“We can meet them in battle and win because all they have is hate. And believe me, our weapons are a lot stronger than hate.”
Alfred suddenly looked determined. “The Council has a very big decision to make. Perhaps you should retire to your room, Caia, and we will call for you when we have come to it.”
***
As soon as the bedroom door had closed Lucien drew Caia into his arms and lifted her up into a searing kiss, wishing he could stay locked like that forever. She gasped when he finally let her go but hung onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist.
“What was that for?” she asked as she nuzzled his jaw and neck.
For a lot of things, he thought dazedly. But mostly for being the most extraordinary person he had ever had the honour of knowing. He kissed her again. “For making me more proud than I have ever known.”
She smiled sweetly, blushing. “Yeah?”
Lucien nodded, chuckling at her modesty. “That was some speech.”
“Do you think they’ll say yes?”
Gods, he hoped so.
Instead of answering he began to make love to her, knowing if they did say yes he would follow Caia to that battleground; he would fight for her because he loved her; he would fight for his pack and the hope of a future in which their children could grow up untroubled by the war. It was a cause he believed in. And one he was willing to die for.
30 – Battle Fever
The answer was a resounding yes. Not just from the Council, who had voted in Caia’s favour – with the exception of Benedict and the elderly magik who had raised his own concerns – but from the Daylights themselves. First the Council spoke with those at the Centre and Caia was blown away by their eagerness to march into battle. When their plan to bring the war to an end was put forth the walls shook and the floor thudded with the stamping and animalistic cries of the supernaturals. They were ready for it. This was what they had been waiting for. Their enthusiasm seemed to ease some of the Council’s apprehensions, and preparations for the spell began.
Not too many days after that Caia was invited to take part in casting the spell that would request willing Daylights to fight for their cause as well as those Midnights, who would never see themselves working side by side with other supernatural races, to meet them in battle. It was a moment immensely powerful for Caia, as she joined hands with the Council and added her energy to the summons, connected to these nine people in the exhausting spell that required the combined strength of these incredibly gifted magiks. The spell took a great amount of control and precision; their message was sent out mentally to all supernaturals and had to be called in pace with each other. A pendulum swung in the middle of the circle with a slow click to keep the time of each sentence in their minds to ensure they spoke out as one. When at last they could be sure the message had been delivered they broke apart, their limbs trembling with weariness.
***
The door to Alfred’s suite blew open and Reuben marched inside with Lucien and Marion at his back. “We have visitors.” He grinned.
Caia shook her head still dazed from the spell. “Visitors?” To steady herself she grabbed a hold of Lucien’s arms as soon as he reached her.
Marion was smiling triumphantly. “Daylights who want to fight.”
Alfred scowled. “Why are they here now? We gave them the battle date, which isn’t for another two weeks.”
Reuben was grinning from cheek to cheek, rubbing his hands excitedly. “Some of them want to train with the best.”
Caia couldn’t help but smile back at him. The vampyre had been waiting an especially long time for this moment. Last night he had presented her with a gift.
“What is it?” She had eyed the black box suspiciously.
Reuben shrugged. “A token of my gratitude.”
Tentatively she had taken the box and opened it to reveal a tiny, ancient coin. “Reuben?”
“It belonged to my mother. It was one of the two coins that should have been placed upon her eyes when she died to pay for her passage into the underworld. When Hades made her a vampyre she took revenge upon her father who had thought so little of her to leave her unprotected in the afterlife. She became a monster because of him. She took these coins from him after she had drained him and she carried them with her always as a reminder of why she was the way that she was. I think it offered her forgiveness when no one and nothing else could. When I was ten she gave me this one and told me to always remember who I was and to never be ashamed of it.”
Caia shook her head slowly. “Reuben, I can’t take this from you.”
“Please, Caia,” he had insisted. “They say that hope dies last and I think that is true. I thought I had given up hope a long time ago, but I hadn’t. And because of you that hope was not in vein. When we fight the Midnights, when we meet them on that battlefield, it will be because you have reminded us of who we are and why we shouldn’t be so unsure of ourselves that we would let a race of people keep us down for centuries under the decree that we should be ashamed of ourselves. Take the coin, Caia. I hope it will always remind you of what you have done for an old creature like me and all the young creatures who deserve a chance to live without persecution.”
Caia had placed the coin under her pillow, keeping it safe until she left the Centre and could find a more secure place for the keepsake.
“There is one visitor I’d like you all to meet,” Reuben spoke to the Council, and everyone turned towards the door. Caia gasped as the tall, elegant warlock strode into the room, dressed as dapper as ever in an expensive three piece suit and greatcoat.
“Nikolai,” she breathed and hurried to shake his hand. He smiled kindly at her and then gazed warily over her shoulder. Uh oh. The Council.
As she feared, when she spun back around the Council had all lined up, prepared to defend or attack, Caia wasn’t sure.
“He’s not an enemy,” Reuben snapped at them. “I’ve already explained Nikolai’s position.”
“Well forgive us for being a little unsure,” Alfred snapped back. “You’ve just allowed the Regent of the Midnight Coven into our midst.”
“Ex-Regent,” Nikolai corrected and spread his hands in a surrender gesture. “I’m not here to harm anyone. I’m here to fight with you.”
The Council seemed to sneer collectively at them and Caia felt a rush of annoyance. OK, so she understood they were nervous about having a Midnight among them but they didn’t treat Laila and Eliza with suspicion.
“I can vouch for him,” she intoned, suffusing authority into her words. “He’s on our side. The Petrovsky’s have been on our side for three centuries.”
“We have only Reuben’s word on that,” Benedict huffed.
Caia exhaled in exasperation. They needed someone to soothe the situation. She looked around and met Marion’s gaze. Laila, she mouthed.
Marion nodded and hurried away.
“There’s someone I want you to meet, Nikolai.” Caia smiled brightly at him, trying to show the Council she wasn’t afraid of the man. “She’s a Midnight as well.”
Nikolai raised his eyebrows. “Little Eliza? Reuben told me her tragic story.”
At the thought of the poor girl, Caia’s smile dimmed. Eliza wasn’t having such a good time of it. She wouldn’t speak to anyone and she refused to join them in any social sense. The only person she was unafraid of was Penelope who appeared to have grown quite attached to the little girl. The Council had thought to place Eliza in a home where she would be safe and free from abuse because of her blood, but Penelope had requested that she be allowed to take care of the girl and no one could think of a better situation for her. Penelope was trying her hardest to see Eliza through her grief.
“No, not Eliza.” She shook her head. “Another special young lady.”
Laila drew forward and shook Nikolai’s hand as they were introduced. Caia could see Nikolai was intrigued by her, not only because of her unusual energy, but because such a tiny person of Midnight blood had managed to
gain the trust of the most important people in the Daylight Coven.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Laila,” he said gravely.
Laila smiled sweetly at him, her eyes shining with honesty. “You too, sir. I much admire what you have done for Reuben and Caia.”
As Caia had hoped, the tension eased out of the Council like a deflating balloon. Laila’s calming presence melted their distrust as they watched her with the Midnight. In her short time at the Centre people had grown to like Laila as much as Caia did and to trust that, for some reason, she had a greater sense of intuition than others. If she approved of Nikolai, could he really be that bad?
Glad her plan worked, Caia turned to Penelope. “Perhaps the Council would like to sit with Mr Petrovsky to discuss his time with the Midnights.” She glanced at Nikolai. “Would that be alright? You do know who the major players are and we really don’t know much about Orina Beketov.”
“Of course.” He nodded.
Penelope shrugged away from the Council, taking charge. “Mr Petrovksy.” She took a hold of his hand a little tentatively. “I am Penelope Argyros.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Ms Argyros.”
“Please, call me Penelope.”
“Then you must call me, Nikolai.” He grinned at her, his eyes twinkling.
Caia almost laughed when Penelope blushed under his regard, a little girlish giggle escaping her. “Would you care to sit down, Nikolai? Some refreshments, perhaps?”
“Please.” He followed her to the table as she gestured for the rest of the Council to take their seats, Benedict scowling all the way. “Coffee would be wonderful.”
Caia grinned, satisfied, and squeezed Laila’s shoulder. “I don’t know what we would do without you.”
Laila smiled back at her in bemusement.
31 – City of Light
Paris smelled wonderful. It was a perfect day, crisp and clear. Caia perused cool postcards and trinkets displayed on the shelves of the stalls that lined the sidewalk at the River Seine, snuggled warm in her duffle coat and the purple scarf Lucien had just bought for her that morning.
“Caia, what do you think?” Jae grinned, holding up a postcard with four haggard old women in black witches’ hats and robes, sitting around a table drinking tea. “It’s you, Marion, Laila and Penelope in one hundred and fifty years’ time.”
Caia snorted and reached for it. It was pretty cool. “If we buy four postcards we get them for two euros.”
Her friend’s eyes lit up and she immediately turned back to hunt for three more funny cards. A sparkle caught Caia’s eye and she turned to look at the cluster of different Eiffel Tower souvenirs. There were little ones, big ones, medium ones, tiny ones on key rings. Some were made of plastic, others of metal, but the one that caught her eyes was a very kitsch little one on a key ring, the entire thing sparkling with diamantes to resemble how the Tower appeared during the lightshow. Apparently a lot of Parisians hated the lightshow, but Caia loved it. She and Lucien had taken to sitting on the window seat in their room at the Centre every night to watch the Tower flash in and out of existence, a million brilliant diamond lights bringing it to life in the dark.
“Do you want it?” Lucien whispered in her ear, heating up skin that had grown cold without a hat. She leaned back into him.
“Yeah, but I’ll get it.”
“No need.” He reached past her before she could do anything, lifting the key ring from the display he turned to pay the market seller for it.
At the sound of a giggle, Caia glanced over to see Jaeden had abandoned the postcards and was wrapped around Ryder in a passionate kiss. Caia immediately knew the tourists from the French. The tourists were the only ones that paid attention to the couple as they passed them.
“Hmm, that looks nice,” Lucien murmured as he came around in front of her to hand her the key ring.
Caia smiled and took it from him, putting the gift deep into her pocket for safekeeping. “Thank you.”
Lucien frowned. “That’s all?”
She made a face and reached for him, pressing a sweet kiss to his lips. She wasn’t really into the kind of PDA that Jae and Ryder were.
Knowing it, Lucien threw her an amused look, and then put an arm around her drawing her into his side. “Where to next?”
Tomorrow was the day of the battle and Caia had wanted to escape from it all for just one day, just one glorious day of normality and fun. She was only eighteen after all. And she was in love and in the city of Paris no less. It hadn’t taken much to convince Lucien, Ryder and Jae to join her on a day out in the city where they could just be young and have a great time.
That morning they had a sweet breakfast of cakes and pastries from this amazing chocolaterie and patisserie on the Avenue des Friedland. Afterwards, they had strolled up to gaze at the Arc de Triomphe and then wandered down the Champs-Elysées, where Jae ogled the clothing stores and Ryder marvelled over the McDonalds restaurant which sported the only white ‘M’ in the world.
“It’s not that cool, Ryder.” Jae had pulled him away as Lucien and Caia walked on.
“It is unique. The golden arches can be found anywhere on earth… here it’s white. It’s one of a kind. You know how I feel about one of a kinds’.”
“I do?” She’d asked dubiously as they caught up with Caia and Lucien.
Ryder had grinned at her. “I’m with you aren’t I.”
“Dude.” Lucien smirked at him. “Smooth.”
Caia laughed. It may have been cheesy but Jaeden had loved it, pulling Ryder down for an amused kiss.
After that they had made their way to the River Seine and had been perusing the markets and the city’s architecture ever since. At present they were at Pont Neuf not far from where they had come out of the Centre at Notre Dame. The Louvre sat across the river.
“Louvre then?” Lucien asked, following her gaze.
“Actually.” Jae appeared beside them entangled in her mate. “I heard Musee d’Orsay is better.”
“Well, it’s certainly smaller.” Ryder raised his eyebrows pointedly. “Got my vote.”
“Caia?” Lucien queried and she chuckled as Jae and Ryder frowned at being ignored.
“Musee d’Orsay sounds good.”
“And then lunch,” Ryder begged.
Caia huffed, “We just ate a little while ago and you had the most to eat.”
“Hey, that little chocolate cupcake thing was tiny.”
“The three pan du chocolates and two croissants that followed it were not.”
He puffed up his chest. “Me man, me need more food than tiny waif female.”
The Musee d’Orsay was wonderful but Caia decided it was time to leave when a bored Ryder thought it was a great idea to clamber up on a priceless sculpture of the archangel Gabriel to get his photograph taken. She masked the incident with magik and hurried them all out of there with one last look at the stunning clock that graced the high wall above the exit.
“Now the Louvre?” Jaeden queried as the cold air nipped at their skin.
“No.” Caia blanched thinking of the damage Ryder could still do. “I don’t think we should take the risk.”
“I wanted to see the pyramid from the Da Vinci Code.” Ryder took hold of Jaeden’s hand and begun leading them towards the museum.
“OK.” Lucien gave in. “But we’re not going inside the actual museum.”
“OK, dad.”
The rest of the afternoon fell away in laughter and ease. They tucked into a great lunch at a café on the corner of Rue d’Arcole beside Notre Dame Cathedral, and, despite the weather, Caia insisted on sitting outside at the wicker tables. During lunch her gaze continually went to the cathedral as tourists lined up in droves to get in.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t,” Lucien mused, following her gaze.
She nodded. “I wish we could go in.”
“Well, why don’t we?” Jae asked munching on her crepes with gusto.
Caia laughed humourlessly. “We have a bat
tle tomorrow… I don’t think we should be pissing off the gods the night before a fight by entering the home of the god who stole their fanbase.”
“Ah, true.”
After lunch they jumped on the metro to Montmartre, where they got lost before eventually finding the steps that led up to the Sacré-Couer. Ryder raced past them like a big kid, using his lykan grace to sweep up the stairs past tourists without knocking them over.
Caia grinned at him as he bounced on his feet at the top, punching the air before raising his hands in triumph.
“What the Hades is he doing?” Lucien muttered in amusement.
Caia laughed. “Rocky!”
He raised an eyebrow in ignorance.
“Sylvester Stallone!”
He shrugged. “Some actor, right?”
Caia rolled her eyes. “I have no idea how you and Ryder became best friends.”
The Basilique was beautiful, but as the light started to fade they shuffled back down the steps to find the nearest metro station. The pack were having a special dinner tonight and had invited Marion, Vanne, Reuben, Nikolai and Saffron to join them. Of course Laila and Vil would be there, but they were part of the pack now, they weren’t guests.
There were only two seats available on the metro and, like the gentlemen they were, Lucien and Ryder made sure Caia and Jae got them, before wandering a little away to stand in the middle of the aisle. Everyone else held onto the poles and hand rails. With their balance, Lucien and Ryder didn’t need to.
“I hope Alexa likes her gift.” Jae bit her lip, worry creasing her brow.
“Let me see it again.” Caia held out her hand.
Jae pulled out the jewellery box and Caia took it from her, opening it up to look over the necklace that lay nestled on velvet. They had been passing the window of one of the many antique stores in the city when a silver necklace had caught Jae’s eyes. The pendant was stunning. Lounging on the silver crest of a half-moon was a sleeping wolf carved in jet.
Blood Solstice: Part Three in the Tale of Lunarmorte Page 25