Shadow Born: Book 1 of the Shadow-Borne Chronicles (57 page)

The council members looked stunned by what Schubert had said.
 

Reginald stood and walked over to Alec and extended his hand.
 
“Thank you Mister Carson, for saving our lives.
 
Your life was on the line and you could have said nothing and we all would have died.
 
Instead you spoke up.
 
Thank you.”
 
He shook Alec’s hand vigorously.
 
All the other members, except Laramie and Cassandra offered their heartfelt thanks.
 
Alec was quite certain that Laramie still believed he was behind it to win favor with the council.
 
The man was an idiot.

Alec mumbled a few words and let it drop.
 
He had mostly done it to save Silas and Marcus.
 
He owed them everything.
 
The council just happened to be there as well.

Marcus walked over to Alec and sat down heavily beside him.
 
“Well, that was a barrel of laughs.”

“It’s always something,” Alec said shaking his head.

“What happened to Vincent must stay in this room,” Anu said, breaking into everyone’s thoughts.
 
“If others find out about this it could cause a panic.
 
The official story is we questioned Vincent with no results and put him to death.”
 
The cowled head of the Elder vampire swiveled to look at everyone in the room.

“So the question now is, who has the power to stop a human’s heart, make five vampires fight beyond the sun coming up and can make a vampire turn to goo?” Alec said.
 
“Could one of you do something like this?” Alec asked the Elders.
 

The three were silent for a moment.
 
Silas and Marcus looked apprehensive and uncomfortable with the question.

“We could not,” Anu finally croaked.
 
“It is almost impossible for a vampire to be compelled.
 
Any three of us,” Anu said indicating himself and his Elder brothers “could do it, but not to this extent.
 
We are dealing with something we’ve never dealt with before.”
 
He sounded thoughtful and worried.
 
Anything that worried an Elder vampire scared the shit out of Alec.
 
He’d seen them set vampires on fire with only their minds and was pretty sure they could communicate telepathically.
 
But this was something else.

“Council, leave us.
 
We wish to speak with Silvanus,” Anu finally said.
 
“Centurion, Nightshade remain.
 
You, as well, Alec and Steven.”
 
Alec was very confused.
 
He knew Aleisha went by Nightshade.
 
Was Marcus also Centurion?
 
He saw Marcus’s eyes flick to him and away quickly.
 
Alec realized he shouldn’t be surprised by anything anymore.

The other members of the council and their seconds exited quietly from the study, Laramie looking pissed.
 
Schubert was standing speaking quietly with the three Elder vampires.
 
He bowed to them once and then turned and left.
 
Alec was surprised.
 
He’d never seen Schubert show deference to anyone.
 
It also made Alec wonder if Schubert was one of the Unfettered.
 
He certainly wasn’t afraid to speak his mind or stand up to anyone.
 

“We need not tell you how dire circumstances are at the moment,” Anu began.
 
He shambled over to stand beside where Silas was seated.
 
“We need answers.
 
Silvanus, I want your best people on this.
 
That’s why we’ve asked Steven to remain behind.”

Steven licked his lips and looked a little nervous at this statement but didn’t say anything.
 
Silas nodded once.

“Give him whatever resources he needs to scour the Internet for information pertaining to or that may lead us to the Devil.
 
We cannot have a rogue vampire running around causing problems, especially not one as powerful as this.”

“Could we be dealing with an Ancient, one that has resurfaced after years of being under?” Marcus asked looking at Anu.

“No,” Anu said shaking his head.
 
“We would have sensed that.”
 
He didn’t speak further, but Alec felt there was more.

Aleisha didn’t say anything but Alec caught her eyeing him several times.
 
She never looked away and never smiled, she just studied him.
 
It was somewhat unnerving.

“Centurion and Nightshade, we are pulling you off of your previous assignments to work on this, it’s top priority.
 
Alec, we would like your help as well,” Anu said looking at him.

“Of course,” Alec said nodding his head.
 
“The sooner we figure out who the Devil is the sooner the attempts on my life will end.
 
Most of them, anyway,” he finished lamely.

“Then we are done here,” Anu said facing the two other Elders.
 
“Silvanus, we will be in touch.
 
Keep us apprised of your finding.”
 

From out of nowhere the Asian man in the white suit appeared and assisted the Elders out through the back of Silas’s study.
 
After the doors were closed the others remained seated, thinking to themselves.
 

“Alec could I speak with you privately?” Silas asked dismissing the rest.

Alec nodded once and remained seated as the others stood.

“We will wait for you in your room,” Marcus said indicating Steven and smiling.
 
They all left.
 
Alec wasn’t sure where Aleisha was staying but assumed that she had a room, as Silas didn’t offer to have Xavier show her to one.

When the doors were closed Silas stood and walked to the decanter of scotch and refilled his and Alec’s glass and set it on the table between them.

Silas sighed deeply.
 
“Congratulations Alec, this turned out better than even I had imagined.
 
You are fortunate that the Elders stepped in.”

“Do they do this often, just show up and take over?”

“Almost never, unless there is something major going on.”

Alec thought about that for a moment.
 
He wasn’t upset over his freedom, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t have reservations about the Elders and their sudden appearance and interest in him.
 
There was something they weren’t telling the rest. Alec could feel it.

Silas held up his glass.
 
“To your freedom, Alec.”
 
He smiled warmly at the young man.
 
They clinked their glasses together in a toast.
 
“I want you to know that you have a place here if you want to stay.
 
You are free to leave of course, but I’d feel better knowing you were safe.”

“I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet,” Alec said honestly.
 
He sighed heavily.

“I know it’s a lot.
 
But you have your freedom.
 
Doctor Schubert would like to continue his tests and studying your blood if you will permit.
 
We might be able to find some answers with time.”

“Of course,” Alec said nodding.
 
“I’m okay with that.
 
I trust him…and you.”

Silas bowed his head once to show he understood and was honored.
 

“Alec, I am still here for you if you need anything at all.
 
Just know that we aren’t going to abandon you now that all this is over.”

Tears flooded Alec’s eyes and he had to blink several times to clear his vision.
 
He didn’t speak, afraid that his voice would betray the emotions he felt.
 
He nodded once to say thanks.

“Alec, there’s something else,” Silas reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope, “I need your signature.”
 
He had a huge smile on his face when he handed Alec the envelope.

“What is this?” Alec asked opening up the envelope and scanning the pages.

“It’s your…inheritance, I guess you could say.”

Alec looked at Silas confused.

“As Clarissa’s one and only remaining
heir
, you inherit all of her assets.”

Alec was stunned at the news.
 
He looked back at the paper in his hands and realized that a little over ten million dollars would be deposited into this account, under his name.
 
He was speechless.

“When a vampire is newly created, it’s the sire’s responsibility to take care of them and show them the way things are done in the modern age.
 
One of the responsibilities is also to assist them financially until they are capable of becoming independent.
 
That’s part of the reason why creating a new vampire has to be approved by the council.
 
We want to make sure there aren’t vampires being abandoned, broke and forced to wreak havoc in the world in order to survive.”

“I… I… don’t…”

Silas chuckled.
 

“Since you were created by Clarissa and are her only progeny, her assets become yours.
 
I’ve taken the liberty of selling her house.
 
I figured after all that you’ve been through you didn’t want to deal with it,” Silas told Alec.

“Thanks,” he said quietly.
 

“Now you can go back to college full time if you want.
 
I might have a job for you if you are interested, but we will talk about all that later.”

Alec signed the paper and handed it back to Silas.
 

“Here’s your account number and information.
 
The money is yours once everything goes through.”

This was the last thing Alec expected.
 
He was absolutely blown away by this.
 
He was a millionaire.
 
He had ten
million
dollars.
 
Alec shook his head.

He had millions of dollars in a bank account with his name on it.
 
Remarkable.
 
He could pretty much do anything he wanted, like travel the world and see its sights and experience all there was.
 
But there was still the Devil to deal with.
 
He was quite certain that once he was away he’d be attacked again and wouldn’t have Silas’s help if he needed it.
 

“Go.
 
You need your rest.
 
And Steven and Marcus are waiting to congratulate you.”
 

Alec sat his glass down and walked to the doors.
 
When he got there he turned and looked at Silas.
 
“Thank you, for everything Silas.
 
I honestly don’t know what I’d have done without your help and support.”
 
He walked through the double doors and closed them.

Silas sat deep in thought, sipping his drink.
 
He’d had no idea that the Elders would get involved in this.
 
Considering how they had freed Alec and given him carte blanche to do as he wished, made Silas realize there was more here than met the eye.
 
He knew he couldn’t question them.
 
The Elders were a force to be reckoned with and did things as they saw fit, sometimes regardless of the consequences.
 
Even Silas didn’t know exactly how old the three vampires were but he knew that they were the oldest and most powerful beings walking the earth.
 
If they were afraid of the Devil then there was something worth being afraid of.

Silas sighed again and sat his glass down next to the decanter on the end table and stood.
 
Thinking, he walked to his desk and sat down.
 
Lying on his desk was a parchment with the black seal of the Ancients on it.
 
When had that been placed there?
 
He picked it up, cracked the seal and opened it.

Silvanus, keep an eye on Alec Carson.
 
He is more important than you know.
 
We have had visions of his future and he plays a large role in defeating the enemy before us.
 
Without him, we see a darker future than any we have ever faced before.
 
Guide him and help him to learn his abilities.
 
Much will be asked of him before this is over.
 
We entrust this information to you as his guardian, but do not tell him what is yet to be.
 
We do not wish to burden him any more than necessary until the time comes.

Silas sat pondering the words he had read.
 
After a few moments, he reached over and picked up the service phone on his desk and hit a series of buttons and waited.
 
A moment later he said, “This is Silas.
 
I would like you to open a new file, code name Archangel.”
 
He listened for a moment and then said, “No.
 
That will be all for now,” and hung up the receiver.
 

Something was coming.
 
Even Silas could feel it.
 
It wasn’t something he could put his finger on, but everything in him told him that things were worse than they seemed on the surface.
 
The Elders’ involvement in Alec’s case and the letter that they had left confirmed that something was definitely wrong, but no one knew what.
 
He sighed deeply a third time. He sat back in his chair and wondered and thought, long into the night.
 

Epilogue

The ventilator created a steady rhythm with its constant up and down movement - good air in, bad air out.
 
The man leaned over to exam the body in front of him.
 
He had been assured that the young man lying before him was in amazing physical shape but had been in a car wreck that had damaged his brain.
 
He would never recover.
 
The man reviewed him a moment longer then without warning he grabbed the body and sank his fangs into his neck and started drinking.
 
The feeling was indescribable, unless you were a vampire.
 
The warm blood gushed into the man’s open mouth and down his throat.
 
The machine that monitored the young man’s heartbeat started beeping less and less often.
 
The man released his victim and wiped his mouth.
 
With his other hand he pulled the breathing tube out of the young man’s mouth and tossed it aside.
 
He ignored all of the alarms from the machines.