Blood Descension, page 14
“Are you upset?” He asked cautiously.
Yutel stopped, turning his head towards him. “Not in the slightest. I knew this was coming.”
“Your recent outburst claimed otherwise.”
“I had to make it look convincing.” Yutel smiled. “It went well?”
His secretary let out a long sigh as his shoulders slumped forward. He relaxed his body and bent over until his head almost touched his knees. Yutel stared down at him dubious as to what he was trying to accomplish. A sense of calm, you behemoth! The secretary stood straight.
“Yes, you did well.” He walked past Yutel to stand by the windows. “That said, you can’t allow those brats to get the upper hand so quickly.”
“Oh, they get to have this small taste. I’m sure they are rejoicing.”
“Indeed. Holnar and Pridric will come down on them with swift vengeance.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yutel bristle. The Dakien and Endaga family were the least respected of the merchants. He always wondered why when both had the most solid clients. The others were constantly looking for new vendors and goods. Yutel adjusted the roll of his sleeves, tightening them.
“That will not happen on my watch.”
The secretary playfully raised his brow. “Are you going to protect them, too?” He glanced back at Yutel. “Do you really want to go up against those monsters?”
A page came to the doorway. Her hair was a mess and her clothes disheveled. Fresh bite marks were on her neck. She had gotten away from the clutches of a stressed out and greedy vampire. The secretary shook his head in disgust. The vampires seemed to lack restraint as of late and preyed on the human help despite the rules against it.
“Are you alright, dear?” He asked her, not moving towards her. Her body language suggested she was on edge and leery of anyone’s intentions. “Take your time.”
“My apologies for appearing to you like this, sir.” Her voice was jagged. She bowed to Yutel. He waved a hand for her to continue. “We were able to trace one of the accounts.”
Yutel and the secretary turned to her in shock.
“First.” The secretary said. “Who else knows this information?”
“Just myself, and the counselor,” she replied nervously.
“Let’s keep it that way. Now, what did you find?”
She took a deep breath and stepped back from the door a bit. Uh oh. It must be bad.
“It appears that one of the Boresso children is heading it.”
“Oh?” Yutel turned to face her. She flinched, yet stood her ground. “Which one?”
“Caden, sir.”
Now there’s a shocker. The secretary knew immediately, the significance of that information. Yutel seemed to have figured it out as well. Mustering up a stern face, he looked down at the woman.
“I want this handled discreetly. Make sure Queen Celeste does not get wind of this until I say.”
“Yes, sir. Lord Grieger.” She bowed again, remaining.
“Is there something else?”
“From our spy reports, it seems the Ambrook coven may be involved as well.”
“Is that so?” Yutel asked, nodding. “Keep that under wraps as well.”
“Of course, Lord Grieger.” She did a final bow before turning to leave.
“And clean yourself up. My head of security will have a talk with the one who mauled you.”
She simply nodded, barely tilting her head, and hurried down the hall.
“So, he’s making a move against her.” Yutel smiled wide, baring teeth.
“Which one? Pridric would never miss an opportunity to smite her. As for Caden. She’s going to lose her mind. That child may be in danger from his own mother.”
“He may be young, but that Kataling is dangerous. She would do well to be careful.”
The secretary cocked his head, staring out the window. That was true. He had seen the footage. Heard the stories from the fight on the home world. Chalayl had no idea what she had spawned. Serves you right. He caught Yutel’s reflection in the glass. And you haven’t seen my cousin’s true wrath yet.
A RAID?
Caden almost laughed at the scene as brutes from Marchand and Sapienti barreled through the doors of his dummy company’s dock office in England. With the docks being run jointly by De Luce and Ambrook, he could only imagine the fight that would take place when they found out what was going on at that very moment. He could smell the malice on their sweat coming out of every pore as the thugs smashed cabinets and equipment. They all wore heavy three quarter length coats made of wool and tweed slightly damp, the scent mingling with the cold air being brought in.
He kept his distance for a bit, watching them manhandle some of the workers, demanding to know who their boss was. One of the brutes snatched a skinny young man in dock overalls. The man looked like he couldn’t have been a hundred pounds wet. His body was lifted a few feet off the floor, his feet dangling.
“Who’s in charge here?” The brute yelled in the terrified man’s face, shaking him by the neck like a ragdoll. “I’ll snap your fucking neck if you don’t start talking!”
He can’t talk if you’re strangling him. Caden let out a sigh and took a step forward. One of his proxies grabbed hold of his arm.
“Wait!” His proxy hissed. “There’s too many of them!”
“I can handle that many,” Caden scoffed, wrenching his arm from him.
“What? You’re going to morph out on the docks and bathe it in blood?”
Caden frowned. That was not the plan. He knew his actions would only make things worse. They had to keep up the illusion. Make sure he was a distraction while the others went for the kill behind the scenes.
“Fine. I won’t go all ancient on them.” He continued advancing. “But I will not let them kill anyone on my watch.”
He went to stand in the broken doorway, careful not to let the piece still swinging on its hinges hit him. The thugs closest to him turned in surprise. The expression on the one holding the skinny man began to shift into scrunched disgust. His brow wrinkled into thick, tight ropes while his eyes narrowed into slits.
“You?” His tone dripped with the same malice Caden sniffed from him. “This?” He tilted his head indicating the office. He tossed the skinny man towards the back of the office. His body landed on an overturned filing cabinet. Caden fought his instinct to wince. “Think you can compete with the elders, do ya’?”
Caden smiled. He blocked the doorway, making a stance with his feet shoulder width apart. His eyes turned red resembling skinned cherry tomatoes then grew darker. His black pupils became pin dots. The brute and his associates stopped cold.
“You need to leave.” Caden kept his voice even; calm.
The workers crawled further to the back of the office. They were a mix of human and vampire. And they wanted nothing to do with the fight about to start.
“Are you threatening us?” The brute asked, incredulous.
“That depends.” Caden exhaled, dropping his shoulders. “I don’t want bloodshed. It makes no sense.”
“Hmm. You steal from the elders,” he started.
“I didn’t steal anything.”
“And expect us to brush it off?” The brute continued.
“Only negotiating fair market prices.”
“Nah, you need to be taught a lesson.”
“So you come here and start killing people on a dock your leaders don’t own and think there will be no consequences?” Caden saw a flicker of understanding. The brutes looked around at each other hesitant to finish their task.
“Yes,” the voice of Eterenia’s proxy came from behind Caden. “I’m going to need all of you to stand down and vacate these docks.” Armon stood with four other vampires flanking him. “Unless you want to personally explain to Queen Erena what you’re doing here?
His full length black coat was open showing off the tailored black suit with satin red tie and handkerchief. He wore a red fedora sporting a black band. Caden’s mouth turned downwards, approving of the new look.
“Is that right?” The brute pointed to Caden. “Then why is he allowed to do business on the docks?”
Armon moved Caden gently out of the way and walked past him into the office. He assessed the damage and shook his head.
“The same reason other companies can. He has a permit for goods being transported.”
Can’t argue with that. Caden nodded. The situation was de-escalating.
“Now,” Armon turned to him. “to be clear, you are technically stealing customers.”
As he came face to face with Caden, his eyes shifted to see over his shoulder and went wide. The brute that was arguing earlier stood behind him stunned immobile. He raised his hands and waved them.
“No!”
Caden felt a sting followed by his own blood gurgling up his esophagus. He looked down at his chest and saw a small harpoon protruding out. Its tip was coated in his blood. He stared up at Armon who came towards him.
“Caden!” He held out a hand, gesturing for him to stop.
Snapping off the harpoon tip and pulling its broken shaft from his back, he morphed into his Kataling form. The doorframe splintered apart to accommodate his size, forcing the rest of the office’s structure to collapse. He turned towards the assassin, his tail decimating the inside of the room, and launched forward.
The assassin didn’t have a chance to flee. Caden chomped down on the left side of the man’s body, his grip like a vice and snapped his jaws shut, nearly severing his prey. A projectile thudding against his thick skin stopped him from biting deeper to complete the act. He opened his jaw to let the brute’s body fall out onto the ground. Caden’s body whipped around in the direction of the attack. Armon and his guards were fighting a group of brutes that had come in as backup while another focused on him.
He zeroed in on the one holding a large gun. The brute stepped back, realizing his weapon was useless against a Kataling of that size. He let out a final scream as he flipped the notch on the clip and began emptying it at Caden as he charged. Caden hit him full on, sending the brute into the air. He landed on the roof of the adjacent building followed by the sound of bones snapping.
“Enough!”
The loud bellow cut through the din of fighting. Caden swung around, ready to attack. A tranquilizer dart sailed into him from behind. He staggered, shocked by the sting, then fell with a thud that shook the ground. He reverted to bipedal form, tears streaming down his face as he forced out an anguished cry. The wound from the harpoon began to bleed out. Caden’s proxy, no longer able to stay in the shadows came running to his side.
Chancellor Rayne snapped a finger. Two of the Ambrook vampires went to help them seal the gaping wound until they could get him to the coven house nearby.
“I don’t know what the hell any of you were thinking, but it will not be tolerated.” He glanced around at the combination of Marchand and Sapienti. “This is not how we do things.”
Armon brushed off his coat as he stood from being pinned to the floor. His attacker had backed off.
“I was trying to handle it.”
“You failed.” Chancellor Rayne replied bluntly. “How am I supposed to explain this mess?” He looked around and his gaze fell on the half-eaten vampire. He gestured to another of his men. “Get him stabilized and transported to the crypt. Sapienti will have to deal with it.”
Caden used all his strength to stay conscious. He saw Chancellor Rayne’s legs come up to him then the man bent down so he could see him.
“You’ve been a naughty little shit. That said, we can’t have your mother going full monster on us.” He pulled a syringe from his inside jacket pocket and stuck Caden in the neck with it. “Get some rest.”
“You can’t do this!” Caden’s proxy shielded his body from Chancellor Rayne’s men coming to lift him off the ground. “He comes back with us.”
Chancellor Rayne grabbed the young man by the throat.
“I wasn’t asking.” He hissed, baring fangs.
“Are you really going to try and take him by force?” Armon pushed two of the Ambrook vampires out of the way and stepped between Chancellor Rayne Caden’s proxy. His movement forced him to release the young man’s neck. “You need to let them be.”
“Do not interfere!” He looked around at the scene and saw hesitation in everyone’s eyes. “He needs medical attention and the Ambrook coven is the closest facility.”
“After what happened to Master Durante?” The proxy yelled. “We don’t trust you!”
“Stop being stubborn! You’re all acting like children.”
A loud, high pitched shriek made Chancellor Rayne’s blood run cold. He cringed in shock and fear, not daring to move in the event he may get gouged, as a Volshin swooped down from above the fallen office structure. It snatched Caden’s body up, causing a mighty whirlwind before taking off to the skies with its prize. It took all of Chancellor Rayne’s strength to not succumb to the forcible wind.
Most of the thugs, along with some of the De Luce and Ambrook men weren’t so diligent. They were sent flying in every direction, landing on debris and hitting the sides of nearby buildings. Which gave the assistant time to signal his group. They fled the scene, leaving a still stunned Chancellor Rayne. The thugs couldn’t gather their wits fast enough to catch them.
“Well.” Armon shook out debris that had flown in his hair. He straightened his suit jacket. “That solves that problem.”
“No.” Chancellor Rayne glared over at him. “This little stint is going to cost him. The council will want to drag his ass in for some hard questions.”
“Seriously?” Armon scoffed. “How much did any of us actually lose over this? A couple of million? The amount is negligible compared to the quarterly revenue.”
“It’s the principle of the thing! Don’t act like you don’t know that.”
Armon rolled his eyes, shaking his head. He whistled at his men and they gathered around him.
“I’m leaving. I have to report the damage to the office area of the docks and get a crew to repair it by the end of the week.” He smirked. “We look forward to your payment of half the cost.” He looked over at the thugs. “That goes for your covens as well.”
One of his men handed him his hat. He flipped it in his hands and placed it on his head. Chancellor Rayne stepped out of his way, not without giving him a disgusted stare. Armon’s entourage walked off the docks towards the lower street level.
THE VOLSHIN SLOWED its descent as it neared a large house built into the rocky hillside. Two Katalings guarded the entrance of the sandstone structure. The dark birchwood double doors opened for Caden’s father who walked out onto the landing, his eyes narrowed in concern. Hovering above him, the Volshin gently released Caden into his arms. His father caught him and carried him into the house. What was left of Volshin’s clothes, tattered from the transformation, fell to the ground as he reverted to human form. He hadn’t time to stuff them in the satchel around his neck before morphing to save Caden. He brushed long blond hair from his face, pulling it back then followed stark naked.
Caden’s father went down a long corridor and kicked open the last door at the end on the left. He went in and laid his son on the bed. The healer from the home world came in. Caden’s father ripped open Caden’s already ruined clothes to expose the wound. He sucked air through his teeth as his eyes glowed silver with rage.
“Step back.” The healer moved forward and the father obeyed. He placed a hand on the wound and pushed gently around it. “Looks like whatever it was went through some scar tissue from a previous wound near the area.”
“Can you fix it?” Caden’s father began to pace the room like an anxious animal. He glanced over at the Volshin. “Loaman! What was it?”
Loaman pulled on the pair of leggings a servant handed him. “A mini harpoon. Seems they liked the way the imperial soldiers used them in the first battle on Earth.”
Everyone in the room stared at the Volshin in horror. They were old enough to remember the giant harpoons launched from the Imperial dropships, cutting down Volshins in the sky and impaling Katalings to the ground.
“Who?” Caden’s father stopped pacing a few feet from the Volshin. “Which coven did this weapon come from?” Loaman shrunk from him. “Tell me!”
“A Marchand thug had it.” The Volshin locked eyes with him. “You shouldn’t be surprised.”
“I’m not.” Caden’s father turned from him. He addressed the healer. “What do you think?”
“Whatever sedative they gave him is super powerful. It’s a blessing. He will be out for days while I fix this mess.”
The chiming from a cell phone echoed in the room. Loaman pulled it from his small satchel and answered with a swipe of his thumb across the bottom.
“What is it, father?” He stood silent for a moment then nodded. “Yes.” He looked up at Caden’s father then at Caden. “You would need to see for yourself.” More silence and nodding. “Of course.” He swiped his phone again to disconnect the call. “My father is on his way. He’s in the backyard. Saw me flying in with a body in my talons.” He shrugged.
While the healer set his tools on the side table, Luamis, the Volshin leader, walked into the room. His dirty blond hair was in a sloppy braid that twisted past his shoulders. He wore a loose cream tunic and leather leggings. A pair of thick soled sandals graced his feet. Small dirt stains were on his forearms and under his nails. He smelled of ripe tomatoes, a blending of herbs, and earth.
The sight of Caden on the bed with his chest splayed open stopped him in his tracks at the foot of the bed. There was an internal struggle going on that everyone in the room could see. He stood rooted, not saying a word as he scanned Caden’s body.
“Explain this.” His tone was soft yet tinge with tension. His son leaned over and talked in a whisper in his ear. When he was done, his father’s eyes were blood red, almost glowing. “This is the last straw.”
“I agree.” Caden’s father moved from the bed, the healer shooing him away with the waving of his hand. “We need to bring this secession to fruition. Either that or we start killing all of them.”
