“Not yet, boss,” she shouted, and gestured behind her. I looked over her shoulder, and shook my head in disbelief.
“When were you going to tell me?” I asked her, staring at the seven soldiers walking down the tarmac towards us.
She just shrugged at me.
“Well, couldn’t have you leaving without an honour guard, could I?” She chuckled at me, and I looked at the team again.
What an honour guard it was. The white raven emblem embroidered onto their epaulettes marked them as members of Corvus Team, the unit of Omega Company that had followed Corvi and I into battle before the insurrection. They had fought at my side as we assaulted the fortress I now inherited, and shortly after that I had made their group official. The British Army had its SAS, Russia had the Spetznaz - I had Corvus Team.
Then I recognised the squad’s leader. By this point I hadn’t known who had taken over from the late Lieutenant Tavoy, and I grinned when I saw who wore the black beret and lieutenant’s rank insignia.
“Kelly!”
I ran over and embraced Kelly Dumfries, a friend I had served with during my own brief time in Omega Company.
“Hey, Deim- sorry, My Lord,” she corrected, bowing low to me. The other six with her did likewise, and I motioned for them to stand.
“Please don’t guys, not now, not ever,” I told them. “You had my back when I needed you. You owe me nothing.”
“We owe you our loyalty, sir,” one of the other members said, and Kelly glared at him.
“Kevin, what did I say about speaking out of turn!” It was more a statement than a question, delivered in the same sharp tone that sergeants often use for unruly individuals.
“Sorry, L.T.,” Kevin replied, suitably chastised.
“Good to have you along, Kelly,” I told her, and she gave me a short bow again.
We were stopped as we were about to board the aircraft, the co-pilot looking disdainfully at my honour guard.
“I am sorry, My Lord, we don’t allow enlisted soldiers on these aircraft,” he said, with a haughty attitude that I instantly loathed. I stepped closer to him, my eyes narrowing.
“Says who, exactly?” I snarled, trying to keep down my urge to tear open his throat.
“It’s been this way for years, My Lord, and was enforced by Sharriana-”
At the mention of that name my hand closed around the co-pilot’s throat, and I slammed him against the edge of the doorway.
“Sharriana Grey is dead,” I spat, tightening my grip. “Not only that, but the men and women behind me have a far greater purpose than you do. They saved my life. They fought at my side. They suffered loss alongside me. You are simply an overpaid, ungrateful, piteous little creature who thinks an accident of birth makes him better than anyone else. They are my people, and they stay with me. If you have any complaints on the matter,” I added, and leaned in closer to him, “leave. You will not be missed.”
I let him go, and he wisely decided to stay to one side while my entourage followed me on. I hate haughty, stuck-up little shits like that. Always have.
The seven-hour flight was, thankfully, uneventful. Lorelei and I talked a lot more, where I discovered that she did want to see her family’s honour restored. With her family now dead, she would have been Contessa Selano, if her family had still been considered nobility. I became more determined to see that restored to her.
She also tried to badger me about the party that was being planned, and I told her I still hadn’t decided if I was going or not. Although I was gradually coming to terms with Corvi’s death, it still hurt deeply - I had no idea if I wanted to socialise yet.
I drew up my plans for a cenotaph, commemorating all those we lost during the insurrection. It would be an obelisk of black marble, topped with a crow effigy to represent Corvina - my wife, the woman who started it and made it possible.
Lorelei eventually decided to nap on my shoulder, and with the more sensitive hearing I’d gained I could hear the soldiers of Corvus Team gossiping about me and Lorelei. Well, soldiers will gossip, it’s how they made it through the day, but I had to draw the line if it became disrespectful.
As it happened, it did, but I didn’t have to say anything.
“You shut your ignorant pie-hole, Lyeman,” I heard Kelly command, pitching her voice low in an attempt not to be heard. “The marriage between Deimos and Corvina was Omega Company legend back in Oxford. Those two were insanely happy together, and you could see that their lives were lived for each other. The day he lost her...well, I wasn’t there. But I heard the stories, and we all saw what he did when we attacked the fortress.” She paused a moment, letting her words sink in. “That was the power of his fury at Corvina’s death. That is the testament tae the love they shared, and that will pale beside what I will do tae you if I hear you spewing such drivel again, do you understand me?”
A very quiet “ma’am,” was all she received in reply, and I smiled. Kelly always was a force to be reckoned with, and I was touched that she used that force to defend my honour.
Eventually I found myself nodding off, only to be woken up a short while later when we finally touched down in Toronto. I nudged Lorelei back into wakefulness, and we both grabbed our bags as we waited for the ‘plane to come to a stop.
Once out onto the tarmac, we immediately spotted the two small limousines that had been sent for us - one for Lorelei and myself and one for the honour guard, I assumed.
At least the drivers were far more polite to my soldiers - they opened the doors for them, ensured they were comfortable, took care of their kit and stowed their weapons like it was completely normal. Which I suppose it was, in our organisation.
The sun was just starting to come up as we made it to the gates of the Toronto base, actually situated just outside the city itself for reasons of security and space. We were left at the main personnel entrance, where we were quickly greeted by a short woman with curled blonde hair and a petite figure, dressed in a plain black suit and crimson blouse.
I heard Kelly make a small growl of approval behind me, at which point I whispered to her to behave.
“My Lord, Miss Selano,” the young woman greeted us, her bright smile apparently completely genuine. “And assembled guests of Omega Company, welcome to Toronto and The Order’s main presence in our fair city.”
“She sounds like a travel advert,” someone behind me whispered, before being kicked into silence by one of her fellows.
“If you would like to follow me, I will escort you to my mistress, and then we will get you set up in your guest quarters.”
I assumed - quite rightly, as it happened - that the young woman greeting us was Setra’s aide, and I was already impressed by her. Despite her irritating cheerful optimism, she seemed competent and - more importantly - loyal.
We followed her inside, Kelly and her people no doubt far more weary from the journey than Lori and I.
“Welcome to Toronto, everyone.”
Setra Giardin stood as she welcomed us, bowing low to me specifically.
“My Lord, it is a true pleasure to have you visit us.”
“Thank you for welcoming us, Miss Giardin,” I said, not trusting myself to use the correct French form of address.
She straightened up and smiled warmly, an expression that seemed slightly out of place on her severe features, but which nonetheless caused her deep blue eyes to light up.
“Forgive me, where are my manners,” she said, her gentle voice coloured by her French-Canadian accent. She was clearly not originally from the Ontario region. “My Lord, and honoured guests, this is my aide, Sabine,” she told us, gesturing to Blonde-and-Cheerful who had escorted us in.
Sabine curtsied, and Setra turned to her for a moment.
“Sabine, would you be a sweet and escort our Omega Company guests to some suitable accommodation?”
“Of course, my mistress,” Sabine replied, and escorted my team to wherever they were staying.
“Did you see that?” I asked Lo
relei. “She curtsied. Now that’s proper manners. Why don’t you ever curtsy?”
“I also don’t tear your balls off with my bare hands,” she replied, grinning at me pointedly.
“Mm. Point taken.”
“My Lord, Miss Selano, if you’d care for a seat?” Setra asked, gesturing to some comfortable -looking chairs behind her, and we took the offered seats.
“Sabine will be back with some sustenance for us all,” Setra explained, “but while she is gone we should discuss your business, My Lord.” She sat herself down, smoothing out her ivory dress and crossing a leg.
“We have been keeping a watch on Miss Silvaine for some time, because she is a dangerous breed,” she told us. “Although her request to join us was denied in the end, we still keep an eye on her, for her safety and everyone else’s.”
“Have you any idea why she wanted to join The Order?” I asked, hoping someone would know.
“Forgive me My Lord, I do not,” she said, and leaned forwards. “But I do know that other parties have visited her of late. We do not know who, but they were sent away bleeding...some of them fatally wounded. I can only assume they harboured ill intent.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Lorelei added. “We know she’s a Revenant, could be that some people want to study her, or maybe even use her as a weapon.”
“Our own thoughts,” Setra agreed.
At that point we were interrupted by Sabine’s return, bearing a tray with three glasses of blood and one of some sort of fruit juice. The young woman ensured the vampires present got their nourishment first, before taking her juice and sitting next to Setra.
“My Lord, forgive me if this is too bold,” Setra began, “but...how are you keeping? We...heard about Lady Delacore.”
I sipped the blood slowly, thrown slightly by the sudden question. Even at that point, I still didn’t know how to answer properly.
“I...I’m holding up, thank you,” I told her, managing not to choke. “Lori has been a real pillar of strength for me of late.”
“My, my,” Setra said, smiling at my aide and friend. “Has Miss Selano learned to trust at last?”
“I’ve learned to trust a privileged few, Setra, same as always,” Lorelei answered stiffly, and our host smirked behind her glass. I sensed some contention between the two women, and it made me uneasy.
My suspicion was confirmed when Lorelei finished her glass and stood abruptly.
“If you’ll forgive me, our flight was quite tiring,” she told us, her terse statement speaking volumes. “If you’ll excuse me My Lord, I would like to retire to my guest quarters to rest.”
“Of course, Lori, we’ll meet later to discuss our plans.”
Lori bowed to me with the formality she never used, and Setra gently touched her aide’s arm.
“Sabine, if you could show Miss Selano to her room, I have to discuss some business with Our Lord privately.”
Sabine got up, bowed to us both and led Lorelei out of the room, and Setra shook her head.
“I do not-”
I cut her off with a raised hand, intending to make my feelings known. She looked at me quizzically, and gave her a scowl in return.
“I don’t know what the issue is between you two,” I told her, “but I will not tolerate any of my people being mistreated or disrespected in any way.”
“My Lord, nothing of the sort took place here,” Setra countered, sipping from her own glass. “She was always hot-headed and impetuous, and far too-”
“Faethy’ed,” I commanded, and she shut up instantly. “Lorelei is a lot of things to a lot of people, but to me she is a treasured friend and an excellent aide. She was Corvina’s closest friend, and my wife’s death hit her as hard as it did me, if not harder. You will treat her with respect, or else I will know why. Understand me?”
Setra swallowed hard, her expression almost fearful.
“Oui, My Lord,” she said quietly. “My apologies. I will...I will apologise.”
“You will,” I told her, “but later. You had something to discuss?”
She nodded, and beckoned for me to follow her. She led me out of the room, through the assorted corridors and halls of the massive base - it was it least twice the size of the Oxford base, if not larger - until we eventually came to the medical wing.
“We’ve had some of our people go missing while out on scouting missions and such,” she explained. “When we eventually recovered their bodies...we could not explain what caused the damage.”
She led us into the morgue, and ordered one of the bodies to be brought out.
What was brought before me was only identifiable as human by the size and shape of the body. The body was a blackened husk, charred beyond recognition. The person had died in agony, their mouth fixed in an eternal scream of pain and torment, the teeth blackened.
The eyes and eyelids were gone, and the inside of the empty sockets was charred as well.
“Wait...they were burned from the inside?” I asked, shock causing me to ask the obvious.
Setra simply nodded. The situation clearly unsettled her, and rightly so.
“Oui. We have not seen the like,” she answered sadly. “That is why we needed to speak to you. Have you seen this?”
I nodded slowly, horrified at what I was seeing.
“Yes, but not quite on this scale. It’s...it’s something I can do.” I motioned for the cadaver to be taken away, then turned to Setra.
“If this happens again, I want to hear about it. And spread the word to the bases you have contact with to do the same. I’ll make sure the message reaches everyone else. This is not a good thing, and I have a very unpleasant feeling that it is going to become much worse.”
I was shown to my guest quarters after that, which were admittedly far nicer than the ones I’d endured back in Oxford, what felt like a lifetime previously. I put in a call to Markus at the fortress, telling him to keep an eye out for any reports of similar activity and to pass the word on to our other bases.
I then gave Lorelei a call, to see how she was and to inform her of what I was shown.
“Well that’s...fucking awful,” she said laconically, after I’d finished telling her about my visit to the morgue. “So what do we do?”
“Corvi told me that her sire had the crimson eyes that I inherited, so perhaps we should start by looking for him,” I suggested. “Even if he’s not involved, he might be able to help us find out who is.”
“Great plan boss, just one drawback.”
“None of us know who he was.”
“Give the man a chocolate coin. I’ll look into it when we get back home, see what I can find out for you.”
“Thanks Lori. Are...you okay?”
She sighed heavily down the phone.
“Yeah, I’m fine. The woman just loves winding me up, y’know? She takes great delight in reminding me I’m beneath her, at least as far as she’s concerned.”
“Well, you know where I am if you need me,” I told her, and I meant it. I wanted to be sure she was okay.
“Thanks boss. I’ll take some time out for now, get my head straight about a few things.”
We said our good byes and I left her to it, because frankly I was beginning to worry about my own mental processes.
I spent a lot of time browsing through what information I could find about the Selano family’s disgrace, which seemed to be almost nothing. All that I found was that they were disgraced for an act of treason, but I couldn’t find the perpetrator or the act. I would have to wait until we got back to Germany, to continue reading the books Master Deans found for me.
I looked at the time and swore internally - I had been looking at books and internet articles for most of the day, and the time had suddenly become nine at night, local time. I switched everything off and got ready for bed, although I could tell sleep would be hard-won that night.
I wasn’t wrong. For three hours I laid in bed, unable to sleep for a multitude of reasons. The endless silence in my mind w
as one of the worst culprits, as well as concern over the stranger who apparently had the same abilities as me, killing vampires for some reason. Were they a hunter? One of Sharriana’s loyalists? Or some other faction? The thought plagued me incessantly, and it denied me any chance of rest.
It was around that time that I heard my door open and close quietly, and I couldn’t help but smile. There was only one person who would want to be in my room so late.
I slid over to one side of the single bed, as far as I could without falling off, and heard Lorelei removing her trousers again before sliding into the space I’d left for her.
More often than not, she would get into bed and turn her back to me, keeping my arm curled about her waist for comfort. This time she didn’t, instead facing towards me, the single bed forcing us to within millimetres of each other. She was so close I could smell her true scent - not whatever perfume she chose to wear or the smell of computer innards (which happened on occasion), but her scent. Corvina had smelled of cinnamon, as did others who shared her blood. Lorelei smelled...it’s hard to describe it exactly, but like the air before a storm, that sort of electrically-charged atmosphere scent.
“You couldn’t sleep either, huh?” I asked, trying to ignore her body pressing against me.
“Mm-hm,” she replied, nuzzling into my neck. “It still hurts without her, boss.”
I put an arm around her, stroking her hair in an effort to comfort her.
“I know, Lori,” I said softly, and I truly did. Every day without Corvi was torture.
“This helps though,” she said into my neck, trying to curl up closer to me.
I swear, if my heart still worked it would have burst from pounding so hard.
I need you to understand, I loved my wife. I still love her now, three years after her death, but Lorelei is not an unattractive woman. She has a rather exotic beauty, thanks to her Italian heritage, and at that moment she was half naked, in my bed and pressed unbelievably close to me.
Of Angel's Blood (Chronicles of The Order Book 2) Page 4