79
“This is Lucas,” he answered his phone.
“Hi Dad,” I said.
“Please tell me this is a friendly phone call and you’re not in jail or need a body disposed of,” he said and I laughed out loud.
“You probably need to get back home,” I said to him as I looked at the big mansion that loomed in front of me.
“Fuck Ryder, what did you do?” he asked me.
“Well, I just killed Sire Andrew in Princeton…” I began.
“What the fuck? Why are you even in Princeton? What the hell am I going to tell the Elders, what happened?” he asked his questions all in one breath.
“The Elders are with me,” I said to him.
“Are they taking you into custody?” he asked me suddenly.
“Dad, it was a claim fight, breathe okay, the Elders have been here the whole time, they approved the claim,” I said to him.
“Shit, I can’t leave for two days and you go out killing Sires!” he said but he didn’t sound angry.
“So…” I said and I let my voice trail off.
“I’ll be there in a few hours, so much for keeping to yourself,” he said as he ended the call.
“My father has informed me that he will arrive in a few hours,” I said to the Elders.
“Good, we’ll wait for his arrival then. In the meantime let’s go to the office and see what we can find in terms of how this lair was run,” Elder Cliff said as he turned towards the house.
“What about his family?” I asked them.
“Sire Andrew never married or bonded, he has no children and his parents passed away a few years ago,” Elder Cliff said as he kept walking.
“This is just fucking great,” I said as I started following him inside.
“You sound like your father already,” Elder Victor said with a laugh.
“Hey, Link! Do you mind me calling you Link?” I asked Lincoln.
“Not at all Sire, my father called me Link,” he said with a smile.
“Come on, I’m sure you know your way around this place and all his dirty little secrets,” I said and Link walked into the house after me.
“He kept all his records in the office in a black filing cabinet. The wooden ones are lair documents and member papers, but the black one was for his personal stuff,” Link said as we entered the office.
“Thanks Link, stick around, I’m sure we’re going to need you again,” I said as he took a seat in front of the desk.
“What’s going to happen with the lair now, you didn’t sound very eager to take over as Sire,” he said to me.
The Elders had made themselves comfortable downstairs claiming that I should be the one to go through his office and they would wait for my findings. They were clearly waiting for Lucas before doing anything.
“I’m not sure Link, my father’s a very strong Sire, we might integrate this lair with his, that might be the best thing to do under the circumstances,” I said to him.
“I get it, you’re the future Sire of your own lair,” he said as he looked around and got up.
“My brother’s his heir, I was born second and I haven’t been part of lair operations for almost two years so basically I have no idea how to be a Sire,” I said to him honestly.
I liked Link’s face. It was open and honest and he seemed genuinely concerned for the people in this lair. I felt that I could trust him and Abeloth had agreed with me. We trusted each other completely and so far we’d never gone against one another.
“Wait a minute, you were with the Hunter Unit weren’t you, you’re that Ryder!” Link said as he looked at me with new eyes.
“Yeah, I was part of the Elite Unit,” I said to him.
“I’d never actually seen someone take out a vampire that way, I should have realized sooner who you were,” he said to me with a huge grin on his face.
“I trained with vampires, my best friend was a vampire and he taught me how to fight them,” I said to him as I opened the drawers of the desk.
“That’s awesome!” he said loudly.
“How old are you Link?” I asked him.
“Eighteen Sire,” he said to me.
“Well I’m nineteen so call me Ryder please,” I said and he smiled again.
“Sure thing boss,” he said and I laughed as I shook my head.
“What colour dragon do you have?” I asked him.
“Violet,” he said proudly.
“You should’ve been able to lay claim to the lair yourself and kill Andrew,” I said to him.
“Not with those two vampires around, besides, we’ve always been second in command, my father, grandfather, great-grandfather,” he said as he looked at me intently.
We went through that office with a fine toothcomb. I had placed all the member’s files in a heap on the desk so Lucas could go through them later. I had started on Andrew’s personal business dealings and then I would start on lair business.
“Oh shit,” I said suddenly and stood up.
“What is it? Did you find something?” he asked me.
“My father’s here,” I said to him and opened the door of the office.
I met Lucas in the foyer as he opened the front door and Link quickly bowed his head at my father. Lucas’s eyes zeroed in on me and he nodded in relief as he found that I was unharmed. I still didn’t know why he was so worried all the time, I was an excellent fighter and I could take care of myself.
“That was quick,” I said to him, “the Elders are in the living room.”
“You just know how to make an impression don’t you,” Lucas said as I led him to the living room.
“Sire Lucas,” Elder Michael stood up and they shook hands.
“Elders, care to explain what the fuck happened here,” Lucas said as he sat down.
I sat down on the other couch and motioned for Link to join us. The Elders called out to a woman named Sophie and ordered more coffee for everyone. Link seemed apprehensive of Lucas, but then again he was quite intimidating.
“We asked Ryder to accompany us to this meeting where Sire Andrew had two vampires attack us, Ryder killed them both swiftly and then made a claim fight on the grounds of attacking us Elders under the guise of a peaceful meeting, we approved the claim, Ryder killed him quite efficiently,” Elder Victor said sounding almost happy.
“I see,” Lucas said as he looked me over once again.
“It was quite impressive how he handled those vampires, I’ve never seen a dragon morph his hand to rip a vampire’s heart from his chest,” Elder Cliff said and I looked away.
“I’m sure you are all duly impressed with my son,” he said and I saw a small smile on his lips.
“My intention with the claim was to integrate them into your lair,” I said to Lucas.
“Sorry not going to happen,” Lucas said immediately and I felt Link stiffen beside me.
“Dad…” I said as I looked at him in shock. The Elders seemed disinterested in our conversation.
“They’re too far from Aurora for me to effectively take control of this lair,” he said to me and I understood that part. What he was saying made sense.
“So what happens to them now?” I asked him.
“Their Sire should lead them onwards,” he said as he leaned back on the sofa.
“Andrew had no heir,” I said to him.
“I wasn’t talking about Andrew. You made a claim Ryder, you won it, you’re this lair’s Sire now,” he said as he looked at me.
“Me?” I asked him incredulously.
“Yes, my plan was always to give you your own lair as a Sire. Chase was born first so it’s only right that he takes over Aurora from me, but you were never a second in command. You were always going to be a Sire on your own,” he said to me.
“This is great,” Link said with a happy smile.
“How big is this lair’s territory?” Lucas asked him.
“Andrew controlled Princeton, Holloway, Bureau, Malden and Wyanet,” Link said.
“That’s a nice big territory,” Lucas said.
“Dad, I don’t know the first thing about being a Sire,” I said to him in my defense.
“Neither did I when I took over,” he countered.
“You had Uncle Jesse’s help and guidance,” I said to him.
“Yes, and you have me. I’ll always help you where I can but now it seems you’ll have to swim or sink. These people are your priority and responsibility now. Your people Ryder. Figure it out,” he said to me and stood up.
“You’re leaving?” I asked him.
“When will you initiate him Elders?” Lucas asked as he faced the Elders.
“As soon as possible,” Elder Michael said as he stood up as well.
“I’m so glad we could come to an agreeable conclusion on this matter,” Elder Cliff said.
“Call me if you need any help. I’ll have some of the warriors bring your stuff over for you,” Lucas said as he walked back to the front door.
“I’ll follow you home to pack my own stuff,” I said to him.
“I’m sure your second in command can keep the fort for a few hours,” Lucas said as he looked past me at Link.
“Me? Second in command?” he asked.
“You have the bloodline. My dragon says you’re the one for Ryder, loyal, hard-working, ethical. The two of you will make a great team,” Lucas said as the Elders also nodded in agreement.
“I guess you’re my second in command Link,” I said to him as he smiled at me.
“Yes sir!” he said as Lucas shook his head.
“Don’t call me sir,” I said to him.
“Okay boss,” Link said with a smile.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
