Missing Vampire: Reward Available (Hypernaturals 6)

THE Cert?

Renee screwed up her mouth in a sort of consternation. I think. "That is really nothing like we are taught by the oral histories about Sirens. I have heard about some of that, since the big Conclave in Austin but I was not sure if it was true. Your Conclave. The one where William came to light and then was killed." Renee said, with a glance, Crew to Crew, at Liann to see if she agreed.

"Killed for a damn good reason." Jessica said firmly.

Renee waved hands. "No! No! Of course. I am glad to know that the rumor of the King was real, and also that he is now dead. The ballad of the fight says that he stabbed a member of the NorthAm council, nearly killed her and that only two women, not twelve took him down. It was at odds with the previous histories on that point. Rachel and Adrianne fought and killed him for stabbing the Council member."

Her eyes went wide. "Holy mother of: Adrianne as in... Adrian? ... you? Not a woman?" Renee pointed at me very rudely.

"Shit." I said.

Helen shook her head sadly. "Oral histories. Now we know how the stuff about William got so fucked up. Renee: I am the member of the NorthAM Council that William stabbed. Speared actually, all the way through. William was every inch as powerful as the legends say, and he had pheromones that seriously messed with your mind too. Fear like you would not believe.  Rachel and that Adrian sitting right there killed him for it. Rachel was out of the fight after only a few minutes, her neck broken.  Adrian makes sure that at every turn the story being told is that Rachel was the main fighter and hides the fact that it was HIM. Even if you were at the Conclave, the story of that battle has been distorted. He does not want to take credit for killing William because in our world male Vampires are spat upon. He wants to live quietly, enjoy his ever-growing family, the way we always ask male Vampires to be. He keeps ending up in the middle of things, like this, because that is who he is. You heard Vera spitting nails over that exact aspect of him, and she is not wrong to worry either."

Renee asked Jacqueline: "Did you know this? That THIS is THE Adrian?"

Jacqueline replied grimly "I talk to Victoria all the time. Of course I did, Renee. Everyone on the Council knows it. It is a matter of much Council deliberation the world over in fact: A male Vampire as the Sole Siren point of contact. A normal strength male that was able to fight and kill the most powerful male out kind has ever produced? Sophie was there, at the Conclave and must have been told the distorted version of events."

"By the end of the conclave, it was Adrianne, not Adrian, and he was there, in the damn hot tub a couple of times and people knew him." Sophie agreed. "No one believed the news. Not that William was real, or that another male Vampire took him to his final resting place. Take your pick. It was all mixed up."

Jacquline nodded at that confirmation. "Since you are Crew, Renee? This is evidence we have not done a good job getting the message out to even that level. God knows what the average Vampire thinks. The oral legends have come to talk about the two women rather than the twelve, and to question things like why then does the Council need to be twelve women. If two can take out William, then what is the right number to govern? Things of that nature. Pacifica is deeply angry at the real story in particular. They do not tolerate male Vampires at ALL well there."

Good to know. Strike any trips to 'Pacifica'.

Liann got up, came over to me, and stuck out a hand "I am sorry for any crap we gave you when you got here. It is a deep and true honor to meet you, sir. You set us straight right quick that first day and rightly so. I was angry at the time, but you had the right of it." She looked at her head of Council and frowned. "I WONDERED why you laid down for that so quickly. I have never seen a male Vampire assert themselves like that before and not have it be challenged."