Cassian Legacy: The Vampire Prince
Chapter 26

A part of the moon shone tonight,but its silhouette lay behind a large black cloud. From this distance theshadowy billows seemed unnaturally darker than usual, even with the partiallight from the moon. Regardless of the ever changing veil, the moon’s lighthighlighted the silvery outline, casting an iridescent hue against the darksky. It drew my attention - a glorious light among the indigo. But despite itsbeauty and majesty, it felt ominous.

I gazed up at the cloud for whatseemed like hours, watching it swirl and twist, gathering new moisture. Isearched for the reasons why I felt wary of this situation. It was probablybecause the outcomes were not entirely good or desirable. Or maybe it was thefact that Ms. Ingram was about to face a dangerous foe, but I decided that thetrue feeling was brought on by the fact that I would soon be leaving the cityfor good.

I had already let Finn trespassinto my life, and if he kept unearthing my secrets, he would soon know whatkind of a monster I was. I didn’t want him getting that close. I didn’t wanthim replaceing out.

Sylvia acted like she knew what Iwas already, even though I doubted that she truly did. If she had, she would’venever allowed me to stay there at the apartment and continue my friendship withFinn. And if Finn really knew… I shuddered to think what he might do if he knewthe truth.

Finn. My mind always returned tohim when I didn’t want to think about him at all. What was the deal with theboy? And why couldn’t I get him off my mind?

This situation was entirelyridiculous. I don’t know why I was so attached to him or my friends fromschool. For the first time in my immortal life, I didn’t want to run away. Iwanted to stay and try explaining myself and situation. But I knew fromcountless other times that if I didn’t leave, things would only get worse. Finnwould hate me, and that thought alone kept me from telling him what I trulywas.

He was so close to figuring it out,but I just couldn’t bear the thought of him discovering the truth. That was thereal reason why this night felt foreboding. It warned me of the danger I posedto his world.

I tore my eyes away, and resistedthe urge to look back. Already tears pooled in my eyes, threatening the releaseof a tidal wave down upon my cheeks. I quickly blinked them away and hardenedmy self-consciousness. I shouldn’t be crying, not here. Tonight was not thenight for distractions. I needed to be on my guard, at my best, in case thingswent wrong. I needed my strength.

I waited patiently up on therooftop, searching for the individual I would need. Down below me, Ms. Ingrampaced quietly in an alley, away from the depot. People kept entering thebuilding in question, but they didn’t return back outside. Eventually someonewould emerge - it was only a matter of time.

A few more hours went by and Iwondered how she could stand there for that long on her already weak knees. Themoment she arrived here, after replaceing out I came through on her promise, sheseemed ecstatic. But there were a few seconds that her legs trembled before shepushed her fear away and eagerly nodded her head accepting what I offered her.I figured she tried hiding the simple emotion from me, but I caught themovement and understood her feeling. It wasn’t that long ago I had felt thatsame fear, even if it was a few centuries ago. Ms. Ingram surprised me though.She maintained her position and didn’t show any more fear though I was suredeep down inside that her head screamed wildly aloud.

This simple adventure was turningout to be a bust. People kept going into the depot, but no one exited - andwhen I say people, they were human and not something else. Of course there wasa possibility that this wasn’t a real nest. Maybe the prostitute ran and toldthe others I was sniffing around their building and they moved it, though Iknew that was a long shot after the discussion I had with the three.

Whatever the cause of the crypticbuilding, I understood that more information and detailed reports were neededbefore I could execute my plan. I had been so sure that this was a nest, butthere were no vampires in the area from what I could see outside. We would haveto do this again, on another night when I could get Ms. Ingram what she needed.

Sunrise approached, already rays ofpurple and red streaked across the horizon. I leapt off the rim of the buildingand landed softly on the ground below. Even though I was light footed, sheheard me. She whipped around and pulled out a crude wooden stake that wouldhave no effect on me. I approached her slowly, making sure she recognized myface. Behind her, the depot’s side loomed in the darkness.

“They’re not going to emergetonight,” I whispered.

She sighed in defeat. She reallylooked like she was ready for this even when I knew she wasn’t. “Try againtomorrow?”

I shook my head. “It’s not safehere until I confirm the presence of vampires.” I pulled her further into thealley and continued the conversation when I knew we were far away from thebuilding in question. “I was sure that it was a nest when the girl told me. Sofar only people, well humans, have been entering the building. There’s apossibility that it isn’t a nest like I thought at first, but an actual depottrafficking illegal cargo. It’ll take me another week or two before I figureout if the building is truly a nest or not. Either way, you can’t hunt them onyour own because if that is a nest, you’re life is forfeit the second theysmell you.”

She crossed her arms. “Why can’tyou just walk on in and pretend like you’re one of them?”

I stared at her. Did she not getthis? “You don’t get it, do you?”

“What?” she asked me, clearly notunderstanding what I was to a nest.

“Look, I am not their friend. And they know that. If I walked in there just toclarify that it’s a nest, they’d attack me outright just because of what I am.”

“But you’ve never met them before…”she harshly whispered.

I cut her off with my hand. “Thatdoesn’t matter. There comes a point where you understand that you’re notdealing with logical rational conscious beings. Vampires who live in nests willnot pause if you come near them - they only know lust, true blood lust. Nowleave here and go home. There’s nothing more that you can do tonight.”

Her shoulders slumped forward. Sheseriously felt defeated momentarily, but I promised her I would replace one forher to fight, and replace one I would.

I made sure she was well down thestreet and headed back towards her car before I continued the watch on thedepot’s entrance. But as I stared at the door, I started wondering if theyreally had moved the nest or if they were just testing me. If they knew I wasin the neighborhood, there was a possibility that one of them took extraprecautions. It wouldn’t be the first time I encountered intelligent nesters.Usually the crazed vampires only knew two things, the need to feed and how toget it quickly. They were the ones who created the nests - only leaving whenthe bloodlust became too much. The feeders were the ones who operated oppositethe nesters. They brought their food into their homes.

I circled around the block, in theearly morning light, keeping my eyes trained on all angles of the building. Ispotted no extra doors, so I knew there was only one true way in and out. Iheaded back to my perch on the rooftop and waited for the sun to completelyrise.

A few more patrons walked into thebuilding, but still no one exited. It was just after the sun broke above thehorizon that someone walked out of the depot for the first time since Iarrived. A pair exited - a vampire and a human. I hadn’t found a nest like Ihad originally thought. It was a club of some sort. Humans didn’t walk out ofvampire nests or the homes of feeders on their own terms. And they definitelydidn’t leave sober.

I followed the pair as they walkedaway, curious as to why they had left the building. They talked about plans toexpand the underground, and the means for funding. Eventually the two brokeaway from each other, and I followed the vampire already knowing that he wouldtell me what I wished to know once I got my compulsion into his system.

He left the poor part of town andwalked into one of the suburbs. Two blocks he walked without purpose while Ifollowed him. On the third block, situated near the hidden line between thelower and middle class, he entered a home that looked decent compared with theothers. Judging by the way he opened the door, I felt like he owned theproperty which was completely odd. Nesters, feeders, vampire drifters, whateverthe term I had for them, did not ownhouses or homes. This behavior was far too odd for me to discount it as a badnight. There was something wrong and I needed to replace out what it was right nowas this could affect the future for me or Finn and the entire vampire-humancommunity.

I scoped out the area and foundthat a window had been left open in the kitchen, oddly enough. Through the openwindow I overheard him talking to a woman. Had I followed the human home byaccident? I sniffed the air, but knew immediately the man’s scent wasn’t human,though this was a vampire’s home. Thequestion that currently burned in my mind was if he knew Finn’s family and wasincidentally allied with them knowing that Emery spoke of the created in such amanner.

I listened to the conversation. Heseemed to be on the phone because I only got one side of the dialogue that wasspoken aloud. Even with my sensitive hearing, I couldn’t understand the personon the other end of the line.

“No they’re planning on doing someexpansions, but nothing’s set in stone yet.” He paused for a few seconds. “Iunderstand sir, but you sent me out here to replace out what they were planningand I did. It’s nothing but a huge house complex for our people. There are nofeeders, no humans.”

Now that didn’t make any sense. Helied to the speaker on the phone either by choice or force. Either way he wasdefinitely hiding information from someone important.

“I understand sir. I’ll wait herefor more orders.”

The phone settled back into placeon the wall. The woman hurried to the front of the house by the sound of herlight footsteps, but she didn’t say anything. Now that he was cut off from theperson on the phone, it was time that I intervene. I pushed the window widerand jumped into the house before anyone could stop me. I had to leap over thesink, but it was worth it. He was standing right in front of me when I landedupright, surprise mirrored all over his face.

I pushed him away just as the womanburst into the room. With one hand, I grabbed his neck and flung him around tothe opposite side he was facing. But with my other hand, I grabbed the womanand pulled her into a neck hold. Her skin was exposed to my face, and I let myfangs out gently making sure I wouldn’t puncture her skin.

She had no strength when she pushedagainst my arm, so right away I knew she was a human and not worth my time. Butthe man wasn’t. I glared at him and he met my gaze with my eyes.

“Who are you allied with?” Iwhispered quietly.

He didn’t respond, probablyfrightened from my rash display or just plain stubborn.

I turned it on and gazed into his eyes. His body relaxed within my grip andI knew my compulsion was working. Again I repeated, “Who are you allied with?”

“Lord Holden Tierney.”

So he was one of the manybodyguards and assassins assigned around the city, which either made him atraitor or an ally for me.

“What do you do for him?” Ipressed.

“I protect the family.”

The girl struggled in my arms and Itightened my grip. I couldn’t have her breaking free and interrupting myquestioning. She didn’t scream though which worried me that something was wrongwith her, but I didn’t distract myself and kept my gaze on the vampire.

“What are you hiding from LordHolden Tierney?”

He stuttered. “N…nothing.”

I let go of the girl and turned offthe compulsion. Immediately his eyes refocused and he struggled against me.

“What do you want, just don’t hurt her!” he whined.

I glanced down at the ‘her’ hementioned. The girl I had held previously massaged her neck with her hands, butstayed where she was. Obviously she wasn’t fearful like she should be whichreally worried me. I momentarily forgot what it was I was here for and lookedback at the vampire. “What are you doing here with a human?”

He didn’t like that I knew what shewas. Instantly his frightened eyes turned cold and hateful. He glared at mewith murder blazing in his brown gems.

“Look, you need to explain now or Iwill kill you,” I warned. I meant business.

“Are you one of his assassins?” hewhispered. “He must’ve known…”

I frowned instantly wondering whyhe thought that and then I remembered I held his life in my hands, literally. Ireleased his neck, but didn’t step away. “What are you hiding?”

He flustered, his movements jerkedwhile he glanced at the girl more than once. He knew I could snap both of theirnecks in an instant if I felt like it, but he still faltered in giving me theinformation I needed. My ears picked up a faint noise, distracting me from thesituation, and I listened instantly. The girl’s heart rate had been beating soquickly that I nearly missed hearing the other one. Now that it slowed down Icaught a beat out of sync, signaling to me that there were more than twoheartbeats in this room, not counting mine. This man wasn’t a created vampire.He was one of the born.

I went about my questioning using adifferent tact. “Are you related to Finn?” If Finn’s father had a hold of theman in a serious, life-threatening way, I wondered how the man would react ifFinn’s name was brought into question.

The vampire shook his head. “No notdirectly. I’m a Seneca.”

He didn’t stutter this time, whichled me to believe the guy wasn’t afraid of Finn like he was with Holden. But healso let me know that there was more than one family of vampires that livedhere in town. Emery had never told me which families were their allies, or ifthere were any other vampire families nearby so I had no knowledge going intothis situation. At least this declaration made sense now because I alwayswondered how there were so many born vampires running around with only onecoven in play. Of course there had to be others nearby, but the thought nevercrossed my mind until now.

I glanced down at the girl, curiousabout her part in this play. Knowing how Sylvia was created and brought intothe coven’s family, I figured that something similar was happening right inthis room. For any vampire to involve themselves in a human’s life would bemomentous and life-threatening for them both. If the girl was used tosituations like this, it led me to believe that the man would do anything forher, yet he was stuck in some kind of arrangement with Finn’s father. I had aguess as to what kind. “You’re supposed to marry one of Lord Tierney’sdaughters or nieces, aren’t you?”

I knew he didn’t want to answer me,but his eyes said it all. They dilated briefly before he reigned in hisfeelings. This was a huge dilemma. This man was supposedly loyal to Finn’sfamily, and yet he was conspiring against Finn’s father. But why? Somethingabout this whole situation wasn’t right. There were politics involved here,politics I wanted no part of, but I had inadvertently placed myself in thisposition. I had to make a choice.

If I arrived here today in thiscity, I would side with the man and his secret whatever that may be. If I wasmy true self, I would’ve never put the girl’s life in jeopardy. Of course if Iwas my true self, I would’ve never agreed in allowing Ms. Ingram a vampire tokill much less replace one for her. I relaxed my stance. I had made an oath toprotect Finn, and it was Finn that I was only loyal to.

I met his eyes once more. “Look, Iwon’t tell him anything about this. But I need to know what you’re hiding fromhim about that depot. What is that place really, and I know it’s not a nest.”

He waited a long time before hesaid anything, probably judging my reaction and wondering if I was bluffing.“Do you promise? You swear?”

I nodded. “I swear. I’m not loyalto Finn’s daddy, just Finn.”

The man relaxed. “It’s a nest, nota true one, but one nonetheless. It’s designed to be a place where vampiresdon’t have to leave if extraneous circumstances arise.”

I straightened at once, notexpecting what he told me. “Do you mean to tell me that they’re bringinglive-in feeders?”

He nodded. “And other stuff, but Ididn’t want to know what that other stuff was. I didn’t stay long enough toreplace out. I’m only helping the guy out because he can loan me the money I needto get us safely away from Lord Tierney.”

This was indeed odd. I’d neverheard of a place like that mostly because the drug houses had to move to avoiddetection and notice from the populace. It wasn’t much of a big deal if a humandiscovered the operation when the vampires could easily dispatch them, but if awhole neighborhood or community found out, then the attraction brought unwantedattention towards them and that was when the situations got deadly. Even if thecreated vampires were wild and unrestrained they abhorred detection. “Who’s thehuman fronting this?”

He frowned. “There are no humansthere.”

I smiled, knowing I caught his lie.“You lie. You walked out of there with one.”

He shook his head fervently.“Octavian isn’t a human. He’s a warlock. We both were sent there forreconnaissance. He deals in the dark arts, but is loyal to Lord Tierney. Hewon’t betray me though, because he’s the one helping me get the money so we canleave.”

I approached him, wondering if hetruly told me the truth. “That human… is a warlock?”

He nodded.

I had sensed no power radiatingfrom the guy, and with all Fae creatures that were truly empowered, theyusually radiated that power from their blood, sweat, and tears. The otherwitches and warlocks I had come across during my travels all radiated theirpowers like it surrounded them in a shield. Even the weakest members had someprotection with their weakened magicks. The Fae’s power resided in our blood. Eitherthis man was powerful enough to mask his magic, or he was completely bluffingand shamelessly fooling Lord Tierney because he had no true power at all. Myguess was that he was bluffing, judging from experience on dealing with realwitches. But I needed to know for sure, and wondered if the man before me hadever seen true power. “Have you ever seen Octavian use his magic?”

The guy shook his head. “Notreally, but I once saw him pull money out of a hat, quite literally.”

I raised an eyebrow. Was he that serious?“Parlor tricks?”

“No, he pulled about a wad of cashfrom an empty baseball hat, several hundred dollars if I remember correctly.”

Illusion tricks. This kid wasnothing more than a beginner at magic. Real warlocks didn’t do simple thingslike that whether they were into the dark arts or not. They had all beenfooled. Whoever Octavian really was or what he really was, he wasn’t an ally toany one of them.

“How much do you have saved?” Icrossed through the living room and peered out the front window. I hadn’tsensed anyone approach the house since my arrival, but after this little chatit was obvious to me what was about to happen. They wouldn’t strike out at himin the daytime though. They’d wait for the sun to set and then under the coverof darkness they’d make their approach. Besides vampires were slightly weakerin the daytime, even if the sun didn’t burn their skin.

“You don’t think they’re going tocome after me now? Here?” he squeaked.

I didn’t turn to him. “That’sexactly what I think,” I mumbled.

He sprung into action then. Hepulled out a tin box and rummaged through a wad of cash. The girl hurried upinto the next room and pulled out two suitcases already packed. It looked likethey were ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

I looked between the two of them.“If you’re going to leave, you need to do it now, while it’s still daylight.”

“What are you going to do?” hewhispered to me.

I smiled at him. “What I do best.Now stop asking questions and flee. They’re not here yet, but you can bet thatthey’ll arrive eventually. Take this time and run.”

They hurried on out of thebackdoor. As soon as they were down the street and into the next block, I heardcars pull up and stop at the front of the house. I crossed the floor, andpeered out of the window. In between the faded blue and white curtains, Iwatched Finn’s father emerge from a black limousine in a suit and tie. Beforethe door shut completely though, I spotted Atria filing her nails from insidethe car comfortably. The human that earlier emerged from the depot with theSeneca vampire, stepped out of the passenger seat in the front. The two alliesbriefly locked gazes before Lord Tierney walked up the porch steps.

Now I needed to stall for as longas possible. Rather than meet a confrontation as awkward and uncomfortable asit already was in the house, I opened the front door and stepped outside.Holden Tierney nearly stumbled on the spot. He was extremely surprised to seeme here, of all places, which I didn’t blame him. I still couldn’t believe Iwas here myself.

“Abelia?” he questioned, getting myname right.

Octavian’s eyes flickered over ashe met my steel gaze. He looked slightly alarmed by my disruption, but theexpression was gone in a second and replaced with surprise, mirroring hisboss’s composure.

I studied the boy thoroughly,honing my senses onto his aura. He had some power, but not enough of it to makeit seem like he was an actual warlock. To what purpose he told Lord Tierneythat he was useful in a fight I had no idea why he’d lie. It was possible heneeded protection of his own and so used what little knowledge he had to servethe man. But whatever the case one thing was sure - I had been right. He was bluffingwhich put him on my watch list.

Finn’s father followed my gaze.“This is Octavian, the clan’s warlock.”

I chuckled, mostly because I foundthat greeting highly amusing. “He’s not that powerful.”

Octavian flinched like I threw awhip at him. “Not yet, but one day I’ll be.”

“You’re fresh meat,” I teased himand turned my attention back to where it belonged.

Lord Tierney smiled. “You can sensehis power? He’s quite capable of handling what we need him to do.”

I smiled kindly, but reallyunderstood what he suggested. The kid made truth serums and amnesia cocktails,basic magic that any chemistry student could concoct if done properly. Realmagic stemmed from something deeper and more primal, which this kid lacked. IfI had to guess about his previous life before he served the Tierney householdbased on this short conversation, he had once been a bartender for a club likethe Red Curtain.

Time for a change of subject.“You’re too late.”

Lord Tierney’s smile faded at once.“What do you mean?”

“Whoever dwelled here is alreadygone,” I explained.

Octavian circled around his bossand approached me. I made my way down the few stairs and met their eyes.

Finn’s father didn’t look happyfrom my announcement. He obviously wanted an explanation, of which I didn’treally have.

I crossed my arms. “So I waswatching this depot last night, looking for evidence of a vampire nest.” As Iexplained I watched Octavian’s eyes and body language. He didn’t flinch once,but he definitely looked like he didn’t want me to be sniffing around thatarea. He had been keeping a secret pertaining to the man who once lived here, butthat was only for his own gain. Octavian wanted something out of that nest andI would replace out what. “I stayed up on my perch all night, waiting for someoneto emerge from the building and eventually someone did. I saw Octavian,obviously not knowing who he was at the time, and another vampire leave thebuilding just after dawn. I naturally followed the vampire, because I don’ttrack humans, plus I didn’t sense any kind of power that put me or the othersinto any danger. Well I overheard a conversation between the vampire andwhomever he spoke to on the phone,” I looked at Lord Tierney, “which I guesswas you. I don’t know what you said to him that made him run away so quickly.He didn’t give me a chance to explain who I was. He was out of the house andfleeing down the street before I could stop him. I’ve been doing somereconnaissance of my own and looking for anything that might have helped mefigure out what that nest was really doing there and why this man had anythingto do with it.”

Octavian narrowed his eyes at me.He obviously didn’t believe my story. “He fled. Just like that?”

I shrugged. “Maybe it was the sightof me so soon after the phone conversation. He probably wasn’t expecting anyothers of our kind to be coming here anytime soon. I wonder what he’d do now ifhe saw you two here. He’d probably commit suicide.”

Octavian sighed and didn’t commenton my last statement. I had stated that for his observation only. If Octavianwas a true friend, he would be upset over my simple suggestion. But he honestlywasn’t listening to me and paying more attention to the how’s and why’s andwhereabouts of his supposed comrade. “Do you know in what direction he went?”

I pointed south down the boulevard,the direction the boy and his girlfriend were headed in. “That way.” Hopefullyif they had enough sense, they would be out of the state by the afternoon. Icouldn’t lie to the man about the path the two took. They would smell his scentand follow that trail to the nearest bus station or train dock. At least I hadthem stalled for a legitimate amount of time.

Octavian’s eyes flickered in thedirection I pointed in, but I saw the look of betrayal on his face. I had beenwrong in my observations. He wasn’t at all happy that I had told Lord Tierneywhat direction they fled in. I was reading the guy wrongly. He actually cared.I made a note that I needed to explain things later, when he was alone, but nowwas not the time.

I peered through the tinted windowsof the limo. Atria didn’t seem concerned with this issue, although she heardevery word. I wondered if she was happy about the connection formed between herand the Seneca man.

Lord Tierney captured my attentiononce more, distracting me from my thoughts. “Are you planning on attendingschool today?”

I smiled back at him. “Of course.”

“But you were up all night,” hebegan. “Surely Finn can excuse your absence.” He pulled out a cell phone andstarted punching a number.

“Don’t,” I pleaded with him.

Lord Tierney paused in his tappingand directed his focus back on me. “Are you sure? You look exhausted.”

Octavian knocked on the window ofthe passenger’s door and a bottle of grape soda appeared. “Here,” he handed methe drink.

I didn’t want this, already knowingwhat it was. But the two had their eyes on me as well as Atria from beyond thetinted window. I opened the cap and took a swallow. The blood hit my mouth,revolting me with its taste. I tried my hardest not to let it show on my face,so I swallowed it quickly, forcing it down.

“Better?” Lord Tierney asked.

I nodded and handed the drink backto him.

He shook his head and pushed itback to me. “That’s yours. Take it with you on your way to school.”

Ismiled my thanks and hurried out of sight. Once I got home to retrieve mythings, I trashed the bottle and drank a whole glass of water since there wasn’tanything stronger in the house to get rid of the taste.