Chapter 9
Izzy
I left the hotel and took a car back to the Citadel.
But I didn’t go straight back to our rooms.
I gave the driver the address of a well-known club and had him drop me off there. I was looking for a member of vampire royalty called Princess Alexandra. She was considered vampire aristocracy and more importantly, she was a guest at the wedding where Lucca and Queen Tamara had been married. Earlier, the captain had said he had seen her in town and I had made a mental note. I’d been wanting to talk to her.
The club was full of people, bright lights and pumping music. The energy was slightly frenetic and my antennae was going haywire, there were simply too many vampires here. I could feel their eyes on me, their lust for my blood. In a place like this, humans disappeared all the time into dark rooms where their blood was traded, taken and often, sacrificed.
“What is a pretty lady like you doing here?” a tall man, with icy eyes asked. He was dressed in a silk shirt with a beautiful coat slung casually over his shoulders.
“I am looking for the Lady Alexandra,” I said. “I need to have a word with her, on behalf of King Lucca.”
I saw his eyes narrow as he considered my words. I knew the weight of mentioning Lucca’s name and it seemed to work.
“Come with me,” he said, taking my hand and leading me through the crowd and up the stairs into a private lounge area.
“I wouldn’t stay too long, if I were you,” he said with a wink before pointing out a willowy beauty at one of the tables. She was sprawling languidly in a chair, long limbs arranged elegantly while casually holding a cigarette.
I introduced myself and asked if I could ask her about the wedding.
“Oh, that night…” the lady drawled. “I was so drunk, I can’t remember a thing.”
“You remember Queen Tanata died?”
She licked her lips and seemed to compose herself a bit. “Yes, of course. I liked Tanata, always had. Felt a bit sorry for her, getting involved with that family.”
“Why?” I asked.
Princess Alexandra frowned. “Those sons are just so… intense. Not much fun, I think. Tan was young, like me, she liked parties. Lucca’s not so much into that scene.”
“Do you remember seeing anything or anyone unusual that night?”
She thought a bit. “I saw Layrr. That was weird. I mean, he wasn’t invited. We were standing outside and I called out to him.”
“I thought you said you didn’t like him,” I said, trying to figure the lady out.
“I said he was intense, not that I didn’t like him,” she gave a naughty laugh. “Sometimes that can be fun, right? I guess it’s Ragnar I don’t like. Bit of a prick.”
I agreed with her there.
“And Sunil’s a wanker. Too decadent, he’d even fuck animals, I think,” she said.
“But Layrr… he’s a bad boy,” she chuckled. “I like bad boys.”
“Okay,” I said. “So you saw Layrr and called him over. Then what?”
She shook her head. “He didn’t hear me, just walked away, into that garden thing. The maze.”
The implication of what she said struck her.
“Wait! You don’t think…”
“What do you think?” I asked her. “Could he have done something like that?”
“I didn’t say he was a killer! I didn’t see him kill anyone!”
She seemed shaken up by the idea. “I just wanted to check a few things,” I said reassuringly. “Thank you for your help.”
“Don’t tell anyone what I said,” she said, sounding scared.
“I won’t,” I said. But I had to wonder why she would be so fearful just telling me what she’d seen.
I went back to our rooms, by which time, dawn was already breaking. I was tired, it had been an exhausting night, but as I was about to go in, I noticed a big, black car standing in the streets. The lights were on and the engine was idling. It seemed to be waiting for something.
Or someone.
As I watched, the window came down and a female voice called out to me.
“Miss Bonnici?”
I carefully walked closer.
The door opened and the voice again came from inside. “Could I speak to you for a moment?”
I hesitated.
“It is perfectly safe, I assure you.”
Something about the voice reassured me and I came closer, peering into the dark interior before getting in. I saw the profile of a woman in the back. She was tall and expensively clothed. Her hair was short and white and the face was remarkable and noble. She was elderly, yet an aura of beauty and nobility surrounded her.
I immediately knew this was Councilor Lare. I also realized that she was a Beauty, which I had been unaware of until now.
As soon as I got into the car, the door closed behind me. I sat down on the seat across from the councilor, noting that the partition between the driver and us was up and shut solid. We had complete privacy.
“Thank you for meeting me like this, I understand that you must be apprehensive,” she said in a melodious voice.
“It is an honor for me to meet you,” I said. “I have heard so much about you.”
“Indeed,” she said, with a short laugh. “As I have heard about you.”
I wondered what she meant.
“Dominic told me about your meeting. I thought maybe I could help you.”
“Help me? How?” I was intrigued.
She folded her long, slim hands in her lap and gazed out the window.
“My time here is coming to an end,” she then said, in a faraway voice. “I have only served on the Council for ten years, but it has felt like so much more. I have lost count of the attempts on my life or the times I’ve been outvoted or manipulated.”
“Sounds terrible,” I said.
She sighed. “It is the life of a councilor, I’m afraid. Having to rule, to make the decisions that affect all under us, is no mean feat. And not everyone is happy with the outcomes. Someone always feels slighted or hard-done-by.”
She took a breath. “I am a medium but I also happen to be a Beauty, as you no doubt know. That is why I was selected for the position. As you know, a Beauty is not only attractive and pleasant to deal with and a good communicator, but we also absorb negativity and have the ability to transform negative forces into positive energy.”
“Not all of us,” I interjected. My own abilities in this particular area were sorely lacking.
She laughed, a musical sound that was lovely to hear.
“If you wanted to, though, you could develop that part of your character. It could come in handy.”
My mother had tried, I remember, but I had always preferred to be with my father, preferring his world of action and exercise to my mother’s greenhouse with the orchids and the ferns, the sound of dripping water, which always made me drowsy.
“You said you could help me?”
She smiled at my impatience. “You have great potential, Isabella,” she said. I didn’t like her using my full name. “Being both Guard and Beauty makes you strong as well as kind, you can make the peace and keep it.” She paused. “But you will have to choose soon, and I fear you don’t know what it is you’re choosing.”
I frowned.
“A life of great power awaits you, but there will be sacrifice if you pursue it.”
I wasn’t quite sure what she meant. “It is your destiny, but you could walk away from it. Avoid the pain, the cost to you.”
“I’m not big on walking away,” I said.
She smiled. “That is what I thought.”
“Your influence with King Lucca is fortuitous. He will be required to step up now, to right the imbalance in the Council. But it will come at a cost to him too.”
I had enough of all this fortune telling. She put a hand on my arm, to restrain me and get my attention.
“One more thing. Your father was killed by the vampire Chakrat.”
I gasped. “You know this?”
She nodded. “Your father had been looking for him for some time, he had tried to take him in before but he had failed. It was Chakrat who threw the amber water at him. He has become an important figure in Tempesto’s organization and your father was a big fly in his ointment. He wanted to get rid of him. That is why he brought in other vampires to launch an attack on your home, take out the whole family. He didn’t know you weren’t there. But as soon as he finds out, he will come for you.”
“I look forward to it,” I said darkly.
Lare shook her head. “Don’t underestimate him. Chakrat is ancient, stronger than any vampire you will ever meet. He is centuries old and one of the most evil entities I have ever met.” Her voice was ominous. “If Tempesto succeeds in gaining control of the Council, he will put the Servant in my position and they will bring out the demons to help them defeat any enemies that remain. With Chakrat and the Servant to help him, Tempesto will be undefeatable.”
“You want me to kill Chakrat,” I said.
She nodded. “But you will have to be prepared for him. Your father was weakened, you will have to succeed where he failed.”
I nodded.
“You cannot let Chakrat come too close to you, he will be able to penetrate all your natural defenses and you will be vulnerable to him. He is masterful at camouflage and moves freely even during the day.”
“He must have weaknesses?”
She paused. “He does not like fire. Fire balls will not kill him, but they will slow him down enough for you to deliver the fatal blow.”
She reached into a bag and took out a heavy, glass ball.
“You rub it against your skin until it is warm enough to burn your skin and then you throw it with as much power as you can, it will catch fire and cause maximum damage.” She slipped the ball into a magnetic pouch and gave it to me.
I thanked her and opened the door to leave.
“One more thing,” she said and I turned back to look at her.
“Your father saw the world in black and white. There was no gray. He was inflexible. But, you are not like him, even though you want to be. You see more colors, you see how they interplay and complement each other. This is your gift. Embrace it. It will help you.”
She left me then, standing alone in the street as daylight came.
Life was beginning to stir in the houses around me. I could hear televisions switch on and pipes humming with the water for showers. Children’s voices, dogs barking and cars driving off. I turned to our rooms and went inside where Costello was waiting for me.
I didn’t want to think about what she had said about me being different from my father. I didn’t like that at all.