Unafraid

the sheets. He lost his footing and fell backward as the sheets and Alexei’s disintegrated body fell on top of him. “Merde!” Jean-Paul shrieked, brushing the ash off of him wildly. “You weel burn in ’ell for theese. David weel see to eet!”

“And who do you think ordered your death?”

A wave of shock washed over Jean-Paul’s face. “That ees a lie!” Jean-Paul spat, finally standing and facing Nakano. “My father would never send you to keel ’is only son.”

His son? Jean-Paul is David’s son! That can’t be true. Brania would’ve said something. She must know Jean-Paul was her brother. Nakano stumbled back as Jean-Paul moved toward him. As twisted as it sounded, Nakano knew Jean-Paul spoke the truth. But how could a father order his own son’s execution? Nakano’s own father despised him, but Nakano could never imagine he would place a price on his head. How could David do such a thing? And why had he been put in the middle of it all?

“You’re David’s son?” Nakano asked.

“Yes,” Jean-Paul replied. “And I weell see to eet that you suffer for what you ’ave done ’ere today!”

But Nakano wasn’t finished. As Jean-Paul reached out to grab the stake from Kano’s sweaty hand, the white rose vibrated in the boy’s pocket. Before Kano could comprehend what was happening, Jean-Paul slipped on the fallen bedspread, his body lurching forward, and he clutched Kano’s shoulders.

They both looked down at the same time and saw that the stake had found a second target.

In an instant Jean-Paul’s beautiful face was gone, replaced by a ball of fire. Then just black soot. As the ash smoldered at his feet, Nakano pulled the crumbled rose out from his pocket and watched it bloom to life. “Brania was right about you,” he remarked, before tucking it back for safe keeping.

Who knew when he’d need that kind of luck again?

When Nakano walked into David’s office a few minutes before midnight, he didn’t acknowledge the headmaster, but went directly for the geisha’s ornate box. It really would make the perfect urn. He opened up the brown paper bag he was carrying and emptied the contents inside of it. Closing the lid, he presented it to David.

Outside, the cheers continued, the students still reveling in Double A’s gold medal victory in the Team of the Year competition. Inside, the celebration was much more subdued.

“You have done well,” he said, his voice thick, but too in shock to cry.

“I’ll expect my reward shortly,” Kano replied.

As he left the room he couldn’t help but smile. David had no idea his treasured souvenir actually contained Alexei’s ashes. The bag that had been filled with Jean-Paul’s remains was floating somewhere in the polluted water of the Eden sewer system. Nakano couldn’t think of a more perfect resting place for the bastard.

chapter 28

O feathered wings that soar above this land that we call home.

Immortal creatures filled with love protect us as we roam.

Throughout this earth and back again over land and sea, guide us so we may return where we were born to be.

This hallowed ground, our resting place, Archangel Academy.

When David finished singing the school’s anthem he felt his shoulder blades twitch. His own wings were eager to present themselves, eager to come out of hiding and show the assembled crowd indisputable proof that David was and would always be their unrivaled leader. Looking at the sea of faces staring at him, the blank expressions of those who had gathered in his office, David thought they could use a jolt, a reminder that they existed only to carry out his bidding, but now wasn’t the time for exhibitionism, now was the time for action.

“By the end of today’s Tri-Centennial Celebration, I will have destroyed The Well!” David announced.

Morgandy’s whooping cheer would have sounded more raucous if it had had company.

“Haven’t we stumbled down this road before, David?” Vaughan’s question lingered in the air for several seconds before David corralled his instinct to kill and decided to respond.

“This time ... Vaughan, ” he began, “I will use one of their own to help secure victory.”

Lips pursed, Vaughan felt the air slowly exhale from his nostrils as his fingers gripped the side of the leather armchair. He desperately wanted to ask David who he was using, which water vamp was going to act as his unwitting accomplice, but as Michael’s father he knew it was a question David expected him to ask. As much as Vaughan wanted to know, he didn’t want to give David the satisfaction. Luckily, Morgandy was as inquisitive as he was enthusiastic.

“Is it Ciaran?” Morgandy asked. “Did one of his stupid experiments finally work?”

“Ciaran is human, you bloody fool!” David howled. “And an utter disappointment. Like all humans, he has proven he is useless. His mother, however, is a different story.”

“Edwige?” Vaughan hoped his voice didn’t sound as shocked as he thought it did.

“Do you disapprove Vaughan?” David asked.

Vaughan wasn’t thrilled to know David was going to use his significant other, but at least David wasn’t using his son. “It’s an excellent choice,” he said.

Satisfied, David turned his attention to the rest of the group. He needed to rally them, make them understand how important today was, how their lives were about to change forever. “Once that exquisite milestone is achieved, I will give the command for you to kill as many water vamps as you can,” he said. “Spread out, seek, strike, and slay.” He loved how his words sounded, the deep, strong tenor of his voice. “Then we will scour the world and give every water vamp we capture a choice: convert or be killed.”

This time when Morgandy cheered, Oliver and several others joined him. David’s fervor was starting to catch on like a restless flame, though there were still some less than enthusiastic dissenters in the room. “We seem to be missing an important member of our flock,” Joubert said, then asked, “Where’s Jean-Paul?”

Finally, Nakano heard something interesting. He stared at the geisha’s gift-turned-urn perched on the desk behind David and wondered what strategy the headmaster would employ. Would he reveal the truth and present Nakano with his reward in front of this group of fools? Or would he offer up some cryptic response?

“Jean-Paul,” David said, almost choking on his dead son’s name, “is exactly where I need him to be.”

Score one for the cryptic response. But wait, maybe not so cryptic. David’s eyes betrayed him, and he stole a guilty glance at the urn. It was quick, but obvious, and it was enough to convince Joubert that his friend wasn’t missing, that Jean-Paul was dead. Furious, Joubert wanted someone to pay; he wanted revenge. Brania simply wanted a response.

“Should I interpret your tardiness to mean you were not successful, Father?”

No one heard Brania’s silent query, but everyone saw the sneer form on David’s face. His daughter wasn’t even in the room, yet she was still controlling the situation. Speaking for the group, Oliver asked, “Is something wrong, Headmaster?”

Flustered by so many questions, David barked, “I have another matter to attend to!” But just as he reached the door, he realized he had been too hasty in his exit, and Jean-Paul was not exactly where he needed him to be. Walking back to his desk, he grabbed Jean-Paul’s final resting place and, ignoring the puzzled looks of everyone in the room, he left.

Cradling the urn in his arms like an infant, David walked from his office and through The Forest, into areas he had never ventured into before as he followed Brania’s voice. Now that she had decided to reconnect, the barriers were broken, and David was being given access to her secret lair. It enraged David that he had become a plaything to his daughter’s whims. He should know where all of his subjects resided. No one should keep secrets from him. But he kept reminding himself that even kings had to suffer hardships to solidify their power. Entering the cave, he took in the prehistoric dwelling, the child sitting in the coffin as if it were a rowboat, and thought that if he had to stay here for more than a few minutes it might prove to be one hardship that even a compromised king like himself would be unable to bear. “I hope utilities are included, my dear,” David quipped. “There seems to be quite a draft in here.”