The Curse of Oberon (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 3)
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Authors: Jeremy Croston
The Curse of Oberon
By Jeremy Croston
First Edition
© 2016 Jeremy Croston
Two Dudes, Brews, & Books
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This book is a work of fiction.
All of the names, places,
and events that occur are from
the author’s imagination.
Any resemblance to an actual
person, alive or dead, place,
historical event, or business establishment
is purely coincidental.
Cover by
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Proofreader: Elissa Causey
Content Editor: Karen Vacanti
Editor: EG Editing Services – Caroline Price
ISBN Number: 978-1523477098
**Cristof**
Before we even entered the room where Roderick waited for us, the atmosphere was thick with worry. Marquis Lemoyne, the Ambassador from the southern regions of Europe was taking umbrage at the fact Elizabeth Swansea was not present.
“Cristof, you let one of the key witnesses leave the country and go on a personal vendetta, yet her information would be better served here!”
The group of ambassadors looked on to see how I would respond. “In case you forgot Lemoyne, Elizabeth is the oldest born vampire in the world. I could not stop her if I wanted to. Let us be thankful she shares with us as much as she does.”
“We will talk about this more at length later Cristof. What is the point of being the head of your region if you cannot control those under you?”
I bristled at his point, but he had already opened the doors. We all walked in, Roderick sitting at the table completely at ease. He looked at each one of us as we moved to our seats, as if this was just a meeting for afternoon tea.
I felt uneasy about being in this room with the rest of these people. I had received the summons to appear in London two days after Elizabeth and Victor’s brother Bernard left for Ireland. It was most certainly troubling; the council had not met together in person in almost two hundred years.
Sitting around the room, I saw a group of the oldest and most powerful vampires, short one member. Roderick was at the head of this table, not as the guest of honor, as the one on trial. To the left of him sat Marquis Lemoyne, Christopher and Rachael Swertfeger of Australia, and myself representing North America. To the right were Anders Iago of South America, Kai Orochi of western Asia, and the empty seat reserved for Elizabeth.
As I sat quietly, Lemoyne started the preceding in his usual flamboyant way. With a thick accent and a squeaky voice, “You know why you are here, no?”
Roderick never blinked. “I am guessing Marquis you think I am responsible for what happened in London with Pan and Jonathan.”
“You do not even have the gull to admit you were in the wrong do you Roderick!”
The old English vampire was not in the mood to stand down. Jumping out of his seat, “By all means Lemoyne, if you think you can do a better job, and then do it! However, if you are all talk, then I suggest you piss off!”
Rachael tried her best to suppress a laugh beside me, but it did not fall on deaf ears. Lemoyne turned on her. “Do not laugh at me! The two of you are only here out of necessity!”
Her husband Chris shot out of his chair like a rocket and grabbed the thin French vampire by his throat. Christopher was a massive mountain of a man making his status as the youngest one here null and void. “Talk to my wife again like that you piece of shit and I will break you in half!”
“Enough.” My voice was steady, calm. Everyone looked at me and given my reputation as a Berserker, slight hints of fear broke through. “As much as I would like to see the Marquis snapped in two, this is not the way we handle business. The werewolves are more civilized than this.”
Christopher did not loosen his grip right away, only when his wife put a hand on his shoulder to tell him it was okay. The Marquis choked and stuttered, but nothing that came out was even remotely close to English. Roderick, at the head of the table, was enjoying the show we were putting on.
The focus was still on me, so I took the ball and ran. “As distasteful as the Marquis was, he had an excellent point. Roderick,” he looked up at me, curious, “how does this happen under your watch? And once you discovered the truth, you do not come to us?”
Roderick and I were as old of friends as they came. I would never understand why he made the choices he did. “I thought I could handle the situation. I brought in Elizabeth and that werewolf because circumstances required it. As for the Gem of Babylon, I had no idea such an artifact even existed.”
“We can safely assume the Gem is with Jonathan and Pan. As for their motives…” Kai’s perfect English trailed off, leaving us all to wonder.
Anders Iago was not as interested in speculation. “The Gem is not what concerns me. Jonathan could not have pulled this off by himself. I think we all can agree on that.”
“Are you insinuating one of us is working with the traitor?”
Lemoyne was starting to irritate me. “Unless you are feeling guilty Marquis, I think it is safe to assume Anders is not accusing us.”
The South American vampire backed me up on that. “I was not accusing anyone in this room. Let us look at the facts though, Baron Forte was alive and assisting him. None of us expected that.”
There were too many unknowns. Only one decision made sense to me. “A full investigation needs to be launched. Until then, Roderick, I think it is only right for you to step aside and let the council do its job.”
As the other vampires each nodded in agreement, Roderick resigned himself to his fate. “As you wish. Do what you must but do not think for a second I will not do what I need to as well.”
The two of us looked on at each other. A simple understanding was met, one that no one else in the room needed to be informed of, at least not yet. “I understand old friend.”
With a final contemptuous look at the group, Roderick got up and left. None of us that remained looked all that comfortable with how things turned out.
**Pan**
“What do you mean the Gem of Babylon is on Neverland?”
“Exactly what I said Pan, that my benefactor has gone to great lengths to locate it. I need you to go to the island and retrieve it.”
Going back to Neverland wasn’t my idea of a good time. “Screw that! When you rescued me from the God awful place, I swore I’d never go back!”
My mentor looked down on me with increased hostility. “Finding one of those cursed O’Byrne witches will mean nothing without the Gem! It is vital to the plan. If you wish to defy me, then you shall be reminded…”
“Fine, I’ll go under the condition you don’t hold
that
over my head again.”
He smiled, knowing he had won yet again. “I knew I could count on you.” His voice dropped back to its normal range. “Centuries we have waited to reveal our hand and the time is almost upon us. With the Gem of Babylon, we will be one step closer.”
I looked out of our make shift hideout, an old barn that had been converted into one of Jonathan’s safe houses. The man was paranoid, but it served us well here in Ireland. The sky was beginning to brighten, signaling the start of a new day. “I’ll leave for Neverland tonight. I assume I’ll have access to the helicopter?”
“Of course, the sooner you get there, the better our chances.”
That was something. “All the Lost Boys are dead and Tucker turned out to be a rat. I’m not going to that island alone. You best have back up for me…”
He pulled out his phone and made a quick call. He walked away from me so I couldn’t hear who he was talking to, but when he came back he had a sinister smile on his face. “You will have your back up. Now, if there are no more concerns, I really have other business to attend to.”
A thought hit me. “Do you think the werewolf survived the fall?”
Jonathan started laughing, clutching his stomach and keeling over. “There is no way that pathetic creature survived his encounter with me.”
I was running for my life. Whatever was chasing me was fast. And there were multiple whatevers; producing a scent I never came across before. Damnit, I was in trouble this time.
The forest was thick. This was the first time I’d left the camp, my first attempt at being brave and getting the hell outta here. The problem? I had no idea where I was going and even if I could get off this hellhole. Only time would tell I reckon. If I survived long enough from the critters that is.
My bigger problem was the beasties chasing me. I wasn’t even close to a hundred percent (the whole almost dying thing puts a damper on one you know?), but I thought I was good enough to make a break for it. With the cover of night and my super werewolf senses, this should’ve been easy. I got maybe a thousand feet from the camp I’d been staying when I heard the footsteps. Another five hundred feet and the weird smell showed its head. Then, not that long ago, I heard the noises. No creature on God’s green Earth should’ve made that high pitched squeal.
I kept going, running under tree limbs, jumping over the overgrown growth that littered the forest floor, and avoiding potential traps that were everywhere. Pan was a sick creature, and all the ‘goodies’ he’d left behind only confirmed that even more.
As I was running for my life, the first trap I’d encountered was a trip wire that dropped a spike-ridden tree stump from above. Thank the good Lord I heard the whoosh of air, as it gave me enough time to roll out of the way. I don’t think the creatures following me were as lucky, as one must’ve run into it. For a moment I’d thought maybe one was hurt or even dead. A few tense seconds later confirmed the opposite. It was still alive and even more pissed off.
So I kept running. I’d avoided a few more hazards I saw at the last minute, but not all of them. One that I didn’t miss was an old totem pole looking thing that started spewing fire the moment I ran by. Fire caught my shirt, so I had to ditch it. There was no time to worry about putting it out.
I saw a light breaking out of the trees up ahead. Could I have found my exit? I kept going, adrenaline pumping as the thought of a way off this desolate place was showing itself. I’d take my chances in the ocean and swim if I had to.
Waves! I heard the crashing sounds of the salt water hitting the beach. The smell of the sea air broke through all the other wretched smells that covered this place. I wasn’t going to miss anything about Neverland; the Sphinx, the overwhelming sounds and smells that kept me tossing and turning, the lack of beer – none of it. Just a little closer to go to freedom…
A shape jumped down from the last tree, someone has blocking my path. It rushed by me so quickly that I didn’t even have time to process it. The shadow went straight for the things chasing me and a loud yelp followed. Just like that, I wasn’t being chased any more.
“Well look what I finally found! An escapee perhaps?”
Her voice was light, sing-song almost with a very unique accent that I never placed. “Nah, just stretching my legs is all.” Did she buy it? I highly doubted that.
The Sphinx moved out of the shadows and into view. Gone was the Egyptian princess look and replaced by a fierce warrior. “Neverland is no place for you to be running, even if your intentions are as clear as the moonlight. The native creatures to this island, they are a bit different.”
She walked by me and headed down towards the beach. As I followed, “If you knew I was trying to ditch town, why’d you save me?”
“Victor, believe it or not, you are my friend. Friends do not let each other get eaten by the monsters in the forest.”
I took a step out of the forest and on to the beach. The feeling of safety rushed in me. “Just what were those things running me down?”
She brushed off the question and sat down close to the water’s edge. I joined her, kicking off my shoes. The water was cool, but I was sweating like a dog. More relaxed, “There are things not of this world that make this place home.”
“Like you?”
“Oh Victor, this is not my home.” She placed her hand on my knee, which was still awkward to me. “I might be a daemon as the late Warren Tucker would say, but even I do not choose to be here without cause.”
That was strange as she was the one who brought me here. “So care to tell me why we’re here?”
“Not yet. But as you have proven tonight, you are almost healed. Soon it will be time for us to complete the task I brought us here for.”
Back in the labyrinth under London, the Sphinx let us go without a fight. I thought her and Liz had made a deal, but it turned out I was the unwilling party to it. My payback had something to do with us being here, but I didn’t know what all the entailed. Not from a lack of trying though.
To be honest, I have no idea how long I’d been here. Nearly being killed by Liz’s brother Jonathan took a lot outta me and the recovery, even with the Sphinx’s help was nearly unbearable. According to her, I’d been skewered by a cursed sword and it passed the curse to me. There was a huge nasty scar across my chest from the blade; one that consistently hurt. I’d gotten used to the dull pain, but it was a reminder that I was marked.
Oh well, it wasn’t like I wasn’t cursed already. According to numerous magical being (a witch named Rosette and an angel named Jack); I already carried the Curse of Oberon. I guess that had a lot to do with me not being able to transform into an actual werewolf. An old prophecy spoke about someone with my condition that could save the world from darkness. That person would also be touched by the vampires, which I was thanks to an impromptu blood transfusion from Liz. At least that’s what my favorite Irish witch said.
“Bee in your bonnet Victor?”
I didn’t know how much the Sphinx knew about me, but I gleaned from our time together that she’d put a lot of the puzzle pieces together. “Just thinking about all the bad juju flowing around in my body.”
Her almond like eyes looked at me, almost as if she cared. I wasn’t entirely sure she did. “The best lives are the ones that have obstacles to overcome. You just have a few more than most.”
“Gee thanks, that makes me feel a ton better.”
“You mistake my words for sarcasm.” She nestled up closer to me and pointed to the scar on my chest. “This, whether you like it or not, will give you power. A curse like that doesn’t take without giving.”
“What’re you saying?”
She drew a yin and yang in the sand. “Think of the curse you were born with and the curse laid upon you by the blade as counter balances. One took away your power, so now the other will be the key to opening them.”
I know my look was skeptical, maybe even hostile. “I’m going to call bullshit on that one. Curses are inherently evil by nature. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.”
“You have been influenced too much by modern times and its lack of understanding these issues. If you can trust me, I can prove it to you.”
“And just how are you going to do that?”
She opened her left palm and in it sparked a black flame. I jumped back, not expecting anything like that. “This is the dark nature inside me. I can form it into this flame and for short burst, control its path and trajectory.”
The flame vanished when she closed her hand. That was followed up by a brilliant white light. When it cleared, the Sphinx’s animalistic appearance was standing over me. “I can transform due to the pure nature inside of me.” She morphed back into the lady. “Like you, I have two opposing forces in me. The difference, I am the master and they obey me.”
I was like her now? “So I’m a daemon, is what you’re telling me?”
“Daemon is just a word used by those uneducated about beings they do not understand. No Victor, you are not a daemon, you are much much more.”
The way her eyes lit up and a smile curved on her face, I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. But I didn’t have much choice in the matter either. “I’ll trust you, but don’t be screwing with me, got it?”
“Oh Victor, I would not dream of that.”