“How about I help you, one small gesture of good faith.The aerion death, who could have hired them to be killed? Who has their claws in the underbelly? Do you think those that run the undercity are so innocent? What about the Count?” Beta said patting Nick's back. He walked through the crowd of people waving at them until he eventually got into his red truck and drove off.
The count had something to do with it? He didn’t know why the count would want to kill an aerion, what reason but to cause harm to both sides. What reason to kill a guiding light, and leave it in the trash. He thought.
“Is…is he gone?” Abigail said poking her head out.
“Yea, he left but he told me something about the count,” Nick said scratching his head. He put lightborne on the back of his shoulder and took a deep breath. “Do you think the eternals are trying to get people in topside in trouble?”
“I don’t think so, we share this world now. If they did that they would also put themselves in danger. What does this have to do with Veronica's father?”Abigail asked holding Nick's hand tightly.
“What do you mean have to do with her father, her fathers the count?” Nick said his body getting warmer. He never asked who Veronica was, where she came from. Was her playing as a friend just some way for her to give information to the count? He was angry, he felt like he didn’t have the whole story that he had to stop himself from trying to be irrational. But the look on Abigail, the fear she had in her eyes, he never wanted her to be afraid of others more than she already was, but he was going to do what he could to protect her because so many times she protected him when he needed it the most.
47
Veronica walked into the castle and saw her mother outside in the backyard sitting down in a chair starring at the sky. She opened the door to the back and sat next to Lily. “It’s a beautiful day out today,” she said quietly holding t her legs tightly. They never really hang out with each other like others. It always felt like one of those big sister little sister relationships, but one sister was a goth and the other a prep. They loved each other but at times lived in different worlds of their own.
“Where have you been Veronica?” Lily said lifting a glass and taking a drink from it.
“I was just out, what happened to Jake, it crushed me,” she said lowering her head. Thinking about him hurt every time, sometimes more than the last thinking about memories of them together, what was he thinking before he was killed. Thinking about the what-ifs of the night she last saw him and just running through her head the different scenarios of how he could still be alive if only she did something, but she didn’t know.
“It hurts honey, I know. I only asked where you were because I don’t want you to get in trouble, to run into the Draken or the god breakers. They have been patrolling at night, and stop anyone to ask them questions. They are still trying to find that young human girl, but Jake's murderer? Well, can’t be surprised they aren’t trying as hard for him,” Lily said placing her glass down.
“They are probably just busy, with everything going on,” she said rubbing her hands together. The sky was dark red, the moon was bleeding, and bats and gargoyles flew through the night. She knew she could still go into the sun somewhat with mild discomfort, but a part of her nagged at her, telling her she couldn’t anymore because she changed.
“No darling, it’s different with us, always has been. We were seen as beings that relied on violence and tricks to get what we wanted. People thought we had no emotions or care in the world, and even after the awakening it just made them fall into their fears even more. If they cared about Jake's death they would be searching high and low, no stone unturned,” Lily said grabbing Veronica's hand and squeezing it tightly.
“Not every human that is out there is like that mother. Some humans will keep fighting for justice, for what is right, and we may not see it or appreciate it, but they put themselves out there to go against the norm to just help us. I know it’s so hard to believe mother, but there is hope,” she said turning to Lily and smiling.
Lily shook her hand and smiled at Veronica. “You’re a bit different you know that? Are you sure you are okay? You talk about humans like you love them.”
“It’s just…what I use to be. I had so much anger towards them, for who and what they stood for that I didn’t try to let it go. That anger was poison. I know I have ways to go, but just talking to some humans makes me think the world isn’t so bad,” she said looking at the moon.
“Sometimes I think about if we are going in the right direction. I see on the news about the wars continuing, the humans and eternals who can’t get along, but then I see you, and Domina who have embraced humans to see that they are not so bad, so evil,” Lily said. She got up and picked up a small case that was sitting on the table next to her.
“Wait, you know about Domina and Chris?” Veronica said looking over her shoulder making sure someone like her father the count didn’t hear.
“Oh yes, you can see how much it disappoints your father. He thinks she will be tainting and weakening their line by mating with a human. Old in his thinking, but her father seems better about it. I talked to him, Goliath? You remember him he use to come and tell us stories about Camelot. Good times, anyways when he found out he came to me,” she said opening the case.
“Came to you for what?” Veronica asked. She was curious about what her mother could offer that made him want to come and seek her advice.
“He told me how did I do it, to take in someone that wasn’t fully vorpal yet. He didn’t understand to become one of us fully it has to be a choice, that you can’t turn back and stay human. By being between both worlds you have some benefits, but you also have a lot more weaknesses. I know how hard it may be for you, but you’re as strong as they come. When he came he didn’t know what to do because Domina was his world, but he was afraid about what the leaders would think if he allowed it to continue,” she said rubbing her hands together.
“So what did Goliath end up doing?” Veronica said scratching her head. She looked at the moon and thought about Domina and Chris, how they acted towards each other, and showed care about the other. It was something she knew was precious, once in a lifetime, a type of feeling that can only strike once.
“I told him that his daughter is smart, that she wouldn’t do something reckless unless she led with her heart. We can try as hard as we want to bind our children to our ideals, to try to mold them, but in the end, they have their path. I wanted him to know that he shouldn’t shun her, or try to change her, but to accept who she picked to be a part of her life because happiness is what one should always strive for as long as she wasn’t hurting anyone else. That the old ways of thinking shouldn’t be in the present, that’s why they are old, because they are out of date and a course the new ways will have their issues, but we are ever-evolving creatures,” Lily said taking out a crossbow from the case and handing it to Veronica.
She starred at it, like a metal bird with its wings open darting towards her. The end of the crossbow was a metal goat starring at her like it was charging towards her body trying to push her back. She held it in her hands it felt light in her hands. She looked at the trigger and saw the letter V engraved on it. “Where did this come from, who had this?” Veronica said examining the crossbow looking at the different symbols that were all over it from pentagrams to an all-seeing eye and lightning bolts. Looking on the limbs of the bow she saw names scratched out on it like Stein, Drac, Talbot, Kharis, and Griff.
“It was mine, well it was my family who gave it to me. They wanted me to go into the family business. I did it a course, it was my upbringing and my father always told me that they were the light within the darkness. That we were the light of all lights,” Lily said rubbing Veronica's arm. “I never meant to fall in love with Grendil, never meant my life to go in this direction. Guess that’s why they call it life, it takes you in its waves and you never know what comes next, it lives within you.”
“I don’t get it, you were a hunt
er? And you gave it up for Grendil?” Veronica said aiming the crossbow and starring at the moon through its sight.
“I was so tired of hunting at that time, it was leaving me hollow. Hunting just to keep the darkness away, but some of them had families, or they kept to themselves and it was me that attacked them. Your father was on my list, but when I met him he didn’t try to harm me, he just asked me if I wanted to have some tea before I killed him,” Lily said letting out a chuckle.
“He asked you for tea, why would he do that? Wasn’t he afraid?” Veronica said putting the crossbow back into the case.
“He was, he told me he was saying his goodbyes in his mind every second he was with me. He just never met one of my kind, the hunter. He didn’t understand how killing him would help us in the long run. That what we were doing was going after him in fear. That he was one of many who were vorpal, but he never killed a human, he always just went and found blood from the corpse of the dead. He didn’t like to take from the living,” Lily said putting her arm around Veronica.
“So you fell in love with him right then and there?” Veronica said looking at Lily.
“Not quite, our story is a bit more complicated than that, maybe one day I will tell it to you, but know this Veronica, my dear. You are still light even with darkness in you, and I believe you will do what's best for vorpal or humans alike. This crossbow is Silverbite, she is yours. You may not be my daughter by blood, but you are worth more than any kin that I had,” Lily said with a smile. She closed the case and handed it to Veronica.
“I don’t know what to say Lily…thank you, I’ll honor you and your family,” Veronica said smiling.
“Don’t worry about my family name darling. You make your own,” Lily said kissing Veronica on the forehead.
Veronica felt like her relationship with Lily was closer, to know more about who she was made her feel better about herself becoming vorpal. She knew she had to get back to Cameron's shop and see what they should do next when it came to Jake's death. She wanted to bring justice so he wouldn’t be forgotten.
48
Nick got up from the booth in Cameron's shop as soon as Veronica entered. As soon as he looked at her his eyes widen. “Your father, is he the count?” he asked walking towards her. He didn’t wanna sugarcoat it and beat around the bush. He wanted answers, he knew it would be awkward but he had to know.
“What do you want to know about my father?” Veronica said walking past Nick waving at Jenni who was sitting down reading a book.
He grabbed her arm firmly. “He was the one who sent the assassin to the aerion, wasn’t he?” he said, letting his grip tighten.
“Get your hands off me, Nick, why in the hell do you think it’s the count?” Veronica said pulling her arm away. She stared deeply at him, her eyes turning red, and her brows narrowing at him. She was getting angry, he hit a cord. He should have been more gentle, but his impulse got the best of him.
The count was someone that people respected in the undercity. Grendil was someone that the humans feared, not for who he was but for what he represented. A being with power, with reach, who was on the top of the food chain, he has connections, he had the power. Tales of the vorpal were ones kids would hear as a warning, to fear, and to not trust. That vampires lured people, gained their trust, and would strike when least expected at night. Sucking, clawing, and killing for every drop to prey on the next human. Humans to them were always looked at, like food to eat, as consumption.
Nick wanted to trust Veronica, and he knew that he had to be better, that to assume would just make things worse. “I’m sorry, just what Beta told me. He brought up the count, and it made me wonder that they were a connection. Do you think they are?” He didn’t know. He knew his mind went to the worse conclusions, something he had been trying to work on, progress day-by-day.
Jenni got up and slammed her book on the table. “They are connected. The count is the only being old enough to have the will wisp assassin. Veronica, I know you think your father is someone to look up to, someone with honor but doesn’t some part of you suspect him?” Jenni asked.
“The aether is disappearing Jenni. That is what Grendil told me. One night I overheard him talking to Thorim about picking between two kids. One was a vorpal and the other a human. A part of me wanted to think he would be helping their families, that is what he always did. At first, it was him trading them for blood. People in our city saw him as a tall giver, who gave whether it was clothes, money, or just an ear. I don’t see what reason he had to kill an aerion,” Veronica said going to the bar in Cameron's shop and sitting down. She took one of the glasses and filled it up with some water and took a drink.
“The greatest of people we believe can be the ones who wear the mask, who hide as an innocent. Maybe the kids were just the fluff in his grand design. Couldn’t he sacrifice for the sake of making a deal to save your people?” Nick said sitting next to Veronica. He felt bad for her, what she had been through and keeps going through. He wanted to help her put Beta away for killing Jake, he wanted to find out why kill the aerion.
“I thought about that but that would not make sense because it was vorpal too. My father picked the vorpal and left the human. If he just wanted to save our people, why sacrifice a young?”Her hands started to tremble when saying the word young, her eyes stared at a wall, biting her lower lip.
“You think it could be some sort of trafficking? Maybe he was selling them off for labor,” Jenni said opening one of the Gin bottles.
“No, if that happened it would have gotten out quickly. I never heard of kids missing from eternals. Unless others are in on it, but why would they give up so much for the aether?” Veronica said starring at the ceiling.
“It doesn’t feel right that he would do something to kids. He picks these kids no matter if they are human or eternal, they are still kids goddammit. Still, kids stripped away from their homes and their family. I don’t care what noble cause he thinks he is aiding, it’s not right Veronica,” Nick said slamming both fists on the bar.
The lights began to flicker, and Cameron and Abigail rush from the backroom. Cameron in his armor, and holding his hammer preparing for a fight.
“Ghost, fucking hell. They are heading towards the shop. Everyone arm up, prepare yourself, it looks like many are vengeful spirits,” Cameron said laying his hammer on his shoulder. He walked out of the shop with everyone else behind him. They were spirits that looked like corpses that were starring at them like a predator eager to attack their prey. They walked slowly into the street as they began to transform into hooded figures with swords as limbs. One of them wore a red robe with a goat mask wielding a sickle. They weren’t there as just spirits of the area, they were sent, to keep Nick and everyone else shut. He saw a bat in the distance flying off and he knew that Grendil knew he was getting close, he wanted them dead.
49
Janet walked into Briggs's office, he was standing up staring out the window. The nightlife illuminated the city. She saw her pistol on his desk. “You got some fucking nerve. What the hell were you doing with my gun?” she said snatching it from his desk and putting it in her holster.
“I needed to talk to you in person Jones, wanted to make sure you were doing well,” Briggs said turning around and smiling at her. That smile that told her he wasn’t glad she was okay and not fucking hurt.The smile of being in some shit that stuck onto your shoe.
She went closer to his desk and swiped the papers off of it, and took a deep breath. “Cut the bullshit. You wanted to know what happened, where’s the girl, what information I found out, and most importantly, who killed them?” Janet said starring fiercely at Briggs, her body not moving a muscle. He didn’t care for her well-being, he just wanted to make sure she was being a good lap dog.
Briggs went around the desk and put a hand on Janet's shoulder. “You know where the person is Janet, now tell me where they are. The Draken police need to have a little chat with this suspect.”
“I don’t know
who you are talking about. Me and Bran ran into an eternal and my memory is kind of fuzzy, I did fall quite a few feet, Briggs. Thanks for keeping my gun warm,” she said smirking at him.
“Janet Jones, an officer of the law, ranked in the top ten of her class. Your family has a history of serving, they knew how to keep in line, but not you, no you have to be different. Life for us is so different, so fragile when you take in the new world and the beast that inhabits it. Why do you want to help a fucking vorpal blood-sucking rat who belongs in the shadows?” Briggs said tightening his hand on Janet's shoulder. The victim wasn’t just a human but also an eternal and they deserved justice too.
She began to tense up and grabbed onto his hand with all her strength. “You would know about bloodsuckers Briggs since you are one.”
“What do you mean by that. I am not,” Briggs said stepping back, staring out the window.
“Sure you still have human in you, and you may be able to go into the light without being killed, but you had my weapon just lying on your desk. You didn’t bother to have it on you, or to wield it with your own hands,” she said taking out her gun from her holster.
“I…just wanted you to have it, I didn’t need to look at it, it doesn’t mean anything Jones,” Briggs said crossing his arms.
She pointed her pistol at Briggs and saw him start to sweat with his mouth hanging open. She could see two fangs popping out from his top teeth. “I could shoot this and end you right here, and right now. I don’t know why you wanted the girl, but you will not have her, she will not be a pawn in your fucking game. I’m going to go on a guess that no one has found out about your dirty secret?”
“I can’t be in the undercity Janet, topside is my home. If I were to go to the undercity they will kill me. I put too many nonhumans away,” Briggs said getting on his hands and knees, his face kissing the floor. “Don’t tell anyone please I promise I won’t go after the person, it won’t happen they will be safe.”
The God Breaker's Ruin Page 20
