Chapter 23

Kiru shook his head as he stood there listening to all the gossip. He just couldn’t understand why some human mages would throw in with demons. It was stupid. All races looked at Humans with disdain, so why join hands with demons? Why not help your fellow man instead? He just couldn’t wrap his head around their reasoning.

After a few minutes Kiru decided he’d heard enough. He went over to a booth with several people on phones. “Master Kiru, requesting permission to see the Grandmaster.”

One of the workers immediately hung up their phone. “Grandmaster has been expecting you, he said to go right up.” The worker then stood up and punched in a code on the door behind the booth. The door opened revealing an elevator, Kiru walked through.

Mage tower had almost two-hundred floors. The top twenty floors were reserved for the Masters, and the penthouse floor was reserved for the Grandmaster. There was only one Grandmaster, chosen based on the one with the most power.

Grandmaster Oakley was old, almost five-hundred years old, yet he was undoubtedly the strongest mage alive. There were many a mage who tried to take the role of Grandmaster away from Oakley, especially when Oakley started showing signs of dementia, but the old man was still far too powerful.

The elevator took Kiru all the way up to the penthouse floor. As he walked out of the elevator, Kiru noticed the Grandmaster was looking out the window with a grim expression on his face. Kiru Kneeled a few feet away: “Master Kiru, reporting to Grandmaster.”

Oakley turned towards Kiru and sighed. “Stand up Kiru, speak openly. No rank bull-crap.”

“Yes.” Kiru said as he stood up. “I’m not sure if you’ve received my report?”

“About the hybrid girl, yes?” Oakley then sighed, “We don’t have the resources to take on the vampires Kiru. Just leave them be.”

“Of course Grandmaster. It’s just, there’s another matter I left out of the report, I thought it best to speak about it in person.”

Oakley sighed again then began walking over to a chair. “Go ahead then.”

Kiru’s palm grew sweaty as he thought about what he was going to say next. “It’s about Nate Walker. He shows talent as an Arcane mage and I wish to take him under my wing.”

Oakley rolled his eyes. “If that was all there was, you would’ve added that to the report instead of requesting a meeting. You want to tell me why you’re really here?”

“I think he might be a mutated mage.” Kiru said. The room went silent. Kiru gulped nervously. He knew he had to phrase this next part carefully, otherwise he’d be shot down.

Oakley grit his teeth after a minute of silence. “Kiru, you might be my son-in-law but if you keep dragging your feet I swear I will throw you from the window!”

“Alright, alright. I think he might be half-demon.” Oakley scrunched his face in anger but Kiru continued, cutting off any chance Oakley had to explode. “He can use telekinesis without casting a spell, yet he can also use arcane magic. I want to take him under my wing and guide him, I think he can be a great asset to the mage tower, maybe even the greatest asset. Especially against Talos.”

Oakley’s nose flared at the mention of that organization. “I don’t need to tell you, of all people, why that is a bad idea. Nothing good comes from consorting with demons, haven’t you learned that from your wife?!”

Kiru noticed the wave of shame that passed over Oakley’s face as he mentioned his daughter. Kiru had been married to Oakley’s daughter for two years before she’d turned to dark magic, and it wasn’t long after she became part of Talos.

“Nate is different. His whole family was slaughtered by demons; he has all the motivation to hate demons. I truly think if we nurture him he could become our greatest weapon.”

“For how long? He might be ‘just human’ now but what about when his demonic blood kicks in? The seal would kick him out of the human realm and into the NetherRealm.”

“He’s already eighteen, if his demonic blood was going to kick in it would’ve already happened.” Kiru responded.

Oakley sighed again, with his left hand he began rubbing his forehead. “You do what you will Kiru, just know if this thing blows up, it will be on you.”

“Understood, sir!”

Oakley waved him away. Kiru turned around and made his way back to the elevator. “Kiru, one more thing.”

Kiru turned around and looked at Grandmaster Oakley. “In your report you mentioned an Anima?”

“Yes, Aiden. He’s a young werewolf that managed to channel Spirit of the Wolf.” Kiru replied.

Oakley nodded his head. “Keep that boy safe.”

“Sir?” Kiru questioned, confused at the Grandmaster’s request.

“The Inquisitors charged with guarding the Seal are interested in him.” Oakley said. He rolled his eyes when he saw the doubtful look on Kiru’s face. “Relax, the Inquisitors will not act without my go-ahead, but if worse comes to worst we’ll need to keep our minds open.”

“Of course sir.” Kiru replied. Oakley waved him away again. Kiru turned around and headed towards the elevator.

Why the Inquisitors? Nothing good comes from those overzealous assholes. What could they possibly want from Aiden? Kiru had a million questions going on in his mind as he entered the elevator.

…

“Please! Anza give me another chance; I swear I will cut off all ties with that demon bitch!” Charlie yelled from inside the coffin.

Amelia stared at the coffin as it was being lowered into the hole ten feet deep by Luke and another vampire. She couldn’t help but feel pity for Charlie, being sentenced to ten years’ underground was a harsh punishment, but ever since Anza came back from her hearing at the Founding she’s been ruthless.

“Luke! Luke please don’t let her do this! Give me one more chance, please!” Charlie cried.

Amelia briefly glanced at Luke. She saw the tears welling up in his eyes as he lowered Charlie into the ground. Luke was the one that blooded Charlie, the bond between a vampire and the one he turns is akin to a parent and their child. It was like Luke was lowering his own son into the grave.

The coffin finally reached the bottom. As Charlie began to beg from down below Anza ordered the grave to be filled. As soon as that was finished and Charlies cries was muted, Anza turned to Amelia. “We need wards.”

Amelia walked over to the fresh grave and began drawing runes into the dirt while infusing magic into the rune. Soon she had the rune completed. “This ward should keep any demons away.”

“Good.” Anza said before turning to the other vampires. “Clear the room! Amelia, Luke, stay a minute.”

Amelia and Luke paused where they were as everyone else left the room. As the last person exited, closing the door behind them, Anza began speaking.

“I will be addressing the media and step down officially. Amelia will take my place, in name only. Luke, pay off whoever needs paying off and get rid of any leaks in security. We need to clean house.”

“Understood.” Luke said in a hoarse voice.

Anza glanced at him briefly. “Is this going to be a problem? Do you need time off?”

“No Madam, my life’s mission is to serve you.”

“Good. You’ve shown great courage and loyalty. I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you, Madam.” Luke bowed.

“Now it’s time you show your loyalty.” Anza said turning to Amelia.

Amelia’s heart palpitated. A part of her knew where this was going.

“I want you to take care of Nate once and for all. The Black Watch Surveillance building has Nate’s remote, get it, and end his life. Is that clear?”

“Y-yes, Anza.” Amelia stuttered.

…

“I don’t love him. I don’t love him.” Amelia was pacing back and forth in a small office with a black remote sitting on top of a desk.

“I didn’t even know him for that long… it was just a fling. Meaningless sex. He doesn’t even care about me anyways.” She paused before the black remote staring at it with dread.

We’ve had similar experiences, that’s all. You don’t love him. The clan on the other hand, that’s your life. Mrs. Greywall rescued you and blooded you to be immortal! All she asked for return is to be a loyal friend to Anza. That is what I must do. Forget about some eighteen-year-old kid, you’re better than this!

With a deep exhale Amelia steeled herself. She went over to the remote and picked it up. Her heart was beating furiously but without giving herself time to think too much she pressed the button. A red light flashed.

“What the hell?” Amelia pressed the button again but the result was the same, the red button had flashed again.

Did Anza already blow Nate up? Was this just a test to see if I would actually do it? A part of her was relieved she didn’t have to kill Nate, but another part of her was already mourning him. The red light indicated Nate’s collar blew up. Nobody could survive an explosion that close to the head, not even a werewolf.

Amelia walked out of the room filled with conflicting emotions. As she walked through the Black Watch Surveillance building with Nate’s remote in hand she was stopped by some young man in glasses.

“Mam, about that remote…”

Amelia turned to face him, “What is it?!” She snapped, her mind elsewhere.

“Well it was just that there was an abnormality that I noticed. I was on monitor duty that day and I saw the remote blink green before blinking red.” The man said nervously.

“Green? … are you saying someone unlocked his collar before it blew up?”

“Yes mam. I thought it was just my eyes playing tricks on me but I printed out a record of that day and its confirmed my suspicion. I think Prisoner #147526 was released from their collar before the collar blew up.” The young man said excitedly.

Amelia’s heart soared. “Does anyone else know this?”

“No mam, I thought it was best to bring it so a superior like yourself.” He responded.

Amelia smiled. The employees that worked for Black Watch had their suspicions about vampires. They referred to them as ‘Superiors’. They also knew the exceptional employees who showed the utmost loyalty were given the gift of vampirism. Who wouldn’t want immortal life?

“You’ve done well. Is there any other trace of this?” Amelia asked.

“The records get automatically deleted every week but I did keep this.” The man held up a USB drive.

Amelia smiled at him seductively. “Come with me.” She said as she began walking back to the room she just exited.

The man followed behind her, barely masking the glee that was on his face.

“Close the door.” She said as they walked through the room.

“You will not regret this; I promise I’ll be loyal for as long as I live.” The man said as he closed the door. When he turned around he saw Amelia reach out to his head. The man turned his neck to face her in anticipation. He’d imagined this a hundred times in his head, the vampire would bite his neck and he would live forever.

Suddenly his whole head was jerked to the right. The man heard, and felt, his neck break as his eyes fell upon the door that should’ve been at his back. Why?! He wanted to scream, but that was the last thought he had before blackness overcame him.

Amelia looked down at the corpse with an indifferent expression. She went through the man’s pocket and took out the USB drive. With a short spell, she burned the record, and the USB drive to ashes. A tear rolled down her cheek as her heart soared to new heights. “He’s really alive.” She laughed to herself.