Sleeping With The Vampire (Immortal Vampire #2)

Chapter 14

Lucca

My recovery took longer than I would have liked.

I am able to get up for a few hours, but then I become tired and have to lie down and rest. I am taking all sorts of potions and even though I’m improving, the progress is slow. It is infuriating as I can feel how things are happening behind the scenes. I want to go up to the Citadel, but it is too dangerous now.

Finn reports back that Sunil has gone into hiding. His shapeshifter crow has been to the house but nobody has been there in days. The city is in turmoil and rumors of imminent war are all anyone talks about.

Layrr bursts into the room and announces that our blood bank has been blown up.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“The entire facility was destroyed yesterday morning. The official story is a gas leak but it was timed very carefully for right after the last truck left and there was no supply. The fresh donations had already been transported to the manufacturing plant.”

“So, it was a calculated move to hurt us?” I am thinking out loud.

“And they killed our people on the scene,” says Layrr. “They’ve effectively shut us down.”

“We need to increase security at our other blood banks,” I say, even as I realize this means we will be spread too thin. I can’t have men everywhere.

Finn says, “There are reports of blood shortages in the north. Vampires near Ginnerlong have attacked people out of desperation. There have been multiple mortalities.”

This is terrible news.

If humans think vampires are out to get them again, there will be widespread panic.

“We need to get product out there, maybe redirect from Port Johnson?”

Layrr says, “We can’t use the main roads, we have come under attack repeatedly on those routes.”

“I know what the problem is, come up with a solution!” I am raising my voice even though I know that Layrr is not the problem. I need to find out who is pulling the strings behind all of this.

I keep thinking of the boy’s vision of the laughing man and again try to call Sunil. In the late afternoon, I finally get hold of him.

“Father! Are you all right?”

The connection is poor but we are able to communicate at least.

“I am outside the capital in some town, trying to keep a low profile. Everything is shambles at the moment,” he says. “There is a reshuffle happening on the Council, nobody knows what will happen.”

“Why are you in hiding?” I ask.

“This is the time to tread carefully,” Sunil says. “There are odd accidents and explosions, unexplained deaths, and so on… the situation is very….fluid.”

Sunil sounded vague.

I was getting a bad feeling.

“You know Lord Elgin of the Caledon family? He was killed along with his wife and family. There was a fire, which destroyed the street. The whole road!”

I remember Elgin, a big fellow with a hearty laugh. Simonis often had him and his family over for parties. I wondered what he was doing in the Citadel why anyone wanted to remove him.

“Where are you staying, Sunil?” I ask.

“In the countryside, with some friends of mine,” he says, sounding distracted. I swear I can hear peacocks crying out in the distance.

“Who are you staying with?” I demand to know and I put him on the spot.

“Hugo Montpellier, if you must know,” Sunil says, clearly annoyed.

“Who?”

Sunil says defensively. “He works for MoZa and is the Secretary of Home Affairs.”

I take a moment to process this. I had no idea that Sunil was close to people in MoZa’s ministry.

“Where is MoZa now?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” Sunil says.

“For someone who lives in the Citadel, you know very little,” I remark sarcastically.

“Nothing is cast in stone at the moment,” Sunil says finally. “But one thing… all this instability… traced to the Council.”

The connection is bad and I have to call him back.

“What is happening on the Council?!”

Sunil takes a moment. “Some councilors are being shafted.”

“Who is doing the shafting?” This is vital information for me as it could explain what is happening out here as well.

“MoZa and Tempesto.” Sunil speaks in a low voice as if he does not want to be overheard.

“Where is Dominic?” He had always been sympathetic to my position.

“He has had some sort of accident,” says Sunil. “He is not here at the moment. There was an emergency meeting of the Council in the week and he was not there.”

Things are beginning to fall into place.

“And the Servant? Who is he and who is backing him?”

Sunil is silent.

I ask him again.

“He has been put forward as a replacement for Lare.” Sunil finally says. “People are too scared to speak against him. But as long as Tempesto is there, it will be fine for us. He will keep him under control.”

“I told you to get rid of Tempesto!” I hissed.

“I know, Father, but this isn’t the time! The vampires must stand together otherwise we will be divided and it will be easier to fight us then!”

“No,” I say.

“Tempesto is key to all of this.”

After the call, I close my eyes and will myself to calm down. I tell myself that there is no point becoming emotional. I need to make decisions that are reasonable and logical.

I summon Ragnar and wait for my oldest son to arrive.

When he walks in, I have a long, hard look at him. Ragnar has always worn his hair long and it is untidy now, he has clearly been travelling. He seems tired too. But in Ragnar, this brings out a kind of ferocity that I need now. The old Viking blood that kicks in when it is needed the most.

“I have a job for you,” I say.

“Anything.”

I smile a little. “You may want to think twice.”

His eyebrows lift questioningly.

“This calls for a bit of finesse. But I can’t send in just anyone and it has to be done carefully.”

Ragnar comes closer, his eyes are glinting.

“It is time to deal with Tempesto. I have asked Sunil to do it but he has been unable to. Says the bastard is huddled in his compound and he can’t get to him.”

“Sunil would say that,” Ragnar says, pulling a face. “Coward.”

“But before I move on Tempesto, we may need to get rid of the Servant. Those two are the biggest threat to us. We don’t have much time. You need to get to the capital and find out where Dominic is and what this situation means for us. I would go but I’m not well enough yet.”

“You up for this, son?” I ask, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Of course!”

“Be careful!”

I watch him leave and then call Robbie.

The boy comes at once and stands quietly beside me. I am learning how to prompt him and his visions have been getting more informative, more specific.

“What do you see in the Citadel at the moment?”

Robbie closes his eyes.

Then he says, “Fire, unrest. People dying, afraid, hiding. The clouds are red and filled with flames. Darkness is coming.”

I tell him to leave and pace in my tower room, thinking.

Then I tell Layrr to send me two royal guards, to keep the castle under strict guard.

“Where are you going?” He asks me and I hear the concern in his voice.

“There is someone I have to see,” I say.

He does not look happy.

“We don’t have much time,” I say.

I have the reinforced car brought round and give my orders to the driver.

It is time I to head for the Swamps.

I have to see the fifth councilor, Eleanor Harris, called Mrs. Harris by everyone.

Mrs. Harris is a matriarch, in charge of a large family of working class people in a part of the country that is called the Swamp Lands. It is an unpleasant area, in my opinion, hot and humid, covered in soupy, mosquito-infested waters where gators and all sort of nasty creatures lurk. People here are often overlooked and under-appreciated, much to their own disadvantage.

I arrive in the Swamp Lands in the late afternoon, head straight to the main residence, which is not much more than a collection of shack buildings on a jetty overlooking a big swamp.

I send a royal guard to announce my arrival and keep my eyes open. I am not entirely sure how I will be received. The guard comes back and informs me I should go in, alone.

The old lady comes out to greet me.

She is half my size, dressed like a kind of peasant, her hair, grey and frizzy, stands out like a halo around her head. The eyes are wary and wise, though.

I greet her, “Mrs. Harris, thank you for receiving me.”

“We don’t get a lot of vampires around here,” she says carefully.

I nod.

The history of the Swamp Lands most famously centers around the final days of the Great War. A vampire general with some of his fighters attacked the area, thinking they would feed on the people here, win over the territory in a quick strike that would strengthen the position of the older vampires who were not aligned with our lot.

They were very much mistaken. As they swooped in over the Swamp Lands, the story goes, the waters of the marshes rose and rose. Giant gators leaped into the air, grabbing vampires from the air, snapping them in half, dragging them into the water. It was all over within seconds.

The news had stunned the old guard.

When peace negotiations came, the resistance mounted by the Swamp Lands was noted and it was unanimously decided to offer the region a seat on the Council. Mrs. Harris has held it ever since. She must be ninety years old, but she looks as spry and strong as she did back then.

Understandably, she and her people, are not fans of the vampires.

“I suppose I cannot offer you some refreshment?” she says with a dry smile.

“Oh, I can have a drop of your firewater,” I say.

We walk out onto the deck, where a man starts as soon as he sees me. I would guess he is one of the sons.

“What’s this filth doin’ here!”

“Now, now, Elias,” Mrs. Harris calms him down. “King Lucca is our guest. Get us some firewater, will you?”

He goes off, in a huff, comes back with a tray and small glasses filled with golden liquid.

We sit down on uncomfortable wire chairs that face the vast wetland. The white branches of dead trees poke from the water, which appears malignant to me. I think of what lurks under the surface of the water.

“To what do I owe this honor?” she asks me.

“I will come to the point,” I say, no reason to beat around the bush. “These are dark days for us all and the news from the Capital is worrying.”

She nods carefully, giving nothing away.

“I fear that the Council is compromised,” I say carefully. “I was hoping you could inform me as to what is happening there.”

She looks at me, craftily. “But you have a son in the Citadel, don’t you? I see him all the time, in and out of offices, up and down the stairs, talking to people behind corners.”

“Sunil? Yes, he has not been helpful,” I say, darkly. “I understand you have children too? Some are… disappointing? Wouldn’t you say?”

She leans forward and then gives a big cackling laugh, slapping her knee.

“Why, that is a good one! Disappointing, indeed!”

She chuckles and then falls silent.

“They’re moving against me, aren’t they?” I say quietly. “They are attacking my lands, destroying my blood banks, spreading rumors about me. A few days ago, some men brazenly shot at me, nearly killing me.”

She looks up at me, her eyes cloudy.

“Some men?”

“The Servant.”

She nods, her face serious.

“Two weeks ago, the Council received a motion that you were suspected of treason against the authority of the Council. That your vampires are indiscriminately attacking the people of Ginnerlong and that you need to be suppressed.”

“Who brought the motion?” I ask.

“Tempesto.”

Of course, I think.

“MoZa backed him, but Dominic and Lare would not. I declined to vote.”

“Why?”

She pauses. “I had a notion there was somethin’ goin’ on there. Something shady. I was right. The following week, Dominic got sick, some kind of heart trouble and Lare had a dreadful accident. I received word that the Servant is to take her place. An emergency meeting of the Council was arranged but I decided not to attend.”

She looks out over the water. “It is not safe in the Citadel now.”

“Tempesto is seizing control,” I say. “He must be stopped.”

She nodded. “MoZa is not well. He is old, has become Tempesto’s puppet. He barely speaks these days. My old friend, is gone.” Her voice is sad.

“If we don’t stop Tempesto, it will be the end of peace for our world. Darkness will be upon us again. It will be worst for humans.”

She considers. “We will be safe down here,” she motions over the water. “We have our protection.”

“Against the demons too?”

She looks at me sharply and I know I’ve got her.

“All I want is your support, to take down Tempesto and the Servant, restore order to the Council.”

“And then what? Who will take Tempesto’s place? You?”

I had been expecting this question. “I don’t want it,” I say. “I have never wanted that kind of power. Being King of the West has been enough for me.”

“You have become wealthy, though, and a threat,” she says. “You will not allow them to manufacture their drug blood, fix the price, control the market.”

“I want peace,” I say. “I lived through a war once, you did too… I don’t want to see it again. The Council seat can go to one of my sons, perhaps Lord Ferney?”

She nods and is silent for a long time. In the distance, a bird cries out and there is a splash on the water. When I look in the direction of the commotion, the water settles and is smooth again. No sign of what caused the disturbance.

“I will back you,” she finally says. “But you will have to join the Council. No-one else. I don’t trust your sons. And neither should you,” she said, fixing her brown eyes on me. When I look into them, I feel the pull of the bog, the danger lurking underneath. The strength of this tiny woman amazes me.

I nod and shake her hand, with a slightly uneasy feeling.

I want to get out of there as quickly as I can.