by S. J. Wright
Though she couldn’t see it, his green eyes lit up at her response and his engaging, bright smile was a clear indication of how happy he was to see her.
His arms wrapped around her tightly but briefly for a moment or two before he pulled away slightly to get a better look at her.
There was something in her expression that indicated trouble. He could see fear and sadness radiating from her eyes and her slim body was filled with tension.
“Something’s wrong,” he said gently. “Tell me.”
“I don’t know where to start,” she said.
“Come sit down.”
They arranged themselves comfortably facing each other on the long moss-green sofa. He held one of her hands as she began and as she recounted episodes of the story that caused her pain, he squeezed gently to console and encourage.
“So now all three of them are gone.” She finished on a sob.
He reached over to the coffee table and drew a tissue out of the box sitting there. Handing it to her, he squeezed her hand again.
“First of all, don’t worry about Anne. She’s almost entirely self-sufficient, Sarah. If you were honest with yourself, you would know that to be true. I know you liked to baby her and treat her like a child, but she’s incredibly intelligent and independent.”
Sarah wiped her eyes and crumpled the tissue in her free hand. “I know. I just didn’t want to lose her. She didn’t even say goodbye, Alex.”
“If she had taken the time to do that, what would have happened?” he asked quietly.
Her gaze fell.
“Michael and I would have tried to stop her.”
“Exactly. I always thought that Anne hated being under the supervision of anyone else. She wasn’t the kind to voice her objections very often, but she didn’t like the fact that she and her sister were essentially indebted to Teddy. She told me so.”
He smiled at her tear-stained face.
“You’ll see her again, Sarah. This won’t last forever.”
“What about Sam? Do you think Teddy will allow her to come back now that Michael is stepping forward? I don’t think she will, Alex.”
Samantha and Alex had stayed in touch on a regular basis through e-mail and text messages. He was one of the very few supernaturals that she truly trusted. She had told him several times that she was scared of going back into vampire society. She was aware that several members of the council were not happy about the idea of the girls taking over leadership. It had also been very clear that after the girls’ country vacation, they were expected to return to New York.
“Have you heard from Sam at all?”
“I got a text from her yesterday.”
He didn’t want Sarah to know that Sam had specifically asked him to go to the cabin to check up on Sarah. He knew Sam must be very worried to make such a request.
“She’s back in the city and staying at Teddy’s apartment in Manhattan.”
“She’s okay?”
He nodded.
“She’s upset that she had to leave, but she knows it will take some time to adjust. Sam does miss you. I can tell you that much.”
He didn’t reveal the things Sam had said about Michael. Alex knew that Teddy had turned him back into a vampire. He had gotten that much information from Victoria. The two of them also talked on occasion, though much less often than he and Sam were in communication. Sam was the one who told him about Michael’s dangerous mood and the arguments that had happened between Michael and Teddy since he was turned.
Sarah didn’t know and didn’t need to know, in his opinion. Her anxiety over the whole situation would increase tenfold if she knew Michael was well on his way to becoming a rogue. No. Alex wouldn’t relay that kind of information. He would continue to be there for Sarah as her friend and hope that she might find her way out of the darkness.
He pulled her to him for another embrace and brushed his lips against her soft hair.
“Don’t worry. Everything is going to be okay.”
Chapter 7
The meeting was held in an abandoned warehouse in the Bronx. It wasn’t a popular venue for the vampire council, but they were facing some unusual scrutiny that they hadn’t planned for in advance. It left the group of twenty-seven vampires in an agitated state of mind. For the first time in its history, the council was being actively investigated by the U.S. government. It was not an investigation that would ever show up in a congressional committee. There were a select few in the Department of Homeland Security who were charged with handling the investigation. The public would never be aware. It was the way the department wanted things to go. Investigation, elimination, and no public records of anything having taken place.
The six elders on the council knew that drastic action was necessary if they were to keep the secret existence of vampires from the authorities. They weren’t aware of how far the investigation had already gone, but they were nervous and to get a plan in place, they needed a strong leader.
To the surprise of many there, it was Michael who came forward to take on that role. He strode into the echoing dirty warehouse as if he were a general on the warpath. As always, he commanded attention the moment he entered the room. He wore a dark suit that had been tailored to accent his wide shoulders and trim hips. The sheen of it lent a polished look to the whole ensemble. The council had never seen him like this. Before his incarceration, Michael tended to dress casually, no matter the event. His attire was a statement he was making to all of them.
His eyes had taken on a silver gleam and the way his dark lashes and eyebrows accentuated that unique color caused several of the female vampires in the room to catch their breath. His hair looked artfully tousled. It was clear that he had undergone some extra preparation for this meeting.
Michael noted the huge Siberian tiger panting from its spot against the wall behind the long table where the council members had arranged themselves. Some of the vampires were known to have animal companions, but he had never seen a tiger sit in on a council meeting. He eyed the vampires assembled there with caution.
They were all familiar to Michael, except for the young African-American man standing behind Charlie’s chair. He knew it had to be Dumas, the seer. Dumas was exceedingly tall and built like a tank. His clothes were well cut and looked relatively expensive. There were interlocking tattoos circling his neck in a tribal pattern that Michael couldn’t quite decipher. It appeared as if Dumas were the only human in that vast decaying space.
The elders sat close to each other at the long makeshift table. They were silent as Michael approached, but some of the less powerful members made the mistake of whispering to each other under their breath about the changes they saw in the vampire whose aim was to be their new leader. They mumbled about the astonishing demise of their brother, Vincent and the terrible defection of Isaiah who had been with the council since it’s inception in the early 1800’s.
This powerful vampire walking towards them had been at the center of many controversial events in their history. He was hated, admired, feared, and respected by his undead brethren. It was with some reservation that they considered the idea of making him their sovereign.
Michael stopped in front of the council and his gaze passed from one familiar face to another. Charlie was beaming; Madeline was elegantly alert; Nathaniel Croft looked sour. They knew Michael. It was this group of vampires who had condemned him to imprisonment in Indiana; he found it ironic that they needed his help now.
“Thank you all for coming,” he began. “This last century has been a difficult one for us. We have faced enormous challenges against our efforts to maintain our privacy and way of life here in the United States.”
As he spoke, his eyes moved over each of the elders.
Madeline Taylor was the only elder on the council who had been born in America. She had known Michael since he came ashore with Captain Jones after a particularly fruitful capture of a Spanish galleon in the Caribbean. Hers had been one of the few dissenting opinions on wh
ether Michael should be imprisoned. She trusted him more than she trusted Teddy.
Madeline nodded respectfully at him as he addressed the group with confidence.
“Some of you know me better than others here today. I will admit that some of my decisions in the past were not made with the council’s wellbeing in mind. I understand that some of you still have reservations about me taking control. Your opinions are appreciated, and I look forward to speaking with each of you individually after this meeting. But first,” he said. “We must deal with the most pressing issues that threaten us.”
He gestured to Sam, who had come in behind him with Teddy. They had brought in a portable screen for the meeting, which would display the information on Michael’s new laptop computer. He had learned the basics of putting together a presentation and with a great deal of help from Sam, he was prepared to present some strategies to deal with the multitude of problems facing the council.
Sam turned on the projector and Michael brought up his first slide.
“If ah kin interject, Michael …” Nathaniel Croft raised one finger as he spoke. Michael nodded respectfully. Although he wasn’t thrilled with being interrupted, he knew that he needed to show everyone there he could control his temper. He would have to watch Croft carefully in the weeks and months ahead.
Croft tilted his bald head and began to speak in his deep Scottish brogue. “Some o’ us ur concerned that ye kin change yer mind aboot leadin’ us. We ken that ye hud a serious kinship wi' Sarah Wood.”
They all watched Michael expectantly. It was widely known that when Michael had become human again, he had retreated to Indiana to live with Sarah.
He acknowledged Croft’s comment with a brief nod.
“I did have a relationship with Miss Wood. However, when the magnitude of the problems facing the council was made clear to me by Theodora, I reconsidered. My loyalty at this point is with the council and the vampire race.”
Madeline felt the need to defend Michael. “Some of you know that when Michael makes a commitment, he does not do so lightly. He is not perfect. Most of us in this room have had relationships with humans at one time or another. The point is that he has returned, despite strong emotional attachment elsewhere, to assist us in our time of need. I am grateful for his help and urge you all to cooperate. You will find his leadership to be fair, comprehensive and bold.”
A little over half of the assembled vampires banged their fists on the table in a traditional gesture of support. Croft wasn’t one of them. Michael thanked Madeline with a half grin.
“Do you have any further immediate concerns, Croft? Anything that can’t wait until after the presentation?” Michael asked pleasantly.
“Thay kin wait.” Croft steepled his fingers before him on the table and thoughtfully regarded Michael with alert gray eyes. It would take a great deal of compromise to be able to effectively deal with Croft. He knew the Scot was hotheaded at times and a bit unpredictable, but Michael himself had made more than a few mistakes. He had killed innocents. He had killed other vampires. Were they all that different?
“Very well,” Michael continued. “Let’s continue.”
The council was soon up to date. Teddy’s spies had managed to wedge themselves into selective spots in the Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms as well as the FBI, and were proving their worth. The information they’d gathered was essential to tackling the problems the council faced—the biggest of which was the highly classified investigation into the “possible existence” of vampires in the U.S.
The evidence had been piling up for decades, but the one thing that had changed the whole game was the cell phone video of Michael attacking three young men on a highway before the huge showdown in Chicago that left Isaiah, Vincent, and Amanda dead. Teddy’s sources had confirmed that Homeland Security had retained the video as evidence and they were apparently trying to track down the two men that Michael had turned into vampires that night.
“Brett Chanders and Garrett Wilson have been in hiding for quite awhile. What I plan to do is hire them on as part of my security detail,” Michael told the council.
“What if someone recognizes them?” Charlie asked. “Isn’t that just putting us in more danger?”
Michael leaned over the table and in his eyes, they saw power in that moment. They saw something they hadn’t seen in centuries.
“I want them to be recognized by those who are investigating us. The U.S. government knows we are here. We can’t turn back time and I don’t intend to hide.”
A chorus of opposing voices rose up, but Michael held up both hands to quiet them.
“I’m not talking about exposing ourselves to the general public. I’m simply saying that if the government knows what we are, then perhaps it’s time to try to work with them. I won’t run. I won’t let you run either. Some of us were here before the Revolution. This is our home. We simply need to stake our claim.”
“How d’ye think to bring this aboot, Michael?” Croft asked in between the alarmed whispers of his colleagues.
“We let them know we are aware of their investigation and that we won’t be driven out or exterminated. We continue to place our spies in high offices. They will want an agreement to be drawn up if we can convince them that getting rid of us will be too costly for them.”
Teddy stepped forward from the shadows at that point. She had remained silent until then, just observing the way Michael was handling the council and the reactions he was eliciting from them. It was time to reveal the real reason she was choosing to step away from the council and from the states.
“I know all of you. I know your pasts and some of your secrets. We have managed to weed out several bad apples from this council over the last few years. Isaiah and Vincent were brothers to us in our cause. They are gone now because they wanted far too much for themselves. We need to be united as a family again. I fear this government investigation is not the worst of the demons we must vanquish. Three weeks ago, I received a telephone call from Lucas, a vampire I know in Russia.”
This was news to Michael. His eyes narrowed as he watched her speak.
“He told me that Marrok has woken his children.”
Every elder on the council had a similar reaction to that short sentence. There was a round of hissing among them and fear etched onto each face. These were the faces of vampires hundreds of years old, who had seen the fall of empires. Yet, that short sentence sparked enough fear in the old ones to leave them reeling.
“Teddy. Explain what this means,” Michael said stiffly. She had left him out of the loop on this and he felt resentment against her coiling inside his gut.
“Marrok was the only enemy of the first vampires ever to walk this earth. He was a man, but something more than man. We have all known changelings; they are not generally known to be evil creatures. But, Marrok was able to become any animal at will and he passed this ability down to his children. When our great Heiress of the Night, Akuji, drank the blood of Marrok’s firstborn son, Marrok swore that he would have everlasting revenge. Before his death, he anointed each of his eight children with the blood of a witch and declared that even after his mortal death, he would teach his children that vampires must be destroyed.”
Lauren, a newer member of the council spoke up.
“I’ve read about this. I thought it was only a legend.”
An ancient female with bright green eyes looked over at her with barely disguised contempt.
“Legends always hold an element of the truth, child,” she cackled dryly. “Marrok died in Akuji’s arms, all the while cursing her and any vampires she might create.”
The old vampire reached into a pocket of her ragged velvet cloak and pulled out a tiny leather bag.
“In this, there is truth. One of the medallions that Marrok’s family made to be handed down to each generation.”
She opened the bag and dropped a metal object on the table before sliding it to the center so that they all
might see it. The symbol engraved into the metal seemed familiar to Michael, but he couldn’t place it. When the elders saw what had been put in the middle of the table, some pushed away from the table and stood up, shock distorting their features. Michael looked at Teddy and was stunned by the look on her face. Her eyes were huge and dark against the ivory tone of her gaunt cheeks. Her lips were devoid of all color.
“Edinna, who did you take this from?”
The crone turned to the tiger.
“Her.”
The eyes of the huge animal flicked back and forth from Edinna at the table to Teddy, who was standing next to Michael. The end of its tail flipped up teasingly and it yawned, eliciting a lazy low growl from its throat.
“What is it?” asked Charlie, who was peering more closely at the medallion. It glittered against the rust and dust of the table top, commanding the attention of everyone there; except for one little girl.
“It’s a key,” Teddy answered. “To open the doors of hell.”
No one was watching Sam. She had been sitting quietly in an extra chair near the huge sliding doors, listening to something that didn’t seem real. She heard an odd humming sound that didn’t seem like anything she’d heard in her long life.
Somehow it’s coming from this room.
She looked at the tiger, who had fixed her in its sights and would not look away. She felt cold all over, as if she were human again. It didn’t make any sense. Then she heard a change in the hum. It rose and fell, and became a voice she didn’t recognize.
“Hello, Samantha.”
The tiger tilted its head to one side. Sam made the connection.
“Um… Michael?”
Chapter 8
The rain had finally stopped in Brown County. The sun had dived back into the bright green landscape like a welcome friend. Robins flicked the raindrops off their wings and head with quick little shakes. Butterflies began to move across the expanse of Sarah’s backyard like quiet little fairies celebrating a pagan sun festival. Their bright wings and fanciful flying did little to cheer the young woman watching them from the upstairs window of the cabin.