Raving Moon, Lords of the Night Book One

Chapter 14: A Cold Grave

Lord Clovis's office waiting area was empty. I pressed the button under his assistant's desk, and slipped into his office proper. The room was sparse, three leather chairs and a thick wooden desk. The walls were bare except for an old rusted Roman short sword on display. Behind the desk was a single black door, on the other side of which was a narrow spiral staircase leading down into near darkness. Only a handful of people had the code to get through.

My footfalls echoed strangely with each step down into the cold room. My breath visible in wisps and shivering, I stepped off the bottom step. Frost crunched under foot, I strained to see through the gloom. The unseasonable weather had fooled me into leaving my autumn jacket home and at that moment I regretted it. I rubbed my arms to keep my day blood circulating. Tiny snowflakes lazily landed on my nose as the sound of shuffling feet met my ears.

"It's been a long time since you visited during the day, Michele," came a breathy voice from the dark. The shuffling continued on my left, a shadow lurking in the dark. "I spoke to our friend last night. He asked after your health as well as the state of things here in the city. He seems concerned about both."

His words filled me with concern. Our friend was not one for idle conversation. If he asked, then his eyes were upon Gorgon City. No one with any sense of self-preservation would want that kind of scrutiny.

"I trust you allayed his worries."

"I'm not sure I have... he mentioned sending the seraph to deal with the mounting unrest within the states. I fear he has little faith that the new world praetor can handle it."

"If the seraph come here, people will die on both sides of this issue."

The shuffling stopped and for a few moments the only sound was my breathing echoing through the frozen darkness.

"If he wills it..."

Clovis was a loyal man, almost to a fault. If our friend commanded that he set the world on fire, he wouldn't hesitate. I knew I couldn't do that. The threat of the seraph coming to America concerned me as much as the idea of Thompson's gun falling into the wrong hands.

"Sir, I wouldn't bother you during the day unless it was important, but I have concerns."

The shuffling grew louder, but I still could not see Clovis.

"What are these concerns?"

"The gun from the Kraken Island incident is missing."

"How is that possible?"

I explained what led me to evidence storage, the irregularities in the log, the absence of the gun, and the deleted footage. I also shared with him the timeline I'd established in my head. The weapon was brought in on the night of the shooting, but taken the night before Ariane's induction. The window of opportunity gave us a means of narrowing down the suspects. I heard him shuffling around the room the entire time, the temperature falling in increments as I laid out all of my findings. By the time I was done my fingers had gone numb from the cold.

Lord Clovis shambled out of the impenetrable gloom, a desiccated shell more akin to a mummy than to what most considered a vampire. His sire had been a husk, a desert vampire of the arid lands. Resistant to the effects of sunlight, the daylight hours took their toll on his body. His ligne de sang was stronger, but his warrior's build had evaporated, leaving behind hard leather-like skin clinging to old bones. His face was a death's head mask housing long yellowed fangs.

"How did this happen?" His mouth didn't move, his voice flowing from the husk to fill the room.

"I don't know, sir. I suspect magic, but not a caster. I think they used a collection of contraband arcane tools, things banned in Gorgon."

The husk started to circle me, one foot dragging lazily behind. "Could this have been one of my praetor?"

I thought carefully, taking rational leaps of faith and putting aside my presumptions. I didn't like what I came up with.

"If someone knew our access codes and got hold of an officer's eye... they could have gotten into a vault. They also would've had to know how and where to access the video footage. It's a lot to pull off in the timeframe I've established. I think it was one of us."

"A traitor."

My teeth chattered as I tucked my hands in my pocket.

"Do you think he knows?" Clovis's rasping voice sounded nervous.

"No, sir. He mentioned the seraph. If he suspected treachery, they would already be here."

"It would've been another New York."

"Gorgon could never survive a New York, sir."

A strange sound escaped his mouth. Whether it was a moan of sorrow or a groan of frustration I couldn't be sure.

"We must tread lightly." The shell shambled to my right, clutching its chin in stiff fingers. "He chose you to stand in his honor guard when he claimed the crown. I'm forced to take that as proof you are trustworthy..."

Despite my intentions to steal the gun myself. He didn't need to say it, but it hung in the frigid air between us.

"Everyone else is suspect. We must exercise discretion while we seek out the culprit or culprits. If he learns of this, the seraph will make New York look like a morbid joke."

"I swear by my sword, I only wanted the gun to help save Carlos. I-"

"It doesn't matter!" His voice wheezed. Lord Clovis was losing his strength. "You have a duty to uphold. Find me the name of the vampire responsible, and I will take their head myself."

He dragged himself back into the darkness, his shuffling feet receding into the depths of his tomb.

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed," he hissed, his voice barely a whisper.

I had to find a thief able to bypass our security, and scrutiny without alerting anyone to my investigation. If I failed, a weapon of untold power would be out there to wreak havoc. If I succeeded, the seraph might still raze the city to ensure the king's law would prevail.

Fuck.