Chapter 45

Professor Fullerman's nasal voice came over the phone, 'Well I looked for the file numbered 12-B-674 for you.'

My heart slammed in my chest in anticipation, feeling all the eyes in the room on me as I ask, 'Was it lost in the fire?'

'No it wasn't. I was able to find it,though it was among the pile that was marked for recycling. It took quite a bit of time. I'm glad I spent last night looking for it though, kind of relaxing to tell the trtuh I felt like I was back during the time as an assistant.'

My heart sings, a smile takes my face over, and I say happily, 'That's great news! I'm in France right now, if it wouldn't be inconvenient for you, I could stop by sometime tomorrow evening around seven in the evening.'

'That is a bit late.'

'I understand, unfortunately I have a bit of business I am dealing with here regarding a small villa I recently purchased. I would come sooner if I could.'

'Of course, I understand, seven will be quite alright. However, I will be in my office waiting.'

'Thank you again, Professor Fullerman.'

With that I hang up and look at the room, saying, 'The file is available.'

There was relief in the room and Nick smiles down at me murmuring, 'Good job.'

My eyes lock with his and I feel a blush rise to my checks but I quickly look away saying, 'Its nothing. We may have a chance, but a pseudonym won't get us far.'

'What do you mean?' Nick asks with a frown.

'You know as well as I do that most of us in this room, if not all have a alias we are using. Our real names have become obscured with time, so its likely the name will not be the vampires real name.'

'That may be true, but all pseudonyms can be traced back to their original name.'

This makes me look up at him sharply. Had he done the same to me? Did he know who I was, and I quickly ask to hide my surprise, 'What if it leads no where? The fact of the matter is what if this Pureblood DNA strand I saw thirty years ago is not the same family?'

'Is it not?' Nick asks, his brows lowering and the room around us silencing.

'No, I think it is. Its so similar to what I saw back then that I'm almost positive they are possibly the same or closely related,' I reply, frowning in thought, pulling that memory to the forefront.

Standing up, I look down at Nick and continue, 'Its best we start making plans to get to England by sunrise tomorrow.'

Nick stands and then so does Ki. Frowning, Nick asks, 'What are you doing Night Hunter?'

'I'm coming with you, Igor has specifically asked me to, to insure your safety,' Ki says, his once open face closed of emotion. It was as if he had pulled on a mask and his angled Asian heritage eyes looked quickly at me before returning to Nick's.

'Do you actually think I need protection?'

'Honestly?' Ki asks, pausing as if evaluating Nick, a brow raising before continuing, 'No, but as my commanding office has ordered it, I must follow said directions.'

'Alright, then lets prepare,' I say, cutting the tension between the Royal Pureblood and the Night Hunter.

--D--

The plane ride was uneventful, as the small private plane sluced through the night sky. Dawn was about an hour away, so there was tension in the capsule of this plane. It didn't help that a bitten clanless sat figuratively between two powerful Purebloods, one a Royal heir and another a Night Hunter. Nick's powers wwre subdued but was a reminder of his deadly skill.

However Ki was like a black hole, nothing came from him. It made me wonder how these Nught Hunter's could train themselves to seem almost human or more ghost like than anything. Looking down at the file I had complied after taking a break from the conference room. My mind wanders back to walking back to my room. There would be an hour delay before we left earlwr, so Bick had recommended we rest and pack what we needed.

When I had gone to unlock my door, I had felt a presence frofrom my past. It sent a chill down my back, not of fear but of familiarity. Turning my head, I had seen a shadow of a man, his low slung pony tail and silver cane flashing in the light of the hall. Igor had stared at me for a long moment, a ghostly image, an inhuman being and had felt sudden fear surge to the surface as I escaped to the feigned safety of my room.

But now as I looked down a pieces andparts of my folder, my mind kept going over that feeling I had had. It was something I couldn't place, but then Ki's cool voice pulls me from my thoughts, 'What are you thinking about?'

Blinking I look up at Ki, his mask had faltered again, a warm look invading those unusual red eyes. Shrugging, I look back down and murmur, 'Nothing really, just mulling things over.'

'About?' Nick asks, suddenly seeming interest, having put down gis phone he had been on for the past hour talking to his clansman and other things of business.

Mulling it over for a moment, I finally look at the two, both so opposite of the other as well. Now Nick looked like a black bear while Ki looked like a spindly snow leopard, as I reply, 'What is the Silebt Phantasma's motivation?'

They both looked a little lost as I explain, 'Look wwe are going down several different paths with regards to the Phantasma, first we went down missing humans and lool what we found? A literal town of missing people, and a possibility of two other places we have yet to look into.'

'I follow that,' Ki nods in agreement as does Nick, giving me a wave of his hand to continue.

'Alright, then we went down the Tridium side, but then we have contraditions when it comes to that. J.R. says that the Phantasma isn't interested in Tridium while Dante says they do. We dont have a real understanding of that due to rhe fact we are likely being stone walled by the Won...'

I stop there, my eyes widening as I look over at Ki with a nervous and apologetic smile. Ki waves his hand and says, 'Its alright. I am not of the main branch of the clan. I am Ki Ku-Won, second son of the second cousins of the Won Clan.'

I bod my understanding though Im still confused by the family dynamics of the Royal clans. But I quickly shake my head, continuing, 'Alright, so that front had bebeen essentially blocked from us. Now we decide to look for an ancient vampire, likely a Pureblood, who disappeared or faked his death so as to remain under the radar, but left behind a sizable fortune for himself to us.'

Ki interrupts, 'How did you get all this information? We just barely started to get momentum when you...'

But I interrupt him, 'Dante. You have to read between the lines of his words to get the full meaning.'

Ki nods as I continue on, looking at Nick, 'So we find a good lead, though one that is missing a key component. Then we find out about the DNA on the Aces. But here are the questions I have. One, what is the significance of the blood soaked Ace?'

'A taunt?' Nick asks.

'I was thinking the same. We have found several at different sights if missing vampire and human allies alike.'

However, I shake my head. Now I could feel the weight of their eyes on me asI continue, feeling a bit reluctant to tell Ki this, 'No, its not a taunt, or a clue. Its there to scare us.'

Both men give me a raised brow and I put up my hands as I explain with a sigh, 'The Silent Phantasma has had hundreds of years to prepare and these Ace's are letting us know how far behind we are. They are the trademark signature of this group of people and their leader.'

'Ok. I don't understand your thinking Nina,' Ki says, a look of confusion on his face.

Nodding, I smile as I explain, 'In a lot of respects I feel like we are being led by the nose so to speak. These clues are obvious, easy to follow.'

'Easy,' bothen say in unison, with slight shock.

'Yes. Why would the Phantasma leave a trademark, why leave incriminating blood evidence on a playing card, why even leave any evidence of their presence behind, it seems counter productive?'

Ki nods in thought, leaning back as Nick says, 'The endgame you spoke of weeks ago.'

A large grin comes to my face as I snap my finger and say, 'Bingo! We have all seen the increased activity of the Silent Phantasma, meaning?'

'They are planning an even larger attack,' Ki says in a cold voice, his ryes downcast in thought, rubbing his forehead.

'Exactly, they are gathering forces, but we need to know how close this end game is, we need to know what they are planning.'

'They want to exterminate all Purebloods,' Nick replies.

Shaking my head, I argue, 'I don't think its that simple.'

'What do you mean?' Ki says, leaning forward, hands on his knees as if ready to jump into action, eyes bright.

'If that was the case, why was I taken?'

Now both men looked at me with a frown, as I say calmly working it out as I spoke, 'Keep following me. I know for a fact I am unimportant, I am a bitten, clanless, c rank with a few strange quarks. However, maybe somewhere in my past I met the leader of the Phantasma, and yes true maybe there is something I don't know about myself, something inside me beside information they want. But as long as I can keep one step ahead of them, and in the process find their leader, learn what they are really after, we have a chance.'

'But why you?' Ki asks, his eyes like lasers on my own green ones.

'That is another important question. Why me? Why did they attack me, attack Nick in his most protective enviroment to get to me? I don't know, but deep inside I feel they are closing in and we are scrambling to survive this.'

'What if the Silent Phantasma needs the Purebloods out of the way for them to complete something?' Nick asks, his frown and look seeming more internalized.

'Its possible. It would seem unlikely they attack just to cause anarchy. There is a much larger plot than just killing Purebloods and torturing me.'

We look at each other in thought, feeling the weight of these thoughts heavy in the air. Finally Nick says, 'We need to write some of these conclusions and thoughts down.'

Ki says soberingly, 'Yeah.'