Underworld

Part 2: Chapter 7

We walked to Tanis's bed chambers and I personally was a little creeped out by it. There was lingerie everywhere.

"Your exile seems to be a little more comfortable than I remember" Selene commented as we looked around his room. I was particularly interested in his small book collection while Michael was looking for clothes to wear out of Tanis's closet.

"How does a vampire have lycan bodyguards?" he questioned.

"They were a gift," Tanis answered. This caught my attention. "From a most persuasive client"

In the corner of my eye, I saw Selene stop in front of a worn-out tapestry. "Lucian" was all she said.

I looked between Selene and the historian as my curiosity piqued. "Pray to tell why Lucian would wanna protect you, historian?" I asked him with a hand on my sheathed dagger.

Selene pulled down the tapestry revealing a weapons cache of sorts filled to the brim with UV rounds. "Because he was trading with him" Selene lightly picked up some capsule bullets that have yet to be filled with Ultraviolet material. "UV rounds," She said to Michael and me before looking back at Tanis "How long have you been in the business of killing your own kind?"

We all look to the nervous man "I've done what's necessary to survive. My decision was made easy the day your precious Viktor betrayed me."

I scoffed slightly at that comment. "Betrayal was something he did very well," I commented.

"Viktor's dead. Iris and I killed him" Selene said as she stared unflinchingly at him.

"You two kill Viktor?" Tanis scoffed at my sister. "No, I think not. Maybe Iris but you?" he chucked but we were not amused. Selene started to load up the weapons that were hidden behind the tapestry. I just started to look through the books once more. I hear a click of a gun being holstered from where Selene was. "Oh, unless you've learned the truth." I could feel his eyes on me, even if Selene couldn't tell but I knew that Tanis felt remorse for what Viktor did to us. He left out a sigh "Ah, so your eyes are finally open." He turned away from us and climbed up a couple of stairs. Isn't it interesting how the truth is even harder to absorb than sunlight? On the last step, he turned to us. "You know, I tried to stop him, of course," Selene looked at him with disbelief in her eyes and her face just seemed to show how much restraint she was using to not kill the historian where he stood. He rubbed his hands together in front of him as though he was trying to rub away the mere thought of something. "A travesty, committing such a horrible crime. And then turning the two of you then disregarding you Iris, that was too much to take." Selene turned away from him and began to pick up more weapons, including something that looked similar to the pendant on Michael's neck. Tanis turned to the table behind him and picked up a vintage bottle of what looked like wine or blood. "My protests are why he put me in here" Selene continues to place the small weapons into a bag and it seemed to catch Tanis's attention. "Careful with that dear." Selene turned her head towards him as though she's telling him that she wasn't brainless. "Makes a terrible bang" I walked towards Selene and picked up the object in her hand to examine it. " Open the blades and they're active." He tells us.

I nodded and placed it on my belt. "Good to know," Selene tells him as she continued to place them in the bag. Tanis turned away from us with the bottle still in hand and walked towards a small table with chalices on it. I picked up a crossbow that hanging on the back wall. "Viktor put you here for a reason but I doubt it was because you had moral qualms" Selene walks closer to him with me in tow with the crossbow already loaded and ready to fire. "What do you know?" she asked.

He began to pour the wine into the glass cup. "Very little of anything. I'm afraid" he said as he finished pouring the wine. He placed the bottle onto the table. Selene signaled me to take a shot. I aimed at the glass in his hand and fired. The glass shattered as the bolt pierced through it and landed into the wall in front of him.