The Dark Gifts Birthright (38 page)

Michael’s hand on her shoulder brought her
back to her senses. The male watched them, terror and confusion
washing over his face.

Michael, covered in blood, smirked as he
spoke, “The way I see it, you have two choices. You can settle
down, talk to us, and hope we let you live. Or you can keep coming
and meet death.”

The male straightened, appearing to have
given up the fight, and shrugged his shoulders in acceptance of
Michael’s words. “Who are you?” he asked them.

“We are the ones asking questions here. You
were in my home and most definitely did not have my permission.”
Michael returned.

Carl gave Michael a derisive look and then
suddenly looked very afraid. He nearly stammered when he next
spoke, “You’re him? You’re Michael?”

Michael smirked at the recognition blanketing
the man’s face. Some time had passed since he’d seen the fear his
name instilled on those of the vampire nation. “I am he, and you
and your clan have done me a great disservice. This is my home you
so arrogantly took up residence in.” Michael nodded at Liz. “This
is my mate that the lot of you tried to kill.” With another nod to
Avery, he finished. “And last but not least, this is my
charge--that you beat and tried to feed upon. What do you propose
we do about that, Carl?”

Words gushed from the tattered young
vampire’s mouth. “We thought you were dead. All of us did. We were
told that you died in the fortress!”

“Who told you I was dead?”

“The Council. They said that you, and all the
rogues with you, died when the fortress collapsed.”

Michael laughed at his answer, and Liz
laughed with him. “So Monroe is calling us the rogues now, is he?
Well let me tell you something, the Council is in place and not one
among Monroe’s friends sit upon it. He, and his followers, have
been sentenced to death by the new Council. There are hundreds of
assassins now, and all of you who will not bow to the will of the
true Council of Elders will die.” Michael was furious. It had not
occurred to any of them that Monroe would take over and act as
though they’d never existed. Was it possible that the rest of the
vampire nation believed Monroe’s lies and followed him because they
thought they had no choice? It was astounding to think anyone could
be that stupid!

“I know you won’t believe me, but we were
told to live here by the new Council. We were told to protect the
area because renegades roamed and killed without cause. Our
assignment was to watch over the property and rogue free.” Carl
stammered.

Michael and Liz looked at each other in
disbelief as Carl continued, “We don’t even feed on humans most of
the time! We stick to the woods.”

“Damn!” Michael exclaimed.

“Oh no, Michael,” she whispered.

Liz was nauseous at the thought of what
they’d done. Her heart and body sick with the knowledge that all
over the world, hundreds of vampires were being exterminated for
believing lies. She looked at Michael in desperation and said,
“This is horrible. We have to inform the Council. We have to stop
it!”

A faraway look came over his face as he
contacted his maker. “Gregorio has been informed. We must return to
the Citadel. Carl, you’re coming with us.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Saving Grace

Even after hours of debate and argument, the
Council remained divided over what to do about the roving renegade
clans that may not actually be traitors. The termination teams were
recalled, and thankfully, most had time, or the opportunity, to
make contact with any nests. Few of the council members had a
problem with taking out the other nests. According to vampire law,
they shouldn’t exist to start with.

“We are right back where we started.” Rene
spouted angrily. “If we don’t do something, anything, then we might
as well go join the other Council and give up on all that we have
been trying to accomplish here!”

Angered by Rene’s do-or-die attitude, Athena
spoke up, “Be reasonable, Rene. These newly-changed did not ask to
be turned. Nor did they ask to enlist in a war, and they most
certainly weren’t given a chance choose a side. We cannot in good
conscience, sentence them to death without first discovering where
their loyalties lie. It is a travesty to our own law to do such a
thing!”

“I agree with you, Athena, but have any of
you taken into consideration that this Carl, might be lying to all
of us?” Minerva countered. “It is not as if vampires are naturally
inclined towards honesty and integrity. No offense meant to those
here, of course.”

Liz, still too shaken from the ramifications
of what she had done, barely listened. Not once during the battle
at the cabin, had she doubted the necessity of her kills. They’d
been vicious, even ruthless. She had followed her orders without
question. Orders she’d given with no thought to the potential right
or wrongness of them.

Liz half listened while the others argued
about what should be done now and Carl’s fate. Some of them wanted
him put to death. She couldn’t agree with them until she had more
information. It was hard to think with all the bickering, she
needed to get out of the Council chambers and be alone. She wanted
to walk alone in the woods and think in the peace and quiet of
nature, not sit here in this stuffy room suffocating in noise.

Gregorio began arguing with Rene and the
others chimed in here and there. Her nerves were shot she just
couldn’t take any more.

“Just shut up!” shot out of her before she
could stop herself.

The room instantly became silent as all eyes
turned to Liz.

She shook her head and sighed. “I’m sorry,
that was rude. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. I can’t
take anymore bickering right now, I really can’t. I need to get out
of here and think. So do the rest of you. We’ve been arguing the
same positions for hours. No one is thinking clearly at this point.
Can’t we just recess and take some time to really mull this
over?”

“Well that’s the smartest thing anyone’s said
in the last hour.” Callista replied.

“I’d like some time to think as well.”
Michael agreed.

Gregorio called for a recess and everyone
went off to ponder the situation and try to find a solution to
their dilemma.

Michael walked quietly with Liz through the
halls of the Citadel. When they reached the main entrance, she
stopped and leaned against the giant wooden doors with a frustrated
sigh. They stood there in silence for a short time. Knowing what
she needed, he bent down and placed a kiss in the center of her
forehead. “Go on darling. Call me when you’re ready to talk.”

Liz half smiled at him, gave his arm a
thankful squeeze, and stepped into the darkness.

She loved walking through the trees at night.
She hadn’t enjoyed the act when she was human. Fear of what might
be in the woods at night, kept her locked safe and warm in her
home. Things were different now. It would be highly unlikely that
she’d run across anything more dangerous than herself. The night’s
song was in full motion. She listened, letting it calm her as she
walked. The wild life, scampering about on their nocturnal errands,
didn’t even notice when she passed.

“
Where is Cass? They are all so certain
that I am to be their leader, they don’t even question me now,”
she thought. She knew without a doubt that she was not nearly as
strong as the vampires on the Council, and she was positive that
she wasn’t as smart as half of them. Everything those people, her
misguided friends, had based their opinions on were only dreams and
prophecies. That wasn’t even logical. Sometimes a dream is just a
dream. They had been so adamant before about dreams, and everything
that Brogan had said, that they had her believing all the malarkey
herself. “Think, Liz. Think!” she told herself out loud.

She had been wandering without much thought
of where she was going or what she would do when she got there.
Looking around her now, she realized she was just outside the
clearing where Brogan had made his camp. Even here, she couldn’t
concentrate. She didn’t really want to think about what had
happened. She wanted someone,
anyone
, to tell her what to
do.
Since when is wanting to be told what to do “Queenly?”
Liz sat on the old tree stump that had been Brogans resting place
waiting for an epiphany, half hoping the wise old man would show
up.

Liz had always known right from wrong, that
had never been an issue for her. Even when she was young, she had
never gotten into much trouble because she had always chosen to do
the right thing. Now, there was too much grey area. Killing anyone,
anything, without thought to what they were about or what they
thought was just wrong. Wasn’t it? A person cannot just randomly go
around killing other beings that don’t happen to agree with them,
can they? This whole greater good thing, the better for all mankind
crap, what does that really all mean? Liz stood and created a
portal. She wanted to go back to the cabin. She needed to look
death in the face and deal with the reality of what had been done
there.

***

Thunder boomed and another bright flash of
lightening streaked across the sky. The windows rattled from the
force of the wind and rain outside. Liz stood in the kitchen,
shocked at first to find no bodies or blood blanketing the kitchen
floor, before remembering that Gregorio had sent a cleaning crew to
get rid of the evidence. Even the doors and windows had been
repaired as if nothing had ever happened there. She could smell the
fresh paint on the kitchen walls and was amazed that so much could
have been accomplished in just a few hours.

She meandered thought the rooms, checking to
see if anything had been missed or was out of place. Everything
appeared to be just as they had left it the first time. She had
been looking forward to this being their home for a while, to
having Michael alone here in the place where it all started. The
place where her love for him began. She sat at the small wood
table, waiting for something, but really had no idea what it was.
The storm outside raged in perfect harmony with the turbulence
inside her.

Liz’s head snapped back, bringing her out of
a daze. She felt them coming. Two vampires moved stealthily towards
the cabin, as if they could feel her as well, and took great care
in their approach. She let her mind stretch out to them and felt
the fear and uncertainty. They were newly-made, not more than six
months old, she would bet. She felt no malice from them, just
fright and insecurity.

Liz went to the front door and pulled it
open. She moved to the fireplace to get a fire going. They would be
chilled after traveling on foot in such a fierce storm. She could
feel them just inside the tree line, watching, afraid to come
further. Using her mind, Liz called out to them and invited them to
enter.
“It’s cold and nasty out there, do come in and warm up by
the fire. I mean you no harm.”

The couple made it to the front porch and
were at least out of the rain, but neither of them wanted to be the
first to enter the house. They were close enough now that Liz could
tell they were a male and female. Her senses told her that both
were very young, almost too young to have been turned in the first
place. The fire had grown hot and bright, warming to cabin to a
toasty comfortable temperature.

After she had finally enticed the two teens
to come in, she lit the old oil lamp on the kitchen table, and
flashed them an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry I can’t offer you
something warm to drink. The power’s out, so I’m afraid the best I
can do is the fire.”

The freckle-faced boy shrugged his shoulders
and cocked his head to the side, but remained silent. With his
carrot red hair and small build, Liz thought he barely looked
fifteen, and the girl could not have been much older. Unusual as it
was, her skin had not paled with her turning. She’d remained a deep
ebony, with long thick braided corn rows all over her head. The
poor dear shivered and quaked. From the look on her face, Liz could
tell it wasn’t the weather that bothered the child.

“Please sit down and rest. Go sit by the fire
and get warm, I will not hurt you. That is not why I am here.” Liz
told them.

The young people looked hesitantly at her,
and then at the fire, before cautiously making their way over to
it.

“It’s okay to talk to me. I won’t bite, I
swear. Tell me, what are your names?” she asked.

“My name is Jeremiah, but most of my friends
call me Jeremy or Jay. And this is Sharice,” the boy boldly
answered.

“Well hello, Jeremy, and Sharice. I am Liz.
It’s nice to meet you.” She stretched out her hand to the boy.

He hesitated for a moment, and then gave it a
quick shake.

“Would you mind if I ask what you are doing
here?”

“Are we in trouble? We were told to come here
and find out where the others went. Do you know where they are?”
the boy asked.

“No you’re not in trouble. In fact, I’m glad
to see you. I had wanted to be alone tonight, but I’m kind of glad
to have some company. How old are you anyhow? You both look to
young for turning.”

“I’m sixteen, and she’s fifteen.” Jeremy
proudly replied.

The entire time they talked, Sharice sat with
her head down. She didn’t even glance up to take a peek at Liz.
They were so young. What kind of idiot would turn a child? It was
preposterous! Liz watched the girl while talking to Jeremy, waiting
for her to say something.

Jeremy finally noticed the concern on Liz’s
face and piped up, “She’s deaf. She can’t hear a word your saying.
Changing never fixed it. We kind of thought it would in the
beginning, you know. That’s why we picked her to start with, but it
didn’t work. She can’t hear you unless you use the mind thing.
She’s not dumb though. I never understood why they say the deaf and
dumb thing; it’s just that she can’t hear is all.”