Uprising

Chapter Thirty-Four Crowmoor Hall

3.16 a.m.

The vibrations of the silent ringer reverberated against the dull sheen of the long mahogany table. Stone picked up the phone. He’d been expecting the call, knew who it was from — and it was right on time. He said nothing, waited for the vampire on the other end to speak.

‘It’s done,’ the voice said.

Which was all that needed to be said. Stone hung up and smiled down the length of the table at the seated assembly of his inner circle. Lillith was at his right-hand side.

She’d dispensed with red leather in exchange for glistening black. The light of the night’s battles and victories still danced in her eyes. She drummed her long, black fingernails impatiently on the polished wood, waiting for him to reveal what the call had been about.

To Gabriel’s left was the blonde, Anastasia. Down the table was the hulking shape of Zachary. Anton’s beady gaze was fixed on their leader.

‘Well, brother?’ Lillith finally asked him.

‘Our plans progress,’ he replied. ‘The demise of the Federation is now an inevitability. We control their weapons. The tiger’s teeth have been pulled.’

‘Then we move on to the next phase,’ Anastasia said with a delicious laugh. ‘And the real fun begins.’

‘All in good time,’ Stone replied calmly.

‘First I want to massacre the rest of the bastards who did for Petra and Kenji tonight,’ Lillith said through bared teeth, fists clenched on the tabletop. ‘I’m going to find Alex Bishop. I’ll find her. And I will make her suffer.’

Stone pursed his lips. ‘There are more pressing issues to deal with than mere revenge,’ he said. ‘Leave such crude impulses to the humans.’

‘What issues do you mean, Gabriel?’ Anton said, intently watching every flicker of Stone’s face. ‘The Federation—’

‘The Federation are less of a concern,’ Stone interrupted him. ‘They will be dealt with according to plan. No, I refer to another matter. While you were in London, I was…elsewhere.’

Lillith crossed her arms and looked at her brother. Her expression was clear: she knew perfectly well where he’d been that night, and she disapproved of his dalliance with his new plaything. She’d wanted Kate Hawthorne dead that first night. But she said nothing.

‘I encountered a human there,’ Stone went on. ‘An officer of their police. He told me something that disturbs me greatly.’ He paused. ‘He told me that he was in possession of a certain artefact. I speak of the cross of Ardaich.’

His words caused a sharp silence to fall in the room. Lillith scowled and kept staring at him. ‘The cross? The cross of legend?’

‘That old story,’ Anastasia snorted. ‘Vampires don’t need to worry about crosses.

We all know that.’ She looked round and saw their serious expressions. ‘Don’t we?’

Stone shook his head. ‘At a mere eighty years of age, you’re far too young to know these things, Anastasia. I can assure you that the legend of what the humans came to call the cross of Ardaich is very real indeed.’

‘Then we have to hunt this human down and kill him,’ Lillith said. ‘The simple ways are the best.’

‘And how do you think we can do that?’ Zachary rumbled. ‘If the motherfucker has the cross, we can’t touch him.’

Stone stared at him coldly. He didn’t approve of human profanities being used in his presence, unless it was by his own choice.

‘Do you really think he has it, Gabriel?’ Anton asked.

Stone clicked his tongue. ‘He may be bluffing; then again, he may not. But even if he doesn’t have possession of the cross, the mere fact that he knows of its existence makes him a grave threat to all of us. We cannot afford to take risks.’

‘I agree with Lillith,’ Anastasia said. ‘If this human is with their police, he should be easy to find. We can make him disappear, along with whatever it is he may know or may have found.’

Stone was silent for a moment, thinking hard. Then he stood up, walked over to the door and tugged twice on a thin cord.

Far away through the twisting passages of the mansion, the bell rang to summon Seymour Finch.

Their assistant arrived in minutes. Lillith eyed Finch with distaste as he grovelled and scraped his way to the table like a beaten dog looking for scraps, his eyes bright with adoration and terror.

‘My loyal servant,’ Stone said. ‘I have another task for you.’

Finch nodded eagerly. ‘It will be a pleasure to serve you, Mr Stone. Whatever you wish.’

‘A human has become a problem for us. We believe him to be a police officer, and he may be in possession of an item that is very important to us. Your task is to find out who he is, where he lives, what he knows, and with whom he might have shared this knowledge.’

‘And then cut his fucking throat,’ Lillith purred, drawing her finger abruptly across her neck. Zachary and Anton chuckled.

Stone glowered sternly at her. ‘No. No harm must come to him — not until we can be absolutely certain that he’s the only one involved.’ Turning back to Finch, he went on, ‘This is a delicate matter. Depending on how much he knows about us, it may be necessary to isolate him from his colleagues, prevent him from talking. Do you understand?’

Finch nodded. ‘Yes, master.’

‘Good. I leave it to you. You’ll report back to me on my return.’

Lillith looked across at him. ‘Your return? From where?’

‘I have one more small item of business to attend to. Then I need to make a journey. East,’ Stone said. He paused a beat before adding, ‘To them.’