Javier pushed the laptop to one side and leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees;
“You have my word Cassia. We’ll get her checked over, make sure she hasn’t come to any harm. But you are right, she may know more than she realizes. You are very protective of her aren’t you?”
Cassia leaned back so that she was further away from him; she found it hard looking into those golden brown eyes. He was so damned handsome and she had the sudden urge to run her hands through his slightly long and untidy hair and mess it up even more. Blinking rapidly she answered brusquely;
“I have always looked after Flavia. That’s just the way it is.”
“And who looks after you Cass?”
Cassia stood up abruptly, fighting a sharp pricking behind her eyes. He had called her Cass, only her father had ever called her that. She needed to end this conversation now.
“Nobody looks after me Javier of Seville. I don’t need looking after. Now, is that all? I’m tired and it sounds like we have a busy day ahead of us.”
He held her eyes for a long moment then smiled;
“Goodnight Cassia of the bloodline of Mathrafal. Thank you again for helping me out back there. If it’s any consolation to you, I shall have plenty of explaining to do as well. Commanders on the Council don’t usually let themselves be caught by rank amateurs, in fact, I don’t think it has ever happened before. I shall be lucky if I don’t find myself busted down the ranks.”
Cassia couldn’t resist returning his smile as she turned and headed back to the guestroom. Halfway there she stopped as she remembered something;
“Javier, Flavia may be able to tell us more but I am quite certain that there were not just Empaths in that house. On at least two of my visits there they had Human visitors.”
Javier’s eyes sharpened;
“Humans? You saw them?”
“No, I smelled them. You know how they smell different, it’s their blood. I smelled them, definitely Humans.”
As the door shut behind her Javier sat lost in thought. Humans…Humans and Empaths together. That particular partnership had always spelled trouble for his kind. Serious trouble. It would be interesting to hear whether Rafe’s surveillance team reported anything significant and he couldn’t wait to question Flavia.
He yawned as a wave of exhaustion washed over him. Pulling out the gun from behind his back he stretched out on the sofa, rested his gun on his stomach and shut his eyes. He had always known it wouldn’t be Charlotte. She was dead; she had left him behind and gone into the Infinite. Or had she? He had never let her go. Was her shade stuck somewhere, waiting for release? If so, he was stuck too and had been for the last eight years. Deliberately relaxing his body he let his thoughts drift away and waited for Charlotte’s smiling face to come into his mind as she often did just before he fell asleep. She stayed away, she wouldn’t come. With a deep sigh Javier drifted off to sleep alone.
CHAPTER 5
“Why can’t you just give me the coordinates so I can shift under my own steam?”
Cassia demanded belligerently the moment Javier wound up his phone call. She glanced over to where the warrior Andreas was finishing his cup of coffee in the kitchen. He was going to shift to the Island with Flavia and Javier was going to take her. Javier raised his eyebrows then looked down at himself with exaggerated surprise;
“Just as I thought, I’m a fully grown adult so not born yesterday. Firstly, I’m not about to give you the coordinates to our headquarters and secondly, I don’t trust you enough to believe you won’t disappear the first chance you get. You are shifting with me, end of discussion.”
“I would never abandon Flavia.” Cassia said tightly as she fixed Javier with her most severe look.
“It’s true, she wouldn’t.” Flavia chimed in cheerfully from where she sat by Andreas munching on toast and honey. Cassia threw her an exasperated glare. Flavia had been brimming over with excitement ever since Cassia had told her who Javier was and where they were heading. She knew all the stories of their race and had sat on the edge of the bed with shining eyes.
“You do know where we’re going don’t you? It’s a large island with a massive castle that was built by LaSalle’s forebears a thousand years ago. The warriors of our race have had their base there ever since they became the military arm of our High Council. It’s legendary Cassia, there are many stories about their deeds. Do you think we’ll meet LaSalle himself? His father was Supreme Commander till he was killed in the great conflict and do you know who replaced him?”
Cassia had muttered something vague as she dressed but Flavia had carried on blithely;
“Alejandro of Seville…it all clicks into place. That must be Javier’s father. He was succeeded by the present LaSalle when he retired from the Council over a century ago. If it hadn’t been for the way the warriors on that Council protected our people over the last nine centuries we may have become subjugated to the Empaths; we shouldn’t forget that Cassia…now that we’re all supposed to be friends and have this Treaty and everything.”
Cassia came out of her reverie with a sigh of resignation. She was used to being in control and found her current situation filled her with agitation and anxiety. What kind of reception would she get? Javier grasped her wrist firmly as Andreas disarmed the electronic security net; obviously he thought she might do a flit the second the system went down. Then he wound an arm tightly round her waist and drew her close into him, laughing softly as she held herself rigid and tried to pull away;
“Excuse the forced intimacy Miss Mathrafal. I assure you I wouldn’t hold you so close under any other circumstances.”
Too right, thought Cassia, breathing in the scent of his skin, he should be so lucky. Javier took a deep breath and they were whirled into a vortex of dark energy as they shifted out.
The first thing she noticed as Javier unclamped his arm from round her waist was warm air on her face and the scent of pine and night flowering plants on the breeze. Cassia breathed in deeply as she remembered that the Island was rumoured to be somewhere in the Mediterranean. In front of them was the imposing entrance to a huge and elegant French chateau.
“Welcome to L’ile de Loup Noir.” Javier said as he bent towards a retina scanner. Yes, thought Cassia, as she noted the discreet cameras, security here would be second to none. They probably had access to technology she hadn’t even heard of and she was more knowledgeable than most civilians.
Beside her Flavia almost squeaked with excitement and Cassia found herself looking at her younger sister with affectionate irritation.
“The Island of the Black Wolf! We’re really here Cassia. Oh, I wish I could see it…”
Cassia bit back the words that sprung into her head. Now was not the time to comment on Flavia’s blindness.
There was a heavy clunking sound as if massive locks had disengaged then the stately double front doors swung silently open and they were ushered indoors. Cassia looked round at the large ornate marble floored hallway. In front of them a beautiful staircase swept curvaceously upwards whilst numerous tall double doors hinted at the many rooms. The air was filled with the scent of polished wood and an abundance of flowers which were arranged informally in an antique vase. The item that drew her like a magnet across the hall with a loud gasp, however, was the glorious painting by Chagall that had been strategically hung on a wall so that anyone descending the staircase would see it. Cassia’s hands flew to her mouth and she forgot everything around her as she gazed at it. A completely unknown work and done by the artist’s own hand without a shadow of doubt. My god, a similar and less beautiful Chagall had sold for three million pounds recently.
She jumped as a hand touched her shoulder; Javier was watching her with a quiet brooding intensity. How long had she been standing there, lost in her own world? He must have spoken to her but she hadn’t heard him;
“Cassia? They are waiting for us, coming?”
Well, that brought her down to earth with a bump. Time to face t
he music. At least they seemed to be heading towards one of the doors leading off this hallway…not a dungeon. She followed Javier into a spacious wood panelled study lined with books down one side and tall windows with views across the sea on the other. Miles away through the darkness she could see a constellation of twinkling lights.
“That is the French mainland,” Javier followed her eyes, “I’ll make some introductions.”
Flavia was already seated and there were two other people in the room. One was the dark eyed black haired man who had been right behind Javier as he had chased her in the Arctic Circle encampment on the day the treaty was signed. The other man was sitting on the edge of a large Louis Quinze desk and, as he stood she saw that he was even taller than Javier or the other one, easily six foot six she thought. His eyes were the colour of smoke and his long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail. He looked like a pirate and exuded power and authority. Cassia drew herself up to her full five feet eleven and lifted her chin seeing a flicker of amusement touch the grey eyes.
“LaSalle, this is Flavia’s sister, Cassia of the bloodline of Hugo Mathrafal…not a bit like Charlotte as you can see. Cassia, this is Henri Phillippe, Comte de LaSalle, Supreme Commander of the Warrior’s Council and this is my fellow commander Gabriel Bathory.”
Cassia turned to the black haired man and felt a stab of alarm. There was someone who looked as if he could see into your very soul. She fought a ridiculous urge to curtsey in the old way; she’d look stupid doing that in her black skinny jeans and biker boots.
“Please sit Miss Mathrafal and call me LaSalle, everyone does.” LaSalle had a deep voice and an attractive French accent.
Cassia took the chair next to Flavia’s as the men sat themselves in comfortable worn looking leather armchairs. She bet each of them had a favourite chair. At least it made it seem less like an interrogation. Flavia was sipping coffee and Cassia accepted the cup Javier poured for her before he carried one back to his own chair.
It was Gabriel Bathory who started them off as LaSalle lounged casually and watched her, his face expressionless.
“I have checked our records Miss Mathrafal, it makes interesting reading. You are either extremely intelligent and good at what you do or extremely lucky. I suspect it is the former.”
Cassia said nothing. She had heard stories about this man. Word was his bloodline came from Hungarian nobility and that he was a fearsome warrior, a killer. He was also rumoured to control a vast intelligence network. Few of their people had ever seen him though he had become better known recently after he had taken an Empath as his bonded life consort. He was handsome in that dark, dangerous intense way some women found wildly sexy. His accent was vaguely Eastern European and his voice low and controlled.
“Please tell us exactly what transpired from the beginning. If you cannot tell the truth I can arrange to have you questioned in the presence of someone who can detect a lie in an instant.”
Javier glanced quickly at Gabriel. That was a bit heavy handed, what was he playing at? Out of the corner of his eye he saw LaSalle suddenly lean forward attentively and focused back on Cassia.
All the colour had drained from her face and her eyes were wide and staring. Her hands gripped the arms of her chair so tightly her knuckles showed white. She started to speak, stopped and cleared her throat then started again;
“Do…do you mean an Empath? Am I to be interrogated by an Empath?”
It was a fact well known by Vampires; Empath interrogation techniques were ruthless, painful and extremely effective. Cassia’s eyes sought Javier’s and held them. They were vulnerable and frightened and he found himself wishing she was glaring at him with her usual defiance.
“Please don’t let them, please don’t. I’ll tell you anything you need to know. Javier please, my father, he never recovered…”
She stopped and took a deep breath as Flavia made a small sound of distress then reached out for her sister’s hand and held it tightly.
“It’s alright Flavia, I’m going to tell the truth. Everything’s going to be fine.”
Javier saw the supreme effort she made to bring herself under control and felt a sudden overwhelming urge to protect her with the same ferocious devotion she protected her younger sister. He threw a black look at Gabriel and leaned forward, his tone gentle;
“Cassia…Cass, you are not going to be interrogated by an Empath. I promise you. Just tell us what happened from the beginning. Don’t hide anything, this is not about what you may or may not be up to in art world. Do you need a drink?”
She held his gaze then shook her head sharply though she didn’t let go of her sister and her other hand curled slowly into a fist. He wished some colour would come back into her cheeks;
“I’m fine. Thanks. I had arranged to meet a middle-man to pass on an item for sale,” Cassia began;
“You mean you were meeting your fence to offload a stolen painting.” Gabriel said flatly scrutinizing her face. Cassia flashed him a glare then nodded;
“Yes, basically. Look, are you going to send me off to our High Council? Will I be charged?”
LaSalle looked up from where he lounged in his armchair, “Depends whether you help us willingly or not. Continue please mademoiselle.”
“Instead of my usual contact there was this man, an Empath. He said he had a job for me, quick money as long as I asked no questions. Well I wasn’t interested, I don’t do that sort of work anymore and I certainly don’t work for Empaths. Humans yes, never Empaths. He was very insistent, said he would report my activities in the art world. I wished him good luck, told him he would have to offer evidence and there was none. I told him to find someone else. I left, thinking that was the end of the matter.”
“But it wasn’t.”
“No, it certainly wasn’t. Two nights later I was grabbed on a street up near Hampstead by two Empaths. I tried to fight, to shift out but they jabbed something into my neck and the next thing I knew I woke up tied to a chair in a very luxurious room.” Here Cassia’s voice trembled as she looked up at Javier, the truth and distress apparent in her eyes.
“Flavia was tied to the chair opposite me. She was just coming round and she was terrified,” Cassia’s breath hitched and Javier saw her press her lips together as she tried to calm herself; she cleared her throat and continued;
“I calmed her, tried to reassure her. I tried everything to get untied, I so wanted to hold her close, but I couldn’t, they’d done a really good job of trussing me up. We were left alone for at least a couple of hours. I sang to her, can you believe that? It was the only thing I could think of that would keep her calm. Talk about surreal, the two of us, tied to chairs and me singing her arias.”
Cassia gave a small hollow laugh as Flavia squeezed her hand and smiled;
“It’s true. That’s what happened. Cassia’s got a voice like an angel. They grabbed me as I finished a booking at a private party.”
“Flavia is a storyteller, a singer of our old songs. She carries on the oral tradition of our race; knows all our stories and legends. She gets a lot of bookings.” Cassia explained.
“Why didn’t you just shift out?” LaSalle asked
“They had that electronic restraint round Flavia’s neck; frankly I was surprised that they had access to that kind of technology. She couldn’t shift and I wasn’t about to leave her alone.”
She was courageous, thought Javier, he already knew that. He found himself wondering what her voice sounded like; an angel Flavia had said, her speaking voice was melodic and that faint Welsh lilt to her accent was attractive. He checked himself; where on earth had that thought come from?
“Eventually, the Empath I had seen before came in with another one.”
“Another Empath?” asked Gabriel.
“Yes, definitely an Empath. They showed me a photograph of a woman and told me what I would have to do. When I refused again the second Empath hurt Flavia, he didn’t even have to touch her; he just went straight into her head, into
her mind, she screamed with the pain…..”
Cassia leaned forward with a sob, hiding her face in her hands before sitting up and scrubbing fiercely at her eyes;
“He didn’t need to do that. I would have caved in if he’d merely threatened. I agreed, I would have agreed to anything at all as long as they didn’t hurt her. When they explained what I had to do it seemed crazy, all that to lure some man to follow. I asked why they couldn’t just ask you, I wondered what they really wanted from you.”
Javier straightened up in his chair, yes, this was exactly what he was wondering, it was an awful lot of effort just to, what? Get him into their clutches? And then what? Cassia leaned forward again, her eyes ablaze with intelligence;
“But now that I know who you are it makes perfect sense.”
“How and why?” Javier leaned forward, hanging on to her every word.
“Well, look at you all, look at this place.” Seeing their puzzled expressions she glanced from one to the other;
“The Warrior’s Council? A commander on the Warrior’s Council? The Comte de LaSalle? Come on Javier of Seville, you lot are untouchable, powerful, at the top end of our world and raised high above us ordinary civilians. If someone wanted to get at one of you, to get something out of one of you, the only way is something personal. They knew enough about you to know about your consort. You lot are famous, there are many stories about you.”
The three men stared at her silently for a moment then LaSalle said;
“I suppose we forget how we are viewed sometimes. We are accountable Cassia, to the High Council and through them to the whole Vampire world. Your theory is very accurate but there is still no clue about the why…”
“I knew where we were.” Cassia stated abruptly, glancing at Javier.
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