“And recording candidate Inquisitors who might have been protecting the location was such a smart idea,” Meyer said, his tone mocking.
Wade’s nostrils flared, “As we speak, Gabriel is in hospital fighting for his life, while Ruth and her daughter are my guests in the vaults, where they will most likely remain for the rest of their unnaturally long lives.”
“What about Henry?”
“Henry found Grendal, but let’s just say your assumption that he is Silas was far from the truth. I have sent Alice to collect him, if Nick doesn’t kill him first. I need to know where the fifth blood is and Henry, by whatever means necessary, will tell me. As for my deal with Helena, you are so far off, it's actually quite funny.”
The chair behind Wade’s desk turned to reveal a woman, her pale translucent skin showing dark veins that slithered around her bones. Gripping the arms of the seat with her spindle like fingers, partially visible through delicate lace clothing, she stared towards Meyer. Amethyst eyes shone out in contrast to her long dark red hair, evidently once luscious, but now brittle and thinning.
“Adrianna?” Meyer said.
“Meyer, I presume,” she said, her voice frail.
“You see,” Wade said, “I am not afraid of Adrianna, we are working together. My alliance with Helena was for two reasons. The first-”
“The machine she has,” Meyer said, the truth suddenly becoming obvious. “The one that reads thoughts. She gave you one to use on your captured Inquisitors, didn’t she? You mentally tortured them until their secrets spill from their mind, ready to be read and analysed by that infernal contraption.”
“Yes, that was part of it, but the second half is far more important. When we aligned with Helena I told the Prime Minister, who I happen to have given counsel to many times, that we would assist them as needed while they attempted to take full control over the alternate world. Helena was happy to comply as she thought it would mean getting rid of us, but she was over-confident as always. I placed an agent in her department who leaked information to Deliverance, and this failure was then reported to the Government. The Prime Minister called an emergency meeting and the Inquisition agreed to close the leak. Young Henry himself went to kill the only link who could have proven our involvement, while at the same time fixing Helena’s mess. A perfect plan that left the Government concerned that the Department was unable to fulfil its duties. So, to put the final nail in Helena’s coffin, Adrianna kindly organised an attack on the Department to emphasise their incompetence. A battle so big that, as we speak, they have had to engage a full media blackout.”
“How did you manage to breach the place?”
“Byron found a weak link in their defences,” Wade smirked.
“So, the Department falls. You are then there to pick up the pieces and the Inquisition rules the under-city once again, at the cost of hundreds of innocent lives. What do you get out of it?” Meyer said, turning to Adrianna.
“The facade of Deliverance will break down in a couple of months, further confirming the Inquisition’s ability to maintain a neutral society of alternates. Meanwhile, Wade will fulfil his promises and we will be granted the freedom we deserve.”
“We? How many of you are still alive? I thought-”
“You thought nothing,” Wade spat. “You are arrogant and foolish for thinking you could best me.”
“When the rest of the council find out, they will stop you,” Meyer said.
“The council will do what I say. Do you think me stupid enough to go into this without support?”
“Then I will stop you,” Meyer said.
Wade and Adrianna laughed, her high pitched cackle piercing.
But he would. Meyer would stop Wade. There was no other choice. Too much depended on him, not just the lives of Ruth, Gabriel, Rosalyn and the boy, but the future of their kind. Meyer had been thinking desperately of a plan since waking, using the minuscule amount of power he could still summon to quicken his thoughts. He had gone through hundreds of options, running each variation through to its inevitable failure. It had left Meyer with exactly one plan. Its effect on his remaining time on this earth was unfortunate but, as Meyer always told himself, what was life without a little excitement.
- The End -
A note from the Author
I just wanted to include a quick note to say thank you for reading Blood & Magic. A lot of effort went into it, with the book being a major obsession of mine for the past year and a bit, but above everything - I hope you enjoyed it and are interested in what next awaits Henry, Alex and Meyer!
If you liked the book, can I be cheeky and ask you to please add a review on Amazon if you have a moment. For independent authors like myself, it is the only way to help increase awareness of our work and to let us know we should carry on writing.
Otherwise, if you have any feedback at all, please feel free to contact me via my website (www.georgebarlow.co.uk) or on Goodreads.
Thanks once again,
George
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