Chapter 80

Nick sat in his ornate throne with me seated to his left. The wall behind us a giant black dragon of polished iron, large ruby eyes staring down angrily at the room. Exhaustion was overriding any strength I had; having sat here for several hours. The counsel was discussing dividing the Zula lands now that the Jaguar crest was no more. My eyes stared at the two empty seats that made up the remaining shadow of a dead clan. The roaring jaguar enblazzed in gold now dim and the carved throne a shadow of grace since past.

The subtle arguing and bickering from all sides was frustrating. They were squabbling over something of so little importance that it grated on my nerves.

Leaning over, I whisper to Nick, 'This is pointless right now.'

'Is it now?' Aname's thundering voice calls out over the din of the others.

Jerking, both Nick and I look at the ancient being upon his pure white marble throne. Nick whispers into my mind, It would have been better if you had said that to me through your thoughts. Now he has reason to ask you questions.

I shiver with those word as Aname slowly lifts his hand, his power surging and I shudder as he says, 'Please come to the center and explain why dividing a dead clans land is so trivial.'

Nick stands, his power roaring around me and I see the flash of red in his eyes as he growls, 'That is unnecessary Prince Won.'

'Is it?'

Aname simply stared at Nick before saying in a simple soft tone, 'Sit.'

Nick slammed down in his seat and growls. This shocked me as he speaks into my mind, He's too strong! I can't defend you against him.

I could feel the hair on my body stand up as Aname continues, 'I will not ask again Lady Dracul.'

I could tell that Nick was straining again an invisible force, his powwr surging then being smothered by something much stronger. My eyes dart to Aname as those silvery eyes stared at me, his face calm. Quickly I stand, moving towards the center of this large room. I could feel the eyes of the other clans on me. Six pairs of Pureblood eyes and their commanders standing behind them. I could feel the anger of my dragon husband and his men behind me. Looking back, I whisper, 'Its alright.'

Nick's A ranks looked ready but hesitant to defend such a weak princess. That was fine with me, I had come here, made my choice; so now I must speak. Taking a deep breath, I look at Aname and ask, 'Do you really believe that picking at the carcass of your fellow Pureblood is worth this time?'

Aname's brow raises as I continue, 'There are more important matters needing discussing-'

My mouth clamps shut by an invisible hand as Aname slowly stands and I feel his power completely. Choking, my knees crumble under me as he says with a smirk, 'You know nothing of our society Ms. Natasha Dracul. You are an insignificant ant that has no right to be here, much less speak to me about what is important.'

My breathing was cut off by this tremendous power, like a thundering static in my ears, earth seeming to shake under me. My eyes couldn't leave his, as if I was pinned to an invisible thread. Those silver eyes slowly slitted as he says softly, 'Know your place child. You may have married a powerful vampire, but you are alone now.'

Suddenly all that power burning its way through me ceased and I suck in a deep breath. Aname's eye contact broke to something over my shoulder and I feel a hand take my wrist. Slowly my eyes lift, feeling the lightness as if gravity no longer existed and I saw Igor. Aname's power was there, but it was as if I was a ghost and felt light as air itself.

Igor's eyes were icy black orbs, emotion straining in them, as he said in a bit of a strained voice, so unlike his normal monotone, icy frost slipping from his lips as he spoke, 'My Lord, summoned as promised, though finding my brother's wife suffering wasn't what I expected to find.'

Slowly standing with his assistance, Aname sits down, his eyes having once been like lasers on its pray now dull with disinterest. He flicks his hand and says, 'Report.'

Igor looks down at me, my legs shakey under me. I feel the shift in the room, that gray haze coming around us as he murmurs softly, eyes shifting from that pitch blackness to swirls of shifting color, 'Return to your husband Nina, Aname is not one to provoke.'

With that the haze lifts and I step away as Igor replies, 'As of yet, there is little news as to how much of the Curriculum has been breached...'

I stagger to Nick and slump in my chair, feeling so drained and terrified I couldn't stop shaking. Nick grabs my hand and whispers into my mind, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. He is the oldest among us, not one of us can defy him. Are you alright?

I give a slight nod, though still shivering from the aftershock of power. But Igor... I stare at his back as he talked about the search through the Curriculum to find any new break throughs and if any of the underground cities had been disturbed. How had he been so unaffected by Aname's power and why had he protected me from it? He hated me, so why? I stare at him as he speaks in that same monotone. Why had he had such emotion in his voice moments ago? It was soft, somehow familiar, and his eyes. Why had they seemed to become almost like a kaleidoscope, swirling and shifting. His facial expression hadn't changed, but his eyes.

Shaking my head, I return from my thoughts, Nick squeezing my shaking hand in comfort as Igor continues, 'The red headed vampire, alias Beck has regained conciousness and will be interogated within the next 12 hours for information on the whereabouts of the Silent Phantasma.'

This makes me jerk and that strange feeling of numb anger trying to return. Stamping it down, I lean forward as Igor continues, 'As for the one who burned the files in Oxford, alias Coalton Faulkin, is still at large, name not found in our spy networking at the Night's Templar. A ghoul was captured by my men and has been brought back for dissection to see if certain theories...' Nick pauses and looks back at me with those oitch black iris'. I jerk, realizing I had been staring as he turns back and continues, 'Regarding a toxin being derived from the stomachs of turned ghoul.'

Tiberius speaks up, 'Wouldn't that be pointless? Ghoul physiology makes it almost impossible to find anything in them. They are rotting from the inside out.'

Igor replies, 'We have a brilliant chemist working with us to find any traces of the toxin in the ghoul. He can distiguish it from other variables.'

'This toxin?' Aname asks, hands clasped in front of him, leg crossed.

'It seems to be made primarily out of Tridium, however it is being processed in such a way that it becomes a toxin that can instantly kill a Pureblood.'

There was general shock in the room as the Romane leader, Ethan, stands and roars out, 'Impossible.'

'Unfortunately it is very true. I have gathered material evidence from the death of Domonic and the Dracul masaquer to know it is true.'

'What?!' Nick roars, standing, eyes blazing with hate, his pheremones blasing with rusty rage.

Igor turns to him, his face like stone as he says, 'Yes Prince Dracul, we retieved crystal samples from your dead family and found trace elements of this new toxic Tridium.'

Nick slumps in his seat, seemingly spent, face placid. He looked placid but I could feel every emotion radiating through him as they blasted into my mind and body like bullets. I grip his hand tightky as he does my own. His face was stone as Igor continues, 'So far the names we have looked through at the library have proven fruitless. We are continuing the search as of now. As for the playing cards, new ones have been found and we have out surveillance on Mrs. Fullerman, should the Phantasma decide to take retribution on her.'

'They won't.'

All eyes turn to me and I jerk, realizing I had said them outloud. Again I had made myself a target as Tiberius asks, 'Why would you say that?'

'Its too late, we have the name of the Alias, though it seems to have no made any progress in the investigation. So far we only have two possible lines of inquiry worth pursuing?'

'Praytel what?, Aname asks, leaning his head on his hand, a cocked brow in question.

'Beck and the lineage at the library. We my know how the chemical compound toxin is now bad, how ghouled are being made and used, and now the Curriculum being compromised, but it doesn't explain what they want.'

'In your opinion, what do they want?' Ethan, the Romane leader asks, his hazel eyes soft and curious.

'That is the real question. I personally jave no clue. Thet obviously hate Purebloods and want to eradicate you all, but beyond that I have no idea.'

'So yet again, the Silent Phantasma remains aloof, Aname murmurs, looking bored by this all.

Igor continues, having Aname's fox eyes return to him instead of me, 'The Grand Seeker will commence her interogation of Beck in the next twelve hours.'

'If she can do it sooner, the better,' Aname says with a dismissal wave of his hand.

Igor slowly turns, looking at me with those black eyes and quickly leaves the room. The sudden loss of his bottomless hole blankness was stark as I felt the wall of power slam into me. That's when I realize Igor had been helping me this whole time as the warm comforting blanket of Nick's power returns to my shoulder.

Maybe Igor didn't hate me, but now respected me as Nick's wife. Aname speaks up, 'We must discuss security for Kotowa.'

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