Shadow Born: Book 1 of the Shadow-Borne Chronicles (55 page)

“I’m fine, Ancient One,” Laramie said.
 
He didn’t look fine.
 
Upon closer inspection, Laramie looked sick and his right hand was shaking, clutched tightly closed.
 

“You are not fine.
 
Open your hand.”
 
It wasn’t a request.

Laramie complied.
 
Inside his hand, on his palm, was an angry looking blister the exact size of the droplet of blood Alec had poured in his hand.
 
There were angry welts around it as well, where he had obviously tried to wipe his hand clean, smearing the fluid.

Silas narrowed his eyes.
 
“So Alec was correct.
 
There was silver in the blood.”

“It would seem,” the ancient vampire stated.
 
“Bring me the pitcher.”

Xavier retrieved the pitcher and brought it to the vampire.
 
Before he was even close all three of the Ancients reacted to it.
 
“It has been laced with silver,” the one said that had spoken to Laramie.

Silas approached the pitcher carefully and sniffed.
 
He smelled nothing.
 

“Xavier, please take this to Doctor Schubert and have him analyze the contents.
 
Tell him there is silver in it,” Silas told the old man.
 
Xavier bowed and walked away carefully carrying the pitcher of tainted blood.

“It seems young Alec here did you a service tonight.”
 
The Elder didn’t speak to anyone in particular but he did turn his cowl towards Laramie.

“It would seem,” Laramie said from between clenched teeth.
 
“But Ancient One,” he continued, “how do we know that Alec didn’t put the silver there himself?”

“And why would he do that Laramie?” one of the other Elders spoke.
 

“I don’t know,” Laramie said, looking ill.
 
“Maybe to surprisingly find it and save us, to make himself look like a hero.”

“Hmmmm,” the ancient vampire said thinking.
 
“Seems to me there might be others that wish to see the council weakened…or dead.”

“May I borrow Doctor Schubert’s services?” Laramie asked reluctantly with a hint of bitterness buried beneath his pain.

“Of course, Laramie.
 
He is at your disposal.”
 
Silas nodded to Laramie.

“A moment,” one of the ancient vampires said.
 
Alec honestly couldn’t keep them separated at this point. They now all three stood together, three ancient figures wearing matching gray robes and hoods, their spines bent.

“Aleisha,” the one on Alec’s right spoke.

“Ancient One?” she said standing to Silas’s left, putting him between herself and Alec.

“We require your assistance in a matter.
 
We will speak of it later.”

“Of course, Ancient One,” she said bowing her head once.

“While all are gathered here, we wish to clear up several matters of note, not the least of which is Alec Carson’s status.”
 
The Elder vampire looked at Silas.
 
A cold hard knot formed in Alec’s stomach.

“Silvanus, you’ve spent time with Alec.” Silas nodded once.
 
“Do you speak on his behalf?”

Silas nodded again.
 
“I do.”

“Do you find him to be an honorable and worthy man and believe him beneficial to our society and ways?”

“I do Ancient One,” Silas said looking directly at the bent figure.

“Then let it be known that we speak on young Alec’s behalf as well.”
 
There were several gasps at this point and murmuring broke out across the room.

“Alec is something of an enigma and we would be foolish to rush to any conclusions where he is concerned.
 
We three have decided that Alec shall be granted clemency for Clarissa’s transgressions and furthermore be extended the courtesy of immunity from vampire law.
 
He will answer only to we three Elders and no one else.
 
We name him one of the Unfettered.”

At this, shocked conversation picked back up and whispers echoed around the large ballroom.

Alec was stunned.
 
He wasn’t sure if he was expected to respond or not but said, “Thank you Ancient One, I will strive to do my best.”

The Elder vampire nodded and looked at Alec.
 
“Do you trust Steven Reynolds?”

“I do, Ancient One,” Alec said without hesitation, unsure where this was going.

“For now, we remand him into your keeping.
 
He has been of great service to us and hopefully will continue to be so in the future.
 
His skills with a computer may prove to be of value.”

“Thank you sir,” Alec said, not exactly sure what to say.
 
At least he and Steven were safe although Alec was afraid what he would be expected to ‘work’ for these three beings of indeterminate power.

“As to the vampires that attacked young Alec.
 
Since they refuse to answer questions,” the Elder speaking turned to look at the five men chained to the wall.
 
The men started writhing and shaking.
 
Suddenly, they started screaming and making blood-curdling sounds as they burst into flames.
 
“We have no choice but to find them guilty and sentence them to death by burning.”
 
The Elder turned and ignored the five flame-engulfed figures.

“We will meet in Silvanus’s sitting room.
 
Have Dorn bring Vincent so that we may speak with him in private.”

Alec was completely stunned.
 
The ancient vampire had set five men on fire just by looking at them.
 
That was an ability Alec hadn’t known about.
 
No wonder no one questioned these three shrouded vampires or their orders.

“Go see to your hand, Laramie and then attend us,” the Elder said, releasing the vampire.
 
Laramie and Cassandra did not look happy when they exited.

Alec looked to where the vampires that had attacked him and Jake had been chained.
 
Neither the floor nor the shackles showed any sign of flame or heat damage.
 
All that was left was five piles of ashes where once stood ages-old vampires.

All in all, this hadn’t remotely turned out the way Alec thought it would.
 
Not at all what he had expected. Silas had been speaking privately with the Elders but turned and walked over to interrupt Alec’s thoughts.

“The Elders wish to speak with us.
 
Seems there are stipulations to your acceptance.”
 
He smiled at Alec.
 
“Nothing to harsh or demanding…considering the circumstances.”

Alec shrugged.
 
He’d expected something like this.

“Alec, you and Steven go change clothes and the two of you meet us in my sitting room in thirty minutes.”

“Silas…” Alec started but wasn’t sure how to proceed.
 
“Thank you for everything.”

Silas smiled at the young man.
 
Alec found Steven and Marcus and they walked out together.
 
Several of the assembled vampires whispered quietly as Alec passed them.
 
He could hear most of their conversations since he was still burning blood.
 
Many were conspiring that the Ancient Ones had somehow created Alec and planned on using him as a tool or weapon of some sort.
 
Alec didn’t know if they truly believed it but many of them shared the same ideas and questions.
 
Enough so that it did make him wonder.

Marcus separated from them to go change leaving Alec and Steven to walk alone to their own rooms to dress and prepare themselves for the meeting with the three mysterious Elders that had shown up out of the blue.
 
The halls were nowhere for the two men to talk freely and they didn’t have time to stop and discuss what had happened.
 
They each went to their rooms to get ready.

Once Alec and Steven had finished changing clothes they arrived at the sitting room to find Marcus was already there, as were Silas the three strange vampire Elders, Victoria, Reginald, all their seconds and Aleisha Night.
 
Everyone was seated except the Ancient Ones and Aleisha.
 
Couches had been brought in to accommodate those present.
 
Silas smiled to the two young men as he approached.
 
Alec was nervous and wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.
 
Suddenly, his future wasn’t so dismal, but he wasn’t quite prepared to call it bright just yet.

Silas motioned for Alec and Steven to get a drink, which they did and then they sat, nervous about what was to come. After a moment of silence, the door opened and Laramie and Cassandra walked in. Silas went to the service phone and spoke for a moment and then sat again.
 
After a few moments, Dorn entered from a room in the back with several security guards and VonBell, looking haggard and worn.

“Alec and Steven, I would first like to introduce you to the true Elders, the oldest of our kind, Lord Anu, Lord Nabu and Lord Ea.”
 
Each Elder bowed his head in turn.
 
Alec realized there were subtle differences in their robes and burned that into his memory so he could hopefully tell them apart.

Without preamble, one of the Elders began speaking.
 
“First off Alec, thank you for your assistance in Chicago.
 
If it wasn’t for you and Mister Reynolds we wouldn’t have suspected what was going on.”
 
Alec just nodded.

“I suppose we should explain to Alec was has happened,” Silas said looking to the three robed figures.
 
“He is not familiar with our history or customs.”

The robed figure that had thanked Alec waved one gloved hand nonchalantly and Silas sat thinking a moment, trying to decide where to begin.

“Alec, you’ve heard a little about why the council was created,” at Alec’s nod Silas continued.
 
“There’s too much to explain right now but the short version is throughout history we have been hunted, sometimes aggressively.”
 
The look on Silas’s face said that was an understatement.
 
“On several occasions we have gone into hiding to protect ourselves.
 
When last it happened, the younger vampires came back first and the Elders several hundred years later.
 
It was a dark time for human and vampire alike.”

Alec was certain that there were whole chapters that Silas was skipping over but for now this would hopefully bring him up to speed.

“When we returned to the world, we spent several decades in chaos and all the fighting and struggling for power threatened to undo our kind.
 
So several of us banded together and formed the Vampire Council.
 
It was a long and bloody period but suffice it to say the conflict didn’t truly die down until the Elders returned and added their voices to our cause.
 
With their backing, we finally established order and rules that allowed us to live in secret alongside the human race.”

That made sense Alec realized.
 
He nodded his head slowly.

“The Elders had grown tired of governing and allowed us to govern ourselves, so long as we understood that they were the ultimate authority and had final say in all things.”

Alec looked from one ancient vampire to the next but none of them said anything.

“Thusly we have lived a relatively stable existence, some of us even setting up trade and businesses throughout the world.”
 
Silas shrugged his shoulders as if to say that’s that.

The one known as Anu, Alec assumed he was the leader of the three, turned toward him.
 
“As to your status.
 
You are not a vampire and yet you are not human.
 
This presents a problem for us since you are a part of both worlds but not fully either.
 
We ask that you respect the law as set down by the council, however we understand that there are…extenuating circumstances.”
 
The Elder was referring to the attempts on Alec’s life.

“Since you aren’t fully a vampire we ask you respect the laws instead of follow them.
 
There will be times when you may be forced to act independently of both ours and those of the human world.”

“What do you mean?” Alec asked confused.
 
“What exactly is Unfettered?”
 
Was he being told he could do as he pleased?

“Being one of the Unfettered means you exist outside of the vampire norm and allowed freedom to do as you please so long as you do not risk our discovery.”
 

Alec nodded but still didn’t completely understand.
 
Hell, at this point he honestly didn’t care.
 
It was a much better outcome than he’d expected.
 

“Vampires respect strength and some will challenge what they perceive as weakness in you, even with our backing.”
 

“Like VonBell,” Marcus said eyeing the man.
 
“He kept calling you an abomination.
 
The second you challenged him, he stopped. For a while anyway.”

“Yeah, and don’t forget he spit in my face,” Alec said bitterly.

“Yet you handled it,” the Elder told him.
 
“As an Unfettered you could have killed him on the spot and no one would have challenged you or sought lawful justice.”

Alec noted that the Elder had said
lawful
justice.
 
It wasn’t illegal if you didn’t get caught like he’d been told by the first group of vampires that attacked him and Jake so many weeks ago.
 
The ones that had burned tonight for their transgression and for their silence.