Authors: Maya DeLeina
“Why, Steffan?
“Why did you do this?”
“Once again, family, please, settle down. Proceed.” The council member motioned to Madeleine as the crowd quieted.
“I later found out Ryan recalled Anya after his turning, but…”
“I never recalled anything, Madeline,” Ryan interrupted.
“You got hit by lightning, dear. There are a lot of things you don’t remember. Let me speak,” Madeline said as she rubbed his back. “I discovered that Steffan had the ability to enthrall vampires. He’s been hiding this from us, from day one that he stepped into Manitou. When Ryan recalled Anya after his turning, he enthralled Ryan, erasing all memories of Anya from him so he could claim her as his own.”
“This is a very strong accusation. Please disclose to this council and the family what evidence you’ve brought forth to substantiate this enthrallment claim.”
“As you know, I have the ability not only to detect mate matches between a human and vampire, but I also have telling abilities, to summon truth, even break through enthralls. This is why you elected me to be the family member in the law enforcement arena.” Madeline paused as she stood behind Alex and grasped his shoulders. “Ryan got hit with lightning, so he’s too far gone. I wouldn’t be able to summon the truth from him even if I wanted to. But I have Alex as my proof as well.”
“Proceed.”
“See, I told Steffan that Alex was slowly uncovering things, that I was either burying evidence on Ryan that we found or altering the transgression reports. Alex was growing more and more suspicious, and one day, he finally confronted me. I summoned Steffan. He was already down at the precinct. Steffan said he would take care of it, and he enthralled Alex to keep him quiet. It’ll take some doing, but I can summon the truth from Alex up until the time I think Steffan got a hold of him. After that, I don’t know what type of altered scenario he gave to Alex to break through. It’s like he can’t remember anything after that point.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let me show you.”
Madeleine moved with a great sense of urgency and kneeled in from of Alex. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath in, appearing to employ her telling abilities—her own twisted form of truth serum.
“Alex, what did you see me do with Ryan’s reports?”
“You filed them.”
“Did you read them after they were filed?”
“Yes.”
“Were you upset with me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“When I examined the reports, they were altered. It wasn’t the information I’d collected or the story I pieced together from touching Anise’s remains.”
“When you confronted me about it, what did I say, what did I do?”
“You were crying. You were hysterical. You said Steffan made you do it. You said you had to protect Lisa.”
“What happened next?”
“I stormed out of the office. I was on my way to find Steffan, to confront him myself.”
“Where did you go after leaving my office?”
“To my office, to grab my coat.”
“But someone was already in your office, waiting for you. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes.”
“Who was it, Alex? Who was there?”
“Steffan.”
“What did he say to you?”
“He wanted to know what I saw, what I heard about Ryan.”
“Then what happened?”
“I screamed at him. I asked him why…why he was doing this. Then we scuffled for a bit, but Steffan was strong. I was no match for him.”
“Go on.”
“He picked me up, sat me in the chair. He sat on my desk, close to me. He told me I was doing a great job.”
“You were doing a great job?”
“He said to keep up the good work and to help you with whatever you needed.”
“And that is it?”
“Yes.”
“Alex. What were you for Halloween last year?”
Alex looked pained as he searched his mind. His brow scrunched together, and he closed his eyes tightly.
Steffan and Eilian looked at each other in confusion as did the members of the council.
“I–I…I can’t remember.”
“What is the meaning of this line of questioning, Madeleine? How does this have any bearing?” asked the female council member.
Madeline motioned her hand to the council. “Wait.”
“Alex, when did you find Steffan in your office? What month was it? Was it before any special date, event, anything?”
“It was October, just a few days before Halloween.”
“Thank you, Alex.”
Madeline got up and stood tall, addressing the family and the council. “Now, we all know Alex hosted the biggest costume party in Manitou Springs last year, and he can’t remember any of it. Nothing. Look, we were all there at the party. I mean, we all came as vampires! It’s not hard to remember! Alex would never forget an event such as that. He prepared months in advance for it. He talked for weeks about it. The last thing I can summon out of Alex is when Steffan met with him in his office alone, and then he goes blank. I can’t seem to get past anything in his mind no matter how hard I try. It’s like he’s stuck, right before October thirty-first.” Madeline pointed angrily in Steffan’s direction. “It was all his doing. Steffan enthralled him! And what’s worse, I don’t know how to pull Alex out of this state that he is in. I don’t know how much of an enthrall Steffan subjected him to.”
“Steffan, what do you say to this?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Steffan rose and spoke to the crowd.
“I don’t have the power to enthrall another vampire. Humans, yes. But not a vampire, never a vampire. I don’t know how to prove this, to show you something I do not possess inside of me. And since you’ve already set this as a formal proceeding, I have no way of investigating what happened to Alex on my own, to formulate a sound explanation for what’s going on here. All I know is I did not enthrall Alex, I did not mate abduct, and I certainly never forced or coerced Madeline to do what she has claimed.”
Steffan paused and searched the eyes of the council members. He saw it on their faces. They were riddled with skepticism and discontent. He knew the truth, and his family knew the truth. But the council had been taught to separate their personal feelings, assumptions, or partiality. They only knew to pass judgment based on what was being presented to them, no matter the age or reputation of the vampire, no matter the contributions the vampire provided for the family and certainly, no matter the position of power the vampire had in the family. They had been groomed and educated by Steffan, to focus on the evidence, base their verdict on even the smallest shred of confirmation.
It had always been this way. It had to be this way. The power, strength and influence a vampire could possess, the damage that just one deceitful vampire was capable of, was unspeakable. One was all it took to bring down a family, to expose their kind. Sacrifice one for the greater good of the family was the adage they lived by. The doctrines, creeds, and laws were designed the same among lairs, the punishments and consequences exact and executed equally. It wasn’t an impenetrable justice system by any means, but it served them constructively and had never been used to tip the favor into the hands of malevolence.
Until now.
As it stood, Madeline had the so-called evidence needed to back up her testimony—photos of Steffan at her home, trinkets, memories of the life Ryan and Anya shared, and most importantly, Alex. She’d played out her performance on a grand scale that Steffan wasn’t quite prepared for. He needed something, some sort of explanation of what was going on to try and sway the council members to give him time to search for evidence himself. Evidence was what he needed. No amount of pleas of innocence would suffice. Suddenly, a stinging thought resonated through his mind.
What did Anya truly believe?
“Only a few members of this family have knowledge of this.” Steffan paused and cleared his throat. “In the Nemesis, we store—”
“Steffan! This is uncalled for. You were not given proper authority to disclose this,” said a council member.
“But, this could very well be an explanation here. We’re missing some of the inventory.”
“What? How?”
“I’m not sure. Can I proceed?”
The council member scanned the faces of his colleagues and deliberated for a moment. “Yes, proceed.”
“Eilian and I have created Submission injections that are stored in the Nemesis. We provide this at no charge to other lairs’ councils as well. You were not told about these injections because of their power. When administered, it inhibits all of your abilities as a vampire. It was created for the sole purpose of subduing a vampire who was sentenced to punishment or death. Now, in our family, Eilian, Madeline, and I were the only members with access to the serum. I sent Eilian to verify our supply, and he has confirmed that we are missing injectors containing the serum. While I don’t have any proof right at this moment, I believe Madeline is in possession of these injections and has found a way to use them on Alex, to portray what she is claiming.”
“Eilian, are we missing the injections as Steffan said?” asked the council member.
“Yes. I verified this twice against our inventory log.”
“You memorize each entry? Can you confirm that this log has always been in your possession?”
“Well, no. I don’t memorize what we record. That’s why we maintain logs. And no, I cannot confirm that it was always been in my possession. The log is kept in Steffan’s personal study.”
“The two of you are the ones who maintain this inventory record solely. Eilian, can you confirm with me that there is no possibility
whatsoever
that the inventory log could somehow be altered by Steffan?”
“What? No! Steffan wouldn’t do that.”
“But is there a possibility? Can you attest to some sort of process or procedure you two implemented to assure that this couldn’t happen?”
“No, I can’t attest to that. I mean, there is a possibility. It’s not under dual control or anything like that. But Steffan wouldn’t do that.”
“Please examine Madeline’s office and residences for any evidence of the missing injections and report back immediately,” the council member spoke to two family members who immediately responded and retreated from the room.
“We will confer back on this issue once they return. Continue, Steffan,” said the council member.
Steffan’s voice carried steadily, in the room. “As far as my connection with Anya, it’s a true connection. I did nothing of the sort like mate abduction, as I am being accused of. I felt that connection. It was so strong. When Ryan couldn’t remember anyone from his human past, I turned to Madeline.” Steffan paused and pointed to Madeline in anger, his voice elevating slightly. “She didn’t share any of the information she’s brought forth when I conferred with her. If I had known there was any connection between Anya and Ryan to suggest they were man and wife, even if that marriage was irrevocably broken before we met, I would’ve never chosen to pursue Anya.”
I’m sorry, Anya. I searched my heart, and I don’t think I would’ve pursued our connection if I had known because of this very complication. I couldn’t lay eyes on something that I wasn’t sure was truly mine. It doesn’t change the fact that I still love you with all of my heart.