High Stakes (Codex Blair Book 6)

by Izzy Shows

  “That’s enough, Trevor.” A sharp voice came from the end of the room, where the door was. There was a note of command in it, and Trevor shrank immediately.

  That would be Karl, then.

  I didn’t turn my back on Trevor, knowing that if I did, it was highly likely that he’d attack me. I couldn’t risk that happening.

  I heard the vampires shuffling aside again, making room for Karl.

  Every hair on the back of my neck was standing on end, and I tightened my grip on my staff. There was a big, bad, old vampire standing behind me.

  Age is power in the world of monsters. You don’t get to be old by being soft. You get there by being the toughest motherfucker on the planet.

  But, in a way, I wasn’t afraid of him standing behind me. If he’d wanted me dead, he’d have let Trevor continue until he attacked. Instead, he had interrupted.

  He wanted to talk to me. Thank the Gods.

  “You would speak with me?” His words were heavily accented. Not from England originally, then. Somewhere in Eastern Europe, by the sound of it.

  I turned carefully, keeping my face as expressionless as possible. “Yes. That’s what I’m here for--to talk. Nothing more.”

  “For someone who comes speaking of peace, you do not look very peaceful.”

  At that, I grinned. “Forgive me, Karl, but I’d be remiss entering a roomful of vampires without some means of protection. You have your fangs.” I gestured with my staff. “I have my staff.”

  He returned my smile. “I see. Come, we will talk.”

  He led me out of the warehouse.

  “We’re leaving the warehouse. I don’t know where we’re going, but try to follow and stay hidden,” I told Weylyn. No matter how nice Karl seemed to be--and I knew it was bullshit; he was just a charmer--I didn’t want to be on my own.

  It was better to have backup. It was a relief I’d never felt in battle before, but now I could rest a little easier.

  We walked a few blocks to an office building that looked abandoned. A perfect place for someone to set up shop where they wouldn’t be bothered, I supposed.

  He turned a key in the lock and opened the door, then gestured me inside.

  No invitation, but then again...

  I stepped over the threshold, and my magic came with me. This building wasn’t owned by anyone, so it couldn’t stop anyone from entering.

  Karl followed, and we walked down the hallway to a room that apparently operated as his office. He took a seat and gestured to the chair opposite his for me to do the same.

  This was going well so far, but I didn’t believe for one second that it couldn’t still turn south.

  “How far away are you?”

  “Rest easy. I am outside the building you have just entered with the vampire. It will not be difficult for me to locate you within it should it become necessary.”

  That was good. And it did actually make me feel better.

  “All right, well, let’s get down to it,” I said.

  His eyes narrowed. “How does Dudley work with you?”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “You are brash and blunt,” he said, frowning. “You have no time for manners. You do not speak of pleasantries, and you do not--”

  “I don’t have time for that,” I said, as blunt as ever. “And I’m surprised you think you do.”

  “I was raised differently than you, it would seem.”

  “Oh, I’d put money on it,” I said, grinning. I hadn’t met anyone who had a story quite like mine so far, and I doubted that this vampire would be any different.

  “You are...different.”

  “How so?”

  “When you’re with Dudley, you are always scowling out at the crowd. As if you wish for our deaths with all of your heart. But here, you are more light.”

  “Can we be frank with one another?”

  “Please.”

  “I know your type. You play a part to get your power, the same way everyone else does.”

  He stiffened, but I continued.

  “You want power, and I don’t blame you. In a way, everyone wants power. I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit that I enjoy the power that’s at my disposal. You play a character to get the people around you to give you the power you want.”

  His eyebrows lifted, but he didn’t say a word for or against my summation.

  “Do you deny it?”

  “I do,” he said. “I deny that I do not have the best interests of my people at heart.”

  “Do you deny that you’re after Dudley’s power?”

  “No, I don’t. I’d like his position, that’s true. But I don’t see that as essentially divorced from wanting the best for my people. They’re suffering under his control.”

  “And how are they suffering?” I leaned forward.

  “He doesn’t allow them to feed as often as they should. Most of the vampires are kept hungry while the few close to him are bloated. It’s an unfair system that needs to be overhauled. We want equality in the vampire world, and that does not exist in a system that relies on nobility.”

  “I’d agree that it’s fairly archaic,” I said, echoing Trevor’s earlier words.

  “The rest of the world has largely moved on. I don’t see why we cannot do the same.”

  “Again, I’d agree with you on that.”

  “Then why are we fighting?” He spread his hands in front of him. “If you can see the logic to our complaints, why do you kill us?”

  I leaned back in my seat, fixing him with a dark look. “I think you know the answer to that. You just don’t want to see it. Vampires are killing my people, slaughtering them in the streets. Flouting the laws that clearly state you can’t feed on the humans of London. You would allow that to happen, and it’s something I can’t tolerate.”

  “Our people must feed somehow.”

  “Have you heard of Serenity?”

  He shook his head.

  “Yeah, I didn’t think so. You don’t seem the type that would fit in with Geoff’s crowd. It’s a club where a lot of the supernaturals get together, and there are people there who are willing to be fed on. That’s an entirely different story from attacking innocent people in the streets.”

  “Not all who are fed on are innocent.”

  “It’s not up to you to define innocence.”

  He frowned as if he hadn’t considered that. “You would protect those who hurt their women?”

  “I don’t think it’s up to you or me to take their lives. I think it’s up to the authorities to handle the situation.”

  “And when they’re not reported?”

  “Then we need to work on strengthening the support systems that allow people to report them. Vigilante justice isn’t the way to handle it--and don’t try to tell me that’s what you’re all about. You’re looking for a way out, and we both know it. You’re derailing the conversation.”

  He laughed. “You’re a quick one. I like you. I can agree that feeding should only take place with those who are willing. It will be a hard sell, but not impossible. Dudley remains a problem.”

  “Dudley can be reasoned with.”

  “No.” He made a quick chopping motion with his hand. “Dudley cannot be reasoned with. He will never respect the lower vampires in the way they desire. He must be removed.”

  “Karl...” I sighed, rubbing my temples.

  He leaned forward, an eager look in his eyes. “Join us, Hunter. You would see peace restored to the streets of London, and we would work with you on that. Join us and overthrow Dudley. I will give you all you desire.”

  That was the sentence that cinched the deal. No one who said something like that would follow through on their promises. I couldn’t believe a word that came out of his mouth. It was too dangerous.

  I stood up, gripping my staff. “No, Karl. That, I will not do. I’ll bring your complaints to Dudley and attempt to reason with him, but I’m not going to kill someone in cold blood.”

  He bared his fan
gs at me, revealing his true nature. “Do not say that we didn’t give you the chance.”

  Thirty Three

  Once again, I was standing in Dudley’s parlour, waiting to be led up to his office.

  He hadn’t expected me this time, so I understood why it was taking him a while to get to me. But still, you would think he’d have sped these things up by now. What I had to say was important.

  I paced from one end of the room to the other, turning what Karl had said to me over and over in my mind.

  Had I done the right thing? He’d offered me peace. He’d been amenable to voluntary feeding, rather than mindless slaughter. He was going to sell that to his people, and he had faith that he’d be able to do that.

  Had I sold out the people of London?

  No. He won’t keep his promises. He’s a vile, charismatic man who’ll say and do anything to get the power he wants. If he was really so reasonable, he’d allow you to bring his complaints to Dudley and be satisfied that the situation was rectified.

  That was true. If he really did care about the pain of his people, he’d want that fixed in the easiest way possible. No matter what, if his rebellion came to pass, his people would die. Some of them, at least, and there was nothing he could do about that.

  If he’d allowed me to negotiate on his behalf with Dudley, the bloodshed could have been avoided.

  Now, I was going to try to do that anyway, and see if we couldn’t bring my terms to the population at large instead of going through Karl.

  It was a risk, but one I was willing to gamble on. Now, I just needed to get Dudley to see reason.

  At last, the butler came to get me. Without a word of greeting, he ushered me from the parlour to Dudley’s office.

  Dudley was waiting, as usual, in the chair behind his desk.

  “Ms. Sheach. What an unexpected pleasure,” he said.

  The butler closed the door behind him on his way out, and I took a seat opposite Dudley’s desk.

  “I hope so,” I replied.

  “And why would it be anything else?”

  “Because I don’t think you’re going to like what I have to say.”

  He sighed. “You’ve done something.”

  “Don’t I always?”

  “Out with it, woman. You’re as bad as the Fae.”

  I beamed. To me, that was a compliment. The Fae were notoriously difficult to deal with--they could talk at you until you were blue in the face and couldn’t remember what you’d come there for.

  “I went to see the rebels.”

  He didn’t say a word, but he closed his eyes. I thought maybe he was counting down from ten, a technique I used to keep my temper in check. It was actually kind of funny to picture.

  “You did what?”

  “I went to see the rebels.”

  “And why would you do something as foolish as that?”

  “Well, it really wasn’t that foolish. I had a nice little sit-down with their leader--his name’s Karl, by the way. I don’t know if you know who that is. We talked about what the vampires want, why they’re rebelling.”

  If I hadn’t known better, I would have said he looked impressed.

  “What did they say?”

  I took in a deep breath. “Well, for the most part, it seems that they’re unhappy with the balance of power. They say you don’t respect all of them, and that you withhold blood from the lesser vampires to feed those who are close to you. They’re hungry, and they want to feed--which, according to them, is why they’re attacking people. I think we could negotiate--”

  “I will not negotiate with them.”

  I gaped at him. “You really cannot be this pig-headed. I found out what they want! And what they want really isn’t that unreasonable. They want to be fed.”

  I knew what it was like to go hungry, to not know when I was going to eat next. It was a horrible situation to be in, and I found I actually had sympathy for the rebel vampires. They weren’t mindless monsters, and that made this whole situation even more difficult to deal with.

  For the first time since everything had started, I wondered if I was on the right side.

  “They won’t listen, Ms. Sheach. You don’t know these vampires the way I do. They may say this is what they care about, but in truth, it’s only a minor complaint.”

  “No, you’re wrong. Yeah, OK, so Karl probably doesn’t give a fuck about the availability of blood, but the rebels do.”

  Dudley’s gaze cut sharply to me. “Which of us has lived through the transition of a Baron, Ms. Sheach? You’d do well to remember that this is not the first time I’ve seen this. Believe me when I say that whatever excuses they make, the truth is that they have grown tired of me. They believe I’m weak, and they want someone stronger.”

  I groaned. “I really don’t think that’s what it is.”

  “That’s because you’re looking at this from a human perspective. You’re applying your own sense of morality to the situation when in truth it does not equate. We are a different species, and we don’t think in the same way that you do.”

  “But...”

  Was he right? Everything in me told me to believe that the vampires were going hungry. But I hadn’t heard that from the rebels’ mouths. Karl had been the one to say it, and he was someone who’d say anything to win. Had he been playing me for a fool?

  By the Gods, this was the most difficult situation I’d ever been in. And it just had to be the time I’d decided to slow down and think everything through before proceeding with some hare-brained idea.

  “All right. Well, assuming that you’re right, what are we going to do now?”

  “The rebels must see me in my strength, if they’re to accept that I maintain control.”

  “You can’t win in a war,” I said, my voice flat.

  “That’s not what I had in mind.”

  “But they’re afraid of me. When I was there, they all moved out of my way, and they didn’t want anyone to get too close to me. They said some pretty awful things, but at the end of the day, they were afraid of me. We could stage a battle, have you defeat me. If you do that, they could see that you’re just as powerful as they need you to be.”

  His fangs flashed. “You think we’d need to stage a battle for me to defeat you?”

  All right, well, that was creepy. “I’m just saying, I’d prefer if we didn’t go all-out on one another. You know, since we’re allies and all. Since I’m the one trying to help you.”

  “Your plan has flaws,” he said.

  “What? What flaws?”

  “If we were to fight, there is no guarantee that they wouldn’t join in and try to destroy you. They would question why I don’t kill you after you’re defeated. It wouldn’t sit well with them, so, no, that we cannot do.”

  “Then what are we supposed to do?”

  “As I was saying, something we can do that plays on the same notes you were suggesting is to have you behave in a manner subservient to me. They will see that I control you, rather than the two of us being equals in our relationship. When they see this, they will understand my power.”

  I didn’t want to agree to that at all. For one, I had a hell of a problem being subservient to anyone. It just wasn’t in my nature to bow and go along with things.

  You’d think that years of being beaten into doing what I was told would have had the effect that I’d just do as I was told, but that wasn’t the case. If anything, it made me more rebellious, something that probably should have tapered off as I grew older, but I suspected my emotional growth had been stunted somewhat.

  Something for me to work on, maybe.

  “Absolutely not. I’m not going to follow you around like a hurt puppy, waiting to be told what to do.”

  “You would rather I defeat you in a fight than do a few things I instruct you to do?”

  I guessed he had a point there. They were two entirely different things. One was something that was orchestrated, that I was in control of, and the other was just plain humilia
ting.

  And both of them would have the effect that the vampires would never see me as a threat again. If I could be tamed by their Baron, they’d always see me as someone who could be controlled, and I’d no longer be the bogeyman they whispered about in the night.

  I didn’t want them to fear me, but I recognized that it was necessary. They were never going to respect me, were never going to work with me, so their fear was all I could take.

  If he took that away from me, what would I be left with? Nothing, in truth. I’d have nothing at all in that situation.

  I let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t like any of this.”

  “Do you think I enjoy colluding with you?” He arched an eyebrow. “It goes against everything in my nature to work with a human on a level that would be considered equal, but I make these exceptions for you because I recognize that it’s a necessity.”

  “That’s not what I meant, although... I mean, come on. I thought we were on a better footing than all that. I don’t see how this is going to work out for me at the end of the day.”

  “The vampires will not be slaughtering your people. I don’t see how this will not work for you.”

  “Yeah, out of the frying pan and into the fire. After they see me behaving like a kicked puppy, they’re never going to worry about what I’ll do to them again. Their attacks on my people will only get worse.”

  “No,” he said, waving a hand. “This, I will not allow. You have helped me, and I will help you. The laws will be enforced much more strictly after this rebellion has been handled. You won’t have to worry about your people being fed on. In truth, it is a necessity that this be reinforced for me as well as you. They must respect my laws.”

  It was good to have that assurance, but I still didn’t like the situation at all.

  I just didn’t see any other choice. Neither of us was coming up with a third option, and he was flat-out refusing to go with my suggestion. Which meant I had no choice but to accept his.

  This was going to bite me in the arse. I just knew it.

  “All right,” I said. “You have a deal.”

  Thirty Four