Bella Vita (46 page)

“
Of course not, Milady. It
will be hard to change something that has been going on for our
entire existence.” Morgana stepped in for her men.

“
Change is hard, but often
necessary.” Dom commented.

“
Very true, Sire.” Morgana
lowered her gaze in respect.

“
Morgana, I ask you
frankly, will we have trouble with the vampire community in the
States?” Dom's voice was honest and welcoming of a true
answer.

“
I don't think that there
will be much resistance. I've spoken with many of the leaders
already, and they're willing to fall in line behind you. But there
are a few that don't like the idea of being ruled- they will
resist, fail, and have their areas taken from them.” Her voice was
like venom.

“
Then that is all we can
ask for. Please enjoy your stay here, however brief.” Dom smiled
and sipped on his cup.

“
Thank you. We heard about
an attack. If you don't mind, before we part, we'd like to know
what's happening with this.” George quipped.

“
George!” Morgana
snapped.

“
It's quite alright. We
don't mind sharing the information we have.” Dom laughed
lightly.

“
In the early morning
hours, a newly turned was destroyed. The attack was a set up to
frame the wolves, however, it was not done in a way that left no
room for question. The wolves have had similar attacks. It would
appear that someone is trying to pin us against each other. Dominic
and I'll be going to the site shortly after my assistants arrive.”
I tried to be as upfront as possible.

“
Assistants?” William
cocked a brow at me.

“
I'm gifted in many ways,
I've called in two seers to try and help me trace the attackers. I
will not have our people in harm's way and not do a thing about
it.” My voice turned fierce.

“
Emma.” Dom's voice carried
a gentle warning.

“
As one would expect from
you.” Morgana beamed at me.

“
Is there any assistance
that we can offer?” William asked.

“
Not at this time. However,
should anything occur in the States that smells of this, please
inform us immediately.” Dom responded.

The door creaked open behind us and Yasmin
stepped in.

“
Excuse me, Your
Excellencies, but Charlie has arrived and Bettina's flight will be
landing thirty minutes before schedule- I've already sent a car.”
Yasmin spoke as she glanced through her notes.

“
Thank you, Yasmin. Please
take Charlie to the War room. We will be there shortly.” I
dismissed the woman.

“
You have a War room?”
George's eyes sparkled.

“
But of course, would you
three care to join us for the preparations before we head to the
site?” I smiled.

“
Yes, we would be honored
to be included.” Morgana said as she rose, George and William shot
out of their seats.

“
Please follow us.” Dom and
I led the way back to the War room.

It took about fifteen minutes to debrief
Charlie before he was ready and waiting for Betty to get there. He
watched the New York vampires with suspicion, which was amusing
because he was originally from the States.

It seemed that people were drawn to me, and
once they had found me, their loyalty was unquestionable.

Leland appeared as we waited for Betty.

“
Merry Met, Your
Majesties.” His smile was cocky.

“
Greetings, Leland.” I
smiled at him.

“
For Pete's sake, I know
you'll won't be using that nonsense with me, we're like brothers.”
Dom clapped him on the back.

“
Just trying to be proper.
So what's this I hear about you two going out to the attack site?”
He looked at me with knowing eyes.

“
I need to be there. I want
to know if there's anything left that I might see.” I
responded.

“
And you agree with this,
bro?” Leland's hair gleamed as he turned to face Dom.

“
We're in agreement that
this is the right course of action.” Dom looked at me.

“
Uhha, that sounds like a
bunch of bull. I get that whole united front thing and all, but if
you're both dead- what will it matter?” His tone turned hard and
his voice raised just a little.

“
This isn't up for debate,
Leland.” My tone shot icicles at him.

“
Aw, darl, it's just
because I don't wanna see anything happen to the lot of you.” He
walked to me and hugged me sideways.

“
I appreciate the gesture,
but as I said, we're going. Period.” Silence followed in the wake
of my statement.

Dominic, I will not have
him question our rule
.
My message slipped into his mind.

I'll talk to him, but not
now. Yasmin says that Bettina is pulling up the drive.
He slipped out of my internal
conversation.

“
It's time that we join the
other member of our party.” I stood and Charlie bounded up behind
me, Dom and Leland tagged along in the back.

We caught Betty just as she climbed out of
the car.

“
What the bloody hell was
so bloody important that I had to feckin' fly here instantly?”
Betty's hair flew around her like an angry storm cloud.

“
They didn't inform you of
anything?” I questioned her as I turned to stare at Dom.

“
Alls I was told was that
you yobs had some kinda hoo-ha going round here.” She was reverting
back to her street slang.

“
Well, we've had an attack.
I'm requesting yours and Charlie's services in assisting in trying
to identify the murderer or murderers.” I tried to remain calm, all
I really wanted to do was drag her to the car and take her with
us.

“
Interesting.” Betty's eyes
became calculating, Dominic noticed instantly and stiffened beside
me.

“
Bettina, the Queen of the
Vampires has
requested
your assistance, will you deny your Queen?” Dom's voice was
like icy shards.

“
Stand down, ya git. I've
no intention of denying my
Queen
anything. I was merely considering what the point
of attacks was. I assume that the wolves have been framed for it?”
She arched her black brow at me.

“
Indeed they have. However,
very poorly.” I was missing something that Betty saw.

“
Do you not see, they're
not only trying to frame the wolves, but test the strength of your
relations to them. They obviously don't know your binding to them,
Emma. These will be
dangerous
times for you- most importantly you.” Betty's
eyes glazed over and she stood as though she were a
statue.

“
Betty?” Panic coursed
through my body as I realized she was getting a vision.

“
Bettina?” Dom didn't know
what to make of her, but he knew something was wrong from my
reaction.

“
Betty?” I reached out to
touch her when her hand grasped my wrist.

“
Child, listen and know.
For you're the key. They seek to destroy both, but only require
thee. Hold fast your ground, don't sway, for if you do it shall rue
the day. More comes, clouded in night, they use these tactics to
create fright. Trust yourself above all, for if you don't then we
all shall fall.” Bettina's voice boomed, but was barely over a
whisper- as soon as the words were spoken her hand dropped and so
did Betty.

I grabbed her before she hit the stairs.

“
Give her air. What do I
do?” I stared up at Dom.

“
I'm not sure,
mia
bella
.
Perhaps we should take her
inside.” Dom moved to take her from me.

“
I shall attend to her.”
Bernie stepped out of another car that had just pulled up behind
the town car Betty had ridden in.

“
Bernie?” I blinked at
him.

“
Yes, Your Majesty.” He
bowed to me.

“
What are you doing here?”
I wasn't sure what was happening, I felt adrift in the chaos
flowing around me.

“
Surely you didn't expect
Betty to travel alone. I stayed to collect her things while they
brought her here.” He scooped her out of my arms.

“
Will... she be...
alright?” Distress washed through me.

“
Fear not, she'll be fine.
She just needs rest after such a vision. It's common enough. Is
there a room ready for her?” He motioned toward the
house.

“
Yes, of course, I'll have
Yasmin guide you to it and have someone else bring in your bags.” I
sent Yasmin a mental message as Bernie carried her into the
house.

“
Bernie, will you let me
know when she awakens?” I asked before we left for the
site.

“
As you wish, Milady.” He
bowed slightly and then allowed Yasmin to direct him.

Once we stopped at the site, no one wanted
to get out of the car. There were tents set up everywhere- an
attempt to keep prying eyes out of view of the things that needed
to be down. I could feel death was present, but it wasn't the kind
of passing that people wanted to touch or even look upon. I knew
that Charlie would be highly affected because of the loss of his
sister, in such a similar fashion.

“
Charlie, if you'd like you
can stay in the car. I didn't even think...” I trailed off,
embarrassed by my lack of judgment.

“
Emma, it's an honor to be
asked to participate in such a task. I've grieved for my sister,
and now I'd like to assist those that have lost this loved one by
finding out who did this. I'd rather be outside to try and get my
visions as they come. From here, one only gets the stink of
oppressive death.” Charlie's face was bright with
determination.

“
Charlie, you're most
welcome. I've already had an easel set up in one of the tented
areas. I'll have someone walk you to it. Leland, you and Dom can
escort me to the execution site. But both of you know this, don't
interfere with me while I take this on. I'll find out what's
hunting my people and trying to turn us against the wolves.” My
words were final as I climbed out of the car.

“
When did she turn all
Amazon warrior queen?” I heard Leland whisper to Dom, I didn't wait
around to hear the response.

I got Charlie set up in the tent directly
next to where I would be. I wasn't sure how things would go, but I
needed to know that a fellow seer was near.

Jean-Paul, the head detective, was waiting
for me as I stepped out of the tent.

“
Pardon, Madame
.” He bowed
slightly.

“
Bonjour,
Jean-Paul
.” I
responded.

His tall frame towered over me, but his
kindness was present in his mannerisms and eyes.

“
La jeune fille avait dix-sept ans. Elle a été brûlée, après
sa mort
.
” He didn't bother
trying to speak to me in English, just used his native French to
explain how the poor seventeen year old girl was burned after her
death.

“
Tout
?
” I needed to
know if anything was left of her.

“
Il y a une dent
.
” He stroked his dark auburn
goatee.

“
Une dent
?
” I couldn't
imagine why only one tooth would be all that remained of an entire
body.

“
Oui, une dent. C'est ici
.
” He led me over to the evidence, where a
single tooth remained.

“
Emma, I don't think you should touch
that. What if they need some evidence you'll erase from it and they
haven't tested it yet?” Dom tried to reason.

“
Pardon, Monsieur, mais il a été pris en
charge
.
” Detective Jean-Paul
told Dom it had been taken care of.

“
Darl, maybe you should wear gloves or
somethin' before y'all reachin' into the unknown.” Leland piped in
as I grabbed for the tooth.

“
It won't be necessary. I need to see
what happened.” I gently picked up the tooth and focused on what it
wanted to show me- soon I was lost to this world and watching the
scene play out before me.

The early morning air was crisp and a dense
fog danced around the girl's legs. She was freshly changed and this
was the only time when her family allowed her to go out- they
didn't want her to lose control or draw unnecessary attention.

The girl's thick auburn hair bounced around
in its tight constraints. She was running as fast as her legs could
carry her. The feel of the air swooshing by her caused a new sense
of excitement that coursed through her body. Her face was alit with
pleasure. The once familiar sights of her childhood took on blurry
swirls as her world disappeared.

A sharp noise to her left made her skid to a
stop. Her body tensed with fear and panic- something was wrong.

It sounded again, it was a clang of sorts-
very metallic.

Her mind raced with her choices. She decided
to try and outrun this sound and whatever threat it posed. Her leg
tensed and her running sneakers gripped the concrete in
anticipation of her sprint.