The Cat Burglar - 7. Adjustments

When I noticed Ry’s blood on my shirt, I freaked even though I knew he was safe in Doc’s lab getting a transfusion of my blood. I had to get rid of the stains; it felt as if they burned my skin. Doc and Konstantin shook their heads at me when I ran out of the ward.

On the way back to the lab from my room, where I’d changed into a fresh shirt, the doorbell rang. I looked around, wondering where the guards were. No one was around to answer it. When I got closer, an overwhelming urge to open the door without checking first befell me. I knew I had to withstand it at all costs. I didn’t move. I imagined my feet were rooted to the floor; deeper and deeper the roots went. I began to tremble. Then Emil saw me.

“Kavan. What’s the matter?”

“Someone...f-force in-side....” I gritted out. The bell rang again.

Emil checked before he instantly opened the door wide and took a step back. “Legate Gideon.”

A tall vampire sporting an arrogant sneer stepped inside. If Konstantin was the dark version of a textbook vampire, this man was the exact opposite. His white-blond hair shimmered almost silver in the overhead light. “What took so long?”

Emil looked around, frowning. “I’m sorry you had to wait, legate. The guards are strangely absent.”

“What else could be expected,” he spat. Then his cold gaze found me. “You! Why didn’t you open the door when I told you?”

“You tried to compel me. I do not answer well to force.”

His slanted grey eyes narrowed at me, then he turned to Emil, deeming me unimportant. “Lead me to Lady Night.”

At that moment, we heard shouting coming from the basement. Without caring about the arrogant ass, I ran down the stairs, Emil and Gideon hot on my heels. We entered the lab to find Mother raising a sword high over her head, Konstantin standing protectively before my brothers, and Doc holding Warren by his throat, his feet scrabbling for the ground.

“What the devil is going on here?” Gideon stepped in front of me.

Mother’s eyes widened. “My lord,” she sniveled.” These humans have been turned illegally. I was just about to take care of it.”

Gideon raised a silvery eyebrow. “With your sword?”

Konstantin stepped forward. “They haven’t been turned illegally.” He pointed to Nathan. “Sebastian Hall turned him shortly before he died of cancer. He is a well-known scientist, and Doc is interested in recruiting him. Here is Mr. Clark’s declaration of consent.”

Gideon held his hand out, and Konstantin handed it over. He read through it. “Everything seems to be in order.” He frowned at Mother.

“But he is his brother,” Mother hissed, pointing at me.

“Is that correct?”

Before I could answer, Konstantin stepped forward. “It is, my lord.”

Gideon sighed. “I will inquire into this at a later time.” He turned to Mother. “Lady Night, I am to bring you in front of Lord Caspian. You are summoned.”

She sputtered, “Me? Summoned?”

Six soldiers were waiting outside, some in dark suits, some in combat pants and snug black t-shirts. To top the dramatics, everyone wore a gleaming sword on their back. I could barely suppress a snort, but when I detected the black SUVs with dark-tinted windows idling at the curb, I lost it. Trying to cover up my mirth with a cough didn’t work judging by the glare the legate aimed at me. I think I was lucky that Mother decided to throw a tantrum, otherwise, I’d have ended up a pile of ash to be taken away by the next gust of wind.

“You will regret this!” She ripped her arm from Gideon’s grip and tried to storm back inside the house.

Two soldiers stepped calmly forward, put their hands on her shoulders, turned her around, and force-escorted her to a car. Only the closing of its door muffled her ranting.

Gideon turned to Konstantin. “You will lead the clan until further notice. I will send an investigator because of the turned humans in your ward.” Without waiting for an answer, he climbed into the second car and waved imperiously at the driver, who immediately pulled out and departed.

“What a pompous ass.” I watched the cars disappear around the next bend. “Did you see the jewelry he wore? Daith piercings are rumored to be very painful. I wonder if he got them before or after he was turned. It was only red and white gems, even on the clasp that held his braid.”

“Rubies and diamonds,” Konstantin murmured distractedly.

“Rubies and diamonds?”

Konstantin shook his head. “Not important.”

“What do you think they will do with Mother?”

He shrugged. “That depends on how furious Caspian is, I guess.” He tilted his head to the left as if trying to identify a distinct noise only he could hear. “Let’s go back inside.”

I looked around. “What? Did you hear something?”

“It’s probably nothing.”

Inside, Konstantin instantly called a clan meeting in the common room. Most of our soldiers had been killed during the attack. Max, Anja, and Warren looked defiant and anxious at the same time, probably fearing my sire’s retaliation for always being on Mother’s side. It showed how little they knew him.

Going over to the fireplace, he leaned back against the mantel and waited for everyone to find a seat on the various couches and chairs. Emil, Martin, and Maria took one of the bigger couches.

“Mother has been summoned by Lord Caspian.” He lifted his hand to curb any questions. “His legate didn’t relay any reasons for her summoning. I don’t know how long it will take.”

“But she will return?” Ava asked.

“Of course, you stupid cow! He’s probably congratulating her for putting the Delacour scum in their right place as we speak.” Warren sprawled on an overstuffed chair, sloshing blood-laced wine from the glass dangling from his hand.

“Watch your attitude, kiddo.” Emil let go of Maria’s hand, got up from the sofa, and took a step in Warren’s direction. A glare from Konstantin stopped him from whatever he was about to do to Warren.

“Well, if that was her goal, she failed spectacularly.” Van, one of the two surviving soldiers still looked worse for wear. A fading scar ran across the left side of her face. In the past, she wore her long black hair in a tight braid. She cut it military-short after the attack, barely covering up another scar where a sword had partially scalped her.

Warren immediately jumped from his chair. “What—”

“Silence!” I had a brief Medusa moment when it seemed as if Konstantin’s braids had turned into snakes. The ends lifted as if they were heads ready to strike. “If or when Mother will return is solely and exclusively Lord Caspian’s decision. It makes no sense to assume –things.”

“But you hope she won’t return, and you can take over the clan,” Warren accused my sire.

“Legate Gideon entrusted me with this clan for the time being, and I accepted. These will be my last words on this topic; there are more important things to deal with.

“We don’t want Mother returning to a chaotic household.” He turned to Mother’s blood slaves, who sat in two club chairs close to Warren. “First, Ava and Ira need small doses of her blood to survive the next few days.” He looked at Doc. “Seb, do you have a contingent of Mother’s blood so we can sustain them?”

“I do, but it’s not much. She didn’t like having her blood taken or the idea of having a supply lying around in the cooling unit. Even if I stretch what I have, we might still have to wean you off.” This time he spoke directly to Ira and Ava.

Ira looked at Ava questioningly. After a long moment, she whispered, “Okay.”

“What do you mean by okay?” Warren was out of his chair again, towering over Ava, who instantly cowered in her seat. His hands clamped down on her slim shoulders. “She’ll kill you both when she returns and finds out you’re weaned off her blood.”

Ira stood up, but a menacing glare from Warren was enough for him to slump down in his chair again defeatedly. I never liked Mother’s sycophant blood slaves, but when bruises started forming on Ava’s shoulders, I had enough. I grabbed Warren’s wrists, squeezed, and pulled him away from her. “You’re hurting her, asshole.”

Instead of fighting my grip, he narrowed his eyes at Konstantin. “Better hope that she won’t return.”

“Mother will be even more pissed if we let Ava and Ira die in her absence. She will decide what to do when she’s back.” A hard smile appeared on Konstantin’s face when he spoke to Warren. “Show any more disrespect, and you’ll earn yourself some downtime in the basement.”

Warren’s hands curled into fists. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Kavan, please show Mother’s pet to one of our guest rooms in the basement. The doors lock automatically when you pull them closed.”

“Sire.” I made a production of bowing low before I pushed him to the hallway. “After you.” I expected him to fight me and rant the entire time as I escorted him to one of the compound’s three cells. Finding out he was nothing but a bag of hot air entirely took the fun out of doing this. I loved the resounding ‘click’ when the door locked behind him, though.

When I returned, I sat down in a chair close to Doc. Konstantin briefly looked up. “Any problems?”

I shook my head. “None, sire.”

Doc leaned over and whispered, “Did you have fun?”

“Less than I thought actually.” Emil smirked at my answer until Konstantin glared at us.

“Are you three done gossiping?”

We immediately straightened our posture. “Yes, sir.”

“Two of us have to feed a childe, and Van and Amir need more healing, which means we need donors or have to hunt,” Konstantin stated.

“What about Maria and Martin?” Van asked.

“As Emil is considering turning them, he asked me to let them leave the donor pool, and I granted it.”

“We can’t drink their blood because he’s fucking them?” Van raised her eyebrows.

Emil rolled his eyes. “Exactly. Feeding can be an intimate act, and I don’t share. Any more unnecessary questions, soldier?”

She lifted her hands in mock surrender. “Nope. Not me.”

Amir leaned forward. “Would you agree to donate blood into a mug at least, for the childre?”

Emil looked questioningly at his lovers, who immediately nodded enthusiastically. “Okay, until we have regular donors.”

Van frowned. “What about visiting The Tavern? They always have blood donors available, and we could catch up on the latest gossip.”

“Two very good suggestions. Van, as you need decidedly more healing, you’ll go. What about you, Amir?” Konstantin asked.

“To be fully operational again, I’d like to go too, if it’s not too risky to leave the house without any soldiers.”

“Kavan, you will stay with your brothers?”

“Definitely.”

“What if the investigator Gideon wanted to send arrives in your absence?” Emil asked.

“He will be no problem. We did everything lege artis.” He turned to Doc and Emil. “You two are going to stay too, just in case.” Both nodded.

He stepped away from the mantel. “Then it’s decided. You three will guard the house. Bear in mind Gideon will send someone whose gift is to detect lies.”

I raised my eyebrows. “You’ll visit The Tavern too?”

“I have to talk to Oriole. Maybe he can send some of his donors over or provide blood in bags.”

Then I got it. He hoped to meet Katherine there. He had to be beside himself with concern for her. I knew he tried to call her, but she never answered her phone.

After the others had left, I went down and sat at my brothers’ beds. Both were still sedated and hooked up to yet another blood bag. Doc thought it would be safer if they were asleep when the investigator visited, and they weren’t able to answer any questions.

Doc was in the office down the hall when his phone rang. “Emil, what can I do for you? Is she here?” After a short pause, he said, “I’m coming right up.”

On his way, he stopped briefly at the open door. “The investigator is here. I think it will be better if you stay here with your brothers; I’ll call you if she wants to talk to you. Remember, tell the truth, exactly as we practiced it.”

I was holding Ry’s hand when I heard Doc talking to someone while they descended the stairs.

The investigator was a tiny woman. Her sharp gaze seemed to register everything in the room in seconds, including me. She held a tablet computer in her hand.

“You are Kavan Clark, Konstantin Navarro’s One Childe.”

“I am.”

“And these are your natural brothers, Nathan and Rylan.”

I remembered Doc’s warnings, keep it brief. “Correct.”

“How did you find out about your brother Nathan’s illness?”

“I immediately wanted to see my brothers after I understood what had happened to me; we are...were very close. I was devastated when my sire told me it wasn’t possible. Vampires have to avoid the exposure of their world to humans, and I grudgingly understood, barely. However, it isn’t against the rules to watch them from afar as long as I don’t speak to them. After completing my training, I was finally allowed to leave the compound, and I stretched the rules. From time to time, I climbed the roof of the house across from my old home and simply watched them doing mundane things: cooking dinner, washing the dishes, talking. It was the only way I had to be a part of their life, if only remotely.

“On that day my brother Rylan came home and stormed into his bathroom. I knew something bad had happened. He ran into the shower crying and yelling, cursing fate. From his words, I gleaned that Nathan was ill, maybe even dying. I didn’t know what to do. Then my sire appeared, I guess he felt I was upset through our bond and wanted to make sure I didn’t break the rules. He heard everything that was going on. I pleaded with him to do something. He called Doc—”

“Doctor Hall already informed me how he turned your brother and why. I looked into the hospital files; they confirm his statement. According to my findings, there has never been any danger of exposure.”

It went better than I thought. The next part was dicier.

Doc briefly brushed my arm and helped me to stay calm.

She swiped to the next page of her report. “I watched the security videos from the bridge and read the police report. They found no hints of any external influence. It confirms the suspicion that your brother committed suicide. Still, the question remains how did you know?”

Now came the part I’d practiced with Doc over and over. “I couldn’t go to Nathan’s funeral; I’m too young to venture outside, and during the day I sleep. An older vampire went for me.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“He stayed in the shadows and watched from a distance taking a video; no one saw him. Rylan was a mess. It looked as if he would collapse by the graveside. Then my friend overheard Rylan’s words he whispered over the open grave: I’ll be seeing you soon, big brother.

“After that, I watched him whenever I could. One night, he went to Castle Bridge, and I knew what was about to happen. He climbed the railing. It was horrible to watch. He cried out my name and Nathan’s. He cried for our mother; he cursed fate and our father. He was going to jump any time; it was no risk to expose our world to a soon-to-be-dead man. I called my sire and convinced him to help. We waited in the trellises for Rylan to jump. We had planned to catch him when he passed us on his way down, but he hit his head so hard on one of the metal beams that he sustained serious head trauma. He would have died from it alone. Konstantin allowed me to turn him.” Only with Doc’s support, was I able to wait calmly for her assessment of our case.

Finally, she closed the document, put the tablet into a briefcase and fucking smiled. “Thank you for your time. I’ll be handing my report over to Legate Gideon. Even though the circumstances are unusual, I can’t see any problems here. Everything seems to be in order.”

When Doc closed the door behind Gideon’s investigator, he seemed as puzzled as me. “This was easy.”

“Maybe too easy?”

“Gideon did what he had to do and investigated your brothers’ turning after Mother’s accusations. The main point is there was no danger of exposure. Maybe that is enough for him.” Then Doc grinned. “His investigator seems to be quite the little hacker, interesting.”

Putting an empty cup on the nightstand beside him, Nathan shook his head. “I still can’t believe what happened. Vampires exist. I am one of them now. The evidence is conclusive—but maybe I am in a coma, delirious, or schizophrenic, the leukemia—”

I took his hand. “You’re a scientist; you’re looking for an explanation that fits your familiar mindset. I would have been surprised if you’d simply accepted your new situation without having at least a million questions, but you were always open to new approaches to old theories and ideas. Just talk to Doc.”

“To whom?”

“Doc, Sebastian Hall. He is a scientist too. He will explain everything to you on a level I never could.”

“He is a scientist? Didn’t you say he’s a vampire and my—sire?”

“Of course he is. Vampires were humans before, like you, with a normal human life. And because he turned you, he’s your sire.”

“Why would vampires need scientists?”

“I don’t know. Why not? Why do humans need scientists?”

“But—”

I lifted my hand to stop his gazillion questions. “As I said, talk to Doc. He is the right man to go to.”

I hadn’t realized how much I missed talking to my brothers, even the annoying parts like suffering through their quips and lectures, just being with them, was a relief. We discussed what would the future would bring, and what to expect. Of one fact we were sure, now that the Clark brothers were together again, we would be a force to be reckoned with in this new world of ours. I was happy for the first time since being turned.

Doc was already reducing Ry’s sedative. We were waiting for him to wake up soon.

The others had returned from The Tavern, brimming with news. Konstantin had spoken to Katherine. Not only spoken, according to Van and Amir, there had been a lot of kissing, groping, and even drinking of small portions of blood involved too.

The most important news though, was that Henri Delacour had been summoned too, and Caspian’s legate had named Katherine leader of the Delacour clan. In relation to their numbers, they had almost suffered as many losses as we, and they were still licking their wounds as well. Many clan members hadn’t been happy with Henri’s irreconcilability. They wanted to negotiate, but they hadn’t been heard.

As Konstantin had hoped, Oriole was able to provide short-time donors, which meant Van’s and Amir’s healing progressed, and there was enough blood left for my brothers.

According to the Fae, Caspian was furious. Human authorities were anxious because of an increased number of homicides and missing person cases. The press, and right with them the general public, were demanding the chief of police find the perpetrators responsible, and the forces were on high alert the entire time, which made the other species decidedly unhappy with the vampires. They had to be more careful now because of the increased awareness.

We hadn’t heard anything from Caspian or his legate besides what Konstantin had snapped up at The Tavern. Careful probing only got Konstantin an angry rebuke. It was time for my brothers to get their own rooms, and we decided to start with their training. I totally enjoyed the garden lesson. Nathan tried to analyze every noise and scent and thought loudly about how his new body was able to process everything so much more effectively, while Rylan was up the next tree and caught and devoured a squirrel, smiling proudly down at me.

Nathan and Doc hit it off as expected. He had so many questions I assumed Doc sometimes wished for a silencing spell or at least duct tape. I guess his capabilities to calm others down helped a lot to tone down Nathan’s excitement.

The training was as hard for them as it had been for me, maybe a little harder for Nathan. After the first grueling weeks, we decided it was time for our first excursion. Rylan, Nathan, and I sat on the rooftop across from our old house. Every window was brightly lit. At first, Doc and Konstantin had been against visiting the house, but in the end, we were able to persuade them under the condition they could come with us. As if they’d have let us go alone the first time. They were annoyingly protective.

“What’s he doing here?” Rylan narrowed his eyes. An older man was boxing up our, or better Ry’s and Nathan’s stuff. The doors of the cupboards in the kitchen stood open; they were already empty. I almost didn’t recognize him. It was no wonder the shrine was still untouched.

Doc leaned forward. “Do you know him?”

“That’s Dr. Clark.” Nathan put his arm around Ry’s shoulders, not watching the house anymore.

“Professor Clark?” Konstantin got it first. “Your father.”

“Yep, the sperm donor. Now that we’re all supposedly dead, he shows his visage.” Suddenly, I felt the strong need to throw something and smash the window. He taped the box closed and carried it over to the hall. When he passed the pictures, he suddenly raised his hand, and with one move he hurled them on the floor. We could hear our father’s loud sobs. “I should have been here for them!”

A woman with Asian features came running from the other room. She immediately wrapped her arms around him. “They wouldn’t have had understood.”

“How do you know that?” He freed himself from her arms. “My boys were always open-minded. Maybe they would have understood. Now we’ll never know!”

“Who’s that?”

“The reason why our father didn’t bother coming home anymore, I suppose,” Nathan calmly answered my question.

“That asshole.” Ry had tears running down his face. “How long has he been seeing her? Maybe even before Mom’s death.”

I took his hand. “You don’t know that.”

He ripped his hand from my grip. “I hate him. C-Can we go home?”

Then the woman stepped outside, scanning the roofs.

“Quick, Kavan. Hide us!” Konstantin pulled us back into the shadows.

He sniffed. ”She’s not human.”

I almost forgot to hide us. “What? What is she?”

”I don’t know for sure....”

“Some kind of shifter,” Doc whispered.

“Whatever she is, I have a bad feeling. Let’s go.”

The longer it took until we heard from Caspian or his legate, the more anxious the clan became, even Konstantin and Emil. Warren was still in the basement. Feeding him was a chore. One time he even knocked a cylinder with blood out of Doc’s hand, which meant no blood for him until he begged.

We continued to train Rylan and Nathan. Amir and Van joined us because they had nothing else to do. Ry took to fighting and climbing like a duck to water. Nathan was a little slower, mostly because he thought too much about every move and his astonishing new capabilities.

It was almost four weeks since Mother had been summoned, and we still hadn’t heard anything either from her or the legate. Konstantin considered asking for an appointment with him when a messenger informed us the entire clan had to appear at Caspian’s residence the night after next at 10:00 PM.

When Konstantin objected that he couldn’t leave the compound without any guards, the man told us Caspian had predicted Konstantin’s concerns and ensured him Caspian’s soldiers would guard the house during our absence.

The next day, Konstantin called me into his rooms. He wasn’t alone, as I expected, but one of the women I’d seen at The Tavern was with him. On a table, they’d spread out an assortment of small bottles, herbs, and strange instruments.

“Uh, Konstantin?”

“Kavan, this is Elzbeth, she helped me with a small problem in the past.”

I wasn’t sure why he was telling me this. “Sounds kinda ominous.”

Elzbeth cackled. “He’s a cheeky one.”

Konstantin inhaled exaggeratedly. “You have no idea.” Then he turned to me. “It’s rumored that one of Caspian’s numerous powers is identifying other vampires’ gifts.”

“Ooops. I mean...shit.” It was not my best day.

Fortunately, Konstantin ignored me vomiting words “Elzbeth can hide your gifts.”

The woman removed corks from various tiny bottles, then pulled at the edge of a piece of cloth, thereby revealing several needles. I swallowed. “How?”

“She’ll give you a tattoo.”

“A tattoo?”

Elzbeth grinned at me. ”Are you afraid of needles, little one?”

The little one rankled me a bit, and I opened my mouth. ”Of unhygienic filthy ones, yes.”

She rubbed some leaves between her fingers into one of the bottles. “The new ones are too cute, not yet accustomed to their new reality.” Then she glared at me. “Even if my needles were filthy, you can’t get sick from them anymore, little vampire.” She turned to my sire. “That costs extra.”

He sighed. “I thought as much.”

“We need to hide the tattoo. Usually, I place it on the scalp, as I did with yours, but it would take too long for his hair to grow back.” She looked at me thoughtfully. “Do you have tattoos somewhere?”

“On the back of my neck, the metal tip of a pen, dripping drops of ink.”

Excited, she waved with her hand. “Show me, show me.”

I pulled my shirt over my head.

“Oh, this is perfect. I’ll tattoo it over one of the drops. No one will see it. Luckily you vampires heal so quickly.”

It was extremely painful, and I’m quite sure she did it on purpose. I had to think of my shadow dancer gift while she did the tattoo. Konstantin had explained to me it would be suspicious if I didn’t have any gifts yet, so we decided to leave the shadow melder gift for Caspian to detect.

In the end, she made a lot of hand gestures and murmured strange words, then she grinned, satisfied. ”No detectable gifts besides the aforementioned shadow melder. A rare gift. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing, but Caspian will definitely be interested in you, little vampire.” Then she held her hand out, and Konstantin gave her a small vial with blood.

“It’s always good doing business with you, Konstantin Navarro.”

Any thoughts what's going to happen Mother?
Thank you for reading chapter seven, any reaction and/comment is appreciated.
@Valkyrie for editing and beta-reading.