“Do me a favor, Sweetie. Tell Ares not to stand against Cronus. He was still deciding before. Tell him not to risk himself for me. Cronus has made this personal between us. It should be me that faces him.”

  Sweetie was becoming distraught. I knelt in front of her chair and pulled her in for a hug. She cried on my shoulder for a few minutes before she regained control of her emotions.

  “I will tell him.” Her meek voice almost broke when she spoke.

  Arria was in the shower when I got back to the room. I sat in my chair and waited for her.

  Sweetie always managed to bring out certain things from me. This wasn’t the first time I found myself going back over my conversations with her to find out why I made the decisions I’d made. I smiled. It was Sweetie.

  “What are you smiling at?” Arria asked. She was wearing her robe and walking to her chair.

  “Sweetie. She has a way of messing with my decision making skills.” I knew I didn’t clarify anything for Arria and I hoped she would drop the subject. The problem remained, I couldn’t lie to Arria without her knowing it.

  “Hopefully nothing bad.” Arria was smiling now too.

  “We will see.”

  I looked closer at Arria and smiled wider. Her hair was wet and tangled a bit. She looked more beautiful this way. Some women were like that. The wet look suited them. I must have stared for too long.

  “Stop it! I just took my shower, I don’t want to get sweaty again.” Arria’s laughter told me she would if I pressed the matter.

  “Sorry, sometimes you take my breath away.”

  I wasn’t intending it so heavily but she melted. Needless to say, we sweated.

  Chapter 13

  Lorac and Ghost were the first to arrive. The rest of the council were on their way. Arria wasn’t the one to call the meeting this time. It was the rest of the group needing answers.

  I was glad to see Ghost. He would be the one deciding what we needed to tell the others. He understood my growing unease. Inactivity was cause for nervousness when an unstoppable monster was intending to kill you.

  Arria and I waited in the council chamber. I smiled when Ghost and Lorac entered. It was getting to be a treat to have all my friends in one place so often.

  “How was the event?” Arria asked.

  “Phoenix was her usual self. She was a gracious host. The event was a little more relaxed. There is still some grumbling about Titan but it is improving. She is one of Titan’s defenders.” Lorac finished with a smile.

  “I had a thought. I wish I’d had it much sooner. Maybe we should be sending Ephraim to the events with the old ones who would defend me.” The thought only came to me the previous night. Arria was arranging for the event here for the council.

  “That will be for when we leave here. I don’t know if it will help since Ephraim doesn’t mingle.” Lorac reminded me.

  “I would think Cronus would be making him. I guess we would need to speak to someone that was at one of the latest events with him.” Ghost added with a smile. “I must be slipping. You’ve been coming up with some good plans lately.”

  “It’s my head on the line. It makes you try harder.” I laughed. Lorac and Ghost joined in. Arria didn’t find it too funny.

  “So anything interesting from this end?” Ghost asked.

  “Nope. We have been bored. I know Arria’s fighters will be grateful for the chance to fight again. They’ve been training but couldn’t attend an event.” I hated it for them.

  “Reminds me of when we met Loki.” Ghost was oddly reminiscent. It wasn’t like him.

  “Wasn’t that the event I had to beat you?” Arria asked.

  “Yep. That wasn’t a fond part of the memory.” I grimaced. Even though she was taking it easy on me, I saw some of the power of an old one.

  Arria’s phone rang then. She went a little distance away to answer.

  I looked from Ghost to Lorac but neither showed signs of wanting to speak. A thought passed my mind but I let it go. If Ghost knew something, he would tell me. Well, he would tell me enough.

  “So, Ares showed at Herod’s facility. That was a surprise.” Lorac was killing time. I could tell by his tone of voice.

  “Yep. We talked some. You heard the important parts. Although I kind of liked the rest of the conversation.” I smiled knowing this should get a rise out of Ghost. “We spoke of the gifting. He has put some thought into why we receive the gifts we get, as well.”

  “It is random!” Lorac was laughing. “Why does this keep coming up? For thousands of years, I have heard theory after theory. They’ve all been proven wrong.”

  “There are too many similarities for it to be random.” I argued with a smile on my face. “All purely good vampires are daywalkers. Can you name one daywalker over your four thousand years that wasn’t good”

  Lorac’s smile faded slowly. I could see him trying to find even one memory to give a retort. He was coming up empty.

  Ghost was smiling.

  “If it were as simple as personality, we would know just by which gift a vampire received if he would turn out good or bad. Most every other gift can be linked to someone really good or really bad.” Lorac tried a different tactic.

  “Yes, but we aren’t sure how many personality traits can influence the gift. Maybe strength of character doesn’t apply.” I was going to add more when Arria rejoined us.

  “No! We are not talking about this again.” Arria tried for stern but it was easy to see her amusement.

  “Anything important?” Lorac asked. His nod toward her phone gave indication of what he was asking about.

  “That was Sabina. She was asking if we were going to allow other old ones to attend this event. I told her we could.” Arria’s smile told me there was more to it.

  “And? I can tell it is good news.” Lorac prodded.

  “Several old ones want to be added to the card to show their support for Titan.” Arria explained. She opened her mouth to add more when her phone rang again. She gave us a look as she answered and walked away again.

  “This could be good.” Ghost went into the dreaded headache causing mode. Lorac and I waited for the audiobook version. We didn’t need that.

  I looked around the council chamber feeling much better than I did before their arrival. While I was always happy to see Ghost and Lorac, I knew it was the encouragement Arria just told us about that caused my sudden elation. Finally, I might no longer be the pariah I’ve been since being turned.

  Lorac and I waited for Ghost to decipher the mysteries of the universe and Arria to finish her phone call. It wasn’t a bad wait. My better mood made things more pleasant all around.

  “As long as Cronus remains inactive, this will help our cause.” Ghost finally announced.

  “How likely is he to show up?” Lorac asked.

  “It would be a shock to me. He would be undermining everything he has tried to do up to this point. That would be for both the framing of Titan and with the cleansing of our ranks.” Ghost clarified.

  “Added bonus, with Ephraim here, maybe he will hear the other old ones defending me. I would think it possible Cronus would listen if enough old ones were showing support instead of a noose.” I reasoned.

  “Exactly when did you two figure out Ephraim was helping Cronus?” Lorac asked.

  “The council meeting where he spoke up, sort of. It was too unusual for Ephraim. It may be the only time I’ve heard him speak above a whisper.” I explained. “Now, if he is telling Cronus how strongly I am being supported by old ones, maybe Cronus will have second thoughts.”

  “Exactly. Now, if only the right ones will join the card. We would need some of the well-known good ones like Hermes and Gronk. Saul would actually help. While he has violated some rules in the past, he is known as a solid judge of character. His approval of Titan would carry some merit.” Ghost went on.

  “I might go so far as to suggest we invite them.” I added.

  “Just make sure they know it has to look like they were showing support and asked to join. No one can know we requested it.” Ghost insisted.

  “I can do that.” Lorac looked reluctant but was grabbing for his phone. He stopped as Arria approached us.

  “Hermes, Petra, and Dorian are on their way. Hermes said he was calling Gronk and Chief to tell them to join as well.” Arria informed us.

  “Wonderful! I was just going to call Hermes and invite him.” Lorac admitted. “Saul is the only one we just named that hasn’t committed.”

  “Petra is already calling him. She heard we were having an event for the council. It was actually her that made the suggestion to Sabina to let them be added to the card.” Arria was happy.

  I had to admit, it made me feel much better about myself. These known good old ones were coming to show support. They understood the danger and were coming anyway. I was moved.

  “How much can they know?” I asked. “Could they already know Cronus is behind everything? Do we tell them?”

  All eyes turned to Ghost.

  “Tell them but make sure they know to keep it quiet. Some may have figured it out. I would think most of them believe it is Ares. It is following a little of the pattern he set when he went on his killing spree.” Ghost advised.

  I felt like I needed to say something.

  “I can understand why they would think that. I really want to help them see it isn’t Ares. He would have killed the old ones that were bad but never the employees or fighters that didn’t do anything wrong.” I may have used more emotion than I planned on when I said that.

  Ghost was looking at me. He took a few seconds while Arria and Lorac looked from me to Ghost and back again.

  “What?” Lorac asked.

  I began to question what Ghost was figuring out. Then it hit me. I shouldn’t have spoken. With a quick look to Ghost, I shook my head and gave a glance at Arria. Ghost looked pissed.

  “What?” Arria asked.

  “Titan is an idiot.” Ghost hung his head.

  Arria and Lorac were looking at me for an explanation. I wasn’t sure if they would let me get away with not telling them.

  “Titan, please tell me.” Arria begged.

  “I gave Sweetie a message for Ares.” I swallowed hard. I knew Arria didn’t want to hear this. “I don’t want him to take on Cronus.”

  Arria’s eyes filled with tears. Lorac was growing angry but he seemed to take the news a little better than Ghost and Arria.

  “Why not? He is our best hope!” Arria exclaimed.

  “Ares has considered Cronus as a mentor and friend. Cronus has been an inspiration to Ares. What is happening has nothing to do with Ares except that two of his friends might be about to fight. He shouldn’t be asked to risk his own life. He definitely shouldn’t be asked to kill one of those friends.” My words came out reluctantly.

  Chapter 14

  Sabina and Sela were with Arria and Lorac in the council chambers. Nina’s plane was landing. The other council members would be here within the next few hours. The other old ones would be late tonight to early tomorrow night.

  Ghost and I were walking to the council chamber. We were taking our time since we knew what to expect. There would be spoken support from most, outwardly at least. I knew there might be one or two like Ephraim that would side with Cronus.

  “Lorac finally told me what happened your first time with the council.” Ghost smiled. We were nearing the chamber. “I wish I’d been there to see that.”

  “Lorac loved it. I don’t think I ever saw him laugh as hard as he did over that illusion.” While the occasion wasn’t a happy memory, that was a pleasant part of it.

  “He was laughing when he described it to me. I must admit, I was laughing a bit too.”

  We rounded the last corner to see the gold double doors. At our approach, the two guards stood to the side and opened it for us. I nodded in appreciation as I passed the guards.

  Arria sat in her chair. The other three stood near to her. Sela was nearly as tall as Sabina but had blonde hair and fuller features. They stood one to each side of Arria. Lorac stood by Sela. Ghost and I walked up to their position. Since the council wasn’t officially in session, we didn’t need to stop at the focal point, twenty feet in front of Arria.

  “We were bringing them up to date with the latest information. Have you two figured out any more strategies? Then again, maybe we need to have Titan’s decisions monitored before they are approved.” Lorac stated, dryly.

  “It was the right thing to do. I stand by it.” I meant it.

  “You’ll stand by it until Cronus kills you.” Sabina sounded almost as mad as Ghost.

  Arria was trying to hide her feelings as much as she could. It wasn’t anger that filled her like it did Ghost and seemingly Sabina. It was fear. She had placed all her hope on Ares.

  “When Cronus asked Ares to kill me, Ares refused. I am not going to ask that of him. It would hurt Ares to have to kill a friend, whether it is me or Cronus. Ares isn’t some killing machine. He feels and hurts like the rest of us. I won’t have my friends risking their own life to save me anyway.” I spoke my mind. If they couldn’t deal with my decision, then it was their problem. I did what I felt was right.

  Everyone grew silent for a moment. I doubted my words moved them. I was guessing they were weighing the thought of Ares being more than a grim reaper.

  “Anyway, I don’t think there will be any surprises at the event. I went back through all we know and it wouldn’t make sense for Cronus to show up here.” Ghost announced.

  “This looks more like what Cronus would want to me. He could try and blame the deaths of council members on Titan. That would cause even more of an uproar.” Sela chimed in. She still didn’t understand. When Ghost declared something, you don’t question.

  “Cronus has made his pattern clear. He wants to rid us of the rule breakers and self-serving types. By killing the council, he would be breaking the character he is trying to create.” Ghost offered as explanation.

  Sela got enough of the picture to stop arguing. I got the feeling she didn’t like Ghost. For the most part, it didn’t matter. Ghost worked for Lorac. He was protected.

  Nina entered the council chamber then. We turned to watch her approach. She had dark hair and average features. She might have been pretty if not for a misshapen nose.

  Ghost and I stood around while Arria and Lorac filled her in on everything. I was mostly bored until I started to feel a little off. They perked me up quickly.

  “Should I be alarmed?” I sent the thought to him.

  “No. When Sweetie told me the council and a few others were coming, I came just in case. Sweetie, you, and the council would be in his path if he came here” Ares told me. I could see his point of view.

  “I understand. I would think you wouldn’t want your presence known?” I was asking. He would see.

  “It would be better if they didn’t know.” I heard his laughter. “Don’t tell Ghost. I want to see if he can figure out I am here.”

  “That will be fun to see.” I joined in the laughter. It was always fun when you could test Ghost. “If I had to bet, I would say he will get it right.”

  “Maybe. I wouldn’t bet against him.” Ares paused before continuing. “I am going to listen for a while. Why is the council meeting here? With the other non-council members coming, it looks like Arria would have everyone in the meeting hall.”

  “She feels more at ease here for some reason. I wondered the same thing earlier but knew it wasn’t anything important. It is just Arria’s preference.”

  “Understood.”

  I let my eyes casually drift around the council members. Ghost was watching them and not paying attention to me. Good, maybe he wouldn’t have seen me preoccupied with Ares. I tried to get back into the conversation between the council members.

  “…sort of a holding pattern. We don’t know why he is waiting.” Arria was speaking.

  “This is all so unthinkable. Cronus is good. For him to do this might be the most shocking thing I’ve ever seen. I only met him once but he made an impression.” Nina told them.

  Arria smiled sadly. “At first, I was fighting the belief that Cronus could do this. We were blaming Gnome and groups. In my mind it got narrowed down to two vampires. It had to either be Ares or Cronus. I was leaning toward it being Cronus even before Titan confirmed it for me.”

  “Why would you think Cronus over Ares? That doesn’t make sense to me.” Sela asked.

  “Ares has a code. I’ve seen enough to trust him completely.” Arria smiled sweetly. “Considering Ares has saved Titan’s life more than once, I would want him to be innocent anyway. While Cronus was one of the purely good, that in itself can be the problem. There is an intolerance with ones like that. Any wrongdoing, even minor, seems unthinkable to them. Over time it grows and sets up as discontentment. The irony is that Cronus wouldn’t be killing so many innocent vampires if he weren’t purely good.”

  Arria’s speech shocked some of them. I’d considered her point of view and knew it held merit. I had seen some of the same intolerance in Apollo. Since Apollo is new, it wouldn’t have warped him. Over nine thousand years, Cronus might have seen too much to let slide.

  “Arria is right.” Ghost confirmed.

  “I already thought highly of her. That was more insight than I expected though.” Ares thought to me. I could feel the respect he held for her.

  “She lets Ghost and I do most of the complicated planning, mostly Ghost, but she is more than capable on her own. She is amazing to me in every way.”

  “I guess I never thought of it like that before.” Sela spoke honestly. I could see her contemplating Arria’s words for herself.

  “What time are the other old ones expected? They will be expecting the meeting hall instead of the council chamber.” Sabina asked.

  “The other old ones will be later. They didn’t have the prep time the members had. Some will not be here until tomorrow.” Lorac answered.

 

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