by Joey W. Hill
She also knew if he lifted that broken stick in her defense, he wasn’t going to be facing punishment.
He was going to face death.
Calling on that calm center she dearly wished she’d tapped five minutes ago, before she ever came in here, she relaxed her hands, sliding them along Gideon’s back. A way to tell him she was okay, in control of herself. He shifted subtly, a warning to stay where she was.
Lord Richard’s gaze turned from sharp to deadly.
“Gideon,” Wolf said, his voice remarkably even, his usual command cadence, deep tones that reverberated authority. “I require my servant to attend me, and your Mistress requires you to be alive to feed her dinner. Step aside.”
He met Gideon’s gaze. At that moment, someone else joined them. Ella saw Anwyn at the doorway, out of Lord Richard’s direct line of sight. Ella felt a strange buzzing, and saw something in Anwyn’s eyes. Something that suggested she wasn’t entirely stable. Which told Ella exactly how close to the edge they were all standing.
Why hadn’t she gone to the locker room? Damn it, damn it, damn it.
Gideon muttered a curse. Ella had a feeling Anwyn had said something to him that was going to make him do what he didn’t want to do. Let Ella step out from behind him. She also had a feeling that Anwyn wasn’t the only voice in his head ordering him to go against his protective nature.
She trusted Anwyn and yes, though she was mad at him, she trusted Wolf. It would be okay.
“I’m all right,” Ella whispered. She wiggled, made it out from behind him, though she had to gently push him to get him to shift, even now. His hand flexed on the pool stick, as if he was clenching his fist, but slowly he straightened, lowering it. She was pretty sure he kept his peripheral gaze trained on her, explaining why he didn’t drop it. He needed to drop it.
Ella crossed the floor before Lord Richard’s intent gaze and went to Wolf, kneeling at his feet.
“Please forgive me.” The next words were bitter on her tongue, but she made herself say them, as much for herself as to defuse what was happening in the room. “I forgot my place.”
The focus tonight had been on security, but sometime during the prep phase a couple days ago, Wolf had realized if Ella and Lord Richard crossed paths, they needed to be able to explain her situation. So he and Anwyn had talked, and agreed on their explanation to him, if needed.
They hadn’t planned for Ella to go berserker on Allan.
While Wolf had no idea what had precipitated that, he noted Haru standing at Lord Richard’s side, which gave him a good idea. If Ella had seen Wolf first, he expected he would have been the one fending off that pool stick.
Good guess.
She’d figured out shit had hit the fan, but the little idiot kneeling at his feet was still mad enough to goad him. In his agitation, he’d left the door to his mind open. He closed it firmly, though he did keep part of his mind following her thoughts and catching up on what was happening, a speed read, so he could head off any more foolish actions.
If he hadn’t been so insistent on staying out of her head, to prove to himself he could, he could have stopped this before it ever happened. But there was no time for Monday morning quarterbacking.
“The fault is mine, my lord,” Wolf said. “I have not appropriately informed her of the protocols of our world.”
“But there are mitigating circumstances,” Anwyn interjected before he could say more. “She was marked on the night of the explosion, and the subsequent days have been involved with the club’s protection. We share blame, because either of us could have brought her up to speed.”
“Gallant of you, Anwyn, but the responsibility was his,” Lord Richard said. “He’s been a vampire decades longer. He knew better. It is a problem with made vampires.”
As Lord Richard pinned Wolf with a reproving look, Wolf acknowledged that at least the Region Master didn’t say it in the snide way that born vampires usually did. Richard was made himself, so maybe that would help them in this situation. But Richard was the oldest vampire in this room, so it wasn’t a foregone conclusion.
“You’ve not yet taken a full servant, Wolf,” Richard continued. “Made vampires often make the mistake of approaching it like a romance, letting it unfold, rather than treating it as it is, a binding contract of expectations. From our previous meetings, I did not anticipate you having that difficulty. Especially since my understanding was you were contemplating a full marking of Haru, for practical reasons.”
He really was going to murder Allan. Soon. Honesty was the best way out of this, but Ella wasn’t going to appreciate it.
“Yes, my lord,” he said courteously. “I have not instructed Ella on the realities of a vampire and servant’s bond. She is a young woman whose view of relationships is framed by her human experience. But there was a reason I had not taken the time to correct that impression appropriately.”
Time to use that explanation he and Anwyn had agreed upon. “The traumatic circumstances that resulted in her second marking didn’t make a third marking a foregone conclusion. I was in negotiations with Anwyn on how to adapt her to being a second mark under Anwyn’s protection going forward, once I made my third mark decision about Haru. I intended to apprise you of her circumstances once I could give you a full accounting of our plan.
“But you are correct. I have not kept her adequately informed or provided her the necessary indoctrination. It isn’t an acceptable excuse, but our focus was on assessing the threat to the vampires here and putting the new security measures in place.”
Richard pursed his lips. For several moments the room was silent, as he obviously deliberated the information he’d been given. Wolf didn’t dare look toward Anwyn or Gideon, and especially not Ella.
“It appears there was a reasonable if not justifiable lack of attention to the matter,” Richard said at last. “Bring her up to speed. Inform me of the proposed punishment and timeline to execute. I will approve and modify it if I feel more is required. Keep that in mind when you are determining it.”
He turned to Anwyn, the matter done. “I’ve been very impressed by what I’ve seen so far of the facility. I would ask your company for a tour of the private rooms and their amenities.
“Absolutely, my lord.” Anwyn inclined her head. “If you will give me a moment with Wolf and my servant, I will rejoin you in the VIP lounge and personally take you on that tour. We have some excellent new digital offerings in the VR room.”
“I look forward to it.” Richard glanced at Wolf. Wolf nodded in respectful acknowledgment, as did Allan and Anwyn, and then the Region Master departed.
Haru hung back a moment. He lowered his gaze, executed a short bow in Wolf’s direction. “May I be of any service to you in this matter, sir? I can take the burden of instructing her before the punishment is decided so no further transgressions occur in the interim.”
I will cut my own throat before I spend a moment in his company. I need to go, Wolf. I need to go.
He could feel it welling up in her. He needed to handle it, attend to it. He was her Master. But he’d said he’d take care of her, protect her. Instead, he was feeling her shattering with every word spoken in this room, hammering in what she’d known all along.
That she could expect nothing from him.
“Allan?” Anwyn said quietly. “Why don’t you join me and Wolf in the private conference room down the hall in a few minutes?”
Allan, understanding the indirect request for privacy, inclined his head. His gaze swept briefly over Ella, then lifted to meet Wolf’s eyes.
“Causing you a problem wasn’t my intent,” he said stiffly, but with true chagrin. “I was unaware your second mark was so ill-informed. I would have guarded my words with Haru otherwise.”
He turned and left them. Wolf leaned down, gripped her arm to gently lift Ella to her feet.
She jerked away as if his hand was a brand. His reflexes and strength gave him the ability to hold her, but he saw her face and couldn’t find i
t in him to press the issue. Her tears, the broken look in her eyes, snagged him, slowed him down. He let her pull away.
She ran out of the room, darting past Anwyn, and was gone, her feet pattering up the hallway. The hall shuddered as she hit a door, a side exit, and left the building.
“Punishment?” Gideon growled. “I think you pretty much just administered the worst fucking one you could. Do me a favor. Next time just rip her heart out of her chest and kick it across the floor. That would be easier to watch.”
Wolf ignored him, leaving the room without a word, his face a stone mask. Unfortunately, he didn’t turn to follow Ella. He went the opposite way. Gideon bit back a curse. Anwyn looked at him.
Go find her. Help her understand this however you can.
I’m worried about those gremlins in your head. They were getting pretty worked up.
They are calming, now that my servant is not holding a stake while standing before a Region Master. Daegan is going to want to discuss this with you.
Gideon kept his response in his head, knowing it was better not to be overheard. I love you, Anwyn, but I don’t have whatever it takes to step out from between a woman and a guy who think it’s okay to ‘dispatch her’ because she broke a bullshit rule she didn’t know.
We know that, Gideon. Daegan’s voice, strong and sure, settling both their nerves. I’m still going to beat you for scaring your Mistress half to death.
You’re just looking for an excuse.
That is the pleasure of being your Master, Gideon. I don’t have to have an excuse at all.
A ghost of a smile flitted across Anwyn’s face as Gideon rolled his eyes. But it couldn’t totally override his worry, or hers. Anwyn nodded to Gideon. Go. She’s hurting. Go help her. I’ll see what I can do for Wolf. He’s hurting too. He did what he had to do to protect her.
Yeah. I know. It’s a fucked-up world.
Chapter Twenty-Four
One of the renovations Anwyn had incorporated involved the problematic and seemingly cursed alley way. So, more than any other repair or renovation, or even the triumphant re-opening tonight, the Alley Cat Café had become an unofficial symbol of overcoming adversity to the staff.
As if he served as both particularly good omen and blessing for the effort, Barnaby had made a reappearance the very day the café was completed. He had a few burned patches of fur, but otherwise seemed his normal indifferent self. He had suffered the indignity of Anwyn picking him up and rubbing his ears and head, giving him a hug and dousing him with a few happy tears. Then, being Barnaby, he’d stalked off to give himself a bath.
The café had bistro tables, potted plants and a stout iron fence at the opening to the alley. Cat shelters, towers and mazes were toward the back. While it had accesses for the ferals to come and go, there were no easy entrances for a human from the outside without a staff assigned gate code. If anyone tried, the fencing sensors would beep a warning on the security monitors. The security team could then determine if the interloper was human, cat or an overfed pigeon.
The dumpster had been placed at the opening of the alley, outside the fence, so the weekly trucks could get to it. However, in front of the fence on the alley side, a wooden screen had been built and painted to look like a white picket fence, with colorful flowers growing through the slats, butterflies flitting among them.
The whole area was enchanting and uplifting to anyone who visited it. As well as absurdly safe. At the moment, Ella couldn’t appreciate any of it. She sat on her backside among the cats. Her face was still tear-streaked, eyes and nose red, but she petted the friendlier ones, talked to them in a soft, tremulous voice as she strove to calm down, get it together. Since a light misty rain was falling, she had the place to herself and the cats, for the moment.
“Yes, this is nice, isn’t it? That explosion was terrible, but this is a pretty good housing upgrade, right? Like the penthouse version of a feral cat shelter. You might just get gentle enough that one day someone will take you home, give you a place that’s all yours.”
She looked at the black and white cat peering down at her from one of the towers. “Not you, Barnaby, don’t worry. I know this is the only kind of home you want. You’re a rolling stone, and the king of this particular castle. But some of these other guys, they might like to belong to someone, have someone belong to them. Have a window to sit in and gaze out at the rain when it’s coming down, feel warmth when there’s snow outside. Everyone’s different, you know.”
Gideon closed the outer door and walked past the table arrangements, choosing a nearby bench for his seat instead. Ella spoke in careful, even tones, without looking at him. “Anwyn was so worried they wouldn’t come back, but they did.”
“Cats are smart. They know a good deal when they see it. Since the explosion I think she has the kitchen staff giving this lot better cuts of meat than what they’re putting in those fancy hors d’oeuvres.”
Ella smiled weakly. “Yeah, that’s true.”
She was a mess of different emotions right now. Some of the fury was there, some hurt and confusion, some nerves and fear. But she wanted to figure out the right response for the situation, not just where her emotions wanted to take her. So she took a breath and lifted her chin. Gideon looked like he wanted another go at the punching bag.
“You remember the day you told me there was a darker side to them?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’m starting to understand. I need to know what’s happening, Gideon. And I don’t want to hear it from Wolf. I want to hear it from another servant.” She set her jaw, asking another question first, though. “Can a second mark be removed?”
“I don’t know. They can remove third marks, but it’s time consuming, expensive, and requires Council approval. This situation wouldn’t be considered impor—big enough to warrant that.”
“Easier to dispatch the unimportant person affected.”
His face immediately hardened. “That’s not going to happen. Older vampires, and born ones…they tend to be arrogant dicks in how they view humans.”
“Like humans can be with animals,” she said thoughtfully, tugging a striped tabby’s tail as he turned and bumped his head against her shin. “If they cause a problem, the easiest, cheapest solution is to kill them. Or trap and dump them somewhere far from where they grew up or the world they know.”
Her gaze slid to him. “I’m still in the world I know, but a part of me isn’t, Gideon.”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “This wouldn’t have meant a damn thing if you didn’t know about vampires. You would have hit some guy you were pissed at, and Allan would have blown it off, let it go, because you’re not part of their world, didn’t know he was a vampire. No vampire with any sense or self-control makes an issue of that. But you did know about vampires, you’re second marked, and he’s a guest vampire in the home of another vampire.”
He sighed. “And it was witnessed by a Region Master, so there’s no way Allan can let it go. If he does, Lord Richard would just pick it up, see it through. As it is, Allan has the right to ask for something. A compensation from the host vampire and the marking vampire, or to punish you personally. Or all three, depending.”
She looked down at her hands, opening and closing on her knees now, because the tabby had wandered away. She tried to keep her voice steady, an absurd idea. “Am I…going to be executed?”
“No.” Gideon leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. “Allan has the right to demand your life. Though Wolf is the senior, stronger vampire, Richard could decide that Allan’s request is valid. But Allan doesn’t want that, so Lord Richard has decided punishment makes more sense. Someone has to watch it happen, witness it.”
His lip curled. “Then it’s over and they move onto the next thing. What’s for dinner and what’s on cable tonight. Wolf should never have pursued anything further with you without letting you know everything. But he keeps arguing with himself about it. As a result, he left you completely unprepared
. The rest of us, like idiots, were letting him take the lead, like we thought we were still living in a human world, even though every damn one of us isn’t.”
Gideon was as furious with himself as anyone, she realized. It didn’t make the situation any less precarious, but there were several things she knew.
Gideon cared about her. Anwyn cared about her. Wolf cared about her. They weren’t going to let anyone harm her, even if they had to sacrifice something dear to protect her.
She had to figure out how to fix that.
“So you said servants are property,” she said. “Literal property of their vampires.”
“A third marked servant, yes. Second marks, it’s more fluid, but they are bound to the vampire world and its laws.”
“A third mark servant has no choices. Except whether he or she wants to be third mark,” she recalled. “After that, all choices belong to the vampire master or mistress.”
She stared at him and he stared back. “You belong to Anwyn. And to…him. If you hadn’t wanted him to touch you…
He didn’t flinch. “After agreeing to be his servant—hell, her servant, because he outranks her—I’d have had no goddamn say in that at all. Not in this world.”
“Why would anyone sign up for that?”
But she knew. She knew even before he answered, confirming it.
“If you have to ask, then you’re not ready for it.” Gideon shook his head. “When I became a third mark, Anwyn needed my mind. Needed me, or she wouldn’t have survived. And Daegan…” He shot her a glance. “Scary Guy. That name goes no further than the two of us. Or Wolf and Anwyn.”
“Promise. I’ll try to remember to keep calling him Scary Guy.”
Gideon nodded, somber again. “Daegan loves her in a way I’d never encountered before. He was willing to let her hate him so that she could have me. Her heart was the bridge between him and me. He did…force me, in a way, but in that way you and I know. He saw in my head, and my heart, and knew where I wanted to go. He just didn’t have the patience to wait for me to get there myself.”