Shadow Born: Book 1 of the Shadow-Borne Chronicles (47 page)

“That way we will have as many of the facts as we’ve gathered before us and the meeting itself will be to pass judgment and make decisions.
 
All agreed on by council members?”

All three of the council members nodded assent.

“Good.” Silas nodded to Dorn who turned on the camera and adjusted it.
 
“Alec and Steven do you of your own free will and without coercion agree before this council to truthfully bear witness to the events as they transpired and without falsehood or ulterior motive offer up your statements of fact to the matters at hand?”

Both young men looked very nervous but said, “I do.”

Silas nodded his acceptance, as did the other council members though Laramie’s was a little reserved.

“Then let us begin,” Silas said.

For the next several hours, Steven and Alec were questioned, cross-questioned and asked to detail specifics of the events that had taken place.
 
When it came to the five vampires that had attacked Steven and Alec and had died still fighting after the sun had risen, Laramie looked skeptical and Sabina looked worried.
 
Dorn officially attested to the fact that a thorough sweep had been made of the building that Alec had told them about and the flooring had signs of five scorch marks and the room was riddled with bullet holes.
   

Dorn passed around pictures of the marks on the ground, the bullet holes and the hacked up boards where Steven had forced the windows open.
 
He even found and documented evidence of an upstairs windows being forced open as the entry point for the five vampires, just as Alec had said.
 

Of the swords and gun there was no evidence and it was assumed that vagrants had wondered off with them.
 
There were however photos of at least one of the silver crosses, burned and covered in vampire, still present at the scene, the one that Steven had used to keep from being choked to death.
 
So that’s where Dorn had disappeared off to so quickly after he had secured VonBell’s mansion for Silas.
 
Alec was glad that he had called Xavier and talked to Dorn as well.
 
They had at least some evidence that what they said was true.
 
That along with Victor’s cause of death, sword wound through the heart, and Marcus’s testimony to what he witnessed the night of the hostage event, lent credibility to the events that had taken place. Even Laramie had problems down playing that part of the story.

VonBell and Senator Taylor’s schemes to divert money from the vampire’s blood collecting facilities were discussed in detail and Steven was called upon to pull up the information and detail how he’d discovered it.
 
Instead of them trying to all crowd around one computer, or pass his computer around the room, he had them all pull out their various wireless devices and he shared the information.
 
This was the 21
st
century after all.
 

The council reviewed the information before them and asked for clarification on certain matters, like how Victor had become involved with the vampires and why he’d gone looking for them so publicly.
 
Silas told them all about VonBell’s attempts to wipe Victor’s memories and how this had led to the man to a break down.
 
Steven explained to them how and why he’d been dragged into the fiasco.
 
Victor had found information and needed Steven’s hacking expertise to find the rest and decode it.
 
Silas made sure to up-play Steven’s finding of the email that was set to be sent to the media in case of the Senator’s untimely demise.

Silas briefly sketched out Chris Taylor’s involvement with Nia and how she’d offered to turn him, and how Victor had found out about it.
 
The vampire in question was still at large and Silas had serious doubts as to whether or not they even had the woman’s real name. Silas strongly believed, and shared his thoughts with the others, that Nia was a fake name and she’d been used to lure and snare the younger Taylor for her own nefarious reasons.
 
Silas believed this was a group-related activity and that Nia wasn’t working on her own but he had no proof.
 
There was a lot more investigating that needed to take place.
 
Alec wasn’t sure how the council got anything done.
 
Then again, with eternity in front of you, there was plenty of time to find answers he supposed.
 

When Silas requested a screen to show other recorded evidence, Steven rolled his eyes.
 
He asked a few questions, found the information was in Silas’s database and set to work on streaming the data to each of the wireless devices in the room, including his own.
 

Alec was surprised to see that Jake had recorded a deposition about the events that had taken place when they were attacked.
 
Thankfully, Jake had been coached to say that Marcus and his men had showed up in time to take out the vampires in the Slice of Life restaurant.
 
Alec really didn’t want to answer personal questions about how he was far stronger and faster than he should be.
 
He honestly didn’t have any answers.
 
Silas explained to the council that the vampires in question were being kept in detention cells below but that they hadn’t given away any information whatsoever.
 
He did tell them that the vampires were associated with Hisashi of Missouri but upon questioning the man had no clue why the vampires had attacked Alec and Jake.

So that’s why they’d gone to Saint Louis, Alec thought to himself, so that Silas could question Hisashi personally.
 
Silas explained to the council members present how he’d gone to talk to Hisashi but he’d found nothing.
 
There was nothing else linking Hisashi to the vampires that attacked Alec and Jake.
 

Alec was asked to demonstrate his abilities.
 
The vampires in the room could obviously hear his heart beat so there was no need to bring out a stethoscope.
 
Alec had started burning blood the moment he’d walked into the room and saw the council waiting on him.
 
He zipped to the far side of the room making sure to move at the speed of a fledgling vampire.
 

Laramie had a smug smile on his face thinking that Alec’s abilities had been over exaggerated.
 
Cassandra looked thoughtful.
 
Alec could tell she wasn’t convinced that he was capable of any more than a few parlor tricks to amuse and awe spectators.
 
As far as she was concerned Alec was a freak show with very little true value, except to Laramie as his personal weapon.

Next was Doctor Schubert who pulled out manila folders with records inside.
 
He handed one to Alec who was surprised to find it was his own medical records.
 
His eyes widened in fear and he thought he might be undone but once he opened and perused the papers inside, he realized there was a lot missing.
 
He looked up while the others were still reading and Doctor Schubert caught his eye and winked.
 
Alec nodded slightly.

Laramie frowned.
 
“This is not all of the records.
 
I would like to see the rest.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” Doctor Schubert said without pause.
 
“You have the basic information you need to make an educated decision on the topic at hand.
 
The rest is private, and until further research is done, is inconclusive. “

Laramie narrowed his eyes at Schubert.
 
“We are supposed to make an informed decision based on the information you
want
us to have?
 
That hardly seems right.
 
How do we know you aren’t withholding vital information that might make our decision easier?
 
What if something you’re withholding could save Alec’s life?
 
You alone could be condemning him to death.”
 
Laramie smiled slightly.

“Please,” Doctor Schubert said rolling his eyes, “we already know how you’re going to vote.
 
You’re as transparent as you are ignorant.”

Laramie’s jaw clenched in anger and he glared at Schubert.
 
The Doctor merely raised one eyebrow inquisitively.
 

“Doctor, do you in good conscious believe that the information you’ve given us is
all
the information we need to make a sound decision and that the rest would be irrelevant?” Sabina asked looking directly at Schubert.

“The information is not irrelevant but its disclosure would in no way help you reach a decision regarding young Alec here,” Schubert said without hesitation.

“That is good enough for me.
 
I vote that this is the information we will use for the basis of determining the actions to take regarding Alec Carson,” Sabina said.

“Agreed,” Silas said.

“This is preposterous,” Laramie spat out.
 
“We need
all
the information if we are to determine a course of action here.”

“Then I suggest that you convince Reginald or Victoria that this information is vital to the vote and not just for your own personal interest,” Sabina said smoothly.
 
“Then you can call a revote and we will see how it goes.
 
Until then, the vote is that the information stands as is.
 
We have additional information to cover and we are wasting time.”

Laramie frowned but nodded once.
 

Alec was relieved to find there were council members that weren’t afraid to stand against Laramie.
 
Maybe he stood a chance after all.
 
Alec wasn’t foolish enough to think that the votes were won yet, but it did give him hope that there might be a good chance for him.
 
He looked up to find Laramie glaring at him.
 
Alec kept his face as neutral as he possibly could under the heavy scrutiny.
 
He didn’t need any further problems from this man.
 
Schubert had spoken truly though when he said everyone already knew how he would vote.

It was decided then that they would take a short break and then reconvene, but no one was to leave the room.
 
Dorn reached over and paused the camera.
 
Alec and Steven took the opportunity to stand and stretch.
 
They hadn’t been expecting an inquisition and had been unprepared for it.

Silas walked over to the two young men.

“I’m sorry.
 
Laramie arrived today and demanded we hold this impromptu meeting saying it would help speed things along.
 
He advised we could send all the depositions and data to Reginald and Victoria and they would be prepared for the council meeting as soon as they arrived.
 
I agreed but argued for time so that you could rest up from our trip and be prepared but I was outvoted.”

Alec nodded.
 
“I understand.
 
Best to get this over with.
 
Having time to think about it would have just made me nervous and I have nothing to hide.”
 
Silas nodded and winked at Alec.
 
He clapped Steven on the shoulder and then went to speak with Xavier.

Alec turned to say something to Steven and found that Sabina was standing there as well, scrutinizing him.
 
He cleared his throat nervously.

“My lady,” he said bowing his head.
 
She laughed quietly.

“Please, call me Sabina, no need for formalities.”
 
Alec nodded once, unsure what say.

“I just wanted to speak with you for a moment,” Sabina told him.
 
She seemed to be thinking.
 
“We stand in unusual times, even for vampires,“ she said smiling slightly.

“I suppose,” Alec said nervously.

“Alec, I’m truly sorry about all this.
 
You seem like a nice bright young man. What was done to you was a travesty and should have been prevented.
 
For that you have my apologies.”

“Thank you,” Alec said carefully not sure exactly what was going on here.

“Your situation…your abilities are truly extraordinary.”
 
She was quiet for a moment and paused as if weighing her next words.
 
“Our laws are very specific, Alec.
 
They are there for a reason.
 
If we don’t follow through with the law as we should, it will set up a precedent that could echo down the eons and come back to haunt us one day.”

“Are you saying you will vote to have me…removed?” Alec asked.
 
Thankfully, he was burning blood so his fear was at bay and his voice didn’t tremble.

“I’m saying that this vote bears great weight and that we must approach it with caution.
 
Just realize that regardless of how I vote, it isn’t personal.
 
I have to think of the future of my people.”
 
She reached out and squeezed Alec’s shoulder.
 
“I hope you understand, this isn’t personal.”
 
Alec nodded once.
 
He couldn’t really talk at the moment.

Sabina walked away to get a glass of wine and left Alec standing alone with Steven.

“What…?” Steven started to ask a question but Alec met his eye and shook his head slightly.
 
Not here.
 
Steven nodded once but he looked worried.
 
Alec turned to find Silas across the room and saw he was staring at Alec with a worried expression. He nodded once to let Alec know he’d heard.
 
Alec took a deep breath and let it out.