Haeven (30 page)

Smiling she helped me to my feet before
softening her expression into a look of complete concern. She ran
her thumb beneath my nose swabbing up the blood, "There," she
smiled, "all better." Then she callously wiped her hand on one of
the bystanders.

"I'm sure Herrik has told you all about me,"
she watched my expression closely. I carefully shook my head so I
wouldn't aggravate the pain that was still throbbing at the base of
my neck. "No," she frowned and glanced back towards him, "pity,"
she sighed, "I guess it is up to me then."

Suddenly she reached forward and placed her
hands one on each side of my head with her thumbs pressed firmly
into my temples. My mind went completely blank and my eyes closed.
Behind my lids swift and painful pinpoints of light began to flash
and each one seemed to be telling me a story.

"Freya, please don't!" Herrik struggled
briefly against his captors. "You've already taken my wife and my
son. Please don't take Emily, too!"

His plea surprised her and dropping her hands
she whirled to face him, "I took away something you never wanted
and gave you a life beyond your wildest dreams!"

"That's not true! This? I never wanted any of
this."

"Huh!" she laughed and cast her gaze around
the room before finally returning it to Herrik. "You've been mighty
ambitious for someone who never wanted any of this. When Carah
asked me for my help and told me what you've done, what you were
trying to accomplish I almost couldn't believe it. Now that I've
seen it for myself I realize that I was right – I have made you ten
times the man you ever were."

Herrik visibly cringed at the reminder.

"I'm impressed. Fascinated, actually," she
stepped forward and looked down at him. "My but you turned out
well," she ran her fingertips over one of his arms.

Carah anxiously stepped forward, "Is any of
this really necessary? All I want is Herrik, Herrik before the
council. That was our agreement." She looked very uncomfortable
with everything Freya was saying.

Freya's eyes flashed with anger but she
quickly concealed it, collected herself and shrugged, "Ah, yes, the
council," she took a deep breath and smothered her emotions, "Go
ahead," she nodded to Carah and the others that were standing idly
about, "take him to the council so we can all see what lies beneath
this charming exterior."

Carah called to one of the nearest vampires
who immediately stepped up and helped haul Herrik away. Afterwards
Carah seized me and we followed directly behind them while Freya
trailed after us.

How word had spread so quickly and what
exactly it was they thought was happening I couldn't imagine but
the council room was overflowing and everyone gathered there seemed
anxious to be the first to see the outcome of such an unprecedented
event. Carah forced me to a seat at the table as Freya edged by her
and took the seat Herrik would normally possess at the head of the
table. They exchanged challenging looks but Carah clearly wasn't
about to take any action other than that.

As I glanced around I noticed that there
wasn't a single human amongst the bystanders. I could not see
Herrik from where I was sitting and wondered what had happened to
him since we were parted. Artur and Avery were nowhere to be found
either. I tried to recall whether or not I had seen them in the
crowds at any point but knew that I hadn't. I hoped that they were
alright, that somehow they had been overlooked but my heart was
filled with dread and my mind could only imagine the worst.

I tried to clear my thoughts so I could make
some sense of everything that was happening and as I did a path
opened up through the throngs of onlookers and I saw Herrik, head
bowed, hands and feet bound shuffling between several guards as
they led him towards Freya. He looked completely disoriented and I
knew that they had managed to make him complacent by whatever other
means they had.

Without thought I began to rise from my seat
so I could hurry to help and comfort him but Freya recognized my
intentions and held me in place. It was horrific to see Herrik so
degraded and weak. Once he was standing before Freya, Carah began
reading off a list of the charges against him. When she was done
she turned to me.

"Emily...Emily is living proof of all that I
have said. I implore you to share her visions and see for
yourselves how Herrik's arrogance has betrayed us all into
believing he has our best interests at heart. You will see that the
only interests that concern him are the ones that serve him best.
Herrik has used all of you and all that you have built as an
instrument for his own personal gain."

"That's not true!" I tried to interrupt and
frantically met the eyes of anyone who would look my way.

Some looked skeptical, others unreadable and
more than both those groups combined there was nothing but anger
emanating from the glares they sent Herrik's way. It was obvious
that they were preempted as to what crimes Herrik had purportedly
committed and what evidence would be submitted to demonstrate his
guilt.

"Herrik, please, don't let them do this to
you!" I pleaded but he wouldn't or couldn't even acknowledge that I
was there.

"Enough," Freya abruptly stood up and raising
her arms she motioned everyone to their seats.

The room slowly quieted and those that had
chairs took them while the remaining adjusted their stances and
turned their gazes towards the council table. Freya resumed her
seat and reached her hand out to Carah who had taken the vacant
seat next to her. Then Freya looked pointedly at me and I felt her
forcing me to grasp her free hand.

I tried to clear my thoughts, tried to wipe
them all away and wrap them in the mental cloak Herrik had shown me
how to use when I first came to the compound. My lips quivered and
my eyes pooled with tears from the effort but Freya was too strong
and I couldn't bar her from my thoughts. The curtain fell away and
all my memories were completely exposed. Freya gathered them all up
and for a split second they were nothing but shadows shifting in a
dense fog. It was far more revolting than I could have imagined.
Herrik's presence was always gentle and discreet. He never exposed
anything unnecessarily and he never forced anything to the
forefront of my mind the way Freya did.

I tried not to resist because I knew how
painful it could be if I did but she was so repulsive that my
defenses seemed to naturally try to take control away from her. My
nose started bleeding again. I could feel several droplets
trickling from my nostrils and running towards my lips.

I shivered, my head felt leaden and I
couldn't hold myself upright, "Not true," I sobbed. "None of this
is true!" but no one seemed to hear me.

The visions grew brighter, clearer, and
crisper. 
I was in the crawlspace urging Daemon to let me
help him; insisting that I was not afraid and determined to do
whatever was necessary to save him...Once it was over my vision
shifted and they all saw the exchange Carah and I had had in my
room. From there it was obvious that Carah was listening to some
inner voice and following some hidden command. It must have been
Herrik...Herrik telling her to bring me to the compound, to
him.

"Oh, Herrik," my mind agonized as I realized
what would happen next. Then something distracted me the feeling or
sense that the people gathered there were finding fault with Carah,
too. That she was somehow guilty by following Herrik's commands
even though she knew they went against the compounds directives.
Carah suddenly realized it too, that the visions I was sharing
seemed to implicate her as well as Herrik. I felt her resisting
Freya's manipulation of my memories.

It was too late. The crowd was being swept
along with the images that told the story of how Carah had brought
me to Herrik and he forced me to stay. My memories kept coming one
after another and in every one of them it seemed like Herrik was
making some meaningful mistake and furtively trying to cover it up.
I screamed unknowingly. Then I frantically tried to wrench control
of my thoughts back from Freya hoping to show the council that she
was changing the context of all that they were seeing. That it was
much more complicated than they imagined.

Carah was trying to break free as well and
her determination augmented mine but as soon as Freya realized she
was about to lose control she abruptly released me and the sudden
backlash made my mind writhe with pain. I slumped face down on the
table while the assembly erupted all around me. An angry wave
radiated through the crowd and they began attacking Carah and
Herrik with an indescribable brutality.

I lifted my head off the table and tried to
shake myself free of the pain then I heard a familiar voice in my
ear. I don't know where he had come from but suddenly Avery was
hunched over me absorbing the errant blows and protecting me from
the chaos. Though I couldn't see either Herrik or Carah I could see
Freya. She had a faint grin playing on her lips and looked as
though she knew that in a few short moments the odds would
overwhelm them and it would all be over.

I tried fighting myself free of Avery
imagining that I was about to lose Herrik forever. I wanted to run
to him and throw my arms around him and suffer as Herrik suffered
knowing life would not be worth living without him.

"Let me go!" I growled. "Let me go!"

I sunk my teeth into Avery's hand to get him
to release me. As I did my ears started ringing and the melee
abruptly died down. One after the other vampires collapsed and
plunged to the floor with their eyes wide open and their
expressions frozen in shock. The only ones that didn't fall were
Avery, Freya, Herrik and Carah. Carah was already on her back. She
kicked her opponent to the side and sat up before scuttling several
feet away. Avery released me and when I raised my eyes I saw Artur
slowly approaching Herrik.

"Dear God!" I whispered.

I knew he had abilities not unlike Avery's
but I never knew Artur was so strong. He was so carefully guarded
and his power so well hidden under his friendly, unassuming
exterior that it would have been impossible to discern how much
strength he actually possessed. To see him unleash such a potent
inoculant and neutralize so many adversaries all at once was
unimaginable.

He made his way through the prostrate bodies
then reached down and helped Herrik to his feet. Afterwards he
looked my way. "Come," Artur called out to me and Avery. He glanced
over at Carah, "it will only last a moment more," his voice was
completely calm but his eyes hinted at the urgency he felt. She
fled the chamber while Avery dragged me towards the hidden
elevator.

Already the vampires that were furthest away
began to moan and come to.

The car was right there waiting when Artur
finally managed to wrestle Herrik to the far wall where the hidden
panel was located. He stood aside and waited for Avery to force me
in then Artur tried to squeeze himself and Herrik in but the
elevator was too small for the four of us.

"Take Herrik!" Artur decisively
commanded.

Before Avery could act, though, Herrik looked
up at Artur, his eyes full of love and regret. He reached out and
pressed the strange symbol, thrust Artur into the elevator and the
door slid closed.

"No!" I cried out and fought desperately to
free myself. "Herrik!" his name suddenly died on my lips as Artur
laid his hand across my forehead and forced me from
consciousness.

"I'm sorry," I heard Artur's voice in my
head. "It's too late...it's over. I will not let you sacrifice
yourself for a cause that is already lost."

My face felt cold and wet. There were strange
noises all around me and my eyes kept going in and out of focus. It
was raining and someone was shaking me to wakefulness.

"Miss? Miss? Are you alright?"

It felt like I was dreaming as I slowly
turned my head and tried to locate the face that the voice belonged
to.

"Are you hurt? Can you sit up?"

Other than the terrible ache that was
throbbing inside my head nothing else was hurting. I tried nodding
but only managed a feeble assent.

"Here let me help you," and the man that was
kneeling beside me carefully eased me to sitting. "Is there someone
I can call? Is there a friend nearby or family that can help
you?"

"Who are you?" I asked utterly confused.

"I'm Nathan," he half-smiled and then asked,
"What's your name?" his voice was friendly but his tone seemed
condescending, like he was talking to a child.

"It's...it's..." suddenly I realized that I
didn't know...I didn't know anything. The man waited patiently
while I struggled to remember. I started to shiver.

Nathan stood up and offered me a hand, "Well,
maybe we should get you inside somewhere and warmed up then things
will become clearer once we do," he gave me that odd, half-smile
again and I wondered if he thought I was a simpleton or a vagrant
of some kind.

I graciously accepted his help and once I was
on my feet I took in my surroundings. "Where are we?"

"In the park, just outside the city," he
answered as he led me away. "My car is over here. If you let me
I'll take you to the hospital or the police. I think you might be
in some kind of trouble and could use their help."

"Trouble?" I mumbled and tried to puzzle out
what he could possibly mean by the statement. As we walked I did a
quick assessment of myself to see if I had been injured or hurt in
anyway. "I'm not hurt," I said confidently.

"Are you sure?"

"I...I don't know...I feel...lost..."

Nathan held the car door for me while I took
the passenger's seat. He brought me to a nearby hospital but didn't
speak to me during the entire ride. Every once in a while he
glanced over at me and sighed. If I happened to look his way he
would turn towards me and his mouth would twitch into that
uncomfortable grin.