Fade Into Black - Shadows of the Night 5

Chapter 52

Hi,

OMG, I loved your witty comebacks and "verbal" responses to the last chapter - I really wish Anna said some of the lines you suggested! Great stuff :-)

So, here's the next one! I hope you like it. There's a lot of A+A in there ;-)

Lara

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Chapter 52

"So, what didn't you tell me?"

Medici watched her for a moment. "We detected something. I'm surprised the head vampire isn't aware of it. Maybe he is and this is all just a tactical move, or something he does for sport," Medici said. "A vampire or a group of powerful vampires forcefully entered the city somewhere close to the Red Zone about two weeks ago. We don't know who or how many, but we felt a disturbance that definitely reeked of vampire. It was there for a just a moment, then gone the next."

She stilled. "That means the vampire or the vampires can hide not only their power, but their aura."

Medici nodded. "We have no other information, which is another oddity. I have eyes and ears everywhere, but no one saw anything – which does not make sense."

She believed him. She didn't know why, but something about the way he admitted defeat, the knowledge that, thanks to the ravens Medici did have eyes everywhere – something about it made her believe him. She was pretty sure the Raven was telling the truth.

The image of the red-haired, Asian vampire popped up in her head. The way he'd been able to mess with her mind, like no one else had these days. Maybe she had already seen the vampire, or one of the vampires that entered the city forcefully.

Her eyes went back to Medici, who was watching her intently. "Where exactly in the Red Zone did the vampires enter?"

"South side. Somewhere close to the old church building," he said.

That wasn't too far from Victor Crawford's mansion, if you approached it from the other side. Even though it wasn't in the Red Zone, his mansion wasn't too far from its outer borders.

"Is there anything else you know?"

He shook his head.

She turned, her mind racing. What to do with the information? There seemed to be too many puzzle pieces to put together.

The Raven grabbed her arm. "You finally used Spirit without restraint. What did it feel like?" His fingers were digging into her skin, his eyes sharp and clear.

She exhaled and closed her eyes for a long moment. "Everything you said it would be, and more." The words were out before she could stop herself.

"A shame you didn't have a change of heart a little earlier. Things might have turned out differently for the Inri Brotherhood then," Medici said.

She said nothing. She could have never been part of the Brotherhood – not back then, not even now.

"What will you do with all that power?" Medici's voice cut into her.

"Survive." She opened her eyes, turned and focused on his face again. The question burned on the tip of her tongue, wormed its way out. "How did you manage to stay alive that long?"

He laughed softly. "I told you, magic will find an outlet, no matter in which way. What you must learn is to restrain the impulse to use all of it at once. Never forget that you control the magic, not vice versa. Don't get lost in the maze of power. No freedom without discipline. No gain without resistance. Rule the magic or it will rule you."