22. Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Two
Argus “Headmaster” Xavier
The Underworld Needs Him
I, Argus Xavier, have nominated Beau Drewitt as the next Headmaster of the Council.
The stone walls of the council chamber breathe against my skin, a familiar touch that has followed me for nearly five centuries.
I walk the length of the circular room with my hands behind my back and count my steps even though I no longer need to.
Habit anchors me. Ritual is the only thing that keeps time from devouring the mind of a creature who has lived far too long.
A year. I have one year left before I give up this body and enter desiccation. One year before I surrender my legacy to the next head pair, Beau Drewitt and Kalevala Darana. One year before the final silence.
Desiccation is not death. It’s a rite of passage.
An honored tradition among the council. The chosen headmaster and headmistress lie within the catacombs beneath the mountain when their tenure ends.
Their bodies freeze in a sleep that can last centuries.
Their minds remain intact for consultation if ever a crisis demands the wisdom of an era long gone.
My mentor lives there now. His mentor lies beyond him. Generations of guidance preserved like stone carvings. Waiting. Watching nothing. Hearing everything. Soon I will join them.
And I had been prepared. I truly had. Five hundred years is long enough to make peace with the inevitability of stillness.
I have selected my successors carefully.
I have trained Kalevala in the steps of power and have waited patiently for the moment that Beau would be ready and willing to enter beneath me as his mentor.
Although it seems like every corner turns a different way than predicted, Kalevala hands over every vision with as much precision as the universe allows.
Beau is perfect. He’s continuously shown how steady he is, gifted with discipline and authority that even the elders will be envious of.
A man who can lead with grace, power, and fear in equal measure.
A man molded by patience and honed by hardship.
He was born to carry a crown that others fear to touch.
Kalevala is also perfect. A woman who is brilliant, focused, and gifted with a power that many of us would also love to have. A storm, but a storm with direction. Her loyalty to the council has yet to waver. She understands structure. She understands the weight of legacy. She understands me.
I don’t remember the day that I decided Kalevala would rule beside Beau, but she has shown her capability.
The two of them together will rule cleanly. Or at least, that’s supposed to be the future. Until Beau did the one thing I never accounted for, something that Kalevala said she could prevent. He has found his sino.
I stop pacing and place a hand on the back of the nearest chair.
It creaks beneath my palm, old wood protesting a truth I still struggle to accept.
A sino, a fated mate, his new anchor to the human realm.
A bond so rare that in five hundred years I have seen it only twice.
And neither time ended simply. My own being one.
“Sir, the McDermott’s son is here to talk to you.” A henchman announces from outside of the chamber doors. Of course, the McDermott’s aren’t happy with their oil deal. It seems they’ve sent their son to test the waters for a negotiation.
Oil. The Military. NASA. The list of endeavors my forefathers have peddled around since the beginning of time is slowly becoming like a chain around my neck. Except, this chain can only reach so far, and I have bigger concerns. Capitalism at its finest.
“I am busy. Reschedule to another time.” I shout at him.
“As you wish, sir.” The man steps away from the door.
Damn underworld lurkers and their constant need for attention. How is a man to operate a whole entire country of vampires with the constant need for my voice in so many places?
“Before you go, have one of the other members of the council tend to the oil deal for the McDermott’s.
See to it that they have it handled within a week's time. If there are any further issues, let me know. I would like to put this behind us.” I yell to him before the henchman can get too far away.
I hear his footsteps scurry back to the door to re-enter.
“As you wish, sir. Anything else?”
“That will be all.”
Beau’s situation is dire, which makes all other duties a secondary responsibility.
A sino ties two souls together. It complicates my every council duty.
It alters instinct. It changes balance. It disrupts the legacy I spent centuries cultivating.
I have allowed myself to believe Beau is my savior from my position.
That he will continue as he always has, unattached and wholly devoted to the order that shapes him, dutifully taking up my position on the council when the time comes.
Although, Kalevala changed our course. She damn near sealed Elowen by his side by intervening in a way that I never requested of her. But, fate has no interest in order or deception.
I sink into the chair and rest my elbows on the table. The candlelight flickers against the stone floor. I can almost hear the council ancestors stir within the depth of the catacombs below. I have always imagined their dreams.
Beau has a sino. And not a supernatural one or a trained successor or someone who understands our ways.
No. Fate gave him a mortal girl with wide eyes and a soft voice and a heartbeat that thrums with fear and hope in equal measure.
Elowen Briar. A girl who doesn’t yet understand what she stands beside. Someone who will complicate everything.
My legacy is designed for stability and predictability.
Meant for the continuation of order beyond my lifetime.
A headmaster mustn’t be tethered to mortality.
A headmaster mustn’t be distracted by the fragile ache of human love.
A headmaster should never be tied to the ground when the rest of the council floats above the world with steadiness and clarity. I lean back and close my eyes.
I’m furious. I should feel betrayed by the very man I selected. I should order Beau to sever the bond before it grows roots. The council would support that order. Kalevala would celebrate with us. Yet, I fear I can’t do it.
Some part of me, buried beneath centuries of law and ritual, remembers what it was to feel something that pulled the world into focus.
A sino is fate’s voice. Even headmasters are not meant to silence it.
Although, that’s exactly what happened to me.
I left my beloved behind. The council allowed a witch to use one of her many abilities to manipulate my mind so I could ignore it.
I had to be willing to sever it. It can’t be done without consent.
But fate never considers responsibility. Fate doesn’t understand the weight of legacy. Fate is a river that flows without care for who drowns.
I exhale slowly. I can’t stop destiny, but I must shape it so that the council survives it.
Beau will not abandon his sino. The bond has already begun to settle.
One of the outcast members I hired to keep watch of Beau from afar, outside of Kalevala, has brought me tabs.
Before we present the proposition of becoming headmaster to him next, I have to know that he will agree.
If the anchor is claimed, we must find a way around it.
Which means I have a new challenge.
I must determine whether he can serve with the bond intact or whether another must take the mantle after all.
We won’t dare breathe the idea that we would allow a mortal to take the throne over Kalevala.
I don’t know what would happen. I believe if she caught wind of one of my ideas, she would kill us all.
Kalevala is strong. She is capable of ruling alone if she must. She is willing.
Hungry even. But the plan is meant for her to lead beside Beau, under Beau.
Alone she becomes something far more volatile.
Her devotion to the council is powerful.
Her devotion to Beau is even more so. That combination creates storms I don’t want unleashed.
I rise from my chair. The weight of the realization settles over me like snow.
If Beau keeps his sino, Kalevala won’t accept it.
Not quietly, nor gracefully. She was raised on the idea of destiny too.
My soon to be prodigy’s wife believes she will stand beside him when my era ends.
Kalevala imagines herself becoming headmistress.
Just as she believes the future is already hers.
For the first time in centuries, I fear I may have overlooked a fault line.
My own conscience and feelings. Do I propose that Beau and Elowen will rule together or do I force Beau to forfeit his connection and rule with Kalevala?
And how do I force him when I know that he will never consent?
I walk toward the eastern archway and peer out at the halls beyond. The moon reflects off the streets and finds its way into the cavernous building. The night hums with the stillness that never leaves this place.
My motive remains unchanged. I want the council to endure.
I want my legacy to continue without fracture.
I want the next era shaped by leaders who understand the world I leave behind.
But the world has shifted beneath my feet.
Beau has a sino. Kalevala is becoming unstable in her certainty. And I am running out of time.
One year until desiccation. One year to correct what fate has meddled with. One year to decide whether Beau’s bond with Elowen will strengthen the council or tear it apart. Legacy should never be easy. But I had hoped it would be clearer than this.
If Beau and Kalevala can rise above the complication of a sino, they will rule with balance. If they cannot, then I must choose another path. The council must survive even if it means rewriting the future I once believed unshakable.
The catacombs wait for me, just as the silence does. My body will soon rest beside the others, preserved and listening in for the day that my knowledge is needed again. Until then, I must secure the future. Fate has chosen to test me in my final year. So, I will test fate in return.