"What about it?"
"It's missing. Charles called the meeting as soon as he discovered it was gone." Mimi had arrived at the Conclave to find her father at the head of the table. Charles had been furious. He was certain someone on the Conclave had taken it, and had begun the assembly by accusing several members of robbery.
Bliss looked around at the Elders, who were leaving the meeting in whispering groups. "Why is it important?"
"Duh. Don't you remember? It's the Archangel's sword. It's only one of two in the world. Gabrielle has the other, of course—you know, Allegra—but no one knows where it disappeared to when she went AWOL. It's been lost for decades. But Charles's, Michael's … he kept it in a blood-lock in his study. But someone broke in. It's gone. He's sure the Croatan have it," Mimi explained. The blood-lock was the most powerful security the Blue Bloods had in their arsenal. Only the blood of an Archangel could open the case. It was an impossible puzzle. With Allegra in a coma, there were no other suspects.
"What's it got to do with the Silver Bloods?" Bliss wanted to know, as she sucked on the bandage covering her thumb. She'd woken up one morning to find it bleeding. Odd. Maybe she'd gotten a splinter in her sleep?
"Only an Archangel's sword can kill another Archangel. I can't believe you don't know that, Bliss," Mimi scolded. "Haven't you been doing the reading?"
"But why would Charles want to kill Allegra?"
"Not Allegra. God, do I have to spell everything out? If Lucifer is out there—you know? The High Prince of Darkness? Lucifer's a former Archangel. It's the only thing that can kill him. Normal Blue Blood swords—you get them before you're bonded, by the way, or don't you remember that either? Those just work against any old Silver Blood. But Michael's sword is the only one that can kill Lucifer."
"And now it's gone."
"Yeah. It sucks. Charles is really losing it if the sword slipped from his care," Mimi sighed. It truly looked bad for her father. She could sense that there were members of the Conclave who were suspicious of this "break-in." But why would Charles steal his own sword? Did they actually believe Michael, Pure of Heart, would consort with Silver Bloods?
Bliss looked around for her father. Forsyth was still in the room, probably talking to Charles. "So who do they think stole it?"
"They have no idea; although Charles said Kingsley was the last person who visited him in his study. I know they should never have trusted that loser. Anyway, Kingsley's team is incommunicado in Rio. They couldn't get him on the telepath. And Lawrence hasn't been checking in either. It's chaos," Mimi said a tad gleefully.
"I hope they don't think Dylan's behind it. He can't be," Bliss said nervously.
"What are you talking about?" Mimi asked. "Dylan? Why would he be involved? Didn't he disappear on you a few months ago? He's like, history." Mimi dimly remembered the story of how Dylan had broken into Bliss's window before being taken by a Silver Blood. Bliss had been inconsolable for days, and Mimi had tried to comfort Bliss by reminding her that the monster could have taken her too. She was lucky to be alive. The Conclave had sent a team to investigate and track down Dylan's whereabouts, but the Venators had found nothing.
"Don't you know?" Bliss asked.
"Know what?"
"Dylan's back and he's in rehab."
"Are you sure we're talking about the same guy. Dylan— your deadbeat ex and the guy who killed Aggie? Who got turned into a Silver Blood?" Mimi demanded. Bliss wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. A girl who was still wearing last season's sack dresses in May was totally clueless, as far as Mimi was concerned.
"Yeah."
"Why would I know about it?" Mimi asked.
"You're on the Conclave. I turned him in to Forsyth. He said he would let the Conclave know, so that everyone could make a decision. He said the Elders decided to send him to Transitions."
Mimi shook her head, looking mystified. "No. Your dad never mentioned it in a meeting. We did no such thing." She looked at Bliss like she was out of her mind. How strange that Forsyth would keep something like that a secret from the Conclave.
"That's odd, why would he lie to me?"
"Who knows?" Mimi studied Bliss. "Dylan's really back? You're sure?"
Bliss nodded. "We visited him the other week."
"Take me to him. I'll let Forsyth know I need to make a report on Dylan for the Conclave."
Cordelia Van Alen Files
Repository of History
CLASSIFIED DOCUMENT:
Altithronus Clearance Only
Cordelia.— I trust you will find this satisfactory. Forsyth L.
The Houston Star
Birth Announcement
Congressman Forsyth Llewellyn and his wife, the former Roberta Prescott, are the proud parents of a new baby daughter. Jordan Grace Llewellyn was born exactly at midnight on January 1, 1994. Jordan is the second daughter of the congressman. Mother and baby are doing well.
Because Mimi wanted to see Dylan right away, they decided to visit him the next day, which would mean cutting classes again. Not that Bliss minded all too much. Her grades were the furthest thing on her mind at that point. That evening, Bliss did not ask her father why he hadn't told the Conclave about Dylan. She was wary about letting him know she knew he was keeping secrets from her. Forsyth must have had his reasons, but somehow Bliss had a feeling he wouldn't share them.
The next afternoon Bliss packed Dylan a care package. She knew he was receiving the best care money could buy, but Transitions wouldn't have the newest indie-rock CD or a copy of Absolute Sandman. She thought maybe if he had a couple of his favorite things, it would remind him who he was, and in tandem, what Bliss had meant to him. She just didn't want to give up on him. She'd even decided to stop feeling rejected about what had happened when they'd made out that fateful night. Maybe Dylan freaking out on her was just part of his sickness.
Jordan walked by the doorway and peeked inside Bliss's room. "Are you going up to Saratoga again?" she asked.
"Yeah. Mimi wants to go see Dylan for the Conclave. And his doctor's there today. I can finally ask what's going on with him," Bliss explained, folding a new leather motorcycle jacket she'd had her stylist track down at Barneys and stuffing it into the shopping bag.
Her sister walked in and sat on the bed, watching Bliss pack. "Hey … I wanted to ask you…you know how you used to have your blackouts?"
"Uh-huh." Bliss nodded, deciding against bringing the teddy bear in a "Get Well" T-shirt she'd bought on impulse at a card shop. Dylan would definitely think it was corny. He'd always made fun of her for having so many stuffed animals on her bed.
"Do you still get them?"
Bliss paused and thought about it. The blackouts used to come with unnerving regularity. She would pass out and wake up somewhere completely different from where she'd begun, with no knowledge of how she'd gotten there. "No. And I haven't had a nightmare in months either."
"That's good," Jordan said, looking relieved.
But Bliss wasn't finished talking. "It's like, I get them during the day now. Like the other day—I saw this weird thing. I was holding my hairbrush and it turned into this, like, gold snake. Scared the crap out of me."
Jordan paled. "Gold snake?"
"Yeah."
"And the other day I looked up at the sky, and I saw this seven-headed dragon. Freaked me out."
"This happens a lot?" Jordan asked.
Bliss shrugged. "Kind of. I asked Dad about it. He said it was all …"
"Part of the transformation," Jordan chimed in.
"Yeah." Bliss finished packing. Her cell phone buzzed. Mimi was downstairs with the car, waiting. Jordan was still standing there, an odd expression on her face. She looked as if she were wrestling with a decision. "What's up?" Bliss asked.