Chapter 1

The silver haired woman listened to Nina as she explained all that she had witnessed the night before. It was a disturbing enough to have someone already in the opposition of the Council and its work, it was even worse to see them already taking such a dangerous step that could possibly wipe out their entire existence. The reason Asther couldn’t get to the witches was because they were confined within walls. But now the Morbus were possibly behind this and would do what Asther couldn’t. It would get ugly.

“I don’t understand why she’s adamant about such an aim.” Gaea sighed as she rubbed out the aging lines on her forehead. “There is nothing good to come out of this. She will have no power once the Morbus overthrow her after wiping out our existence.”

“Which is exactly what I’ve been questioning this whole time,” Viria muttered under her breath loud enough for them to hear. “It can’t be the Morbus. I know they’re our main enemy, but they’re not the only ones at the moment and it could be an inter-community political conflict of sorts that may not have mentioned inMorrigan’s files.”

“Makes sense,” Ivanna said softly. “I mean, it’s only just the Circle members allowed in here so it could be anybody at all trying to cause trouble.Even our own witches and wizards.”

“And we can’t really say their main aim is to wipe out our people,” Viria noted, “They could easily attack our communities if they’re powerful enough. I think we missed something here.”

“Viria, I think you should start inspecting,” Nina said.

“I’ll be off then,” she said. “Update me on anything else you find.”

****

Gael was a good person, he was. But even good people have their limits. And he’d crossed the point of no return. Perhaps the dark energies had miscalculated.

Or perhaps it was simply fate.

He walked quietly, his feet like air against the ground, just barely kissing the surface. It was unexpected, to think he could have…evolved. It wasn’t just him that was evolving. The dark energies were becoming more efficient and selecting capable people to process and exude potential him. He had lost all hope for power. Yes, he had. It was ripped away from him like a candy from a baby. It was a humiliating day. He felt like he had no purpose.

The bitterness that came with it took over all reasoning. He had lost a lot. He had lost so much. What else was there to live for?

But now there was a reason. And it was time to take revenge for all that he had been put through. For all he had never asked for. And make those responsible accept their mistakes and receive their punishment.

****

Ivanna came across a large mansion, weathered and run down by age. The sharp tipped gates loomed over her frame and the pillars on the either side held up gargoyles that hateful stares with their empty eyes, cracks running over their bodies like scars from wars. Something she saw a lot on Viria when she chose to sleep in lighter pajamas. She wasn’t sure if she’d imagined it or if their eyes had really glossed over into a milky hue for a moment.

The gates pulled themselves open, screeching against the ground and leaving behind white lines. The ground grew frosty, and mist poured in from somewhere, fogging up the ground and leaving smoky transparency in the air. It remained behind the gate and did not flow out at all. Ivanna wasn’t sure if it was safe to go in, but she was capable. Trusting her abilities, she moved forward. The gates closed behind her and she went to walk onto a barely noticeable cobblestone path without worry, making her way to the entrance.

“Who are you looking for?” the air whispered around her ear as she moved. Ivanna stilled. She had never experienced a voice in such a way.

“A leader or representative of the vampires,” she stated.

“There is no such thing here,” the breeze replied. Ivanna only huffed and blew away a lock of her hair from her face.

“I’m not dumb, you know?” she said with a cross of her arms. “There is definitely someone of unusual power here with this form of communication.”

There was silence.

“Follow the little wisp,” the voice said almost in defeat. A small ball of smoky light appeared in front of her, zipping past her eyes and into the mist. Ivanna stared after it, but followed. It zipped back into sight and rang in her ear and then shooting off again like a firework. It would appear and reappear, fluttering and ringing near her ears. She was sure the thing was alive.

The wisp led her to the mansion doors. Large oak wood gates darkened and peeling with time. The hinges whined as the doors creaked open, the sound echoing within ominously. She saw chessboard tiles leading into the darkness, but it was soon lit up by candles mounted onto the sides of pillars. The wisp rocketed away and Ivanna followed it in a hurry. She was led past another set of large gates and almost went crashing into the majestic couches laid out before a fire place. Grabbing hold of the armrest to bring herself to a halt, she pushed herself away and chased after the wisp. It started to ring louder than before and not just by her air. It was raising a sense of alarm within her.

She crashed through another set of doors and almost toppled to the ground, but she held her footing. The wisp flew off gently toward a figure at the end of the room. Past a beautiful, long crystal table with glass and crystal utensils and cutlery. A beautiful chandelier hung from the center of the roof, followed by smaller ones on the either side of it.

The figure was tall and slim, and the only thing she could make out was a black silk shirt, black dress pants, and raven hair.

“I assume you are the keeper of this place,” Ivanna stated. “I’m Ivanna Schovsky, one of the Heads of the communities of witches and wizards.”

“Yes, I know all about you,” his deep voice sailed smoothly over the distance. It was warm and velvety, something she could be hypnotized to. Definitely a vampire. She put up a spell which would ensure his charms speak wouldn’t affect her. His voice remained the same but the effect wore off as if someone threw cold water on her in her sleep.

“Of course, you would have,” she said as a matter-of-factly. “I’m the one who took over after Morrigan.”

“Are you aware of her influence and affiliations?”

“Been taking the brunt of most of them, yes,” she said. “I’m here to talk to you.”

He turned around to reveal a breathtaking face. She’d never seen a face quite like his. Chiseled features with a short, well-trimmed beard, and frosty grey eyes set above his high cheekbones. Ivanna would’ve been a puddle with the way he was looking at her if only she wasn’t instantly reminded of her mate Leon by that look and the fact she was missing him a little too much now in a very intimate way. The vampire held a confident smolder, but it dropped as soon as he registered the look on her face.

“It’s not me you’re thinking of at all, are you?”

“No, not really.” She shook her head with a hand on her hip. “Why?”

“Well,” he started unsurely as his gaze darted away. “I thought I was charming.”

“I’m mated.”

“Very strongly, I must say,” he spoke. “I’ve had women leave their mates for me.”

“That just means you’re an asshole and those women weren’t witches,” she rolled her eyes. The vampire looked at her amused.

“I’m Cole Grace,” he introduced himself as he walked over to her slowly. “I’m the new keeper of this place.”

“Of course, you would be,” she said. “Gael took his leave months ago.”

“A tragedy, yes,” he sighed and Ivanna raised her brow.

“Is…erm, is that how you talk?”

“I’ve come from a place that hasn’t moved much from the way of the older times, m’lady,” he said, finally coming to stand before her and offering her his hand. “It’s a little hard for me to get with the times when I hardly indulge in social interactions. I find your way of talking almost as peculiar as you find mine. Well, rather that it resembles the lower class’s really.”

Ivanna decided to dismiss that as she pulled her hand away. “Yeah, okay, let’s just get down to business.”

He pulled out a chair. “Do sit. What would you have to ask of me?”

Ivanna raised a brow at him, not sure if she should bring it up since he seemed to be acting okay. She wasn’t sure if she’d come to the right place.

“I heard the vampire community was suffering from constant attack by outsiders,” she said carefully and moved to take a seat.

“Yes, we are actually,” he admitted, “but we’re handling it well.”

“I was hoping we could come together against them.”

“I’m too busy to handle alliances I cannot maintain when I have foes of my own to push off.” He chuckled. Ivanna gave him a deadpanned look.

“Doesn’t seem like you are, but I won’t force you,” she said ,standing up. “It was just a quick check-up to see if things were going well.”

“Have something before you leave,” he said as food shimmered into existence on the table. “There is still something I would like to talk to you about.”

****

Viria was careful and used nothing more than her fingers under the sleeve of her cloak to cast spells around the room. Straining her ears to make sure no one was coming, the energies gathered to trace out all the movements that had occurred in the room. Viria saw Agatha’s smoky figured move about in what seemed like important work, arranging papers and putting away files. All seemed well and good until she pulled away the bulletin board from behind her desk.

What a dumbass.Viria chuckled under her breath. She watched on amusedly as Agatha traced a symbol on the wall and chanted under her breath, revealing a square safe door.She twisted in the numbers and pulled the door open, pulling out a box from one of the many boxes.

Viria raised her brow. She could tell that it was her claim to have a meeting with one of the High Council members of her community. This was disturbingly like something Morrigan had done. Agatha’s High Council were most likely innocent themselves. She knew that by law all secrets were supposed to be out at the death of their community’s head to the next head and to the Inner Circle. But she couldn’t kill Agatha knowing how Morrigan’s death had turned out. Viria needed to get her hands on documents and see if there was any possible danger from elsewhere. She didn’t want to be busy with more battles and wars. Not every shifter community was on their side and within sanctuaries.

The stress was getting to Viria. All the thinking and possibilities were starting to jumble up in her head. Morbus was supposed to be their priority but there was just so much internal politics taking place for the sake of baseless power.

Maybe she needed a Council of her own with all the other beings in the realm. The Elders really were no help at all. She didn’t even know what they were doing now. Nina and Diana were also part of the Council and they were doing their part, but she wasn’t sure about the older members of the Council.

I need to meet them and straighten their asses, she thought. Everything was becoming bigger than she would have liked to handle. Before it was just Ivanna and her taking care of it. Now Nina was involved, along with Luke and Fergus. The Elders were doing nothing.