"I can get you out of the city as soon as the sun sets, I have access to a private landing strip on the outskirts of Paris, and have called several Nosferatins and their kindred in to help in the ruse. We'll have six different vehicles leaving the premises right on sunset, travelling to six different airstrips. With luck, your Nathair-Sgiathach will be unable to follow us all and we'll slip you through."
"It seems a lot of effort for such a short amount of time," I said finishing off my sweet wine. "I mean, once we're back at Michel or Samson's house they'll find us there."
"We're not going to either place," Matthias offered.
"Oh?" I said and could tell they all cringed at my tone. Yet again left out of the loop.
"Yeah, um..." Matthias rubbed a beefy hand over the back of his neck, not looking directly at me at all. "Michel has arranged for us to stay in accommodation provided by Amun Nadeem."
"What?" I said, unable to hide my surprise. Why would Michel trust the Egyptian Master of the City, when we had only just met the guy and he seemed a little cracked in the head?
The accord. I bit my lip, unhappy at the thought. The accord was binding, but it required our open presence and support of the London Master, staying with him in hiding didn't seem to fit that description at all. So, what else had Michel promised in return?
My stomach churned at those unpleasant thoughts. Nothing was simple anymore. Everything had consequences and it seemed we were only getting deeper and deeper into the shit those consequences were. Would my life ever be easy again? I'd had no choice in what I became, it's not as though I had to sign a contract and agree to what life now was. But then, I had in a way. I'd chosen to join with a vampire and become part of this world, to avoid death.
And even now, I had choices. But it seemed to me they were always the same ones. Do this or that, to avoid death.
I let a long breath out and flicked my gaze towards the kitchen clock. A few hours sleep wouldn't go astray. Yves helped get me settled in a spare room that was light and airy and so very pretty I felt like a little girl again. And with Nataliya curled up on the sofa in the corner we both got some rest. What felt like minutes later, but was in fact more like four hours, we were roused by her brother.
"The sun sets," he said without apology.
And my night of consequences began again.
Surprisingly, or not - Yves did seem to have access to quite an arsenal resources - we made it out of Paris without a dragon to be seen. Oh, I was sure they were still there, but if Sebastian had only the two other shifters with him that we had initially met outside the Palais, we'd had a fifty percent chance of not being followed. Luck seemed to be, for once, on our side. We left France at an old infrequently used landing strip and arrived in London only three hours after leaving the Nosferatin home. I call it a home, not a house, because for some reason, that's what it had become to me. I couldn't quite explain it, but I knew I'd be back. And not just for the odd visit every few years either.
London was vibrantly alive and well in the middle of the night, the unseasonably good weather bringing people out in droves. My little break away had lifted my spirits, despite all that had happened in the Palais. London didn't seem as forbidding anymore, but then I wasn't about to go pounding the streets. Matthias drove us directly to Amun's house, a well tended white five story building on the end of a row in Mayfair. The upper story windows were completely concreted over, the lower level had plant boxes and pretty little red flowers. It was enormous, but it wasn't entirely all for us. The rooms downstairs were his line's offices, where he ran his businesses from. The Vibe was just one of many and not where the real wheeling and dealing was done.
Our group was greeted on the steps in front of the imposing structure's doors by an elderly gentleman, the epitome of British refinement. He bowed upon greeting us, an entirely human movement - no fist clenched above heart, he was no doubt aware of what we were, but acted as though it didn't matter in the slightest - then ushered us into the foyer.
The moment I stepped over the threshold I felt it. A ward of some description. Not an uncommon thing for a vampire's house, but the reaction of my Tego Texi Tectum was. Both Sergei and Nataliya shuddered, a fine tremor racing down their backs and making them both draw in unnecessary breaths. I glanced sideways at them and then at M&M, noting Michel's vampires didn't show a reaction to the ward at all. The very reserved... butler - for want of a better a name - proceeded to encourage us to climb the stairs to the uppermost floor. He opened up the various rooms and gave us a brief tour, showing my vampires the several 'safe' exits and the panic room as well. He left as quietly as a vampire, on swift and silent feet. The door was shut behind him and Sergei proceeded to close the multiple deadlocks with repetitive clicks.
I stood in the middle of the main room, becoming more and more aware of just what Michel's plan was. He would be the one in danger, negotiating alliances in amongst the cut-throat politicians of the Iunctio Council. And I would be locked up tightly and securely until it was all done. I was a prisoner in my own family and as much as I understood his reasons for doing it, I did not feel one bit happy at all. The vampires pretended not to notice my change of mood, all familiarising themselves with the layout, logging on to laptops and flicking through radio channels in search of some background music to hide the tension accumulating in the air.
I shook my head, trying to unclench the fists at my sides and then proceeded to lock myself in a room. Nataliya knocked on the door as soon as I'd slipped the lock closed, but I ignored her pleas, knowing she'd camp outside the room and that was close enough for me. I sat down on the bed and took in my new cell. It was beautifully decorated, had everything a prisoner could want and more. And I would be stuck here for two days. Until the Champion was won over, or Michel was dead.
This was not how you worked in a partnership. I could have been helping. I didn't quite know how, but this... imprisonment had not been on the agenda as far as I was concerned.
You know, I'll go crazy stuck in here with nothing to do! I shouted in my head, directing my thoughts through the open connection to Michel. I felt him metaphysically cringe. He didn't reply though and I felt instant gut churning dread. A natural reaction to his non-communication, built upon the months of having him shut me out while he did the Champion's bidding.
Of course the connection was still open, so maybe he was just busy. I didn't know and I tried to tell myself that there'd be a reason he didn't reply. If I had phoned his cellphone, he may not have answered that either. Sometimes - I was sure - he really was waylaid and unable to respond.
I told myself that, but it still hurt.
My distraction at those thoughts and once familiar emotions is why I didn't notice the change in the air. Why, perhaps, I didn't even hear a rip in space open for him to step through unannounced. And why it took much longer than it should have for me to smell his scent.
I don't know how long he watched me sitting on that bed, all forlorn and despondent at Michel's decision to lock me away and his inability to answer my mental challenge. But eventually the smell of slightly burnt peaches invaded my morose thoughts and I scrambled to my feet, stake in hand in an instant.
I was too late. He may have been enjoying a moment to take me all in, but he was close and prepared for my fight or flight response.
One hand wrapped around my upper arm, the other gripping the wrist on the hand that held my stake.
And then we were stepping through a rip in space and we were suddenly somewhere else.
"Calm yourself, elska." The Prince of Ljósálfar's words in my ear did absolutely nothing to allay my fears right then. Only heightened them.
My gaze searched the room we were in for any signs of where he had taken me to. Goddess help me if it was Álfheimr. The fear ratcheted up a degree or two and with it my ability to think clearly for that moment. No one and nothing has that bone chilling, sweat inducing effect on me like Lutin and the fairy realm do.
"How.." I swallowed and tried
to say the words again past my suddenly dry throat. "How did you get in the house?" Nataliya was right outside the door, close enough to nullify his magic. He shouldn't have been able to get to me so easily, even if I locked my personal guard outside of the room.
"The house is under my control," he whispered in my ear, his arms bands of steel around my upper torso, pinning my hands to my sides.
His explanation made no sense. The Master of London City would not collude with a fairy against Michel, would he? Just what was Amun playing at? They had an accord.
"You still shouldn't have been able to appear like that," I persisted, trying with all my might to contain my fear and open up communication again with Michel. It was difficult. I felt naked and entirely too exposed without Sergei and Nataliya at my side. I'd come to rely on their protection and in the process lost my ability to think on my feet when under duress. Well, when in the presence of a fairy I despised and feared in equal measure, that is.
I clung to my hatred of what Lutin had made me suffer and used it to still my turbulent thoughts and reach for Michel, while Lutin babbled about some sort of fairy blanket that surrounded Amun's safe house and cut my Tego Texi Tectum duo off from their nullifying magic.
I'm a little busy right now, ma douce, Michel answered in my mind, his abruptness surprising me.
I've got a problem, I answered choosing to ignore his tone for fear it would escalate my already barely controlled shattering emotions of fear at my predicament.
Are you safe?
Lutin has me. And OK, there were better ways to say that, but my ability to soften the blow right now was defunct.
He swore a litany of French words, none of which I had heard before, then calming inquired, How?
It has something to do with blankets and cutting off Sergei and Natalyia from their Tego Texi Tectum powers, I returned swiftly, hearing Lutin come to the end of his monologue about how he ingeniously secured Amun's house and defied my vampires, stealing me from right under their noses.
Where? Michel inquired and it occurred to me he was using short sentences. His cursing of before did not accurately convey the level of his anger at the turn of events.
I glanced around the house and came up blank. A house, I offered, unhelpfully. Old and derelict. I can see the London Eye outside the window, I'm on the opposite side of the Thames. Huh, not Álfheimr then.
Leave it to me. Help is on the way. Every word was clipped, strained, as though he was disappointed that I had ended up in this situation at all. And then he was gone. I tried to tell him I was sorry, that I shouldn't have shut myself in the room alone - although obviously Lutin's blanket still would have reduced Sergei and Nataliya to ordinary vampires and against a Prince of Álfheimr, the outcome would have possibly been the same. But Michel had closed the connection down. Deserting me, leaving me, shutting me completely out. A sob escaped my lips and Lutin stopped mid-sentence, his arms tightening around my frame.
"Elska?" he asked, concern evident in his tone. Then more forcefully. "What has your vampire told you to do, my love? Let me guess; stay calm, leave this to the big, brave men. He'll rescue you, you just have to play the damsel and wait for him to arrive."
Oh, Lutin knew me all right. He knew what made me tick. So did Michel though, which made me pause. For him to lock me out of his head, he was doing something difficult, something that would distract him or me and therefore cause one of us, or both of us, harm.
"It won't work, Lutin," I said, surprised at the strength of my voice.
"Lucinda," Lutin drawled, turning me around in his arms to face him. I held his gaze defiantly, waiting for my moment to strike.
Michel would have told Marcus and Matthias and therefore help was on the way, but I was not entirely incapable of helping myself. I was in no way, shape or form, what you could call a damsel.
"You are my elska," Lutin continued, his eyes taking in every inch of me from my face and hair, to my chest, pausing over my stomach and then reaching my legs. I gritted my teeth under his intense perusal and then his half lidded eyes came up to meet mine.
"Elska," he said on a breath of escaped air. "You look stunning."
Not only was he delusional, but he was also blind. I hadn't recovered from Avery's attention, I was still exhausted and had barely had enough sleep. And now I was strung out, stressed beyond any mortal's ability to cope. But I wasn't mortal, so I was still going, but I knew I looked like crap.
I shook my head slowly in disbelief.
"Why are we in London?" I demanded, deciding I'd dig for information I could convey to Michel, if the connection happened to open again. "Why not Álfheimr?"
"It is too dangerous to take you to my home world, elska. The war has progressed and the Dökkálfa have spies everywhere. Even our Royal Court would not be safe should I take you there." I almost collapsed with relief. My worst nightmare would be to end up back at the Ljósálfar Royal Court with Lutin. I could handle much in my life, but living that horrendous time again was not one of them.
"What now?" I asked, my voice miraculously steady.
"I will protect you. You need not worry." D-E-L-U-S-I-O-N-A-L. "But first, I must know you and the baby are well."
I closed my eyes in an effort to contain my fury, I couldn't lose it yet. Not before I gave my guards time to get closer. I would fight if I had to, but right now Lutin seemed to want to just talk. I unclenched my fists and let a breath out, checking my Light shields were all still in place. I had to stay focused. I couldn't chance a lapse in my protections, or he would win.
"Lutin," I began, but he silenced me with a waved hand.
"Don't say it. You have been tricked. I can tell you are pregnant with my child. The Fey have ways of knowing these things. My blood runs through your body." I think I had stopped breathing, I didn't want to hear another word. "I can feel it, like you are a part of my very soul."
He walked toward me and I took a natural step back.
"Don't be frightened, elska. This is all part of what is meant to be." My back came up against a solid structure. I had no more space to retreat to. "Our child will rule Álfheimr one day." His hand came up and cupped my cheek. I shook my head to dislodge it. "You will give birth to a king."
I was panting in an effort to not lash out, my instincts telling me to slash the words from his lips. To stop him saying anything else. The more he said, the more confused I became. And the more unable I was to act.
"He will be powerful. He will bridge both worlds, command armies, right all that has been wronged against our kind." I could feel his breath against my face, his hands gently holding my arms in place. If I had the wherewithal to lift my stake right now and stab him, he'd easily deflect the blow. My chance of retaliation had passed, but I couldn't give in just yet.
"Let me go," I pleaded, my eyes still firmly shut. I knew I couldn't reason with him, but I couldn't stop myself from at least trying.
Lutin's right hand had shifted and now lay on top of my stomach. He moved it in a slow circle, the intimate motion giving me the strength needed to open my eyes. He had lowered himself to a crouch, his face barely inches from where his hand continued to reverently rub.
"He's inside here," he said in a faraway voice. "Growing, getting stronger. And now that you are back with me, I will make sure you both have all that you need."
"Let me go, Lutin. I want to go." I semi-repeated, keeping my body as still as I dared.
"Don't be silly." His dismissal was so simple, yet set in stone.
His hands shifted to my legs, running slowly up my stockinged thighs under my skirt. It was enough, I couldn't remain passive any longer. I prayed my guards would find me before this turned into a monumental mess. With a swiftness born of my Nosferatin genes and desperation I lifted my stake intending to strike a killing blow. But at the last second, before the silver tip pierced his carotid artery, my aim shifted and the stake grazed down his cheek instead.
It still hurt like hell, but wouldn't kill him. As much as part
of me wanted Lutin gone for good, the other part, the part still full of Light, could not do that final desperate and Dark deed. He fell away with a scream of outrage, the air in the room suddenly chill. I scrambled to the door on the other side of him and fumbled with the latch. The atmospheric pressure plummeted, my breath coming out in huffs of steam before my face. The windows began to rattle, dark clouds forming in the sky outside.
The door sprang open and I whimpered in relief, not pausing to see whether Lutin was close. I ran out to a dust filled landing, unsure from my vantage point - clearly near the middle of the house - which direction to take. The London Eye would be on my left, which meant so would the Thames. I took a gamble and sprinted to the right, where I hoped an exit onto a busy street might aid in my escape.
A door stood at the rear of the building, the only egress from the hallway at this end. I reached for it and found it locked, then thought that my on-the-cuff decision to turn right instead of left out of the door to Lutin's room, had been a huge mistake.
With no other options, I used precious seconds to release the lock with my Light, knowing my luck wasn't going to last. The roof began to come away as though a tornado was crashing into the house. Debris flying around me, slamming into walls and my back. I looked over my shoulder and saw Lutin emerge from the room we had been in. His blond spiky hair standing on end, his eyes a blaze of green light, his clothes billowing around him. A crackle of energy and the pungent smell of burnt peaches filling the hall we were in.
He blocked the only exit, towards the front door of the house, - the one I should have taken, but didn't - so I ran into the room before me and slammed the door closed with a good dollop of Light. My eyes scanned the space and my heart dropped like a dead weight. No window. No other door, save the one between me and Lutin. Luck had officially run out.
"Fuck!" I spat out above the noise, the rest of the roof ripping away on my last words. I tried to think of a solution, but right now my ability to think positively had disappeared with the ceiling of the room.
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