Many thanks to Scarlet Empress and She-Devil Red for the consistent reviews and for just being so massively supportive. You ladies are absolute MVPs and I am so grateful for you!
No CWs this week. But we are making a return to reality/the drama of Budapest. Don't despair, though. Even though Rémy is being a well-intentioned ass at the moment, Vlad is in it to win.
Copyright © 2021 TSM. All rights reserved.
Chapter 29
A Call to Arms
It required very little imagination for Dracula to account for Rémy's sudden change in demeanor.
Perhaps other men would feel something akin to guilt or embarrassment at being caught for developing amorous feelings for the sister of one's best friend, but Vladislaus felt no such remorse. If anything, he found himself torn between irritation at being thwarted and a twisted kind of amusement, which made the awkwardness they now sat in painfully one-sided. Rémy clearly had a lot to get off his chest, so much he wanted to say, but the man couldn't even begin to find the words and his friend was in no hurry to make things easy for him.
He may have been nearly a millennia old, but even Dracula had it in him to be petty.
The vampire king brought the rim of his glass to his lips in a controlled manner, having to suppress the smirk that threatened to betray his true feelings as he silently nursed the crimson liquid. He could feel Rémy's gaze on him, the weight of his judgment, the questions… even a hint of insecurity he suspected the poor man wasn't entirely conscious of.
Vladislaus may not have appreciated his friend's well-intentioned meddling, but the satisfaction of Frankie's affronted reaction had been profoundly validating. He felt his stomach knot just a little at the thought of his intended, however, recalling the fury in which she had stormed out of the room after that brief conference with her protective elder brother. He sincerely hoped she was all right, that the events from earlier in the woods would not serve as justification to follow through with what he assumed her brother's counsel to be.
To keep her distance.
Dracula internally cringed at the thought.
He had worked so hard to reestablish and nurture his relationship with Francesca since his return from banishment. While he was generally confident in her feelings for him, in how far they had come together these last few weeks especially, he could not deny the twinge of anxiety that was itching to take root.
She had pushed him away before. How he prayed she wouldn't try to do so again.
Vlad's previous amusement gradually turned sour as his irritation with Rémy's interference settled in more fully.
Before he could quietly ponder on promises of ruthless retribution should Frankie choose to heed her brother's warnings, the awkward silence was interrupted by the appearance of Armand who entered the dining room rather abruptly.
Rémy seemed to come to life at the sight of his uncle.
"Ah! Armand! I've been meaning to speak with you…"
"If it has anything to do with the inexcusable manner in which you just attacked your sister, then I'm afraid I have no desire to hear it," Armand replied coolly, though he remained perfectly composed. He nodded in Vlad's direction in acknowledgement, but said nothing.
"Are you seriously taking her side in this?" Rémy exclaimed, both surprised and affronted that not one, but two members of his extended family were now angry with him.
"As I said, I'm not here to discuss it. You have a call… from Budapest."
Rémy looked like he was ready to defend himself, but the mention of home had him stumbling briefly, his expression taking on a look of confusion.
"Who is it?"
"Carmen and Danny."
"Oh… is everything okay?"
"I have no idea," Armand announced, sounding a little impatient. "The video chat is all set up in the archive room if you'd like to take the call there. Vesper is keeping them occupied."
Rémy stood, already making his way towards the nearest door.
"Come on, Vlad! They must have news."
Dracula was slow to rise from his chair, purposefully lingering back in the hopes that he could catch a quick word with Armand. He struggled to read the man's face, but before he could inquire after Francesca, Rémy shouted for the man not to lag behind.
Vlad's eyes narrowed a little in his friend's direction, but his host's expression softened.
"She's fine," Armand assured him in low tones. "Go. I think you'll want to hear what's been occurring in your absence." They parted ways then, Armand turning to head in one direction with Vladislaus following after Rémy in the other.
The two men arrived in the archives a short time later, discovering Vesper chatting away excitedly as she talked about all the fun she had been having with Madame Leblanc's dhampir niece who was staying in town a couple of miles away from the estate. But upon Rémy's entrance, the girl fell silent when she noticed how grave Carmen's expression had suddenly become.
"Vesper, can you give Rémy and I the room?" Carmen called out.
"Sure," the teenager answered dutifully, but before she exited, she looked back a little warily. When she was gone, the woman projected on the wall appeared to let out a heavy breath she had been holding in. She suddenly looked exhausted. Vlad, deciding to stay out of sight, leaned up against the wall next to the open door.
"You look well," Carmen began with sudden awkwardness. "I'm glad to see you feeling better."
"Thanks," was all Rémy could think to say. He shifted a little uncomfortably, the unspoken tension between the pair not lost to his majesty. "How are things?"
"Up until about twelve hours ago, they were very quiet," she admitted with a sigh. "I knew better than to trust it, but there was no way we could have prepped for this…"
"For what? What happened?"
Carmen paused, clearly deliberating.
"Is Frankie with you?"
"Frankie and I aren't exactly on speaking terms at the moment," Rémy admitted.
"What? Why?"
"It doesn't matter," he replied dismissively, doing his best to ignore the weight of his friend's gaze. "Does she need to be here?"
"Not right now," the woman answered a little warily, and she turned to look at someone off screen.
"We can break the news to her separately," Danny's voice came in from a distance.
"What's happened?" Rémy repeated, watching as Danny stepped into frame, bringing a chair with him so he could sit beside Carmen in front of the webcam.
The pair exchanged very solemn looks before Carmen nodded in silent agreement of something.
"Yesterday afternoon, long after we had all gone to rest for the day, a news story broke – a smear campaign at first glance – they had footage of what went down at the blood-factory that night. Not a lot – just fragments they had been able to salvage from the damaged security system. But it was enough to get the fire going. By sundown, the story had developed into a full-on inferno… something far worse than what we could have expected…"
"Have they identified us? Do they know who we are, whose part of the alliance?"
"The news hasn't been about any of us. It's all about Frankie."
Vlad felt his stomach churn uncomfortably as he straightened in anticipation, no longer leaning against the wall. Rémy appeared to have a similar reaction. The man's eyes had widened in disbelief.
"What?"
"It's bad, Rémy… it's really bad."
"Show me."
Carmen typed something in and a second window popped up on the screen in the corner of their video chat – a live stream of the VNN news report in Budapest.
It was CCTV footage of the night of Cece's murder – the night Frankie had lost control.
The actual death of Cecilia de Chacier wasn't mentioned once, the main emphasis focusing on Frankie's ruthless violence toward officers of the law, as well as the innocent civilians that happened upon the slaughter and got caught in her crosshairs. The carnage was horrifying to behold, but not wholly unfamiliar. Vlad watched in a breathless sort of wonderment as he witnessed the shattering of Francesca Chase.
The night she had lost herself to her dark passenger in the blood factory, she had been all wrath. But this – even through the massacre and the violence, he could see the despair in her eyes.
Rage amplified by a consuming grief, giving way to madness.
He didn't think it could get any worse – the mass of bodies and limbs, pools of blood littering the scene.
But then a man stepped into view and Dracula felt the air around his friend shift.
The newcomer was handsome – even the poor quality of the footage couldn't conceal that. His hair was dark and his face kind as he placed his gun down on the ground and lifted his hands in the air, approaching the monstrous Frankie with great care. Must be Derek, Vlad thought to himself, so fixed on the scene before him that he never noticed Frankie lingering behind near the door, watching and listening from a distance.
"As you can see, the man approaches. He's unarmed… clearly trying to calm and reason with her," the news anchor chimed in.
"Such bravery…" his female counterpart replied.
"She appears to be responding… considering… but it's a ruse," the anchorman continued, narrating as if he was watching he replay of a sporting event. "A classic predatory move – feigning weakness before striking."
"He seems to be speaking to her. Do we know what he's saying?"
"Unfortunately no. The anonymous source who sent us this footage explained that the microphone on the camera had been damaged. But what we can see here is damning enough without the audio… see! See here! She's going to strike!"
Rémy's eyes turned away when his sister attacked Derek, viciously ripping open his throat with her teeth before gorging herself with his blood. The video then cut back to the anchors in the newsroom at the VNN building.
"Twenty-eight innocent people were murdered that night and for years, justice has been denied them, until now…"
A still-capture from a security recording appeared on the screen now. It was Frankie in the lobby of the Spider's establishment. Another picture appeared, seemingly from the same recording, this time of her in a hallway, the close up on her face clear as crystal.
"Her name is Francesca de Chacier – though our sources say she's more commonly known as Frankie Chase. You might also know her by her penname, Madame Nemo – a notorious conspiracy theorist who writes for Veritas, the alliance-supported publication previously headed by Rob Damaru, who was arrested recently, charged with treason. As you know, Rob Damaru used to work for VNN until two weeks ago when he was called in for questioning."
"So what is it about this Frankie Chase that makes her so dangerous? Besides her proclivity for violence?"
"As many of our viewers know, VNN is dedicated to the truth. For years, we have fought against the many lies and misinformation Chase and her colleagues have published about the current regime in Veritas and it is that spread of fake news which has proven so detrimental to the peace in our city. Her blatant manipulation and disregard of the facts are meant to feed into the fear and insecurities of the people of Budapest, to sow seeds of doubt and division and discontentment amongst not only vampire society, but the human and werewolf communities as well. Her ties to the terrorist group, the alliance, only confirms that organization's inherent maliciousness. They do not want peace or the prosperity of this people. All they want… all Frankie Chase wants, is chaos and death..."
"Enough. Turn it off," Rémy called out wearily. "I think we get the point."
Carmen turned off the live-stream, the pop-up window disappearing.
"That's not all of it, I'm afraid," she replied, nervously running her fingers through her hair. "Krisztian's remains were discovered somewhere on the east side. They have an eyewitness that claims they saw Frankie kill him, and because of the footage she had of Bartos' interrogation, they're pinning the death of two council members on her now instead of just one. There's a warrant out for her arrest."
Rémy swore violently under his breath.
"And because the nobles are now terrified that she's going to start coming for them like a bogeyman in the night, the north district has been entirely cut off from the rest of the city. The walls were quietly reinforced after what happened in the blood-factory, but after this bit of news broke, we've had reports coming in that the area is now being heavily guarded. There's only one way in and out of that area and the security is pissing everyone off, especially those that have to travel back and forth for work – so their livelihoods have been threatened."
"To add insult to injury," Danny chimed in, "Ildar has been appointed as the new lead for alliance tracking. He makes Kriztian look like a pansy by comparison. Some of our associates have reported an increase in direct threats and bullying in the last twenty-four hours, and a few folks have gone off the radar completely. We think they may have been taken in for questioning."
"Anyone of note?" Rémy asked.
Carmen mentioned a couple of names and Vlad watched as Rémy sank into the nearest chair, unable to stand anymore.
"There's more," Danny added. "You heard that bit about Rob's arrest? He wasn't the only one snatched up. The entire VNN building was raided and anyone suspected of working for or supporting Veritas, even unwittingly, has been incarcerated."
"What about Frankie's office? Did she have anything incriminating in there?"
"I talked to Lyra an hour ago," Carmen explained. "According to her, she and Frankie scrubbed the place before the blood-factory fiasco in prep for the trip to France, just as a precaution. So no – we don't have to worry about that."
"Thank God for my sister's foresight, I guess," Rémy said with a heavy sigh.
"But what about all those people, Rémy?" Danny asked. "They were all taken in two weeks ago and none of our sources have been able to confirm whether or not they're still alive, let alone if any of them have talked."
"Well, that's not entirely true," Carmen interjected with some delicacy. "We know they've gotten some things out of Rob, but thankfully nothing too damning."
"What did they get out of him?"
"Do you remember Mariella's Bernardini's trial a few years ago, when she was convicted of treason for having contact with someone within our organization?"
"Yes – but we never figured out who the hell they were referring to," Rémy replied. "I always assumed that was just some trumped up, bogus charge?"
"Well, apparently she was in touch with Rob…"
"What?"
"And it gets more convoluted because you'll never guess who she was trying to get in contact with."
Rémy's eyes widened, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Francesca," Vlad called out, answering the woman's unasked query as he stepped into frame. "Mariella was looking for Francesca."
Carmen startled a little, unaware that Dracula had been present, but she quickly collected herself as she nodded.
"It was right before she went into stasis – but it was a good enough coincidence for Augustine apparently because it gave him the connection he needed between Frankie and the alliance," she explained.
"Did Rob tell them why the Bernardini's were trying to get in touch with her?" Rémy asked, completely unaware of the fact that he had just revealed that not only Mariella, but Antón as well had tried making contact with his sister. He completely missed the questioning look from Vladislaus, but Carmen noted it immediately.
"No, he didn't say why Mariella wanted to see her," she said, emphasizing the woman's name on purpose in the hopes of distracting Vlad from the present course of his thoughts. It worked. "But I'm sure we can all guess why," she said, sending Dracula a meaningful look that only he understood.
"So I guess there's no question now as to whether or not the Spider and Augustine are in cahoots with each other," Rémy announced, sounding as defeated as he looked.
"It's the only way Marcus could have gotten his hand on that footage, not to mention the quality stills of her face," the woman confirmed.
"Any other bad news you'd like to give me, or is that it?"
"I wish that was it," Danny replied. "Augustine really has it out for the wolves right now. There's been a spike in hate-crimes in the city…"
"Except for in the south district, of course," Carmen added. "At least no one has been stupid enough to go down there directly."
"But law enforcement has done next to nothing to curb the violence, so Isabella has ordered her people to pull back and stay in the south district to avoid any further confrontation."
"So she's isolating herself," Rémy translated. "Fabulous."
"The communication channels are still open," Danny assured him, "but the last time we saw Tristan, he said that the wolves wouldn't get involved in our shit anymore until things either calm down or Frankie asks them personally for help – whichever comes first."
Rémy muttered another oath, hands buried in his face.
The momentary silence in the room was positively deafening and it was that instant of quiet that allowed Dracula to sense what he had not before. He turned to find Frankie lingering in the doorway to the archives, motionless, her expression grave. His heart sank a little at the sight of her.
He could sense the well of anxiety in her, the concern, the weight of responsibility.
Rémy must have sensed her presence as well, for he rose from his chair after turning his head to look at her, appearing almost guilty for being caught in this private conference.
"We need to do something," Carmen continued. "The different factions of the resistance are all acting out by contradictory methods, muddying the purpose and message of why the alliance was created in the first place. The witch covens in particular have been a massive nuisance over the last twenty-four hours or so. If we could unify all the groups, reach out to Jacob…"
That got Rémy's attention, and he turned around suddenly, pointing at her.
"No," he snapped. "Don't even utter his…"
"Rémy, the time for petty differences has passed…"
"I'm not having this discussion, Carmen!"
"It's been over a decade, and he's family! And we need him…"
"I said no!"
As the two started to argue, Frankie used the opportunity to remove herself, silently slipping away without a word or look that Vlad could adequately decipher. Deciding to follow her example, he too used his friend's moment of distraction to make his exit.
He was soon to discover that Francesca hadn't been the only one eavesdropping, as Armand, Eduardo, and Alayna were all standing in the hall just outside the library, all with grim expressions on their faces as Frankie rejoined them.
"Cariño, I…" Satanas began, ready to console her, but the gentle raising of her hand was sign enough to effectively silenced him. They all lingered there in the hall for several moments, no one willing to speak, but also entirely unaware that Vladislaus was near, taking a turn at spying.
"I need to return to Budapest," Frankie said at last. "Tonight, if possible."
"Is that entirely wise?" her maker asked with noted delicacy. "Your anonymity is gone, my dear. It isn't safe anymore."
"The people need their queen," Armand replied, lowering his voice.
Frankie scoffed a little at that.
"I am nobody's queen," she muttered, turning to walk down the hall. "And thanks to Marcus, I couldn't be even if I wanted to…"
The others followed after her, save her maker, who had noticed his majesty lingering in the library. Eduardo raised his finger to his lips in a sign for Dracula to stay silent before inviting him with a look and movement of his head to follow after them.
"You know as well as I do that for all of your brother's good intentions, he has never really been the leader of the alliance, Francesca. He may be its brains, but you were always its heart," Armand persisted, following her into the conservatory where Georgine and Vesper were busy chatting. Their previous conversation was quick to die when the rest of the group entered the room. "Your friends only follow his orders because you tell them to. It's time to step out of your brother's shadow and…"
"And what, Armand? Completely undermine him? Take over? He's already angry enough with me as it is. The last thing he'd appreciate is his defective, renegade baby sister starting a coup," Frankie replied, only stopping when she reached the sitting area. Alayna quietly occupied the seat beside her sister who looked up at her with wondering eyes as Eduardo took a seat as well, but more off to the side.
"Oh please – I'm not saying to rip the carpet out from under him," Frankie's uncle defended, still standing. "I'm only suggesting that if there was ever a time to take your place as the leader you are and have always been destined to be, now would be it."
"With my reputation in shreds and my identity publicized? Are you insane? Why would anyone want to follow me after that?" and she pointed in the direction of the library. "And are we all just going to ignore the fact that Augustine now knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I'm not only still alive, but that I've been living under his nose the entire time? I should have slaughtered Basilio when I had the chance," and she smacked the back of the empty chair at her side. "You do realize that the entire operation has been compromised now," she pointed out. "That everyone who has ever been associated with me now has a target on their backs. I need to go to Budapest, get Carmen, Danny, and the others out, and…"
"And what? Leave Budapest to burn? What about your people?"
"You are my people. My family, my friends. I don't owe anyone else anything. They are not my responsibility," Frankie insisted, though her voice wavered at the proclamation as if even she was having trouble believing that now.
"Yes, they are," Armand stated firmly. "Prophecy or not, Francesca, I know that you cannot look me in the eye and tell me you have never felt responsible for them, connected to them and their plight. It's why the alliance was created in the first place, why you've been living in Budapest for the last five decades. Rémy may fight for you because he believes doing so will somehow keep you safe from Dracula when all is said in done, but you, my dear…"
"You care," Eduardo finished for him. "You've always cared – it's one of the things I love and hate about you in equal measure," and he sent her an affectionate smile. "It's also why you fought in the final war against the humans for Budapest; why you stayed behind once the battle was won instead of returning home. It's why you took on the mask of Madame Nemo – so you could continue to contribute in the shadows without revealing yourself to Marcus."
"And we all know the impact your words have had on his regime," Alayna chimed in. "Augustine didn't launch this smear campaign against you, specifically, on a whim. He did it because he's afraid of you, because you're the only one that can stop him."
"I was the only one," Frankie corrected. She glanced down at her own upturned wrist, idly tracing the network of veins barely visible beneath the pallor of her flesh with a look of mourning in her expression. "But we all know that that isn't the case anymore."
"Do we though?" Satanas countered, taking over as Armand finally sat down. The latter sent the man a grateful look. "Let's be honest with ourselves, cariño. Marcus doesn't really care about the alliance. Your little band of misfit revolutionaries are nothing more than a pebble in his shoe – irritating to be sure, but of no real threat to his person. But this blatant attempt to discredit you shows his hand – he knows that you cannot destroy him outright. He neutralized that particular threat decades ago. But, this revelation that you've not only been in Budapest this whole time, but the fact that you've spent the last several decades establishing yourself as a credible source of truth, never afraid to shine a light in the shadows he hides in – it's clear he believes you have the power and the influence needed to tear down everything he has built."
"It's true," Armand added. "His take-over of Budapest has been calculated from the start – from Dracula's sudden withdrawal from society, to the disbandment of the original council and the king's court. Even the virus was too deliberate of a move to be ignored. He wants control – and you're the only one capable enough…."
"… not to mention the only one with enough motive," Georgine added,
"…to stop him," Armand finished. "Don't you see, Francesca? He wants you to run. He wants you to pull out, to sacrifice your advantage for the sake of everyone else. Your time as Madame Nemo proved your empathy for the plight of the people. He's counting on you sparing them, removing them from the equation, because if you do, then the opposition will be gone."
"If the alliance runs away, Augustine wins," Vesper said with sudden tentativeness, unsure if she should be even contributing to this conversation. But Gigi's reassuring hand on her shoulder emboldened her and the teenage dhampir sat up a little. "We all have to go back, Frankie. We can't keep hiding from him anymore."
Frankie released a shuddering breath, shoulders slouched forward as if the weight and pressure of the well-intentioned expectations of her friends and family were physically bearing down on her.
"It may not be now, my love," Eduardo replied, "but the time may very soon come when you will need to take the reins from your brother and be the queen the people need..." Satanas paused suddenly to turn his head slightly in the direction of Vladislaus, who had been lingering in the background unseen until that point. The revelation of his presence surprised everyone except the Spaniard, who smiled a little knowingly. "Especially if our king continues to remain hidden away in the shadows."
Although Meirás had turned to look back at the present company rather nonchalantly, the intent behind his chosen words and expression made Georgine's brows furrow a little in suspicion as her eyes moved back and forth between the now approaching Mr. Leinhart and her cousin.
There was an intensity in their silent conversation of looks that puzzled her, to the point where she missed the remainder of the discussion almost entirely, the wheels in her head turning.
"Do we even know if Dracula is still alive?" Vesper asked, completely oblivious. "Or that he's even in the city?"
"There hasn't been any definitive confirmation," Frankie answered carefully, desperately trying not to look at Vlad as he quietly took a seat. "Only rumors."
"Well, he's been missing for over a year now. If he hasn't shown by now, he probably won't at all," the girl stated confidently. "He probably doesn't give a damn about all of us anyway."
Vladislaus said nothing on this point, merely smirking as Frankie visibly cringed, embarrassed that her old prejudices were now being voiced by the young woman she had helped raised.
"Dracula's reasons for remaining anonymous are his own," she defended gently. "We owe him the benefit of our doubt."
"But he's the most powerful vampire in the world!" Vesper continued emphatically. "If anyone could help us take out Augustine, it would be him!"
"I'm afraid not even Dracula is capable of destroying Marcus Augustine," Vlad chimed in. "Though the devil knows how much pleasure it would give him to do so."
"Something he and I have in common," Frankie replied with the faintest of smiles, sending the man an appreciative look.
"Certainly not the only thing."
Georgine's eyes widened suddenly as she finished connecting the dots. The woman then sat up abruptly as if she had been struck by lightning, grasping Alayna's hand and frantically squeezing it as the shock set in. Leinhart was Dracula! Alayna sent her older sister a questioning look, but Gigi's eyes were fixed on the man seated across from her, her expression utterly dumbfounded as if she couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed it before.
Vlad, sensing the shift in the air, sent the woman a brief, but devious look, winking once before returning his attention to Francesca who was still privately deliberating.
"If we're going to return to Budapest to fight, we're going to need to be smart about our next move," Frankie said at last, finally taking a seat. Her doing so seemed to ease what was left of the tension in the room, her uncle and maker both visibly relaxing.
"Obviously," Armand said with a relieved sigh, daring to smile a little.
"And as much as I'm loathed to admit it, we're going to need Isabella."
"The fact that she refused to get involved again unless you personally requested her assistance is telling," Eduardo admitted.
"The wolves trust her," Vlad explained, the pride in his voice unmistakable. "Francesca has proven herself not only a constant and steadfast ally, no matter the personal differences between herself and the royal family – she also genuinely cares for their well-being. They understand this. So where she goes, they will no doubt follow, if asked – and to have the might and support of the lycan community is something Marcus will never have."
"It seems to me that what you need to focus on is rallying your fellow undead to the cause."
"A task easier said than done, unfortunately," Frankie acknowledged. "Especially now that Augustine has made it a point to discredit not only my name, but that of the entire alliance by association."
The conversation came to a halt, however, as Rémy entered the room. The man looked rather piqued, his expression solemn and cross as he made his way over to the others only to stand on the outside of the little circle. His eyes immediately met his sister's and while the woman hadn't exactly forgiven him for their earlier conversation, there were far more important things to consider right now outside of their quarrel regarding her developing attachment to his best friend.
Which is why she opted to be the bigger person in that moment, putting aside her resentment for his harsh words and general interference as she nodded her head in acknowledgement of his presence.
His expression was one of regret.
"I take it you know?" he asked.
"Yes."
Rémy paused, clearly pondering something as he glanced once at Vlad and then back to his sister again.
"I don't know what to do, Frank," he admitted. "We can't go back to Budapest. Not with you on Augustine's most wanted list."
To that, Frankie smiled, her reaction taking him aback some.
"That is exactly why we need to go back," she answered evenly. "We've given Marcus and Basilio enough of a reprieve," and she paused to look to Vlad, sending him a meaningful look. "It's time we raise some hell."
Review, please? Pretty please? With Dracula on top? ;)