Vampire Nation 3: Titan Rules, page 18
“What were the others wanting to know from him? Was it anything specific?” Arria asked.
“Mostly, they wanted to know if I drank from you or any old one. They hoped for any information that might be helpful. They were careful in stressing they didn’t want him recruiting or trying to influence. He was an information only contact.”
“This is a relief. You know how paranoid I get sometimes. When you told me about Reptile, I feared the worst.” Arria admitted.
“Truthfully, I did too. I never forgot his past. I tried to treat him as a friend because he had earned that right. I kept reminding myself of how he used to be though.”
“I guess you should wake him up. I will be glad to tell him thanks. He could have just as easily went bad.”
I released the mind control. Reptile stirred instantly. I watched as he shook off the confusion and remembered what was going on.
“Reptile, Titan saw what you’ve been doing. I want to thank you for staying true to us. Honestly, I don’t mind what you were doing at all as long as you stick to not telling anything important.” Arria was genuine.
“I have enjoyed this last year more than any of the eight hundred from before. I have to keep reminding myself that the thousand year mark is coming. I needed more money. I didn’t think you would believe my explanation.” Reptile was showing his obvious relief.
“We might even use this to our advantage. Just know that we won’t put you in any compromising situations. We won’t risk the old ones coming after you. We will be passing along false information from time to time though.” Arria explained.
Reptile smiled. It almost looked like he was tearing up.
“Thank you, Arria. Thank you, Titan.”
“We are the ones who are thankful, Reptile. You are a friend. I’m glad you weren’t really betraying us.” I told him.
We laughed over Reptile’s nicknames for much of the flight.
Chapter 23
“Dmitriy, Lorac, Sabina, Sela, and Ephraim are here. The others will arrive in the next hour.” Dove informed us.
Dove was in charge of greeting and directing the incoming old ones to the suites. She had a three vampire team that helped show the fighters to their areas while the old one was meeting with Arria.
“Thank you, Dove.” I said, as Arria and I entered the shaft leading into the facility.
“Well, this is where it could get interesting.” Arria stated through clenched teeth. “I hope this can go well.”
I heard Arria’s sadness. She was being brave. She knew she was about to lose her brother. I’d been watching her since we found out about Lorac. I could see how it was weighing on her mind. I hated this for her but there was nothing I could do.
Lorac went too far. Much too far. He was as responsible for the innocents that died as Cronus was. I didn’t see a way for Lorac to survive this night.
We took our time. Walking was her way of delaying the inevitable. Normally, when something important needed to be done, Arria was in a rush. She answered her phone during the first ring. She answered a knock on her door before the sound had the chance to carry. Now, we were walking at a snail’s pace to the council chamber.
My phone rang as we entered the waiting room. Ghost.
“Hey, Ghost.”
“When will you be here?”
“We just landed. Arria and I are passing through the waiting room now. What’s up?” I asked. Ghost sounded upset.
“Lorac is losing it. I think he might be figuring out what this meeting is about.” Ghost informed me.
“Where is he?”
“The council chamber with the other members. He just called me to ask if I’d heard from you. I told him no but I would call. You guys might want to hurry. He is coming unhinged.” Ghost warned.
I looked at Arria and hated the look on her face. She looked up at me and nodded sadly. She knew it had to be done.
“We will hurry. Anything else?” I asked. I knew he might have other warnings.
“Be careful.”
Ghost disconnected.
With a sigh, Arria started running. I caught up easily and ran with her to the council chamber. We slowed when the gold doors came into view.
I took a deep breath as we entered. I heard Arria do the same thing. We had different reasons but we both dreaded this.
Lorac was sitting in his chair. I could see the strain on his face. His look was of anger and fear when he saw us. The other council members were standing around talking.
All eyes turned to Arria and me as we walked toward her chair.
“Everyone, please take your seats.” Arria politely ordered.
I was reminded of Feng then. He was unfailingly polite but his voice carried an authority you didn’t ignore. Arria’s voice now carried that same tone.
“What is this about, Arria?” Lorac asked.
“This is about Cronus. And you.” Arria added the last part as she sat in her chair. I stood beside her, between the two chairs. I wasn’t taking any chances.
“What? Why me?” Lorac asked nervously.
I glanced around to see the confusion on the other council members faces.
“Titan, have the mind control ready. Lorac might try to run. Hell, he might try to fight. I don’t want either. I will let him argue but that is as far as it can go.” Arria told me.
I grunted in understanding.
“Cronus came to my suite while I was attending the event at Jonas’s facility.” Arria paused for the effect she knew would come.
“Cronus! What did he say? Did he kill anyone?” This was the nutshell of what was asked by the other council members.
“He wanted to meet Titan and decide for himself if Titan should live or die. The killings took place because Lorac convinced Cronus that Titan was a monster.” Arria explained. Her voiced was strained. She was speaking the words that would act as the death knoll to her brother.
“What? I did no such thing! You have zero proof of this!” Lorac shouted. He moved to stand and I took a step toward him.
“Don’t do it, Lorac. Remain in your chair.” I made sure he saw how serious I was. Lorac’s eyes filled with hatred and rage.
“You dare order me around, Titan?” Lorac challenged.
“I dare. Remain seated and you can argue your case. Try anything else, I will stop you.” I left no doubt.
There was silence through the chamber for a full minute. It might have lasted longer but Nina walked through the door. She stopped mid-stride when she felt the tension in the room.
“Okay, someone catch me up.” She demanded.
“Lorac is behind the chaos of the last month. He is the one who killed the search party and left the bodies where the police would find them. He is the one who convinced Cronus that Titan should die.” Arria filled in the blanks.
I wanted to comfort Arria but I saw how tightly wound she was. If anything broke her concentration, it might cause her to break down with the weight of what was happening.
“You have no proof.” Lorac stated a little less enthusiastically. He was still sitting in his chair.
“We have the word of Cronus. He is coming here today.” Arria announced.
There were shocked murmurs among the council members. All of them were old enough to remember when Cronus was around publicly. He was known to be purely good. No one would question anything he said.
Since my eyes were focused on Lorac, I saw when he realized his fate. His shoulders slumped at first. I saw enough to understand what was going through his mind. His final decision was clear. He would die fighting before he allowed himself to be executed.
He moved to stand but I locked eyes before he was halfway to his feet.
Still
Lorac slumped back into his seat. I heard a few more murmurs at this display. The council must not have thought me powerful enough to control one of them. Since Lorac was over four thousand years old, they knew I would be able to control the rest of them as well.
“Where is everyone?” Ares voice popped into my head.
“The council chamber. Arria has accused Lorac. Things are fairly tense right now.”
It took about five seconds for me to start feeling off. I smiled slightly.
“Cronus will be here shortly. What is wrong with Lorac?”
“He seemed to make the decision he wanted to fight. I made him be still. Arria told me beforehand. She doesn’t want this to be any harder than it has to be. She knows she is losing her brother today.”
“I thought about that. There isn’t a way around it though. He caused too much harm.” Ares sounded saddened.
“I know this will be rough for her. I guess the Chicago errand was for nothing. We couldn’t have known Cronus would come forward though.”
“It shocked me. I’ve been trying to get Cronus to meet you for himself since before this all started. It would have saved a lot of lives if he would have listened. I’m just glad it looks like both of you will live.” Ares sounded relieved now. I understood.
“Sorry you had to be in the middle of this.” My mind flashed back to Reptile’s nicknames. It took all I had to keep from bursting into laughter all over again. I knew I would think Holy Shit when Ares was around from now on. It was a familiar feeling for when he was around before. “Remind me to tell you about Reptile later. That was an interesting mind.”
“Anything bad?”
“He was approached by a lot of old ones, mainly council members, to act as a spy for them. He accepted their money but wasn’t planning on betraying Arria or me. He is hilarious. It is so shocking considering his outward persona.”
“I will need to see that. Sounds like fun.” I could hear Ares’s amusement.
“How long before Alexander and Cronus arrive?” Dmitriy asked.
“Alexander will be here within the hour. We aren’t as sure about Cronus.” Arria replied.
“Twenty minutes for Cronus.” Ares informed me.
“Cronus will be here in about twenty minutes.” I announced.
Arria looked at me in wonder. I mouthed the name Ares. She nodded stiffly as understanding dawned on her. The strain was taking its toll.
“Part of me wants to call Ghost and have him join us. I would worry about his safety though. I have the tendency to forget he is still new. The same can be said for you.” Ares laughed at the last part. I joined in.
“I can only hope the coming years aren’t as dramatic. This is aging me fast enough to cause wrinkles.” I said. By the sound of it, Ares might have been doubled over laughing. His illusion was all that kept the rest of the council members from hearing him.
While Ares was laughing, a new thought dawned on me. He must have modified his illusion. Normally, I would only be able to hear what he thought to me. Now, I seemed to be hearing everything he did.
“Did you change your illusion? I can hear more than just when you think to me.”
“No. You are more powerful than I am now. I doubt you can see through the illusion but some of the other parts are weaker. You can hear me but not see me. Let’s experiment.” “Can you hear this?”
“Yes. You said that out loud?”
“Yes. My illusion keeps the others from hearing me. You can see through that part now. Try and look through the whole illusion. See if you can see me with your eyes.” Ares instructed.
I tried. I couldn’t see him. I looked around. Nope.
“I can’t see you. Wow, this is interesting. I didn’t realize some parts of the illusions were weaker than others.”
“A lot of the gifts have varying details that most don’t know.”
“I found out one of those details. The security cameras at that hospital recorded me walking through walls when I was invisible and incorporeal. The humans couldn’t see me but the cameras did.”
“The cameras see what is there. The human mind can be fooled.” Ares explained.
“We need to sit and talk about some of this. I need to understand all these gifts better.”
“Anytime. Well, anytime not as tense as right now.”
“Hopefully, this will be over soon.” I could hope.
I tried to refocus on what was happening. Most all the council members were thinking through the revelations Arria shared with them. Arria was sitting stiffly. She wasn’t allowing herself to relax at all.
I pondered what the council members were thinking was the reason behind Lorac’s behavior. I wasn’t sure if they would see the jealousy. That’s what it boiled down to anyway. Lorac didn’t like the influence I had over the two people he wanted to keep closest to him.
Arria surprised me then. I’d almost forgot the Ephraim part of all this mess.
“Ephraim played a small role as well.” Arria announced. She drew a breath to continue but Ephraim tried to run. I was about to stop him when Arria did it for me. Arria met him halfway to the door. “Relax Ephraim. You only gave information to Cronus. If you were telling some other old one, it would be one thing. We all know of Cronus. We know how good he is. For you, I will push for probation without any actual punishment.”
Ephraim let out an audible sigh of relief.
The other council members didn’t say anything but they were clearly looking for more explanation.
“Ephraim was acting as eyes and ears for Cronus. It was one way for Cronus to keep up to date with what we were doing. Considering it is Cronus, I move for the probation. How do you vote?” Arria posed the question to the other council members.
“Was it only recently or was it since Ephraim joined the council?” Sabina asked.
Arria looked to Ephraim for the answer.
“Since I joined. Cronus wanted to keep up with current affairs. He said he had the same arrangement with Aegeus before Ares killed him.” Ephraim stammered. He was better but still afraid.
“I vote probation.” Dmitriy stated.
“Probation.” Sela added.
“Execution.” Nina surprised us.
“Execution.” Sabina agreed.
“Ephraim will not get to vote. Lorac will not get to vote. We will wait until Alexander gets here to finish. I vote for probation.” Arria announced. “Ephraim, please retake your seat.”
“Yes, Arria.”
I smiled. Arria was in control and acting perfectly. I knew her mind and heart were in turmoil right now. She was carrying on like she needed to do. I was proud of her at that moment. Hell, I was always proud of the way she carried herself.
“I need to know. How is Titan able to use the mind control on Lorac? We all know Titan is powerful but he should not be able to do that.” Sela questioned.
“Titan has been growing in strength quickly. We’ve all been witness to it, Sela.” Arria spoke sternly. Her intent was clear. Sela shouldn’t question this.
“This is more, Arria. He hasn’t taken in the number of speed and strength gifts it would take to control Lorac.” Sela persisted.
“I agree with Sela. I’ve enjoyed watching Titan grow more powerful but this is more than he should be able to do. Has he drank from an old one?” Dmitriy demanded.
“Arria, you of all people understand how serious this would be. All old ones would be out for blood! They were promised! Titan must not be allowed to drink. We have all agreed even though it was during Feng’s time that this decree was made.” Nina declared.
Arria remained stoic as the accusations came in. I wanted to say something but knew I would only make things worse. I racked my brain trying to think of what to say or do.
The council members were getting more riled up by the second. They knew the danger it would bring if word spread that I drank from an old one.
“Any advice?” I asked Ares in desperation.
“Don’t speak. This is for Arria to dispel or Sabina to confess.” Ares advised.
“We deserve an answer, Arria.” Sela was angry now.
“I let Titan drink from me.” Sabina announced. She spoke quietly but her words broke through the tension of the room instantly.
There were a few moments of stunned disbelief. I could see the council members’ faces as they went from shock, to outrage, to fear. They weren’t sure which emotion fit the situation.
“Why? Why would you do that?” Nina asked.
“He was under a death sentence that he didn’t deserve. Titan needed to be able to fight back.” Sabina argued.
“This is more dangerous to him than Cronus would have been, Sabina.” Dmitriy stated.
“Every old one will demand we execute Titan now.” Sela added.
Arria had remained quiet through all of this. She looked from one of the council members to another. She saw their anger and fear.
“Titan will not be executed.” Arria declared. “Any who would try, will die by my hands. I have fought for him before. I will again.”
Arria was daring them to challenge her. Cronus, Ares, and I were the only ones more powerful. The council knew this as well as I did.
“This could be trouble.” Ares sounded worried.
“They will face both Arria and me. I don’t care if I end up fighting every old one out there. I had the right to drink. I have the right to fight for my own survival. Arria is doing what is right. They will live with it or they will learn the hard way.” I hated what this was coming to. There didn’t seem to be a way to stop it now.
“Arria, think for a minute. The entire vampire world depends on us keeping the balance. If the old ones come for Titan, our whole race will suffer.” Dmitriy tried to reason.
“I understand, Dmitriy. I understand better than any of you do. I’ve been a member of this council for almost three thousand years. Most of you were still young then. I’ve done my duty for the council and for our race. Now, I am doing the very same thing.” Arria was regaining her footing. She knew she was right.
“How can you say this is right?” Nina was outraged.
Arria took a slow step toward Nina. Her voice went dangerously low.
“Titan was turned against his will. He was given this gift without asking for it. Titan followed the rules of the council. Titan worked for the council to solve our problems for us. Titan has been the model of good behavior. Who are you to say he doesn’t deserve to fight for his life? Who are you to condemn him to a death he doesn’t deserve. Titan is better than any of us. We should be executed before him!”
