“He took Isis away from her homeland in Egypt after killing her family and turned her into a warrior, made to lead his armies into a battle against the humans. Caesareon is ruthless and determined. Isis was lucky to get away when she did, or else she would have been dragged into a war.” He paused, taking a deep breath, before continuing.
“She said she needed protection from him, because he was crazy and powerful and she said she would be willing to pay whatever for my help. I felt sorry for her, her story moved me, you see, and I told her I would help her, free of charge. Yet, the only way I could help her was by her becoming an official member of the coven, but she didn’t want that. She knew I would put down documents with her name on them and she wanted no trace of her anywhere. She wanted to live here in secret, so I let her in. After a few years, around the time Esmeralda was in the coven, she allowed herself to have a little more freedom, and she seemed less scared than she was before.” He looked directly at Ezzy, who was starting to feel uncomfortable.
“So this ‘Caesareon,’” Antonio started. “He killed her family and turned her into a killer? How do we know it’s him exactly?”
Marco sighed again, he did that often, Ezzy noticed, and, opening his coat, he reached into his breast pocket and pulled something out. It was a square paper, folded in half. He handed it to Antonio and watched as he opened it. Ezzy leaned over to look at it, too.
It was a wrinkled picture of her and Antonio, one that she had given to Isis as a gift. In the photo she was leaning against him, her arms wrapped around his waist. Her eyes were closed and she was smiling widely at the camera. Antonio had his arm slung over her shoulder and he was looking down at her, his curls strewn over his forehead. Across the photo were words in black ink: Found and Caught.
She recognized the cursive scripture as Isis’s and she felt her heart tumble downwards, like on a snowy avalanche, tumbling and tumbling, her fear growing bigger with each roll until it scattered to the bottom, breaking apart.
Antonio looked at the picture angrily then back up at his father. “What is this supposed to mean?” he demanded.
“Isis managed to leave it behind for me. And I think the answer is obvious…” said Marco.
“Caesareon threatened to hurt us if she didn’t do his bidding, didn’t he?” Esmeralda wondered aloud, finally realizing what was going on.
What better way to get someone to do what you want than by threatening the thing you loved most in the world? Her hands went to her stomach, which had suddenly begun to hurt.
“But she should have told someone what was happening!” Antonio screamed in frustration. “We know how to take care of ourselves! We have the coven’s protection, we know how to fight! Isis should have trusted us enough to tell us!” He flung the picture to the floor and then ran a hand through his hair.
Marco narrowed his eyes at his son and for a moment, his voice went all ice around the edges. “You are not seeing this from her point of view. You are being narrow-minded, Antonio. Imagine, having lost everything to one vampire, your family and everything you held dear. And suddenly, he returns, threatening your new family. Would you honestly expect them to fend for themselves? Or would you prevent danger from falling upon them, no matter the cost?”
Antonio’s eyes met Esmeralda’s for a split second and then it ended. He swallowed and nodded, understanding what his father meant. “So, what do we do?” he whispered softly. “How do we save her? Do we even know where she’s at?”
“We don’t know anything,” Marco said. “But, if we could get a tracker on her tail, it might be easier to go from there.”
Ezzy thought for a moment. For a second, she remembered the shared dream she had had with Antonio, the way Damien had looked at them, so sure and so confident, as if he knew everything, and had told them to get Victoria Phillipe to help them. She thought of Victoria now, with her long blonde curls and tall model figure. The woman was crazy, a bit unorthodox, she knew, but once Victoria started an assignment, she seemed most desperate to finish it. Her way or no way.
“I think,” Ezzy bgan. “We need to talk to FBSI agent Victoria Phillipe.”
14
The police station was busy. People ran in and out, making phone calls and rushing around frantically. Esmeralda had asked herself what it was that had happened to make them all act like this, or if it was just another normal day at the office.
It’d been hell to get in but when they finally did, she spotted Victoria on the third floor of the building, wearing black pants and laced up boots and a black turtle neck, her FBSI badge hanging on a chain around her neck. She was talking to a bear of a man that Ezzy recognized was her chief officer, and another man who was tall and dark and handsome, who was staring at Victoria with his hand in his chin. He seemed to be listening attentively.
“Victoria!” Ezzy called out. The werewolf turned around but didn’t smile when she saw Esmeralda and their little group. She waved off the two men and went to meet them half way.
“Ms. Ortiz, Mr. Santiago.” She nodded at them both in a formal greeting. “Is there something you need?” She glanced over her shoulder. “I’m kind of busy…”
“What happened here?” Antonio looked around.
Victoria sighed. “Someone broke in and let all of our prisoners out,” she said.
Esmeralda gasped.
“Yeah,” Victoria nodded. “They destroyed all of the security cameras so we can’t even see who it was that did this. We have a tech group trying to fix the problem, but they’re taking too long. We’re waiting for directions.” Another sigh. “But what are you guys doing here? Is there a problem with Rogues again?” She sounded genuinely concerned and it made Ezzy beam inwardly. This was a cop she could count on, no doubt.
“The problem is our friend is missing.” Esmeralda worried at the hem of her clothes. “You met her at the Santiago building?”
Victoria thought for a moment then nodded. “Yeah, I remember. Sarcastic dark skinned vampire? Missing in what way?”
“Missing as in kidnapped,” Antonio said. “We were hoping you could help us, get a tracker to help us pick up her scent, stuff like that.”
“Please?” Ezzy added, because she knew Antonio wasn’t polite enough to do so.
Victoria looked around. Though she didn’t say it out loud, her facial expression said everything. ‘I am kind of busy…’
Ezzy’s hopes deflated like a balloon. Of course Victoria was busy with other matters. But who else was she going to ask? There weren’t many people she could trust or anyone she really knew to help her with a task this important.
“Phillipe.” The dark-haired handsome man had come behind Victoria before she could answer Ezzy, his hand rested lightly on her shoulder, his gaze indecipherable.
Victoria turned and looked up at him with a smile on her face that Esmeralda recognized too well. It was the kind of smile that she had given Antonio thousands of times, the smile of someone in love. It made her wonder if there was something going on between the two.
“He woke.”
Victoria bit her bottom lip and turned back to them. “Look, I’d be happy to help, you know that.”
Esmeralda feared she would turn them away, so she reached out on impulse, gripping Victoria’s wrist and felt tears falling down her cheeks. Victoria looked down at her wrist then back up at Esmeralda, her eyebrows lifted in an unasked question.
“Please, you have to help us,” Esmeralda begged. “Isis is my best friend, I don’t want anything bad to happen to her and—and I’m scared.”
Victoria’s gaze softened into something similar to sympathy. She closed her eyes and met the dark haired man’s eyes for a moment before looking at Ezzy, sighing. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll help you, but first I have to speak to a very important witness. Come with me.”
Ezzy let her go and followed both officers through the station, Antonio, Maria and Marco followed at Ezzy’s heels in silence. By the chaos happening around her, Esmeralda assumed that there ha
d been a lot of prisoners locked away. She wondered who in their right mind would let a bunch of criminals loose on the streets and she hoped that they hadn’t been Rogues.
Victoria led them into a small office; where there was a man slumped in a chair, an ice pack pressed against his bleeding forehead. There were blood stains on the front of his shirt and on his neck, where he had probably been stabbed but had healed just the same.
Victoria motioned for them to wait by the door while she and officer tall-dark-and-delicious went in and talked to him. She took the seat across from him, while the other officer stayed standing, looking down at the man intently.
“Rich,” Victoria whispered, touching the man’s—Rich’s—knee. “Tell me what happened.” Her voice sounded gentle, soothing. Rich looked at her.
“I—I can’t remember. They hit me on the head and everything is really fuzzy. My memories are blurring together.” He put his head down. “I can’t be of much help,”
“I think you can,” said Victoria. “Terrance can help uncover the truth…we just need your permission. You know that…”
Rich seemed startled, he looked at the handsome officer—Terrance, Ezzy presumed—and back at Victoria. Slowly, he nodded. “Whatever helps…”
Victoria stood from the seat and Terrance took her place. Ezzy eyed the man in greater detail. He was really tall, even sitting down in that small chair made him look massive.
He had long limbs and a broad, muscular looking chest. His skin was pale, as pale as paper, his eyes were a paler tone of grey that held pupils smaller than the average person’s. His hair was black and wavy, the tips curling slightly over his eyebrows. There was ruthlessness to him, but there was also an elegance that Esmeralda found fascinating. All in all, he seemed pretty attractive.
Terrance leaned forward in the chair; Rich watched him, his eyes wide. Terrance seemed to be studying him, but not just his outward appearance. He was looking into his eyes, as if he could see through them and into something deeper, as if he were concentrating hard to pull something out of Rich.
Terrance’s small pupils suddenly expanded, consuming the grey and the whites in his eyes and pulsed. Rich gasped and made a whimpering noise, dropping the ice pack, it looked like he was under a spell or some form of hypnosis. And then, he opened his mouth and spoke.
“I was guarding the cell, the way I do every night.” His voice sounded haunted, distant, his eyes blank as they stared at Terrance. “And I heard a noise, coming from many directions. It was a scream, I think. I readied my weapon but then someone appeared before me. I don’t know how they got there, I didn’t see it. I think they were moving so fast that it had become a blur.
“It was a boy, a young boy, I believe, with dark skin and dark hair, and there were others behind him—other vampires. I fought them, but they were strong, they were so strong, and they broke the cell open and asked the prisoners if they would be willing to follow their master, if they would be willing to fight in a war against humanity where the supernaturals would come out on top. That if they were interested to follow him.
“And they were…and then they turned to me, and they asked me, and I was so mad, so mad, I spit in his face. His eyes flashed red and he hit me in the head, making me dizzy and I fell to the floor. I could feel him hovering above me, and then I felt something sharp on my neck and chest.
“He was cutting my throat open, he was cutting me open and as he did so he was chanting. He was chanting something, praising someone. ‘Long live Caesareon.’ He said, and he disappeared. Oh god—I’m bleeding, I’m dying, I’m—” Rich screamed and clutched his hair with his hands, pulling it, and ducked his head between his legs.
“Terrance!” Victoria shouted, touching Terrance’s shoulder, jerking his gaze away from Rich.
Terrance shook his head back and forth, like he had been in hypnosis as well. Ezzy noticed his pupils went back to their original size and his eyes were normal again. When Terrance tore his gaze away, Rich stopped screaming, but he was still breathing heavily, rocking back and forth in the chair, as if he were traumatized from something.
It was only after Rich stopped screaming did Esmeralda realize what he had said. ‘Long live Caesareon.’ The breath was stolen from her lungs, and a weird type of electricity cackled in her veins and something pounded at her stomach. She grasped it and fell to her knees.
Caesareon, she thought. Caesareon has my best friend, and Caesareon is breaking criminals out of prison. Caesareon wants to form a supernatural army and destroy humanity. Caesareon…
Ezzy shook in uncontrollable spasms, falling to the floor. Her body wasn’t her own anymore; she felt something inside of her veins—fire mixed with ice. A cold rage that was feeding off of her energy.
She was aware of Antonio over her, screaming for somebody to get a medic. A medic, she thought blankly. If they got a medic, he would find out that she was pregnant, and she didn’t want him to know. Not yet, anyway. She willed her body to stop shaking, to focus, to think. So, she did.
Ezzy took in deep breaths and then sat up, to find everyone staring at her. Victoria and Terrance had their eyebrows raised, Rich was passed out on his chair; Antonio was hovering above her, his eyes watery with worry. Maria and Marco were behind him, looking at her oddly.
“I’m all right.” She pushed herself up to her feet, Antonio helping, and she felt a lurch in her stomach. She grabbed it and hoped that no one noticed. “It’s just…it’s a lot to take in,” she said, shrugging off Antonio.
“Do you know who Caesareon is?” Victoria eyed her fully.
Esmeralda swallowed and shook her head. “Not exactly—we don’t know him personally, but we know who he is and what he’s planning.”
Terrance frowned but said nothing; he didn’t seem like a man of big words. Victoria sat on a chair. “Well,” she said. “Tell us everything you know.”
So they did.
Victoria and her team agreed they would help in the search of Isis. It was simple, find Isis, find Caesareon, and find the prisoners. Esmeralda was so glad but the feeling was short lived when she felt her stomach giving in again.
She excused herself and went to the bathroom. Once there, she splashed water on her face and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked awful, her blue eyes hollow and sunken in with dark shadows. She touched a hand to her stomach and pleaded with her baby to stop bothering her, for only a little while.
Maybe she was hungry, she thought gingerly. A quick glance around the bathroom told her she was alone, and she lifted her hoodie over her head and then pulled her T-shirt up to stare down at her stomach. Esmeralda gasped. Her stomach wasn’t flat, as it had been just a couple of hours ago. It had grown, very small and round, not so big that it could be noticed if she wore her hoody, but still rounded just the same.
Impossible, she thought as she poked at it gently with her finger. It took a while for the stomach to swell up, for that sign of the pregnancy to show. She wondered why it had grown in just a matter of a few hours. Another pull in her stomach had her doubling over, gasping.
“So it’s true…” a voice sounded at the bathroom door. Startled, Ezzy pulled her shirt down and turned. Maria was standing there, staring at her with wide brown eyes.
“What’s true?” Ezzy faked nonchalance but knew that it would be useless. Maria had seen her stomach. Maria knew the truth.
“Esmeralda, you’re pregnant…”
Esmeralda couldn’t help herself; she began to cry. “Oh, please don’t tell Antonio! Please! It’s not something he can deal with right now!”
Maria looked at her with an expression of surprise on her face. “Why can’t he deal with it right now? He has to know, Ezzy…” Maria came forward and put her hands on Ezzy’s shoulders. “What’s going on with you two?”
Esmeralda cried harder, burying her face in her hands. Maria pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back in small circular motions. The action calmed Esmeralda down, if only a little, so that she could tell Maria what was go
ing on.
“He doesn’t want children,” Ezzy sniffled. “He told me so when I asked him about it. Besides, he’s too busy worrying about everything else right now. I don’t want him worrying about me too.”
Maria clicked her tongue in annoyance. “That’s such bull, he’s your Soul Mate. He’s supposed to worry about you! You have to tell him, Ezzy. Look at your stomach! He’s going to notice sometime. Actually, I’m surprised he hasn’t noticed yet. How far along are you?”
Esmeralda shrugged. “I don’t know, I only just found out. Babies aren’t supposed to grow this big this fast, are they? A few hours ago my stomach was completely flat.”
Maria’s eyes widened. “What?” She swore then went to lock the bathroom door. She came back over to Esmeralda and lifted up her shirt, baring her stomach. “It grew this big in two hours?” Maria asked curiously. Ezzy nodded. Maria swore and paced the bathroom floor. “This is bad,” she was saying. “Very, very bad.”
Fear gripped in Ezzy’s throat. She forced it down. “What’s bad?”
Maria stopped pacing. “What do you know about human-vampire pregnancies?”
Esmeralda shrugged. “I know they’re like any other pregnancy. If it’s a Natural Born vampire then pregnancy is possible and that the child can either come out vampire or human. That’s all I know, really.”
“Yeah, did you know that if you get pregnant with a human child it develops normally, like all other human children? But if one becomes pregnant with a vampire child, well, it develops just a tad bit faster.”
Esmeralda reached for her stomach. “Vampire?” she asked in a soft voice. “I’m carrying a vampire child?”
Maria looked at her sadly and nodded. “When a woman is pregnant with a vampire child, it can be dangerous since the vampire can be stronger, more powerful and with a different anatomy and diet than a regular baby.”
Ezzy made a face. “Is my baby going to suck me dry from the inside?”
“No, that’s dumb. Like human babies, using the umbilical cord, they take the nutrients they need to grow plus a little extra. Vampire babies can sometimes take the mother’s energy—spiritual energy—and use it to help them grow. Sometimes, it’s all that they feed on—energy, and the more energy they feed on from the mother, the more it will drain you of ‘power.’ It’s pretty dangerous because if the baby takes too much, then it can kill the mom. Which is why you look like crap, I would guess.”
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