Blood Double

by Connie Suttle

  "Are you all right? I know you haven't had any sleep," Stellan slid onto the chair next to mine. I'd been passing information to Teeg all night, through mindspeech, telling him who could be trusted and who couldn't, and whether they were speaking the truth.

  "I haven't had anything to eat, either," I yawned. I would be worthless at the Council meeting I had scheduled on Le-Ath Veronis.

  "Come on, I'll find breakfast for you." He did. I watched him as we ate at a small coffee shop inside the San Gerxon Casino. The scent of eggs and coffee surrounded us as Stellan ate with a purpose and spoke very little. He was just as tired as I was and paid no mind to the lock of dark hair that fell carelessly over an eyebrow. I couldn't stop myself from thinking about how handsome he was and how rumpled I probably looked right then.

  "Will you be all right—can you get some rest when I take you home?" he finally asked.

  "I have a Council meeting." Dropping my fork with a sigh, I stared through the coffee shop window. Gamblers walked past, and I knew some of them had been up all night, too. The difference between us was that they had the option of finding a bed anytime they wanted. I didn't have that luxury.

  "I'll tell Teeg you need sleep."

  "It won't do a bit of good. Gavin Montegue will be waiting, and you don't show weakness in his camp."

  "Are you ready, then?" Stellan set his napkin aside. I nodded mutely, when all I truly wanted to do was find a flat, comfortable place so I could lie down and sleep.

  * * *

  Flavio ordered coffee so I could stay awake—if he hadn't been the one to order it, the kitchen staff would likely have poisoned it. As it was, the comesula who gave me a cup was angry that I was getting anything.

  "What do you mean, you want ninety-eight percent of the taxes to be spent in Casino City?" I snapped, angrier than I should have been over the matter. "The cities—including the comesula cities—pay in thirty percent. That money should go back to their cities. Casino City already gets the largest share—fifty-six percent of all taxes collected on Le-Ath Veronis. Sun City gets twenty-five percent, with the rest going toward the other cities. I don't care that you want another million-credit sign that advertises all the casinos, yours included."

  "Really? They get fifty-six percent?" Another vampire—a member from one of the smaller vampire cities in question, rose from his seat to ask.

  "Yes. Look at the budget. It's on page seven hundred eighty-three," I snarled.

  "The document was so overwhelming, I never reached that page," he said, flipping through pages on his comp-vid.

  "I believe that's what these vultures have been hoping for—that you'll be so hopelessly lost in the first few pages that you won't realize you're getting screwed." Well, my words could have been chosen better, because the insults were noted and a firestorm of debate ensued. Gavin, who was so angry he could have chewed trees into toothpicks, was shouting mentally at me, Flavio was attempting to prevent a fight between vampire casino owners and Council members from other cities, and the whole thing turned into a heated fiasco. Rigo and Aryn intervened, announcing that all further items on the agenda would be tabled. I escaped the Council Chamber while Gavin hissed venom in my ear all the way to the Queen's suite.

  * * *

  "She has disobeyed me, that's why," Gavin snarled at Trevor and Kooper. "I've already passed the information to my son, so Stellan Starr will be kept away from her as well. Do not think to thwart me in this—vampire law supports the punishment of a child in any acceptable way the sire sees fit."

  "So, in punishing her, you're punishing us, is that it?" Kooper Griff wanted to strangle Gavin Montegue. Gavin had called them to his palace office to pass on the news of Breanne's punishment.

  "Griff, I don't give a damn what your opinion is on the matter. The law of Le-Ath Veronis supports me in this. Stay away until I confirm her punishment is lifted."

  "Do you think to let it stand the full five years?" Trevor growled.

  "It will stand for as long as I say it stands. Keep away from her. I forbid any contact. Contacting her in any way will only force me to extend the period of punishment," Gavin snarled at Trevor, his dark eyes flashing a warning.

  * * *

  "What can we do?" Kooper studied Trevor's face. Trevor, his dark hair in disarray from the many times he'd raked fingers through it, glanced at Kooper.

  "I don't know. This cuts her off from anyone who might be sympathetic toward her. He's mistreating her, there's no doubt about that, but who do you go to? That's the Queen's first mate, and he holds the reins while she's gone."

  "And nobody knows when the Queen will return. Meanwhile, that sadistic bastard hauls her off to Council meetings disguised as the Queen and we have no recourse against him. If vampires were susceptible to lion snake venom, Gavin Montegue might be a dead man."

  "We'll hold that in reserve," Trevor sighed. "She still doesn't know about you, does she?"

  "No. I was waiting to tell her. I have to say, not many women would so readily accept that kind of shapeshifter in their bed."

  "I still can't believe it. Most women I know would run away screaming."

  "She let me read over her shoulder," Kooper sighed.

  "If I know Stellan Starr or any of the Starr brothers, I might not want to be Gavin Montegue when they learn of this." Trevor shook his head.

  * * *

  "Stell, he's her sire."

  "I don't care if he's Ildevar Wyyld's sire."

  "Look, just wait it out. She disrupted a Council meeting today."

  "If she'd had any sleep the night before, it might not have been disrupted."

  "I realize that, but I know things you don't about this and well, you just need to back off for now, all right?"

  "I know he's your father. That's no secret to me or any of my brothers."

  "I know you know that. And I trust you with that knowledge. Just wait this out. I promise she won't be in that situation forever. You can have her then."

  "You make it sound like she's worthless. Something to be discarded when it's not needed anymore. How would you feel if I said that about Reah?"

  "Stellan, I said it wouldn't last forever. It's time you left my study." Teeg San Gerxon gave a hard stare to the second oldest of the Starr brothers. "You'll have her when this is over. I promise."

  Stellan muttered as he walked out the door, and Teeg would have been fooling himself if he hadn't heard the "fuck you," tacked on at the end of it.

  * * *

  "I'm telling you, she's a Q'elindi," Erland Morphis sighed and sipped a glass of wine one of Rylend Morphis' personal servants handed to him.

  "But only a Karathian Witch can be a Q'elindi," Rylend offered. "You said she was from Earth, so there's no chance of that, is there?"

  * * *

  Breanne's Journal

  Punishment. That's what I received. No, Gavin didn't hit me, but he wanted to. Instead, he forbade Trevor, Kooper and Stellan from approaching me, speaking to me or generally having any contact. He pulled out his authority as my sire, dusted it off and implemented it. Of course, he still wasn't doing anything else in the sire department, but as long as Adam Chessman was absent on assignment, I had no recourse at all.

  I'd already been punished—by the palace comesuli. They weren't planning to feed, clothe or do anything else to keep my life from sinking farther into misery. The only reason I had anything to wear at all was because it belonged to the Queen, and they wouldn't destroy her belongings. They could choose not to clean anything, though, and that's how I ended up in the palace laundry room after the staff had left, so I could wash and dry a load of underwear.

  My friendly snake, too, disappeared off the radar. I worried about him—how could I not? While I pondered that and many other injustices in my life, I fell asleep during the drying cycle.

  * * *

  "Wake her and make sure you lock that door at night from now on. If she breaks it down to use our machines, we'll report it to Gavin. She's already being punished for wh
at she did yesterday in the Council Chamber," Cheedas felt smugly satisfied that he could get back at the intended usurper in some way.

  "How do you want me to wake her? She's still a vampire." The kitchen helper wanted nothing to do with waking vampires.

  "I'll do it." Cheedas shouldered the frightened comesula aside and walked into the laundry room.

  * * *

  Breanne's Journal

  A slap woke me. I can't describe it any other way, and Cheedas, my favorite kitchen vampire, was the one who'd dealt it. It frightened me so badly, and brought up so many bad memories it knocked me off the chair I'd foolishly fallen asleep on.

  Cheedas stood by, his anger showing plainly on his face as I gathered clothing from the dryer and raced to the Queen's suite. He hadn't said anything to me, but with my curse, he hadn't needed to. There wasn't any way I'd be taking the Queen's place. I had no doubt where that rumor originated, and I was in trouble with him, too.

  "There will be no outbursts as there were yesterday," Gavin had a hard grip on my arm as he stalked toward the Council Chamber. I almost had to run to keep up with him; otherwise, he'd have dragged me down the marbled halls of the Queen's palace.

  Names came to mind—names that I wanted to call him. Sadistic was one of the tamer ones that trembled on my lips. It would do no good to voice those names aloud; I would only be in more trouble if I did. No, I hadn't had breakfast. As my sire, he should have seen to that, but he and Cheedas seemed bent on obliterating me in any way they could. I almost cursed Adam Chessman for removing the only means I had of destroying myself. I could stand in sunlight all day and it wouldn't do a damn thing to me.

  It didn't matter that Gavin told me to keep my mouth shut that morning. The Council members from the smaller cities had banded together, meeting late the night before to examine every line of the budget. They'd shown up at the Council meeting angry and armed with knowledge. The Casino City vampire contingent never stood a chance.

  By the end of the day, the small city contingent had thirty-five percent of the budget, which would be distributed fairly among all the smaller cities—with ten percent going to the comesuli cities on the light side. The five comesuli members, with their votes, had sided with the small-town Council members and they'd driven a wedge into the Casino City monopoly. If I hadn't been so weary—and so hungry—I might have stood and cheered for them.

  As it was, Gavin would have found fault in that activity, so I remained silent and walked out of the Council Chamber with him, fainting halfway to the Queen's suite.

  * * *

  "If it's your intention to starve her or kill her by working her night and day, I want no part of it." Karzac was angry, and even Gavin quailed before the furious physician. "You don't know when she ate last, and I know she was up all day and all night when you shipped her off to that slave-driving son of yours." A rift had existed between Karzac and Teeg ever since Teeg mistreated Reah.

  "Calm down, healer. I didn't mean to cause this much harm," Gavin attempted to slow Karzac down.

  "But you intended harm. When Kiarra and the others return, we'll see what that harm will cost you." Karzac disappeared before he said anything else he might regret.

  "Fuck," Gavin muttered, raking fingers through short, dark hair.

  * * *

  Breanne's Journal

  "You're to go to the kitchen for breakfast before you take up your duties for the day," Gavin snapped the moment I opened my eyes. Blinking at him in confusion for several seconds, I could only nod. A bottle of blood substitute was shoved in my hands (after he grabbed my arm and jerked me upright).

  I'd wakened in the Queen's bed and I could read in Gavin's face how much it irked him that I was there and the Queen wasn't. I wanted to tell him that he'd ordered me to stay there. I didn't. Instead, I drank the first meal I'd had since Stellan had taken me to breakfast.

  Telling Gavin Montegue that the kitchen staff would prefer to poison me rather than feed me a decent meal would be useless; his reaction would be one of scorn. I didn't say anything and finished the bottle of blood substitute while he watched.

  * * *

  "I can't go take a look at her, bro, the boss sent a message." Trajan passed key chips to his brother, Trace. "I have to help him with something he's working on. Didn't say what it was."

  Trajan, just shy of seven feet, with dark hair and eyes, sighed as he focused on his brother's troubled frown. Trace looked much like his older brother and he'd counted on staying at NorthStar for another month, until gishi fruit harvest. In his brother's absence, he was obligated to return to SouthStar and supervise the grove managers, a job Trajan normally handled.

  "The boss won't mind if you bring Frank, Shane, Tomas or your warlocks," Trajan hugged his brother. "But only them. You know the rules."

  "Yeah. I know the rules," Trace nodded. "I'll think about it. They know the rules, too, and they don't like it if they can't fold in and out. They hate it if they have to ask me or somebody else to transport them back and forth."

  "That barrier protects us. Nobody comes in or out unless we allow it."

  "Yeah, I know that, too. And it keeps the edict from affecting the residents."

  "Exactly. Look, I'll catch up with her eventually. I promise I'll take a look, bro, when I get back."

  "You'd better. This one, well, Traje; you need to see this one."

  "You said that about the last one. She wasn't it."

  "Yeah, but man, you need to see her eyes."

  "Is that what you're basing this on? Because that last one had nice eyes, and nice other things, but she was, well, I shouldn't say bitch, but I will."

  "Look, I'm sorry about that. She looked so promising. How did I know Leela could put up such a good front?"

  "Worst two dates of my life."

  "I know."

  "Look, I have to go. I'll take you to dinner when I get back. We'll talk about this latest woman wonder."

  "Yeah. Have fun."

  "Always, bro."

  "Is that sarcasm?"

  "Probably. Bye."

  * * *

  Breanne's Journal

  I met Rylend Morphis on that day. He was beautiful, just like his father. I hadn't seen it in Teeg, but Rylend was mated to the same woman as his brother—Reah. She'd stayed away from me the night I'd seen her—deliberately, I think.

  Rylend took a seat in the Council Chamber; the meeting was over at a decent hour and then he and his father approached Gavin. Either Rylend or his father provided a sound shield; I couldn't hear the conversation they held with my sire. I understood quickly, however, what they wanted. I was to go with them.

  "We'll get you back in a few hours," Erland Morphis promised as his son, the King of Karathia, focused on my eyes.

  "You can look away if you want. Most people do," I told him.

  "Dad says you can see through anyone." He was just as baldly honest as I was.

  "Yes. For the most part," I agreed.

  "Who have you been unable to read?" He was curious.

  "I've read everyone, until recently," I said. "I can't read Sheriff Trevor, Kooper Griff or Stellan Starr. I can read Stellan's brothers, though, so it's almost the same thing."

  "Frightening," Rylend shook his head. "What are you thinking at this moment? Normally I can detect the thoughts of just about anyone who doesn't have shielding ability. I can't detect yours."

  "I was thinking how lucky Reah is, to have you," I replied honestly. "Teeg has mistreated her, and he doesn't deserve to kiss her shoes."

  "Great gods," Rylend breathed, staring at me. "I'll keep that to myself."

  "I don't care if you tell your brother," I said. "He ordered someone to punch me in the face, and then I was fool enough to save his life. And mine," I added. After thinking about it, I realized I could have ended everything in the tunnel on Campiaa, if I'd just kept my warning to myself.

  "Little beauty, never regret that," Erland Morphis took my hand and tucked it through his arm. "Teeg has had many troubl
es and he can be too rough at times."

  Yes, I wanted to say he was exactly like his father. I didn't. Instead, I said nothing and allowed Erland Morphis and his son, the King of Karathia, to fold space.

  * * *

  "So, this is the one, then?" Two men waited in the King's private study when Erland landed us there. I knew immediately who they were, and it made me tremble. One was the former King of Karathia, Wylend Arden. The other was Wylend's only son, Brenten Arden. He was also Lissa's father, I saw that immediately, and there I stood, still wearing Lissa's face. Ry had worked a spell to see past it, but these two didn't bother. I didn't say that—or several other things I read in Brenten's face. Holding back an almost hysterical moan at what I saw, I turned away from the one many called Griffin.

  "Mind you, I've never seen one. The last one died in my grandfather's time," Wylend Arden sighed. "I can't say, one way or the other, you know."

  "Breanne, tell him. Tell him what he is," Erland urged. I blinked at Erland. He wanted something from this meeting. I wasn't sure what that might be.

  "Former King of Karathia. Abdicated before an uprising. Twenty-seven thousand, eight hundred eighty-six years old. Took the throne from usurpers after the death of his father in a coup against the throne. Currently in a female phase. Would you like me to continue?" I asked. "I warn you, many of the things I haven't said may be embarrassing or damaging."

  "No, that's enough." Wylend Arden, looking much like his son Griffin with light-brown hair and hazel eyes, stopped me with a wave of his hand. He was tall, too, just as Griffin was—nearly six-six. Rylend, his great-grandson, bore no resemblance to the former King of Karathia. Ry gave a nod to me—he was King and ultimately in charge of whether I continued. I was grateful he didn't ask me to go on.

  "What do you know about your heritage?" Griffin asked. I did my best not to shiver. "My mother was serving a prison sentence when I was born. She gave me up for adoption. She had no idea who my father was."