Dying Forever (Waking Forever Book 3) (34 page)

The room was lined with floor to ceiling oak shelves, each filled with a variety of leather bound books. Alison scanned the shelves to find most of the titles weren’t in English, but what looked like Spanish, Italian, and possibly Greek.

“Hello.” Alison had been so absorbed in the extensive amount of literature around her, she hadn’t noticed the two women sitting on a large leather sofa across the room.
The woman walking toward them exuded grace, beauty, and poise. Her shoulder length chestnut colored hair had hints of auburn throughout and looked like strands of silk. Her skin was pale and flawless, her vividly green eyes reminded Alison of Bryce’s.

“Hi.” Bryce was the first to extend her hand toward the woman. “I’m Bryce
Whelan.”

“Rachel Collins, and this is Sara Glass.” The beautiful brunette turned toward the co
uch as a tall woman, who, like Rachel and Bryce, had perfectly pale skin, walked toward them. Her flawless features were accented by her long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.

“Hi, I’m Sara.” The
equally beautiful second woman extended her hand to Alison first.

“Alison Bailey. Nice to meet you both.
” She released Sara’s hand and shook Rachel’s outstretched one. Both women smiled reassuringly at Alison and Bryce.

“Should we sit?” Sara turned and walked toward the sofa and the two
wooden Sheraton style chairs that flanked it.

As
Rachel and Sara sat in the chairs, the smoothness and grace of their movements were both mesmerizing and disconcerting to Alison. She and Bryce sat next to each other on the leather sofa. Bryce reached for her hand and took it between hers.

The two vampires looked at the human and Bryce, and then at each other, Rachel’s brow arched slightly. “How long have you two known each other?”

“A couple of months.” Alison responded, not sure where the vampire was going with this line of questioning.

“That’s great.” Sara chimed in with a smile.

The four women sat for several awkward seconds, no one making eye contact. The only sound in the room was the ticking of a small mantel clock sitting over a fireplace along the far wall of the study.

“Should someone tell a joke?” Bryce’s slight brogue accent broke the silence and all four women laughed.

“We’re sorry, please forgive our manners, but we arrived back from a vacation to an urgent message from Coleen and absolutely no details as to why she wanted us here.” Rachel got up and crossed the space so she could stand behind Sara. Placing her hands on the woman’s shoulders, she smiled. “It’s left us a little on edge.”

Sara covered one of Rachel’s hands with hers. “We really are more fun than this.”

The tension in Alison’s shoulders lessened as she began to relax with the two women. Rachel seemed more formal than Sara, or older maybe, and Alison couldn’t help but think she recognized the blonde from somewhere.

“Sara, did you give a lecture on environmental ethics at Incarnate Word a few years ago?” Alison asked, still not sure this was the same woman.

“I’m an environmental attorney, and if memory serves, I did actually speak at the university. Did you attend?” The woman’s face lit up with a full smile.

“I’ll admit I was dragged there by a
colleague, but ended up enjoying it. You’re a very dynamic speaker.”

Sara looked up at Rachel, who was smiling. “What a small world.”

“Global village.” Alison grinned.

“Is everyone making nice?” Coleen entered the room with Lewis behind her.

Rachel dropped her hands from Sara’s shoulders and returned to her seat. “Lovely to see you again too, Coleen.”

Coleen went to the small bar cart in the corner and poured herself a glass of
sherry. “I do my best.” She looked at the blonde vampire, who sat with her legs crossed, and managed a weak smile. “Sara.”

“Coleen.” The otherwise friendly woman’s posture changed and her brow furrowed as she looked at Rachel.

“Why are we here, Coleen?” Rachel asked.

“I would prefer to wait for Emma and Ash to arrive. It’s such a
dreary story, I loathe the idea of repeating it.” The dark haired beauty took a sip of the sherry. “In the meantime, Rachel, this is Lewis Thomas. Lewis, Rachel Collins.”

Alison watched as the two vampires exchanged pleasantries and was confused by the absence of an introduction of Sara.

Clearly irritated with Coleen, Rachel reached for Sara, who stood and greeted Lewis. “Sara Glass. Nice to meet you.”

“Did I commit a social faux pas?” Coleen placed her slender index finger over her lips
in a mocking fashion. “I never can tell.”

“I assume you always will when the opportunity presents itself
, Coleen.” Sara smirked as she slid her arm around Rachel’s waist, giving her a quick squeeze and then sitting back down.

Clearly
, there was history between the two women. Alison was certain Sara had not been a vampire when she attended the woman’s lecture a few years ago. She remembered thinking the blonde was attractive, but now, she was breathtaking. Resolved to squelch her curiosity and avoid bringing additional tension to an already tightly wound situation, Alison did not ask the obvious questions.

“Where are Emma and Ash?” Bryce asked, sitting back down on the sofa.

“On their way. Something about work delaying them. Honestly I tuned out.” Coleen refilled her sherry.

“
Your work ethic has always been questionable.” Lewis jabbed as he pulled two more Sheraton style chairs from a nearby table and placed them across from the sofa. He sat down gracefully in the one closest to Sara.

Before Coleen could respond, Ash and Emma walked in the room, with Rayven following closely behind. “Our apologies for being late.” Emma put her oversized Louis Vuitton purse down on the walnut desk behind the seating area.
Alison continued to appreciate the woman’s style as she admired the black J. Crew pencil skirt and the cobalt blue colored silk blouse Emma wore.

“I think we were early.”
Lewis smiled, and the two exchanged affectionate glances with one another.

“If we’re not ten minutes early, Em thinks we’re late.” Ash commented,
a teasing grin on her face. “Has everyone been introduced?”

Alison scanned the group and nodded. “I think so.”

“Good. Coleen, do you want to explain or should I?” Ash stood behind Lewis as Emma took a seat in the chair next to the man.

“By all means
, detective.” Coleen smirked.

Slipping
into her professional persona, Ash began to debrief the group. “There are three witches in the city. The leader, Annabel, is an old friend turned enemy of Bryce’s and, unknown to us until recently, a colleague of Alison’s. She, along with her coven, have already killed three vampires, kidnapped and nearly killed Bryce, and just yesterday, murdered a reporter Alison had been working with.”

“Jesus.” Sara shifted in her seat. “Witches? I had no idea they existed.”

Alison took that opportunity to ask the question she had put off earlier. “How long have you been a vampire?”

“
A little over a year.” Sara looked at Rachel. “Did you know such a thing was possible?”

Rachel shook her head. “No.”

“It’s not exactly a casual conversation topic.” Coleen chimed in. “And unless you’ve met one, or are having to deal with a group of them, there’s really no point in bringing it up.” She emptied her Sherry glass. “Their numbers are so diminished at this point, they hardly matter.”

“Until they do.” Bryce spoke up. “Annabel is
over three hundred years old and very strong. She’s a Necromancer.”

“What does that mean?” Rachel asked.

Emma cleared her throat. “Based on the autopsy of the three bodies found on the Southside of the city, she is able to turn a vampire into a human, and then kill them.”

“Power over life and death.” Lewis spoke up. “It’s easier to kill a human than one of us.” He looked at
Rachel. “We can take a lot of punishment and keep on coming.”

Emma nodded. “It would certainly make her job, and her
accomplices’ work, easier.”

“Do the other two - ah, witches
- have power as well?” Sara asked.

“Yes. At least one of them can set fire and control it.” Ash
scanned the room as she spoke. “The reporter that was killed yesterday was burned.” She hesitated as her eyes met Alison’s. “The fire started in his internal organs and spread outward.”

Sara gasped. “My god, that’s terrible.”

Ash chewed nervously on the inside of her cheek. “We think the other woman is able to teleport and - Christ, this sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud - she has some type of telekinetic abilities.”

“Why do you think that?” Rachel asked, her jaw set as the conversation was clearly uncomfortable.

“Looking at the body from yesterday, I was able to find bruising consistent with someone being restrained, but the pressure points didn’t match any type of rope or chain I’ve ever seen.” The doctor stood and began pacing. “I did some research online. Most of it is hearsay and legend, but some of it coincided with our current situation. It’s evidently not unusual for a teleporter to also be able to manipulate the material world via telekinetic power.”

“Why are they going to all this trouble?” Sara looked at Bryce. “What happened between you two?”

Bryce looked down at her lap as Alison took her cool hand in hers. “We were lovers when I was human, briefly. When I was turned, she killed my maker, then I murdered her son.”

“
An eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind
.” Lewis frowned.

“It wasn’t like that.” Bryce looked intently at the man. “I was out of control and lost without the guidance of my maker.”

“Let’s not be too hard on Bryce.” Coleen interjected. “The bad blood – and yes, I completely intended that pun - between vampire and witch goes back to practically the beginning of time.”

“Why’s that?” Rachel scanned the room, clearly wanting answers.

“The witch is our only true threat. Particularly the Necromancers; so -” Coleen pursed her lips. “We may have been less than friendly over the millennia.”

“That’s an understatement.” Lewis interrupted. “We hunted them down and killed them. Entire covens were massacred by overzealous vampires set on maintaining what they thought was - and should be - the natural order.”

“The Inquisitions?” Alison hadn’t meant to speak, but her mind was racing with the possibilities and the reshaping of histories humans had held as truth.

“Sorry?” Rachel’s eyes flashed an intense green as she looked at Alison.

Suddenly with all eyes on her, Alison felt a knot in her stomach. Determined not to be viewed as a second class participant, though, she forced the words from her mouth. “The most famous of the Inquisitions was the one established by King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain. They condoned the killing of thousands of Muslims and Jews who had been forced to convert to Catholicism, but were unconvincing - at least by the State’s measures - in their love of their new faith.”

Feeling short of breath from how rapidly she had been speaking, Alison took a slow breath in and then exhaled. “These early trials, along with some of the earliest witch trials on record in Germany during Pope Innocent VIII’s papacy, laid the ground work for the Salem witch trials in this country in the sixteen hundreds.”

“They were vampires.” Coleen spoke casually.

“Who? Ferdinand and Isabella?” Alison’s mouth was open in shock as the
implications of this revelation ran through her mind.

“Yes, and his holy father, Giovanni the
innocent
.” The vampire chuckled as she referenced the pope’s birth name. “Laughable really. Of course most of the Catholic church’s power structure at the time was populated with vampires.” Coleen tisked. “I never could abide the comingling of faith and power. One almost always perverts the other.”

“So what does all this mean?” Sara stood and walked to the bar cart
and poured herself a glass of sherry. She knew a drunken stupor was impossible, but given the enormity of what they were being told, she could at least pretend.

“It means we have to kill Annabel and her little clique.” Coleen rolled her eyes at the blonde. “Clearly, that’s the only solution.”

Sara put the bottle of sherry down, and tapping her nails on the small stemmed glass in her hand, she looked at Rachel. “I don’t like the idea of murdering people.”

“That hardly seemed to matter when you ripped
poor Ela’s head off.” Rayven spoke for the first time, and as usual, managed to make matters worse.

Sara’s eyes flashed blue and Alison watched as her incisors slowly extended past her upper lip. A low growl came from Rayven as her obsidian eyes lightened and sparks of
gray shot through them.

“
Poor
Ela?” Sara’s voice had dropped several octaves. “Are you serious? The woman was a sociopath.”

Alison felt Bryce’s hand tighten around hers and
her lover shifted so her right shoulder was in front of Alison.