(14) When all else is lost the future still remains

“Do we let him in?” Shan asked. “Or more to the point can you tell if it’s someone you trust?”

“It’s someone I know. Trusting him is another thing but I seriously doubt he’ll try anything overt, so go ahead.”

At her words Shan disarmed the security system, all of it including the wards, keeping his hand on the buttons, ready to reactivate it the moment the man outside had entered.

Addie opened the door, a tight smile on her face.

"Mistress" The man stepped inside and bowed deeply. "I come with a message."

"Considering you're the Messenger that's hardly a surprise," Addie hissed. "If it's from the bastard King you can tell him where to go and what to do when he gets there."

The Messenger smiled slightly. "There is no King at the moment. He had an unfortunate accident of the head-rolling kind. It seems some of his most loyal followers were more than a bit upset when, somehow," he shot her a look, "word got out that he was a coward."

"Aww, how sad. Not." Addie smiled but she felt somehow bereft. She had wanted to take her own physical revenge on him. But at least she'd been instrumental in his death, in her own way. "So now what, is there going to be a conclave to choose a new King?"

"King or Queen. You know there is no discrimination when it comes to that. The conclave is two weeks from today, in his former headquarters in Baton Rouge. I presume you will be there."

Addie shrugged. "If I'm not busy, sure. I can't say it's on the top of my list of things I want to do."

"Addison, you have to be there. You are an ancient, one of the very few."

"And as an ancient, I don't have to do a damned thing I don't want to."

The Messenger's lip quirked up at that. "Getting testy in your old age?"

Addie sighed deeply. "I don't know if you have a clue what I've gone through. I suspect you don't or you wouldn't be here hassling me. So just to make things very clear, I am not in the mood to deal with any of my kind at the moment."

"I am very much aware of the death of your loved ones and the battle that ensued because of it. I know it was you who put the bug in one of his minion's ears, as they say. But…" The Messenger paused, as if realizing for the first time that Shan was standing there listening.