"The awakening will be upon us soon. It's time to discuss your participation."
Holding my breath, I clenched my fists. The Awakening ceremony, which took place every year, was looming. I had been dreading this conversation for weeks. I ran my fingers through my unruly locks and took a deep breath.
"Father, I'm not sure this is the year — "I began.
"You are 19 now. I have allowed you to put it off long enough. It is time for you to join the ranks of the family. We will need you in many wars to come." His imperious tone rang with finality. This made me sigh and stared down at my feet, kicking an invisible speck of dirt with a grim nod. There were always impending wars to prepare for.
"I understand, but am I not helpful how I currently am? If I go through the awakening and my powers become known, we are risking everything!" I urged. There was a particular aspect of being awakened that concerned me, one I wanted no part of. The shackles of our archaic vampiric society that lingered in the present day.
"That is why you have had Alec assigned to your protection these last years. Don't you want to be at your maximum potential? The hunters are growing restless, and the rival clans grow in strength. We need to show our position to the other families. I have confidence in your abilities, and in Alec's, to keep you safe. Our lady needs to be ready to rule, should the worst occur." His lips fell into a thin line. His view was optimistic. The elders of the family would balk at a female inheriting the power of Ares.
"Father, don't speak of such things!" I implored him. The thought of his death, and the position that it would put me in, was not something I wanted to consider. "I don't understand why I need protection, I'm well prepared — "He raised a hand.
"Enough with the sentimentality. It is a reality we must face. With all that's going on, the possibility of assassination has always been there. It is part of our curse, those hunger for the power my blood will give. If the time comes, it must be you." I shivered. Killing my father for the sake of the power. The thought made me frowned in distaste.
"You ask too much of me, Father." I breathed. He scoffed.
"Isn't it every girl's dream to find her mate?" Alec's thick voice quipped from behind me, changing the subject. I froze in place. Chewing on my lower lip, I took a deep breath. That was it, the thing I had been avoiding. A mate. An owner. Shackles that some male warrior will slap on me and hide me from the rest of society, like a proper bride. My clawed nails dug into my palms.
"I don't intend on finding one." I shot back. His brow raised, and he shook his head. I turned back to my father, who he watched our exchange with a smirk.
"A sentiment that I'm sure will change as you age, my dear. The fact remains, you must awaken to your immortality, your strength, and your powers." He said sternly. I nodded and bowed.
He clapped his hands together.
"Now! Let's talk about preparations and procedures." He straightened on his throne, his jovial manner returning. "Our city has been chosen for this year's gathering. All the families are moving here. As you know, each of the heads will donate their blood to the chalice, and in ceremony those being awakened will sip from the combined gods' blood and awaken their own abilities." He started. "Alec, as you know, Elysia has already awoken to the gifts granted by her mother, as she is another minor goddess. However, in order to receive any gifts given by me, she will have to go through the awakening." Alec nodded, having been briefed on this previously.
"All the families gathered in one city will be a dangerous game to play. We had better go over security protocols one more time…"
I sighed and retreated from the throne room, knowing my father and Alec would discuss safety protocols for the foreseeable future. As I wandered down the halls, I stared at the tapestries that adorned the walls that depicted the battles over the centuries. The history drilled into me since I was a child came to mind. There were twelve main families of vampires, each lead by the god which created them. Of the original gods, Hermes, Apollo, and Zeus had all been slain centuries earlier, and it filled those that killed them with the power of the gods. They became the new leader of the family. We were lucky to still have Ares among us. The wars and bloodshed that followed the years of the curse were devastating, depicted on these walls in a bloody scene with the titans holding the head of Zeus aloft to the other Olympian gods.
Tapestries of hunters adorned the walls as well. I passed a large one portraying the descendents of the hero Jason, the Argonauts, standing before vampires bound to the stake, before the rising dawn. For centuries, hunters, descendants of the Greek heroes, have hated our kind. They separate into two factions: those who covet the power of the gods, and those who think we are abominations, hated by the titans. Some seek to slay us all; others seek to take our power. I suppose some of them view it that as long as they contain our power, the world would be safe. Yet history has shown that power corrupts absolutely. The leader of the Hermaeids was a former hunter. Now leader of one of the largest covens in the world, he harbours the power of the messenger. The psychopomp and guardian of souls.
Amongst the families, there were those of us selected to be warriors. Guardians of the realm between man and god. When demon and creature slip past the gates, it is our job to take them out. We prowl the streets at night, searching for hunters and those creatures that stalk the night. The families relied on protecting their god and their warriors. They do not train many to fight. Society sequestered the women, a pristine chip to be bargained between families for alliances.
I entered my room and plopped down on the edge of my bed. I rested my head in my hands, shaking it to clear my thoughts. I stared at my Malachi daggers that rested on the desk beneath my large bay window. My adrenaline picked up. The plan for the evening began running through my mind.
We were smoking out a hunter stronghold; we had found the warehouse, thanks to my midnight snack the night before. Hoping to use the location of the warehouse, we will follow them back to their headquarters. We know this group has been planning an operation for the coming gathering. There is no way this many vampires could amass in one city and not be noticed. We will be prime targets, sitting ducks. Our only option was to get to them first. After the awakening, there will be pressure from the family to keep me sequestered away, although I was a prime warrior who had more kills to her name than stitches on an embroidery pattern. Tonight, I was still free. And tonight, I was going out for blood.