Turning back to Eduard, Alaric asked, “How’s your breakfast?”
“Delicious, especially the bacon.”
“I know, right? It’s almost as good as pizza,” Chander agreed.
Baxter gave him a disgusted look. “Blech.”
“I look forward to trying it,” Eduard replied.
“I’ll come get you for lunch. You won’t want to miss whatever Victor is making us,” Benton said.
“Eduard, how exactly did you get your body back?” Chander asked.
“I don’t know. I woke up like this.”
“Do you have a complete memory yet?” Alaric inquired.
“Nothing more than bits and pieces in my dreams.”
Chander was intrigued. “Interesting that the body and mind are not connected.”
“I imagine the other skeletons will be happy to see you like this,” Grymington insisted. “Maybe they’ll change soon too.”
“Alaric found me first, but it was only a matter of days before we were all together,” Eduard replied. “I hope the others get to experience this soon.”
“I hoped you would all get your bodies back, but I didn’t know how long it would take. It’s a relief to see you in the flesh, Eduard,” Alaric said.
“And here I was thinking about how much Mondays suck,” Chander mused.
Alaric leaned over and kissed him. “I have a Council session to get to.”
“You have fun with that,” Chander teased as he was given a second kiss. “I’ll see you at lunch.”
“I’ll be in touch should my schedule change.” Mere seconds later he was cloaked and on his way to Council Headquarters.
“Come on, Eduard, let’s go to the kitchen so you can taste cookies before you go back to the compound,” Baxter invited. Chander rolled his eyes and wondered if Eduard could convince the Daemon Lords to let him travel back before lunch. Finishing off his coffee, Chander headed to their home office to get his day started.
* * *
Sitting on the sofa later that afternoon after Alaric left for his meeting at the compound, Chander pulled his computer onto his lap to check his email. Before he could get the program open, his phone rang. Setting the device onto the couch, Chander scooted to the edge and grabbed his cell from the coffee table.
“Hey, Drystan, what’s up?” Chander said after hitting accept.
“Have you checked your email?”
Chander shifted and tapped a few keys. “I was just getting ready to, why?”
“I was copied on one that was sent to you.” Drystan sounded pissed. “It was also sent to the Venerable Knights and every Juris Knight in Vegas. Chrys was included too. I imagine he’ll see it soon.”
“Well, who was the email from?” Chander heard his sentinels, who were chatting with Grymington, grow quiet.
“Fucking Amraphel.”
Chander had a horrible sense of déjà vu. “Did you say Amraphel?”
“I’m getting Alaric,” Baxter announced. Chander never got a chance to say no; he shimmered out of the room so fast.
“Where’s Alaric?” Drystan asked.
Sighing, Chander said, “Bax just went to go get him.”
Alaric arrived seconds later, his face like thunder, and the Skeleton Seven were right behind him. The last person to teleport into the room was Baxter, and Chander gave him a hard stare.
“What’s in the email?” Alaric demanded.
“Alaric, I don’t even know yet. I haven’t had the chance to open it.” Chander turned his attention back to his computer screen as Alaric came up behind him and sat. Alaric put a hand to his back and laid a kiss on his temple as Chander located the email and clicked it open. Just like the first one, this had no subject but there was a text in the message body.
Mr. Chander Daray has faked his estrangement from his mate to rob the Order of Necromancia of land and other real estate. This crime must not go unpunished.
Under those terse words were three photos of Alaric and Chander. The first showed them kissing outside the door of their condo; the second was taken at what appeared to be Redmilla’s. They were turned toward each other and laughing as they enjoyed beers. The final picture was taken at their first date; it was photographed through the large plate glass window that they’d been seated in front of.
Chander wasn’t sure what to think at first, but his demon was not so undecided. His gums tingled as his fangs punched through. His vision flickered, and he knew his eyes were now red. For a few seconds, his back tingled and he knew his demon wanted his wings out. But to do that Chander would have to move away from Alaric and his demonic entity wasn’t willing to allow it. The feeling faded and Chander’s necromancer side began to catch up to his other half.
“This is unacceptable,” Chander said into the phone.
“You sound funny,” Drystan replied.
“It’s my fangs, sorry.”
“We can trace this. See where it leads. You don’t work for the Order of Necromancia any longer. It can’t be traced back to a computer you used,” Drystan responded.
“I was willing to step aside. I fucking resigned. I’m out of the picture, so why are these assholes still trying to fuck with me?” Chander demanded. “This isn’t politics, and I will not have my matebond involved in any of their bullshit. They need to leave Alaric out of this.”
“Talk to Alaric. You have choices here,” Drystan replied. “In the meantime, we’ll get working on our end.”
“Thanks, I’ll let you know what we decide.”
“As soon as I have a location or a lead, I’ll call you.”
Chander hung up the phone and tossed it onto the table. He could see nine sentinels trying to show patience while he and Alaric stared at the screen.
“You can show them,” Chander told Alaric as he jumped up. He had a sudden burst of energy he needed to walk off and a demon to reign in.
“Someone is following you guys,” Baxter said practically between his teeth.
Chander waved a hand through the air. “All anyone had to do was hire a private investigator.”
Victor hurried over to the screen and then let out a huge sigh. “Oh, thank goodness I’m not in any of them.”
“Alaric, one of those was taken outside our door.” Chander’s blood went ice cold. “We need someone to protect Victor.”
“I don’t really think that’s necessary,” Victor replied. Every head in the room turned toward him and his eyes darted from side to side. “I’m a shifter. I can handle myself.”
“I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, Victor, but you’re a cat,” Chander said.
“Exactly. I can easily get away.”
“Victor, I’d prefer if you didn’t leave the house without a sentinel,” Alaric requested. “Between all of us, we can come up with a kind of schedule and I know you spend a great deal of recreational time with Evergreen. I’m sure Dudley would be more than willing to see to your safety then.”
“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” Victor asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“No, you don’t,” Chander replied. “If I can handle it, so can you.”
Alaric nodded. “We don’t know if there is any danger here, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.”
“I can’t believe we’re being followed,” Chander complained to Alaric. His demon was settling down after the initial burst of outrage and his fangs retracted.
“I certainly don’t like the idea any more than you do. Baby, what more can we do besides have this email traced to hopefully figure out who sent it?”
“As far as anyone knows, I’m a private citizen. No one has any reason to be following me around or questioning my matebond. What has happened between us is nobody’s business.” A germ of an idea began to form in his mind. “But I’m not going to keep putting up with bullshit like this.”
“Tell me what you want us to do,” Alaric said.
Chander walked over and cupped Alaric’s face in his hands and swept h
is lips over the Lich Sentinel’s. “All I need right now from you is your trust.”
“You always have that.”
“I’m going to fight back, but in my way. This is harassment and I’m not going to allow Sigimund or whoever the fuck is involved to keep trying to meddle in my life. You can’t mess with someone’s matebond, and I’m going to tell the Council that. The Order of Necromancia is already in a heap of trouble. If we can trace this back to them, this could be the nail in Sigimund’s coffin. However, we don’t know when that will be. He’s an asshole, but he has been clever enough to have bounced that last one all over hell and back.”
Alaric pulled Chander down into his lap. “So, what’s your plan?”
“That’s where the trust comes in. I need to make some calls, and I need to borrow the Skeleton Seven.”
“You’re not going to tell me your plan, are you?”
“No,” Chander said. “I don’t know if it’s going to work but if it does, you’ll see the result of it soon enough.”
Alaric gave him a nod and a hard kiss. “I guess I’ll go back to the compound while you steal my Skeleton Seven.”
“I’ll give them back, I promise,” Chander replied as he stood so Alaric could teleport out. “They won’t be far behind. You can still have your meeting.”
“Fair enough. If it takes longer than you think then make sure someone comes and gets me for dinner.” Alaric pulled his cloak over his head.
“Wouldn’t dream of making you miss that,” Chander retorted. Alaric shimmered out and Chander faced the group of men in the living room. “Okay guys, here’s the plan.…”
Chapter 45
Alaric walked out into his vestibule in the Main Assembly Hall. It was nearly time for Council session to begin. As he sat down in his chair and waited for the Emperor to arrive, he thought back to the previous afternoon when Baxter had shown up in his conference room. All it had taken was the word Amraphel, and he’d bolted home. It wasn’t that he was afraid of his partner leaving him, it was that someone had the temerity to bother Chander again.
Last night after they’d gone to bed, Alaric had tried more than once to get Chander to confess to his big plan, but the demonic necromancer had been tight-lipped. All he’d said was that things were all set, and he’d see the results of his efforts soon. Chander had laughed long and loud when Alaric had asked if torching the condo was part of what he’d have to look forward to. Later, after he’d worn Chander out with some energetic lovemaking, Alaric had lain awake and marveled at the fact they could joke about something which had torn them apart. It was a testament to how far they’d come since they had rekindled their relationship.
The light on Alaric’s desk lit up and he stood. Gold crown gleaming, Emperor Draconis walked in.
“Ladies and gentlemen, good morning,” he said before taking a seat. Alaric did the same and tapped on his tablet to pull up the agenda. “I’ve revised this morning’s agenda. The new one should be arriving on your tablets now. We have two new petitions, and the petitioner has requested the presence of the Order of Necromancia. Do we have anyone who objects to that request?”
The room remained silent, and Alaric wondered if this was part of Chander’s big plan. He wasn’t kept waiting long. Arch Lich Sigimund Roth walked into his vestibule, and the Emperor began speaking again. “Venerable Knight Calixtus, will you please ask the guests outside the door to join us?”
Roman opened one of the large double doors and a group of ten men walked in. They were all familiar to him. It was the Skeleton Seven, the Daemon Lords, and at the front of them strode his mate. Only, Chander was dressed in a way he would never have expected. Instead of a smartly matched suit, he wore a uniform identical to Alaric’s down to the bright green sash and heavy embroidery. The sight of Chander in a sentinel uniform made Alaric’s belly flop over in arousal. Looking at him, Chander gave a wink before heading straight to the podium.
“Thank you for allowing me to be here today addressing this Council, Your Majesty,” Chander stated into the microphone.
“Lich Sentinel-mate Chander Daray has filed a petition granting an audience with this Council. Due to his previous service and current position as Council leader, it was granted. Would you please inform this Council what you wished to speak to us about today?” Chrysander asked.
“Of course, Your Majesty, it would be my pleasure,” Chander responded. Alaric knew Sigimund had to be gnashing his teeth over Chander’s appearance. The thought of it made his heart soar. “Yesterday an email was sent to myself, Emperor Draconis, the Reverent Knights, the Venerable Knights, and all of the Juris Knights assigned to Las Vegas. It contained photos of the Lich Sentinel and me taken on three separate occasions. The text alleged the Lich Sentinel and I faked our desire to file separation papers to deprive the Order of Necromancia of real estate.”
“This Council has likely surmised from your uniform this morning that your separation papers have been rescinded,” Chrysander observed.
“That’s true, the Lich Sentinel and I have asked the Order of the Fallen Knights to destroy the papers we had drawn up. I know this Council cannot concern itself with a single email or three photos, but I’ve come here today because I believe strongly in the sanctity of matebonds, and I feel it’s the duty of everyone to be vigilant about anyone who seeks to harm that bond,” Chander replied.
“With all due respect, Lich Sentinel-mate, I find myself confused about how your matebond is threatened because of three photos taken of you with the Lich Sentinel,” Aloisa the Dwyer drawled.
“This email has no bearing on my matebond, but its sender has been an integral part of why I wanted separation papers in the first place. You see, many months ago I got the first email from this sender. Only there was no text, just a single picture. It pains me to share such intimate information in this public forum, but I believe I no longer have any choice. That photo paired my mate in a comprising position with our housekeeper. I’m ashamed to say I believed it was real,” Chander revealed as he looked up toward Alaric. “It was the single biggest mistake of my life, and I was lucky enough to have a partner with enough trust in his heart to give me a second chance. We have painstakingly rebuilt our relationship and though none of that is this Council’s business, I will not have my matebond questioned or scrutinized because someone at the Order of Necromancia feels they were deprived of real estate that never belonged to them in the first place.”
“Reverent Knights, is there an investigation regarding the claims of Lich Sentinel-mate Daray?” Aloisa the Dwyer asked. “Surely if such an email was sent, these things could be traced.”
“There is an ongoing investigation opened by the Lich Sentinel and the Lich Sentinel-mate. The photo was masterfully faked and though I cannot reveal everything regarding an ongoing investigation, I can tell you we traced the email back to an office. Because more than one person used the device, we cannot pinpoint a single individual,” Drystan said. “We’ve begun tracing the second email, and I can tell you it doesn’t have the same origination location.”
“Reverent Knights, I understand you do have a general location for the second email,” Emperor Chrysander responded. Alaric was shocked; he was unaware they’d gotten that far.
“Your Majesty, minutes before this Council session began, I was informed the second email originated from a location in Europe on a property likely owned by the Consilium Veneficus,” Conley stated.
The room erupted into exclamations and a general hubbub of outrage. Alaric looked at Chander and received a set of wide pewter eyes and a small shrug. Apparently Chander had been as much in the dark as he was.
“Your Majesty, not only has someone meddled in the matebond of the Lich Sentinel and the Lich Sentinel-mate but with the Consilium Veneficus potentially involved, this situation is dire indeed,” Alpha Artair Ursus Arctos said. “We cannot tolerate this type of injustice. Not to a single couple in this Council. This is simply unacceptable.”
“I could not agree with
you more, Alpha Ursus Arctos,” Chrysander remarked. “This Council holds nothing more sacred than mates, and the Lich Sentinel-mate had his own used against him.”
“Reverent Knights, you stated you have an office that was the origination of the first email. This Council needs to be made aware of any office which may be in collusion with the Consilium Veneficus,” Vampyress Volkov demanded.
“Reverent Knights, if it does not thwart your ongoing investigation, I would ask you share with this Council the office in question,” Chrysander requested.
“Your Majesty, the first email was traced back to the office computer of the former Arch Lich Chander Daray when he was still employed by the Order of Necromancia,” Drystan confided. Shouts filled the room and Chrysander had to stand up and yell to get everyone to settle down.
“Your Majesty, this is a master manipulation by Chander to get back at the Order of Necromancia for petitioning to have him removed as Arch Lich,” Sigimund declared once the room was silent.
“Arch Lich, you seem to have missed the part where Reverent Knight Drystan stated my mate was still employed by the Order of Necromancia when the initial email was sent. It was three months before you petitioned to denounce your Fate-born leader, and at the time it was sent he was working from home as he was recovering from a heart attack. He hadn’t been near that computer for months,” Alaric replied. “And you will address him as Lich Sentinel-mate. You haven’t earned the right to call him Chander.”
“Arch Lich, it’s utter nonsense to suggest that anyone, especially a Fate-born leader, would use his matebond to manipulate you out of property. It is a whole other kettle of putrid fish to propose that he faked inappropriate photos of his mate with his housekeeper. To what end could he have hoped to achieve? He was still your leader and could not have known of your plans to try and unseat him,” Vampyress Volkov said, her voice clearly irritated.
When Sigimund sat there stone-faced, Chrysander asked, “Arch Lich Roth, would you like to respond to the Lich Sentinel or the Vampyress?”
“Your Majesty, I would contend that no matter what circumstances led to the supposed estrangement of the Lich Sentinel and the Lich Sentinel-mate, the Order of Necromancia is entitled to compensation for the properties that were owned by the former Arch Lich,” Sigimund responded.
Fall of the Arch Lich (D'Vaire, Book 6) Page 31