Draugs

Chapter 6 : Fire to the Fuse

"Win," Phayu said, the moment they entered the house. "Got it!" he saluted snappily and closed his eyes. There was a soft rumble, and it felt like something had settled in over the house. "What?" Vegas said, as everyone else looked around. "He cloaked the house Phi," Pai said, as they ushered everyone in. "That is also your power?" Tharn asked. "Yes, that is one of my powers. We all have multiple powers. It just helps," Win said. "We will tell you all about that. Why don't you all get comfortable?" Dean said, leading everyone to a large family room. Even though it was just the four of them that used it, they had always wanted something big enough if they ever found their Draugs and had a family. Even though it had been a dream at that point, Dean always believed that there was no harm in manifesting.

Plus the four of them spent an lot of time alone, following their own pursuits, so this room was a daily reminder that even if they didn't have anyone else, they had each other and that there was a need for them to relax, and just be. The elders all looked around the room. "You have remarkable skill Phayu. This room is stunning," Charn said. "I must say I agree. It's so big and so bright," Type said. "I love the feeling the glass ceilings give. But doesn't it get hot during the summers?" White asked. Phayu picked up a remote lying nearby and pressed a button. Suddenly, shutters came down on the glass, plunging the room into darkness. He pressed another button, and the room lit with bright lights. "This is seriously amazing boys! You seem to have thought of everything," Bun said, looking extremely proud.

"Actually this was Dean's idea," Phayu said. "Yeah. He said we needed to manifest having a family. Looks like he just did it," Win said, all of them looking at Dean. Dean blushed slightly. "Oh stop! As if you all didn't want this to happen," he said, scathingly. "Well, we did, but not like the way you did," Pai teased him. "Okay, okay, let's get to the business at hand," Phayu said, and the other three immediately moved in, sitting next to Phayu. "Is Phayu the leader?" Sean asked. "No," Phayu said, while others said 'yes' at the same time. "He is not the leader per se, but he just strategizes better. We used to tend to get distracted during missions, but he was always the one with razor-sharp clarity. So when it came to making plans, we knew that if it was Phayu, it would be fool proof," Win said.

"It's not that it's always him. He never does anything without consulting with us or without our consent. It's like, when we are on hard-core missions, its Phayu, when we are on civil negotiations, it's Pai, when we are on weapons recovery, its me, when it comes doing research and finding the weakness of an enemy, it's Dean," Win said. "We work together, which why the Council wanted us broken. We work well alone, but together, we can overthrow the Council," Pai said. "But we don't want that. We want that the Council gets a taste of its own medicine and is exposed for its heinous crimes and subjected to public ridicule," Dean said, his mouth twisting in anger.

"Why made you so mad Dean?" Vegas asked. Dean looked helplessly at Phayu. He nodded and patted Dean's back. "Just before the assassination attempt on us, we received intel about a child being turned vampire. As you know, unlike born vampires, child vampires are not likely to grow in the same manner. They are slower as compared to human growth, and they are likely to be more ferocious than born vampires. When we walked into the house to take the child with us, the parents pleaded. They told us that the child was born, not made. We asked them if they agreed to the testing, and they were only too happy to do so. That obviously gave us a pause," Phayu said. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, almost as if he was too hard-pressed to continue. He opened his eyes when he felt his mate's hands slipping into his, and Rain's strength pouring into him. He smiled softly at his little boy and turned to the others.

"We reported back to the Council, who said that we could go back two days later and finish testing the child. Meanwhile they would post lookouts who would not allow the family to escape in case they were lying. Two days later we went back," Phayu's breath shuddered. "Two days later, when we went back, we found a massacre, a blood-bath, almost as if the entire family had been shredded to pieces. We found the child's pinkie nail," Pai took up the story, as a tear trickled down his eye. He looked up gratefully as his mate put his arms around him. "That's when we realised that the male was a former enforcer, who had chosen to move out of the circle. They needed to find an excuse to get him gone, and his child gave him that. His wife and he hadn't told anyone that they were going to have a baby, because that would make them vulnerable. But the Council found out," Win said, clenching his fists and being soothed by his mate.