Chapter 47 Real love is kind of vampire love
“They know, Izabella,” Brandon repeated her name. “They’ve known all along.”
She looked around. Thorne’s gaze was aimed at her. Raphael watched her intensely. Renwick’s eyes hadn’t left her from the moment she’d stepped in. Hendrik was still behind her and she realized this only now. She was the main star, and they were her audience. She should be feeling special, but instead, all she felt was deeply hurt.
“Hendrik is my main man,” Brandon looked up, somewhere above Izabella’s head and she figured, he must have been looking at Hendrik.
She didn’t turn around. Her gaze was focused on Brandon, on getting to the bottom of this, whatever it was. She still didn’t understand why all this was necessary, why she couldn’t have been in on it, from the very start.
“It was his job to keep you safe, in case Dante found out anything.”
“Can you start from the beginning, please?” Izabella was starting to get a headache. “Why? And what happened at your place? How did you end up here?”
Brandon smiled gently. He understood the confusion. He also understood why his sister was feeling this way. She was hurt, deeply hurt, and it was because of him. She might need some time to get over this but, unfortunately, that was the only thing they didn’t have nearly enough of. He had to tell her everything quickly and then move on. Time was of the essence.
“I found out that Dante was looking for our book, he just didn’t know we had it. In his pursuit of the book, he killed many of our own,” he started explaining, as quickly and as succinctly as he could, trying not to waste time.
“Rune and Vasilisa,” Izabella interjected.
“Yes, and not only them,” Brandon lowered his head, as if to give honor to those who were no longer with them. “Many have fallen, because they wouldn’t reveal to Dante that we were the keepers of the book. I knew it was just a matter of time before he realized this and came knocking on our door. So, I knew I had to do something. I trashed my place, so you’d think someone attacked me. I took the book with me, so you’d also think that whoever attacked me, now had the book. Because, if you thought that, then Dante would think that as well. It would leave him confused, wondering who had attacked us. It bought us some time. Then, I arrived here and the Bunker gang has been keeping me safe ever since.”
“But…” Izabella wanted to say something, but being outnumbered, she was reluctant to say it out loud.
“We’re slayers and they’re vampires?” Brandon asked exactly what was on her mind.
This was the secret she’d been trying to keep from everyone, the secret she thought might destroy everything she’d worked so hard for, while she was here. The thought never left her mind, how she would explain it to the guys. Now, it turned out, they all knew that. They all knew it and they all kept it from her.
“Well… yes…” she was still unsure how that would sound, spoken in this place.
“Of course they know,” Brandon smiled.
“But, how are we on the same side?” Izabella wondered.
This was unheard of: vampires and slayers working side by side. At least, she hadn’t heard of that in a long, long time.
“Dante is an egomaniac,” Thorne interrupted, but neither Izabella nor Brandon seemed to mind, “all he cares about is himself. He wants the book so that he can gain power beyond anything we can imagine, but it’s not to make the world a better place for vampires. He just wants to rule someone or something. He has no morals, no scruples. We don’t want someone like that to guide us.”
“We want the Overseer back,” Renwick added, saying the name which many knew of but which was still hidden in a veil of mystery.
“But, isn’t he dead?” Izabella wondered.
She’d only heard stories about the famous Overseer, nameless and faceless to many, about the old days when humans and vampires lived side by side, without any wars or arguments. They lived in harmony simply because the Overseer brought out the best of
both worlds. What Dante did was the opposite: he brought out the worst of both worlds and kept making it worse.
“He was laid to rest in the old church on the top of this mountain,” Brandon told her. “When they found his body, they noticed that his heart was missing. If we manage to find his heart, we can bring him back. We can bring back the good old days.”
“That’s what we are fighting for,” Thorne smiled.
Everyone else approached closer, and nodded. Their unity was felt in the air and, despite everything, Izabella realized that she was exactly where she was supposed to be.
“What about mom?” Izabella suddenly remembered.
“Mom?” Brandon repeated.
“I spoke to her,” she told him carefully, as if she was revealing a well guarded secret.
“You have?” Now, it was Brandon’s turn to be surprised.
“I met a few girls who were half witches and they allowed me to attend the Witches’ Sabbath. Mom was there. She came back just to talk to me.”
“What did she say?” Brandon’s eyes filled with tears at the mention of their mother.
He remembered her well. Izabella was sure that he missed her even more than she did. A part of her wished that it could have been him to talk to her during the Witches’ Sabbath but fate had it this way.
“She knew of your plan,” Izabella smiled. “She told me you were safe and that I needed to be patient. It was a bit after I got that message, to be careful. That was from you, wasn’t it?”
Brandon only nodded, as he was listening.
“She told me about the book, how I’m the real keeper, but you took over for a while.
Then, she was gone, just like that…”
While she was talking about her mother, Izabella felt as if a light was shining over them, warm and safe, letting them know that everything would be alright in the end.
“No matter what happens, we can’t let Dante get the book,” Brandon got serious.
The time for melancholy was over. They needed to act, fast.
“What can we do?” Izabella wondered.