Chapter 8

Hamilton Castle and all who lived on Hamilton land spent the next 2 weeks preparing for the visitors. Everyone member of the Hamilton Clan was aware of mythical creatures, when the laird said it took a lot to surprise his people Carlisle could not have imagined how true that statement is. Gabriel and Isabelle called a clan meeting to explain that the Cullen's were animal drinking vampires and that they would probably hunt at least once while in the highlands. Families were told to be aware and on the nights they hunted to stay indoors as an extra precaution. They were told of the possible threats to the clan and to be on alert for outsiders, including lowlanders, and to immediately report anyone or anything strange to a member of the immediate family. They knew how special the family was and the clan was as protective of them as they were of the clan. They were informed that the Lady believed them to be innocent of the charges and that she knew them before she was a Hamilton. If she thought they were innocent that was good enough for the clan, the Cullen's would be protected on Hamilton land at all costs. Lastly, they were told that even though the Keeper believed them to be innocent, the Guardians had an investigation to handle and the interrogations would proceed as normal, but not to hold that against the Cullen's they would be free to explore the village and land as they wished. The last piece of information is what told the clan the Cullen's could be trusted, no visitor had ever been allowed to roam free on the land and creatures there for interrogation were NEVER allowed to leave the dungeons let alone the castle.

Nine days after leaving Ingram and Kate returned from visiting the Druids and not with the best of news. Ingram being a mix of the druid and berserker blood lines was able to read minds, very few could absolutely block their minds from him as his gift was very powerful. What he reported back to Gabriel & Isabelle was they expected, the druids were hiding something and it was big because they were obviously blocking Ingram hard, their effort was noticeable. The Druids, being the only clan whose members where mostly human, were dwindling in numbers and with their history most people in the world feared them. It could be reasoned out that they would do whatever it took to get rid of one of the other clans in exchange for longer life if not outright immortality, but who would grant them that was the question.

The answer came from Kate. Ingram's mate, Kate, was Brude, although if anyone asked they always said she was a druid. She was from the most ancient bloodline and she was a pure blood. The Druids were a diluted descendant of the Brude's. Brude's are like vampires or lycans, not truly immortal but very durable. The clans thought there were 12 Brudes left, all of which were locked in an underworld prison by the Fae millennia ago for trying to rid Earth of humans. In reality, there were 14 left, the 12 dark ones and the two light ones in the Hamilton Clan. The moment Kate stepped on Druid land she hoped what she was sensing was not true but she knew it would be. She told Gabriel and Isabelle that she sensed Brude magic when speaking with the leaders of the clan; it seemed as if they had been given a power boost.

This was troubling news; if the Brude's were behind this their freedom would not be enough. They would be looking to rule and that put all of the other clans in danger as well.

Grim & Jillian returned just hours after Ingram and Kate and prepared to give their report, mostly the news was as they expected. The higher level sects of the Lycan clan had no idea what the lower levels were doing. The Lycan leaders were not the ones aiding the druids but they were very excited about the fact that some vampires were causing trouble. They saw this as their way to get rid of more than a few vampires and shake their power base on the council. The Volturi normally did a very good job of policing the vampires, so the fact that they had a coven out of control was exciting to the Lycan clan and they would exploit it as much as possible. They would not be happy if the Cullen's were found innocent.

The trip to South America is what proved the werewolves are involved Grim reported. The girls were being held in a compound that could have passed for a rustic resort and guarded by werewolves. What surprised Jillian most was that it did not appear as if the girls knew they were guarded by werewolves. Who guarded them during the 3 day full moon cycle? They weren't being used as sex slaves or on blood farms by anyone, so why keep them alive and who was being used for those purposes?

Grim and Jillian were able to plant a few video cameras around the compound and hopefully they would provide more information on what the wolves would be doing with the girls and when. No one believed the girls would be allowed to leave alive, not all of them, so what purpose did they serve? Isabelle hoped they would figure it out before those girls were killed; only time would tell.

After the reports were given each couple retired for the night, knowing that time with their mates would be hard to find in the coming weeks and months and cherishing what time they had. It was almost two o'clock in the morning when they alarm sounded inside the castle; the night patrol had found something. Gabriel and the boys went to the forest to investigate, it was obvious the Hamilton's were being watched and it had started in the last week. Someone had even tried to enter their land without permission, with the wards that were in place Grim was laughing as he wondered if they recovered from that stupid decision yet. The protection in place around Hamilton land was legendary and fatal to some species and yet some creatures were foolish enough to try anyway. That was a lesson they generally only had to learn once. Gabriel was able to pick vampire and lycan scents, why are the vampires watching? With this knowledge he increased the night patrol and once everyone returned at least one of his sons would be put on patrol also with new orders. He wanted one of each type of spy captured alive, they needed more information.

As the men were in the forest, Isabelle and the girls were in the castle control room testing the wards around the land for weak spots. Three places were found where attempts had been made to break the wards. The person had not come close to breaking through but even the attempt had pissed the Keeper off. How dare someone think they could beat her magic! It had to have been one of the Brude's but from a distance, if he had been close to the clan he would have been sensed. Kate was sent into the castle catacombs to look for the oldest spells, the most ancient magic. The wards would have to be made lethal for anyone not bearing the Hamilton crest. Those spells were borderline black magic and not to be used lightly, but it was starting to look as if they would not have to go looking for the battle. If Isabelle's thoughts were right the battle would be coming to them and sooner than they thought.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or the characters.

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