by Sean Stone
“Liv, don’t. Where will you go? You don’t know anybody in the world. I’m all you have,” Nick said, the only thing he could think of to try and make her stay.
“I’m going to help the Winters family fight Apophis before he kills them. If you won’t make up for the things you did in my name then I’ll do it for you,” she said. “Goodbye, Nickolas.” He saw a fresh tear fall from her eye, but before it got half way down her cheek she was gone and Nick was alone.
Chapter 26
There was still a faint lingering pain leftover from the cobra venom. It was like a dull biting sensation nipping at every one of Richie’s nerve endings. Every now and then a wave of weakness washed over him. He didn’t know whether these symptoms would ever depart, or whether or not they were real, he had a strong suspicion that they were psychological. It wasn’t the first time he’d been kept prisoner and tortured, though this time his incarceration had lasted a good deal less than the thirty years Eloise and Jonathan had kept him for. Revenge on Eloise, that was the only thing keeping him going now. He’d been ready to give up. Everyone he loved was gone. Everything he’d built had been taken. Revenge on Ramsay would come first. That plan was already in place. Dean Tenson and Kegan Wilson were working on their half of the plan as Richie made his way to meet Jacob. Richie never thought he’d work with a Tenson, but strange circumstances bred strange alliances. Richie had never had much to do with James, he had been a prisoner during the years that James harassed the town, but Victor had told him plenty of stories to brew a distrust of the man in Richie’s heart.
Another wave of pain lit up his body as he walked down the street. He swallowed hard and it quickly departed. The town was so quiet. Too quiet. He’d often gone on solitary walks at night and never had it been completely void of people as it was now. He heard a vehicle coming and darted into the shadows to avoid being seen. He hated scurrying around like a rat in his own town, but Arthur had warned him of the weaponry these soldiers had and Richie was not yet fully recovered. He couldn’t risk getting captured and returned to a prison. He watched the dark truck drive by slowly. The back was laden with soldiers, each holding a rifle. A strong urge to attack rose up inside. Richie closed his eyes and forced it to back down. He couldn’t allow himself impulsive fancies tonight.
Once the truck was gone he continued walking until he came to the children’s park on the corner of Bower Road. There by the trees he saw a shape. A lone man standing. Jacob. His last lieutenant now that Victor was gone. Richie didn’t even know what had come of Victor’s remains. Nor Isabella’s. In those final moments he’d forgiven Isabella. Not that she ever knew his forgiveness. Seeing her lose her life made him realise that he didn’t want her dead. He might not have killed her or Victor, but it was his actions that brought their deaths about. He would carry that knowledge on his shoulders until the day somebody finally put him down.
Jacob stiffened as Richie approached. He was wise to be wary. Nobody was safe anymore.
“Jacob,” Richie said mildly was he closed the gap between them.
“Richie…” Jacob said. He made no effort to hide his shock. Not just shock, but relief. Richie had to look away. It was clear that Jacob expected Richie to magically fix everything now, but it wasn’t going to be that easy. “I was starting to think Winters had done something wrong.”
“He did,” said Richie. “He accidentally desiccated me.”
“What?”
Richie shrugged. “He fixed his mistake. No harm done.”
“Not by him. Ramsay, however…”
Riche sighed and looked out across the playing field next to the park. “Ramsay.”
“There are still a lot of vampires loyal to you here in town. There aren’t many in the manor, Ramsay banished the ones he knew supported you. He killed a fair few too. But all we need to do is get the word out that you’re back and they’ll flock to you. They’ll help us drive Ramsay out.”
Richie shook his head and met Jacob’s gaze. “All the while Ramsay has his Cultists here with him our Clan can’t drive him out. Not even if the entire Clan was loyal to me.”
“So we find a way to turn the Cultists against Ramsay,” said Jacob.
Richie nodded. “I’ve already started working on that. I’m sorry,” Richie said. He could already hear them approaching.
“For what?” Jacob asked, confused.
“I needed to allow them time to find Michael. For that I had to draw Ramsay out. I knew that he’d be watching you, ever since I was rescued. He’d expect you to lead him to me,” explained Richie.
“You set yourself up” Jacob was having a hard time coming to terms with what Richie was telling him.
“You should run. Before they get here. Ramsay won’t kill me, but he might kill you,” said Richie. He couldn’t have another life on his conscience. Not another friend.
Jacob shook his head. “I’m no coward. I’ll stand with my leader. The true High-Elder of this Clan.”
Richie’s heart beat a little prouder at those words. Even after all his failings this man still stood by him and refused to abandon him to a stronger opponent. That was true loyalty.
“What a surprise,” said Ramsay gleefully, as he approached. Several other vampires were with him, all Cultists Richie noticed. They formed a circle, allowing them no escape. “When I didn’t hear from you immediately after your escape I worried you’d fled town,” he said, smiling throughout. What scared Richie was that he thought Ramsay was genuinely pleased.
“I would never abandon my town to you,” said Richie. The tremor in his voice betrayed him.
“Do I detect a note of fear? I think I do! Have I finally broken the great Richie Morgan? And in such a short amount of time.” Ramsay stepped up to Richie, his face centimetres from Richie’s. Richie refused to back up. He would stand tall despite the overwhelming urge to run that Ramsay inspired in him. “We are going to have so much fun together,” Ramsay whispered. Then in the blink of an eye he was gone and standing in front of Jacob.
“You…” he said, shaking his head with disdain. “You… Oh, you are in trouble. Treachery of the highest order. I was going to kill you on the spot, but now I think not. Now, I think you should have at least a taste of Richie’s punishment. You should know what you almost saved him from. I knew you was behind his escape.”
“Then why didn’t you punish me?” Jacob asked. He didn’t ramble, nor did his voice shake, but Richie could sense the fear on him all the same.
“Because then how would you have led me to Richie?” said Ramsay. He turned to his Cultists. “Come, let’s get my toys home. I have games to play.”
After a day of preparing Arthur was finally ready to initiate his attack on Apophis. James had teleported each Coven member to the Winters’s house. None of them had liked being teleported by a Tenson, but Arthur had convinced them it was necessary. He’d had to explain to each one that he needed to link them all together so he, Clara and Toni could channel their power in the attack. They needed the full power of the Coven, but he was not willing to risk all of their lives by having them all present during the fight. Toni was the conduit for the power, all the magic of the coven was currently travelling through her and into Arthur and Clara.
“Alright, so the three of us will go to Montford Manor and find Apophis,” said Arthur. He looked at Clara who was already about to interrupt him.
“Shouldn’t we leave Toni behind? She’s our link to the Coven, we shouldn’t march her into danger.”
“If we leave her here our link will be weakened,” explained Arthur. “She needs to stay with us.”
“I wouldn’t stay behind if you ordered me to,” said Toni. She’d been ready for a fight ever since she’d said goodbye to Adam. Arthur wondered where he’d ended up. Now wasn’t the time for such ruminations, though.
“Aren’t you worried that even with all this power it still won’t be enough?” asked James. He was standing in the corner of the room, arms folded, listening to everything. “I me
an we know nothing about this guy other than some ancient legends that have travelled through time. Who knows how twisted the truth has become? One thing I am certain of is his power. Nick said he had to be trapped in a bottle for thousands of years because… Well I’m not exactly sure why.”
“And that’s the problem,” Arthur said, standing up. “We don’t know any of the whys. All we have is a horror story from Nickolas Blackwood. But what we do know is that Apophis wants me and Clara dead for some reason. We have to kill him before he makes that dream a reality.”
“It isn’t just about us, though. You said he was a threat to everyone,” Clara said to James. “Imagine if we left him to embark on whatever else he’s planning. We can’t fight him and Eloise. We need to cut him down before he grows too tall.”
James nodded as she spoke. “You’re right. You can count on me for more than just a lift this time.”
Arthur was taken aback. “James, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying I’ll fight with you,” said James. “If you’ll have me?”
Arthur shook his head in disbelief. “Of course we’ll bloody have you. We need all the help we can get.”
“I’m not sure if that was a sneaky insult,” said James with suspicion.
“It wasn’t.” Arthur shook his head. “I am truly grateful for your help, James. Listen, I know I—” Arthur was cut off by a woman teleporting right into the middle of the room. Everybody jumped to action. The entire Coven raised their hands and surrounded her.
“Hold fire!” James yelled. He obviously recognised her. Then Arthur did too, though he did not lower his hands fully.
“Olivia?” James asked. “What are you doing here?”
Arthur noticed her red eyes and wet face where she’d obviously been crying. That wasn’t what concerned him, though. “How did you get in here?”
“James is still linked faintly to Nickolas. All the disciples are as am I now. I tapped into the link and used it to find you all,” explained Olivia.
“How did you know I’d be here?” asked James.
“I didn’t. When I couldn’t find this house I went looking for you and Kristen and Kristen told me you’d be here. That’s when I thought of using the link.”
“I didn’t know there was a link,” said James.
“Neither does Nickolas. I figured it out myself,” she said.
“Very clever,” said James. “Why are you here?”
“I thought you might be planning to fight Apophis. He is trying to kill you after all. I want to help. I want to make up for some of the things Nickolas did in my name,” she explained her voice getting choked when she said his name. Clearly something had happened between them. James was tactful enough not to ask what.
Arthur smiled compassionately. “If you were resourceful enough to get into this house without breaking our concealment spells then I definitely want you fighting on my side.”
That comment made her smile. “If only Nickolas had come too,” muttered Clara, clearly clueless as to how her words might affect Olivia. Olivia ignored it as best she could, but James saw the fresh tear in her eye.
“Nah,” James said casually. “He’d make it too easy and spoil our fun.” Olivia gave him a small smile of gratitude.
“Hang on! Are we supposed to be down with this?” demanded Laurie. “First you make us work with the Tensons and now the Blackwoods?”
“We need all the allies we can get,” Clara said, rounding on her.
“Listen love, I know you have a habit of getting into bed with the enemies, but the rest of us—” She never finished what she was saying because Clara slapped her across the face hard enough to make her stagger.
“If you ever speak to me that way again…” Clara fumed.
“Clara’s right. We can’t choose our allies. We need to take what we can get,” Toni said and nobody argued.
“Let’s get this over with,” said Arthur and those that were going on the fight gathered in the middle of the room ready to teleport.
For the second time that week Dean and Kegan found themselves sneaking into the underground manor via the secret entrance on Hamlet Street. Once again they were seeking to rescue an imprisoned vampire. Richie had admitted to not being able to defeat Ramsay alone, so they needed to get someone who could. Michael Aramaya. Richie was providing a distraction to keep Ramsay out of the manor so Dean and Kegan could find Michael. This whole situation was perverse to Dean, who prior to returning to Cedarstone had made a living as a vampire hunter. Now here he was working with vampires. It was all for the greater good and all that.
“I hope Ramsay doesn’t decide to kill Richie on the spot,” whispered Kegan as they sneaked down a stone corridor.
“Richie was pretty sure he wouldn’t,” replied Dean.
They came to the end of the corridor and turned to find two corridors travelling opposite directions. Unfortunately Richie had no idea where Michael was being kept. It was likely that Ramsay had moved him to a more secure location after Richie’s escape. “I’ll take the right and you…”
“No,” Kegan said shaking his head. “I didn’t get much SIT training before everyone got killed, but I was taught that you never go off on your own in a dangerous location.”
“We don’t have time,” Dean insisted.
“I don’t care. I’m not running around in a vampire lair on my own.”
“Fine,” Dean huffed. “Let’s go left and if that fails we’ll come back and go right,” he said, hoping they didn’t come across more forks later on. A map would have been handy.
They continued walking silently. Dean hadn’t known Kegan long, but they’d been working together an awful lot. He’d found Kegan incredibly annoying at first, but he’d grown on him somewhat. They were still a long way from being friends, but they were making progress. He did wonder why Kegan had stuck around after the murders of SIT. There was nothing left for him and it didn’t make sense. Unless he had a thing for Clara. That thought made Dean uncomfortable.
“Why did you stick around after your team got killed?” he blurted out, unable to keep it out of his mind.
Kegan didn’t answer right away. “Why wouldn’t I” he asked.
“Well, it just seems pointless. I would’ve expected you to go back to the Pack,” said Dean. He realised too late that that was a potential sore spot considering the Pack had recently been exterminated.
“I was never really part of the Pack. Never much liked the Pack life. They always wanted me gone, but I never broke any rules. Not major ones anyway. The only reason I was there was because of my dad was a member. After he died no-one really bothered with me. Just left me to my own devices. When Clara convinced them to donate two Pack members to SIT I was top of the list. I was happy to go too,” he explained. There was no sorrow in his voice.
“But you were still part of the Pack?”
“Yes. In name. Why’d you think they never called me back when SIT was gone? Or when the town got quarantined?”
“Still, it can’t have been easy when the Pack got…”
“I had a couple of friends in the Pack. But I can grieve for them later when we have time,” replied Kegan. Dean respected that.
There was a still a question niggling at Dean, though and he had to address it. “So, what do you think of Clara?” he said with all the tact of a hippopotamus.
“Clara?” Kegan asked, genuinely confused. “She’s alright.”
“Alright?” Dean said defensively. She was better than alright.
“Yeah, I mean, what are you asking?” said Kegan. “Are you asking if I fancy her?” Dean could hear the smirk on his face.
“Well… Do you?” he pushed.
“No, man. I don’t. I take it you do, though?” he said.
“We shouldn’t talk,” Dean said quickly.
“No, no, you grilled me. I think it’s only fair that—”
“Ssh!” Dean snapped, stopping abruptly. Kegan followed suit, seeing the concern on Dean’s face. De
an held his breath and listened, trying to ignore the hammering of his heart. Dean had heard footsteps. Or at least he thought he had. There was nothing now though. Maybe it was just paranoia. He breathed out with relief. “I thought I heard something.”
“You did,” replied Kegan. “Someone was walking.” Kegan had enhanced hearing due to being a werewolf. “They’re not anymore, though.”
Then a vampire appeared in their path. An exceptionally tall blonde woman. She looked at them coldly. Dean reached for the stake in his inside pocket.
“Don’t bother,” said a male voice from behind. He turned and saw two more vampires approaching from behind. He could take three vampires, but he could already see more on the way.
“Care to explain what you’re up to?” the woman asked. Her voice was hard like stone.
“Not really,” said Dean.
She grabbed his throat before he could react and slammed him into the cold wall. He made to defend himself but two more vampires grabbed his arms and held them against the wall too. He saw that Kegan was in a similar position opposite him.
The blond woman looked into his eyes and he knew that she was going to use mind manipulation. “Tell me what you’re doing,” she instructed.
He felt her power working its way through his head, coaxing him into doing as he was told. It was like a drug working through synapses, releasing chemicals and he knew that it would feel so good to just do as she said. But he would not. He’d been taught to fight it. He wrinkled his face in the effort it was taking and shook his head.
“I’ve seen him before,” one of the others said. “He works for that Winters girl.”
“Does he now?” the blonde woman said, not looking away from Dean. “Did she send you? Is she provoking a war with us? I’m sure Ramsay will be all to happy to oblige.”
“No!” Dean shouted. He couldn’t let them go after Clara. “Richie. We’re here for Richie.”
“Richie’s gone,” she replied curtly.
“I know. We took him. He sent us to free Michael,” explained Dean.