“I have lived a very long life,” she began, more gently, “and if there is one thing I’ve learned for certain it’s that nothing is impossible. Do you love him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well you better figure it out before it’s too late. Charlotte wants him back, and if she gets her claws into him, the man you know might cease to exist.”
This jolted Quinn. “You said she’s a monster. Surely he would never…”
“The heart wants what the heart wants. Losing her almost killed him. I’ve never seen anybody suffer such heartbreak. And we cannot underestimate Charlotte – she’s exceptionally clever and she’s conniving. She’ll prey on his weaknesses.”
Quinn didn’t want to talk about Drake anymore. The thought of him with this evil woman made her stomach churn.
“Do you have any idea how Charlotte plans to take down the City?”
“She won’t; not yet anyway. She’s after the crystals.”
It was a brilliant plan. Without the crystals, the Guardians would have no fail-safe, and all the Fae magic would be destroyed along with Summerfeld. Still, Quinn hesitated. Believing Lenora’s story meant that she was choosing to trust a vampire over her own people. What if this was all a ploy to weaken them from the inside, planting a tiny seed of doubt that would fester and spread discord through the Guardianship like a cancer.
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“You don’t,” Lenora shrugged, turning the tables on Quinn with her next words. “It comes down to whether or not you trust Drake.”
Chapter 35
After a sleepless night Quinn made the decision to confide in Isaiah about the possibility that a Guardian had betrayed them. She could not carry this burden alone and, as Isaiah had not left Cliffdale for centuries, he couldn’t possibly be the one who was working with Charlotte. As she walked towards the fountain, her fellow Guardians ran through her head. There were the Hunters; Daniel, Blair, Liam, and Garrett, but the Hunters were the most anti-vampire of all, and Quinn couldn’t believe any of them would work hand-in-hand with the creatures they spent their days destroying. But then, the same could be said for all Guardians. Piper was her friend, Braddon her father, she was closest to Tristan, and Monique was only a child. Lucas was the Guardian she knew the least, but even he wouldn’t do this.
Quinn didn’t want to believe any of them could be capable of such a vile act of betrayal, but she couldn’t let nepotism cloud her judgment. It didn’t matter who it was; either way Quinn was going to lose a friend, or worse, another family member. It struck her anew that it had been her father who had found Caleb and brought him through the Gateway. She didn’t want to think that after all these years she had finally begun to understand him, only to have him ripped away from her.
When she reached the Cathedral she expected to find Isaiah in his usual seat at the council table but instead, he was standing in the open doorway. The early morning sun filtered around him and Quinn took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the image before her. Then he turned to face her and she knew instantly that something was wrong.
“I’m glad you’re here, Quinn,” he beckoned her forward. At first she didn’t understand what he was showing her but then, as her eyes adjusted, she spotted three figures descending over the crest of the hill.
“Oh no, he didn’t.” she cursed.
“We have a serious problem,” Isaiah agreed, and they continued to watch as Balthazar, Rowena, and an unknown gypsy girl walked right up to the door of the Cliffdale Cathedral.
“You have some nerve, Balthazar,” Quinn thundered as they drew near enough. The blonde girl beside Rowena looked as though she might die of fright, but Balthazar met Quinn’s gaze levelly.
“I’ve come for my son.”
“You have just signed your son’s death sentence. I told you I would not let him out of the City. What makes you think I would change my mind?”
“I don’t.”
“Then why are you here?”
“My people have left and they will not return. I kept the location of the City a secret, so none but the three of us know how to find it.” He gestured at the two women beside him.
“I fail to see your point.”
“If you will not let Jonas return, I ask that you allow us in.”
“What?”
“Your charms will ensure that we cannot get out again. Once inside, we can never reveal this location to any of our kind. We do not have the luxury of your longevity. Your secret will die with us.”
Quinn gaped. What Balthazar was proposing was ludicrous, but before she could say so, Isaiah interrupted.
“I think you had better come inside.”
The atmosphere inside the Cathedral became more nerve-wracking with every passing second as they waited for Tristan to return. Isaiah had sent him to check whether Balthazar was telling the truth and that the convoy had indeed moved on.
“We can’t let them in,” Quinn said, not for the first time.
“We may not have a choice,” Isaiah pointed out. “If we send them away, there’s no telling what they will do.”
“You know we can hear you, right?” Balthazar muttered. All three of the gypsies had declined a seat at the council table, and were standing a few yards away, in the shadow of King Eldon’s statue.
“Forgive me if I’m not wild about setting you loose among the creatures I have dedicated my life to protecting.”
“We want the same thing, in that respect,” he reminded her.
“Why would you willingly become a prisoner?”
As desperate as he was to see Jonas, it just didn’t make any sense.
“A prisoner?” Balthazar smiled for the first time. “For a thousand years we have searched for this place, with only one purpose; to make it our home. I think the real question here is, why would we ever leave?” They were distracted then as Tristan burst through the doors.
“They’re gone,” he confirmed. “I searched the entire area and there’s no sign of them.”
Daniel and the others arrived shortly after and the gypsies were escorted to a back room while their fate was decided.
“I don’t like it,” Blair, as always, was the most direct.
“Me either,” Quinn agreed, surprised that they were on the same page.
“I don’t think we have much choice,” Daniel sounded angry, but resigned.
By the end of the vote the Guardians were split down the middle. Quinn, Blair, Liam, Garrett and Braddon were against the idea of allowing the gypsies to enter the City, while Isaiah, Daniel, Piper, Monique and Lucas claimed that this was the only way. It all came down to Tristan and all eyes turned to face him.
He met Quinn’s gaze, but she remained impassive, not wanting to influence his decision. This was how it was; they all had their say.
“Let them stay,” he announced eventually. Quinn noticed how he glanced at Monique as he said it, and she realised that he might not have been as impartial as the others believed.
“It’s decided,” Isaiah announced, and he went to fetch Balthazar and the women.
There was nothing else for it. Quinn wasn’t happy with the idea, but in truth they had little choice. Taking the gypsies into the City was the only way to ensure the safety of the wards, although it didn’t endear Balthazar to her, or the others who had been against it. As they stood at the altar she took Balthazar and Rowena by the hand. When Tristan reached for Cosima, she baulked, backing away from him so quickly she knocked into one of the ornate pillars. Confused, Quinn looked to Rowena, who smiled apologetically.
“Cosima should come with us, if that’s okay?” Nodding, Quinn extended her hand to Cosima as Tristan took hold of Balthazar instead.
Nothing could have prepared Quinn for Balthazar’s reaction when they hit the cobbled surface of the courtyard. Taking in the beauty around him, he dropped to his knees and tears pricked at his eyes. The wonder of Summerfeld overwhelmed him. It was clearly almost too much for him to bear. The women
remained standing, but Rowena’s emotion was just as plain to see. She clutched the pendant hanging round her neck, and murmured words Quinn could not understand. Feeling awkward, she raised her brows at Tristan, who shrugged helplessly.
They waited while the three gypsies took a moment to appreciate the splendour of their accomplishment, until Balthazar got to his feet. Rounding on Quinn, he said, with absolute sincerity, “Thank you. You have no idea what this means to us.”
“Tristan will take you to Jonas,” she replied curtly.
“Where are you going?” Tristan asked, loathe to be left alone to deal with the happy reunion. Quinn gave him an apologetic look.
“I need to speak to Isaiah in private.”
“How do you know this?” was Isaiah’s first question when Quinn had finally finished telling him what she had learned. She had known he would ask and she had made the difficult decision to tell him the truth.
“A vampire told me,” she admitted. “I know what you’re going to say, but before you lecture me you need to know that this vampire saved my life. Twice. I trust him.”
For a long moment Isaiah said nothing and Quinn prepared for the worst. The council would go berserk when they found out, but nothing mattered more than keeping the wards safe. She would deal with her punishment later. When he spoke, it was not what Quinn had been expecting.
“I would like to meet him. Could that be arranged?”
“I’m not sure. He’s being watched; the vampire plotting against us is with him.” She knew only too well how this sounded; no doubt Isaiah would jump to the logical conclusion that Drake and Charlotte were in it together, but again, he surprised her.
“This is a very serious accusation. I would like to speak with him, to judge for myself whether I believe him or not.”
“You think there’s a chance he’s telling the truth?” she asked disbelievingly. Isaiah smiled. “Why do you sound so surprised?”
“He’s a vampire; a sworn enemy of Summerfeld.”
“And yet you believe him?”
“I do, but I expected you to react differently.”
“You expected me to berate you?”
“At the very least.”
“You have just told me that Summerfeld is in danger and that a Guardian is working against us. I cannot ignore that, no matter how unbelievable it may seem. With any luck it will prove to be false, in which case I will certainly have something to say, but until then we need to establish the truth.”
“I have a number I can call. I’ll see if it can be arranged,” Quinn promised. “In the meantime, I want Jack and Ava out of harm’s way. If an attack on the City is imminent, they cannot be here.” She couldn’t do anything about the wards, but she could certainly protect the children.
“Agreed. I will see to it that they are sent somewhere safe. Camille will have to go with them.”
“We cannot tell anyone, Isaiah. If Charlotte does have a Guardian on her side, we don’t know who we can trust. Unless you have any idea who it might be?”
“I have my suspicions,” he murmured, “but I prefer to keep them to myself until I have more information. It would do more harm than good to cast doubt over an innocent party. But in the wake of this new threat, I am glad that everyone is here.”
“Fair enough. I’ll go and make that call.”
Quinn stood alone in the clearing that the gypsies had so recently vacated and dialed the number Lenora had given her.
“You know when I gave you my number, I was just being polite,” her feminine voice sighed, “I didn’t expect you to actually use it.”
“I’ve confided in another Guardian. The only one who can help that I know for sure isn’t involved. He wants to meet with Drake.”
“I can get a message to him, but I doubt he’ll risk it. The whole point of me coming to see you was because he couldn’t.”
“Try. Tell him it’s important. We’ll be at the gypsy camp ground two nights from now. He knows where it is.”
Quinn hung up and scanned the clearing absentmindedly. The only sign that anyone had been living here was the grey, lifeless remains of the bonfire. The gypsies were gone; Drake was out of her reach, and someone she trusted had betrayed them. Everything was changing, and something terrible was coming. Quinn could feel it in her blood.
Chapter 36
Drake loathed being confined to the house during the day. He enjoyed the sunlight and the freedom being immune to it gave him. Charlotte sat across from him reading a first edition, while Genevieve was pretending to watch television. Lenora and Genevieve had been difficult to live with, but he had enjoyed their snappy repertoire, and was confident that he could keep them both under control. Charlotte and Genevieve, however, were a different matter. The women’s hatred of one another festered in such close quarters, and he knew it was only a matter of time before they came to blows. The only thing they had in common was their mutual satisfaction with Drake’s apparent renewed interest in the Quest.
He was also finding it harder and harder to resist Charlotte’s advances. She had always had a hold over him; one that he had fought for years to break. Now, confined to her company, his guard was beginning to slip, and she used every opportunity to remind him of how things once were between them.
“We’re leaving tomorrow,” Charlotte announced, not looking up from her book. She had confided in Drake that they were heading for a town called New Haven, and Drake had reacted nonchalantly, while inside his fear flared painfully in his chest. Charlotte had not been lying – she knew the location of the City, and worse, she had an entire vampire army meeting her there.
“What is the plan, once we get there?”
“We single out the Guardians, one by one,” she smiled lasciviously, “kill them, and take their crystals.”
The new Guardians replacing the old would not be able to retrieve the stones. Their lack of training would be no match for the sheer number of vampires that would overrun the town.
“All this time,” Drake injected just the right measure of respect into his voice, “all we needed was the City’s location.”
“We needed a Guardian,” she replied haughtily.
“Who is this Guardian you have enthralled?” he asked casually, but Charlotte didn’t reply. Instead, she glanced across at Genevieve, who had her hand slung across Drake’s lap.
“I don’t like her touching you.” Genevieve glanced up, confusion etched on her brow. “Did you tell her?” Charlotte continued pleasantly.
“Tell me what?” Genevieve asked.
“What happened the other night?” Charlotte said. Drake narrowed his eyes as Genevieve stiffened beside him.
“Not now, Charlotte.” He suddenly wished Tane was here. Charlotte would never be so bold in front of the wolf.
“What happened the other night?” Genevieve’s eyes flickered between the two of them.
“Let’s just say that Drake and I managed to revisit on old times. And it was glorious.” Charlotte stretched, giving a small sigh of content.
“You didn’t…” Genevieve shook her head. Of course he hadn’t, but Charlotte had achieved her aim. She had planted a seed of doubt in Genevieve’s mind.
“Enough,” Drake thundered, getting to his feet. “Genevieve is my mate. She is the one I have chosen and you will respect her as such.”
Charlotte knew he spoke the truth. The past few days she had watched him carefully, and pulled out every stop to seduce him back to her side. She had partially succeeded – she could see it in the way he looked at her. He wanted to return, but Genevieve stood between them, preventing him from fully opening himself up to her.
In the instant that Genevieve’s lips turned up in a smug, arrogant smile, Charlotte leaped from the sofa, landing on top of her. Genevieve’s smile froze as the stake pierced her heart, morphing slowly into a hideous grin of rigor mortis as her body turned grey.
Drake gaped down at the horrific scene before him, his mind refusing to believe what had just happened. Gene
vieve was over five hundred years older than Charlotte. It was inconceivable that she could be bested by such a young vampire, but Charlotte had used the element of surprise, fighting dirty, as she always had. It was a vile act of the lowest order. Charlotte had no honour, no scruples. And Genevieve had underestimated Charlotte’s low cunning.
“There,” Charlotte purred, slipping the stake back inside her skirt, and dusting off her hands as though nothing remarkable had happened. “That’s much better.” Drake wanted nothing more than to seize her by the throat and rip her heart out, but he forced himself to remain utterly calm while Charlotte watched his reaction carefully.
“The council will not be pleased,” he spat out scathingly. “They will punish you.”
“Not if they don’t find out.” She moved closer to him. “I did what you couldn’t. I’ve seen the way you look at me. I know what you really want.” Her voice was hypnotic, and her eyes swam before him. Drake tried to resist, but his lust overshadowed his anger. Hating himself for it, he pulled her toward him, his mouth hard and unyielding against the softness of her lips. Charlotte groaned, and reached for his belt, but the sound of the front door opening jolted them both.
When Tane entered the room, he found Drake and Charlotte standing only inches from one another, their chests heaving. Most of Charlotte’s hair had come free of its knot, cascading messily over her shoulder. Furious, Tane balled his hands into fists. He was about to challenge Drake when the vampire did something unexpected. Raising his arm, he slapped Charlotte across her cheek, hard enough that she stumbled backward.
“You bitch!” Drake roared, and Tane was too shocked to defend his mistress. Charlotte lifted a hand to her face, but Tane was too focused on Drake to notice the satisfied gleam in her eye. “You keep her away from me,” Drake continued, rounding on Tane, “or so help me, I’ll tear her throat out.” Storming past the bemused wolf, he took the stairs two at a time.
“What was that about?”
Guardians of Summerfeld: Full Series: Books 1-4 Page 51