The Vampire Queen's Mate

Chapter 5: The Elders

As Sascha rode the elevator she peered at the smooth glass lining the walls with the small neat buttons all perfectly aligned on the control pad in front of her. The number thirteen was illuminated brightly and the elevator dinged at each floor it passed. She reached down nervously and smoothed her black designer dress. She was dressed modestly; the dress was skin tight complimenting her thin frame. The top had an elegant v-neck it laid effortlessly across her chest. A large but delicate black diamond hung from a platinum chain around her neck sinking just barely between her two breasts. Her stilettos were sleek; elongating her long legs turning them into skyscrapers. 

Ding

The elevator rang out on the thirteenth floor and the doors whooshed open to reveal a crisp and soundless reception area. The vampire at the front desk quickly looked Sascha up and down and then returned emotionlessly to her work. Sascha stepped confidently from the elevator and walked right past the reception desk and down a dimly lit hallway to the conference room. She was sure Aldrick and the other two elders would already be there waiting for her arrival. 

“Aldrick, Allijah, Augustus,” Sascha greeted them coolly.

The conference room wasn’t what you would expect it to be. Instead of a stark room with a round table inside, the conference room was large and cozy. A fireplace with a pile of plush leather chairs littered one side of the room, and on the other side sat a medium square table shoved in a corner with a handful of stools. The three elders sat sprinkled around the fire sipping blood-tinies. Garnished with what Sascha would assume was a real human eyeball. The threesome hardly acknowledged Sascha’s entrance, which under normal circumstances might make her blood boil, but since she was here to play nice she let it go. 

Aldrick greeted her void of any emotion, “Sascha, what brings you here on such short notice?” 

“Ah well you see,” Sascha said smiling, “It has come to my attention that several bodies were found...drained last night. Since it was surprisingly not my own doing I am here to offer my services and assistance in rectifying the matter immediately, and of course clearing my name.”

The three exchanged glances. Being an elder is a cumbersome job. Only the oldest original souls can serve as an elder and each is required to serve two centuries. Elders do not age physically, but instead are trapped in a middle age body to serve out their term. It is essential that three elders serve at all times, one from each of the remaining original families. Unfortunately, family number four has been extinct for some time now, they died off and souls were not harnessable into orbs during Sascha and Dimiti’s last lifetime together, and that may have played a part in why the two are never to walk the same lifetime together again. The elders are a powerhouse of knowledge and experience. Each elder is allowed to rest until called forth to serve by their family. Every two hundred years new elders are selected. The A team, as Sascha had nicknamed them, have been serving for almost fifty years now. The role of the elder’s is to protect the clan, and the clan’s monetary assets. It’s essential that the vampires be able to walk through society undetected and working to keep the most money and power under their control. Many politicians, businessmen and businesswomen are actually more than an elite class of the ultra rich, but they are also vampires from several of the clans sprinkled all over the world. Sascha’s clan, the Primary European clan, just so happens to be the oldest and the strongest. The world actually hangs in a delicate balance of keeping the vampires well fed, wealthy, and pacified by their human counterparts. To disrupt the balance could result in chaos.

Finally it was Augustus who broke the silence, “My Queen, we will be happy to exonerate you of all blame once we have sufficient evidence showing it wasn’t you.” 

“I completely understand, that’s why I already have a team on it,” Sascha sneered. 

In fact she had several leads and her three most reliable hench women were already exploring each one, not to mention she had called in a few favors from Boris and his team. Sascha almost couldn’t hide the pleasure she got from the shocked expression on each of their faces. 

“Of course I would also love to see the bodies, you know see who the victims are, look at the bite patterns and wounds. I don’t suppose that will be an issue, correct?” Sascha asked rather impolitely. 

“What a happy coincidence we were just about to head over to the morgue to have a look,” Aldrick replied, which garnered him some intense glares from the other two elders. 

“It has been awhile since I have seen my dear cousin Sophie, I guess you won’t mind if I accompany you then,” Sascha said her voice coated in fake sweetness. 

“Of course not, the Queen is always welcome to take part in investigations of these scales,” Allijah quipped, annoyed by the inconvenience obviously. 

“Excellent, I will meet you there shortly then,” Sascha stated with a devious smile, before turning to leave. 

Luckily Sophie wasn't just the coroner for the city of Moscow, she was also the Leichendiener for the coven and Sascha’s dear cousin.