Next she targeted a club, even shadier than the last one she’d been to. At the same time, Jonathan, Mark and Rene were still looking for her. They split so they could cover more ground. Jonathan hoped he would find her in one of the clubs known for being filled with the scum of the Earth as he remembered her preference for them. And, sure thing, she was in just another one of these. The girl saw a woman dancing and moved closer to her. Soon the two were dancing together. Then, right from behind, Jonathan came and pulled the girl aside.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“What are you doing? What happened to you? You were doing just fine, you were in control.”
“Let go of me and move!”
“No! You are coming back home with me!”
Then the girl signaled a man in their vicinity and said: “Sir, this man is bothering me, I do not know who he is and he won’t let me go.”
The tall man approached and signaled his friends to come with him to help out the girl. “Hey! Haven’t you heard the lady? Move away, beat it!”
Jonathan knew better than to make a scene in the club. He was one, they were many and the only way he could get her out of there was if he used his pyro technique and that would not end well, so he backed off, moved away but did not let her out of his sight. He called Mark and Rene and they arrived there in about twenty-thirty minutes. Meanwhile, the girl was still with the tall man and then he asked her if she would like to leave. She agreed and when they got out of the club, Jonathan blocked their way and Mark went behind them.
“Wow, you are really looking for a fight” said the clubber.
“No, you do not know what you got yourself into” added Jonathan as he closed in and touched the man’s arm burning him a bit.
The clubber got scared and went away saying “Hey, look man, I think this is just a misunderstanding.”
The girl did not run as she knew the draco, Mark, was a lot faster than any regular human and he would have been able to catch her soon. She was forced to go back to the house with them and Jonathan that Mark and Rene were exhausted and needed to spend some time alone after the previous events. He asked them to spend the night somewhere else, to get away from their reality for a short while.
“Are you sure you can handle this?” asked Rene.
“Yes, go! It is better if I do this alone.” answered Jonathan.
When they left he began an inquiry: “Did you not take the meds?”
“I did, they don’t work.”
“Then what happened? You were doing just fine.”
“I can’t control it anymore. It started with the memory of killing my own mother and then it increased as I remembered the second kill and then the full moon. But I don’t just remember those things, I feel them. While dreaming it was like I was there, like I was doing it all over again. And the hunger, the pain, it all is just too much. I need to feed.” And then she moved toward the exit door, but Jonathan stopped her.
“Let go of me!” screamed the girl. “Let me go!”
“No!”
She punched him in the stomach, an act which caused him to cough and bend a bit but he did not let go of her completely. She then tried to do it again but he caught her fist and placed both her hands to her back and held them there. She tried to free herself again but there was no change and then she calmed. He kept holding her glued to the door. The girl moved her head close and bit his lip and then pulled back. Right in that moment she freed her hands but, instead of pushing him aside, she grabbed his shirt and kissed him.
The two kissed and kissed and the shirt went off fast, the dress was left on the floor and so were they. They rolled and Jonathan grabbed her hands shoving them to the carpet while kissing her. As the night went on, the living room was ravaged, and then the bedroom. When morning came, the girl fell asleep in his arms, but Jonathan was too alert to do the same, fearing she might try to run away again.
She went back to 1807 in her dreams.
Amara left, but as she ran out of the house she screamed some words in ancient Egyptian that neither Ava nor Tudor understood. Ava could speak ancient Latin and Greek, but not Egyptian. The two returned home and a few moments after that Ava began to feel unwell. She felt her blood boiling underneath her skin. Tudor touched her and felt her burn so he quickly took her to a room with an inside pool in which Ava did not swim since she was a child. He helped her take of part of her clothes and got into the pool holding her in his arms. The water was cold and it had a soothing effect but her temperature was not going down fast enough and so he bit his wrist and told her to drink. A draco’s blood has a healing effect on a human.
“That damned witch, she must have cursed you when she left. I swear she will not have many days left if I find her.” said Tudor while checking to see if her temperature went back to normal and it did. The draco carried her back to her room and she slipped out of all the clothes she had while he was waiting outside. He only entered when he was asked to come back in.
The girl was standing in front of the bed, with nothing on and the draco had to catch his breath as she was more beautiful than ever. He came close, caressed her face and said: “I look at you and I still cannot believe you are real.” He then kissed her, took off his clothes, took her in his arms and lay her on the bed.
He took a moment to look at her and ask: “You have never done this before, did you?”
“No!”
“Are you sure you want to?”
“Yes.” said the girl placing her hands on his face and bringing it closer to her.”
In the morning Tudor asked her if she regrets what happened and her answer was no. She was happy and she did not feel the hunger as strong as she did before. On that day, Tudor ordered Jack Smith to find the witch and capture her, so the man left on her trails. Next, Wesley came with news of proof that William Tully’s father, the man who hosted the two Scots, had bought his seat as governor of an eastern region in India. He did nothing that would recommend him for the office. He bribed members of the Parliament and he was voted as the next governor.
“What is this proof you speak of?”
“Letters signed by members of Parliament agreeing to vote him into office.” They do not explicitly say that they will vote for a sum of money but it is inferred. We give these to the press and we let the people of London come to their own conclusions.” answered Wesley.
“His reputation will be ruined and he might even be forced to leave and spend his life in exile as London will not be welcoming him anymore. Ah, I like the sound of that” said Tudor.
“You seem awfully chipper today.”
“Life seems beautiful today. Yesterday I almost lost it all, but today life is beautiful.” said Tudor without actually explaining what he meant by it.
“Is Lady Ava home? I don’t think she likes me very much.”
“It is because of your womanizing, that’s all. She doesn’t take likely this kind of behavior.”
In that moment, Ava knocked, then entered in the library and, as she stared into Wesley’s eyes, she saw so much torture he had inflicted she just wanted to rip out his throat, but she stopped as soon as her hand got to his neck and Tudor realized what was going on..
“What are you doing?” asked Wesley.
“Nothing. You have a strong neck.” said the girl. Then Wesley left and, as he was walking away, she added: “Oh and you are right, I do not like you very much, but I will tolerate your presence from now on.”
Right after Wesley closed the door behind him, Tudor asked if she heard what Wesley said when she was not in the room and she answered “I heard all your conversation while I was in the salon.”
“That is far from here, you could not have heard it.”
“I have, just as I know Jack Smith was here, his footsteps woke me.”
“You heard and recognized his footsteps?”
“I did.”
“From such distance? Only a draco can do this and you are not one.”
“It might be a
side effect of the manifestation of my… condition as this has not happened before.”
“And Wes? Have you seen what he had done before he was taken in by me?”
“You did not explain the part in which he managed to get from under the control of the Order by himself in 1773. In his eyes I saw what he did during that year when he was free. Wesley committed those acts of his own free will and because of that I want to rip his neck into pieces. But I can see how he turned around so I will try to control myself around him.”
“It is unbelievable!”
“What?” asked Ava.
“How much control you have now. The worst must have passed.”
“I sure hope so.”
“Do you…” hesitated Tudor, then went on “see something in my eyes?”
“No. Though I know for sure you have done some questionable things, I don’t see anything, but I prefer it this way.”
“It could be because of your feeling for me, they might stop you from seeing and, in that case, I am glad.”
“Who said anything about feelings being involved?”
“Aren’t there any?” asked Tudor and the girl gazed deeply at him without saying a word. “Well, know that there are feelings, at least from my side.”
She then quickly added “I can help with Lord Tully. A month ago, in March, the British Parliament had just passed the act that abolished slavery and many men are now on a mission to other countries to convince them to abolish slavery. Abolitionist ideas are more and more prevalent in the newspapers, in the salons, cafés, and tea houses of the cities. Ideas of equality between the sexes and ideas of equality between people of different cultures are now starting to circulate freely. Even the empire is being criticized. It seems we have reached an age of human enlightenment and, while this brings many benefits to the now growing middle class and those from the lower class, the large business owners are not extremely pleased with it. More and more people were protesting the way so many business owners would buy benefits for themselves from members in Parliament and many believe monopoly of companies should now become a thing of the past.
“What are you implying Ava?”
“Lord Tully uses slaves in his business and, knowing him, even with the new legislation in place, he will not stop using people as cattle. Londoners are almost all against slavery now and they are voicing loud complaints about buying favors from members in Parliament. If it were to be a witness who would confess of Lord Tully’s use of slaves and his bribes offered to officials, he would be lynched by the crowds. And we might even have more. Those letters are not concrete proof and the people need proof if they are to destroy him. William knows where his father’s factories. The factories are hard to find as they are not in the city, but William could take the police there. I know that the factories are well guarded. William told me. But the guards will have to free the way for the police.”
“So what do you plan to do?” asked Lord Emery.
“William has been like a brother to me and with a little push he will do as I say. He has never had a good relationship with his father. Lord Tully only married Jane because she was with child, to avoid a scandal. William told me several times how his father blames him for a life time of misery next to a woman he dislikes.”
“For the life of me I don’t understand why he dislikes her. I only met her a few times but she seems to be a kind woman, not to mention she is not difficult on the eyes.”
“She indeed is kind and she is smart. William loves her dearly, but Lord Tully doesn’t waste the opportunity that it is her fault his life turned this way. I also happened to hear a conversation of his to Duchess Alexandra, my aunt. Surely my grandfather would have never allowed for such a marriage. And I do not believe Lord Tully was after love, he was simply after a higher title and the power it comes with, or at least that is what aunt Alexandra accused him of. Well, needless to say, William will not stand by if he finds out his father bribed men in Parliament.”
“Still, I do not see how he could help?” asked Tudor.
“I need one of the letters Wesley will give you. I will then hand it to William and he can confront his father for sure and he will confess. After that William can testify against him.”
“How can you be sure that will happen?”
“William is one of those people who would not stand by idly while someone, even a member of his family, commits an illegal act. He believes strongly in the law. The only reason he is not a lawyer now is because he is not good at remembering laws; he became a journalist in the hopes of exposing corruption. So, if he is the man I believe him to be, he will do this. And Lord Tully can get quite hysterical and he does not think too much before he speaks; he will let the cat out of the bag for sure.”
“Well then, we will do as you say” said the man with a grin on his face. “This way, we not only have the letters but we have a witness and we will have the factories filled with slaves. This is more valuable than letters which are not explicit.”
“He will face trial,” added Ava “and even with all his influence over the judges and Parliament, he will not be saved as the mobs will demand his head.”
The lord looked at the girl in admiration. She was now helping him with a matter he had long wanted to solve. Tudor long believed Lord Tully to be one of those leading the Order and, with him gone, the Order would be losing an important member, a pivotal one.
In the evening, Wesley returned with eight letters and gave them to Tudor. Ava took one of them and showed it to William who was outraged and demanded an explanation from his father. Ava excused herself and stepped out of the Tully mansion.
“I knew you are a low character, but I never thought you would sink at such a level. You are a disgrace to this family. All this years I have listened to you calling me a nuisance, a disaster, a failure, but you are the failure father. You are nothing but a pile of rubbish!”
Furious, Lord Tully added “I have ambitions in this life, unlike you, my son, my no-good, wannabe journalist son. Ambition is what sets us apart from animals, ambition is what makes men great. Do you think I am wrong to bribe officials to make me governor? Do you know what prestige will this bring our family?”
“Our family or you, father? If you would have thought of this family, you would not have done any of it. I won’t let you get away with this! I swear on my life you will see what a failure you are, failure as a father, as a husband, as a human being.” yelled William.
Getting close to William and staunchly holding him by the arm “You will do no such thing. If you say anything, you and your mother will suffer also.”
“What else do you do father? You lie, you mentally torture us, you bribe? All that is left is to use people as slaves.” said the journalist, with his voice raised.
“Do you think labor is cheap? Do you know where this family would be if I would only hire people on a fair wage? And what is that fair wage? No, son, no! Some people are born to be free and rich, others are born to be slaves, to be caged animals, that is their destiny!” said the lord angered beyond recognition.
“How can you say such a thing? I have never entered one of your factories as you never allowed me in there, but I know where they are. Do you use people there against their will? Do you treat them like they are worth nothing?”
“They do worth nothing! They are just pieces of meat made to serve me, their master!” screamed Lord Tully.
“You will pay for this.” said William moving toward the door. “The police shall know of this and you will face trial and be hanged.”
Then Lord Tully moved close to the man and said “You will not do such a thing. I command you to stand here and do as I say!”
Lady Jane came into the living room and urged her son: “Do it William! There is nothing that can hurt us more than how this monster has. He just confessed to you. Do it!” Lady Jane had reached her limit. All those years of hearing only nuisance from her husband had taken a toll on her, had destroyed her spirit and now she was ready to s
ee him suffer for a change.
William then went and grabbed his mother’s hand and took her to the door, returned and punched his father in the face. “This is for all the years of pain you put us through.” Then he took Lady Jane to Ava’s home. They were offered tea and Tudor and the girl listened to them talk about all the years of hurt and how Lord Tully had disgraced the family.
“You must confess! He must pay for his acts.” said Tudor.
“I will stand by your side and you know you are always welcomed here.” said Ava to Lady Jane.
“This will break our family.” added Lady Jane.
“Your family is already broken.” added Ava.
“Lady Jane, if you are worried about what people will say about you and your son, fear not, many of us will rally behind you. The mouths will be shut.”
“Thank you Lord Emery.” replied the woman who was in tears.
William then went directly to the police. Captain Cook was not in charge anymore. Abraham Grey was now captain.
“Well if it isn’t Lord Tudor Emery. How long has it been since we last saw each other? Oh I remember, since the summer of 1802.” said Captain Grey.
“You were visiting your uncle there. It’s been so long I almost did not recognize you.” added Tudor.
“Well, how can I be of service?”
“I need to report a crime.” said William.
“This is a sensitive matter, a family matter.” added Lord Emery.
“Well then, why don’t we go in there? No one will interrupt us.” said Abraham.
The three men then discussed the issue. Abraham received the letters and read the names of those addressing them. “These are high officials. So Lord Tully bribes them and they convince others to vote for him and he becomes governor. Interesting! And on top of that he uses slaves. This man is asking to be hanged.”
After William confessed everything he heard from his father he went back to the Mayflower where the butler had already set up a room for him and another one for his mother. Lord Emery did not leave the precinct with the journalist. He told him that he needed to discuss something about 1802 with Abraham. The captain ordered his men to prepare the carriages so they could go to the Tully factories. Meanwhile, he talked a bit with Tudor.
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