Reaper Kissed

26. Witch Hunt

Lucjan and Jordan both went to speak with General Seo.

"The witches are dead!?" The General exclaimed in horror, knocking over the contents of his desk.

"Shhh!" Lucjan warned, moving with vampire speed to check that nobody had heard them. "If news gets out it will cause a panic." He reasoned smoothly.

"Losing the doctor and then Romina in the same week might destroy the people's morale." Jordan pointed out.

"And we don't know what killed them yet," Lucjan lied. He and Jordan had planed this line. "It must have been demons, which means they've found a way into the city. We need to deal with this threat as quickly and quietly as possible."

The General nodded slowly, understanding their logic. He didn't for a moment question their honesty. Standing before them, sweating in the heat - the General looked like a shattered man.

"What should I do?" He asked them.

"Say that you've sent the witches off on a mission." Lucjan advised. "Say that it's top secret and that you can't divulge where. We'll back you up and claim that the guard are escorting them to the edge of our territory."

General Seo sank defeatedly into a chair but nodded.

"We've lost their magic shields, the city's barely defended without them. And without Romina... we've lost the only thing that could contain Ryder."

"The drugs seem to be holding him down fine." Lucjan pointed out. "And the demon bitch's position is still weakened. There's time to recruit more witches before the demons are strong enough to perform an aerial attack."

Seo nodded, he didn't seem terribly reassured however.

"I'll give you ten hours to find the demons. If the guard has had no success after ten hours, we start quarantining the city." Seo decided. Lucjan opened his mouth to argue but Jordan stopped him. He had more experience dealing with Seo – the General was not a man to accept disobedience.

                The two vampires left Seo's headquarters. On their way out, they passed Rylan headed to see the General.

"Salute," Rylan greeted.

"Salute," Lucjan returned. Jordan, with the increased status as the Father of vampires, only nodded his head informally.

Lucjan turned to watch Rylan enter Seo's quarters and his gaze narrowed speculatively. He'd read Rylan's report multiple times– and gauged that the young captain was a hot-tempered soldier filled with a lot of anger. His report had been full of a lot of choice words for Ryder, his men and Chloe. Lucjan suspected that Rylan was behind many of Chloe's scars and bruises. 

Lucjan fangs itched to extend. With effort, he looked away – following Jordan out of the barracks.

                   "Salute, General." Rylan greeted Seo.

"Captain Grey," Seo muttered distractedly. He was still sat down, now with a report in hand – a tight grip on the clipboard. "When do you set off for Amsterdam?"

"Dawn tomorrow, sir."

Rylan had been given a new post. He would be in a joint governorship over the resistance territories in the Netherlands. As the territory expanded, so did the jobs with perks.