"The crescendo?"
Salvattor inquired while scanning over the table, leaning back in his chair, breathing in his cigar feeling more relaxed as he puffed out a halo over his head, his brown eyes met a pair of silvers that met his relaxed gaze with intense veracity,
"Its a meeting of the enforcers at first the higher ranks, they have gathered somewhere in the seven cities," Avalon said looking over the table the city Ninniae the most prescient in the table, the large building from the inside, the middle of the city a beacon of light shone a beam into the sky the multitude of buildings, some tall like the skyscrapers in Swylar, they shined like clouds so easily hidden from the rest of the world, so much they had to make a law for them to track where there buildings are, then those tall prideful sculptures soften into a smaller town around it ones of laughter and joy until the families came in, now its territories of power holder tugging away at the people who inhibit them, the water that wrapped around the city like a mothers carrese it was a light blue that curled around if touched, it flowed into the countryside that held it bloom into a farmers paradise, the crops that were other worldly, the fruits were sweeter having more minerals in them from their test. The vegetables like the fruits held more they grew more than average compared to there sweeter counterparts, more abundance and he wheat, rise oats, they grew the whole year round until that one week in December, the stop, resting for the next year, it was breathtaking most of the year only for that dark estate in the green treelines taller than they should be looming, almost with the dark spots in the city that marked where the other the Dons laid, Avalon admired it hearing a dark mummer coming from Salvatore,
"They haven't moved to the other cities, I've talked with our syndicates six out of seven has said nothing has happened," Salvatore explained he sat forward flicking his cigar on a small tray as he grabbed his glass of wine sipping it, he watched the wine swirling in the glass the red liquid curled as he smelled it peering over the rim, the map glistened in light, the city he also loved dark in places, tarnished by these groups and they have no clue where they might be. But with what he remembered from the phone call he had before Avalon came in for her morning meeting, Avalon followed his gaze over the city they cherished, the light still shone, but it was dimming from the splashes of dark that lurked around them,
"What was the other one then?" Avalon inquired
"The last syndicate was ours," Savatore stared, placing his wine glass down, he swivelled towards her eyes, stern glare, he breathed out his cigar,
"Ours?"
"It was Liz's group,"
Avalon stopped her hand stopped twitching at her side, breath caught in her throat, her mind froze on that one thought, Liz group. She heard of an incident from them, they told her it was small, not that she believed that from the look of the intended person who told her, they were sweating, their face pale. The signs were there, and they were screaming. Avalon scanned over Salvatore. The grim expression was enough to almost make her flinch. She stared at him, her face scrunched, eyes squinted,
"And what happened?"
Avalon's question made Salvatore confused, his eyebrows raised at her inquiry. He puffed his cigar one more time, that timid man telling him what occurred on that information hunt, it was nothing but easy. Blood current through their team, their wounds deeper than they have inspected. The unmerciful, Blood thirsty wouldn't be accurate at all for those savages. Salvatore leaned his head back on the chair, his eyes dazed, lost in the memory of that talk, but he still whispered out,
"Didn't someone tell you, Avalon i remembered them rushing out my door just to tell you,"
"They did, however, I think they bullshited me," Avalon added
Salvatore let out a needed chuckle taking his cigar out of his mouth, puffed as he peered at her his attention flickered to the map placed in front of them, tapping its ashes into the tray he continued,
"They lied to you? That's because you are under strict orders not to take in so much stress."
Salvatore sighed. His eyes scanned over Avalon's face. She looked tired under her eyes, there was a small darkness around them, her lips even through the tinted oil pale almost looked white from in the light, she hummed, glancing away from him briefly, the city that shone now dimmed, the blips suffocated it,
"I might be stressed but I can't have them hiding what's happening in our company. To our people. I can't be blind Salvatore, not even when my human body wants to give out," Avalon countered her gaze even when tired sharpened, her hand clenched at her elbows, her gaze sharper than any skilled minded fellow he has encountered, she picked apart the map and her thoughts seem to come together, when her silver hues land on him once again, Savlatore sighed tapping his cigar one more time,
"We know that Avalon, they told me what happen, but you have been put under strict guidelines not to be stressed more than you already are," Salvatore let out
Avalon opened her mouth about to speak on how she still needs to know about their job, it's her responsibility, her call to watch over the syndicates, Salvatore placed his cigar in the tray letting out a last puff he took. He never left her unrelenting stare.
"Liz had her group follow up on the information they took from the families of the city, they found out their enforcers are their executioners given. Powers by their Don, leaving them everything they needed to be under them, Jacob found hat out personally," Savlvator uttered tasting bitter, blood coming from the memory of rushing into the infirmary, the taste of iron was pungent in the room, he didn't even scream, he let them alter the arm watching over him as they did,
"Jacob was caught by Don, they met in the back of their trinket hunting, Jacob shot at Don, nothing came of he used the new guns Liz made, illuminated with new laser tech. Nothing, still Don ate it, taking the gun..and his whole arm with it, Jacob didn't even know what happened the ripping pain was his only indicator
, hearing his flesh torn from his body, the bone cracking. He…"
Salvaore stopped for a moment he felt a lump in his throat he took his wine taking the last of the red substance making a pleasant burn down his throat, Salvaore sighed placing it back, he peered at Avalon through the corner of his eye, the browns that used to shine in the light darken, Avalon face went stone her eyes piercing the realization, that what they were hiding, even for a little while she would have found out eventually,
"They took it as a deal?" Avalon uttered her hands grit into fist, her nails were digging in so harshly blood started to fall from them, with a different color. Falling on the wood flooring, Salvatore saw it for a slime second but her question made him stiff. She came saying there was a meeting of sorts the crescendo made for the enforcers. But deals the idea they needed to prove there trust worthy of the other families, and the evidence of them gathering the tokens are there, videos leaked to the news along with some photos,
"You believe this is a deal? A truce to find who's more trustworthy."
"Or to see what they can get passed," Avalon interjected
Salvtore taken back hummed leaning over the projection, the light from it casting a glow over him, he turned his head his gaze did not leave Avalons,
"They wanted to see if they could get passed us if we are weak enough to break through our teams, trying to find a weakness to manipulate
"Or gather what they need for their next step,"
They went quite after the last verb, Salvatore gawked at her, analyzing, if this was Avalon he was talking to or Sandel, Avalon stared back at him, her eyes did hold Sandel's influence but her mind was all there her eyes crossed over the projection the dark spots worried her but made the fire that now was her beat louder.
"And their next step is?" Salvatore asked already thinking of the Dons next set of goals, his eyes fogged from the thoughts hearing Avalon saying,
"From what Sandel and I were talking about, they have the oaths, one that can kill them all if unfaithful, leaving it to one. We believe that any of them would try to kill the other for the power and the territories, the meeting was all the other enforcers but Blakes from what we have gathered," Avalon explained
"Yes but they saw Maxien near there, her eyes dark, her body pale with black glyphs over her, we couldn't even recognize her."
Avalon moved closer confused, her eyes drifting to where Salvotre was swiping the projection, it showed Maxien and it was true. She looked like a cryptic. Her hair once shining black bob, was darker long, unkept, her eyes blank with her lips a ghastly pale her eyes once brown now laid black with a glyph in it, her hand reached out to the person aking the pitcher pitch black around the photo, Avalon felt Sandel curl around her heart as they took in the image, she looked like Blake's old clones, nothing like Coille. Coille had a soul the others were Blake's tools. Ones that failed him so, he made them then he destroyed them, burning them alive, or sacrificing them in the name of his goal.
"She looks so much like the clones but this isn't that," Avalon let out,
Avalon observed it one more time before the burning around her heart sung, reaching up thought her shoulder to on top of her arm, Sandel crawled down her arm closer to the photo, her heat was palpable it made the room feel like summer was a living entity in the room with them, Sandel shaken from the image whispered out to them hoping for an answer,
"This is something that was thought to have burned out, one buried away in history, from humans."
Salvaotre, lean closer, observing Sandel's flame, the reaction was an inferno. Taking another look at the photo, he drifts it to Sandel his voice cutting through her fright,
"Burned out? We've seen this with Blake he was resurrected and given those from what you told me before,"
"Yes he was, but the difference is he was already in death's grasp. She was trapped, tied down possibly for it, the tethering."
Salvatore stared at her confused squint his mouth opened, but Avalon asked something of Sandel that made him stay quite,
"Tethering?"
Sandel swiveled to Avalon, her flame flickered at her, cautious. Worried what reaction it might cause. With them both.
"Tethering, is a overwhelming power crafted with in angels host it bouns with there love ones or in this case, someone they find useful enough to get an inch of their power, they will hand it to the willingly," Sandel explained her voice painted a grave image in both minds, Avalon glanced over them, she already had thought of that and outwardly disguised it with Ally, Damien, Marcello when he was conscious. But hearing it from Sandel made her soul shudder, her heat coiled around her, like Sandels it spreads around the room, Salvatore felt it all feeling the sweat dripping off him, he glanced at Avalon waiting to see the signs of the heat affecting her, none. She's withstanding he roaring heat looking like she was standing in a normal spring day, even when her body was unnaturally a fire.
"It..it made sense," Salvatore thought whipping his brow, opening his shirt a tad, his breathing picked up,
"Umm, ladies its a tad..no like a volcano in here, and I'm more affected than you both," Salvatore expressed
Sandel crossed over Avalon's arm to her shoulder whispering a soft apology, the room felt colder the air conditioning kicking in, or it was able to be let in, either way Salvaore walked to under the vent letting it hit him, his eyes down cast to the floor, His son was able to be an angel from the one that chose him as a host, to resurrect him when he was close to death making him something worse than before, Peter made another dark angel, one where he can possess a person, taking something so precious even he thought it was maddening,
"He made her into a hybrid?" Savatore let out, looking up from the floor to the flame resting on Avalon's shoulder, Sandel caught his gaze, her flame grew, flickering, thinking.
"Not…not quite with what Peter has done, I think Blake did something i have no clue about, he…he changed his power, he made Maxien into a phantom in her own body,"
Sandel's statement made Salvatore freeze under the vent, his shirt tossed by the blistering breeze, his eyes widened slightly, almost didn't get noticed by Avalon and her angel. Avalon watched him, her gaze dark, glancing at Sandel, seeing the angel stay by her side, leaning back, she paused for them. Letting them feel the weight of her words, of what she deemed was true, Salvatore stared at them, thinking before his eyes turned to slits, fierce.
"That's what he did, then you're right, Avalon, no matter what we do. We need everyone to face this bloody monster."
Avalon kept a facade up but couldn't hide how taken back she was, taking a step towards him, her hand to her hip where it showed her shimmering tattoos,
"Then don't hold me back, I can't be held back, not with this, not with them,"