Hellhound (9 page)

I glanced around until my gaze fell on Mother in the
row of Elders ahead. Her eyes were dark red, a napkin to her face, and Claudius
sat at her side consoling her. Why did Mother and Claudius have to be here? The
Council should’ve let them mourn in private.

Balai, one of the older Elders, spoke with a heavy
voice, “You were called here because a murder has taken place.”

Gasps of disgust and low murmurs filled the room.

“You will not leave this room until your name has been
cleared. We will divide into three groups and interview each one of you,
cross-reference your alibis, and check your daggers. The sentries should’ve
asked you to bring them, although I’m sure most carry them at all times. We are
missing one tracker, Demetrius. He must be brought in if anyone sees him.”

That didn’t sound like a stop or kill order on
Demetrius. Maybe the stop order was on all trackers, perhaps even all clan
members.

Balai nodded his head to the Council. They separated. Mother
and Claudius joined the same group.

Every tracker had an alibi since most were in a
meeting regarding legal matters about the clans who hire them. The Elders
cleared many within a few minutes.

I didn’t have an alibi. Balai pulled me aside. “We
want you to come to SL5 with us, Selene.”

I groaned but patiently obeyed. Perhaps my questions
could be answered there.

Half of the Elders remained to question the rest of
the trackers while the other half went below ground ahead of me. A minion
escorted me into the elevator. He didn’t speak to me, and I had nothing to say.
Two sub sentries met us when the doors opened. They grunted in acknowledgement
and led us to the area five chambers where we met the Council.

As soon as I saw the bodies, neatly clothed and resting
on two stone cots, my legs turned to mush, and my mind told me to flee. But, I
maintained control and steadily walked ahead. I didn’t avert my eyes. I had a
feeling the Council wanted me to read Father’s mind, and it disgusted me.

The Elders stood around us in the faintly lit room. I
crossed my arms and stared at Claudius.

“I reluctantly take the seat of the new Elder leader,
since I’m next in line,” he said, his voice jittery, apprehensive. “The memory
retrieval will help us find the culprits.”

“I can’t do it,” I snapped. I just couldn’t see
Father’s death through his eyes.

“You have to.” Claudius’s voice edged toward
peremptory demand instead of pleas. “You’re the only one among us who has the
ability to retrieve memories. The muses cannot since Nathanial and Augustus are
dead.”

I didn’t care for this at all. I wasn’t another
obsequious clan member, and if he thought I blindly obeyed, he was wrong.

My mother stepped up and placed a hand on my shoulder.
She begged, “Please, Selene. You know the cerebral chamber can’t extract their
memories. You have a purpose here, and for once, take the memories of the
innocent to find the criminal.”

We all knew whom the Council pointed a finger at,
though I couldn’t believe my lover was capable of such a vicious crime. “Do you
think it was Demetrius?”

“Yes,” Balai dispassionately replied. “We found a
tracker’s dagger that matched the wounds. All the trackers and their daggers
are accounted for except Demetrius’s. You may know our trackers receive only
two clan daggers, and they must report all lost, stolen, or broken ones
immediately to avoid issues. Now you will perform the memory retrieval on the
dead. Hurry and do it before the memories are gone.”

I stiffened because I knew the words that always
followed.

“Then, you will be on your way for your next
assignment,” Balai continued, emphatic.

Wasn’t he aware of what he asked for? Or was he like
most Elders, robotic in terms of sentiment?

I swallowed. If the memory retrieval worked and proved
Demetrius was the killer, then I would have to lead a hunt after him and bring
him back to the Council for further judgment. Against this crime committed
against two highly esteemed men, Demetrius would pay with his death. I had to
know who did this, but I wasn’t prepared to face the truth if Demetrius were
the culprit.

“We don’t have much time. They’ve been dead for hours
now. Hurry, Selene,” Balai said.

“Then maybe you should’ve called me for this instead
of having me idly sit in a room full of trackers,” I snapped.

The Elders didn’t react.

“This is the best and quickest way. Now, hurry,”
Claudius said.

I gulped and gazed down at the cold, pale eyelids of a
man who hadn’t been dead for a day. But when those of my kind died, our bodies
were capable of keeping the essence alive for a short time. The essence wasn’t
to be confused with the soul. The essence, the source of our powers, could be
taken or transferred at death, or it could wither and vanish.

“I won’t do this on Father,” I said.

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“You don’t have to live with the memories of the dead.
They don’t crowd your head and make you feel every emotion they’ve ever had. I
don’t think I can distance my father’s memories in my head, I can’t shove them
aside like a criminal’s memories.”

The Council muttered, and I flicked my gaze over them.

“I said I won’t do this on him.” I became adamant.

Balai spoke, “Then Nathanial. We should be able to
discern who the killer was from his memories. We’re sure he died second. He
could have seen more and have clearer, fresher memories.”

I gulped and looked down at the man who could’ve been
my husband and who would’ve been a fine Elder.

“Too bad your precious cerebral chamber can’t take the
memories of the deceased,” I muttered and stretched my fingers against
Nathanial’s temple, pressing into the frontal part of his brain. His skin and
bone appeared like thick fluid beneath the powers radiating from my fingers. I
closed my eyes, fully expecting the darkness to enter through my hand, extend
up my arm, and enlighten my mind with his memories.

There wasn’t an immediate flood of sensations, as it
would have been with a living person. I probed and caressed and clenched my
fingers all around Nathanial’s brain, searching for the barely warm areas,
which should have held any remaining memories.

Over the years, I had drained many, many minds and had
absorbed many essences in the past few months. I’d become a walking compilation
of criminals. This was very different, disconcerting and disappointing.
Nathanial’s memories and emotions did not fill my thoughts. I only found
darkness...vacant, empty, darkness.

His essence was gone, and with it, his memories. I
gasped, and stepped back.

I pulled out and opened my eyes. “He has nothing left.
He’s brain dead, as in no spark of memory whatsoever.”

“That cannot be!” Claudius said.

“No!” my mother cried, clutching onto me.

“Has he been dead for too long?” Claudius asked. Tears
streaked down his face.

“His essence is gone,” I replied.

“What does that mean?”

“His memories are gone. I don’t know who the killer
is.”

“There is only one way to know.” Claudius glared at
me. “Bring in Demetrius.”

“What if I refuse to bring in Demetrius?” I demanded.

The question dropped an expression of utter shock on
their faces.

“You’ll force me to take his memories, and that will
kill him. What if he’s innocent? There has to be another way to solve the
murders. Use the cerebral chamber on him, at the least.”

“You’ve never declined an assignment. Why would you
turn this one down, seeing your own father was killed? Wouldn’t he be the
criminal you would want to bring in the most?” Balai asked.

I seethed. “You do know who Demetrius is, don’t you?
He’s my lover, not just any man you can turn me against.”

They gasped.

“And he is one of the best trackers in the world.” I
reminded them. “Tracking a tracker isn’t like hunting a criminal. Not that any
of you know the difference.”

“Aren’t you the best hunter in the world?” Claudius
taunted, rubbing in the decision to turn from my birthright. “You must take
this assignment. Don’t you want to know who killed your father and why?”

“Of course I do. We have a butt-load of money, and no
way to figure out who the criminal is before I kill them? No security cameras?
Witnesses? And, you’ll have to hire a tracking army for me to find him.

“If I bring in Demetrius, assuming I have the skill to
track him, you’ll demand I retrieve his memories, which means I would kill
him.”

The Elders muttered.

“No, he will only go through the cerebral chamber. No
need to burden yourself.” Claudius surprised me.

Odd. Criminals often times were kept out of the
cerebral chamber once they were accused to keep the memories of the muses
untainted. He lied.

“The dagger belonged to a tracker from our clan, and
all other trackers were accounted for, along with their daggers,” Claudius
said.

“And any one of them could have given it to the
murderer. Or, the murderer could have stolen it. When I came down here, this
entire hall was empty. Where were the subterranean sentries? One of them
could’ve killed them. Or a minion, they were absent, too.”

The Elders shifted, shocked. They were so hell bent on
judging Demetrius that they had become closed-minded. They weren’t willing to
consider that one of their own, one of their trusted, could’ve done this.

“The crescent,” Claudius suggested. “Manage to get the
crescent around his wrists and bringing him in will be easy.”

I glared at him. I was sure they felt me recoil, fully
prepared to strike like an irritated serpent.

“You’ve used that weapon to successfully bring in
criminals. What would the issue be now?”

“I won’t bring him in if the only thing you’ll do is
kill him just to find out he’s innocent. I will not be a part of that.”

“He will go through the cerebral chamber. It’s
perfect, fool-proof, tamper-less,” Claudius insisted.

Was it? Maybe the muses were entities who thought on
their own, had their own agendas, and possibly catered to the needs of the
Council.

I backed away to leave.

“Selene, wait!” Mother called.

Relief.

“Take your father’s essence.”

“What?” I couldn’t quite tell if her suggestion
appalled or surprised me.

“It’s too powerful for her,” Claudius said. “She has
no desire to be an Elder or fulfill her role, why waste his powers on her. We
can take them.”

“I
will
take them,” I growled. Mother wanted
this. Fine. Claudius clearly didn’t, which meant I really wanted it.

I stomped toward Father, pushed back anger-induced
sobs at the thought of digging my talons into his chest, and took his essence.

A silver color emerged from his chest and crawled up
my arm. I clenched my teeth and muffled screams as the intense, body shaking,
collection of natural and taken powers entered my body. My essence fought to
maintain control, but being weaker, waned. His power took over, and mine
shriveled beneath its greatness.

I retracted my hand from Father’s chest and sucked in
a large breath. Trembling, and avoiding eye contact, I turned and left.

Mother didn’t follow. Maybe I’d been so distant from
her that she found solace in the Council rather than with me. She was so used
to being in the company of other Elders that it seemed impossible for her to be
an individual these days. I'd lost my father and lover, and perhaps I'd lost
her.

A sub sentry escorted me to the elevator where I rode
up alone. The sub sentries hadn’t seen the light of day, much less the world
above ground, in centuries. He wouldn’t go further than the elevator door.

I hyperventilated in the elevator. My silver armed
throbbed. My veins scratched the surface, filled with fire. My heart
palpitated, and my head felt as though lava coals scorched every inch.

Gripping the sides of the elevator, I stumbled out and
headed for my apartment as quickly as I could, locked the door behind me, and
slid to the floor. I curled in on myself and cried. Physical pain, as
excruciating as it was, felt better than facing the truth. Father was dead.
Demetrius was on the run.

I didn’t know any of the criminals when I took their
memories, so shoving them aside was easy. But Father?

Had Father even seen the killer? Should I have tried?
Was it too late?

I mulled over the tidbits as the pain of the ascension
abated. My essence succeeded in assimilating Father’s after a short while. The
pain washed away. I no longer felt on fire, just normal with a new heaviness in
my bones.

Wiping sweat from my brow, the time came to focus on
the hunt.

Nathanial’s death removed a rival for Demetrius, but
he didn’t have any qualms with Father. Had Father done something to push
Demetrius to do this? Had he threatened him, tried to kill him first? No.
Father wouldn’t without giving me another chance or sterner warning. I loved
Father, though he could be ruthless to protect his family.