by Sean Stone
“What?” William said, although playing ignorant was unlikely to get him anywhere.
“Langford had me locked up there for a long time, Will. Do you really think I don’t know what they were doing? I turned that place inside out months ago. There aren’t any weapons,” said Richie.
“They could have moved them, hidden them somewhere. They have labs all over the country,” William said. “If Clara owns the company then I can search all of the buildings.”
“Clara? Why her?” asked Richie.
“She already has a large portion of the shares, it would be easier for her to buy more than for me to start from nothing,” William explained.
“Fair enough. I’ll give you the money, Will, but I need a couple of things in return,” Richie said. Nothing comes free.
“What do you need,” William asked, prepared to agree to almost anything. Richie would never ask anything too big of William, he had respect for him which was more than he had for most people.
“First, your guarantee that those weapons will not be used on the clan.”
“I guarantee it,” William said without hesitation.
“Second, those weapons aren’t to fall into coven or pack hands.”
“Absolutely. That’s why I want them. To keep them out of the fighting.”
“Third, you give us the Murston ward.”
William had been trying to keep Murston a neutral zone but the clan was trying to push into it. William felt that the town needed some neutral wards and at present only the town centre was neutral; the other wards were all controlled by either the clan, the coven or the pack. If he gave up Murston then all hopes of fulfilling his neutral wards agenda would be shot, but he didn’t have a choice. Still, he could push for a little something more to make the deal sweeter.
“If I give you that ward you’ll have over half of the town; will you stop fighting the other factions?” William presented it as a question so as not to seem like he was pushing for more. Richie was being more than generous giving the money with those three conditions and he didn’t want him to change his mind.
“No,” said Richie and then he smiled. “But I admire your balls for asking so I’ll tell you what. Agree to my terms and I’ll try and make peace with the wolves.”
It was an offer too good to turn down. One out of two was better than zero. “Done,” William said at once and Richie extended his hand. William reached out and shook it enthusiastically. He’d forgotten how easy Richie was to deal with.
“Good lad,” Richie said and downed the rest of his blood. “So, has there been any noise from Nick?” He tried to make the question seem casual, but William recognised the nervousness in his voice. Worry was something alien to Richie so when it did surface it was easy to spot. Richie had had a hand in trapping Nickolas fifty-four years ago, and now that Nickolas had his powers restored he would more than likely be coming for some payback.
“No, he’s out of town, has been ever since he killed Arthur,” said William.
“I’ve got guys watching his house, keeping an eye on his disciples but they never leave. I want to know what they’re up to in there but I obviously can’t get in.” One of the downsides to vampirism was not being able to enter a house without an invitation.
“I’m keeping my team well away from that house,” William said before Richie asked him to send someone in. “I’m not going to risk upsetting any of the Thirteen. Who knows what they might do to the town.” The Thirteen was the name they were known by across the world, Nickolas and his twelve disciples.
“Wise move.”
“I’ll let you know if I hear anything, though,” William said.
“Thanks, Will. If you leave some bank details at the bar I’ll get the money wired over in the morning,” Richie said as he stood up. “And don’t be a stranger, Will. You’re always welcome here.”
He had another drink with Richie and then headed straight back to the station. He had a lot of preparations to make for Clara in order for her to buy the shares as soon as they entered the market. At least he could go about his night knowing that the war between the factions had eased up a bit, or at least it would as soon as Richie arranged a truce with the pack. Now all he had to do was arrange peace between the rest of them and then maybe MI5 wouldn’t come storming through the town.
*
CHAPTER FOUR
Victor had been listening to Richie’s meeting with William from the study next door, and he didn’t much care for the terms of the deal.
“You’re just going to give him the money?” Victor asked as he entered the sitting room.
“I’m not giving it to him, he’s giving me something in return,” Richie said, he was pouring himself another glass of blood. He’d been feeding a lot more since returning to the clan.
“I don’t think that what William is giving quite weighs up to what he’s receiving,” said Victor.
“Well, it doesn’t matter what your think. I’m in charge not you,” Richie said harshly. He’d been somewhat hostile towards Victor ever since he recovered from catatonia. Victor thought that Richie was trying to remind him who was the high elder of the clan. If that was the case then it was entirely unnecessary; Victor had never enjoyed leading the clan, he’d only done so because it was his duty.
Richie fell back into his chair and sipped at his blood.
“Very well,” said Victor, as he slipped into the other chair. “There have been sightings of Jeremy in town,” he said carefully. Richie had a habit of switching instantaneously into Mr Hyde when Jeremy was mentioned, he was after all the one who had given Richie up to the council.
“Where?” he demanded, sitting erect.
“Hanley,” said Victor, knowing that Richie would come to the same conclusion he would. The Winters Research building was on the Hanley Industrial Estate.
“He’s looking for the weapons too,” Richie replied. “Good thing there aren’t any.” He relaxed again.
“I was more concerned about what his purpose might be. The council he was working for is gone, so who is working for now?”
“Just because he handed me over to the council doesn’t mean he was working for them, he might just have made a deal with them,” Richie suggested, looking absently into his drink.
“To what end?” Victor had spent a lot of time thinking about Jeremy’s motivation and could never quite figure him out. It was true that Jeremy had given Richie to the council, but he was also the one who brought Richie back. Maybe he thought Richie would never regain his senses and that there was no danger in bringing him home.
“Maybe he wanted to be the high elder,” said Richie. He flopped his legs over one of the arms of his chair.
“I don’t think so, he never seemed overly ambitious. He was never interested in promotions, he didn’t even seem to care when I put him on the elders’ council.” A mistake that Victor had not yet managed to put behind him.
“Well, I don’t think he’s working alone, so who is he working with, or for?” said Richie. He closed his eyes. Victor could tell that he was enjoying the buzz from the excessive amount of blood he’d consumed.
“Perhaps the new mayor isn’t as dormant as he would have us believe?” Victor said. He’d spoken to Bradley Carter a few times when he was leading the clan and although he was never as bad as Jonathan he’d still collaborated on a lot of his schemes.
“You think he might have Jeremy working for him? Alright, go talk to the mayor, see what he has to tell us,” Richie said, smiling.
“What about negotiating with the pack?” Victor asked. Richie had agreed to make peace with the wolves and if they were going to do it then sooner would be preferable, the longer they waited the more blood would be spilled.
“It’s the full moon tonight so it’s probably best that we avoid them until it wanes,” said Richie. “Also, send some guys to Hanley to find Jeremy. I want him alive.”
“Consider it done,” Victor replied and headed for the door.
“W
here are you going?” Isabella said just as Victor was about to get in the car. He left Dwayne holding open his door and turned to his daughter.
“I’m going to speak with the new mayor, to see what he knows about Jeremy,” Victor explained.
“Alone on a full moon? Is that smart, Father?” asked Isabella.
“The werewolves aren’t going to cause us any bother, according to my sources they’ve agreed to behave themselves this full moon as payment for receiving help from SIT.” Victor had his vampires on the streets at night gathering intel, and during the day, he had a group of humans keeping an eye on certain people for him. Every now and then one of them got caught but the majority stayed under the radar.
“And what about the coven?” Isabella said.
“They wouldn’t dare touch an elder,” Victor replied.
“I would. If I saw you walking about by yourself I’d snatch you off the street. A clan elder would make a good bargaining tool, especially the high elders closest friend,” said Isabella. Her logic was good, but she overestimated the friendship between Victor and Richie. These days they weren’t as close as they once had been.
“Get in the car,” he muttered, it was pointless arguing with her when she wanted something, best just to let her have it.
Bradley’s house was in the town centre, most of the council had relocated to the only neutral district in town, living elsewhere was too much of a danger for them; the majority of the cabinet members had already been killed when Victor had led an attack on the town hall. The houses weren’t as nice in the town centre but they were better than some, and they were safe. Bradley had a chosen a modest house, semi-detached with a small garden. Living less lavishly was a wise move, even the humans had grown tired of the council, all they saw was a bunch of rich people hoarding the town’s money and lording it over the little people. Arthur Winters and his coven had helped promote that image of the council when they’d been running for office. Due to the massacre of most of the council cabinet the election had been postponed to October, not that it mattered anymore — the council no longer had any power over the supernatural races.
Victor knocked loudly on the door and waited. In hindsight it might have been better to leave Isabella in the car, she had trouble behaving a lot of the time, she was an impulsive woman. She had killed the former mayor Jonathan Langford against Richie’s instructions — not that Richie seemed all that bothered. It was too late now, though. Bradley opened the door and his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when he saw Victor and Isabella.
“I need to speak to you about Jeremy Devlin,” Victor said, not waiting for Bradley to recover from his shock.
“Who?” Bradley said confused.
“The mole,” said Isabella impatiently.
“May we come in?” Victor asked. He had no intention of having the entire conversation on the doorstep.
“Uhm, no, I don’t think so,” Bradley replied. Smart. Once one has invited a vampire in there’s no taking the invitation back.
“Very well, I’ve got something to show you,” he lied and pulled out a blank sheet of paper from his pocket. When Bradley reached out to take it Isabella seized his wrist and hauled him out into the garden. “Since you won’t let us into the house let’s go and talk in the car,” Victor said and then dragged the mayor through the garden. Dwayne was standing with the back door open and Victor flung Bradley inside before following him.
“There really is no need for this, Marshall handles all your issues now,” said Bradley as he straightened out his clothes. Dwayne closed the door behind Victor and Isabella swung in from the other side, wedging Bradley between them.
“I’m not convinced,” Victor replied. “Tell us about Jeremy Devlin. Is he still working for you?”
“What? No. He was never working for us,” Bradley said.
“Then why did he help you kidnap Richie?” Isabella demanded. Victor could see that dangerous glint in her eye that indicated violence.
“I don’t know, that was between him and Jonathan. If I had to guess I’d say his bosses told him to,” said Bradley.
“And they are?” asked Victor.
“He works for a special branch of MI5. S branch.”
“Original,” Isabella snorted.
“He used to, yes,” Victor said. He knew all about Jeremy’s employment history prior to becoming a vampire.
“He still does. They sent him here to keep an eye on things for them, they told him to get turned into a vampire,” Bradley explained agitatedly.
Neither Victor nor Isabella replied straight away, what Bradley was saying was almost incomprehensible. MI5 put a mole in Cedarstone. They actually sent one of their operatives to become a vampire. “Why?” asked Victor quietly.
“There are people in the government who know about… you. They want the supernatural kept secret and under control. Don’t ask me why probably just stop widespread panic. The fact is, Jeremy was never working for us, he was always theirs and if he’s still in town then he’s most likely still working for them.”
“Why would he set Richie up?” Isabella asked, but Victor already knew the answer.
“Because Richie was trying to take complete control of the town,” Victor explained.
“They saw him as a danger,” Bradley said. “They thought that having vampires in charge was a threat to the nation’s security.”
“A threat to the nation’s security?” Isabella scoffed.
“Do you really think that Richie would have stopped at Cedarstone?” Bradley demanded.
No, Victor thought. He would have wanted to expand his kingdom. Richie had spoken about expanding beyond Cedarstone before. Luckily he’d never managed to enact those plans.
“If Jeremy is still in town then you need to find him before he can tell his bosses what’s really going on here. If they think that I’m not in control then they will send everything they’ve got to Cedarstone,” said Bradley.
“But you’re not in control,” said Isabella.
“I can convince them otherwise so long as people aren’t getting ripped apart in the streets. I’m happy to stay out of your affairs so long as you can keep your affairs in order.”
“I don’t care what you’re happy with and I don’t care if you convince them or not,” Victor said. “I am not afraid of MI5. If they had the power to oppose us they would have done it long ago rather than sending spies.”
Victor got out of the car and gestured for Bradley to leave. Bradley pulled himself out of the car and then turned back but before he could speak Victor slid back into the car and slammed the door shut again.
“Should we be afraid?” she asked as the car pulled away.
“I don’t know. But I want you to put a team together and get Jeremy off the streets now,” he said. He doubted that MI5 or any government agency could do any serious damage to them but it didn’t hurt to be cautious, there were enough enemies in town without bringing in any more.
Richie didn’t seem that concerned about MI5, when Victor told him about it he merely shrugged and said that the clan could handle anything they threw their way. Victor still sent Isabella to find Jeremy and bring him in. He’d sent teams out before but they’d never been able to find him. After three days Isabella had still turned up nothing, even the sightings of Jeremy Devlin had stopped.
Victor was on his way to meet Connor Digby, the werewolf pack alpha. Victor had agreed to meet in Burnham, one of the districts they were fighting over. The first thing Victor noticed when he arrived was that there were far more werewolves than there were vampires, luckily he wasn’t expecting a fight. He also knew that even with fewer numbers the vampires would win in a fight, especially on a waning moon. He followed Connor into the gym, which Connor owned. The gym smelled of mustiness and sweat. Victor wondered how anybody could spend the day here, especially someone who had the sense of smell of a wolf.
Victor had met with Connor several times to try and arrange a truce and each meeting had made him dislike C
onnor a little bit more. It wasn’t because he was a werewolf, contrary to popular belief in mainstream fiction the vampires and the werewolves had no ancient ongoing feud. He disliked Connor because he was a moron. He relied purely on primitive machismo to get what he wanted, he believed that he could intimidate his way through life and unfortunately that act did not work on Victor. Connor also refused to compromise. It was his biggest weakness. No matter how small a compromise Victor asked for Connor always refused.
“So you want a truce?” Connor asked. He walked up to the boxing ring and perched himself on the edge, holding onto the bottom rope with one hand.
“That is correct. What are your terms?” said Victor. He remained standing, he didn’t intend on being there long.
“My terms? The same as they’ve always been, you clear out of Burnham,” said Connor. Victor had tried to talk Richie out of going into Burnham in the first place, there was no sense in starting a war with the pack, but Richie had always been greedy. Victor still didn’t understand why Richie had agreed to make peace with the werewolves, he didn’t owe William Marshall anything, as far as Victor could see it was the other way around.
“If we clear out of Burnham you have to clear out of Marshly,” Victor replied.
“We’re only in Marshly because you lot are in Burnham,” said Connor. He cracked the knuckles on his right hand loudly.
“Do we have a deal?” Victor said curtly.
“Sure, do I need to sign a document or something?” Connor mocked.
“I’ll take your word for it.” Victor turned to leave.
“Hey, why not step in for a quick bout while you’re here, old man?” Connor said mockingly. When Victor turned round he saw that Connor was standing in the ring.
“I may be old but I could run rings around you,” Victor replied dryly. He’d been 64 when Richie turned him and many people assumed he was frail, but vampires strengthened with age and Victor had been growing stronger for over 300 years.