Never wake a Dragon (on hold)

9. part I - plans for revenge

The air had thickened with exhaust and the dubious smell of brackish water. Adeem shook his head just as foreboding clanks and whines reached them from the switching train tracks. His pulse was speeding, and he had to steel himself to slow down. He feared to connect with his nature again too soon.

Nev walked briskly beside him, silent as if the vampire feared what might happen if he talked. They should have been running, but Adeem wanted a few seconds to calm his senses and make sure the world remained the same as a mere hour ago. It seemed to have tilted, but he doubted anyone else would notice.

"Are they following us?" he asked, hoping Nev would sense the auras of those they'd left behind in the Archive.

"I don't think so which is kind of weird, don't you think? I mean you blew up that statue, and the Guardian looked like he was about to murder someone. And then he kind of collapsed, and fuck. What the fuck were you doing? They'll be coming for us. Lorian wanted to lock us up and he's still in there. Why isn't he chasing us?" Nev rarely rambled, which meant the vampires nerves had to be shot to hell.

"We'll be fine." It was a terrible lie, but he couldn't think of anything better to say to calm his friend.

"No we won't."

"We will. We're innocent." If only his hands would stop shaking.

"Then why do you keep saying we have to leave? You know I can't leave the city without talking to my coven."

"Of course you can." There were enough vampires roaming the world on their own, doing well enough without a coven to save their asses. Besides, he'd look after Nev. It was the least he could do after dragging him into this mess.

Nev kept quiet while they crossed the water and skirted the edges of the park where Adeem had stolen the memory of Astrid's past. The silence unnerved him almost as much as Nev's rambling. If he didn't know better, he'd think the vampire was sulking.

"You understand why we have to leave, don't you?"

Nev shrugged, leaning forward to walk faster. "Because of your parents?"

"Yes, exactly. My parents would kill me before the other Council members could get their hands on me. They know they'd be exposed."

"They should be exposed. It's not like you killed all those people for the heck of it."

He didn't want to think of the slaughter. A full century of destruction and self-hatred. He'd been locked inside his mind, compelled by his mother to do his parents' bidding whether he wanted to or not. He'd not spoken a word in decades until he finally found the strength to free his mind from her control. Since then, he'd stayed away from their presence, terrified that she'd found a way to make herself even stronger.

"You shouldn't have to run," Nev added. "They should be locked up somewhere inside a dungeon. Or a cave."

Adeem opened the door to the apartment building and flicked on the lights. There was no pram in the way this time which was a lucky thing. He'd have trashed it in seconds considering how agitated he was. He'd trod a fine line all the way from the Archive. One slip and he feared he might blow up in another bout of fury.

"It doesn't matter. I can't stay if the Council is on their way, and neither should you." He remembered Kyung's words the second time they met. How the dragon had made him believe they would oppose the Council somehow. That must have been a ruse to get him in line since Kyung hadn't divulged one single scrap of a plan to actually do some real damage since then. It was pointless to attempt anything on his own, and he couldn't trust the dragon either way.