Sleeping With The Vampire (Immortal Vampire #2)

Chapter 7

Izzy

Costello insists on coming with me to the Citadel.

He says he has “some business” there, but I strongly suspect he is only coming as some kind of protection. He knows I want to poke around in Council affairs and this worries him. He told me that he was beginning to think my father’s death was part of a much larger, more complicated puzzle involving politics at a higher level. He knows better than to try to warn me off, which is why he has come along for the ride.

The Citadel is situated in the highest part of the capital, a fortress that once housed the supreme leaders of the land. It is now home to the Council.

But the Citadel is filled with all sorts of people and creatures, as it is the seat of power, there are always ploys and plans afoot for some to increase their position and strengthen their hand, to plot against their enemies or seek alliances with others. My father hated coming here, saying it was a nest of vipers.

I remembered my first visit at the age of ten, how I was overwhelmed by the large numbers of people in the street, the noise that seemed to come from everywhere. Cars and trucks were prohibited from entering the Citadel and these were parked outside in the streets of the Capital. Stone steps and thick walls separated the two and it felt like entering another time and place. Women with heavily painted faces and exotic dresses peered from windows and doorways, shadowy figures whispered from alleys about new drugs and guesthouses that would make all our dreams come true.

Like my father, Costello hurried past all of these to get to our lodgings, two rooms at an inn that my father had liked because he knew the owner. It was owned by a retired soldier and his wife who could be trusted not to announce our arrival to the whole world. In the Citadel, information was the most valuable currency.

Costello called the soldier, captain, and after he showed us to our rooms, giving us the keys and mentioning a few places to eat, he came closer and said in a low voice,

“You watch yourselves, all right? Things are afoot in the land.”

I came forward, “What do you mean?”

He looked at me and narrowed his eyes, “This is no place for a little lady,” he said with a snigger. “With all due respect.”

I moved quickly, giving him no time to respond, pushing him against the wall, hard. The idea was not to hurt him but to send a message that he would immediately understand.

“I am not a ‘little lady’,” I said, spitting out the words.

I took my hand off his chest, and he swallowed nervously.

“My apologies,” he said quickly.

I put a hand on his arm to keep him from rushing off as he was intending to do.

“What do you mean with ‘things are afoot?’”

He looked over to Costello, as if to check how much he should say.

“There is talk of a coup on the Council. Tensions have been simmering for a while, there have been incidents and I fear it is threatening to boil over.”

I looked over at Costello who did not like this news either. Whenever there was talk of violence, humans bore the brunt of it, for some reason. We were always made to suffer the consequences of actions taken at higher levels.

“Who?” Costello asked.

“They call him the Servant,” the captain said, uneasily. “He is a medium but he has risen in their world.”

“There is a medium on the Council,” I said.

“That’s right, but she has lost the loyalty of her people. The Servant is apparently promising the rise of the Witches.”

Costello coughed and as I turned to look at him, the captain slipped from my grasp and rushed from the room.

“This is bad,” Costello said. “If what he says is true, then another war might be coming.”

I understood what he meant. After the forces that emerged victorious after the Great War came to agree on the terms of peace, it was decided that the door to the underworld be kept closed. This was done by the medium on the council, Lare, who represented the supernatural world of faeries and daemons. She ensured the walls between our and their world remained impenetrable. There were stories that during the final days of the war, demons had been sent in to help certain parties, but they were uncontrollable and caused huge destruction. Closing the portal and ensuring that the last demon was destroyed, had been the job of the demon hunters, former guards and one of them, Dominic, served on the Council as well. Dominic knew my father and this was the man I was trying to find now.

Costello wanted to come with me, he feared that finding Dominic would lead us down some dark alleys. We had arranged a meeting with another Guard and as we made our way to the meeting place, I thought of Lucca and how I would have liked to talk to him. It was a thought that popped into my head quite unexpectedly, wondering what he would make of what was happening.

I knew his family’s fortune was made during and after the war, he might stand to lose a lot if the Council was shuffled and the balance of power was disturbed. His family was in alliance with the humans, they were thought of as reformed vampires. They needed people and in return, the vampires promised to help protect them from the other, less controllable supernatural beings.

Costello was worried. I knew he wanted to get back to his workshop and his cars. He didn’t like politics and dealing with people who lied for a living. Like my father, his belief was that the Citadel was made up of two-faced and duplicitous beings who only cared about themselves and their positions. I assured him we would leave as soon as I’d spoken to Dominic.

Our destination was a house at the end of the Citadel. We had to take some steep steps and climb down to almost on top of the wall to reach this place. There was a huge door with an iron knocker. As soon as we lifted it and brought it down, a tremendous gong reverberated inside. The door was opened and we heard a voice inviting us inside. We went in and it took a while for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.

“Come, friends,” I heard a warm voice say. There was a room next to the entrance hall, in which a big fire was roaring in the fireplace. A man came towards us with a big smile, giving Costello a bear hug and after a moment’s hesitation, the man with the beard and laughing blue eyes, gave me a hug too.

“Ah, Bo’s daughter, Izzy! If you aren’t the spitting image!”

There were two dogs with wagging tails sniffing our feet. I eyed them warily but they seemed to be ordinary dogs, pets.

“Don’t worry about these mugs,” Joe said, winking at me. “They’re friendly. Here, have some wine.”

He handed us glasses with red wine and I pretended to take a sip. I needed my wits about me. I listened to Joe and Costello talk about people they knew and how things had changed over the past few years. I looked at the room with its deep couches and carpets. It had been a grand reception area once, I thought, but the rug was frayed and the upholstery on the sofas was torn and dirty. It may have been the house of a prominent family once, but things had changed for the worse.

Joe was a jovial guy and seemed glad to catch up with Costello. As soon as there was a lull in their conversation, I jumped in, impatient for answers.

“Could you get us a meeting with Dominic?” I asked.

The smile disappeared from Joe’s face. “Why would you want to do that?” he asked, carefully.

“I am looking into a few things,” I said, but I could see that if I wanted to get through to him, I would have to trust him more.

“I have been contracted to investigate the death of Queen Tanata. It seems connected to my father’s murder five years ago. I received a tip that it may have something to do with what is going on at the Council, possibly to MoZa.”

Joe stared at me. He looked like he wanted to say something, but stopped himself. He turned to Costello. “You knew about this?”

Costello shrugged.

Joe got up and walked over to me, dropping his voice really low.

“Don’t say his name like that!” he hissed. “The walls have ears!”

“Even here?”

“Everywhere!”

There was movement at the door and we all turned around. A bear of a man, huge and imposing entered the room. Even though I’d never seen him before, I knew this was Dominic. He had the look of a man who feared nothing and no-one. He walked straight up to me and said to me.

“Looking for me?”

I knew he’d heard what I had just said. I had a feeling I didn’t have much time to get to the truth.

“Could MoZa have wanted my father dead?”

Dominic had dark, burning eyes that seemed to burn into me. I held his gaze and I was relieved when he finally looked away, over at Costello. His manner seemed to change and he walked over to greet him.

“Old friend, how are you?”

Costello shook his hand and Dominic slapped his back before turning back to face me.

“You have courage coming here like this,” he said.

I swallowed, “My father used to say that you were the only straight arrow on the Council. You never wanted the position, he said, that was the best way of knowing that someone was suited for power.”

Dominic looked down. “Your father was a good man,” he said softly. “I had a lot of time for him.”

“Will you help me find his killer?” I asked, imploring him.

He took his time to answer. The light caught his face and I saw deep lines across his forehead and cheeks.

“Your father was looking for Chakrat, correct?” he finally asked. “But everyone knew he was protected. Chakrat works for Tempesto.”

“Could he have had my father killed? Thing is… it seemed personal. He or they, wanted to take out my father’s whole family. My mother survived, barely, but everyone else but me died.”

“You think it was personal?”

“I think… my father could have handled one vampire,” I said. “Someone wanted to make sure he didn’t come back from that.”

Dominic folded his arms and stared into the fire.

“Tempesto has changed,” he said. “We fear he has been using the drug blood, it has made him paranoid and suspicious.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have heard rumors that some of the product contains blood of different drug users, when it is consumed, it gives the same kind of high. If taken too much, it has the same effect as on humans. It can produce hallucinations, psychosis.”

I considered this.

Dominic went on. “The product is a money spinner, it goes at a higher rate, of course, it is sought-after. We have been trying to shut it down but keep coming up to a dead end. We believe Tempesto is consolidating his power on the Council and he may be part of this drug trade. We don’t have proof yet. But it has increased tension with MoZa, the Council Chairman. Tempesto has become cruel, vindictive. Anyone who stands against him, disappears or dies in an accident.”

“Can’t MoZa act against him?”

Dominic looked at me hard. “MoZa is getting old. He seems reluctant to take on the harder challenges.”

“What does all of this have to do with the Servant?”

His head whipped up. “What do you know about him?!”

“It’s true then?”

Dominic was quiet for a long time. When he finally spoke, he said, “Things are changing, you’re right. The peace may end soon.” He kept his voice low and Costello and Joe came to join us at the fire.

“Tempesto has been so focused on building his empire that he has neglected to keep his eye on some of those under his rule. Vampires high on drug blood have been attacking villages in the south, killing people. But he blocks us when we try to stop them. MoZa tried initially, he issued the bounty on Chakrat but then your father died. After that, nobody wanted to touch Chakrat.”

“The vampires want to take over the Council,” Joe stated.

Dominic nodded. “Some, not all. Those that are not in favor, are supporting the Servant. But the vampires are divided too. They don’t stand together. Tempesto got rid of Queen Tanata by accident, he wanted to remove Lucca, of Fallon D’Valleira. That family is his biggest opponent.”

There, I thought, I had Lucca’s answer. He had been right all along.

“The other councilors have become less influential too. The Councilor Lare is weakening and she has lost the support of the people. It looks like the Servant will be pushed to take her seat.”

“How will that change things?” I asked.

“There will be war again,” Dominic said, gravely. “The Supernaturals are unstable, uncontrollable. If we let them in, they will go after everyone. They like chaos, thrive on instability. It will be a dark day for mortal beings.”

I shuddered, thinking of the horror stories my parents told me of those times, when humans lived in caves in the mountains, too fearful to come out.

I asked him, “What happened exactly, the night Queen Tanata died? How did Tempesto get rid of her?”

Dominic looked at me, pointedly, as if to see whether he could trust me.

“He had someone working for him. Someone on the inside, we think.”

That was all I managed to get from him before he left.