"Some stuff on the Elemaiya. I get the idea I was supposed to get a lot more, but I got three pages. That's it," Ashe poked his ice cream with the spoon in frustration. "I guess they think it'll be awful if I know more than I do."
"Did you talk to your dad about it?" Marco asked.
"No. There wasn’t any time, what with everything happening over the weekend."
"Why don't you talk to him now? He's up," Marco grinned.
"Yeah. Think Winkler will be upset if I take ice cream into the bedroom with me?"
"He does it all the time, dude."
"All right. I'll call my dad. See what he says about all this." Ashe rose from his chair and walked into the house.
"Dad, I forgot to tell you about this. I can scan it through the computer—it's only three pages," Ashe spoke to his father by cell phone.
"Go ahead and send it, Son. I think I'd like to see this." Aedan was surprised to hear from Ashe.
"All right." Ashe walked into his office and powered up the computer. The scanning was complete a few minutes later. "Did you get it?" Ashe asked. By that time, his mother had joined his father inside Aedan's study.
"Aedan, look at this," Ashe heard his mother's voice clearly as the information popped up in an email to his father.
"I wish we'd seen this earlier, but that's neither here nor there. I don't think I have to warn you not to let any of this get out, and whatever you do, don't let anyone you don't trust see anything other than what they've seen already, all right?"
"Sure. I sort of figured that out already."
"I know you're cautious. Just be doubly so, all right? Is Anthony Hancock still there?"
"Yeah. I may have pissed him off earlier, though."
"While he may have more patience than a lot of vampires I know, that patience isn't limitless. Tread carefully, all right?"
"He has mindspeech, Dad. Did you know that?"
"I did know that. I trust you'll come straight to me if there's a problem in that area? I'm older than Hancock, by a long way."
"I'll keep that in mind," Ashe muttered.
"The older ones can place compulsion on those younger. Nathan and I are both older than Hancock. Remember that. Son, whatever you do, never let them know you're not susceptible to compulsion. They don't like it when they can't handle someone like that."
"I will." Ashe was shocked to be getting information from his father like this. That spelled one thing—Aedan Evans was worried.
"My Queen, our spies have reported. We have watched our Dark cousins for a while, now. Baltis is sending some of his to a place in the country of Mexico. They tell me the nearest city is called Juarez. A violent place, it seems. I have taken the liberty of sending some of our own there, and we now have better information. All it took was a bit of bribery to a politician who has escaped pending charges against him. All his assets have been frozen, so compensation from us was quite welcome. He informed my spies that an attack is planned, just before the full moon. Somehow, they gained information regarding our intended raid upon the community at the full moon and plan to usurp our attack. I also received other valuable information."
"And what is that, Sapphire?" Friesianna gave her Sentinel a cold stare. Was one shapeshifter worth all this trouble? She was about to step back and allow the Dark Ones to take him.
"The boy is a mister," Sapphire announced triumphantly. "We hold hard evidence of this fact. The spy for our cousins sent images of this, and it is rumored that the boy may have other talents. I know not exactly what those might be, but he is a valuable property and those creatures our Dark cousins have allied with have designs on him as well. They intend to wrest him from beneath Baltis' nose and use him for their own illicit purposes."
"Baltis will kill them—he has no living misters. All of them disappeared years ago, for reasons unknown to me." Friesianna settled her silk dress around her, lounging gracefully upon her throne. Had she a mirror, she might have checked the position of her crown. Instead, she struck as haughty a pose as she could. "Find out what else the boy can do and bring the date of the attack if you can. I command that you and your brothers do what you must to take what rightfully belongs to us. The boy is becoming more useful by the hour."
"Of course, my Queen." Sapphire bowed low and rushed away.
"I did not let her know we have other spies," Sapphire informed his fellow Sentinels. "It was a stroke of luck finding the quarter-blood, but now it is difficult to get information from him. Who knew that humans would lock him up so tightly that he would not be allowed visitors? Would that we had a mister at our disposal—that would give us everything we need. Unfortunate it is that the Foreseer is Dark and only quarter-blood—the Queen will never allow him within our encampment. Rabis gives the Queen only what she asks for and nothing more. I question his loyalty at times."
"The Queen sent Rabis away centuries ago when his prophecies failed to tell her what she wanted to hear," Emerald pointed out. "Now that Hilbah is no more, she was forced to call Rabis back. I cannot say that I would have the most positive of attitudes under such circumstances."
"You speak treason," Ruby snapped.
"He speaks truth. Just as Rabis spoke it in the beginning. However, we are all committed to our Queen, are we not? We must do her bidding and no other, as she instructs. We may speak the truth among ourselves, as brothers and Sentinels." Diamond looked at all of them. "It will be good, will it not, to have a mister and shapeshifter at our command? We hold the skills to force his will to ours. As does the Queen. He will do our bidding and with his help, we will crush the Dark Ones. It is time they recognized which race will survive."
"Then we must position our troops. Do we attack in Mexico, after they have acquired the boy, or do we preempt and take him in Texas?" Sapphire asked.
"I say we wait until they get him away from his parents and the others in that community who seek to protect him," Diamond said.
"I wish to consult Rabis," Ruby whined.
"No! Consult Rabis at your own peril. He will report to the Queen. She will have no difficulty with our decision, once the final outcome is to her liking. I follow my brother Diamond in this. Let the Dark Ones think they score a victory against us. We will be waiting for them and take the boy when they do not suspect. And if those rogue creatures think to prevent it, then they will be most sorry, I assure you," Emerald smiled. "We will call in our best troops. They will be ready to follow us quickly, should the need arise."