Conclave (Vampire Conclave: Book 3), page 20
“Sometimes she’ll go back to Belgium and play in Antwerp station just for fun. My mother told me stories about how Evie would play there for tips to live off of. Back then, she would paint a beautiful musical bar of notes on the side of her face before she went there to play in order to draw attention to herself. I have a picture of her somewhere from that time period. If I can remember, I’ll show it to you before we leave.”
“Maybe Julian and I can come visit the two of you in Rome soon,” I say because I really do want to spend more time with Winifred. I feel like I could learn a lot from her about being a companion, and I love listening to her stories about the past.
“That would be lovely,” she says sincerely. “Then I can show you my ducks.”
I hesitate for a moment because I’m sure I either heard her wrong or she’s making a joke. When she doesn’t clarify what she just said, I have to ask, “Did you just say ducks?”
Winifred nods as she smiles happily. “Oh yes. We have a pond on our property that attracts all kinds of ducks to it. Fred normally takes care of them for me now, since it’s getting harder for me to walk out there, but I would love to show them to you one day.”
“Who’s Fred? Your gardener?” I ask.
“No. He’s our ogre.”
Again, I wait for Winifred to yell, “Gotcha!” to the new kid on the vampire block, but she continues to look dead serious.
“Did you say ogre?” I ask.
Winifred nods, but this time she looks at me worriedly. “Goodness me, you really don’t know anything about our world, do you?”
“I’m learning that there’s a steep learning curve that just keeps getting steeper,” I admit.
“Well, Fred is here with us,” Winifred reveals, “so you’ll get to meet him for yourself. He’s Evie’s champion in the battle today.”
“Seriously?” I ask, wondering if Winifred is pulling my leg. “There’s an ogre here? At Mira’s house?”
“Oh,” Daniel says, “there’s more than just an ogre here today. Mira and Adrian have a mating pair of giants.”
“Giants?” I ask. I’m sure I sound like a broken record repeating and questioning what other people keep telling me. “Is a mating pair of giants rare or something? Wouldn’t that be a common thing, so that baby giants can be made?”
“There aren’t a lot of giants remaining in the world, mostly because there are so few females left. This one happens to be in heat, so the pair are extra vicious.”
Wonderful. Nadia is going up against two horny giants.
“Filip brought a gargoyle,” Madeline tells us, as if gargoyles are even rarer than giants and ogres.
“I’ve never met one before,” Winifred says excitedly. “What kind is he? What’s his name?”
“Well, this gargoyle is special because he was the first one ever made,” Madeline reveals.
“Oh, you’re joshing me,” Winifred says, but her face looks awestruck. “Are you saying Filip knows Roman?”
Madeline nods her head. “They’ve been friends for a very long time, from what I’ve been told.”
“Okay, another dumb question from the newbie,” I preface before asking: “Who exactly is Roman, besides being the first gargoyle ever made?”
“Have you ever heard the story about gargoyles?” Winifred asks me. “The historical version anyway?”
I shake my head. “No. I don’t believe I have.”
“You tell her, Madeline,” Winifred encourages the younger woman. “My memory isn’t what it used to be.”
Madeline looks at me and begins to narrate the tale.
“The legend goes back to seventh-century France near the River Seine in a town called Rouen. There was a dragon there …”
“Wait,” I say. “Are you telling me that dragons are real too?”
“Well, this one was a docile dragon, just like the one that resides in Loch Ness, but back then the townsfolk were poor and ignorant, which led them to being frightened of what they couldn’t understand. Anyway, the archbishop of Rouen, Saint Romanus, set out to kill the dragon and asked for people in Rouen to volunteer to help him slay it. None of the townsfolk did, so he went to the local prison and asked the people incarcerated there if any of them would be willing to help him hunt the dragon down in exchange for a pardon. Only one man volunteered to help Romanus. The two of them set out to confront the dragon. What human history won’t tell you is that they found the dragon to be gentle and submissive. It was so tame that the archbishop was able to place his stole around its neck like a leash and lead it into town. I guess he wanted the people there to witness him killing the poor thing. Afterwards, they set the dragon’s remains on fire, but its head and neck wouldn’t burn, so they mounted it onto a building in Rouen. That’s where you get the design for the metal and stone gargoyles that act as water spouts.”
“Is Roman this Archbishop Romanus?” I ask. It seems like a logical conclusion.
“No,” Madeline says with a small shake of her blonde head, “he’s the prisoner who volunteered to go with the priest. He simply chose to take part of Romanus’s name as his own after he was cursed.”
“Cursed by whom?” I ask.
“What was left of the dragon’s spirit,” Madeline answers. “All dragons are born with a small amount of magic. It’s how most of them have been able to remain hidden from the world all these years. After the dragon’s head was mounted on the building, it began to rain. Some of the townspeople thought drinking the water that ran down the dragon’s throat and spouted out of its mouth would bless them, but what it really did was disperse the dragon’s last spell to them all.”
Madeline pauses in her story and looks at me as if she’s waiting to see if I have any questions up to this point.
“What happened to the people who drank the water?” I ask her, needing to know the rest of the story.
“They all fell into a deep sleep,” she says, making the event sound mysterious. “Roman told Filip that it was like entering into a waking dreamworld where everything felt real but wasn’t. Within the dream, the dragon’s spirit spoke to him. He said it asked him a series of questions before choosing which of its punishments Roman would have to endure.”
“How many different punishments were there?” I ask.
“Two. He could either live forever with a heart as hard as stone, or he could live with the heart of a man inside a stone body. Roman said he was thankful the dragon chose the first option because the second one didn’t make a lot of sense to him at the time.”
“What does that mean?” I ask. “Did his heart literally turn from flesh to stone?”
“No, it wasn’t literal,” Madeline explains. “It meant that Roman would never be able to feel love or care for someone else again. He doesn’t feel affection for anyone, but I guess that’s why he’s so good at his job.”
“What’s his job?” I have to know.
“He’s a mercenary for hire,” she replies. “His services are sought after by a lot of people around the world. Everyone knows that if you hire Roman, whatever job you ask him to do will get done.”
“Madeline,” Winifred says, “how in the world did Filip even meet Roman? From what I was told, your vampire tends to live a secluded life.”
“Roman was hired by someone to kill Filip,” Madeline reveals to us all.
“No,” I say, drawing out the word in disbelief. “Who would want to kill Filip?”
Madeline gives a small shrug of her petite shoulders. “I don’t know. He never told us.”
“Why didn’t Roman go through with it?” I ask. “You just said that he always finishes a job that he takes on. Why make Filip the exception to his own rule?”
“At the time all of this happened, my great-grandmother was just a baby,” she says. “The night Roman came to the house to kill Filip, he found him sitting in a rocking chair singing a lullaby to her. For whatever reason, Roman couldn’t bring himself to kill Filip that night. Instead, they formed something like a friendship that’s lasted until this day.”
“Then maybe his hardened heart has softened after so many years,” I suggest.
“He’s never been anything but kind to me, so I can’t say for sure,” she tells us. “All I know is that Roman has been a loyal friend and someone we’ve always welcomed inside our home, no matter where we are.”
I look over at Nathaniel because he and Daisy are the only ones who haven’t revealed whom their vampires brought to fight for them.
“Who is Petru’s champion, Nathaniel?” I ask.
“He’s a ninja,” he replies excitedly, like the true teenage boy that he is. “As far as I know, Petru has always brought a member of the Shadow Warrior Clan to these events.”
“The what?” I ask.
“Shadow …Warrior …Clan,” Nathaniel repeats slowly. “They’re an ancient group that was formed in medieval Japan to watch over the royal family. There aren’t a lot of them still around, but he managed to find one to bring to the conclave. He told us his name is Jiro Nakada, but I’m not sure that’s his real name.”
“Well, if I was something called a shadow warrior, I wouldn’t give you my real name either,” I say.
I turn my sights on Daisy, who has remained quiet for most of the conversation.
“Who did Janus bring?” I ask her. Since we’re all sharing information, I don’t see why she shouldn’t also.
Daisy shakes her head slowly at me as her lips stretch into a smile filled with secrets. “I was told not to say anything about them until they arrive.”
“They?” I ask. “I thought each vampire was only supposed to have one champion.”
“Janus and Sophie recruited them together,” she tells us. “I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait and see who they are.”
Her answer is both interesting and unsettling.
Why do Janus and Sophie want to keep the identity of their champions a secret? If they’re that good, you would think the pair would want to flaunt them in our faces instead of keep them hidden away. I’m reminded of what I felt from Janus the night before. He was sure he would win until he found out Julian and I would have a Valengard fighting for us. Did he already know the identities of the champions everyone else brought, making ours the only surprise? I’m not sure. From the sounds of it, each vampire has a formidable fighter in the battle.
The fact that Janus and Sophie are acting so secretive worries me, and I fear the contest will end up causing more problems than it’s meant to solve.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” one of Mira’s guards says as he walks into the room, “the battle is set to begin soon and your presence is requested outside for the main event.”
“I think I’ll just stay here where it’s cool,” Constance tells the guard in a tired voice. “Please let Mira know for me.”
“As you wish,” the guard says, looking at the rest of us as he awaits our responses.
“I’m going to keep Constance company,” Daisy announces to us all. “Janus already knows that I won’t be attending. Watching people fight really isn’t my thing.”
Daniel and I help Winifred stand from her chair and walk on either side of her just in case she needs our assistance.
As we begin to leave the room as a group, I faintly hear Daisy encourage Constance to at least eat the frosting off the cupcake since it’s the best part. I have to smile since it’s the same exact point I made to Mira’s companion. Perhaps there’s still something of a little girl left inside Daisy and she simply needs someone to remind her of that fact.
After we step out into the hallway, I notice Alea and Kieran following behind all of us at a courteous distance. Once we reach the veranda, the divide between the vampires is crystal clear. To the right side of the steps leading from the veranda down to the courtyard stand Mira, Adrian, Janus, and Sophie. To the left of the steps stand Julian, Petru, Evie, and Filip. The phrase, “Can’t we all just get along?” comes to my mind, but such a sensible concept is rarely adopted by people.
We all go to stand by our respective vampires. Kieran and Alea take their places to the right of me so they can watch the event as well. Being trained fighters themselves, I’m sure this will be a spectacle that they’ll never get to see again in their lifetimes.
After I’m by Julian’s side, he reaches out to take my hand with one of his as we both look out into the backyard as the combatants prepare to fight.
I want to gasp in surprise when I see some of the creatures I was already told would be participating in the battle royale, but I control my reaction because I can feel Janus watching my every move. It’s almost as if he feeds not only on blood, but also fear, and I have no intention of satisfying his need for either of those things today.
Just as the vampires are physically divided, so are the champions standing below us. On the left side of the grassy courtyard I spy Nadia standing with her battle staff firmly gripped in both hands at the center of her group. Fred, Winifred’s ogre friend, stands to the left of her at well over an astonishing nine feet tall. For some reason, I thought he would have green skin, but I chalk that assumption up to Hollywood’s imagining of the creatures and watching Shrek one too many times as a child. Instead, he has decidedly pale pink skin with an egg-shaped head. The top of his pointy crown is covered by sparse patches of short light brown hair. In truth, there seems to be more hair covering his jowls and chin than the top of his head. His ears jut out like fins on a fish, and his small penny-sized eyes are a light blue color. Fred is wearing a loose fitting white shirt and brown pants to cover his brawny form, but I can still see his protruding belly quite clearly. His face holds the wrinkles of an older man, and his lips seem to be molded into a permanent frown.
Standing to the right of Nadia is a handsome man of average size who has to be Roman, Filip’s champion, since the man standing on the other side of Fred has decidedly oriental features, marking him as the shadow warrior Petru employed to come here.
When Madeline said Roman was a gargoyle, I assumed he might have stony gray skin and horns jutting out of his forehead, possibly even wings on his back like Julian’s, but to me, he looks perfectly normal. He’s tall, at somewhere around six feet, with dark brown hair that’s all one length but isn’t long enough to touch his shoulders. He’s handsome in a rugged way, but I wouldn’t use the term pretty to describe him. He has a well-trimmed mustache and a small triangular soul patch underneath his bottom lip. His blue eyes look as hard and cold as marbles as he stares out across the field at his opponents.
When I look over to the right side of the field, I only see Mira and Adrian’s giants. They’re a formidable looking pair, standing at least seven feet tall. Overall, they look like regular humans, except for the fact that their foreheads protrude out like Neanderthals’, almost hooding their large expressive green eyes. They’re scantily clad, which allows me to see the excessive light brown hair covering their bodies. It leads me to assume that all those sightings of Sasquatch are actually people spotting giants in their natural habitat. The alfar battle staffs look puny in their beefy, oversized hands, making me wonder if they intend to use them at all in this fight.
“Where are Janus and Sophie’s champions?” I ask Julian.
“On their way now, apparently,” he says, sounding mystified by the whole ordeal. “Janus called them a few minutes ago, so I assume they must be somewhere close by.”
“Why the need for so much secrecy?” I ask. “Daisy wouldn’t say who they are either.”
“I don’t have a clue,” Julian tells me with a small shake of his head. “Though the two of them have always liked to make a big production out of things like this.”
“Hey, Fred!” Winifred calls out to her friend, waving at him for all she’s worth. “You show them giants who the boss is, big fella!”
Fred looks over at Winifred and begins to chuckle heartily. His permanent frown attempts to form a smile, but it doesn’t quite make it. Mira and Adrian’s giants look less than amused by Winifred’s taunt and cast a withering glower in her direction. Evie’s companion doesn’t seem to be fazed by their glares in the slightest as she taunts them even more by sticking her tongue out at them. I can’t help but laugh at her antics and wonder how much fun we would have at a football game together.
“How long do you think it will take for their champions to show up?” I ask Julian.
Julian looks up at the sky as if he’s noting the exact position of the sun.
“Only a couple of minutes more,” he tells me. “If they don’t arrive by then, Janus and Sophie forfeit their rights to have combatants in this tournament.”
“That would be fine with me,” I mumble, even though such a thing is pointless to do in the company of vampires. I’m sure they can hear everything I say, even if it’s said in the faintest of whispers.
A few seconds later, I hear a frustrated scream filled with unmitigated anger pierce the air.
I turn in surprise to look at Mira because she’s the one who emitted the horrible sound.
“How?” she demands of Janus, as if just that word is enough for him to know what she’s asking.
I, on the other hand, don’t have a clue what she’s referring to.
“What’s going on?” I whisper to Julian.
“You’ll see in three … two … one.” Julian directs his gaze behind us to the glass double doors leading back into the house.
Walking over the threshold are Damien and Audrey, the leaders of the New Orleans’s pack of werewolves.
Mira turns to watch them walk farther out onto the veranda. If looks could kill, Damien and Audrey would be a puddle of goo by now.
“I forbid you from fighting in this battle!” Mira yells at them like a mad woman. “You are under my jurisdiction, and I do not give you permission to fight!”
“I don’t take orders from you anymore, Mira,” Damien growls with unrestrained hate and impudence. “You only have power in New Orleans because we allow you to have it. Janus and Sophie promised us their protection in exchange for our loyalty, and we gave it willingly. Since you and the other members of the council have basically stripped away all of our rights, I decided my pack was better off taking our chances with them. You made a mistake crossing us and now you’re going to have to pay the price.”
