Sorcerer: Betrayal: Power of Air (Book 4) (6 page)

She asked sounding a little lost, “Why am I here, why me? 
He’s…”

I shook my head, that wasn’t my business to tell, “You
should ask him that, but I imagine for the same reason I’m here, and with
Sierra.”

She nodded, “Alright, witches, sorcerers, vampires,
werewolves, what else?”

“That’s all I know about.  There might be more, but if so
they hide even from us.”

I knew that was only a half truth, but I was leery in
telling her about the non-mortal races, such as the ones created from pure
magic and spirit, the elementals.

She took a deep breath and stood up, “I need a beer, want
one?”

I nodded, a beer sounded like a really good idea…

Friday, June 10
^th
, 2016, 7:16 AM

I woke to Sierra’s soft loving touch for a morning reprise
of last night’s passion.  Somehow the grief and loss magnified the love and
made things more intense.  It was quite a while before we made our way to the
shower and then down for breakfast. 

I spied Aiya already at the table, on Todd’s lap, and thought
it safe to assume their conversation went well last night.  It also occurred to
me as we moved into the kitchen to grab coffee, that she’d taken all the
revelations well last night.  Maybe because she’d known the supernatural was
out there for most of the last year, and it had mitigated some of the shock.

Or maybe Aiya was just that open minded, and awesome.  After
all, knowing about it, and seeing it, are two entirely different things.

There was still an ache in my chest, but I wasn’t quite as
numb as I was yesterday.  I wasn’t foolish enough to think I’d moved on that
fast, I was sure it would hit me again, hard.  It was more than just grief for
the loss, it was all the guilt for my involvement, and my stupidity.

We took a seat at the table and dug in, and I looked up as I
sensed Aiya’s eyes on me.

“So… Todd said you could get me back to the city fast.  I’m
going to be late if he was wrong.”

I nodded, “I can, just let me know when you’re ready and I
can get you to your apartment.”

She looked at her watch, “I really should go.”

“Alright, stand up, close your eyes, and don’t open them
until all motion has stopped, which will take about four seconds.  Otherwise
you’ll get very dizzy.”

She looked a little nervous, and I grinned teasingly at
her.  Of course, it had the expected effect, her visage turned stony and she
stood up and glared at me, all five foot two of her cuteness.  Nothing like a
little anger to chase away the fear of the unknown.  Hopefully, she wouldn’t be
too mad at me.

I surrounded her in air, and after checking to make sure it
was all clear, I waved goodbye and sent her to her apartment in the city.  Of
course, I couldn’t help but remote view a few seconds longer, I was dying to
see the look on her face…

It was still fairly early when I got the text from Ceara
inviting me to come by.  I considered appearing in the room she was in, simply
to put her off balance.  I decided however that showing off would be a stupid
use of my power, it was only a short walk from my office after all.  The other
reason was I really didn’t want to talk to her badly enough to rush, and might
have even been putting it off.

When I walked into the building I was surprised by who was
standing there.  All I’d really done was check to make sure it wasn’t another
trap, I hadn’t dug into the details of my visit or what she wanted. 
Truthfully, beyond her not planning to kill me, I didn’t much care.  Still, the
political thing to do was to make peace, and I firmly reminded myself that she
voted no.

Either way, the surprise was the person that was waiting for
me at the elevators.  She was wearing a conservative light blue dress,
appropriate for work.  Her shiny dark blue black hair stood out against it, and
her gray eyes were welcoming.

Caroline smiled impishly at me, “Hello again.”

“Hi Caroline, how did you get stuck meeting me?”

She smirked as we got on the elevator, “No one else wanted
the job, too scared.”

I raised an eyebrow, “You’re not?”

She hit the button, for the right floor I noted, and said,
“Of course not, you saved my life, and my family’s.  Sure, you could cut my
head off with a look, but that’s not who you are.”

I faux scowled at her, “It also takes a small effort of will
you know.”

She laughed, “Not funny,” as the doors opened she said,
“This way Mr. Edwards.”

“Mr. Edwards?”

“You’re the boss, I can call you Ben then?”

The boss?

I didn’t get to ask that question, as I was shuffled into a
conference room with Ceara, and Caroline closed the door from behind me staying
in the hallway.

I nodded politely, “Ceara.”

She waved to a seat and I took it.  There was a folder in
front of me, and I was both confused, and despite myself, a little curious.

Ceara said, “I’ve compiled a financial statement for you,
take a look.”

I opened it up and scanned the summary on the first page,
and my confusion increased.  It listed five thousand properties with a joint
value of three point two billion dollars.  Hundreds of businesses that had a
combined estimated worth of over four billion, and last but not least, a
combined total of eleven bank accounts in excess of one point five billion
dollars.  What the hell was this?

I looked up at Ceara questioningly, and her eyes widened
with understanding.

Ceara explained, “That is the combined worth of all the
liquid and business assets that Charis and Alexios built over the last two
thousand years.  They are yours now Ben, it’s how our world works.  Of course,
they were transferred to a different name, and if you look in the folder pocket
you’ll find identification for a Ben Franklin.  You see, transferring that much
to your real name would open up too many questions.  It’s better if you file as
two separate people.”

Ben Franklin, really?  I almost laughed.

“I had no idea, I was just defending myself.”

Ceara shrugged, “It is what it is.  Of course, that packet
includes the building we’re sitting in now.  I’ll vacate it within the next
couple of days.  The staff of course will stay, but I felt it prudent to move
to another city entirely to keep down confusion, which means you are also in
charge of Chicago.”

In charge of Chicago.  I nodded inanely like I had a clue
what that meant.  Then I remembered what I was, and pulled all the information
and tried to make sense of it.  Well, it cleared up one thing, Caroline called
me boss because she was now my personal assistant, and she was here to keep an
eye on the company for me.  She was also my liaison and interface to the other
vampires that worked here.  In addition to their normal work, the vampires here
would respond to circumstances needing to be covered up to maintain secrecy.

Caroline was newly made vampire, less than a handful of
months, but the rest of the vampires in Chicago were terrified of me, so much
so that apparently they wouldn’t have problems accepting her authority in my
name.  She was trustworthy too, and probably too nice for the position she was
in, but she could handle it.

Apparently I only needed to get directly involved if there
was a rogue the senior people couldn’t take out, or if someone came in to try
and takeover.  Oh, and I was insanely rich. 

Ceara was going to Seattle to rule the vampire race from
there, as well as try and find replacements for Charis and Alexios, but didn’t
plan on telling me that.  She was worried if we were both here, it would
confuse things as to who was in charge, and who the vampires in this building
reported too.  There was also the practical matter that as the ruler of the
vampire race, it wouldn’t look right if she reported to another being, and was
seen to be subservient to me.

After yesterday, that meant her only choice was to move.

I kind of got that, she would already have enough problems
keeping them in line with the death of the other two councilors.  She wouldn’t
have an issue taking over there, a vampire already ran it who was her ally, and
she had a number of businesses there already.

As far as the rules of the vampire race, Ceara would be in
charge, as far as this business and covering up supernatural shenanigans in
Chicago, apparently I was.  This was crazy, and a complete surprise.  Aitheria
was laughing on my shoulder, no doubt enjoying my shock.  I made a note to
myself to pull information on business, both here and internationally. 
Apparently I had people that took care of that now, but I’d need to be able to
check up on them.

It sounded not fun, but being as I was ridiculously wealthy
now, I supposed I could bear it.

Then of course there were my family’s enemies, who seemed to
have a lead on me already.  How the hell was I supposed to lay low running a
damned city?  Then again, it was more just a lot of responsibility, and not all
that much authority.  I just had to make sure exposure didn’t happen.

“I wasn’t expecting any of this, but I can accept it.”

If I didn’t, then who would?  Ceara was the only one here
capable of it, and she was leaving.

Ceara said, “If you have any questions, you can contact me,
or use Caroline if you don’t wish to speak to me directly.”

I nodded, “Not right now, but I’ll let you know.”

Caroline was still waiting right outside, and we exchanged
numbers before I left.  My life was really weird sometimes.  It was also
complicated, somehow I’d gained a lot and it all related to a close friend’s
death.  I didn’t know what to do with all my feelings, they were all over the
place.

I wondered how to break the news to Sierra.  Oh, yeah, I’m a
billionaire now, and I have a new personal assistant that could be a model. 
Nope, I think I’ll try a different approach.  Of course, I wasn’t really that
worried about the latter part, she would know there was nothing to that.  It
was my human upbringing that skewed my thinking there.

“Excuse me, are you Ben?” I heard a voice ask as I stepped
outside.

I turned toward the voice and saw a woman that looked right
around thirty.  She had light brown hair, hazel eyes, and despite only being
five foot three, willowy was the best way to describe her.  She had a friendly
cute face that was fairly attractive.  I was a little wary about this person,
who seemed to know my name, so I reached for her information, and nothing at
all came back.  I reached forward with my power and felt… nothing.  She was
shielded.

She rolled her eyes, “That’s rude, cut it out.”

I pulled back my power and raised an eyebrow, “Really?  So
is ambushing someone as they walk out of a building.”

She smiled, “Point.  I’m sorry if I made you feel nervous or
defensive.  I’m Melody Shore.  Now that we’re not strangers, want to get a
coffee?”

I had no idea who, or what, she was.  Much less what she
wanted.  I was also sure revealing my ignorance by asking would be a huge mistake. 
Really, there were only two options, an earth sorceress, or some kind of
supernatural I’d never met or even heard of before.  And I’m only guessing
that, because I couldn’t sense her shields at all. 

Sure, a witch could do it too, but they were more likely to
mix all four elements into a shield, and I’d feel the other three.  I was also
getting the idea she only looked thirty, but was probably around ten times
that.

I sighed, “How did you know my weakness?  Coffee sounds
fine.”

Her laugh was tinkling, and had an ease to it.  She was very
self-assured, confident.  It was a little frustrating trying to read someone
only by body language.  We walked over to the Starbucks, and grabbed a couple
of coffees.  Like me, she went for a simple coffee and we found an empty table
and took a seat.

“So Melody, what prompted you to seek me out?”

Melody winked, “I heard what happened yesterday, I’ve been
friends with Ceara for centuries, and wanted to check up on her.  Honestly, I
was quite shocked when she told the story that you didn’t simply kill her.”

She put on a conspiratorial look and whispered, “Most of our
kind are complete jerks that way.”

Well that settled it, she was a sorceress of earth, that was
why I couldn’t feel her at all.  I was completely blind to her magic, which
meant for all I knew she was preparing to suck me down through the floor and
into the earth.  Still, running for my life seemed like a stupid idea, if she
wanted a fight I wouldn’t get far, and she seemed nice enough.

I shrugged, “She voted no.  I was also concerned half the
vampires would go rogue if they didn’t have anyone to keep them in line, but
really, it was mostly that first one.  She’s also the only decent one of the
three.  Don’t tell her I said so, but I’ve always liked her best.”

Melody tilted her head, “Maybe, but she went along with the
vote.  Granted, she didn’t have much of a choice, but like I said, most of our
kind wouldn’t have been that understanding.  So I wanted to meet you.  Maybe
trade contact information?”

I smiled, “We can do that.  If only because you’re the first
of our kind that didn’t try to kill me at our first meeting.  Not that I’ve met
all that many.”

She grinned and said teasingly, “Isn’t that a bit
presumptive?  After all, this is still our first time meeting.”

I laughed, “I suppose I’m a bit of an optimist.”

She shook her head and looked wistful, though I was pretty
sure it was faked, “I remember those days,” and pulled out her phone.

I took mine out and we shared contact cards.

She shrugged, “There’s always meeting number two.  I just
wanted to say hello today, I need to get going.  It was nice meeting you Ben.”

I said, “You too Melody,” and found that I actually meant
it.

I watched her as she left the store.  It was a strange
meeting to be sure, but I was fairly confident that she wasn’t an enemy.  I
supposed time would tell…