The Dragon And The Fae

8. Ezekiel

Ryke roared slamming his fist on the stone table, a visible crack crawling halfway through it. It was a wonder it didn't break in half. He didn’t give a shit about the way Ruka flinched or Lana gasped. The room cowered. He was furious.

It has been three days. Three. Goddamned. Days! And they have reached nowhere near to producing any kind of evidence. The trial was supposed to be held two days ago but The Onyx was attacked, the capital pack of all the goddamned wereshifters and the casualties were no joke or so was reported.

But he didn't know whether he should be relieved or concerned. Ezekiel will be packing the whole wrath of their loss, he would multilate Rovena if he got his hands on her. Didn't matter if he was a cunning bastard or not, he knew he would have done the same if he was in the stead of Ezekiel. And if Ryke interfered with Ezekiel’s verdict without any convincing evidence, that meant war.

He raked his hand through his unruly hair and snarled. “I gave you everything you asked! I sent my men on a day’s journey to retrieve the elements you demanded and now you are saying you can’t isolate the venom?!”

Ruka pursed her wrinkly lips. “There was only so much flesh remaining on the boy’s mangled body. Isolating vampire venom is not a joke, Ryke. Moreover, it is like there is no venom to isolate from him. You know I did everything I could.”

Lana shook her head. “It just doesn't make sense. If a vampire bit the boy, obviously there has to be venom right?”

The room was in tense silent for a moment.

“Unless she is lying.”

Ryke squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't need Titus’s goddamned bullshit today.

“Titus!” He heard Lana hissing at him. A low growl erupted from his throat and he was only a moment away from decking him out of this dimension.

“Or it wasn't a vampire at all.” Eric added as an afterthought. And that caught everyone's attention.

“What?”

“I mean, it’s just theory. And the only sensible one I can derive. What if it was a glamour of some sorts? That’s possible, right Ruka?”

Ruka nodded. “It is more than possible if the attack was orchestrated by the dark faeries. And the glamour must have dimmed the powers of warning runes I had engraved. That happens sometimes with powerful glamours. Along with rain, there were no warnings at all.”

Lana nodded with enthusiasm. “And since it was pouring down, any scent would have washed away.”

Pieces by pieces everything clicked into his head. Ruka looked into her cauldron again. “The dark faes are more than capable of putting a glamour” and then frowned, “but I didn't get any demon venom either.”

Pick shrugged. “Do all the demons produce venom?"

“Most. Except for Ghouls.”

Ryke nodded. “That explains a lot. Vampires leeches off every last drop of blood. They don't eat flesh but this boy..” He gulped in fury. “Chunks of his flesh were missing. It had been glamoured into a vampire alright, but a ghoul devours flesh especially if it is a kid. And it produces no venom.” He gritted his teeth.

“Poor kid must have felt everything.” Eric visibly shuddered.

“And that means we have shit on our hands. Again. ” Pico grunted.

Lana raised a brow. “I thought you would be the happiest with throwing her to the wolves, my love.”

Pico grunted. “When she calls me dragon fly, sometimes I imagine,” He twisted his fingers together like he was throttling her. “But the devastation and helplessness I saw in her, something touched me Lana. She drives me crazy that’s for sure but I am not cruel enough to plunge her into death for something she didn't do."