Dark War Chronicles Box Set One (35 page)

"We aren't children, we were only doing what you wanted us to do. Protecting Renee until she gave the stone back. That's a job that had risks. If you didn't want Tegan in the line of fire you shouldn’t have sent her to help." Orion shook his head. "The attack wasn't something that could be foreseen."

Coran nodded in agreement. "You wanted me to bring Tegan back originally. Had I done that it would have been just Orion and Renee there. They would have lost against all of those attackers."

"And now Markus has the stone." Lucius snapped. "Plus, Coran, after telling me that you were fated you acted like an ass and out of fear treat her like nothing more than a fling. You have such an affinity for humans I would think that you would have learned by now that emotions can leave their minds weak and vulnerable. Especially to the likes of Markus. Orion, you've been neglecting your job as Tegan's protector, letting her go after Renee alone the evening that she was attacked by the Hunter." He turned towards Tegan. "And you've disobeyed almost all of my orders for you in regards to Renee."

Tegan bobbed her head in response and Coran growled. "She's not a child, nor is she a dog, Lucius. She deserves her sight—"

"Silence." Lucius turned back, his power making the air in the room crackle. "All of you need reminders now and then of what I have provided for you and what I can take away. Most bonded humans are kept stripped naked and on chains. Only Tegan's sight is compromised because of her eyes; because of their color she must hide from our kind. She almost blew that during the battle and now she must be reminded of what it was like when she was first at my side.”

He pegged Coran with a harsh glare. “You, Coran, will be spending time in forced wolf form because you refused to listen to your instinct and put everyone in danger. Orion, you will be working at the bar to take Tegan's shifts and you are forbidden from seeing Tegan until I say as such." Lucius leaned back on his throne.

Coran growled and his beast rose to the surface when Lucius flicked his hand. Coran resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "You are impossible." A tingle shot through his body and his wolf tried to force its way out. "We are not children, we are your allies to help you and aid you in battle."

"You work under me because no other territory would take you in. I rescued you from the Circle and now you obey me in agreement that I won’t kill you for helping torture my human. That was the deal oh so long ago, Coran." Lucius twisted his hand and Coran doubled over.

"Yes, it was." He finally gave in, fur pouring over his skin while his bones popped and crackled. He touched his muzzle to the ground and raised his yellow eyes to Lucius, wanting to bite the vampire on the ass.

Markus appeared in the foyer where the others waited. Still cloaked to remain hidden according to tradition, he didn't need to see their faces to feel the tension in the room. He'd promised them the stone and the girl, but only the stone could be obtained with Coran there. The wolf was a force to be reckoned with and Markus considered himself lucky that the girl had willingly handed over the stone. Of course, messing with her mind and planting pictures in it helped and would work to his advantage later.

"Where is the human?" The tallest male snapped.

"In a hospital. It was too risky to get her from there, but I have the stone. She will be easy enough to snatch when she leaves Coran's protection."

The woman chuckled. "The wolf is still working under Lucius? He must feel he still owes the vampire for torturing the human."

Shame the wolf hadn't provided the needed information during the torture. Markus knew Tegan had a link to the Father and if his theory proved correct then she could sate the thirst the Father would have when he awoke. His plans for her would have to wait though. Despite having forced her to send the stone away, her link to Lucius was too strong to convince the human to leave him or his territory for any amount of time.

"I think he has formed a greater loyalty than that. Either way, he was with the girl there. She cares for him greatly, which I used in order to get the stone." He held it up to the group, and as it flashed from blue to black Markus chuckled. "We have one piece of the puzzle, now we just need the girl and a way to satisfy his thirst."

A member laughed. "We'd need an army to sedate him."

"Not if someone could locate an actual Blood Human." Markus chided. Murmurs made their way through the room. "I believe that the Father had one. Those who were close to them took that information to their grave when the Originals slaughtered them."

"You were his right hand, did you not see it with your own eyes?" The woman snapped. "Why should we believe you? We should start gathering up the homeless and shifters, people that won't be missed to feed him."

Markus bristled. He'd never seen the human the Father kept, but he'd heard the rumors. He’d tried to find the human before anyone else did, but Zaaren hadn't trusted him enough and sent Lucius into the house to locate any humans being held captive there. Lucius freed many humans in cages, ruining the start of the human trade the Father wanted, but no actual Blood Human. Since then the Circle had tried to pick up where the Father left off, keeping it hidden from most of the vampire population.

"He did not trust me with everything. Do not fear, we will find a way to quench his thirst after we raise him." He tossed the stone to the tallest member. "Keep that safe, I have tracks to cover up. Someone killed the rogue wolves I had working for me. If Coran hasn't told Lucius that I'm in the territory, I want to prolong it until I can set things up further."

"You really think we will be able to take over the territory?" The woman asked.

Markus nodded. "If we recover the woman and the stone from his territory that gives us reason to have him marked as conspiring against us. It will at least gain us access to his territory and his people. Resisting us would prove that he has something to hide."

"And do you think he does?"

"I believe he holds the knowledge of where the Originals are sleeping and who their keepers are. There is also a rumor that his human, the one that spent time in our courts when Lucius was here..."

"The one you tortured..."

"Is a Blood Human. All we need to do is get her to admit it."

The woman snorted. "Easier said than done. Her master has convinced her that she is human and the rumors say that she could easily be a Dream Weaver. Which is why when she was at the courts with us, her eyes were required to remain covered."

"I have tasted her blood, there is no taint of demon in it. Dream Weavers are made of a dream demon and a human. I should have tasted it. I believe Lucius lied to us."

"And why would he do that?"

"Because having a Dream Weaver would make him more powerful and feared. It would also allow him to cover up if she were a Blood Human."

They muttered and mumbled amongst themselves and Markus knew that he had caught their attention. Now he'd be able to do what he wanted where Tegan was concerned.

Danielle took a deep breath as she walked into the Hunters' headquarters. Cody had been called to trial already and she needed to provide her account of what happened. It was rare these days for a Hunter to appear in front of the jury of Masters for crimes.

She swallowed when she went down the wide white hallway. Dark wooden doors lined either side of her and her steps echoed off the tiled floor as she walked. With only the noise of her walking, the world seemed empty, but she knew behind every door a class of students sat learning about the harsh world they were now a part of. She came to the double doors at the end of the hall and walked in. Ignoring the looks from the crowd and the glare from Cody, she went to the podium in front of the ten Masters, sitting behind their long table on a raised part of the floor.

"I'm Danielle Monarch, Elite Hunter, and I am here to provide testimony to the disobedience of our rules, regulations, and oath that Skilled Cody Demare has broken." Clenching her hands to keep them from shaking, she tried to remember that the man in question had disobeyed his orders from her and had acted for his own agenda. "Skilled Hunter Demare put the life of Renee Flemmons in danger, the woman we were sent to watch over and protect. He disobeyed direct orders to let the situation be and neglected to trust his commanding Elite."

Cody snarled behind her, but she kept going. "The consequences of his actions are that Renee has chosen to stay within Lucius’ guard and the stone, that has been sought after by many parties, is now in the hands of the Circle. He put the whole job in jeopardy and he shot the human that belongs to Lucius. The vampire is in his right to contact the Hunters and demand that Hunter Demare be stripped of his mark."

"The vampire shouldn't have such a right." Cody protested behind her. "They are monsters. We all know this."

Dani held her tongue and watched as the Master at the end stood up. Matthew, if she recalled right. "There are laws that have to be followed. Many of us wish to hunt down every vampire, but in order to keep the peace and the war in balance we cannot."

"And what happens if they raise the Father?"

"The Father is just a myth." Matthew shot back.

Dani glanced over her shoulder at Cody, knowing he wasn't helping his case any. "That is all I have to report."

"Thank you Danielle, you may return to your duties. We will recess to discuss the repercussions that Cody will receive." Matthew bowed his head and she stepped away. Without looking back, she walked out of the room, barely holding herself together. With any luck Cody would be put on suspension then reassigned to another Elite. Worst-case scenario would be they chose to strip him of his mark, a process that hadn't been done for years in the Hunting Society; some believed it was a dead practice.

"It's not, you know."

The voice made her jump and she spotted a Master Hunter leaning against the wall. His seal stood out on his shirt and she knew he was a teacher, though she never had the honor of taking his class. "I'm sorry?"

"It's not a dead practice. In fact, the last Hunter was skinned of his mark just under twenty years ago." He pushed off the wall and approached her. "It's not only the vampires who seem to be returning to the past, but the Hunters as well."

She licked her lips, trying to figure out if she'd said something out loud about the skinning. "I know your face, but not your name."

He held a hand out to her. "I'm Joey Curry. Master and mentor to this years graduating Elite class. You're Danielle Monarch. You have a rogue partner, and you blame yourself for the crap he pulled. It's not your fault. Occasionally one bad egg comes up in the bunch."

"How did you know what I was thinking about the marks?" She shook his hand and met his gaze.

A grin broke out over his face. "I have my ways and I'll leave it at that."

He had a gift of some sort and her curiosity begged for more information, but she bowed her head respectfully. "Then you already know what the outcome of this trial is?"

"They'll skin his mark and relocate him away from headquarters." His smile faded. "The first in twenty years and it had to be a Skilled. So young, he could still be taught the error of his ways."

"Then why would the Grand Masters sentence him to that?"

Joey shrugged. "That I don't have the answer to. Something else is going on in the Hunting Society, Danielle. My students, your graduating class, the new recruits, everyone is going to be affected by it."

Not the most comforting thought. She pursed her lips. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I know you are loyal to the society and I felt that I needed to warn you." He turned and started down the hall. The need to run after him threatened to overcome her, but she resisted. Waiting to see if he was right sounded more important. He disappeared into one of the classrooms and she walked the other way down the long hall, planning on burying herself in some type of work for the night.

Chapter Twelve

A faint knock woke Renee the next morning, and without waiting for an answer Tegan walked in.

"What are you doing back here?"

Tegan raised a brow. "Is that the way to greet your security and your friend?"

"Coran?” Renee tried to keep the pain from her voice, but she couldn’t help that she wanted him there.

Tegan shook her head and leaned against the wall. "He's...in wolf form and isn't able to come to your aid."

"Wolf form?” She wished she hadn’t said anything to him and that it was him here instead of Tegan.

"Yeah, right now he is a big, fuzzy, pissed-off wolf." Tegan laughed. "I thought you didn't want him here."

That was it, vague answers and statements weren’t going to cut it any longer. "What I want is answers, and you're going to give them to me." Renee settled back on the bed. "Starting with why he is in wolf form."

"Orion, Coran and I are all being punished for disobeying Lucius and screwing things up." Tegan pulled up a chair and sat down, crossing her legs.

Renee snorted. "So you got sent here as a punishment while Coran's running around as a wolf. What's Orion doing?"

"Don't mock it, Renee, the punishments that we are going through are because we failed to protect you. Coran is locked in a room as a wolf, and I am to be without my sight when at the manor, until Lucius says otherwise. Orion has to take my shifts at the bar and is forbidden to see me.”

Renee scrunched up her nose and tried to imagine how everything fit into place. She would assume as a wolf Coran would want to run and hunt, but being locked in a room he wouldn't be able to. Orion wanted nothing more than to be near Tegan, but Tegan's loss of sight made no sense to her. Sure, the girl always kept her eyes covered and Renee knew the excuse of light sensitivity covered up the truth. "Why your sight?"

"Because that's how life used to be when we were with the Circle. I can't explain why, but members of the Circle can never see my eyes. Lucius punishes us like this because it reminds us of what he's given us."

"That is horrible, he expects you to go without seeing anything?" How could Coran and the others live with this monster ruling their lives?