by Sue Wilder
“Those who plot against you needed the warning. And those who watch needed the warning, too.”
One threw up her hands. Luckily nothing flew into the air. “The Piedmont was too blatant, Leander. The Calata believes you were rubbing their noses in it.”
“You mean Five and Six believe it,” offered Phillipe. “Seven doesn’t care and Two would be all for it.”
“All the enforcers have gotten too damn arrogant.”
“Tell your immortal friends that the Piedmont took two of us and the story ends,” Christan said, and One swung around, dark hair flying, glaring not at Christan but at the academic who moved like an assassin.
“This will not end well, Phillipe. Not for your enforcer, not for you and not for Three. You can convey just how unhappy I am this landed on my doorstep.”
“It’s been on your doorstep for a few centuries if you’d bothered to look,” the immortal said.
“Stand down, Phillipe. You’re all here at my indulgence and Three knows it. I’m trying to appease Six and I did not need your enforcer bringing his mate if she’s no longer human. The speculation within immortal elite is already furious. If Five is involved, the agitation will get worse, and I won’t be able to stop it if that happens.” The Calata member walked from one end of the small room to the other, the clicking of her high heels in jarring opposition against the white noise. “The Calata doesn’t like unstrained power.”
“Who says it’s unrestrained?”
“I saw what happened in that jungle, Phillipe. I saw the same violence in Zurich and again in the Piedmont. Don’t blame me for this inquiry. Immortals in my court were ready to demand it if Six hadn’t been so eager.”
“The Piedmont dealt with an immortal who was not Calata. No one should be surprised by that execution if you tell them it took Christan and Leander to do it.”
“Three fails to see the obvious,” One said.
“Three understands what she’s doing.”
“Does he?” One gestured toward Christan.
“You’re not the only one who knew Three wanted that blood bond,” Phillipe said. “Let your skeptics see Lexi. Let them hear explanations for the Piedmont and Zurich. The monsters will become inconsequential and you can be done with it.”
“Always so plausible, Phillipe.”
“That’s one reason she sent me.”
“And the others?”
It was one of the rare times Phillipe smiled. “You know better than to ask. Why did you escort Katerina Varga today?”
The woman shrugged, dismissive. “Her connection to Elene Santori makes her expendable.”
“Expendable?” Christan straightened.
“To her enemies, Enforcer. Do you take everything literally? They were going to attack her at the attorney’s office if I hadn’t intervened.”
“Who?”
“Leander is working on identifications. Our information comes from rumors on the street.”
Christan glanced at Leander. Both were enforcers, but Leander was happy if messages were sent and peace restored. Christan was interested in delivering vengeance and justice, and peace was only one outcome. Other outcomes could be acceptable until the enemy yielded.
“Her attorney?” Christan asked
“So far as we can tell he can be trusted,” Leander replied.
“Have you been able to follow her, find out where she’s staying?”
“Not definitively. She changes up her routine now, and she has help.”
“Who?”
“Oh, there’s quite a devoted little group,” One said, flicking the books up one by one and resettling them on the desk. “Girls who no longer want to be mates. Can’t say I ever understood wanting the same relationship over centuries.”
“Now, One,” Phillipe crooned, “just because you demand variety doesn’t mean everyone wants it.”
“And you, Phillipe? Do you ever come out of your ascetic shell?”
His smile was brief as he bent at the waist, a slight mockery she never noticed.
“All of you are required tonight,” One said. “I’ve arranged for the clothes.” She walked toward the door. Her auburn hair caught the light when she looked back at Christan. “You’ll be expected to stay. Arsen and Darius as well.”
It wasn’t an invitation. But the villa, Christan supposed, was better than a prison cell and she could have ordered him there just as easily as she’d ordered to him her villa.
She was, after all, Calata.
✽✽✽
The room was decorated in calming shades of rose and tan. Curtains at the single window gave the feel of a hushed chapel where one might confess secrets, and Lexi didn’t doubt the room was designed for that purpose. The guard gestured with his hand toward the subdued interior and closed the door. Comfortable chairs were arranged for conversation while a square table sat against the wall. If there was surveillance, it was hidden, and Lexi took a seat, watching Katerina as she stood silently staring at the wooden box held tightly in her hands.
The girl wore black, her dark hair in a tight asymmetrical knot at one side of her nape. Her fingers were trembling. “Elene and I aren’t related,” she said into the quiet room. “We were friends and claimed to be next of kin just in case.”
“I’m sorry.”
Katerina placed the box holding Elene Santori’s remains on the square table, stroking the curved lid as if soothing a child. “Elene didn’t believe she was in danger.”
“Did she tell you why she came to Portland?”
Katerina took the chair to Lexi’s right. “She fought with Javier—her mate. He didn’t want her to do something, but she did it anyway, and he got mad and walked out. When he didn’t return she thought he might have gone to Portland and she went there to find him.”
“Did Javier have family in Portland?” Lexi asked, finding the conversation odd, as if Katerina was communicating without appearing to share information.
“It’s possible.” Katerina shook her head.
“Why did Councilor One escort you today?”
“She was waiting at my attorney’s office when I arrived, offered as a courtesy. I assume my attorney followed on his own.”
“Katerina, are you staying somewhere safe?”
The girl nodded. “But not where I was staying before.” With Renata and Dante.
“How is the research going? I understand you received a coveted grant.”
“Yes, for six months at a private residence here in Florence. The grant ended a month ago. I’ve left the archive.”
“Did you discover what you hoped to find?”
“No.”
“Did your godfather’s academic institution provide the funding?”
“No.” But caution had entered Katerina’s eyes. “All the financial matters were handled through the archive.”
“We’re not the enemy, Katerina.”
“One immortal is as bad as another.”
“Not all, and certainly not as bad.”
“What I’ve seen of them hasn’t been reassuring,” the girl said.
Lexi reached out and took Katerina’s hand, the one with the memory lines. There were only two lines, delicate curls beneath her skin, and Lexi was careful not to touch them.
“Did you see Arsen standing in that room?”
Katerina pulled her hand free. She rose to her feet and walked to the curtained window, staring into the street. “He means nothing to me.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
“I will rephrase it, then. From what I remember, we have not meant anything to each other since the beginning.”
The door behind them opened and a middle-aged man with a receding hairline entered the room. He wore a black suit with a gray shirt and he carried a large attaché case in his hand.
“My attorney,” Katerina said to no one in particular. She walked to the table and put her hand on Elene Santori’s polished box. “Am I free to go?”
The man nodded, and Lexi noticed L
uca standing in the hall behind him.
“Lexi,” he said, holding out his hand. “Come. You’re allowed to leave.”
“And Christan?” she asked as he took her elbow and led her into the hall.
“He is detained. A formality, along with Arsen and Darius. Phillipe remains.”
“Should I be worried?” Lexi squinted her eyes against the bright sunshine as they stepped outside. Katerina’s attorney was helping her into the back of a black town car while Luca led Lexi to one of the heavy-bodied vehicles the warriors preferred
“You should be quick,” he answered, “before Councilor One changes her mind.”
CHAPTER 9
Lexi didn’t ask questions. She slid into the back of the vehicle while the heat of Florence beat down on her shoulders. After the painful ten minutes with Katerina Varga, the warmth was welcome, and as they merged with racing traffic, she tried to soothe the anxiety that kept the muscles in her throat tight. When they passed the most famous landmark in Florence, Lexi concentrated on the rusty color of the cathedral dome and the black and white marble that looked more green and white in the afternoon light. Then the car turned down a narrow street, pulling into what looked like a service alley, directing them into a walled and private courtyard. Heavy wooden gates closed behind the vehicle and Lexi realized this was not the safe house where she’d stayed on her previous visit to Florence. This building was more secure with access controlled through a fortified gate that obviously had surveillance.
Luca took Lexi’s arm and guided her inside, settling her in an ancient elevator cage that creaked with the sound of metal cables as it rose to the upper floor. The elevator was not as ancient as it appeared; Luca explained that the Italian warriors had a fondness for history and maintained the appearance when they could. As they exited, Lexi followed him through the door to the main salon. A woman with tidy gray hair was waiting. Luca spoke in quick Italian, and the woman darted away.
“Where is he?” Lexi asked.
“Councilor One has him.”
“When will I get him back?”
“Before the evening. Phillipe is with them. Come,” Luca said. “Please, sit.”
He tilted his head toward one of the silk upholstered chairs. Slowly, Lexi sat down, watching him. Luca was essentially male and very Italian, skin like dark honey, black laughing eyes that were more serious now, his brown hair cut short with military precision. Lexi didn’t know him well, had only met him during that previous, furious time in Florence. She was unable to judge his body language or determine if he was concerned about their current situation. Her pulse stuttered.
“Councilor One has been backed into a corner,” the warrior explained. “The political situation is tense, and Christan’s reappearance after four hundred years has alarmed a lot of powerful immortals. Plans have been disrupted, plots uncovered.”
“I knew he went to war.”
“He did, and it’s not something he hasn’t done before, but this was different. Too different for One to ignore once Six made it an issue. She’s sensitive about public perceptions.”
The messes Christan made that she didn’t like. A small smile touched Lexi’s lips. “He told me he gets into trouble when he comes here.”
Luca’s smile was knowing. He remained standing as the gray-haired woman returned with a silver tray and cups of steaming coffee, gestured toward a low ottoman to Lexi’s left, where the woman carefully arranged the tray within easy reach. Cream was offered and accepted, the taste of the coffee reviving.
“What’s happening now?” Lexi asked, holding the ceramic cup to her lips.
“One must confront Christan. She’ll confront Arsen and Darius, too, because they fought at his side, and rumors have already started, accusing Three of attacking One’s power base. If One ignores the complaints, Six will accuse her of failing to control her territory and then challenge her for it.”
“Who owns what?”
“One controls the old Roman empire, with Africa and parts of Egypt which she holds in trust for Two. Six controls areas associated with the Persian empire and the Arab world. Their conflicts occur in the eastern Mediterranean where territories overlap, but Six is opportunistic. The action in Zurich raised many eyebrows. He intends to capitalize on it.”
Lexi studied Luca, appreciated the classic angles of his face and the iron competence in his stance. She looked around at the simple interior, dark woods, light colored walls, airy French doors that opened onto a small balcony and the spectacular view of Brunelleschi’s Dome, visible above the red tiled rooflines of the surrounding buildings. The unreality of that view sank in while she tried to settle her nerves.
“Lexi, look at me,” Luca said as she set down her empty cup. “This is a political world. It is also feudal. Power is balanced between competing factions. It’s not that Christan can’t justify what he did, it’s how he did it. There have been suspicions since Zurich, but with the Piedmont those suspicions have grown into alarm. People are asking questions now.”
“What questions?”
“About you. What you might have done after that fight at the villa when Christan disappeared. Then you disappeared, and if you were human, it shouldn’t have been possible for Six to compel you to Zurich. We all suspected the blood bond was instantaneous. Perhaps now we have an answer. The building in Zurich and the cleanup in Florence can be explained. But the execution in the Piedmont and the way it was done—even for an enforcer with Christan’s strength with Leander at his side, there are influential immortals who insist it shouldn’t have been possible. Not unless something had changed him.”
Lexi realized the danger now, why Christan wanted her close. But Three wanted a powerful weapon and she’d gotten it through the blood bond. Christan could wield justice and vengeance with a power that was terrifying.
“Does everybody know?”
“We’ve been spreading the rumor of a gas leak in Zurich,” Luca said. “Christan’s authority as an enforcer isn’t questioned. He was sanctioned to collect blood debts for the caretakers killed at the villa. But immortals are afraid, Lexi. Old rumors are circulating.”
“That Three’s one word for vengeance is out of control?”
“We know it’s not true. Three wouldn’t have pulled him from the Void if he wasn’t in complete control.”
“But someone is maneuvering again. Provoking.”
Luca shrugged. “It’s a delicate balance of power.”
“What should I expect?”
“You’re safe here. You’re Christan’s mate, which entitles you to protection. No one will risk Three’s retribution by harming you.”
“Does Six know I’m here?”
“Without a doubt.” Luca’s tone sharpened. “He won’t get near you.”
Lexi nodded. “Okay.” It was enough for now. “When will Christan be released?”
“I expect a few hours. I need to warn you though. There’s a formal welcoming celebration tonight that you have to attend, followed by the inquiry tomorrow. It will be held in front of representatives from the other Calata members and powerful immortals. Both One and Six will be present. Phillipe has informed Three.”
“Will she come?”
“Speriamo cosi.” We hope so.
✽✽✽
The bedroom was cool and the air sweet with the distinctive scent of sun-warmed flowers. An hour ago, Lexi had changed from the somber dress and into loose black pants and a magenta shirt. Then she’d tried to rest, knowing sleep was out of the question. A continuous loop of images raced behind her eyes and she saw Christan, standing at attention, his attitude relaxed but so lethal the security detail had been visibly tense and uneasy. Lexi lost count of the hours since she left without him. The woman she met earlier brought a tray with cheese and fruit, and there’d been a bottle of mineral water. Lexi appreciated it once she realized how dehydrated her body had become, but the food caught in her throat. Eventually, she’d given up trying to eat and opted for the bed, where she held her
hands against her heart and pressed the memory lines. It was a foolish secret, like counting the first five stars, but it was an intimate connection to Christan beneath her skin.
This was her world now, and Lexi tried to accept the rippling effects of the blood bond which extended far beyond the immediate consequences. Aspects of immortal society were challenged by Christan’s reappearance and he accepted the threat. She understood, now, why he hadn’t argued against her decision to come to Florence. The compound was secure, but with everyone gone except Robbie and Marge, it would have been as vulnerable as her cottage. Christan would not have allowed that, not after the cat. He heard her crying one afternoon while she hid in the bathroom. He held her in his arms and promised she would never cry like that again, and Lexi had known, then, that he’d already kept that promise, long before he made it.
And in return she had been angry because he refused to train her. She held him at arm’s length, resenting his decision until that night in her cabin when all she wanted was to be happy. Instead of fighting, Christan made love to her in a way he’d never done before, and his reasons, now, felt like fear in her heart. Not so much for herself; Lexi’s fear was for what immortals might do to him now that they had him back within their control.
The door opened and the shadowed air filled with Christan’s clean male scent, wild sunshine, the sweet tang of oranges. Lexi heard the soft scrape of his clothes as he entered the room, and she rolled over to see him standing in the shadows, always the fierce predator, watching, waiting. When he crossed the room, she met him at the edge of the bed, and they held each other silently, his face buried in her hair while she stroked his back.
“I shouldn’t have allowed you to come,” he said against her throat.
“I’d have come anyway.” Lexi stroked her fingers over his face, against his scalp until he relaxed. Funny how it always came back to these moments, when she offered comfort and received it, instead. “What did One want today?”
“Nothing, other than to pretend she was doing something.”