"All right," I nodded.
"I will come, little rose," René held me on his lap and seemed quite content doing so.
"Fine, but René, if I see them doing something they shouldn't, I may be picking you up again as mist and hauling you out of there."
"I understand," René smiled. He was looking forward to being mist—I could see it in his eyes. Well, René was more of an adventurer than Gavin, it seems.
"Be careful, Lissy," Tony shouted as René and I turned to mist.
I dropped René in the back seat of the pursuing car as gently and noiselessly as I could, but both vampires realized we were there in a blink, by the scent. "You will do as I say," René placed compulsion as they turned with a hiss. The vampires were nodding quickly at René's orders. "Pull over," René commanded. The driver pulled over. Radomir stopped ahead of us and began backing his SUV in our direction as René ordered the two vampires out of the car.
"They're not Saxom's," I informed Wlodek as he inspected the two, walking around them and getting their scents. The two were terrified.
"What are your names?" Wlodek barked, causing both vampires to jump.
"I am Thaddeus," one of them replied, his voice shaky. Wlodek definitely had that effect on people. Vampires, too. I'd certainly been there.
"Lorenzo," the other said.
"Why are you following us?" Merrill had come and was now asking questions.
"We seek the Council's help," Lorenzo admitted. "Our brother, Dominic, was taken by one calling himself Xenides. We have become concerned, because our brother does not answer his calls and we are afraid that Xenides may come for us as well."
"Why has Xenides taken Dominic?" Wlodek demanded.
"Dominic has mindspeech," Thaddeus hung his head. "Our sire, Maxwell, always told us that Dominic would be taken by the Council, should this be revealed. Therefore, we kept it secret. Now, Xenides has taken him instead."
"How long ago?" Merrill asked.
"Ten days," Lorenzo admitted.
"Have you been placed under compulsion? Are you doing this at Xenides' bidding? Or one of his minions? Answer truthfully," Merrill's voice held the Command.
"No. We swear, we only want our brother back," Thaddeus begged. Lorenzo agreed with his sibling. They weren't true brothers, but they did have the same vampire sire and they certainly looked enough alike to be brothers, with brown hair and green eyes. They just hadn't been related as humans.
"Maxwell has been dead for more than fifty years," Wlodek observed.
"We know. We do not wish to lose Dominic as well." Lorenzo was clearly upset.
"How did you know where to find us?" Wlodek asked, pacing down the narrow lane between vehicles.
"We were looking for the one called Merrill," Lorenzo admitted. "Our sire told us that if there was ever trouble to find him—he might be willing to help those with difficulties and gave us a general location where he might be found. We have been searching the area for three days. We hoped Merrill could take us to the Council."
"I am Merrill," Merrill identified himself. "We will discuss your troubles presently. Gavin, will you drive their vehicle and bring them?"
Gavin nodded. Tony had been busy searching their car while the others talked, declaring it free of weapons and explosives. I guess it was good to have him around after all.
That's how we ended up at the Council meeting a few minutes late, with two extra vampires who had to be blindfolded before being led inside the cave.
* * *
The first prisoner brought forward was a vampire named Bartholomew, and he was definitely Saxom's turn. I touched my hair when Wlodek turned his eyes toward me. I got the idea that Wlodek already knew Bartholomew was Saxom's turn, but was testing me and my ability. Well, he knew now that I wasn't under Merrill's compulsion, so he had to make sure of things. Lovely. Regardless, Wlodek questioned Bartholomew accordingly. "Why are you listed as Jeremiah's child when Saxom sired you?" Compulsion was heavy in Wlodek's voice.
"My sire told me long ago that the Council would never discover the truth," Bartholomew insisted. Gavin, Merrill and I, along with Tony and René, were all in our usual spot along the cave wall to Wlodek's right, watching as Bartholomew was questioned.
"He held us in contempt, did he not?" Wlodek asked.
"Of course he did," Bartholomew snapped. "He finds you weak and ineffective." Well, that's something I wouldn't have bothered to tell Wlodek to his face, especially if I stood where Bartholomew did—facing that same ineffective Council.
"Why did he send you after Lissa's records in the U.S.?" Wlodek went on. This was news to me; I hadn't been informed of this.
"He wanted to discover if she had sisters, brothers or any living relatives." I only had cousins and they weren't close. Then it hit me. They were looking for others with my talents. I drew in a shaky breath. Gavin must have known, somehow; he moved his hand slightly, attempting to calm me down.
"And what did you determine from these records?" Wlodek was relentless.
"That Howard Graham was not Lissa's father. The DNA tests proved it. Xenides was quite upset when he discovered this and became infuriated when we could not find information on her real father."
I was numb. Completely numb. I had no feeling in my legs or my hands and would have given anything at that moment to slide down the cave wall and curl up in a ball on the stone floor.
Lissy, don't let him hurt you, baby. That was from Tony of course, who never moved a muscle as he sent mindspeech. All those meetings with the president and heads of state were paying off for him big time. He already had the vampire non-expression thing and didn't need to learn it as I did.
"What did Xenides intend to do with this information?" Wlodek asked.
"He wanted Lissa's talents. Needed her talents, he said. He was very impressed with what he observed in Washington."
"And when he failed to find any sisters or brothers?" Wlodek continued.
"He wants to capture her and use her," Bartholomew replied.
"And how does he propose to do this?"
"He says he only has to find someone she cares for and take them. She will come and he will place compulsion and have her for himself." Xenides had already tried that tactic once—and succeeded—when he bombed Tony's hotel. If Jovana had been the stronger one when I found her, I'd have been placed in Xenides' clutches. The question was; could he keep me there if he succeeded?