Shrugging uncomfortably, Cesare ducked through the fence, already picking up his duffel. Walking away without a word of goodbye, the girls fell into step with him.
"Why is he still alive?" Alexandra asked, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder. "We could kill him; no one ever needs to know it was us. You've gotten what you wanted. The Thagirion's broken and impotent, they'll never recover from the humiliation of having to beg you for training. We've won, there's no point in putting yourself at risk."
The akatharton moved into the opening. "He was useful for breaking the Thagirion, but we've got the dragon isolated. We've gotten everything we can from Blaez." Anastasia's fingers ran over his face in a lingering caress. "Reap your vengeance upon his flesh, Cesare."
Shaking his head, Cesare looked back at the still recovering werewolf alone in the ring. The Cherries had left, the only reason they stayed was to see him change and fight. They weren't his friends, didn't care about him one way or the other. If he died tomorrow, none of them would shed a tear. Blaez was entertainment, nothing more.
"It's not about him," Cesare said quietly. "A wolf lives inside him, chained down in a pit, bound to a diseased soul. Reviled, shit on, beaten, and broken, it has nothing. If I kill Blaez, I kill the wolf, and I won't do that. I won't give it hope, only to kill it." Turning away, he started walking to where another boy waited for them. "Blaez isn't a threat, he's not costing us anything. I'm not going to kill him just because he's coming out ahead on the deal. If, or when, I kill him, it'll be because it benefits us."
Anastasia looked at him, the argument that the threat to Cesare was enough reason on the tip of her tongue. The words died under his hard eyes, he'd heard the same argument before, usually about the girls. If he avoided the murderous, he'd have to pack his bags and hit the road. This place was dangerous and there was no way he could tip toe through the mine field.
Frowning, Anastasia knew this wasn't the time to push, but Cesare had the feeling it would come up again. Her plans depended on having Cesare in her back pocket, to strategize, train, and work with her. If he had to do something dangerous, it should advance her ambitions, not put them in jeopardy.
Alexandra was the opposite, face clearing as she let it go for good. She trusted him differently than Anastasia did. He was her Lord, and she'd follow his commands through slaughter or peace, but she needed to know he was worth following. Alexandra questioned him to test his fitness, her fealty wasn't set in stone, given only as long as he was worth it.
Cesare didn't blame them. Not Anastasia for her selfish manipulation or Alexandra for her Darwinian tests of worth. They were looking out for themselves, being true to who and what they were. Anastasia loved herself first and foremost, her needs drove her to use those around her. A lion only led for as long as it was fit to lead, once it faltered, the lioness found a new lion. It wasn't right or wrong, it simply was.
Leaning against the arch, Sampson straightened at their approach. The boy ran his hand down his jacket nervously. A lot was on the line today, and his fighting ability wouldn't help. Sighing, Sampson met Alexandra's intense eyes with only the barest flinch.
"I don't like you, don't trust you, and that won't change. But none of that has to do with what I'm about to say. There won't be any trouble between you and Cerberus." The words were meant more for Cesare than Alexandra.
Sweeping the boy with cruel eyes, Alexandra's lips quirked at the boys uneasy shifting. "You and your men are nothing. Bugs that crawl and skitter as I approach, meat waiting for the butcher." Taking a step forward, her smile widened at Sampson's instinctive retreat. "Cerberus is nothing more than a disease infesting the shadows. A day will come when the light's thrown onto your world, and on that day, I'll wear your guts as a cloak of glory." An insane, mad light lit her eyes.
With a pleading look at Cesare, the boy gave up trying to meet the killers eyes. He'd faced her with is men at his back and all the cards in his favor, but it was a torturous thing to face her madness alone. It was the knowing in facing a lioness, it allowed you to live, and in that allowance was the power to take it away.
Laughing, Cesare ran his hand down the vampire's golden hair. Alexandra relaxed with a low, pleased sound. So much like a tiger being stroked that Cesare couldn't help the happy growl that rumbled from him. "I'm glad we understand each other."
Sampson looked from Cesare to Alexandra, eyes lingering on Cesare's caress of the vampire's golden braid. The vampire pushed into his caress before stepping back to his side. Cesare watched the understanding in the boy's eyes. If Alexandra wanted to kill Sampson, it would be Cesare holding the knife. Sampson meant nothing to him, while Cesare would kill, maim, or torture for Alexandra.
"Where are we supposed to meet your sponsor?" Cesare asked, walking down the hallway with the girls next to him. They'd gone over the plan this morning, but it never hurt to go over it one more time.
"He said he'd meet us at the stairs to the Mistress," Sampson said, fear of the vampire and the realities of dealing with Cesare fading from his eyes. It was always a shock when you realized the deal you'd brokered was with a man who would happily butcher you to see a psycho smile.
Keeping an eye on the vampire, Cesare gave a nod. She didn't like giving Cerberus more power, the only plan she liked was killing them all and watering the earth in their children's blood. But that wouldn't get the girls the help they needed. It was looking more like Cesare wouldn't make it to next year, they'd need all the help he could chain to them.
You'd never mistake them as one group. It wasn't just Alexandra, who never took her eyes off the fighter. Anastasia was the surprise; she eyed the boy with complete disinterest.
Sampson wasn't bringing much to the table and she knew it, if the boy had more going for him than a group of thugs, she might be warmer. Anastasia had grown up among the rich and powerful, she was used to dealing with power players. You were either significant or not. Sampson was in command of a sizable force of fighters, but all of them together would be nothing more than a bit of exercise for her, zero added to zero, still left you with nothing.
You couldn't hold a country with only three people, you don't have a movement without numbers. It wasn't about fighting or killing, it was convincing others you were worth following. No one believed a lone lunatic spouting about an apocalypse; add a dozen idiots and you have a messiah. That was what Cerberus brought to the table, people willing to do what they're told.
The few students out this late, skittered away from the black tide with its satellite of mean meat. Sampson knew he had no place with them, no one was welcome in the fanatical bubble the Furies walked in.
Coming around the corner, they took in the two teachers waiting at the bottom of the stairs. A round man stood to the side, wearing an immaculate suit without a crease out of place, dark hair combed over in an obvious play to hide his bald spot. A silver tie was pinned in place by a clip with a solitary diamond. With a mirror gloss, his dress shoes shone from hours of careful polishing. Shuffling from foot to foot, he ran his hands over his suit, assuring himself every line was in place.
No matter how nervous the man was, he didn't try to talk to the teacher waiting with him. Elizabeth stood in quiet thought as the ravens scornfully looked down on the world from their perches around the landing to the stairs. The grim carrion eaters dotted the area, perched on banisters, stairs, and open doors, each a black message that death awaited all things that lived.
Whipping his head around, the round man sagged in relief on seeing Sampson. Stepping close, the man fussed with Sampson's jacket, working the creases while muttering to himself. "Couldn't even skip fighting for one day to get ready. Cerberus biggest day in a thousand days, and you can't spare a few hours to get ready."
Sighing, the man stepped back with a critical eye. "I wish you'd have taken me up on the offer to get you a proper suit for this meeting. I keep telling you, appearances matter."
Shrugging uncomfortably, the boy looked over at Cesare and the Furies before meeting the man's eyes. "Dress me up in a suit of gold, I'm still who I am. I don't think clothes make a man."
"No, clothes don't make a man," the teacher agreed. "But they do make things move smoother. If you look like your competent, people will treat you that way. On the other hand, if you look like you're a poor boy with nothing to offer, you won't get the chance to teach them different."
Sampson flushed under the mild rebuke. Visibly stealing himself, the man faced the Furies, a greedy light flickering in his eyes. "I've heard we have you to thank for this unprecedented event." His eyes skipped over Elizabeth with a contempt that curdled Cesare's stomach, flinching away from Alexandra with naked terror, before landing on Anastasia covetously.
"Since we first came to Primrose, we've lived in the shadows, gnawing on the bones of the dead while the tigers and lions command the night. You're offering us what we've always wanted, a place in the moons light alongside the other predators." The man gave a deep bow. "We won't disappoint you, Lady of Ruin. It's only a small token of my appreciation, but I'd like to extend an offer for you to join my class next year. I think you'd find it rewarding." Sickly sweet like rotten cotton candy, the words decayed in the air.
Anastasia's lips twitched in the beginnings of a mocking smile. "I'll keep that in mind, but I already have an idea of what classroom I'll be attending."
The man's eyes drifted over to Miss Raven before catching himself. "I see. Well I hope you'll at least let me have the chance to meet with you to discuss the matter. I truly feel I can help you achieve scholastic excellence. I know you could do great things with the right support. With the backing of Cerberus, several opportunities will be open to you."
Anastasia's faint smile vanished, dark eyes clearing as she looked through the words to the offer underneath. The teacher was offering to tutor her, to help her through the classes, insuring she was successful. Her grades weren't something she could shrug off. Cesare only wanted to graduate, but Anastasia had plans for college. Not just any college would do, no, she wanted ivy league or nothing. The offer of a sympathetic teacher, one that would massage her grades had to be tempting.
Smiling into the raw calculation in the akathartons eyes, the man continued, "We could do great things together. Cerberus has people in all walks of life, you'd be surprised at the help we can give you."
"In return for what?" Anastasia's mild tone hid the dangerous depths that swirled around the words. Sampson moved to the side, opening distance between himself and the teacher.
The teachers smile slipped away, leaving only hard eyes behind. "I understand the agreement was made with Young Sampson here, but I think if certain concessions were made, we could forge a more beneficial arrangement." His pink tongue flashed out, wetting dry lips. "The stipulation on the vampire is particularly egregious. The Order of the Dragon are known collaborators with the Illuminati, not just a danger to the school but to our race. We're only asking for the right to defend ourselves."
Anastasia never lifted her eyes from the round little man. "And what else?"
Relief swept over the man at her easy acceptance. "I think there are other modifications we can make to the agreement. Not just for our benefit, but yours as well. Cerberus can be an asset to you and your mother, when the barbarians are at the door, we'll be with you."
A bead of sweat rolled wet and thick down the man's jowls under Anastasia's intent stare. "Cesare?" The one-word question ripped a startled look from the man, eyes darting to Cesare before locking back on Anastasia.
"Cerberus has shown itself to be remarkably loyal for what seems to be fundamentally a political organization. From my encounters with them, they do what they say and hold to their promises. They have people placed in some remarkable places, including the Order of the Dragon. I don't think they're as cohesive as they'd like to be, with cells working at cross purposes." Watching Sampson and the teacher, he chose his words carefully. "Soldiers, intelligence, loyalty, properly handled, they could make a valuable resource."
Sampson looked distinctly uncomfortable, fear threading his eyes. The teacher didn't know the Furies, hadn't seen what they were like when pushed. Those who knew the group through stories and rumors missed the thing that made the Furies deadly.
Individually, they were once in a life time horrors, abominations the world rarely birthed, but that wasn't the thing to fear. Their strength wasn't what had bled the Thagirion out, turning something that had stood the test of centuries into a walking corpse. It was the blood soaked, murderous loyalty they had for each other. If you put a hand between them, they'd rip the hand off and reach for your face. One thing every student learned was that the Furies were about the Furies. They didn't want anyone else; they didn't tolerate outside interest.
"And if I agreed to their terms?" Anastasia asked, a casual cruelty running through the air. The simple malice of a creature born to hurt and kill.
"I'd kill them," Cesare said, eyes never leaving the teacher. "I'd hunt them down and make the school into a killing ground. Hang their squirming, flayed bodies onto the trees for the ravens, and dance to the symphony of their screams."
The teacher finally looked at Cesare, eyes running over the boy. Cesare knew what he looked like, a face of planes and angles, hard blue eyes glittering with vicious temper. A blade thin body honed by combat, terror, and agony, into something dedicated to blood sport. But for all that, he was still a damnati child with only rumors and one public fight to his name.
Cesare watched the man tick off the bullet points one by one. He came to the same conclusion everyone had. Cesare might be dangerous; but he wasn't anything a real Umbrae Lunae needed to worry about.
"Cerberus has weathered purges, armies, and scourges, by angel and man," the man said with an indulgent smile. "I think it can survive the petulant rage of a damnati."
Tilting his head to the side Cesare smiled tightly. "No doubt Cerberus can withstand the rage of a petulant child." The teachers smile widened at Cesare's easy agreement. "But you won't."
Alexandra flashed across the space quicker than the eye could catch, not even a ghost of an impression left in the violated air. Snatching the man by his throat, fingers clamping down with bruising force, she lifted him off the ground, strangling him with casual power.
Anastasia's warning look stopped Sampson cold, the boy stepping back with open arms. Walking to Alexandra's side, Cesare watched the slow spread of red as the man suffocated.
"I feel we've had a miscommunication." Coming even with the vampire, Cesare met the man's desperate eyes. "I'll allow your organization to continue in this school. I'll even let you enter the public eye. Make no mistake sir, it's by my will alone that this happens."
Lips swelling, red tinting the whites of his eyes, face bloating the man let out a low whine. "I allow this because it takes you out from under the Thagirion's thumb. The second reason is as important and the one you're dangerously close to breaking." His words lowered, black, sadistic desire weaving through them, currents of evil threatening all that laid foot in the ocean of malignance. An icy chill ran through the air, a cold razor that stropped along the soul, sharpening itself for flaying.
"Alexandra will forever be beyond your plans. She will live her life outside your agenda. Break this, and I'll hunt down every one of your pups, every child of your diseased dog. I'll find them, torture them, drink in their agony, and devour their innocence. I will drown your society in an orgy of slaughtered children." At Cesare's nod, Alexandra dropped the man.
He hit the ground gasping with a low whine of pain filled terror. Splayed on the stone, hands stretching out in jerky, needy movements, the man struggled against the darkness of unconsciousness. His suit jacket had fallen off one shoulder, showing deep pit stains, belly rippling with his squirming movements.
Sampson looked for a moment as if he'd make for the downed teacher but with one wary look at Anastasia, he settled back on his heels. The akatharton kept a close eye on the fighter, daring him to test her. Given the boys fearful eyes, Cesare didn't think Sampson would take her up on it.
"We're done here," Cesare's finality hardened the faces of the girls.
Turning away from the fallen teacher and the stunned boy, Cesare started down the hall away from the stairs. Elizabeth and the girls flowed around him, a possessive circle of ownership. Gaping, the dogs watched, they got almost to the door before Sampson found his tongue. "Where you going? You promised if I got a sponsor, you'd get us acknowledged by the Mistress."
Pausing, Cesare turned, eyes falling to the teacher prone on the ground to where Sampson stood with clenched fists, glaring at Cesare. "You broke faith. If I can't trust you when I hold the cards, how can I trust you when I have nothing to hold over you?"
Cesare met the furious eyes of the boy, watching it rip him apart. Sampson had nurtured this hope in the secret places of his soul, watering it with blood and slaughter. The twisted vines that had grown from that bitter water were woven through the meat of his heart. He could no more give up on that dream than he could rip out his own heart.
"You gave me your word, and you broke it. Don't come whining about the unfairness of me breaking a deal you shit on." Words twisted and barbed with bitter rage snapped through the air. "Did you think anyone else would give you this? No one that matters cares enough about you to put their flesh on the line. This chance will never come again, and when you look into the broken faces of your men, I hope you remember it was you that broke their hearts."
Sampson's words stopped Cesare. "What if I could get you the promise you need? What if I could get you someone's word that would hold not just me and mine, but any that came after?"
The women left the question to Cesare. Anastasia had never thought they needed Cerberus; in her mind they were nothing but thugs. They might be useful for their numbers, but their arrogance in thinking they were her equal rubbed her the wrong way. Alexandra thought the only way they should be dealt with was at the end of a sword. Elizabeth could go either way, she knew Cerberus held power outside the school and that power could be helpful, but she also knew once you gave someone power it was theirs to use.
The original plan was to give Cerberus a way out from under the thumb of the Thagirion, taking away a force that could be used against the Furies. Cesare was willing to give them that autonomy if he was sure they weren't a danger to the women. They'd never attack Anastasia with her connections, she'd butcher them in days if her mother didn't squash them first. Elizabeth was insulated by both her job and her distance from the real power brokers of the Umbrae Lunae, there was no reason to attack her. But Alexandra was hated, her people despised and feared, locked in a war that went back centuries.
Cesare took in the boys slumped shoulders and defeated expression. Sampson was a lot of things, but at his core he was trustworthy, the kind of man that prided himself on his integrity. There was an understanding in the boy's eyes that he'd brought this on himself. A man owes up to his own fuck ups regardless if its his fault.
"If you get me the word of someone I can trust, then the deals on. But this is your last chance, I don't need you, but you do need me."