by L. J. Red
“Gloria, let go,” I said as her next tug almost took me off my feet. I tried to lever her fingers off my arm but she only gripped me tighter and I hissed as her sharp nails punctured the leather of my jacket and cut into my flesh. “For fuck’s sake, Gloria. Let me go.”
“This isn’t a party for the likes of you,” she hissed. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing. You finally realized what you gave up when you walked out on Valerian. Well, you’re not getting him back. I won’t let you.”
“Walked out?” I said, my voice empty with shock. “Is that what you think happened?”
She looked at me, halting our progress to the edge of the room, and I saw her eyes flicker with a hint of confusion. How could she not know what really happened? I thought everyone knew. “Oh, don’t lie to me, Gloria,” I said. “I’m sure you all had a good laugh about it. The stupid human getting in too deep, learning her lesson.” I tried again to pull my arm free, but no use; she only gripped me tighter.
“I don’t care whatever stories you’re making up. Riffraff like you shouldn’t even be here. Just like your sister.”
Anger flashed through me and I growled. “Don’t mention my sister,” I said between clenched teeth.
A glitter appeared in her eyes. “Oh yes,” she said, and I hated that she’d clearly remembered exactly where to twist the knife. “Didn’t anyone tell you? Your precious sister was just like you, sniffing around all the vampires, desperate for—”
She didn’t finish her sentence because my fist connected with her face before she could get the words out. Satisfying as it was to punch her, it barely even marred the makeup on her flawless skin. I winced, shaking out my hand, it was like punching a rockface. She refocused on me, her eyes blackening with rage, her fangs sharp against her lips. Fuck. I tugged sharply but her grip on my arm was tight.
“You’ll pay for that, you little bitch,” she said, pulling me in close and gripping my shoulder with her other hand, squeezing cruelly as she widened her jaw. I froze, paralyzed with fear. I even forgot about the knife in my waistband. All I could see was her fangs and all I could remember was the fluttering kick of my heartbeat as it came close to its last. The veil around me rippled and swelled. For a moment I could hear the spirits whispering “welcome” in my ear. She was going to bite me right here in the middle of all these people, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Her fingers curled around my choker, pulling so that it cut into my neck, but before her fangs reached my neck, she was torn away, my jacket ripping as she was flung out past the door, into the courtyard by a sudden violent force. I dragged in a deep breath, movement returning to my limbs in time to see the shape that had hit her resolve into Valerian. Blurring fast, he swiped at Gloria, catching her face as she danced back, his nails scoring three red lines across her cheek.
Shit. I glanced over my shoulder at the rest of the revelers. A vampire throwdown in the middle of their swanky party wasn’t exactly going to help my case. Alexandra might be willing to let me ask my questions now, but not if I let her party turn into a brawl. I walked quickly after the two of them, pulling the courtyard doors closed behind me.
“Stand down, Valerian,” I said, remembering last night and the wild rage he had unleashed on the humans. Neither of them listened to me. Valerian growled, his eyes flashing dangerously, lit with an inner glow, and placed himself squarely between me and Gloria. “For fuck’s sake,” I said to Valerian’s broad muscled back. “Get out of my way.” I was hesitant to touch him; I didn’t want to risk accidentally unleashing his violence. And yet this was the third time now that he had stood between me and danger. What was he playing at?
Gloria’s voice was a whispering tremble. “Valerian? What did I do wrong?”
“Stay the fuck away from Tiana,” he said, his voice low and menacing.
“We were just talking.”
“I can smell blood,” he snapped. Shit. My arm. I clutched it, holding the tear in the leather together, hoping that would stem the blood flow, and I hissed as it pressed on my wounds.
“You’re protecting her,” Gloria said, shock staining her voice.
There was a pause, and then Valerian said in a different tone of voice, “The queen has ordered it so.”
My chest tightened. That was why he was doing this. Stepping between me and danger. The queen wanted me alive long enough to clear their name. It wasn’t anything to do with Valerian and me. Gloria caught my eyes over Valerian’s shoulder. Her pale hand was pressed to the cut on her cheekbone and she looked livid, high spots of color in her cheeks. I certainly hadn’t won any friends here.
“Leave, Gloria,” Valerian said. “Don’t let me see you again or those scratches will be the least of your troubles.”
“You know the rule,” Gloria said, her anger transferring to Valerian, a bitter twist to her words. “Queen Alexandra won’t allow any fights. Not after the murders.” Her eyes slid to mine, widening in realization. “That’s why you’re here.”
“No shit, Sherlock.”
“Little Miss Investigator,” she sneered, “just like last time.” I glared at her warningly but she didn’t bring up my sister again, perhaps because of Valerian’s looming threat. “These murders had nothing to do with us.”
“One of them worked for you, didn’t she?”
“Yes,” Gloria said hesitantly, her eyes darting to the side. I just waited, very aware of Valerian’s silent, ominous presence beside me. “Sahin, yes she was passable I suppose. Hard-working at least.”
“Hard-working? She come here during the day as well as the night?”
“Perhaps. How should I know? Vampires sleep through the day.” She rolled her eyes.
I glared. “She never mentioned it? Did she have an office here? Room? She did work for you. What, did you just glide in, bark orders, and then glide out without ever listening to her?”
Gloria sneered. “She was just a human.”
“Lovely. Great working environment. Work for us, get shit on, then get brutally murdered.”
“No one murdered her.”
“Someone fucking murdered her. She didn’t trip, fall on a tuning fork, and bleed out by herself.”
“It wasn’t a vampire, I mean. Not someone from the court at least.”
“So, some random vampire came down from, what, Canada? For a spot of good time American murdering and then went home again?”
Gloria just sniffed.
I tried to level my breathing, adrenaline still pumping. This wasn’t helping the investigation. “Hard-working,” I said, returning to what she had let slip. “Better than you.”
I caught the slight widening around her eyes.
“Feeling threatened, Gloria?”
“By a human? Hardly.”
“The human who knew her job, who knew how to rehabilitate your image better than you did. A human Alexandra favored?”
“She didn’t favor her,” Gloria said angrily. “I’m a vampire. I’m in charge. It was my project.” Her voice rose. “No upstart human was going to replace me.”
Her words echoed in the silence.
She realized what she’d just said. “I didn’t kill her.”
But I wasn’t convinced.
“I’ve had enough of this,” she snapped. Gloria sped away from us, her body seeming to ripple through the air she moved so fast, across the courtyard to the edge of the gardens and then disappearing into the night.
Well that wasn’t suspicious at all. I scanned the darkness, still tense. What she planning to come at me again?
“She won’t come back,” Valerian said. I jumped, his voice was closer than I expected, and when I turned he was at my shoulder.
“No,” I said, “I suppose she won’t.” There was something to be said for having a wrathful vampire protecting you. It was kind of like having an attack dog. I caught a glimpse of Valerian’s fangs peeking out from behind his lip and was suddenly aware again of the choker around my neck. Yeah, an attack dog, only
you could never be sure the dog wasn’t rabid.
I sighed, my shoulders slumping. It was tempting to pin it on Gloria, she had clearly resented Sevda’s position at court, but Oliver? What did he have to do with it? Gloria was a brittle vampire with not much confidence and a raging jealous streak. I could see how Sevda—good-looking, competent, valued by the queen—could set her on edge. But Oliver? A random blood donor? He wasn’t even her type.
“Tiana,” Valerian said, his voice rough, the same light in his eyes as I had seen in the car on the way here. Yeah, Oliver wasn’t her type at all.
“What?” I asked, tired, angry, and now injured. This night was just getting better and better.
“You should be more careful. The court is not safe—” His nostrils flared and his eyes fastened on the rip in my jacket sleeve. Fuck. I’d forgotten about the wound.
“Valerian,” I said warningly, ice creeping down my limbs. He inhaled deeply, his lips drawing back from his teeth, long fangs protruding sharp and wicked. “Get away from me,” I said. My voice had a tremble in it that I hated to hear. My heartbeat thumped hard against my ribs as I took a step back.
He swung his head to track me, his eyes unerringly on my sleeve. “You’re injured,” he said, and I could practically hear his teeth grinding. “That bitch cut you,”
“It’s fine,” I said. “Just a scratch. I’ll live.”
He took a half step forward and I flinched away from him. He pulled short, his eyes flaring with as he finally seemed to realize just how terrified I was. His gaze left my arm and flicked over my body, taking in my tense stance and landing on my neck, on my choker, before rising to my face. I knew my eyes were wide, pupils blown. Blood rushed to my head and heart. Fight or flight; it was instinct and I was a human facing a predator. Gloria’s aborted attempt to throw me out was nothing on the terror I felt facing Valerian. Gloria had never hurt me like he had. Was he going to attack? Was this the short and stupid end to my life? Falling foul of vampires once again.
“Wait here,” he said. And the air rippled around him as he moved so fast, he almost seemed to disappear. My heartbeat stuttered. I hadn’t expected that.
I looked about me. The courtyard doors were open again; I hadn’t even heard him go through them. A second later there was a wash of displaced air and I spun back. Valerian was before me once more, but this time he wasn’t alone. Clutched in his grip was a young woman with tight, curly brown hair and a somewhat dazed expression on her pale face. He stepped away from her and she stood unsteadily. “Phew,” she said, “I can never quite get used to moving that fast.” Her smile was a little wobbly as she turned to look at me. Who the fuck was this?
“Who the fuck is this?” I asked.
“Eve. She will help you,” Valerian said. “She is a human.” Then there was another wash of air and he was gone. I spun around. The courtyard doors were closed again. I turned back to the woman, Eve, now thoroughly confused, and fixed her with a glare. “You’d better tell me what the fuck is going on,” I said.
Chapter 12
Eve looked up at me. She was a couple of inches shorter than I was and maybe a year or two younger, or maybe it was just her fresh-faced, innocent expression that made me think that.
“Your arm? He said you were injured? I’ve got a first-aid kit back in my room.”
“Your room?” I asked, confused, but as I said it, I suddenly understood.
“Yes,” she said, “I live here.”
“Of course,” I said, sighing, “you live here. You’re a blood donor. You can’t expect vampires to leave the building to get a meal after all.”
She frowned at me.
“Nothing, ignore me,” I said, finally, the pain from Gloria’s attack finally breaking through the adrenaline and terror of my face off with Valerian. “Lead on.”
Eve took me round the back stairs, away from the room where the party was going on, up to a familiar narrow corridor lined with doors. Bedrooms. I wondered how many were filled right now. “Here,” she said, pushing open the door, and I was struck with an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. Had I been in this room before? Was it this exact room? Or did they all look the same? “You can come in,” Eve said hesitantly. She laughed. “It’s owned by vampires anyway, so the invitation thing doesn’t even—”
“I’m not a vampire,” I said, cutting her off and striding in, shaking off the memories clustering in the corners of my mind.
The room was small. A tiny window secure with blackout blinds set in the corner. A little bed, desk, and door on the other side that led into a shared bathroom. She emerged with the first-aid kit and gestured for me to sit on the bed. The bed was a single but the mattress was plush as I sank into it. I looked around again. While the room was spare, it wasn’t spartan. Eve had introduced a few luxuries: flowers on the desk, a rug in the center of the room.
“So,” she said, “are you here for the party?” A small frown appeared on her face as she took in my leather jacket, clearly too polite to tell me I wasn’t dressed for it.
“Not exactly,” I said, shrugging out of it and carefully pulling my arm free. Blood had soaked into my shirt, more than I expected. Gloria’s fingers had gone deep. I ended up taking my shirt off completely so she could more easily clean the wounds.
“You do this kind of thing often?” I asked.
“Oh, no,” she said, glancing up at me quickly from under her eyelashes. “Not often. They treat us pretty well; it’s just sometimes,” she laughed nervously, “the bite, you know. It can get a little out of hand.” I flinched under her hands. “Oh, I’m sorry did that hurt?”
“No,” I said shortly.
She didn’t need to know it wasn’t her touch that had made me flinch but old memories better put to rest.
“They’re usually really careful, have an EMT on hand at parties and everything.” You break it, you bought it, I thought.
“How long have you worked here?” I asked.
“Oh, about six months now,” Eve said. “It’s just fantastic. I mean vampires are so glamorous and—”
“Spare me,” I said wryly.
Her eyes narrowed, and I realised there was a mind in there, behind the airhead persona, interesting.
“If you’re not a fan of vampires,” she said, “then why are you here?”
I leaned back a little, casting my eyes over her again. I’d made the same mistake vampires did. Assuming the humans around them were dumb, easily controlled. I didn’t know anything about this girl. I decided not to play my hand too soon.
“I’m not, not a fan of vampires,” I said. “I just haven’t spent much time with them,” I lied shamelessly. “What’s it like working here? Are the other humans friends of yours?”
“Well,” she tilted her head to the side, “some, yeah, but we all have our own duties, you know? I mean, we are on hand if they need blood, but mostly we’re here because we can serve the court in some way.”
“So, bed and board. I suppose that’s part of the deal?”
“Yup,” she said. “They give us reduced rent and it’s a pretty great place to live. I mean, Mercer Island. I would never be able to afford this if it wasn’t for the vampires.”
“Sure,” I said, “and the blood tax, that’s just part of the deal?”
“Not if you don’t want it to be,” she said with a frown, leaning back. My arm was neatly bandaged, she’d done a good job. “But who wouldn’t?” she continued. “I mean the bite, it’s so…” Her eyes fluttered shut in remembered pleasure. “It’s indescribable, really. It just feels so great.” She ended with a breathy little laugh.
“Yeah,” I said, looking down, unable to hide the bitterness in my voice. “So great.” I looked up and she was frowning again. Whoops, tone it down, Tiana. “So, when they need you, they just click their fingers and you come, is that it? Any of them?”
“Well, yes,” she said. “I mean, I’m not looking for forever if that’s what you mean. I know some people are. Some of the humans are ta
ken, you know, in a relationship with a single vampire so they don’t give blood to anyone else.” She looked at me consideringly. “Is that what you have with your vampire?”
“My vampire?” I said, my turn to be confused.
“Yes,” she said, “the enforcer. He doesn’t come to court much.” She leaned forward and dropped her voice, her eyes shining. “Valerian.”
I stood abruptly. “No,” I said shortly, “he is not my vampire. That’s not—that’s not what this is.”
“Oh,” she said, abashed. “I’m sorry, I just thought—”
“The forever thing is bullshit anyway,” I said, talking over her. “The mystical bond when a vampire gets their teeth in your neck. It’s just chemicals and mind games.”
Her frown was deeper. “I don’t know; I heard about this guy who can talk telepathically with his—”
“Spare me the fucking mystical crap.” I might be a witch, but I had to draw the line somewhere. “Thanks for the bandage.” I went to the door, stopping before pulling it open. The case. I had to finish questioning her, even if being here was stirring up uncomfortable memories. I turned. “You ever heard of someone called Oliver working here?”
“Oliver?” she said, straightening the edge of her bedcover. Her hands curled protectively over the blanket. Good job, Tiana. She looked at me and I could see an edge of hurt in her eyes. It was like kicking a puppy. I felt like shit.
“Yes,” I said, “Oliver.” Trying to focus on the case. “He worked here for a little while.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so,”
“About yay height, red hair, freckles.”
“No,” she shook her head, “sorry. Maybe he worked here before me.”
Could Oliver have left the court six months ago? No, it would have been in the file. They should have crossed over. Maybe the court employed enough blood donors that they could work shifts.
“But you must know Sevda,” I said casually.
“Oh yes,” she said, lulled by my tone, then her eyes widened as if she’d just admitted something she hadn’t meant to. She knew something. “It’s very sad,” she said, looking down.