Page 25 of My Master
Antonio felt a vein in his forehead pop, his annoyance grew. He was tired of everyone around him giving him riddles and not being straightforward about anything. For once, he wanted the complete truth. He stepped forward with clenched fists. “Bullshit!” he yelled, causing Maria to flinch beside him. “It’s only complicated if you choose to make it complicated! I want the truth, father, and I want it now. Starting with everything you know about Isis…starting from the beginning…”
12
“But, you are beautiful” Caesareon pulled Isis into his arms and held her tightly. She pushed him away without hesitation, hating the hardness of his body pressed against her, and hating that controlling adoration shining in his yellow eyes. She hated it all, knowing it was all a big old lie.
Isis crossed her arms over her chest, as if that could hide her from him, because she knew it wouldn’t. She glowered at him, but he only looked at her with bitter amusement. His yellow eyes, for a brief moment, were swallowed by the darkness of his pupils.
“You will stand through this meeting,” he commanded. “And bear witness silently, understood?”
Without meaning too, Isis nodded, once again having no control over her body.
Caesareon smiled. “Very good,” he said, clapping his hands together then he leaned down and pressed his cold lips to Isis’s, forcing his tongue past her lips. She opened up to him, despite her mind’s cries of protest. His finger’s entwined through her dark hair, pulling out her ponytail and letting it fall in a waterfall down her shoulders. He pulled her face closer to his, until their noses touched and his touch turned icier.
Isis felt disgusted, even though she had no control over herself, she couldn’t help but feel repulsed,dirty;especially when her fingers wrapped around the back of his neck, fingering the hair that curled there.
He broke the kiss, placing his hands on her shoulders and pushing her away gently. She could only stare blankly at him, not even overpowering his hold to muster up a glare. He smiled in a triumphant manner at her, knowing that he had hit her where it hurt.
A buzzing erupted. Caesareon pulled a phone out of his pocket and answered it, never once taking his eyes from Isis’s. “What?” he growled into the phone. A voice on the other end sounded—male? Isis couldn’t be sure. The voice sounded too high pitched to be male, but too deep to sound female, and it was oddly familiar, nagging at the back of her brain for some peculiar reason. “Yes, I am starting the meeting as we speak.” He paused as the voice said something on the other line. “Yes, the one that escaped is with me and under control…” Another pause. Caesareon’s face went to a frown and he growled deeper into the phone. “Just do what I’ve assigned you to do! Go into that police station and do your job!”
Police station?Isis wondered in confusion.
“Get all of them out,” Caesareon said. “We need as many as we can get.” And without a goodbye, he hung the phone up and pocketed it. “Sorry for the interruption, my dearest Warrior.” He moved to her side and as if by some unknown instinct, she placed her hand on his forearm, which he had held up to her, and he led her up to dark red curtains. “Just one of my people, gathering more troops for us.”
Isis wanted to open her mouth, to say something to him, to question him, at least, but even that seemed impossible. He moved aside the curtain with his free hand and gestured her through first. She stepped out into darkness and then a yellow circular light shone on her. She had the urge to squint her eyes against the sudden brightness, but couldn’t.
Caesareon followed her, and another light shone on him. It wasn’t until she glanced forward did she notice they were on some sort of stage, in front of an audience of vampires. Releasing her hand, Caesareon stepped forward, the light remaining on him as he did so. The vampires in the audience—about a hundred, as far as Isis could tell—clapped and cheered for him.
The amount of vampires in the place surprised Isis. She honestly hadn’t been expecting to see that many followers. Though, not all of them were vampires, she noticed werewolves and a few half-demons as well.
She shuddered inwardly and watched off to the side as Caesareon lifted a hand, causing the whole room to go quiet at the same time. “Vampires,” he started, his voice booming, echoing and bouncing across the walls as he spoke. “Werewolves, Halflings, my Brethren, it brings me great joy to see you all together—united—by my side, against the common enemy.” There were cheers and applauses all around. “All of our efforts and hard work, all of the sweat and blood and lives lost have been leading up to this; to this one moment, and you all know what moment I am referring to.” There were whistles and cries, letting him know that they did. She could almost feel him smiling at them. He held his hand up and they silenced. “Revolution, my disciples! We have waited years for this! We have lived in the shadows of humans for far too long, and now, I say, wetake this world as ours!”
Isis admired the way in which he spoke his words, with such a deep passion that made her want to believe in him, despite everything he had put her through. But, logical thought shook that craziness out of her and she thought of her brother and she thought of her mother, and she knew, by that passion in Caesareon’s voice, that he wouldn’t stop until he achieved his goal. He wouldn’t stop until he burned every human to the ground and rose up from their ashes as ruler of the world.
“This isourtime! It is time we took what is rightfully ours from the humans and show them where their true place is—beneath us!” More shouts, more cheers, more maniacs crying out for Caesareon.
“Put your faith in me, for I do not disappoint. Put your faith in me because my armies will lead us to success. We will force the world from the hands of humans!” His voice had risen to a crescendo, taking on an almost musical hint to it. “My armies are gathering as we speak and there is only one chosen one that will lead them into battle.” He turned to Isis, looking her in the eyes. His pupils did that funny thing again, and she felt herself obeying his silent commands, walking to him, placing her hand delicately into his own. “Isis will lead our armies into victory,” he said, a little more quietly than before. His voice seemed hushed, but at the same time it was loud enough to be heard. He then shot Isis a look; his pupils dilating, indicating that she step forward and give a few words.
Isis didn’t know what to say, vile angry words popped into her mind, but when she tried to open her mouth to yell them, they wouldn’t even slip past her throat. It seemed her ability to speak had been taken from her, but she was able to move her head, back and forth, looking around the crowds of creatures before her. She gazed at them intently and as she did, they sucked in a breath and waited—for what, though, she wasn’t sure.
And then the words came to her, fire igniting her mind. The words were not angry, nor supportive of his cause, but she spoke the truth when she said them. It was a warning.
“Many deem this war impossible, hell, itshouldbe impossible. It would be hard to believe that us, a group of races that are so scarce, could rush into bloody battle with mortals. Yes, they know our weaknesses and they can use it against us,” as she said this, she looked at Caesareon, and he stared back.
“They know the weapons of war, and they knowus.Yet I know them, and I know how they feel, I know of human emotions—emotions much like our own—they are driven by some sort of intensity that neither you nor I can even begin to fathom. You can expect us to go in there and take it for ourselves, but before you do, you should know…” She looked out into the audience, her gaze burning deeply and she could tell that they saw it in her eyes, because they edged backwards, as if she would go crazy and jump off the stage only to rip their throats out. “The humanswillfight back…”
Inclining her head, Isis stepped back so that her back was touching the curtains. There was a whooshing silence in the small theatre, the kind of silence that made you want to drop a feather and listen to it clink to the ground. She felt as though no one was breathing, holding their breath and staring at Isis then at Caesareon, waiting for his reaction.
She could tell that her warning had startled him, but he kept his eyes unreadable for the crowd. It was a sign of weakness to show emotions, she knew he thought this way and was disappointed when he turned back to the crowd, clapping his hands slowly, until one by one, the audience joined in, starting off slow and building up until it was all she could hear; the roaring sound of applause.
“Beautiful words of warning, Isis. She is right! The humans will try to fight against us, and I will tell you now that we are stronger and we willnotfail! Their fight is unnecessary and useless, because, despite their ‘knowledge’ they cannot win, for our powers are greater.
“So I ask you, will you put your faith in me and join me in battle?” As an answer there were cheers and applause. Caesareon smiled victoriously. “My armies are being gathered as we speak, and I can assure you, you will all be rewarded graciously for your loyalty.” He took a slight bow and turned around, pulling Isis with him behind the curtains while a commotion started behind them.
As soon as they were behind the curtains, Isis felt his hold on her waver then shatter, and she was herself again. She flexed her fingers at her sides and rolled her neck. It felt good to be in control of her own movements. She hated that feeling she got when he controlled her. It was like she was hollow inside, and strings were tied to her limbs, pulling her in every direction that she hated.
“You did better than I thought you would.” Caesareon beamed.
Isis scowled at him. “It’s not like I was going to jump off the stage and do back flips or some crazy shit like that. I know how to give speeches, I’ve given them before.”
