Epilogue

   ‘Conner, there’s someone in the house.’ Gloria said as I put the Excursion in park.

   ‘Gloria, how do you know that?’ Sebastian asked with concern in his voice.

   ’I had made sure that the house was closed up before we left. The patio doors are open above the garage. I know I closed them.’

  I looked over at Sebastian who was sitting in the front with me. We looked at each other for a quarter of a second and we were both out of the truck in a flash.

Gloria and I with Emma bringing up the rear headed to the front door. Sebastian jumped up to the patio and went into the house through the patio doors. The front door was not locked. As I went through the front door I heard and scream and met our intruder coming down the small flight of stairs to the front door.

  Sebastian and I had the intruder trapped on the stairs, I on the landing that sent you up to the main floor of the house and the basement, Sebastian was there on the top ready for a fight. It was John Barleycorn.

   ’Conner! Run, it’s the devil himself!’ John said in a panic. At first I thought he was joking. Then I remembered Sebastian’s question about whether or not

John would be here.

   ’What the hell are you doing here John?’

  Sebastian flew down the stairs and grabbed John by the back of the neck. John screamed like a child again.

   ’Got you, you sneaky little b*****d. Get up here!’

  Sebastian pulled John back up the stairs back onto the main floor of the house. I could hear Emma growling behind me.

   ’It’s okay Emma, don’t worry we know John.’ I reassured.

   ’Conner! Help me!’ John shrieked.

   I closed the door behind the girls and followed John and Sebastian into the Great room.

   ’Put your a*s in that chair and keep it there you little rat.’ Sebastian sat John on one of my couches. Sebastian sat down next to John and put his arm around him like they were old friends. Gloria and Emma sat on the couch across from Sebastian and John Barleycorn. I sat down in the chair that sat at the head of the two couches.

   ’Would you like to explain to me John why you are in my house?’

   ’Conner I was waiting for you to come back from Spain.’

   ’Hello? Conner, Gloria?’ It was Tabitha, kind of.

  I looked at John, he became extremely pale. I looked towards the front door; an extremely beautiful Tabitha came into the Great room. She looked like a supermodel, her long brown hair, same satin white skin as Gloria’s and the bright red eyes of the vampire kind. I looked back at John and I felt a flash of fire go through my skin. I exploded out of my chair and crashed into John. I crashed into him so hard that I knocked the couch over backwards.

  I grabbed John by the neck and tried to choke the life out of him. Emma snarled

I guess at Tabitha, Gloria scream at me for knocking the couch over backwards.

Tabitha screamed at me to let John go. Sebastian stood up and laughed. Gloria and Tabitha grabbed me and tried to pull me off of John.

   ’Conner let him go!’ Gloria yelled.

   ’Conner don’t hurt him, please!’ Tabitha pleaded.

   ’Damn it Sebastian don’t just stand laughing, help us.’ Gloria demanded of

Sebastian.

  Gloria grabbed my chin and wrenched my face so I was looking into her eyes.

   ‘Conner, look at me! Let him go!’

  I couldn’t see her, I was so furious that John had made Tabitha a vampire. I was planning to choke him till his eyeballs popped out of his head then I was going to rip his head off.

   ’Conner! Look at me! Stop it!’ Looking into Gloria’s eyes cooled my anger.

Sebastian pulled me off of John with one good pull and turned on John, ’Well

John I see you still bring out the best in people. It looks like you have some explaining to do.’ Sebastian was loving this.

  Gloria turned the couch back right side up and glared at me. Sebastian reached down and pull John up by the scruff of his shirt.

   ’Conner don’t be mad at John, I asked him to do this to me. This wasn’t against

my will.’

  I growled at John and sat back in my chair. Gloria and Emma sat back on the their couch. John and Tabitha sat together on the couch that got knocked over.

Sebastian stood ready at my right hand.

  Tabitha explained to us how she became a vampire. The morning after we left for Spain she had seen John at the front door of our house. Tabitha came over and told him that we had left for Spain. Tabitha had invited John over but he didn’t want be anywhere near her because of me. Tabitha had told him that she knew that we were all vampires and that she wanted to become one, so in a nut shell John changed her. It took about three days for Tabitha to change, Tabitha was horrified when she found out that it had taken me nine days to change.

   ’John I have some good news for you. You’ve just been drafted.’

   ’What the hell are you talking about Sebastian?’ John snapped.

   ’Conner has been commissioned the Governor of North America.’

   ’What? What is he talking about Conner?’

  I showed John my ring that Roberto had given me.

   ’Conner, what in the hell is going on, there’s never been a governor here, why has the Council appointed one now?’

   ’War is coming. The East is gathering.’ I answered.

   ’What are we going to do?’ John asked.

   ’Kill Cline.’ answered Sebastian.

   ’What? Are you crazy? You can’t kill an Ancient. Conner let me give you some advice. Steer clear of this riffraff Sebastian, do you have any idea what you’re getting yourself involved in with this guy? Out of all the people you could invite into your home, why don’t you just asked Augustus over for a cup of blood?’

  At the mention of Augustus Emma lunged at John, Sebastian was to fast for her.

He grabbed Emma by the arm and sat her back down on the couch next to Gloria.

   ’John the Council wants Conner dead. Cline wants a vampire throne to rule from. Conner is the only thing to stand in the way of that. Cline is trying to provoke the East to attack Europe. He’ll provoke the east by breaking up the Council. The only thing that keeping the Council from openly attacking Conner is the fear of Cline gaining his throne. But once Cline’s threat is neutralized, the Council will come after Conner.’ Sebastian explained.

   ’Then why kill Cline?’

   ’Because killing him will force the Ancients to stand together against the East when they come.’ I explained.

   ’So the Council has authorized you to kill Cline.’

   ’No they’ve ordered me to bring him back to Europe if he leaves. Then they imprison him and then kill me, then stand together against the East.’

   ’I don’t understand then why they want you dead Conner, that makes no sense.’

   ’They’re afraid in time I’ll try for my own throne.’

   ’So what are you going to do Conner.’

  Sebastian let out a big sigh, ’First, we must cut off all correspondence with

Europe. The punishment for spying for the Council is death John, you will do well to remember that. Second, you and I John will gather the North American vampires and explain that they’ve all been drafted, and must relocate here to the northwest and be prepared to defend Conner and Gloria. Then, when the time comes, and the Ancients gather to fight the East, we will answer their call to war.’

   ’They won’t come Sebastian, they won’t risk standing with you and Conner if you two take on Cline. They won’t risk the wrath of the Council, then if the Council doesn’t kill you, we’re suppose to go to war with them against the East? Have you both have lost your minds?’

  I looked up at Sebastian standing next to me and then I answered, ’They wont have a choice John, they will stand with us or die. And that includes you. I have to kill Cline, then make the Council fear me. It’s the only way for us to survive.’

   ’Tough break old boy,’ Sebastian said slapping John on the shoulder, ’welcome to the war!’

 

  Over the next few days we tried to make to make thing normal. We made up a room for Emma, Sebastian was more than happy with the attic and John stayed next door with Tabitha. Sebastian and I spent hours going over what we needed to do to build a North American army. This was nothing new for Sebastian; he fought in the Nephilim wars. Plus he had been in countless other battles over the last few thousand years.

  Gloria had received a phone call from the home owners that they had sold the house to some modern day nobleman in Europe and that they would be in contact with her soon to work out the details of a new lease. I didn’t like the sound of that. I knew it was one of the members of the Council that had purchased the house, they knew where we lived. Damn. I told Sebastian, he just shrugged. We had been home four days when we received our first visitor from the Council, it was Horatio.

   ’Horatio, did you miss us?’ I asked.

  Horatio, never at a loss of words handed me a scroll with a wax seal. The seal had the same symbol that was on my ring. Sebastian walked into the great room and stood beside me. I could see he did not trust Horatio to be close me. Gloria and Emma came down from up stairs. I broke the seal and opened the scroll. It was in a language I could not read, nor recognized.

   ’I can’t read it.’

   ’May I Conner?’ Sebastian held out his hand for the scroll.

  I handed the scroll to Sebastian. He took it and read it quickly, ’Conner it’s the language of the Ancients, it’s a summons. You and Gloria are to appear before the Council to answer for the assault and maiming of a certain vampire Augustus.

You are to appear thirty days from the day before yesterday to answer these charges.’