by Olsen, Lisa
I raised my glass to him, taking another sip to give myself time to think. “I didn’t think anyone was familiar with the formalities anymore. It’s nice to see someone who appreciates the old ways.”
Durand chuckled, perhaps over a triggered memory, or maybe he’d just remembered the punch line to a good joke. “I haven’t heard those words in a long time,” he said finally. “My Sire was definitely old school. It didn’t serve him well in the end, but I believe it gave me certain advantages. Like knowing a good thing when I see it, for one.”
I dodged the flattery, gesturing to the sweeping architecture of the ballroom with a wave of my champagne glass. “You’re obviously doing well for yourself.”
He gave a self-deprecating shrug. “I’ve learned to adapt and embrace the modern era, but the old principles still apply. I was very impressed to hear about your moves for reform up north. I wondered if we couldn’t have a private chat sometime? I’d love to hear your plans for the West in greater detail.”
It didn’t feel like he was hitting on me, but I could sense a definite interest that had nothing to do with my politics. Best to nip that in the bud; I didn’t need any more romantic complications in my life, I was full up already. “That sounds nice, but I’ll be returning to San Francisco as soon as possible.”
“Of course, how selfish of me,” he immediately nodded. “I imagine you’ll be busy, especially with the Gathering to get ready for.”
“Oh right, I forgot about the Gathering.” I vaguely remembered Bishop mentioning it a few times while I’d been in England. Throughout the whole Elder talk, I hadn’t once thought about having to represent the West in front of all the other Houses. All at once, the pleasant glow I’d gotten from the champagne and the I’ve got this mentality started to fade.
“That’s on January twelfth, right?” I mused aloud. That wouldn’t be so bad. I’d have time to prepare. Felix could give me the rundown on what my duties would be and my role in the thing. I figured I’d be low man on the totem pole in Vetis, what with me being a noob as well as from the West – Corley hadn’t made it a secret how the rest of the world viewed the ‘colonies’.
“No, it’s on Twelfth Night.”
“Son of a biscuit, that is coming up soon, isn’t it?” I had days, not weeks to prepare. My gaze started to roam, looking for Felix, thinking we should skedaddle soon and make some plans. I’d need a decent run down on all the Houses (I had no idea how many of them there even were), the major players involved (who I should make nice with and who might be the enemy) and if he expected there to be any Earth-shattering changes. Hadn’t Bishop said there hadn’t been a Gathering for the past fifty years?
“When you return, perhaps?”
“Hmm, what?” I blinked, realizing I had no idea what he was talking about.
“Maybe we can have that talk when you get back?” he tried again.
“Oh, right. Sure, that sounds like fun.”
“I could introduce you to the major players down here, help you get acquainted. Or I could come up to see you, if you prefer.”
“We’ll have to play it by ear, okay? I’m not sure where I’ll be for the next few weeks, and I know you must have plenty to keep you busy as well.”
“I’ll make time.”
Yep, definite interest. “Why don’t you contact my secretary? She can set something up when we’re back in town. Felix can get you the number.” Ooh, I’d always wanted to say something like that! How awesome was it to have an appointment secretary? It’d give me plenty of time to figure out a polite way to discourage his interest. After all, he was an important council member, so I had to be careful not to foster any bad feelings on my first day.
Speaking of which… I caught the sight of Byrne in my peripheral vision. My shoulders should’ve been sore from the way he stared daggers at my back, and I started to think I should be careful accepting drinks in his presence for fear of poison. Almost as if he’d heard my train of thought, Byrne raised his glass of champagne to me in a silent salute – one I might have taken as congratulatory if he’d bothered to hide the predatory gleam to his eye.
Yep, he’s going to be a problem.
Chapter Three
Byrne’s face. I’d already underestimated him once, and I didn’t for a moment think he was about to roll over and be happy for my taking away his big shiny carrot. Felix had the champagne flowing, but I sipped thoughtfully, largely letting Bridget’s animated conversation wash past me until she elbowed me in the ribs.
“Hey, you’re being way too quiet for the baddest motherfucker on the planet right about now.” She gave me a sloppy smile, which I did my best to return, realizing I was being rude. Maggie and Gunnar sat on the opposite seat chatting quietly with Rob beside them, staring out the window, lost to his own thoughts.
“Sorry, I’m just thinking,” I said.
“About what? Don’t you know what this means? You’re the man. You can do whatever you want now. You could have Alice Cooper play at your inauguration thing. And he’d do it too, he was in that crappy vampire movie. He’s not at all picky about public appearances these days.”
Lord help us all if Felix let her plan the thing. “I’m thinking we won’t want somebody so famous performing at a party for vampires. We’re supposed to keep a low profile, remember?”
“So, compel him to forget about it. Or better yet, make him into one. How badass would Alice Cooper be as a vampire?”
“Maybe I’ll have to invite him to the party then?” Felix grinned, leaning forward to refill all of our glasses with champagne. “Are you concerned about the inaugural ball? Don’t worry about a thing, I’ll have my people take care of all of the details.”
“No, I was thinking about Terry Byrne.” I couldn’t get the memory of his beady little eyes out of my head.
Bridget’s face scrunched up as she tried to place the name. “Is that the no-necked goon who thought he had a shot at the title? That guy’s delusional.”
“He may be delusional, but he’s more devious than he looks, and he happens to be the magistrate up in San Francisco. I’m probably going to have to fire him.” The more I thought about it, the better I felt about the idea. Why keep someone in power that I couldn’t stand? Besides, it wasn’t like he was doing a bang up job at it anyway. “Yes, I think I’m definitely going to have to fire that guy. I wonder who I should appoint as the new magistrate?”
How would I put the word out? I could see the ad on Craigslist now – Wanted: Mid-level civil servant needed to represent local chapter of nocturnal special interest group. Must be immune to bribery. Morning people need not apply.
Felix knocked me out of my mental list making of possible candidates. “Are you sure you want to be doing that with the Gathering coming up? Now might not be the right time to stir things up.”
“That’s even more of a reason not to leave that weasel in charge.” I shook my head. “No, I’ll feel a lot better about going to Vetis knowing I’ll have a House to come back to.”
“He’s not that bad, is he?”
“He’s bad enough.” I shared the story of Byrne’s corruption of my bodyguard, Isak, taking pains to try and reduce Gunnar’s discomfort by glossing over Isak’s betrayal as quickly as possible. I followed up with a brief retelling of Rob’s encounter with him on the porch as well.
“Hey, that’s a handy trick you got with the house,” Felix said, brushing aside Byrne’s treachery. “Any chance I can get that girlie to come out and do my place up?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Rob, what do you think?” I wasn’t sure if it was a big deal or an easy spell. It sounded like his sister didn’t like to travel much, but I was pretty sure Felix was willing to pay top dollar.
“Sorry?” Rob suddenly noticed we were all looking at him expectantly.
“Leila. Is there any chance we could call her out to secure Felix’s house? It could be helpful, especially if we’re talking about spending any time down here.”
“Might
could arrange it,” he nodded slowly. “But I thought you were going back to San Francisco, yeah?”
“I am, but I’m guessing I’ll have to travel down here from time to time, right? Felix and the council are all down here. It wouldn’t be very fair of me to expect them to all come up to see me when we need to meet.”
Felix chuckled into his glass as he tipped it up. “Fair ain’t got nothing to do with it, boss. We’ll all schlep ourselves up there whenever you snap your fingers, that’s part of the job. Speaking of which, I should probably think about getting my own place up there seeing as how that’s where all the action is.”
I realized he’d have to pick up and move too after my impromptu declaration to base the government out of the Bay Area now. Maybe not the rest of the council, but surely the Warden would want to stick by my side as much as possible, especially a Warden like Felix who was used to handling a lot of the day to day decisions.
“I’m sorry, you don’t have to move if you don’t want to,” I apologized. “We can do more teleconferences, and like I said, I can come down sometimes, especially if I’ve got the jet at my disposal.”
“Oh, I don’t intend to move there full time. There’s plenty to keep me busy down here, but I’m gonna want my own place if we’ll be spending any time there. What do you think, babydoll?” Felix turned to press a kiss to Bridget’s shoulder. “Would you like to pick out a new place, or would you rather we rough it at a hotel suite whenever Daddy has business up north?”
“I’m fine with whatever,” she shrugged. “But if we get our own place, we can…” The rest of her reply trailed off into whispers as she leaned close, painted lips grazing his ear. The trouble was, I heard way too much of those whispers in the close confines of the car, but I tried to pretend like I couldn’t hear each and every risqué thing she wanted to do with him that required soundproofing in the walls. My eyes slid up to find Rob looking back at me from across the limo, and I knew he could hear them too.
“We’ll have to do that then, won’t we?” Felix grinned, nuzzling against the hollow of her collarbone.
“Okay, well you’re welcome to stay with me whenever you’re in town,” I offered, hoping they didn’t take things much further in the small enclosed space. If he tapped a vein I didn’t think I could handle it. But he straightened, oblivious to my discomfort.
“We couldn’t put you out like that.”
“It’s no trouble, we have plenty of space. The offer stands, at least until you find a place of your own.” Especially with Isak and Ellie gone.
“I probably won’t be going back with you if you’re heading back north right away. I have a few things cooking down here I can’t walk away from too easily. Unless you want me to, of course,” he remembered himself, and I could see it would be an adjustment for him to have to answer to me instead of just doing what he wanted, like he’d probably done under Tommy’s reign.
“No, it’s fine.” I waved him away. “I’ll want to go over some things with you about the Gathering, but we have a few days yet, and we can always talk over the phone or videoconference if you’re tied up here.”
“Plus, we’ll need to make some arrangements for your security before you head back,” he pointed out.
“What’s wrong with the security I have now? My house is impenetrable.”
“You need a much bigger detail for when you go out in public though. I have a feeling once the general population finds out you’re the new big cheese, they’re gonna go nuts. In a good way, of course.”
“I can’t imagine they’d do anything to hurt me,” I frowned.
“I don’t think so either,” Felix amended quickly. “We’re talking strictly crowd control, boss.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Rob volunteered, rousing himself to join the conversation. “I know what’s needed.”
“Good man,” Felix nodded once, raising his glass to him before draining it and topping off the rest of our glasses. So far I’d had two full glasses. Or was it three? It was hard to tell with him topping them off every few minutes as he drank like there was no tomorrow. They started talking about loaning me some of his people to start with until he could arrange for a more permanent security team as befit my new position.
More security. Cool beans.
*
Speaking of security, Rob insisted that Felix’s security staff kept up the patrols until dawn, now that they were housing the Elder of the West. Luckily, Felix didn’t mind the change in protocol, sacrificing his privacy for my safety. Not that I thought I’d be in much danger. Almost nobody even knew I was the new Elder yet.
An errant thought slipped in – what would Bishop think when he found out? If he’d thought it was a bad idea to become the Jarl, he was sure to go ballistic when he found out I was the Elder. I imagined I’d find out once I got to Vetis for the Gathering – it wasn’t like he was shy about telling me how I’d screwed up. The thought had me reaching for another glass of champagne, and another. The bubbly liquid went down smoothly and pretty soon, it didn’t bother me that I’d be front row center for another episode of the Bishop shame-a-thon, live and in color.
By the time we got back to Felix’s house in Malibu, I was feeling no pain, and having a lively conversation with Maggie and Gunnar about the real possibility of a zombie plague. It didn’t bother me at all that Bridget ended the drive from Felix’s lap, their roaming hands growing bolder the closer we got to his place. I’m pretty sure Rob ignored us all on principle; he looked like it was the last place he wanted to be.
At the house, we waited in the driveway as the security team did a rapid sweep of the house, spilling out of the limo as the all-clear was given. And I do mean spilling. When I stepped out of the car, I miscalculated and would’ve ended up flat on my behind if not for my better than human reflexes and a steadying hand from Rob.
“Thanks,” I smiled at him, still clutching his arm as the rest of the group headed for the house.”
“Anytime.”
“You want to go for a walk on the beach? There’s plenty of stars out.”
“No, I think you’d best be getting inside.”
I let him guide me towards the house for a few steps before a suitable argument came to my lips. “But there’s plenty of stars out.”
“Yes, and they’ll be there tomorrow and the day after. You’ve had a big night, I reckon you should be getting some rest right about now.”
“But I’m not at all sleepy. I am kind of thirsty though. I wonder where Maggie is?”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” His brows drew together. What did he have to be so grumpycakes about?
“What’s not? Me being thirsty? I know, that’s why I need Maggie. Maggie!” I bellowed.
“You shouldn’t feed from her if you’ve had too much to drink.”
“You think I want to eat her?” I laughed, as it was suddenly the funniest thing I’d heard in a good, long time. I giggled so hard my stomach started to hurt and he had to wrap an arm around my waist to propel me down the hallway, which wasn’t so bad. Not bad at all. I’d take a sore stomach for that trade off any day.
Maggie appeared at the end of the hallway. “You called?”
“Go and turn down her bed, there’s a good girl,” Rob replied, but I shook myself free from his grip.
“No… hold on. Belay that order,” I thundered, doing my best to straighten up. “Where did you run off to with the champagne? I’m super thirsty.”
“Oh… I set it in the kitchen. Would you like me to fetch it for you?” the pretty brunette offered.
“Yes please, with another glass. I lost my glass,” I realized suddenly. “And bring one for Rob and you guys too. Where is everybody? It’s not that late.”
“Felix and Bridget have gone to bed, and I thought I’d do the same.”
“Oh shoot, I’m sorry. You go on, I’ll find the champagne on my own,” I said, waving her on. She hesitated, looking to Rob for something, but I didn’t see any thing more th
an him nod in response before she slipped off. “Night, Mags, sleep deep,” I called after her, turning to lean against the wall, not because I needed to, but because it felt nice since Rob had let go of me. When had he done that?
“You should get some sleep as well.”
“I know, you said that already,” I smiled, being more at his eye level with my heels on. “If you want to go to bed, you go ahead. I can find the champagne on my own.”
“I’ll stay up a piece longer, make sure everything’s tucked away for the night.”
My head tilted to one side. “Does that include me?”
“It does.”
“That sounds interesting.” I pushed myself away from the wall, hands coming to rest on his firm chest. “Tell me more.”
His fingers lightly encircled my wrists, pulling them away from his torso. “It’s not all that interesting really. Mostly it involves girls in their cups finding the right bed and catching a few winks.”
“Ah, but whose bed is the right bed?” I smiled, my body just a fraction of an inch from his without my hands between us. I could feel the heat pouring off of his body as I waited for him to answer. Instead he looked away, letting go of my wrists.
“Your own. Off you go then, like a good girl.” His head jerked towards the end of the corridor and I recognized the tone he used with Leila right off the bat.
“I’m not your sister.”
His lips twitched. “I’ve noticed.”
“I’m the new Elder, you know.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“That makes me the boss of everybody.” An idea was forming. Still fuzzy around the edges, but a good one, I was sure of it.
“Not quite everybody. Off to bed now with you.” His head jerked again but I held my ground.
“But I’m the boss of you.”
“Something I’ve been reminded of far too frequently.”
“So… technically, you have to do whatever I say.”
“Were you needing something, miss?” He drew himself up formally, even as I slouched back against the wall again.