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The shouts coming from outside of her office, the fearful screams of her underlings, is what stirred Grand Magus Vera Stone out of her meditation. The temple was being prepared for a cleansing ritual by a few Medicums, ones not well enough trained to be able to adequately protect themselves from whomever their attacker is. She scrambled to her feet as soon as the screams reached her ears, magic thrumming in her fingertips.
With a wave of her hand, the double doors to her office swung open and she quickly approached the doorway. The Medicums previously attending to the temple had all been unceremoniously thrown into a pile in the far corner of the room, but all of them still appeared to be alive. Vera stepped farther away from her office door, scanning the temple in hopes of finding the intruder. There were a few possible suspects, a list of which were quickly running through Vera's mind, that knew the location of the temple and also could have pulled this off in such a short amount of time.
"Come out, there's no need for a game" Vera calls in hopes of luring out the intruder.
She circled around the room, looking in every nook and cranny of the temple but still couldn't find the intruder. Perhaps they took down the Medicums in some sort of show to Vera? A very dangerous taunt, of sorts. She'd made enemies in the members of the Order that aligned with Coventry when she rose to Grand Magus following his death, no one could tell her otherwise, so perhaps this was the work of one of them?
"A game, Vera, is that what you call this?" A voice asks from behind her.
She whips around the face the intruder and she had to force herself to keep a straight face. The Knights of Saint Christopher were dealt with so why was their supposed leader standing in her temple? The memory dust was a fool-proof design against normal humans so perhaps it effected werewolves differently? Wiping their memories wasn't the most favorable option, for Vera at least, but they were declared enemies of the Order long ago and traditions must be followed. The Knights knew far too much about the practices of the Order, knew too much about a world that was supposed to remain secret.
"What else would you call it then?" Vera asks, maintaining her emotionless mask.
"Bullshit. We helped you defeat Coventry and you repay us by wiping our memories?" Hamish asks, his anger clear in his voice.
"Your memory seems to be perfectly intact. Do tell how that happened?" Vera asked, arching a brow at him.
The werewolf slowly began to approach her, causing Vera's heart to leap up into her throat. With all of the Medicums unconscious, he could easily kill her with little to no fight. Vera wasn't incapable of protecting her self by any means but if Hamish were to shift into his wolf form she wouldn't stand a chance.
"That's none of your business. You need to restore the memories of the rest of my pack" Hamish ordered, looking down at the older woman with scorn clearly written on his face.
Vera could hardly suppress a small chuckle at Hamish's request, garnering a confused look from the man in question. He was still slowly approaching her during this conversation, causing her to slowly start to back up away from him.
"No, I don't need to do anything. The decision to wipe your packs memories was to protect the Order and, until you can prove it useful for me, I won't restore them" She replied, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Keeping your life should be useful enough" Hamish practically snarls, looking down at her with an unreadable look in his eyes.
"Threatening to end my life won't help the memories of your friends" Vera says, glaring back up at him.
Vera's back hits the stone wall of the temple, effectively leaving her trapped by the werewolf in front of her. He, apparently, noticed this and a small smirk forms on his lips. He places one of his hands on the stone wall next to her head, further entrapping her.
"With Coventry gone, our societies no longer have to be enemies. We can figure something out" Hamish said, borderline pleading with her.
"How cute of you to think that we can just put decades of antagonism between our groups behind us because Coventry is gone. The hatred was there long before Coventry ever was and will last long past his death" Vera replies.
"We worked together to stop him, why can't we continue to do so? Hatred from decades ago shouldn't be heavily effecting the present, Vera" Hamish practically begs.
"You won't fool me with this pity-party act, Hamish. I know that as soon as the memories of your friends are restored you'll backstab the Order and I simply cannot have that happen" Vera says flatly.
"You think that Jack would allow for that to happen? He's equally loyal to the Order as he is to the Knights, he's proof that it could work" He says.
"After he repeatedly backstabbed the previous Grand Magus because of a personal vendetta against him? You're lucky that Mr. Morton didn't cross you for his own personal gain" Vera retorted, narrowing her eyes at the man in front of her.
Vera knew that this conversation could only last for so long, the outcome of it not clear in her mind but she doesn't wish to risk her life to figure it out. She would have to figure out some way to distract him long enough to separate herself from him, if only by a few feet, so she would have a fighting chance to survive if things were to go south.
"Jack wouldn't do that to us" Hamish says confidently.
"Your blind trust in him will bite you in the ass one day, take my word for it" Vera warns.
Hamish looks down at her with a slightly confused look on his face and Vera instantly knew that this was her only chance to try to distract him in hopes of escaping. She quickly grabs the collar of his shirt and brings his lips down to hers. Hamish's hand slides down from the wall and cups the back of Vera's neck, pulling her closer to him. Their lips move together in passionate ecstasy, Vera's heart seemingly pounding out of her chest. Hamish's other hand grabs Vera's waist and she moves her hands up into his hair, her distraction plan now the last thing on her mind. She moans into his mouth when he pulls her body flush against his, startling him enough to end the kiss entirely.
Vera opens her eyes when Hamish lets go of her and steps a few inches away, a look of shock and disgust on his face. His blonde hair is all tousled from Vera's hands and, even in the abysmal temple lighting, she can see the stain of her lipstick on his mouth. As she continues to look at him in silence, she feels her heart continue to beat irregularly in her chest. The only present thought in her mind was that she wanted to kiss him again, regardless of whether or not it was the right thing to do.
"What was that for?" Hamish asks her, absolutely refusing to look her in the eyes.
"Don't sound so disgusted, it seemed like you enjoyed it as much as I did" Vera shot back.
"So you're fine with doing that but forming an...agreement with us Knights is so outlandish?" Hamish questions.
"I alone cannot make that decision, Mr. Morton must have explained the meaning of the Gnostic Council to you?" Vera questions.
"If they agreed with Coventry's decision to use the Vade Maecum Infernal for his own personal gain, I think they can deal with us Knights" He responds.
Vera sighs, he did have a point. The Order could gain something from working with the Knights, they could learn where they originated and possibly if the magic can be recreated or even if something like that is possible.
"I suppose I could try and speak with the Council. I'm not promising anything" Vera says.
"Good. Come by the den later and we can finish where we left off" Hamish says with a wink.
Vera stares at him as he leaves, a dumbfounded look on her face. Perhaps she just would have to take him up on his offer.