. Now that I am finally here, I am fine.” The old man replied with a tired but grateful smile. “Thank you for taking me in.”
There had always been a very special bond between Kelton and Marshall. After all, with such a close relationship with Bartholomew, it was inevitable that they would also become close over those years of contact. Kelton deeply respected the man that had taken such good care of their leader and was enraged that he looked so worn and tired.
“Marshall, can you tell me what happened to you? Are you okay? Where have you been? What can you remember?” Kelton didn’t mean to bombard him with questions, but once he started, the words came flooding out.
“That is a mystery in itself.”
“What do you mean?” Kelton replied, puzzled.
“Sorry, my son. I should explain myself a little more clearly.” Marshall took a deep, shuddering breath. “I was found by the side of the road in a dishevelled state. I have no idea how I got there. I was just lucky that it was one of us that found me in that state. I had been badly beaten and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. I dread to think what could have happened to me if I had been found by a human. Or worse, one of them.”
Marshall paused and closed his pained eyes for a moment. “Anyway, I couldn’t remember a single thing. I couldn’t tell them what happened to me, where I was or even who I was. The family that found me took me in and cared for me as if I were one of their own. I was very fortunate to have come across them.” He looked down at his hands that were knotted in his lap and his eyes filled with unshed tears.
“You will have to tell me the name and location of the family that took you in. I will make sure that they are well taken care of, I can assure you of that. We owe them your life.”
Kelton was a man of honour and he would see that the family were rewarded for their act of kindness.
Marshall carried on speaking as if he hadn’t heard Kelton utter a single word. “They nursed me back to health, caring for me. There was only so much that they could do for me. Time was the greatest healer of all. That is why I am here now. I remember now. In time, I was able to remember all of it.” A rasping sob broke free from his throat.
Kelton held his breath. Obviously, he would be eternally grateful that this man had survived the horrific attack by the Mortuorum that wiped out the rest of the household, surviving it against all odds. It was simply amazing that Marshall was back on his feet after all he had to endure. But, this could be the breakthrough in their investigation that they needed. Kelton had a burning desire to avenge their leader’s death and this could be the final clue to the puzzle.
Kayleigh cracked open the door and peeked inside. After going down to check on Aisline and Jackson, she had already planned to come and find him, but after seeing Trey, she had raced back up to the office. Trey hadn’t told her why she was needed or what was going on, but as soon as she opened the door, her heart flew up to her throat.
It was a hell of a surprise to see Kelton sitting there with Marshall, whom she recognised straight away. Staring at the old man with wide eyed surprise. She nodded dumbly at Kelton when he motioned for her to come inside but to remain quiet. She wasn’t sure that she could speak, anyway. This was a real shock to the system. Here was a man that they thought that they’d never seen again. Yet, here he was, living and breathing and as real as they were.
Glad that Kayleigh had finally joined them, Kelton returned his full attention to Marshall. He didn’t want anything or anyone derailing him from his memories and thoughts right now, but the soothing presence of his soul mate was like a rock to him. She was his to lean on, to depend on when times were getting rough. Kelton didn’t know what he would ever do without her and knew that he would need her strength to get through this.
“Who was it, Marshall? Do you know?” If they had a name, they could put an end to this misery and soon.
Marshall turned his watery gaze to Kelton, his old eyes alert and full of acute pain. “Oh, son. We have been betrayed. The Mortuorum. Merion. The betrayal runs so deep.”
“A Mortuorum? Do you have a name? Do you have anything else for us to go on?” Anything information would be gold to them right now.
“No. You misunderstand me, my boy. As I said, we have been betrayed. By one of our own. Betrayal of the very worst kind.”
“What do you mean? I’m getting confused.” Kelton was trying to keep his impatience in check, but the old man’s words were confusing him.
“Master Warrior Merion. He was the one who provided the Mortuorum, our enemy, with the location of our beloved leader. He was the one that was the cause of the raid. He was the one that ultimately caused Bartholomew’s death. Merion betrayed us all.” Marshall broke down with heart wrenching sobs. “I tried to save him. I tried so hard. I couldn’t get to him. I couldn’t save him. Those monsters were determined to carry out their mission to its fullest and there was nothing I could do to stop them. And, he may not have died by his hands, but just as sure, it was Merion that killed our beloved Bartholomew.”
Kelton suddenly jumped to his feet and swung around to look directly at Kayleigh, “Find him. Find him now.” He growled and Kayleigh rushed out of the room, the rage in his eyes frightening her with their intensity.
Kayleigh felt a shudder of fear running through her. This was unbelievably bad. If it had truly been Merion that had been the one to feed the information to the enemy, then none of them were safe. Who knew what else he could have told them? If that was the cause, then it was kind of fortunate that a new leader had not yet been put into place, for their life would have been in danger even before they’d sat on the throne.
Kelton could feel his blood beginning to boil. Slamming a fist into his desk, he had to hold back a roar of anger. There was no way that he wanted to scare Marshall any more than he already was. A display of rage wouldn’t exactly help matters. But, he couldn’t get any of this straight in his head. It didn’t sit right with him. Why would Merion have done this? What did he have against Bartholomew? The man had never shown any signs of betrayal.
Suddenly, thought started to fly around his head. What about Aisline? Was there any connection to what had happened with her? Merion had, after all, been one of the Master Warriors that led her group. Coincidence? Heaven help him if he had a hand in that as well.
Kelton ran a hand across his eyes. There was no way that this could be true. The old man must be somehow mistaken. The best course of action now would be to find Merion as soon as possible and get this mess straightened out. The man was a warrior. No way would he ever stoop to actions such as this. Kelton didn’t want to believe any of it. If they could get hold of Merion, they’d find out that Marshall was somehow mistaken and then they could get on with the job of finding the real perpetrator.
His head was in an awful place right now. His thoughts were rapidly changing directions, from wanting to believe what Marshall was saying and wanting to kill Merion with his bare hands, to refusing to believe that Merion was guilty. He couldn’t get his head around it. What a mess.
Abruptly, the door to his office flew open and Kayleigh stood breathlessly in the doorway.
“He’s gone.”
“What the hell do you mean, he’s gone?” Kelton glared at her with barely concealed anger. “Get the goddamn council on the phone. He was supposed to be back here by now. We expected him back at dusk. For Christ’s sake, we’ve got enough to deal with, without another warrior going missing. Dammit all to hell!” He shouted.
Kayleigh knew better than to stay there and argue it out with him. She wouldn’t have been able to bite her tongue and would have ended up saying something extremely unhelpful. When he got into one of those moods, Kelton could be a complete ass and the easiest way to deal with him was to walk away. He got himself so worked up that he didn’t always put his brain into gear before the words spewed forth.
She backed out of the room with a vicious glare in his direction. Sure, she knew that he didn’t mean to shout at her like that and that it was just the stress of the situation, but that wasn’t really the point. His anger may not have been directed at her, but bearing the brunt of it hurt. The anger that he was feeling inside was bubbling out of him like a volcano and it was spilling onto the person that was closest to him. Kayleigh loved the guy with all her heart, but she wasn’t a doormat for him to walk all over when he was in a temper and she refused to be treated as such.
Kayleigh walked slowly out to the front reception area, breathing in deep cleansing breaths to try and calm her nerves. She was on the edge with everything that was occurring and Kelton shouting the odds didn’t help matters.
Luckily, she encountered no one on her way there, which was a blessing. The last couple of days had been full of struggle and strife and it was all starting to weigh down on her. The way she was feeling right now, one wrong word from anyone would either send her into a flying rage or she’d burst into tears.
Kayleigh was seen merely as Kelton’s mate and part-time fill in for anyone who needed help around the academy. She had no real role, or training, here. She wasn’t properly equipped to deal with this kind of thing. Kelton was also clearly reaching breaking point, which was a terrifying thought. She knew that none of the other warriors would see what she was seeing, as Kelton could put on a good game face, but she could see. He was the kind of warrior that always held everything together so if he faltered, what hope did she have of hanging in there?
Nodding solemnly to the warrior that was stood on security detail, Kayleigh grabbed the phone and moved a little further down the corridor so that she wouldn’t be overheard.
Dialling the number that she knew off by heart, Kayleigh waited to be connected to the council of the Lamia Matris. The ringing on the other end of the lin
e pounded through her already battered brain. What would their response to her be this time? Disdain? She’d encountered that many times before. This wouldn’t be the first.
“Good evening. Margaret speaking. How may I help you?”
Kayleigh had always wondered what Margaret looked like. She sounded so stiff and uptight that Kayleigh imagined her to look like some old steely, straight laced woman. Which, of course, was doubtful unless she was old enough to have already surrendered to the ageing process. Margaret was most probably a young, buxom woman who kept all the pen pushers at the council drooling on their ties.
“Hi, Margaret. This is Kayleigh calling from the Sons of Satrina academy in Brandestowen?” she ended the sentence as more of a question, recalling how Margaret often had the tendency to be an uppity bitch who took great delight in denying who she was. Infuriating wasn’t the word.
“Oh, hello Kayleigh, dear. Wonderful news about your young warrior being found so swiftly. How is she faring?”
Well, that definitely took Kayleigh by surprise. Not only was Margaret actually acknowledging who she was but she was also willingly engaging in conversation. What an honour! Kayleigh thought to herself sarcastically.
“She’s doing fine, thank you. Healing up well. Her family have been to see her.” Kayleigh stammered, saying more than she normally would have as Margaret had caught her off guard.
“Well, that’s just wonderful news! Simply wonderful!” Margaret replied in a syrupy tone. “So, what can I do for you, Kayleigh dear?” The sound of tapping keys on a computer keyboard rattled on relentlessly in the background.
“Oh. Yes. Right. Sure. Sorry.” Margaret being so polite and conversational had momentarily thrown Kayleigh and she had to rush through her thoughts to get them quickly back on track. “I’m calling with regards to Master Warrior Merion. He was due back here at the academy at dusk and there is no sign of him as of yet. Can you please tell me if he has left the council building already? Or if he has been asked to stay with you any longer?”
Dawn of a New Age: A Sons of Satrina Novel Page 4
