Vampire Nation 3: Titan Rules, page 5
“Yes, Titan.”
“Thanks, Reptile.” I disconnected.
With my remorse already building, I headed for the room Thomas was in now. Arria kept a separate room for the newbies that arrived before time to be turned. I’d went with her on several occasions when she would sire her newbie.
My days as Darius came back forcefully. I did get a kick out of the fighters I turned being well gifted. I lost a few of them though. That pain doesn’t go away for me.
Jet and Mist were already turned before I became Darius. They both survived. Amazon was also turned before the Darius ruse but she lost in the arena. Mace, a poor woman who worked as a donor for a year so she could become a vampire, won her freedom. She was a mean one. Hector lost without fighting back. Pan was next. He won and is now working for Arria. Dave/Ming was my last fighter. He won his freedom and now worked for Dmitriy.
I hesitated outside the door. I didn’t want to do this but I knew it was necessary. Whether it was me or Arria, it had to be done. I took a deep breath and entered the room to turn Thomas into a vampire.
Arria woke me early. I could see the worry on her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing new. Sorry for waking you but I needed to be near you right now. Unfortunately, we don’t have the time to stay in bed.”
“I understand. Has any of the council made it in yet?”
“Dmitriy is landing now. Alexander will be here in an hour. The rest will be later tonight.” Arria sat on the edge of the bed. “I am scared some will want us to go after Ares for this.”
“I hate to be the one to tell them, but that would be stupid. I honestly don’t know if Ares can be stopped anymore. Besides, he wouldn’t do this. If he wanted Gnome dead, that would be one thing. He would never kill everyone in the facility.” I reasoned.
“I agree with you. It isn’t Ares style. I also agree he might be unbeatable now. My eyes could barely follow him last year when he killed Feng, Alethea, and Aegeus.”
“I couldn’t follow him at all. I never saw him move. I am faster now but I don’t know if it would be any different.” I admitted.
“We came on it in a different way but Ares is the main reason I woke you early. I want you to call him and tell him what happened. See what he says.” Arria’s worry could be heard in her voice.
I got out of bed and got dressed quickly. I pulled my phone out and took a deep breath before dialing Sweetie’s number.
“Hey, Titan. What’s up?” Sweetie’s voice brought a smile to my face.
“Bad news. I wish I were calling for better reasons. Is Ares around?”
“I’m here Titan. What do you need? The council isn’t trying to kill you again is it?” His laughter followed his words.
“Nope, not yet anyway. Gnome has been killed. Every vampire in his facility was killed as well.” My words stopped the laughter.
“The whole facility?” Sweetie sounded dumbstruck.
“It started with two free vampires living in Chicago. They lived in the city. They didn’t report in like they were supposed to do. A search party found them and died right beside the two bodies. A second search team got there in time to see the cops taking away the bodies of the eight dead vampires.” I was going to continue but Ares interrupted me.
“The police have the bodies?”
“Not anymore. I took care of it. The shocker was Gnome’s facility. We never found Gnome’s body but there was evidence to make us believe he was incinerated. Arria’s group took the time to do the same to the rest of the vampires there.” I related this in as calm a manner as I could. “The eight that died in the city weren’t able to put up a fight but the oldest was only two hundred. Honestly, I didn’t see where a struggle occurred at the facility either. I may be wrong about that though. We don’t know for sure that Gnome is even dead.”
Everyone was quiet once I stopped talking. I looked over to see the worry on Arria’s face. As the leader of the council, it was her responsibility to handle these things. We didn’t have enough clues though.
“We will be flying in as soon as we can. I may send Sweetie to you while I handle some things. I will let you know.” Ares was in full serious mode now. The intensity could be heard in his voice. Even a corpse would shiver hearing that.
“I will see you then.” I replied.
We disconnected.
I sat by Arria on the bed. She gave me a weak smile. Her thoughts were easy enough to read. If this happened once, it might happen again.
“We need to go to the meeting hall. Dmitriy will be there in a few minutes.” Arria said, with a sigh.
“Do me a favor. Run at full speed on the way. I need to test myself to see how much I’ve gained.” I was relieved to see Arria smile at my request.
We walked to the hallway together. With another smile, Arria shot away with me following close behind. She was still a little faster, but not by too much. She stopped when we neared the last hallway. It wouldn’t do for the door guard to see us racing.
“Wow! I didn’t expect you to be able to keep up so well!” Arria exclaimed quietly. Her eyes were huge with shock.
“I knew I was faster but wasn’t sure where I was in comparison. I don’t think I need to say it but this should stay between us. The other old ones are still a little paranoid where I am concerned.” I reminded her.
“I know. They are getting better though. It will take time.” Arria took my hand as we rounded the last turn. The door guard snapped to attention when he saw us. Arria stopped in front of him to let him know what to expect. “Dmitriy will be here in a minute. The others will take a little time.”
“Yes, Arria.”
We entered the room and took a seat at the seldom used tables. Vampires could stand indefinitely. The tables and chairs were more for decoration. I wondered at this since they seemed to be the cheapest furniture in these facilities. Considering this was a room meant specifically for old ones, it looked like they would be much nicer.
It was good that we raced. Dmitriy was announced less than two minutes after we sat down. I watched as Arria met him at the door to give the standard greetings. I gave them a minute before joining them.
“Titan, good to see you again.” Dmitriy smiled as he spoke.
“You too, Dmitriy. How’s life treating you?” I asked with an answering smile. This was a common joke. We weren’t exactly alive in the common sense and old ones lived a luxurious unlife.
“Can’t complain but I probably will anyway.” Dmitriy offered the standard reply. He grew a little more serious afterward. “What is this about? Lorac wouldn’t tell us too much over the phone. I talked with Sabina during my flight. She is curious as well.”
“Gnome’s facility was wiped out. We believe Gnome is dead too but we never saw his body.” Arria stated sadly.
“The whole facility?” Dmitriy looked shocked.
“Every vampire and human dead. There was a related problem. In a way it was even more frightening but Titan took care of it.” Arria began. Dmitriy’s attention turned to me.
“Tell me!”
I spent the next few minutes going over the story with Dmitriy. Arria added in a few things along the way. Dmitriy took it all in without interrupting us. He stood with a thoughtful look on his face afterward.
“What have you ruled out? Is there any other than Ares or a council member that could do this alone? Do we think this was a group like last year?” Dmitriy was asking the right questions.
Arria took a breath before explaining the problem.
“We haven’t ruled out much. Ares is with someone at the moment. He wasn’t even in the country from what I understand. Ghost doesn’t think this was a group effort. Usually that would be enough to convince me but this is too serious to close off that line of thought even as smart as Ghost is.” Arria looked at Dmitriy and shrugged before continuing. “I’m not sure if you knew or not, but Cronus is alive. He is more than capable of this but it wouldn’t be like him to do it.”
Dmitriy’s eyes told us he did not know about Cronus.
“I never met him but I heard the stories when I was new. He was older then than I am now.” Dmitriy uttered in disbelief. I could see his mind trying to come to terms with the knowledge.
Arria continued more like she was thinking aloud instead of talking to someone. “I met him, even spoke with him some. He was good. I would swear it. If we go on the assumption that Gnome was there and is dead, it would need to be an old one at least eighteen hundred years old. I keep coming back to the point of Gnome’s body never being found. For all we know, he could have done this and arranged things to make it look like he was incinerated.”
“The timing is what makes that difficult to me. You said you were speaking to him a half hour before Titan found the bodies. Could an eighteen hundred year old take out a whole facility during that time?” Dmitriy was impressing me with how his mind worked. He was methodical and followed the clues as they were.
“Any old one could if he were killing the other vampires while I was speaking with Gnome. Also, if Gnome were involved, the others may have already been killed. We don’t have enough information. I am scared this is going to happen again. That’s the biggest reason I called the council together.”
“I understand.” Dmitriy said, simply.
I saw something then I didn’t like. Dmitriy had a wary look flash across his face. It didn’t take long for me to understand what would cause it. I opened my mouth to argue his unspoken thought but held my tongue. The look didn’t last, thankfully.
Alexander was announced then. His plane arrived slightly earlier than we expected. Dmitriy and I stood silently as Arria went through the greeting protocols. Once Alexander joined us, we brought him up to speed.
“Titan, Ares, and the council members are the most likely suspects.” Alexander stated in a calm unassuming manner. He spoke the thought that I had seen cross Dmitriy’s face.
“Titan is not a suspect, Alexander.” Arria growled.
“I am just going on the facts. I like Titan, Arria. I don’t think he did it either but I am stating the obvious. He had time while your plane was being turned around to be brought back to the hangar. You said yourself, you were almost airborne before Titan called to have you return. That would be plenty of time for one such as him.” Alexander said the last part with a nod in my direction.
“I had the same thought.” Dmitriy admitted. “I dismissed it as soon as I thought it through. Titan has spent so much time fixing our problems, I don’t see him causing them.”
“You know there will be accusations once word spreads. Titan will be the main target of most old ones. I doubt any would be brave enough to try and do something about it though.” Alexander finished with a smile.
“It seems like I have spent my entire life as a vampire trying to convince others that I don’t want to kill them. This won’t help.” I grumbled.
“The group thing feels wrong. The group last year had help from four council members. We would have heard something if there was a group effort in play.” Arria tried to bring the conversation back in a less aggravating direction. “Ares was out of the country. It would be completely out of character for Cronus. What are we missing?”
“I’m starting to lean more toward Gnome. Maybe he is trying to set Titan up.” Dmitriy offered.
“What would Gnome have against me?”
“You are our problem solver. Gnome has never been caught but has his hands everywhere if the stories are true. He is trying to avoid getting caught by you. That’s what I’m thinking anyway.” Dmitriy explained.
We stood reflecting on Dmitriy’s reasoning. I hated it but it did have some merit. Lorac’s arrival interrupted our thinking
Arria moved to meet and greet but Lorac waived it off. They were brother and sister after all. Lorac walked over to join the group.
“I see they’ve been told. Any ideas?” Lorac asked.
“Only ones that I hate. They do deserve some thought though.” Arria admitted.
“Where is Ghost? Shouldn’t he be here for this?” Alexander asked. He’d been overly impressed with Ghost. I guess anyone would be.
“Actually, he would have joined me but Ares called him as we were getting off the plane.” Lorac’s statement brought gasps from Dmitriy and Alexander. They didn’t know that Ghost had been in frequent company with Ares last year. “Ares wanted to hear and discuss things from Ghost’s point of view. Ghost will be joining us once he is ready.”
“I can’t argue with that. I don’t think I would if I could.” Alexander stated.
“What’s the bad ideas Arria spoke of?” Lorac asked me. Since we could both read minds, we usually had two conversations going.
“My name will be brought up as a suspect. I had the opportunity while Arria was turning the plane back to return to the hangar. There was a second thought that Gnome is alive and a part of what happened in an effort to frame me. Since he has been a known suspect, he would want to eliminate the council’s main weapon against bad behavior.”
“Ghost considered those things. We spoke of it on the plane. There are other ideas that may be as bad.”
“Ares is on his way but may take some time getting here.” Arria told them. Alexander and Dmitriy didn’t seem to like hearing that.
“Why would he wait?” Lorac asked.
“He said he had some things he might take care of first. He would be sending Sweetie here soon though.” I explained. “He didn’t say more. While Ares is a friend, I’ve made it a point not to question him too heavily. I think everyone can understand why.”
Dmitriy laughed. Both Lorac and Alexander smiled.
Chapter 7
I met Sweetie as she got off of the plane. Ares could use commercial air travel or fly using the flying gift since the sun wouldn’t hurt him. He sent Sweetie in his plane so she would be secure.
I couldn’t stop my smile from spreading across my face when she came near. Sweetie was this little quiet, shy looking woman who brought out every protective instinct you might have within you. She was extremely well named.
She wrapped her arms around my waist for an extended hug. We hadn’t seen each other in months. I found myself thinking back to a time when she couldn’t be away from me without going into a panic. She seemed happy now.
“How have you been? I was so preoccupied with this mess that I didn’t ask how Australia was for you.”
“I liked Australia. It was better than the books I’ve read about it. Ares knew the best places to visit. He seems to know every country pretty well. I guess you get to travel a lot over twelve hundred years when you aren’t tied to the fights like the other old ones.” Sweetie said. We began walking slowly down the dull green shaft that led into Arria’s facility.
“I’m glad you’re getting to see the world. The guys have been asking about you. They can’t say too much but I think they are mad at Ares for keeping you away for so long.”
“I miss them but this is the life I always wanted.” Sweetie looked up at me cautiously. “Ares got one worried look after another after you called. He wouldn’t talk about it though. I couldn’t figure out why he was dodging my questions.”
I understood both sides. Ares wouldn’t want Sweetie to worry. Sweetie was very perceptive. She would see the worry no matter how hard Ares tried to hide it. Ares would know some of what we were figuring out. This whole thing might be a way to frame me. Even if it isn’t, there will be enough negative talk sent my way to further encourage the fear and anger so many felt in regard to me already. Ares didn’t want to tell these things to Sweetie. Neither did I but she might as well hear it from me.
“There are several scenarios that point things my way. The old ones already feel fear and anger where I am concerned. They might be calling for my head soon.”
“Why would they blame you?”
“I had the motivation since Gnome was questionable in nature and I was clearly there in place to do it. That is enough for some. We have even theorized that Gnome isn’t dead. He did this himself to frame me for the killings. He is on the shady side. He may have acted to keep from being caught and punished for his crimes.”
“You weren’t there to kill the two free vampires or the search party though. You got rid of the corpses before knowledge of our kind could get out. Why wouldn’t they see that?”
“Because they don’t want to. It is the way the old ones are. They are spoiled and don’t want anything that could get in the way of them doing what they want.”
“That’s just sad.”
Ghost and I stood in our usual spot when talking to the council. We were about twenty feet in front of Arria’s chair at the focal point of the semicircle. All the council members were present. I didn’t like being here but didn’t have a choice. I would much rather have stayed with Sweetie and the gang.
The council now sat with only Arria and Lorac remaining from the members when I was turned. Dmitriy and Sabina replaced Lajos and Cadoc. Alexander replaced Cheng. Ephraim, Nina, Sela, and Menolo replaced Feng, Agda, Alethea, and Aegeus. Being on the council was turning into a high turnover job instead of a lifetime position. Go figure.
“We still don’t know enough to point a finger in any direction. It wouldn’t be easy to kill an entire facility full of vampires. Titan, Ares, Cronus, and the council could do so without too much effort. Even for Gronk and some of the other old ones, that would be a stretch considering the limited time frame. Thirty minutes isn’t a lot of time for something like this.” Nina noted.
“That still doesn’t begin to explain the two free vampires that died or the search party that died beside them. I think that might be the way to look at this whole thing.” Sabina offered.
“We are mostly saying the same things here. I want to hear from Ghost. I’ve heard so much of his intellect but haven’t seen it firsthand. Ghost, what are your thoughts on this situation?” Sela asked.
