Wicked Soul

Chapter 14

FOURTEEN

WARIN

Present Day, Chicago, IL.

“There has been another disappearance.”

Warin sighed as he put the pen down on top of the pile of paperwork stacked neatly on his desk.

“Who?” He lifted his gaze to look at his second in command.

The woman walked closer to his desk and placed a folder on top of his other paperwork. “A youngling. His Sire says he felt their bond die last night.”

Warin flicked the folder open. A photograph of a blond young man stared back at him. His cocky smile reminded Warin of Aleric and a wave of unexpected sadness washed through him. He hadn’t felt much of anything for a long while, he realized. Not since he and Aleric parted ways more than three decades ago, once his brother also reached the status of an Ancient.

Having two such powerful beings within the same territory for any length of time had a way of upsetting the fragile balance within the vampire community, so Aleric had been forced to leave his side. He now ruled the territory of Denver and the surrounding areas. A strong territory for such a relatively new Ancient, but he wasn’t surprised. Aleric had matured into a shrewd politician in the past few centuries, some of his attention turning from women and battle to intrigues and political plots. He’d even had a not insignificant part in the War for Independence back in the eighteenth century, and again during the Night of Revelations in the 1970s.

How long had it been since they even spoke?

Warin stared at the photograph of the youngling and wondered if his Sire would Embrace a new Child, or if the wound left behind from their broken bond would drive him to insanity. If it did, it would be Warin’s job to give him his Final Death. He’d had to do it once before in his capacity as Night Lord of Chicago and the surrounding areas. A Sire lost her Child and lover and went on a rampage through central Chicago that’d nearly gotten the humans’ army called in.

This new disappearance was the third in his territory within the span of six months.

“I will tell the Guard to find those responsible and punish them accordingly,” his second said, motioning toward the folder to retrieve it.

“No.” Warin closed it, hiding the smiling youngling from view. “The Guard has failed me enough. If these disappearances keep happening, then clearly they have not gotten to the root of the problem.”

“My lord—“

“I will deal with it. Personally.” He stood up, fingertips resting lightly on the mountains of paperwork that had kept him behind his desk for the past many months. Years, if he were to be truly honest. It had been years since he had so much as visited his own city. Not since he’d had to kill that grieving Sire.

“I… as you wish,” his second said, bowing her head. “How long will you be gone?”

“As long as it takes. I am certain Chicago will be in good hands under your watch.”

And, Warin thought as he slipped out of the stately mansion where he kept his small court, if he ended up not returning, perhaps she would be the one to show the youngling’s Sire his Final Death. She was older than most of their kind at just over six hundred years. She would be able to handle the responsibilities that came with his position for as long as she needed to.

He was duty bound to find the culprit for these disappearances—they had happened under his watch. But after that… maybe it was time that he, too, disappeared. Aleric was an Ancient now with responsibilities of his own. Once he put an end to the disappearances, there would be no more obligations left. No more reason to continue an existence that had had little to do with living for the past many centuries.

Warin left the quiet suburban neighborhood that unwittingly had hosted his nest for more than a decade, deciding to investigate the place of the youngling’s disappearance on foot while avoiding the attention a car would draw. The humid air felt pleasant against his skin, and for a moment he wished he was barefoot—like he had been many centuries ago when he and Aleric would roam the wild forests of Europe.

He didn’t notice the raven perched on the phone wire outside his front gates, watching him disappear into the night.

PART 2

WICKED SOUL

PRESENT DAY