Chapter 178

April 4, 2005 – 05:00 (Winnipeg Time)

"Wait WHAT? Our flat burned down? Are YOU TWO okay? I should be the one asking you that."

"We're fine, sis, and no one in the building got injured. It was a little before 7. We aren't sure if they wanted to capture us over The Secret Posse or if they were waiting for you, but we sensed a lot of people landing on the rooftop. We took Gus' fixed portal to his aunt and destroyed it as soon as we passed it," said Erik.

"A little before 7? That was for me, then. It was around 7:45 when we were nearly captured near Madrid's fixed portal to Winnipeg, considering the time difference. They probably thought I'd go to my London address next, or they wanted to take you to lure me. I'm so sorry, guys."

"REALLY? What are you sorry for? We are sad that Frank never got to visit us there, but we'll find somewhere else to live. It's no big deal. When the heat goes down, we'll go there to retrieve what was hidden behind fireproof wards," said Erik.

"I'll come to the next place. If no one got their eyes on it, Blue will let me come," said Frank.

"Ooh, true! Had we been smart, we would have moved out of there when you returned to Montreal after clearing your name on the Messina murder. You were right, sis. That address was known by too many slimy hands," said Henry.

"Are you still at Gus' aunt?"

"No. Gus will stay at his aunt for now but we're at Sean's," said Erik.

"Hey cous!" said Sean.

"I think we'll stay here for a little bit. What about you? Sounds you had quite the saga today," said Erik.

Coralis told them how they escaped and what happened afterwards, up to when she arrived at the CMMA Headquarters with Jourmol.

"Sis, you are making us proud to have had our flat burned down. When you piss off your enemies that bad, you know you've done something right. We have to go, Sean's parents just arrived. Long live The Secret Posse!" said Henry.

Coralis ended her call, and they left for the lounge.

"You sure you want to leave your phone in the room? I'm pretty sure there are electric outlets in the lounge, you aren't the only human who's been here."

"Sebastian and I spoke with the family when you were on your way to Morocco. If there is anything else, it can wait. I just got you back, I don't need to be talking on the phone with anyone else for the next few hours."

When Coralis and Frank arrived at the lounge, Sebastian and Emery were talking with Jourmol while the nurse examined him.

"Finally! It took you that long to remove the djinn blood off of you or Frank had to show you how much he missed you?" said Sebastian as Coralis and Frank sat on chairs around a low table.

"I wish that were the case," said Frank, chuckling.

"Holy gods from above, it took forever to scrub the damn blood off, it got everywhere! I spoke with Erik and Henry after I was done showering. Their flat burned down a few hours ago," said Coralis.

The nurse signalled Coralis to stand behind her chair so she could look at her injuries.

"Wow, really? When did that happen?" said Sebastian.

"Seems to be right after me and Alejandro dodged the capture party in Madrid."

"You two made many people mad this morning. I'm surprised your ranking hasn't changed yet," said Emery.

"They are probably working on how they can twist a story to make them seem more dangerous. They didn't kill or hurt anyone to escape and they can't exactly use the South Africa events because it could expose what they were up to," said Jourmol.

"If they share the footage of their escape, it will fuel the secret agent rumours going around," said Sebastian.

"True, but if they want something to twist around, Blue and Alejandro freed up twelve people accused of witchcraft. They could easily use that to justify moving them up the ranking," said Emery.

"Did they use something made with silver on you?" said the nurse to Coralis.

"Possibly, they used a lot of things on us. If they did, they didn't get the reaction they wanted, I'm pretty sure."

"Most of your injuries will heal just fine, but I need to reopen some wounds on your back ribs and around your shoulder blades. I see traces of silver in the scabs so I need to check if it entered your system. I'll be able to remove most of it if that's the case, but these wounds will probably leave scars."

"Scars that wrote history," said Emery.

"GIRL!" said Sonylla running to her, followed by Eva and Chiwa, a CMMA agent. "Holy gods from above! You still look horrible, but better than I thought you would be."

"You just missed the latest development to this morning saga," said Coralis.

The lounge host brought eight glasses of whiskey to the group.

"Whiskey at 6 in the morning? Only with elementals, right?" said Eva, grabbing two glasses and giving one to Coralis.

"I need a drink and you're here, so you're drinking with me," said Coralis while the nurse bandaged her open wounds.

"That, Blue, is the only reason I need. I'm happy to see you out of jail," said Eva as they raised their glasses for cheers.

"Did you just tell me that something else happened between the moment we left the meeting room barely an hour ago and now? Girl, don't do that to me, I just got done giving Eva and Chiwa the recent developments and you're saying there is more? Will it ever stop?" said Sonylla as the nurse left.

Coralis returned to sit on her chair and told them what she heard from Erik and Henry. Eva chuckled.

"I shouldn't find that funny, but it is funny," said Eva, finishing her glass and waiving at the host for a refill. "After the week I've had with my potential mate and his family, your story makes me happy. You know how to piss off our enemies, I love it."

"Sometimes I forget how close you two are even though technically, Blue doesn't work with us," said Sonylla.

"If Blue could lie, she could pass for a CMMA agent and no one here would deny it," said Emery.

"And she'd be my partner! I was at her wedding, remember? Oh wait, no, you won't remember because you weren't at hers. Sonylla, darling, why do you think I followed you like a lost puppy when you told me Blue was here? If only you were at her bachelorette party," said Eva.

"A night neither one of us remembers, how interesting is that," said Coralis.

"A night I should ask Princess Veronica to story-tell us what happened, right? Even Stephanie doesn't really remember it," said Sebastian.

"Speaking of vampire royalty, care to tell me how you're so well connected to King Nicolas that he too attended your wedding? Damn girl, I knew you were bigger than flyball but King Nicolas, the vampire king in Paris?" said Sonylla.

"Plurio van Lur. That's how," said Coralis while the host refilled her glass. "King Nicolas often plays poker with Prince Charlie. He and Plurio hated each other more than King Matthew hated his brother Lucas. Shortly after the war started, I set up new wards around his compound."

"King Nicolas gave her a gargoyle made of terracotta by a Parisian artist during the 3rd century as a wedding gift," said Frank before turning his attention to Coralis. "If you passed by him to take a portal, is it safe to assume he'll tell the Chicago vampires? Veronica and Hendrick have been calling a few times during the week."

Sonylla spit the alcohol in her mouth and Chiwa choked on it.

"Blue, you certainly have a knack for making all kinds of friends in high places," said Emery.

"Yes, he said he would."

"You went to their place, right? Hell, you came with me twice to talk to Frank. You saw the two horrific statues next to each other on the shelf near their kitchen, right?" said Sebastian as his phone rang.

 "I heard a few rumours connecting you to Plurio van Lur's death, but you and I weren't close when he was found dead. How connected are you to his demise?" said Sonylla through mind-link.

"Very, but that's a story for a different day."

Once again, the host refilled everyone's drink.

"Well, Emery, it seems you saw it coming tonight, more than the rest of us at least," said Sebastian while pressing the speakerphone button. "My mate just saw on the news that Blue and Alejandro are now respectively ranked 8th and 9th because they were seen on camera releasing twelve dangerous witches to help them summon Satan."