by R M Taylor
Will nodded towards the door, where Aris had arrived, looking annoyed, wet and bedraggled, carrying an equally soaking, tied up, unconscious Isobel over his shoulder.
Chapter 36
“She kept resisting and there are only so many times I can tolerate being kicked in the balls” He explained.
He hauled her from his shoulder onto the conference table in the centre of the room. The room fell silent, everyone’s eyes pinned on Isobel’s soaking and unconscious tied up form. Lina moved to the head of the table.
“Can everyone except the council members please leave and regroup in the main hall, reassure everyone, continue the search for our missing people. I will update you all in due time” She said.
Lina, the rest of the council, and Aris sat at the table next to Lucy and Will. Aris grabbed Lucy’s hand and squeezed it, and she squeezed back. Her dragon began settling down. She was very fond of the vampire, too fond, thought Lucy.
“So, this is the state of play. We have Isobel here, who when she wakes will answer to us directly. We cannot locate Vesike Vatin in any of the places suggested by our sources or the known addresses linked with Marius. So, we will have to find him, and fast, but we are running out of time for today. The sun is rising, so until tonight we cannot pursue him further, everyone is tired, we need to regroup. All but 5 of our coven members have been found, all children are back, the adults reported some were drugged and dumped in woods outside of the city, some have reported being locked in basements, elevators, in shops, but they are all now accounted for. Our businesses have all taken losses, this was an attack on many sides. Obviously, Marius or Vesike were orchestrating things to ensure we panicked. It worked. Their full motivations are not yet known; however, revenge seems to be at the centre of everything. Matt is dead, maybe the 5 others are too. Thankfully no-one died in the fight, there were many wounded but all healing thankfully, Isla has helped greatly. Our priority right now is our people, getting Danny, Jon, Lisa, Abbey and Steve back is paramount, I do not give a fuck about money lost” Lina said, meeting everyone’s eyes one by one, scanning the group, gauging the reactions.
“For everyone’s information, this lady here is Lucrezia Delarossa. She is a dragon shifter and was kidnapped by Marius. Vesike and Marius were working together to meet each other’s sick needs. Vesike wanted to bring our coven down and in exchange for this he helped Marius to capture Lucrezia with the help of Isobel. Marius had his own agenda, wanting to take leadership of the Delarossa Clan. There are two main stories here, one affects us all, the other just some of us. Either way, they affect us. Either way, we are involved, as they are connected and all our coven mates matter, if it hurts one of us, we all help if we can” Lina said firmly.
“Any questions so far?” Lina asked.
“Aris, I am under the impression that Lucy is your girlfriend? Is this what set Isobel off? It seems very extreme for her to do something like this?” asked Bernice.
“Isobel told me she wanted to return to Vesike’s coven, she said he agreed if she helped him kidnap Lucy for Marius. Isobel was unhappy I rejected her, you all know that, but recently she asked me to father another child with her, which I vehemently refused. It would seem this set her off, as well as the Delarossa family crossing the Decante family in the past. Apparently, Isobel believes that they cheated her family out of money decades ago, however the most that I could find out was about a business deal with Lucy’s great grandmother that lost money” Aris said.
“She sold out her coven over money and you? What about Isla? What about all of us? She is meant to be our family” asked Elle.
“It is complicated Elle, there are many factors at work here, however the important thing is we now know who our enemies are” said Will.
“Do we? Are we sure we know about everyone? They seem to be coming at us from every angle” asked Eric.
“If we give Lucy and Marius to him, will Vesike leave us alone?” asked the timid Sarah.
“We are not doing that” Aris glared at her, and she withered and kept her gaze on the table.
“That is a fair question, Aris. We have everyone to consider not just one or two people. Sarah, he will not leave us alone, even if we gave him both Marius and Lucy. He wants our coven. He wants our council dead, and any of our members who refuse to bow to his leadership will also die. He is a ruthless man, which is one of the reasons we left his coven to begin with. So, either way, we will not defer to him and show weakness by handing over anyone. We are not that coven. I will not allow us to be that coven. There are two enemies here. We cannot disown one of them and deny our involvement, Aris and Isobel are involved which means so is Isla. They are our kin” Lina stated, daring anyone to disagree. She would not budge on this issue. Isobel began stirring, her eyes blinking open slowly.
“You all have a choice here, this is what I fought for so long ago. A coven that would allow each of us a say. As much as it will hurt us, Isobel also had a choice and she will answer for it” Lina said. “There is also the reason why Vesike is so bitter. Why he is so adamant about revenge. It was not just the humiliation of us leaving his coven. The reason we left was because I fell in love with Dante and turned him when Vesike beat him almost to death. He would never forgive that. He was also my fiancé when this all happened. I am not proud of how I acted but remember the time when this happened. A hundred or so years ago was a different time. Women, even vampire women, had little choices. I was a bargaining chip between my father and Vesike. A way to cement alliances and join families. I was a trailblazer for leaving and forming my own coven. It embarrassed him on many levels. He has carried the fury for a long time, and there is no guarantee he will spare any of the coven if he succeeds. So, if any members believe that it is best to simply join him, they may want to keep in mind he may just execute everyone. Which brings us to Isobel” Lina smiled cruelly at Isobel.
Chapter 37
Isobel sat up slowly, realising with dread where she was and who she was with. She looked round the table at the angry faces of her coven mates and then back to Lina.
“I just could not stand it anymore. I cannot live here, and I realised that Isla would never leave while this coven still existed. Vesike gave me a way out. I am not sorry for my actions, you may have me here, but Vesike still has plans for this coven. You should give our people a chance to join Vesike willingly. It will save bloodshed and pain. He has promised he will not harm them” Isobel said firmly. “You can kill me, but know if you do you will have no way to find him”
“Where is he Isobel?” asked Aris.
“If I tell you that you will kill me” Isobel said, shaking her head.
“We will kill you either way, the question is how” said Bernice “You have betrayed us all, over your pathetic pride. You should have accepted Aris’s rejection gracefully. He has made it more than clear many times. You should have had some self-respect and moved on. Unrequited love is no excuse for murder! What will Isla think of this? How could you do this to her? You deserve a painful death Isobel your actions are dishonourable and deplorable. The issues of the past are best left in the past, they are not worth vengeance over money and hurt feelings. What about Matt? Why? Was his life so worthless to you? He was your coven brother!” Bernice was red in the face and shaking, visibly furious.
The tension in the air was palpable. Lucy sat in silence through it all and listened while each council member gave their opinion. Isobel was given two options, the first was to answer all questions they asked, then she would be given a swift execution once the whole matter was resolved, in the meantime she would be imprisoned. If she refused to co-operate they would make her death as slow and painful as they could. Lucy felt sick to her stomach. Such a barbaric way of doing things. She was used to due process and justice weighed and measured over time, with every angle investigated. Her job was being part of that fair process. This was brutal.
As if she could sense her discomfort, Lina turned her attention to her, after Aris finished his thorough
tirade over why Isobel should be punished, Lina asked Lucy what she thought. The room fell silent once again. Lucy looked around at the table and then at Isobel, who was scowling at her with a serial killer stare.
“I think tension is running high, and everyone is hurting now. I think now is a bad time to decide the fate of someone. I think she should be imprisoned until we know more. Kind of like on death row. Under the threat of death, if she helps and co-operates I think long term imprisonment would be better. But I don’t know vampires like you all do. I am used to the human and shifter world. Shifters live less than 200 years, usually 180 years average. It would not be as likely for us to carry a grudge for 100 years. Obviously, vampires see time differently, imprisonment may not be the punishment to a vampire that it would be to a shifter. You all live so much longer. So, you may think I am soft or too lenient, but I would like to think that Isobel could be helped in some way” Lucy said carefully, hoping that they wouldn’t be offended.
“Lovely sentiment, but what does your dragon think?” asked Eric “You may be fair and forgiving but I would bet my fortune your dragon wants vengeance”
Lucy looked inside herself to her mind’s eye, and her dragon was, to her surprise, nodding and agreeing with him! She was flexing her claws and wanting out, so she could shred the woman Isobel who had threatened her and her man. Dragon wanted blood big time. Fuck, dragon was on a mission.
“She is much more vexed than I am, yes” Lucy said with a nervous smile “But I try and guide her, we’re one and the same, we balance each other out. Burning Isobel to ash or shredding her with my claws are only two of many options available to us”
Eric smiled, she seemed to have gone up in his opinion. Vampires respected strength, and she realised that she hid her dragon so much that these people probably doubted she was even a dragon shifter. Her dragon growled low inside, unhappy at being disrespected and underestimated. Her pride was dented.
“I just think that since you operate as a democracy, that there should be some sort of consensus with all of your coven mates before anything happens” Lucy said.
Lina smiled as Lucy talked, and began to say something but was cut across by Isobel.
“Oh, for goodness sake are you perfect in every way? I handed you over to be killed and you are being rational and politically correct? Morally superior? Aris how can she ever make you happy? She is weak and fragile; how do we know she is even a dragon? She behaves like a weak human with stupid ideals and stupid morals. She is meant to be a shifter, but she may as well be a human. She is too weak” Isobel screeched.
Lucy growled low and loud, her dragon seemed to flick a switch and she felt her eyes become reptilian and slitted, her dragon pushed to the forefront, wanting dominance over this woman. The room went heavy and silent, the scent of fear rose in the air as her growl continued. The dominance her dragon exerted was stifling and everyone was silent and nervous.
“I suggest you don’t insult me, I’m tired and angry. I am not trying to be pious and pretentious, I want to be fair. That means something to me. It’s important. You’re Isla’s mother, it’s only fair her views be considered too, and she isn’t here” Lucy said carefully.
She swallowed repeatedly, trying to calm her dragon and settle her back down. A glass of water appeared in front of her, just as her firestarter clicked once. She downed the water in one, breathed deeply and blinked back to her human eyes. The silence relaxed slightly, and she cleared her throat before continuing.
“I think if it’s ok with everyone I will go back to Aris’ apartment. I’m very tired and I need to eat and sleep. My dragon is very angry at what’s happened, and she is likely going to try and make an appearance if I get any more riled. I think this decision is best made without me. You have heard my thoughts, but I am not a coven member. Lina, I really appreciate your fairness, and am very grateful to everyone who helped today. I owe everyone, and I will help deal with Vesike. I’m in this until it’s all over. They need to be stopped, I’m not a fighter per se but I do have a big ass dragon inside who is pissed off enough to be happy burning stuff down and maybe even eating a few people” Lucy laughed.
She tried to show it was a joke, but honestly her dragon was happy with that. Whoever messed with her and Aris would pay. Turning people to ash or eating a few of them sounded fun, eating them all and scorching their properties sounded even better. Her dragon nodded, relishing the idea, smiling cruelly in her mind’s eye, damn she was scary when angry.
“I know we need to deal with Marius too, but could we shelve that till tomorrow? Vesike is more important, and I think it would be good to sleep on it before anything happens” Lucy asked Lina, who nodded.
“He is locked down tight, we can discuss his fate later” Lina smiled reassuringly.
Lucy said her goodbyes and left to go back to the apartment. Aris said he wouldn’t be long. She didn’t care, she just wanted to get into some pjs, wrap herself in a blanket and eat some comfort food. Then maybe go to bed and sleep for 24 hours.
Chapter 38
Aris watched Lucy leave, relieved she was gone and not faced with the realities of vampire politics. It was very black and white and in this case Isobel was responsible for at least one coven members death due to her duplicity. She had to pay with her life. He was heartbroken for Isla, even though they weren’t close to each other, Isobel was still her mother. The betrayal was awful and painful for Isla too, her new boyfriend’s brother Steve was one that had been taken, who was still missing, so when the coven found out it was Isobel who conspired with Vesike it would bring a lot of pain to her door. What a fucking mess.
“Right, we need a decision. Isobel will you comply? Or will we be forced to get violent about it? Trust me when we say we all have rage we would be happy to tap into” Lina said.
“Do not be ridiculous, I will not comply” Isobel snapped “Hopefully Vesike will crush you all while I am still alive, so I can witness it, you will not kill me, not just yet. Traditional vampires would not hesitate, but younger ones are too forgiving, too soft. Too weak. You have lost your ferocity Lina, these young ones have softened you” Isobel glared at Aris, then Lina.
Damn this woman had a death wish. In a split-second Lina slapped Isobel violently, sending her flying off the table and onto the carpet. Faster than a blink, Lina grabbed her hair and lifted her to eye level. Isobel’s nose bled heavily, and she flailed as Lina held her high enough to lift her feet off the ground. Still bound, she could do nothing but hang there and attempt to kick Lina’s shins.
“YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS” Lina gritted out, then flung her to the floor, and instructed the two enforcers at the door to take her to the cells. Once they were gone, Lina took her seat again and they “discussed” things further but didn’t reach a decision, most of the council wanted to torture Isobel to get answers. Aris said he was against that, but he didn’t know if he was truly against it or if he was choosing to be against it because that was what Isla would want, or if it was the decent right thing to say. He agreed that torture was likely the best solution. It all depended on Isobel, if she stubbornly refused they would have no choice, they needed the information. Tempers were running high and they were all tired, the adrenaline was wearing off and unlike Aris most of them hadn’t fed recently. But Lucy was right, they needed the coven’s input. It would all take time. He sincerely wished that somehow someone could read Isobel’s mind, but she was a strong vampire, she could resist easily. If only they could just pluck the details out, in a painless way, but none of them present was able to do that, although his maker might. It may be invasive but so was a knife to the stomach.
No-one liked causing pain normally, but rage motivated anyone, all bets are off if the person had hurt you badly, and she had hurt them all. There were so many people to worry over, and Vesike was a very real threat with significant resources at his disposal through his contacts, so everyone was feeling emotional and tense. Even without Marius, he was well equipped to take their coven in many ways
and they had no idea what he would try next. Exhaustion and hunger won out and they wrapped the meeting up. Everyone was weary, the sun was rising rapidly, and they needed downtime.
He made his way upstairs to his apartment via the elevator, he said goodnight to Will and entered his apartment quietly in case Lucy was sleeping. The lights were on and she was flat out on his sofa, empty bowl on the table, mug of hot chocolate untouched. She had eaten and flaked out. He turned the TV off and carried her to his bed, tucked her in and went for a shower. After running a toothbrush half-heartedly round his mouth and then scrubbing the day’s dirt away he changed into pjs and returned to the living room. Since his phone was broken he used the landline to call Isla, she was still awake.
“Dad? Are you ok? Did you get hurt? Where’s Isobel?” Isla rushed out. She never called Isobel mother or mum when she wasn’t present, much to Isobel’s annoyance. It spoke volumes, they were chalk and cheese in personality and if not for being related, would likely never have contact or choose to spend time with each other. Isobel was just not a person she would choose to be friends with let alone related to. She was lucky Isla called her mother when she was around, it was always mother though, never mum or mom. That stopped when Isla was about 5 years old when she was old enough to understand Isobel’s actions and words towards her dad.
“I’m fine, exhausted but unharmed. Almost everyone is accounted for now only 5 people left to find. We caught one of the enemies but not the other” He was working up the nerve to tell her about Isobel.
“Just one is missing now, while you were all meeting the team found four locked up with Kathy and Stacy, apparently the guy that had been stalking them was also responsible for kidnapping the others and locked them all up in their hotel room. They’re scared to bits but physically ok. I think they need some time to recover, they’ve been traumatised by all of this. I will go visit when things calm down here. A pay rise or bonus would also go down well for them too I reckon” Isla laughed.