Storm of Shadows Ch. 08

Dara completed her call just as the vampire turned and disappeared into the treeline. "Joshua will escort Ava and Pippa to Rafe. He said Caleb has a private jet that he keeps here for urgent, discreet travel so they will use that to minimise any distress to them. He'll be here shortly to pick them up."

"Then we just need to wait for Agony and Louis to return and we can be on our way," Mila answered.

Dara nodded, relief and concern warring for dominance. It felt good to finally be moving forward instead of backwards, and yet she would have been a fool not to be worried about what they were possibly walking into. If they didn't find Gard and Rayne, safe and well...there was no telling what Agony would do, or if they would ever see Kothari again.

~~~~~

There was the briefest of knocks on his study door before it opened and Rhianna slipped inside, closing it quietly behind her. Rafe Hanlon watched his sister silently for a moment, his thoughts still immersed in his last conversation with Dara. Dara and Kothari needed her help and yet he knew when he told her why she would want to go to them, and that was something neither he nor Caleb would allow. For the first time since he could remember, he wasn't entirely sure how to deal with the petite redhead in front of him. She was no longer just his Annie, but the living embodiment of the last vampire queen, and he'd seen first-hand just how powerful Anakatrine was and what she was capable of.

"I don't think I like your expression very much, Rafe," she said, a frown marring her exquisite features as she moved to sit on the sofa under the window.

For some reason she never took one of the seats directly across from the desk when she visited, as if she was wordlessly letting him know that she wasn't subordinate to him. Not that he had ever considered that she was, not the way an alpha did with the rest of his pack. Still, she was his baby sister and therefore his to protect whether she needed it or not. He didn't think he would ever lose that feeling where his Annie was concerned.

"Will Caleb be joining us?" he countered, hoping for an affirmative. He didn't like the way this meeting was starting to shape up. A difficult Annie was a pain in the ass to deal with.

His response only had Rhianna's frown deepening and her mouth setting in a stubborn line, and he wanted to kick himself. Clearly she knew something was wrong and was reacting to the tension she could sense in him.

"I am more than capable of talking to my brother without my mate being present," she answered. "Or am I talking to the Armand-Hanlon Alpha as opposed to the man who brought me up?"

Yeah, he'd gone and done it from the icy quality of her tone. Now he needed to work out how to diffuse the situation before they had one of their extremely rare fights. There was nothing for it, other than to appeal to her softer side. Sighing, he rubbed a weary hand over his eyes. He hadn't managed to get the amount of sleep he really needed, and he was worried about Dara and Kothari and what was in store for them going forward. "Cut me some slack, Annie. Please? I've got enough to deal with without having a war for dominance with you as well as every other bloody alpha male that comes into my study."

Shrewd lavender eyes regarded him solemnly for a long moment and then he saw her expression soften, concern replacing the annoyance in her gaze. "I'm sorry. You're tension just whacked me so hard in the face when I came into the room that I reacted to it. What's wrong, Rafe? Has something happened in Europe? Are Dara and Kothi okay?"

"For now they're fine, though the news Dara has shared is a worry. Agony is still in dominance but Dara assures me that he's being compliant at the moment." Rafe paused, getting up to walk around his desk. He wanted to be close to his sister in case she tried to take off recklessly when she learned the next part of the news. "He's worked out where Gard and Rayne were headed after they left Louis's coven. They were going home."

"Home?" Rhianna frowned again, confusion crossing her face. "But they never..." her words suddenly trailed off and then the confusion turned to shock. "Oh my God, they went home! " she gasped, instantly putting the pieces together. Her eyes were wide as she stared up him. "They returned to Romania," she whispered before jumping up, a hand pressed against her stomach, a gesture that was so inimically Annie when she was concerned that it brought Rafe a level of comfort. It meant that Anakatrine was still dormant and allowing Rhianna to deal with the revelation.

"What's waiting for them there, Annie? What are they walking into?"

"Home," she whispered, moisture gathering in her eyes. "Our home. It's where Anakatrine, Callain, Gard and Rayne all began their journey. It's where Ana and Callain died, and where Gard lost Rayne as an infant. It is the beginning but also the end, where the rot set into the vampire nation and we lost our way for millennia."

A tear slid down her cheek, sorrow flowing across her face. "We never went back, Rafe. Neither Caleb nor I ever considered it. I doubt Rayne ever did either, though Gard may have. He was alone a very long time while he waited for Ana to be reborn. It would have been his only link to her, so he may have gone back. I just don't know why we didn't think about it earlier. It makes so much sense that they would have gone back to the beginning."

Did it? Maybe it did to Rhianna, but Rafe doubted very much it would have been something the rest of them would have considered since Gard and Rayne's disappearance. After all, it had never crossed his mind to ask Rhianna or Caleb about the origins of the Triumvirate, not even after he'd learned of Anakatrine and Callain's rebirth. Now that they were on the topic, Rafe found his curiosity piqued. "You were never tempted to revisit your old home?"

Rhianna shook her head. "There can't be anything left of the Palace or its grounds after all this time. We did visit Romania when we did that tour of Europe years ago, Caleb even made it as far as Braşov but he never went to the Palace. He was meeting Joshua and I remained in Bucharest. It was at Braşov where Gard discovered Caleb hosted Callain inside and reawakened him."

"And because you didn't go with Caleb that's why it took more time for Gard to learn about you."

A regretful expression crossed Rhianna's face, her soul still wracked with guilt at having kept her brother from another time secret from her family and friends for so long. "Maybe things would have been different if I had gone with Caleb," she admitted. "However, there's nothing I can do to change that, and maybe things were meant to play out just the way they did."

She was silent for a long time, staring past him as if reliving an old memory, then she gave herself a mental shake and met Rafe's intent gaze. "Caleb should be here for this. There are things he needs to know and we have knowledge we can provide to help Dara and Kothi find our old home more easily."

Rafe raised an eyebrow, his expression sardonic. "I believe I said something similar a little earlier..."

Rhianna rolled her eyes, a half smile teasing her lips as she conceded her brother's point. "Yes, you did, and you were right. Now do you feel better?"

As an answer, he reached out and pulled Rhianna into a tight bear hug, a chuckle escaping him. "You never did like it when I was right," he laughed, ruffling her auburn curls affectionately, before he quickly sobered. "You're not your usual self, baby girl. Oh, I know things have gone to hell recently in just about every way imaginable, but there's something else on your mind. I can feel it."

She stepped back, a fleeting hint of concern in her eyes, but she quickly masked it, adopting a clearly fake innocent expression. "As you pointed out, I have a lot on my mind at the moment. I don't think any of us will be our usual selves until we know everyone is home safely."

"Annie..." Whatever else he was about to say was cut off by the sound of Caleb's voice at the study door, a brief second before it opened and the tall vampire strode into the room.

His eyes immediately went to Rhianna, his expression concerned. "What's wrong? What happened?" he rumbled, his gaze quickly sweeping the study to ensure there was no danger in the room. The moment he'd felt his mate's distress through their mate bond, he'd taken off for the Armand-Hanlon pack at supernatural speed even though he knew she was well protected within pack lands.

Caleb didn't think he'd ever be able to leave his woman's safety in the hands of others easily, but then he knew he was overprotective to a fault. He was always honest with himself. When no one answered immediately, he crossed the room coming to stand before Rhianna, searching her face intently.

His movement seemed to shake her out of introspective thoughts and she gave him a small, rueful smile. "I just overreacted to some news I heard. I'm sorry I concerned you." Rhianna slipped into his arms to lead credence to her words, but also to seek some comfort herself. "We know where Gard and Rayne went. They returned to Romania following whatever lead they came up with."

She could feel him stiffen in her arms and knew exactly what he was thinking of, but he relaxed almost as soon as he had tensed up, a rueful sigh escaping him. "We should have thought of that. One of us should have considered that possibility as it's so obvious."

Pulling back, he glanced down at his mate with a concerned expression. "Why do I feel as if there is something clouding our judgement right now, something skewing us away from the direction we need to go in? Everything that's happened recently has led to us either being divided or not thinking clearly. I thought that after the fiasco of my reaction to Anakatrine turning Reasa human. The unease I felt then I feel again now."

His words echoed her own unease, something that had been lurking in her subconscious for a while but only now coming to the fore. Only, she didn't feel that it related directly to her. No, it was more directed towards Caleb. His reactions had been out of kilter some time now. "Caleb, you are the only one of the Triumvirate who has been alone in recent months. I have always been around either you or Gard, and Gard has usually been around one of us or with Rayne. Is it possible that at some point you may have intersected with our enemy? We know how powerful this person is mentally. Should we consider that he is capable of getting into one of our minds if we are not with each other?"

Rhianna hoped and expected her mate to immediately argue with her, to assure her that the direction her thoughts were travelling in was ludicrous, but from his expression she could see that this was something he had considered too, and it sent a chill of fear down her spine. Caleb was one of the strongest people she knew, almost as strong as Anakatrine. Hosting Callain's spirit should have protected him...but it hadn't protected him from Gard awakening Callain.

A gasp escaped her, her fear escalating. "What if this goes back further than the last few months? What if Gard wasn't the first to meet you when we were in Europe?" she whispered. "What if it had been so easy for Gard to reawaken Callain because someone had already been there before him?"

"I don't know, Annie," he answered, his voice grave. "I would have to wonder how anyone other than Gard would have been able to detect Callain's soul within me to know that it would be beneficial to try to turn my mind in the first instance."

Pulling out of his arms, Rhianna paced the study. "We know whoever has been planning this has been doing it for years not months. The division between Europe and stateside has been evident for centuries. That could have been the first step in our enemy's campaign. It's only a small leap from there to see that spies among us here would have quickly shown who were the power players on this continent. It's more than obvious that, despite the Vampire Council ruling, you hold a significant amount of power among our people. Getting to the Council would be difficult. Getting to one individual would be much easier."

"Fuck," Rafe growled loudly. He had been silent for a long time, dread filling his bones as he listened to his sister and her mate talk. Now the possible impact of what they were saying was fully seeping into his brain, the situation appeared much direr than the other two had considered. "It's not just the Vampires either," he interjected. "That warning to beware of the wolves we can't see makes more sense too. Any assault on one of our species would be bad enough but to fully conquer us here you would need a two pronged attack because we are united through blood and family."

Rhianna halted her pacing, her expression so grave it was enough to keep her brother and mate silent as they waited for her to speak. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We need Anakatrine to first search within Caleb's mind. I think we need Callain in attendance too, Caleb, so if you could please concede control to him. We cannot discuss this any further until we know for certain that we are not being spied on by our enemy."

There was no denying the tension in the air. They had no idea if, or how much, they may have been inadvertently giving away to whoever was trying to destroy everything they loved. Caleb finally moved, sitting down on the sofa beside the window, closing his eyes as he did so. It was the only outward sign that he was relinquishing control to the Vampire King.

Rhianna sat beside him though she didn't mirror her mate by closing her eyes. She experienced less discomfort ceding control to the Vampire Queen. Caleb by his very nature hated to be out of control, so he always found it more difficult to allow Callain dominance.

To Rafe, it was always mildly disconcerting to see the Vampire Queen and her King. When Anakatrine was in residence, it felt as if he had lost his sister completely. He knew that wasn't the case and, that for Gard, he must feel the same with Anakatrine being subjugated most of the time. The two alternate brothers' complicated relationship with the little redhead was enough to confuse most people, let alone themselves.

The slight shifting of Rhianna's posture was enough to tell him Anakatrine was present. The change in Caleb looked markedly more pronounced, but that was likely down to Callain's frustrations at being absent for such long stretches of time. Now the Vampire King turned to his Queen, long fingers gently caressing her cheek. Though their appearance was different visually in this incarnation, somehow it appeared that they could recognise each other's souls.

"This is indeed troubling, my love," Callain said, leaning forward to brush his lips against Anakatrine's. "I did not think to look within. My arrogance clearly knows no bounds."

A soft peal of laughter escaped the Vampire Queen, amusement shining within her lavender gaze. "If arrogance was a deadly sin, then every alpha male or female on the planet would be guilty, dear heart. We should not berate ourselves for what we may have missed. Instead, we should rectify our oversight and close the door on our internal interloper."

"Our?" Callain's eyebrow rose in surprise.

Anakatrine nodded, the amusement dying from her eyes. "Annie is less perturbed by my presence so once alerted to the possibility I began my search. I have found the point of entry within her mind though it would appear that there hasn't been any recent incursions. I believe that to be because she doesn't keep me as securely locked down as Caleb does you. My lurking presence may have been sufficient to ward off any attempts to gain access of late."

"Damn Caleb," Callain growled. "I warned him there would be consequences in keeping me subjugated."

Anakatrine touched his cheek with a gentle hand, soothing some of his frustration. "None of us knew that there would be a danger, Callain. If you want to blame someone then you should blame me for not seeing this possibility. I have foreseen so much of what was to come, but this danger completely eluded me."

His expression changed at her words and he nodded his acceptance. "You always were the very best of us, my Queen. I often wonder what I would have been if not for you tempering my arrogance. I have checked within Caleb's mind and there is evidence that it has been tampered with. The last incursion was around the time Caleb and Annie were at odds with each other. I am reasonably certain that it was just before you stripped Thereasa of her immortality, so I think that knowledge is safe for now. It appears that whoever has been visiting has kept their attempts to as minimal as possible and has only pushed on Caleb's overprotectiveness and his belief that he doesn't deserve the happiness he currently enjoys. That is probably why I didn't notice it."

Rafe growled his concern again, drawing their eyes to him. He hadn't meant to but the safety of his pack was at stake and it was hard not to react to that. "I suppose we should be thankful that it isn't worse," he finally conceded. "Can you fix it before there is another attempt at accessing either of your minds?" If they couldn't, then he had no idea what they were going to do. They needed Caleb and Annie to keep them together.

"Be at ease, brother," Anakatrine smiled reassuringly. "We were only at risk because we were not aware of the threat. Both Callain and I are more than capable of closing down any trap doors within our minds. Now that we are alert to these intrusions, we will be on guard going forward to ensure that should a further attempt be made, we will have sufficient traps in place that will hopefully turn the tables on our enemy."

Callain nodded his agreement. "For now, we will safeguard each other and with your permission, check to ensure you haven't been compromised either. Then we will need to see everyone else in small groups, but they cannot be told why. Anakatrine and I can then scan each person without alerting our enemy that we're aware of his presence. I am of the opinion that whoever it is would have gone for the most prominent power players here as not all information is disseminated lower down among the packs or within the vampire hierarchy. There is no harm in checking pack members and the rest of the Ancients to be sure they haven't been infiltrated."

"What about the Vampire Council. Will you test them too?" Rafe asked. He wasn't comfortable about the secret scanning of some of his pack, and it was well known that vampires couldn't usually enter a Were's mind, but he wasn't one to bet on that stopping the Vampire Queen and King. There was no harm in checking just to be sure, and many of his pack now had some vampire D.N.A. within them.

"No, we cannot alert the Council to our presence and we keep most of what is happening away from them as it is. I believe our enemy classes us the most clear and present danger because we are aligned. Even if they had tried to get to the Council, they would have learned early on that they know nothing about what we do here in the pack and among our allies," Anakatrine answered, her tone confident.

It settled Rafe's concerns and he said no more, sitting back in his chair as the royal couple faced each other.

"I will do you first as there is less chance of alerting anyone that we have discovered them," Callain said.

"Oh no, dear heart, we will eradicate the threat from your mind first," his Queen answered with a soft smile. "Caleb's mind is the most danger to our endeavours at the moment and therefore it makes sense to shore up that weakness immediately. I can hold off any attempt to sway Annie's mind while I work on yours." She didn't give him any time to object, she slipped past his inner defences and went straight to the area he had found the incursion.