DRAKE'S P.O.V.
Despite Reaver's oddly warm invitation to join him in the demon underworld, I decided to firmly stay in the world I was used to, and sent him to get the supplies he needed for the locating spell he was going to do. Eris and I waited, for what seemed like hours, and eventually we ordered pizzas and I made a phone call to detective Hallowell, debating while the line was transferred over how much I should tell him about Reaver.
"Drake," He greeted in a casual, yet still business like tone.
"Any leads?" I questioned, though I knew the answer, and leaned up against the kitchen counter. Everyone else was in the living room, and I eyed a half empty box of pizza left open. I hadn't eaten yet and I realized I was starving. When had I actually sat down and ate a meal? I stifled a sigh, shoulders tight.
"I would have called you if I'd found anything, I assure you."
I slid the box toward me, picking up a slice of room temperature pizza. "Just checking." I picked off a pepperoni, popping it in my mouth and chewing. "Ah- I might have some sort of lead, maybe."
I could tell I had gotten his full attention, despite the background of chatter and noise. "What is it?"
"Eh," I hesitated, wavering. Should I tell him what Reaver was? I wasn't sure if that was a good idea, but how was I going to explain to him if he did find out where Arabelle was? How could I make up a lie for that? We were working on virtually nothing, it's not like I had leads. He was technically the head of the investigation and though I hadn't known him for very long I realized I trusted him. "Could you stop by? It'd be easier to, well, explain in person."
"Sure. I'll be over as soon as I can."
"Thanks,"
I hung up the phone, setting it on the counter as I focused on eating the slice of pizza in my hand.
"You're going to tell him."
I bit my tongue, startled, and grimaced as I saw Eris walking up to the counter. I cursed, hand to my mouth as if I could sooth the sting by holding my jaw. "Will you stop doing that?"
"Doing what?" she demanded, arms crossing over her chest. "You're never paying attention to your entryways and exits. It's not my fault."
I sighed inaudibly, setting the half eaten food back down in the box. I went to go pour myself a cup of the coffee that was brewed hours ago.
"It's a wise choice- telling him." she continued.
"Yeah? Why's that?"
"Kasper's trustworthy."
"How do you know?" I got out a mug, filling it.
"I've known him for awhile. Since he first entered the police force. I've been captured many times in my life. You could call me a sort of escape artist. I've gone through nearly twenty different owners. He's always treated me with respect, despite the dismay from his fellow humans. He's also treated my friends with respect. I've gotten to know him from afar and near. He's good."
"Well, glad to know I'm doing something right." I muttered, staring down at the mug I had filled.
"Drake, you're doing everything you can. Your valor is-...surprising. You truly would go to the ends of the world and back for the people you love."
"And here you probably thought I was just some arrogant royal prick." I smiled somewhat, facing her with my coffee in hand.
"More or less." she shrugged one slender shoulder.
We both laughed quietly among ourselves. I took a sip of my coffee. More serious now, I asked; "Do you think they're still alive?"
Silence weighed heavily between us for a long moment. "They won't kill your sister. They can use her for leverage. She's a power play."
"And my dad?"
She hesitated. "He's not as important to them."
I clenched my teeth against the feeling of bile rising up my throat. God, I was going to be sick. My pizza was abandoned, barely eaten, on the counter.
"You don't deserve for this to happen to you." Eris said, making me glance up. "You're a good person. But then again, we didn't deserve to be enslaved either."
Leaning heavily against the counter, I rubbed a hand over my face. "That wasn't my fucking decision, though."
"And yet we all pay the consequences."
Disheartened and exhausted, and done with the conversation, I took my coffee and left the kitchen. I went to the office, which was a bit of a mess since I'd been in there a lot the past 24 hours taking the place of my sister. She was supposed to be having a lunch/public meeting with the president of a neighboring country tomorrow and I was still trying to figure out how to finagle my way out of that one. I was thinking I would send Reaver in her place, as cancelling it all together when the president, Mr. Blance, had already flown in, would look very bad. Reaver was the next best thing to Arabelle, considering he was sort of near-King status, but he still wasn't yet royalty and his background was unknown and what little he had divulged was fabricated. Several journalists had tried to dig up dirt on the fiance of the Queen and came up completely empty, with not even a birth certificate to show for their efforts. When questioned about this he had dismissed it by way of saying that Reaver wasn't his birth name and so, obviously it wasn't on record. Who knew anything with that guy, really. He was a complete enigma to everyone I think besides perhaps Arabelle.
Sitting down at the desk, I waited for the computer to boot up. Wishing my coffee had an edge of whiskey in it, I leaned back in the seat and sighed as the welcome screen came up and I opened the email. The inbox loaded each of the 123 new emails since I checked it this afternoon and I began scanning through them, seeing what was important and needed responding to and what could be pushed aside until later. As I was doing this I felt a prickle in the air that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and disturbed, I glanced up at the sudden feeling that I wasn't alone. Low and behold Reaver was sitting in the armchair across the desk from me and I almost jumped out of my seat but merely swallowed my noise of surprise instead.
"Why does fucking everyone do that?" Angry, I slammed the laptop shut. The emails could wait. Reaver was back and he had the supplies.
"Do what?" he inquired, picking a piece of lint off the sleeve of his black velvet blazer.
"Scare the living shit out of me every chance they get."
A small smirk quirked the side of his mouth. "You'll need to get used to it. You're the only human in a house full of supernatural species."
"God, I am." I realized, hands cupping the warm mug in front of me. I wasn't sure how I felt about that right now. Glancing down at the dark liquid inside my cup, I looked back up at the dark-haired demon across from me. "Any chance you could spike this with whatever mystical powers you've got going on?" I tapped the side of the mug, which had the family crest on it; A vine of black ivy intertwined with a serpent wound around a bow. Our ancestors were famous archers. I myself had never picked up a bow, despite my parents wanting me to on more than one occasion.
He shrugged. "Are we ready?"
"Almost. I want to wait until Kasper gets here."
"The detective? Why?"
"Because Eris thinks I can trust him, and I think so, too. We'll wait for him. I think he should be here that way if we find something, he can call it in and we can be on our way out there before daybreak."
He hummed in response, looking at the dark red vase of wilted flowers, a blood orange color of some variety I didn't know the name of, and gradually they sprang back to life, the petals filling out to their prior state of vibrancy and softness. I arched an eyebrow, watching the show as I sipped my coffee. "That's like a parlor trick for you, yeah?"
"Oh, yes." he clasped his fingers in his lap. "That's nothing. Just for show."
"As you know, and I now know...my sister's a demon. She's- like you."
"Half demon. Half vampire. Yes. An odd but incredible combination."
"She can do that kind of stuff? Magick or whatever it is?"
"Yes, she can. Though her powers aren't nearly as practiced or advanced as mine, so she's still learning the parlor tricks, per se."
"How the hell are we going keep this under wraps?" I wondered aloud. "Not only is she a vampire, but a demon? Fuck. Someone's gonna figure out and all goddamn hell is going to break loose. She'll get chased out of the country with pitchforks, if not killed."
"Let's focus on getting her back for now. We'll worry about that when her presence is actually here."
I noticed the tinge of unease in his Victorian English styled voice, a worry in the back of his dark eyes that wasn't usually there.
A light rap on the door grabbed my attention and before I could register it Reaver had gotten up and opened the door to the office, where Eris was on the other side. She glanced at Reaver, then flicked her gaze over to me.
"Detective Hallowell is here." she stated.
"Good. We can get started, then." I stood up from the desk, leaving my coffee behind. I wanted something to take the edge off my nerves about now, but nothing would work well enough to dissolve my deep seated anxiety. Though a hot shower and a long nap would be nice, but not realistic at the moment. I needed to go out in public soon, make appearances doing my normal activities such as hitting the gym or going on coffee dates, clubbing, all things I didn't remotely feel like doing save maybe a hard, distracting gym session and a strong coffee afterwards, I needed to keep up appearances before people really started to notice something was off. If neither Arabelle, me, or Reaver were spotted out and about getting captured by paparazzi, it would look really strange. "Where should we do this?"
"Somewhere quiet. Secluded. I need to concentrate." Reaver answered, walking out of the room with me not far behind.
"We can use the room I summoned you in." I glanced to Eris, who nodded in agreement.
Kasper was waiting in the foyer, hands behind his back, dressed in black slacks and a blue polo shirt that made his eyes look even brighter if somehow possible. A silver necklace with a small crystal hanging from the chain. I came up and we shook hands, my gaze lingering over the artful mess his pale blonde waves were in. I'd been attracted to guys before, hell I'd slept with a few in my experimental days, but I don't think I'd ever seen a guy that was this was stunning. There was just something about him; he had the flawless alabaster complexion and angular features you'd expect to see on a vampire, that and the lithe frame. He actually stood an inch taller than me, and I didn't meet many people that were taller than myself seeing as I stood at almost 6"4.
We must have been shaking hands for longer than was polite as Reaver cleared his throat, making me jerk my hand back, glancing over at him.
"Clock's ticking." He tapped his wrist, which was absent of a watch.
'Right." I nodded, licking my lips. Now I just had to explain to Kasper that we were casting a spell to try and find my sister and her fiance was a demon from the underworld...how does one go about phrasing that well? "So," I looked back at the detective. "There's no gentle way to put this: Reaver's a demon. He's going to try a locating spell to see if we can find where The Rebellion's hiding my sister and dad."
To my surprise Kasper smiled, and quite simply said, "Great."
"Great?" I repeated.
"We should use all resources at our disposal. This might give us something to go on."
"Did you miss the part where I said he's a demon?"
"No. Prince Drake-"
I internally cringed hearing him call me that. "Just Drake." I interrupted, not very politely.
"Apologies. Drake, I'm not ignorant to the world of the magickal. I've studied demons and witchkraft since I was a teenager. I've always found it fascinating. I studied occult and paranormal science in college before I became an officer, and then a detective."
"Oh." I uttered. "Oh. Alright. Well, great. Guess I don't need to worry about you freaking." I ran a hand through my short hair. "Let's get this show on the road then, guys."
Eris led the way, taking the stairs two at a time. The room was a spare one back at the end of a hallway, musty and most of the furniture covered in white cloth. It still smelled of burnt blood and smoke when we walked in and I flipped on the switch, which lit up a low antique chandelier. Reaver began right away to set up, dragging a small table out from a corner and dusting it off with the linen that covered it before tossing it aside at his feet. I shut the door behind us and locked it, not wanting to be disturbed by any of the free roaming vampires or my mother, who was sleeping and/or weeping in her old bedroom with the shades drawn and the lights off. Needless to say she wasn't handling things well. I didn't want to let her know about this unless we actually found something instead of getting her hopes up for nothing.
I hadn't noticed the black leather pouch Reaver had been carrying until he placed it on the table, opening it by drawstrings and taking things out - candles, small baggies, a map, and other magickal apparatus. One of the things I noticed was a necklace that belonged to Arabelle. I suppose it would make since if the spell called for something of hers. Subsequently, candles were lit, incense smoke smothered the odd smell that was already here, and another language was spoken from the mouth of Reaver. He had the map spread out, a black pendulum in hand and the necklace wrapped around it, his eyes closed as he focused. I waited, breath held, as the crystal swayed lightly and no one said anything other than Reaver when he spoke in Greek.
Arms crossed over my chest, hands in tight fists, I prayed in my head that this would work. Kasper stood closest to the table, but still a good two feet back, watching with fascination. Eris was still as a statue, gaze locked on the pendulum. I was beginning to get antsy when the pendulum zeroed in, suddenly landing on the map as if drawn like a magnet. Reaver opened his eyes as Eris moved closer to look.
"Sundvale," she read aloud.
I moved to look for myself, affirming the location. "Never heard of it."
Kasper came up beside me, not looking at the map. "It's about three hours from here. I can be ready to leave in an hour."
Nodding, I headed for the door. "I'll meet you there."
"Drake," he reprimanded.
"I'm not waiting." I stated, glancing over my shoulder at him as I unlocked and opened the door.
"You shouldn't go out there by yourself. God knows what the hell is waiting for us."
"I'm not by myself. I'll have Eris." I said confidently, and as if to back up my statement, she appeared by my side, striding down the hall with me.
"And I as well." Reaver said, walking in time with the three of us, closing up his pouch. It disappeared from his hands a moment later.
"See?" I shot. "A vampire and a demon. Both more capable than your task force, offence meant to be taken. Your guys are out of their depth here."
"I can't argue that." Kasper conceded lowly, and I glanced at him, stopping on my way to the staircase because I wanted to swing by my room and change into something besides sweatpants and moccasin slippers. Practical for at home, but not practical for chasing after a large group of vampires in the middle of nowhere, so it seemed.
"So?" I urged. "Are you coming with us or are you catching up later?"
"I'm coming with you." he affirmed, and I swear I felt relieved. "But I'm calling in back-up on the way."
"Deal. We leave in ten. Get what you need." I ducked off towards my bedroom as Eris flitted off in the opposite direction and Reaver evaporated in thin air. Glancing back at Kasper, I said; "We're taking my car."
He nodded, and then after a lingering glance exchanged between us, he turned and walked off in the direction of the staircase. Mentally shaking myself, I proceeded to my room, blaming my nerves on the damned butterflies suddenly taking up residence in my stomach.
I changed into fitted black jeans, a pair of black Doc Martin's laced tight, a black band T-shirt (Slayer) with a grey hoodie over that, unzipped, and then a leather jacket on top of that. I grabbed my wallet, cell phone, and the keys to my Jeep. My Ferrari was my girl, but my Jeep was my baby. That thing felt indestructible and I loved it.
Downstairs, everyone was waiting for me by the front door.
Eris stepped up to me. "Since I've no idea when we'll be back I told Florence that if your mother wakes and up and asks for you to tell her you're at the police station helping Kasper."
I nodded. "Thanks." Bracing myself with a deep breath, I spun my car keys around a finger. "Let's go. We're taking the Jeep."
//x;
I was driving, as it was my car, and following the GPS to Sundvale. Kasper said it was a pretty small town, so there wouldn't be an awful lot of places these fuckers could be hiding. His statement was explicative free, but that was the gist. Despite working for the police, Kasper didn't say anything about me exceeding the speed limit by more than 40 MPH in some spots. A lot of the back roads I was taking were pretty much dead this late at night, it being nearly one in the morning when we drove past the weathered sign that welcomed us to Sundvale with a wind rattled nod. Just from the look of it as an outsider I could tell it was a small town; the type that had one inn and a bar that everyone in town hung out at to waste away any spare change.
"Should we ask around?" I uttered, elbow resting on the windowsill as I crawled through the street, low beams on. "I see a couple places with open signs."
"We'll split up and ask around for any suspicious activity. This place is surrounded by thick woods." Kasper noted, peering out the window. He had on knee-length black coat that gave his casual attire an ominous air. "It'd be easy for them to hide out in a place like the last one."
I pulled off to the curb, parking the Jeep. "I'll take the pub. I bet there's plenty of drunks with loose lips." I claimed, stuffing the engine keys in my pocket.
"I'll ask the people working at the Inn around the corner." Kasper claimed, getting out of the car.
I glanced in the rear view mirror as the passenger door slammed shut. Reaver, to no surprise, was already missing from the backseat, but Eris met my gaze.
"What about you?" I questioned.
"I'll be your back up. Don't want you getting kidnapped if there's Rebellion vamps lurking around." she replied, opening the door and sliding out.
I followed, locking up the vehicle. "You don't need to babysit me. It's a little pub in a quiet town in the middle of nowhere. We can't even be sure our nifty demon got the spell right or whatever. It's hit or miss as far as I see." I affirmed, tucking my hands in the pockets of my leather jacket after tugging my grey hood up, I angled toward the flickering sign that read "Dead Man's Float" which I thought was a unique, rather cool name for a pub. I glanced back at her as she trailed quietly behind me, nearly blending with the atmosphere in her all black attire. "Try and look less...dead?" I offered, flicking my gaze over her. Impossible. She was a lost cause. Too graceful, too pale, too slinky and sharp-eyed. Corey could blend. He wore casual clothes and paired next to my sister he looked liked her bad boy date cut out of a magazine ad. Eris, she stuck out. And I didn't particularly want to call attention to us. The lower we laid the better as far as I was concerned.
She folded her hood down, looking at me with moonlit eyes. "I am dead."
"Yeah, but...you look too predatory." I paused, making her come to a stop as well. "Hold on." I tugged my jacket off, handing it over to her. "And do something else with your hair, too."
Scowling somewhat, she tugged on my leather coat, pushing the sleeves up to her forearms. That was good. It was a bit loose on her, but it worked because she was as tall as I was. Tugging a hairband from her slim wrist, she pulled her long blonde locks up in a messy bun. I nodded. "Slightly better. And, uh, you know maybe slouch a bit?" I suggested, turning and jogging across the dirt made road to the pub door.
Inside it was dimly lit, and smoky. There were quite a few patrons inside despite it being one in the morning. Glancing around, I walked up to the counter, feeling Eris right behind me. Sliding onto a stool, I gestured for the barkeep as Eris sat down next to me, far too gracefully.
The guy tending the bar was a muscular guy with dark brown hair almost to his broad chin and a several day old stubble grown in. "What can I get ya?" he nodded.
"Black Russian." I answered.
He glanced at Eris, and I scanned the crown a bit.
"For you, miss?" he asked her. "We've got a few special cocktails I can whip up with a shot of A+ in 'em."
Surprised, I glanced back at him. Okay so yeah, he knew she was a vampire. But he was completely chill. And asking if she wanted a drink with a shot of blood in it?
Eris and I exchanged a swift glance.
"What do you have?" she asked him.
"We've got a Bloody Mary, served with the real thing, what we call a "Spiced Crimson" which is warm blood with rum and spices, and a Jack and Blood." he gave her a crooked smile.
"I'll have a Bloody Mary, thank you." she offered no smile in return.
Drumming my fingers against the counter top, I watched him prepare our drinks.
"So, what brings you to town?" he asked. "For the No Chains Act or just passin' through?"
"No Chains Act?" I repeated, eyebrows furrowing slightly.
"You don't know about it, aye? Passing through, then."
"What is it?"
He placed a glass on the counter and slid it over to me. "Here in Sundvale we don't practice slavery. A lot of vampires hang around here, and a lot of people who support the act come through looking to get involved or visit friends here that are free vampires."
"Free vampires?" I nearly balked. Never had a phrase like that existed where I had heard. No slavery? I'd never heard of this place, let alone a No Chains Act. Christ. "So, like, the people around here...they're actually nice to vampires?"
"Yeah," he slid Eris her glass of blood red alcohol and gave her a wink. "Thought you knew since you came in with her."
My head was roiling. Holy shit, there was an entire town where the slavery law wasn't upheld? How had my parents not found out and done something about it? "How long ago did this start?"
"About two years ago. This town has always kind of been a hot spot for the undead, and they generally laid low and left everyone be so folks here didn't mind. None of us are wealthy enough to own a slave, and none of us would care to anyhow. But this group of vampires came into town a couple years back, and it kind of got the ball rollin'. Unlike the other vamps these guys actually spoke to us, bought and sold supplies, made connections in town. People liked 'em. They brought in trade, and they were quite nice. Very sociable. So, with them came more vampires, and they started to interact with us, too. Soon enough we were sort of living side by side with 'em and nobody blinked an eye. Someone brought up the act to the Town Hall, and it got support by nearly everyone around. And so it was and has been. Slavery free 'round here."
"Wow." I uttered, absorbing that information. "Who were these group of vampires? I mean, did they have names?"
"Aye, they call themselves The Rebellion. The leader I think, his name is Bryn. Real nice fellow. He comes in here with a couple of buddies sometimes. Helped me test out my vampire friendly drinks." he smirked.
I swallowed against the violent surge of anger and worry that crawled up my throat from the pit of my stomach. "Sounds great," I muttered, taking a long drink.
"Do they live around here?" Eris inquired.
"I don't know. They travel a lot."
She nodded, sipping from her glass. "This is very good. I've never cared for alcohol but this is nice."
"Thank you," he inclined his head, giving her a winning smile.
I looked away from his flirting and Eris's stoic reception, finding it somewhat bizarre and trying to piece through all of this. "When was the last time they came in?"
"Think 'bout two days ago."
"Do you know where they were headed or where they came from?"
The guy shrugged with one shoulder. "One of 'em said they were up to somethin' special. Somethin' that'll change the slavery laws for good. They're always sayin' stuff like that, though. They were talkin' in here little over a week ago about freein' a bunch of slaves from an auction house near The Capital. I heard 'bout it on the news, too. They're steppin' things up. It's about time for a revolution, I reckon."
"Yeah," I muttered idly, sipping my drink and with my free hand rifling for my cell in my jean's pocket. Under the counter, I typed out a text message to my mother and sent it:
Sundvale?
I pocketed my phone again, downing half of my drink.
"You looking for 'em for a reason, kid?" The bartender asked.
I arched an eyebrow. Kid? I didn't like this guy very much. "No. I was just curious about them. I'd never heard of The Act."
He nodded slowly, eyeing me from behind the bar. I matched his gaze, challenging him almost. What was up with guy? I topped off my drink and pulled my wallet out, leaving a twenty on the counter.
"C'mon, Eris. We should get going." I said, getting to my feet.
She complied wordlessly, and together we exited the pub. We started down the dark street in the general direction of the Inn.
"Do you know about that?" I questioned her.
"The No Chains Act?"
I nodded slightly, looking ahead as a street lamp flickered once. "Yeah,"
"Vaguely. I've heard about it before."
"Why have I not heard of it? My parents surely know about it." I mused, mostly to myself.
"I think your parents probably want to keep it quiet, lest others jump on the bandwagon."
"Probably,"
We approached a two story wooden house that had a sign out front that said "Sunny Inn" and for some reason I couldn't picture this place being "sunny" at all. Maybe it was because we were skulking around at one in the morning, but something about the town seemed gloomy and I had a feeling that even when sunrise came the town was still dim and quiet. Just as we were stepping up to the door Reaver popped into existence in front of us, blocking the handle.
"Shit!" I exclaimed, heart lurching from the startle. "Will you stop doing that!" I pushed his shoulders, not violently, but not gently either.
He merely waved me off, looking annoyed. "I've come to tell you I found something. Thought you'd want to know." he stressed, adjusting his leather gloves.
"What did you find?" I urged, already forgetting my momentary aggravation.
"I followed two vampies up into the woods and they lead me right to their hideout. It's about a mile east of here."
"No shit?"
"No shit." he uttered, tone grave.
"We gotta tell Kasper." I pushed past him, going for the door.
"Why? The little detective will only get himself hurt. It's safer if he waits."
I glanced back at Reaver, his features shadowed in the dark, but his skin as pale as the crescent moon above us it stuck out with its void of color. "What do you mean? He's helping us. I'm not going to leave him behind. Plus, he's got a gun. It'll do some damage. Move." I reached out and yanked open the door to the Inn, walking with the other two trailing behind me.
I spotted Kasper talking to the Innkeeper and when he saw us come in he said something to the woman and nodded at us, striding over to meet us halfway.
"Find anything out?" I inquired. "'Cause we did."
"A little. The Innkeeper said something about The Rebellion being here a couple days ago. What'd you find?"
"Well, apparently they've been yapping down at the pub. But more importantly, Reaver thinks he's found their hideout in the woods."
The detective flicked a glance to the tall demon. "What are we waiting for, then? Let's go."
"That's what I wanted to hear. Come on." I turned and hurried back out onto the street.