“I have news that you need to hear. Dupin has taken Paris.”
Laurentia’s mouth went slack, and her face, already pale, became ghostly. Maria went to her side and took her hand. “What?”
Erik nodded. “I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Intel says she took your territory while you were attending the assembly in Uppsala.”
Her brows knit together and she bared her feral teeth. “My city will never be his.”
“Well, at the moment, it is,” he said, “along with my daughter.”
Maria sighed. “So that is where Mia has gone to. He keeps dark company, Erik.”
“I know.” He walked further into the room and sat down in one of Maria’s wing backed chairs.
The deposed leader of western Paris stepped forward. “What do you intend to do about it? You are the only Huntsman left and the Draugr here in Stockholm are an inebriated mess. If Dupin chooses to oppose you, he will have the force to take the night, and with Mia at his side he will have the witches’ approval.”
“I have the Rune Master.”
“So what?” Laurentia demanded. “A barely-turned vampire with no real sense of her own power, still playing at being a mortal, unaware of what she could really be? Your Rune Master has the skills but none of the experience. If she were as old as you, she would be a force to be reckoned with. As it stands, she has too much to learn.”
“I am aware of how young she is, and how inexperienced.”
Maria ventured, “She needs real war to harden her to what she’s meant to be.”
“I will decide what Nika needs,” Erik said, his voice calm but his eyes sharp. “I intend to take Paris back from Dupin, and you, Laurentia, will need to fight for it, as well. Do you have any forces who are loyal to you?”
She hesitated. “I… I don’t know.”
He nodded. “And that is why you’ve lost Paris.”
Laurentia rushed to him, kneeling at his feet, her hands gripping his knees imploringly. “Give me back my city! I have always lived in Paris, my whole existence, through everything the mortal and immortal worlds have done. Do not make me an exile!”
Erik looked at her coolly. “Your people did not defend your right to your territory. Why would I support you, if you are so weak?”
“Because… I beg of you.”
“I have been begged before.”
He felt annoyed with her supplication. He remembered another time, centuries ago, when he had been in a similar position: a victor with a vanquished and deposed leader groveling at his feet. He had worn leather and furs then instead of denim, but the accidents of power were much the same. In his mind’s eye, he could see the stony castle in Kiev and the groveling king whose body would later float down the Dnieper, Erik’s axe marks in his head.
Those had been bloody days.
“I will give you anything you ask,” Laurentia continued, pressing her hands against him. She gripped the waistband of his jeans, her face desperate. “I will…ah…anything.”
He had not been sex-deprived long enough for that offer to be enticing. He pushed her away with disgust.
“Get up.” She slinked away, and he said, “I will retake Paris from Dupin because it pleases me to do it, and because he has allied with my enemy.”
Maria said softly, “Do you mean the coven in Bordeaux, or Mia?”
Erik’s eyes were flinty as he looked up at her. “Does it matter?”
She wisely demurred, “No, sir.”
He turned his attention back to Laurentia. “Can I look to you for support in this?”
“Of course. I want my city back!”
“What do you offer me, apart from sex?”
She blushed and clenched her fists. “I would give you gold. Ancient gold. My coffers are full of it. And I will give you full freedom of the city…”
“Your gold belongs to Dupin now, and I have full freedom of every city already.” His tone dared her to disagree. “What else?”
She looked bereft. “What else do I have?”
“You have an archive and a wine cellar, if I recall.” He saw the recognition dawn in her eyes, followed closely by a strangling horror that she tried unsuccessfully to conceal. “Do I have your attention now? If I give you Paris, which you dearly want, then I need you to give me what I want.”
“The blood.”
“And the books. And the totems and the relics and the magical items.” Laurentia’s jaw set, and he grinned unkindly. “Did you think we didn’t know what you were doing all these years? There was nobody to object before, but now I’m here, and I am objecting. Give me the rank riches you’ve collected with your crimes and support me in removing Dupin, and I might forget your excesses. I might let you rule Paris as a whole on my behalf – under my laws. Unless you think the price is too high.”
Maria came to Laurentia’s side and clutched her hand. The deposed chieftain agonized long and hard while Erik stared her down. Finally, she spoke.
“I agree to your terms. You are a cruel man, Erik Thorvald.”
“At least we understand one another.” He rose. “You will fight at my side so that I can see the amount of effort you put forth. If I am not convinced of your loyalty and your desire to retake your city, I will make other arrangements.”
He walked toward the door, and she hissed at his back. “I hate you.”
Erik smirked and looked back at her. “I don’t care.” He nodded to Maria. “Good day.”
Chapter Eleven
Nika sat in the airport coffee shop, watching the news on the terminal television. Nothing ever really changed in the human world. New wars replaced old ones, new politicians repeated old lies and the rich kept getting richer. The same was probably true in the vampire world, as well, but with less news coverage and fewer witnesses.
Tamara’s plane would be landing soon. Nika was eager to see her old friend again. They had known each other since high school, and they had seen each other through all of the ups and downs ten years could bring. Tamara had been her closest companion and confidante, Nika had trusted her with everything.
Now she was wondering if maybe she had trusted her a little bit too far. She feared that she had erred by putting Erik through Tamara’s loyalty and morality test. He had stormed out of the office at Snake Eyes yesterday afternoon, and he stayed away all night without even a call. Now it was the next morning, and there was still no word from him. She was worried something had happened to him.
She was worried that he might have left her.
She checked her phone for the ninetieth time, and there were no texts or missed calls. The clock told her that Tamara’s plane was likely in its final approach, so she finished her coffee and left to stand by the customs station where her friend would emerge.
Nika contented herself with people-watching to pass the time while she waited. She had always thought humans were interesting creatures, but now that she saw with Draugr eyes, they were so captivating. Their life force glowed around them like halos, all blues and greens and golds, with a thin line of red near their skin that varied with the health of the person. A very healthy man, for instance, had a thick scarlet line, and an ailing child’s line was very, very thin. She supposed it was like a visual representation of how much blood that human had to offer, so the vampire in her could select its meal accordingly.
She hadn’t hunted since Finland, and she disliked the exercise. She could well understand why so many of the Draugr in Scandinavia had come to depend upon dreyri for their sustenance. It was so much easier to obtain, and quicker, and with the enchantments that had been placed upon it to preserve the donors’ life force and to prevent decay, it was far more satisfying. Real blood fresh from the vein carried a more sexual edge, a more animal quality, and it had its appeal, she supposed. She’d much rather drink champagne from a crystal glass than try to swallow the pressings from the bottom of a wine barrel. The comparison of dreyri to living blood was that stark to her.
Dreyri gave its power more quickl
y than fresh blood, probably again due to the magic that it bore. She thought she should probably learn how to perform that enchantment so that they could continue to have bottles and casks on hand to sell through Snake Eyes. It was a pity that there wasn’t a recipe or a set of directions lying around in Magda’s ledgers.
A group of Draugr walked past her, their power far less than Erik’s but much greater than hers. The sole woman in the group, wisp-thin and painfully pale, glanced at her with disdain as she passed with her immortal entourage. Nika wondered if they didn’t recognize her, or if they just chose to disrespect her in Erik’s absence. She decided to let it go.
“I would have forced them to acknowledge me if I was their queen,” a man said behind her. She turned and found Vladimir standing there, still muddy and disheveled. “But then, maybe I wouldn’t have.”
She turned away from him. “I didn’t want to start a scene.”
He moved up to stand beside her. “So polite of you. Very proper.” He glanced around at the throngs of humans scurrying about them. “Probably a very sober choice.”
Something about him irritated her. “What do you want, Vladimir?”
“I wanted to let you know that I am going to kill that last Dark Sister. I know your master doesn’t want me to do it, but I thought you might like to get her blood on your hands, for old time’s sake.”
He was grinning like a fool when she turned to look at him, and the expression was chilling. He was so eager to deal death. Nika said, “I appreciate the invitation, but I don’t like killing. I’ve rarely done it and I don’t care to do it again.”
Vladimir shrugged. “Suit yourself. I quite enjoy it.”
“I can tell.”
He leaned against the wall beside her. “So, if I kill the Dark Sister, will you keep your master from retaliating against me?”
“First of all, he’s not my master. He’s my fiancé. And second of all, if he decides he really wants to kill you, there’s nothing I can do to stop him.” She sighed and looked at him again. “He warned you off. Isn’t that enough to make you stop hunting her?”
“No.” It was a straightforward answer, but she didn’t expect his bluntness. “The Dark Sisters and some of your Draugr have decided that dreyri from witch blood is also very tasty, and they decimated the coven in Kiev and Rostov, along with others. They drained them dry and took their blood for their infernal drink, and I mean to make them pay. Your master’s – your fiancé’s – little girl is one of the most powerful and evil of the Dark Sisters, and she personally presided over the draining of my children. All of my children. Do you know how many of my children they killed?”
Nika’s mouth was dry. There was mania behind his eyes. “No idea.”
“Thirteen. Lucky thirteen. She destroyed my family.” He turned and looked toward the customs gate, where the new arrivals from America were being screened. “And now I mean to destroy her.”
She knew she should have supported Erik’s decision to leave Mia alone. She knew she should have done her part to warn this Russian madman off of the trail. She also knew that she couldn’t do that. “Then destroy her,” she said, her voice flat. “I don’t want to participate, but I think it needs to be done.”
Vladimir turned and kissed her on both cheeks. “A brilliant decision, my queen, and when I kill her, I will bring a token of her power to you as my patron.”
He took a step backward from her, and she shook her head. “I’m not your patron.”
He vanished from sight without responding.
She turned back toward the customs gate just in time to see Tamara, who rushed toward her with her arms out wide. “Nika!” she exclaimed.
They met in the middle of the concourse with a tight embrace. “So good to see you!” Nika enthused.
Tamara stepped back and pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes. “You look fabulous! Sweden suits you.”
“Thank you.” They hugged again, and then Nika asked, “How was your flight?”
“Boring, I guess. I slept through most of it.” She adjusted her purse, which was falling off of her shoulder, and said, “Let’s go get my bags and you can show me your new world.”
They walked together to baggage claim, dodging bodies as they went. Tamara was wide-eyed and excited, looking all around them with the childlike sense of wonder that Nika had always envied in her. They reached baggage carousel and waited with the rest of the incoming travelers.
“So,” her friend asked, “how’s what’s his name?”
Nika chucked. “Erik is fine. He’s a little bit stressed out by his new job, but he’s all right.”
“And how’s the test going?” She groaned, and Tamara nodded sagely. “That good, huh? He hasn’t hurt you, has he?”
“No, just the opposite. He asked me what was wrong, and I ended up telling him about the test. He got really upset with me for not trusting him.”
Tamara shrugged. “Well, you know how it is – the people who are loudest about telling you to trust them are usually the ones who are least trustworthy.”
Nika shook her head. “You really don’t like him, do you?”
“He took my best friend to another continent. You might say I’m holding a grudge.” She grabbed a suitcase and stepped back. “I only took two weeks off. I’m not ready to move to Sweden completely yet.”
She was disappointed, but she understood. “Not a problem. Let’s just try to make this vacation the best one you’ve ever had, right?”
They snagged her second piece of luggage, and Nika led her out toward the parking lot. Tamara struggled with her heavy suitcases, but once she got them righted on their wheels and extended the telescoping handle, she was able to manage. Nika took control of one of the weighty bags.
“Wow, what did you pack? Gold bricks? Did they have to charge you extra for these?”
“A little,” Tamara allowed. “So, for someone who’s getting married soon, you sure seem down in the dumps.”
She shrugged one shoulder, which was entirely unconvincing. “I’m okay.”
“Liar.”
Nika took a deep breath and led the way to her – well, Erik’s – parked car. “Like I said, I told Erik about the test, and he didn’t take it well.”
Tamara whistled. “Nice wheels!”
She smiled at the Aston Martin, and at the gleam in her friend’s eyes. “Thanks. Erik’s a car guy. He likes things that go fast.”
“I’ll bet he does.”
She opened the back door and busied herself with lowering the handles and tossing the suitcases onto the seat. They flew in with enough velocity that they bounced against the opposite door. She turned back to Tamara and saw her friend gaping at her, her mouth literally hanging open.
“The hell, Graves?” she finally said, using her last name the way they’d done as a joke back in school.
Nika hesitated. “Uh…what, Jackson? Just because you can’t handle it doesn’t mean I’m weak.” She mentally castigated herself for not being more careful. Sometimes it took an effort to conceal her new Draugr strength, and she had forgotten to hide it. It was just her luck that Tamara was bright enough to catch on.
Tamara shook her head and got into the passenger seat. Once Nika was settled behind the wheel and driving away from the parking structure, she said, “So by ‘didn’t take it well,’ what do you mean?”
“I mean he stomped off and didn’t come home last night,” she admitted.
Her friend went still and silent for a moment, then said, “Honey…”
“Don’t say it. He doesn’t have anybody else, and he’s going to come back, and we’ll work this out.” She clenched her jaw briefly, but the pressure and the agitation made her fangs come out, and she quickly pulled them back in. She wanted to tell her friend about her new life, but there were more subtle ways to do it. “I’m betting he’ll be at the house when we get there.”
Tamara crossed her arms. “I’m glad I’m going to be staying with you. If he gets out of line, I can knock h
im on his can.” Nika laughed, and her friend insisted, “Seriously! I’ve learned some tricks from the bouncers at Paradise. I can handle a guy who’s out of line.”
“If you say so.” She merged into traffic, leaving the airport behind. “You might be able to handle a regular guy, but Erik is something else all together.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Ex-special forces. Yeah.”
Tamara nodded. “Well… even a special forces dude has balls that hurt when you kick them.”
“You wouldn’t!”
“If he does anything to hurt you, hell yes, I would.”
Nika glanced at her friend, amused by the truculent tone and the fire in her eyes. “It’s so good to see you,” she said.
***
Mia and Derek celebrated their marriage with a long, dreyri-soaked feast at his estate for his Parisian Draugr. When the sixteenth hour of the party passed, Derek finally took her hand and leaned toward her.
“Let’s go make this official.”
Her stomach twisted. She knew that there would have to be some sort of consummation of this marriage, but until now she’d kept even the thought of it at bay. Now with her new husband eyeing her with lust and his vampires watching them keenly, she knew that the time had come.
Well, she thought. I’m not without some tricks of my own.
He led her upstairs to the master bedroom and locked the door behind them. Nervousness tickled her spine, and her fingertip tingled with preparatory magic. She held it in reserve so she could call it up at speed if she needed to defend herself.
Derek was not unattractive, she supposed, although he was shorter than she liked her men to be. She much preferred the big, beefy types like Bjorn, men who made her feel engulfed when they held her. There was a certain amount of danger to a man like that, and she enjoyed the risk. With Derek, while he was certainly powerful thanks to the antiquity of his vampire blood, he was closer to her own size. She stood a chance of escaping him if he tried to overpower her. She found that disappointing.
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