Ace in the Hole

Summary: [Sequel to Celtic Aurora's Dark Ripples in Blood] When an arcane necromancer offers his allegiance and powers to help him defeat the vampires in the grisly war, Lucian cannot refuse. With Kraven as an unpredictable factor in the game, he needs an ace in the hole to win. [LucianxSonja & other various parings]

Chapter IX: Hidden Intentions

Text:

"Speech"

Thoughts

Flashbacks

Music/Poems/Sonnets:

"Sonnet 14" by William Shakespeare

"I Remembered" by Sara Teasdale

A/N: *SPOILER ALERT!* This chapter contains major spoilers to the future plot of my friend, Celtic Aurora's story, Dark Ripples in Blood. So if you don't want to know what happens later on…well, you probably don't want to hear Catherine's story (so maybe skip that part?) or not bother reading this chapter at all. Your choice, I forewarned you.

Disclaimer: Nothing of the Underworld series belongs to me. End of story. Now, let's move along.

"Not from the stars do I my judgment pluck,
And yet methinks I have astronomy,
But not to tell of good, or evil luck,
Of plagues, of dearths, or seasons' quality,
Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell;
Pointing to each his thunder, rain and wind,
Or say with princes if it shall go well
By oft predict that I in heaven find.
But from thine eyes my knowledge I derive,
And constant stars in them I read such art
As truth and beauty shall together thrive
If from thy self, to store thou wouldst convert:
Or else of thee this I prognosticate,
Thy end is truth's and beauty's doom and date."

-Sonnet 14, William Shakespeare

"So," began Catherine, staring inquisitively at the huge, archaic, charcoal tomb of a vampire Elder that was lying casually in her living room, "Why is there a sleeping Elder in my room? Also, what are we going to do with him?"

"Not we, but me," corrected Zael, studying the slumbering Markus meticulously, "I had hoped he would have gone in the basement but I'll let Bristol take care of that later."

"Why me?" yelped Bristol indignantly.

"Because you took your sweet ole time teleporting Markus and me when I could have been caught and our entire plan would have been all for naught," came the stinging, cool reply. Bristol crossed her arms, "hmphing" as she did so and would have disappeared to pout if Zael didn't add: "And please don't go off to sulk. We still need you."

"Could use some more appreciation," grumbled the witch, shooting daggers at her blonde comrade.

"But why do you need Markus? As leverage against Victor?" queried Catherine, millions of questions swarming in her head as she looked back and forth from Bristol and Zael. That was only logical reason she could understand why these two strange women abducted one of the Elders of the Ordoghaz coven. She thought they would have gone for Victor but instead, they choose Markus. Did they, perhaps, they held a grudge against him?

Zael nodded, bandaging the small wound she had made in order to feed the vampire Elder. "Bristol and I have our own purposes but both of us want to bend Victor to our will." Catherine waited for her to continue but she said nothing else. The fallen angel-vampire hybrid then turned to Bristol for more answers, hoping the witch could sense her inquisitiveness. Then, as if on cue, Bristol picked up right where Zael left off.

"Well, I need this scribe of Victor to give me information and as for Zael…" she trailed off, noticing the warning look the said woman sent her, "Well, she has her own reasons for getting back at Victor."

"But why not instead take Victor? He's clearly the man you're after." Catherine interjected, puzzled. Zael snapped her head around to face her.

"Where's the fun in that?" responded Zael darkly, a shadow cast over her staid visage and icy blue eyes, "I have a score to settle with both of them and what's better than turning one Elder against the other?"

Catherine hoped for a deeper explanation but judging from what she already knew about Zael and her personality, she had a feeling this woman wouldn't divulge much information to her. Bristol, on the other hand, was the person to go to for answers–for the most part.

"What do you mean?" chimed in Michael, who had poked his head to hear more of their conversation. His younger sister, Cordelia, was also listening.

"Glad you asked!" exclaimed Bristol, beaming broadly. She always adored the chance to show off her magical prowess. "When Zael went to retrieve Markus, she cast a specific spell that I created to bind this Elder to us. Now normally, people with no magical talent in their blood couldn't perform the enchantment but I perfected it so it would work with anyone who possessed a talisman carrying a magical charm or ingredient. Thus, Zael was able to recite the spell with no problem at all as long as she wore that enchanted pendant around her neck." she finished proudly.

"And does this spell allow you to control Markus?" queried Catherine. The brunette witch nodded.

"Zael is really the one who can command him because she gave him some of her blood, which is the main ingredient that binds their souls together," Bristol added, looking quite pleased at her handiwork, "I can't wait to see his face when he realizes what we've done!"

An amused, small smile found its way on Catherine's face. I daresay so can I.

"So tell us, Mrs. Van Helsing," Zael began formally, her wintry gaze intensely zoning in on her, "How do you know Lucian? What brought you two together?" For some reason, Zael's azure eyes–so frosty, so deadly, they reminded Catherine of frozen water in the mountains–unnerved Catherine and for a moment, she wondered if Zael was really human or not. But she shoved that musing aside and answered Zael's question.

"Well, that story is a long one," the young mother started, taking seat. Her two children, Michael and Cordelia joined them. They already knew the tale but wanted to hear it again. After all, stories, pictures, and memories were all they had of their father, the man they never knew. "It all began when my husband, Edward, and I went to Victor's coven as dignitaries. We knew the cost of our true identities being uncovered but we were sent on a mission from my employers. They wanted us to infiltrate the Ordoghaz coven and report our findings to them as often as we could. Sometimes, it was rather difficult poking our noses around there without getting everyone suspicious–especially when you had a lecherous vampire hounding at your heels." An image of Kraven flashed instantly in Catherine's head and she grimaced, pure and utter loathing swelling up inside her heart, the very reason why Edward couldn't be with her and the children, the catalyst that commenced the whole disaster that lead to Cordelia and Michael never having a father present. She hadn't heard from Edward in centuries, she wasn't certain whether or not he had fend the assassins off and was keeping her location a secret by not getting in contact with her or maybe, for all she knows, he could have been killed and his remains were left unprotected, unmourn. This thought chilled Catherine to the bone, she didn't want ponder about her husband's potential death, no matter how likely the possibility was. She still had hope, and she wanted that hope to remain in her children as well.

"Unfortunately, that same vampire, found out about our true natures and threatened to reveal our secret to Victor if I didn't do something for him," resumed Catherine, the sordid memories rushing back to her like a surreal, distant phantasmagoria, a slideshow of her past.

"Listen to me, Catherine," drawled out Kraven, his inky eyes sparkling lewdly at her and bile immediately rose in Catherine's throat. "If you come and spend the night with me, I'll be sure to turn a blind eye to you and your husband's actions and keep your secret to myself." One hand captured a lock of her brown hair, rubbing it between his fingertips. He grinned smugly at her, the lascivious look never leaving his face as he heightened the proximity between, backing Catherine against the wall. "So, what do you say?"

Just when he was about touch her cheek, Catherine's hand came flying out of nowhere, slapping his hand aside. Her sapphire blue orbs were alight with indignant fire and fury. "I say you should take a long walk off a short cliff!" she snapped, fuming. "You think I'll be unfaithful to Edward, my wonderful husband? You're even dumber than you look, Kraven."

Kraven's triumphant smirk melted abruptly, his pale face turning an ugly shade of puce while a chilling hue of electric blue replaced his dark pools of jet black. "You're pretty defiant for someone who's inches away from having their head on the chopping block," he snarled, miffed by Catherine's blunt rejection, "You obviously don't care about your life or your family's, I take it. Let's see how bold and brash you are when you watch your precious brat slowly die right before your very own eyes!"

Furious glints of deep, deadly garnet blazed brilliantly in Catherine's eyes, ire rolling off her in waves as she heard this threat. With no thought of her own security, her hand rolled up tightly into a fist and smacking itself straight into Kraven's jaw, satisfied to hear a solid cracking sound and muffled howl of pain. Kraven stumbled back, but not before she whirled around to plant her foot into his solar plexus.

"Let that be a lesson to you, Kraven, to never, ever, issue threats against me or my family," she spat, irises still vivid and bright as blood. Kraven cut her a dirty glare, a murderous, wrathful aura cloaking him as he wiped off a dribble of blood from his cut lip.

"You'll regret this!" he hissed, a promise of revenge glimmering in his pupils. "Mark my words, Catherine, you will be wishing you had accepted my offer."

Shoving her brusquely aside, he stormed out of the room, leaving Catherine alone to ponder and worry over the fate of her family and the mission.

"Let me guess: You refused his proposal," remarked Zael dryly. Catherine nodded her head.

"Yes, but somehow, the vampire–Kraven was his name–managed to kidnap one of the coven's top Death Dealer and hide him away before he killed him and dumped his corpse into my and Edward's chambers. We were blamed for his death and no matter how many times we denied the charges and offered evidence, no one believed us. Once Kraven told Victor of our hybrid heritage, he went completely berserk and sent his Death Dealers and assassins to hunt us down. There was a particular batch of assassins he had hired to kill us and Edward split up with me so he could distract them and lead them off our trail. I never saw him again after that so I don't know if he was successful or not."

There was a wistful, lonely catch in her timbre as she finished her shortened story, her lapis lazuli eyes distant and forlorn, as if she was off in another world and seeing Edward's face again.

His warm, rough lips were pressed up passionately against her pleading mouth, his hands tangling themselves fiercely in her dark brown tresses, his heart and soul pouring themselves into every touch, every kiss, every caress.

"I love you, gel," he murmured as they kissed, tasting her tears as they rolled down her cheeks, "We will be together again, just you wait. No man, human or not, can keep us apart." He kissed her again, this one more ardent and desperate than the others. Catherine knew the meaning of this kiss and for that reason, she clung to him harder, wishing there was another way and she didn't have let her beloved husband go.

Breaking away, Edward's hand stroked her face tenderly and then, in a flash, he was gone, disappearing into the night, his coat flapping madly behind him as he raced to confront the hired blades.

Then the dreamy, far-off expression vanished and the fallen angel-vampire hybrid returned back to reality, becoming her usual pragmatic, insightful self again.

"And that is my story," Catherine ended plainly, pinning her gaze on the two travelling companions, "Later, I encountered Lucian while I was on the run and he had pity on me and my plight. He offered shelter to me, Michael, and Cordelia, who had yet to be born. Without him, I don't know what I would have done." she added, pausing to take in a deep breath as she combated anymore unsavory memories away prior to resuming.

"Eve now I still keep in touch with Lucian but it's usually once or twice a month. In fact, I'm due to check on him soon, so if you want, I can bring you along to meet him."

"That would beneficial, Mrs. Van Helsing," Zael responded promptly, nodding approvingly, "the sooner, the better."

"I concur," said Catherine, "but please, call me Catherine."

"There never was a mood of mine,
Gay or heart-broken, luminous or dull,
But you could ease me of its fever
And give it back to me more beautiful.
In many another soul I broke the bread,
And drank the wine and played the happy guest,
But I was lonely, I remembered you;
The heart belong to him who knew it best."

-I Remembered, Sara Teasdale

Color Glossary:

Puce- brownish purple

Lapis lazuli- blue

There you go, ladies and gentlemen! Now I have caught up with all the characters and their plans, I can go forward in time now. I'm going to try to be more diligent with my updates (and not get distracted by watching episodes of Friends) so I can have a lot of progress done on this story before I go back to college. Already I have several of the impending chapters mapped out so hopefully, that helps.

Also, in case some people are confused, there are two different Michaels running around in this fanfic. Long story but there was no way avoiding it. Rora's Michael was already named way before this fanfic and her Dark Ripples in Blood fanfic came into being.

And I'd like to give thanks to Celtic Aurora for her lovely review! I know I can always count on you for feedback.

One more thing before I depart. Since I have a lot of OCs running about, do you think it would be easier for anyone to keep track of all the characters in the story so far (both OCs and regular Underworld characters) if I created a character index—kind of what George Martin does in his "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. Let me know what you guys think.

Over and out,

:SpeedDemon315: