Authors: Kaylie Austen
“You would have to marry someone from another clan.”
I made a face. “It would seem so. We don’t have many
bachelor sons of Elders, and they don’t really care for my independence. I seem
to attract the feisty, fiery ones, don’t I?”
Mother smiled. “That’s because you’re a lovely woman.
You breed danger, so naturally the darkest ones flounder after you, although
that Nathanial was both elegant and inclined to marry you.”
“I know.”
“I wonder how different things would be if you had
chosen him from the start.”
A geyser of wrath bubbled inside of me, set for
detonation if she meant what she implied. “You think the tracker killed them to
have me? That doesn’t make sense. He already had me.”
“No. I saw Lydia’s memory as clear as she did. I can’t
deny that the tracker is the criminal, but I believe that is just the tip of
the iceberg. There’s always more than what the eye sees, always more than the
story at hand.”
“Someone brought up something that I thought was very
interesting concerning the cerebral chamber.”
“You don’t like that place, do you?”
“Never have, and I see no real reason for it.”
“It keeps big secrets from crushing us. The cerebral
chamber is very beneficial for us.”
“By ‘us,’ you mean the Council of Elders who control
the clan?”
“Yes,” she said matter-of-factly. Then she sighed. “I
know what you’re thinking. Because I’m an Elder, I back it up whole-heartedly
because it serves a great purpose for me since I can see what’s in the cerebral
chamber. And, you think that because you cannot access it that it is something
set against your free will. Am I wrong?”
“No, ma’am, you’re precisely correct.”
“So then, why do you fight against being an Elder?”
“I don’t want to change.”
“We all have to change. We have to evolve in our
lives. Our people had to adjust to the world, and the cerebral chamber keeps
the clans afloat, away from separatism, rebellion, and terrorism. We won’t ever
physically force people to go in, because that would be wrong, but people must
go in so that we can see the real danger before it strikes.”
I grunted. “I just can’t buy that. I know that people
have been forced to enter. I’ve been forced to enter, and it didn’t keep the
murders from occurring, now did it? I can’t agree that giving my memories to
another person against my will is right. My memories are mine, even though I
have nothing against the clan other than wanting to live where I want to live.”
Mother shook her head. “Perhaps this is my fault for
not training you well. Nathanial was prepared to become an Elder at a moment’s
notice, but you don’t even want the highest prestige of our kind. You want to
remain a laborer, a hunter. Do you remember the stories of old? Hades was
feared and revered and respected as an Elder.”
“And Cerberus earned those things as well.”
“But people followed Hades. Cerberus was only the dog
in allegiance to Hades. You are not a descendant of Cerberus, were not born to
act as a vengeful, protective Hellhound. But, you are a daughter of Persephone,
wife of Hades, goddess of the underworld. You were meant to lead.”
“I’m also the daughter of Selene, the moon goddess, so
what good does living during daylight hours in a blistering white domicile do for
me?”
Mother sighed. She knew I had a point.
“I’m a daughter of the darkness. I have no business
living here in the light.”
“I can’t say or do anything to change that straight
and narrow road that you call a mind. But consider this: you might not have to
be an Elder to access the cerebral chamber.”
“What are you saying, Mother?”
“That you are a descendant of Mnemosyne. Her blood is
strong in you, which is why you can perform the memory retrieval. But did you
ever wonder if you could access the cerebral chamber on your own?”
The thought floored me. Why not? It certainly seemed
plausible, although very dangerous. But, I was a shrewd woman. “Are you saying
this to get me to enter the cerebral chamber?”
“No. In fact, I understand why you wouldn’t want to.
The next time that you enter the chamber, and I assume that will be when you
are readily forced to, that you attempt this.”
I would keep that thought in mind. “Why bring this up
to me, and now?”
“You’re searching for answers while rebellion brews in
the hearts of many of those around you. I don’t want your misguided feelings
about the cerebral chamber to change the course of your life. No daughter of
mine will be a traitor.”
I was stunned. “Why such harsh words?”
“The renounced tracker is seen as a traitor, and he’s
been in your mind for months. You don’t tell me everything, so I have to trust
that you’ll make the right decision.”
“Do you think my relationship with him was a mistake?
That it led to all of this, and I’m partially to blame for Father’s death?”
“I don’t doubt that. If you ignored his attempts to
woo you and married Nathanial, things would be clean.”
“So you do blame this on me.”
“Not squarely on your shoulders, child. Like I said,
every iceberg has a body that the eye doesn’t see. I trust that you will find
the answers.”
“So will you not answer my question about your
relationship with Claudius?”
She smirked. “An impudent question from an impudent
child?”
I sighed and stood. “Thanks for many kind words,
Mother, but I must be on my way.”
She walked with me to the front door. Before she
opened it, she said, “Don’t forget to visit the cerebral chamber soon.”
“Right,” I muttered and left.
Chapter Fifteen
Danther possessed the proclivity to show up
unannounced to sneakily accomplish his patron’s bidding. I wondered where
Claudius was because I wanted to speak with him about my reservations about
Ashton and what the consequences were if I found this mission to be impossible.
He walked with me to the elevator, much to my dismay.
I rolled my eyes when he stepped into the elevator with me. Before I could lean
over to hit the button for the ground floor, he pressed for SL5, and then stood
between me and the buttons.
“Are you heading out already, Selene?”
“I presume that you want me to go down with you.”
He grinned. “In more ways than one.”
A growl escaped my lips. I whipped around and pinned
the man to the wall by the throat.
“I don’t know why you think that you can talk to me
this way, but it ends now or I will rip out your throat and leave you in a
bloody mess, minion. I’m done debating whether the consequences of killing you
are worth it.”
The alarm faded from his darkening eyes. The
distasteful minion actually liked my hostility. I clenched my fist around his
throat. His hand rose to pry open my fingers. My hold was like an icy vice
grip. Danther wasn’t stronger than me.
He breathed heavily. “This is what I have to do to get
you to press up against me?” He chortled.
My fangs came out. I felt them stretch my gums and
painfully move aside my teeth to make room. My nails lengthened into talons
around his throat. I intended on ripping through his chest with my other claw. About
two seconds from chomping down on his throat to end him, the elevator opened to
the subterranean level where a sub sentry shifted in agitation of our little
quarrel.
I pulled away, taking Danther’s head with me, and then
slammed him back against the wall. “
Minion
,” I muttered in the most
deprecating way I could.
The sub sentry stared past me at the gasping man when
I marched out. I was fully heated for battle. I expected to hear Danther
shuffle after me, but when I heard nothing of the sort, I turned. The sentry
took one large step inside of the elevator, one leg still out so the door couldn’t
close. He leaned in and yanked Danther out by the collar.
I’d never seen a sub sentry handle a minion like that
before. I’d never seen Danther look so afraid before, either. I stifled a laugh,
though I laughed quite heartily in my head.
“Are you bothering Selene?” the tall, menacing, and
muscular Carter asked, looking down at the Council minion from his superior
height.
“Not anymore,” he gasped.
Carter leaned in and through bared fangs, snorted,
“Don’t let me catch you trying anything with Selene.”
“Right, of course not.”
Carter released Danther, who derisorily slumped out of
the sub sentry’s grip and scurried past me. He didn’t raise his eyes to meet
mine. I turned as he moved past. Of course, once he walked ahead of us, he erected
his posture and tugged down on his shirt to straighten up.
Danther retained his pride. I simply shook my head. He
was destined to die a brutal death one day very soon.
Carter was on my heels. “I can take care of him if
he’s bothering you, Selene.” His voice was so low and hoarse that he barely
passed for human-like.
“That’s sweet of you, but I’ll manage on my own.”
“Are you certain? I wouldn’t mind having a reason to
take out a minion.”
“Yes. Can I ask you something?”
“Anything for you, Selene.”
“Do you remember the day when Elder Augustus and
Nathanial were murdered?”
“Who could forget that day, so recent?”
“Where were you?”
Carter narrowed his eyes and leaned in. We both
stopped in the hallway. I was trapped between the sentry and the wall. “Are you
accusing me of something?”
“No.”
“Okay, then.” He backed away just a smidge. “I was off
duty that morning, sleeping in. I didn’t hear about the incident until a bit
afterward, since the Council couldn’t spare a sentry to send us the news in the
tunnels.”
“Where were the other sub sentries? They’re always
here, guarding or walking around, but there wasn’t anyone here when I found the
bodies. Why was that?”
“When we change shifts every eight hours, we gather at
the lowest level, near the tunnel entry, and brief the oncoming shift. We risk
leaving our posts unattended for a very short time, but our way is efficient
and enhances communication. The rest of the clan tends to leave us out of the
loop since most of the action happens above ground.”
“Who else knows this?”
“The Council was probably aware of it. The sentries
and archers all do it. But we have our own little club down here, and we don’t
tell anyone about our meetings.”
“How long is this briefing?”
“It depends on what’s going on. If there’s a big
ceremony or festivity, we take longer to make sure that things run smoothly. If
there’s a threat somewhere, we detail that out.”
“There was supposed to be a ceremony that day, right?
So you guys took a little while, then?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t hear anything?”
“We were several levels below.” He looked away
briefly. “I know the sentries who went on duty for SL5 were ordered to attend
to the cerebral chamber, due to its current and sensitive nature. So after the
briefing, the sentries went to the chamber and left the throne room unattended.”
“Who told them to go there?”
“Danther. Believe me when I say that we got reeled
that day. We aren’t allowed to meet as a whole anymore, and we have to have
someone guarding the throne room and the cerebral chamber at all times. It took
just one incident to muck things up for us.”
I raised a brow at him.
“Sorry, Selene, that was probably insensitive.”
“Everyone’s lives got messed up that day, some worse
than others.”
“All right. Oh, and I heard the guys took longer than
usual because they were complaining about the chamber. Danther had a girl
working on them.”
“Lydia,” I said without thought.
“I guess. Us guys love to complain about the Council
minions. Danther, from what I heard, was being overly snobby that day so two of
the sentries brought that up for us to keep an eye on. That led to other
murmurings about that kid, which led to us to waste more time than necessary. I
reamed into them about that.”
“Who told the sentries to go after Demetrius?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know anything about that. Sentries
aren’t my area of expertise.”
“Are you still the head of the sub sentries?”
“Yep. I’m a man in some sort of power.” He grinned, as
if that would turn me onto him.
“Do you know what the supposed ceremony was for?”
“No idea.”
“Don’t you usually know?”
“Yes. Danther, on his high horse like always, snapped
my head off when I asked about it. Usually the minions tell us, but he said I
didn’t need to know that day.”
That was very unusual.
“Thanks, Carter.”