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“I was duty-bound to do so as well,” Ryan told them, “but I was holding off until I talked with Marco. I’ll likely face censure for not doing so.”
What will they do to him? I asked Marco. Please ask.
“Etta wants to know the consequences?”
“Likely a monetary fine, but they could jail me for up to a year, in such a way so I’ll grow a year older. I believe I can successfully argue my intention to negotiate with you before reporting it to avoid jail time.” He sighed. “And other things I can’t talk about.”
“Etta and I will do what we can to argue on your behalf. What about your parents? If we turn them over to the slayers, what will happen to them?”
“They tried to kill a top-level vampire for personal reasons, when she’d done nothing wrong. They could be jailed for forty years, which would mean permanent retirement from slaying because it would age their physical bodies to that of a sixty-year-old human. They could be trainers or analysts and hold onto that age, but fieldwork would no longer be possible. They might negotiate the term down to twenty years, but it isn’t likely they’d be in good enough physical shape to continue as Slayers in the field.”
I knew that slayers six hundred years ago began their careers at around fifteen, so it was likely these two had been censured a few times and lost a total of around five years, putting them closer to the physical age of twenty, so a forty-year term would equal sixty years. Ryan looked seventeen or eighteen. If he’d been doing this a hundred years, he’d likely began around fifteen or sixteen. Had he lost some years due to censure, or had he started later?
“Apollonius is getting out of his vehicle,” Mordecai told us.
“We should both stay and talk to him,” Ryan told Marco.
“As much as I’d like to avoid him, you’re correct,” Marco agreed.
Can you put me on video chat? I asked Marco. I’d like to be part of the conversation.
I had a tablet hooked up to Jayce’s Wi-Fi, so by the time Apollonius came down, I was on someone’s laptop in the room they were in, with a view of everyone, and I was no longer in Marco’s head.
I’d half expected Kirsten would offer to flash me in, but she didn’t, and I decided not to make the request.
Chapter 27
Ryan
No matter what, I’d have to do a month of community service and re-education for not following protocol, but I’d known that when I held off and opted to talk to Marco before reporting to the council.
It’d been more important I show my loyalty to Etta, and I didn’t regret doing so.
However, I hadn’t expected to be sent away, so I couldn’t be involved in apprehending my parents. Apollonius used a video-chat application to phone someone from the Slayer Council and bring him into our discussion, though, and that’s exactly what happened.
I did manage, however, to negotiate taking Etta to Slayertown. I’d have preferred having an opportunity to speak with Ruth before I made the offer, but I felt certain I could convince her to help me with what I needed. However, as soon as the meeting was over, I texted her on our own secure system.
I need to bring a Strigorii vampire to town. My parents are trying to kill her, and possibly me as well. Any chance we can rent your place on the beach? My parents know all the tricks to get into my house, and it’s too remote for anyone to help protect her if they find us. They’ll have a much harder time getting to her at your place.
What aren’t you telling me, young Ryan? The rumor mill says Death has fallen for a vampire?
If by fallen, you mean head-over-heels in love, then I suppose the rumor mill is correct. I have no idea where this is going, but both of us want to see where it takes us. In the meantime, I need to keep her alive.
I cannot offer safe passage past the café without meeting her face-to-face. Bring her there, and we’ll see about offering it for a full visit. I suppose she can sleep in the gunsafe during the day.
We’ll be bringing her eagle, so she’ll have nourishment. I knew Ruth would know all about her, because as soon as the rumor mill reached her, she’d have researched Etta forwards, backwards, inside, and out. She might know more about Etta than even I’d been able to find out.
Marco offered the use of his plane, and I accepted. Traditionally, one brings visitors in over the county line and pulls directly into the restaurant, but that wasn’t possible when flying in. Pat, Ruth’s husband, was waiting for us at the landing strip we call an airport, and I put Etta in the front seat, where Pat could see her, while I pointed Largo into the back seat behind Etta, and I sat behind Pat.
We were driven straight to the restaurant, and the four of us went in. We’d had plenty of time to talk on the plane, so Etta understood what this meeting was about — showing the townspeople she and I are a couple, answering their questions honestly, and letting me handle any aggression while she trusted me to do so.
Ruth hugged me when we walked in, and we made our way to the back corner. How many times had I sat with my back against the wall and forced visitors to sit with their backs to the room, doors, and windows? Gideon sat with his back to the wall, Ruth sat beside him, Etta and I took the visitor chairs. Largo kneeled on the floor beside Etta to help drive home the point he was here as food and not a guard.
Pat, I assumed, had our backs.
Ruth and Pat have become kind of like my surrogate grandparents, over the years. I’m one of the strongest and best Slayers on the planet, but nothing beats the wisdom of millennia, and these two were so old, they thought my parents were youngsters.
“You don’t have the best résumé,” Gideon told Etta. Gideon is our head trainer, and the townsfolk would trust his judgment along with Ruth’s. If these two said Etta was worthy of safe passage into our town, the citizens of Slayertown would uphold their decree.
