An audible gasp went up from the others. Tatiana almost smiled.
“What?” Grigor howled. “I never told you to do any such thing.”
“Lies. Typical.” Tatiana scowled at him. “You’ve never been a friend to the House of Tepes.”
Kosmina entered from the adjoining dressing room. “My lady, my apologies, but Lord Grigor’s car has been brought around front as he requested.”
Tatiana praised the day Octavian had hired the woman. The kine was as good as he had been as her head of staff. This improvisation would earn her a bonus. “Kosmina, now is not the time.”
“Yes, my lady.” She bowed and ducked out as Samael began to rage again.
“Enough,” he growled. “I told the council that Tatiana and her family were to be protected. I promised that any harm that came to them would be assuaged with the ashes of those responsible. Did you think me a liar?”
All had gone to their knees but Tatiana and Grigor. They responded as a group. “No, my lord.”
Grigor stabbed a finger at Tatiana. “You’re to blame for this.”
“Silence or your life will be forfeit as well.” Samael turned toward Svetla, now crouched against the wall, shaking and crying.
“Please,” she begged. “I meant no harm—”
Samael grabbed her by the waist. His fingers wrapped easily around her body. She pried at his hand, but to no avail. Smoke rose in wisps from her clothing. She swatted at him, terror unlike anything Tatiana had ever seen turning her eyes into glowing silver flares. She wept bodily, screaming, “No, no, no!”
Then a whoosh filled the room and flames swallowed her whole. A few seconds later, they died out. Samael opened his hands and let loose a flurry of ashes to the floor. “For your part in this transgression, Grigor, your power of mind reading is revoked. As for the rest of you, let this serve as a reminder.” He stomped his foot and a cloud of ash puffed up around it. “Disobey me at your own risk.”
Another flash of light and he was gone, leaving in his wake a silence so loud, Tatiana’s ears burned with it. Somehow, during all of that, Lilith had fallen back asleep. Tatiana turned to Octavian. He came to her, pulling her into his arms. “It’s all right. Lilith is safe.”
She nodded, more upset by the event than she’d have guessed she would be. “I know. I’m just shaken, that’s all.”
Lord Syler joined them. “It’s to be expected.” He turned to the group. “I want it known that from this day forward, the House of Bathory will always side with the House of Tepes. Cross them and you cross us as well.”
Grigor swore in Russian. “This is not the end of this, Tatiana. You may align yourself with whoever you choose; it does not change the fact that you are out for your own good and nothing else.”
“If you could read my mind, you’d see that’s not true.” She held Lilith tightly, surprised to find those words truer than she could have imagined. Nothing mattered to her so much as protecting Lilith, but that would never be a problem again. No one would dare come against them after word of tonight spread through the families.
Grigor stormed off, shouting for his things to be packed. Timotheius and Zephrim looked like they’d fallen into a state of shock.
Timotheius straightened. “We should adjourn the council. Grigor’s time as Dominus may have come to an end.”
“Yes, perhaps.” Zephrim nodded as both he and Timotheius looked at Tatiana. “What would you have us do, my lady?”
And for the first time since she’d entered the nursery that night, Tatiana smiled.
When Doc reached Chrysabelle, Jerem was crouched beside her in the square, trying to get her into the car. Jerem stood as Doc approached.
Doc glanced at the chains hanging empty from their posts. “Tell me what I saw on TV was just a trick. Mal’s in the car, right?”
Jerem shook his head. “I wish.”
As numb as Doc felt, he could only imagine how Chrysabelle was. “I can’t believe this. I didn’t believe it when the mayor made the announcement, and I don’t believe it now. He can’t be gone. He can’t be.” How many times had Mal saved his life?
“It was so sudden.” Jerem shook his head. “Something must have happened to change her mind. Unless she planned it all along.”
“Couldn’t be. I was supposed to be there, not Mal. The sun wouldn’t have done anything to me.” He never should have let Mal take his place. Dammit. Mal would still be alive now. He lifted his chin toward Chrysabelle. “How is she?”
“Refuses to leave.”
“Let me talk to her.”
Doc approached her like he might a wounded animal. “Chrysabelle?” He crouched beside her. She rocked back and forth, arms wrapped around her, tears cutting tracks in the makeup she’d used to hide her signum.
She didn’t answer, just stared blankly at the spot where Mal had been.
He wrapped his arm around her. “Let’s go home now.” Gently, he eased her to her feet. Jerem got the car door open. “Come on now, that’s my girl.” She slumped against him, her feet not really moving. Not wanting to make more of a scene for the cameras than they already had, he picked her up and carried her, putting her down again on the backseat. He shut the door and turned to Jerem. “Get her home. I’ll be right behind you.”
Too many minutes later, they’d cleared Mephisto Island security and pulled into Chrysabelle’s driveway. As Doc and Jerem got out, a red-eyed Fi opened the door. Behind her stood her the whirling gray storm that was Velimai.
“Tell me it’s not true,” Fi cried.
Doc held the car door while Jerem lifted Chrysabelle out and carried her inside. “I wish it wasn’t.”
Fi started crying softly. “How could the mayor do this?”
“I don’t know.” Doc pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. She clung to him and wept. “Come on, now. Be strong for Chrysabelle.” And Velimai, who couldn’t seem to pull herself together enough to stay solid.
“Where should I put her?” Jerem asked.
Fi wiped her eyes. “Upstairs. In her bedroom. I’ll go with you.” She pulled away from Doc and led Jerem up the steps.
As they walked away, Doc shifted uncomfortably. Grief was not something he dealt with easily. Anger, yes. But Chrysabelle needed comfort, and anger wasn’t going to do that. “Uh, Velimai, could you help me make tea?” That’s what Chrysabelle had sent him to do the time they’d arrived to find her mother kidnapped by Tatiana. It seemed like a good activity.
Velimai solidified enough to nod. She pointed toward the kitchen, then moved in that direction. He followed.
“I guess you were watching it on the holovision?”
She nodded again and signed something he didn’t understand.
“I don’t know signing, sorry.”
She shrugged and didn’t bother trying to make herself understood.
“I’m surprised you’re so upset about a vampire.” He tried to smile a little, to show he’d meant it as a way of lightening the mood.
She just sat at the kitchen table, put her head between her hands, and stared into space.
Without much else to do, he started opening cabinets and looking for supplies. The kettle was already on the stove, so he turned that on, then went back to rummaging. He made a point of knocking a box out of the cabinet.
Velimai caught it before it hit the ground. She rolled her eyes at him and made shooing motions with her hands.
He got out of the way as she went to work. “Chrysabelle needs us to be strong right now. I don’t feel like it any more than you do, but it’s what she needs.”
Velimai set the tea canister on the counter, then looked around for something. Not finding it, she left and came back a few minutes later with an e-tablet in her hands. She scrawled something and held it out for Doc to read.
The mayor’s the one who’s going to need help when Chrysabelle comes to her senses.
He held his hands up. “No argument there. I was in a council meeting when the mayor’s announ
cement went down. My council members are plenty concerned about what this means for the rest of us.”
She nodded as she scooped tea into a little silver ball.
“We’ve got to keep Chrysabelle from doing anything rash. We can’t lose her, too.”
Setting the tea aside, Velimai wrote something new. How could the mayor do this? Doesn’t she understand how the city will react? Her image flickered again.
“I hear you loud and clear. Maybe we should put the TV on? See if there’s anything new.”
Yes, Velimai signed. One of the few he understood.
The intercom buzzed. Velimai went over to the panel and pushed a button. The guard from the front gate appeared on the small screen. “There’s a visitor here for Ms. Lapointe. Name’s Mortalis.”
Velimai nodded vigorously so the guard could see her.
“Okay, I’ll send him through.”
She clicked the screen off, punched a few other buttons, then turned to Doc. She pointed toward the driveway, her eyes questioning.
“Got it.” He walked back to the foyer, opened the front door, and stood waiting. The gate into the estate was already swinging wide. One of Dominic’s cars pulled through, looking eerily like no one was driving it.
The driver’s door opened, then shut.
“I’m here,” Mortalis called out. “You’ll be able to see me better when I get inside.”
“Better? I can’t see you at all.” Doc stepped out of the way, not really sure where the shadeux was.
“How’s this?” The voice came from the foyer.
Doc turned. Mortalis was slightly visible now, a faded image that reminded Doc of when Fi had been caught in a death loop. “You look like a freaking ghost.”
Mortalis smiled unsuccessfully. “Speaking of ghosts, how’s Fi taking it?”
“Not well.”
Apprehension crept into his eyes. “And Chrysabelle?”
“She’s—”
Footsteps interrupted him. Fi padded down the stairs, Jerem behind her. “She’s catatonic.” Fi shook her head. “I’ve never seen her like this. I don’t know what to do.”
“Maybe we should take turns sitting with her,” Mortalis offered.
Velimai came out from the kitchen, holding a tray with the tea stuff on it. She nodded at Mortalis.
“You want me to go with you? We can sit the first shift.”
She nodded again, moving past him slowly and up toward Chrysabelle’s room. He followed without further comment.
Jerem shifted uncomfortably. “I’m going to crash for a few hours so I can be awake for her later. I’m in the garage apartment if you need me.”
“Thanks, bro.” Doc grabbed Fi’s hand and led her into the living room as Jerem left. “I need to talk to you.” He took a seat on the couch and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight against him.
“Do you need to suffocate me, too?”
He eased up a little. “Sorry. I just don’t ever want to lose you again. Ever. After watching what happened with Mal… time is short, baby. We have no idea what tomorrow will bring. I’m sorry for what I said. I meant it to protect you, but I know it didn’t come out that way. I’m tired of being separated from you. Tired of wondering every day when I’m going to see you again. When you went missing, it just about killed me.”
She settled into his embrace a little easier. “That still doesn’t fix our problem.”
“I’m working on that. I talked to the council about divorcing Heaven.” He hesitated. There was no way Fi was going to take this well.
Her eyes brightened and she smiled. “That’s awesome!”
“Well, yes and no. There are some… stipulations.”
She frowned. “Like what?”
“In order to keep the alliance between the PC pride and the São Paulo pride, and to allow the São Paulo pride to save face, I must provide them with a bond of allegiance.”
“What’s a bond of allegiance?”
He blew out a long, slow breath. “It means I have to give my firstborn child to the Brazilian pride, to be raised as one of their own.”
“You have to give up a kid?” Her face fell. “I… I don’t even know if I can get pregnant. I’ve been a ghost for so long. I—”
He shook his head. “The child has to belong to the São Paulo pride as much as to the Paradise City pride.”
She squinted at him. “What are you saying?”
“I have to get Heaven pregnant.”
Her squint turned into a stare. “You have to become a sperm donor?”
“Not exactly. It has to happen the old-fashioned way. It’s a last-ditch effort to cement the relationship and keep the couple together.”
Fi took a few long, silent breaths, then, just as quietly, got up and stalked away from him. Doc shook his head. The only thing worse than Fi yelling at him was Fi not saying a word.
This was bad. The kind of bad that made the apocalypse seem like a picnic.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Creek parked his V-Rod in Chrysabelle’s drive, surprised by the number of cars already there. With an hour left before the sun set, he knew Mal wouldn’t be around, which was good. That was one vampire Creek didn’t want to run into. Mal would probably have some words about the curfew for him.
Odd that Chrysabelle had yet to revoke Creek’s gate privileges. From what he vaguely remembered about the meeting in the mayor’s office, he was sure they’d be gone and she’d have put his name on a list of people never to be allowed on her property, but the guy at the guard shack had checked his ID and waved him through.
The door opened as he walked up. Doc, the leopard-shifter, greeted him.
“If you’ve come to offer your condolences, that’s fine, but don’t plan on staying long. She’s not up for a lot of visitors right now.”
He stopped on the front porch. “Condolences? For what?”
Doc cocked one brow and stared him down. “You live under a rock?”
Not a rock, but he had been pretty tied up with Yahla lately. “Something like that. What happened?”
“Mal’s dead.”
For a brief, hard moment, the air left Creek’s lungs. His mouth hung open and his heart wrenched with sympathy for Chrysabelle. “What… how?”
“Mayor decided to let him meet the sunrise instead of letting him go at six a.m. as promised.”
“That wasn’t the deal.” Or was it? Damn his missing memories. No, he’d never have supported that. He shook his head. “Mayor wasn’t supposed to do that.”
“No kidding.”
“How’s Chrysabelle?”
“How do you think she is?” Doc didn’t budge from the doorway. “So why are you here if you didn’t know about Mal?”
“I have information for her from the Kubai Mata.”
He crossed his arms. “You can tell me.”
“No, I can’t.” Creek held his position. It took a lot more than three hundred pounds of shifter to scare him.
“You must have a real big pair coming here, seeing as how you’re basically responsible for Mal’s death.”
Creek jerked back. “How the hell do you figure that?”
“You work for the mayor now, right? Part of her advisory team? You were at the press conference when she announced the curfew, right there on the platform with her.” He leaned forward a few inches. “And you didn’t do anything to help when I was captured or Mal took my place.”
“Rules are rules,” Creek said.
“Then I have a new one for you. No KM in this house while I’m here.” He started to slam the door.
Creek stuck his foot in it. “I have information about Chrysabelle’s brother.”
Doc pulled the door back open. “What is it?”
“My instructions are to relay the information to her and no one else.” They weren’t, but Doc didn’t know that.
“Let him in.”
At the new male voice, Doc looked over his shoulder, turning slightly. “You sure?”
Behi
nd him stood Mortalis, the shadeux fae. He was transparent, a visual that gave Creek the creeps. “Yes, I’m sure. Chrysabelle could use a little good news right now.” He glanced at Creek. “I’m assuming this is good news?”
“It’s about where her brother is, so yes. I’d think she’d want to know that.”
Mortalis nodded. “Okay.”
Doc stepped aside, eyeing Creek hard as he entered. “Where is she?”
“Out by the pool. Been sitting out there since she woke up an hour ago. Don’t expect a big reaction. She’s not in good shape.”
Creek nodded. “Got it.” He started forward.
Mortalis stopped him, his six fingers planted firmly on Creek’s chest. He peered intently at Creek. His nostrils flared like he was sniffing for something. “You smell like black magic.”
Creek shoved his hand away. “And you reek like the vampire you work for. Get out of my way.”
Mortalis’s left eyelid twitched. “Don’t be long.”
Creek stormed past and out to the pool deck. He pulled the slider shut behind him, not that a little glass would keep most of those inside from eavesdropping if they wanted to. Chrysabelle sat on the chaise at the farthest edge, staring out at the water.
He sat beside her on the tumbled marble tile, facing the same direction. If she noticed his arrival, she made no indication. He dipped his head to see her better. “Hi.”
She blinked but didn’t respond.
“I heard what happened. I’m very sorry.”
She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “You did this,” she whispered, her voice raw with emotion.
“No, Chrysabelle. It was never my intention—”
“You told me if I didn’t agree to get the vampire baby back, the KM would destroy Mal.”
He swallowed. “The KM had nothing to do with this.”
She whipped her head around, eyes red-rimmed and bruised with pain. “You were in the office with the mayor. You sided with her.” A sob stopped her words for a moment. “And against me.”
He barely remembered being there, but he wasn’t going to admit to his memory lapses to her. “I did what I thought was right.”
“What you thought was right?” She lunged toward him. “I could kill you for what you did. You and the mayor. If you think I’m not going to make her pay—”
Out for Blood Page 18