“Sure. Let me lead.”
As they came out from between two camera trucks, a pair of cops approached them. Luke showed his ID and filled them in on the situation. “And she’s allowed to stay until six a.m. when he’s released.”
“I’m taking him home,” she added. But not to the freighter, back to her house, where she’d already told Fi and Velimai to hire a company to helioglaze every window she had. Mal needed to be safe there. Especially since he might be spending a lot more time with her in the future. If things went well. Nervous energy tightened her belly. It would go well, wouldn’t it?
“We’ll make sure the other patrols know,” the older cop said. He moved aside. “Go on through.”
She touched Luke’s arm. “Thank you.”
“Not a problem.”
With that, she navigated the maze of camera equipment, scaffolding, and power lines. The stench of gasoline and exhaust coming off the generators nearly choked her. Mal’s sensitive nose must be overloaded.
As she approached, he lifted his head and squinted. With the harsh lights behind her, he probably couldn’t see her glow or make out who she was. Could he even smell her over the reek of the generators?
A few more feet and his expression told her he’d recognized her. “You came.”
Despite the circumstance, she couldn’t help but smile. She wrapped her arms around him and tipped her head back to see him better. “Of course I did. Did you think I’d let you go through this alone? I know you did this to even the debt the pride wants paid.”
He nodded. “I got a few words to Doc as we passed. He’d better make this work.”
“He will. I’m sure. The pride has to appreciate what you did for him tonight.”
Mal’s gaze pored over her face, his expression softening. “You look so different. Like the night we first met.” He laughed a little. “You’re not going to stab me again, are you?”
She tightened her embrace. “Ever? Or just right now?”
He laughed harder. “I’m really glad you came. It’s easier with you here.”
She let go of him long enough to pull her hood down a little more; then she cupped his face, went up on her tiptoes, and pressed a kiss to his mouth. “We’re a team now, right? We stick together.”
“I like you in black.” He leaned as far forward as he could, causing the chains to creak, and kissed her again. “It makes you much more agreeable.”
She swatted him lightly. “I see public humiliation has done nothing for your attitude.”
“Did you expect it to?”
She flattened her hand against his chest, feeling the intensity of the moment very strongly. She peered into his dark, silver-speckled eyes. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?” The chains were enormous. Like something they’d use on a circus elephant, back when circuses had been legal. “Your shoulders and arms must be killing you.”
He shrugged, or tried to, making the chains sway. “Another hour and I’m done.”
She checked the watch she’d found in her mother’s jewelry box. “Forty minutes and counting.” Keeping her hood low, she moved behind him and began massaging his shoulders and biceps.
He moaned so softly she knew she alone had heard it. “Am I hurting you?”
“No. Feels good.”
“Remind you of New Orleans?” The memory of his hands on her swept through her like a wildfire.
“Mmm, yes. I wouldn’t mind doing that again.”
She kneaded the heavy muscles of his shoulders. “Finding the city a new guardian?”
“Being alone in a hotel room with you.”
“Wicked creature.” She massaged his arms a little while longer, then came back around the front of him. His eyes were heavy-lidded with pleasure but sparked with a silvery desire she’d come to recognize long ago. “I’ve been thinking…”
“Yes?”
“It’s time you got off that freighter and found a real place to live.”
Some of the pleasure faded. “That is a real place to live.”
She glanced down at the cobblestones beneath them. “You know what I mean.”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t. I’m not exactly flush. It’s not like I can buy the house next to you.”
She dug her toe into the space between one of the cobblestones and the large grate covering one of the square’s storm drains. “I’m not very good at this.”
“At what?” He rolled his shoulders like he’d suddenly become uncomfortable.
“I’m going to buy a new boat to replace the one Tatiana torched. I want you to move into it. After it’s been helioglazed and everything. Then you wouldn’t be so far away. I mean, I have that huge house and it’s just Velimai and me. You could, I don’t know, train with me sometimes maybe or just hang out in the house if you wanted. There’s plenty of room and—”
“Chrysabelle.”
She took a breath. “If you don’t want to, I understand. I know you’re not a people person. You’ve told me that before, so I—”
“Chrysabelle.” He said her name a little louder this time.
She glanced up.
“Can I talk now?” His gaze had a glimmer of emotion unlike anything she’d seen before.
“Yes, of course, you can talk.”
“The idea of moving that close to you—and let’s be honest, to a wysper—scares me more than anything I’ve faced in a long time.”
The tenuous joy she’d just felt receded like a fast moving tide. “I understand.”
“I’m not an easy person to live with, or near, by any stretch of the imagination.”
She nodded, staring at her hands. “I know.” Maybe she could disappear down that storm drain and away from this embarrassing moment. What had made her think this was a good idea?
“I’m moody—”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
“Argumentative—”
“Also not surprising.”
“And there’s the issue of the voices and the beast I deal with on a nightly basis.”
She toed a loose stone into the storm drain. “I’m fully aware how much they like me.”
“But if you’re willing, so am I.”
“I knew it was a bad idea when I—” She looked up. “Did you just say yes?”
He nodded. “It’s not going to be easy having me as your nearest neighbor.”
“And life with you these past few months has been?”
Remembering the cameras were watching, she leaned in to kiss him again, whispering, “Thank you,” before her ample hood hid both their faces.
“You’re welcome,” he answered as they came apart. He flexed his hands, swinging his arms a little. “This is a hell of a lot better than the last time I was chained up by a woman.”
That he could joke about his past gave her hope, lightening her spirits like the coming dawn lightened the sky. With a start, she stared over his shoulder and into what had once been a very dark sky. “Something’s wrong.”
“What?”
Unwilling to alarm him any more than she already had, she said, “Actually, I don’t think it’s anything, but give me just a second, okay?” She held up a finger. “I’ll be right back.”
Without waiting for his response, she ran back through the muddle of wires and equipment. Most of the camera crews seemed to be focused on their reporters now, all of whom were giving updates. Beyond the harsh lights, the sky was even brighter. She searched for Luke but he was nowhere to be found. She checked her watch.
It was ten after six. How had the time gone so fast?
She grabbed a passing police officer. “What’s going on? He was supposed to be released at six a.m.”
“Not anymore. The mayor made a statement about new crimes coming to light and her new zero-tolerance policy. The vampire’s not going to be released.”
Unadulterated fear sucked the air from her lungs. Her knees almost buckled. “What? The sun’s coming up. It’ll kill him.”
The cop nodded. “
That’s the point.”
“She can’t do this.” Chrysabelle’s entire body trembled uncontrollably. “Where’s Luke Havoc?”
“He’s gone back to the mayor’s. You want me to call him?”
“No.” There was no time. She shoved past the cop and ran back to Mal. She grabbed the placket of his shirt, holding on to keep herself from collapsing. “You can scatter, right? Tell me you can scatter.”
“You’ve asked me that before. The answer hasn’t changed.”
“Could you ever scatter? When you were at full power?”
“What does it matter?”
“Answer me,” she snapped, shaking him.
With a look of surprise, he did. “Not since I stopped drinking from the vein.”
“That’s about to change.” She let go of him and unzipped her jacket, pulling it off her shoulders as her hood fell back, panic making her movements jerky.
“What are you doing?” He pulled against the chains. “What’s going on?”
“The mayor isn’t releasing you and sunrise is only a few minutes away.”
He glanced skyward. His mouth came open slightly as he saw past the bright lights. “Dawn,” he said softly. He closed his eyes and turned his head away. “I’m so sorry,” he muttered. “Go home. I don’t want you to see this.”
“I’m not leaving you.” She grabbed his shirt again. “Bite me. Drink. You’ll get your power back.”
His eyes opened, shining silver. “And kill you, too? No.”
“You’re chained up. I’ll get away before you drink too much. Besides, I don’t die anymore, remember?” She forced away the tears burning her eyes. “Mal, you can’t leave me like this. Not now.”
“Better one of us than both.” He turned his face away from her. “I won’t do it.”
She grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. “If you die, who will protect me from Tatiana?” It was a weak chance, but she prayed dropping his ex-wife’s name would fire him up.
His face shifted, his fangs suddenly visible. “I guess the mayor’s going to get her show after all.” He shook his head. “Whatever happens, I love you. I want you to know that.”
She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him hard. “Then stick around so you can remind me.” She bent her head to the side. “Do it,” she whispered.
He nodded and kissed her neck. Then he struck, fast and deep.
She gasped as he pierced her, the sharp sting long unfelt but still familiar, although she’d never been taken by the throat. Arching into him, she wrapped her arms around his outstretched ones as he drank. His body came to life against hers, warming and expanding with each swallow. Her own body responded in kind, her heart beating in time with his, the freshening of her own power like an intense prickling on her skin. Tears flowed down her face, born of anger and helplessness, but also of joy.
Being bitten was the culmination of a comarré’s reason for being. It was their purpose and their reward. But she’d never loved Algernon, and being pierced by Mal was more than a bite. It was a bonding. If he died, so would she. Maybe not physically, but she felt in her soul the need for him like never before.
The thick chains holding him groaned. Tiny fissures split the surface of one massive link.
Darkness invaded her senses and she knew it was time. He’d had enough. She released him and worked her hands up to his jaw. “No more,” she whispered, putting pressure on him. He nodded, but his fangs stayed in her. She pushed gently at his chest. With him chained and unable to hold on to her, they were separated a moment later.
He panted, openmouthed. Tendrils of black danced above the band of his T-shirt but disappeared as he shook his head, struggling but somehow controlling the beast.
She took a step back. “How do you feel?”
“Whole,” he mouthed. He swallowed and cleared his throat. “Whole,” he said again.
“So do I,” she said. The camera lights switched off suddenly and in the brief moment it took for her eyes to adjust, she thought maybe she’d been wrong about the sunrise. But she hadn’t. The sky was bright enough the lights weren’t needed anymore. She turned east. The horizon burned white-orange. Fear punched her in the gut.
“Jerem, bring the car,” she yelled, knowing the shifter would hear her. Then she spun back around. “Mal, scatter now. You’ve got to—”
The sun broke the horizon, sending rays of light racing forward.
“I’m trying,” he answered. His face contorted in a mask of concentration, eyes closed, body tense.
On the other side of the square, her black sedan jumped the curb and barreled toward them. The look on Jerem’s face said he understood exactly what was happening.
She fell to her knees. “Holy mother, please don’t let Mal die.” The sun kissed his boots, snaking up his legs. Wisps of smoke rose from his body. “No,” she begged the sun, but nothing would stop it now. She reached for his hand. “Mal, please, try harder.”
Harsh rays swallowed his lower half. The sedan screeched to a stop inches away. The sun glared off the car in bright flashes as it breached the horizon and enveloped Mal in its light.
With a last guttural cry, he disintegrated into smoke.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The groundwork had been laid and everyone was in their places. All that remained was to wait, something Tatiana had never been good at, but this time was different. This time as she sat in the dark nursery, listening to Lilith’s soft breathing, she found new patience. And oddly, a niggling of fear she’d never before experienced.
The fear wasn’t for herself but for Lilith. Tatiana was about to put her child in danger, and even if it was ultimately to protect her, that knowledge did not sit well with her. At least she knew Octavian and Daci were in on this plan with her. She felt confident they wouldn’t let harm befall Lilith. She’d even come to believe that Kosmina would protect her child for reasons beyond duty.
She tipped her head against the rocker’s back. By now Daci would be in place, poised to come running in from where she’d just been “passing by” to act as another witness. Octavian and the Dominus and Elders who’d not yet turned in were down the hall in the library. As soon as Octavian heard her call out, he’d come running as well, bringing their guests with him. Hopefully in time to see Svetla’s demise at the hands of the Castus.
The nursery door swung open slowly. Tatiana was positioned behind the screen where Oana, the wet nurse, sat to feed Lilith. She could see slivers through where the panels hinged. Svetla would be able to detect the presence of another vampire, but Tatiana hoped she’d attribute it to Lilith. Or perhaps the compulsion to obey would override any other concerns.
She’d soon find out.
Svetla stood silhouetted in the doorway for a second; then she was in and the door shut again, plunging the room back into darkness except for the moonlight filtering through the diaphanous curtains. For a vampire, it was light enough. Without a moment’s hesitation, she stole toward the crib and scooped Lilith into her arms. Lilith woke, cooing softly.
Tatiana’s heart ached, fearful that Lilith might be scared. She squeezed the arms of the rocker. The one in her metal hand cracked.
Svetla looked up. “Who’s there?”
The time for hiding was gone. Tatiana burst out from behind the screen, throwing the light switch as she did. “You’re kidnapping my child!” she screamed.
“What? No.” Svetla blinked. The compulsion was wearing off, but Tatiana couldn’t call the Castus until there were witnesses.
Daci barged in a few moments later. “What’s happening? I heard loud voices.” She turned to Svetla. “What are you doing with Lilith?”
Octavian skidded to a stop in the open doorway, Lords Timotheius, Syler, and Zephrim following along behind him. “What’s going on? Who’s got Lilith?”
Tatiana pointed at Svetla. “She’s trying to kidnap my child.”
The other lords looked appropriately dismayed. That was all the witnessing Tatiana needed.
<
br /> “Samael,” she bellowed. “Help me!”
The shadows in the room pulled together into a dark column. A great flash of lightning shattered the space and the jagged sourness of brimstone and unclean flesh cut through the room until the stench was unavoidable. Samael stepped out from the column, the shadows giving way to reveal him in all his fetid glory. From the waist down, his body was hidden by a skirt of shadows shifting with tortured faces and clawing hands. From the waist up, he was nude, his skin the burnished red of dried meat.
Tatiana had never been so pleased to see the monstrosity who’d fathered her kind. The others bowed their heads at his sudden arrival. After a quick bow herself, she took a few calculated steps toward him. “My lord.” She spoke without waiting for his greeting, something she prayed he’d forgive. “This one”—she pointed at Svetla—“is trying to kidnap the child you gave to me to raise.”
His mouth pulled back in a grimace as he twisted toward Svetla. “How dare you?” His voice grated the air to brittle shards.
Svetla cringed. “I…”
Samael charged forward. “You think you know better than I? That you should be the one to rear this child?”
She shook her head, clearly terrified. Lilith began to cry. Tatiana rushed to Svetla and took Lilith, cradling the child against her body. “Mama’s got you,” she soothed Lilith, bouncing her gently.
Svetla backed away, but Samael followed. The Dominus looked on with mortified interest. He turned to them. “Which of you is her Dominus?”
The three shook their heads. Only Syler spoke up. “Her Dominus is Lord Grigor. He has already retired for the day.”
“Get him,” Samael screamed.
As if on cue, Grigor stumbled in. Kosmina had seen to it that his last brandy had been laced with a touch of laudanum as well. He rubbed at his eyes. “What is the ruckus?”
“The ruckus,” Samael spat, “is your Elder has defied my command.”
Instantly awake, Grigor assessed the situation. “Svetla, what is the meaning of this?”
“I am just doing what you told me to.”
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