Vampire Nation 3: Titan Rules, page 2
“Anything good going on? We are bored out of our minds.” Speedy spoke his mind. Unfortunately, his mind didn’t change very often. He was finding life to be increasingly boring with the monotonous routine. He more than anyone loved the chance to help me and Ghost when the chance arose.
“Sorry, but the old ones are behaving these days.” I told him.
“You and Ghost are too much for them! They know not to do anything wrong.” Loki offered.
“That seems to be the case. At least I’m not having to kill someone. That gets old even if they are bad.” I admitted.
“When is Sweetie coming back to see us? Ares is keeping her away too much.” Apollo asked. He didn’t like being away from his friends.
“I talked to her a few days ago. It could be any time. Ares is making sure she gets to see the world. He has been taking her from place to place. They were in Australia when she called me.” I told them.
“Ares isn’t like I thought he would be. I mean he’s scary, but it is more because you know what he can do. He was a lot more fun than I figured him to be.” Speedy was smiling when he said that.
“Do you think you will ever be as powerful as he is?” Jade asked.
“I might become as powerful as he is now. He will always be ahead of me though.” I admitted. Everyone else seemed to be much more worried about such things than I was.
“There can’t be many who can still beat you. Are you a match for the council members yet?” Loki asked.
“Maybe the younger ones like Ephraim. I doubt I could match Arria or Lorac.” I guessed with this answer. I knew I’d gotten much more powerful over the past year but there wasn’t any real way to tell. I wasn’t going to ask Arria to spar with me.
“How does it work exactly? I know we get more powerful as we age but they are aging too. How are you catching them so quickly? I know you get stronger and faster when you take in more gifts but the old ones are so powerful. It looks like it would take you longer to build up from a newborn to where they are.” Pan asked.
“Titan started out as strong and fast as a seven hundred year old.” Apollo answered for me. “He wasn’t the same as the rest of us even then.”
I saw the thoughts as well as the smiles on both Speedy and Apollo’s faces. They were thinking back to those first days after I was turned. It caused me to miss Trog and the rest of the group we had then. I still saw Ghost plenty. Sweetie was here from time to time. It wasn’t the same though.
“Who is the oldest vampire you’ve drank from? Wouldn’t that make you stronger?” Venus asked.
“Yep. That would be the fastest way to increase my speed and strength. I’ve mostly only drank from new vampires so far. Arria hasn’t said anything since Feng died but I am fairly sure she doesn’t want me drinking from an old one. It isn’t a matter of trust with her. She just doesn’t want the headache the rest of the old ones would cause if I started drinking from them.”
We were interrupted by my phone then. I dug it out of my pocket and saw Arria’s number.
“Hello?”
“Come to the lobby room. Hurry.” Arria instructed.
“You got it.” I said as I disconnected. “Sorry guys. I will see you all later.”
I left Apollo’s room at a run. Arria’s employee quarters were on the opposite side of the facility but with my speed it only took a matter of seconds for me to get there.
I entered the lobby room to find Arria, Petra, and Saul sitting close together. Arria was in the middle with the other two sitting in chairs at her sides. The look on Arria’s face told me it wasn’t good news.
“It looks like Micah is trying to start more illegal fights.” Arria gave me the basics right up front.
“Has he done it or is it still in the planning?” I asked.
“He says he has several willing already. He was calling to gather more before starting them back up.” Saul answered.
“Did he give the names of the willing?” I asked as I looked from face to face.
“No. He wouldn’t unless I committed to joining the card.” Saul replied.
“It was the same for me.” Petra added.
“I can pay a visit and try to scare him into stopping his progress. Otherwise we would need to wait until he actually commits the crime.” I reasoned. I looked to Arria to get her opinion. “Unless you have a different idea.”
“I thought along the same lines as you. I don’t want the scaring though. He might put things together to figure out Saul and Petra told me about this. I don’t want them implicated.” Arria made sense.
“I agree. I guess I should call Ghost and get him started.”
“No. Not yet, anyway. We need to make a list of the most likely suspects before we go any further.” Arria looked at Saul sadly. “Would Jonas take part? We all know how he loves the fights.”
“No. He was more scared of Titan than any of the rest of us. Seeing Ares in action drove the point home even deeper for him.” Saul took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. “Tigress, Ivan, and Phan are the most likely ones I can name.”
I took a moment to marvel at Saul. Loyalty was one of his strongest traits. He was giving names of old ones he may or may not consider friends. It was shocking.
This led me to remember the others here at this event. Caleb, Abel, Flora, Helen, and Phoenix all may have taken part in the extra fights before the incident last year. It might be possible that one or more of them could be involved as well.
I looked at the three old ones sitting in front of me and knew better than to ask. These were closer friends that Saul and Petra would want to protect. Saul did discuss Jonas though. I was torn.
“I know what you might be thinking, Titan. The answer is, I don’t know for sure. The others here love the fights but they saw their end in front of them. That kind of fear wakes you up inside. It makes you more hesitant to risk yourself. I don’t see the old ones here being involved, although, like I said, I don’t know for sure.” Saul answered my unspoken question.
“Thanks for the honesty, Saul. I know you. I understand how hard this must be for you.” I said. I could see the pain in his eyes.
“I’m hoping to avoid the losses we suffered last year. It would be better for everyone if the rules were followed from now on.” Saul stated sadly.
“Is there any way for Titan to spy on them to find out who is involved?” Petra offered.
I saw Arria bristle slightly before composing herself. She didn’t like for me to be in those situations. It didn’t matter that only a handful of vampires were a danger to me now.
“I could. It might be the only way to find out what we need to know.”
“We’ll talk about it, Titan.” Arria looked from Saul to Petra before continuing. “Think ahead to what you will need to get this done. I need to talk to Petra and Saul some more. I’ll call you later.”
“Yes, Arria.” I said, with a slight bow.
Chapter 3
“I still don’t understand why you are so against this. It is the easiest way to handle things.” Arria sighed in frustration.
“I want them to start liking me again. If I mess up and get one of them killed, it will never happen. I would rather only be responsible for myself in these situations. Besides, if we ask one of the old ones to act as a spy on our behalf, that old one might find some resentment among other old ones.”
Arria was getting dressed for the fights. We’d been arguing this point back and forth for an hour. She was finishing her preparations and needed to leave.
“Why don’t you go ahead and fill Ghost in while I am at the prefight meeting. I will call when it is time for the fights.” Arria suggested.
“Sounds good.” I told her.
We shared a brief kiss before she left.
I knew Arria wanted to use one of the old ones as a spy so I would be at less risk. I didn’t like that idea at all. How could I mend fences if I continued to tear them down? There was no part of this problem I couldn’t handle on my own.
I knew I should go ahead and call Ghost but I was hesitant. He needed a vacation too. As smart as he was, he needed to be in on as many decisions as possible. Still, I didn’t want to call him.
“Two whole days.” Ghost answered laughing. “That’s actually more than I thought I would get. What’s up?”
“Micah, an old one, is trying to start the illegal fights again. Sorry, Ghost. We were trying to give you more time off.”
“I was already bored. It may be for the best if there is something for me to think about. Is this the same Micah you met last year?” Ghost remembered.
“Yep. I didn’t like him then either. He has called both Saul and Petra trying to get them to join him. Micah claims to already have several willing to participate. Saul and Petra were helping us narrow down who those might be.”
“Two clear ways of handling this come to mind. I know you won’t want to use one of them for a spy, so when are you heading to Micah’s facility?” One of the best things about Ghost is how unnecessary it is to explain the smaller details. Give him a few seconds and he will know on his own.
“We have to finish out the event here. Then, we will need to find Micah. I will take it from that point. That is something you guys can handle from there, I think. Find out where Micah will be over the next few days. He is the type to always be at an event. We will need to find out which events he might be attending.”
“They keep some track of that here. All events are reported to the council as they are scheduled. It is for their records. I will get Lorac to help me look through it when he gets back from his trip. He’s been gone since early last night. He will know which old ones are most likely to be a part of Micah’s new cohorts as well.”
“Sounds good. Anything good happening on your end? Was it a peaceful two days?” I always tried to remember to keep the friendship first. Ghost didn’t need the reassurance but I wanted him to know I still considered him a friend first. The help with all this other stuff was secondary.
“Too peaceful. We did get one report of a couple of vampires going missing. They are in the Chicago area. If they don’t turn up soon, someone will need to go look for them. Other than that, nothing. I’ve read three books but they all sucked. This is actually good news for me.”
“Glad to be of service.” I said, chuckling.
“I’ll get started with finding Micah. Let me know if you get any more information.”
“Will do.”
We disconnected.
The fights were going quickly. I was quietly grateful. Arria and the other old ones all sat on the highest level of the arena. I stood behind Arria’s seat as was our custom. She was betting so I would tap her shoulder to let her know the one who should win. There were only a couple more fights to go.
It was hard for me to stay interested now since I no longer had a fighter of my own. My Darius ruse made the fights so very entertaining. It meant a lot more when it was one of your own in the arena. Now, I wished they would hurry and finish.
With the noise in the arena, I felt more than heard my phone ring. I walked out the door behind us to be able to hear.
“Hello?”
“Those two missing vampires in Chicago turned up dead. They had friends who died with them. Eight in total.” Ghost informed me.
“Wow! Any leads?”
“Nope. The old one they worked for sent out a search party. Then a search party for the search party. The second search party found the corpses. Unfortunately, the police found them as well. The only lucky thing is the corpses were moved before the sun came up.” Ghost’s voice showed his concern. I felt sure Lorac had emphasized the importance of the humans not finding out about us.
“Damn. Look, the fights are ending here, Arria will need to be told. We will give you a call when we get free.”
“Understood. I will be with Lorac so you can call either of us to talk.”
Ghost disconnected.
I took a moment before heading back into the arena. The police having the bodies of several dead vampires was bad. Extremely bad.
A fighter was entering the crowd having won his freedom. Arria and the other old ones were standing and cheering for him. I walked up behind her to tell her the news. I made sure to keep my voice low enough that only she would hear.
“We have another problem. Eight dead vampires in Chicago. The police have the corpses.”
Arria turned in shock. Her eyes clearly displayed her alarm. Petra turned seeing Arria’s face and was instantly on alert. She was next to Arria but hadn’t heard my words when I informed Arria.
“What’s wrong?” Petra asked worriedly.
Arria shook herself out of the initial shock to smile over at Petra.
“A council problem. Don’t let it worry you, Petra.” Arria turned back to see the arena cleared for the next fight. “How many more fights?”
“Just one more. Our fighters are facing each other.” Petra told her. Petra still looked worried. She could tell something serious was wrong.
Arria tried to act relaxed for the last fight. Petra kept looking over anxiously but Arria kept her focus on the arena.
For what it was worth, the fight was a really good one. Both fighters had speed for their gift. It was an even match all the way around. They battled back and forth with neither gaining the advantage for long. Finally, Petra’s fighter wore down Arria’s fighter. I knew Flash wasn’t a favorite of Arria’s but he was one of hers. I hated it for her.
Once Petra’s fighter had been congratulated, Arria let Petra know she would be late for the after party. Petra’s curiosity was peaked but she knew she couldn’t ask too many questions about what was going on.
Arria and I ran to her suite. Part of me wished Arria had truly sprinted so I could compare my speed to hers but she was taking it slower. I followed along easily enough.
“Now, what all was said. Tell me.” Arria demanded.
“Ghost told me earlier that two vampires were missing in the Chicago area. The old one sent out a search party. A second search party found the bodies. That is all I know. Ghost said he would be with Lorac. We need to call them.” I was pulling out my phone as I said the last of that.
“Hey, good we were waiting.” Ghost answered.
“What do we know?” Arria asked.
“Not much. Two search parties were sent to find two missing vampires. When one of the parties didn’t report, the second team went looking for them. They found the six from the search team along with the two that were missing. They were in an apartment where one of the missing lived. He was a free vampire who hadn’t reported in to Gnome, his old one. Anyway, they were all dead. The two missing vampires had been dead for some time.” Lorac told us.
“How did the cops get involved?” Arria asked.
“A neighbor. Apparently there was a shouted argument before they died.” Lorac’s voice put his worry on display.
“Did they kill each other?” Arria asked.
“We don’t think so. The neighbor didn’t hear any fighting, only the arguing. Something like that would have been heard. Also, the second search party told us the apartment was in good condition. Nothing broken and no furniture disturbed. Eight vampires died without a fight.” Lorac told us the crucial part with that statement.
“Damn.” I said it under my breath but I was fairly sure they heard it too. “How old were the ones that died?”
“The oldest was two hundred. I asked the same thing when Gnome called to tell us.” Ghost stated. “If they had been older it would have narrowed it down for us. Still, six dead without even being able to put up a fight. The two missing vampires seemed to have been dead for nearly a week. We don’t know how long.”
“Does Gnome have any cops on his payroll?” Arria asked.
“Yes, but not the chief of police. He is new and will be going by the book. One of the detectives assigned to the case is on the payroll so there is some good news.” Lorac explained.
“Lorac, I’m guessing Ghost told you of the extra fights. This is coming at a bad time.” Arria began pacing.
“The illegal fights are still in the planning stages from what I understand. This is more pressing.” Lorac stated and I agreed.
“Titan needs to go to Chicago. I would advise you to meet the neighbor. Use the deeper mind reading to get the full experience of what the neighbor heard.” Ghost suggested.
“I notice you said Titan. Are you not going?” Arria asked. “You normally accompany Titan on these trips.”
“Not when vampires are dying inexplicably. Ghost can’t defend himself against an old one. Titan can.” Lorac made sure to sound firm in his statement. Ghost was far too valuable to Lorac. He didn’t want Ghost to be put at risk.
“Since these were fairly young, we don’t know for sure this is an old one. We might be dealing with a group like what happened last year. Maybe even a small group of rogues.” I offered. I wanted to see what they thought.
“I don’t think so, Titan. This feels too precise. My only question now is why did this vampire wait around after killing the first two?” Ghost brought up a good point.
“What is Gnome like? Is he one of the questionable old ones or does he follow the rules?” I asked.
“A little of both. He has never needed to be punished but his name continually surfaces when sketchy deals are made.” Arria answered.
“How old is he?” Ghost asked.
“Around eighteen hundred.” Both Arria and Lorac spoke.
“He would be capable of doing this but what would be his motivation?” I asked.
“Covering something up comes to mind. You might need to question him too, Titan.” Ghost suggested.
“You have permission to put him to sleep like you did with Torch. Gnome will not likely be willing to allow his mind to be read.” Arria was thinking ahead.
“Good, that part will help tremendously. Maybe you should visit him first. It would help limit human interaction since you could fly directly into Gnome’s facility.” Ghost sounded like he was holding back. I wondered if Arria or Lorac knew him well enough to sense it.
