Storm of Shadows Ch. 03

Her mate appeared mollified by her words and gave her a lingering kiss before he nodded farewell to Aaron and head out, leaving Rhianna alone with the blond wolf.

"We haven't spent any time together in a long time either, Aaron," Rhianna smiled, threading her arm through his. "How about I visit with you and Jen for a bit after you ask Mackenzie if he could come down to the pack?"

The wolf burst out laughing, his cerulean blue eyes twinkling with amusement. "I love how you make everything sound so perfectly innocent, Annie, even when you're moving chess pieces across a board. It will be our pleasure to have you visit with us while you await Mac."

She gave him another small smile, allowing him to escort her from the study. If only he knew that she was terrified of being left alone right now. The earlier grief that had numbed her soul the night before was still there, ready to overwhelm her if she wasn't fully occupied. She needed company around her now, as they began what would likely be the long wait for some news of what was happening in Europe. Still, she wasn't upset that he thought she was up to something. There was nothing wrong with keeping other people guessing.

*****

"Another urgent Council meeting? This is becoming tiresome." Sasha's softly spoken words were cold, her deep blue eyes bordering on black as she frowned down the opposite end of the ornate dais.

The Vampire Council was in session, and for once, the brooding presence of Demetri Bozic wasn't in attendance. His wife and mate, Mara, was safely tucked away between the Romanov twins as was customary at the other end of the large table. Emily was braced between Mara and Stephan, with Cristoph, William, and Corinne taking the next three seats as was the usual makeup of the less intractable members.

Following more traditional rules, the Council still sat in order of allegiance, the six closest to the left hand side of the dais looking outward, being those aligned with the Were Pack alliance. The remaining members were more conservative, less tolerant of the alliance with the wolves. Sasha was always in the latter half of the dais...today she was at the very end of the long table.

"The Council demanded to be informed immediately of anything further happening with regards the Amort poison. Now you want to complain when we accede to your demands?" It was Alexei who spoke, his tone cold and derogatory. His thoughts were still on his daughter who has been gone for a few hours now. He didn't have any patience to deal with Sasha and her cronies.

"The wolves have found a cure?" William asked, his green eyes turning to look to his left. His wide shoulders tilted ever so slightly away from Sasha, making it more than obvious that he didn't care for the white-haired woman very much.

"My daughter found the cure," Alexei answered, pride turning his tone smug. "The antidote is being synthesised at the moment, so we need to inform the others of the threat and set up some form of clinic so that those who require the antidote can receive it."

He shot a withering glance in Sasha's direction. "I take it you will be one of the first to be inoculated?"

Her eyes darkened and fury crossed her beautiful face, however, it was Claude who spoke, flicking a long reddish-blond strand of hair behind his shoulder. "Naturally it is only sensible that ALL Council members receive this inoculation. How are we to lead our people if we do not do so by example?"

"Which translates into you're all shit scared of dying," Andrei muttered, his smile containing no humour. "You don't want to have anything to do with the wolves but when it comes to having your asses being saved, suddenly they're your new best friends."

"Squabbling among ourselves isn't very productive," Mara sighed, rolling her shoulders to try to release some of her tenseness. Having Demetri present at these meetings was often a nightmare, however today she would have killed to have him lurking in the background. The tension was so high, she wasn't sure that an actual physical fight wouldn't break out. Alexei and Andrei were spoiling for one, and only Demetri or Caleb could keep them in check when their beasts were so close to the surface.

Trying to diffuse the situation, she smiled at William and looked to his companion, Corrine. The other woman's expression was more curious that anything else, and that boded well. "We need a liaison with the wolves, someone to direct the setting up of the clinic and keeping a record of who is inoculated. Corinne, would you be willing to do that?"

For the barest fraction of a second, green eyes slid to the male at her side who stared straight ahead, and then Corrine nodded her head. "I would have thought one of you would have preferred to oversee such an undertaking," she answered. "Though, I have no issue with performing the task, if required."

"Our time will be taken up with other tasks," Alexei replied. "Last night the European vampires attacked the Armand-Hanlon pack and tried to kill two of our members. We are needed there until such times the threat has been neutralised."

"They what?" Stephan growled, fury blazoning from his hazel eyes. "Just who the fuck are these upstarts that they come onto our home territory and think they can attack us?"

"They attacked a wolf pack, Stephan," Piers snorted, refusing to be intimated by the low growl that escaped Andrei's lips at his words. "Yes, you have cast your allegiance with the wolves, Andrei, and Caleb has given his edict to the Council that they are not to be harmed. This attack is from no vampire aligned to this Council, and while none of our kind here will break Caleb's edict, that does not mean that we will simply rush to protect the wolves from other attacks."

Andrei rose slowly, a flash of fury glinting from his eyes before all emotion suddenly vanished from his expression.

"Alexei..." Mara whispered, her breath catching as the one she called to in a bid to try to subdue his brother was rising with an equally terrifying expression on his face.

"...And nor would we ask you to..."

All heads whipped around to the main doors, Mara's shoulders slumping with relief as not only Demetri, but also Caleb strode into the room. Her husband immediately went to the twins' side, a long, hard stare being enough that the brothers sat back down without a further word.

Caleb walked towards the centre of the room, his gaze travelling each face, his expression calm. "As I said, we are not asking the Council to provide any protection for the Armand-Hanlon pack, thought just for the record; it was two vampires that were almost killed in the attack. It was the wolves who protected them."

"That's beside the point. Why are you here, Caleb? You shouldn't be here anyway. The Ancient Council is having far too much involvement in matters that are Council business. We are not your puppets to dance to your tune."

Claude's tone was quiet but his anger was evident. It was clear that half of the Council shared his view, and even William and Corrine nodded their agreement to that point. They sat there silently, all eyes on the Ancient vampire whose expression remained deceptively calm though deep within he was fighting the urge to rip Claude's head from his shoulders.

"I am here because someone in Europe developed a toxin that could wipe out our entire race," Caleb drawled, his voice so soft that Demetri automatically shifted his weight into a defensive stance and the twins tensed in their chairs.

"I am here because that same someone sent vampires across the ocean to attack us in the heart of one of our strongholds."

Caleb moved then, leaning his arms on the table, cold fire dancing from the depths of his eyes. "I am here because Gard and Rayne have vanished somewhere in Europe, and if someone is strong enough to do that, then it's time we stop this petty bickering and we start working together...ALL of us...before we wake up to find that we're completely fucked!"

He roared the last words out, unleashing all his frustrations into the room, letting the importance of what he'd revealed sink in for a moment.

"Now...does anyone else have any other stupid questions to ask or will this Council now stop thinking about their own petty agendas and start acting to protect our people? Because believe me, if you don't, I will fucking break this Council the same way I broke the last one, and I will keep breaking Councils until you lot get the fucking message!"

Stunned silence greeted his words, a flicker of unease crossing most of the vampires' faces. Demetri moved to escort Mara from the dais, coming to stand beside Caleb. Andrei and Alexei followed, making it perfectly clear they stood with the Ancient.

Stephan rose slowly, his hand moving to rest lightly on Emily's shoulder though he appeared to be unaware of the gesture. "How could this happen to Gard and Rayne? They are the oldest among us."

"Exactly," Caleb answered, his tone a little less strident but his displeasure still very evident.

"Threatening to abolish the Council isn't the way to go though, Caleb," Stephan continued, rebuke in his tone. "That may have worked once before, and it prevented a civil war, but if you try that again...you'll be starting a civil war."

Caleb sighed loudly, frustration riding him so hard it was difficult to articulate words for a moment. "Stephan, you are missing the basic point here ...we are already at war and we have no inkling of who our enemy is. They have attacked us three times now and so far...we're losing! Now, if you lot can just grasp that fact, maybe we stand some chance of finding out who this enemy is and taking them out. If not...I will not hesitate to risk a civil war here if it means that I will have at least half of our people at my side when I take on this enemy."

"Then why are we all still pissing about here?" William growled rising. "It is the Council's job to protect our people. That means we protect our allies too, as they protect us. We have an antidote to a toxin that would wipe us out in a heartbeat because of our allies. There is an invisible enemy out there that can reach into our midst and neutralise some of our best people. It's time we act. I stand with Caleb!"

"I stand with Caleb..." Corrine rose at William's side.

"You know you have my support," Stephan sighed, "I just wish you were less of an ass about it sometimes."

"We are stronger when we act as one," Emily said quietly.

There were enough votes to give him the Council, but Caleb still looked to the remaining seated members.

"It would seem that the logic presented to us is compelling," Sasha said coldly. "Until this threat is neutralised, you will have my full support to protect our people."

One by one, the remaining Council members nodded their agreement, and slowly Caleb relaxed. "Good, then let's all sit down and I'll provide a detailed account of what we know so far. Then we can see what, if any, ideas we can come up with."

As the room settled, Caleb ran a quick inventory of just how much detail he was willing to give to the Council. Freya and Nors were fairly certain that there was the possibility of a mole in their camp, though that didn't necessarily mean that person was on the Council. Still, each Council member had their trusted support teams, and if someone were smart enough to get that close to the upper hierarchy...well maybe it would be wise to keep a few things close to his chest for now. Dara and Kothi were on their way to Europe. They didn't need any eyes turning in their direction...

*****

The plane journey had been less of an ordeal than Dara had anticipated, but it had been frustrating waiting for the time to pass to reach her destination. Kothari had too much of a head start on her as it was, his attempts at trying to throw them off his tracks quite inventive. He'd used the pack's credit cards in four major cities, going online each time and purchasing tickets to multiple different European cities under the name Kothari Hanlon.

It was a good tactic, one that would have left them all scratching their heads if not for knowing his forged travel details. Simon Ducat had only shown up at one airport and with one destination...Edinburgh, Scotland. Kothi was following his parents directly, as she had known he would have.

Rafe had called her before she'd boarded her flight to Edinburgh, letting her know that Caleb had contacted his friend Joshua, who would meet her at the airport. She was now scanning the waiting faces, unknowingly echoing Gard and Rayne's actions of only a short time ago. She found him quite quickly, a slight inclination of his head acknowledging that he was the one she sought. Joshua was gorgeous with a slightly roguish look about him, but he exuded a confidence that only came with reaching an advanced age. She hadn't even spoken to him and yet she knew she was going to like him.

"Joshua?"

"At your service," he said with a smile, tipping the brim of his hat. It should have looked ridiculous when he did it, but it seemed to fit his personality well.

Dara couldn't help smiling, despite itching to get on her way. "I bet you drove Gard insane with that charm."

"He appeared oblivious to it," Joshua chuckled, "Now Rayne on the other hand..."

She burst out laughing, rolling her eyes at his shamelessness. "Yes, you drove him insane; I have no doubt about that." It felt good to have a moment of respite, even if it wouldn't last very long. What was to come would probably be full of danger and possibly death...for this one moment it was just nice to forget the darkness that was ahead.

Dara's expression sobered and she shouldered her backpack and motioned Joshua to lead the way out of the terminal.

"I'm sorry to hear our friends are missing," Joshua said quietly, as he led her to a beat up old van. "Can't believe it was only a few days ago I was picking them up here. I liked them a lot." His gaze slid to watch her as she climbed into the van.

"They are special people," Dara answered, a frown marring her brow. "We want them back just because of that...however there is another very important reason we need them back too. How much did Caleb tell you?"

Starting the engine, Joshua pulled out of the parking lot and heading away from the airport. "Just that they had vanished after they left me and he was sending someone over to look for them. He told me of your arrival and I was to give you any assistance you needed, and I was to try to determine when a Simon Ducat had arrived and provide you with that information."

He shot her another quick look before concentrating back on the traffic head. "Forgive me, I don't mean to be rude, but I am struggling a bit to understand why Caleb would send a Youngling that appears to be around the thirty year old mark to find out how Ancients of Gard and Rayne's years have disappeared. He did add that you would fill me in on anything you felt I needed to know but..."

"Excellent." Dara breathed out the word, a slow smile crossing her face.

"Sorry?"

"You see me as a thirty year old vampire. That was what I was aiming for so it's a relief to know it's working. Most vamps here won't pay me any attention if they don't view me as any kind of threat."

The quizzical look he sent her way had her smile widening. "Can we find somewhere private to go? Kothi has hours on me as it is, so another ten or fifteen minutes are not really going to make that much of a difference."

He appeared to consider it for a moment and then he turned off the main road and wove through some streets until he reached a modern block of apartments. "One of my coven's safe houses. It should be empty at the moment; we're keeping close to our main hideout these days."

She could understand that. She would likely do the same given the volatile circumstances in Europe. Following Joshua out of the van, Dara headed inside to the small, one bedroomed apartment. It was cold and stark, designed in the minimalistic style, but there was something about it that appealed to her. She could imagine Kothi in a place like this.

"You have empathic abilities, Joshua," she said, as she set down her pack and turned quickly to face him. She caught the surprise he couldn't quite hide.

"I have too," she admitted with a smile. "Circumstances stateside have given us all a need to be aware of any and all special abilities the vampires around us may have. I felt you leaning on me at the airport...I allowed it to test your strength. I think when this is all over, you should come visit with us at the pack. Liam and Reasa can help you hone and expand your considerable skills."

For the first time since they'd met, a flash of unease crossed the elder vampire's face. "Just who are you, Dara?"

"I will answer that, but first I must ask permission to enter your mind. I need to know that you are as trustworthy as Caleb believes you to be."

Joshua backed up a step, distrust joining the unease in his eyes. "The last person who walked inside my mind headed stateside to commit murder. You'll forgive me if I don't particularly want a total stranger messing with my head after that."

Dara didn't want him to be frightened of her, and she didn't want to force her way into his mind either. She was fairly certain that he could be trusted, but there was so much at stake here she had to be one hundred percent sure. "I'm sorry, Joshua, I do understand why you would be reluctant. I do need to do this though, and I would ask that if you trust in Caleb and he has vouched for me, that you please extend that trust for a brief moment to me. I promise you I have no ill intent in mind."

Joshua stared at the strange woman, unsure of what to do. He did trust Caleb with his life, and Dara was clearly special to his friend. It was only a small leap to extend that trust to her, but he was still hesitant to do so. "Tell me who you are first."

She was shaking her head before he finished speaking, regret in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I can't do that, not until I have done what I must do. What I can tell you is that I ask this of you so that lives may be saved, not only stateside, but here in Europe too. The longer I hesitate here, the more blood will seep into the soil on this continent. One moment of trust may mitigate some of that destruction, Joshua."

It was clear she meant every word she said. She truly believed there were lives at stake, and that could mean a clear and present danger to his coven and others where he had alliances. Caleb had asked him to give her every assistance... and this was what she was asking of him. Joshua moved to the sofa in the living room, sitting down slowly. "Okay, do what you have to."

Dara moved to sit beside him, a reassuring smile on her face. "I promise this won't hurt a bit, and I will talk you through everything that I am doing. Just relax and let down your mental guards. It will make this easier and less dangerous."

When he relaxed a bit more, she reached out and slipped inside his mind with as light a touch as she could manage. She'd only been honing this technique for a very short time, and only on one other person before this. Kallum had agreed to help her and to keep it secret until they were sure of what it was she could actually do. They'd only had three sessions before the shit had hit the fan at the compound and Kothi had gone missing. This was still new to her.

"You will be aware that old skills are returning, things the vampires have long forgotten. One of them is dream walking, being able to travel through a mind and influence events if required."

Joshua sat as still as possible, feeling the slightest of brushes against his mind. "There have been rumours though Caleb didn't answer any direct questions I posed."

"That sounds like Caleb, never willing to share too much, just in case the information falls into the wrong hands." Dara gave him another reassuring smile, as she sought deeper and deeper within the pathways of his mind.