Page 1 of Crimson Everlasting (The Crimson Vampire Coven #18)
“H ave you ever heard of a group of people called the everlastings?
" Master Alexander Stone asked his second-in-command, Cullen Volakis, as they sat together on the terrace, having coffee.
The afternoon was relaxed, and the weather was warm and pleasant with a soft breeze that was refreshing and calming.
“Centuries ago, there was talk of people somewhere in Europe who called themselves Aeonian, but they were known as the Everlastings.
I never met any, only heard about them, and they were discussed as myth, so I can't say if they were real or imaginary.” Cullen answered and then added.
“It was said that they lived forever, were immortal, but also simply human. "
“Do you believe they are only a myth?” Alexander questioned further.
"So many things exist in this world and beyond, so who am I to say what’s real and what’s not?" Cullen drank his coffee and relaxed, leaning back in his chair. "Why do you enquire, if I may ask?”
“The Seer mentioned the word everlastings in conjunction with some crisis. I thought I’d heard the word before and thought it described a people, but I couldn’t recall.
” Alexander wondered how any of it affected them, but the Seer only mentioned that which would concern them. So that was about as clear as mud.
“Has Lucian or any of our mystics mentioned anything of concern regarding the statement by the Seer?” Cullen asked.
"I haven't asked, but I will. It would help if our Seer, Chris, weren't so damned vague." He voiced his irritation but tempered it with a sigh. "I appreciate his sensitivity and his ability to warn, but I wish it wasn't always wrapped in a riddle."
"It's the nature of seers that they speak with shadows and mists, so their responses tend to be confusing.
But with that said, Chris's warnings have always been valid.
. . in the end. . . when we figure them out.
" He looked over at Alexander and smiled briefly.
Cullen wasn't one for mirth or smiles, so Alexander laughed loud and thunderously, always enjoying it whenever Cullen had a lapse and showed humanity.
"We'll figure this out." He said, finally. "We always do."
“Do you know what you’re doing?” Osin demanded and grabbed for Emrys’ arm to prevent him from leaving. Emrys stopped and looked back at Osin with eyes filled with desperation and misery.
"There is nothing left for me here, Osin. My life needs to start again, and it needs to start again somewhere else. I need to live in the world.” He finished with a hard resolve and pulled his arm away.
“Stay with us, Emrys.” Osin was a kind man and a good friend, but it was time for Emrys to move on.
"Goodbye, Osin." He said this and then left. That was over a hundred years ago, and it was the best decision he’d ever made because living in constant fear was no way to live.
“Tobias wants us to check out the property to the east," Trent informed the two soldiers with him, Anders and Shane. Trent was part of the Coven Security force and worked directly under Commander Tobias Yates.
The property in question was a section bordering the Crimson property that Master Stone was interested in purchasing.
The Coven was expanding, and he was looking at a housing development in that area, plus it bothered him that those acres, positioned so close to Coven lands, belonged to someone else.
“The Master has had his eye on that property for quite some time, and the previous owner has recently passed. There are people working on the acquisition, and they want a walkthrough of the property.” Trent explained the job as they headed out to their vehicles.
“Who’s the owner?" Shane asked offhandedly.
“Mr. John Murphy inherited it from his uncle, named Emrys Tarquin. The property has been in that family's possession for over a hundred years." Trent responded.
“But they never built on it.” Shane again added an observation.
“Never did anything with it, according to our records. The original purchaser bought it and let it sit, as did each person who inherited the property.”
“Wild and free.” Anders joined.
“Perhaps.”
Emrys completed the paperwork transferring the property outside Crimson, Virginia, into his possession.
It had always been his, but people got suspicious if you owned property for more than an average lifespan and still looked twenty-five.
This was the second time he'd passed the property to himself, and so far it had gone well both times.
He hadn't developed the two hundred acres, choosing to leave it as is.
The land was special in that it had remained veritably untouched since the days of the English explorers.
It was so beautiful, so Emrys had delayed doing or building anything, and then came the day he found a gorgeous spring nestled in the trees.
It was an idyllic scene that needed to be honored with the perfect build, not just anything. He would make his home there someday, and the home would be perfect. That day had come, and he had the design and he had the desire to step away from the fast life and live quietly for a while.
His life had been spent primarily in New York as a realtor and financier under the name of John Murphy, and prior to that, he'd lived off the grid in Missoula, Montana, under the same name of Emrys Tarquin.
Emrys had moved around and tried to look as if he were aging, but it was a sad and sometimes difficult way to live.
Losing people and leaving people was the hardest part, but life among the living was precious, and he would not give it up.
He was leaving New York pretty soon and would fake his death, leaving all his worldly goods to a supposed relative.
He would have to handle it carefully since his colleagues in New York were not easily fooled.
It was becoming clear to him that it was time to relocate.
His age and competency were beginning to be called into question.
Everything was going as planned, and his rumored illness had been spread far and wide, painting it serious and perhaps terminal.
Emrys washed the gray out of his hair and removed the prosthetics that made him appear older.
It was time to head out and begin his new life in Crimson Virginia.
His assistant, Nolan Thomas, would make all arrangements and follow through with his exit from New York.
Nolan was a first-rate assistant just like his father before him.
He knew Emrys' true story, and he understood his life.
He was a good friend, and Emrys depended upon him in so many ways.
Living the life of an immortal within society was complicated, but Nolan, like his father before him, made it work and made it look easy.
Alexander finished reviewing the offer that would be made to the relative who inherited the property to the east. It was a beautiful two hundred acres, and he looked forward to adding it to the Coven proper.
He'd continued to expand the property holdings of the Crimson Coven steadily over the years, buying anything that came on the market that bordered the Coven property.
This piece had come on the market a little over a hundred years ago, and he'd failed to buy it, thinking that it was too far removed from their borders to matter. But now, after many purchases, this piece lay directly on their border, and hopefully, this would be his opportunity to obtain it.
Peter had discovered that it was left in its entirety to a cousin by the name of Emrys Tarquin, the same name as the original owner. It was probably a family name that pops up somewhere every generation. He had his people working on an offer, making it well above the property's worth.
He wanted that land, and he was willing to pay dearly for it.
The fact that it had never been developed made it even more desirable.
No buildings or roads existed within the two hundred acres, no marks or scars on the land.
It was a beautiful blank canvas waiting for its artists, designers, and builders to accent that beauty.
He left his office and headed home to the quarters he shared with his beloved Quinn on the upper floor of the mansion.
When he walked in, he knew that something was off.
The air was tense, and there was an acrid scent of panic growing around him.
His chosen Quinn Ravenscroft, a dragon shifter, had not come to meet him, which was out of character.
He was usually in Alexander's arms as soon as he got home.
“Quinn.” He called out and headed toward the bedroom.
Quinn walked out of the bedroom and was talking to someone on his cell phone.
Alexander could sense the distress he was feeling and pulled him into his arms, holding him while he finished his call.
"What is it, my love, what's wrong?" he asked, worry filling his words.
He walked with Quinn over to the couch, and they sat down with Alexander still holding him.
“It’s Fergus, he’s sick. Father just called and told me he would bring him home this afternoon and to have our doctors waiting.
" Fergus was their son, half vampire and half dragon, and only sixteen years old.
He'd recently gone to live with his grandfather, who was the Dragon King, a ritual for all young dragons. He’d been there a little over five months, living within the Ravenscroft Circle and learning the way of the dragon, and now he was sick, and it was something the Dragon King could not cure.
“What did your father’s doctors say? Do they have a clue as to the cause?” Alexander felt tense as he took on Quinn’s worry. Fergus was their most beloved and heir to the Crimson Coven. The thought of him suffering was unacceptable.
“His doctors do not know the cause, but he is hoping that the vampire doctors may understand what is happening. Fergus fell ill this morning and within hours was unconscious and unresponsive in his bed. He is breathing and his heart is strong for now, but he appears to be gradually failing.” Quinn could barely get the words out as his panic and grief took over.
"There has to be an answer," Alexander stated forcefully, pulling his chosen back into his arms. "There's an answer and we will find it."