Justine Ch. 22

It was the fourth day of the gala and he was bored. The only thing that was keeping him there was the money. It was late evening when he swore that he saw Lottie. He stared at the spot where he thought he saw her and began to make his way there.

"Where are you going?" Dawn asked.

"I...nowhere." Wallace replied still looking at the spot.

"Then let's keep moving." Dawn said and walked away. She knew who he had seen, but now wasn't the time to call him out on the lie. If she did, he would put it together and that would stop them in their tracks.

********

Thomas found Lorenzo and Naila standing by an exit watching the crowd. He knew what he needed to do, but he needed to make sure that Lottie was safe. He planned to put an end to his family's activities as soon as possible.

"Lorenzo, I must take care of some things, may I leave Lottie with you?"

"Of course, but are you sure that this is wise?" Lorenzo asked.

"I have to take care of this in my own way." Thomas replied. "But I need to know that Lottie is safe. Will you help me?"

"Thomas.... Please...this is what he wants." Lottie said. "You'd be walking into a trap."

"I know." Thomas replied. "Then it is no longer a trap is it? I want your word that you'll stay with Lorenzo and Naila. That is the way in which you can help me the most."

Lottie started to object, but then agreed.

"Call if you need help." Lorenzo said.

Thomas looked at him with an intensity that made Lorenzo nervous and glad that he was on their side.

"Thank you. Just watch after Lottie."

Lorenzo watched Thomas walk away like a man who knew what he had to do and had the confidence that he would succeed. He looked at Lottie and gave her an encouraging smile before sending a message to Maurice.

"Thomas is on the move, leave him alone unless he calls for help.... yes... I'll tell them."

********

Quinn had just finished a dance with a woman who had insisted on bringing him a plate of food when he received the message from Lorenzo. Justine looked at him and nodded. She had just gotten the same message.

"Thank you for the dance." Quinn said politely.

The woman tittered and then blushed before she backed away.

"What's he up to?" Quinn asked Justine when he reached her.

"He wants to prove himself." Justine replied. "And I'm fine as long as we're ready to jump in if he needs help."

"Jussie... he isn't going to need it." Quinn replied. "As long as Lottie is safe, he'll be fine."

*********

"Wait here." Dawn said as she walked away.

Wallace glared at her but did as she asked until he saw Lottie again. He started to leave his place when a voice stopped him.

"Don't go to her. If you do, they'll take her."

"Who are you?" Wallace asked as he turned around.

"Thomas Rhys. Anthony Rhys is my father."

"How do you know Lottie?" Wallace asked.

"She's my mate and my father wants her to get to me." Thomas explained. "Stay here and someone will come to guard you."

"What about Lottie?"

"She's safe as long as you stay away from her." Thomas replied.

"I need to talk to her...I need to explain..."

"Later." Thomas interrupted and walked away.

Wallace jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"My name is John; I've been assigned to watch you."

*******

Dawn stopped short when she saw Thomas talking to Wallace.

"Shit!" she swore and tried to vanish.

"Your powers don't work here." Thomas said with a smile, "But mine do."

Dawn's eyes narrowed as she looked into his face.

"Fuck...."

"Watch your language." Thomas said softly.

"You may have your gifts." Dawn said, "But you don't know how to use them, and even if you did; that doesn't change what you are."

"And what would that be?" Thomas asked as he took Dawn by the arm.

"Weak and pathetic just like father says you are. "

"Oh yes... I had almost forgotten that, but Dawn; who is it that is using a father to gain access to his daughter? Father is brave? Then where is he? Why hasn't he called me out if I am so weak? Why are you here on the front lines? But it doesn't matter... You don't have to explain why you were planning to kidnap of one of the Queen's court members."

"You would turn me in? You would go against your family?"

"I disowned you as my family when I realized what you wanted from me." Thomas replied his tone icy. "Lottie and the Queen's court is my family."

Dawn laughed.

"You really are stupid! Why do you think that they want you?" she sneered. "They want you for the same reason father wants you."

"That's true." Thomas replied. "But here's the difference... they asked and didn't make me feel as though I was worthless. But I understand now. Father wanted me to feel that way so that I would be easier to control. It's why he was so thrilled when I was mated to Wilhelmina... they had plans. He didn't plan on the Queen of Queens appearing nor did he plan on Wilhelmina dying."

"Thomas... I can help you..."

"I don't need your help." Thomas replied.

He murmured under his breath and Dawn was gone.

********

Justine spotted Thomas talking to a woman that had to be his sister. Moments later, the woman was gone. She looked to see if anyone had noticed.

"Well damn!" she exclaimed. "Quinn, cover for me"

Seconds later, Justine was sitting across from Dawn assessing her and not liking what she saw.

"You like hurting people." Justine said. "You are loyal only to yourself... in fact, you're trying to think of a way not to go to prison for treason even as we speak."

Dawn looked into Justine's glowing eyes and knew that it would be pointless to try to negotiate with her.

"You're smart to not to try to bullshit me." Justine said. "I appreciate that. You know, I was prepared to give you victim status, but I won't. You're no more of a victim than the cot that you're sitting on. You liked tormenting Thomas along with your father and brother. You liked torturing the human males that you picked up at the bars... you are one sick bitch. Someone will be here to take you away shortly."

"Where are you sending me?" Dawn asked.

"You don't need to know that." Justine replied as she stood. "But you'll never be released. You committed treason the moment you planned to take Lottie and Thomas. They are members of my court. Don't worry, your father and brother will be joining you shortly."

*********

Thomas found his brother Marcus in the banquet room. He had to laugh in spite of the situation. His brother loved to eat and always had some kind of food nearby. Until recently, Marcus was the only one of them who could eat.

"Hello Marcus" Thomas said as he picked up a shrimp canapé. "The food is delicious isn't it?"

Marcus stared as Thomas popped the canapé into his mouth, chewed and then swallowed it.

"Delicious! Have you tried the little meatballs? They're made from a recipe that the Queen Mother got from her mother... what's wrong Marcus? You look ill."

"When did you start eating food?" Marcus asked.

"A couple of weeks ago." Thomas replied as he reached for one of the meatballs. "It took some getting used to; but now I can't believe what I was missing. Are you sure that you're alright? You seem nervous."

"I... have you seen Dawn?" Marcus asked looking around.

"As a matter of fact I have." Thomas replied. "Marcus, do you know what treason is?"

Marcus didn't answer; but began to back away from the table.

"Treason is what you, Dawn, father and mother have committed time and time again. It was only a matter of time before you got caught, but you screwed up." Thomas said as he ate another meatball.

"What are you talking about?" Marcus asked.

"You shouldn't have come to the gala." Thomas said. "You committed high treason against the Queen's court."

"I did no such thing!" Marcus said as he took another step backwards.

"Do you deny finding Wallace Dunham for father?"

Marcus didn't reply. He didn't like the look in Thomas' eyes.

"All of you have committed high treason. Lottie is my mate and you planned to use her to take me. Tell me, did you explain to her father why he was here?"

Marcus opened his mouth to yell.

"Shut up Marcus." Thomas commanded. "Go with the guards."

********

Quinn was waiting in the cell when Marcus was brought down. Marcus tried to vanish as soon as he saw him.

"Give it up, you can't vanish." Quinn said quietly. "The only people with their gifts are those in our court so sit your ass down."

Marcus sat down on the cot and waited.

"What in the fuck were you thinking?" Quinn asked. "Did you really think that you could walk in here and commit treason? Oh... I know, you didn't know that Thomas and Lottie were one of us. It doesn't matter because we were coming after you anyway. You just saved us the trouble of finding you. Enjoy your last hours of freedom."

Marcus watched Quinn vanish and then looked around the cell. He tried to vanish again; but soon gave up.

"Maybe dad will get away." Dawn said from the cell on the opposite side of the room.

Marcus didn't reply. He knew that it was a false hope.

*********

Naila sat with Lottie holding her hand.

"I'm sure that he'll be fine." She assured her.

"I know... but... I'm still scared."

"We won't allow anything to happen to him." Lorenzo assured her.

Lottie gave him a grateful smile but still held on to Naila's hand.

"Naila." Lorenzo said softly, "You're being watched. Do you know him?"

Naila looked past Lorenzo and looked at the vampire that was staring at her.

"No... I don't think so." She replied. "He's coming over."

Lorenzo stood in front of the table and waited for the vampire to approach.

"Please, I mean no harm to the young lady. It's just that she reminds me of someone that I loved." He said with a soft Scottish lilt.

"Who are you?" Lorenzo asked.

"I apologize... I am Blair Camran. As I said, the young lady reminds me of someone from my past."

"Who do I remind you of?" Naila asked.

"A very beautiful woman." He replied. "I loved her and still love very much but she was not my mate... I had to let her go."

Naila gripped Lorenzo's hand.

"Was her name Annalisa?" she asked.

"Do you know her?" The vampire asked. "Is she well?"

"She was my grandmother." Naila replied. "She used to tell me about you... not your name...I'm sorry, but she died five years ago."

The vampire's shoulder's slumped s tears formed in his eyes.

"I loved her."

"I know. I could tell by the way her eyes lit up when she talked about you." Naila replied. "She died thinking about you."

"Please... may I sit? I would like to hear your memories of her."

Lorenzo nodded his agreement but remained in a defensive position. In a way, he was glad that the vampire showed up. It gave Lottie something else to concentrate on.

********

Something was wrong.

Anthony looked around for Marcus, Dawn and Wallace. When he didn't find them, he looked for his mate Elizabeth. She hadn't wanted to come; but he had given her no choice in the matter. His anxiety grew as he went from room to room looking for any one of them. He had a moment of panic when he saw both Maurice and Mikhail heading his way; but relaxed when they turned in another direction. Now he wondered about it.

Not having his gifts was a pain in the ass and he actually felt a little sympathy for the humans who had been born without gifts. Finally, he caught sight of Wallace and began to rush over when he realized that he didn't see Dawn. He hoped that she hadn't left Wallace alone so that she could sate her insatiable need for pain and blood.

He took another step and then stopped when a vampire stepped in front of Wallace. It was obvious that the vampire was a guard. He realized that Dawn must have been caught; but what about Marcus? Even if Marcus was free there was no way that they could get to Lottie. They needed Wallace for that. There was only one thing to do. He had to leave and now. Elizabeth would have to get out on her own.

"Aren't you having a good time?" Thomas asked just as Anthony reached the door.

Anthony stopped. The voice belonged to Thomas; but it was different.

"Thomas! How is it that we're just now seeing each other?" Anthony asked with false cheerfulness.

"I don't know father. There are a lot of people here." Thomas replied pleasantly.

"Your brother and sister are here... have you seen them?"

"Yes, we've spoken." Thomas said. "I can even tell you where they are."

Anthony had a bad feeling, but he asked anyway.

"Where are they?"

"Both of them are locked in a cell downstairs. There's one for you too." Thomas replied.

"You fuck..."

"Watch your mouth." Thomas said. "All of you are going away for a very long time. And before you start with the family crap... save it. I don't want to hear it. Before you ask if I'm really going to turn you over to the Queen; damn straight I am."

"I see." Anthony said with a smirk. "Your gifts are active and you think that you're special. You're not. You're the same sniveling little bastard now as you were then. You can be brave now because you've got the Queen and King; but without them you're nothing."

Thomas let his father talk without interrupting him. It was the same old things that he heard for most of his life, but this time; it didn't hurt.

"Are you finished?" Thomas asked. His voiced held a bored quality to it. "I've heard all of this before... don't you have anything new?"

"Cocky little bastard aren't you?" Anthony asked.

"No, I finally understand." Thomas replied as he took a step toward his father. "This is all about control. That's why you're here. You brought Lottie's father here to lure her away... very stupid move on your part. What did you think would happen when Wallace realized why you wanted him here? Did you think that he would betray his daughter twice? You need her to control me. It was never about the Queen and King... it was about me and my gifts."

"So brave aren't you?" Anthony asked smoothly. "How brave are you where our gifts can be used? Are you brave enough to face me alone?"

Thomas stepped in close to his father and looked into his eyes.

"I am no longer that timid, frightened child who grew to be a timid and frightened man. That man disappeared when Wilhelmina and then you threatened my mate. Are you ready to do this?"

Anthony was stunned. He could feel a heat radiating from Thomas that hinted at the power that he held at bay. If he didn't do something; control of the family would fall to Thomas.

"I have someone following your mother. If you don't come with me, she dies."

Thomas' dark eyes flashed in anger and then he laughed.

"No you don't." he said. "Mother is talking with the Queen. She's the only one not going to prison as Justine as given her victim status. She had the option of going with you; but she declined."

"You're lying..."

"So father, what would you like to do?"

********

Father and son faced each other in the field behind where the gala was taking place. Thomas agreed to have Maurice and Mikhail present only if they gave their word not to interfere.

"If I die then he goes with me." Thomas said. "Just make sure that Lottie is cared for."

Anthony's courage had returned now that his gifts were back. He believed that he would have no trouble defeating his son. After all, he had centuries of practice while Thomas was new to his power. Before Thomas could say anything, Anthony threw the first magical punch. His was stunned when Thomas stopped the spell to bind his gifts before it left his hands.

"Would you like to try again?" Thomas calmly asked.

Anthony tried several times to get the most powerful of his spells to go through. The last spell he whispered was aimed at Lottie. He had uttered the word just before he threw his last attempt to bind Thomas' powers again. As he had hoped, the whispered word was enough to distract Thomas.

The spell had almost reached him when Thomas felt himself being shoved aside.

Anthony screamed as the spell flew back at him, hitting him directly in the chest. It was a hit that should have killed him; but yet he lived.

"Oh no you don't!" Thomas hissed in his father's face. "You don't get to die like this. I want your ass to rot in prison."

Anthony laughed.

"You can't stop me now can you? You may be strong..."

He stopped talking when he looked at Thomas' eyes and then his hands. He strained to hear what Thomas was saying and then realized that he didn't understand the words. Pains worse than the one the spell had caused made him scream and then sob. A moment later, he was lying on a cot next to the cell Marcus was in.

********

Lottie sat at the table with Naila, Lorenzo and Blair listening to the stories about Naila's grandmother. She knew that Thomas was alright and had just begun to relax when her nose began to bleed. Lorenzo was the first to notice.

"Lottie... your nose." Was all he got out before Thomas burst into the room. Without saying a word, he picked Lottie up and took her to their suite.

"Thomas... what's happening?" she asked oddly not frightened but more curious.

"My father sent a spell to you." He replied. "You're only still alive because the spell was severely weakened since it didn't come from one of us. Rest while I get ready to break the spell... Lottie, it's going to hurt."

"But it doesn't have to." Justine said from behind him. "I can put her in a sleep so deep that she won't feel it."

"Your guest..." Lottie said.

"Don't worry about them." Justine replied. "Mom and David have things under control. Now close your eyes."

********

Anthony opened his eyes to see Quinn, Mikhail and Maurice looking at him.

"Which of you took the shot for him?" he asked as she sat up.

"That would be me." Maurice said. "Is that all you had? If so, no wonder you had to cheat."

"Yes but you no longer have your powers do you?" Anthony said with a sneer.

Suddenly he was floating off the bed and then dropped. He landed on the cot with a loud thud.

"Do you mean those powers?" Maurice asked with a smile.

"Fuck!!!!" Anthony yelled as pain ripped through his chest.

"So..." Quinn said. "You're the infamous Anthony Rhys. You don't look like much from here."

Quinn paused to give Anthony a chance to respond.

"Nothing to say? Good then I'll talk." Quinn said. "I'm not going to go through the whole treason thing. I'm sure Marcus and Dawn will fill you in so I'll just skip to the sentencing part. The three of you will never see the light of day... I mean night again. You will never have access to your gifts again. I'm going to give you all your own very special kind of hell and since I'm a gentleman, I'll start with the lady first.

I hear that you like to torture people so here's your punishment... I was thinking of letting you spend eternity with the souls of the ones you tortured, but you'd probably enjoy that. So I took the liberty of peeking into your memories to see what you hated the most. You hate your family... all of them so you will spend an eternity with your brother and father. And to promote bonding... your cells will be right next to each other.

Now... Marcus. You were a little bit harder. You don't hate anyone... not really but you do love your food. The guards told me that you've been eating nonstop since you got here so here's what we're going to do. Food will be available; but it will be in Dawn's cell. You only get it if she gives it to you and judging by the way she's looking at you; that isn't going to happen.

Last, but not least Anthony. "You could have done so much good with your gifts...well anyway, here's your punishment. As I said, you will never be able to access your gifts again, but you're going to have phantom pains. You're going to feel that little burn in your belly and you'll try to activate your gifts. You'll feel the beginning of them waking, become excited and then...nothing. I know that it doesn't sound so bad, but you won't be able to help yourself. You'll keep trying even though you know the end result. Imagine an eternity of having that frustration. Well you kids have fun... oh wait I almost forgot. You won't be able to commit suicide or kill each other. You won't be able to go insane either."