Shapes of Autumn (Boxed set, books 1 - 5)

by Veronica Blade

  Tony waved his hands in an effort to erase what Cedric just said. “Dathan Lacroix tends to draw attention. All anyone has to do is snap a picture and send it to all their vampire friends. It won’t take long before someone identifies him and we lose our element of surprise.”

  Okay, so vampires have a reflection. Good to know.

  The king scratched his chin. “He’ll stay out of the way and be discreet. His awakening will be between us and we’ll all refer to him as… Damon. I believe that’s a fairly common vampire name these days.”

  “What’s the big deal about this Dathan Lacroix guy?” I asked. Something about the way they talked about this slumbering vampire set my pulse racing.

  “Only the oldest vampire in existence, as far as anyone knows. We rule together. Well, when he can be bothered to rise from his coffin.” King Cedric rolled his eyes.

  “Rule together as in… you’re a couple?” I asked and Zack flinched. Probably not the most delicate question I’d ever asked.

  Kayla bit her lip to hide a smile. Tony coughed which sounded more like he was covering up a laugh.

  “No,” the king snapped. “Not a couple. He’s the true king and I’m the stand-in when he isn’t in the mood to do his job. Which is often.”

  “Sorry,” I mumbled, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible. “So you guys really sleep in coffins?”

  “No. That’s just a myth we like to joke about.” Cedric took a deep breath. “Dathan has been underground since around nineteen-forty and will need to be brought up to speed on modern technology.”

  Now that was something I could do. “I’m qualified to catch him up with computers and Internet stuff.”

  Kayla stared at me. “Are you sure you want to do that? Because Dathan will probably be a little, uh, grumpy.”

  I glanced at Zack and grinned. “Nothing I’m not used to.”

  Zack elbowed me. “I can go over cars with him, point out the new gadgets they didn’t have in the forties.”

  Cedric grimaced. “Dathan barely likes his own kind. Can’t imagine him willingly being schooled by a werewolf pup he’ll like even less.”

  “You’ll need Tony and me on security,” Kayla said. “Unless you want to deal with Dathan yourself, we have no choice.”

  “And His Majesty can’t be let loose in the palace.” Tony rubbed his chin. “He’ll be confined to this floor, I assume?”

  I got the feeling Tony and Kayla were trying to talk the king out of waking Dathan. And since he was the oldest vampire in existence, that had to mean he was the most powerful. If the king’s most trusted people didn’t want to be around Dathan, how would Zack and I fare with him?

  “At first, yes, he should be kept here. But I see no reason why he can’t mingle once he’s brought up to speed on modern ways. He’ll need a cover, however…” Cedric tapped his fingers as he stared at a wolf-head paperweight on his desk. “We’ll say he’s a long-time friend. That will justify him staying in the king’s suite.”

  Kayla winced and Tony flinched as Cedric slapped his palms on the desk. “I’ll commence the awakening shortly.”

  Zack and I would be sharing the king’s suite with Dathan, no less. Awesome. I shuddered at the kind of damage he could do to werewolves or shifters he didn’t like.

  † † †

  The next morning, Cedric sat at his desk, grimacing at his monitor. “I hate this.”

  “Trust me.” I sat in one of the overstuffed chairs on the other side of his desk, my laptop balancing on my thighs. After clicking the save button on the jpeg, I sent it to my thumb drive, then rose from the chair and leaned over his desk to offer it up. “Your banner.”

  I rounded Cedric’s desk to stand behind him and aimed a pinky at the box that popped up on his screen. “Double click on the file with your name on it. That one.”

  He clicked on it and his new banner opened. The text announced he was the vampire king, blood dripping off the letters. I’d suggested going with something over the top since humans didn’t believe in vampires anyway.

  His silence dragged on so long I was beginning to think he hated it. “You’re quite talented, Autumn.”

  “Thanks.” My face split into a grin. “So you’re social networking, huh?” I held back a giggle as he switched tabs on the browser to his new Facebook page and then uploaded the banner.

  He typed another vague answer into the next field. “My advisors think it will help unite vampires. And they think I should be more accessible to my people.”

  “Your advisors are Kayla and Tony?” I had a hard time visualizing him on Instagram posting pictures or on Twitter tweeting what he ate for breakfast—which in his case would be blood.

  He filled in the next field with an address, which wasn’t this mansion. “Yes, as well as my right-hand man, Regis, and the last of my council, Braulio. Once a year, vampire governors from around the world meet and we discuss future strategy, develop new policies. Regardless who my official council members are, I like to stay open to outside suggestions as well.”

  “Does it matter what any of them think though? I mean, you’re the king, yeah? You don’t have to do what they say.”

  “No, I don’t. But what’s the point in having advisors if you’re not going to listen to them?” Cedric swiveled in his chair toward me. “Why don’t you smell all shape-shifty? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were human.”

  I backed up to give him some elbow room, then rested against a short file cabinet. “Yeah, my parents raised me as a vegetarian, because meat brings out our scent.”

  “Aha.” Cedric tilted his head. “And what’s your boyfriend’s deal? He seems sad.”

  My eyes stung and I blinked. “His mom died yesterday.”

  “I’m sorry.” He stood and towered over me, taking in every detail of my face. “You cared for her a great deal.”

  A tear rolled down my cheek. “She was sick for a long time, so it wasn’t a huge surprise.”

  He brushed the tear off my cheek with his thumb. “You two knew the scouts would come, so you ran?”

  “Yeah. We’d been talking about it for months.”

  He nodded. “I’m glad you both got here safely.”

  “Thank you for taking us in.” I pushed through the sad thoughts of Favianne and offered Cedric a smile. “You’re kinda cool.”

  His eyes twinkled. “You’re not awful.”

  A rap sounded at the door right before Zack burst in and flopped down onto the settee. “Bentley’s all good to go. Didn’t need anything major, just fluids and a couple of minor parts Tony had delivered.”

  “Excellent. As for bringing Dathan up to speed on cars, he’s still waking up. I imagine he’ll be fit for company early evening.” Cedric leaned a thigh against the desk. “You two should have some lunch and refuel. You’re going to need the energy for training with Kayla the rest of the afternoon.”

  And for meeting Dathan later. We were going to spend time with an extremely old vampire who didn’t like his own people, much less other species. If he decided to get rid of us, could Cedric even protect us against such a powerful vampire?

  Chapter ELEVEN

  Zack

  The gym was all the way down on the first floor. In a normal house, that would be fine. But in this place, it was quite a trek, which left too much opportunity for an ambush. I let out a sigh of relief once we’d passed the threshold, and Kayla locked the door after us.

  Mats covered the majority of the glossy hardwood floors. Weapons of all shapes and sizes lined one wall, and another small section held more traditional forms of gym equipment.

  Kayla steered us from all that and kept us on the mat with weapons. Mostly her with a club while we strained to avoid getting bludgeoned to death. Seriously, with two of us and only one of her, it shouldn’t have been so hard. Which made me realize how far Autumn and I had to go before we could take on someone like Kayla.

  By the time dinnertime rolled around, my limbs trembled from the hours
of avoiding Kayla’s swinging club. Sweat dripped down Autumn’s neck. She dodged the club and I ducked as it swung around to me.

  “Aren’t we done yet? I’m getting hungry.” I jumped to avoid Kayla’s next round of assault.

  Kayla advanced again. “If you guys are too wimpy to continue, then say so.”

  “Oh, I could keep going.” I sidestepped when the club came at me again. “I’d just rather not.”

  She snickered and loosened her grip on the club. Thank God. As I turned to locate Autumn, Kayla’s left hook nearly took me down. I blocked it with my right and shoved it away while thrusting a leg out to strike her in the hip. Then her hand came out of nowhere, rotating my foot and forcing me to plunge toward the floor.

  Before my head crashed to the mat, new stronger hands clamped around my neck and propelled me upward into the air. “Who sent you, wolf?” A raspy male voice demanded. The man sounded like he hadn’t spoken in decades. Had to be Dathan—who detested werewolves.

  His chestnut brown hair was overgrown and he wore a full, long beard. His skin was nearly as pale as the white around his ice-blue eyes. He was a couple of inches shorter than me with a lean build, but I wasn’t fooled into thinking I had anything on him.

  Autumn growled and I rolled my eyes downward to see she’d morphed into a wolf.

  Dathan didn’t even glance at her. “By the time you bite me, dog, I would’ve already sucked your friend dry and ripped off his head. And you’d already be too dead to do anything about it.”

  “Your Majesty, they’re here as our guests under King Cedric’s protection.” Kayla’s voice took on a hint of panic. “He didn’t tell you?”

  Dathan’s grip loosened on my neck, but his brows furrowed. God, I could sense the immense power emanating from him and I quivered inside.

  “Then why did you need to defend yourself against him?” he asked.

  “This is the training room and we were sparring.” Kayla tapped his forearm with her fingertips. “I swear this, Your Majesty. I’d never put our people in danger. You know that.”

  He released me and I staggered back, rubbing my throat. “Keep these dogs away from me. If any vampire here dies of a werewolf bite, I’ll hunt you down,” he told me. “Now go.”

  Kayla gave a nervous laugh. “Your Majesty, King Cedric has asked me to look out for them since there’s already been an attempt on their lives. It isn’t safe for them to be on their own without an escort.”

  “We’re defending wolves now?” A low rumbling sound began in his throat. “I believe a conversation with Cedric is in order.”

  “Um.” I switched nervously from him to Kayla. “King Cedric will probably tell you that he asked us to bring you up to speed on current technology.”

  Dathan sneered. “He has me working with a werewolf pup?” His jaw tightened just before I heard raspy hiss, followed by a whoosh! and then he was gone.

  “That was a close call.” Kayla exhaled slowly. “C’mon, let’s get you fed.”

  Forty-five minutes later, we’d ravaged the fourth-floor kitchen. Full and refreshed, we waited while Kayla gained entry into Cedric’s suite. From behind his desk, Cedric stood quickly, glancing between us and Dathan who stood by the window. Dathan had cleaned up and shaved, but his hair still hung to his shoulders.

  His arms crossed over his chest as he scowled. “It appears I will be required to put up with your canine stench for another week or so.” He grimaced at Zack. “Further, according to Cedric, you and the other mongrel volunteered to school me on modern times so that you may earn your keep.”

  “We need refuge, Your Majesty, from other werewolves.” Autumn took a cautious step forward, letting go of my hand, and my muscles went taut. I didn’t like her so close to him. “Considering how outnumbered we are,” she said, “you couldn’t feel threatened by us.”

  “As if either of you would ever be of any concern to me.” In an instant, Dathan closed the distance and stood in front of Autumn, his blue eyes fierce. Then he zipped over to me, standing so close we almost touched noses. “I could crush you with only two fingers. I warn you that if your true purpose is to spy on us for your werewolf king, I will make it my life’s mission to hunt you and your kind until your entire species is no more.”

  This ancient vampire was the scariest being I had ever known and he didn’t seem at all inclined to give us the benefit of the doubt. Sticking around the mansion had become even less attractive than before. One wrong move and either of us could be dead. I compelled myself to stay still, though my urge to back up nearly overwhelmed me.

  I positioned myself next to Autumn again, wrapping my hands around hers to create a united front. “Your Majesty,” I said and both kings’ heads whipped toward me. “King Cedric,” I clarified. “He has no reason to trust us and if I’d lost good men because of werewolves, I wouldn’t either.”

  “Fair enough. But, Dathan, I’m not asking you to trust them.” Cedric traveled the several feet to Dathan and slapped a hand on his shoulder. “I’m asking you to trust me.”

  “That I can do, old friend.” Dathan waited a beat, making eye contact with me then Autumn, and the tension in the air eased. “I will not harm them unless provoked.”

  “Excellent. Autumn and Zack will work with you the rest of the evening.” Cedric strode to the exit door and swung it open. “I’ll be making rounds with Tony if you need anything.”

  Cedric disappeared and Autumn didn’t waste any time at all, like being in a room alone with the most dangerous of all vampires was an everyday thing. “We should learn about computers first. You won’t believe what they can do.”

  She squeaked in excitement, then dashed into our room and emerged seconds later with her laptop.

  “I’ll be right back.” Without waiting for a reply, I slipped out the door in hopes of catching up with Cedric.

  Hearing me patter down the corridor, he paused and turned. “Did you forget something?”

  “Yeah.” I scanned the area for eavesdroppers other than Tony, and leaned in. “I was thinking… in all the centuries you’ve been around, you must’ve met more than a few werewolves and shape-shifters.”

  “Yes, I have.” Cedric folded his arms and rocked back on the balls of his feet. “What’s on your mind?”

  “I was hoping you’d have a way to contact someone from SWAAST. Shape-shifter Werewolf Alliance Against Slavery and Tyranny.”

  His mouth curved up. “I’m more than a few centuries old. I know about SWAAST.” He hesitated and I wondered what was going through his head. I didn’t have to wait long. “Their leader is an old friend of mine. In fact, he called me the other day.”

  I closed my mouth that had dropped open. “You’re good friends with a werewolf?”

  “It has happened a handful of times. Other than those exceptions, I haven’t observed your species to be very likable.”

  I elongated my spine and lifted my chin. “Which is why I refuse to join them.”

  King Cedric nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll try to reach him.”

  Exactly what I’d been hoping for. “That would be great. Thanks.” Relief flooded through me that I might finally end up where I belonged, but my stomach churned with the knowledge that Autumn wouldn’t be with me.

  I suspected her parents had been on the run for decades. If they had wanted to join SWAAST, they would’ve already done it. Which meant Autumn wouldn’t be joining me either. And who could blame any of them for not borrowing that kind of trouble?

  Because SWAAST members wouldn’t conform, the werewolf king considered them the worst of all criminals and they were killed on sight. As Autumn had pointed out weeks ago, associating with anyone from SWAAST was the least safe thing to do.

  Her parents would keep running and Autumn would never choose me over them. And she shouldn’t, not if she wanted to live.

  Autumn and I stuck together the rest of the evening in Cedric’s office and educated Dathan on the Internet. We showed him how to use e-mail and by the time we g
ot to smartphones and texting, Dathan sat gaping at Autumn’s phone. “These gadgets are swell. Where can I get one?”

  “I’m sure Cedric can take care of that for you.” Autumn scooted off the settee to grab her laptop from the floor and then Googled modern slang. One side of her mouth twitched. “First thing’s first though. Before you speak to anyone else, no one says swell anymore. We should go over the most common slang so you can work it into your everyday vocabulary. You know, blend in with the others.”

  A half hour later, Dathan sighed. “The world changed greatly while I slept.”

  “And we’ve only gotten started.” I thought about all the black and white movies I’d seen with my mom. Everything was so different then. “Women are considered equals in many countries and because of technology, information is instant. Everything’s out in the open.”

  “You’ll see when you leave the estate. People wear a lot less clothing, for one thing. Do you need a break?” Autumn eyed Dathan, then turned to me. “Aren’t we going to take him for a spin in the Hennessey?”

  “It’s a two-seater. Unless you have some serious experience driving cars worth millions of dollars, you’re staying with Kayla.” I leaned over and brushed my lips against her cheek.

  “I have to stay in the house, huh?” Autumn grinned mischievously. “Guess things haven’t changed as much as we thought.”

  “Silence!” Dathan shot up from his seat. “You two behave like children. Let’s get this over with.”

  I sent Autumn a look that pleaded for her to get serious. We were already irritating enough to Dathan and we couldn’t know what might send him over the edge. I didn’t want either of us to lose our head because he didn’t appreciate our sense of humor.

  Tony met us in the hallway to accompany Dathan and me to the garage. Dathan, his face concealed in a hoodie, muttered throughout our trek as we passed a handful of vampires who sent us curious glances. I had no clue whether Dathan would help protect me or volunteer my neck to them, so I wisely kept my mouth shut and reminded myself not to engage unless I needed to. The more I talked, the more I risked opening myself up to his wrath.