Bloodlines

By sunrise, the storm showed no sign of slowing down but Ridley was. Chateau du Luq was enormous! She spent the whole night touring every nook and cranny with Tomás. One thing stereotypical hunters hated were large rooms that formed a labyrinth. Chateau du Luq was exactly that. 4.07 squared kilometres of pure Rococo architecture and French luxury. And that was just the castle itself! The gardens were an additional two squared kilometres. Half the size of Versailles and yet just as exhausting to cover. Not to mention that the area they covered was du Luq property. Not the museum.

A quarter of the west wing was transformed into the History of The Hunt Association Museum. That was ironic. In a country where dated derogatory terms like ‘vampire’ and ‘human’ were still a common practice, the human’s had their most prestigious people immortalised on vampire property.

Genevieve was cradling a woven basket with fresh towels in her arms when she came hurrying through the elaborately decorated hallway. Ridley was taking in the gold Rococo details on the cream walls. Tomás admired his sister in their silence. Not even Genevieve’s speedwalking disrupted the silence between the brother and sister.

The servant ampyra slowed down behind the siblings and cleared her throat lightly. When Tomás and Ridley looked over at her, she gave a small curtsey before looking specifically at Tomás. “Monsieur, I beg a pardon,” she began. “Lady Dominique wants to remind you about the meeting tonight.”

Tomás turned to Ridley, who only raised an eyebrow at him. “I completely forgot about that,” he stated with a sigh. “My whole world seemed to have halted by this mesmerising find.” He beamed warmly at her then caressed her cheek. “Perhaps a hunter’s perspective on the matter would be informative,” he thought out loud then returned to Genevieve. “Tell Dominique that we will both be there.”

Genevieve went pale while taking in Ridley. After swallowing her fear the servant nodded. “Yes, sir,” she replied fearfully then hurried away. Ridley glanced at Tomás before continuing down the hallway.

“You’re not going to ask,” Tomás inquired. The huntress folded her arms mutely. “It’s something that has been going in the background of history,” he began earnestly. “It started over a thousand years ago, when the hostility between your kind and mine grew more prominent. The vampire invasions into human occupation weren’t always for violence or for slaves. Sometimes they were searching.”

“Searching?”

“For the Source,” Tomás stated and Ridley stopped walking. “There’s never been any concrete records of the Source so my kind would search tirelessly.” The ampyra exhaled his fluster then combed through his hair. “Over the centuries, they’ve documented their research. Peace was a distraction so that the search would continue in secret. Some have let the matter go but many still believe the world belongs to the goldbloods.”

“Your meeting?”

Tomás rubbed the back of his neck with a heavy breath. “It’s for those of us who want to live equally among other bloods. You see, the supremacists have formed their own regiment, the Consortium of Ancients.” Ridley let out an uncharacteristic snigger with Ankh. “It does sound funny at first but know that they’re not like the stereotypical goldbloods; they’re not afraid to get their hands dirty.” Ankh snorted her humour. “The vampires like us have formed the Order. We have an informant inside the Consortium. We must protect the Source’s location from the Consortium. If we can do that, we can protect all other bloods. As hunter and a blackblood, you have a different perspective. Maybe you could advise us accordingly?”

Ankh sat down while Ridley looked out the window. “Why would you tell me this?”

Tomás furrowed his eyebrows and folded his arms. He studied his sister’s back then tilted his head in confusion. “You’re my little sister.”

“You don’t know me,” Ridley countered. “You’re a few centuries old. You should know that all hunters are required by law to report any word of plots against the peace to their superiors. And this is France; ampyras and non-ampyras don’t see eye to eye. How do you know I wasn’t sent here to help The Hunt of France?”

“Were you?”

“Not the point.”

Tomás nodded then rest a hand on her shoulder. “I see. It concerns you as to why I trust you so much, no?” Ridley said nothing but Ankh nodded her agreement. “Sister, I know much about you.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. “French aristocrats are very nosy. When our mother came to me eighteen years ago, I suspected she was hiding something. Only when she came back, in September, did I deduce she was not only my mother. I had to do a lot of digging to find Ridley Dominique Axel. There were plenty of documents to suggest I should stay away: achievements from The Hunt, international archery competitions, your father. Despite that, I couldn’t stay away,” he added softly then gathered her in a hug.

Ridley gasped when another one of Renee’s memories gave her a headache. It was relatively recent because Renee was with Ryan. Renee was sitting on Ryan’s bed with her. Renee gathered her daughter in a warm hug. “Of course you can come with me,” Renee stated.

“I don’t belong here, anymore,” Ryan sobbed.

Ridley jumped out of Tomás’ arms while panting heavily. The huntress snorted then turned away with a sob. “Ridley,” Tomás asked fearfully. The huntress hunched forward, sobbing to herself. “Sister?”

“Stop calling me that!” The grand gold candelabras’ white candles ignited with tall white flames, matching the halfritch’s burst. The halfritch gentleman was taken aback. Ridley sniffled while she shook her head. “Let’s go, Ankh,” the huntress ordered, without looking away from Tomás. “We’re leaving.”

“The storm...”

“It’s just water,” Ridley spat while marching away.

Ankh looked up at the French aristocrat with a wince before circling back to Ridley. Ankh bounced down the stairs, slightly behind Ridley. The grey wolf could only follow ruefully because Ridley’s mind was inaccessible. Through the grand doors, Ridley stalked towards the downpour just as a black stretch limousine pulled up before the grand doorway.

One of the chateau servants pulled open a door that revealed a leaner edit of Dane. Ridley froze at the sight of the man, forgetting about the heavy rain that awaited her. The man had an elitism air to him. Maybe it was the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime watch he wore. A thirty-one million US dollar watch! Or the gold pocket watch tucked into his waistcoat.

The man had Dane’s sculpted nose and small round light brown eyes. The only things setting the two apart was that Dane was beefy. He had his mother’s side of his family’s brown wavy hair and this man was covered in tattoos. Barely sticking out from his shirt’s collar, this man had dark blue streaks along his neck. Quite similar to Na'ailah’s, at the Christmas ball.

Another key difference was the man’s hair. The sides of his head were bald and his long dark hair - that had coppery hues where the rising sun’s light caught it - were braided back. Tying his hair together were strips of leather. He had a heavy beard but that did not dampen the resemblance he had to Dane.

A servant held an umbrella overhead to keep the man dry and he leisurely strolled up the stone steps. Ankh too was appalled! It took the grey wolf to think the name, “Viggo Elliott Wolfensøn,” for Ridley to snap out of her daze. “Are you alright,” she asked Ridley.

Viggo paused when he saw Ridley then furrowed his eyebrows. “Hm. Are you a fourth du Luq sister,” he asked.

“Viggo...” Ridley barely got out. Her shock meshed with Ankh’s and it numbed a better part of her.

“Yes, I am Viggo. Viggo Elliott Wolfensøn II, son to Viggo Elliott Wolfensøn I,” Viggo replied. “And who might you be?”

“Get away from my sister!” Ankh gasped then spun to see Tomás rigidly atop the stairs. Quickly the halfritch rushed to his sister’s side and ushered her behind him. “You will do well to keep away from her, Danishman. Lest you face my wrath!”

“Come now, Frenchy. We’re all on the same page,” Viggo purred. “Why else would I have sort out the aid of your family to stop the consortium?”

“He’s your informant,” Ridley stated stiffly. “Why him?”

“Because he was the only one brave enough to oppose his own kind,” Viggo replied without looking away from Tomás. “A reminder that he would also be shunned, if not executed, if he was ever found to be consorting with the Order. He does value his life by the way.” At last the Danish goldblood looked back at Ridley. “I don’t believe I was aware Renee had anymore children. What’s your name, kærasta?”

“Her name is her business and none of yours.”

“Still upset about Aimée and I, are you, boy? Come now. Aimée believes in monogamy just as much as I. She is well aware I have many women.”

"My sister will not be one of them!” Ankh sniffed Viggo’s leather shoes before snorting and looking up at Tomás. “You were on your way, dearest?”

Ridley glanced up at her brother then back at Viggo. She sized him up then shook her head. “I’ll stay for the meeting.”

“Sister...” Tomás called cautiously then shook his head.

“I see my Ostman wiles have not failed me yet.”

“Ostman,” Ankh echoed in surprise. “He’s a viking?” Ridley was taken back to when she caught Renee and Dane in the library. When Renee seduced Dane, making him think that she was Ridley. Renee did say that Viggo was a viking. “So he’s, what, over a thousand years old?”

“Is it really that shocking? Renee was over two thousand,” Ridley whispered. “You look good for a rugged old viking, Mr Wolfensøn.”

“‘Rugged old viking’? A woman with a wicked tongue,” he purred. “I look forward to getting to know you better, Ms...?”

“du Luq,” Tomás cut in. ”Just Ms du Luq.” Viggo smirked slyly at Tomás before brushing passed the siblings. Tomás made sure he was well out of earshot before looking back at Ridley. “Please don’t tell him who you are. That man has bad blood with hunters.”

“His wife, Embla” Ridley replied. “I know the story.”

Tomás’ lips parted while he gestured for her to return inside. “I take it you know Wolfensøn III?”

“I know Viggo wants him dead. I also know I’ll kill him before I let that happen.”

“Pick a number,” Tomás added as they ventured through the grand estate. “Those documents about you, I mentioned? I saw a very Danish name on a few of them. You’re close, I gather. Any friend to my sister, can count on me as well.”

The huntress shook her head wordless while Ankh replied with, “awe.” They entered the dimly lit parlour where Aimée was still reading her novel, in the same place they left.

“You’re early, Wolfensøn,” Tomás jeered. “We weren’t expecting you until tonight.”

“Well, I thought I would grace the Order with developments hot off the press,” Viggo stated then whipped his long dark braid over the back over his shoulder. “Where, if I may ask, is the Lady of the House?”

“Mini is spending the light hours preparing for the masquerade. ‘Minor and meticulous detailing’ I believe were her words,” Aimée sighed. “But you know how she is; always hearing the word on the street before it ever hits the street.”

Viggo nodded then settled on the seat across from Aimée. Sebastian startled the huntress and her wolf from his invisible perch by the closed curtains. He was so still in the darkness that Ridley drew her karambit and took a defensive stance before her brother, with Ankh too springing into action beside her.

Sebastian mutely raised his hands in surrender then beeline for a decanter. Ridley exhaled lightly then eased down while Ankh snorted before laying by the crackling fireplace. Sebastian poured himself a glass of cognac along with one for Ridley.

“That was most impressive,” Viggo commented. “Like a proper hunter.”

“My niece is a hunter,” Aimée replied and Tomás went bleak and Ridley stiffened her stance with her hand nearing her karambit. “We sent her undercover to The Hunt, to make sure they don’t get involved. You didn’t think you were our only eyes and ears, did you?”

Tomás let out his held in breath while Viggo sized up Ridley. “That explains why ‘big brother’ was so defensive. He wasn’t protecting you, kærasta, but me.” The viking looked to the French aristocrat slyly. “Much appreciated, lord du Luq.”

“Get on with it, Wolfensøn.”

“For a man with centuries under his belt, you are a very impatient boy,” Viggo countered. Nobody in the room was amused. Aimée cast aside her book then shifted to face her lover. “No? Very well,” he sighed then went serious. “The consortium’s most discreet archeological teams were studying runes from a cave wall of an Ancient Roman village. They discovered two things about the Source. Firstly, that cave was the Source’s dwelling place.”

“Co-ordinates,” Sebastian ordered.

“There might be more in that cave,” Tomás went on. “du Luqs have lived through epochs. We speak lost languages.”

“And what am I, an ornament,” the viking jeered with his arms folded. He looked back at Sebastian coldly. “It’s part of a mountain range outside Pilato Lake, Marche. It won’t matter; the cave was raided for its worth before being demolished. Its contents are hidden somewhere only the most elite in the consortium know.”

Tomás sighed defeatedly then shook his head while walking away. Aimée shook her head at her nephew. “Your patience is quite thin,” she commented. “Strange. I never noticed.”

“Moving on,” Viggo stated coldly. “The cave branched off into a more complex series of other caves. Also raided and cleared. Which brings us to the second discovery of the Source; it’s a person.”

“What were you expecting it to be,” Aimée jeered. “A stark white tree that excretes blood instead of sap?”

“I admit, I had very different ideas to what the Source would be. From previous archeological digs, the consortium had an array of options to what the Source would be. From a spring hidden in the mountains, to a chemical radiation that alters life expectancy and dietary.”

“What else do you know,” Tomás persisted.

Viggo rolled his eyes before spinning around to face the aristocrat. “Since eldritches were the first generation of vampire, a special unit has been created to round up as many halfritches as possible. Since they are the immediate descendants of a blood long extinct. The halfritches within the consortium have been detained.”

“Detained,” Ridley echoed quizzically, speaking for the first time.

“For experiments,” Sebastian stated. “They’re going to try using halfritch blood as a tracker. Supposedly eldritches could sense when they were close to the Source. If it’s true, then they can engineer halfritches to do the same.”

“That means none of you are safe,” Ridley went on, suddenly familial-loyal.

“Neither are you. Nobody in the castle is. Harbouring all vampire bloods and humans under the nose of the consortium? We’re doomed, at best,” Sebastian added. “In 1888, Welsh priests tried the same thing.” The Englishman looked down at the scar on his wrist. “They couldn’t get further than blood tampering because of the technology of their time. This is 2022; anything is possible.”

The viking nodded then looked down at his overly expensive wristwatch. “There’s a fourth Scourge upon us, skyldfólk. Humans, blackbloods, redbloods and even goldbloods who dare stand against their own will be in the line of fire.”

“We must he armed to the tooth,” Aimée advised, looking specifically at Ridley. “We will need all the help we can attain.”

“I hate to ask,” Sebastian sighed, “but what else do you know, Wolfensøn?”

“That is everything,” the goldblood viking replied. “The archeological evidence is still being inspected. I will have the findings faxed.” The air in the room was sullen and not even Ankh made an attempt to lighten it. “We can only hope the consortium still believes this castle is under its influence. Odin save us if they don’t. I will have my best warriors stationed here, nonetheless.”

“We would much appreciate it,” Aimée replied warmly then stood to walk him out. “I cannot thank enough for your risks against the consortium,” the avid reader continued while they left the parlour.

Sebastian looked over at Tomás who exhaled after sizing him up. “I hate when you do that,” Tomás stated.

“I wouldn’t have to if I didn’t feel it.”

Ankh hummed through Ridley’s mind before going over to sniff the English ampyra. “Huh.”

“What,” Ridley asked out loud, making the two friends eye each other.

“He feels like me.”

“Soft and prickly?”

Ankh snarled lowly at her. She ground her head into Sebastian’s waist while he roughed out her gruff. “Hm,” the wolf hummed. She abruptly stopped then looked over at Tomás. Slowly she tilted her head before looking back up at Sebastian. “They’re psionic,” the wolf concluded. “Sebastian is Tomás’ psionic... person thingy.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Remember what the book said? I can sense when there’s a psionic footprint close to you. I don’t know why I didn’t feel it sooner.” Meanwhile, cautiously, Tomás lessened the space between him and Ridley. Sebastian too was curious at what he witnessed. “Maybe because Sebastian’s not an animal. I feel it now. Ask them about it.”

“Sist-- Ridley,” Tomás whispered. “What is it?”

Ridley swallowed lightly then sighed to herself. “How long have you been linked?”

Sebastian unfolded his arms as he exclaimed, “I knew it!” He looked to Ankh who backed away from him slowly. “I felt it but never have I ever...”

“I too am a halfritch,” Tomás confirmed. “Sebastian’s a human.”