War of the Chosen

by Elizabeth Dunlap

  Thermos and baby monitor in hand, with Knight following behind me, I went to my office for a few last-minute things before the meeting. Arthur had left me a stack of copies he made of the alliance draft, so I could pass it out to any Lycan that wanted to read it. I swished over to my desk to grab the papers. When I turned around, Knight was staring at something rolling across the carpet in front of him.

  It was a Roomba, with a little blonde wig and a princess crown on top, and a big pink label that said, ‘Glenda.’

  Knight grinned as it passed him and looked up at me. “Present from Sara?”

  It must’ve been, since I never ordered it, and it seemed like something she would do, especially with the costume on top of it. Glenda. My Roomba’s name was Glenda.

  “Carry on, Glenda,” I said to it before opening the door. It whirred around a chair leg in response.

  I recalled the last, and only, time I’d been at the Mohawk reservation. Heavily pregnant, I’d risked life and limb with Arthur to ask the Lycan Alpha if he could find where Knight was, which as it happens had been a pointless venture since he showed up at the summit before Alexander could get word to me.

  One thing was still the same this time, sadly. It still stunk of dog piss. Knight had his shirt pulled up over his nose in disgust.

  “Don’t they have a toilet here?” he complained under his shirt. “Just one toilet? Any toilet. An outhouse. A hole. Somewhere not here.”

  “Packs that live near vampires are extra cautious,” Arthur explained. He wasn’t being helpful, he just wanted Knight to be quiet.

  We stood there for several minutes outside the gate. We weren’t allowed to just walk in like normal visitors, we had to wait for a special escort, and apparently that escort either slept in or didn’t care about being punctual. Arthur started pulling out several knives on his person and running them over a little band he had on his wrist, which I assumed was sharpening them somehow. He was still finding knives to continue the trend when the escort arrived.

  I really hoped they didn’t expect us to surrender our weapons. We’d be here all day waiting for Arthur to unearth them all.

  The escort was several Lycans who I could tell had no love for us or this meeting. The biggest one had a large rifle in his hands and he pointed it at me.

  “Surrender all weapons,” he commanded. Arthur twitched, either ready to defend our right to bear arms, or start a pile of knives on the ground, so I put a hand out in front of him.

  “We will do no such thing,” I informed the Lycan. “That was not in the contract details your people specified for this meeting.”

  He looked a little surprised until it disappeared behind his scowl. “Noted,” the gun wielding Lycan conceded, pulling his barrel up to rest on his shoulder. “We won’t be making that mistake next time. Follow us.” He turned and the rest of the escort waited for us to pass them before flanking us from the back.

  “You read all of the draft,” Arthur commented in mild surprise, making it very clear he thought I hadn’t.

  Knight scowled at him. “Lisbeth only pretends to be clueless. Don’t tell me you haven’t figured that out yet.”

  “Lisbeth is also standing right here,” I mentioned casually. They stopped talking and walked until we reached a large building with several guards out front. I could see children playing in a nearby field and tried to pick out Simon among them, the little Lycan boy who had changed my life.

  “In,” the Lycan with the rifle demanded. He opened the door to the building and we went inside it. The structure was a wooden cabin of sorts, very open with plenty of windows, and several tables that the Alphas were seated at. Alexander sat in the middle, his hands folded on the wooden table in front of him.

  “Welcome, Lisbeth. Arthur.” He glanced at Knight for a few seconds but didn’t comment. “The Alphas have looked over the draft for the alliance of Lycans and Born vampires. We found it fair and well worded.” I sensed a ‘but’ coming. “You gave us a convincing argument at the peace summit. It has taken us several days to all come to an understanding about it, but I can assure you we are taking this seriously.” Still waiting on the ‘but.’ He cleared his throat and fiddled with some papers on the table in front of him. “But.” There it was. “But the packs in other countries will need convincing, and it won’t be as simple for them as it was for us. As much as we might dislike each other here, Lycans and vampires have very little conflict. It’s not like that everywhere in the world. There are some countries where vampires and Lycans actively hunt each other. Convincing those packs will be next to impossible, and no vampire envoy would escape that meeting with their life.”

  I cleared my throat to try and dispel the tension that had risen in the room. “We understand the urgency. And we have a proposal.” Arthur stepped forward to hand the papers to Alexander. One of our escorts intercepted before Arthur could get too close, and snatched the papers from him like they were an unpinned grenade. He backed away with a glare and handed the papers to Alexander with only a passing glance at what was written on them.

  Alexander scanned it and looked up at us with confusion. “You want us to approach the foreign Lycans with a four to one ratio party, with four Lycans and one Born vampire. I literally just said your lives would be in danger with some of the packs.” I swung my finger in a circle to signal he should keep reading. “The vampire will wear an Alpha’s bracelet to protect them temporarily, and will return the bracelet when the meeting is over.”

  “That could actually work,” Knight reasoned thoughtfully.

  Alexander glanced around the table for affirmation, and then he nodded. “We agree to the terms.”

  “I have one more request.” Arthur bristled beside me in surprise. “I’m going to be one of the diplomats traveling to Europe. I’ll negotiate with one of the packs there, but I don’t want a full party escort. The more groups we have out, the less Lycans will be here to protect your families.” I hoped I didn’t have to say out loud that I wanted Knight to come with me. I still had enough pride to pretend I wasn’t desperate.

  Alexander looked around the table again, and when there were no complaints, he stood up. “You will take Knight with you.”

  “Done.” I reached my thumb up to my slowly dropping fang and sliced it quickly, then I stepped forward to press it to the contract before the wound could close.

  “She’ll need a bracelet,” Knight pointed out. I glanced at Alexander’s wrist to see he already had a new woven bracelet, but this one didn’t have any teeth on it. Would it still work? More importantly, would he let me have it? Knight answered that for me by grabbing my hand and dropping something into it. I opened my fingers to find Alexander’s bracelet, the one I’d dropped the night we were captured. He smiled at me when I looked up at him in question. “I went looking for it. I figured… well it doesn’t matter. You can use it. Right?” He looked up at Alexander, who nodded his approval.

  “The alliance is complete,” Alexander announced. He sliced his finger with a knife (amateur) and pressed it to the paper next to my mark.

  CHAPTER 5

  Our escort showed us back to the entrance of the reservation. Arthur had been silent the entire time, and finally spoke when the Lycans had disappeared from view.

  “It’s too dangerous for you be a pack envoy,” Arthur chastised. Did Arthur care about me? “It would be an unnecessary risk and we can’t lose more Council members.” Nope. Same old Arthur.

  “I didn’t ask your opinion,” I informed him.

  He looked at Knight, expecting some type of comradery involving my safety. “What about you? I’m sure you’re not comfortable with her doing this, being her lover and all.”

  My eyes widened, and I imagined all the ways I could murder him right then and there.

  Knight’s response was snickering before he said, “As if I can tell her what to do. Lisbeth always does whatever she wants, and trust me, she can protect herself.”

  “This was my idea,” I interjected, my cheek
s reddening with Knight’s compliment. “If I don’t show our people it’s safe to do this, then what kind of example am I setting? They’re already reluctant enough. This could be the tipping point, seeing one from the Council going abroad for negotiations.”

  Arthur chewed on that idea and then his eyebrows slowly rose in surprise. “That’s… sound logic.”

  “Glad you think so.” I stepped onto the pavement of the road and started on my way back to the castle Order. With Knight at my side, and Arthur flanking me, we made it to the gates of our home.

  Knight motioned for Arthur to go inside the gate first. “Could you give us a minute?” he asked the Hunter. Arthur glanced at me for approval, and went inside after I nodded at him.

  Me alone with Knight. For the second time today. Me and Knight. Alone. Us. Alone.

  “Lis,” he said, knocking me out of my brain freeze. “Why are you going to Europe? You’re not exactly a fan of traveling. Plus you just had a baby.” My heart fluttered painfully when I met Knight’s eyes, but I still smiled at the memory of my little Kitty waiting for me in my rooms. Knight smiled back, thinking I was smiling at him. He took a step forward. “I’ll protect you, no matter where we go.”

  I took a step back and watched the glow in his face slowly fade. “I didn’t want to bring you. I had to.” I left him before I could see him look sad. I couldn’t bear to see him look sad.

  When I got to my room, I found Olivier bouncing little Kitty on her shoulder. My daughter was cooing and had one fang stuck into the blanket on Olivier’s shoulder. She saw me and hiccupped with a smile.

  “Miracle thing, receiving blankets. She kept trying to stick her fangs into me,” Olivier said with a smirk as she carefully handed Kitty to me. Kitty cooed again and flopped onto my chest before taking a bite from my shoulder. “I’m not even sure she’s trying to feed. She thinks we’re pacifiers.” Olivier flicked Kitty’s ear playfully and left the room. I kissed Kitty’s black curly head. She looked up, her mouth curled around my collarbone, and smiled at me. My heart warmed up again.

  “Mommy might have to go away for a few days,” I told her. I was quite aware that babies had no language comprehension, but I hoped vampire babies were different. And anyway, it felt good to talk to someone. Kitty went back to gnawing on me, but she reached a hand up to my neck as if trying to comfort me. “Mommy loves you, but I need to find out what you are. Besides adorable, that is.” Her little fist curled around my neck even more. “I can’t take you with me, little one. It’s too dangerous where Mommy is going. Olivier and Arthur will keep you safe and fed.” I held her close, as tightly as I could. “When you start to miss me, just remember my face. Your memory is like mommy’s, right? Picture me and the memories will come. And mommy will do the same.”

  A soft knock at the door brought me up from my paperwork a few days later. Arthur walked in with Knight close behind. He had his old duffle bag slung over his shoulder and a mischievous grin on his face.

  I raised an eyebrow at him and stacked my papers up. “Excited?”

  “A bit,” he admitted. “I’ve never been outside the continent before.”

  “How can you live over one hundred years and not leave the continent?” Arthur asked in disbelief.

  Knight shrugged and grinned again. “Being a werewolf doesn’t pay very much.”

  I stood up and grabbed the envelope that had been left on my desk. I came around while tearing it open and removed the contents: two brand new passports and ID cards. “Passport and I.D,” I told him. I handed Knight his and slid mine into my pocket.

  “Kyle,” Knight read off his passport. He glanced up at me with a raised eyebrow. “Kyle?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t choose it. Mine is Jasmine. Do I look like a Jasmine?”

  He folded it into his pocket and muttered, “Good thing that’s not my real name. Then again, neither is Knight.”

  “You… your real name isn’t Knight??” I gasped in genuine surprise. Was it Sam? Jerry? Oh please, no, not Jerry.

  “Plot twist!” he sang. He was still grinning like a fool when I handed him the rest of the envelope contents: one of two stacks of money. His stack had twenty thousand. Mine had more. His grin went slack with awe. “Well. It seems being a werewolf does pay good. What’s it for? Greasing fingers? Are we bribing people?” He got quiet and whispered, “Is there a vampire mafia?” I rolled my eyes at him again and retrieved the suitcase I’d hidden behind my desk. It was very high end and expensive, and Knight’s smile fell when he saw it. He looked up at me and then looked away.

  “Arthur, guard my daughter with your life. I don’t have to tell you what I’ll do to you if I come back and she’s been harmed in any way,” I warned. Instead of complaining, he bowed his head to me with complete respect. Good boy.

  Suitcase and duffle in hand, we made our way to the foyer where a small crowd was waiting. Since when did flying to Europe earn a sendoff? I wasn’t going off to war. Or was I….

  Olivier held Kitty to her chest, and I noticed she’d given my little one a plastic chew toy to bite on. I walked to them and gave Kitty a kiss on her curly head. It broke my soul to leave her, but I had to do this. I had to know what my daughter would become. Still, staring into her crystal blue and violet eyes I couldn’t believe she would become a monster like Anastasia Bathory, but if she had any chance at the vampires accepting her, I had to be sure.

  I took her from Olivier and hugged my tiny jewel as tightly as I could. Mommy will not forsake you, little one. She will fight for you with her last breath.

  With a deep sigh to stave off the tears threatening to overcome me, I kissed Kitty’s head again and handed her back to Olivier. Arthur took his place beside her and nodded to me again. There was no one else on earth or in the deepest corners of the universe I’d trust my daughter with than those two.

  I cleared my throat and took a step back. “I’ll be gone for several days. At most a week. James is the oldest vampire in my Order, but he has deferred his seniority in favor of Olivier. She will temporarily take my seat on the Council and handle any requests you might need.” Kitty waved her chew toy and it rattled softly. I smiled. “The turned will not overthrow us, this I can promise you. Please continue the peace talks with the remaining Lycans and assist them in any way you can. Only together can we save our species.” With a nod, I headed out the front door.

  Castilla stood outside in the garden, and she reached a hand out to me when I passed her. She leaned in close and spoke in my ear. “Your mission is dangerous, and you will not find the answers you seek.” I pulled away in surprise. Who had told her my mission? I had sworn James to secrecy, on pain of death, and I knew well enough how much he valued his own life to know he would never betray me.

  “I can handle the Lycans,” I whispered back to her.

  “It is not the Lycans you are going to see,” she countered. “This will not help the child.” She tried to grab me again, so I stepped further away. She looked haunted and flushed, more so than she had at the meeting. Was she… no. She couldn’t be binging. I reached out, and felt her power above normal levels, but not enough where anyone would notice. Still enough to be against the rules. Her face dropped when she realized I knew, and she stiffened with a haughty sniff that was nothing like the Castilla I knew. “I will not apologize for my habits. I need the sight to see if our people can be saved.”

  I reached for her arm this time and roughly brought her to my eye level. “You will cease this immediately, and when I return, your blood levels will remain at legal levels, or your seat on the Council will be forfeit.” I let her go with a small shove and left her behind to stand in the icy shadows of the castle.

  Knight was waiting at the car with his arm leaning on my car’s roof. “Everything cool?” he asked, watching me pass him to put my suitcase in the trunk.

  “Sure.”

  He looked back at Castilla who was still watching us from the shadows. “She’s blood binging,” he said quietly. Of course he coul
d tell. He had a front row seat to my binging, so he knew better than most what it looked like. I didn’t need to answer him, but I gave him a knowing look.

  “Time to go.”

  “Right this way, Miss Heart,” the airport security officer said as he escorted us past customs and straight through the bag checks.

  “Miss Heart,” I complained under my breath. “Jasmine Heart. I sound like a soap opera star. The legal team is so fired.”

  “At least your name isn’t Kyle Vanderbilt. Seriously. Vanderbilt. Do I look like a rich white guy?”

  “Please. The Vanderbilts wish they were as rich as vampires are.”

  “Then why aren’t we flying in a private jet? You vampires and your castles, and your fancy luggage, and your lack of private jets. I’m so disappointed in you.” He shook his head with a silly expression. I knew he was joking, but something about his whining was raising my hackles.

  “We do have private jets, thank you. But it’s not safe to use them because the turned know how to find where they are.”

  Knight grumbled under his breath. “Stupid turned making me fly first class with a bunch of smelly humans.”

  “I’m sure you can survive twelve hours’ worth of sweat stank. And quietly too.” That had much more salt than I’d intended, but I couldn’t take it back. I pressed my lips together and stepped into the plane. Knight was quiet as we found our seats, put our luggage in the compartments, and sat down facing one another. God. I could add being rude to him on my list of all the things I’d done to make Knight hate me. My lips opened and closed several times with an apology trying to surface. I couldn’t apologize to him. He’d try to be friends and I couldn’t be friends. I couldn’t be anything to him. We’d work together, and then we’d part ways forever.