Sinister Seductions (Book 1 The Flower of Bottesford Series)

Chapter 2: Gideon

I stood on the other side of the beautifully carved cherry wood desk looking into the face of the man I had once determined to be my worst enemy, grinding my jaw in irritation at his very existence.

Gideon Creed was the second most powerful vampire in Tamaran. He was the second in command of Tamaran’s incredibly powerful vampire coven, which covered an area of approximately 28, 000 square miles, an area slightly bigger than the state of West Virginia. He was also Mara’s maker, hence my extreme dislike of him.

He was a handsome man, I had to give him that, and I knew his age to be somewhere around 650. Shoulder length blonde hair waved merrily about his sharp angular face. He had high cheekbones, a sleek nose, and strong jawline, of which was covered in at least 2 or three days of stubble. The shadow of a beard gave him a rugged and charming look and helped to harden the slightly feminine features he naturally had to him.

His best feature though had to be his eyes. They reminded me of the eyes of a Siberian husky. One eye was painfully light blue, the other so brown it border lined on black, both of which were so piercing they seemed to be able to stare straight into a person’s soul. Given that he was a vampire, it was very likely that they could.

He stood at about 6’0”, with a body that was long and lean like a dancer, but incredibly muscular and strong. He sat with deceptive ease at the desk, but I knew in a split second he could be at my side with his large, long, and incredibly smooth hands around my throat. Though if he tried, I would skewer him like a boar.

Once upon a time our relationship was very different. I liked him, I would have even considered him a friend of sorts. But that was before he turned Mara against her will, without her permission, and condemned her to an eternity by his side. In the beginning I knew she was horrified at the idea, but looking now at her serene face as she stood beside him, I am guessing he won her over to the idea somehow. For some reason, it just made me dislike him more. Though in reality I was truly just angry at myself.

“Mr. Creed,” I said smoothly, showing no sign of my inner turmoil, “I was not expecting you. Where is Mr. Price?”

Marcus Price was the leader of the Tamaran vampire coven, and in a way, Gideon’s boss and master. He was the one of the individuals that the Council had sent to me speak with on their behalf. In the past, Marcus had offered support and guidance during the battles against the Carpathians. Being that he was well over 1,000 years old, he claimed to have had encounters with the beasts periodically throughout history. It made him one of the only beings on the planet that had actually dealt with the creatures before the war began. Given the feared size and scope of the looming battle ahead, the Council wanted to secure his assistance beforehand. But he was nowhere in sight.

“Unfortunately Mr. Price is… busy tonight, Ms. Belvoir,” Gideon gave a sheepish smile, “I am here to discuss matters in his place.”

It was a load of bullshit, and we both knew it. I had never met Marcus Price in person but his reputation as a s*x driven philanderer was so well known throughout all communities that it had even become a running joke among the members of the Council. Of course no one would ever dare say a word about it to his face, as the full range of his power had never been seen by anyone living. No one had ever survived an encounter with him which in itself was enough to attest to his abilities. I just knew he was feared and powerful.

Regardless, I didn’t give two shits about irritating him. I was preparing for war. If I wasn’t talking to him then I wasn’t talking to anyone. Though, given the fact he would blow off such an important discussion for yet another opportunity to get laid did not make me put much stock in his help at all.

“I’m sorry Mr. Creed, but I have strict instructions to speak to no one about this… situation, except Mr. Price. If he allows you to join the discussion then I can’t stop him, but I do have to speak to him directly,” I watched Gideon’s jaw clench at the word ‘allows’. He didn’t like that he was under Price’s heel. Interesting.

“Well he is not to be disturbed tonight.”

“Then I guess we are at a standstill,” I responded staring back at him emotionless, refusing to back down. Since the start of the war, Tamaran had become an incredibly difficult place to reach as it had essentially cut itself off from the rest of the world. I had travelled for six gruelling days to get here and I was not leaving without completing my mission properly. Damn the bloody consequences.

For several long seconds the silence was so tense it was as if no one even breathed.

“Perhaps I can convince him to put aside his business for a moment to join us,” Mara intervened smoothly, coming around to rub Gideon’s shoulders.

That made me raise an eyebrow internally, what was her relationship with Price that she could defy is command without fear of punishment?

Gideon looked at her for a moment before nodding slowly, kissing the back of her hand. Mara returned the nod before gliding out of the room.

I couldn’t help but notice the contemplative look she gave me as she passed. “I hope you know what you are doing sister,” was all she said as she closed the door.

Gideon fixed his eyes on me again before saying, “You still haven’t sat down.”

“I would rather stand.”

“Why? Do you fear you will be attacked?”

I laughed at that, it was a cold dead laugh that caused Gideon to flinch slightly. “I am a war commander for the Council of Delphi, Gideon,” I said softly, “There’s never a moment, awake or asleep, that I am not ready to be attacked.”

I thought I saw something like sadness come into his eyes. “How did it come to this Ria? Why did you go to them? Why choose this path?”

“I didn’t choose it, it chose me.” I crossed my arms unconsciously then immediately put them down when I realized it looked defensive. “It’s a long, brutal, and bloody story with a lot of questions and no simple answers. But let’s just say that a situation occurred and I had to make a choice. It was either me or Mara, and I wasn’t willing to put her at risk like that. ” He seemed startled at my unexpected reply. I didn’t blame him, I was shocked too. That was probably the most I had ever told anyone outside of the Council regarding my situation since the whole messy business had happened.

“How is she?” I asked carefully.

He seemed to contemplate how to answer that. “I am not sure what you want me to say, Ria. We are together and she seems happy. But at times I catch her blankly staring out of the window looking sad and helpless and I do not know what to do for her. You left her and that wounded her deeply, especially as the rest of your family disowned her after the turning. Your sister is strong, capable, and stubborn, but like all people she wants answers. Ones only you can give.”

“I’m not sure I can. My life has a lot of risk, a lot of death, blood, and violence. Nothing I would want my baby sister to be a part of.”

Gideon laughed at that, “Your sister is a vampire, Ria dear. She understands all of those things.”

I shook my head grimly, and something in my eye sobered him, told him there was so much more to the story of me than met the eye. “This glass palace you vampires have constructed for yourselves here is so far away from my reality it might as well be another planet,” I paused briefly considering my next words, “It is so bad out there Gideon, so much worse than the Council lets on. If things continue like this, I don’t know if we will pull through,” I looked up to the ceiling and wondered how it was that after all this time Gideon still had the ability to make me spill my guts out against my better judgement.

I looked down at him with a piercing gaze, “If I tell you something, will you swear on Mara’s life that you will never breathe a word of it?”

He looked startled again but nodded. I gazed at him evenly, not sure if I should continue, but I knew for his and Mara’s sake I had to.

“We are losing this war, Gideon,” my voice was so soft, if it wasn’t for his vampire hearing he would have never caught it. But the slight widening of his eyes told me he hung on my every word. “This battle will likely be the final battle, the deciding fight in the survival of this planet. That is why I am here, why I am collecting additional help from all of the communities.”

I approached the desk, leaning myself over it so that our faces were level. I made sure that my face told the story of how dire this was, pushing the desperation of the situation into my every word, and used my eyes to make him feel it deep in his bones. “If I believe that the battle is lost, that we are all done for, I will send you a message. I want you and Mara to have a bag packed, because when I send that message you have to be ready to run immediately. I want you to take Mara as far from here as you can and hide in the best place you can find. Nothing and no one else matters, do you understand?”

He looked at me still with that wide eyed deer in headlight look. Obviously he was as much in the dark about the state of affairs with the Carpathians as the rest of the world was.

“Swear it Gideon. Now.” My voice was hard and held an authority that could not be defied. He nodded stiffly.

“I swear it.”

“Good. Now where the hell is this Mr. Price.”