by D L Greeley
“Yes, but with what I am getting off of this ratbag Stavros, I don’t think I can allow him to live after I am done here, K.”
“Do you want prime rib or lobster at the banquet?”
I had to fight to keep a straight face. “Not a great idea to try to make me laugh right now, K you know better than that. I’ll want both of course and don’t cheap out on the lobster. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a public flogging to finish.” Mai pushed forward. “Easy, Alex. He’s still an authority figure here. The bulk of these vampires are afraid of him. He has terrorized these people for decades, always done it under the radar so Kolann has never been able to catch him.”
“Thanks Mai, good to know.”
A younger but just as bitter-looking vamp to Stavros’s right leapt to his feet. “Security! Remove him at once! He has no business here!” It was Stavros’ confederate, nobody had used his name yet.
“Was that two? It sure felt like two.”
“Agreed, that was most definitely two,” Mai snarled.
Nobody moved except the guard that was minding Svetlana. “Cecil!” Dent barked in a low quiet voice and shook his head “no” as did I. I smiled evilly cocking one eyebrow up, in a gesture of total confidence. “It would seem, Elder Stavros or should I call you Elder Vlahos?, that my reputation has preceded me. The bulk of your guards are not moving on me out of respect, a handful because they fear me. Both have ample cause. I’ll inform you, in case no one has, that I AM a member of this clan. I have taken The Oath and I would remind each of the sitting council members that you too, have taken The Oath. Returning a false verdict in these proceedings is a violation of that oath and of the trust placed in you by your people. Now sit down, both of you, before you’re knocked down! Now where was I?”
“I believe you may have been getting to problem number two?” Kolann volunteered.
“Ah, yes thank you, Master Kolann. The second problem is that you have no way to prove your allegations without my testimony, because I am the only eyewitness to everything that transpired. That wouldn’t help you of course, because it would only prove Svetlana, although weak minded and a little too trusting, is innocent of the charges you have leveled at her.”
Svetlana’s brow furrowed at the weak minded comment. I squeezed her hand to remind her to stay silent. “And the third problem, Mr. Walker?” The other man who had sided with Kolann and Phoebe tilted his head to one side. He was so blonde and so blue eyed that he had to be Swedish or one of Hitler’s ultimate men. A quick read and… Gunter Ringhausen, German. “The third problem you have, Elder Ringhausen,” Gunter looked astonished for a moment. “is that I simply will not allow an execution of any Rayner household member. The Rayner family and their people are now under my protection.” Svetlana squeezed my hand again. I patted her shoulder and started to move more towards the center of the room.
“You won’t ALLOW it; your protection?” piped up one of Stavros’s confederates. “Who do you think you are? This is outrageous! You’re just a boy! You have no authority over us and no way to make good on your threats, I’d wager.” He was a lean, dark complexioned man. I’d reckon East Asian or possibly southern Russian.
“Really?” I replied with affected incredulity. “I don’t believe I caught your name sir.” He thought about it. “Ah, Srinivas Subramanian? Indian, I believe? I’ll forgive your insolence this one time because you don’t know me. Perhaps a demonstration of my abilities is in order?” Dent looked nervous, speaking out of the corner of his mouth. “Are you sure that is wise, sir? There are a lot of innocent people here.”
“I’ve got it covered, give me a little credit for control, Mr. Dent.” I whispered back. Kolann was looking uneasy too. “If you feel you must,” said Srinivas dismissively. Big mistake! I Slipped into The Void and made a circuit around the table, Slipping back into my exact previous position. To the outsider, it looked as if I disappeared and reappeared in the blink of an eye. Srinivas eyed me contemptuously. “That proves nothing. Any CHILD can use a Shroud.” I held up the permanent marker and then tossed it on the table. “If every one of the convicting party would turn to your co-conspirators, you’ll notice a red line drawn across their throat. This is where I would have beheaded you, before anyone could react to my disappearance.”
I walked up to the table. The chamber went absolutely silent. Two Guards looked to Dent, for instructions. They were given the “stand down” signal. I leaned on the table, my fingers bare and spread displaying my 1¾ inch claws. I grinned evilly, my sabre fangs fully exposed and glinting in the incandescent light. “Now, Mr. Subramanian, you tell me. Can I back up my threats?” My eyes shining like two blazing suns, I Projected fear at all four of them, so intense it would freeze even a vampire’s blood.” He leaned back in his chair and broke eye contact. There would be no more opposition from him.” I stood back, crossing my arms over my chest and glared murderously at the remaining conspirators. “That’s what I thought. Now who wants to come clean under my protection and tell a story of greed and corruption?” No one would make eye contact. Good.
One of the silent ones raised her hand. “You fool, put your hand down!” hissed Stavros. She yanked it back. Interesting they were still more afraid of him than they were of me. It almost appeared instinctual. This bastard had been pushing these people around for way too long. I would have to fix that. Not a strong backbone in any of these three. “We are not afraid of a mere boy and his bag of magic tricks.” Stavros said, feeling triumphant.
“I believe that may have been number three, Alex.”
“Right you are, Mai. I think we’ve had enough disrespect tonight, don’t you think?”
“Rip him a new one.”
I smiled patiently, as one would with a dimwit who had just soiled themselves. “I see, so in other words, I’ve been unconvincing, have I?”
“To say the least,” Stavros replied haughtily. “Guards take him out of here. We have an execution to get on with. Let us not drag it out any further and listen to any more of this creature’s lies!” There was a collective gasp in the gallery as Rayner Clan enforcers started to converge on me. Their courage had been bolstered by Stavros’s defiance. Idiots…
I clucked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. “Oh Stavros, you naughty little monkey, you’re just not capable of grasping this simple concept, are you, Mr. Big Shot? Mine’s bigger than yours. I simply won’t allow you to execute Svetlana. You see, I was referring to my Power, as to what you were unconvinced of. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but it appears an example is required. I will admit, I very much enjoy this part.” The guards stopped moving, fear washing through them like an ice cold shower. I gathered up as much power as I could, muttered a quick series of commands, and let it fly.
A hurricane force wind swirled up around me, Svetlana and Dent, knocking the surrounding guards off their feet and blowing them away from us. The ground began to shake beneath our feet and my sword burst into neon bright, liquid blue-green fire.
“Mai, I need volume eleven Voice of God.”
“You got it. This is going to be fun!”
I let out a roar they could have heard in Iceland, pointing a gauntleted hand at Stavros. “I AM DALTON WALKER! SON OF CHE AN YAGUL! HEIR TO THE SPIRIT STONE ARMOR AND MY WILL SHALL NOT BE DEFIED, SEISHIN DENKI!” A bolt of lightning lashed out from my extended hand and struck Stavros square in the chest leaving a hole in the chair behind him, large enough for me to pass my fist though. Falling forward on the table, the huge cavity in his torso began to smoke. I had burned out his heart completely. I let the power go and everything quieted down. In fact the room was so quiet I could hear a mouse scratching in the corner.
Looking around the room, for any other challengers and finding none, I walked up and kicked Stavros’ body off the chair. “For the good of the clan, bitch,” I spat.
I swept my still phosphorescent gaze around the room. “Be it known to all present, there are active death warrants on Karter Vlahos by his clan, The P
refecture and The Council of Doyens. (a small body of the oldest and most powerful of the Super/Trans-natural and Paranormal Races) I, as a member of this clan and under the authority of the aforementioned powers, have served it. Who else wishes to challenge Mistress Svetlana’s Champion?” I demanded in a deadly quiet tone. Nobody said a word. I swung my gaze back to the council. No one except Phoebe and Kolann would make eye contact. Kolann was giving me a look like I went over the top. And I’ll admit, I did, but my point was made, wizard class power and a very short fuse. “No one? Good, than I take it we are all ready to tell the truth now?”
Being out from under Stavros, Srinivas blubbered like a cornered child, caught shoplifting. He told his story of being bullied and then recruited by Stavros. The other two told us about them having been threatened by the other two and apologized profusely to Kolann and Svetlana, re-swearing their undying loyalty (no pun intended) under my icy hard gaze. “Shall we say the council is unanimous? Not guilty? Show of hands please.” Every council member raised their hand. The gallery erupted in cheers and applause.
“Most of them are applauding Stavros’s death, seems he had a lot of people intimidated.”
“I had a feeling, Mai.”
Several vamps even approached me to shake my hand. Not many, but the gesture was appreciated. After all, fear is what I was going for. Kolann and Archie approached me as Svetlana darted around them and threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my waist in a crushing hug. “Thank you, Mack! They would have executed me for sure. I have so much to live for now.” She had tears in her eyes and she was gazing adoringly at Archie and Reggie. “You’re welcome, Svetlana. I owed you anyway for snatching Shelly out of the way last night.” I was trying to be modest and I thought she may have been damaging my kidneys. “So that’s what it was, was it?” Svetlana grinned with a twinkle in her eye. “And here I thought you had developed a fondness for our family.” I grinned back and winked. “Repeat that to anyone and I’ll deny it categorically.” What can I say? There was something inherently likable about the REAL Svetlana.
“Mack, that was amazing!” Archie slapped me on the back with a broad grin. “I always hated that son-of-a-bitch Stavros. He was a total assbag.” Reggie clapped his hand into mine. “Well done, Mack. That was quite a show!” I smiled weakly. “Thanks Regg. Why don’t you take ya mum back to the house and let her get freshened up? We need to go out and celebrate.” Svetlana was still crushing herself to me, the fear and adrenaline coursing through her tiny frame. It took me a moment to realize it but she was actually tinier than Shelly. The huge personality that was Bastet had made her seem so much more. I gently removed her arms. Still trembling, I winked at her letting her know that she was alright. It was all over. She nodded and stepped back. Reggie put his arm around her shoulders.
“An excellent idea, you have had a hard couple of days, Mother.” Svetlana floated up from the floor and planted a kiss on my left cheek, grimacing at the stubble. “Thank you again, Mack.” Returning to the floor, Reggie offered his arm to her. She smiled and took it, waving goodbye.
“Gentlemen!” I threw my arms over both Archie and Kolann’s shoulders. “I need a drink. Who’s buying?” They both grinned as we walked out with me between them. “Good choice, Mack,” said Kolann. “A show of solidarity in case there are still some Stavros supporters hanging about? You know you made some enemies today.” I nodded. “Yep, that and the two of you are the only thing standing between me and falling flat on my face.” I grinned wickedly. “What?” exclaimed Archie. I shrugged, “That AMAZING show in there took an AMAZING amount of power and I wasn’t done recharging from the weekend. That and I am NOT a Monday person.” I smiled to myself. Archie looked aghast. “Why didn’t you use some of those amulets?” Now why didn’t think of that? Seriously? “Didn’t bring ‘em, weren’t recharged and it’s really bad for ‘em to break the circuit before they stop drawing power.”
“So how did you plan to pull this off?”
“Well, I wasn’t PLANNING to do anything, Kol.”
Archie considered my words and looked incredulous. “You walked into a heavily armed nest of vampires, expecting to break out a prisoner and you had no plan? Are you out of your mind? I can’t decide if that was incredibly brave or monumentally stupid.”
“I would like to register one vote for stupid.”
“Quiet you.”
“Gods above, man! What did you think you were going to do?” asked Kolann
“Figured I’d do what I always do.”
“And that is?”
“Wing it.”
Kolann threw back is head and laughed. “Mack, you’re high maintenance but I’ve got a feeling, knowing you is never going to be boring. But, seriously my boy, Stavros had quite a following, among several different clans.”
“And?” I tried to sound bored.
“They WILL come for you.”
“I know, and I’ll be ready.” Kolann gave my shoulder a squeeze. “WE will be ready.”
But, that’s a story for another time…
Author’s Note:
Greetings reader, I assume you enjoyed Nimravid: Book 1 of The MacFade Chronicles. I would ask that you now go to Amazon and post a favorable review. Please also recommend it to anyone you think would enjoy a good read or to Kindle Unlimited. I have received very favorable feedback from people who aren’t “into urban fantasy”. This work was published independently mainly because all the literary agents I queried are skittish, extremely hesitant to take on new clients and only want to represent “sure bets”. You and I both know that if publishers and agents only represent “sure bets”, debut authors like me don’t stand a chance. It’s like my late mum used to say, “If you don’t try it, how will you ever know if it’s any good?”
A n y w a y… I am broke at this time, working long hours at an under-paid retail job and this novel is an attempt at a career transition or at the very least a way to earn enough money so my wife can take very necessary medical retirement. Long story short, I can’t afford to advertise, so word of mouth is essential. Mind you, I am not asking for false reviews. By all means, if you loved Nimravid, like most everyone I’ve had read the finished work, feel free to rave about it on Amazon. If not, please drop me a note on the D L Greeley Facebook page and share your opinion.
Thank you for your patronage and please watch for book 2 Devil’s Advocate to be released in 2017.
Cheers!
- D L