The Dark Gifts Birthright (29 page)

The troupe quietly returned to the castle.
After seeing Cass and Dan to their room, they each drifted off to
their own dwellings to let the couple have some privacy. Cass felt
broken, her spirit so injured by what she had done, that she had a
difficult time even talking to Dan. He was full of questions that,
as a mortal, he had never even thought to ask. Cass dutifully and
dully answered each one. They went to bed soon after, spending
their first night as immortals together. Even falling asleep with
the knowledge that she would never need to be parted from him again
did nothing to raise Cass' spirits. Her last thought, before
slumber took her was, “What have I done?”

***

Cass woke with Jenna screaming in her
mind.

“
Mommy!”

“
What’s wrong?”

“
Angie is killing Daddy! Mommy, help
him!”

“
I’m coming, baby. Stay away from
him.”

She created a portal and jumped directly into
Jenna’s room. Angie and Dan were engaged in deadly combat. Dan’s
body heaved with the force of each of Angie’s blows, but he never
slowed. Michael and Gregorio circled the two, trying to stop the
fight, but the combatants moved so fast they couldn’t latch on to
either of them. Liz was screaming at them all to calm down, while
Athena held a terrified Jenna in her arms. Cass' voice boomed in
the room, “Stop this right now!”

Immediately Dan stood still. Angie, in no
mood to give up, had to be restrained by Michael and Liz. Both
vampires had bloodied wounds, but Dan had certainly taken the worst
of the two.

Angie still entangled in her rage at Dan
blurted out, “He started it. He came in here looking for Jenna and
you know that’s not allowed. Then he tried to glamour both of us
into letting him be alone with her.” She looked at Liz waiting for
the other girl to chime in.

“He did do that, Cass.” She released her grip
on Angie, and brushed the hair out of her face. “We told him he was
not allowed here. Then he jumped over us and tried to grab Jenna.
We had no idea what he would do to her, so we had to try to stop
him.”

“What are you doing in our daughter’s room?”
Cass coldly asked her husband.

“I just wanted to see her. She is
my
daughter.” Dan hissed.

“You were already told that it was not safe,
Daniel. All of us gave you fair warning of what might happen if you
see her too soon.” Cass replied. She stood motionless, face drawn
tight in fury.

It was obvious to all those gathered there
that the thirst was upon him. There was no doubt in any of their
minds what his motives were. Cass did not have the grip on the man
that she should have, and he had no grip on himself whatsoever. The
thing that Cass feared most, after entering his newly-changed mind
the night before, had come to fruition. Jenna’s most dangerous
enemy at the Citadel was her own father.

Chapter Nineteen

The Seer

Michael and Gregorio, with the help of Liz
and a portal, had taken Dan to hunt again. Cass stayed to comfort a
completely terrified Jenna. Athena had sent all the by-standers
watching from the hall to perform their daily duties and tended to
Angie’s now healing wounds. She was certain not much would be
accomplished that day, as the entire castle was in an uproar at
hearing “their” beloved Jenna was nearly attacked and eaten by her
own father nonetheless, who shouldn’t even be there because he was
supposed to be dead, and
human
.

Cass stood at the door, taking one last look
at her daughter before resting her eyes on Angie. “Thank you. This
is the second time you’ve saved her life.”

“I will always protect her. You should know
that by now.” Angie met her gaze. “You have to do something about
him. She’s not safe with him here.”

Cass’ gave her one curt nod and turned to
leave.

“Cass?”

She looked over her shoulder.

“The next time…I’ll kill him.”

She nodded once again and shut the door
behind her.

Cass sat by the fire in her room mulling over
what she had seen in Dan’s mind the night before. She hadn’t told
the others. She was certain they would destroy him if they knew.
There was voraciousness inside him now, a thirst not just for
blood, but power as well. In the years she had known him, Cass had
never witnessed that part of him. She knew he hungered for
excitement and adventure, that was probably one of the things that
kept him with her. What could be more exciting than taking a
vampire to bed every night? His thirst for power shocked her. Power
hungry people tend to be successful in the mortal world, power
hungry vampires generally turn evil. She could not stomach the
thought of Dan turning evil, nor could she stand knowing that it
would be up to her to hand down his death sentence, should he end
up that way.

The problem wasn’t that she
couldn’t
control him. She couldn’t put her whole heart into
doing
it.
She had to pull herself together. She was torn between her love of
Dan, and the need to keep him in check. Beyond that, she had a
responsibility to the Council and all of the members of the vampire
nation that lived there. She owed these people. She had brought
them all together and given them hope; to fail them now would be
appalling.

Cass thought hard while Dan hunted, and
resolved herself to taking him over completely and with no
reservations. Once he had worked through the thirst, finding out
that he had killed his only child would devastate him. Allowing Dan
to turn into the kind of ferocious monsters they were fighting
against was not an option.

When Dan returned, she didn’t bother with
discussion. Unwilling to waste precious time, she went straight to
him and entered his mind. Dan’s will was strong. He battled her
from the onset of her mental intrusion. He was determined to keep
his own will, and she was unwavering in her effort to break it.
They stood; eyes locked together in mental combat, both fighting
for control of Dan’s will. The connection between the two was
strong, but it did not have the strength of the love that they had
shared. Although that love still existed, it was subservient to the
power that inhabited his once mortal body. She was exhausted when
she finally gained control of his will.

Cass gazed into his eyes hoping for a sign
that this time the connection had taken. Rebellion bloomed as if
lit by an internal fire. She sighed and looked away. Not here. They
couldn’t stay here. It was just too dangerous.

“
Jenna?”

“
Yes, Mommy?”

“
I need you to tell Auntie Liz and the
others something for me.”

“
You’re leaving? Why are you
leaving?”

“
Don’t jump ahead sweetheart. I will
get--”

“
I see it. I understand. How long till
Daddy is better?”

“
Soon, I hope.”

“
But if I need you, you’ll be at our
house, right?”

“
Yes, baby. I love you.”

“
I love you too!”

Cass opened a portal and took them through to
their cabin. The cabin might not have been the safest destination,
but it was the only place they could be truly alone.

Nestled in the woods of the Ozark Mountains,
the cabin was miles away from human beings. Cass felt good being in
her own home again. She had missed the place sorely, and even with
Jenna’s absence, she felt at peace in her mountain refuge. Cass
spent the first few nights teaching Dan what he needed to know to
remain safe and keep the secret. She also saw to it that he started
his immunization to daylight immediately. With any luck, being
newly-made, he would acquire this immunity as quickly as Liz.
Surprisingly, she could already handle sunlight for thirty minutes
at a time. Thirty minutes doesn’t sound like much, but to a vampire
who sees nothing but the darkness of night; it is a gift to surpass
all others.

While Cass and her husband were away, the
Council returned to business. There was still a battle to be fought
and won. The renegades were still out there killing innocent
people. The Council, in its entirety, wanted to avoid using time
portals. It was forbidden. Having already made the mistake of
teaching too many how to create ordinary portals, they needed to
make certain no one “accidentally” discovered they could be used to
travel through time. They needed to find the main renegade army and
gather intel, but they still did not have any idea how to go about
doing it. They finally caught a break when a visitor arrived at the
Citadel.

For two nights the sentries, and Michael,
watched the man camped just to the south of the Citadel. During the
day, the witches took over; his whereabouts were known at all
times. He was still more than three miles away, and although he
wasn’t moving any closer, he wasn’t leaving either. He was
definitely human, they could tell that much, and aged from the
appearance of him. Everyone in the castle was directed to be aware
of him and stay away. Even hunting in that part of the forest was
off limits. The man had entered their domain quietly without any
fuss, and set up a camp. Michael was trying to figure out if he was
just a human camping, or worse, they had been found and he was
bait.

The man gave no tell tale signs to what he
was about. He neither hunted nor fished. He had built a large fire
that he kept going at all times, as if he were trying to gain
someone’s attention or possibly to keep something away. For hours
each day, the man would sit and write in a small notebook, only
looking up for a few seconds as if in deep thought.

On the third day, the man started behaving
oddly. He walked in circles around the fire, talking to himself.
The witches notified Michael immediately, but as it was during the
day, he could not venture out to see what was going on. With an
energy that seemed far too lasting for a man of his age, the old
man continued to walk the fire throughout the rest of the day.
Stopping only periodically for a rest, he would continue walking
and quietly talking. At sundown, Michael was at the man’s camp.

Standing just outside the man’s line of
sight, Michael listened to what he was saying. He couldn’t place
whatever language the man was speaking. The words were completely
unfamiliar, but the tone’s and inflections, had an almost musical
sound. Michael had watched for an hour, when the man suddenly came
to a stop and gazed into the fire. He seemed to be looking for
something within the flames that shot up high into the darkened
sky, then quickly turned and motioned to Michael to look into the
fire.

Michael was dumbfounded; there was no way the
man could possibly know he was there. Again, and much more
impatiently this time, the man waved his arm and motioned to
Michael to join him by the fire. Michael remained still and
quiet.

Finally, sounding a bit irate, the man spoke
to him, “Don’t just stand there, boy! Get over here and have a
look! I’ve been at this all day, and don’t have no time for tom
foolery. Besides that, you’re gonna miss the best part!”

Michael entered the camp warily, not knowing
what to make of the situation. The old man motioned to him to
hurry, and peered back into the flames. Staying several feet away
from the kooky old timer, Michael peered into the flames.
Instantly, shapes began to form in the fire. Fascinated, Michael
leaned in closer to get a better look.

First, a baby crying in its mother's arms,
and then the shapes took the form of several people having an
argument. As one scene dissolved, another one took its place. The
fortress in the flames, first whole, then collapsing. Then the
Citadel and the battle with Sekhmet, changing into the arrival of
the other vampires and the settling of the occupants. Then he saw
Cass creating the time portal and going back with Liz to save Dan
and Jenna. The flames went black for a few seconds.

Michael gasped as the color of the flames
returned, showing him a vast army. Michael knew that it was the
renegade army; he could see them prepared to battle those at the
Citadel. They were outside the castle, fully armed, swords raised
above their heads in triumphant rage. Quickly, the shapes changed
again. The baby and mother reformed in the flames. She held the
child close. Her body trembled as tears of blood dripped down her
face.

While he watched, the baby grew into a child,
and then on into a woman. The child had to be Jenna. The beautiful
woman wore a crown of gold upon her head. Behind her, another army
appeared. Michael, afraid to speak for fear he would miss
something, stood quietly watching, and waited as the shapes shifted
again. The flames flickered and twisted before shooting up into the
air revealing another scene. Bodies filled an open pit. So many,
that several hung over the sides. Human bodies. The fire crackled
and leapt into the air. When it settled down, the images had
disappeared. Michael stared into an ordinary fire.

Michael‘s eyes left the fire and rested on
the man. “Who are you?”

The man chuckled and said, “My name is
Brogan, son, and what you saw is your destiny ifin your Council
don‘t fix what’s been done.”

Michael was confused, obviously the man
didn’t know as much as he let on, because Michael was far from
young. He looked the man in the eye and proceeded to mesmerize him
to get the information he wanted.

Brogan laughed again, and spat into the fire.
Turning to walk over to the stump he had been writing on the two
days previous, he said, “That don’t work on me, boy. I’m older than
the hills and seen that a few times. Now get over here and cop a
squat. We’ll do some chit chat, and see what we can come to.”

Michael walked to where Brogan sat and waited
for him to continue.