Rebirth of the Seer (3 page)

Richard glared, but held fast to his composure. “I doubt I have to remind you of your sins, Mr.
Dawes. You are condemned by the –
”

I held up a hand
, stopping Richard. “You would do well to place that name back on the shelf. I might not be an assassin any longer, but I am no Peter Dawes.
Flynn is
the one you should be prosecuting.”

“Very well.” Richard cleared his throat and visibly regrouped. “Vampire Flynn, you are condemned by the Supernatural Order for multiple offenses. For murdering a watcher and a Counc
il elder while you were still a
human. For slaughtering hundreds of souls within the space of five short years. And for using the gifts of a seer – gifts to be taken with gravity and decorum –
for your wanton gain.”

“And if this was where the story ended, I would save you the trouble and throw myself upon my sword as retribution.” I perked an eyebrow at him. “I have reformed my ways, though. Miss Alexander a
ttempted to explain this and informed
you I have been commissioned by The Fates to continue walking this path. Besides, the murder of Lydia Davies and her advisor was coerced from me by my former mistress.”

“
So you claim.
”

“
No, I assert. M
y actions were my own when
I murdered as a vampire, however
. You see, this is what I find amusing.” I chuckle
d
, knitting my hands pensively behind my back while my feet commenced to pacing. I looked first toward the ground, then back to the human council. “The lot of you only imagines my atrocities while I relive them each time I pause to consider what brought me here. I orchestrated things you dared not even fathom. Embodied sadism your underdeveloped creativity could not grasp. If you truly knew the monster I am you would not be looking down upon me with such smugness.”

“T
his is supposed to change
our
mind
s
about you?” Beverly asked, interjecting.

I flashed my most disarming grin. “Not in the slightest, my dear.” The curl of my lips evened to a more sober expression. “What should affect your decision, however, is the fact that a killer such as I has proven capable of reform. If my repentance has not been enough to convince you otherwise, then you are still left with the charge given to me by Miss Davies. I failed her once. I do not wish to fail her again.”

Richard scoffed. “It doesn’t matter and, quite frankly, I don’t believe it. You’re to be put to death and your watcher punished for setting loose this whole circus in the first place.”

“She only brought out that which would have emerged naturally. And because she did, I had not yet passed the point of no return. Your qualm is with me, not Monica.”

“It’s with both of you.”

“Come now, Richard.” I smiled with no small amount of teeth being presented in the action. “Surely even Neanderthals such as you can recognize an innocent when presented one.”

Richard clenched his jaw. “You’ll do well not to smile in my presence, demon.”

I blurted out a hearty chuckle before it could be suppressed. “Ah, you see? There it is.” Spreading my arms out to my sides, I bowed slightly at the waist. “What is it, Richard? Do you see my fangs? Do you grow loathe to consider this ‘demon’ is in possession of such great power? Well, these gifts are mine, as is my mission, and I shall not be deterred.”

My arms lowered to my sides. I straightened my posture and pivoted to face Monica. “Our business with them is through,” I said. “
Let us be on our way.
”

“You’ll do no such thing.”

I ignored Richard and began a tempered walk toward Monica. She motioned forward, but so
did the men standing behind her. They
closed the distance and apprehended her before I could reach where she stood. She tensed at the sudden feeling of two sets of
hands taking hold of her and
gave a spirited buck against their grip. “Let me go, damn it.”

I stopped when
our eyes met. T
heir hold on her tightened. “Now, gentlemen,” I said, pushing back the fabric of my jacket and brushing my fingers across the hilt of my sword. “I suggest you do as she says before I become fidgety. I can assure you an angry and armed vampire is not a positive combination.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Richard said, commanding the room’s attention once again. He stood, looking first at the bodyguards before casting his sights on me. “Your weapons are useless here.”

“We shall see how bloody useless they are in a moment.” My gaze shifted back to the guards. “Come now, or have you forgotten already? Angry and armed vampire? Release her so we can be on our way.”

“Flynn, just get out of here,” Monica said, her eyes
projecting an urgency bordering on panic
. “Hurry.”

“Nonsense. If they wish a confrontation, I shall be more than happy to obl
–
”

My words ceased at once,
interrupted by
a peculiar sound which echoed throughout the meeting hall with
an ominous overtone. M
y already-tepid blood turn
ed
cold a
s I
looked back toward the source of the noise. Richard’s eyes were fixed upon me, his hands steepled and wrists bent as if he had just
finished cracking his knuckles.

The implication of this action barely registered before
e
very other Council member stood and did the same. Their gazes all took on the same severe look and a shiver afflicted me from head to toe. Magic. It filled the air like quicksand with me sinking in the epicenter
. R
ichard raised a hand and pointed his palm in my direction. Unintelligible words spilled from his lips, droning with the cadence of an incantati
on. The room closed in around me
;
I had been struck dumb
while
a flurry of anxiety pass
ed
through my bones.

I
t brought out a
sneer of
self-disgust. “Oh fuck your magical bullshit, Richard.”

I pushed aside the fledgling intimidation they had inspired.
With one swift, practiced motion, I drew my sword. Richard’s eyes widened as I ran for him, my pace too fast for any of the others to come to his aid. I leaped for him when close enough, cutting off his
spell
with a soundly-placed kic
k aimed square for his chest that
laid him out on the floor.
Turning
to face
the other members, my adversaries glared back at me; two women and three men.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” I said through gritted teeth. “I shall offer you a mercy I would have never offered a human when I was yet an assassin. This is your final chance to back down and allow me and my watcher to leave without your interference. I promise you I shall inflict grave injury upon you otherwise.”

One of the women – one I recalled being called Joan – snickered. I shifted my focus toward her, but her hands flew up
before I could do anything. A
n i
nvisible force impacted me and
s
ent me fly
ing onto the ground. My back hit
first, followed by my head
bouncing
f
rom the unforgiving floor. I groaned involuntarily when a
jolt of pain
sent
my vision to swim
ming
for a brief moment.

“I’d like to see you try,” she said.

“Bloody fucking hell.” Quickly, I stood, ignoring the ache which radiated from head to back in favor of readying myself for their next onslaught. ‘
Ah, but I am hardly one for being on the defensive
,
’ I thought, a smirk accompanying the slow descent of my fangs. ‘
No, I much prefer dominating these sorts of games.
’

A growl rumbled from my throat. I dashed for Joan, who lifted her hands again, but fumbled for words as I closed in on her. I drove my hand into her windpipe, and then crouched as she fought against a temporary impediment to her breathing. The dull edge of my katana impacted her knees from behind as I swept around her, all one fluid motion which ended with her landing on the floor and me springing back into a stand.

I sneered. “You best be fucking grateful you are not dealing with my former self.”

One of the
other
elders – a tall man with jet black hair –
stepped forward
as Joan fell, drawing my focus over to him. I raised an arm to block an attempted punch, and answered with a kick to his chest. As he toppled, I turned and countered another advance from another elder who had remained quiet up to this point. He fell when I swept his legs out from under him. My mental tally ticked to four, with one final male elder – the blond-haired Lewis – the last man standing between me and Monica. I managed one step forward before a harrowing premonition overwhelmed me, compelling me to spin around and glance at the ground behind me.

Richard stumbled to his feet some distance away. I watched his lips move and knew what he meant to continue.

‘
Flynn, stop him!
’

“Damn it to hell,” I muttered. Monica’s voice still reverberated in my thoughts as I floundered for what to do. The lost moment cost me dearly. The ignored-Lewis spoke and in the time it took for me to begin to turn, he lifted his hands and ceased my attempt to face him. Whatever mental ability he used to place a lock on me kept me tethered in position, giving him the advantage.

My katana involuntarily dropped from my grip. My knees began buckling, threatening to drive me to the floor, but I struggled against it, clenching my jaw in concentration while indulging in a steadying breath. My thoughts spun wild with potential solutions, panic threatening to paralyze me. Monica telepathically spoke to me again. ‘
Fight against it, Flynn
,
’ she said. ‘
Remember, you’re just as powerful as they are. This is just textbook telekinesis and I bet you can break free of it.
’

‘
Telekinesis?
’ I wrestled with the urge to ask what sort of textbook contained such a lesson and opened my eyes, not realizing I had closed them in the first place. ‘
How? You make it sound so bloody simple.
’

‘
Cause it is. Now hurry up, we’re running out of time.
’

‘
Oh yes, Mistress. At once.
’ I filled my lungs again and exhaled the breath slowly, calming my nerves while tapping into that part of me which read minds and sifted through intentions. ‘
You are a seer
,
’ I told myself. ‘
About bloody time you started acting like one.
’

Immediately, it was as though a switch flicked on inside of me. A sinister grin crept across my mouth as I felt the lock upon me relent, the influence of my adversary buckling the harder I focused on my gifts. Directing the assault back onto Lewis, I thrust myself into his thoughts and forced him away from mine with increasing – albeit surprising – success. I could almost see him pale when I freed my limbs and made certain he knew how vexed he had made me when I turned to face him. “Lew
is, Lewis, Lewis,” I said, wagg
ing my finger at him. “I might be ignorant, but I am a quick study.”

I left him no time to counter. Raising my hand as I had seen the others do, I felt a bolt of energy run through me and watched the same invisible force which had previously laid me prone shove Lewis onto the floor. When he failed to stand again, I shifted my attention to Richard, realizing belatedly that the cadence of his words had intensified.

Pivoting, I plucked my katana from where it lay and slid it into its sheath while sprinting for the stubborn, judgmental elder. One of the downed women stumbled to her feet, but I s
ent her crashing back to the floor
using my newly-
explored
telekinesis, not skipping a beat in the action. Continuing my run with all the determination I could muster, I closed the distance between us. But Richard did something first which disconcerted me.

He ceased speaking. And, at once, I knew why.

Richard’s spell enclosed me. My running halted to an abrupt stop. This time, the lock enveloping me was far sounder than Lewis’s had been, subduing me from head to foot as though my shoes had been nailed to the ground; my arms tied tight against my body. A feeling of helplessness rushed through me, something I attempted hiding as my antagonist advanced on me, murder in his gaze.

‘
Shit. Now what, Monica?
’

“I’m sure you think you’re special,” Richard said, adjusting his wool blazer as though it had been violated. “A regular god among men because you’ve figured out you have a few new handy tricks.”

“Well, any assassin shall tell you it never hurts to have an extra
dagger
up his sleeve.” Monica failed to respond. I attempted not to become more troubled.