"Jake," Mark said when he answered his phone. He'd still been in the church, praying and thinking.
"What's wrong?" Jake asked, hearing something near panic in his friend's voice.
"They've taken Amanda and Sam."
"I told him they were evil, but he was so sure she would protect him," Jake said, at the same time trying to figure out how to get them back.
"What are you talking about?" Mark asked.
"Kristi and her evil family," Jake stated, not understanding Mark's obvious confusion.
"Jake, vampires didn't take them. Kloss had a team kidnap them. I have no idea how, but he figured out that Sam is close to the girl, and is going to try and use Sam as leverage with her."
"I'll kill him!"
"Jake, I'd advise against you going anywhere near there. He knows you won't be happy, and he'll lock you up too. There has to be another way."
"I'll call you back," Jake said, and hung up.
Jake walked back up to where the girl had been treated, finding an older woman cleaning the room. Father Wolfram wasn't there.
"Do you know where Father Wolfram is?" Jake asked.
"He is in the study," the woman replied.
"Thanks," he said, and headed where he thought the study was. He vaguely remembered passing a room that looked like a study when they first arrived.
"Father, I have a problem," he said, when he walked in.
"I can offer advice, but it will be up to you to find your path with this."
"That's not the problem. It seems Captain Kloss, my superior in the hunters, has kidnapped Sam and Amanda. I want to know what to do. I'm too close to think objectively."
"That is wise of you," the old priest said. After thinking for a little while, he said, "I have an idea, but you probably won't like it."
"You want me to ask the vampires to help," Jake said, and the priest nodded. "I'm not sure I can do that."
"Son, I know you have seen a horrible thing, and it hurt you very deeply, but let me ask you a question. Do you believe Adolf Hitler was probably an evil man?" For a moment, Jake was confused by the question.
"Yes, I think he probably was," Jake said, trying to understand the relevance.
"Do you think all Germans are evil?"
"Of course not."
"Yet, they allowed a man everyone universally agrees was evil to lead them for a time. Can you not allow that there are vampires that are not evil, even if it's likely most are?"
"I don't know. I've lived most of my life believing they could only be evil, tainted by Satan himself, and I've killed many of them. What am I, if I've killed people that aren't evil?"
"Ah, now we get to the heart of it, don't we? You not only fight with the horrors of your past, but the possibility that you might have killed relatively innocent people." Jake remained quiet.
"Jacob, are you willing to put your prejudices aside, for the sake of your sister and nephew? Are you willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, there are vampires out there that might not be evil, and even might be good?"
"I...," Jake began, but stopped. He was looking down, tears forming in his eyes. It was hard for him to think about how many vampires he'd killed, and if even one of them wasn't evil, then he had killed an innocent. That was an evil act, which made him evil. "I am the evil one, just as she said."
"No, Jacob. You were operating under false assumptions, and though an all agree it is sin, it is still forgivable. Now that your eyes are opening, will you continue to do so?"
"No," Jake said, becoming more sure of where he was, thanks to the simple logic Father Wolfram had presented to him. It wouldn't have worked as recently as ten minutes ago, either.
"Now, I ask you again, are you willing to put aside your prejudices and use the best resources available to rescue your sister and her son?"
"Yes, Father."
"Although you did not begin this in the manner of a confession, I have my stole on and will count this as such. Ego te absolvo, in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, amen. Now, my son, go do what you just committed to, and that will serve as appropriate penance, I think."
"I still have a hard time trusting them."
"As you should," the old priest said, with a smile. "I do not, and so prepare well when I deal with them, as I did with the girl."
"I don't understand."
"That is alright. You need not understand. There is one other item I must address, with your newfound insight, and shedding of old assumptions and prejudices. As Commander General of The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary, I pronounce you as Knight of the Second Order. Go with my blessing, my son."
A smile grew on the old man's face as Jake stared at him, his mouth partially open. "Don't look so silly. It's not becoming in a Knight of the Second Order."
"But."
"I could not let you know, and honestly didn't expect how things have played out, but it was masterful. I'll even bet the girl doesn't know what we have done, and she is very shrewd."
When Jake still wasn't moving, or talking, Father Wolfram said, "Jacob, you have a task to do, and it is of the utmost importance. By the way, we wish to enter into discussions with the House of Latvia, when this issue is resolved and she is done with her task. I think it is past time to make amends for past wrongs our order is guilty of, and when the time is right, I would like to consider you to assist in this effort."
After another long pause, Jake left, still too stunned to speak. However, once he was in his car, he pulled out his phone, and typed.
"Stefans, I need to speak to the Queen." After staring at it a moment, he pressed send.
"She will see you." The reply came amazingly fast, as if they had been expecting it. Following that was an address, with instructions to text when he arrived.
It took Jake little time to make it to the condo building, which was much closer to the hunters HQ than anyone knew. It was also the first time, as far as Jake knew, that a hunter knew where a vampire hide was located, probably in hundreds of years.
"Her Majesty is waiting, hunter," Stefans said, when the elevator opened.
Jake considered telling him he was no longer a hunter, but decided against it. That was not important, at that moment, not to mention he wasn't sure what his status was.
"Majesty, the master hunter," Stefans said, once they had entered the living room of the condo. It wasn't a throne room, as Jake had envisioned, but a living room like in any house.
"Please sit," the old woman said. He'd seen her a couple of times, so he was at least a little familiar with her. Kristi was sitting at a piano on the far side of the room, casually playing some mellow music.
"What brings you before us?"
"My sister and her son have been kidnapped." Her eyebrows rose at that, and Kristi stopped any pretense of playing. Jake realized, her playing had been exactly that.
"Where are they?" Kristi asked, having walked away from the piano, and not allowing the Queen to speak. Although Jake knew she was considered the Queen's daughter, it still didn't seem proper.
Looking at her, there was a look he'd seen before, but not quite as pronounced, and it scared him. He already knew she was dangerous, but right then, dangerous seemed very understated.
"Kristiana," the Queen said, but Kristi glanced at her with anger in her eyes. Surprisingly, the Queen relented, not the girl.
"Where are they?" she repeated, her question sounding almost feral.
"Kristi, you can't go charging in, without being prepared. They'll kill you," he said, hoping the Queen would jump in, but she remained silent. There was something he was missing between them, and he knew it.
"The hunters have them." His reply didn't seem to surprise her, which did surprise him. She looked at the Queen, her expression no longer readable, but he could feel an increase in the tension.
"What am I missing, here?" he asked, looking between the two.
"I encouraged the relationship between your nephew and her, thinking of her happiness, but I failed to think of all of the ramifications of my actions. . And now, my lack of foresight is being realized."
"You really have been trying to push him away?" Jake asked Kristi.
"Yes. I knew this would happen, if he became close. My enemies would know and use him against me. I do not expect it this soon. I thought I would have more time to prepare. Charlotte worried I would one day miscalculate, but it is not me that will pay, but Sam and his mother. That is not an acceptable price, and I will not pay it."
"You expected this...of the hunters?" he asked.
"Yes. The ones like me will not touch them, now. I made sure of this. Sam and his mother are under our protection, but we miss the hunters, I think because they likely come early in the day, when my watchers not there. I do not know how they get out without our seeing."
"You've been watching us?" he asked.
"Yes. When we start, it is to track you, mostly. Then we watch to protect." He stared at her a moment, then shook his head.
"You can't go running in there. Like I said, they'll kill you," he told her, returning to his earlier admonition.
"I accept price, if it save Sam, and his mother." She said it as if it was nothing.
"They wouldn't hurt them," he said.
"Yes, they would. They kill them if it force Charlotte and me to them. Think of the Captain Kloss. He is not sane."
Jake understood what she was saying, but didn't understand how she even knew who he was. Then more pieces of the puzzle clicked into place, in his mind.
"You knew about us before you came, didn't you?"
"Yes, and your mind will think of this, so I tell you first. We give scholarship to Sam so I get close to him. Want to use him to control you," she said.
"But you didn't," he said, now understanding what had happened.
"No, I not able to do it."
"As much as I'd love to ask a whole lot more questions about this particular subject, we have more immediate concerns, and that involves you not getting killed to save them." She looked at him oddly, with his remark. "I don't trust you, but I've come to believe you might not be evil."
"This is progress."
"I have a long way to go, but yeah, I guess it is. However, I have been made to understand their best chance lies with y'all."
"I have plan," she said, and the expression she now wore made him shiver. He already had some experience with her plans, and just how effective they could be. Why had he ever thought she'd go blazing in without planning her moves?
"What do you have in mind?"
"We let the Captain Kloss know where we live. He send people to attack us, hopefully making the headquarters easy to go into. When this happen, you and a team go in and get Sam and his mother. It simple, but I think it has best chance to work."
"There are a few details that need to be worked out," he said.
"Yes, we need to know when the attack will come, and if you can still get into the building where they are prisoner." She pretty nicely stated exactly what he'd been thinking. "You need to see if other hunters will be loyal to him, or you. It is two sides now in the hunters."
She stared at him for a long moment, no one saying anything. Finally, she said, "Jake Hunter, I know you do not like this, but this is simple. If they are not with you, they are against you. This is only way to save them. Do not think Kloss will not kill them, or worse, if he thinks it help him in his quest."
"What can be worse than killing them?"
"Trust what I tell you, it can be lot worse." She then moved away from that, saying, "You use darts for us, sometime. We also have darts with drug. The drug we use is faster, but does not last as long. We give this to you, hope to not kill."
"My lady," Stefans said, coming in, followed by a couple of men with a large crate on a hand truck.
"Ah, I expect this, but not today. Please put this in my room."
"Kristiana, what is that?" the Queen asked.
"Bombs," she said, as if it was nothing.
"A bomb!?" the Queen asked, but it was more like an exclamation.
"Many. They are not big, but I need extras. I do not know how many are needed for this job." Jake was staring at the little vampire, with probably the same open mouthed expression as the Queen.
"Kristiana, what are you planning?" the Queen asked.
Jake didn't understand why the girl was the one doing so much, including most of the talking, other than maybe it was understood that she was the one that did the dirty work for the Queen. Something still didn't seem quite right with that, though.
"In this plan, what will happen here?" he asked.
"Hunters will attack, and we subdue them. Some will get killed, I think." Giving him only a moment to digest that, she said, "There is no other way I can think of to get them from the place where Sam and his mother are held. If you have a different plan, please tell it."
"I don't."
"I know you do not want men killed. I do not want this too, but we have not a lot of time to think of a better plan. The plans you have seen of me have been long plans to make happen. My short plans are not as good, and more possible for problems. Know this, and tell me, do we use my plan, or no?"
"We use it."
"They will attack in the day, I think very soon. They will not expect us awake. Jake Hunter, if you are able, get us the time of attack. If not, we are still ready. When the attack happen, Stefans will tell you, and you must go. I will not give an idea of what you should do. I do not know the place, or the people. That is for you to plan." After he nodded agreement, again, she said, "If you do not succeed, I will get them, but it will not be as nice as this. Many will die, if I do this thing."
"Kristi, I think I know the answer, but I want you to tell me. Why have you been trying to get us to stop hunting?"
"Because we need to stop the wild ones. They are getting more. We are losing the fight, because we cannot concentrate on them enough. I am also part of the problem. Sam distract me too much. Another reason I did not want him get close to me. I think I have idea to end the outbreak, now." Everyone in the room was looking at her, waiting for her plan, but she remained silent.
"You won't tell us, will you?" Jake asked, a little surprised Charlotte hadn't, or maybe Stefans. Charlotte was sitting rather sullen looking, but Stefans had a curious, somewhat worried expression. Kristiana was absolutely expressionless. The three were in an odd contrast to each other.
"I will not."
"You know, plans typically work better when the people involved know what to expect," Jake said.
"Not all. The first time you meet me, if all knew what was to come, it would not have worked. I will tell you, I did not plan to do the thing to you I did. You angered me, and I had to tell you in a way you could not ignore, but I make sure it only hurt, not do real damage. The same was true of the betrayer. If ones in the plan were to know, it would not have worked right, but it did not work as I had meant it to even then."
"Or is it that they wouldn't let you do it?" She gave him one of the half smiles Sam had talked about. He had to admit, her smile was pretty.
"Alright, I'll see what I can arrange."
"Jake Hunter, we will get them back, you and me and Stefans," Kristi said, her tone expressing her absolute confidence in what she said. Jake wished he shared her confidence.
"Kristiana, what is it you are planning with the bombs?" Charlotte asked, as soon as the hunter had left.
"I will not say, because Jake Hunter is right. You will not let me do what needed. I hope to not use them, but I need the choice. We are losing, and you know this. We have seen too many."
"Is that why you are drinking more?"
"It is part. I also have been hurt more than once, in times close to now. I need the blood to heal, but also to cure the wild ones. You know this. Research people are still not able to find the thing that kills the wild virus. It is in my blood, but it hides from them."
"Kristiana, we will find the cure," Charlotte said.
"I do hope this is true. I do not like to kill them, when they not at fault for what they do."
"Stefans," she said, turning her attention from Charlotte, ready for this discussion to end.
"Yes, my lady," he said, having been just outside her room.
"Please give Jake Hunter as much of a good drug as we have, or he needs. You know what to do. We will prepare for the attack. I want Charlotte, Artis and other people somewhere else."
"I will not leave your side, my sweet," Charlotte said.
"I will not let you get hurt, Charlotte," Kristiana said.
"I am more powerful than you give me credit for," the old woman said.
"I know this, which is why you challenge me the way you do, but I would not live if you were hurt, and neither would the hunters, any of them. Also, one of us must survive, if this goes wrong."
"You know, my sweet, I was worried you would distance yourself from me for what I have done. Thank you for forgiving me," Charlotte said.
"I have not forgiven yet, but I will, if we can make it out of this trouble. However, my anger is going away, and my love for you will never go away. It is what matters most. All other things will go away, in time," she said, but there was no smile this time.
"What is the matter, Kristiana?" She knew she wore a melancholy expression, but she was worried.
"There are events that are running away from me. I lose control of them, and I do not like this."
"But there is more, isn't there?"
"Yes. I have given into my feelings for Sam, as you wished, but I can never be what he wants, and what he needs. I would wish I could, but I cannot. That is a piece of my life that died when I became the monster."
"You can have happiness, and love with him."
"But I cannot give him a child, to continue his name. That is a thing that I lost, and we know it cannot be fixed, once it is gone."
"Not having children is not everything," Charlotte said, but Kristiana knew she understood the cultural need she was born from. Maybe they came from different places and times, but that need was still there, in both of their cultures. The woman was to provide children to carry on the man's name, his line.
"You know it is not so simple."
"Yes, I suppose I do," she finally agreed.
"Charlotte, you want happiness for me. What you have done is done with love, but the pain it cause is too much for me, and it will hurt Sam, when this is over."