The Dark Gifts Birthright (36 page)

Liz jolted awake. It took a moment to get her
bearings, the dream had seemed so real, it was hard to believe she
was still lying in bed with Michael. He snored softly. She knew the
dream had to mean something. Still troubled, she unconsciously
reached out and brushed his hair away from his handsome face, a
smile traced her lips as she watched him. He made one super sexy
biker.

Several weeks had passed, and although the
others had returned shortly after she had asserted her power over
the Council, she remained the Council leader in Cass' absence.
Gregorio and the others decided that with the new projects, and the
amount of time each would need to be away, it was best to leave Liz
in charge. Even Michael had agreed with the decision. Although she
was certain that his decision had much more to do with keeping her
out of harm’s way, than his trust in her ability to lead them. She
spent many long hours in counsel with Brogan before he left on a
secret mission known only to her and Gregorio.

It was three in the afternoon, and Michael
would still sleep at least another two hours before rising. The
dream troubled Liz. There was something she was meant to see in the
dream, and somehow had missed it. Restless and out of sorts, she
decided to get dressed and go for a walk about the castle. Jenna
and Angie would be in Jenna’s room (probably playing), so she could
go visit with them until the uneasiness wore off.

Liz knocked once on Jenna’s door and opened
it. As suspected, Angie and the child were in the middle of a very
serious game of alphabet zoo. From the looks of the tally marks on
the score sheet, Angie was getting stomped. Jenna smiled at Liz and
raised her index finger. Liz laughed and settled on the floor
beside the small table.

“Okay, Jenna, we are on W,” Angie said.

“Wolverine! Now you have X!”

“I always get stuck with X. That’s why you
keep winning!”

Jenna leaned forward, narrowing her eyes.
“It’s your turn, do you have it or not?”

“X-ray fish.”

“You used that last time. You can’t use it
again, that’s cheating!”

Angie threw her hands in the air, scowled at
Liz, and muttered something about five year olds being too smart
for their own good.

Jenna clapped her hands. “I win again. Go
me!”

“Hey kid, nobody likes a bragger.” Angie
tussled Jenna’s hair. She grinned and turned to Liz, “Can you
believe what I have to put up with around here?”

Liz shrugged and winked at Jenna. “Find one
you can win, or get a dim-witted partner.”

***

Angie looked better every day. The demon
cleansing process had nearly wiped her mind. In the beginning, they
were not sure she would make a full recovery. As the days passed,
she recovered her glittering personality. Except for an occasional
look of pain that momentarily crossed her face, Angie seemed quite
normal.

Jenna was a completely different story, she
had not snapped back to her natural personality. She had temper
tantrums on a regular basis and was prone to fits of pouting. Liz’s
mother assured her the behavior Jenna exhibited was perfectly
normal for a child her age. Liz was not so certain, there were
times when Jenna would get a faraway look and become very quiet.
She wasn’t hearing voices anymore, but she still seemed to know
things she shouldn’t know.

After they returned to the castle with the
girl, the Council made one last effort to find Cass. Neither she
nor Dan could be found anywhere. They visited the cabin several
times, but there didn’t seem to be anyone living there. There were
no clues to their whereabouts or any indications they had ever been
to the cabin. That alone made Liz a nervous wreck. She knew Cass
would never leave her daughter, and even though Dan was having
trouble adjusting to the change, he wouldn’t have either.

Things were not going well, the natives were
restless. The Council was still working hard, but only those who
were directly involved felt any sense of fulfillment or purpose. If
something did not happen soon, both the vampires and witches would
probably start heading back to their own homes and lives, depleting
the army to an ineffectual number.

Liz quietly rocked back and forth in the old
walnut rocking chair, pondering all these things. Angie went back
to helping Jenna with her schoolwork. It was just too much, she was
too young to be leading a group this size, not to mention age, not
to mention vampires! Maybe the dream had meant that they should
leave the castle and search for the others. Maybe they weren’t
supposed to be hiding away in the Citadel waiting for the other
shoe to drop. She was tired of doing nothing too. Everyone had
things to do outside the Citadel, except her.

Gregorio, Athena, and Michael, were gone
frequently, sometimes for days at a time, while she sat there
handling the dreary day-to-day tasks, keeping everyone in check. It
wasn’t a bad idea to get out in the world and see what was going
on, was it? She was up for killing a few bad guys and making some
wrongs right. She was up for just about anything that didn’t
involve hearing Gen’s accounting of the daily tasks and who was
bickering with whom about whatever. Of course getting Michael and
the others to agree with her would be rather difficult, but they
had put her in charge of the Council. She was the leader, wasn’t
she? So as the leader, she ought to be able to do what she wanted
or at least attempt it. “Oh for Pete’s sake.” she said.

“What?” asked Angie.

“Sorry, it’s nothing, I’m just thinking out
loud I guess.”

“Spill it, Liz. I can see it’s not nothing.
That nothing has been bothering you for days, and don’t tell me
it’s just Council business either. I know it’s not just that.”

“I’m just tired of this. We are all tired of
this. Doing nothing, hiding here, and letting the whole world pass
us by. And all the while, Monroe and the others are out there
hurting people and doing whatever they want. I’m sick of it. Don’t
you ever wish you could go back to your old life at the fortress,
Angie?”

“Are you serious? I’m mean really! Go back to
that old musty place with nothing to do but clean silver and dust,
and no one for company except old people and ghosts? Get a grip. Do
you know that I can go out in the sun for almost two hours now if
it’s not in the heat of the day? Do you have any idea how
phenomenal that is? You’re just feeling sorry for yourself. I know
all about that, I used to do it all the time.” Angie made a ticking
noise with her mouth and shook her head as she finished.

She was right, she was just feeling sorry for
herself. Liz smiled and shook her head thinking
, I seriously
suck at this whole leader/queen thing.

“What now?”

“You’re right. Thanks for being honest with
me.” Liz patted her on the shoulder headed for the door.

“Of course, I’m right.” Angie called after
her.
I’m right more than anyone ever gives me credit for
,
she thought as the door closed.

Out in the corridor, the evening sun seeped
in through the open windows, casting a pinkish purple glow along
the stone tiles of the floors and walls.

The scents of the coming night were crisp and
clean with the faint fragrance of green grass and flowers. Mother
earth was waking from her winter nap and preparing to burst forth
with life. She went over to the window to feel the last rays of the
day on her skin and the rustle of the breeze in her hair. Bursts of
purple and pink haloed in orange painted the western horizon. Many
there that had grown immune enough to watch the sunset now. Some
rose early and went to bed late, just to catch the sun rising and
setting. Michael was one of them; she felt a mental nudge as he
awoke, and smiled as reached out to her empty side of the bed.
“Where are you?”

“
I’m coming my love, I was just spending
some time with the girls”

Michael stood at the window watching the last
rays of light fall from the sky. When she entered their room, he
smiled, and motioned for her to join him at the window. “I can’t
get over how beautiful it all is. To think I have missed centuries
of this magnificence astounds me.” He took her in his arms and
kissed her.

“You’re so in love with the sun that I pale
in comparison now, I’d guess.” Liz laughed.

Michael cocked an eyebrow and set his mouth
in a wry grin. “Oh yes. I’m afraid that next to the sun you are
very pale. Even the moon and the stars still have more beauty than
you, little one. But on the upside…I don’t sleep with them do
I?”

She pretended to be angry, before the serious
look on her face burst into a smile; then disentangling herself
from his arms, she moved to the wardrobe and began finding him
something to wear.

“I am perfectly capable of doing that myself
you know.” he told her.

“Yes, you are, but since I am playing wifey
now, it is my duty to see that my man is dressed appropriately for
Council meetings.”

“Liz, there’s no meeting tonight. What are
you talking about?”

“Um…yes there is, I called one. Well I am
going to call one as soon as we are dressed.”

“What’s up?” he asked as he pulled her onto
the bed.

She pushed at him, trying to break free.
“Nothing’s up. Well nothing I want to talk about now…and I can’t
get you dressed if you insist on taking off my clothes!”

“Me thinks thou doest protest too much, my
queen.” Michael laughed, still attempting to disrobe her.

“Geeze, I hate it when you call me that!”

Michael released her. He loved to look at
her, as far as he was concerned, the sun did pale in comparison. He
noticed the stress in her shoulders and the funny way she had of
tilting her head to the side when she was deep in thought. He knew
she was hiding something. But, he knew if she didn’t want to talk
about it, no amount of coaxing would change her mind. He smiled to
himself as he thought about her stubborn streak. They made a good
match. Neither one would allow the other to push too hard,
everything was fifty-fifty all the way.

Liz turned around just in time to see him
smiling. “What’s so funny?”

“You’re funny.” He said.

“I am not.”

“Oh yes, darling you’re hysterical. You don’t
even realize how funny you are. Why you could be a stand-up
comedian and make millions.”

Liz chuckled and a pair of dress pants
whizzed over his head. “Mister Sarcasm, you can kiss my ass.”

“Oh I’ll do more than that.” Michael grabbed
her again, and pulled her back on the bed. Liz didn’t fidget or try
to get away. She leaned into his kiss and slid her arms around him.
His hands moved down her back sending chills throughout her. A low
moan escaped her lips as his fangs sunk into her neck. For just a
moment, the memory of the needed meeting flashed in her mind. Then
her body took over, and the sweet taste of him sent her soaring
into the heavens.

***

The Council had arrived, except for Tiberius,
who was doing his best to infiltrate a renegade camp. They mingled,
making small talk until Liz took her seat. The room quieted in
anticipation.

Because Liz had called the meeting, it was
her place to begin; she glanced at Michael, took a deep breath, and
spoke. “I know that we had agreed that tonight would be a night for
rest and recuperation, and I am very sorry to take you away from
that, but I feel like this is important.”

Pausing to glance at Minerva, she continued,
“I’ve had a dream.”

Soft murmurs fluttered around the room.

“In this dream, Michael and I were in a bar.
We took out a clan of newly-made renegades.” She bit her lip and
paused again.

Gregorio cleared his throat with impatience,
wanting her to continue.

Liz sighed and went on with her tale. “We
were there solely to take them out. After we killed them, the scene
shifted to something completely different.” She rubbed the palms of
her hands down her denim covered hips. The heel of her foot bounced
against the floor.

Seeing her discomfort, Minerva said, “It’s
all right, Liz, go on.”

Liz took a deep breath and blew it out
slowly. “I hate this, so please understand that I—well…the dream
shifted, and I was sitting on a throne with a crown on my head.
Monroe was at my feet with two armed guards. On my order, they
beheaded him.” Head down and eyes closed, she waited for a
response.

Liz peaked out of the corner of her eye to
gage Michael’s reaction to what she had told them. He was grinning
ear to ear and staring right at her; it was definitely not the
response she expected from him.

“What do you believe the dream meant
Elizabeth?” Gregorio asked.

“Well, a couple different things, I think. I
believe that it is partly an answer to a problem that has become
pretty high on our list of issues. I think we’ve sat too long with
nothing to do. So this is what I am proposing, we could have small
groups go hunting. Small numbers wouldn’t be noticed, and we could
take out the renegades a few at a time.”

“Yes, we have enough able fighters here to
send fifty groups of say three, maybe five fighters.” Rene chimed
in.

Liz nodded and gave him a grateful smile.
“The thing is…they are not hiding. They are living in plain sight.
That’s why we can’t find the whole group, it’s not whole
anymore.”

“Brilliant.” Gregorio’s fist hit the table. A
triumphant grin spread over his face. “Killing and feeding is what
they do best. It is entirely possible that other than Monroe’s
Council and a few followers, they have broken into smaller
clans.”

“I say we take them out. I say we stop
sitting here waiting and do something about what is going on out
there.” Liz watched the faces of those around the Council table
trying to judge how each would react to her statement. Michael was
still grinning. Surprisingly, nothing she’d said made him mad. They
were all smiling; every one of them had yearned to do something
that had some kind of purpose.