Vampire Debt: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 2)

by Kelly St Clare

  My grip on Lionel’s arm tightened, and he used his free hand to squeeze mine, thankfully not making an issue of my sweaty palms.

  Heated voices rose from the closed room before us.

  I cut Neelan a look over my shoulder. The worried crease of his brow cleared the moment he spotted my perusal. If his game screwed things for me and hurt the people I loved, I would end him.

  The vampire’s gaze hardened. He didn’t look worried one bit.

  Lionel took my hand as we stopped in front of black wood doors. Lalitta dodged forward to plant a kiss on my cheek.

  Way to reassure me I’m not about to die, guys.

  Just as I was about to ask if we should knock, the door swung inward.

  I scanned the expanse of bare concrete floor for several seconds before finding Kyros at the base of huge steps. I didn’t leave my focus on him—his warning ringing in my ears. I traced the huge stone steps up to the hulking giant sitting in the gilded throne at the top.

  Shit on a stick.

  My knees shook as the cold blue eyes of a predator alighted on me. What ancient looked like, I couldn’t have said before that moment, but as King Julius watched me, I knew. Minds within minds, bodies within bodies, souls within souls. A thousand stories in one book that only he could read. He knew my past and future already.

  Thank fuck for Lionel. The vampire supported nearly all my weight without visible effort as we walked to the base of the massive steps. Otherwise, I would have collapsed in a pathetic heap at the threshold.

  Kyros was a lot to handle when he lost control, but his six-hundred-year-old father was completely muted right now—his eyes not shining in the least—and I had no thought but to lose control of my bowels and curl into the fetal position. This creature was so powerful, he couldn’t hide it.

  Breathe, Basi.

  King Julius could be in no doubt about the effect he had on me, yet the Vissimo didn’t relent in his stare. I was nothing to him. A pitiful human not worthy of empathy.

  I’d have to conquer my reaction to him before Ingenium ended.

  Lionel halted us beside Kyros.

  I worked to straighten my spine, to ignore the weak sputtering of my heart as I met King Julius’s gaze. For as long as I could anyhow—about two seconds at a time.

  “This is it?” he spoke without removing his gaze from my face.

  “I’m Basilia Le Spyre,” I answered, locking my knees and releasing Lionel—for better or worse.

  The king smiled, displayed his teeth.

  I clamped my lips against rising bile.

  “Did I speak to you, human?” he asked, a melodic lilt to his voice.

  That was a rhetorical question. I was certain of it.

  “Answer me.”

  Or not! My heart stalled and restarted. Blood pulsed in my ears. Recognising where one beat began and another ended was impossible.

  “I’m unsure, King Julius. You looked at me, but I thought it strange you referred to me as it.”

  The fear wasn’t mine this time. As though I needed to feel Kyros’s as well.

  “You’re a modern-day woman,” he said dismissively. “Predictable.”

  Oh, really? He wouldn’t be saying that by the end.

  There wasn’t a speck of warmth in this being. Rigidity. Power. Steel. The Vissimo was a siege: an apocalypse.

  I absolutely did not want to get on his bad side.

  One blink. That’s how long I’d survive if I decided to be a smartass. Thousands of people depended on the jobs the Le Spyre estate generated internationally. Then there were those on my property whose lives were more directly at risk.

  Guess I was eating humble pie for lunch.

  Bowing low, I said demurely, “My apologies, King Julius. I read the situation wrong.”

  “Spineless too,” he stated, allowing me to see his disgust once more before shifting his gaze.

  I nearly fell flat on my face, but I kept my shoulders back and my chin tilted, smiling inwardly at the thought of Grandmother’s secret office.

  Kyros stole a quick look my way.

  The king arranged the folds of his coarse sarong. His attention had terrified me so much, I’d registered nothing but his cold eyes. Topless, with a goatee, he looked like a mix between a sexy pharaoh and rugged shepherd. “Heir, explain yourself.”

  Kyros was the outward picture of calm. Within, anything but.

  He climbed two stairs and sank to his knees. “King Julius, Miss Le Spyre’s acquisition rates are 25 percent higher than the best performing of my realty staff. I had previously asked her to hold a once-weekly class for my staff to improve their manner with humans in the hope of boosting the overall acquisition rate. I met her again today to renew my request.”

  King Julius’s brows climbed. “Requesting, heir? Do you not share a blood bond with this human?”

  Okay, the human thing was going to get old fast.

  “Yes, Father. Three, as you know.”

  Was I alone in feeling the iron beneath Kyros’s words? The glimmer in Julius’s eyes made me think not.

  Careful, Kyros.

  The king growled. “Then it is your property. You do not ask a dog whether it wants to round up sheep. You do not request that those in your power complete a task. Have I raised you to be weak?”

  Wow. Talk about old school douchebag. The temptation to woof was real, but his eyes flickered my way. This was as much a test for me as for Kyros.

  “My mistake, Father. Thank you for your wisdom.”

  The iron was definitely noticeable in Kyros’s voice this time. I sent him a tendril of caution, having no idea if the warning reached him or not.

  “Human,” the king said in bored tones, “do you think yourself above my heir’s request?”

  I forced myself to meet his gaze, managing one second. “I do not.”

  “Do you believe yourself to have some hold over my eldest son to deny his demands?” He leaned forward on his throne.

  My chest clamped for a full three seconds before the fear from his tiny actions loosened. “I don’t believe the lessons will have the effect he desires.”

  This was the perfect chance to get onto Level 66 on a permanent basis—if I didn’t die.

  I cut the king off. “The problem in your strategy is more deep-rooted than simple lessons can fix.”

  How many siblings gasped behind me? All eight?

  The only sound in the low-ceilinged and gold-draped chamber was my ragged breathing.

  “Problems in my strategy,” the king said softly, his lips white.

  Mentally, Kyros was waving his hands in the air and holding a sign that read fucking stop.

  Too late.

  King Julius’s question was rhetorical this time, but I was already knee-deep in shit. “Yes, your… majesty. Ingenium is a game between two Vissimo clans, but the game board is a human city. I believe it a major weakness that you don’t have more humans involved. I can understand the need to keep most at a distance—the CEOs and such, but the minds of Vissimo and humans work differently. Our desires and priorities aren’t the same. That is a deficit that can be filled. My question to you is: Could the game plan of Clan Sundulus be further honed? Surely both clans are neck and neck. A tiny advantage could be the difference in winning.”

  Sweat trickled down my back. Would it look bad if I sat down for a rest? Probably.

  “Indeed.” The king sat back.

  Was I meant to answer? Kyros sent a negative blast.

  I remained mute.

  “The game is so evenly balanced that a 2 percent difference would be enough to trigger the end cascade,” he said, eyes flaring.

  I gagged twice, slapping a hand over my mouth.

  “Father,” Kyros said sharply.

  King Julius muted again, and I mentally walloped Kyros upside the head. Good one, moron. That was a freakin’ test too.

  “What are your recommendations, human?” the ancient vampire asked.

  This guy had to have three brains w
orking at once. His subject and mood changes were a six-way tug-of-war.

  I paused. Somehow, leading in with I can join your inner-circle meetings every night seemed bound to raise suspicions.

  “I hadn’t thought that far,” I told him, casting my eyes downward.

  Kyros tensed.

  His father scoffed. “Humans. So full of opinions, so lazy with solutions.”

  That was me. Lazy Basi. And hopefully alive Basi.

  “Children?” The king addressed the vampires behind me.

  Neelan stepped forward. “Form a focus group from those blood-compelled to our family. See what ideas they formulate after each roll, but leave them in the dark to those we take and implement.”

  King Julius didn’t react other than a slight shifting of his gaze.

  “Look for other sources of tutorship, human communication courses,” Deirdre put in. “Though I don’t agree that’s a weakness in our strategy.”

  Rory cleared his throat. “We already have a marketing budget for research on human wants and needs. Increase that budget. We don’t need to think like humans, merely know what they desire and pour more of our resources behind that.”

  “I disagree,” I said, hands behind my back. “The game board is surely becoming smaller—especially in terms of realty, which is the largest industry. Your marketing tricks may fool the majority, but what about the trouble cases who have shown resistance to your current approach?”

  Lalitta shuffled forward. “I think human lessons are a really good idea, if Miss Le Spyre would agree.”

  King Julius’s gaze softened the veriest amount before firming again. It didn’t surprise me that Lalitta had managed to touch whatever semblance of a heart he had left.

  “Do we really want a group of humans aware of our clan strategy?” Gerome asked.

  Lionel returned to my side at the base of the stairs. “All human liaisons barring Basilia are tied by a single blood exchange, Father. That is easily broken by Fyrlia royals. The risk is large for a mere theoretical gain.”

  My eyes shifted to Kyros, who still knelt in silence. When was the king going to let him stand? Humiliating him like this was a bit much for visiting the human, wasn’t it?

  Frowning, I glanced up at the king to find his attention riveted on me. Crap.

  I forced my attention to the wall behind the king as Safina climbed to stand beside her eldest brother, resting a hand on his shoulder.

  “A human liaison,” she announced. “Someone already in our near-absolute control. Someone already aware of the workings of our game who can provide daily input on our proposals.”

  The siblings turned to me, and I was slammed by a wave of defeat from Kyros. He didn’t want me further embroiled in the game?

  I kind of appreciated that.

  “Don’t look at me,” I shot at the siblings, playing my part. “I have my estate to run.”

  That really did take up several hours of my day.

  Safina tilted her head. “You work for Live Right already. Your job role can be changed.”

  I blew out a breath. “Did I say I liked you?”

  “No, you said I was a badass bitch.”

  I scrunched my nose. I suppose that’s still true. “In all seriousness, your meetings are in the middle of the night. I like my current job—”

  Fingers curled around my throat.

  The king lifted me bodily off the ground, eyes flaring softly.

  I hadn’t even seen a blur when he moved!

  My toes scrambled for purchase as I wheezed and gurgled through the burning grip constricting my breath. My eyes bulged and I pleaded with him silently to release me.

  His blue eyes bored into mine, and like a stretched rubber band pinging back on itself, my mind and body were no longer my own.

  “Why are you here?” King Julius demanded, his voice coated in icy daggers.

  My feet settled on the ground as his grip on my throat relented so I could answer. My lips moved without my permission. “Because I have to be.”

  “Do you love my heir?” His eyes bore into every corner of me.

  “No. The blood bond isn’t real.”

  “Does he love you?”

  “No. He’s led by the blood bond.”

  King Julius regarded me. “How simple you are. Why did you return to his tower?”

  “To win the game.”

  “By all reports you hate games,” he replied.

  It wasn’t a matter of choosing words carefully or withholding the truth, I had to answer. “I do. This game has taken too much from me. I will win it.”

  His lips curved. “A human win Ingenium for Clan Sundulus? How ludicrous.”

  I awaited his command.

  “Are you working for Clan Fyrlia?” he asked, his fingers tightening once more.

  “I’d never work for those fuckers.”

  Tears squeezed from both eyes as spots filled my vision. My legs lost their strength, my arms fell away from where they’d gripped his wrist in some puny attempt to save my life.

  The rubber band pinged again.

  He released me from his mind compulsion, and I collapsed to the floor, sucking in great gulps of air through my bruised, raw throat.

  “Rise, heir.”

  Kyros stood immediately, not sparing me a glance as I trembled on all fours, trying to force away lingering clouds from his father’s mind rape. A vibrating wrath settled over me—Kyros’s—and I realised just how much control he was being forced to exert. His need to kill and destroy was so strong, it made me want to attack the king.

  Gerome had compelled me like that once before—after the first blood exchange—and Kyros lost it. His father just trampled the blood bond big time; even I knew that was a serious no-no.

  I sent Kyros what I hoped were soothing vibes. He could not lose his shit right now.

  “Son,” King Julius spoke dispassionately. “You have disappointed and disobeyed me.”

  Kyros lowered his head, eyes fixed on his father’s bare feet. I didn’t mistake it as subservience. He was hiding the violence in his expression.

  “I will do better, Father.”

  Managing to get my legs under me, I dragged myself upright again, mind furiously rehashing what I’d let slip to the king. I said I’d wanted to win. He’d assumed I meant on behalf of his clan. My hands shook.

  His superiority complex had led him to grossly underestimate this particular human, and that’s the only reason I was alive or not tied to him through a blood compulsion right now.

  Fuck.

  Julius resumed his throne. “You are expressly forbidden from exchanging blood with this human again. Do you understand?”

  Kyros bowed low and remained that way. “With respect, Father. My control is no longer absolute around her.”

  “Was it ever, heir?”

  Burn.

  “My blood wishes to claim her without delay. In all ways. I have tried to seek physical gratification twice without losing control and met with failure.”

  That. Bastard. Was everything a fucking experiment to him?

  Not that I wasn’t at the beach for my own reasons, but just when I thought myself the ultimate seductress, he went and usurped my efforts.

  “Then you best figure out how to control yourself,” King Julius said in a silken voice. “Especially considering she is to be our new human liaison.”

  The king sneered down at me. “Present yourself for the dice roll each night. You will henceforth work from midnight to 3:30 a.m. on Level 66. Whether you spend the rest of your workday in house acquisition or in tutoring the other staff, I leave to the discretion of my heir.”

  This was perfect, but I had to put up some fight. “I don’t believe I can keep up that kind of routine ongoing. It will take its toll on me physically and impede my decision making.”

  He ignored me. “Kyros, today I could have compelled this human through blood, and I did not. Do not do me the disservice of taking that mercy for granted.”

  I rel
eased a shaking breath.

  “Thank you, Father.”

  Fuck you, Father.

  “Thank me by not demeaning yourself with a mate bond to a human, no matter if she is smarter than the average cattle. Seducing her for her assets was acceptable when you maintained a dignified distance. My heir will not attach himself permanently to a baser race.”

  Hurt spliced me at his callous mention of using me like a dishcloth. Regret coursed through Kyros.

  “Lover, are you telling a young male not to pursue a young woman?” A clear voice rang out.

  An ethereal goddess of a woman appeared from between the curtains behind the throne. Kyros’s mother. The queen of Clan Sundulus. I’d seen her on the live stream of the dice roll.

  … Though not topless with only black garters and silken black underwear on.

  Whatever floats your boat.

  “Mom!” Neelan hissed, turning away.

  I glanced back to see most of the siblings blurring from the room. Mirth bubbled up my throat as Rory covered his eyes while Safina merely looked amused.

  “My queen,” the king greeted, taking her hand as she approached him in some otherworldly gliding impression of a swaying walk.

  I could barely take my gaze from her. No wonder both kings had wanted to harem her up. Milky skin seemed to glow and rich blonde tresses trailed to her lower back. Did vampire moms breastfeed? Because her boobs sat higher than mine. Her rosy nipples could have their own Twitter page.

  Maybe I’d start one.

  “Lover, do you think it wise to give our son an order he cannot possibly keep? To deny a blood bond with a true mate, is not that cruel? You know as well as I that being human is no real barrier.”

  Alarm coursed through the bond, every speck of it from Kyros. What the hell was that about?

  The king’s gaze trailed to his queen’s breasts and then lower.

  I glanced over my shoulder again, enjoying the sight of Safina turning faintly green. The only one left, she turned tail and marched from the chamber.

  Kyros remained with his head down, but his discomfort and disgust were discernible through his continued rage. Turns out parent PDA was viewed the same by both species.