way, but these last few are the easiest. The journey, which started back when I was a scared girl trapped in a closet as my brother was taken, will end behind this door that holds the most powerful vampires in the world. And I won’t bow to them. They will bow to me. Because this city has shown me everything I need to know. The Old Families aren’t powerful, they’re feeble.
Victor gives me one final look, both hands on the massive doors. I nod and he pushes them open.
Chapter 11
The Vampire Council. I’m staring at it. The heart that moves the world is right in front of me. Thirteen vampires sit around a large, wooden table, a single chandelier hanging from the ceiling. On the walls, misaligned portraits of their ancestors, painted by some long-forgotten artist in an era left to history books. Thirteen Old Family vampires. Some are elderly, ancient even, with straggly gray hair that hangs on only by some miracle. Others are younger and appear to be Clive’s age, even though they may be pushing five hundred. At least one is the same age as Victor but not nearly as handsome, his plump body giving way to a rotund and almost- teenish face.
And one woman. She must be Lilith. She’s intimidating, reflecting an aged beauty that is timeless yet frightening. Her stare is stern and cold, as though she’s uninterested in things that don’t bleed for her. I’m reminded of a school mistress from classrooms that could only be found in a child’s nightmare. I guess I was hoping for someone a little, I don’t know, softer.
None of them stand up or offer us seats. They simply turn as little as possible to get a view of their new guests. It doesn’t even seem like we interrupted anything, and I can easily imagine this group gathering dust while waiting for some important news to come their way.
“Forgive my absence,” Victor says. “I should have reported immediately once my father was no longer head of the family. But I trust you received word from the messenger I sent.”
Victor is speaking more formally, melding into the world in which he’s lived for four hundred years. For his efforts, he receives a bored pause, while each of the Old Family look at each other, wondering who will bother speaking first. One of the oldest finally does.
“Yes, we were informed by your messenger that changes were afoot. Not exactly proper, but that isn’t unusual for the House of Valentine.”
“I beg your pardon, Lord Paxton?” Victor asks, a calm but immensely powerful tone in his voice that demands everyone be held accountable for what they say in front of him.
“Your father chose to abandon his post here and live near that
“Perhaps he chose to spend time at a place that he could mold, rather than sitting in a room, waiting for the world to mold him.”
“I never expected you to defend your father.”
“I’ll defend who I choose and it will be no business of yours.”
“Watch your tone, young Valentine,” a vampire who looks familiar says. “My grandson stands at your side. I would not have him painted with the brush of your impudence.”
Now I recognize that he has Richard’s eyes, his sharp features. He’s the head of the Carrollton family: Montague Carrollton.
“Apologies, my lord,” Victor says. “I would do nothing to disrespect your grandson or your esteemed family.”
“Apology accepted.” Lord Carrollton glances around. “Shall we speed these proceedings along? I wish to have some time with my grandson.”
“Very well,” Lord Paxton says. “Young Carrollton, you stood as witness to this Valentine’s rise?”
“I did, my lord.”
“Was it an honorable battle?”
“It was, my lord. No one interfered. It was father and son. I give you my word.”
“Lady Faith, were you also in attendance at your father’s passing?”
“I was.”
“Did you find fault with it?”
“I did not, my lord,” she says, her confidence matching her beauty. “My father brought on his own demise by challenging my brother. In fact, he taunted him, forced him to take action.”
“Then it seems, Victor Valentine, that you have earned the right to take a seat at this table, to be named the head of the Valentine house.”
“Do not be so hasty,” the chubby-faced Old Family says, “to give such power to such arrogance. Barging in here after a long absence is perhaps forgivable. But to have the audacity to bring a human in here as well, I’m afraid, is intolerable.”
“Lord Asher, in this instance, tolerances must be given,” Victor says.
“Is that so?” he scoffs.
“It is.” Victor stares at Asher, daring him to challenge him, to say anything else. But Asher simply leans back, as if bored with this conversation. I’m surprised he retreated so easily.
“Who is this young woman, then?” Paxton asks.
“Allow me the honor to present Dawn Montgomery.”
I hold my breath, waiting for their reaction. There’s a slight murmur at the sound of my last name from the oldest council members. They may be wondering: Is she
“She was the delegate for Denver,” Victor says, and the whispers die down, my position as nothing more than common human reaffirmed in their eyes. “She, along with Richard, Faith, and myself, has uncovered information of grave importance. A plan that could threaten all of vampire-kind is already unfolding. We need the Council’s help to stop it.”
Over the next half hour, we tell them everything: Sin, Day Walkers, the Chosen, Los Angeles. Victor speaks with confidence and often passes the explanations to me. Whenever I begin, I hear the groans of the Old Family, as if disgusted by my human breath in this room. But then I realize that I once dealt with the Bloody Valentine, I’ve faced down Sin, I’ve spoken to the oldest vampire in the world. And when I remember these things, I’m not worried anymore, and I become a delegate again. Not a delegate for Denver, but for all of humanity.
“Using the V-Process, Sin is creating powerful monsters that he could use to gain control of all the territories.”
Lord Carrollton sighs. “I see the boy holds a grudge.”
“I should think the humans would welcome a change in leadership,” Lord Paxton says.
I shake my head. “He’ll reduce our lives to a despair worse than what we now endure. I’ve seen the Chosen. Victor fought one, and it nearly killed him before he—we—were able to destroy it. Richard has dealt with them as well. Sin’s plan is to have five hundred. Humans can’t defeat Sin alone. We need you; we need to all be on the same side if we’re going to stop him.”
“This is nothing but myth and conjecture,” Asher says. “If you had come by yourself, Victor, perhaps we would have believed you. But to bring a human with you to bolster your case, I’m afraid that you have lost all credibility with this Council.”
“Do not speak so quickly or harshly,” Lord Carrollton says. “Human words carry no weight here, but Los Angeles is Carrollton territory. Richard, what do you know of this?”
“The Thirst is rampant outside Los Angeles. The Infected hordes are rampaging through the countryside. I went to see Father. We—Faith, Dawn, and I—went to see him. I’m sorry to report, Grandfather, that my father was killed long before we arrived. All his Lessers are Infected.”
Lord Carrollton closes his eyes for a moment and sighs heavily. “I should have followed Murdoch Valentine’s example and overseen the territory of Los Angeles myself.”
“With all due respect, Grandfather, I don’t think it would have made a difference. It is as Dawn has
