Page 36 of My Master
Maria flounced by him to open the door and they all filed into the house. “Make yourselves at home,” Antonio ordered and bounded up the stairs and into their room, placing Ezzy on the bed. He took her shoes off and covered her up with a blanket. She moved around, it seemed as though her sleep would be restless tonight.
With a sigh he went downstairs. Maria and his father were sitting on the couch, a blank look in their eyes. The aura around the room was utter defeat, making Antonio feel like there was absolutely nothing left they could do for Isis.
“Do you guys want anything?”Any blood?They shook their heads, and he didn’t blame them. Just the thought of blood reminded him of the massacre, of Isis drinking from helpless humans, and it sickened his stomach into knots. He sat on a chair across from them and waited for someone to say something, anything.
“Maybe the police are right,” Maria finally said.
Antonio raised a brow in her direction. “About what, exactly?” he questioned.
Maria shrugged. “I don’t know? The whole thing with Isis, maybe shedoeswant the world to fall or something. You saw the video; you have to accept the facts.”
Disbelief rang in his ears. “Tell me, Maria, how well did you know Isis?”
Maria’s brown eyes widened a fraction before she shrugged.
Antonio leaned back in his chair. “I do know her,verywell, in fact. Just because I knew nothing about her past, doesn’t mean that I didn’t know abouther,and that person in that video? That wasn’t her. I don’t care what anybody says, I know that Esmeralda is right. That wasn’t Isis; it was either someone who looked a hell of a lot like her or someone manipulating her.”
Maria only shook her head and crossed her arms against her chest. Antonio ignored her and met the gaze of his father, who seemed pensive for a moment before nodding his head. “I agree with Antonio.”
The admittance surprised him. He stared at his dad in disbelief.
“I watched the video closely and something seemed pretty off about the way she was behaving.”
“You mean the killing part and how that is totallynotnormal? Because we already know that…” It was Maria’s turn to offer up a sarcastic remark. Marco clicked his tongue in annoyance and continued as if she hadn’t even spoken.
“I mean, did you notice the facial expressions on everyone in the video? Caesareon looked like he was ecstatic, and proud. The other girl with the black hair? She looked happy to kill something. Everyone in the video looked happy or mad, or was expressing some sort of emotion—”
“—except for Isis,” Antonio finished for him, realization finally dawning. “Her face was completely blank when she started killing!”
Maria looked confused. “So?”
Antonio stood up. “So,when have we known Isisnotto show emotion? Since I’ve known her, she has never once stopped herself from expressing herself.Whether it be boredom, annoyance, happiness, she always shows what she feels on her face.”
“Right,” his father chimed in. “And we’ve seen her in battle before, against the Rogues, remember when they came to the mansion?”
Antonio nodded. He had seen the way her eyes lit up in the battle, the fierceness of her bone structure, the way she rushed in to protect people, the way her eyes flashed…
Eyes flashing…
Then it clicked.
“You guys,” he whispered. “Can vampires control other vampires?”
“Only if you’re a Natural Born vampire, like us,” Maria stated, taking on a bored schoolteacher lecturing tone. “The Made vampires barely have any power to do anything, in a way they’re still part human.”
The clockwork in Antonio’s brain began moving rapidly as he began putting the pieces together. “Caesareon is a Natural Born vampire, right? One of the oldest there is; could it be possible that he’s strong enough to control Isis? And wouldn’t it just be easier since he’s the one that created her?” He began pacing the floor, feeling excitement as understanding dawned. “When he turned to give Isis the command I saw his eyes flash. It’s his tell, don’t you get it?”
His father jumped up too. “And if he were to create an army of vampire servants, it would be possible that he could control them as well…”
Antonio stopped in his tracks, swallowing the fear in his throat. “The cop said—” He broke off. “The cop said that tonight’s attack was nothing but a warning; imagine what else he could unleash.”
“Which means we have to warn agent Phillipe about what we think he’s planning.” His ran a hand through his stiff hair. Antonio could practically see the excitement radiating in him.
“And more importantly, we have to clear Isis’s name so that they won’t attack her or anything.”
Maria scoffed. “You guys, this is all very well, but we have no idea what Caesareon’s next move will be! How will we know where to find him? He could kill hundreds of people and by the time we find him it will have been too late.”
Antonio cursed. That was the real problem then, wasn’t it? Finding Caesareon wasn’t going to be a piece of cake. He wondered what the vampire’s next move would be, if he would attack another small group or something bigger this time.
