“I would not venture to interfere with Fate, but you do understand my concerns on the subject of having you inside my home," Louis spoke slowly and clearly. "What if this person does not wish to be associated? I will not allow undue pressure or force on any of my people."
"That is not my intension." He responded that he was not sure how this discord was going to end. "I'm requesting simply a meeting under whatever restrictions and conditions you describe."
"He's telling the truth." Thayer appeared before him, and Edward took a step back. The scrutiny he paid him was agonizing. Cyprians could go deep, but Edward showed no reaction. He'd endured so much worse over his lifetime that a deep dive into his soul was now like child's play to him. "This is amazing, Edward." He stated and then stepped back and released him from his transcendent grip.
"It's not guaranteed," Edward reminded in a somber tone, and he added no more than that. Conversation was not something he enjoyed, and he doubted Louis did either. They knew one another, and the information was set before them, so now it was just a matter of yes or no.
"I will accompany him if you will allow it." Thayer made the surprising offer. Louis trusted Thayer, so he agreed and also accompanied them. Entering Louis' Palace as a semi-welcomed guest was a new experience for Edward. No one had invited him into their homes in about a millennium because he only brought pain and death. But not today; today, he was invited inside to search for his heart and the balm to his soul, the gift of Fate.
Once inside, Edward concentrated on the scent that first awakened him. The scent of evening rain was present but so slight he began walking to the stairway but then diverted to the elevator. The scent was in the elevator. He needed to focus on knowing where to go, either up or down, and then his heart told him to go down. Thayer and Louis entered the elevator with him while soldiers remained alert and nearby at all times, they were not taking chances, and Edward respected their caution.
They made no comment and did not try to control or direct. They simply followed him as he followed his heart. He stopped the elevator on the sub-basement level and stepped out. The scent was getting steadily stronger, but he wondered why the aroma was leading him to this floor. It was a detention area; was his beloved a guard or perhaps a prisoner?
He noticed a look pass between Louis and Thayer that puzzled him. They knew something, and it was troubling. He continued on toward the cells walking past the two guards by the door, for neither of them held the scent he was seeking. He stopped at the door that led to a back section and glanced over at Louis, who instructed the guard to open the door.
The room and the cell were empty, but still, Edward walked over to one particular cell and stood gazing silently inside. He reached up, and the door fell away. There was a magic block in place, but Edward's magic was too old to be affected, just like the blocks Louis had used on other parts of his domain. The only thing solid and tight in Louis' security against someone like him was the Cyprian sword and their ability to use it.
"Who was in this cell?" Edward turned and regarded the men standing there and waited for an answer. The scent was still very fresh, so the man had left not long ago, but the scent did not give him an indication of where the man had gone. He was certain it was a man, for the cell held a distinctly masculine aura. The belief that this man was his beloved was also growing stronger.
"A young mage was captured in town and brought here for questioning, but he has escaped." Louis stuck to the main points, although his concern for this young magic was evident. "His name was Cooper Sloane, and he was a water mage, according to Thayer." Thayer nodded when Edward glanced in his direction.
"All this iron, spellwork, and precautions, and he escaped?" Edward was not grasping how the man could have possibly gotten away. "Nature magics are gentle, non-confrontational magics. How could he break what you have here and walk out? He doesn't have the power to free himself from here." Edward looked around the cell, trying to figure out how he got away.
He sat down on the bench and reached down to touch the base of the wall and then brought his finger up, and it was wet. "You have a leak. It's small, but a water mage doesn't need much, just a flow and a path to follow.” Edward stood and spoke to Louis.
"Thank you for allowing me to search. I'll find him now, and I give you my pledge that I will not force this issue. If he does not see a bond or a life with me, then so be it." Louis nodded, and Edward followed the mage. He disappeared into the slow trickle that connected to the groundwater connected to a small river that ran the length of the state property south of Coven DuCane.
The mage found his escape from the cell and from Coven DuCane, but Edward could follow him easily. The scent was strong, and Edward’s desire was just as strong. The search was making the anticipation that much more exciting. The water mage was not what he’d expected when he began this search, but he was eager to make Cooper Sloane’s acquaintance.
He surfaced in the forest north of the Coven. He stopped and listened, and he heard. The mage was not far ahead of him. Edward held his breath for a moment as the weight of it all hit him. This was a gift like no other, and for a man like him, it would have seemed impossible. It should have been impossible, but Fate has extended mercy to the merciless.
He made his way through the woods, each step bringing him closer to the jewel that could make his life complete. He made a pledge, and he would keep it, but he dared not to think of the ramifications if it were a denial that waited for him at the end of this journey.
He would honor the wishes of the mage, but he would also do everything in his power to win him over. He was Edward the Black Prince, and there was a time that he would have taken and not cared. He spent centuries not caring. It served him in those days but not today. Today he wanted more, and the mage was his chance to have that.
Cooper couldn't believe his luck. The leak in the wall brought him right to the river that was well and away from Coven property. He was in a forest and wasn't sure if it was state-owned or private property, but either way, he was free, and now he had to find a way back to town to collect his car. Hopefully, the Coven hadn't impounded it. He wasn't sure what he'd do without a vehicle. He had so many thoughts rushing through his mind, but the primary thought was to get as far away from vampires as possible.
He kept looking behind him, not that he was hearing anything, but his senses were telling him that he was being followed. There was no one there. The area was clear as far as the eye could see, but still, he had a nagging hunch that he was not alone.
The vampires might be following him, but they wouldn't hang back. They'd swarm him like they did at the café. Maybe it was just his paranoia working overtime; between Norman Niemi and the Coven, he had a lot to be paranoid about. He tried to keep a steady pace, but the area was rough, and walking was tiring; he had to find his way to the road. There must be a road somewhere. He thought about using the river to travel but feared he might end up out in the bay, not at the hotel. He really wasn't very good with the magic that was given to him. He could handle the basics, but anything complicated ended up a mess, a total fucking mess like that day at the racetrack.
The clothes he was wearing were not exactly suited for trapping through the woods. His loafers were hardly supportive, and his leather jacket was getting him decidedly hot. His white cotton button-down and black pants were okay, but they weren't going to survive the trip.