Chapter 93
RYKER’S POV
I hated being out of my element and this was one situation where I couldn’t control that.
From the moment I saw that b*dy. I knew it was a vampire attack. I tried to convince myself that maybe it wasn’t the one from the stories. I allowed Camilla convince me that I was overreacting but now the evidence was directly in front of my face and I couldn’t deny it. As we left the physician’s room. I couldn’t help but run my hand down my face in frustration. For the first time, I was at a disadvantage- I knew nothing about vampires.
I knew nothing about the rumors as well because I had completely dismissed them. If I had just chosen to investigate it a little then I would have a little information on hand instead of walking completely blind. I wanted desperately to punch something.
“Ryker,” Camilla began slowly from her spot by my side. She sounded almost hesitant as if she were unsure of whether she should speak.
The last time she sounded like this was when she was still getting to know me and didn’t know how to trust me. I turned to her almost immediately, all thoughts of the vampire were forgotten. I never wanted my mate to feel like she needed to walk on eggshells around me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked and she hesitated for far too long before responding.
“What do we do now?” she asked. “I don’t know where to start.”
“We don’t start anything. The last thing the people need is to panic. We are going to summon the elders and convince them to implement a curfew for the people.”
“They would want to know why. No one panics more than them,” she added the last part with a snort. “Why can’t I just put the curfew?”
“If you do it then people will realize that something is wrong. If we make the elders believe that it was their idea then they will have to come up with a reason behind it. Just leave the talking to me, I can handle them.”
She nodded and I couldn’t help but bask in the complete and absolute trust she had in me. Her eyes softened and I could see in her eyes that she would have done anything I said in that moment. There was something euphoric about knowing that and I swore that I would never do anything to make her second guess that blind faith she had put in me.
It took half an hour to get the elders assembled in the council room. It would have taken longer but to our relief, they were already in the palace when summoned. There were varying levels of confusion on their faces and I prayed to the goddess that I wouldn’t mess things up.-
“if I am correct then it is your job to keep us up to speed with everything happening in the palace, correct?” I asked and they all hesitated before nodding. “Then explain why I didn’t find out until today that people have been getting lost in the woods. in the dead of night.”
It was a huge stretch. I knew of only one person who got lost in the woods sand that was the man who was currently lying on the physician’s bed being examined. The elders looked like deer caught in headlights and I wondered if it was because something similar was actually happening or if they just felt incompetent.
“Your majesty,” one of them began. “Every year, at least five people get lost in the forest at night and cannot find their way back. So far, there have only been three cases that have reached our ears and one has been found recently although the physician hasn’t released the b*dy.”
That means there are two more people waiting to be found in the woods.
“Didn’t you think it was something that should be handled?” I asked and he opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off. “What kind of leaders are we if we just left our people to suffer without offering solutions.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“I am suggesting nothing. I was unaware of the plight until today. You chose to keep it a secret so you will all handle it yourselves,” I looked over them all slowly. “I don’t know how you plan to stop people from going into the woods especially at night so they don’t get lost but it is out of my hands now.”
I leaned back in the chair and grabbed Camilla’s hands under the table. The ball was now in their court, I had planted all the seeds necessary and all I needed was for one person to say the words ‘curfew. I waited for an antagonizing thirty minutes before someone finally got the hint.
“What about a curfew?” he asked. “It is one way we could keep people in line. They would never go against that. The question is, what is the reason we will give them?”
“I am sure you can figure out something.” I sat up straighter. “The last thing I want is for any of you to throw the people into panic.” I stood to my feet and pulled Camilla up with me gently. “You are all dismissed.”
I could see that they all had more to say but there was nothing they could do about the dismissal. I watched them file out and disappear. It wasn’t until the door to the council room clicked shut that I could finally breathe. That entire time, I was in a state of panic wondering if my plan was going to work. That was not something I wanted to feel again. Helplessness was not something I enjoyed.
Camilla breathed deeply. “I didn’t think we would be able to pull that off. What do we do now?”
“We do nothing.” she scrunched her brows in confusion. “You continue your duties as usual.”
“You have got to be kidding me. How do you expect me to pretend like nothing is wrong when we have a vampire on the loose? They might attack again. They have probably already attacked again.”
“I know. We need to avoid suspicion. The elders will be looking at us now. Just keep doing your thing. I will go to the library in my spare time and find everything I can on vampires.”
She frowned. I wasn’t fooling her that easily. “I want to help. You can’t stop me from helping.”
“I’m not stopping you from helping, I am trying to keep you safe. Focus on your training. You will be able to help that way.”
She pursed her l*ps and I knew there was more that she wanted to say but the truth was that it didn’t matter. She could have given me all the excuses in the world and I still wouldn’t have agreed.
I placed a k*ss on her head. “I can handle this, trust me.”
“I do trust you,” she murmured before sighing. “I’ll let this slide just this once.”
I watched her walk out of the council room. I waited until she had left before I grabbed the nearest bottle of ink. I needed to write to Damien.
I told him briefly what was happening and asked for the names of the packs where the rumors started. I knew it would take at least a day or two to get the letter to him and another day or two to get a response. I sealed it with wax to ensure that no one could read the contests before taking it personally to the office of the people responsible for correspondence.
“Your majesty,” they bowed. They looked shocked to see me and I didn’t quite blame them. I had never willingly walked into this place before. “Is there anything we can help you with?”
I handed the letter to the man closest to me. “Ensure that this gets to my old pack as quickly as possible. Time is of the essence.”
I could see the curiosity etched on their faces but they couldn’t ask any questions. They bowed and rushed off to do as I had asked. I didn’t wait to ensure that they did what I asked- I knew they would and I had more important things to handle. I needed to find the general library.
I knew where the normal one was but I had a feeling that there was another- there was always another. A place where they kept the older texts that they didn’t want people knowing about. I didn’t know where it was but I knew someone who might.
“Christine, are you there?” I called out down the mind link and it took a second for her to respond.
“Yes, sorry. If you’re worried about Aurora, she is out like a light. Camilla came here a while ago and she is watching over
her.”
“It isn’t Aurora, I need your help. I’m in front of the palace library.”
She didn’t say anything for the next second. “I’ll be there right away.”
True to her word, she appeared in less than five minutes. I could see the confusion and unease on her face as she made her way over. She was trying her best not to look like she was in a hurry and if not for the fact that I knew her as well as I did, she would have deceived me too.
She came to stand next to me and we both turned to face the doors. I waited for the guards behind us to walk past before I spoke. “Is this the only palace library?”
“That’s a weird question,” she answered immediately. “Is there a particular reason for it?”
“I don’t have the time to explain things, Christine. I need you to answer me truthfully. Is this the only one? Lives could be depending on your answer.”
“No,” she answered after a beat of silence. “But you already knew that, didn’t you? You’re not stupid, Ryker and neither am I. I was told about the man in the woods before you were. If I am going to be honest with you then you have to award me the same decency.”
I knew she was right and I also knew that I couldn’t do this without her help so I sighed. “It’s vampires. I need access to the other library to see what I can learn.”
“What do you mean by vampires?” she whisper yelled. “Do the elders know? Do the people know? How bad is it?”
“I don’t know,” it pained me to admit but it was the truth. “What I do know is that right now, I need access to that library and I need it as soon as possible.”
There was shock and confusion on her face along with a million questions but instead of asking them, she nodded. “Come with me.”
