Nikolai
The vampiric Council of Elders presides in the catacombs beneath an old New York church. It is cold and damp and generally miserable. Even more so tonight.
I stride down the dimly lit passageway, which opens into a subterranean recess large enough for fifty or so people. The members of the Council sit on throne-like seats propped up on a cement platform.
Tonight, far more than fifty vampires have gathered, making the space cramped and uncomfortable.
I'm already irritable and this is only making things worse.
"Nikolai Goncharov," comes the depressing, lolling voice of Ozius. He's generally the speaker for the Council. "Approach."
The Council are the oldest of any vampires. Thousands and thousands of years they have roamed this earth. When is someone going to put them out of their misery?
I walk straight through the crowd, hardly caring who I smack into, until I stand before the Council. They stare down at me with dull, half-vacant eyes.
The older a vampire is, the stronger they are. But I think in this case, the Council's age has worn them down to shells. And these are the ones leading our people. I almost roll my eyes.
"Recount the events of the night so that we might understand how the truce was broken," Ozius commands. Everyone falls silent, waiting for me to speak.
"The werewolf Prince, Orson Reed, entered my home. He, along with three members of his pack, attacked myself and the other vampire guests present. He proceeded to kidnap my Kindred and–"
"Stop." Ozius holds up a hand and my jaw clenches with irritation. "You have claimed a Kindred and yet haven't presented them to the Council?"
This time, not rolling my eyes is a feat of control. In the fifteenth and sixteenth century it was custom to present a Kindred to the Council before claiming them. But that tradition died off long ago; hardly anyone follows it today.
"No. She is not yet claimed," I grind out.
"So then...she is not your Kindred," Ozius says and I wonder how hard it would be to rip his head from his body. He might have a couple thousand years on me, but he looks like he's been sitting in that chair for the better part of five centuries, so maybe it wouldn't be too difficult.
"Not yet," I allow. "But only because Orson Reed kidnapped her before I had a chance to claim her."
"So you were not planning to present her to the Council then?" Ozius pushes and I pinch the bridge of my nose. He is absolutely caught on the wrong detail.
"I think what Nikolai is trying to explain is that he was unable to go through proper claiming processes because of the actions of the werewolves," Beatrice speaks up and I am infinitely glad for it. She is a voice of reason in this suffocating tomb. She drifts out from the shadows, standing up on the cement platform with the rest of the Council of Elders.
She is not technically part of the Council, but she is somewhat of an honorary member, a close advisor.
Ozius makes a noise—agreement or disagreement or something else entirely, I can't tell. But, thankfully, he moves on. The other Council members watch with dreary eyes. "And this fight led you to taking a werewolf captive, is that correct?" Ozius questions.
"Yes. Although it was my guests who took her captive, I planned to use this as leverage to retrieve my Kindred."
"But...this did not come to fruition?"
"No. My Kindred was able to escape the werewolves and come back to me. Once I ensured her safety, I met with Orson Reed to negotiate the release of his werewolf. Although I would have been well within my rights to kill the werewolf in my posession, since they attacked on my property, this was my attempt to uphold the truce that your Council so thoroughly negotiated."
Beatrice gives me a warning glare. My tone borders on insubordination.
Either Ozius is too stupid to notice or too old to care, because he carries on with his questioning. "And did you release the werewolf?"
Here, I pause. Thus far I have largely told the truth, minus a few details here and there. But I'm not about to admit that my Kindred turned against me and ran back to the werewolves.
"The werewolf, unfortunately, escaped."
There are gasps and murmurs of shock amongst the crowd. Beatrice's eyes narrow.
"You did not properly secure the wolf?" Ozius questions.
"It was a full moon, the wolf's strength was increased. During her escape, she took my Kindred prisoner and returned her to Orson Reed."
"And why is Orson Reed so interested in a human girl?" Ozius asks.
Now, I hesitate. My eyes flick to Beatrice and she nods her head, urging me to tell the truth.
"It's unclear," is my answer.
Ozius makes a sound, tilting his head. The obnoxious sleeves of his patterned robe fall over his hands, but I can see his long-nailed forefinger tapping a slow beat. "We spent many weeks with the werewolf Prince, negotiating this truce. He was honorable, reasonable, well educated. He was also very determined to see this truce be successful. It seems...strange for him to discard that work over a single, human girl."
It would probably make more sense if they knew she was his mate. But if they know that, then they might decide it's easier to leave her with the wolves and I won't allow that to happen.
I open my mouth, but before I can respond, a grating voice speaks up. "I think this is a testament to the true nature of werewolves," Sebastien sweeps out of the crowd. Of course he is finding a way to make himself the center of attention, even now. "Negotiating with them is a pointless endeavor because at the end of the day, they are animals!"
There are some murmurs of agreement, though plenty of vampires are shaking their heads.
"They act on instinct and on whims. We can't expect them to uphold a truce they hardly comprehend," he continues.
"That isn't an accurate assessment of the wolves," Beatrice cuts in. "They are intelligent beings."
"Really? Then explain the wolf Prince's behavior that night," he challenges and Beatrice's glare pins onto me. She could explain that April is Reed's mate, except that would be throwing me under the bus.
"I can't," she says through gritted teeth. Shit. I have unintentionally put her in a bad position.
"Werewolves are beasts! We cannot negotiate with them. We cannot create truces with them. We must accept that they will always revert to their most base instinct, which is to kill vampires." Sebastien talks like a fucking politician on election day. He's trying to win over as many people as possible. The entire thing unsettles me; I have known Sebastien a long time and he is a cunning, slimy snake. He's plotting something. "I mean, look at their system of leadership! They don't practice democracy like we do, theirs is still a monarchy, passed from father to son or mother to daughter. Even the humans have abolished or completely de-powered their monarchies. The werewolves are barbarians."
This causes a few more vampires to start agreeing with him. The crowd is quickly turning.
"Enough." Ozius holds up a hand again. "I will not hear anymore of this." He glances at his Councilmates and it is as though they can read each other's minds. They come to some kind of silent agreement and Ozius says, "We will hear from the human girl and then we will pass judgment."
"You're going to listen to testimony from a human?" Sebastien questions with disgust.
"Yes. We will send a tracker envoy to retrieve her."
I step forward. "Councilman, if permissible, I would like to retrieve my Kindred myself."
"No," comes Ozius' definitive judgment. "To ensure her testimony is true, she will be kept from others' influence. The tracker envoys are consummate professionals. They will retrieve the girl."
I grind my teeth together, ready to snap. I don't want other vampires anywhere near April; the tracker envoys are the best of the best at tracking down humans, werewolves and vampires alike, but they often leave destruction in their wake. They are not subtle. The chance of April being injured is too high.
Which means, I'm just going to have to find her first.
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