Hi,

Trouble ahead, trouble behind. The big question: is Anna doing the right thing? Who should she trust? Is there anybody she can really trust?

Lara

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Chapter 8

The longer I stayed with the Inri Brotherhood, the more I was starting to doubt myself and the world I was living in. Absolute truths, unshakable beliefs, the foundation my determination was built on – they were starting to crumble, threatened to fold in on themselves like a flimsy house of cards.

No, I couldn't ever forget why I was here. Why I 'joined' the Inri Brotherhood to begin with.

In order for you not to become the hunted, Anna Johnson, you must become the hunter

I stared Medici in the eye, mixed factoids with falsehoods, unable to tell where the line between truth and lie was.

"Then let me become a hunter. Show me how," I said. "All this time you've been simply taking me along. Today I almost got caught because of it. Give me back my pendant. Show me what the books say about what you think I am. Make me one of you, for real."

Medici's eyes narrowed. For a long moment he simply stared at me. Slow, almost imperceptibly, a smile spread on his face, twisted and dark like the rogue witch himself.

"You're starting to think like one of us, Anna Johnson."

I wanted to cross my hands in front of me, a defensive mechanism that would let him see I was averted to the idea. My fingers twitched, ready to curl into fists. I couldn't even do that. If I telegraphed the wrong information, Medici might see right through me.

I channeled my energy into a blank face, the kind of face a washed-out, human version of Alexander would have made, and forced my voice to neutral grounds.

"What do you know about Pentagrams?"

Medici sighed and turned his back to me. "As I said, we're working on a quid pro quo basis. Since you're willing to join us, I'll show you a glimpse of the information I have." He walked to the make-shift table on the other side of the room. He moved his palm over the city maps and papers strewn allover, before picking one – seemingly at random.

"Learning to control Spirit isn't just what I want you to do. It's what you have to learn if you don't want to end up like the rest of the Pentagrams throughout history."

I licked my lips. Like the rest of the Pentagrams. Dead, he meant.

He held up the sheet of paper. "This was taken from a copy of Elena Larosa's diary. I take it you're familiar with the name and who she was."

I stilled. Elena Larosa. The third Pentagram, and my ancestor. According to history she destroyed greater parts of the Catholic Church's corrupt Inquisition apparatus, and the vampire coven that had insinuated itself into it.

"Where did you get it?" I said.

I'd been trying to get my hands on something, anything pertaining to Pentagrams and their history, without success. No one seemed to know anything, and if they did they were unwilling to share.

He shrugged. "Is that really of importance?" He walked up to me, holding out the sheet. "You're still asking the wrong questions, Anna Johnson. You may have this now. See it as advance payment. I'll give you more later."

I took the paper, staring at the photocopied words for a moment. It didn't look like a fake. Then again, how would I be able to tell fake from original? How tell truth from lie?

"Tell me what I can do," I said slowly, raising my eyes to meet his stare.

Medici crossed his hands behind his back, eyes going in and out of focus. "I told you about the vamps that were killed."

I nodded.

"I need to know what's going on in the head vampire's territory. Alexander is one of the long constants in the city, a linchpin if you want. If he is dislocated, the whole city will burst at its seams. I need to know how the vampires are reacting to the news of the murder, and how much Alexander knows.

I stared at him, hard, trying to see past his outer shell and gauge what exactly Medici was. A genetic splice between madness and genius, leaning one way or the other. My first thought was he had an interest because he wanted to be the one to kill the head vamp himself. My second thought was the Inri Brotherhood was behind the murders. I wasn't sure about that now. Was he telling the truth?

"Why? You could just let things go as they are and take the credit for the murders," I said.

"I have big plans for New York, Anna. Controlling one component is not enough to bring down the system. I need to know all, need to know if and when a linchpin will fall."

I feigned disinterest, willing away the bristling tension in my limbs. "What do you know so far? Did you do it? And if not who could it be?"

"Does it matter... to you?" He said, staring at me.

Another test? I studied the planes of his face.

A faithful follower would do what? Agree with everything he did?

Medici sighed. "I know nothing of significance. Except that Alexander's meticulous and that he has been head vampire too long for him to fall easily. It will take more than a threat from the outside to loosen his iron hold on the vampire community."

I pondered that. Another non answer. If a threat from the outside wasn't enough, he was insinuating a threat from the inside would do the trick.

"How did the head vampire react to the murders?" I said slowly.

"If I had the answer to the question I wouldn't need your services."

"And just what do you mean by my services?"

All I got as answer was another smile that chilled me to the bones.

* * *

I killed the last two male rogues I met in open terrain. Then again, that was about two months ago, at a time when my world didn't evolve around performing dark spells and witches that were hunted by the Circle.

Joshua and Walter had been part of the Inri Brotherhood for two years, brothers in name and in spirit.

Both were bulky, thick-muscled, sharing the rugged build of a bouncer. Short-cut, black hair and heavily tattooed. What they lacked in height, they made up in intimidation. I'd seen it in their eyes, both a washed-out blue that bordered on deep grey. Joshua and Walter had been through hell and back. Now they were my new partners, or watchdogs, however you liked to see it.

I had no illusions about the Raven's willingness to make me one of them for real. He was going to use me as long as he could benefit from it. What came after was still in the stars. Sometimes I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

The Raven wanted answers to questions I couldn't answer. Medici wasn't pleased with the lack of information on the Circle's current operative status. With my repeated suspensions and my absence I wasn't up to date, on many things. And maybe, just maybe, I didn't tell him everything I knew.

We were in one of the fringe areas of the city, close to the infamous Red Zone – that one part of the city that truly belonged to the undead.

The sun had already set and if it had been up to me we'd have long retreated, safe and protected in the Raven's current hideout. Not so the brothers. Seemed like acting recklessly was an integral part of being a rogue. This was the third location we were examining, and hopefully the one that was going to get us answers. The first two were a waste of time.

The Raven sent us out to investigate, walk into the vampire community and observe. It sounded simple. It wasn't. He wanted to know how much Alexander knew about the deaths – about when and how the vamps died. If there was a rift within the vampire community he could capitalize on and use to his own advantage.

And the big question was still there: Who killed Alexander's vamps? Was it the Raven and this was just a way to test my loyalty? Or, was it someone else?

Medici never openly admitted that it was him. Was someone trying to set up the Inri Brotherhood? Or did the orchestrate the murders himself? It would fit the Raven's MO. But why send me there? Why deceive me with such an elaborate and risky scheme? What for? Was it a subplot within the shadow game of lies he was playing? A safety insurance in case we were caught in the act?

Sometimes I wasn't sure which I preferred. The Raven was a known constant. If someone else killed the vampires and was trying to make it look like it was the Inri Brotherhood's doing, we were dealing with the big unknown.

I lifted my head and stared at the front gates of Leonhard Goshanger's lair wearily. Agreeing to help the Raven felt like a huge betrayal to Alexander, but it was a small price to pay for the trust I earned in return.

If this went well, I was going to get back my pendant and my cuff. I had no idea how much magic was still stored in them, but I hoped it would be enough to give me an edge. I still couldn't do the spell that created teleporting devices. No matter where I looked and searched, there were no books or reverences that could point me to its mechanics. All I could do was recharge a teleporting device.

It was a fact: I needed both, the cuff and the pendant.

So here we were, on the lookout for information on who could have killed one of Alexander's most powerful coven leaders. Goshanger was by far the oldest, most reclusive one – or so rumors had it. I doubted those saying he never left his mansion. No, I was pretty sure Goshanger did, particularly since I knew for a fact that he had had many run-ins with the shape shifters and Marrok, the leader of the Fade pack in the past.

The real question was: did the vampire die inside his mansion or outside the parameters? If he did die inside the mansion it would throw open a number of possibilities I did not like, at all. If it was the Raven, it meant he could enter a vampire lair whenever he pleased. If not... if not, Alexander was in serious trouble.

Wind whipped against our faces, as we approached the building's front gates in silence. We stopped on the other side of the street, crouching low behind a skeleton of a car.

Joshua pointed at the gate, then at the back. I tensed. They needed me because I knew the parameters as well as the rough set-up of the mansion – again something the Raven could capitalize on. Sending me out was a risk he was apparently willing to take as long as he could benefit from it.

"We're going in," Joshua said softly.

I barely noticed the nod of his brother, too caught up in the rift in reality, the shift as Joshua opened a portal and vanished. He reappeared in front of the gate, tossing something the size of a gumball into it. It was all but that. It was another one of the devices the Inri Brotherhood stole from Magenta Warrens' house. And I knew what it did.

I opened myself to my magic. Reality shifted, opened up to me in auratic gray. Second sight showed me what my human senses didn't. The planes around the house rippled and stilled – a shock wave of another sort.

Whatever wards had been laid, they had been deactivated and would be woozy for at least twenty minutes. That was the time frame we had.

Joshua reappeared at our sides, stepping out of the portal and into existence with the grace of a cat. His eyes latched on to me.

"Ready?" His voice was clipped, filled with determination and purpose. Just like Walter, Joshua was focused on the mission.

I nodded, readying myself. I was going to use one of the most complicated spells I recently learned.