Etain bowed regally and held out his arm. "After you Princess Vivian."
She accepted his arm and headed to the antechamber.
CHAPTER NINE
Ivan DeLaFontaine stood as they entered the room. There were a thousand other places Vivi wished she could be, mainly the lab. But instead she found herself forcing a smile as Ivan walked up to her. "Thank you for seeing me. I have a few questions concerning Prince Magnus."
"I'm not sure how much I will be able to tell you that wasn't shared last night," Vivi said.
Ivan reached out and took her hand in his. He bent over slightly raising it to his lips when out of the corner of Vivi's eyes, she saw a dart of light. Moments later, Ivan was jumping back cursing, holding his bleeding hand to his chest.
"Restrain him!" Gavriel ordered, moving Beth behind him.
Tarak, in one fluid motion, swept Ivan's feet from under him and slammed his face into the floor. "Yes, sire." He replied as he pushed his knee into the back of Ivan's neck.
"What is the meaning of this!" DeLaFontaine screamed. "I demand you release me at once!"
Gavriel turned to Meryn. "Was that Felix?"
She nodded. "Yes." She turned her head to her shoulder. "What's the matter?"
Seconds later, a tiny sprite shimmered into view holding a bloody little sword. "He tried to hurt Vivi!" Felix exclaimed as his wings fluttered in an aggravated staccato. Vivi had never seen a sprite before, but she was pretty sure they were passive flower lovers, not sword wielding warriors.
Gavriel leaned down so that he was eye level with Felix on Meryn's shoulder. "He looked like he was simply going to kiss her hand in greeting."
Felix shook his head causing his auburn curls to bounce. He took flight and landed on the floor next to DeLaFontaine's wrist. "He was going to stab her!" he pointed to DeLaFontaine's cuff. Etain swept Vivi behind him. Vivi held onto the back of his shirt. She stepped to one side, so she could see what was happening in the room.
Gavriel stepped on DeLaFontaine's arm before it slipped under his body. "What have we here?" he asked. Kneeling down he carefully removed Ivan's cufflink. He turned it over in his hands. The more he examined it, the more his eyes changed, turning from a bright ruby red to a deep crimson.
He held it out to Vivi. "Be careful."
Vivi hurried forward, with Etain at her side. She took it and held it up. On
the other side of the sharp cuff, a small dram vial was filled with a clear liquid. "I'll have to test it to be sure, but I think we may have the source of our virus." She was impressed at the miniaturization of the delivery system. "This cost a small fortune."
Gavriel pulled out his walkie talkie. "Viktor, Dimitri I need you both on Level One."
Viktor's reply was almost instantaneous. "At once, sire."
Aiden walked over and placed his foot on DeLaFontaine's arm so that Gavriel could move. "Why Viktor and Dimitri?"
"Because I trust Viktor's loyalty as the son of a Founding Family head. BelleRose has always been a supporter of Magnus." He gave Aiden an evil grin. "And Dimitri, because he is the most creative when it comes to 'Advanced Questioning Techniques'."
Aiden's answering smile was no less wicked. "Perfect."
Gavriel turned to Kari. "As soon as this traitor is moved to the detention cells we will need to have a meeting with just the Founding Family heads." He looked at Meryn. "You've already cleared Simon and Javier, but we need to check out Jervasius Régis."
Meryn glanced up from cuddling Felix. "Sure."
There was knock on the door which Sebastian quickly answered. Viktor and Dimitri walked in and looked down. Their eyes widened. "Did we miss something?"
"Your word that what I say will go no further?" Gavriel asked.
Both men nodded. Viktor looked to Dimitri then back to Gavriel. "You have our word."
Gavriel pointed to the floor. "Ivan DeLaFontaine just tried to use his cuff link to inject an unknown substance into Vivi." Vivi held up the small cuff, and he continued. "We think this may be the source of the virus." He looked from one warrior to the other. "I would like for Viktor to stay here on Level One for a Founding Family meeting, Dimitri, I would like for you to escort DeLaFontaine to our detention cells and see if you can get him to share any information about his cuff links."
Dimitri's face hardened as his fangs lengthened. He knelt down and pulled DeLaFontaine's head up by his hair until his neck was at an odd angle. "I have two small, precious friends among the shifter children on Level Six that are sick. If I find out that you are the reason why, not even the gods will be able to hold back my anger," he growled.