Chapter Four

Interrogation

Alice made sure the door was closed behind her sister before rolling her eyes discreetly. “Mr Howard, have a seat, please. I apologise about our visitor. She was stopping by to make sure I had everything I needed.” She gestured to the coffee on the table and removed her pencil from behind her ear, smiling as usual. “Help yourself, if you’d like. Then we can begin with the easy questions.”

Even though he was in a considerable amount of pain as he walked toward the available chair, and somehow still held himself with masculine grace. “You mean she came to see who her mother’s Sire is? I’ll bet she’s disappointed.” He remarked, confident perhaps for someone in his position. Then, turning his attention to the pot of coffee on the table, he took a seat as instructed and let his cuffed wrists hang between his knees. “Coffee? What a commodity. I gather that asking for the ‘drink’ I’d like the most would be out of the question?” A most charming smirk tugged at the left side of his lips; however, his eyes, in their bleakness, turned it into an almost wicked, eerie grin.

“Honestly, yes, she was probably here to see if you were attractive,” Alice smirked surprisingly impishly, considering her straight-laced appearance. How she looked up at Warren through her lashes when she said, “or not.” took him quite by surprise. “Cassandra can be like that sometimes.”

Hearing of Cassandra’s fickle taste, Warren merely grinned down toward the floor between his bare feet. “As I said... she must be disappointed.”

Alice thought it better that she didn’t reply on that point. To reveal how appealing she found him seemed highly indecent considering who he was. Clearing her throat and regaining her previous professional persona, Alice continued innocently, “Ehem. If you’d like a ‘drink’, I’m sure that I can arrange it. You’re lucky you were assigned to me and not Caledon. He’s awful. I’m… the nice one.” She wasn’t attempting to flatter herself; it was true. Caledon Adle, who was also doing some questioning, was a wicked man, though he’d been prized by Captain Vivek Mehra of Enoch’s Royal Guard for some time. Unlike him, Alice liked to make sure the people she worked with were comfortable. That always ensured they would have no problem opening up to her. “I’ll see if we can get you some blood,” she said, pointing to his fangs. “Although I don’t know ‘good’ or ‘fresh’ it’ll be or who it’s from, it should tide you over.”

“You know one or two things about blood then?” He nodded, intrigued.

Though her mother had tried to keep her vampiricy under control, it seemed she had still tried to educate her daughters on the matters of blood. Alice merely nodded in reply.

“Do you happen to know who the top supplier is these days? Fresh blood is so scarce these days, you know?” Testing the waters, Warren waited on her answer. He played off his question innocently enough. Obviously, he already knew the only correct answer - being the owner of REDford, he was pretty much the only blood company left due to its still vast funding. “If you’re as unsure about its quality as you say you are, maybe it isn’t a good idea to dish it out… or maybe you’re trying to poison me? It’d be a good cover.” Brushing the subject off, he lifted his head in her direction and then to her notebook. “What do you have me down for then?”

The nephilim shook her head and answered with a sweet, disarming smile. “Oh no, Mr Howard, we try our very best not to kill people here. Not unless you’ve done something irrevocably awful. Everyone can be useful in some way. Why waste potential?”

“I doubt I’ll be of any use to you, here or elsewhere.”

She glanced at him as if to say, ‘We’ll see about that,’ and opened her notebook. She referenced the list of notes that she’d made on him previously and went on to answer his other question, “From what I’ve been informed, you are, or were, one of the biggest suppliers of blood in the entire world. The head of a hugely successful business, apparently. One has to wonder, though, with the lack of humans around these days, you must be getting your supply elsewhere? Which is why... well, that’s one of the main reasons you’re here, I believe.” Indeed, there was more than one.

“Yes, I am the only supplier of human blood left anywhere this side of China. They do worse things there than I have ever done. Farms still exist East of here, would you believe? Still, drinking from a willing host isn’t a crime, last time I checked.” Warren’s tone was very formal and businesslike; his aura was flooded with pride, or was that just his façade? Alice couldn’t tell yet. He paused a moment as though he was about to take a breath when awkwardly, he stopped himself and continued. “And I know all about blood crimes and the law’s against them.”

“Yes, I had heard that you’re a student of law,” Alice noted if only to let him know that she knew he would be challenging to question if he felt like it. “I assure you the fewer evasive tactics you use, the easier this process will be, Mr Howard.”

Warren was made uncomfortable by her answer, which was spoken like someone who belonged on the moral high ground. He shifted in his seat in a feeble attempt to physically alter his guilty emotion. His limp became evident when he chose not to bear any of his weight on his ‘bad’ leg. Warren’s façade flickered only for a moment, and before Alice might’ve realised his moment of discomfort, he sat upright against the back of his chair once more.

Tucking a strand of wavy brown hair behind her ear, she turned to a clean sheet in her notebook. Her eyes were only away from him for a moment, but when she looked back at him, she did indeed notice the tail end of his pained reaction, despite him trying to play it off. Although she attempted to keep her composure and appear professional, Alice actually winced due to the pain Warren felt. She had been scanning and checking the air for any changes in nearby emotions when she’d felt a great pain shoot up her thigh. Though she couldn’t feel exactly what he did, she still rubbed her knee under the table, trying to be discrete. “Before we start with the questions, is there anything you need? Medications and the like?”

“I don’t take ‘medication’ anymore.” He said, seeming to mean something other than what he was saying. Still, her question had been so considerate, his tone altered. It softened as he leaned onto the table and closer to Alessandra as if he were about to reveal an embarrassing secret. His black eyes locked with her own eyes as he made a sincerer request. “If you can’t feed me right now, I would very much appreciate some strong painkillers.”

“Alright, I’ll see what we can do for you…” Alice answered obediently, finding her back stiffening against her chair to stop herself from drawing closer to him. Her heart pounded for a moment under the full attention of his eyes. Whether he’d meant to entice her or not, his vamperic allure was certainly in working order despite his leg giving him severe pain. Still, Alice couldn’t ignore how his foot twitched under the table. Admittedly she found it hard to say no to him when he seemed desperate and… charming.

Stop it! She thought to herself, reigning herself in. Vampire… He’s a vampire.. He’s just a vampire. She chanted internally and gathered her senses. His charm was probably a mechanism of his vampirism. Or at least that’s what she wanted to believe.

Alice glanced at the time of the face of her dainty gold wristwatch before suggesting, “Let us begin with the preliminary questions. I’ll try and get through them quickly...” Indeed she found the preliminary questions boring; they didn’t challenge her. “So, do you have any possessions with you? I know they might have let you take a few things from Blue Ash with you.”

“I only had time to bring my briefcase.”

“Is there anything in the briefcase that you shouldn’t have? Drugs? Weapons? Anything that could be considered illegal? I have to ask everyone, but Cassandra will also be by to check your belongings if we feel it’s needed.”

“By all means, check the contents of my briefcase if you’d like. It’s just a lot of letters, notes, suchlike - a couple of journals and my cell phone, though I think it’s dead. Are fountain pens and a letter opener classed as deadly weapons?”

There was a long moment of silence in which he set his clasped, cuffed hands onto the table. The silver watch wrapped about his right wrist and was disturbed by the presence of the cuffs. Though it wasn’t necessarily important, Alice wasn’t to know that in her initial assessment of Warren, but she was observant enough to notice that the fourth finger on his left hand bore a ring; she wondered whether it was a wedding band. She certainly hadn’t expected him to be married.

“Since we’ve arrested you, is there anyone close to you that you’d like to contact? A relative, partner, spouse, or friend even?” Alice asked, trying to seem casual by reaching for the pot of coffee. She poured some into a mug for herself, added two sugars, took a sip and set it aside.

“Most of the people who have ever been close to me are dead,” Warren answered drily. “And the only one left alive, I’d rather she didn’t know that I’m here. I’m sure you’d prefer it that way, too.”

“What I would like is by the by, but the Court has elected to keep the knowledge of you being here from my mother, and they specifically asked that I tell you that, for some reason. I don’t know why it matters, but Cambria Morningstar was very clear that I make a point of it.” She paused and sipped her coffee.

“Cambria might think she can stop me from telling Karou that I’m here, but she can’t.” Warren lifted his hands from the table, and to better explain himself; he tapped a finger to his temple. “But as I said, I’d rather she didn’t know. I do wish you wouldn’t keep bringing her up.” Defeated, he withdrew from the table into his chair.

“You might have to remain a little longer. Depending on what I discover today and supposing that I decide you don’t pose any major threat. We may also arrange to have you relocated to a nicer room on the other side of the Palace. Gods know it’s awful down in this dingy place.”

“Don’t be too quick to assume that I don’t cause a threat.” Warren’s fingers stretched towards her notebook and nonchalantly toyed with the air surrounding the thin white pages. The disturbance caused them to turn in a quick flutter. Alice smirked at the little trick of the notebook pages fluttering. She hadn’t expected it. She hadn’t even been sure if vampires could possess such abilities.

“Areo-kinesis, I assume?”

“Yes.”

“Quite the handy tool, is it?”

“When trained, it can be quite deadly.”

“And you’re trained, are you?” Alice remained passive for now, but her tone suggested she was testing Warren to see how much a threat he was; and if he’d be willing to reveal his power if pushed.

“I was in the Black Winter, once upon a time.”

“You must be proud of such a prestigious achievement. They were once feared all over the world.”

“Kostya Davikov himself conscripted me. I’m not proud of the things I have done under their orders, and I’d rather not talk about it.”

“If it’s relevant to Enoch’s investigation of you, we may well have to talk about it.”

“As far as I am aware, none of the Black Winter’s missions, past or present, have ever had anything to do with Enoch.”

“I’m merely trying to assess whether you’re a threat. As you said, it would be dangerous for me to blindly assume that you aren’t.”

“If I’d wanted to hurt you, I would have already.” Warren meant to prove a point, so at his own expense, he tensed his thigh, causing himself body quaking amount of pain. His jaw tightened in response, but he stared ahead at Alice, across the interrogation table, to gauge her reaction. Remembering the little stunt she had pulled on him to gain his name back at the Castle, he assumed she had some sort of cognitive gift and seeing as she had already picked up on his agony, he figured he didn’t have to use his own gift to hurt her; he could use hers against her. Nodding in her direction, he inquired about her hand disappearing under the table; she’d gone to grasp her thigh; it felt like it was being ripped open, and she gasped. “Something... bothering you?”

“No. Not personally,” Alice panted to recover. “… but I feel I should ask what’s causing you so much pain? Do you perhaps require a physician?” She tipped her head to the side, just like her mother.

The likeness of her mannerism caused Warren’s jaw to stiffen. He swallowed deeply before he answered her direct question vaguely. “It’s an old injury. I don’t need medical attention save for the painkillers I’ve already requested.”

“Before we continue, I’ll get those for you then. Just to clarify, there isn’t anything else at all that you need?” Alice knew she would find his niggling pain distracting if she didn’t deal with it before she started asking the more pressing questions.

“No, there isn’t anything I need as such, but I’d prefer to leave Enoch as quickly as possible.”

“Well, we’ll see what the outcome of this interview is and see if we can’t get you on your way then, Mr Howard.” She smiled just as sweetly as she had previously.

Alice called the attention of the guard waiting outside the room and quickly requested he bring her suitable medication for Warren.

Once the man had disappeared, Alice refocused on Warren once more and sipped her coffee as she prepared to delve into the meatier portion of the interview. “He’ll be back shortly, but I suppose in the meantime, we can start with some of the prescribed questions the Court have given me to ask you.”

“As you wish.” Warren nodded amicably. He doubted he would say anything valuable to tell her.

“So, first things first… I need to ascertain what were you doing in Blue Ash?”

“I generally don’t go around looking like a homeless person. I was a prisoner, charged with ‘treason’ against my Coven and Government. My trial was arranged for yesterday. My execution would probably have been today.”

Alice’s eyes widened with surprise. She had no idea that was why he had been there.

What a way to spend one’s last night alive. Alone. She thought.

Empath or not, what he said and felt combined resonated with her. “Well, it seems we might have saved your life. However, we need to know the specifics of what was going on to make sure the charges don’t carry over into the Enochian Government’s policies, though it’s rather unlikely. Could you tell me a bit more about the subject?”

“Simply speaking, I had become surplus to requirement. Roman never needed a reason to do what he wanted before. Why should he have in his madness? He knew I wasn’t ‘well’ and that that would be the perfect time to capture me, as it were.”

“It said in your file that you were a previous member of their council. Were you aware of Roman’s intention to Sire an army?”

“Ha, is that what you think he was doing?” Warren chuckled and rose his brows in intrigue.

“So you are aware of the mortal pilgrimages to Blue Ash then?”

“Yes, of course. They’ve been happening since the Virus almost obliterated them. The impoverished had nowhere else to turn, and they do say ‘better the devil, you know’, don’t they?”

“And you’re suggesting that the reason mortals have flocked to Blue Ash wasn’t to lend their allegiance to Lord Black on the promise of being Sired?”

“No, I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying that that’s what he would’ve liked them to believe. It would appear that pretence had also fooled any onlookers.”

“What were his true intentions? I gather that you know.”

“I do.” Warren nodded, but then he paused. “The better question is, why should I tell you?”

“Depending on how useful the information you give is, I may be able to offer you terms more agreeable to you. Whether we let you leave the city, whether we ask you to live here and work, or whether you go to trial... It depends on what you’re willing to divulge.”

“If you offer me work, I’ll refuse it. I want to leave as soon as possible. Why would I want to stay here?” Warren’s brows sunk down over his eyes as though he couldn’t understand her thinking.

“The option to remain here as an employee so that we can surveil you is a better option than Cambria Morningstar’s alternative. She’s already vying for your head.”

“On what premise?!”

“Celestial blood prostitution and sexual abuse of a minor.” Alice attempted to remain emotionless, but it was her mother she was talking about.

Warren’s facial expression stiffened. So this is all about Karou.

“You have no evidence that I abused her, and she wasn’t a minor.”

“I think the state of my mother’s neck is all the evidence we need, which is rather unfortunate for you. Most days, it’s covered up with makeup, but when she stands in just the right light, you can see the little ridges where the scars begin.” The fact that her mother had such markings disturbed Alessandra. She had read it was normal vamperic behaviour for an older vampire to feed from a newly Sired fledgling, but that didn’t mean that she had to like the aftermath of it all. “And for reference, the age of consent in Enoch is thirty, you know, being that celestials age so much slower.”

Warren rolled his eyes, finding the fact that The Enochian Court thought her age was relevant ridiculous. Karou hadn’t even known she was a nephilim when their affair began. As far as she was concerned, she was a mortal girl from the united states who was over eighteen years old.

“I’m in no position to talk to you about your own mother. I’ve got nothing interesting to divulge. Some might say I’m an asshole, but I’ve heard all that before; I’m merely a very boring old man.”

“I can’t judge whether you’re an asshole or not. I don’t quite know you that well, and it’s all part of my job to remain unbiased. I’m just here taking notes which may or may not decide your fate.” She explained calmly. Setting her pencil down a moment, Alice put her hands together on the tabletop like a steeple of delicate fingers. “I’m just letting you know what the rest of the world thinks or rather what the Enochian Court does. My mother doesn’t talk about what happened during her days at the Compound. What we know, what Enoch knows, only comes from what other witnesses say.”

“That all sounds very tenuous.”

“Well, your going to trial is a last resort, isn’t it? You may very well tell me what I need to know about The Davikov and specifically Roman Black’s intention in collecting mortals, and then this mess can be put to bed.”

“What use is any information on Roman now? You’ve already executed him, haven’t you?”

“We’ve still lots of potentially newborn vampires to locate...”

“Assuming that there are any. I assure you that what I could tell you won’t be useful.” Warren huffed. “Essentially, no matter what I say to you, I’m still going to be charged with crimes against your mother and beheaded - especially if you deem the physical scars on your mother’s body to be adequate evidence. You’ve already admitted to knowing little of your mother’s past. You don’t know enough to string together the true turn of events.”

Alice could see that Warren was holding back though he ‘felt’ furious. She looked at him quizzically, one eyebrow raised; she wanted to know more but also knew just how unprofessional of her it would be if she kept prying into her mother’s past in this way. Though there were other ways to get the kind of information she craved, she also knew how dangerous those methods would be. If she compromised the information she received from him, it would mean a severe blow to her reputation.

Across the table, Warren was equally torn. He didn’t want to give away personal details about Karou to her daughter. For all he knew, she might have been keeping secrets for valid reasons. There were things about her; her daughters didn’t need to know, perhaps.

Still, he appreciated that keeping quiet put his neck on the line. If only he could convince Alessandra of his innocence without giving too much away. Nevertheless, he quickly concluded that Karou’s dignity as the Queen of Enoch mattered more than his life.

His turmoil was palpable to Alice, who has been reaching out her empathy towards him since he’d begun his defence. Feeling what he felt could help her better understand his point. She felt guilty for having cornered him the way she had, but it was her job as his interrogator.

Now, she was letting the silence stretch between them, waiting for Warren to crack. When put in this position, her victims did - most of the time…

Warren’s eyes met Alice’s across the table. He faced off against her amidst the silence and was resolved to remain so.

“You’ve nothing else to say, Mr Howard?”

“Nothing that will be of any use to you.”

“Then why not tell me anyway?”

“Fine. Roman wasn’t Siring an army. He was breeding them.”

“I beg your pardon?” Alice asked, blindsided. She hadn’t expected that answer at all.

“He’d decided that my lucrative business threatened his ego enough to demand control over it. When I refused, he offered to buy me out. When I declined his so-called “offer I couldn’t refuse”, he locked me up and started searching for my company’s laboratories. When he failed to find them, he threatened my life if I didn’t comply and hand over my company willingly.”

“So that’s the full reason I found you where I did?”

“Yes. When all of his attempts at obtaining REDford’s assets failed, he decided to establish a blood farm. Unfortunately, there aren’t many living mortals left, so he was going to start from the ground up and grow his own. The mortal boy you found would have spent his days impregnating as many females of childbearing age that Roman could capture.”

“That’s horrific,” Alice uttered, astounded.

“For who? I’m sure the mortal boy would rather have spent the rest of his days fucking than being fed to your starving mother.”

Alice cleared her throat, taken aback by Warren’s coarse summation of what they planned to do with the mortal. “I meant for all the-…”

There came a knock at the door. When Alice allowed them entry, the guard entered and set down a small plastic cup of water and two red pills on the table before Warren.

“Thank you,” Warren said before taking the pills without question. Now all he had to do was wait for the pain in his thigh to subside though he doubted it would disappear until he’d appropriately fed.