"We need to prepare," Louis stated just as a blue haze began to fill the room. He grabbed his long sword, as did Ismael, and they were on their feet, ready to defend. Ira rushed Ezra out of the room and returned to stand beside Silas as they flanked Louis.
A menacing form emerged from the growing darkness, and in its grip was a man indistinguishable at first, and then awareness struck just as the man was tossed at Ismael, who caught him effortlessly.
"He is yours, and it would be fitting for you to learn how to control him." The figure was caped and hooded, but the presence was unmistakable. "Why do you dig into matters that are not your concern. It would be in your best interests, Louis, to keep your mongrels away from me and out of my affairs. You ended Leopold and his jackal army here in your front yard, and I destroyed his Coven and his legions that dared to thrive in my territory." His voice was soft yet seemed to reverberate off the stone and plaster walls.
“I harmed no innocent.” The face of the intruder was obscured by the hood covering his head, but a subtle, cynical smile showed through. And then, without further comment, the image was gone, and the room cleared, and the sun once again shined through the windows. The aura went from dread blackness back to peace.
Ismael pulled Easton over to the couch and had him take a seat. Ismael sat next to him and held him. The fear of what could have happened ratcheted up his protectiveness and his panic over the possibility of harm coming to his beloved. He pulled him close and checked him head to toe for injury.
"I'm fine, Ismael." Easton urged him to hear. "Honestly, he didn't hurt me." Ismael held him and looked deep into his eyes, making sure that demon did not leave anything lingering in his beloved's psyche. "He didn't do anything except humiliate me horribly in front of you all."
"Don't dig into that man any further; promise me." Ismael was firm, and Easton agreed without too much persuasion.
"There isn't much more out there anyway." He added. "Damn, that was scary." He took a deep breath and leaned into Ismael's embrace. "I was sitting at my desk going over the plat books one more time, trying to figure out his possible location, when I felt something in the air. It seemed electrified, and then someone grabbed me by the back of my neck. The next thing I know, I'm hanging from the guy's grip and being tossed at you." Easton couldn't suppress the shiver that coursed down his spine at the situation he'd been in and the outcome that could have been.
"We need a more specialized defense." Louis walked over to where the Prince had stood and felt the power radiating. "That was just a glamour, not his full capability, and still he moved through our protections like they weren't there."
“The Black Prince?” Silas stepped forward and stood next to Louis.
“Yes, you have never engaged an enemy the level of this man. His measure has never been taken. His limits have never been met." Louis spoke as his mind went back to those days of unleashed blood and death unlike any experienced before or since. "The Black Prince occupies a place in infamy that even the darkest of our kind has never contemplated."
"And now he has entered our living room and stood before us," Ismael added with contempt. Louis looked over at Ismael and nodded, knowing that he, too, had met the Black Prince and fully understood the magnitude of the threat that lay before them.
"We must be prepared," Louis stated.
"We must level up. We need more power, just as you said, a specialized defense." Ismael offered.
"What do you suggest?" Louis asked Ismael, but it was Silas who answered.
"A Cyprian Knight." Silas proposed, and the thought circled the room in an instant, and Louis smiled. "Master Nikolas Hadden has two Cyprians under his command," Silas added.
“Yes.” Louis moved over to his desk and took a seat. “Their names are Marek and Thayer. Marek is bonded to one of Nik’s field commanders.” He picked up his phone and dialed Pittsburgh. “It is time to ask a favor of my old friend Nikolas.”
CHAPTER TWO
The Prince withdrew after making a scene he hoped they would remember and heed. Louis had intelligence personnel who far outshined anyone the Prince had dealt with in the past. The man and his digging could not be tolerated further, for he was very close to discovering the truth and location of the Prince's dominion.
Once back in his tower room, where he'd taken to spending too much time, he sat in one of the large ornate chairs reminiscent of times passed and considered the energy currently rushing through him. The energy was unlike any he was familiar with and left him with a sense of incompleteness. He'd missed something back at Coven DuCane something was nagging at him, demanding attention, and he had no understanding of what it was.
Try as he might to quell the stirring in his soul, the awareness of another would not be suppressed. He raised his hand, and a glass of bourbon appeared in his hand, and he took a long slow drink of the gorgeous liquid as he contemplated the changes coursing through him.
It hit him then the possibility and the wish, and he dared not believe it, but the excitement in his heart was real. The thoughts running through his mind were real, and his inability to control any of it was also real. Fate was testing her influence, stepping forward and opening the door that was never to be opened, which was hiding the gift that was never to be given. Fate was offering up the chance only ever bestowed on true-born vampires. She was offering it to him, and his heart began to bleed, and his body trembled.
This couldn't be happening. Nothing in his life had earned him the chance of Fate granting such a gift of harmony and unity upon him. He lived centuries in isolation contemplating his life, the course of which had brought him so near to the end and so close to pure evil.
There was a time he was considered a direct party to the darkness, and for a time, he was. It was hard to discern the day, the hour, or the moment that changed, and he retreated inside himself for a few years. He wasn’t a good man, and he did not strive to be all he wanted was release and a measure of peace.
He finished his bourbon and leaned back in his chair. The Prince looked musingly out the large leaded glass window at the ancient forest below and felt hope for the first time in over nine centuries. He would return to Coven DuCane, and he would find the gift that Fate left for him.
Cooper sat quietly on the uncomfortable iron bench, which was no doubt there to add to the magic constraint, but it didn't eliminate all of Cooper's energy. Even with the iron bracelets and all the other iron elements in the room and the paint of salts and ash, Cooper could still feel his power roiling just below the surface. With the right catalyst, he could possibly escape, but then where would he go? The Palace was huge and a complete mystery to him. Getting off the property unnoticed was extremely unlikely.
He was the only prisoner in the room, and there were no visible guards, but the place was closely monitored. They had all the precautions in place for dealing with magics, no one to glamour, nothing to feed off, and plenty of iron to deaden the energy.
These people sure hated magic. They needed to get the message that not all magic was bad. Some were bad, and there were some that were absolutely monstrous, but that didn't mean they were all trash.