Page 27 of Resurrection
“Right, ‘cause that’s a big deal,” Seiran grumbled as he walked past the desk and into a nearby office that was little more than a wall of windows surrounded by a well of plants.
Gabe nodded his head at the young man, who widened his eyes when he saw Gabe, and the golem.
“Oh, I forgot you had already left by the time I brought the golem in last night.” Seiran pointed at Forest. “That’s our golem. And that’s Gabe, a vampire…”
“A vampire in the archives?”
Gabe offered a hand. “Gabriel Santini,” he said, recalling what Max had said his name was.
“I thought the only vampire Director Rou worked with was Mr. Mueller?” Page asked. He shook Gabe’s hand carefully, as though afraid to really touch him.
A wallop of jealousy filled Gabe in that moment, and he couldn’t stop the rise of it from showing on his face. He knew because Page took a step back, even though the desk separated them.
“Sorry,” Gabe said and took a few steps backward himself. “Mueller?” He asked Seiran, turning his gaze away from them both until he could control his reaction again. He hoped his eyes had only gone dark, and not red.
“Sam,” Seiran said.
“The guy with the attitude,” Gabe said thinking of the first vampire he’d encountered when he’d been pulled out of his grave.
“That’s Sam,” Seiran agreed. “You’re too young to have ever met Gabe,” he told Page. “He went to ground almost fifteen years ago.”
Page’s eyes widened further. “That’s a long time. I mean, I’ve read about how vampires go to ground, but never really thought how weird that must be to lose years.”
“Weird,” Gabe said, “is an interesting term for it.” He felt some of the jealousy ease as he didn’t think Sam and Seiran had anything intimate going on. And if they did, it wasn’t really Gabe’s place to get between them, even if his vampire instincts went a little crazy.
Gabe turned his attention to Seiran. “You told the other Director that vampires were used to create the golem. How can you tell?” Maybe it was the power Gabe was using to try to keep a leash on it that Seiran sensed?
“Their soul energy, if that’s what you want to call it,” Seiran replied. “It feels vampire. I should have realized it last night when I was questioning it. But I’d been out of touch with the vampires for a while and forgotten the subtle differences.”
“Vampires have souls?” Gabe clarified. He knew they had something that animated them, and a consciousness that was freethinking beyond the bloodlust, but seemed to recall something telling him vampires were soulless.
“Vampires were human,” Page said from his place behind the desk. “We all have advanced studies now, after the Vampire War caused so much havoc. The fact that law makes them treat vampires as human is the only thing that keeps us civil. It makes sense that vampires would have souls, even if they would be changed much like their physical forms when they’re brought over. I’m sure there are lots of religious debates on it. Like some religions debate whether witches have souls or not.”
“The whole soul debate in general is a mess. All sentient beings have a life force. All living things, even plants, have a life force. What doesn’t have a life force? Plastic,” Seiran said. “We poison the earth with more of it every day.”
“Does She complain?” Page wondered out loud. “I mean I always thought maybe She would one day get mad and just wipe us all out.”
“She is not happy about it and shows Her displeasure in small ways, that are growing in scale,” Seiran admitted. “Even I can only do so much to soothe Her.”
“Mother Earth must be amazing,” Page said.
“She is, and not always kind. Which I wish the world would remember.” Seiran dug through his desk, unlocking drawers and pulling out files. The stack already on the top appeared to be from the unauthorized interviews. He barely glanced through them.
“That’s fascinating,” Gabe said. “When was this Vampire War?”
“About fourteen years ago,” Page said.
Around the time Gabe had gone to ground. Had he been part of it? Perhaps lost in bloodlust over some battle? If the revenant had risen, that could explain a lot of things. He watched Seiran’s body language, catching the nuance of tight shoulders, and lips pressed in a line as he flipped through the folders.
“The acknowledgment that vampires are sentient beings and not just demons walking around eating people is what the agreements are founded on,” Page added.
“Agreements?”
“With humans and witches,” Page said.
“The war was between vampires and humans and witches?” Gabe wondered. It seemed a very dumb thing for the vampires to try to demolish their food source. Why? Control? Were the vampires not allowed to feed?
“The vampires wanted world domination,” Seiran said. “Tresler’s goal was to enslave the vampires to his will, and subjugate the rest of their food supply to little more than cattle. He underestimated his reach.”