After The Awakening | ONC 2023

Chapter Fifteen

Xavier wasn't sure of the exact moment he realised he hadn't died, but was very grateful to find himself propped up in a reclining chair in front of a roaring fire. The snaps and crackles of the wood were soothing and proved a pleasant accompaniment to the soft jazz playing on the old gramophone.

'Good to see you're awake,' Krish said as he prodded the wood with a long poker.

'Where's Ray?'

Krish placed the poker back in its holster. 'Really? You're not going to even ask about your condition first?'

'Where's the girl?' Xavier repeated.

Krish sighed and took a seat opposite Xavier. There were black bags around his eyes, but he seemed at ease.

'She's still sleeping off the sedative we gave her. So now that I've answered your question, would you care to explain why you're running around the English countryside with a First-Born?'

Xavier's gaze narrowed. 'You know about First-Borns?'

'Let's just say my supernatural education didn't end at the same time I left the Bureau.'

Xavier dampened his dry lips. 'That doesn't really explain anything.'

'Given the circumstances, I don't think I should be the one explaining anything. I haven't heard from you in close to a decade and then you show up, shot, practically dead, with an out of control vampire. You realise we get the news here too, and your face is all over it.'

Xavier's face fell. 'Out of control, vampire? What are you talking about?'

'The girl.' Krish pinched the bridge of his nose. 'The mysterious girl who you brought here. The one who almost lost control when blood started rushing out of your mouth.'

Xavier shot to his feet, but instantly regretted his rash decision as the stitches in his torso pulled in a way that didn't hurt but was unpleasant all the same.

'Take me to her,' he demanded.

'Sit down before you pull your stitches out,' admonished Krish. 'The girl is fine, I promise, but given her actions, I thought it would be better to let her sleep.'

Xavier watched the man he had trained with, dissecting his words and testing them for lies, before he sat back down with more care than when he'd got up.

'Such an overreaction. So what is the girl to you? You both seem pretty attached to each other. Even when she lost control, she was still trying to get away from you, and we both know how difficult that is for a hungry vamp.'

'It's complicated. And I need to know you're not with the Bureau before I tell you.'

'Not with the Bureau? The girl said something similar yesterday,' Krish pondered. 'I'm guessing the girl has something to do with the breakout in London.'

'She has something to do with a lot of things.'

'Vague as ever, I see,' drawled Krish. 'At least I know the best way to convince you I'm not working for the Bureau.'

'And what would that be?'

'Honey, you can come in now.'

Xavier watched with a frown as a woman with long blonde hair came into the room. Her red eyes glanced nervously at him before they darted away.

'Xavier, this is my wife, June.'

His eyes tracked the vampire's movements as she sat on the arm of Krish's chair.

'She's the reason you left the Bureau?' he guessed.

'We'd been dating for three months when she was turned. I had a choice to make. Break it off or leave. And I knew what I couldn't live without.' Krish's arm wound around his wife's waist.