Chapter 23
I woke up the next morning and dragged myself downstairs.
My morning started out great when I realized Maddox had brewed coffee.
I took my coffee outside on the patio to take in the morning air.
I missed having a day to myself. Thunderstorms were supposed to begin around noon.
To most people, that would be a bad thing.
To me, it sounded like one of my favorite things in the world.
When I was a teenager, I would sit on the covered porch, reading all afternoon with the rain washing away the summer heat all around me—if only for a little while.
I heard the back door open and shut, which pulled me from my thoughts. When I turned my head, it was Maddox walking toward me.
“When did you get up?”
“A while ago. I made coffee, and I had a few calls I needed to make.”
“I think I am going to take a few days to just learn about The Order and how everything works. I want to meet the people running the day-to-day operations. I need to be educated; do you think you can be the person that teaches me?”
I wanted to stop playing dress up and learn what the hell I was actually supposed to be doing.
“That sounds like something I can help you out with. Where and when would you like to start?” he asked, looking as though he had been waiting for this exact moment.
“Right now. You can help me make some food.”
Standing up from the chair, I headed into the house. Setting my coffee on the counter, I opened the fridge. I pulled out veggies, meats, cheeses, and some pickles and olives. Grabbing a loaf of French bread from the counter, I began slicing it for crostini.
Maddox followed my lead and pulled some crackers out of a nearby cabinet.
I took a serving board from the cupboard, setting it on the counter near the food.
Maddox placed a cutting board and knife onto the island.
Together, we set to work making a charcuterie board to sustain us while we delved into what would turn into a lengthy conversation.
I grabbed two large, insulated cups, filling them with ice. “Do you want tea, or something else?” I asked him as I brandished the empty cup at him.
“Tea is fine.”
“Okay, so where are we going?” he asked, picking up the food board from the island.
“The secret study.”
We put all the items down on the coffee table near the fireplace. Maddox and I sat down on the couch.
“So, what do you want to know first?”
“Why am I in charge of The Order? Why is it me and not Charlotte or someone else? Ronan said that I didn’t have to accept the job. What would happen then?”
“It was you because you were born to your mother, Ray’s first child.
That is why it wasn’t Charlotte. If you chose not to take over, we would have appealed to Charlotte, and she would serve as interim leader until you had children.
Then, only if you both had no children, would it be a permanent end to the line of succession.
If she also chose to forgo the position, we would vote for a new interim leader from among our top officers and agents.
That would always be a temporary thing unless your bloodline completely dies.
In the event that happens, it would permanently become an elected position. ”
“How far back does this line go? You make it sound like I’m an heiress, and with all the history behind it, it feels a little... macabre.”
“It dates back to the start of the Order—and actually, even further. The Order has existed for centuries. Your ancestors, along with four others, established it as a way to protect the world as a whole. It is said that they performed a blood oath, swearing to always act in the best interest of the whole and not just for one individual race. The rule was, if any one of the bloodlines tried to rise up against the others, the other four were required to hold them accountable.”
“So, you mean to tell me that I am not in this all by myself? There are four others that share the load?” I asked, happy to have some help but thinking there was a catch.
“In a perfect world, there would be five, with authentic blood, working together to keep peace. You are the human; and we put the humans in charge of most of the decision-making. This is because they are the most vulnerable species. It keeps us rooted in where we all started. As it stands, only three bloodlines are in place at the moment. Two are elected.”
“Are you going to enlighten me as to who and what the individuals are?” I asked, wondering if I knew any of them.
“You haven’t met any yet, except one.”
“Who is it?”
“Me, I am the elected vampire leader.”
“No shit. Until when exactly?”
“Until someone finds fault in my leadership, or I step down. Then they will hold an election. Unless someone comes forward, who is a direct descendent of Xavier.”
“He was a vampire. What about vampires that he created? Like Alexander?”
“No, it would have to be a child that he sired. Alexander would have to run against me to take over Xavier’s position. He didn’t have any children that we know of. However, he was alive for a long time, and I am sure he had his fair share of lovers.”
“Vampires can father children?” I asked, completely dumbfounded.
I had never heard of that before—not that I regularly spoke to vampire experts or anything—until now. Maddox leaned forward and snagged some sausage and cheese from the tray we had put together.
“Yes, they can father children. Female vampires can have babies too, but only until they go through menopause.”
Now I was taking a sex-ed course for vampires. I doubted that any of this would ever feel normal.
“We are like humans, just more streamlined. We stop aging—our hearts, our bodies, our organs, all of it. We don’t develop diseases; we don’t get sick. Women can have babies as long as they have eggs left in their body. When they become a vampire or are born as one, they don’t produce more eggs.”
I just sat there staring at him. Trying to convince myself that I hadn’t totally lost my mind. “That’s crazy. So, you are truly immortal?”
“We can be, but no, not really. Vampires can be killed in the same ways any human can. The only difference is that it takes a lot more force to get through our skin and organs. We also heal extremely fast, so anything that would take any amount of time to kill a person wouldn’t be able to kill a vampire.
We will never bleed to death slowly. We will never die from disease or infection either. ”
“Yeah, that’s a lot. I don’t know that I would want to live forever.” I needed to move onto something else and give my brain a break. “So, if I don’t know who the other three individuals are, then can I at least know what they are?”
“Oscar, a werewolf, is a bloodline leader of The Order. Matthew, a shapeshifter, is another descendant. Lastly, is Caspien; he is an elected leader and a witch. Or wizard, but he prefers witch because he doesn’t appreciate the grandiosity of the word ‘wizard’ and ‘sorcerer’ is an absolute no-go.”
“Shapeshifters and werewolves are completely different? Aren’t they both shapeshifters?”
“Werewolves can only turn into wolves, and it’s more like two sides of the same coin.
Their wolf is kind of like an inner dialogue or their conscience.
Shapeshifters can turn into practically anything if they have seen it before.
They can make themselves look like any living thing really—even other people.
They can’t mimic voices, at least no better than a human could. ”
“Other people? Are you serious? They won the cryptid lottery.”
“They don’t normally do that. It takes an enormous amount of energy to pull off, and it is something that is definitely not condoned.”
“Not condoned? What does that mean exactly?”
“It means that there had better be a damned good reason for them shifting into another person. If not, The Order will make them answer for it if they are caught. There are other differences between werewolves and shapeshifters too, but I figure for now we can stick to the basics until you get more comfortable.”
“Is that it? Those are the only species of humanoid cryptids?” I asked, thinking that there should be more.
“Those are the original ones. Anything else is more animal than human, at least as far as The Order knows.”
“How does The Order work?”
“The Order itself is a sort of government for the cryptid world. We document everyone and help to keep things in order. We also provide medical services and assistance to anyone that seeks it. We police unruly individuals and either rehabilitate them or extinguish them. It isn’t much different than how normal society functions. ”
He made it all seem so normal when really it was anything but.
“We hold ourselves to a higher standard because we are quite a bit more dangerous than humans. When dealing with cryptids, there is always a certain level of magic. I mean, really, we are magical beings so that is another layer that is extremely dangerous.”
“Do all cryptids have magic? Do you have magic?”
“That isn’t necessarily what I mean when I say magic.
A werewolf and a shapeshifter can change their appearance dramatically.
As a vampire, I can move undetectably fast, hear better, and my sense of smell is more acute.
I can see in the dark, and I can be so silent you would never know I was there. Witches are all magic.”
“I need to take a break,” I said, getting up from the couch and heading to the bathroom.
Maddox was giving me a lot of information, and I was just hoping my brain was working hard enough to absorb it all. When I returned, Maddox was still on the couch, picking at the grapes.
“You need to eat some of this too,” he said, gesturing to the tray. I leaned forward and grabbed a few crackers and pieces of cheese.
“Okay, what’s next? You want to tell me how vampires are made? Other than the birds and bees. Is it like in the movies?”