Blue Flames

Chapter 40

"Is he still alive?"

The promise of blood and horror glinted in Arthur's eyes. "Oh, yes. Death is too lenient a fate for him."

I didn't want to be in Santos' shoes. Immortals could be quite creative when it came to punishment.

"Amanda said he's the one who compelled the witch to break the spell."

"Yes," Arthur replied.

According to Amanda, the witch was currently recovering in one of Arthur's underground cells. My vampire lord had dungeons. How very cliché.

"After our little chat, many things have come to light," Arthur continued, "he gave up more names. Witches, a couple of solitary shapeshifters and vampires. Most names overlapped with the ones Venus got yesterday."

"That's all?" I asked, "what about the Seer? The prophecy? Did he say anything else?"

Arthur did not reply for the longest time.

"What?"

"You'll accept your father's invitation to Ireland," he ordered.

I gave him a bored look. "first, you might want to rephrase that. Second, Why would I want to do that?"

"The Seer is in Ireland," Arthur said, "Santos was responsible for making the Seer disappear five decades ago. He'd kidnapped her and kept her under his thumb. When she prophesied your existence and the role you will play in ruining their scheme, Santos was ordered to deliver her to England."

England was the fae's backyard. The fae's home base was Ireland, that was where the vast majority of their numbers lived, where the royal family made their home. Unofficially, however, the entirety of the British Isles were under the fae's control. Arthur's words twisted my guts in knots.

"That means the fae are involved," I said. "Who, exactly?"

Arthur shook his head. Frustration carried through the bond. "The head of the snake is anonymous. Even the fae we captured don't know him, or her. We called in Venus to check Santos. She discovered something in his mind. He was hexed."

"Hexed?"

"Parts of his memories and thoughts, the parts where the identity of the fae was disclosed, were hexed. Locked up. Blurred," Arthur said, "all that tells us is that this fae is gifted on the mental plane."

"So even Venus can't do anything about it?" I asked.

"She can," Arthur said, "but it will take time. weeks, maybe months of prodding."

I pursed my lips. Who knew what they could be planning on doing. Especially if they were aware that we were onto them. We would have to get a step ahead of them. We needed to find out the indentity of the high ranking fae involved. He or she was the one in charge of this entire mess. Being in Ireland would get us one step closer to them.

"So, you will-" he paused, "it would be a good idea to accept your father's invitation to Ireland. Of course, I will come along. Once we are there, it will be easier to find out about the Seer and the fae behind this."

"But Orion did not invite you."

He didn't even hesitate in replying. "I'm one of the Five. There's nowhere I cannot go without an invitation."

I rolled my eyes. Right. He was still insufferably arrogant. Though, to his credit, what he stated was a fact.

"Alright, big shot," I told him, "we'll go to Ireland. I have to tell Orion, though."

Arthur nodded, "this evening I will be going to a council meeting. You can speak to him there."

"I can go?"