"Sending now," Tony tapped on his computer. "Something else you may be interested in; my contacts have reported sighting Xenides in London, last night. I'll send those images as well."

"Very well," Wlodek said. "Any other information?"

"No, Honored One. I'll keep you posted on any updates."

"Good." Wlodek terminated the call. "Charles, get Merrill on the phone right away," Wlodek demanded. "And pull up those images as soon as they come through."

"Of course, sir," Charles whipped out his cell and was dialing numbers and tapping on the computer at the same time.

* * *

"Xenides may be in London; I've called for the jet," Merrill slid into the other side of the booth at the bar. Gavin looked across the table at Merrill.

"Are you ready to go, then?"

"After we pick up our bags. The jet is refueled so we can depart as soon as we arrive at the airport." Gavin rose and he and Merrill walked out of the bar together.

* * *

"That is Bartholomew." Charles was nearly breathless; he recognized the vampire that had taken the file from Gerald Michaels' office in Oklahoma City. The legal secretary's body was off to the side; he'd killed her by breaking her neck and then tossed her aside as soon as she brought the records to him.

"Our records indicate he walked into the sun two hundred years ago," Radomir muttered angrily. "That is why we stopped hunting him."

"We were led to believe that is what happened," Wlodek said as they watched the footage together. At least there was nothing incriminating done that would indicate the perpetrator had been vampire.

"And now Xenides most likely has Lissa's records. What is he looking for?" Charles asked.

"Probably the same thing we have looked for," Wlodek sighed. "We have already searched to see if she had sisters or brothers and there are none. Both parents are dead and there were no other marriages for either. Lissa's siblings might have had the same talents she holds, had there been any."

Charles didn't say anything. This had happened before, he knew, only not during his lifetime. That was why they had two sets of brothers as misters and mindspeakers—one brother had been turned initially, and when that one had displayed desirable talents, the brother was sought out and deliberately turned to enrich the vampire race. It was a little-known and hidden law designed by the Council—the conscription of a human if their talents would augment the Enforcers or Assassins. Charles harbored the secret belief that even if Lissa had brothers or sisters, that none of them might come up to her level if turned.

"Merrill is on his way," Charles received a text as they reviewed the images sent by Anthony Hancock. Wlodek sat in his chair with Charles's computer in front of him, while Charles and Radomir peered over his shoulder.

"Is there anything concerning Lissa in those records that holds any importance?" Radomir asked.

"Tell him, Charles," Wlodek said as he watched the images again.

"The attorney for Lissa's father had a DNA test run; he paid someone at the hospital to draw Lissa's blood while she was there. Howard Graham wasn't Lissa's father. Of course, this information couldn't be used in court, it wasn't obtained legally and Howard Graham was still guilty of the murder and attempted murder." Charles was shaking his head over the whole thing. "We even had someone go to Howard Graham's brother and place compulsion to see if he knew anything about any affairs that Harriett Graham might have had, but he didn't know anything and never suspected her of doing anything like that. We've reached a dead end on whom Lissa's real father might have been."

"He's likely dead," Wlodek muttered, turning to the images of Xenides that were recorded at Heathrow the evening before. Wlodek cursed softly as he watched Xenides walk right through the doors of the airport and disappear.

"He's after Lissa, isn't he?" Radomir observed. "He either wants her or wants her dead."

"She killed one of his own, right before his eyes in Washington D.C.," Wlodek agreed, leaning back in his seat and looking up at his youngest child. Of course, that youngest child was more than a thousand years old. "Now he wants her, more than likely for his own sick purposes."

"Where is Lissa now, father?" Radomir didn't know.

"Somewhere safe," Wlodek replied. "Xenides has no hope of reaching her for the moment. We may be forced to take steps to ensure this remains true." That statement worried Charles, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

* * *

Watts ushered the man into Tony's office. Deryn Alford hadn't seen the inside of this office before, so he looked around a bit while Watts discreetly scuttled through the door, closing it behind him. Tony finished tapping out the end of an email, hit send and looked up. "Hey, bro," he said. "Feel like a trip to London?"

Chapter 6

"Lissa," Gabron inclined his head as I materialized before his desk. I'd misted through the place; it was called Blue Desire. I'd learned that much, at least. Kifirin was on my mind again, and the mystery of him and the two companions he'd brought with him chased through my brain, much like a puppy chasing his tail. I wasn't destined to catch those thoughts anytime soon in order to examine them fully.

"Gabron," I nodded back to him.

"Please sit," Gabron held a hand out toward one of his guest chairs. I sat. "We want to come out in force against Solar Red on the evening of their ritual, as you know," Gabron began. "But there are certain factions within the vampire hierarchy that must be appeased before they agree to participate."

"What kind of appeasement?" I asked.

"The two who wanted to invite you to their home during the meeting?"

"What about them?" I asked.

"They are demanding that you attend a gathering held in your honor."

"They need to lose that idea," I said. "I'm not much on parties."

"Unfortunately we may have to cooperate, to prevent them from passing information to the opposition."

"Good grief," I said. "Don't they have any brains? And what will you and the Council do if you learn that they've done something like that?"

"Oh, if we still live, we'll bring them in on charges. But it will be too late by that time. The city may have already been handed over to Solar Red."

"I'm not going to bed with anybody, not making out with anybody, not sucking up to anybody," I said. "And I don't have anything suitable to wear. Fuckers." I felt like misting away, right then and there.




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