Page 52 of Sleeping With the Vampire

A door was broken down and then we heard the sound of boots running into the house. There was gunfire, automatic weapons and the voices of men shouting out commands. The door to our room was opened and a swarm of men poured in, they trained their weapons on us and were about to fire. Sunil raised his hands and stared at them, intently, using his powers of mind control. They dropped their guns and stood staring at him, their eyes glassy.

He picked up one of their machine guns and was about to fire at them but I said, “No.”

“What?”

I pointed at their uniforms.

“These are Council forces, they are acting on Council orders. We need to find out who sent them.”

We bound the men and locked them in the room, then went looking for the rest of the men. We found them scattered throughout the house. They had killed everyone they could find, Hugo and his wife were lying on the ground in their living room. Another man and some servants were found in the kitchen.

We subdued the soldiers and locked them up in the room at the top.

“Who is your leader?” I commanded them and all the men looked at an older man.

“What is your name?” I asked.

“Captain Wilkes,” he said in the monotone that reveals the mind has been subdued.

We took the captain to the study and I quizzed him there.

“What are you doing here?”

“We received orders from the Council to neutralize the house.”

“Does that mean kill everyone inside?”

He nodded.

“You were looking for men, not vampires?”

“Humans,” he confirmed.

Sunil was standing behind me, arms crossed, a big frown on his face.

“They didn’t know you were here,” I said.

“Or they didn’t care,” Sunil said.

“Who signed the order?” I asked.

The captain said, “It was given to me by General Ost.”

“General Ost heads up the military, under MoZa,” said Sunil. “Perhaps there was an emergency motion to remove enemies. Something like that. Usually, the full Council has to vote, but at times of crisis, the Chairman can sign off on procedures.”

To me, Sunil said, “He must have become suspicious of Hugo.”

To me, this was a sign that Tempesto was consolidating his position.

I went outside and called Ragnar.

He was in the Citadel now and I was finally able to talk him as the mobile signal here was strong. I told him of the attack.

“It is eerie here,” Ragnar said. “No-one is outside, everyone is indoors waiting for something. There is a sense that something big is coming, but nobody knows when or why. The Capital is being guarded by the military, tanks and soldiers are patrolling the streets and keeping order. But there is fear everywhere.”

Ragnar told me he was staying with Lord Wilmer Ashworth, a vampire who had been an adviser to Tempesto in the early years before losing favor. He was sympathetic to our family and I counted him as a friend.

“Ash says Tempesto is insane. Basically. He has been drugging himself and is obsessed with taking over control of the Council. He has gotten rid of everyone who is against him.”

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