Magestorm: The Awakening (4 page)

6

“The meeting took place tonight.”

A tall, lean vampire was speaking to another, broader vampire.  Around the corner the
re
was
a secret third party to their conversation. 
Demian
listened
im
patiently, fidgeting with his hands as his eyes darted all around.

“And how did it go?”

“Not uneventful. 
The rift in the werewolf community is real, and it nearly put an end to the discussion. 
However, their master may still get his way.”

“We need to find a way to search
that block before they get their hands on it.  Find a way to make it happen.”

The two walked off and
Demian
hurried down the corridor.  He slipped into the sewers, spastically checking over his shoulder every couple of minutes to make sure he wasn’t followed.  He reached his shack
within the tunnels
and locked himself inside.

“No good, no good.  Nobody can have it, nobody.
”

He pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled
furiously
.  The words
he scratched out
were barely legible. 
Finally a
dirty envelope was retrieved and he stuffed the note inside.  He then ran half a comb through his dirty hair as he checked himself in a broken mirror.

S
atisfied with how he looked, he departed his shack and hurried down
one
tunnel after
another
.  A
s he scurried along,
he rattled off random sentences to himself
that
ma
de
no sense to anyone but him.  He
near
ed
the edge of their domain when he climbed a ladder and peered
carefully
through a manhole.

The coast was clear, so he pushed off the cover and climbed out
.  Down an alley, he hid in the shadows and waited.  She would be coming by at any moment, fresh from another meeting with
Tarius
, the head vampire.  Then he could have her alone, all alone, in private, in the darkness.

Isabelle walked down the street as fast as her feet would carry her, while trying to not look scared.  She didn’t like coming into the vampire territory.  They were too much like animals, and inevitably, someone would get bit.  She just didn’t want it to be her.

The darkness didn’t help her unease either.  The vampire
s
always kept two thirds of the street lights out.  Shadows filled the entire area.  They claimed it was to deter humans from their area.  She knew it was part of their intimidation
, t
he violent
creature
s.

As she passed the alley, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed.  She turned away from the alley, and two hands reached out for her.  One grabbed around her waist, the other
hand went over her mouth as she was yanked into the darkness.

Fear gripped her immediately as she desperately tried to remember a spell, any spell.
  Her mind was blank though.

“
Shhh
, I have secrets, secrets for you.”

Demian
let her go and she stumbled away from him.  She caught her breath and anger replaced her fear.

“Damn it,
Demian
!  How many times have I told you…
”

“No time, no time!  Take!”

He handed her the envelope.  She looked at it curiously,
and
then swore she heard footsteps on the sidewalk coming towards them. 
Demian
was creepy, but had never showed any signs he would harm anyone.  Everyone knew that he
had gone
through horrible things when Algernon had him.  Nobody knew exactly what had turned this man, once more like a prince than anything else, into this creature.

“What is this?”

“Must go, must go.  Take that to Cassie. 
Most important, most important.”

He hurried back down the alley and into the sewer.  Isabelle looked at the envelope again and suddenly felt eyes on her.  She looked down the street but saw nothing. 
Time to get out of here.

Using her magic, she time-jumped as she ran down the street.
  In about five seconds, she was out of the barrier that kept the vampires confined.  She breathed heavy and nearly cried as she tried to compose herself.  Finally she looked at the envelope again.

“This better be something important.”

7

“We must not draw attention to ourselves.  For now, we will simply expand into the new area.  Once things have settled, we will begin a thorough search.”

Sebastian gave his orders and the other wolves nodded in agreement.  They would begin packing and moving into the newly acquired
area immediately. 
It had only been a day since meeting with Cassandra, but she always acted quickly and directly. 
This time had been no exception. 
Sebastian walked back to his private quarters and sat in his chair to wait.  After a few moments, the knock he was expecting arrived.

“Enter.”

“You summoned me, master?”

Amelia bowed until he
motioned
for her to
come forward
.   He nodded to a chair nearby and she sat on the very edge to await any orders he might give.
  She loved his room, just not with him in it.  He was fiercely intimidating.

The room was gorgeous, however.  Beautiful antique rugs adorned the hardwood floor.  All the chairs looked like they belonged to a king.  All the furniture was out of place in this
century, but it was all well maintained.  Even the light fixtures were
ancient
,
except for the fact they used electricity
instead of supporting candles
.

“What did you think of that young mage?”

“He was very… filling, master.”

“Do you know who he is?”

Amelia shook her head.  She
hadn’t been
around when the whole business with Algernon took place.  Hardly any of the current werewolves or vampires
w
as
around for that disaster.  Sebastian
was one of the few.
  For the vampires and witches, not many survived Algernon.  The werewolves were the smart ones.  They stayed away entirely, with a few exceptions.

“He is the son of the great wizard. 
The enslaver of men, destroyer of nations.
  Everyone th
ought
Algernon would be the ultimate master, but I believe it was always the son
who
would come.  We need him on our side.  Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“What is it you wish of me, master?”

“For now,
y
ou will
try
to interject yourself into his life whenever possible, gain his trust,
and
lure him to us.”

She felt a
n
ache
in her stomach at the request.  She had to obey
,
though.  It was all she knew how to do since she
’d
arrived here.
  Worry f
illed her f
or the
young man
’s safety.

“I will do as you wish.”

“As for the lovely Cassandra, I think I’ll try a different approach with her.  You may go.”

Sebastian waved her towards the door
,
she rose and left quickly.  She hurried back to her room and closed and locked the door before taking a deep breath.
  She stripped out of her clothes and climbed into her private bathtub in the corner of her room.  A hot bubble bath was
perfect
when she needed to relax.

The bath did nothing to calm her
this time
, though.  She couldn’t stop thinking of
Dhane
, his touch, his taste, his innocence.  She didn’t want to abuse that.  She would do what she had to, however
, as long as Sebastian was in charge here
.

Since
the bath couldn’t remove him from her thoughts, she got out and dried off.  Rather than dressing, she left her room and proceeded to the roof of the apartment building.  Out in the night sky, the moon was nearly full overhead.  Another day and this change wouldn’t be optional. 

For now, she transformed and howled loud and long before running out her frustrations.  Rooftop to rooftop she leapt, expending energy and feeling the cool air blow through her fur. 
Below, she was a slave. 
Up here, she was free.

8

Dhane
arrived
a few minutes late
for his training with Cassandra.  He struggled to get himself to go inside, feeling uneasy
to see
Cassandra
again
.
  He had played sick the day before and stayed in bed.  He couldn’t avoid her forever, though.

“This is very unlike you.”

He smiled politely as he entered the boardroom.  She was applying fingernail polish and he sat in a nearby chair to wait patiently.  The silence began to choke him, however.  He needed to do something, anything.

“Mind if I grab a drink before we start?”

“
Dhane
, I hope you’re not uncomfortable about what happened
last time, with that werewolf.”

“No, not really.
 
But i
t probably wasn’t appropriate to do while on official business.”

“It’s fine.  You followed customs appropriately.  Is that the only reason you’ve been playing sick?  Perhaps you were uncomfortable seeing me after my last test?”

“Not sure if uncomfortable is the right word.”

She stopped and looked at him with a smile.  She shook her head and returned to her nails while he went into her room and retrieved a Pepsi.  If not for the fact he was there for training, he would’ve gone for something stronger.
  He returned to the boardroom, but she was gone.
  Only the nail polish on the table confirmed she had even been there.

“Cassandra?”

He walked over to the war room, which they sometimes used for practice. 
The lights went out and darkness encompassed him.  He dropped the Pepsi and crouched down, trying to adjust to the darkness.  He realized he couldn’t, because there was
n’t a drop of
light from anywhere.  This was magic.

He closed his eyes and spoke an ancient spell while holding a fist above his head.  Light began to creep through his fingers and into the room.  Finally he finished and opened his hand, which sent a flood of blinding light everywhere.

“Is that all you have, mage?”

A smile broke through on his f
ace
at the sound of Cassandra’s voice
.  It was a training exercise.  He cast a spell of invisibility, which he wasn’t very good at, so it wouldn’t last long.  He just needed to find her before she could trap him.

The brief movement of papers on the table was meant to lure him over.  He instead used a spell to make a chair move,
and
then used his own spell of darkness.  The rush of air signaled him of her movement and he grabbed at the air.

He caught her arm and lunged.  He wasn’t going to let her escape him, because she would surely up the game and make him pay
if he did
.  He lost his balance, however, and fell on her.  They toppled to the ground with a thud.  It was dark and quiet, then the darkness dissipated and he was face to face with her.  They looked at each other in silence for a moment, and he wondered if she was pissed at him.  Suddenly her laughter filled the air and he smiled.

“My apologies for getting rough with you.”

He got to his feet and reached out a hand.  She took it and he pulled her up.  She straightened herself, and checked her nails.

“Don’
t apologize.  I expect you to give me everything you have, whether it’s magic or something less… poetic.  Brute force is sometimes the
right
way to go.”

He swallowed hard as his mind went straight to the gutter
and an image of her from the other night popped in
.  He walked over to where he had dropped his Pepsi, expecting to have a mess to clean up.  She had used her magic to hold the liquid inside though.

“May I ask
,
did you give the werewolves what they asked for?”

“Yes, I did.  Something isn’t right, but I figured it was best to appease them while I try to figure out their angle.  Let them think I’m oblivious to any secret plans they might have.”

He smiled.  She was as smart as she was beautiful.  It was a dangerous combination.
  It was no wonder she had played a part in overtaking Algernon.
  He felt a weight on his shoulders, one that always appeared when he thought of his father.

“Does it worry you at all?”

“What’s that?”

“That I
could
end up like him?
 
That I might hurt people?”

“No.”

She was very blunt and confident in her answer.  He gave her a quizzical look.

“Why not?”

“Because I know you,
Dhane
.
  You are nothing like your father.  You are sweet and kind and compassionate.  You understand the value of life.
  He only understood the value of power.
”

He looked at the ground as she spoke.  Hopefully she was right.  She walked over to him and put her hand under his chin to raise his gaze to hers.  The softest smile and warmest eyes he’d ever seen looked confidently at him.

“You are your own man.  I trust you with my life.”

She pressed her lips gently to his for a moment.

“You and
I
are in this together, for better or worse.  Understand?”

He nodded.

“Good.  Now for our next exercise…”

Isabelle charged into the room.
  She stopped to catch her breath while Cassandra and
Dhane
walked over to her.  She gave a distrusting look to
Dhane
before turning to Cassandra.

“I have this letter, I thought it would be more nonsense from
Demian
, but… you just have to read it.”

Cassandra read the letter three times.  The first time she didn’t understand
what he was saying
.  The second
time,
she understood it.  The third was just to be sure of what she read.  She folded the letter and put it back into the envelope
very calmly
.

“I want to meet with him.  Make it happen immediately.”

“Yes
,
ma’am.”

She hurried off and Cassandra walked straight to her room. 
Dhane
hurried behind, wanting to know what was going on.

“Did you want me to accompany you?”

“No,
Dhane
.  The vampires would not welcome you.  They were not treated any better than
the witches, and they know who you are.  If you went in there, I fear I’d have to kill them all trying to keep you safe.”

That didn’t sound
good
.  Sins of the father
, he guessed
.

“I guess I’ll head home then. 
Same time tomorrow for training?”

“Call first, just in case.”

He nodded and headed outside and started the walk home.  As he strolled, he wondered how much trouble he’d get into for going to the werewolf lair.
  It might be worth it for some more private time with Amelia.  Besides, who would know?

Instead, h
e continued home.