“Stronger. My power is coming back, but my body feels strange,” he revealed as he stood without a problem.
He tested the strength of the chains. Unfortunately they held him fast. The spell that trapped him screamed of Demon origin to me. We would need a Demon to break it—or possibly a half Demon-half Vampyre.
“There was a debate,” he said as he remembered more from what had happened before he ended up bound and chained. Gareth absently touched at the wounds quickly closing on his head. “The Old Guard is quite unhappy about relinquishing their funds to charity.”
It had been my cousin Astrid’s idea for all of the undead to share their massive fortunes with the humans and their plights. Being that she was a True Immortal of unnatural strength and basically almost impossible to kill, the Vampyres of the world had grudgingly agreed.
“Are they trying to stop it?” Raquel asked.
“You might say that,” Gareth replied as he paced his cage.
“How?” I asked. “Did you go against the Old Guard?”
“I don’t know how… and yes I did,” he claimed. “Although I’ve not yet met the infamous mate of my brother, I happen to agree with Astrid’s edict.”
“Do you think that is why you were put here?” Raquel asked as she paced, unconsciously mimicking her brothers moves.
“Possibly,” he surmised. “But removing me from the picture does very little to end the ordinance.”
“He’s right,” I agreed. “However, we need to start somewhere. Getting you out is paramount. Something else is going on. The blood should have reversed the aging—it didn’t, which leads me to believe the cage has something to do with that part of your problem. Only a Demonic spell could do something so vile.”
“And your plan?” Gareth stopped his pacing and stared at me.
“Hang on for a damned second,” I ground out. “I’m developing it as I pull it out of my ass.”
“Well there’s something to look forward to,” Gareth mumbled as he ran his hands through his hair in agitation.
“Shut up,” Raquel hissed at him. “Unless you have something productive to add… zip it.”
“We need Astrid here,” I stated. “She can most likely break the spell and possibly deal with the old bastards who are having problems with the new law.”
Both Gareth and Raquel stared at me like I’d grown two heads.
“What?”
“As much as I’m looking forward to meeting Ethan’s foul-mouthed and charitable mate, I think your plan has many deadly holes,” Gareth replied. “The Old Guard wants her head. I would assume that’s why Ethan has kept her away from the Angel Summit.”
“Because she’s making them tithe… they want her dead?” I was surprised.
We were a selfish race, but money was something that could be replaced.
“That’s only part of it,” Raquel added. “Her blood relation to Satan and her very young Vampyre age has many distrustful and furious. It’s one of the points I relayed to Ethan when I came to tutor Samuel. Astrid’s safer staying away from the Old Guard and the Summit. The Angels take issue with her too.”
“The Summit with the Angels is not going to be a peaceful little get together like you might assume given those in attendance,” Gareth added.
“Do you have any other facts to back that theory up?” I inquired.
“No, it’s a gut feeling,” he replied. “I do think Astrid will be a major source of consternation there.”
“Holy Hell, does she know any of this?” I asked already knowing the answer. If Astrid knew they were gunning for her, she would step into the fray both with gusto and engulfed in an inferno of sparkling flames.
“Ummm… no,” Raquel said slowly.
“Well, she needs to know,” I said as I imagined Ethan’s reaction to my telling her. It would not be pretty. However, Astrid finding out after the fact could be catastrophic, which would be far worse.
“There’s too much going on here to add flame to that particular fire,” Gareth cut in. “I have a few Demons that owe me favors. If you can go above and get word to one, I can get out of this Hell hole and help figure out what’s going down.”
“Who’s running the Old Guard at the moment?” I asked as a plan hatched in my head that was sure to end badly. I was fairly certain I knew who was in charge of the old sons of bitches, but it wouldn’t do to be wrong. Power tended to change hands often with our race. Aside from the royal family, the factions and allegiances of the undead were in constant motion.
“Vlad,” Gareth said as Raquel audibly gasped and then paled.
Watching my mate carefully I continued to question Gareth. “How’d that happen?”
Vlad had been out of favor for decades. His over-the-top violent tendencies were becoming tiresome and dangerous to the secrecy of our existence.
“Oh you know,” Gareth hissed with disgust. “He impaled a few hundred of the undead and gained a following. Your mating will be a problem for him.”
“What does my mating have to do with him?” I demanded.
“Shall I tell Heathcliff or will you?” Gareth asked his sister.
Raquel glanced at the floor and refused to make eye contact with me.
“Tell me what?” I asked as I took her chin in my hand and forced her gaze to meet mine.