Chapter 34

Maelstrom

Intro song: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, The Animals

Victoria sat with three members of the vampire council just before dawn, staring impassively at the livid man across the table while he described the series of events that had led them to this point.

Durin Scanlin completed his recitation and sat back, arms folded, locking eyes with each of the council members in turn - and, pointedly ignoring Victoria herself. He had been brought back to be treated for his injuries, and John Spector had made short work of digging out the offending silver. Fortunately, he had only been shot with silver, not injected. He had Gabby's quick actions to thank for thank for that, not that any gratitude had been expressed.

Since then, he had been busy rallying his supporters around him, traveling from condo to condo in the building that housed the residences for a number of well-positioned vampires, and making numerous calls to others spread out across the city. Many were present in the meeting room in which they were now gathered. Through it all, he had avoided both Victoria and Gabrielle, despite their efforts to reach out to him.

Victoria had tried to get Gabby to talk about what had happened between she and Durin when he was attacked, but she had refused to discuss it. It was obvious to her that the relationship between the two had been broken beyond repair. She wasn't surprised; a final break between the two was long overdue. Overdue? More like inevitable. And, I thought I had a complicated history... Scanlin's voice brought her back to the task at hand.

"Well?!" Durin demanded. He was famous for his cool and self-control, but his outrage over having been used as a decoy by the likes of Victoria Silver and his own... Gabrielle, she's just Gabrielle now. Or better yet, that Asian bitch...caused his bitterness and sense of betrayal to well up, making it difficult for him to retain his composure.

"Well what, Durin?" demanded Nina Stewart. A tall, Nordic-looking blond, she was the ranking member of the Eastern Council, a woman of age, authority and purpose - and, right now, her purpose was to put this incident behind them as quickly as possible and focus on the safety of the vampire community in the city. Scanlin, however, had been making that goal difficult and she was growing increasingly impatient.

Victoria's nemesis leaned forward. "I refuse to believe that the council doesn't see - and understand - that this paranoid behavior is more dangerous to all of us than anything that could possibly be happening in this grand conspiracy of Silver's." He almost spat the words across the table. "Why you have let her get away with this is beyond me. She not only lied to me, she lied to all of you and to the entire community!" He paused, snarling across the table at the female vampire. "I am a senior member of this community and I was used as a decoy - as bait - to draw out a supposed shadow organization. Without my knowledge or consent. I was attacked. Shot with silver! It took me almost a day to recover. All to feed this woman's ego and quest for attention."

When the council members looked back at him impassively, he threw up his hands. "Why do I need to repeat all this?! I demand that Victoria be disciplined! She should be removed from her position - she is not fit to be the head of our community here in New York with these delusions of hers!"

"Durin, first of all, it is not for you to decide who will be the leader of our community. Secondly, I understand that your ego has been bruised by this, but you are conveniently forgetting one very obvious point - you were attacked! If Victoria had been so wrong, there would have been no threat - and nothing for Gabrielle to protect you from." The silver-haired, distinguished-looking vampire who had spoken sat back in his chair. The mention of Gabrielle was deliberate. William Roosevelt knew the complicated history between the two vampires; he was not a fan of Durin Scanlin and enjoyed rubbing his face in the fact that Gabby had needed to step in to save him.

When Scanlin did not respond, Roosevelt continued, "Have you even given any thought at all as to how they knew where you were going to be - and when you were going to be there? I would think those things would concern you more than your petty issues with Victoria." Folding his arms, he glared sternly at the vampire across the table.

"How do I know that one of them didn't tell these punks!?" Scanlin shouted as he waved his arm to indicate Victoria and Gabrielle, sitting quietly at the opposite end of the table. "Or," he paused as a thought occurred to him, "maybe they set it up to occur in the first place! Why not? I think we've established that they will do anything to defend their actions and have their way!" Only silence greeted his accusations.

Durin could see that he was getting nowhere with the council and said as much. Rising from his chair, he leaned forward to add, "I'm disappointed - but not surprised - by your stance on this. I believe that Victoria will ensure that our community becomes so paranoid and apprehensive that they will turn on the human population out of fear, and expose us – which would be fatal for everyone. I, for one, will not act as if we are sheep to be led to the slaughter." He drew himself up to his full height. "I'm leaving this city - tonight. There are a number of my fellow vampires who feel as I do and will be leaving with me. Do not try to stop us - for your own good."

Victoria growled under her breath and shook her head at Anna in a barely perceptible gesture. How could Gabby be so devoid of ego and this man be so arrogant?

Scanlin caught her interplay with the Council head. He stepped toward Victoria, his eyes glittering dangerously, fangs elongating as he spoke. "I mean it. For your own good - and that of your cur bitch, Gabrielle - do not interfere. It is our right to remove ourselves from this community if we see fit and I expect you to honor that right. You don't have much integrity left so I suggest you utilize what you still have."

This was the last straw for the much-older vampire leader. Victoria pushed her chair back, coming up out of it faster than the human eye could track. Her right hand whipped out, grabbing her antagonist by the throat. She wanted to rip his throat out, toss him on the ground, and stand over him as he bled out. The fantasy flashed before her eyes in a satisfying glut of violence as Durin struggled to free himself from her grasp.

That proved to be a difficult task. Not only had Victoria had the element of surprise, she was also considerably older than the male vampire - and with age, came power with vampires. Scanlin grasped futilely at her hand as it tightened inexorably around his throat, her nails sinking into his skin, causing drops of blood to stain his starched shirt collar.

"That's enough, Victoria." William said quietly, jumping up to lay a hand on her arm. Victoria gave him a sideways glance, then shifted back to Scanlin without loosening her grip, her eyes glowing blue-white against her pale skin.

"I mean it. That's enough." Roosevelt said again. "Don't let him bait you into doing something we will have to discipline you for."

Victoria tossed Durin into his chair as if he were a rag doll. He massaged his throat as the cuts from her nails disappeared. Trying to regain his composure, if not his dignity, Scanlin croaked, "Good thing you paid attention to William, Victoria. Further fighting between the two of us will not serve anyone - least of all, you.

Fuming and angry at herself for allowing Scanlin to provoke her into losing her temper, Victoria didn't trust herself to speak. She nodded to the council members, turned on her heel and left the room, Gabrielle following close behind.

Durin watched her leave the room, his hand still at his throat. You've just made a big mistake, Victoria. Huge.

"Morning, Sunshine." Mick called out his greeting well before Beth was in sight. Her presence announced itself to his preternatural senses just as clearly as vision could. Yhey also told him about her mood - anxiety, masked in a cloud of false cheer. Hard to fool a vamp, Beth.

He eyed her appreciatively as she finished her descent - first, her long, bare legs, then, the rest of her, cloaked only in his striped shirt. His smile broadened at the memories he'd already compiled of Beth in that shirt. Had it really been such a short time since they first slept together?

Mick attempted to ignore the guilt he felt over how his work was affecting her. Nightmares, arguments - was it worth this? The cold reality of Talbot's thinly veiled threat to send Beth in his stead helped him to put it into perspective. He was doing this to protect her - and for that, he was not sorry. He didn't share her sense of dread, however. He had formulated a plan with Josef that made even the skeptical billionaire more comfortable. He had an answer for every contingency, even the possible need to ingest blood while he was with Carl.

"Please tell me that's coffee," Beth pleaded as she stepped off the stairs into the living room, "because I sure need it today."

"Coffee, omelet and toast, to be exact," Mick ticked off the menu. "I think I'm getting back into the swing of cooking." He motioned for her to sit, balancing her plate and two large mugs - one steaming - in his capable hands.

"Well you do a great job - even with the seasoning." Beth's compliment was genuine as she slid onto the nearest chair and took a bite. She relished the idea of having a normal routine with Mick, like breakfast together. You're kidding yourself, Beth. He can't eat breakfast, remember? He drinks blood for breakfast... She silenced the unwanted internal lecture. "How'd you manage to pull that off?"

"No different than anyone else, I suppose - practice and recipes. Photographic memory helps - another check in the vampire plus-column. Which is, admittedly, pretty empty." Mick grinned and took a seat opposite her, his own breakfast obscured in a tall stoneware mug. Usually he would not "dine" with her in the mornings. She put up a good front, but he knew that the sight of his nourishment did not make her list of favorite things so early in the day. However, if they were going to be together - and for him, there was no longer any question – then he could not always hide his feeding from her. This morning, he wanted the time with her, needed the feeling of normalcy that sitting with her over breakfast provided.

"Oh, I can think of a few other things we could put in that plus column," Beth purred, smiling at him over the edge of her coffee mug. "You know, maybe flesh it out a little." She smiled wickedly at the owner of the shirt she was wearing. God, he's beautiful.

Mick grinned back at her. "I see what you did there." For a moment, he entertained fantasies involving Beth and that shower. If you didn't have to go to work... Mick extricated himself from those visions reluctantly. "So...what does Talbot have you doing for him today?" He couldn't disguise the disgust in his voice as he said the ADA's name. The last bit of evidence he'd needed to confirm Ben's identify as a piece of shit was his threat to send Beth to San Diego to investigate the dead bodies found in the desert. Just thinking about it made him furious all over again. He was brought back to the present by Beth pushing her still-loaded plate away.

"You aren't trying to turn into one of those stick figures, are you?" he teased.

"No, but just talking about Talbot makes me lose my appetite!" she exclaimed, making a face.

Mick got up and collected her plate with its mostly-untouched food. He deposited a kiss on the top of her head as he went by, ignoring the look of worry on her face. Determined not to start back down the road toward another argument, he said only, "I'll be fine today. I promise." He was equally determined to make the trip with Carl. I'm doing this for you... I would do anything to protect you.

"Well, I guess that's that, then..." Beth folded her napkin carefully, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles as she warred with herself. She finally came to a decision. Going round and round like this wasn't helping either of them – and it definitely wasn't convincing Mick to see things her way. It was time to throw in the towel. "…except for your texting me every time you blink. Or sneeze. Or have an itch." She paused, then asked casually, "Do vampires itch, by the way?"

Mick smiled gratefully at her. Beth had clearly decided that a fight wasn't worth having and was attempting to make things easier for him. For them both. He knew that giving in didn't come easily to her. "I'm not sure about all vampires – it isn't a topic that's ever come up with the ones I know – but I do get itches. Not as much as urges, but I get them." He threw the dish towel he had been using over one shoulder and sauntered over to where she still sat clutching her coffee mug. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "The urges are much harder to ignore." He nuzzled her neck and deposited a kiss inside the collar of his shirt.

Beth forced a smile. "Just remember that you promised me not to get yourself outed – or killed."

"I know," he said quietly, wrapping his arms around her. Her words echoed in his head…Don't make promises you can't keep…

End Song: Broken Promises, Tory Lanez