Fiona chose a café that was near our hotel. We sat on the enclosed patio in the back. The other customers stayed inside, and we had the space alone. The warmth from the fire pit helped, but I was still cold. Candlelight animated shadows on Fiona’s face. Her skin shimmered, an unnatural glow.
“Have you heard of the Graymoor?” Fiona said.
“No.”
“They are a group of ShapeShifters. They believe in being separate from everyone else. There is a lineage of families that are descendants of the original members. My family counted among these. Anti-Circle, but Anti-Sojourner as well.”
I was expecting her to continue, but Fiona cleared her throat. The waiter had appeared at our table, silently waiting for me to notice he was there.
“You should try to eat something, Marradith,” Fiona said.
I asked for a cola and she ordered a pot of tea. Not a good sign, I decided. This meant Fiona had explaining to do.
“I’ll try some bread,” I stalled. Once the waiter was gone, I leaned forward, dropping my voice. “Does the man that we found dead have something to do with them?”
“The symbols on his back are a form of their writing. He was a traitor to their cause. He was branded so others of our kind would know him. The infinity symbol on his neck? That defines his rank as a soldier.”
“That’s…um…”
“Extremist? Yes.”
“So, is that why you were upset this morning when Daria suggested that maybe someone has a vendetta against you?”
Fiona sighed. “I’m upset with her right now for a lot of reasons. I’m angry that she killed the Shifter she found in Rafael’s room. He might have had information about where Rafael is being held! We could have at least questioned him. Daria could have restrained him and called for help.
“She threw that Shifter out a twenty-five story window, in the middle of a crowded city. Between the fall, and her drinking his blood, there wasn’t enough left to identify him. She cleaned up the scene well, I’m sure, but it was a huge risk that she took. People have cameras everywhere. She’s not from the generation where three or four vampires could band together and kill everyone in an entire town, and no one would be the wiser. She’s not stupid. It was a reckless thing she did and it’s those kind of choices that will be the death of her.”
She paused to take a breath.
“Dr. Roberts said the Shifter we found today was killed by a Wolf. How would that happen if he was a Graymoor, and they are separatist?” I said.
“They wouldn’t mind hiring a Wolf to kill for them. They’ll do business with other kinds, they just won’t fraternize. And something else. If they have been following me - following us–they would know where to dump the body. And they would know that you would be able to smell it.”
“Okay. So if that’s the theory, why send a threat? Why not just come and get you?”
She smiled grimly. “It might not be me they are after. Maybe, they want my son.”
***
“Son?”
I was glad that I wasn’t drinking anything when she said it, because I’d have probably choked.
“It was a long time ago. Before I met Rafael. I lived under the Graymoor, because it was expected of me. But I couldn’t follow the rules. And the biggest of their rules was not to procreate with a being that was not a Shifter. I was young, and it was an unplanned pregnancy.
“I ran away. I went to the Sojourners for protection, and that’s how I met Rafael. There were conditions to my protection. The first—that I could not raise the child. Secondly, I was not to tell my boyfriend that we had a son.”
“Were those Sojourner rules, or Rafael’s?”
“Both,” she replied. “He wanted it that way. You know how he can manage to make his purposes fit the rules. I was very naïve then. Looking back, I can see what Rafael wanted from me, and how he manipulated me to get it.” She brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “And now someone has Rafael, and may be torturing him. I’m afraid he’ll tell them about my son.”
__________________
©2010 Lori Titus
Lori Titus is anxiously awaiting the release of her first novella, Lazarus, from The Library of the Living Dead, due out in October 2010. Meanwhile she works on edits for another story, and asks her favorite teenager to be cautious while chasing Wolves. For more info on the author, read her blog:
http://loribeth215.wordpress.com
Tags: Lori Titus, The Art of Shadows, The Marradith Ryder Series
