messy kill and he had to clean up after him. The council would be angry with Anton’s clumsiness; however, he knew they would never react against Anton. Lucian wished Anton would realize how much strain he put on the council, but he knew it was wishful thinking. Carla had just rang him; he knew it meant Anton had returned. He told her to let him in.
“Anton, is she healed yet?” Lucian spoke. “Yes, Lucian, Selene has the gift. She is, as you expected, a live strigoi,” Anton said. This was great news. He dreaded the thought of anything happening to her even if he was wrong and she was not a live strigoi. Lucian wanted to heal Selene’s pain, or at least help her overcome her obstacles. He knew, however, she was one who tried to do everything for herself. If only he didn’t have to be in charge of the strigoi. He knew that if he was free he could be by her side protecting her and finally be able to pursue her as he had always wanted. As for now, he left the guard duty to Anton, his brother whom he trusted. He had always been there for his brother, and he put his faith into helping him protect Selene. The one thing Lucian worried about was Anton lacking compassion and humanity. Lucian had gained his humanity and compassion back when he was cursed by the Gypsies. The very curse Anton would have received if not for Lucian stepping in to take the blame. If Selene had been human, he knew Anton would have killed her, but he knew for sure she was a live strigoi and those were rare and almost impossible to kill. Live strigoi born from humans were extremely rare and very powerful. They needed protection from themselves until they realized who they were.
Lucian just hoped Anton would only protect Selene and not try to force his ideals on her, especially on how strigois should rule the world. He shuddered at the thought, but he knew Selene could not be Anton’s puppet; she had grown into a fine woman. Maybe not one for mortal society, but she was strong willed for the strigoi. He hoped Anton would not try to seduce her to get her to see his views, but he had to put his trust in his brother. He hoped Anton had learned how good he had it. Lucian had protected his brother from the curse and the vengeance of the Gypsies. The curse had given Lucian back the human personality he had lost and much more, but he wondered if it at all affected his brother. Anton knew the pain Lucian went through for him. Now he hoped he could trust him with his heart. Lucian was a very forgiving person to a point. The council and Anton knew once that point had been crossed there was no return. His team of police agents all over the world kept an eye mainly on the undead strigoi. The undead strigoi lost most of themselves after they passed on and became an undead. Unlike the live strigoi, the undead ones were brought back to life frozen in the time of their death. They would never be as powerful as the live strigoi and had many weaknesses. Gypsies could easily get rid of a few undead strigoi, that’s why Lucian had always tried to keep the strigoi out of society and live in the shadows. The undead strigoi were sick and vile to him. Well, most of them were; there were always a few exceptions. The thought of creating one repulsed him. What made him resent the undead more than anything was having to be in charge of them all. Punishing those with death for revealing their secrets and praising the loyal ones who kept in check. He wished many times he could give up this life and live a normal one with Selene, even if it was a short mortal life, but it was an impossible dream. Without Lucian, the undead strigoi would run rampant, feeding on humans until there were none left for them to consume. They would not only destroy themselves but the entire human race. He had to keep them in check to keep everything balanced. How he hated the lot of them.
5
I WOKE UP TO the nurse removing my IV. It was the worst way to wake up, and I was quite annoyed that she could