Valley of Dust (12 page)

L
UCIAN AWOKE IN his room in North Carolina, and sleeping next to him was Selene. He shot up to pain in his chest. How long was he asleep? he wondered. Carla and the detective were in the room and caught Lucian right as he got up. “Lucian, Michael knows everything,” Carla said. “Where is Marcus, Carla? Tell me.” He felt a pain in his chest; he knew the answer, but he had to make sure. “I don’t know, Lucian, I was the first to wake up, and then it was Michael. We pulled you off that branch, and Michael was amazed you were not dead. When we got to Selene, she was curled up in a ball, but Marcus was not in her arms or in his baby seat.” This pained him. He looked down at Selene; he knew she would be grief stricken once she woke up. “How many did Selene heal?” “Lucian, she healed Michael and me. I do not know what else happened. We will need to ask Selene when she wakes up.” He couldn’t wait; he needed to know who was behind this. He got to the phone and called Alexander. There was no news from Alexander; all he got were condolences, but he had no clue on who did it. Alexander told him that there would be a meeting in a month and he could come to it and appeal his case. Lucian wanted to do more to the council than just appeal. He wanted them to pay for what they allowed to happen. Taking sides and giving rights to someone else other than the mother of the child was disgusting, and he wanted his thoughts heard.

Luckily the fire had made the loss of land look more natural to cover up, but Lucian wondered what she had done to use up all that energy and still not be awake. He suspected someone had died, but he wondered who. Many days passed, and the house felt unsettled. Michael had come to realize what Lucian and Selene were and was growing more used to it every day. He found that having a mortal on his side, especially one with information on crimes, was helpful to spot activity. Michael had become increasingly more of an asset than he realized. There was nothing that had come to Lucian’s attention in the weeks that Michael informed them. He wondered why it was so quiet or if the strigoi who had Marcus were in the area. Then Selene opened her eyes one morning. It took everyone by surprise.

Lucian was happy to see Selene’s eyes open, but the words that she uttered out of her mouth were words that made his stomach cringe and his heart boil with rage. She had screamed, “Don’t take Marcus, Anton!” before realizing where she was. He finally knew who had Marcus, and he was going to find him no matter what. Selene was not handling Marcus not being here very well. It was as if part of her was missing. She acted withdrawn and didn’t take part in anything with anyone. Even Carla was worried for her.

The day had finally come when Lucian was going to take a flight to New York. He was wishing everyone farewell and promising to bring word from the council when Selene stepped in and demanded to come. This was the first time in weeks that anyone had seen a true emotion come from Selene’s mouth. It wasn’t something he wanted, especially the anger he felt coming from her. He agreed to her request and at the airport had paid full price for her ticket. The flight went by rather fast, and Selene hadn’t said one word after he had agreed to her request for her to come along. He wondered what she was thinking. When they arrived at the Ritz, he could see Selene’s anger coming out. She was breathing slow and rigid like she was trying to control herself from breaking apart. He hoped she would remain calm until they tried to explain everything that happened and appeal the council’s decision.

When they got into the room, everyone stood shocked except Alexander. That’s when he first heard one of the council members speak. It was Julian, someone he hadn’t really conversed with. Julian screamed at Alexander and demanded to know why Lucian and Selene had been invited here. That’s when he saw Selene’s eyes flash red, and there in front of us was nothing but ash remaining of Julian. Lucian and the council members were shocked. He had never thought she would have taken so easily to kill someone she didn’t even know was involved. That’s when she spoke, “Anyone else want to know why I am here?” Her tone sent chills down his back; he knew he could not control her anger; after all, Marcus was her child and only she knew what happened to him. “Women and gentleman. I realized something after Marcus was taken from me. Something I never thought possible. I learned how easy it was for me to take energy. Everything on earth is elemental, the air, water, the ground, metals, just about everything even manmade came from an element. It’s infinite, my source of power. Seeing how easy it was to kill that live strigoi in front of me, do you realize your place now?” Lucian was shocked at the words that came out of Selene’s mouth. They sounded more like a tyrant than the person he knew and loved. She spoke again, “Listen and listen carefully, from here on I am taking control of this council. No one, I mean no one, will undermine my authority or they will suffer the deaths of this man and Sebastian. The Gypsies you once feared course through my very blood for vengeance, and I am here to judge you all.” Lucian was shocked. Selene never told him Sebastian was there that day; he could not believe she kept this from him. Especially the fact that she killed him. He was starting to think maybe if he had known he would not have invited her to come along; that’s when he realized that’s why she had not told him she was wanting revenge. “Lucian will be in charge of the undead strigoi, no one will have any say in that matter or they will personally deal with me. My child was stolen from me, and you all here are partly to blame for this. I am here to get justification and to find him. Anton has him, and if any of you harbor him, I will find out about this and I will consider this a crime against me punishable by death. Any questions?” Lucian stared blankly at Selene as she assumed leadership of the council and stared down at everyone in that room. Even Alexander was silent. He didn’t know what to do; for the first time he felt powerless. She was a force to be reckoned with, and no one could stand up against her. The meeting went by with no one talking, just listening and hoping that no one else would meet Julian’s fate. She had explained that the meetings would be held weekly and everyone would be held accountable if someone failed to show. The room was quiet, and soon it was adjourned.

A
FTER TAKING OVER the council, I began researching and practicing spells that Gypsies had long passed down. Going through the Internet was tedious work. Most spells I found were nothing more than fakes. It soon became easy to spot the nonsense. I found that many of the spells that worked were from elemental origins. I traveled to where my grandfather’s family had lived to find if there were any Gypsies remaining. Sadly Gypsies were nomadic people and constantly changed their names for fear of being labeled a witch. I thought that in this day and age there would be some out there that kept the old ways, but there were very few. Libraries were sources I used extensively, and I found the spells with Latin and ancient languages quite real. It felt good being able to control my powers. I finally had some release from the cage I had put myself in.

Coming back home was a different story. I worried Lucian with my studies, but he kept it secret. Gypsies were feared by our kind, and the fact I had Gypsy blood flowing through me was already something the council feared. Lucian was afraid. If I knew spells, I may be too powerful for my own good. Power is what I did seek but not just for its own sake. I was seeking retribution for the memories of every day that passed without my son. I was a live strigoi from elemental origins, probably because of my ancestry. I used nature as my power and my life force. I began tutoring myself in the ancient tongue of my ancestors, Romani. It was shocking to know the dialect was derived from India and was in no way connected to the country Romania. There was so much to learn and test, but I promised myself I would get stronger to find Marcus and not kill but curse those who had betrayed my son and me. I would not let Anton die. I knew it would break Lucian, but I also knew killing him would give him peace where I wanted him to suffer. I would bind Anton’s powers using a form of the true name spell. This spell was tricky in many ways; it could cause death or give life to the dead by sharing one’s true name, but I found hidden in an ancient book from Europe a way to bind one’s true name and control their powers. When I had found the answer to my many questions on how to exact my revenge on Anton, this gave hope. He would no longer be able to roam the world living off innocent women; instead he would have to depend on me for his energy for I would bind his name to mine to control everything he does. Now I needed to perfect the spell. I knew this task at hand would be hard and Anton might die from it, but I hoped I would get it right and teach him the error of his misguided ways.

Weeks had gone by, and other than studying to become a true Gypsy strigoi, I found myself feeling empty. I had to find a way to get Marcus back. I took control of the council with ease even though it was not on best terms. I used fear and my dreams to own them. I desperately wanted my son back, and this was my singular focus and all I knew how to do. The council needed to know what fear was. They needed to feel the loss I felt when they offered no protection for my son and I. I needed to make sure the council did not harbor Anton and Marcus. I really hoped that my weekly meetings and fear-based tactics would help find where my son was. I knew he was alive. Lucian had assured me that he was, but I couldn’t bear the thought of him not being by my side. The umbilical cord was still attached to me even after it was severed. Marcus was a part of me now and forever, and I knew deep down he was searching for me too. Lucian had saw a different side of me even I did not know I had, but it happened and he learned to adjust.

Our relationship had taken a turn for the worse that day Marcus was taken from me. Waking up and knowing he was not by my side drew a wedge between us. I loved Lucian, but I could not just stand idly by while my son remained missing. I hoped Lucian understood; if I didn’t have hope to find Marcus, what kind of mother would I be? The days went by slowly for me, and the nights were the only comfort I had. Even though things had become rough for Lucian and I, physically we had become more intimate. I needed him to keep me from feeling alone, feeling the pain of loss. I needed Lucian by my side, and even though I had changed so drastically toward him, he stayed by me. I would find Anton even if I had to take out the whole council to find him.

Carla had tried her best to help me contend with the difficulties of my newfound depression, but nothing helped. I gave her leave and told her to spend it with who matters. She knew nothing would change my mind. Detective Michael had pictures of the first few days he was born out on watch, but I knew the further time escaped us the less useful those pictures would be to help us find my child. Everything started heading south until we found a break. Apparently there were strigoi who were still loyal to Sebastian, and knowing I had killed him had furthered their hate for me. Alexander and James had found this out but had urged me not to be so radical in the way I interrogated. I knew what I was doing wasn’t what I believed, but I felt the good in me had gone when Marcus was stolen. We got word that Sebastian’s undead lover Ilene had found out about his death through one of the council members close to Alexander. I suspected if she knew there would not be much of a reaction and that might help us find out who was hiding him. Lucian had told me that Sebastian and Anton were always interested in immortalizing mortals even if they had to kill them. It was an experimentation they started practicing. Usually it was what Lucian considered Russian roulette. No one knew exactly how or why one became an undead; there were suspicions, but even the Gypsies lost hope in finding that out and started doing rituals to protect all their dead at burial.

Alexander’s undead guard had reported back that Ilene barely flinched when she had gotten the news of his death. They felt the slow reaction to the news of her lover’s death was enough warrant to stake her out. We decided to start with monitoring all of her accounts, place of work, and living quarters. We kept a good watch to make sure nothing suspicious came up. Now it was a waiting game. Lucian had called me a big brother government, but he didn’t understand. How could he? It was not his child that got taken. I knew telling him that hurt him, but I knew it was true. It had been months without my son, and I didn’t want it to become years.

Ilene had been clean on many of the stakeouts. I was surprised by this. I was sure she would have some vendetta against me. I wanted to know what Anton was planning. I wondered if he enjoyed doing this to me. Then one day we got a break. There had been a wire from her lover’s account to hers. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal, but the amount was more then you normally would consider taking out. Five hundred thousand dollars, what could she need that for? We continued to watch the money in her account; she was a smart one. She didn’t touch it for almost a month, and then suddenly it happened. She made the move we wanted: she wired it to another account not in her name. It was a generic name, but the account had been traced and we had information on where the owner of the account lived.

The house was in Colorado. Lucian and I arrived by plane and found out that the money had been taken out and the account had been closed while we were in flight. This couldn’t be it, I thought. Lucian and I decided to go to the house anyway. It was a good two-hour drive, but when we arrived, there was a car in the driveway. I did not care about breaking and entering laws, and with a little bit of energy I knocked the door down.

There sitting down looking out the window was Anton. He smiled when he saw me. I wanted to kill him immediately, but something stopped me. Where was Marcus? Lucian spoke to Anton, “Where is Marcus, Anton?” Anton smiled at us and said, “He is safe from harm and will grow up quite happy.” Anger was seething through my body. “What do you mean he is happy? Anton, he belongs with his mother. No one else could love him more than me. Anton, where is my child?” “Our child, you mean, and he will be brought up perfectly normal, in fact, maybe even like a human. Our child is in hiding. I saw how you disposed of my friend Sebastian, so I decided to make sure I held on to my life by having the only information left on our child. Consider it like life insurance.” Anton smiled. I fell to the floor crying. Damn Anton. He was ahead of us and found a way to protect himself using our son. My gut felt more painful than the day I lost him. Now I knew there was no hope.