26

y the time the first responders arrived at the Crifton site, the fire was fully involved. The glow from the blaze was seen for miles, leading some to believe it was a forest fire. And as more officials from The Brotherhood arrived on the scene, as well, they orchestrated the blaze as such—a forest fire. The firefighters and police on the scene assumed this to be work of the CIA or FBI, and all were ordered to remain silent on the matter, with each receiving a bonus for their work on this night. Money; the great negotiator.
But this was never about money for Lori. Money was no luxury to her. It was about control. To let someone like Owen to live after the control he had over her, compromised Lori’s domineering nature. And now he was no more. The feeling left a surge of euphoria within her. There was no emptiness as Owen prophesied. If there were any regrets it would be for her lack of restraint. Oh, how she wanted to deliver him to Demetrius and to witness his wrath. But Owen’s death was sealed no matter the prelude. Lori took an added solace in that thought.
One by one, the caravan reentered the underground parking lot. The mass of vampires, added with some freed werewolves, exited the packed trailers. The camaraderie of the attack and escape formed a bond between a few of them, some vampires even offering assistance in getting the werewolves home. It was an incredible sight for Lori.
As she left the van with Mikolas, the daytime liaison approached them.
Lori spoke before she could. “If this is about the trouble I’ve caused, you can tell your elder that we’ll be leaving at sunset. He’ll never have to deal with me again.”
“Please,” the woman said, “come with me.”
Lori detected a hint of somberness in the woman’s voice.
Deep within the haven the liaison led her, beyond the guestrooms and into an area restricted to haven employees. Miguel stood in front of a single door as he nodded for the woman to leave them.
As he spoke, the somberness within him was even stronger than the woman.
“Haven’s rarely have to deal with this kind of situation,” he began.
Confused, Lori replied, “What’s going on?”
“We strive to uphold a net of safety for the humans who seek shelter here, but even we fail from time to time.” Miguel opened the door.
The room was one all havens had, and all havens hoped to never use. Lori stepped into the cold room, it’s bare walls adding to the coldness. In the center of the room sat a table with a human form underneath a sheet. The scent of blood—her scent—filled Lori’s nose. She hurried to the table and pulled down the sheet.
No sadness found her. It was anger; familiar anger.
Lori touched the side of Jayda’s cool cheek, and then slid the sheet down further, checking for any new marks on her neck. The skin, now pale, shown the week old bite from the motel room but nothing else. She moved the sheet from her chest and found the blood dried on her shirt, surrounding a hole within the fabric. Lori ripped the shirt open and found the wound left by a knife.
Furious, she turned sharply to Miguel. “Who did this?”
“We believe it was the other human you brought here. He was seen leaving the room shortly before she was discovered.”
“He wouldn’t do this.”
Miguel remove a piece of folded paper from his pocket. “They found this on her body.” He handed her the paper.
Lori opened it, her eyes taking in the strange symbol. Below was a message written in Latin. The words sent the air from her lungs. The handwriting was Charles’, but the message…
“Excuse me,” she said, hurrying past Miguel and back upstairs to the parking area.
The large crowd from before had dwindled down to nearly half, while some stayed around to relive the night’s fun. Lori, on the other hand, stormed over to the lead van. Arden and Nicholas stood at the back of the van listening to an always-talkative Mikolas. He stopped talking as he saw Lori approach.
“Where’s that one guy, Christoff?” Lori asked.
Mikolas motioned to the front of the van. She marched on, finding the feeble human sitting on the ground with his back against the van. She handed him the paper.
“What can you tell me about this?” she demanded.
Christoff looked at the paper with slow moving eyes, then finally stood.
“This…” He stopped to reread the words underneath the symbol once more. “This here is the original hieroglyph used by The Brotherhood. It was abandoned when they aligned themselves with the government. But the words have nothing to do with it. ‘The King of Truth and the Queen of Lies will sleep within my Tomb.” He looked around Lori to see the two vampires and werewolf watching and listening, as well.
Lori crossed her arms. “Do you know a guy named Charles Winthrop? Blond hair, brown eyes, slender build, around his mid thirties? He use to work for The Brotherhood.”
“Charles Winthrop?” He stared at her, dumbfounded. “Charles Winthrop was killed ten years ago. And he was bald, grey eyes, weighed about 260 pounds, and was in his late forties. He tried to leave The Brotherhood and go public with our work. We managed to get to him before any damage was done.”
“How long have you worked for them?”
“Almost all my life it seems. It was the family business.”
“What’s this all about?” asked Nicholas.
Lori continued to stare at Christoff as she replied. “Jayda’s dead.”
Nicholas grabbed her arm, forcing her to look at him. “What?”
She tried to avoid his eye contact. “She was stabbed. They think it was Charles, the one who helped plan all of this.” She finally looked at him, tears threatening to leave her eyes. “I’m sorry. It was my fault.”
Nicholas’ eyes became distant as he backed away. “I want to see her.”
“She’s downstairs.”
Almost bolting into a run, Nicholas headed for the haven’s entrance with Arden following. Lori turned her attention back to Christoff.
“Jonas Reinhart. Do you know him?”
“Yeah. Everyone in The Brotherhood knows him.”
“Where can I find him?”
“You can’t. The man is like a ghost. He only shows up when a serious issue needs to be dealt with.”
Lori returned to crossing her arms, the once threatening tears now gone. “Who does he answer to?”
“No one knows.”
“But he does answer to someone?”
“He’s an errand boy, of course. But that’s all we’re allowed to know.”
“Is there any way I can find him?”
Christoff looked away as he shuffled through his memory. “He usually oversees our work. When a new piece is released onto the board, he won’t be far behind.”
“Piece?”
“Like in chess. We create the pieces to their game.”
Mikolas continued to listen.
“What is their game?” Lori asked.
“Currently? They want to take out Eden. But their real goal is SEVEN.”
“And you’re sure of this?”
Christoff grew uneasy before her, his eyes going from the vampire at her side, then back to her. “I’ve been with them through most of their planning. We’ve been testing different tactics to weaken Ingram mentally. We tried to eliminate his daughter, but she managed to escape that trap.”
Mikolas stepped in to ask, “You were the one’s responsible for drugging Keelan?”
“Was that his name?”
The shallowness of Christoff’s words cut through Mikolas. “Oh boy,” he said with a growing smile, “I know a couple of vampires who would love to get a hold of you.”
“I wasn’t a part of that team,” Christoff tried to defend. “I only heard about it.”
Lori shook her head at this new information. “Why does The Brotherhood want to get rid of Eden and SEVEN?”
“They are the only ones capable of waging war against The Brotherhood. Their plan is to hit them hard and take control. With SEVEN under their helm, they will have no threats in this world.”
“What about Redthorn?”
Mikolas spoke up. “Who’s Redthorn?”
“Redthorn,” answered Christoff, “is made up of two old families from the early Middle Ages. They were blessed with the strength and abilities of the vampire, but without the need for blood and the fear of the sun. They are very much mortal, but they do remain a threat to The Brotherhood. And this new strike against Eden will serve as one stone for two birds. Three children of Redthorn are staying at the estate until the end of next month. The attack will happen on the full moon before their departure. Those who will be killed are Ingram and the three in his care.”
“Shit,” Lori exhaled. Turning from them, she headed for the haven and down to where Nicholas and Arden went. She was once finished with all of this. She needed to be finished. But this news sent her back into the chaos. She had no direct ties to Eden, but the drive to send out a warning was more for the protection of her conscience.
Outside of the room where Nicholas stood by Jayda’s body, Arden waited patiently. Lori stopped to take in the scene and felt the sadness crawling forth once more. This was her fault. She brought Charles here.
The King of Truth and the Queen of Lies… Lori knew exactly what the line meant. But the last part, …will sleep within my Tomb, left her stumped. No matter what the ‘Tomb’ meant, the threat was clear. Charles knew who she was and the ties she carried, and this placed Demetrius in danger, as well.
As Arden finally looked at her, she hurried to him, arms embracing. “I need you to do a favor for me,” she whispered. Hugging him for a moment longer, she wanted him to embrace her as well, but his hands remained at his sides. Lori slowly pulled away. “I need to you to find Gabriel. Don’t tell him that I sent you. Don’t even mention my name. When you do find him, I need you to give him a message.”