CURSE OF THE BLOOD MOON
Chapter 39- THE ELDERS

Stephan walked down the hallway to the room where he was to meet the Council. Two warriors flanked his sides, just in case he posed a threat to the elders. He walked in to replace them all sitting in a circle formation as if they were the Knights of the Round Table and Salvatore was King Arthur.

He walked to the center of the circle and immediately recognized all the members, Leo was the only new face. Marquis sat at Salvatore’s right, she shamelessly blew a kiss at him then winked.

Stephan snarled at her, but this only seemed to encourage her more as she slid her finger from her lips to her cleavage. He wished he could give her his back, but he had to face the head of the Council. A sign of respect that he didn’t deserve.

“I see you are back warrior.” Salvatore’s deep voice filled the room.

Stephan gave him a look from head to toe, he hadn’t changed much. He still wore the cloak he owned in the eighteen hundreds and his hair was just as long.

He didn’t know how to respond to the question without sounding disrespectful. “I didn’t have much of a choice. I was brought here against my will.”

“So I’ve heard.” He stroked Marquis’s cheek. “We were hoping that once you got a feel of home, you would stay.”

Stephan knew he was referring to Marquis as the feel of home. “She’s too old for my taste.”

“I must admit we were hoping Marquis would have convinced you to stay out of your own free will by now. Since it is love that you want so desperately.”

“I don’t mean to rush you, but could we get to the point of this little gathering.”

Stephan could hear Leo clear his voice behind him. It was a warning that he was overstepping his bounds, but he didn’t care. They wanted something from him, or they would have killed him by now.

“You must be in a hurry to get back to your life, that zoo. I heard you keep the company of humans and beasts.” He spat out the words as if they left a bad taste in his mouth.

Stephan clenched his fist and held back the anger soaring inside him. He was offended that he could dare refer to his home as a zoo, implying that the people living in it were animals.

“They are my family.” He said with authority.

“We are your family, we have been for centuries. We watched you grow into one of the greatest beings this world has seen.”

The pride in Salvatore’s voice made Stephan cringe.

“Into an assassin, you mean. I have just been a pawn that you used to do your dirty work and if that is the greatness, I would rather pass on it.”

“How dare you be disrespectful? We turned you from a feeble human to a magnificent being. Stephan, you are a god in this world and how do you choose to use your talent...” Salvatore rose from his throne-like chair and floated to the center of the circle where Stephan stood. “...you waste it, living amongst the humans. You feed on animals instead of humans. You make a home full of humans and beasts instead of killing them.”

“I wouldn’t kill people I love!” Stephan roared.

“Love!” Salvatore clenched his fist and waved it in Stephan’s face, “You are wasting your magnificence on a trifling thing such as love. If I knew you would be this useless I would have slaughtered you myself.”

“You want to give it a try?” He said with a grin. Stephan was taunting him. He knew that there was no way Salvatore could defeat him. He was too strong too powerful for him to try and fight him on his own.

“You dare challenge me!” Salvatore’s eyes turned to a flaming red.

Stephan kept his cool, not reacting to the potential attack. It didn’t bother him that he wanted to kill him he wanted him to try. To give him a reason to tear him into shreds. He needed a reason an excuse, at the moment he wasn’t justified to kill him, but if he attacked him it would change everything.

The rest of the elders watched their leader unravel. They couldn’t interfere, no one was allowed to come in between personal spite, it was one of the rules they had come up with. So they watched, quietly waiting for something to happen.

“I know what you want animal but I won’t give you the satisfaction.” Salvatore calmed himself down and went back to his seat. “Let us get back to what brought us here.”

“Finally,” Stephan muttered under his breath. He knew they could hear him and he didn’t care. He took pleasure from the dissatisfaction he gave them.

“Leo.” Salvatore signaled for him to proceed.

Stephan thought that this was a clever move on their part, to use his old friend to convey their message. He was sure that they knew he wouldn’t turn down a chance to reason and reach an agreement with his friend. Their history together spoke for itself, their loyalty to each other still runs deep and true.

Leo stood up and went to him, he approached him as a friend and still showed him the same respect he had all those years back when he served under him.

“Stephan we...” Leo hesitated on the last word.

Stephan was sure that it wasn’t going to be something he would like. He was sure that Leo’s hesitance meant that it was something he wasn’t comfortable asking and not to his liking.

“We want to reach an arrangement with you. We are going to allow you to go home on one condition.” Leo narrowed his eyes and looked at him apologetically.

“What is it? Spit it out already.” Stephan watched Leo closely as he tried to arrange his words and thoughts.

“You use your skills and expertise in training our warriors. And that you will lead them when the time comes.” Leo swallowed hard.

“What! When is that, before or after I go home? Besides why can’t you do it, we have practically the same training. And you might be better than I am now, I haven’t used any of my training for a while.” Stephan was stunned by the request.

“Isn’t that a black lie?” The voice emerged from the shadows.

Stephan didn’t need to see his face to know who it was. His nose flared as he exhaled. “How would you know, you were too much of a coward to see the end of it.”

Zen laughed in an attempt to discredit Stephan’s accusation. “I heard more pressing things to attend to.”

“Oh yes, a human and two female immortals.” Stephan snorted. The fact that he was trying to justify his cowardice by referring to the three women as an urgent matter was ridiculous.

“I’m not a coward, and the women are tougher than you give them credit for.” He feigned wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead, “One of them took down one of my men in one swoop.” He sat in Leo’s vacant chair, making his ambitions evident to those who didn’t suspect it already.

“Why don’t you let him lead your warriors? He seems eager enough.” Stephan returned his attention to Leo.

“You, yourself just said it. Zen attacks the weak, those who can’t fight back. This is a battle against immortals just as powerful as we are. It’s not a schoolyard where bullies run free.” Leo made his dislike for Zen known when he pulled him out of his seat and shoved him to the other end of the room.

Zen didn’t dare retaliate or react. He went and stood behind Marquis his only ally.

“How long?” Stephan had used exactly a second to weigh the offer.

He desperately wanted to see Scarlet and his son, but he knew he had to be careful not to show it. Marquis was already using his love for Scarlet against him, and he didn’t need to give them more ammunition against him.

“A week, as of tomorrow. That is if you decide to honor our agreement.” Leo placed his hand on Stephan’s shoulder.

Stephan wasn’t sure if they were using this to exploit him, but he didn’t want to face that possibility. He was too eager to go back home and he would deal with whatever came in his way.

“Then what?”

“Then you come back home where you belong, and get to your duty as soon as possible.” Marquis cut in, her lips curving into a smile.

“I have to think about it.”

“I thought you were eager to go back to your human. Or are you hoping I will change your mind?” Marquis tried to look as seductive as she could.

Stephan ignored her and focused on Leo. He was the only one he would reason with, no one else.

“Stephan?”

“I’ll do it. But no one is to follow me to my home. I will return on my own a week from tomorrow. Are we agreed?” His voice raised, he wasn’t directing it just to Leo but to all of them, especially Marquis and Zen.

“You have my word,” Leo promised.

“What if you fail to return? We have to come and fetch you.” Marquis looked worried, her tantalizing smiles long forgotten. She was afraid that he wouldn’t return and she had good reason to.

“How about this for motivation, anyone I see or smell a thousand miles near my home I kill.” Stephan marched out of the room.

“He can’t do that, can he?”

“Don’t be ridiculous Zen.” Marquis spat out irritated.

***

“Are you taking me to the airport?” Stephan met Leo on his way out. He didn’t waste any time, lingering around at the fortress.

“If you will let me.” He fell in step with him as they walked to his car. “I will make sure no one will disturb you when you are with your family.”

“Thank you.”