by Joe Fowler
“Absolutely. We will be waiting in the hangar.” Arria said, happily. I could tell she was still flying high with relief.
“Good. I will see you soon.”
I disconnected.
“She rules you.” Sweetie teased.
“Yep. I’m okay with it though.” I smiled down at her.
I looked at Hermes and Saul. Their anger had subsided. I was fairly sure they wouldn’t try anything now.
As the plane touched down, I released the hold on Gronk. He woke with a start. It took a minute for him to realize where he was. When he saw me, his face grew angry again. He made to come at me but Hermes stepped in his way.
“It’s over Gronk. Fighting wouldn’t do any good now.” Hermes told him.
“But...” He was caught between his anger and being confused. He looked back and forth from Hermes to me.
The plane came to a stop before he made his decision. I stood and made my way to the door. I motioned for my employees and fighters to stay where they were. Evidently, Blur had told them. They didn’t seem too surprised to see me instead of Darius.
“Come after all the old ones are off the plane. Blur, help Reptile take care of everyone. Glass can be led to Arria’s employee area when you are done with the rest. Tell Apollo to take care of her.” I told him. He gave a nod and a smile.
Arria met me at the base of the steps. She wrapped her arms around me so tight she nearly popped my head off from the pressure.
The old ones came down the steps to see Lorac and Dmitriy waiting for them. Most of the old ones, both groups, hung their heads. Together, we all marched through the Jimmy Hendrix complex to Feng’s council chamber. The purple maze was a most welcome sight.
I felt a little off when I walked through the gold doors. I smiled widely. I heard his laughter in my head. Our procession stopped in front of the semicircle of seats. Arria, Lorac, and Dmitriy took their places among the council.
Feng called everyone to order. I looked around at the council members to see anger and amusement. Agda, Aegeus, and Alethea were angry. Lorac, Arria, Dmitriy, and Sabina were amused. Alexander was new to me. He held a steady gaze. Feng looked troubled.
“Titan, please bring us up to date.” Feng ordered.
“Once we reached Gregor’s facility…” I related the tale. I looked at each council member before speaking again. “I would ask for leniency for all.”
“How can we show leniency? They took part in illegal fights.” Agda stated loudly.
“These vigilantes killed old ones without permission!” Saul countered. “They are just as bad as we are.”
“Silence!” Feng ordered. He looked around at the old ones behind me first. He then turned to me. “This is unheard of Titan. We have our customs. If you break one of the serious rules, you are sentenced to death. How can I justify letting them go?”
“Put every one of them on a thousand years’ probation. If they break even a minor rule, kill them. If they can show the willingness to abide by the council’s rules from now on, they can live. That should apply to all of them. The violator’s and the vigilantes are all equally guilty.” I took a breath. “They are also good. All of them. If I hadn’t thought these old ones were worth the effort, I would have let them kill each other. Hell, if they were bad, I would have helped them die. I understand this is different and the council doesn’t like different.”
Agda cut me off.
“Enough! You’re overstepping your boundaries, Titan. We will not be told what we should and shouldn’t do. We are the council, not you.” Agda’s anger was getting the better of her.
“I vote with Titan’s suggestion. I think he has earned this request. I would agree in principle anyway. He is right, these are good old ones. Violators included.” Dmitriy said, boldly.
“I second Dmitriy. I agree with Titan.” Sabina announced.
“I vote for Titan’s suggestion.” Arria said, with a smile.
“I vote the same.” Lorac added.
“I vote against.” Agda sneered.
“Against.” Aegeus.
“Against.” Alethea.
“Alexander?” Feng asked. “What is your vote?”
Alexander looked around at everyone. His gaze was steady. I couldn’t read anything from him. He leaned forward before speaking.
“I vote for Titan’s idea.” He finally said.
“This is an outrage! How are we supposed to enforce the laws if we are allowing these kind of violations?” Agda shouted.
“That’s enough, Agda.” Ares declared as he appeared between me and Feng.
Every vampire behind me took a step or two back. Sweetie and I had some space now. Of the council members, only Arria and Lorac remained in their seats. Arria was still smiling. Lorac was trying not to laugh.
“Ares!” Feng finally said. “How dare you come here!”
“Shut up, Feng. I have business to attend to.” Ares gave Feng a look that would have made me crap my pants if it were directed my way. “It seems some of the council members are making the laws up as they go along. Not only that, but they are trying to enforce them the wrong way. Some of you never learn.”
Ares stopped to look around. He smiled when he saw Sweetie.
Agda used the diversion to try and run. Ares had her around the throat on her second step.
“Sit down, Agda. I wasn’t through yet.” He let her go. She stumbled back to her seat rubbing her neck. “Agda here, decided a few things. One, she wanted Titan to die.”
This time he was more gentle. He stopped Arria before she could reach Agda. He smiled and led Arria back to her seat.
“All in due time, Arria. Agda’s second decision was to create this band of vigilantes. She didn’t trust Titan to bring the others to justice. Before we all start thinking too harshly of Agda, you should know that Aegeus had as big a role as she did. He also wants Titan dead.” Ares held up his hand this time. Arria stopped without him having to intercede further. “Don’t get too angry at him either. Feng and Alethea went along with all of it.”
Ares smiled. Every eye in the room was trained on Feng now. The council leader.
“This is madness! Why should we listen to you? You have no proof!” Feng argued.
Ares just smiled.
The middle of the room became a section of the lobby room. Feng, Agda, Aegeus, and Alethea were sitting in close proximity.
“I don’t know if I can do that to Arria. I care too much for her and she loves Titan.” Alethea said.
“He is already so powerful! He will end up killing us, Alethea. He is only months old and he is a match for Gronk. He didn’t even use his gifts during that fight. We can’t let him live!” Agda stated vehemently.
“He has so much influence over Arria and Lorac that I have to question their votes now.” Feng stated. He looked sad. “I actually like him but Agda’s right, he must die.”
“But what about the illegal fights? If we kill Titan who will stop the fights? The special guard won’t be back for a month.” Aegeus questioned. Agda moved forward in her seat to get their attention.
“I’ve spoken to several old ones. They seem to agree. I believe with a little urging we can get them to take care of things themselves. Gronk is actually the one who gave me this idea. He said Hermes was as troubled by those fights as he was.” Agda was visibly warming to the other council members. “We can make sure this group knows not to admit to our involvement. We will tell Gronk to take the blame.”
“Good, it has to be directed somewhere else. We can’t be tied to it in any way.” Feng stressed. “How will we kill Titan? That will be harder. We can’t count on even Gronk for that.”
“I will do that myself. I already have a plan. Blur has been working for me for over eighty years. I tried to bribe Reptile, the one acting as Darius second, to help. He refused saying he wouldn’t betray Darius.” Agda threw up her hands in disgust. “Reptile is known to be a traitor, spy, assassin, or whatever your money needs him to be. But he wouldn’t go ag
ainst Darius.”
“Why not?” Feng asked.
“He said that Darius was pure. He said no old one cared for his fighters or employees the way Darius did. He said he would serve Darius faithfully.” Agda’s frustration was easy to see. “How is everyone being fooled by him? No one is that good.”
“What is your plan to kill Titan?” “Aegeus asked.
“Simple, the next time I am at the same event, I will end him. I will wait until he is alone in his room and I will finally get to kill him.” Agda’s malicious smile was frozen in place as Ares paused his illusion.
“This is the true Agda. Manipulative and paranoid. I was glad to hear that Titan recognized Blur for what he is. You can see the truth behind these council members just as Reptile saw the goodness in Titan. For all those who are wondering, I watched Arria, Lorac, Alexander, Dmitriy, and Sabina as well. They are clean and are doing a great job. I have no problem with those five members of the council.” Ares waved a hand to let everyone know to watch the illusion again.
“Like I said, I like Titan but I fear him too much. Do what you need to do Agda.” Feng said.
“I agree.” Aegeus stated firmly.
“I will hate this for Arria. I agree though.” Alethea was saddened but not enough to do the right thing.
The illusion faded away. Ares paced for a moment to allow everyone the chance to fully understand what they had seen.
“The rules for breaking the laws are clear as Agda pointed out earlier. The infraction of murder and conspiracy to commit murder is punishable by death. Is there any objection to my carrying out the punishment?” Ares looked around.
“I object to one part.” Arria spoke as she stood from her chair. “I will handle Agda’s punishment.”
“As you wish, Arria.” Ares said, with a big smile.
Agda tried to back away. Arria smiled and attacked. Agda tried to fight but it was useless. The fight lasted four seconds before Agda’s head was removed from her neck.
“You can’t do this!” Feng shouted. “I am the council leader!”
Feng’s head hit the floor before the echo of his words faded. Ares was standing in the same place. I hadn’t seen him move. I looked around to see if the other council members would run. Aegeus and Alethea were already dead. I never even saw him move.
Chapter 25
“…was so fast I never saw him move.” I finished relating the tale to my friends.
“I only wish I had been there!” Ghost said, shaking his head. “I was intimidated by Ares but I don’t know if it was enough. Those were council members! They are the fastest and strongest of our kind.”
We were sitting in Apollo’s room. Apollo and Jade were sitting on the bed, holding hands. That made me feel all warm inside. The rest of us brought in chairs from the other rooms. Glass was enjoying the group so far from what I could tell.
Arria and the surviving council members needed to remain to sort through everything. I knew I had some time to kill. Apollo and these friends seemed to be the logical destination.
Ares and Sweetie were, um, catching up. They seemed to want some alone time. I wasn’t going to argue with him.
“I am glad Saul will live. He wasn’t as good as you but he wasn’t bad.” Glass had a smile that looked like it would remain for some time.
“I liked him. I hope he can forgive me one day.” I regretted the possible loss of a lot of friends. Both sides had old ones I really liked.
“I’m going to have to ask Sweetie about that meeting hall thing. You really stood between that many old ones knowing they might all attack you?” Speedy asked.
“It was the only way I knew to save them.” I stated simply.
“Still, that is a huge risk. I am glad it worked but you should try to be more careful.” Loki suggested.
“I hope I’m not in any more situations like that for a while. I’ve had my fill of excitement.” I smiled and enjoyed the company of good friends for the next few hours.
Chapter 26
“They won’t learn. I guess I will make an appearance every so often and clean house a bit. It seems to be what I do.” Ares had a sad smile.
“It’s not all you do. You’re making a habit out of saving my life. I am very thankful for that.” I told him sincerely.
Sweetie was spending time with Apollo and the gang. It had been a while. She wanted to give me and Ares time to catch up.
Arria had more council work to handle. She was due back soon though. It was just Ares and me sitting in Arria’s suite.
“Our gift comes with responsibility. You’ve already seen that. Sweetie told me what happened at Gregor’s. You were taking a big chance. You wouldn’t have survived.” Ares said, sternly. “I can’t keep you alive if you are taking those kind of risks.”
“Believe me, I wanted to be anywhere but there. Those were good ones though. All of them. I couldn’t let them kill each other. I am hoping to avoid that type of situation until I am really able to back it up.” I laughed. It surprised him. “In a way, you saved me at Gregor’s too. The fear of me is what made them come here peacefully. You placed that fear, now they see me the same way.”
“I guess so.” He thought for a moment. “How did you like being an old one?”
“Some parts of it were great. The pride I felt when my fighters won was unexpected. The pain when they lost was horrible. The turning of the newbies was the worst. I hope I never turn another human.” I thought of Hector. He was sad all the way around.
“I am a little more than twelve hundred years old. I’ve never turned anyone. I never will.” He sat forward. I could see he was worried about something. “Cronus told me to kill you. He knew the pain it would cause Arria but he is like the other old ones. He fears what he can’t control. Cronus is basically good. He does have faults though. He is scared you will turn bad despite my assurances you won’t. I refused him. I told him I wouldn’t kill you. He then asked that I keep an eye on you to make sure you stay on the right path. That, I agreed to.”
“You know me as well as anyone does. If I ever turn bad, I hope you do kill me. I know the day will come when you will be the only one who can. I am afraid of that. I’ve seen the corrupt, the power hungry. I don’t want to be like that. Ever.” I was being honest and he knew it. He nodded knowing I meant every word.
“Thanks for keeping Sweetie safe. She wasn’t ready for that kind of situation. I talked her into the whole scheme thinking I would be there to protect her.” Ares laughed. “When I saw Darius, I knew something was up. I remembered killing him. He was an arrogant little prick. I looked through your illusion and figured out you were doing the same thing we were. I was going to make contact with you when I overheard Blur talking to Agda on the phone. He was in an empty corridor. I was invisible so he couldn’t see me. Agda was asking him to try and kill you. He was too scared to try.”
“I never had proof but I suspected Blur. I cut him off as far as the information went. I never could explain why I didn’t trust him anymore.”
“The mind reading. You would be surprised what it can really do. You won’t be strong enough to control that side of it for a while. It is still working though. You will get information that you weren’t looking for.”
“Good to know. On a related note, I found out that I can’t mix the gifts. I was planning how I would handle everything during the attack we were expecting. I multiplied myself and tried to make the clones invisible or teleport, among other things. None of it worked. I thought they were good ideas but I couldn’t make it happen.”
“I’ve never tried that.” Ares got a look of deep concentration. “It should work. Hold on.”
Ares made four clones of himself. He looked at one and it went invisible. He looked at another and it teleported. A third shot a spike through its arm. The fourth flew.
“Damn. I guess I was doing it wrong.” I uttered.
“I have a lot more experience using the gifts. You will learn some of the tricks as you go. Don’t worry abou
t it.” He assured me. The clones dispersed.
“I hope I never need them again. At least not to that extent.”
Our talk was interrupted when Arria entered the room. She saw Ares and smiled.
“I never got to thank you properly, Ares. You’ve become one of my favorite vampires. This makes twice you’ve saved Titan. If there’s ever anything I can do for you, just let me know.” Arria’s sincerity was obvious.
She came over and sat on my lap.
“I will remember that. Believe me, I am helping Titan for selfish reasons. I hope that one day I won’t have to feel solely responsible for cleaning up when the old ones get too out of control. Four out of nine, Arria. The council has never been that bad before.” Ares sounded sad.
“I knew Agda might become a problem. Aegeus and Alethea always had their faults but I didn’t see them as truly as I thought. Feng was the kicker. He had us all fooled. Here’s the funny part, Ephraim is one of the replacements.” Arria told us.
Ares laughed. I was shocked he would be considered but I knew it went by age. They should have a clause for mental instability though.
“That should make for some interesting council meetings.” I said.
“I might be back sooner this time. Poor Ephraim isn’t right in the head.” Ares stood as he spoke.
I gently stood Arria up so I could rise as well.
“Thank you again, Ares.” I said. I held my hand out. He shook it firmly.
“No problem, Titan. Try and stay out of trouble for a while.” He smiled. With a nod to Arria, Ares left the suite.
Chapter 27
I woke to the most beautiful sight my mind could comprehend. Arria slept peacefully in my arms. I resisted the urge to squeeze. I didn’t want to wake her. I wanted to watch her sleep.
Her long black hair was pulled away from her face. I could see every perfect feature. I felt her smooth skin pressing against me. This was heaven.