“I liked you better when you couldn’t talk.”
He scowled at the Cassandrian. “Fine, what’s going on?”
The magik raised an eyebrow at him before settling himself onto Kirios’ sofa. “Nice place you have here.”
The vampyre itched to hit the words out of the magik’s mouth but he tried to remember this was the guy who had saved his life.
After a few minutes of awkward silence the seer finally smiled. “OK. Here’s what’s going on. I’ve seen this girl. A Midnight. The daughter of a Council member to be more precise. She is, shall we say, against the war. Her name is Atia.”
“What has she got to do with anything?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“Is she… the mother of the child?”
“Don’t know.”
And just like that he was gone.
Kirios stared open-mouthed at the empty space on the sofa.
“Fucking fortune-tellers.”
Some fifty-odd years later
He watched the girl as she stared up at the moon from her bedroom window, her pale hair like a beacon drawing him in. Kirios sighed. He had found her. At last. After seeing the evidence at the house in the woods of her powers, of what she had done to her Uncle Ethan, Kirios knew that Caia Ribeiro was what he had been waiting for. All these years. All the mistakes.
When the Prophet had come to him about Atia he had followed her, watching her for any sign of what was to come. She was beautiful and powerful. Petrovsky told him she stayed clear of the war, suggesting she was, as the Prophet had said, against it. But her beauty was enough to entice the Head of the Coven, Devlyn, to ask for her hand in marriage. Her family wouldn’t let her say no. Kirios had known at that moment, had seen his chance - she was going to be the mother of the child from the prophecy. So he had revealed himself to her, and along with Petrovsky’s help, explained all they had planned. Through her they received information direct from Devlyn himself, and he never knew because Kirios masked her trace. Atia helped willingly. She despised Devlyn.
For a number of years life went on that way, and during them she mothered two children to Devlyn, playing her role as mother and wife and her other role as spy for the Daylights. Kirios on the other hand was growing despondent. He had no idea how to proceed. Atia was supposed to mother a half-breed child. And there had been no sign of that eventuality so far.
Then one momentous day Saffron had come to him and told him about her mistress, Marion, and the affair she had had recently with a member of a small lykan pack. Saffron felt sure there was something about this pack, something important, and since her instincts had always run true, Kirios had listened attentively. She told Kirios of their Alpha, Mikhail, how special, how strong he was. He had an aura. At her description Kirios had smirked. If it had been three-hundred years before Kirios would have put it down to the fact that Saffron was susceptible to a handsome face, but she had been gravely hurt by a warlock since then and was a little frosty to almost every man she encountered. So Kirios had believed her and had set about planning a meeting between Atia and Mikhail. He knew what he had to ask of them was cold and clinical and completely degrading. But if it would bring an end to the war?
Sighing in remembrance, Kirios leaned against a tree, his eyes still glued to the girl up in her room. Perhaps it was his fault. He had pushed Atia into the decision, settling her anxiety by utilizing mesmerism. He had never done that to one of his own before. With Saffron’s help, Kirios managed to convince them both to sleep with one another. But after a few years of arranged meetings between them no child was ever born. Kirios’ frustration was the least of their problems. Devlyn was not as naïve as Kirios would have liked. He was a jealous husband and had been tracking Atia’s movements through faeries, despite no sign of duplicity in her trace. By the time Kirios got wind of the information and warned Atia and Mikhail… it was too late. Mikhail, without giving the details, warned his pack, Pack Errante, but Atia panicked. She killed Mikhail, assuming that Devlyn would have mercy on her. He slaughtered her anyway.
His eyes glazed over with the memories. So much loss. And all for nothing.
Or so he had thought.
When it felt as if it was time to give up and give in, Saffron came to him with the news that one of the members of Pack Errante had arrived home with a magik he believed to be a member of the Daylight Coven. Saffron knew in fact that the girl was Atia and Devlyn’s daughter, Adriana; that she was there to infiltrate the pack under her father’s orders. His instincts told him to let Adriana’s seduction play out, ordering Saffron to keep quiet.
Kirios smiled softly and raised his eyes back up to the window.
Caia was born.
A feeling of overwhelming anticipation rushed through him. He had done everything to protect her, masking her trace when Adriana hunted her, making sure Saffron kept a close eye, to make sure that Marion was protecting Caia. For a while his attention had been diverted by Devlyn and his growing tyranny - his unbelievable madness, his camps for behavioral modification for magiks, his desperation to have them under his complete control. Nikolai, the present son of the Petrovsky family, had grown so concerned that Kirios had masked his trace and sent Nikolai in to Kill Devlyn. The Midnights had no clue as to who had done it, supposedly a member of Daylight of course.
And now Caia was the Head of the Coven! He had laughed when he and Nikolai realized the truth. But the laughter hadn’t lasted long. Devlyn’s irritating brat of a son had tried to continue his father’s work and was a little too pre-occupied with finding Caia and destroying her. His distance from the Coven had allowed Nikolai to solidify an important, authoritative position within the Coven, but Kirios had worried over Ethan’s ever increasing obsession with his niece. Not that he need have worried, he thought smugly, watching her, remembering all that… mess… he’d found a few days ago in Ethan’s lodge. Now Nikolai was Regent of the Midnights and halting attacks against the Daylights under the guise that Ethan’s disappearance had weakened the Coven. Not to mention he said he was close to completing the Septum.
But what of Caia… he mused desperate to come out from the cover of the trees to reveal himself to her. He needed to know more about her. He needed to be able to trust her. Somehow, he had to insinuate himself into her life.
The girl. Yes, he thought. The lykan that Ethan had kidnapped. Jaeden.
He had watched her for a while, yesterday, wondering what on Gaia’s earth had happened to her down in Ethan’s basement. He could guess he supposed. He scowled. She should never have had to go through that. And now… well… she had a secret too. As he had watched her he had seen her grow visibly upset and items in her room had started flying around of their own accord. A telekinetic. Untapped magikal power in a lykan. She was like a two-for-one special. Not only would she be a useful soldier but he could use her to insinuate himself into Caia’s life. Another misfit to add to his crew. Yes. Tonight he would send a few impulses her way, suggest perhaps she run away from the pack. Then he would appear: Reuben the vampyre with his gang of hunters. Yeah. He’d make sure Jaeden wanted to join him. And then he’d have it all. Jaeden. The Septum. And Caia.
3 – Just How Deep
the Rabbit Hole Goes
Reuben – sorry Kirios – was really old. Like… whoa old.
Caia gazed at him, trying to look anything but intimidated by him. Of course she was. She had to maintain control of the situation. As much control as someone in a cage could.
“What I got from that long-winded tale of sorrow is your little family of hippies are responsible for this war, and you my friend are a ruthless son-of-a-bitch. Not exactly endearing me to your cause. By the way, I still don’t fully have a grasp on what your cause is exactly.”
“To end the war. I thought I was quite clear on that point.”
She held in a long suffering sigh. “Yes, but how do you intend to do that?”
Reuben looked off into the distance, a smug smile in his eyes. “Well, Marita has inadvertently made everything so much easier for us.”
Caia snorted in disbelief. “And how is that?”
“Our plan was to take care of the Septum and then get rid of Marita. That could have been a bloody mess but Marita has betrayed herself to the Council. We just need to take her out, and then once she’s out of the picture I’m sure it will be pretty easy to persuade the Council to our way of thinking.”
“Again, what way is that? What the Hades is the Septum? If you’re going to keep me in a cage like a gerbil you can at least do me the courtesy of providing me with some straight answers.”
Reuben chuckled and relaxed once more into his armchair, shrugging elegantly. “What cage?”
A jolt ran through Caia at his amusement and she closed her eyes in disbelief. It better be there when she opened them. Slowly, she craned her neck up. No bars. Her gaze flew around her sides and back and she narrowed her eyes. No cage. And the bars that had been suspended in front of her disappeared as she turned back to look at Nikolai. She shook her head, laughing low and humorlessly. “For how long?”
“Since Nikolai gave me this chair.”
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll try to use magik?”
He shrugged, apparently his favorite gesture. “Wouldn’t you have done so by now?”
She growled. He was such a smug bastard. She just wanted to smack the expression off his face. “I want to know what the Septum is. It doesn’t mean I have any intention of working for you. I just want to know what I’m dealing with.”
“That’s smart. Probably the first smart thing you’ve said or done so far.”
Breathe, Caia, breathe. He claims to be impervious to magik. He could be lying but if he’s not and you blast him, Nikolai will blast you before you can blink and then Reuben will finish you off.
His eyes wandered over her face. “You think before you act. At least that’s something.”
“Screw you.”
“Very mature.”
“Oh, and your pointed little insults are the height of sophisticated adulthood.”
His lips quirked up at the corner in obvious amusement. Goddess, she hated this guy.
“I’m just pointing out that you haven’t shown a propensity for logic in your previous dealings.”
Don’t let him bait you. Ignore him. Count sheep or something.
Oh the hell with it, counting sheep was for insomniacs! “And just what the Hades do you know about it, huh?”
Well done, Caia, that’s showing him.
“You were planning on taking over the Daylight Coven with the hopes of beginning peace negotiations with the Midnights. Illogical, stupid and naïve.”
She bristled. “Maybe you’ve forgotten, but I’m the one with trace powers. I can sense Midnights emotions and motives, and I can assure you there are a lot of them out there who would welcome my plan to end the war.”
“Yes, but there are also many who won’t. That’s why we need to deal with the Septum first.”
Arrrgghhh!
“What is the Septum?” she seethed between clenched teeth.