The Vampire & the Rebel (Completed)

Part 3: Chapter 9

News came in fast over the next couple of days, and there was more to do than ever. Connor had me and his other assistants running to and fro on various tasks, while everyone got ready for the eventual onslaught of the bloodsucking council's wrath.

Because New Haven was still, at least for the moment, a secret from the other leeches, there was more urgency but slightly less unease amongst my fellow humans.

For my part, I could not help but be glad on some level that things were beginning at last. I was aware that the leaders had hoped to prepare more, but every year we waited was another year that there could be more enemy vampires created. I liked the idea of getting a blade into another vampires' chest.

Each night I fell into sleep exhausted but satisfied, and every morning I woke with purpose. Two days after we learned that Vienne had finally acted against the council, I was surprised to walk in for breakfast and discover her sitting perfectly at ease in the dining hall, talking to the people around her as if nothing at all was out of the ordinary.

I nodded at her, got my food, and found an open seat.

A few minutes later she came to me. "How are you enjoying the open rebellion?" she asked as she sat down.

I shrugged. Not much had changed except the urgency in the people around me.

She smiled. "Nothing much around here, hmmm?"

"It's busier."

"It's going to get busier still. We're going to start the attack before the council gets a chance to figure out what is going on."

"I thought we weren't ready," I pointed out.

"We've moved past the planning stage and are onto the improvising part of this rebellion. They were going to start going over my affairs with a magnifying glass, so to mitigate risk, we're moving forward. But, I have a backup plan for this situation."

"What's that?"

She smiled in a way that was still just a bit annoying, "It's a secret. You'll find out soon, and then you'll have to make your own choice."

She probably wanted me to push for more information, but I was not going to give her that. Instead, I changed the subject.

"So, what brought you here this time?" I asked casually.

"Nothing much. A couple of meetings, a rebellious speech, a few humans I haven't compelled yet. I swear this rebelling against the council thing is turning into as many meetings as the council itself."

"And you don't like meetings?"

"Well, you've been to a few now, haven't you? They're dreadfully boring, except the part where I talk. Well, a few other people can be entertaining during them, I suppose. It really depends who you invite to a meeting. For example, Davidson gets so worked up that I can't resist watching him, but Magnus was so incredibly boring, Leif is boring, but he usually gets to the point except when he's trying to punish me. Connor is pretty direct, too. Raoul goes on a bit more than I find interesting, but unfortunately competence can trump entertainment value in some cases. Alas."

I kept eating while she talked. "But, even if I could complain about my humans, I won't, because they're all better than ninety percent of the vampire councillors. They get so predictable."

She met my eyes. "Oh, and Jamie, if there's anyone you care about still wandering the wilds, you're welcome to bring them back here. I suspect things are going to get pretty bad out there, now. The council is eventually going to resort to any number of terrible methods to try to defeat us, and none of them are going to be good for the feral humans caught in the crossfire. Or their slaves, for that matter, although there's nothing I can do about that."