Page 10

Luc

I was in a strange mood after my meeting with Alexandra.

I could think of little but finding out the truth about what had happened to Matteo.

Who had killed him and why?

I went looking for the man who had informed me of Matteo’s death. He was a young officer, Captain Dennington, and he was in charge of a patrol unit. At his quarters I was informed that he had gone out to a club with some friends.

I’d heard of the club called Red Velvet but had never been there. It was popular with vampires, and all kinds of drugs and services were offered that weren’t exactly legal. All sorts of people could be found there as well.

There was pulsating music and strobe lighting, bodies dancing on stages and various blood drugs were sold as well. I made my way across the floor to a group of young men that I recognized, they told me Dennington was in the back with a woman. I opened a few doors until I found him, locked in a steamy embrace with a woman. His fangs were exposed and he was about to sink them into her as they had sex, an act known as double feeding in certain circles. It produced greater pleasure and was a sought-after vampire activity. For women, it carried certain risks as vampires sometimes lost control or became over eager. Many women died in the act.

Dennington had a glazed look in his eyes.

I moved across the room and ripped him from the woman flinging him against the wall.

He stumbled and regained his balance.

I watched as his eyes cleared and he regained his composure.

In an overly polite tone I asked, “Shall we have a word outside?”

He knew who I was and nodded, nervously.

We went out into the street and into an alley at the side of the club.

I continued in the same tone, “I have had a very bad day, Dennington. In fact, I have had a terrible year. The last hundred years, to be honest, have been awful. I would love to take all of this out on you, vent my frustration and make you my punching bag. One wrong word from you, and I will rip you apart into so many pieces no one will be able to identify you. You read me?”

He blinked.

“Tell me what happened the night you found Matteo Lombardi’s body. Who sent you to find him?”

He stammered. “The… the call came from the royal office. Harris, I think. Asked me to find him, said he was missing. We tracked him… we were told he was going to the lodge and we went there looking for him.”

“Who told you he was going to the lodge?”

He looked around agitated. “I can’t remember, someone from Harris’s office, a female, called, Par...no…Clarissa?”

“How did she know where he was?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know! We followed the information and we found him as I told you.”

“What about the dagger?” I wanted to know.

“What dagger?”

Dennington claimed there was no dagger and that when they came on the site, the flames had already gone out, the body had been burnt. There was no dagger, but he found the belt buckle and picked it up to show me.

“Why did you say shifters killed him?”

He looked around wildly.

“I didn’t… I mean, it wasn’t me. One of the guys said it must have been shifters. I said, no, it was too clean but we had no other explanation, so we went with it, I guess.”

He looked uncomfortable.

I stepped closer. “What else?”

He swallowed. “When we arrived in the Capital, the woman Clarissa called me again. She asked me if I’d found Matteo, if he was dead. It was almost like she wanted me to confirm it.”

I frowned, trying to figure it out.

“When I said yes, she asked if it looked like shifters did it? I said I didn’t know, and she said, it must’ve been. She asked if I’d seen shifter activity in the area, I mean, we’d come across some shifters along the way but they had nothing to do with it. She said it must’ve been them and we were to say we thought it was.”

“You just accepted that?”

He licked his lips. “No, well, yes. It was the way she said it, like it would be better for me to go with this story. There was no reason not to, so I did.”

“Who is this Clarissa?” I’d never heard of her.

He swallowed. “She is with the queen, one of her party.”

Taheera.

I let Dennington go and went back to the Castle. Things were becoming very complicated indeed. I didn’t know what to make of this. The fact that someone from the royal household took a special interest in Matteo’s death was worrying. I knew Taheera was not a woman to be trifled with. I had to be careful with my inquiries.

I went back to my office and had Trick inform me of any updates. She showed me satellite pictures of the swamp. Some of the pictures had been enlarged.

“What am I looking at?” I asked her, irritably.

“Yeah, I’m sorry the pictures aren’t that clear. We had to zoom in quite a lot,” she apologized. “You see those black dots?” she pointed at a few on the picture. “Those appear to be newly spawned frogs. But bigger, much bigger.”

She pointed at other flecks. “They seem to change into men and disappear into the lake. There are thousands of them.”

“Frog men?”

“Something like that,” she nodded.

“And the lake is full of them?” I could see why she was worried.

“Can’t we just nuke the lake?”

She shook her head. “The water belongs to the Hattaris, they use it for fishing as well as irrigation and it is an important part of the landscape. We need to be careful or we stand to damage our relationship with them permanently.”

This was not good news.

I was heading out to a War Council meeting when I suddenly felt an agonizing sensation, like someone was twisting something in my non-existent gut.

Ruby.

She was in trouble.

I could feel it, she was being threatened and was in serious danger.

I dropped everything and rushed outside, channeling all my energy in getting to her as quickly as possible. I couldn’t delay a second. Time was important here, if I risked even one conversation, I might be too late.

The intensity of her emotions were like a magnet, pulling me towards her. I could feel her pain and her fear. It directed me to the town, to her house and then down the street until I located her in a building and saw the beast coming towards her. I was on top of him in a second and I did not let up until I knew he was dead.

When I looked up, I saw her sitting on the floor, tears in her eyes.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “That… was Danny.”

She got up and came down the stairs, looking at the pitiful remains on the floor.

“I had this, you know.” Her voice was small but firm.

“You did? Didn’t feel that way,” I said.

It was a mistake because her eyes flashed in anger.

“I had this!” she said and showed me a pair of decorative scissors.

“What were you going to do with that?” I asked with a laugh. “Cut a little thread?”

“No! I was going to plunge it in his eye!”

“You know how to do that?” I asked, with a bit of respect.

“Of course, it won’t be the first time I did it either!” she snapped at me.

I was surprised at her reaction, I had expected a word of thanks at the very least. A steamy kiss was really what I was hoping for but that was clearly the last thing on her mind.

She pushed past me down the stairs. “You’ll have to get out of here before his buddies find you.”

“You can’t stay here,” I said and she impatiently replied, “I know but I have some things that need doing.”

“Ruby,” I started but she interrupted me. “Thanks for saving me and everything, but I had this, okay? I didn’t need rescuing. Now, get out of here before they find you!”

My senses were already picking up activity outside the building.

“Ruby…”

“Just go!”

She had taken a gun from Danny’s jacket and fired at the door lock at the top of the stairs, opening the way for us onto the roof. It was a low building and there were skips down one of the sides. She took a look and jumped onto one of them. I barely had time to see that she was okay before she was taking off.