Chapter VII: Enemies Revealed

Amelia's eyes wearily opened, at first she felt uneasy, being in an unfamiliar environment until she felt a hand stoking her hair. When she saw who it was she allowed a smile to creep across her face. "Malachi.." she croaked wearily.

"Ssshh my Lady" he spoke to her "Your Safe"

Amelia's smile soon faded as she remembered what had happened to her, "The council?" she asked.

"I was unable to save them my lady" said Malachi with his head hung.

"I thought they had killed you" choked Amelia "I was so incensed"

"No" reassured Malachi "I'd never leave you.

"Your loyalty is the most comforting thing in my life Malachi." Amelia confessed "Now tell me what happened."

As Malachi began to explain the events of the last few hours a crowd began to gather outside Amelia's room, the Vampires of the facility desired to see their leader. Malachi gave his Lady a run down of the night's events, the Ambush, the escape and the aftermath, including the death of Viktor.

Amelia lay her head back onto her pillow and closed her eyes "someone will pay dearly for this" she hissed .

"What would you have me do my Lady?" asked Malachi

"Where are my death dealers?" Amelia choked

"Nina's bringing them from New York, my lady" reassured Malachi "However it will take a few days for them to arrive."

"What forces do I have here?" She asked

"Humans, my lady, and the two Death Dealers that were with Dimitri."

"What time is it?" Asked Amelia

"Almost noon" Malachi whispered

"At nightfall I want you to take a team to Viktor's house, I want you to bring me Kraven's head, do you understand?" Demanded Amelia

"Of course my Lady" Malachi responded with a bow "Is that everything?"

"Not quite" began Amelia "I need you to do something else for me."

"I am yours to command"

"You are to protect Markus at all costs Malachi, it is very important, that he is kept safe, is that clear Malachi?" Amelia asked coldly.

"Of course, but what if he's already dead my Lady?" The loyal servant asked.

Amelia hesitated for a moment "Then bring me his body"

"I understand" He bowed

"Good, now go and get your team ready, you must prepare" Amelia's voice had lost the frailty it had when she had first awoken, there was once again an air of cold authority in her voice, although Malachi could still see the pain in her eyes, like two shattered emeralds.

"Are you okay my lady?" asked Malachi, no longer able to suppress his concern

"I will be when your mission is complete" she sighed "now go." As Malachi was about to turn and leave Amelia held out a hand, Malachi took her slender bandaged hand in his and gently kissed it.

"I will not fail you my Lady" he reassured her, and took his leave.

Amelia watched as he exited her room and headed down the corridor, "You never do" she whispered under her breath, as she lay back down in her now solitary room.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Several hours had passed, nightfall was approaching, Malachi had selected his team, a dozen Ziodec guards, as well as one of Dimitri's Death Dealers. He was giving them one final briefing.

"Okay, thanks to director Holtz we will be able to override gate security and head straight to the mansion, now as you know last nights battle has severely weakened the Coven, its unlikely that Kraven will have many men left, which makes our job a lot easier. We may have to engage some Vampires, we may just be able to take out Kraven straight away, we won't know until we get there, any questions?" There were none, Malachi gave the order and his men gathered their weapons and climbed aboard to blacked out vans. The drive to Viktor's mansion did not take long, less than an hour in fact, Malachi could see that some of his men were nervous about going up against Vampires, however he would soon discover they would have good reason to be nervous as the vans came screeching to a stop. Malachi stepped out of his van and stood at the gates to the mansion, with a look of horror on his face "What the fuck…" he muttered.

The Death Dealer in the other van got out and stood beside him "Who could have done this? He asked

"I don't know Lucas, I just don't know" Was Malachi's only response, the two Vampires just stared at the ruins of Viktor's mansion, it had been burned, raised to the ground with no sign of life "Come on, we have a job to do" commanded Malachi

Malachi and his men made their way through the fire ravaged mansion, stepping over the charred and mutilated corpses of the Budapest Coven. They made their way to the Elders resting place, Viktor's throne room, and they saw what can only be described as a massacre. The bodies of Death Dealers and Kraven's men were scattered in pieces on the now blood stained marble floor, Markus' coffin was empty, and there was no sign of his body.

"Sir!" a Ziodec guard called to Malachi

"What is it?" he asked walking over to him

"This" the young man responded.

Malachi looked down at a severed head, he poked at it with his cane "Kraven" he smiled as he bent down to pick it up, holding the head at eye level he asked "now who is making my job easier?" He tossed the head to one of the guards "bag it" he barked at them.

Lucas walked over to Malachi "Lycans?" he asked.

"I don't know" began Malachi shaking his head slightly "Something's not right here." He stopped for a moment to think "We should get back to Ziodec" he said "It would appear that we have a new enemy."