Vampire Mage 3: An Urban Fantasy Harem (The Vampire Mage), page 17
23
“Here they are,” Ashe said when I walked into the room holding Stephana and Aurora's hands.
They had gathered in the room where Bex and Ty had slept, and Ty got off the bed where he was sitting beside Ashe to sit on the other with Bex, while the two women and I took his spot. Bex was propped up with several pillows behind his back, covered with the sheet, but looked like he was wearing fresh clothes. His color was better than the night before and most of the light had returned to his eyes. Jaxxim was sitting in the armchair pushed against the wall but stood as we settled into place.
“Now that the three of you made it here, I can go,” he said.
“Go where?” I asked.
“Since I'm probably the one out of the seven of us who is the least likely to get ambushed if I'm out, I've been voted as the official food wrangler for those of you still afflicted with an appetite for such things.”
“How very tolerant of you,” Bex said. “I don't know about Stephana or Hayden, but I'm always going to need food, so we should get that just out in the open right now. Hello, my name is Bex, and I eat food.”
We laughed, but his words brought an interesting reality to my mind. Of all the questions we had about this man, one hadn't even crossed my mind until then. We knew he was a hybrid, but not the species that comprised his blood. He could literally have been anything, any blend of the various creatures that called the Underworld home. By then I knew there were many and I was under the impression there were probably many more that hadn't crossed my path yet. He could have been a combination of any of them, making him a volatile unknown variable. His abilities and weaknesses were question marks, with only his ability to wield a sword confirmed.
Which brought up a new chapter of the manual -- how to appropriately inquire about a hybrid's species composition in the Underworld without making the other person defensive.
“Is there anything in particular any of you want?” Jaxxim asked.
A chorus of various versions of 'no' and 'whatever is closest' answered him, and the Shade guard nodded.
“Good. I didn't care what you wanted, anyway. I'm not your waiter.”
He started toward the door.
“If you slapped on a pair of roller skates you could be a carhop,” I said.
He paused to turn back and stare at me.
“A what?”
“No?” I looked around at them. “No carhops here in the Underworld, huh? Too bad. I dug that retro vibe.”
“You know what's retro in the Underworld, babe?” Aurora asked.
“I have a feeling you're going to tell me, and I probably won't dig it nearly as much.”
“Public bloodlettings.”
“And, there you go.” I pinched her playfully on the ass and she swatted me away, giggling. “Actually, though, that's not bothering me as much as it used to. I think I'm finally getting in touch with that part of my vampire identity.”
“We don't need to applaud and then hold hands and sing inspiring camp songs now, do we?” Bex asked.
He deftly ducked out of the way of the pillow launched at him. The door to the room opened again, and soon Jaxxim came back inside.
“That was fast,” Aurora said.
Three large cafeteria-style trays balanced in his hands and across his arms and he stared at them with a look of deep concentration as if he thought if he broke eye contact he'd drop everything. Bending his knees carefully, he lowered two of the trays to the edge of the dresser and pushed them into place, then deposited the others on the end of my bed.
“Turns out, there is a breakfast in the lobby every morning.”
“They crank out this much food for an empty motel?” Ashe asked.
“I guess the manager is an optimist.”
Ty and I exchanged glances but didn't say anything. Bex, Stephana, and I tucked into the food, eating in silence for a few moments.
“Now that we're all here, in one piece, back together, I think we need to talk about something. Ty, I need to know the real story.”
His eyes lifted to me and Aurora glanced back and forth between us.
“The real story about what?” she asked. “What are you talking about? “
“I don't think now's the time, Hayden,” Ty said. “There's so much else that we need to be thinking about.”
“No,” I argued. “That's the thing. We can't move forward until we know where this all started. We've been going around in circles and Scooby Doo-ing this shit for long enough. If we're actually in this together, and we really want to bring this war to an end, we can't keep pussy-footing around the truth. You told me about my kidnapping last night, but you also told me that was only one of two stories, the story that you've told before.”
“That's right.”
“But I don't believe it. I don't think it's actually what happened.”
“Ty?” Ashe asked. “What is he talking about? What did you tell him?”
Ty's eyes continued to burrow into me, but he was cornered. There was nothing he could do now but come clean.
“I told him the story you've heard me tell,” he responded.
“Then you know what happened, Hayden,” she said. “That's what happened that night. He knew what he was supposed to do, decided that he didn't agree with it, and took you. It was an impulsive decision, one he's been paying for, for almost three decades.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “That's not the truth. Is it, Ty?”
“No.”
“You lied?” Ashe asked.
“Ty, why would you do that?” Aurora chimed in.
Holding my hand up quieted them.
“I'm sure he had his reasons. Let him talk.”
Anger at being lied to and misled, yet again, boiled in my stomach, but I tried to push it away and not let it take over. There was no point. Ty had information key to unraveling this, and getting angry wasn't going to get me any closer to pulling those details out of him. Whatever the reason behind him lying about the night I was kidnapped, the only way for us to move forward was to get the truth.
“I used to be very high up in the Shades.” Ty looked at Jaxxim, who squirmed uncomfortably, tearing a piece of toast from the plate and chewing it for too long, like he had forgotten how to swallow after years of not eating. “I was extremely loyal to the Prime. Just saying that doesn't even seem like enough. Loyalty isn't the right word. It was devotion. He was the center of my existence. I wasn't born in this area of the Underworld. I was raised far away from here and didn't come to Solan City until well after I completed the change when I came of age. As soon as I did and met Darian, a seed was planted. He was the most powerful person I had ever encountered, and it entranced me. It fascinated me that he was capable of doing so much and winning the admiration and adoration of everyone around him. It was something I'd never seen before.”
“It's easy for me to forget how much my father impacts people,” Aurora said.
Ty gave a slow nod.
“Being one of the Shades was my only focus. Finally, he brought me in, and I set myself to not only being the best I possibly could, but also progressing through the ranks. My devotion lasted a long time. Then, as I moved higher through the organization, stories started coming to me about the horrible things the Prime was doing. They all seemed like rumors at first. I didn't want to believe any of it and was completely manipulated by the coverups. To me, it seemed like just bitterness from people who wanted what he had. I didn't realize yet he was the one who had stolen his power and control. Over time, the stories came more frequently and there was no other option than to believe they were true. Then he started involving me. Never directly. He was careful enough not to use his Shades to commit the worst of his atrocities. But I was responsible for making arrangements for him and setting things into action. Most of the time I didn't even know the full extent of the plan or its intentions until it happened.”
“And you were able to overlook most of it,” I said, remembering what he told me the night before.
“Yes. You have to understand, it was wartime. We weren't just going about our lives and occasionally hurting people. Brutality is sometimes necessary, and I understood that. But then he started talking about the son of the ArchWarlock. About you. His plan was the breaking point for me. He had already been pushing too far, but my life was wrapped around my service to him and I didn't know what it meant to not be. Besides, it's not like you can just walk away from the Shades.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“It's just not how it works,” Aurora pointed out.
“The details of Darian's plan ate at me for days and I knew I needed to do something about it. That's when I went to Lunaris.”
“You went to them?” Bex asked.
“Yes. The group was different then. It wasn't as divided. There wasn't the turmoil and upheaval there is now. That didn't matter, though. They weren't open to helping me. As soon as I approached them, they tried to drive me away. To them, I was a representative of the Prime and the future of vampire rule. Even when they heard I wanted to do something to stop Darian, they didn't want to help. To them, I only wanted to get rid of Darian so I could replace him with another Prime who would rule the same way. Lunaris didn't want any form of vampire rule and refused to do anything. There was nothing to do but go back to the palace and just hope Darian decided not to go through with the plan. That's when the Dragon approached me.”
“The Dragon?” Ashe asked, sounding shocked. “I didn't know they had anything to do with this.”
“They knew what was going on and didn't want it to happen. They agreed to help me stop the plan from following through. We came up with the idea of bringing you to be raised in the other world and Owen and Molly immediately came to my mind. Shortly before the night this was all supposed to happen, they connected me with Gloria. She's exactly who I told you she was, Hayden. It was a surprise to see her, to say the least. I found out she had been in hiding since the raid and was working with the Dragon to get intel about both the Prime and some rogue forces within the warlock community. Darian had already sketched out exactly how he wanted the night to go. The group I was with was supposed to follow the outline to the letter so the Prime could anticipate how it was going. The Dragon, Gloria, and I worked with those plans to create the approach I was going to use. We superimposed what we intended to do over his structure, so it mimicked it as closely as possible. That way the changes would be virtually undetectable to those I didn't involve. The night of Hayden's ceremony, the Shade forces went to the warlock palace. A spy had already laid the groundwork for us, so it wasn't challenging to get inside. Getting through the palace and to the nursery was a bit more difficult. We encountered some warlocks but managed to get past them. By then, we didn't have long. I got to the nursery, got you, and started out of the palace. But that's when everything went wrong.”
24
The surprise in the room was palpable. Everyone stared at Ty, trying to process the revelation he just made.
“What do you mean that's when everything went wrong?” I asked. “You said you had it all planned out.”
“I thought the intention was always for you to take the fall,” Aurora said, her voice overlapping with mine. ”You knew you were the one responsible for taking him out of the palace, so if he went missing, you were the one that was going to be blamed for it. It wasn't really anybody else he was going to be able to take responsibility.”
“I know.” Ty’s voice was slow and careful, each word measured as he prepared for the next thing he needed to tell us. “I knew that was absolutely a possibility. Darian had specifically selected me as the one who is going to actually take Hayden and remove him from the palace. There were others there with me, but they were primarily to protect me in the event of an attack, and to stand guard. None of them were supposed to have anything to do with the baby or actually removing him. That meant if things didn't unfold the way we planned, the Prime would turn the blame on me because I would be the only one who could have caused it.”
“What do you mean if things didn't unfold the way you planned?” I asked.
“I was willing to take the fall if I had to,” Ty said with an edge close to defiance. “I knew the risks, and I was willing to face them to make sure what needed to be done was carried out. If that meant things didn't go the way we planned and I had to take responsibility for it, I would do it. But that's not what I wanted to happen. The Dragon and I had no intention of anyone being held responsible for Hayden going missing.”
“How is that possible?”
“The plan started with just removing you from the palace and bringing you to the other world to be raised by Owen and Molly so you could be protected from the Prime and kept out of the war. Then the more we talked about it, the more we realized that wasn't going to be enough. If we really wanted to change what had been happening, we had to eliminate the source of the horror.”
“My father,” Aurora said painfully.
“Yes,” Ty said. “All along, Darian intended for us to take Hayden out of the palace and then meet at a designated place for me to hand him over. He didn't want me to bring him back to his palace directly because he didn't want anyone being able to trace it. His plan was to meet on the outskirts of the city, to take the baby, and to spend a few days with him being raised by some of the women in his inner circle before he was transferred to the wing of the palace set up for him. We planned to transfer Hayden to Owen and Molly for protection, then contact the Prime and tell him the pre-determined meeting spot was no longer an option. We would then lure him to another location, reveal his actions publicly, and kill him.”
He glanced over at Aurora, but she remained still and emotionless.
“Go on,” she told him.
“After the Prime was gone, we would leave Hayden with Owen and Molly for a short time to let the heat die down some. Then we would go back and bring him home. Only things didn't fall into place exactly as we intended. I was caught off guard by the Prime. I only had seconds to hide Hayden and before I had a chance to think of anything else, I told Darian that he had gone missing. I had to talk my way out of being executed right then. The only thing that got me out of that room alive was asking Darian to let me go look for the baby, reassuring him I felt confident in my ability to find him. That's when I actually did the transfer to Gloria. As soon as Hayden left my arms, I knew everything we had planned was gone. Owen and Molly were no longer going to be just temporary guardians for Hayden, but his parents. His ability to live in the Underworld had been compromised, and the only thing that would keep him alive was to be raised in the other world. Very quickly, we had to go back to our original plan and try to at least feel some consolation in knowing he would be safe, even if Darian was still in power, and I would have to face the consequences of not following through with the mission he presented to me.
“What did you say to him when you went back to the palace?” I asked.
“By the time I got back, Aurora was home. She had heard what was going on and questioned the Prime. Do you remember that?”
She nodded.
“I do. I remember being so angry at him for even coming up with that kind of plan. But he tried to sound so compassionate, telling me he was just so worried about the baby and only wanted him to be safe.”
“That's right,” Ty continued. “He picked right back up with his kind and gentle act. That's why I told him while you were there that I hadn't been able to find him and was worried he was killed in an act of retaliation by some other group or species. I knew there was no way he would execute me in front of you, and since you were there when I told him, if anything happened to me, you would suspect him immediately. Darian was so wrapped up in making you trust and respect him he would never do something he knew you would disagree with that much. I bought myself continued life with that trick, but it still didn't completely save me. He demoted me and made me the keeper of the portal in Solomon's Fang, knowing the humiliation would drive me mad. It has never been a secret how much importance I put into being a Shade, and he loved the thought of me not only no longer having that position but having to be at the beck and call of anyone, including my former colleagues, who wanted to travel through the portal. The only thing that has kept me going this long is my refusal to let Darian win. I had to keep going. I had to bide my time until I could rise up again.”
“I don't understand why you've been lying all these years,” Ashe said. “Why didn't you just tell the truth?”
“The Dragon disavowed anything to do with me as soon as the plan went awry. They had their own interests, and we're only out to protect those. Their alliance with me was limited only to that specific plan, and when it became obvious they wouldn't have the satisfaction of killing the Prime and taking another step toward fully overthrowing the government and taking over control of the Underworld, they no longer had any use for me. Trying to talk about any type of connection we might have had, or suggesting they were a part of the plan would have put me in even more danger. Once the Dragon has decided they are not going to associate with you, you don't want to tempt them.”
“You said Lunaris and the Dragon were different then,” I pointed out. “What changed? What made such a dramatic shift?”
“Lunaris didn't come into being because of Darian. It has been around for a very long time as a way for people on the outskirts of Underworld society to associate with others, find support, and work toward their ultimate goal of not having one singular species run the Underworld. Solan City and the outskirts are a microcosm of the Underworld. If you spend any time around here, you see just how many different types of creatures and people call this world home. Why, if there are so many, should just one species rule without question?”
