Runaway Girl - The Secrets of Avelina Chronicles 1

Chapter 17

The next evening, Cezar was surprised when, as he sat in his library doing some paperwork before the clan meeting, Filipe informed him that Emily was asking to talk to him. She had no idea that Tyler had been killed that morning; that he had been disposed of while she slept peacefully in her bed. And Cezar had no intention of telling her. He made his way up to the room they shared around mid afternoon.

"You wanted to see me?" he asked her gently.

"Yes, I want to see Tyler. I'd just like to talk to him for a minute," Emily asked softly, desperate to see him to make sure that he was safe. He hadn't done anything wrong except give her what she wanted, regardless of the nagging feeling she'd had at the time. She loved him, of that she was sure, and she would do anything to see him again.

He was not surprised by the request she made, or of how hopeful she was of getting it, but what was he to do? The boy hadn't just broken the rules; he went against their most sacred law. "I'm afraid that's not possible. He's to go on trial in two days and the law decrees he's not allowed to talk to anyone until then," Cezar lied, but he was sure that he did the right thing for the clan and for Emily. He couldn't allow his people to run around turning girls just because they thought they were in love. He certainly couldn't allow Tyler to go unpunished when Emily was forbidden to their entire species. She was protected by law and there was no getting around that.

Emily nodded, agreeing to follow the law.

"I have an assignment to give you," Cezar offered, hoping to create a distraction for her.

"What kind of assignment?"

"Meet me in my stateroom on the ground floor," he instructed, "and I'll tell you then."

"Okay," Emily replied sheepishly, as he turned to walk away. He was almost to the door when she added, "Wait ... can you at least give Tyler a message for me if I can't see him? Just tell him I'm sorry that I got him in so much trouble ... and that I love him."

Cezar took a deep breath, then nodded. "I'll tell him," he replied and then left the room, but he barely got a few steps down the corridor toward the stairs when he saw Filipe and explained Emily's request.

"Master, the boy died some time during the morning," Filipe reminded him, as they walked together down the corridor. Cezar sighed and nodded at his momentary slip as Filipe went on. "The girl, Sire. Does she know yet?" he asked curiously once they reached the state room. He poured a drink for each of them as they waited for Emily.

Cezar didn't know what to say in reply. Was he supposed to bow down and say that he'd been wrong to go ahead and do what he felt was right within their laws? Was he supposed to let a stupid boy get away with breaking one of their most important laws? If he had backed down and let the boy live, it wouldn't have done him much good with the rest of the clan. He would never be able to lay down the punishments of broken laws again.

"Not yet. I see no reason to burden her with such thoughts now," he replied, trying to change the subject. "I have a project to keep her busy." After all, there was no changing it now. "She'll find out in due time ... once she's accepted her fate and realized that this is now her home."

"It may take her longer than you think. Once she knows about the boy, she'll want to leave," Filipe reasoned, pouring himself another drink.

A moment later, Emily appeared in the doorway.

Cezar didn't bother trying to pretend that she wasn't sad, but he knew that if he told her the truth now, it would devastate her. It wouldn't have made much of a difference to the way that he treated her, but he didn't want her making any more trouble than she already had. All the same, he wanted to remind her that the subject of Tyler was now closed. "My dear, he is not one of us. The boy was a stowaway ... already a vampire when we found him. We had no idea which clan he belonged to or if they knew he even existed. We were afraid to tell you in case you wanted to leave us in search of them," he lied, gesturing to a chair for her to take.