Amelia & Andrew: The Diamond Legacy Ch. 06

"Andrew I think it would be better if you were the one who stayed with the vehicle and let Amelia and me go. I know it goes against your instincts but please let me explain before you argue. With your abilities, it will be next to impossible for a vampire to sneak up on you. If there is a problem, you can use your connection with Amelia to warn us. I promise to keep Amelia safe." Gloria suggested knowing that Andrew wouldn't like the idea.

Andrew first reaction was to argue but he knew she was right and it was the safest way for everyone concerned. He quietly got out of the truck and helped Amelia out he then walked around to the driver's door and opened it to help Gloria out of the truck. "You two be extra careful and please do not make me regret this." He firmly stated.

Gloria couldn't believe he wasn't fighting this tooth and nail. She had fully expected him to tell her to go to hell. Gloria and Amelia went to the manhole and removed the cover before dropping down. Amelia took the lead since she could sense where the others were. The two of them moved quickly but cautiously. Amelia could sense that Catherine was getting closer and was unconsciously picking up speed to get to them

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Catherine relayed Amelia's request that they try to start moving towards the exit. Mitch gently picked up his mate and was going to carry her when Neil suggested, "Mitch, why don't you allow me to help you with her? No sense taking a chance of injuring her anymore."

Mitch smiled and nodded his approval. Catherine and Emma were assisting Scott who was still weak from expending so much psychic energy to stop the explosion. Dawn would take the lead followed by Scott who was being assisted by the two women, then Neil and Mitch carrying Linda. Sarah would bring up the rear and would assist either group as needed.

Catherine was never so happy to see anyone as when she saw Amelia's smiling face. Amelia rushed to her and Scott and hugged them both while handing him a bottle of blood. She then handed Linda a bottle and paused long enough to allow them to finish their drinks. She then passed each of them a bottle and started to lead them out of the sewer system at Andrew's urging; apparently, the humans were finally responding to the large hole in the street and said it wouldn't be long until they decided to use this manhole to try to assess the damage from this side. The group had just finished loading themselves into the truck and were about to pull off when the water department truck pulled up and started to block the street off.

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Charles and Susan headed to the Airport in hopes of intercepting Amsu and ending the trouble here. He pulled in to the customer pick–up area and Susan used her powers to convince the officer standing there, they were Federal agents and they were going into the airport on official business. The two of them rushed to the security lounge and Susan used her ability to convince airport security to quickly conduct a search to see if Amsu's plane had departed yet. The head of security had informed him that they had missed the plane by five minutes. They received a copy of the flight plan and found out he was scheduled to fly to Nevada with a layover in Denver for fuel.

Charles called to have the jet prepared. He knew it would take him a few hours before he could even get permission to enter Astin's territory; he was the head enforcer for the west coast, which included Vegas. He knew he could forget about trying to get permission for Denver; Elaina was loyal to Amsu.

"Susan, do you think the Amelia and Andrew would be willing to work for us?" Charles asked.

"Love I think you would be hard pressed to stop them from going after Amsu. My question is do you trust them? What are your long-term plans for them? I will not let you use them then kill them. I mean it love; I have never before made any demands of you before..." Susan replied cautiously.

"Love I swear to you I have no intentions of doing anything to them exempt trying to be their friend." Charles honestly interrupted.

"What do you have in mind for them?" Amelia inquired.

"Their anonymity will allow them to travel between territories unmolested. I want them to act as our investigators and to locate our target, then we will join them and the four of us will take care of Amsu. We will need to get them official identification and weapons permits. In addition, make sure that they have access to all of Diamond's assets. That lawyer you know do you think he would be able to handle getting that done. What is his name? "Charles asked.

"Mark will be able to handle all of it. You know you should put him on retainer like I do. As far as the rest, I will make arrangements through my contacts to make sure they have whatever they need. We need to keep them from becoming associated with you. I do not think we can afford to start that war he wants." Susan responded seriously. She then grinned and playfully said," It will be up to you to tell them that they cannot use their Hummer anymore."

"Why do I get all of the hard jobs?" Charles playfully whined.

Susan giggled and was about to respond when her phone rang, she quickly answered it," Emma god it is good to hear your voice... I know we will explain everything ... tell Gloria to go to the warehouse... Andrew is driving then tell him to go to where we spent last night.... We are heading their now see you within an hour ... I love you to call me if you have any problems."

Susan then called Mark and arranged for him to meet her, Charles, Amelia and Andrew at her office in Philadelphia on Monday. She told him to bring his mate and her child; they would have to be here for a few weeks and they would pay any expenses including for a private tutor so that Johnny wouldn't fall behind in school.

Charles had taken a roundabout way back to the warehouse to make sure that they weren't being followed. The both of them were glad that the others were already there when they pulled in to the garage and locked the place down. The two of them knew that both theirs and Andrew's families were in danger and it was going to get more dangerous in the near future but for the next few days, they would all be together as one large, hopefully happy family.

When Emma saw her parents, she leaped into their waiting arms. Both Charles and Susan ran their hands over her checking for injuries while hugging her. They knew that she would take the news of Amsu crossing over hard but they would hash it out.

After everyone settled down and the building was locked down with all of the security systems activated Charles started to explain," Amsu has gone mad. He blames the vampire nation in general and me in specifically for the death of Diamond. He claims that the leaders of the nation have become weak and the only chance of us as a species to survive is to force a war that will eradicate all of the weak vampires. Emma the reason he targeted you was to get me to act; in his mind, I would have done anything to get my hands on him including starting his war by ignoring territory boundaries in order to chase him. He knows as well as I do that it will take time to get permission for me to chase him."

Charles paused to let the information settle in before he continued, "I have a plan and I know it is not going to be well liked by a few of you, but my decision has been made and most of you who are going to object have already sworn to follow my order. Those of you that didn't, I am sure I can get your sire to order you to follow my orders. Emma, Catherine, Armenia, Neil, and Scott you all are going to head to a secure location. Your guards will be Dawn, Sarah and Mitch from my organization and Gloria, Andrea, Greg and Samantha."

"Andrew and Amelia, we won't be telling you where they're going, it isn't that we do not trust you but there are vampires who like Amelia can read minds. Layla who is Amsu's most trusted assistant is able read minds like an open book. The assignment I have for the two of you may well bring you into contact with her but before you go, I will teach you how to strengthen your mental shield to offer you protection against her. "

Andrew looked at Amelia and she shrugged. "Umm, Charles where do you think you are sending us?" Andrew asked clearly bewildered.

" Susan why are you sending me away? You know I am your best tracker and my skills would only augment Amelia and Andrew's." Gloria asked through their bond a little hurt.

"I know they would but I am asking you for two reasons; first and fore most I trust you above all others to take care of my baby girl. Secondly, everyone involved knows you are my first and if you are with them, you will mark them. I'm asking you as my friend to please protect my child for me." Susan beseeched mentally

"Susan, you know very well that I'll gladly give my life for her." Gloria smiled as she replied telepathically

Susan gave Gloria quick hug and whispered, "I know you would but you better keep yourself safe also."

"Sorry I guess I did get a little ahead of myself. I would like to hire you and Amelia to hunt Amsu down and try to dismantle as much of his organization as you possibly can. If you find a part of it that is too large for the two of you to handle, then I will have a strike team ready to assist you. I need you two to promise me that once you find Amsu you call Susan and I in to assist you with his capture or termination."

"Andrew I know you want his blood, as does everyone else in this room but this has to be done the right way or he will have his war. It is a war that none of us can afford. Humans have become excessively dangerous and if they get proof of our existence, they will hunt us. The governments will want to use us. The churches will hunt us out of fear that we are some kind of demonic creature," Charles explained trying not to leave anything important out.

"Charles, if we capture him what will happen to him?" Andrew asked.

"He will have to face the council of enforcers and if we prove he has gone feral, or insane however you like to think about it, he will be put down." Charles stated after thinking about his answer for a few moments.

Amelia started analyzing Amsu as if she was going to build a profile on him. She thought about what she knew of him and how he had acted. She also thought about how Diamond had acted.

"Charles I do not think that Amsu has gone feral. From what you told me, feral vampires use mostly their instincts and do not plan for the future. Amsu has shown he still possesses a high degree of intelligence and he is planning. He is definitely going through some kind of psychological breakdown and I can develop a profile of him but I will need time and more information." Amelia explained her theory.

"I am sorry but the only thing I know of profiles is what I have seen on television. How will it help us in this case?" Charles asked his curiosity peaked.

Amelia considered best how to answer his question. She took a few minutes to decide how best to answer his question. "Charles it may help us in several ways. First, it will give us an understanding of his psychological state and his motivations. By using that information, it will help us to anticipate his next move. Secondly, if I can get enough information I may even be able to use it to locate him and help to identify his potential allies. Lastly, I may be able to use the information to help others in the future," Amelia earnestly replied

Charles couldn't help but smile, He looked at Andrew and said, "I said it before and I will say it again, you have one hell of a woman there. Amelia I will make sure that all the files I have on Amsu and his associates are made available to the both of you first thing in the morning. Tonight I want us all to relax and spend a pleasant evening with our families."

Everyone agreed with that idea and soon all of them were all working to make a wonderful meal consisting of lasagna, homemade garlic bread and a nice wine. The talk soon turned to planning for the future and deciding what they all would do after this mess was over. Charles admitted that he was thinking about possibly traveling to see the world again. He said that he and Susan had not done it since the end of the eighteenth century.

Amelia noted a bit of sadness when he talked about the last time him and Susan has traveled the world. Susan explained that they had lost a couple of dear friends during their travels and it rather put a damper on it. They all agreed to travel together. When Scott and Catherine acted a bit reluctant because of the new baby Charles quickly pointed out that, it could be seen as a learning experience for the child.

After they ate diner, they decided to play a rather spirited game of monopoly that lasted well into the morning. Emma won when her father had the bad luck of hitting her park place followed by boardwalk on the next roll. They all knew that the near future would bring many challenges but for this one evening, they were a normal family enjoying a fun evening and even though they had yet to exchange blood, they all knew in their hearts that a new coven had been formed.