The Vampire & the Rebel (Completed)

Part 3: Chapter 31

Things progressed surprisingly smoothly. We kept finding little pockets of enemies that we had to deal with, but now we gave them the option of surrendering to standing trial. Their fate depended on which sort of vampire we were dealing with, sorting those who had seen working with the council as their only survival option from the true believers. The latter group would be shown the mercy of a pain free end.

Ivan, Bennett, and all the other vampires who were known to be extremely anti-human were finally bound in the council courtyard in the sun, much the same way I had had Magnus executed, with the exception that we had added fire to the mix to speed the process along.

As much as I had wanted to allow Ivan to wake up so I could properly gloat as I had with the first three, I was not such a fool as to risk it. He was unconscious as the flames licked at his flesh and the sun burned down on him, and remained so when he finally turned to ash.

Although Jamie and even I were too young to witness Ivan's and Bennett's final moment, we listened with rapt attention to the descriptions given by the attending humans.

There was satisfaction on Jamie's face that Ivan was gone. He would never be able to make another Jack.

We had ensnared a lot of other nasty characters in our net, and they were also executed without further mercy. The council data archives had extensive listings of some of their crimes. It was thoughtfully convenient of them to brag in such detail.

I also had Theo update my entry to something amusingly flattering, my final revenge against the council bores.

And then, of course, there were the meetings. I did not know why everyone was so fond of them, but they wanted to discuss every insignificant little thing from every minute angle, until I could bear it no longer. I pushed my weight around, and selected a council of five vampires, who would be joined by five humans. The humans would be democratically elected, and the vampires were appointed by me. If they resigned in the future, new replacements would be appointed by me as well. I liked the setup. It was power without tedium, just the way I liked it. I would also be stuck breaking any tie votes, which felt like a small tribute to the magistrate.

After I had awoken from my rest, but before Jamie had as well, I made my way back up to the rooftop. I had almost hoped to find nothing, but I found exactly what I expected, ashy clothing that I had seen the magistrate wearing the night before.

I volunteered to tell the lucky winners they had been appointed rather than let a messenger do it, because I wanted to see their expressions myself. Jamie came with me. Perhaps he was worried that I would annoy my councillors into violence. I first hunted down Drak, and conveniently he was sitting with Whitmore, another choice victim.

"Hello, you two," I said in a sunny voice.

Drak looked at me suspiciously and I continued before he could say anything. "Auspicious news! You're both on the new and improved council!"

"I—what?" Drak asked.

"You're on the council, Councillor Drak. And who said he could never get into the council?"

"How's it going to work?" Whitmore asked in a mildly curious tone. Her hair was pulled back up into her severe bun, but there were strands falling loose around her face. I had suspicions about what had caused that to happen before I arrived and I had difficulty keeping my amusement from my face.

"Oh, my advisors will explain all those details. They're working it out right now. If you hurry, you two can go to the meeting before it ends and maybe have your say."

Whitmore nodded, and a shocked Drak trailed after her.

"You better toughen up, Drak. Whitmore won't always be there to save you."