Page 89 of Resurrection
He turned to the door. “I need a little time.”
“Sure,” Mike said. He held up his phone. “Send me a text when you’re ready, and I’ll show you around. I’ll be down a few floors.”
Seiran wasn’t sure he was ever going to be ready, but he shut the door and headed to the shower. Tired, but on pins and needles, his heart aching. No one needed to see him cry in the shower when he could almost feel Gabe’s arms around him again.
He dressed in a half fog, slowly, thinking maybe he should lie down and try to sleep, but his nerves were on fire, and he kept seeing Gabe’s burned face. They had wanted that for him, hadn’t they? The Dominion. And then what of his kids? Kill them? Lock them away? Or use them as puppets? It was too much all at once, and not nearly the answers he needed. And he was so fucking tired of having the world on his shoulders alone.
He stood in the bedroom, identical to a place he’d left behind because the memories had hurt so much, and hugged himself. Wishing it were Gabe holding him. He could go home. Leave all this behind, abandon all of the politics of magic. But they would never stop hunting him. Power sought power, and that was the ultimate sting of all this mess. No matter who won, he lost. He would always be controlled by someone else.
Seiran sucked in a long breath, centering himself, and trying to shove away the melancholy. His life wasn’t all that different from anyone else’s. He felt oddly balanced still. Like Gabe’s short presence had given him a bit of extra strength. The Goddess still called to him, but it was distant and faint.
He didn’t think for one minute he could actually rest here. Not without his wards in place, his kids close by, and the fae at his back. Funny how much those little things had come to mean to him over the years.
Again, he stood at the threshold of change. Would anything actually shift for the better? What choice did he have? Move forward? Walk away? Run for his life?
He picked the only one he’d ever really found as a choice in his life, and moved forward, heading for the door, sending Mike a text, and hoping whatever was to come, he could keep his family safe.
Chapter 29
He followed Mike on the tour, in silence, listening with only half an ear as Mike explained the places they passed. The building was huge, and actually had a dozen or so tied to it through walkways, all with screening checkpoints.
“Your job is to give witches tours?” Seiran asked.
“My job is enforcement,” Mike answered. “Most vampires are on enforcement at least half the time. From guard duty, to protecting the investigators.”
“That sounds boring. What if a vampire wants to be an investigator?”
“There are more than a handful, but they get enforcers with them out in the field too. Vampires might be strong, fast, and hard to kill, but there are plenty of witches who know how to unravel us. I’m not a fan of puzzles myself. Point me in a direction, and I’ll make something happen, but don’t ask me to pick the direction.”
Seiran studied him, a little surprised. “Never took you as much of a follower.”
Mike grinned, showing a bit of fang. “I’m not. I’m just more likely to kill everything and let whatever god of the moment sort it out.” He pointed at Seiran.
“I’m not a god.”
“Godlike powers anyway. Let me show you to your new work space.”
Seiran didn’t appreciate that they had to go up and up and up to get there. His office was a giant thing near the top of the building that felt too far from the ground, and a bit cold and sterile. Emmaline looked as shocked as he felt when she’d been shown inside.
“What the fuck, right?” Seiran asked her.
“I don’t know where to start.” She had huge eyes as they were led to a department of investigators and introduced to at least ten times the number Seiran had ever been allowed. Humans, witches, vampires, shifters, and the handful of fae Mike had mentioned.
The research was endless. Seiran demanded access to everything, and was surprised when he didn’t meet any barriers. In fact, everyone jumped to obey, which felt very weird. They all treated him with respect, saying, “Yes, Sir, right away, Sir.”
He had a new computer, all his scans finished in minutes, and access to the vast and very well-organized libraries, both on-site and digitally.
“Everything is scanned and backed up for search, or you can view the actual text if it’s on-site, order it to site if it’s not, or even request a retranslation,” someone was telling him. Far beyond the troves he used to have, he couldn’t imagine knowing the archives here as well as Page had the Dominion ones. “There is a directory of texts by keywords as well. And if you can’t find a text, there is an R&D department that might be looking into it. They are always accepting recommendations as well.”
To say Seiran was shell shocked was a bit of an understatement. Reports began to trickle in of all the fires, burned witches, and property seizure that was finding more bodies, dark magic, and hints of a long history of buried problems. All of the bodies, vampire, human, witch, and their history, began to pile up. The massive team of investigators were working on sorting out who belonged where and reporting to Seiran on their findings.
For the first time in his life, he felt like people actually saw him, beyond his family. And it didn’t feel like fake respect. He’d even had a handful of them act very shy and awkward, more like he was a celebrity, than a department advisor, as he was now labeled, simply because he was the Pillar. It was weird, but Seiran was too overwhelmed to really let it bother him.
The President made an address indicating his support. Congress was not so cut and dry. Lots of bluster and talk of overreach, but more than half of the sitting members of Congress were either related to a high-level Dominion witch, or in the pocket of them. The system built to give them power was crumbling, but it wouldn’t be an easy change.
Seiran had a feeling another war was on the horizon. Perhaps a civil one as the vampires stood ruthlessly against the witches in this. He felt a little torn, his lifetime of indoctrination making him feel like he was betraying everything he knew. But he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t relieved. Not only at the possibility that he would no longer be considered part of the legalized death end of the Dominion, but that maybe his kids would have another opportunity in life, beyond being a cog in the wheel of rich people’s power.
“We’ll want to screen the new additions,” a man by the name of Detrick Jacobson told them. He’d been introduced as lead administrator over the investigations department. “Advisor Rou will have final say, of course,” Detrick added.