“Where’s mommy?” asked Liam.
“Do you know what Heaven is?” Jamie asked, still looking out the window.
“It’s where God, Jesus, and the angels live?” said Mara.
“It’s where your mommy lives, too. It’s where my mommy lives.”
“Your mommy’s in Heaven?” Liam asked. “With mine?”
“Yes. They’re looking down over all of us, protecting us from the bad guys.”
“Who are the bad guys?” asked Mara.
“They are those who hurt your mommy and made her go to Heaven.”
“Are they going to try to get us?” she questioned.
“I don’t know.”
“Are they gone?” asked Liam.
Jamie turned his head slowly from the window to focus his gaze on their eyes. He then stood, walked over, and sat on the edge of the bed, next to them. Jamie reached out and ran his fingers through Liam’s hair.
“They’re much closer than you think,” he said.
The two redheads sat there, still holding on to each other, tears dripping from their faces to the bed sheets. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and Landon entered. He was surprised to see Jamie sitting so close to the twins.
“Jamie, you’re wanted in the Chamber.”
Jamie gave the twins a parting wink and walked out of the room, giving no acknowledgement to his father.
Landon crossed over and sat in the same chair in which Jamie had been sitting. He duplicated his son’s staring silence at the window. He was trying to follow Annelise’s advice and let them come to him. Slowly, ever so cautiously, the young children did just that.
“What’s your name?” asked Liam.
“Landon. What’s yours?”
“His name’s Liam. I’m Mara,” the boy’s sister said. “I remember you brought us here.”
“That’s right. Do you like it here?”
“We’re scared,” said Liam. “We want our mommy, but Jamie said she’s in Heaven with his mommy.”
“And we don’t know where Uncle Nicholas is,” Mara said.
Landon could feel his claws begin to grow at the sound of his daughter calling her kidnapper “uncle.” He quickly regained control and did his best not to show his anger. As far as he knew, they were still unaware of the kind of creatures that surrounded them.
“Well,” he said, “Jamie’s right about your mommy being in Heaven. And yes, his is there, too. Nicholas,” he said, looking away, feeling his eyes start to turn red and burn, “has disappeared. I don’t think he’ll be coming back.”
“He said he was going to protect us from the monsters that were coming to get us,” said Liam.
“There are no monsters coming to get you. I’ve taken care of them.”
“You killed the monsters?” Mara asked.
“Yes. There is more that I need to tell you, though.” He cleared his throat and straightened up in the chair, trying to prepare himself more than he was them, before he continued. “I knew your mommy very well. She was my, um, girlfriend about five years ago.”
“We’re five years old,” said Liam.
“Yes, I know. Now, if I was your mommy’s boyfriend five years ago, and you’re both five years old, what do you think that means?” He was hoping they would come to the correct conclusion without him having to say it. He was more than willing to face down the darkest souls on Earth, but he was scared to death to tell them who he was to them. He waited several seconds for them to say something. They only sat there, seeming to wait for him to answer his own question.
“I’m your father,” he said softly. “I’m your daddy.”
The children continued to sit there, wide eyed and hanging on every word. They moved a little closer to his feet.
“I want you to know that I loved your mommy very much. I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you for the first five years…but I’m here now.” Landon moved closer to them. “Mommy is in Heaven making sure that you’re safe. That’s why she sent me to save you from the monsters. You’re with me now, and I have a lot to learn, but I promise I’ll do the very best I can to be a good daddy.”
“It’s okay, Daddy,” said Mara. “We’ll help you.”
“Yeah,” Liam said, “you can’t be a daddy without having kids, so you’ll be a good daddy now ‘cause you’ve got kids.”
Landon slid out of the chair, down to the floor, and hugged his children.
Jamie entered the Chamber and noticed that the only sound breaking the silence was the sobbing of a woman at the far end of Joseph’s side of the Senate. He walked to the center of the round room and stood facing the Consuls. Whispering then started from both sides of the Senate until Seamus stopped it with a raised hand.
“Let us dispense with the pleasantries, Jamie,” said Seamus. “There has been an exorbitant amount of trouble both here and abroad since your arrival at Burghausen. Have you any comments regarding your actions or decisions before we proceed further?”
“No.” He knew they wanted an apology, but they weren’t getting one.
“Tell us for what reason Nicholas chose you and why you left Burghausen,” said Joseph.
“I don’t know.”
“What do you know of the arsonists in the village?”
“Nothing.”
Joseph reached to his right, where an attendant placed an old book in his hand. He held it for all to see—
Il Principe
. Whispering began again. Joseph raised his hand, and the Chamber fell silent.
“When you and Nicholas left, your room was searched. Why was this book found there?”
“I forgot about it. I didn’t mean to leave it there.”
“Did Nicholas tell you the title?”
“No.”
“The Prince.”
“So?”
“So, why was it in your possession?”
“Nicholas took it, and it was his intention to put it to use.”
This time, the volume and pitch of the whispering Chamber increased. Both Consuls had to raise their hands to quiet the discussions.
“For what use did Nicholas intend it?” asked Seamus.
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him.”
“Is it your intention to withhold as much information as possible from us?” the vampire asked.
Jamie didn’t answer. He stood there thinking about how Nicholas saw great things in him, and how his friend was now dead.
“I see,” said Joseph. He motioned to the far end of his side of the Senate, and a middle-aged couple came forward. “This is the daughter and son-in-law of the elderly gentleman you killed several nights ago. Since you do not speak German, I have allowed her to write a message to you, and I will now translate that message.” He accepted a sheet of paper from the Senator sitting nearest to him.
“Today we buried my father and grandfather to my children. He was a simple man who worked hard all of his life and sacrificed his own meals so that his child could eat. You have caused a great a pain in my heart, and created an empty space in the lives of my children. I have been asked how I would like to see justice served, and my response is simply this: death.”
“As you can see,” said Seamus, giving the note back to the Senator, “your actions have consequences that extend beyond the death of one person. Have you anything to say regarding this?”
“It was not my intention to kill her father. I startled the man, and he had a heart attack. How can I be blamed for someone having a weak heart?”
“You are obviously not to blame for any heart condition. We know it was an accident. However, you are being held accountable for not coming forward and accepting your own culpability in the incident. While the man’s daughter has asked for death, we do not dole out capital punishment here. We’ve never had to. There will, though, be consequences for your lack of maturity that will go along with your actions in relation to Nicholas.”
“The peace has been kept here far too long,” said Joseph, “for us to allow an incident like this to dismantle it. None of us has ever killed a villager without distinct reason and agreement from the town below. Add to that the kidnapping of the twins and the death of their mother, whom you
did
kill, and you can see the situation you face is dire indeed.”
“It is the judgment of this Senate and these Consuls,” began Seamus, “that you are found guilty of all charges brought forthwith today and that you be banished from Burghausen for the remainder of your life. Have you anything to say now?”
“Nothing,” said Jamie, with a look of contempt.
“Then you are hereby released to the custody of your father, Landon Murphy. You are to leave the premises at dawn and never return. The only reason you are not being released to the authorities in the United States is because we believe that you were under such a profound influence by Nicholas that it is not possible that you acted of your own free will. May you find your path elsewhere.”
Jamie turned and walked toward the door, the whimpering of the dead man’s daughter growing louder the farther away from her he moved. Outside in the hall, Bianca waited for him. He did his best to keep walking when she ran up and touched his shoulder.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I’ve been banished for life.” He finally stopped, turned, and faced her. “Which is fine with me.”
“Is this really what you want? You’re so distant now.” She reached her hand out to touch his arm.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” he said, pulling his arm away. “Nothing matters to me.”
“I think you really need a friend right now.”
“He doesn’t want one. Let him be.”
Jamie turned quickly, and Bianca looked over his shoulder to see Serinda standing there. Bianca touched her hand to Jamie’s arm and felt goosebumps on his skin. His reaction upon seeing Serinda was undeniable.
“How do you know what he wants?” Bianca asked her sister.
“Because the only friend he cared about is dead. He doesn’t care about you. He never did.”
Jamie looked back at Bianca and noticed the look of disappointment. He then turned again toward Serinda, looked her up and down, and picked up where he left off, walking down the corridor to his room.
Bianca made a motion as if to follow when Serinda grabbed her arm.
“You need to let go of him,” she said.
“Why should I?”
“Because you never really had a hold of him to begin with.”
“How do you know?” asked Bianca.
“Because he’s into Serinda,” said Gabriel, stepping from the shadows, and glaring down the hall at Jamie. “He needs to go. You seem to be the only one who still cares.”
“Someone has to,” she said, as Gabriel and Serinda walked away.
Landon knocked on Jamie’s bedroom door and opened it without waiting for permission to enter. Not that he would have gotten it anyway. He walked over and tapped Jamie on the shoulder, startling the teen.
“What?” Jamie asked impatiently, pulling the earphones out.
“What are you listening to?”
“No one you’ve ever heard of.”
“Try me. I actually know a lot about music,” Landon said. He was doing his best to find some common ground, something to talk about.
“Drive Shaft. Ever heard of ‘em?”
“No, you got me on that one. You know, I recently heard a country group out of Texas called—”
“What do you want?”
“We haven’t really had a chance to talk since we both found out…who we are to each other. I’m sorry that I forced you into all of this, both by not being around for sixteen years, and by not giving you a choice about coming here. I didn’t know about you. Of course, I’m not blaming your mom, since she thought the other guy was your father.”
“You mean the guy you killed? His name was Sam. That was a real classy move by the way. You left her heartbroken because you flew into a jealous rage, and then she and I both ended up with an alcoholic abuser. Well, you’re about half the man Hank was, since you’ve got half of that description filled out.”
Landon crossed back toward the door, closed it, and sat in a chair a short distance from Jamie. He bent over, putting his face in his hands, and ran his hands through his red hair as he sat back up, sighing.
“I know. You’re right. I drink too much. It kinda runs in the family, not that that’s any excuse. I do it as a way of escaping one thing, what I am, and dealing with another. The things that I see in my line of work would cause anyone to drink. Again, that’s no excuse.”
“Is that all you wanted? To come in here seeking redemption?”
“Why did you go with Nicholas? What did he have to offer?”
“So, you came here wanting me to forgive all your sins,
and
you want to know why I chose Nicholas over you.” A sly smile crept up. He leaned closer to Landon. “I chose him because he chose me.” Jamie leaned back in his chair, still smiling. Landon had a puzzled look on his face. “See, that’s what I mean,” he continued. “You don’t get me. You don’t understand me. Nicholas did. He saw something in me, something great. He believed I was going to do great things. I never had to prove myself to him. He treated me as his equal.”
“But you weren’t his equal. He was much older than you, more experienced.”
“And he gave more of his experience than you did of yours. All you did was
tell
me stories. What am I supposed to learn from those? He got me out there, showed me how to do things.”