The Discarded

The Reject Chapter 15 - 8

"You staying the night?" Viktor asked in an open offer. It was the simple confidence of a man who knew he was what women dreamed about.

Lady Kali squeezed Cesare's hand. "No, I'll be leaving in a few hours. I can't be away for long, too much going on."

Shrugging, the man let his eyes drift across her body. "Maybe next time." He spun around and walked away.

"I'd like to see the training you're going through. I've heard you talk about it, and my daughter keeps me up to date, but I'd like to see it in action," Lady Kali said. There was more going on in her eyes than he liked, but it was her daughter he was training. With that in mind, he agreed with only the briefest of looks at an eager Anastasia.

Lady Kali filled the silence with questions for her daughter. Avoiding training and dysfunctional relationships, Lady Kali drilled into how Anastasia was treated by the students and faculty. It wasn't long before the incident with the pictures came up. The Dark Mother wanted to know everything from what the pictures looked like to the confrontations with the gladiators and Abraxas.

She went silent after Cesare gave her the final part of his talk with Abraxas. Each of them slowed when they hit the trail into the woods. Elizabeth slipped into the lead, the forest moving aside for its beloved daughter.

"He won't stop," Lady Kali said, the words drawing looks from the other women. "He can't, not with everything on the line. Abraxas and Jerold have too much to lose. They've been pushed into either winning and being the men who butchered the pretenders, or the Thagirion that let a thousand years of tradition burn"

Cesare had known what he was getting into when he'd pushed them into this. He'd picked a fight and now he had to put up or get buried. It was an all-or-nothing kind of bet, glory or death. A person who hadn't lived the way he had might have hesitated. But on the streets, you were lucky to get a fifty-fifty toss of the bones.

Lady Kali studied him for a long minute while the others shot them sidelong looks. "If you didn't hold my daughter's life in your hands, I'd take you from this. Honor, money, woman, and glory would be yours for the taking. You'd make a devastating general; the world would be ours to fuck and kill across."

Anastasia stumbled, shocked at the offer. But it was nothing compared to the raw hate that rushed through Alexandra's face at the suggestion Kali might take him away. "Be at ease Daughter of the Dragon, he wouldn't accept. I know where his heart lies, and while I may have a piece, I don't own the whole ... yet." She smiled into the vampire's deadly hiss.

Turning away from the furious vampire, Kali met Cesare's eyes. "If the clans knew what your teachings can do, they'd send the Venator to liquidate you. Your name is already whispered as an asset to be acquired at the first opportunity." She held up her hand, killing the words before they could be born. "Insightful, intelligent, with a remarkable gift for combining Umbrae Lunae gifts and the weapons of man. Viktor's value isn't his ability to kill with a spoon, but his skill in teaching others to do it. One powerful warrior is still just one warrior, but a man that can gift that power to others is legion. And Viktor possesses a fraction of your raw talent."

Elizabeth looked over her shoulder, face tight with concern. Alexandra held herself back by the thinnest of margins, knowing this wasn't a casual conversation, it was a job offer. Stumbling over the uneven ground, Anastasia refused to take her eyes off her mom. They'd been aware on some level of how extraordinary Cesare was, but none of them had looked at how those skills could be used in the wider world.

"The clans can't be hurting that bad." He'd never looked at how he could fit into Umbrae Lunae society. His future had only ever been two roads, shit manual labor jobs and tenderizing kids with more brawn than brains. Either way, the shadows of the Umbrae Lunae had always been destined for others.