Chapter 14 #2
Aiden frowned. “No. I was within the city limits, but not particularly close to his home.”
“It must be the move, then.”
Aiden sipped his drink. It was a dark red that left Marcus thinking that it was probably all blood. He could definitely have used some alcohol, though the liquor’s effect on their body was incredibly short-lived. “I’m sorry it’s that time again.”
“So am I. Twenty years has passed far too quickly.”
“I’ve heard some crazy talk of wanting to establish a town where only vampires are permitted inside. A place where we never have to move, never have to hide.”
Marcus snorted. “Yes, sounds like Eden, but how will we survive? Are we just going to swarm out each night and prey on the nearest town, draining it dry? Our secret would be protected for all of one night, and then we could count on the local government bombing us into extinction.”
Aiden smirked at Marcus before taking another drink. “That sounds about right, but I fear they have another solution for feeding the masses.”
“What?”
“Live-in slaves. Humans would be captured and raised in warehouses like cattle until they were sold to their new vampire masters to feed from.”
“That’s barbaric! Whoever is suggesting this can’t be serious.”
“The Hidden are very serious about this scheme. They’ve even managed to locate three or four potential sites for the plan. Two are in Europe and they’ve brought it up for the European Ministry’s approval.”
“I can’t believe they are actually considering this. Humans can’t simply disappear without people noticing.”
“Sadly…they can.” Aiden stared at his glass, turning it around and around with the tips of his fingers so that the soft lighting glinted off the fine crystal.
“There are plenty of cities around the world who would be happy to be rid of their homeless population. Same with the countless refugee camps. If a cunning vampire came in and offered to just fly those people to another city where they would have jobs and a place to live, who would argue?”
“No. It can’t be allowed.”
Aiden sighed. “You’re right, but I do not have enough faith in the European Ministry to believe they will actually put a halt to this madness.”
“Has a similar proposal been put before the American Ministry?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
Marcus tapped his fingers on the table. It would have explained why Meryl was so eager to get rid of Julianna and Rafe.
The Hidden would prefer if the Ministry had no distractions or disturbances to deal with if it was considering such a proposal.
Or maybe not. Sometimes there was no understanding Meryl’s behavior.
“Meryl stopped by my house a week ago. She threatened both Rafe’s and Julianna’s lives, though she seemed most intent on seeing Mother killed. Rafe, she seemed deluded enough to believe that he could be reformed.”
A hint of a smile lightened Aiden’s features for a moment. “No one is going to change Rafe but Rafe, and I am glad for that.”
“But Mother?”
“There’s no changing her either,” he murmured. “But for entirely different reasons.”
“True, but Meryl is an ardent member of The Hidden and if they’ve got some plan…”
“That group isn’t the only one who wants Julianna dead.”
Marcus fought the urge to shove to his feet and demand to know who else was threatening his family. He’d had enough of his nonsense. The Variks kept to themselves. They avoided all political maneuvering and power struggles. There was no reason to go after their mother.
“What the hell is going on, Aiden?”
“I’m still trying to discover the root of it all, but I was approached while in Rio by a vampire called Camille. She is not a member of The Hidden.”
“And yet, she wanted Mother dead as well,” Marcus irritably filled in.
“No.”
Marcus frowned at Aiden, waiting for him to continue.
“She is a Predator, and they are very much opposed to the new city plans of The Hidden. They would very much like for us to set Julianna loose during one of her episodes on some place like…Times Square.”
“What?” Marcus gasped. “They can’t be serious.”
“She was very serious. Julianna’s destruction would not only announce to the world that we exist, but it would prove to humans that we are the dominant species of the world. Their natural masters.”
“I’m assuming that she didn’t take your rejection well.”
Aiden surprised him by chuckling. He picked up his glass and smiled at Marcus. “She did not. She attempted to follow me back to my temporary home while in Rio.”
“Insane,” Marcus whispered.
Coming to a vampire’s resting place uninvited was threatening business.
Meryl had gotten away with it in his home only because it was known that he conducted business there as well.
His own sleeping chamber was well protected during the daylight hours and he had a prepared escape route if it was necessary.
A temporary home for Aiden’s travels wouldn’t have been nearly as well protected.
“Yes, well, she’ll never make that mistake again.”
Marcus wasn’t surprised that Aiden had killed this Camille.
It wasn’t that she’d gone to Aiden’s daytime resting spot, threatening him.
It was that she was a threat against Julianna, who couldn’t properly protect herself.
Not once in her nearly two hundred years had she been in a fight for her life.
Aiden, Marcus, and his brothers had protected her every waking moment.
Her mind was already so fragile. They couldn’t even begin to guess as to what would happen to her if she suddenly found herself attacked or even just kidnapped.
If she survived, there was no telling if she’d recover mentally.
“What’s going on, Aiden? Why is she being targeted now?”
“I’m not sure. I’m catching just small whispers.”
“I hear nothing, so you have to tell me,” Marcus snarled. “I can’t be kept in the dark if I’m going to keep my family safe.”
Aiden smiled a little at Marcus. It was soft and he imagined it was how a doting father might look on his son. “I think we are standing in the eye of a storm that is twisting around us. I’ve heard whispers that The Hidden mean to make a play for the American Ministry.”
“And by play, you mean The Hidden intend to kill the sitting members and claim their seats.”
“Yes. Naturally, The Predators faction won’t tolerate it. They plan to make their own attack on the members first. When I arrived in Miami a few weeks ago, I heard that Percival had been found dead. His head torn from his body. Each side is blaming the other for his death.”
Marcus swore to himself. Nothing good would come of either side ruling the vampires of North America. The Hidden would be safer for the humans, but they would enact stricter laws that would cut into Marcus’s business as well as demand the lives of both Rafe and Julianna.
The Predators, on the other hand, would start a war with humans, which would result in mass casualties on both sides and general chaos.
The American Ministry, like its sister ruling head in Europe, was a mix of the four factions—the Hidden, Predator, Equalists, and the Moderates—and they found a way of balancing their rule through compromise.
It also helped that since it took them so long to agree on anything, their rule was a relatively light touch.
Marcus had always considered himself, like Bel, a Moderate. He believed in limited interaction with humans so that they could enjoy the benefits of modern technology and keep up with the changing times rather than stagnate and be blindsided by the developments of man.
Only Rafe was an Equalist. That ragtag bunch supported coming out to the humans and seeking equal status with them. Few took them seriously, convinced that vampires would simply be hunted into extinction before equality could ever be achieved.
“I don’t understand why either side has decided to target our family.”
“It’s not just our family. They are going after all the clans that aren’t clearly aligned with either the Hidden or the Predators.”
“We’re not a clan.”
“The Variks are six in number,” Aiden calmly pointed out.
“That is more than enough to be considered a clan. And with our combined age and experience, the Variks could be a force to be reckoned with if we chose to align ourselves.” Marcus scoffed but Aiden leaned in closer, expression intent.
“There are just eleven seats on the Ministry, and the Variks claiming them would make a near majority.”
Marcus laughed louder this time, reclining in his chair. “I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. The Variks claiming the Ministry seats?”
“Lower your voice,” Aiden said in a harsh whisper.
“And while I know that such a thing has never crossed the minds of this family, others aren’t so confident.
The Variks are seen as an unknown. We’ve kept to ourselves far too much over the last century.
We do not involve ourselves in politics, and that has left others to fill the silence in with their own speculation. ”
Marcus frowned. He’d not taken Aiden’s suggestion seriously only because he knew his brothers.
Rafe thought about nothing besides his nightclubs and sex.
Bel couldn’t be drawn out of his laboratory.
Winter…well, only God knew Winter’s plans, but Marcus felt secure in believing his little brother was not after power.
And then Marcus wanted only to keep his family safe.
But it didn’t matter what the truth was—it was what others believed. He knew he couldn’t simply announce to others that the Variks were not chasing power or planned to be involved in the current struggle. Not one person would believe him.
For now, their best option was to strengthen their defenses and hope to speed up the move. The sooner they were in their new home and hidden from other vampires, the safer they would all be until this latest power struggle was over.
“I’ll speak with my brothers. Make sure they are aware of what is happening.”