Page 28 of My Master
Victoria motioned for them to wait by the door while she and officer tall-dark-and-delicious went in and talked to him. She took the seat across from him, while the other officer stayed standing, looking down at the man intently.
“Rich,” Victoria whispered, touching the man’s—Rich’s—knee. “Tell me what happened.” Her voice sounded gentle, soothing. Rich looked at her.
“I—I can’t remember. They hit me on the head and everything is really fuzzy. My memories are blurring together.” He put his head down. “I can’t be of much help,”
“I think you can,” said Victoria. “Terrance can help uncover the truth…we just need your permission. You know that…”
Rich seemed startled, he looked at the handsome officer—Terrance, Ezzy presumed—and back at Victoria. Slowly, he nodded. “Whatever helps…”
Victoria stood from the seat and Terrance took her place. Ezzy eyed the man in greater detail. He was really tall, even sitting down in that small chair made him look massive.
He had long limbs and a broad, muscular looking chest. His skin was pale, as pale as paper, his eyes were a paler tone of grey that held pupils smaller than the average person’s. His hair was black and wavy, the tips curling slightly over his eyebrows. There was ruthlessness to him, but there was also an elegance that Esmeralda found fascinating. All in all, he seemed pretty attractive.
Terrance leaned forward in the chair; Rich watched him, his eyes wide. Terrance seemed to be studying him, but not just his outward appearance. He was looking into his eyes, as if he could see through them and into something deeper, as if he were concentrating hard to pull something out of Rich.
Terrance’s small pupils suddenly expanded, consuming the grey and the whites in his eyes and pulsed. Rich gasped and made a whimpering noise, dropping the ice pack, it looked like he was under a spell or some form of hypnosis. And then, he opened his mouth and spoke.
“I was guarding the cell, the way I do every night.” His voice sounded haunted, distant, his eyes blank as they stared at Terrance. “And I heard a noise, coming from many directions. It was a scream, I think. I readied my weapon but then someone appeared before me. I don’t know how they got there, I didn’t see it. I think they were moving so fast that it had become a blur.
“It was a boy, a young boy, I believe, with dark skin and dark hair, and there were others behind him—other vampires. I fought them, but they were strong, they were so strong, and they broke the cell open and asked the prisoners if they would be willing to follow their master, if they would be willing to fight in a war against humanity where the supernaturals would come out on top. That if they were interested to follow him.
“And they were…and then they turned to me, and they asked me, and I was so mad, so mad, I spit in his face. His eyes flashed red and he hit me in the head, making me dizzy and I fell to the floor. I could feel him hovering above me, and then I felt something sharp on my neck and chest.
“He was cutting my throat open, he was cutting me open and as he did so he was chanting. He was chanting something, praising someone. ‘Long live Caesareon.’ He said, and he disappeared. Oh god—I’m bleeding, I’m dying, I’m—” Rich screamed and clutched his hair with his hands, pulling it, and ducked his head between his legs.
“Terrance!” Victoria shouted, touching Terrance’s shoulder, jerking his gaze away from Rich.
Terrance shook his head back and forth, like he had been in hypnosis as well. Ezzy noticed his pupils went back to their original size and his eyes were normal again. When Terrance tore his gaze away, Rich stopped screaming, but he was still breathing heavily, rocking back and forth in the chair, as if he were traumatized from something.
It was only after Rich stopped screaming did Esmeralda realize what he had said. ‘Long live Caesareon.’ The breath was stolen from her lungs, and a weird type of electricity cackled in her veins and something pounded at her stomach. She grasped it and fell to her knees.
Caesareon,she thought.Caesareon has my best friend, and Caesareon is breaking criminals out of prison. Caesareon wants to form a supernatural army and destroy humanity. Caesareon…
Ezzy shook in uncontrollable spasms, falling to the floor. Her body wasn’t her own anymore; she felt something inside of her veins—fire mixed with ice. A cold rage that was feeding off of her energy.
She was aware of Antonio over her, screaming for somebody to get a medic. A medic, she thought blankly. If they got a medic, he would find out that she was pregnant, and she didn’t want him to know. Not yet, anyway. She willed her body to stop shaking, to focus, tothink. So, she did.
Ezzy took in deep breaths and then sat up, to find everyone staring at her. Victoria and Terrance had their eyebrows raised, Rich was passed out on his chair; Antonio was hovering above her, his eyes watery with worry. Maria and Marco were behind him, looking at her oddly.
“I’m all right.” She pushed herself up to her feet, Antonio helping, and she felt a lurch in her stomach. She grabbed it and hoped that no one noticed. “It’s just…it’s a lot to take in,” she said, shrugging off Antonio.
“Do you know who Caesareon is?” Victoria eyed her fully.
Esmeralda swallowed and shook her head. “Not exactly—we don’t know him personally, but we know who he is and what he’s planning.”
Terrance frowned but said nothing; he didn’t seem like a man of big words. Victoria sat on a chair. “Well,” she said. “Tell us everything you know.”
So they did.
* * *
Victoriaand her team agreed they would help in the search of Isis. It was simple, find Isis, find Caesareon, and find the prisoners. Esmeralda was so glad but the feeling was short lived when she felt her stomach giving in again.
She excused herself and went to the bathroom. Once there, she splashed water on her face and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked awful, her blue eyes hollow and sunken in with dark shadows. She touched a hand to her stomach and pleaded with her baby to stop bothering her, for only a little while.
Maybe she was hungry, she thought gingerly. A quick glance around the bathroom told her she was alone, and she lifted her hoodie over her head and then pulled her T-shirt up to stare down at her stomach. Esmeralda gasped. Her stomach wasn’t flat, as it had been just a couple of hours ago. It had grown, very small and round, not so big that it could be noticed if she wore her hoody, but still rounded just the same.
Impossible,she thought as she poked at it gently with her finger. It took a while for the stomach to swell up, for that sign of the pregnancy to show. She wondered why it had grown in just a matter of a few hours. Another pull in her stomach had her doubling over, gasping.
