Magestorm: The Embracing (9 page)

26

“Are you okay?  I thought you left again.”

“No, I’m not going anywhere.  I’ll be
fine,
I just have to get my energy back.  I’m sorry I didn’t come to you before the meeting, to give you a heads up.  There wasn’t much time and Xander didn’t want the vampires to even have a hint that I was going to be here.”

“I understand.  I need to know you are going to be here from now on, that
I, that
we can count on you.”

She sat back down in her chair and looked at him plainly.  With no expression on her face, he could still see she was struggling to stay strong.  It was written in her eyes.  The fact that he had been attacked and not simply left would eat at her until she broke down and let it out.  She should be alone for that, or better yet, alone with Amber.  Dhane needed to change the
subject to help that happen
.

“We need to figure out why the vampires wanted into the council in the first place.  I would suggest we have someone watching Charles’ penthouse.  Also, regular patrols around the city, possibly teams of werewolves with witches would do best.”

“Yes, those are both good ideas.  I just hope we have the manpower to do so.”

“I’ll get with Xander about it, if that’s okay.  Also, as the council head, you should have a bodyguard.  I think Amber will do.”

A wink and a smile made her laugh.  She agreed, but only if he would do the same, and keep Amelia close by.  That was exactly what he was planning, so it was fine with him.  Cassandra left for her room, and Dhane headed back to his own.

“Are you hungry?”

The smell of pork chops and potatoes cooking immediately answered the question in the form of a loud growling from his stomach.  Amelia greeted him with a kiss, and shortly they were sitting down to a nice dinner. 

Dhane went over his thoughts for the advancement of the council and they discussed at length where they saw things heading, both with the council, and between them.  For once, things seemed so clear to him.  He had real direction now.

Evening turned to night and they went to bed, falling into a peaceful sleep.  The peacefulness wouldn’t last for even twelve hours, as a beating on the front door woke them.  Before Dhane could sit up, Amelia was out of bed, on her feet, and opening the bedroom door.  She was ready to attack if need be.

“Amelia, wait.”

He jumped out of bed and hurried to the front door, his girlfriend hovering just over his shoulder with her fists clenched.  It almost made him laugh, except for the fact she could tear a man apart with little effort.

“Dhane, we have an emergency meeting in five minutes.  You should be there as well, Amelia.  Bring Amber too.”

Cassandra didn’t wait for a reply, leaving Dhane and Amelia to look at each other curiously.  He hurried back to his room and got dressed, figuring nobody wanted him showing
up in a pair of boxers.  Amelia checked on Amber and the two of them followed his lead and dressed quickly.

Downstairs, all the witches had already reported when the three of them arrived.  A few minutes later, Xander and Terrance arrived and they were ready to begin.

“In an effort to not be caught unaware, we sent someone to keep an eye on the penthouse the vampires were using.  However, they have packed up and left.  We need to start an immediate search of the city for any signs that they have simply moved locations and not actually left.”

As was usual, this led to whispers and comments throughout the room, along with a couple looks towards Dhane as though he may have caused this immediate threat by standing up to them the night before.  He didn’t really care anymore, and he wasn’t going to sit back and be quiet in these meetings either.

“Cassandra, I would like to suggest an immediate vote to add Xander to the council.  I would also suggest we team up werewolves with witches to maximize each group’s capabilities.”

She nodded and hurried to the vote.  It came back unanimous and Xander became the first outsider to join the witch council.  After that, he worked with Cassandra to set up teams.  Two witches and one werewolf would be grouped, since there was only a small circle that stayed with Xander.  Dhane teamed with Amelia and Lila, which he hoped would give him a chance to talk with her about Charles.

They all departed and began their search of the city.  Amelia kept close watch on the streets, but stayed back from the other two to give them some privacy.  He wasn’t sure how to broach the subject, and Lila stayed silent, just as she had in the last two council meetings.

“I’m sorry about how things have gone down, considering your relationship with Charles.  Are you okay?”

“Sure, I guess.  Are you sure he was involved with the attack on you?”

“Pretty sure.
  His cousin or whatever she was, at the meeting last night, she was definitely involved.  Somehow, I made her sick, as well as the other one who didn’t show up.  I never saw Charles, but I’m pretty sure I heard his voice.  I was pretty weak, but there was a period I was in a basement and…”

Suddenly he stopped walking and a chill went down his spine.  He went pale and closed his eyes as his memories of that basement became just a bit clearer.

“Dhane, what is it?”

“Veronica.  She was in the basement too.  I completely forgot.”

“She’s alive?  Is she working with them?”

The look on his face as he shook his head told her all she really needed to know.  It was near-horror in his eyes as he remembered his encounter.  She wasn’t there of her own free will.

“She said she envied me, because I would get to die.  We’ve got to find them and get her out.  Fuck!  Why didn’t I remember sooner?”

“Let’s finish our search area and get back so we can tell Cassandra.  I can’t believe all this is happening. 
My God.”

The three of them searched their area of the city and found nothing.  When they returned to the Grand Hotel, they met with other groups as each finished their search.  The vampires were gone, and most likely, Veronica was too.

27

For two weeks the council had regular random searches of the city, seeking out any signs of the royal vampires who had fled.  There were none.  Dhane longed to check out Charles’ penthouse.  He finally decided he would break in, regardless of whether anyone was living there now.  With any luck, it was available and he could take a nice tour.

He headed straight over and stormed into the lobby, expected the guard he’d been used to.  Instead, a different man sat behind the counter, glancing up suspiciously at him.

“Is penthouse B still available?  I was hoping to take a tour of it.”

“Sorry, got rented yesterday.  Lady is moving in today, actually.”

Damn.  Too bad he hadn’t thought of coming here sooner.  He turned and started to leave, when he saw a moving van pull up.  Then he saw who the new tenant was, when Elisabeth stepped up to the driver and spoke with him briefly.

She turned and entered the building, looked at Dhane, and ignored him completely.  Straight into the elevator, she disappeared and left the mage confused in the lobby.  At least he knew where his next stop was going to be: Cassandra’s.

Arriving back at the Grand, he went straight for her room.  She didn’t answer, so he figured Amber might know.  Inside his own apartment, he found Cassandra, along with Xander, Amber, and Amelia.  They looked silently at him when he entered, which gave him a chill that prevented him from even closing the door.

“Okay, who died?”

“May I speak with Dhane alone?”

The others nodded in response to Amelia’s request.  Xander gave a nod to Dhane as he left, and Amber left with Cassandra.  Alone with her now, he noticed an envelope in her hands.  Now he was really confused as to what was going on.

“What is it, Amelia?”

“Please, come and sit with me.”

He walked over and sat down next to her on the couch.  After a few moments of silence and fidgeting with the envelope, he put his hand on hers and looked her in the eye.

“Whatever it is, it will be fine.  Just tell me before my head explodes.”

“Xander has been helping search for my parents.  He found them, and they’re nearby, in Canada.  I can’t believe they’re so close.”

“Really?
  That’s great!  It’s been how many years since you saw them?”

When she went silent again, he realized that she was struggling with the possibility of seeing them again.  After so long, and with her looking so young, she wasn’t sure she would be accepted.  He put his arms around her and pulled her close.

“Don’t
worry,
I’m sure it will be fine.  In fact, if you want, I’ll come with you.”

“Will you?  That would be great.  I was hoping to leave in the morning.”

Oh crap, that was a lot sooner than he was expecting.  He had to go talk with Cassandra about Elisabeth and see where things stood there, but it appeared he was committed to a trip with Amelia based on the way she was hugging him and looking to him with excitement in her eyes.

“Listen, I need to go talk with Cassandra, and make sure everything is good before we finalize our plans.”

“I understand.  Please go and talk with her so we can make our arrangements.”

A kiss before heading out, he quickly headed to Cassandra’s.  Her door was wide open and she was inside, chatting idly with Xander and Amber.  With a knock on the doorway, he made his presence known before closing the door behind him as he entered.

“Hey, everything good,” Xander asked.

“Yeah, all good.
  That’s part of what I’m here about.  She’s planning to leave tomorrow to go see her parents.  I want to go with her, if you can spare me, Cassandra.”

“Of course, that’s no problem.”

“Well, wait for that answer until after I tell you the next part.  I went to see if I could get into Charles’ old penthouse when I found out it’s been rented already.  Then I saw who rented it: Elisabeth.  I’m not sure what she’s up to, but that doesn’t feel right.”

Cassandra smiled, and wasn’t shocked at all.

“Yes, I’m aware.  She spoke with me about it before she did so.  The thought is, if the vampires show up again, she’ll be first to know and can give us a jump on them.”

“Oh.”

Apparently he was barking up the wrong tree.  He felt like a schmuck after his previous issues with Elisabeth, when he was protecting a vampire.  Of course, she turned out to be a crazy bitch of a vampire, too. 

“We’ve got things handled here.  Go with your girl, just make sure you stay in touch and find your way back.”

With a wink, she walked over and hugged him goodbye, and he felt good about leaving now.  It was weird how things seemed to be working out ever since his near-death experience.  Maybe he actually died and this was all in his head.  The thought made him laugh to himself as he headed back to his apartment.

He walked in the door of his apartment and Amelia looked at him anxiously.  For a moment, he stood silently and pretended to struggle with eye contact.  Finally a grin crept across his face.

“Go get packed, baby.  We’ve got a trip to take.”

28

Lila walked through the neighborhood of Charles’ penthouse and remembered the good times they spent together.  The nice dinners, the time he rescued her from rogue werewolves, and the intimate moments when he held her, touched her, took her.

Then she thought of Dhane nearly being killed and she shivered.  Could the man she had been so intimate with really have tried to kill her best friend?  It just didn’t seem possible, or at least she didn’t want to believe it.

Around the corner from the penthouse was a small all-night coffee shop.  They had many times stopped there for breakfast just before sunrise.  She stopped in and sat at a different table than normal, looking at their usual booth.

“Here you go, dear.”

The waitress sat down a slice of pumpkin pie and a glass of milk.  It was what she usually ordered, but they had never brought it to her without ordering first, and she didn’t particularly remember the waitress.  Lila grabbed her arm before she could walk away.

“Excuse me, I didn’t order this.”

“It’s taken care of.  He ordered for you.”

She pointed across the small shop to a man sitting in a booth by
himself
.  Lila turned around to look and her heart began to race at the sight of Charles.  He stood up and walked over with his own glass of milk, and sat down across from her.

“This isn’t our usual booth.”

“What are you doing here?  I thought you all left.”

“I’m trying to figure out what’s really going on.  I had nothing to do with the attack on Dhane.  You have to believe me.  There may be members of my family involved, so I have to do this in secrecy.  Will you keep my presence quiet, just for a little bit?”

Lila moved around in her chair anxiously.  She knew she was obligated to reveal his presence, but her heart wanted to believe his words. 

“How long do you need?”

“I need at least three days.”

With a nod, she reluctantly agreed.  He smiled and put his hand on hers, stroking it softly.  Standing up, he took her hand in his and brought it to his lips.  With a kiss, he let go and walked out the front door, leaving her with questions, and something else.

She opened her hand and a small cross pendant and chain was inside.  They were both silver and she wondered if there was any special meaning to them, considering all the myths and legends about silver and crosses.  Then again, maybe the silver was just to keep werewolves away from her.

Pulling her hair back, she put the chain around her neck and clipped it.  The metal was cool against her skin, and she closed her eyes as tears began to fall.  The waitress came over and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay dear?”

“Yeah.
 
Just perfect.”