by Julie Wetzel
“Kou does,” Makani said as he came into the bedroom. “And he’s gone.”
“Gone?” Darien asked, looking back at Makani. He took a step away from the door as Makani came over to look at it.
“I went to his suite to check on him, but he wasn’t there,” Makani explained. “The man doesn’t have many things, but most of them were gone.” He looked over at Darien. “I’ve sent Mano to check the garage, but I’m pretty sure he’s left for good.”
“For good?”
“The only thing keeping Kou here was his debt to Kusanagi,” Makani explained.
“And with Kusanagi’s death and that debt gone, he didn’t have reason to stay,” Darien finished for him
Makani nodded.
Drawing in a heavy breath, Darien let it out as his mind worked over the issue. He thought about the man as he stared at the door. “That’s fine.” Turning, he walked back across the bedroom. “As long as the man doesn’t cause problems, he’s free to do as he pleases.”
The Council froze in surprise, watching as Darien made a turn around the Kusanagi’s room. It was shocking to see Darien have such a lax position on the man’s disappearance.
“What I need right now is a way to get into that room,” Darien said, perusing the low shelves, looking for something.
“We could search Kou’s room for the key,” Gabriel offered.
“He might have left it there,” Darien said, considering a lovely orchid perched on the corner of one of the shelves. After a brief perusal, he determined that there wasn’t enough light for the plant to be doing as well as it appeared to be. He reached out and caressed the bloom, glad to find it was silk. “But I’m not willing to wait that long.”
The Council gasped as Darien ripped the plant from the pot and started shredding the plastic from the stem as he walked.
Taking the metal wire that supported the bloom, he twisted it around and dropped down to his knees in front of the door.
“You’re going to pick it?” Vicky asked as she came over to watch.
“That’s the idea,” Darien said and stuck the wire into the lock.
Vicky watched him wiggle the wire around. The seconds ticked by. “Can you do it?” she asked after what seemed like a really long time.
The tip of Darien’s tongue slipped out between his teeth as he concentrated harder. Finally, he made excited satisfied noise as the tumblers slipped into place and he turned the handle. Standing up, he gave Vicky a smug smile, folded the wire up, and tucked it into his pocket. “You can’t rely on magic for everything.”
Amusement crept over Vicky’s face. “I think you need some work on your spy skills.” She teased. “That took way too long.”
Darien laughed at her. “Yes. James Bond I am not.” Letting the smile drop from his face, he turned to the door and got serious. “Let’s see what we have in here.” Turning the knob, he pushed the door open to a darkened room.
Leaving Vicky’s side, he stepped in and paused. He slid his hand over the wall, looking for a light switch, but there wasn’t one. The dim light from the bedroom gave him a vague impression of what was in the closet, but the room was too large for the light to reach the far end. Seeing what he believed was a lamp, Darien headed into the darkness. He’d taken two steps when the overhead fixtures flashed on, blinding him in their bright glare. Hissing in pain, he flinched away from the light.
“Sorry,” Makani said from the doorway. “The light switch was out here.”
Darien rubbed at his eyes. “It’s okay.” He blinked a few times to get the bright spots in his vision to clear. After a moment, he was better and could look around the room. The strange shape he had taken for a lamp wasn’t. It was a large porcelain vase. But that was the least interesting thing in the room. The walls were lined with shelves holding all sorts of wonders. Darien’s eyes skimmed over them for a second, counting the weapons, scrolls, and oddities. Turning away from the array of fascinating objects, he scanned for signs of the missing woman. Since her presence wasn’t apparent, he glanced at the objects big enough to hold a person.
The first was a highly decorated cabinet about halfway down the room. Walking to it, Darien pulled the door open to reveal an elegant set of samurai armor. The helmet had fangs in the horrifying mask. There was a snake motif decorating the suit. Closing the cabinet, Darien went to the second place. At the far end of the room were three trunks. A human could fit in any one of the large trunks if they curled up, but the smallest one had a silver cross on top of it. Reaching out, he held his hand just above the holy item. It tingled with energy, but it wasn’t anywhere near as strong as the crosses he was used to dealing with. Picking the cross up gently, Darien dropped it away from the box and lifted the lid. To his horror, he found Kimberly tucked inside.
“Is she there?” Vicky asked as she came closer to Darien’s back.
Darien held his hand out and shook his head, signaling that she should stay back. The twisted thing the box was only vaguely human. “She’s here,” he said, reached out, and touched the shriveled body.
Kimberly moaned in pain.
Makani glanced in over Darien’s shoulder. “He’s poisoned her.” Pity was heavy in his voice. “Not enough to kill her, but she’ll be in agony for months.”
Darien’s right eyebrow rose in question as he looked up at the younger vampire. “Did he do this often?”
There was a long pause as Makani gave Darien a serious look. “Yes. Anyone that upset Kusanagi was subjected to his poison. Not usually enough to kill, but the bone-deep ache never goes away.” Makani stretched his hand, feeling the pain.
“He’s poisoned you?” Darien asked, concerned.
“Along with most of the vampires in Hawaii,” Makani said angrily. “He liked to make sure we didn’t forget who was in charge.”
Darien made a disturbed noise deep in his chest. He added that to the list of things he need to check into and turned his focus back to the woman in the box. Opening his power, he touched her and grimaced. The damage was massive. The poison had destroyed a great deal of her flesh, and her body had used all the blood that it had to repair it.
She gasped as his power rushed over her, soothing her pain.
“Easy there,” Darien said as he reached into the trunk. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Kimberly moaned again while Darien worked her out of the box. Her skin was paper thin, and she creaked as he unfolded her.
Sliding his hands under her, he gently lifted her up into his arms and stood.
The smell of the blood on his shirt drew her and she turned into him. She clawed at him, climbing closer to his neck. Bearing her fangs, she struck, driving a gasp from him, but he did not stop her from drawing his blood.
Darien carried the starving woman out into Kusanagi’s room. “The pallet,” he said, pointing at the bedding with a slight move of his head.
Kimberly growled in protest at the move.
Rushing over, Vicky and Dexter flattened out the bedroll so Darien could put the woman down. They both stepped back to give him room.
“Release me,” he ordered, letting his energy roll out to enforce the command.
Kimberly whimpered, but pulled her fangs from his neck.
Darien laid her down on the bedding and considered her. Now that she had some blood in her, she didn’t look as shriveled as she had in the trunk, but she was going to need a lot more blood before she was healed. “She needs blood,” he said, looking up to Makani.
“She’ll kill anyone who comes near her,” Makani protested.
Darien considered this as he reached up and touched the bite on his neck. She had been vicious in her attack, leaving his skin torn. As it was, his neck was raw, but it was well on its way to being healed. His mind worked as he stared at the woman. He couldn’t just leave her like this, but he couldn’t endanger others to feed her hunger. An idea struck him. “The mead.” Looking back up at Makani, Darien asked his question. “Do you know what happened to the present I gave K
usanagi at the luau?”
“The bottle of wine?” Makani asked.
“Of fairy mead,” Darien corrected. “I need it.”
Makani gave him an odd look. “I think he threw it out.”
Anger tightened Darien’s jaw. “Did he pour it out, break it, or just throw it out.”
“He just threw it out, I think,” Makani answered.
“Then could someone please go find it.”
“I’ll go!” Dexter said and scurried off.
“What do you need wine for?” Polunu asked.
Darien turned to look at the man. “She’s going to need a great deal of blood to recover from this. Will you offer up yours or Nalani’s for this?”
Polunu glared at Darien and wrapped his arm protectively around Nalani. “No.”
“I wouldn’t risk Victoria either,” Darien said to ease the tension between them. He looked back at Kimberly curled on the mat. “And Kusanagi was right. I haven’t fed since before I arrived on the islands, so my blood isn’t going to be enough to revive her properly.”
“Why revive her?” Polunu said with disgust. “She’s only Kusanagi’s plaything. Besides, she’s probably going to die anyway. She’s not strong enough to survive on her own.”
Rage made Darien clench his fists. He stood up and spun to face Polunu. “She’s a living, feeling human being.” He growled at the younger man. “And it doesn’t matter what she was, no one deserves to live or die like this.” He threw his hand back, pointing to the wretched girl on the sleeping mat.
Polunu’s spine straightened and he glared at Darien. “She tried to kill your lover.” He pointed out.
Darien’s eyes narrowed. “And she will answer for that once she is able to speak for herself.”
“You’re weak,” Polunu said harshly.
“Are you challenging me?” Darien said taking a single step towards the other vampire.
“He’s not,” Makani said, stepping between them and glaring at Polunu until the other man backed down.
Darien let the tension drop from his posture and straightened up into a less menacing stance. “Life is a precious gift that you should never take for granted,” he explained. “And taking the time to verify your facts is never weak.”
An ashamed look crossed Polunu’s face as he thought about Darien’s words, he drew in a breath to respond, but didn’t get the chance.
“I found it!” Dexter said, rushing into the room and disrupting the conversation. He stopped and stared at the tense scene he’d broken into.
Closing his mouth without speaking, Polunu wrapped his arm around Nalani and pulled her out of the room with him.
Darien shook his head and turned to Dexter. “Thank you,” he said, walking over to take the bottle from him. The cork was still in place. “Did you happen to bring a bottle opener?”
Dexter’s mouth worked like a fish out of water. “I… I… I’m sorry my lord.”
“It’s all right,” he said, turning away from the flustered man. “I’ll figure it out.” On a low table next to the wall was a rack with a set of swords on it. Picking up the smallest, Darien drew out thetantōand examined it. The edge was wickedly sharp. Using the blade, he scored a circle around the neck of the bottle while he walked back into the closet. Looking around, he found a set of beautifully molded clay teacups. Picking one up, he tucked it under his arm before coming back out. Setting the cup down next to Kimberly, he scraped the sword around the neck of the bottle, deepening the groove. Turning away from the injured woman, Darien swung the short knife at the bottle top, hitting it with the blunt backside. The top popped off along the line Darien had scored.
Ignoring the astonished look of his audience, Darien raised the broken bottle to his lips and carefully took a sip, testing that the mead was still good. The power of the fairy magic tingled along his senses as he drank. Happy with the quality of the drink, Darien knelt down next to Kimberly and poured a generous helping of the liquid into the glass. Carefully setting the bottle out of the way, he lifted the woman into his arms and picked up the cup.
“You aren’t going to give her that, are you?” Dexter asked, shocked.
Darien glanced up at him. “Yes,” he said matter-of-factly before turning back to the woman and raising the cup to her lips. “Drink,” he coaxed.
“It’s all right,” Vicky said to the concerned vampire. “We got the mead from the queen of the fairies. It won’t hurt vampires.”
Dexter looked between Vicky and Darien, pouring the drink into the limp woman, unsure how to respond.
After emptying the cup, Darien laid Kimberly back on the mat. Placing the cup next to the bottle, he stood up and turned to Makani. “She needs rest, but she should make a full recovery.”
Makani stared at him with shock. “And the poison?” He looked down at the woman, her color was still very pale, but she was already starting to look better.
“I’ve neutralized it,” Darien said.
“You can do that?” Makani asked, astonished.
“Yes,” Darien said and held out his hand. “If you’ll let me, I’ll show you.”
Slowly, Makani stepped closer to Darien and let him lay his hand on his shoulder. The soft feel of feathers brushed over him and drove the ache from his bones. “Amazing,” Makani said as he held up his hands and bent his fingers, free of the pain that had been haunting him.
“And I can do this for all of those affected by Kusanagi’s poison,” Darien assured him as he pulled his powers back.
Makani eyed him warily. “At what cost?”
Darien shook his head. “At no cost,” he assured the cautious man. “The master of a Council may be the person in control of an area, but he is also responsible for the health and wellbeing of those under him. Something tells me that Kusanagi didn’t understand that.” Darien’s eyes scanned over the rest of the people in the room. “I understand you’re going to need some time to adjust to this. So take the next few days to go home, tell your people, and bring any that want to be cured back here. As for me, I’m going to take Victoria back to my hotel and try to enjoy some of my vacation while I can.” Pausing, he turned to face Shuri.
“Shuri,” he called to her. “I need you to watch Kimberly until she’s well. Keep giving her the mead until it’s gone. And if anything should arise, I’ll leave my number. Call me and I will come.”
Shuri glared at him. “Yes, Master,” she said with a clenched jaw before stiffly coming over and sitting next to Kimberly.
Leaning over, Darien placed his hand on Shuri’s shoulder to steady himself. “I’ll deal with you later,” he promised.
Her eyes flashed with anger, but she didn’t say anything.
Straightening, Darien turned to the rest of the group. “Come on,” he said, leading the way out of the room. “I’ll take care of the rest of you before you leave.”
“You’re going to let us go?” Gabriel asked.
Darien looked at him with surprise. “I assume you all have kisses outside the Council?”
“Yes.” Gabriel answered. “But—”
“But nothing.” Darien cut him off. “It’s not good for a master to be away from his menagerie, and I have a feeling that you’ve all been away from your people too long.” Walking across the room, he made his way out of the bedroom to give Kimberly some peace to recover. Drawing in a deep breath, he centered himself and got ready to heal the few people who were there. Hopefully none of them would be any worse than Makani was. Anything more complicated was going to have to wait until after Darien had rested and fed. The whole trip was starting to test his limits, and Lady Aine’s mead had been very helpful, but it didn’t have exactly the same effect as fresh blood. It gave him a fantastic boost in his power, but it didn’t last nearly as long as a proper diet would have. And with everything that had happened in the last three days, he was more than ready to take Vicky back to the hotel, get out of his bloody clothing, and head out to see if he could find someone he could convince to donate a few pints
before he crawled into bed for a couple of hours rest.
***
As she slid into the passenger’s seat of the black sedan, Vicky watched Darien get behind the wheel. He looked horrible. Usually, he had a nice warm tone to his skin that made him look like a human that never went out into the sun. But tonight, he looked like the vampire he was. His skin was pale and he looked more haggard than she had ever seen him.
She watched as he settled into the driver’s seat and eased the car into motion. “What happened tonight?” she asked.
Darien let out a heavy breath, but didn’t take his eyes off the road. “I took over the Hawaiian Council,” he said. The tone in his voice made Vicky believe that he regretted doing it.
“I already figured that part out,” she said, trying to understand things. “What I want to know is why?”
“Because I had to,” Darien said softly.
Vicky sat quietly, staring at him and waiting for him to explain.
After a few minutes, he drew in a deep breath and let it rush out. “Because they gave me no choice,” he said in exasperated tone. “Kusanagi had it in his head that we’d come to take over the Council.”
“But we didn’t,” Vicky said defensively.
“I know this.” Darien soothed her. “And I tried to tell him that, but he wouldn’t believe me.”
Vicky considered this as Darien paused to gather his thoughts.
“He was so sure that I’d come to kill him that he tried to have us both murdered.”
“Both?” Vicky asked shocked.
Darien nodded. “When your poisoning failed, he decided to take another route and tried to have Shuri kill me before I could contact the Great Council,” he explained. “So she kidnapped you and tried taking your place. She was pretty convincing at first, but she left out a major detail that blew her disguise.”
Vicky dropped her hand down over her stomach. “The babies?”
“The babies,” he agreed. “When I called her on it, she refused to tell me where you were until I destroyed Kusanagi.”
This confused her. “Why? Didn’t she work for him?”