Calling for a Miracle [The Order of Vampyres 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (52 page)

Dane stumbled back as if the man had punched him in the gut. He had never been spoken to like that in his life. He looked at his sister in the other man’s arms and saw her as a tiny child. She had always been so precocious and bold, but since she stopped talking, her entire presence seemed to shrink. He was right, she was helpless. And Dane was in no position to help her if she fell into trouble.

“Look, I didn’t mean you don’t care about your sister. I know you do. I just—”

Dane held up his hand and Cain paused. “You’re right. I can’t save anyone when there is actual danger. I couldn’t save my mom. I couldn’t help my grandmother. And I wouldn’t be able to help Cybil if she got into trouble. I’m useless. Like you said, I’m just a kid. She’s all I got left and I just don’t want to lose her.”

“You’re not useless, Dane. You just have some maturing to do before you can take on the world. Cybil has a lot more years to go. You will be an adult in less than two years, but she has a long while until she gets there. You have to be a realist. Would you rather be placed in the care of the state where you have no say in whether you two stay together or are split apart? Or would you prefer to go to our farm where you will be looked after and treated as if you were our own? No danger can touch you on the farm. Yes, you will miss all the amenities of modern life, but you will own your days and not have to take any shit from anyone at night. You can work and learn a trade. Cybil can go to school and play with the other girls. You know it isn’t healthy for her to just spend all her time with you and that ugly dog. She needs a place she can feel safe.”

Dane nodded. He looked over to Shimmers who was whining as she watched the two of them argue. The dog had defected the moment Cain stepped on their property. “What are you looking at, you ugly mutt? Don’t even try to convince me you don’t want to go with him.” The dog came over and licked his hand. Dane patted the animal affectionately then looked at Cain. “I’m sorry. You’re just trying to look out for us. Not a lot of people are doing that for us these days and I am not always sure who to trust.”

“You can trust me, Dane. I’m your friend.”

Dane nodded and reached down to grab his duffel bag. They began to walk in silence. Eventually the rest stop came into view and Dane felt relieved he would soon be able to sit down. As they walked toward a pay phone in the distance, Cain asked, “How did Shimmers get her name? The last adjective I would use to describe that dog is something like shimmer.”

Dane laughed, glad for the lighter topic. “Cybil found her. She was convinced Shimmers was a he. She said no female could ever be that ugly. She was too young at the time to understand that there was a very easy way to prove the dog’s gender, so she just continued to argue on about it with me. When I would call her a she, Cybil would correct me by calling her a him. I started to call her shim. Eventually it stuck and turned into Shimmers.”

Cain looked down at the mangy dog trotting alongside of them and laughed. “For as ugly as she is, she doesn’t seem to realize it.”

Dane looked down. Shimmers was marching proudly between them as if she were a steed guarding the princess and two of the king’s men. “No, she sure doesn’t.”

* * * *

After Adriel arrived and Larissa had fallen back to sleep, Eleazar went down to his office to grab some things. His furniture was pushed around the room and tables had been toppled over from his fight with Silus. He had never wanted to murder another so completely. He still was not sure he was prepared to face him yet. How dare he think he could put his hands on his mate?

Eleazar roared and threw the chair he had just righted into the wall. He took a few deep breaths and prayed for his control to return, but feared when it came to Silus Hostetler, it never would. For the first time in all of his life, he regretted his commitment to God. How easy it would be to simply tear out Silus’s heart and never look back. But Eleazar knew he had taken a vow to lead a pure life and do his best to be a righteous man.

When he felt somewhat in control of his rage, he went to his desk and began sorting through papers. Whatever Silus had been looking for, he did not find. Eleazar had a good idea what it was. He went to the hidden cabinet in the wall and pressed down on what appeared a normal sampler stating scripture. The compartment opened and Eleazar withdrew the papers he needed. He reached for an ink pen and then left his office.

As Eleazar’s sure footsteps echoed down the long corridor of the holding cell block, he felt his jaw tighten and his muscles clench. Calm, he needed to remain calm. When he reached the cell that contained Silus, he pulled a chair close and casually sat down and watched the other man.

Silus stared at him with bloodshot eyes. His skin bore the remaining claw marks from Eleazar’s fists and his hair was in complete disarray. The man stared back at him with nothing less than complete hatred. His clothing was torn and bloodied and his arm still appeared broken as it hung lifelessly at his side and out of the socket.

After letting the male simply squirm under Eleazar’s scrutiny for a time, he finally said, “I have the papers you were searching for. You will sign them now.”

He watched as Silus’s jaw ticked, but the man said nothing.

“I warned you what would happen if you ever
laid a finger upon her again. I warned you of the penalty if you chose not to respect her choice in all matters from here on. I told you not to test me on this. She is a mated female and by touching her you have broken one of our most sacred laws. You truly are a stupid man for thinking you could get away with
taking her blood!
” He roared the last few words and Silus snickered. “Are you mocking me, boy?” Eleazar seethed.

“You cannot do anything to me that has not already been done. I’ll sign your damn papers and then tomorrow my father, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather will demand I be released. You may be the bishop, but you are not the council.”

The corner of Eleazar’s mouth kicked up in a sardonic grin. “Your ignorance baffles me. What a fool you are to think you will just walk away from this. I heard you had a run-in with Ms. Schrock.”

“Who?”

“Adriel Schrock.” Eleazar knew by the look on Silus’s face that he knew who he was speaking of. “Let me tell you a story of how reprobates were handled in my day. I can tell you this, because I know you will never have the opportunity to repeat it.” Eleazar settled more comfortably into his chair.

“Approximately three hundred years ago, a man named Cerberus was called to his mate. Times were different then. Women were looked at as property and pawns to be maneuvered about a man’s world. When a man took a wife, he was entitled to use her as he saw fit. Women often disappeared with little follow-up. Murders were explained away as mishaps and brutal men continued to take wives and run through them like water.

“Times are different now. Although we remain sheltered from the outside world, we do try to stay abreast of English politics. Nowadays women are educated, they can vote, drive automobiles, raise families without the assistance of a male, and even work in fields that require great strength and fortitude. Although our views on mating and marriage are protected by family law, we still do not condone abuse of any creature of God.

“It was perhaps 1729, only a few years before we traveled to America.
Cerberus had received his call and gone to claim his mate. She had expressed her wishes to join the pilgrimage to the new world, but Cerberus had refused. When she tried for diplomacy, he only took offense to her insolence. He ended up forcing himself on the female and bonding with her against her will. The result of this rape was Christian Schrock, your elder. Christian sits across from your family on the bench, just beside me, his uncle Abraham, Larissa’s grandfathers, Ezekiel and Thaddeus. So you see, as far as you feeling secure in your favor with the council, I assure you, you are outnumbered. And by men who do not take kindly to behavior such as your own.”

Eleazar crossed his booted foot over one knee and casually flicked a piece of dirt off the sole of his shoe. “Anyway, as I was saying, Cerberus had brutally raped his mate and commanded her to stay with him. He had showed her that his actions were not a result of turning
feeish,
but simply the way he was. She suffered many nights of unthinkable abuse. It wasn’t until I and several other elders had stumbled upon her that we realized just how atrociously she was being treated. There is right and then there is right. It would teach you well to understand such things.

“It wasn’t long before
Cerberus found himself faced with a pack of angry immortals demanding an explanation for his behavior. If she had been mortal, she would have died many deaths at his hand. But she was immortal and as such was beaten down to nothingness only to slowly heal and be beaten again. We warned him that he was not to harm his female again, but as you know, sometimes men are simply too stupid to heed a warning when it is given.” He looked up at Silus and offered a scornful grin. The man shifted, but continued to listen in silence.

“We believe ourselves Christian men. Killing any creature of God is an unforgivable crime against our Lord, but so is standing by while an innocent victim is being brutalized. It was a cold night much like this one. I remember because the ground had already started to harden and freeze. We had grown suspicious when we hadn’t seen the female around for some time and we decided to check on her. When we found her she was a disgrace and Cerberus had the audacity to laugh at us as if our warning was given in jest.

“He was outnumbered and we took him down swiftly. Of course we had to incapacitate him, but we knew he would heal. While he was unconscious we shut him in a wooden box and placed it deep within the earth. No matter how strong an immortal is, without proper nutrition that strength will wane. They say we are all nothing more than dust, dirt upon this earth. Even dust, when there is enough of it, is immovable. We buried him in that box and that is where he remains today, starved, alone, and trapped for the rest of his eternal existence.”

Eleazar looked up at Silus and waited for the man to comprehend why such a tale would be relevant on a night like this. He smiled the moment he saw understanding dawn on the man’s face. Silus’s head slowly raised his eyes wide, and all arrogance gone.

“You cannot be serious!”

“Oh, but I am. You see, I may be your bishop, but I am first and foremost a male. You have harmed what is mine, trespassed on a bonded male’s territory, desecrated what is mine. You have made a grave error in taking my forgiveness for granted. There is no forgiveness for a man who goes after another male’s mate. At least not in this lifetime. I hope you drank your fill of my mate because it will be the last drink you take for at least a hundred years.”

Silus began to tremble. “You cannot do this! I wish to speak to my father.”

“I will be sure to give him the message. However, I am a bit preoccupied with my mate on the mend. I hope your request does not slip my mind.”

Eleazar stood and slid the papers through the bars. “Sign.”

Silus stood on shaky legs. He took the papers with his good arm and Eleazar grinned as he saw how badly the other male was trembling. “You can have her. I will never touch her again. She isn’t worth it anyway. You’ll see. She’s cold. You would have thanked me eventually.”

The bishop clucked his tongue. “See, and I thought you understood the story.” A heavy door slammed in the distance. Silus’s eyes darted in that direction anxiously. Heavy footfalls echoed from the far end of the holding block. “When will you understand, Brother Silus, while you were incapable of loving a female so pure and giving as Larissa, I was not? I see the gift God has bestowed on me and I will continue to cherish her above even my own salvation and comfort for the rest of my existence. I believe it was Solomon who said,
for love is as strong as death and jealousy is as fierce as the grave.
Well, my friend, that is where your jealousy has landed you.”