“Yes…but I haven’t given them orders, yet.”
Nodding, Zohar replied, “I’ve given the other Council members a two week break starting in three days. Nothing is to be done until everyone has left.”
“Just let me know when the coast is clear and I’ll take care of it,” Thayer said.
“You’ll be the first to know,” Zohar smirked. “Go…and we’ll talk later. And tell the guard to send in the next one on his list.”
Standing, Thayer grinned. “Today’s going to be a profitable one, if the number of magic users outside is any indication.”
“Yeah…but don’t forget I have to sit through hours of incessant whining and begging first.”
“I love it when you sing the blues, old friend,” replied Thayer, chuckling. “See you later.”
Leaning back in his chair, Zohar waited for the first magic user to be shown into his office. His friend was right, it was going to be a very good day.
~/~/~/~/~
When the last appointment of the day arrived, nearly all of Mystia’s patience had evaporated after being forced to sit through the countless meetings between Zohar and the magic users she’d seen lining the hallway. Disgust was her constant companion as she listened to the pleading of each magic user for whatever they wanted, followed by a presentation of an expensive gift to Zohar. Then and only then would a decision be made regarding their requests.
Waiting for the meeting to end, Mystia spent the time calculating the value of all the gifts—the amount was staggering. And while Zohar’s greed was outrageous, his willingness to ignore the laws and the rights of low-level magic users was worse than she ever could have imagined. She’d seen enough and it was time to go. Moving over to the door, she paused before slipping out along with the last magic user.
Retracing her steps, Mystia hurried down the stairs leading to the unguarded door, ignoring the questions that kept popping up in her mind. Right now, her focus had to be on whether her messages to Jimmy and Jackson got through and making sure they were safe before finding Oracle to share what she’d learned.
~/~/~/~/~
Looking up, Brady watched as Logan substituted a new bag of his blood for the empty one before returning his focus to Lucius. Nothing had changed so far; his mate was still unconscious but his belief in Lucius’ recovery was still strong as ever. Leaning down, he pressed a soft kiss on his mate’s pale, full, lips as his thumbs continued to caress the back of Lucius’ hands. “Take your time,leelan,” he whispered, “I’ll be here when you finally wake.”
Smiling at Brady, Kieran asked, “What doesleelanmean?”
“Dearest one,” Brady murmured, glancing at the Shaman. “It’s found in the vampire’s ancient language. That’s what Lucius is to me…and what he’ll always be to me…my dearest one.”
“I didn’t know vampires had their own language,” Logan said.
“They don’t anymore,” Brady replied.
“Why not?” asked Logan.
“The same reason a lot of languages disappear…as the population of vampires grew, so did the number of covens. The human population surrounding the covens wasn’t big enough to support all of them, so a number of covens were forced to leave and find new locations where different languages were spoken. As years passed, vampires learned those and eventually abandoned their own language. Now it can only be found in ancient manuscripts and is spoken by a few scholars who seek to preserve vampire heritage.”
“Do you know the language?” asked Kieran.
“I’m able to read and speak it…not very well but passable for my needs,” Brady said.
“What needs? Did you know your Fated Mate was going to be a vampire?” asked Logan.
Shaking his head, Brady murmured, “Many of the laws governing vampires of today are based on the ones found in the ancient manuscripts, so in order to understand the nuances of the old laws, I learned it. It was the only way I could be sure of what the intent of the old laws were.”
Moving his hands to Lucius’s arm, Kieran said softly, “Lucius’ pain is less intense now. I still can’t remove all of it but it is not being replaced as fast as it was before he began receiving your blood.”
“I’ve never heard of a Shaman that could do what you’re doing,” Brady murmured.
“That’s because before my mate came along, there wasn’t one,” Logan replied, his pride of Kieran clearly evident in his voice.
Hovering on the edge of consciousness, Lucius fought against it, wanting to stay in his dream world longer. It was a place without pain, a place where he wasn’t a vampire, a place where the scent of apples reminded him of warm summer days he spent with his brothers and sisters climbing fruit trees on his family’s farm. For the first time since Valerian had stolen his life, Lucius was happy and that, alone, was worth never having to wake up. Ignoring the buzzing of voices around him, he concentrated on hanging onto the place where nothing bad would ever happen to him again.
