“Relief, Suspicion,” Kyros stated, amusement plain in his voice.
“I don’t suppose this new development is affected by distance?”
“It is not.”
I flopped back on the sofa, covering my face with both hands. “Why us?” I wasn’t selfish enough to say why me. Not when he was so miserable about this too. The third exchange was forced on both of us.
Kyros wasn’t amused anymore. “Who can say, Miss Tetley?”
An odd flash punctuated his comment. The emotion was gone before I could peg it. I had a personal lie detector for the eldest son of Clan Sundulus, and I’d practice this new ability whenever possible.
Swinging my legs down, I glanced at the pinecone again. “Is that everything I need to know about the third exchange?”
“The urges have intensified, we feel each other’s emotion, and we are true mates. Yes.”
Oh, was that all? Call me Overreacting Olive.
The sparkles I’d hot glued onto the pinecone caught the light streaming in through the ceiling-to-floor windows. I’d given the pinecone to Kyros in a weak moment—during the thrall, and just before Tommy came to tell me the terrible news about my grandmother.
My pinecones were for people who weren’t narcissistic owners of towers and slaves.
I stood and lunged toward the dresser.
Kyros captured my wrists in one hand.
“That’s cheating,” I said, teeth clenched. Using his vampire speed wasn’t allowed.
“Don’t touch my pinecone,” he said calmly.
“You’re not allowed it anymore.”
His eyes searched mine. “You gifted it to me for saving your life. Has that changed?”
“Just about everything else has.”
“You knew I’d omitted the long-term consequence of the second blood exchange prior to gifting it.”
I yanked, and he released my wrists. I nearly groaned at the sliding contact.
Jesus.
Hands on hips, I pinned him with my grandmother’s quelling glare. “Other things have changed. I was in the thrall when I gave it to you.”
“Tell me what has changed,” he rushed in a low voice.
My fucking grandmother is dead, you callous bastard.
Kyros knew what had happened, but he couldn’t know what that felt like because I hadn’t allowed myself to feel everything since Tommy gave me the news.
He wanted to know what had changed?
Fine.
Holding his gaze, I thought of my grandmother lying in her open coffin looking like a stranger with her eyes closed. I thought of my fear that Laurel would report my real identity after the funeral; that my terror over that had overshadowed the grief that should have been my sole focus. I thought of the five Indebted who were no longer here, of hurting Tommy, and of my grandmother’s friends who’d lost a part of themselves too.
Kyros’s lips parted.
I thought of how I’d crawled to him across the ground of that basement, blood pouring from my stomach, unable to feel anything but white-hot fire roaring between us.
Kyros’s eyes blazed. His breath hitched.
I was so alone.
Sinking.
I wanted to sink.
Why couldn’t I sink?
When he reached for me, I stumbled away, shutting down the chasm I’d opened. Losing my parents made me pretty adept at slamming the door shut when needed.
“That’s what changed,” I whispered when I could trust my voice. “So keep the fucking pinecone. There are one hundred and twenty more in circulation anyway.”
A tendril that wasn’t mine panged in the centre of my chest.
Ignoring his hurt, I strode to the door.
“We’re yet to discuss the spy in our midst,” he called quietly.
We didn’t have a midst.
Hand on the doorknob, I cocked my head to look at the vampire. “Is it fair to say that someone close to me is the most likely candidate?”
“You know what our hearing is like. But in my experience, spies work themselves into profitable positions.”
“If they’re close to me, I’ll get back to you with the name in a week.”
Kyros regarded me with surprise. “Is that so?”
I lifted a shoulder. “I grew up amongst wolves, Kyros. Watch and learn.”
3
Sitting in the back, I leaned forward between the front seats. “Could you take the next right, Loz?”
Since the attack, Kyros hadn’t allowed me to resume driving lessons. Whatever. It was hard to care about the driver’s licence thing when my grandmother was buried in the ground.
Laurel checked the clock.
“I’ll just be a minute,” I assured her. The funeral service didn’t start for half an hour.
After the argument with Kyros, I wasn’t ready to feel the ache of another funeral so soon, but I owed it to the Vissimo who’d died saving my life to attend.
Laurel turned the car right without further comment.
“Just up here on the left,” I instructed.
Josie, the Indebted who’d unfortunately introduced me to Pinterest in my second thrall, studied the orange roof. “Where are we? The roll put us on Green, didn’t it?”
“Yeah. This is Mrs Gaughton’s.”
I waited for Josie to clamber out so I could slide from the vehicle. They no longer let me sit anywhere but the middle—Kyros’s orders, I assumed.
It was now the norm for three Vissimo to sit behind me, one to sit on either side, and two to sit in front. I had a cage of fanged females.
A cage I was okay with after my run-in with Clan Fyrlia.
“I want to check on something,” I told them before setting off up the steep driveway.
I stopped in front of a nearly lifeless lavender bush halfway to the front door.
Shoot.
“I said it was drought resistant, not drought invincible.” I specifically told Mrs Gaughton she should water the bush when the dirt was dry to the first knuckle.
“Has anyone got a bottle of water?” I said at normal volume, knowing my crew would hear.
Josie joined me, passing over a bottle.
I twisted off the cap, soaking the soil in a circle around the base of the dilapidated bush.
After that, I removed the dead heads, surprised Mrs Gaughton’s curtain wasn’t already twitching in response to my presence. Oh, but it was Sunday. She’d be at her extended lunch. Which was old-person code for getting plastered every weekend.
I slid back into the SUV. “All done.”
The surrounding women exchanged glances, except Laurel, who simply looked at me in the rear-view mirror. She was at Grandmother’s funeral. She could probably guess why lavender was important to me.
“Did you guys end up telling Lalitta about the service?” I asked.
The temperature in the SUV plummeted.
“Yes.” Kelsea sniffed. She’d healed completely from near death in one week. Guess that told me all I needed to know about the healing properties of Vissimo blood. Their saliva worked on others too. At least, Kyros helped my stomach wound close with some serious licking in the basement.
“Kelsea,” Laurel said low. The word, delivered in a calm tone of voice, was nevertheless an order.
I darted looks at them. “I’d never tell on you guys. Of my own volition.” Huh, guess my ability to store secrets was as impaired as their own. Kyros could compel me at any time. Actually, any vampire could—but it was considered rude because I already shared a tie with another.
“I know, Miss Tetley,” Laurel answered. “But Indebted who don’t take care to always uphold the rules of servitude do not last long in our world.”
Kelsea hung her head. “Sorry, Laurel.”
“Always keep your guard up,” replied the older vampire—who by now I’d gleaned was the Indebted’s unofficial leader—of those in Kyros’s tower at least.
At two-hundred-and-eighty-years-old, her status amongst them could be an age thin
g, yet Laurel had something more to her, a staidness that reminded me so much of my grandmother’s unshakeable dignity. When she spoke, everyone listened, regardless of her position in their society.
I noticed our surroundings for the first time. “Where’s the ceremony?”
“We bury our dead in the forest,” Josie answered. “We can’t afford graves unless we go into more debt.”
Those in the SUV quietened, accentuating my harsh breaths. That was so fucking wrong. The Indebted died working for the clans because they had to in order to rejoin society one day. And they weren’t given money to bury their comrades?
I had no words. Only disgust.
“It’s okay, Miss Tetley,” Kelsea said, picking up my hand. “We can feel how upset you are. That means more than you know.”
Meeting her gaze, I nodded, squeezing her hand tightly.
We pulled up into the botanical gardens of Orange. The term was a running joke amongst locals. The closest thing people found to plants here were the tin-foil wrappings of old joints. Cigarette stubs littered the ground between broken bottles and junk food wrappings.
This patch of trees in the butthole of Bluff City was a place for druggies, drunks, and the desperate.
My stomach lurched with the wrongness of the situation as I walked behind Laurel into the dense bush bordering the parking lot. “Will the others be here soon?”
We were the only ones here.
“Most came on foot. We don’t have cars.”
Good one, Basi. Keep rubbing in that they don’t have money.
“Thank you for coming so soon after your grandmother’s death,” Laurel said, dropping back beside me. “This can’t be comfortable for you.”
I studied the vampire who carried the burden of much more pain than she showed. “Some discomfort should be felt.”
She caught my gaze, her expression unfathomable.
We wound deeper into the trees, and my eyes widened as my heart began to splutter and kick. Vissimo were dotted throughout the small forest. Everywhere. Super hearing probably negated the need to crowd around the speaker or bodies, but I was grateful they’d spread out. My palms were slick with sweat, but the crowd was manageable to be around.
There had to be more than one hundred and twenty Indebted here—the number Kyros housed. I quickly counted those in sight. Well over one hundred in attendance. Four times that amount at least, and I had no idea how far the vampires had spread out through the trees.
I murmured as quietly as possible, ignoring the shake in my voice. “How many are being buried today?”
“Twelve,” Kelsea replied.
Five belonged to us.
Indebted from Clan Fyrlia were here? Seven of the bodies belonged to their side. My brows shot up. Laurel had explained that the Indebted didn’t separate themselves by clan. I guess that meant at all. But shit, these guys had killed five of their brethren.
Laurel cut me a hasty look. “I should have warned you. I can take you back to the tower—”
I held up my trembling hand, heart twisting as I thought of the times my grandmother had done the same. “Not necessary. There aren’t any sides. I get it. They had their orders, and you had yours.”
I couldn’t fathom that the opposing Indebted weren’t at each other’s throats though. That was crazy forgiveness right there.
A hushed murmur rustled through the ranks at my comment.
Good or bad? No idea. I swallowed back as much of the automatic fear response as possible, focusing on the proceedings.
“We’ll wait here,” Josie whispered.
“’Kay.” I stepped back beside her, surrounded by my crew.
A sinister growl slipped through the air, cutting off abruptly as Lalitta, Kyros’s second youngest sister, strode into the clearing. Dressed to the nines with 1950s flare, she altered her direction when she spotted me. She smiled, unwinding the scarf from around her wide hat before removing her cat-eye glasses with flourish.
“Lalitta,” I greeted in a low voice, hoping to convey the urge for her to stop being so fucking flamboyant.
She kissed me on both cheeks. “Basilia, sweet thing. How are you?”
Subtlety was a no-go. “Good. But you’re gonna have to shut up. The funeral is starting.”
The princess blanched, removing her hat. Her hair was perfect underneath. How the hell did she manage that?
“So sorry,” she called. “Do continue.”
Laurel was alone in appearing serene after the casual order. The princess was the sweetest of Kyros’s sisters. But she’d just established her position amongst those gathered with one word. Sometimes, forgetting her alpha status was too easy.
I cut a second look at her as Laurel started speaking.
The princess’s eyes were fixed straight ahead. But there! She darted a look to the trees and back. Yep, Lalitta was aware of Clan Fyrlia’s presence alright. And she still strode into the midst of Fyrlia’s fighting force, who could have orders to kill her. For all she’d known, this could turn into a blood bath.
Respect.
I took her hand, and her shoulders eased as I applied pressure, but she didn’t glance my way.
“… Twelve have departed our ranks,” Laurel was saying. “Too soon. For reasons and causes which are not our own.”
Oh, shit. She was going there with Lalitta in tow?
“—but as always, we come together in peace after,” she continued, her voice swelling. “We owe it to those we put to rest today. Twelve of our brothers and sisters. For as surely as we’re not connected by blood, we are each other’s only family as the centuries pass. We bury them with love. We remember them as Vissimo. As is our way, none shall leave this forest until only understanding and respect remains in their heart.”
My palms grew slick with sweat as the emotion of the surrounding Vissimo soared.
Did Laurel usually handle the eulogy?
The Fyrlia Indebted deferred to her authority, clearly, but I was willing to bet the vampire had offered to take this particular service after Lalitta’s request to be here.
I really hoped Laurel hadn’t gotten herself into trouble with that move.
The row of Vissimo at her back stood aside, and I trained my gaze on the twelve blanket-wrapped corpses in the gap.
To hear twelve were dead and to see twelve were dead…
I breathed thinly as a high-pitched whine rang in my ears.
“Where are the coffins?” Lalitta asked.
I clamped down on her hand but stopped at the glittering quality in Laurel’s eyes. Understanding coursed through me. That’s why she’d agreed to the princess being here.
This moment could be crucial to the future rights of the Indebted.
“They can’t afford coffins,” I replied, not bothering to lower my voice.
“What? Not at all?”
“How are they meant to pay for them?” I said, frowning at the painfully beautiful royal. “They’re forced to bury their dead in the asshole of Bluff City in blankets because the only way to afford a coffin would be to enslave themselves for longer. Would you want your family buried here, Lalitta? What if it was Francesca, Neelan, or Lionel in those blankets?”
The princess swallowed hard, blood welling in her eyes. “I’ll pay for coffins.”
“You think they want you to cover the bill?” I asked. I felt like ten kinds of butthole for being so relentless, but I wouldn’t have bothered if someone like Rory was here instead of her, so it was kind of a compliment.
The princess bowed her head. “No.”
I dropped her hand. “No, so don’t offend these Vissimo by offering.”
“Vissimo.” The word was passed around, alarm or surprise tinging the word.
Yeah, I’d decided not to use the word Indebted aloud any longer. Which was probably a massive faux pas.
I spoke louder. “I apologise, Laurel. Please continue.”
Laurel bowed low to me, and a second jerking ripple ran through the ranks.
&nbs
p; Ugh. I didn’t like it when she bowed. That was the second time.
The reverence didn’t sit well with me because I wasn’t sure whether the gesture meant something more to vampires. If a human friend bowed to me, I’d assume they were drunk.
The vampires closest to Laurel lowered the twelve bodies into one large grave. A mass grave. The thought made me nauseous. Then again, these people weren’t dying nameless. They were being buried alongside their brethren, their comrades. Wherever they ended up, they’d have good company.
I wished my grandmother had someone with her in the ground instead of being alone in that white box with silver handles.
I closed my eyes, heart thumping as I clenched my fists.
“Are you remembering your grandmother, Miss Tetley?” Kelsea said.
Opening my eyes, I scanned her blood-streaked face. “Just wondering why good people die when so many douchebuckets are alive.”
She wiped her face. “It’s shit, huh?”
Lalitta dug in her bag and pulled out a packet of tissues. She glanced at me, and when I nodded, she reached around me, handing the tissues to Kelsea.
“Have I thanked you for saving me yet?” I said to cover Kelsea’s wariness as she took the tissues.
Her breath caught on a small laugh. “Only a million times.”
I’d think of a way to pay that debt someday.
There weren’t more speeches. Everyone paid their respects at the mass grave, some taking far longer than others, and then—without ceremony—the Indebted blurred away through the trees.
Back to slavery.
So fucking wrong. They should be given time to mourn.
I started out of the forest beside Lalitta, my crew trailing behind.
“Would you spend the rest of the afternoon with me, Miss Tetley?” The princess blurted when we reached the parking lot.
Whoa. Way to blindside a gal.
“Uh, thanks for the offer. Why?”
Lalitta wrinkled her cute button nose. “My siblings are on at me to do it.”
Well, she was honest at least—couldn’t say the same for Gerome. Or Rory. Or Kyros. Probably not Francesca, Neelan, or Pantsuit either. Lionel if the mood suited him perhaps. Meanwhile, Deirdre was too honest.
“They want you to screw with me to fuck with Kyros.” I bit back on a groan.
Vampire Debt: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 2) Page 3