Chapter Text
“Diana, are you absolutely positive that this will take down Gerbert?” Baldwin’s shift of mood was obvious to both Matthew and Diana, his shoulders slumped as he stared into an empty wall of Sept Tours.
Matthew gently grabbed his wife by the elbow as he sensed she was going to push Baldwin to tell them why he was being so hesitant about destroying Gerbert. He uttered a barely audible: “Don’t.”
Diana raised an eyebrow at her husband, but decided to let it go. “Yes, that will definitely prove that he is responsible for the massacre of witches 30 years ago. Our goal is to have him removed from the Congregation.”
Matthew kept quiet as he closely watched his brother effortlessly break a pan he was holding, spilling ink all over his desk. He held onto debris for a few seconds before throwing it into the bin and cleaning the dripping ink from his hand.
“Baldwin, why are you so hesitant to…” Matthew couldn’t manage to stop his wife this time.
“Why don’t you mind your own fucking business once in a while?” He flung from his chair and stopped only a few centimeters from where Diana stood. “Sister.” He backed away when he noticed tiny flames starting to form around Diana’s fingers. As much as he loved a good fight, he wasn’t in a mood for one today. “I’ll bring it to Venice on time.”
“Thank you,” Diana yelled after Baldwin as he left the office and he just waved his hand dismissively. “Care to tell me what’s going on, Matthew?” She set in Baldwin’s chair. “If you tell me that it’s not your story to tell, I swear, no sex, bundling or anything similar for a month.”
“Darling, there’s no need for such drastic measures.” Matthew twirled a strand of Diana’s hair between his fingers. “As you know, a lot of people died for my brother, because of my brother or by the hands of my brother and I’ve only seen him shaken by death three times. About five centuries ago, his closest friend was murdered. He always blamed himself for not being able to save him. The second time was when our father died. But, for some reason, the most recent one got to him so badly that he went off the grid for a full year. It happened about 10 years ago.”
Diana kissed her husband’s palm and then held it in between hers. “What happened 10 years ago?”
“That story goes way back, even I’m not aware of how and when it all started and Baldwin never cared to explain.”
“Wow, I’m shocked.” Diana’s sarcastic response earned her a kiss from her husband. “Don’t get me distracted.”
“It’s my right to try. Anyway, my brother owns a house deep in the Scottish woods and he has a small archive of his own over there. The proof you just asked him to bring is over there, his personal things, even some of our father’s most important documents are there. The thing is, there’s a key that opens the door to that archive and it’s sort of bewitched, something like the Congregation keys. Baldwin has one part of the key and a human family has the other. I don’t know why he thought that it was a good idea, but I’m sure he had his own reasons. Only our family is fully aware of how it works, he decided to tell us in case something happens to him. But, over a decade ago, a story got out about the family having a key. I still can’t believe that someone actually thought that my brother would just give a key to his most valuable treasures to a human family without a catch. Long story short, as if that family knew something terrible was going to happen, two years prior to the event, a little girl and her parents moved to the US, taking their part of the key with them. Unfortunately, when the vampires decided to struck, the parents were visiting Scotland and suffered a gruesome death alongside the father’s parents. Needless to say, my brother single-handedly killed every single one of them before they got to even leave Scotland and then he tracked down everyone else involved and they suffer the same destiny. After that, he was gone for a year. The little girl stayed in the US, keeping the key. I think she stayed there with her maternal grandmother, but that’s all I know. I think that my brother hasn’t seen her after that. My guess is that he felt too guilty.”
“And I just asked him to reopen his own wound as well as hers.” Diana was the one staring at a wall now.
“My darling, trust me, if my brother weren’t ready, he would’ve never agreed to this.”
Baldwin set in his car in the middle of a road for hours after he bid goodbye to Marthe and Ysabeau. His coat, jacket and tie were sprawled on the back seat. His passenger seat suffered quite a few punches from his ink stained fist.
He has just sent a message to a number he never dared calling. I need you. That was all he’s written, there was no need for more words. He wasn’t expecting a reply, he knew she would be flying to Scotland on the first airplane.
Grace lay in her warm bed fully awake at 5 AM, her phone was now on the floor, it fell out of her hands from the initial shock. There were days when she hoped this message would never come and there were days when that was all she hoped for. Her hand covered a key pendant made of black gold lying on her chest. To everyone else, it looked just like any regular pendant, the only quizzing thing about it to other people was the fact she never took it off. Grace knew better, she was introduced to the importance of it as soon as she started comprehending the world around her.
Today was the day she didn’t know what she wanted, but she knew exactly what her duty was. In less than 10 minutes, Grace was holding a printed boarding pass. She put it in her bag, alongside her wallet and passport. It took about 30 minutes for her to put all the necessities in a hand luggage and she was grateful that she had enough time to wash and properly dry her hair.
She sent a text to her friend Annie: Remember when I told you that someday I might disappear for a while? That day has come. Remember, you promised, no questions asked. Love you
Before leaving her apartment, she made sure she unplugged all of the devices. When she unplugged the last one, her bedroom TV, her gaze fell on a family photo on her night stand. She picked it up, gently sweeping her index finger over it. “See, guys, I’m keeping my promise.”`