The Wolves of London Book 2: The House of Striker
Chapter 29

(Chapter song ‘Shape of Lies' by Eternal Eclipse)

ZEN

I suck up my anger as I walk to my throne turn and sit. Avery stands beside Zayden as he stands beside the Maximus throne.

Zander looks up at his father. “You’re supposed to be resting.”

Zayden side eyes his son. “And you’re in my seat.”

Zander looks at his chair and back up at his dad. “But… this is my…”

“Not while I live.” Zayden raises a brow.

“Zander. Mind your father.” Dorian smirks.

Zander shoots Dorian a nasty look.

“Son.” Zayden says coldly.

Zander grumbles under his breath and gives up his throne. Zayden walks around with his robes flowing around him. He smiles as he sits down and inspects the chair. “Ah… I love this seat.”

“Don’t get used to it.” Demetri grumbles barely audible to the rest.

“Your grievances with me have no place here, Vampire. Mind your tongue.” Zayden warns.

“Dad… don’t.” Zander cautions. He meets Demetri's eyes and Demetri shakes his head.

“What do you mean, die by his hand, Zayden? Are speaking of William’s army?” I ask as I cross my arms and legs.

“What are you talking about? What army?” Zayden scrunches his brow.

Zander scratches his temple. “Uh… the army in the painting. You said Zen couldn’t open the door.”

“That’s right.” He chuckles and shakes his head. “Yes. Now, I remember.” He wags his finger at Zander who arches a brow.

“Oh my god.” Demetri rubs his forehead and grinds.

“Stop.” Zander warns. “The effects of Nathaniel’s repair to my fathers soul has taken a toll on his memory. Have respect.”

“Sorry. I had to do a lot.” Nathaniel apologizes.

“That’s fine, Nate. It'll take time.” Zander reassures the angel.

Demetri scoffs and shakes his head.

Zayden crosses his leg and laces his fingers in front of his lips. “Yes… time.” He mutters.

“Dad?”

He glances around the room. “It’s amazing what you can do… with time.”

“I don’t understand…” Zander starts.

“Neither do we.” I state with curiosity.

Zayden stand walks to the middle of the circle and spins as his robes flow around him. “Time. It’s a precious thing and changes so much. You don’t realize how much until someone changes it for you.” He spins around and faces Quaid.

Quaid turns his head slightly. “You’re speaking of time magic.”

Zayden nods as the corner of his lip ticks up. “Precisely.” He turns back to Zander. “The concept of time means nothing if it can be changed. And even more so when you know what’s coming.”

“What are you saying, Zayden? What you’re talking about sounds like foresight.” Quaid questions.

Zayden smiles. “Foresight, indeed. We can’t open the door because William will kill us all.” He eyes the floor. “He has waged war against everyone. Including his own kind.”

“You’re lying.” I snap.

“I wish I was. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen the world burn with William at the center. I’ve seen him strike down his kind that fight against him. I’ve seen him lead his army across this land and devour it.” Zayden says darkly.

“Zayden… William's dead.” Avery gently reminds.

Zayden turns. “Mr. Kirkland. I forgot you were here.” He chuckles. “No. William is very much alive.”

“We buried him, Zayden. My father was there.” I confirm.

“Was he?” Zayden walks up to me. “Or was that what he told you to preserve his father’s secrets.”

“I don’t…” I blink at the king.

He leans down to me. “Your family have been keeping secrets for centuries. Even you. You collect creatures for Miranda to perform experiments on, do you not?”

“What?”

“Pardon me?”

“You've got to be kidding!”

“How do you know that?” I arch a brow.

He taps his temple. “I’ve seen it all. You can’t hide it from me. Miranda and her plans are in my mind, Miss Striker.

I look around at the questioning eyes, sit up and raise a finger to Zayden. “I didn’t know what she was doing. I thought it was for study. I had no idea she was trying to make… you.” I motion a hand to him.

“Oh, this just keeps getting better and better.” Krestin groans as he leans back in his seat.

“Zen.” Quaid remarks with a disappointed tone.

“Me, too?” Darius asks with a soft look on his face.

“Sorry.” I say sympathetically. “Honestly. I didn’t know.”

“The fact that you hid it at all, makes you the same as William. He just made his agenda a bit more serious.” Zayden turns and walks away.

“Zen. Tell me the Strikers haven’t been supplying the Foundation for their hybrid experiments.” Zander says.

“Yes. Ok. I found out Miranda was hiring the Cleaners to collect monsters for genetic manipulation. I plan to stop it, I just need to take care of all this first.” I explain.

“In the meantime, we suffer!” Demetri barks. “Vampires and lycans have been disappearing for years and it was you?!”

“You have some nerve, Bella.” Giovanni glares.

“I’m fixing it, Demetri. Don’t get your cummerbund in a knot.” I glance at him abs back at Zander. “Guys… I can deal with the Cleaners, but I need to know why you think my great grandfather is alive.”

“William is alive because I was shown the entire event. I knew William was making his army. I knew Miranda was helping. I knew William marched himself and his army into the painting and are now waiting for their release.” Zayden speaks to the circle as he walks around.

“How do you know all this, Dad?” Zander asks.

He spins to face his son. “Merlin.”

Krestin snorts a laugh. “The old guy with the pointed hat. ‘Blow me to Bermuda.’ That guy?”

“No. Zayden, that’s impossible.” Quaid says with shock.

“It’s not. I have no idea of the man the dragon is speaking of…” Zayden thumbs to Krestin.

“It’s a cartoon…” He looks around the room as we all stare at him. “The Sword in the Stone.” He stares at us all. “No one?”

“Why are you watching cartoons?” Dorian snickers from the other side of Darius.

“I’m not. I put it on for the kid and watched a little…” He starts.

“What kid?” Cora asks.

“The kid! The angel.” Krestin explains.

“Nova.” Nathaniel confront him. “You had her?”

“For a second. She was driving me insane and I turned the TV on. It shut her up.” He shrugs.

“Why didn’t you call us?” Cora says with annoyance.

“I was going to, but she took off before I did so there wasn’t a point!” Krestin defends.

“Oh my God! We’ve been through this!” Cora scolds. “Any time she’s seen we need to be called!”

“Alright! Stop yelling at me!” He scowls.

“Anyway.” Quaid glares at the dragon. “Merlin isn’t a cartoon. Far from it.” He walks up to Zayden. “If what you say is true and Merlin did give you the gift of time and foresight, you can be sure that came with a price.”

Zayden nods. “It did. It cost me my life.”

“Dad?” Zander questions.

Zayden glances at Zander. “I know your mother told you I died in battle, but that’s not the truth. Merlin saved me and thousands of lives by reordering time. For that, he told me I would have to die at some point to set the time in stone. I accepted that. I was assassinated in my bed as per Merlin’s prediction. I let it happen so you could move on as King. Unfortunately, he didn’t tell me about what was going to become of me after that. I have no idea if he knew. All I wanted was to stop a war and bring peace. William had other plans which also concerned Merlin, so he gave me the gift to see more of the future. He showed me William. What he made. What did with it and how we lose. We can’t let that happen.”

“You’re trusting Merlin.” Quaid crosses his arms.

“He hasn’t led me astray thus far.” Zayden states.

“I don’t understand.” Zander approaches his father. “I’m sure we've all read the books, but it sounds like they weren't fiction. Who is Merlin?”

Demetri clears his throat and him and Quaid meet eyes. I flick my eyes to the vampire and arch a brow. He turns away and now I’m wondering what that’s all about.

Quaid nods and turns back. “Merlin Montague… is the King of Sorcerers. Very powerful and the creator of the Dark coven. A group that has plagued us for years. He’s the most evil man on the planet. After his crimes of time manipulation and the hostile take over of the Sorcerers High Council, he was imprisoned forever. This created a divide in the magic world. There were those who saw Merlin as a free spirit rather than a criminal mind, but we knew better. In-fighting grew to a point where our own people were murdering us. We fought back against Merlin’s supporters, and now, we hold trials every year to bring the factions together and remind us that we are indeed one.”

“Imprisoned. Where?” Zander asks.

“In a painting.” Quaid answers.

“What's with you people sticking people paintings?!” Krestin barks.

Quaid blinks at him. “Logistics.”

“What?” Krestin scrunches his face.

“With the help of Alpha Black.” Quaid motions to Dorian.

“And that’s the only trick I’ll take credit for. If anyone deserved to be locked up, it’s him.” Dorian sits smug in his seat as all eyes turn to him.

“Where is he now?” Zander asks.

Dorian eyes him. “That’s for me and me alone to know. There is no escape. He won’t be free as long as I breathe.”

“We need to speak to him, Dorian. We need to corroborate my father’s story and replace out how to prevent this future my father saw.” Zander insists.

“No. Never. You open the door, he will get out. The only way you prevent this is to grab the painting and hide it. I can do that, but it will be tricky. I’ll need back up magic.” Dorian flicks his eyes to Quaid.

“What are you thinking?” Quaid asks.

“Picture in picture.” Dorian suggests.

Quaid’s brows go up as he rubs his chin. “Interesting. Can we actually do that?”

“I don’t see why not.” Dorian shrugs with a wave of his hands.

“What? You’re going to shove that massive painting into another one?” Avery laughs.

“This is beyond ridiculous.” Demetri scowls.

“Yes. It will have to be shrunk first. For easy transport.” Dorian turns to Quaid. “Can you do it?”

“Yes. I believe so.” Quaid confirms.

“Are you kidding?” I throw a hand to Zander. “They could destroy it! You can’t”

“Zen. We can’t let you, or someone else, unleash this army. I’m sorry. But you can’t wage war on Supernaturals. This council won’t allow it.” Zander warns.

“I’m not declaring war on Supernaturals. Just Icarus and the angels.” I insist.

“You can’t control them, Zen. If William is in there, he won’t let you.” Quaid faces me with concern.

“I can deal with my family. I can control the weapon and I can fight them.” I side eye them both.

Zander stands in front of me and looks down. “You saw what they did to my father. You saw what we had to do to put him down. You want to unleash an army that’s fully capable of that, and a whole lot more, and truly believe you can control that?”

“Yes. I do.” I raise my chin.

He shakes his head. “No. You can’t. Zen… Pursue this idea and I’ll have no choice but to arrest you. What you’re going to do will endanger the world and I wont stand for it.” Zander cautions.

I stare into his stone cold face. “Then you better arrest me. The angels are coming. Icarus has the army. What the hell kind of plan do you have that’s better than mine?”

“Zen…” Avery walks over to my side and faces Zander. “You don’t have to arrest her. She won’t open it. We'll get it back and hide it like Dorian says.”

“Avery!” I bark.

“Zen! Enough.” Avery turns to me. “You heard them. William has gone nuts. You want to send him after them. These are your friends!”

I stare at him. “Hallway. Now.”