Fear and Blood

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The house was a mess when Ly walked through the door the night of Marcus Taylor's political rally. Tristan had been working non stop for weeks trying to calm down vampire rights groups and prevent them from protesting and causing trouble, but the attack on the rally and the murder of the two security guards had contradicted all of Tristan's efforts.

“You have to get a statement out to the human public as soon as possible,” Ly heard Tricia say as she followed behind his brother, arms full of paperwork. “You know how they are, as soon as this goes public we are going to be blamed. The vampire community will be expecting something from their Jarlan as well.”

Jarlan was the official term for Tristan's position. It was an old word that wasn't used often, only in extremely formal situations. It was also the name Tristan, and Aleron's before him, used to address the human population in times such as these. To them Jarlan was just the vampire spokesperson and nothing more.

“I realise damage control is going to be difficult,” Tristan was saying hurriedly as they rushed past. “These are not only attacks, but murders and threats. No matter what I say, there is going to be a lot of suspicion surrounding us.”

“What's going on?” Ly asked, falling into step beside Tristan as he made his way towards his office. Tricia nodded to him, acknowledging his presence, before turning back to the stack of paper in her arms.

“Where have you been tonight?” Tristan said sharply, turning to Ly, causing Tricia to bump into him and almost spill her paper across the tiles. When he saw the angry look on Ly face he continued. “I only ask because you said you saw Nicator some nights ago and tonight two men were murdered at Marcus Taylor's political rally. I have a feeling Nicator and his, so called, friends might have been behind it.”

“Are you including me as one of them?” Ly asked lightly, trying to suppress his growing irritation. He should have known that, as soon as something went seriously wrong, Tristan would start suspecting him.

Tristan shook his head. “Of course not,” he replied. “However, I know that, out of all of us, it would be you Nicator would go to for help. I want to know if he asked you to join him again, or if he told you about what he was going to do.”

“Do you think I would have kept something so important a secret?” Ly growled, clenching his fists, which were shoved deep in his pockets. “Shit Tristan, who do you think I am? I saw the guy for a few minutes the other day. He didn't say anything to me at all.”

“Can you really blame me for asking,” Tristan replied. “You and he were close friends for a long time, and you have been acting strangely for a while now. I just...”

“Lord Tristan,” Cassian's voice cut in as the man himself ran towards them, waving a file above his head. “I have the statistics you asked for, as well as the direct line to the Prime Ministers office.”

Ly had turned quickly to Tricia when Cassian had appeared, and hadn't missed the stiff, almost angry, look that she had given him. It was gone in an instant though and she was looking as serious as ever.

“Good work Cassian,” Tristan said, taking the file from his friend before turning to his fiancée. “Speak with the police. I want to know exactly what they found out, or better yet, send one of our people down there.”

Tricia nodded as Tristan and Cassian walked off, leaving her standing in the hallway with Ly. “This is bad,” she said softly, as if she were talking more to herself than to her companion. Her eyes followed Cassian before he disappeared around the corner. “Really bad.”

“Tell me what's going on,” Ly ordered the blond, knowing that there was more to this story than any of them were letting on. Why was Tricia so interested in Cassian all of a sudden. “I know you know more about what goes on around here than most.”