Marchette drove fast. That was an understatement. He pushed the SUV's engine so hard he could hear it screaming and groaning. They'd had to deviate from their original course, and now he was driving east, going the wrong way to lead to the compound. Luckily, the route he chose lead through the area that, by some stroke of luck, was void of Agents and barricades.
His mistress had been silent since she'd last spoken to the Agent. She now was just staring blankly out the window, rubbing her hands on her jacket, a lifeless look on her face.
"Madam, are you alright?" Marchette ventured, after a quarter hour of silence.
She was as still and inanimate as a statue. "Yes." She blinked once, only once, a single tear streaked down her cheek. "I'm fine."
He looked over at her. "That man, who was he?"
For the first time since getting in the car, she blinked and her eyes focused. Staring at her hands, she said, "He was…" She trailed off.
What? Marchette thought. A colleague? A companion? A friend? A lover?
"Special," was all she said. Looking at Marchette for the first time, she said harshly, "And you are never to speak of him again. Understood?"
Perceiving this to be her first order to him, Marchette nodded saying, "As you wish, madam."
Looking around them, she realized they were in the industrial section of the city. "Where are we?" she asked curiously, breaking a tense silence that had formed between them.
"Plan B," Marchette answered. "Alternate route with an alternate airstrip." He glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "Your father has left for home already. We are going to meet up with him in a couple days. For now, we're going as far East as we can."
Elaina frowned, "Isn't the Nichelle stronghold based in Cordalla? That's to the south. The Danalli have control of the east."
Marchette nodded, "Ah, yes. But the world is a sphere, so eventually, east becomes west."
"What's in the west then?" Elaina asked impatiently.
"Nephrita," he answered shortly.
"Right," Elaina said, an edge of sarcasm in her voice, obviously not getting it yet.
He grinned. "Nephrita is under the control of The League de Myra."
Elaina was silent, then she stared at him. "You're taking me to my mother." It wasn't a question; it was a statement.
The bodyguard nodded as he pulled into a parking lot. "Come on," he said, opening his door, "get out."
After closing her door behind her, Elaina looked around. "Where the hell are we?" she asked. The place looked more like a popular teenage make-out spot than a Vampire compound. The parking lot seemed much like a place where some psycho would take his date, then rape and murder her. Tall, dark, dirty concrete buildings loomed over them, providing a sinister atmosphere to the lot. A black section in the wall ahead of them suggested perhaps the entrance to an underground parking garage.
Marchette laughed slightly. "This place is just a cover. We have a car waiting for us over there," he pointed into the blackness. Looking around, he took his mistress by the arm and pulled her into the dark parking garage.
Much of the rest of the night passed as a blur. There was little to remark upon that occurred. It was not long before the two Pure Bloods were high in the air, racing over hill and rock and tree. Marchette was so grateful he could have cried. Nothing more happened to put them in danger. While flying over Malsurh, the stronghold of the League of Danall, there was no reaction. No Danalli crafts were racing after them to shoot them out of the sky.
The first trouble they encountered was in the air over Nephrita. It appeared that the League de Myra was on a different radio frequency, and Marchette was tuned into one that human civilians used. Knowing he shouldn't answer, for fear of giving himself and his charge away, he kept silent as an annoying human told him to announce himself. As he did this, he spoke on his cell phone frantically to try to get onto the right frequency. Finally he got his answers, told the annoying human that he was a cargo freighter, and was simply passing over, and switched channels.
"Identify yourself," a cold voice said over the radio.
"No need," Marchette, "you know who I am."
"Very well," the voice replied. "What is the nature of your cargo?"
Marchette paused, trying to remember, "Fragile and unstable."
The cold voice then asked, "Is your cargo in any way a weapon which could harm the citizens of this city?"
"Depends on your definition of weapon which could harm," Marchette answered immediately. At this point, he glanced over at Elaina, and she had the most amusingly confused look on her face.
"To whom may we send a thank you card, for the gift of such cargo?" the cold voice enquired.
Marchette grinned as Elaina's frown deepened. "Sorry," he replied, "There is no return address on the packaging."
There was a pause over the radio. "What are you rambling on about?" Elaina snapped.
Marchette chuckled and said, "I'll tell you later."
The radio silence broke before Elaina could retort, the cold voice saying, "You are to remain at your present coordinates. A shuttle will arrive for you in a moment. You know how friends should greet, don't you?"
Marchette smirked, "With a hug and a kiss of course!" He flipped a switch on the dashboard, which turned on the autopilot, setting it to hover.
"Now are you going to tell me what's going on?" Elaina snapped, folding her arms over her chest.
Raising an eyebrow, Marchette asked, "Didn't you speak in codes when you were an Agent?"
She opened and closed her mouth a few times, considering what he said. Then she just sunk down in her seat, muttering, "You weren't going to tell me anyways, were you?"
Chuckling, Marchette said, "you'll find out soon enough anyways. What I said was that I was an important person. I had a young Vampire with me. I was an ally. And you are a Pure Blood. And that last part with a hug and a kiss was a final password." He paused, "oh!" he remembered what he was going to say, "you are never to tell anyone you're a Pure Blood. They'll figure it out themselves." When Elaina frowned in confusion, he continued, "its not exactly common knowledge that Pure Bloods exist. Its best if you let those in the know identify you before you give yourself away to a spy."
Rolling her eyes, Elaina asked, "wouldn't I make the perfect spy?" She grunted in annoyance and slumped lower into her seat, sulking.
They sat in silence for several minutes after that, a silence broken when the radio crackled and a second voice came on saying, "If I were to kiss your sister, would you be terribly annoyed?"
Elaina gave her bodyguard an odd look when he replied, "It would depend on the sister."
The man on the other end chuckled, "its good to hear from you Niko. Prepare for docking." The plane suddenly rocked violently, nearly knocking Elaina from her set and throwing Marchette to the floor. "Sorry," the man on the radio said, "I haven't flown one of these shuttles in a while."
There was a banging sound in the back of the plane. Marchette got to his feet, motioning for Elaina to stay quietly where she was, as he pulled a gun from its holster, holding it subtly at his side. From the back of the plane, a voice yelled, "Don't shoot me Niko! You know its me!"
"Come forward slowly, showing me your hands," Marchette said authoritatively, leveling his gun.
From the back of the plane, a man emerged, his hands in the air. "Surely you wouldn't harm your only brother?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
Marchette cocked the gun, "You're not my only brother."
The new man snorted, as Marchette grinned and lowered the gun. Surveying him over her bodyguard's shoulder, Elaina saw the new man was an exact copy of Marchette. The only differences were his eyes were a deep blue, and his hair was a much more shocking red.
The two gruffly embraced, muttering greetings. Turning to her, the man ran his eyes over Elaina, asking, "And, who do we have here?"
She smiled slightly; "My name is…."she trailed off. She had been about to say Jaden, or Agent Korr. She shook her head. "…Elaina. My name is Elaina."
Smirking, the man commented, "It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself more than I of who you are."
Elaina squirmed slightly and sunk lower into her seat. Marchette reached over and cuffed his brother, saying, "Shut up, Kegan. It's been a long ass night."
It was very early in the morning when the shuttle touched down onto the landing strip. A man hurried up the outside access ramp saying, "Hurry! Come with me."
Normally, Nikoli Marchette would have shot a man who barged into the aircraft his charge was on, who failed to identify himself, and who quickly ordered them to go into what could be a hostile environment. But his brother was the first out of his chair, and Kegan gave him a nod of encouragement, assuring Nikoli there was no immediate danger. Still, he made sure that he swept the area with his eyes as he walked down the access ramp.
"What's the rush?" Elaina asked, getting out of her seat, following her bodyguard out.
The strange man glanced skywards, saying, "Nearly sunup."
Elaina made a face of understanding. She'd realized then that these people were not Pure Bloods. Nikoli flashed his eyes in her direction, hoping she'd remember that he'd told her to never mention Half Bloods or Pure Bloods idly. She frowned at him, knowing the reason for his glance and rolled her eyes, giving him a well duh kind of look.
There were three large SUVs parked on the tarmac. They were all three different models, in different colors, the only similarity being the blacked out windows, those being bulletproof glass. Congregated around said vehicles were several well built people, all dressed in expensive suits, the cloth bulging over weapons and muscle. These men were all intimidating, and most likely mercenaries, bodyguards, or assassins. More than half of these men were human still. Only one man could Marchette recognized as a Pure Blood. Subtly, the man nodded, getting into the car closest to the shuttle.
Nikoli seized Elaina by the elbow, muttering, "Keep your head down," and guided her towards the second vehicle. He opened the door and one-handedly helped her in, closing the door as he got in behind her. Kegan got into backseat of the third car, the other men climbing into the remaining seats. Two filled the front seats of their own car. One was a Faithful, the one driving, the other a Half Blood who was yet to be Awoken.
The lightening sky was brilliant pink and green as the sun prepared to rise over the skyscrapers that dominated the skyline of Nephrita. Elaina was staring out, her face pressed against the window as she watched the buildings whiz past. There were few other cars on the road, all of them traveling at the same speeds they were. The traffic enforcers seemed much more lax here than in Venisa Elaina pondered. Stupid Day Shift she thought, then realized that she'd forgotten something important.
This was Nephrita, a Vampire dominated city. It was one of several cities worldwide in which the Organization could not get a footing. Spies were usually found quickly, and the citizens were fairly content with the Vampire rule.
"Is Nephrita still an Agent free city?" Elaina asked.
The man in the passenger seat said, "Yes." He shrugged, "well, at least as Agent free as it can get. They still got their undercover operatives infiltrating us every once in a while."
"Of course, there's still the freelancers to be concerned about," the driver added.
"Freelancers?" Elaina asked. "I've never heard of humans other than the Agents fighting the Vampires. Are there many?"
"Oh yeah, there's tonnes of them!" the man in the passenger seat replied. "They're mostly the rejects from the Academies or they're undercover Agents who stir up some action among the non-Faithful community. But there are a few who want no affiliation with the Agents, as they feel they're corrupt and not to be trusted."
"Really?" Elaina asked. "Do they have any proof of corruption?" She sounded a little indignant. Marchette noticed. He leaned over and poked her leg with a grin. She rolled her eyes when she realized that she was defending the Organization.
"Some say they do," the driver answered. "They say that the death of that Commander Korr back in Venisa was all orchestrated, that it was all a big plot schemed up by a traitorous human and the League of Danall. Personally I think that's plausible. Besides," he shrugged, "the less organized humans are against the Vampires, the longer I'll live."
The man in the passenger seat nudged him, giving him a stern look. "Not that he means any disrespect, sir and madam," the passenger seat man shot a glare at his partner, "right Graham?"
"Oh," Graham cleared his throat and looked sheepishly at them in the rearview mirror. "I meant no disrespect at all!" he assured them.
"Don't worry," Elaina replied, "no offence taken." The vehicle fell silent again.
Ten minutes later, they pulled into a parking complex. Graham and the passenger leapt from their seats and pulled open Marchette's and Elaina's doors. But before the young Nichelle could move towards her door, her bodyguard seized her arm and pulled her out the other door behind him.
He towed her towards the building, putting his arm over her shoulder and pushing her down so she walked doubled over. Only once they were inside, down two corridors and in an elevator with the doors shut did he allow her to straighten.
"You know," she commented, "that was hardly nice." Marchette just raised an eyebrow and gave her a pointed look. "Look," she continued as she pulled off her glasses, "I've spent most of my life in dangerous situations and no one gave a shit if I got hurt. And," she lowered her voice substantially, "I was the daughter of the Chief Commander. For god's sake! I don't need to be coddled and have a six-inch-thick bubble placed around me! I am capable of watching my own back!" Her voice was no longer quiet. She was furious; her temper was hardly helped by the way Marchette was looking at her. His expression was like a parent regarding their whining, overconfident child who felt they were the best at whatever it was they were doing. "Stop looking at me like that!" she hissed, giving Marchette's chest a hard poke. "I'm not five! I demand to be treated with respect!"
When she moved to poke him again, Marchette seized her wrist and held it firmly as she fought to free herself. "I'd appreciate it, Madam, if you waited to throw your temper tantrum in a more secluded and private location."
"Temper tantrum," she sputtered, too furious to form a full sentence.
"Yes," he shot back, cutting off her newest rant. "You are acting like a spoiled child. You were assigned a bodyguard, unfortunately me, because your father, a much older and wiser person than you, with far more experience in the ways of the world than you, thought it a good idea." He leaned down so they were face to face, barely an inch between their noses. "So you will act as your station dictates. You are of a higher class than Agent Jaden Korr could ever hope to reach, so act accordingly. I am not here to be your babysitter, I am here to make certain you stay alive, because there are far worse things that'll plague you now than the pitiful predicaments that concern an Agent. I could make your life hell, but still keep you alive. Would you prefer it that way?" When Elaina stayed silent, he continued, "Then don't be bitching about how you don't need my protection. Just saying that confirms how much you need it!"
The elevator dinged and the door slid open. Standing just outside the doors was a blond man with pale blue eyes. These eyes widened with shock when they rested upon Elaina.
"What's the problem?" Marchette snapped, stepping forward to shield his charge, his hand automatically falling to the butt of his gun.
The man shook his head and apologized, "Sorry Marchette. Didn't mean to startle you. I just didn't realize how much she looked like mother. I mean I saw you when you were getting off the plane but it was just a glance," he now turned to address the young woman, "now I can see you're an exact copy of mum!"
Elaina blinked. "And you are?" she asked, staring at him, confused.
"Madam, this is your half brother Rikard Myra-Ridelle," Marchette supplied. "He was waiting at the plane, but I assume didn't want to arouse suspicions by speaking with you. Is that right?" Rikard nodded.
"Oh," Elaina said, looking surprised, "hello." She awkwardly held out her hand, which her brother shook with a chuckle.
"I'm glad to finally meet you. I must say, you are suddenly less boring," he said, putting emphasis on you.
Elaina chuckled as well, "being assumed dead for several years can do that to a person."
Rikard grinned, "Mother will be so happy to see you!" he exclaimed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and towing her down the hall.
Forcing a nervous laugh, Elaina said, "Let's hope so."
ya...so...i totally just realized that the name Danall sounds a lot like the name of hte other vegitarian coven in the Twilight series. i thought of hte name before reading the books, and had no clue of it until now. Also, i admit that for some reason, the name Jaden Korr, which i first heard in a Star Wars XBOX game, stuck in my head for two years before i began to write this story. haha...things you think up when your tired...lol...reviews are appreciated. JG
