“Don’t you think we’ve tried that?” Gray questioned.
“I have no idea what you’ve done!” Damien snapped. “When was the last time she was seen? By whom? Where could she have gone? And why?”
“I agree with Michael,” Alexander stated. “Why don’t we reconvene in the sitting room. We can discuss the details there.” Damien threw his arms in the air in frustration. “There is nothing to do right now, Damien. Michael is correct, we will find her, but it will not be tonight. And it will not be by executing an ill-conceived plan.”
Damien sighed, nodding his head. “All right,” he assented, his voice just above a whisper as he stared at nothing.
“Come on, man,” Michael prompted Damien. “Let’s head down for that drink. We both can use one.”
“Damien,” Alexander said before they departed. Damien turned to look at him. “We will find her.”
Damien nodded as Michael led him from the room. Alexander followed, turning back to find Gray still standing in the room. “Coming, cousin?”
“Yes,” Gray answered, “but I want to re-hang this picture first. We need it, now more than ever.”
“Let me help,” Alexander replied, picking up one side of the painting while Gray grabbed the other. Together, they carried the portrait of Celine downstairs and hung it above the fireplace in the foyer. “It’s good to see it back in its rightful place.”
“I agree. Now if we could only retrieve Celine. At least the portrait can protect us until she is back.”
“Shall we join Michael and Damien?” Alexander questioned.
“Yes. As much as I don’t want to relive the last few days, they have a right to receive answers to their questions.”
“He’s just as upset as you are, Gray. Please try to remember that.”
“I realize that. And Celine would want me to remember that, too.”
Gray and Alexander entered the sitting room. An orange glow lit the room, emanating from the fireplace. Michael and Damien both nursed brandies. Michael paced the room while Damien sat near the fireplace. He hunched over his drink, staring into it as though it held the answers to all his questions.
Gray poured a brandy for Alexander and himself. “Listen, Damien,” he began, “I realize what a shock this is. It was to me, too. We all want to find Celine and we will.”
“I don’t understand. How could she just disappear? Could this have something to do with our visit to the adjudicator? Was this my fault?” Damien questioned, referring to Celine’s summoning of the adjudicator to save her sister Celeste from the curse of vampirism. Celine had called upon the creature, a justice keeper of the supernatural world, to beg for her sister’s rebirth as a witch rather than a vampire. Her request had been denied. In the process, the adjudicator had become angered that Damien, a human, had witnessed their conversation, threatening him. Celine had promised to fight to the death for Damien. Had the adjudicator taken her up on that, Damien wondered?
“For not being related by blood, you are just like her,” Gray murmured, shaking his head as he sipped his brandy.
“What?” Damien questioned.
“It isn’t your fault, Damien,” Alexander reassured him. Damien understood Gray’s comment. He referred to Celine’s characteristic trait of self-blame for all events.
“The last time she visited the adjudicator she disappeared for twenty-five years,” Damien replied, referencing Celine’s morph into his human cousin, Josie.
“I’m well aware of what happened the last time. I don’t need to be reminded,” Gray answered. He paused a moment. “But Alexander is correct. This has nothing to do with the adjudicator.”
“How can you be so sure?” Michael chimed in.
“Adjudicators do not revisit prior decisions or conversations,” Alexander explained. “If the adjudicator planned to do something to Celine, it would have done it at your meeting. Not after.”
Damien let the information sink in. “You say she disappeared the night we left for 1791?”
“Yes,” Gray answered. “I found a note in our bedroom. She wrote she was going to meet Celeste. She didn’t say where. That was the last correspondence any of us had with her.”
Damien leapt from his seat, pacing the room as he digested the information. “And you spoke with Celeste?”
“Yes, of course I spoke with Celeste. When she didn’t come home, that’s the first person I talked to.”
“And she said what?” Damien questioned.
“She said she spoke with Celine around ten. They spoke for about fifteen minutes before they parted ways. It appeared Celine was returning home when she left. That was the last Celeste saw of her,” Gray explained.
Damien pondered it a moment. “And the note was in Celine’s handwriting?”
“Yes,” Gray answered, wrinkling his brow.
“What did she speak with Celeste about?” Michael queried.
“According to Celeste, she asked to meet Celine to discuss the physical symptoms Celine was experiencing. The painful memories. Celeste was concerned Celine’s involvement in creating her vampiric condition led to Celine’s symptoms. Celeste felt compelled to tell Celine she did not hold her responsible. She was concerned the stress would harm Celine,” Gray responded.
“I want to talk to Celeste,” Damien requested.
“No!” Gray barked.
“What? Why?” Damien asked.
“You’re not going anywhere near Celeste in her condition. Either of you.”
“She is the last one to have seen Celine. She may have information we need!” Damien entreated.
“We’ve already spoken to her. Both of us,” Gray said, referencing Alexander.
“But you may have missed something. Something I can pick up on!” Damien insisted.
“The answer is no,” Gray answered.
“Perhaps it should be arranged,” Alexander suggested.
“Are you crazy, Alex? If something happens to either of them, Celine will never forgive us.”
“We should keep Michael away, I agree. But Celeste wouldn’t be foolish enough to attack Damien. I will go with him. It should be safe,” Alexander suggested.
Gray considered it for a moment. “Fine. Speak with her again. Just be sure she keeps her distance from him.”
“Great!” Damien exclaimed. “Let’s go.”
“Just a moment, Damien. We should postpone this discussion until you’ve both had some proper rest.”
“Proper rest? Are you
