My life changed completely at the sight of a young female running on an empty road. I’d known instantly she was a cheetah, like me, although she hadn’t shifted yet. Jacqueline was rare and perfect, smelling like the home I’d loved as a child and glowing with a peace I’d felt growing up in a healthy, thriving family. My cheetah knew instantly she belonged to me. To us. But I had to wait. To bide my time until she shifted.
In the end I didn’t have the courage to ask for her love, not with all the despicable things I’d done as Eleanor’s minion. Jackie gave it to me anyway, without reservation. Jackie’s courage, trust and love still holds me together when my thoughts turn dark or my plans go badly awry. Although my heart no longer pumps blood, Jackie has become my heartbeat, a constant rhythm that nourishes my soul.
Jon had lit the fire and laid out a tumbler of brandy, so I relaxed in a comfortable chair and enjoyed a moment of peace.
“You look like you could use a second glass, sir,” Jon said.
“Will you join me for a brandy?” I asked.
“I will.” He sat and poured himself a tiny amount. We sipped our drinks and stared into the fire for a few moments. After I’d inherited the villa, I’d searched for caretakers who could watch over the place when it was empty but also act as butler/chef/housekeeper/maid when we or guests stayed at the enormous mansion. Jon and his mate were vampires with rough experiences of their own. Efficient, loyal and quite fun to hang out with, they’d seen to hiring the rest of the staff, half of which were shifters.
“I’m expecting another guest,” I said. “Someone I’ve never met.”
“Anyone I know, sir?
“My great grandsire.”
Jon choked on his brandy. “K…Kostas? Kostas Ap…pellas is coming here? Tonight?” Jon jumped up. “Why didn’t you tell me right away, sir?”
“Sit down and enjoy your drink.”
“I cannot. I must see that things are prepared. The suite at the rear of the northern wing must be readied.”
He was halfway across the room when I called out. “I have no idea how long he’ll stay. Could only be hours.”
“I must prepare for all eventualities, sir.” Jon sped up the staircase in vamp style, calling out for the housekeeper and maid at the same time.
I relaxed back into the plush chair, hoping for another few minutes of calm. The Fates were not on my side.
“You will attend me on the cliff path.” The voice in my mind was slightly gruff, the words spoken in Fae, yet the magic behind them was not to be denied. Kostas had arrived.
I laid my glass on the table, breathed in deeply to steady my surprisingly shaky nerves and took the lines to the spot he’d described. It was sheltered from the stronger gusts off the ocean with a clear view of the vast horizon. A perfect place to watch the sun set, the pelicans dive for dinner, or the sea otters play their version of tag.
Hopefully, it would also be the perfect place to have a conversation with the most powerful and ancient vampire in the Mortal Realm.
It was immediately clear that Kostas Appellas was not here to play games. He stood staring out at the Pacific, a long black coat, duster length, whipping around in the cooler breeze. His dark hair was tied back in a low tail, his sharp features set in a grim expression. According to François, Kostas adored the sea and chose never to live far from it, always settling in a secluded spot, far from society. As the population of our realm continued to grow, places of that sort were difficult to find. When Kostas was born, the world populace could be counted in the hundreds of thousands.
“The sea is angry in this twilight.” Large waves pounded against the jagged cliff below, some salty spray rising up to dust our cheeks. The constant drumming added to my heightened anxiety. Kostas turned slowly, taking me in with a deep intensity. His eyes were as black as pitch, his mouth curved into a frown that showed some fang. Slender and strong like a hickory branch bow, his body oozed magic.
We’d never met. Never spoken, except when I’d called him earlier. All I knew about Kostas was what I’d learned from François, which wasn’t much.
I took a knee and stared at the ground. Kostas was as old school as you could get. “Master Kostas. I thank you for gracing me with your presence.” Kostas Appellas had survived from the time the first stone was laid for the first pyramid. If anyone deserved the title master, it was this male.
Master Kostas growled.
I was so out of my element here. I was either going to end up dead or rotting in a dungeon. Why had I thought this was a good idea?
“Are you as angry as the sea, master?” And was that a stupid question or what?
“I will inform you when our conversation has come to an end.”
My instincts told me that may have been a joke, but in case it wasn’t I didn’t smile.
His power needled its way through my brain, crumbling my blocks as if they were constructed of powdered sugar. Mind surfing without consent had been common in his time and I’d expected it. Still, I couldn’t hide the cringe.
“Your aura outshines most vampires of your age, Garrett Cuvier.”
“Thank you, master.”
I kept my eyes averted, staring out at the raging Pacific. Kostas was only about five-feet-four inches, but his incredible magic sang a song of beckoning. Like with François and me to a smaller extent, charisma had been his original gift. But after thousands of years, charisma had morphed into a dangerous magnetism spun with powerful magic. He could take me as a slave without effort and I would follow his command to step off the cliff or prostrate myself before him.
This was why François had always insisted I never, ever contact Kostas.
For the second time that night I questioned my sanity. It wouldn’t be the last time.
When he spoke out loud it was in English with a bare hint of an accent. “You are François’ favorite even though he was not your maker. Did you know?”
“No, master.”
“He loves your mate as well. Is she here?”
“She sleeps and heals. She battled a group of vampires who were working for the archdemon.”
“Francois does not believe your mate’s child is fit to lead an army.”
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who’d had to endure Kostas’s mental poking around.
“Our son is more than capable, Master Kostas.”
“Did you conceive a son before you were made vampire?” He moved off the path to the edge of the cliff.
“No. He is twenty human years.”
He turned back to stare at me. Some dirt at the edge crumbled into the ocean. He stood on a piece of land only inches square. “You are vampire. You cannot have children unless you have learned a spell far more powerful than most I know.”
“I have claimed Charles as my son with the same magic I used to claim Jacqueline as my lifemate. She is his birth mother. She is mine; therefore, he is mine.”
“And you care for him? A child not of your blood?”
“More than my own life.”
“Why?”
“Didn’t you just read my mind?”
“But not your heart. I do not cross a male’s most private barriers when I sift through a mind. Unless it is necessary.” He turned again to face the sea. The dirt beneath his feet had crumbled away and now he stood on air alone.
I tried to answer his question as clearly as possible. “Charles needed a father and I desperately needed a family. I’ve loved him since the first moment Jacqueline told me she’d conceived. We are right together, we three.” Still on my knee, I smiled at the horizon, the pinks and purples of sunset a beautiful reminder of all the strolls on the beach I’d taken with my family. “I’m the most fortunate of all males.”
“In some aspects you appear more shifter than vampire. Family is more important to the changeling beasts.”
“I’m a beast whether vampire or shifter.”
His voice lightened. “Eleanor created an interesting combination of species when she chose to turn you.”
“She did not create me. She almost destroyed me. I killed innocents under her influence. Every day I wished to die.”
“A newly made vampire does not have the strength to resist, although I know of no other shifter in all my years who survived the transition.”
Have you tried to turn shifters?”
“No, although it crossed my mind. But unlike humans, shifters are dual natured. I believed they would be more difficult to control. It appears I was correct. You managed to escape Eleanor’s influence, where others never had before.”
“My cheetah DNA might have helped. We have our own magic.”
“The Egyptians treated cheetahs with reverence, but I am Mycenaean. Do not expect my respect unless it is earned.”
“I understand.” I lowered my head once more.
“Enough groveling. I am satisfied you know your place.”
I wasn’t exactly sure how to respond. “Yes, master.” That seemed safe.
“Must I explain? Rise!”
I stood but remained as still as stone.
He grunted. It wasn’t a happy sound. “You own this…” He swept his hand in the direction of the villa.
“Yes, master.”
“Then you are my host. You are also of my lineage. Although I have invited myself to your home, my station here is that of an honored guest. In this circumstance you may call me Master Kostas. Now please look me in the eye, Garrett. I do not plan to harm you and I find it irritating to speak to the side of your face.”
He only came up to my shoulder, which presented another problem. Should I squat? He’d probably take that as an insult. Straightening, I looked down to meet his upturned gaze. “I am pleased to welcome you, an honored guest, to my home, Master Kostas. I am also glad to hear I might yet live another hour.”
His mouth curled at the corners as he stepped back onto solid ground.
“Would you care for wine or a blood donor, Master Kostas?”
“You do not hunt?”
“I hunt for the evil among us. Not for blood. We barter with our blood donors and take only volunteers.”
“Eleanor Howard did not teach you this.”
“Eleanor taught me nothing useful other than what to avoid doing. My parents taught me everything I needed to know about respect and loyalty, honor and leadership. Jacqueline and Charles have taught me lessons just as important.
“We will share wine later. I wish to learn more of your life and what drove you to call me.”
“Of course.”
“I can’t imagine François urged you to contact me. Did he tell you I tortured and killed the last four males?”
“The last four?”
“Who chose to disturb me with a phone call.”
I stumbled on the path, then righted myself. “Not quite as explicitly.”
“You knelt and bowed your head, but you do not cower or shiver in my presence, Garrett - Corbin - Cuvier.” He stared at me expectantly.
I stared back. Kostas speaking my full name was just his way of telling me he could use it against me in a spell. Showing this male courtesy was not a wasted effort but displaying weakness in the face of a powerful adversary was not in my nature.
“Would my shivering or cowering gain your respect or encourage your cooperation?”
“Never.” Kostas glided backwards on the path so he could face me. His feet didn’t touch the ground.
“Then I will take my chances and continue to treat you as a revered family member and guest, but not a god who can dismember me in moments.”
“Moment.”
“What?”
“It would take a single moment.” He smiled for the first time. “It is possible by the time this walk is finished I may wish to acknowledge you as one of mine. Few have gained the distinction. François, of course, but never your maker, Eleanor.”
“You met with her?”
“I could not be bothered. She wrote asking for my acknowledgement, but I refused.”
“I killed her. Did you know?” Muscles in my back and neck tensed with the confession.
“François informed me. I felt her die. I feel…all of them die. All my descendants. Only those whom I have acknowledged cause me pain, and few of them are living. The others are merely names whispered in the wind.”
I thought of William, a friend and survivor of Eleanor’s torture. He died at Fionna’s hand and I’d felt his loss profoundly even though I wasn’t his maker. So much more than a whispered breeze.
“I expected you to be angry with me for Eleanor’s death.”
“Not at all.”
I smiled. “Perhaps I might live another week?”
“Vampires have no right to hope for anything they have not earned. What have you done for your people?”
“My people, meaning vampires?”
“Of course.”
“I am also cheetah.”
“This is of no consequence.”
“I must disagree, especially as my lifemate and son are cheetah. During my blackest times, my cheetah has guided me.”
“You believe this drivel?”
“I do.”
“You say your lifemate is a cheetah shapeshifter?” Kostas stopped walking.
“Yes, master. And demon.”
“Demon? And your son is also a cheetah-demon?”
“Yes, and fae.”
His eyebrows rose in wonder. “Fae, demon and shifter in one child?”
I nodded, surprised by his reaction.
“He is of the three realms. Trinus.”
“Yes.” I didn’t know the word, but it was clear Kostas thought this information was significant.
“Where is your son? I must meet with him.”
“He contacted me early this morning. He should arrive before midnight.”
“Then perhaps a swim, a drink and a donor would be in order.”
I glanced at the tumultuous surf. “This isn’t the Mediterranean. That water is probably around 15 Celsius. We have an indoor pool in the rear of the house.”
“Do not fear. You are with me, child.”
* * *
An hour later I’d bathed, dressed and curled my still trembling body under a blanket in a chair I’d pushed as close to the hearth as possible. The large tumbler of brandy helped, but the experience with Kostas was one I’d never forget.
After I’d undressed down to my briefs on Kostas’s orders, he’d teleported us two hundred yards past the waves, left me there after somehow divesting me of the ability to teleport back, and swam off. I’d learned to swim early in my life, but the water was ice and after twenty minutes I sank to the bottom and started to walk, angry and humbled at the same time. If he’d dropped me in the Mariana Trench I might have become deceased caller number five, but Kostas pulled me out of the freezing depths and took me through the lines to our front door.
He’d pounded and Jon dragged me inside, leaving me in a puddle so he could prostrate himself on the floor in front of Kostas. At least he had his priorities straight.
“We need warm baths, a fresh set of clothing and your best brandy or wine, and I mean your very best, young male. I will know the difference.” Kostas had haughty down to perfection.
I attempted to speak, but all my teeth could do was chatter. Some great host I was turning out to be.
“Where is my suite?” Kostas demanded.
Jon directed him, sending another servant to see to his needs. A few moments later he’d lowered me into a warm tub. My body had blued to the point of freezing but it only took five minutes for me to feel vampire again. I checked on Jackie after I dressed. She was still sleeping soundly, so I kissed her cheek and left her body to work its healing magic. She’d rise when she was ready. I hoped Kostas would be gone by then.
Jon pulled my chair back a few feet. “I’d rather my boss doesn’t go up in flames. The furnishings either. This particular piece you’re lounging in was designed by the Eames brothers and cost more than your entire gardening staff made las
t month.”
My expression must have broadcast my surprise.
“I assisted Lady Kellaine when she redecorated.”
“Ah. Well. Perhaps I should raise gardening staff’s pay.” I rubbed my arms. “I can’t seem to get warm.”
“Shall I bring in a donor?”
“No. I’ll be…”
“Hi, Dad!”
“Oh, and Charles is here.”
I tried to rise but my butler pushed me down. I gave up. “Thank you, Jon.” I shooed him away and he left.
Charlie stood on the lowest step of the staircase. I trembled, my body urging me to run to my son, to touch his face and hold him tight. To know he was real and here with me at last. But Charlie would balk at my enthusiasm and I wasn’t all that sure I’d make it without falling flat on my face.
“Who’s the weird vamp singing in the shower? I went up to check on Mom and Jon says he’s been in there so long he’s gonna use up all the hot water.”
“That vampire is no one we need to discuss at the moment.”
Normally I would have heard Charlie on the stairs, but my ears were still waterlogged. I stood, still slightly tangled in the blanket as Charlie walked toward me with long strides, his clothing stained, his face slack with exhaustion and what looked suspiciously like worry.
I shook off the blanket and opened my arms. Like a small child he accepted the invitation. We held each other and I rubbed his back. He dug his fingers into my shoulders, staving off tears with every steely ounce of determination he could dredge up. I didn’t bother to hold them back.
“Sit with me. We’ll talk,” I wiped my eyes with my sleeve.
He pulled a chair over using his magic, then threw his body into it, stretching out his legs until his large feet were almost in the fire. “I fucked up, Dad.”
“Most of us do at one time or another.” I signaled to a maid to bring hot cider and Charlie accepted it gratefully. “Tell me what happened.”
He talked of the potential of the dragons, the hope he’d felt when he envisioned returning with a fleet of dragons behind him. His disappointment and anger when Khent would not raise an army. The devastation they all felt when his team had returned to the empty cave, ripped apart by demons.
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