Chapter Nineteen: - The Council, and London Events
Author's note: Because Nicole (yes, mad-scientist-genius-vampire with the red hair) is mad at me for not updating my other fic, "Fire and Ice," (which I will soon, I hope) she won't type the chapter, but since I have my own computer now, I'm only half screwed, not entirely! Yay! Snaps for me!
Kai: You're a freak. That's from Legally Blond II.
Me: You're a blood-sucking undead fiend walking around in a reanimated corpse. Who got the short end of the stick? (For all of you who don't know, Reese Witherspoon is actually a creature of the night.)
Kai: I hate you.
Me: Bite me, you zombified leech.
Kai: *bares pearly fangs in evil grin, advances slowly*
Dara: Don't, her blood is poisonous. She's part Triste Witch.
Me: I was gonna trick him! Get him sick for a few days!
Dara: Back off, or I'll break your fingers.
Me: Ooh, touchy. Oh, hey, my favorite Shifter.
Ray: She doesn't own anything. She's just too spastic to remember to tell you. *kisses me on the cheek* I love you anyway.
Me: Grow up and get away from me! He's right though, I only own the people you don't recognize from anything else.
There will be about a page of descriptions in there, dashed with happenings and stuff, near the beginning, of some characters who will become very important. Also, if you see any possible pairings, tell me in your reviews. (wink, wink) I might already have them in mind, but you never know. Um. I think that's it. oh, some meetings of some famous vampires and some old friends of the Blade Breakers, and a steam scene, though it's brief.
Kai and the others who'd never been to this part of the Hall managed to keep their mouths closed, but they were nonetheless impressed by the Chamber of the Dark Council. It was HUGE, with high, vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows taller than any of the nightmen in the room, the tallest being the advisor of the Arcerian Queen, a man named Kristoff, who had to be at least eight feet tall. There were tapestries hung on the walls showing battles from ancient days, and portraits of all kinds of night creatures imaginable. What caught Kai's attention was a family portrait near the huge fireplace, of vampires.
There was a man of maybe twenty-five, muscular and solid, smiling, with long, jet hair and laughing blue eyes. He stood beside a woman who looked so much like Midnight, that Kai knew it had to be her mother, the Lady Ankashai, who died hundreds of thousands of years ago. Her hair was curled into ebony ringlets and her huge violet eyes were bright with happiness. Around them were at least ten children, ranging from a baby held in the woman's arms to five young men and girl, the two pairs of men who could have been twins, as could the other boy and girl. On closer inspection, Kai realized it was the vampires known as Lucian and Gabriel, Alexandre and Jaycen, standing beside Mithainde and Dara. She looked only a few years younger, but the portrait was obviously ancient.
It was painted, Midnight murmured telepathically, by Leonardo daVinci during the Renaissance, from an older portrait, and that one, an older portrait then that. There are, I believe, three hundred copies or so, one every several hundred years. They're all in the vault beneath the dungeons.
You guys have dungeons? In this day and age?
Nicole thought it would be cool. But our Peoples don't take prisoners, because we never leave evil
to fester where we can't defeat it.
Good philosophy.
Indeed.
"What? I'm sorry, Dark Lady, forgive me, but I'm sure I must have heard you wrong. You want to-" Midnight cut Viktor off before his simpering, whipped-dog mannerisms pissed her off too much.
"Bring together the Dark Peoples, yes. You heard me correctly the first time, Councilor." The princess said quietly. Kai and the others looked around at the members of the Dark Council. Some they knew. Many they did not.
They knew Zom, the big "walking dead" man from the Dark Bladers, and they also recognized Lupinex, accorded a place on the council as the Werewolf King, and the two women next to them, Millicent Ghoste and Lady Sophia deLoup, the only women of the Dark Blader team. There were also the continental rulers, whom the boys did not know, and the Matriarchs of the witch families.
Cute and petite: That was the only way to describe Nicolina (Nicole) Tygre, the fifteen-year-old Arcerian Queen, with her five-year-old face and small, slender body. Her long, white blond hair and ice blue eyes gave away her race, (Arcerian, snow shifter) and her long, pearly claws and surname denoted her subspecies. She ruled the continent Antarctica, which, though sparsely populated by humans, if at all, was teeming with the Arcerian tigers, wolves, foxes, bears (which had three sub-species of their own), leopards and the legendary warriors, the white panthers. Her bodyguard was none other than Joshua, Arcerian Wolf, the favorite victim of Eryka and Erynh.
Ray did a double take when he recognized the Asian Tygre Queen, Atrishya (Trisha) Tygre and her sister, Heidi, Mistress of the Guard. Nicolina, Trisha, and Heidi were cousins. Though older by more than two years, Trisha was half a foot shorter than Heidi, who was almost sixteen. Both girls had cat like eyes of gray green, though the Queen had a bit of amber and brown in them.
Midnight was the ruler of the European continent. A tall, lanky man with spiky black hair and a girl of approximately the same build with long, russet curls were Oz and Evelyn, twin rulers of Australia.
The Hispanic girl from South America, Danieala Rodriguez, was actually of pure Spanish decent, a Panther, selected by the Amazon Queen for this mission because of her trustworthiness. With her was another Hispanic, Mexican, Angela Cortezzo, a fifth-rank Coyote princess, from North America, and off by herself, from Canada, was an Arctic Fox, by the name of Adele Ionia, a small girl of ten, with brown hair streaked with white and silvery-blue eyes. Canada, having very little in common with the United States and Mexico in the ethnicity department, sent its own representative.
Kai nudged Mithainde. Why are most of these people shape shifters?
The different breeds of shifter outnumber us on most continents. Australia and Antarctica belong solely to them. They share Africa with the Orisha witch coven. They share America with every other night creature, and South America with the Amazons, witches, and vampires. Canada belongs almost solely to them, though Mexico is over run with brujas. Those scare me to death almost. As for Europe, most of these countries are Shifter territories, except France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain.
What lives in Antarctica?!
The Arcerian wolves, foxes, bears, and cats. You see the lady Nicolina Tygre? She is an Arcerian cat, and her bodyguard- you know young Joshua- is an Arcerian wolf.
"My dear Lady-" Viktor began, but broke off, startled, when Nicolina stood up and then was lifted by the towering, silent Kristoff into a chair. She withstood the indignity of it very nicely, smoothing her slightly rumpled, white silk shirt and white jeans. Unlike most of their kind, Nicolina and Joshua were both very short, the Tygre queen being only four foot two, and Josh four inches taller than that.
"What's the problem? She needs to come with us to our realms, because you know our people are all suspicious of each other. It'll show Her Highness," the small shifter nodded in Dara's direction to show respect, "trusts us enough to come. If she feels the need to freeze to death in Antarctica, she can come if she wants. I'm sure His Imperial Highness," the royal cat gave a brief bow, as did the other shifters, "will have no objections to her going anywhere." Viktor paled even more at the mention of such a powerful being, then swallowed and looked to Midnight's impressive form.
She looked positively lethal, dressed in a black dress with off-the-shoulder bell sleeves and a ragged, mid-thigh skirt. She wore black leather boots with dagger sharp stiletto heels. Her face was pale, her lips red, eyes golden, cat like. A golden pendant with a large, black jewel hung at her throat, a symbol of royal authority. Viktor tried to hide his fear and said peevishly, "Females of any dark race may not travel alone."
The vampiress throttled the urge to snap, "Kill him" to one her people. Viktor said, "And your choice of a mate does not provide credibility to either your sanity or your claim that you won't be alone. I mean, come on. It's laughable. He's human. Weak. Pathetic. Inferior. It's pitiful."
"Bite your tongue, you disgusting bastard freak, or I'll cut it out." Midnight crooned malevolently. "I have a connection that you do not have, Viktor. I am friends with the lifemate of the King of the Earth, His Majesty." The Shifters again bowed their heads. "You will allow this, if the council says it is so. And you most certainly will never insult my lifemate again. If you do, I shall rip out your throat. I will drain you dry, and you will feel every single drop of life as it leaves your veins. You will allow me my request, if the council say it's so. What say the Council?"
"On behalf of Nicolina Tygre, I personally put forth a motion to agree." Josh said, and Nicolina nodded. Oz and Evelyn chorused, "We second the motion."
"All in favor?" Zom asked. There was a resounding chorus of "AYES!" The big man then asked, "All opposed?" His glare should have silenced the conservative vampire, but some people just can't take a hint.
"N-" Viktor began to say, then began gasping and choking as Kai telekinetically began to strangle him. The once-human boy's eyes were solid black, no whites or pupils or irises, burning with a demonic flame in their centers. His fangs were bared in a parody of a grin.
"Shut up. Okay?" Midnight watched Kai with fascinated eyes. His violent side was more easily brought forth now, but she knew this was only surface temper. If he was really angry, Viktor would have been dead already, mere particles of disintegrated bones and muscle. Kai had a vampire's soul, Midnight realized.. She smiled, chillingly malevolent, as Viktor's eyes grew wide with fear, and then glazed with lack of oxygen and fear as Kai kept a choke hold on his throat. "Okay?" Kai asked again softly. Viktor nodded, choking and wheezing. The vampire released the ancient councilman, and Viktor sank to the floor and dissolved into mist, breezing swiftly across the floor and out of the Council Chamber.
"Kai." He flinched, expecting a reprimand. "That was brilliant." He stared at her for a moment, then grinned. Her eyes were shining with adoration and admiration.
Dara, what made them vote your way?
The fact that I rule most of Europe, and that only vampires can assimilate other races. Besides, I'm cool, and it's my will. My will is law. Kai wasn't sure if she was exaggerating or not.
* * *
"Are we there yet?"
"No." Midnight said wearily.
"Are we there yet?"
"No, Stacy." She bit out.
"How about now?"
"Nope."
"Now?"
"No." She practically growled.
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Well, gee whiz! When then?"
"We have to cross the street." Dara said waspishly to the Asian vampire. The short, Philippine/Thai girl looked confused for a minute, then grinned.
"Oh!" Dara sent the thought: Jeez, Stacy, what are you smoking? Stacy knew the princess was only kidding.
I think, Nicole said, her little brats are driving her crazy, literally. The red head stuck her tongue out at Stacy when Stacy said, "Oh, bite me."
"Stacy," Ray began, incredulous, "you've got kids of your own?" The small vampiress looked like she was twelve, being rather short and very immature in her mannerisms.
"Yeah. Four. Enrique, Natasha, Antonietta, and Franco."
"Who's the father? Are you married?"
"Yep, to Enrique Scarletti." She answered nonchalantly as the crossed at the intersection of Aisle Drive and Mile's End Road. At the end of Mile's End was a nightclub, the Admiral's Arms.
"Whoa." Kenny whispered, then asked his red-haired companion, "Nicci, what is that place? I've got a bad vibe from it."
"Vampires and other blood sucking carnivores congregate here. In this place, war is set aside and everyone's on equal ground. You have one problem, Kenny. You and Max, out of everyone, have a very distinctly human impression, and you two are too young to know how to reveal your vampirism to others of our kind."
"What does that mean?" Max asked, blinking.
"They'll try to eat you." The two fledgling vampires stared at her in horror. "Don't worry about it, we'll look out for you."
" 'Take a walk down the Aisle,
and at the End of the Mile,
surrender to my charms
in the Admiral's Arms.' "
So quoted the vampire Eryka, a big, toothy smile on her face. Erynh wuffed softly in annoyance, shaking her head, and Josh groaned. Dara asked quietly, "So, he's here then? The Brat Prince?" The once-werewolf nodded. "Damn. So much for an evening without trouble." She murmured sarcastically as they all went in.
As soon as she entered, Midnight was instantly at home in the nightclub. Her black, shiny leather mini skirt went barely to mid thigh, and matched her black, shiny leather boots with stiletto heels. She wore a leather tank top over a sheer, long sleeve shirt made of fishnet stocking material, and her tights were sheer and black. She wore a silk jacket, and over that, a black leather vest. Around her neck was an obsidian pendant, an ankh, and in her ears were hematite crosses hanging from silver chains. Her hair was tied in a braid hanging down her back. Her eyes flashed golden, and she bared her fangs in a sinister parody of a smile. She looked hotter than the sun, and as trustworthy as an axe murderer.
Kai grinned and looked into her eyes. His fangs shown in the garish lights of the club, and his eyes glowed red when shadows washed over his face. The once human wore a pair of black leather pants and a black satin shirt, unbuttoned down to the end of his sternum, giving all the females in the building a much-desired look at his well-muscled chest. Vampire women were openly staring at the soulmate to the High Dark Queen, as she was sometimes called. Dara, sensing this, grinned and blew a kiss at her lifemate. He arched an eyebrow, and she smirked.
She slowly approached Kai, put her hands over his heart. His cold, pale skin was hard and smooth beneath her fingertips, and she brushed a kiss over his pounding heart, never taking her eyes off his as her tongue flicked out to taste his skin. Kai's hands went up to her shoulders and closed on them hard, as if he was wrestling with his self-control. Dara's fangs scraped teasingly over his exposed flesh, making him shiver. "You wanna dance with me?" Her lips whispered against his skin.
"You know I do." Kai took her hand and led her onto the floor, kissed her gently on the lips. Her hands stayed over his heart, but she moved in a little closer, her body brushing suggestively against his. Kai's own hands went to her hips, his mouth to the side of her pale, lovely throat. She swayed to the pounding music, nuzzling his chest. The hunger spiked sharply in both of them. Kai could smell the rich redness surging beneath his lifemate's skin, and the need for the taste of it was almost painful. The artery was pulsing with life beneath his lips.
"Taste me." Dara whispered softly, intimately. Kai groaned into the hollow of her shoulder. "Please, beloved? Anosha?"
"Oh, God, my love." He whispered as her tongue swirled over his franticly beating heart. "Don't do that. oh, God, Dara!" A deep scratch from one of the princess's claws beckoned enticingly, stark scarlet against milk white. He cried out as her mouth went to suckle the slight wound, her eyes still locked on his. The feel of her feeding off him, in so tender and small a fashion, made him whimper with desire. Unable to stop himself, he grabbed her arm and dragged her off the dance floor to a dark corner. "My love, my. treat." He licked the slim line of her throat, his warm tongue leaving a hot, wet trail along her skin, before burying his fangs deeply into her flesh. Midnight's startled cry of ecstasy brought a wave of delicious heat and wicked lust burning through the two of them.
"How do I taste to you, my love?" She breathed, eyes shut tight against the intense pleasure.
So damn sweet. I want more, more of this.
"Take more. Feed on me forever, please." His teeth sank deeper as she whimpered, trying not to beg to much. It would puff up his ego. When Kai's exquisitely icy fangs slid from her neck, she made a soft sound of disappointment. The wound closed, and she gazed up at him with a petulant, naughty puppy-dog expression.
"We're here. on a mission, my love, remember?" She gave him a seductive pout and then nodded and walked with him away from the others. Kai noticed her fingers gently caressed the spot where he'd bitten her.
* * *
Flashing lights of blue, green, and red gave everything a surreal, hellish look, and the sight of humans being openly fed upon by legions of demons, vampires, werewolves, vampaneze, etc. didn't help. Nicole herded Kenny and Max over to a lonely bar and bade them sit and wait. "If someone talks to you, talk back, but be polite. Act like you belong here." And with that she was gone, only to be replaced by three frightening looking vampires, a man and two women, all with spiky black hair and eyes alight with an animalistic glow.
"So, boys. Come here often?" The man asked. Kenny murmured, "All the time." He jumped when he felt fingers on the back of his neck.
"I don't see any marks." One woman said and reached out a hand toward Max. It was promptly slapped away by, of all people, Nicolina, the Arcerian Queen. What was she doing here?
"You haven't seen the rest of our bodies." She snapped, arms crossed as she glared up at the three much taller, larger night creatures. The shortest one was easily almost twice her size.
"Oh? Is that an invitation, then?" Another girl asked, smiling at Max.
"He's taken. They both are." Nicolina bit out angrily. Why was she so jealous of the girl smiling at Max? Why did it make her heart ache? "They have hosts. Taken, get it? Now, scram." It would have been comical to see the diminutive shifter sassing a trio of fully grown vampires, except for the fear that these vampires would drain them drier than a desert.
"By whom?" The man asked. Nicolina realized she didn't know what to say. Kenny spoke up. "Eryka and Erynh deLupe." The other vampire shrugged.
"I've never heard of them."
"They're ancients, and very formidable." The three grown vampires merely grinned menacingly and reached for the smaller non-humans. At the last second, they recoiled, hissing in fury at something behind them. A cold, arrogant voice murmured, "Go find breakfast somewhere else. They're taken. Or do you really want to face me and my two lovely lady friends?" When they'd melted from sight, Kenny and the others turned to see a tall vampire, looking perhaps twenty, with dark eyes and soft, slightly curly brown hair a little past his chin.
"So," he said, studying his sharp fingernails, "you three," he shifted his gaze to them, "know Eryka deLupe. Is that right? Well, where is she? You don't know. Funny. I really thought you might know her. Very few know of Erynh."
"Wh-wh-who are you?"
"I am the vampire Lestat. Lestat deLioncourt, to be precise. You?"
"Kenneth Brucester." Lestat commented, "Nicole's new. companion."
"Maxwell Starr."
"Nicolina Tygre." The princess glared and announced haughtily. "Why did they leave so fast? There's nobody with you." Lestat paid little attention to Kenny, but looked intently at Max and Nicolina.
"I always travel with a brunette vampiress with a quick temper and a sharp sword. They know that, and they know she has a twin, just as formidable. Many have fought the deLupe sisters and died, or been horribly disfigured. They keep body parts as trophies, you know, depending on who they came from. Eryka has a lovely collection of werewolf teeth from when she was a child, and used to punch the other pups, knocking out their pearly whites. Hmm, hmm. Starr, you said, Mister Maxwell? Hmm. You should ask Dara about that. As for you, milady," the famous author/rock star smirked at the diminutive tigress, "hello. Where is Eryka deLupe?"
"Right here, you arrogant, self-satisfied, goddamn bloodsucking bastard leach son of a bitch!" Lestat turned to a furious vampire and murmured, "Good evening, O Moonrise of Midnight."
"You ass." Eryka grinned and glanced at Erynh, who asked, "Where's Louis?"
* * *
Dara walked calmly through the club until she reached a bar, tended by a boy who looked no older than seventeen, with reddish gold hair and mismatched eyes of violet and green. When he saw her, he nodded in greeting and smiled, though it was slow in coming. "Hello, Mother." Kai started in surprise. Mother?! Jealousy, hot and furious, coursed through his veins along with blood that sang for murder.
"Armand." She said, then took a swipe at him. He dodged. "Don't call me that. People will get the idea we're related." To the others, she said, "When he enlisted in our army in the last war, he started calling me that because I would 'fuss' as they so incorrectly put it. I never fuss." The younger vampire, Armand, pitched his voice and mimicked, "Oh, are the shutters closed? Are there new strings in the bows? Is there enough water for our horses?"
"Do not start, you impudent little squeaker. I had to tie you to your horse once because you, so grievously wounded as you were, couldn't sit up straight, yet insisted you go with me to rescue your thrice damned sire. I should smack you for that, and for putting that look on Kai's face." She grinned at him. "I'm down a wooden spoon today, or I would. Jaycen, Alexandre, and Sanguinex? Are they here?" The boy nodded, eyes downcast as he began to clean a tumbler glass. "What's wrong, Armand?"
"They are said to have turned." Midnight froze. "I don't know if it's true-"
"Silence."
"But, Dara-"
"Silence." Kai and the others flinched at the iron in her voice, the frigid steel of authority. "The next person to say such a thing, break their jaw."
"Even one of the royals?"
"Break their jaw. Now, where are they?" Armand nodded to a table occupied by the well-known Sanguinex and two men almost identical to Mithainde. Jaycen and Alexandre. Midnight's look said she wanted to do this alone, and Kai let her. When she'd spoken with them for a few minutes, she grinned and laughed. Nodding, she waved and went back to the others. Grinning, she said, "They're fine. No turning, nah, they're good." In a mind whisper, she relayed, Vampaneze are here, and others. We can't talk as freely. We'll meet them in Paris. We need to get out of here now, before Lestat attracts any trouble. If he hasn't already, I mean. what is he doing with them?
She glided through the crowd, coming to Kenny, Max, and Nicolina with Lestat, Eryka, and Erynh. "Your Royal Brattiness, we need to leave. Now, please." The vampire aristocrat looked around. "Bad vibes, love. Let's go. We have a hotel, and someone you might want to meet." Midnight grinned at everyone's puzzled look. "Demon birdie." The girls all laughed, but the guys looked confused.
"Don't ask," Erynh giggled, "just. let's go. Okay?"
"Wasn't gonna, I swear." Louis dePointe duLac sighed.
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Okay, bad thing. Not bad, so much as, not good either. I've been diagnosed w/ ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). No joke.
Good thing: This chapter is about 13 pages long. Be happy. Another good thing: steam, lots of steam, in the next chappie. In fact, all steam. Be happy, and tell me how I did on it (the steaminess).
Ch19-22 have been posted, so you will definitely have to wait a bit for 23+.