Everlasting Embrace (Embrace Series) (9 page)

Knowing Florence is right and we must hurry, we gather our things and begin to pile in to our cars. Nath
anial, Alexander, Matilda and I
go in one car
,
so we can discuss options and dates. Florence, Elijah, Isaac
,
and
Constance take another. Ebony
and Danika take the babies and follow behind us. Luke and Eliza will be meeting us in Boston
,
and after the consultation with the planner
,
we
’
ll have a nice night out on the town. Caspian is
staying behind at the school. H
e and Dakota will continue with classes for the day. We don
’
t want to take any chances with the Cerberus spotting Caspian
in Boston. Their club is there
,
and although it
’
s a big c
ity, they have spies everywhere
;
and we know they have plans to destroy Caspian for defying them.

Lessons

After a week of trying to hash out wedding plans
,
we all agree to take a step back and concentrate on the school for a while. Everything will work out perfectly
; we
just can
’
t force it. So today we are running a history class on the Cerberus. They are one of the main threats to us
,
so today all lessons will be centered on them. Caspian will prove to be an asset on the subject.

Walking into the lecture hall, I notice our entire student body present and ready with notebooks in hand. Caspian takes the lead, head
ing to the front of the class, w
hile the rest of our family takes seats in the front and the students all settle in. Standing in front of the class
,
he towers above most of us at six feet two inches, with a slim frame of only
185
pounds. My brother is looking more handsome than
ever. His black hair hangs in his eyes. Running his fingers through it, h
e brushes the hair from his face
,
s
h
owing his glowing blue eyes, bright and crystal clear. I can hear the gushes from the girl behind me. He
’
s always been a little different from us
, slightly emo style
;
maybe even like he stepped out of the movie
,
‘
The Outsiders
’
.
I get why girls swoon over him
…
h
e
’
s hot! I can think that
—
since Caspian isn
’
t my real brother, it
’
s not quite as creepy.

Looking over my shoulder
,
I watch as some of the girls are looking Caspian over. You would think they would b
e use to his good looks by now;
maybe it
’
s his skinny black jea
ns and fitted white dress shirt
,
w
ith that skinny
red
tie
I got him. Maybe this will be an opportunity for him to meet someone nice. I don
’
t want him to be alone forever
,
and I hope he
’
s begun to forgive himself for Ashley.
Ashley was Caspian
’
s
soul mate,
and the reason for his leaving the family for so long. When they finally decided to become intimate, Caspian got
carried away
,
and Ashley lost her life. That was a long time ago
,
and he is finally back here where he belongs. Now today
,
we all get to learn from his experiences.

“
Alright, so the past week or so we
’
ve been learning about the dif
ferent evils we are aware
of
and have faced thus far. Today
,
we will be discussing one of our biggest
nemeses
to date
…
the Cerberus. I am the most familiar with the Cerberus, so I w
ill lead the lecture today. Now
,
before I begin are there any questions?
”

Caspian looks around and when no one raises
a
hand, he continues.
“
I am going to start at the basics, right back at the beginning. The first vampire was Cain. I
’
m sure you have all heard the story of Cain and h
is brother Able. Well to recap
—
the brothers needed to present God with a gift. God was pleased with Able
’
s presentation, but not with Cain
’
s. This upset Cain very much, so he murdered his brother out of envy. Being the first murderer
,
God felt punishment was needed, so he cursed Cain. Cain was doomed to walk the earth alone
,
for all eternity, never to pass and reach
Heaven
. After years had passed
,
Cain met a witch, Lilith
,
who taught him to use blood as power and create others of his kind. He started with three sons, who later
Embraced
thirteen grandchildren. These grandchildren were overcome with bloodlust, killing into the millions. Cain was disappointed and left with his three sons. Ashamed of their actions
,
several of the grandchildren formed the Renata and decided on the six
Vampiric Laws
that our kind follow.
Sibling
rivalry took over and nearly half of the siblings rebelled, creating the Cerberus. They believe they are greater beings and deserve all they wish.
”
Caspian pauses
.
“
Are you all following so far?
”

The scratching on the note pads is in hyper drive and everyone nods. Caspian takes a sip of his blood infu
sed coffee and continues.
“
Now
,
not all of the original Renata or Cerberus are still around today, but one
that we are more than aware of
i
s Cyrus. Cyrus is one of the oldest vampires
,
and one of the original thirteen grandchildren. He is residing
in Boston with his son Drake, w
ho recently took over as leader of the Cerberus. I
’
m sure you have all heard of the tales of Dracula, from Transylvania. Well
,
Dracula now goes by the name Drake
, and yes, he
’
s Cyrus son
…
and lives
much
to
o
close for comfort. Years ago
,
he was chased out of his
homeland
and lived in England
’
s Whitby Abby until the day he was found and staked, then buried there. For those of you who don
’
t know the proper way to destroy a vampire, we must be beheaded
,
and the remains burned
,
to ensure we can
’
t regenerate. Staking can kill a younger vampire
,
but for older one
s,
all it d
oes is make us appear to cease
;
but reviving is simple with the consumption of fresh blood. This is what happened with Drake. When Cyrus finally found him, he presented his son with a then live specimen, slitting his jugular and allowing the blood to drip down the throat of his so
n
’
s remains. Once revived, Drake
fed from the mortal, drinking him dry and placing him in his coffin. The two vampires then roamed the earth
,
gaining more followers and rag
ing war against the Renata. Now
they have come here because of the power in the area. Once they gain enough power and followers
,
they will return to Transylvania to take the throne. This is why we must stop them. The Cerberus
,
gaining control of all the vampires
,
will destroy mankind as we know it.
”

As Caspian stops
,
we look around a
t the reactions of the students
,
and notice Siobhan
’
s hand slowly rise. Caspian nods to her and she stands
.
“
Mr. Caspian, I am sorry to ask
,
but how is it you know so much about the Cerberus?
”

Matilda looks at
Caspian, looks around the room
,
and then gives me a little smile. I can
’
t he
lp wonder what she
’
s thinking
;
a
ctual
ly I have a pretty good guess
,
b
ut will love to just see how it all plays out.

“
T
hat
’
s an excellent question. A
s some of you know
,
I was estranged from my vampire family for years. During this time
,
I still kept an eye on them and learned of the Cerberus coming to the area for the powers. For reasons that are unimportant now, I had to infiltrate their organization.
”
He gives a small grin to Danika
.
“
I then betrayed them and was tortured for a month to regain their trust. Once I had proven myself
,
I was accepted into their cult. I was able to gain
information about their doings
—
n
ow
,
and for centuries. If they ever catch me again, I will be tortured again, and then destroyed. As I mentioned
,
Drake is now the leader as Cyrus handed down his throne
,
per say. Since I
dishonored
him, he will want my head. For those of you that are not aware, a vamp
ire can increase
—
o
r inherit
—
power by destroying other vampires. They are attracted to Wenham becaus
e of the strong magickal pull. W
e have an
abundance of power in the area
,
and if one figures out how to harness it, we co
uld be facing the apocalypse.
”

“
So what can we do to stop them?
”
s
he asks.

“
We have to fight t
hem in order to suppress them.
None of you are anywhere near ready for battle yet
,
though. You have to learn everything I can teach you about them, and then maybe we
’
ll have a chance.
”

I give Caspian a little look
,
notifying him that I want to address his class. He smirks and nods. I stand and turn to face the class
.
“
I figure now is a good time for me to add my two cents. In the past year
or
two, the William
’
s and the Triggs family have help
ed
me and my family fi
ght Cerberus members twice
;
three times if you count breaking Danika out
of
their club. That is a story for another time though. Anyways, my point is
, we only took on a few members
,
not the entire cult. If we want to beat them for good,
it is going to be a huge battle
;
a
nd there
’
s a good chance we won
’
t all make it back. This is why you are here, to train and learn so that you can help in the fight against evil of all kinds. So just understand why we don
’
t want to rush any of you into
a dangerous situation.
”

Caspian continues with his lecture on the Cerberus for the next hour
,
then we take the students to the gymnasium for physical training.

The gym is very large, with an entire weight training area behind glass on one s
ide
with e
lliptical trainers, stationary bikes, bench press, and every other weight machine you could imagine. On the other side
,
we have several blue mats, climbing ropes and walls, punching bags and gloves for the hand
-
to
-
hand combat. We begin with muay thai, hand
-
to
-
hand combat
,
a form of kickboxing. This will increase physical strength and speed. Soon we will begin working on each student
’
s individual power. This is what will tr
uly help us defeat the Cerberus
,
and any other evil that may threaten us.