They did not waste any time. Wayren spoke, referring to the sheaf of notes in front of her.
"Nedas has Akvan's Obelisk, and it is clear he intends to activate it; in fact, has already begun the necessary steps to do so. My research indicates that the Day of the Dead, All Souls' Day, is the optimal time for such an event. This is the day on which the souls of the departed are released from their bodies, making it a perfect time for Nedas and the immortals to attempt to capture them and use them for their purposes. It is, of course, November the second, which is two days from now."
She shuffled the curling papers into a pile and looked at Aunt Eustacia, who continued. "As many of you know, I was present the last time the Tutela gained vast power and unleashed it upon the mortals. It was the Battle of Praga, where twenty thousand people were massacred by vampires and the members of the Tutela, in the name of the immortals. Although we were ultimately able to stop them, it was only after great devastation. With the power of Akvan's Obelisk controlling the souls of our departed, Nedas will be impossible to beat back and we expect the damage to be even greater, should he succeed." She paused and looked around the room. "I believe it will be the end of our battle with them, for their power will overmatch ours."
"So how do we stop it?" asked Zavier. His face was expressionless. "How do we destroy the obelisk? And where does he keep it?"
"Last night there was a fire at the Blendimo Opera Theater," Wayren said, with a glance at Victoria. "It has not been completely destroyed, by some odd happenstance, but it has been closed to the public and will not reopen for months, if at all. And there were some reported vampire attacks at that location as well. I do not believe it is a coincidence, for several reasons. First, my research indicates that Nedas will need a very large space in which to complete his activation of the obelisk, and the theater is one of the largest and tallest chambers in the city—other than cathedrals, of course, which would not be a welcoming place for a group of vampires bent on calling an evil power to life. Second, the theater, as you well know, is perched on a small hill near the city's largest cemetery. This makes sense, for it will be much easier for him to draw the dead souls from the nearby cemetery; although I do not believe he would be restricted to only those that are close to him. I am certain that this is where Nedas plans to activate the obelisk. However, there is no known way to destroy the object, so we must consider other alternatives."
"Then we must assassinate Nedas. If he is dead, he cannot activate the obelisk," offered another Venator, one of the older ones. Perhaps he was nearing fifty.
"That would have been our hope," Wayren agreed. "But once the… mm"—she squinted down at her papers, plugged a word with her finger, and looked back up—"shadow has been broken and has wrapped around the being who broke it, even assassinating the holder of the obelisk will not solve the problem. Its power can be transferred quite easily to another. And another. We certainly do not want any other demon or vampire to obtain it and its powers."
"Beauregard would be waiting to snatch it up with both hands if Nedas were taken from the picture," agreed Zavier.
That caught Victoria's attention. "Beauregard?"
"A rival vampire to Nedas. He's older and very powerful; but Nedas is Lilith's son, and has been given more favor as a result. If only we could turn their attention to the other, and engage them in their own internal battles, we could let them destroy each other."
Aunt Eustacia was nodding. "Indeed. In fact, that is how we were able to stop the horror in Praga thirty years ago. But I do not think it will work now, for from what we have been able to learn, the obelisk's shadow has already been broken. Nedas has already begun the steps to activate the obelisk, and Beauregard, powerful as he might be, is no match for Nedas with his obelisk. There is no chance of distracting them in that manner."
"What can we do, if the obelisk cannot be destroyed and Nedas is already bound to it?"
"Two things. We must prepare for the worst, and expect that Nedas will succeed. We shall commence with that discussion shortly and put our preparations into place immediately, for we have less than two days. The only other possibility is for someone to get close enough to assassinate Nedas and steal Akvan's Obelisk before its power can be transferred to another."
"I will do it," volunteered the same Venator who'd first suggested assassination.
"You will not get close enough to do so," Eustacia told him. "The moment the Tutela recognized you as a Venator, you would be slain. As would any of you." Her eyes lingered on Victoria. "Except perhaps one."
"I have already agreed to do it," Victoria said, rising. "In London I agreed. There is no question that it must be me." She had not told Aunt Eustacia what had occurred at the opera house last night—that she had been seen by the Imperial, who would recognize her as a Venator. Or of her conversation with Max.
She opened her mouth to speak, then decided better of it. There was no one else who could do it. The others here would more certainly be recognized as Venators than she would.
There was a chance—slim, yes, but a chance—that the Imperial vampire had not betrayed her to the Tutela, or that he did not know for certain that she was a Venator.
And then she remembered what Max had told her: Nedas is going to win. He is too strong. You will be needed after this is all over.
However and for whatever reason Max had become involved with the Tutela and with Nedas was no longer important. The worst was going to happen, and he accepted it. He would allow it to happen. Somehow he knew that Nedas would succeed.
At that moment her last vestige of deep-seated hope poofed like a staked vampire. There would be no help from Max. From anyone.
She really was on her own.
Chapter 20
Lady Rockley Dines Out
When Victoria arrived home from her visit to the Consilium, a carriage waited in front of the villa.
It was past teatime, nearing supper—late for a casual social caller.
Her steps were quick as she hurried up the stairs to the entrance.
"You have a visitor, signora," the butler told her; but she was already flinging the parlor door open.
Sebastian looked up from the newspaper he was perusing. "I don't know who you were expecting, my dear, but I'm sure you must be disappointed. Such enthusiasm could not have been meant for me, much to my regret." His attention wandered over her figure in a way that reminded her of the last time they were in this room.
And then of his threat to call on the Tarruscelli twins when he became inexplicably angry with her.
And then back to last night, when he'd called her mine. And casually invoked the name of a powerful vampire.
"It's a bit late for tea, Sebastian," she said coolly, trying to keep her breathing easy and her stomach from fluttering. The way he was looking at her… it made her want to cover her cheeks to hold back the blush, to touch his thick, golden brown hair, to back out of the room before he put his hands on her, as it was clear he intended to.
Apparently something had changed since he'd chased the vampires away from her neck.
"We must talk," he said, but there was a wholly different message in his eyes. Now she couldn't stop it—the unfortunate warmth billowed up from her bosom over her neck and to her cheeks. "Will you permit me to take you for a drive?"
"It is unfashionably late for a drive in the park," she countered.
"Other than my attire, I thrive on being unfashionable. Will you come with me?"
Victoria knew that if she accepted his invitation, it would be tantamount to accepting whatever was to develop between them. Most likely to continue what they'd started in this very room only a few days ago, but what had been simmering betwixt them for more than a year.