Chapter Five

The Syndicate chamber was cold tonight. The ancient stone walls held centuries of secrets, etched with runes that pulsed faintly under the glowing flame torches. The table was nearly full with Dorian Vale, the Chancellor, seated at the head. Around him, the rest of the council members murmured. 

Lucien Draeger arrived with a measured stride, deftly unbuttoning his suit jacket before taking his seat at the left side of Dorian. It was common for him to arrive last, something they had all come to expect. But to Lucien, it was more of a deliberate choice. 

“You’re late”, Father Anselm muttered under his breath. The pious purist still preferred to wear his 14th century priest garments during meetings. 

Beside him was Raoul Mercer, a man built like a fortress. Once Lucien’s best friend, there wasn’t a day that now went by that Raoul wouldn’t sneer wickedly at him, his jaws clenching so tightly in eternal distrust. Next to Raoul was Lady Isolde Lennox, an English noblewoman with fine alabaster skin and eyes older than the earth. 

“Lucien Draeger”, Dorian intoned. “You’re late.”

“I’m not”, he replied coolly. “I am precisely on time. You are simply impatient.”

Raoul gave a low laugh. “Still arrogant.”

“Still breathing”, Lucien retorted. “A miracle, considering your blood pressure.”

Now, back then that would have cracked both men up for what business did vampires have with blood pressure? But this banter between them was far from friendly. 

Father Anselm sighed. “Let’s not descend into theatrics. We have more pressing matters to address.”

“I agree”, Dorian nodded. “Your lifebond year has come again, Lucien. It’s your duty to fulfill your rites before the year’s end.”

“A hundred years, like clockwork”, Anselm added. “Yet somehow, when it’s your turn we all flinch.”

Lucien folded his hands. “Because you fear what you don’t understand.”

“No”, Lady Isolde spoke up sharply. “We fear what you refuse to control. The lifebond is merely transactional.”

Raoul leaned forward. “A century ago, you crossed the line with your lifebond. You took her ailing daughter, turned her and raised her. You gave her access to classified records. She now walks our halls with your seal.”

He was referring to Phoebe Keane, his assistant. The only vampire he truly trusted with his life. Lucien felt his anger rising, a strong desire to protect Phoebe from Raoul and the rest of the Syndicate.

“She’s better than any of your dogs”, Lucien replied. 

“Gentlemen”, Eirene DuPont suddenly spoke up. 

Lucien whipped his head to the left. Had she been sitting right beside him all this time? He felt immediately bad for not acknowledging his second closest ally after Phoebe. Eirene was the youngest member of the Syndicate, barely two hundred years old. 

“Phoebe was close to death when Lucien turned her. It was the least he could do for his lifebond mate at the time”, she said calmly before turning to Lady Isolde. “If you say it is purely transactional, perhaps this counts as something good that Lucien did for Phoebe’s father.” 

Lady Isolde barely grunted, clearly hating the idea that she had been bested by her own argument. Lucien shared a look with Eirene, mouthing a playful  ‘thank you’ to her. 

“Let’s get on with it”, Dorian cleared his throat. “Isolde, you have some information for us?”

“Yes, there’s been a report. A potential anomaly”, she reported. “A human woman. Name: Zaria Monroe. She’s a medical student and she was working at St. Asella when the explosion victims were brought in.”

Lucien arched his brow. “And what makes her…anomalous?”

Lady Isolde gave him a cold hard look before responding. “She healed a dying man. With her hands, no transfusion, no invocation. Simply life, where there should have been death.”

Father Anselm frowned. “There are gifted healers. Surgeons who–”

“She’s just a medical student”, Isolde interrupted. “The man had deep wounds that were 90% healed when she left his side.”

“What’s his name?” Eirene probed. 

“Doesn’t matter”, Isolde replied. “He disappeared within hours of discharge. We are working to find him. Shouldn’t take the team long.”

Anomalies were rare, especially in Boston. Lucien hadn’t encountered one in over three hundred years but he had stories of people with powers…powers that threatened the very existence of vampires, keeping them off the top of the food chain. It was for this very reason that the research institute was born. The trials were open to the public, sometimes sent to target persons of interest. 

“Fortunately, we are on track”, Isolde reported. “She took the bait for the trials. By tomorrow we will know whether or not her blood carries unusual properties.” She turned to Lucien. “You will join me tomorrow at the facility.”

“Why not me?” Raoul protested. “He’s too soft for this. He raised his lifebond’s child, for fuck’s sake!”

“She earned that place”, Lucien countered hotly.  

“You played father”, his nemesis growled.”You forget who you are.”

Isolde’s voice cut like ice, her English accent becoming more prominent. “And who you might become. Dorian’s tenure is ending and if you are to be selected, Lucien, we might have a problem on our hands with anomalous persons. I want to know that you will make the right call regarding these creatures.”

“What’s the right call?” Eirene asked, earning a snicker from Raoul. 

“Watch her tomorrow. If she’s nothing, we move on. But if she’s something…”

Isolde nodded coldly. “Then she must be archived before she becomes a real threat. That is how we protect our bloodlines, Lucien.”

Lucien’s jaw tightened but he nodded. “Understood.”