Safina took the glass of water from Francesca, holding it to my lips. I swallowed a few blissful gulps, resting back on what felt like one million pillows.
I stared at the two mystery sisters.
Safina followed my gaze. “Miss Tetley, have you met Deirdre and Lalitta?”
My head was caught somewhere between an onslaught of terrifying memories from a basement filled with Vissimo and the introduction.
Mute for the time being, I shook my head.
“I’m Lalitta,” the platinum blonde said, blue eyes huge. “How are you feeling?”
“Like a used tampon,” I croaked, trying to sit a few times before giving up. “What’s the verdict with my wounds?”
Francesca rolled her eyes. “Kyros healed the worst of it in the basement. You should feel fine.”
“She lost too much blood. Not to mention the knocks to the head, you imbecile,” Dierdre snapped.
Yikes. Thanks, but yikes.
I rested my eyes on Dierdre, noting her similarity to Neelan. Her eyes held the same almond curve. Her skin was olive. She didn’t look like a member of Clan Fyrlia, but somewhere between the two.
Yep, Mum or Dad definitely took a dive into the enemy camp. Twice at least.
Lalitta cast the youngest sister a softly admonishing look. “Franny. Be kind.”
Safina, Lalitta, Dierdre, Francesca.
Smart, nice, angry, petulant.
I thought of Kyros’s brothers. Gerome was playful. Rory, vain. I wasn’t sure about Lionel yet, but I had a feeling Neelan was rebellious.
Shaking my head, I pushed down the bedcovers and immediately yanked them back up, eyes flying to the present company.
“Your clothes were sullied. We removed them so Kyros’s bed was not sullied also.” Safina’s smirk showed all teeth.
“Right.” Kyros’s siblings had it out for naked Basi.
I held up the covers with one hand and ran my fingertips over the bandages covering my torso.
“Was it bad?” I asked.
Lalitta’s smile faded. “For Kyros to heal you instead of fuck you during the thrall, it would have to be.”
Uhm. Profanity sat weird on her. Like a primary school teacher swearing.
“I wondered about that,” I admitted, recalling how furious I was when he wouldn’t touch me.
Safina inclined her head. “Your survival comes first. The wound was dire.”
They could say that again.
I didn’t feel so good.
I lowered the covers, registering Kyros’s Level 65 lair for the first time. They’d brought me up to his room. Why?
My stomach churned, and I eased back onto the pillows, closing my eyes. “Tell me, please. What happened? And how long ago?”
Safina replied, “Two days—”
Francesca cut in. “Fyrlia Indebted swarmed your convoy. They’d planned it well. The freeway turn-off was the weakest point of your route. One of your guards managed to get between the truck and SUV or your injuries would have been much worse.”
Someone got out of the SUV in that split second? Fuck. Were they okay? Was it Laurel?
“By the time our perimeter guard reached the scene, the youngest of the royal brothers was running with you,” Francesca continued.
Callum was one of the royals? And the youngest sibling. Shitty fucker, killing him would come back to bite me in the ass.
Francesca toyed with her auburn hair, to all appearances just sharing some casual gossip with friends. “Our Indebted forced the Fyrlia scum back while your personal guards took off in pursuit. Callum managed to lay a false track that misled them. Meanwhile, Kyros exploded out of this tower like Hurricane Testosterone—”
My mouth fell open. “That’s right. He can sense my location!”
The four sisters fell quiet.
I remember, you bastards.
Hurt swirled in me. That’s why Kyros wanted to exchange blood again? Not because I was a distraction to playing the game. He just wanted to know where I was all the time.
I tried not to let panic take over. “He’ll always be able to feel my location?”
“It saved your life,” Deirdre stated in a bored tone.
My life wouldn’t have been in danger if Clan Fyrlia didn’t think I was Kyros’s favourite blood bag! How the fuck could I leave now? Kyros would know where I was. He could find me.
I couldn’t ever escape.
I’d resigned myself to living this life for now but always expected to run away one day.
Kyros had torn my freedom from me forever. He’d lied directly to my face.
“So anyway,” Francesca drawled. “We all followed Kyros. Your Indebted caught the right track, and we all arrived a few minutes behind Kyros. We handled the outside force while he went in. And then we stormed the basement to pull you both apart because you’re like fucking animals going at it all the time.” Her angelic face twisted into a dark scowl.
“They were still in the thrall, Franny,” Lalitta said.
My heart skipped a beat. “I drank his blood again.”
Safina stood, picking up my glass and holding it to my lips.
I swallowed again.
“You’re currently on day three of your third thrall,” she said.
Dread punched me hard.
Lying flat again, I stared at the shiny white panels of the ceiling without really seeing them. Three blood exchanges.
We hadn’t had time to see if the urges between us had dissipated after the second compulsion. I didn’t agree to a third blood exchange—this changed the entire risk I’d been willing to make. If the second exchange could increase the tension between us by 10 percent, what did the third exchange do? And what other power did it give Kyros over me?
Except the third exchange wasn’t my fault and it wasn’t his either.
It happened, and now there was one more thing to deal with on top of my injuries and his fucking lie.
“What about the others who were in the basement with me?” I asked.
Deirdre sat on the bed where Safina had been. “The Fyrlia royals? They ran while their Indebted held us back. It’s usually how things go when they pull shit like that.”
“The ten of them lived?” I asked, astonished.
Deirdre grinned ferally. “Nine now.”
My stomach roiled. “Yeah, I guess so.” The sickening squelch of the drill bit digging into the Vissimo reared in my mind. I covered my mouth, breathing thinly. I felt nothing but regret over killing Callum.
I managed to keep whatever was left in my stomach inside. “What are the ramifications of that?”
“An impartial clan assessed the scuffle. The Fyrlia royals alleged that when the opposing Indebted forces happened to meet, you attacked their youngest brother without provocation. They later conceded that they’d been in error. The impartial clan ruled that although Fyrlia attacked you and later Kyros, you did kill one of the royals. There won’t be any further repercussions—aside from that which Clan Fyrlia decides to deal out unofficially.”
That’s what I meant in the first place. “And they’ll feel the need to, I’m guessing?”
All four sisters dipped their heads.
The triplets would be among those roaring for my head. I couldn’t win. I just couldn’t catch a motherfucking break.
I exhaled loudly. “Someone needs to tell me why they were going to kill Kyros, who they believe is really their brother. I thought Vissimo weren’t allowed to kill each other. Isn’t that why you guys are playing Ingenium in the first place? To prevent all-out war?”
Dierdre scowled at me. “Calm down. Your heart rate is rocketing.”
Because telling someone to calm down always worked.
“They weren’t ever going to kill him,” Safina said.
My mouth dropped open. “Yes, they were. They—”
“Were going to set him alight because even a Hyanium cage couldn’t have held him more than a few hours. They wished to eliminate Kyros from the turn that day be
cause we were racing each other to broker a large land development opportunity.”
Never going to kill him.
“No one thought to tell me that?” I whispered. Though why would they? I hadn’t been back to Level 66 purposefully. I wanted nothing to do with their game aside from what I had to do for money and survival.
“The deal?” I asked despite myself.
Safina pursed her lips. “We lost it. Fyrlia landed on agriculture yesterday and signed.”
Shouldn’t she be more upset if the deal meant that much? The lives of her family members were on the line if they lost Ingenium.
“Was the developer Mr Ringly?” I tapped my lip.
The four sisters exchanged a quick look.
Dierdre glared. “You know him or something?”
I snorted. “Did Rory claim glory for figuring out Mr Ringly’s drug habit? Wouldn’t put it past him. But I assume that’s why you’re not devastated about losing the development deal.”
Clan Fyrlia just got fucked and they didn’t know it yet.
A slow smile spread over Safina’s face. Lalitta beamed.
“The Indebted who were with me. Are they okay?” I sighed, sinking deeper into the pillows.
Lalitta answered, “The female who got between the SUV and truck will take time to heal. She’s hooked up to a blood IV at the moment. Two were killed from another car. Three from the perimeter guard.”
That she took the time to enquire about the Indebted spoke volumes about her.
“Five died?” My chest tightened. Five more lives on my head. I’d handed them pinecones three days ago and now their rooms lay vacant on Lower Level Four.
“Who cares?” Francesca quipped.
“I care,” I snapped back. “And you should, too, you brat. They were there to save your brother’s fucking skin.”
She swung her legs off the armrest of Kyros’s circle sofa. “To save your fucking skin.”
“Franny.” Safina’s voice cracked like a whip.
Francesca’s guilt-tripping ploy didn’t work. I already knew Clan Fyrlia attacked to distract Sundulus while they made the development deal.
But five Indebted were dead. Five people.
I pressed the heels of my palms into my eyes.
“Why does she do that?” Dierdre asked.
“Kyros said she doesn’t cry,” Lalitta whispered.
“Good, I hate it when they cry. Makes me feel angry.”
The word she was looking for was angrier.
I lowered my arms. “I want a pay raise.”
They turned to me. Safina alone looked amused.
“I’m not getting paid enough to deal with you fuckers.”
What were they smiling about? I was deadly serious.
I gave up sidestepping the giant elephant in the room. “How is Kyros?”
Safina smirked. How old was she again?
“Did they get him with the fire?”
Her smirk widened. “Our crown prince is well, Miss Tetley. Comparatively speaking. The overlapping thralls and recent threat to your life have had an exponential effect on his urges and instincts. He’s not entirely in control of himself.”
My mouth dried. “How bad?”
Safina tilted her head to the door. “We had to fill his office downstairs with Indebted. He’s tried to break in eleven times in the last two days.”
While relieved he hadn’t managed to break through, I was just glad he was okay. That was the main thing.
I slowly sat up. “I need to see the Indebted downstairs.”
“Not happening.”
My eyes narrowed to slits. “Happening. With or without you.”
Light danced in her blue eyes. “You realise you have no way to back that up?”
“You realise I killed one of your kind two days ago.”
Her eyes took on a strange quality. She studied me. “Yes. You did.”
“So can you bring Laurel up, please?”
Francesca laughed. “These are Kyros’s private rooms. They can’t come up here. We hardly come up here.”
Blowing out a breath, I resisted the urge to attack his youngest sister. “Then I’ll go to them,” I said between gritted teeth.
“Don’t worry,” Deidre said, shooting a look at Francesca. “She pisses all of us off. She’s going through her thirties. It’s a trying time.”
“Stop saying that!” the youngest sister shrieked.
I pushed the covers back, setting my feet on the floor. Butt-naked, of course. I was losing count of my naked displays by now.
Too tired to care.
Standing, I waited a full minute for my wooziness to clear and traipsed to the drawers. Kyros’s T-shirt drawer was empty, so I nicked some sweatpants, rolling them at the waist a few times. I’d spied a wardrobe around the jutting wall. Hobbling stiffly around the wall, I pulled out a white shirt and shrugged it on, rolling the sleeves to the elbow and fastening most of the buttons.
It’d have to do.
I returned to find the four sisters contemplating me in varying levels of consternation. Francesca with open hostility.
They didn’t like me in their brother’s space. Whatever.
“Lalitta,” I said. “Could you help me with the stairs, please?”
She beamed and blurred to grip my elbow.
Kindness. I needed it in droves right now.
She picked me up halfway down when dizziness assaulted me and kicked open the door, setting me upright at the base of the stairs.
I scanned the gathered Indebted. The sisters weren’t wrong about the cramming part.
Laurel squeezed between two of her comrades and I stumbled in her direction, falling into her arms.
“Laurel.” My voice was muffled by her shoulder.
Her back was ramrod straight, but she returned my embrace. “Miss Tetley. I’m very happy to see you upright.”
The lump in my throat choked my voice beyond recognition. “You were worried about me? What about you guys? I’m so sorry you were dragged into that. Going out to Black was foolish. Five people lost their lives. I’m just so, so sorry.”
My eyes misted, and I paused to steady my shallow breaths until the urge to cry passed.
The Indebted woman squeezed my shoulder. “That’s not how we view what happened.”
How could they not?
Hiccupping, I surveyed the other women in the office. Five of their friends were dead. A sadness hung over them like a blanket, yet I couldn’t detect any anger on their faces. Not toward me at least.
“You should have been safe in our hands, and for that, we sincerely apologise,” Laurel said quietly, bowing her head.
Their fault?
I blinked. “That’s not what I think at all. I’m just grateful you were there.”
Really grateful.
“Will there be a funeral?” I asked quietly.
Laurel’s eyes shot to Kyros’s sister over my shoulder. “There will.”
I took her hand. “If it’s appropriate for me to attend, please let me know the details when you have them.”
“I’ll be certain to, Miss Tetley.”
“Excuse me,” Lalitta piped up. “Do you mind if I come too? I would like to pay my respects.”
The ranks of Indebted shuffled and fidgeted.
I glanced back, watching as the princess’s cheeks stained pink.
Laurel fixed the vampires crammed into the room with a blank look that stilled them before smoothing her features. She bowed in Lalitta’s direction. “Of course, Princess Lalitta. I’ll pass the details on as soon as I have them.”
It didn’t take a genius to sense they didn’t want the royal there. Personally, I thought Kyros’s sister was the only sane one of her siblings.
I jerked as shouts erupted from outside the office.
“Formation,” Laurel called, arching a brow my way.
“Looks like my brother felt you move,” Lalitta said, clearing her throat.
I gasped as he roared, the door
between us barely muffling the sound.
“Let’s get you back upstairs,” Lalitta said kindly, her eyes shifting to the door. “Quickly.”
At least there was only one day left.
Laurel squeezed my shoulder again. “For what it’s worth, Miss Tetley, we really are happy you’re okay.”
“Thank you.” I tried to smile, but my lips barely twitched. “Thank you all for saving my life. I wouldn’t be here without you, and that’s a debt I can never repay.”
The Indebted went deadly still.
Crap, I’d put my foot in it somehow.
My knees shook as exhaustion crashed down on my head. I could only see a few of my crew from my pinecone frenzy, but I dipped my head to them, hoping to convey that my words weren’t meant as an insult.
Laurel bowed to me. Low.
Those Indebted not next to the door did the same.
I stared back at them, at a loss for words. What the hell was happening? Should I bow back?
“Alright, sweet human,” Lalitta said, scooping me into her arms. “Time to tuck you in before Kyros destroys his tower. He gets out of sorts when that happens.”
I clasped my hands around her neck, still occupied with the stooped positions of the Indebted.
“We wouldn’t want that,” I said softly, listening to his thunderous growling.
34
I’d asked Angelica to bring my clothes to the lair so I didn’t have to wear Kyros’s stuff. Borrowing his things when I didn’t have to felt too much like unwanted couple territory.
Angelica had decided my request meant that she should bring up all my clothing and possessions.
“She never fucking stops,” I told my white jumpsuit. It was the loosest option on both racks. My stomach was still tender. Honestly, after reviewing my options, the temptation to shrug on another of Kyros’s shirts nearly overwhelmed my desire to establish distance between us.
Ugh.
I grabbed my toiletries and dragged my weary ass to his shower, my battered body feeling every injury and the loss of a crucial pint of blood or three. At least the third thrall would be over in a matter of hours. Safina said that with my body so injured, she’d be surprised if I displayed any thrall symptoms of my own. But I’d be able to return to my normal room when it was done.
Blood Trial: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 1) Page 40