Chapter 31: Not All That Is Hidden Is Good
AN: Well, another chapter done. Not much to say right now except that I would really appreciate any ideas for the sequel. Oh, and for those of you who were wondering (I have gotten this question in a few reviews), Destiny's in her seventh month. Not long now…
"Welcome to Rome," the cardinal said kindly. I smiled in relief. I was finally here. Finally safe. He turned and began walking down the stairs, talking as we descended.
"This, obviously, is the headquarters for the Holy Order, as well as a place where great minds from across the globe can come and work on some of their more controversial inventions." Right as he said that, something exploded in the back of the room we were entering, sending up a plume of green smoke. The cardinal didn't even twitch.
"If you would be so kind as to fill me in on the details of your situation, I would be most grateful." I shot a sidelong glance at Damon. What didn't they know? Weren't they informed? "We received news that a young woman with child needed protection from a vampire, Dracula, to be specific."
I winced. That was a severely edited version of my history, leaving out pretty much all of the controversial elements. This was defiantly going to be interesting.
"Cardinal, if I could tell you in a place that's a little more private?" The less people who were privy to this information, the better. The cardinal would know whom to tell.
He nodded and led us to a study liberally decorated with holy artifacts and tapestries. Sitting down, he indicated for us to do the same. Damon sat, but I remained standing. The cardinal pulled a pair of half-moon glasses out of his desk drawer and put them on as he prepared to record what I told him. However, I was too nervous to make the first move.
"Come child," he said. "Do not be scared. Now, just to get the story in its entirety, why do you need Rome's protection?"
"Because I'm on the run form Dracula."
"Who is?" He knew, sort of, but obviously wanted to hear it directly from me for some reason.
"The first vampire, also called the son of the Devil." He looked more than a little disturbed. I could sympathize, but it also made me wonder what his reaction was going to be when we got to the heart of the problem.
"And why is it that he pursues you?" Well, there was just no help for it. I was just going to have to jump right in.
"Because I'm carrying his children," I said bluntly.
"Okay." The cardinal wrote it down. Then he froze, looked up at me, then down at what he had written, and finally back at me again. The look on his face said he didn't want to believe me, even though my condition was evident.
"But, that's not possible," he said in a strangled whisper. "An immortal and a mortal…it's not physically possible." I sighed, swinging my arms at my sides.
"Well, see that's the catch: I'm not mortal anymore." His eyes widened.
"Anymore?"
"I'm an angel." If I thought his eyes couldn't possible get any wider, I was proved wrong when I grew my wings as proof of my statement. The poor man was probably going to have a heart attack from all this. Retracting my wings, I looked sideways at Damon. He was leaning his chair against the wall, apparently asleep. I snorted. Some help he was.
"I'm going to have to call a meeting about this, I'm afraid." The cardinal was speaking again. A meeting? That meant there was a chance of refusing me protection, because there were undoubtedly other cardinals in the Holy Order who were sticklers for the 'right' way of things. This situation didn't have a chance of falling under that category.
"Wait," I pleaded. "Just, please, hear the rest of my story." I explained about the werewolf escape (an edited version), my escape, the slaughter of my village, the fight with the vampires, Nonia's death, being recaptured, and the second escape.
"See?" I finished. "I want my children to grow up outside of Dracula's influence. I want them to be hunters of the dark, not servants of it." I waited anxiously for the cardinal's reply. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, eyes closed.
"That is quite a story," he said at last. "But I still must call a meeting about this. Damon," and at this Damon raised his head, "can show you a room where you will be allowed to stay until we decide what to do."
With those ominous words hanging in the air, he left. Worried, I turned to Damon.
"How likely is it that they'll kick me out?"
"Not likely," he was quick to assure me, but I sensed his doubts and didn't like it at all. "Well, follow me." We too left the room.
Damon led me back through the inventing room, warning me not to get too close to anything, for my sake.
"I can speak from personal experience." But when I pressed him for details, he refused to be forthcoming. It annoyed me to no end that he'd pique my curiosity like that and then just leave me hanging.
"You are infuriating." I informed him matter-of-factly, eliciting a chuckle out of him.
"Not so much as you," he returned.
"Real witty."
"Thank you."
"Hmph." I snorted in derision.
"Oh, that's real lady-like."
"Damon, I fly, I fight vampires with knives, I escape through sewers, do you think I honestly care about 'being a lady'? Pft. That's nonsense." I waved the comment aside. "Wow this room is far."
"We're here, actually."
"Oh. Well then…" I peered in the open door. The room was small but cozy enough, if simple. But I like that. It reminded me of my childhood home. I wondered how long the cardinals were going to take. Probably a while, if I knew religious people. It would be a heated discussion, one that would be very entertaining to listen to, if the stakes weren't so high.
"Um, Damon?" Turning around, I cocked my head up at him.
"Yeah?"
"Where is the most likely place to hold a meeting between cardinals?" I asked innocently, knowing it would not fool him for a minute. Nor was it supposed to.
"Now Destiny," he chided. "Eavesdropping is not condoned here. I really can't tell you –"
"Please?"
"What I can tell you is to not turn left and follow this corridor. Don't take the third passage to your right. And whatever you do, don't stop outside the second door on you left." He winked at me and left. I watched him go, grinning.
Of course, I did what I 'wasn't' supposed to do, following this corridor left from my room, taking the third passage to my right, and stopping in a niche outside the second door on my left. To my extreme good fortune, the door was cracked a little and the people inside were making no attempt to be quiet.
"What we can't do is allow her to stay here! It simply isn't natural."
"I quite agree. Mortals are not supposed to become angels and under no circumstances are they to get involved with vampires! The son of the Devil no less!"
"She did help cure an innocent man of being a werewolf and helped him escape, at great risk to herself. That's got to count for something, if only as a measure of her character."
At least someone was on my side.
"But she got a member of a noble house killed."
"The woman died fighting vampires, like all her family before her. That's hardly this girl's fault."
"Be that as it may, we cannot allow more demons into this world. Don't we have enough to deal with already?"
"There's no guarantee that they will have demonic characteristics."
"There's no guarantee that they won't! They would be half angel, half vampire; abominations!"
That got me mad. My children were not abominations. Outside the door, I seethed in anger.
"However, as members of the church we cannot fail in our duty to protect God's children. What would we be if we denied sanctuary to one who so desperately needs it? Would you send her out there to die!"
Well, I probably wouldn't die yet. I'd be killed once the children were able to survive on their own. Still, the thought was not a pleasant one. I noticed that the room had gone quiet after the last cardinal's outburst. I could imagine what was running through their minds. Did they really want my blood on their hands? Did they want my death on their consciences?
In the corridor outside, I held my breath and waited.
O.O what's it gonna be? Is she going to stay or will she be forced to go? I wonder….