Danial got to his feet. “Samuel, where is Ebediah? He should be here by now.”
“He asked me yesterday to open the festivities for him,” Samuel said smoothly. “He had a last minute problem he needed to take care of, some nasty murder in Quebec. Excuse me.”
He turned to the crowd. “Attention, everyone! I have been asked to start the evening festivities. I ask you all to be polite and courteous to our guests of honor, Danial Racklan, Ruler of the Common States, his Oathed One, Sarelle Racklan, and their blessed gift of a son, Theoron Racklan—”
My skin crawled. I gripped Danial’s hand tightly. He gave my hand a squeeze.
“—everyone may come and see the child, but no one is to attempt to touch him. Any attempts will be dealt with harshly, immediately. Please enjoy yourselves.” Samuel motioned and the small orchestra to the side of the dais began to play as the first curious vampires came forward.
Everything went well at first. Despite Samuel’s speech, everyone asked to touch him, and were irritated when we refused. Theoron behaved well, though he was as bored as we were and wanted the ice cream. Finally, I gave in and gave him some. Everyone watched that event like the finale of a favorite TV series, their fixated attention and complete silence unnerving.
Shortly after, I met two of the notable Rulers that Danial had spoken of, Zane and Perseus, as well as many lesser vampires with titles from around the world. All of them were courteous, but their polite and flowery words were devoid of everything except their interest in Theoron and I. Surprisingly, Zane was not what I expected, being not African American, but instead Asian, though his smaller size did not make me any less afraid of him. He was the first to push the envelope, when he refused to release my hand after kissing it, and Danial had to ask him to release me. His dark eyes were full of malice, even as he did so.
The worst was Perseus, who I somehow expected to be nice, perhaps because of his namesake. He was Mediterranean in looks, perhaps an actual Greek by birth, the oldest next to Ebediah and Samuel, according to Danial. He said no pleasantries after kissing my hand, and introducing himself. Instead, he shifted his eyes to Danial and began talking as if no one else was there.
“Danial, you can say what you like, but I know that you have no claim on Sarelle.”
“You see the marks on her,” Danial said calmly, meeting Perseus’s eyes with his own.
“At least one was made by your brother,” Perseus said coldly. “And the only Oath I know that she has taken is to your werecougar there.” He glanced at Theo, who growled. “Marriage is a human custom, Danial; it is no barrier to such as us.”
Theo growled louder.
“I have an Oath from her,” Danial said, narrowing his reddening eyes.
“You did years ago, but you rescinded it,” Perseus said scathingly. “Manir told that to me months ago, in exchange for some information I gave him. He said he had tortured one of your weres for it.”
I closed my eyes at the horror of it. He was talking about Suri. Theo was snarling now openly, Terian’s blackness seeping into me from where he stood at my back.
Danial stood up slowly, his eyes bleeding to solid red. “Perseus, I have her Oath. You do not need to believe my words for that to be true. Now get out of here, before I ask Samuel to escort you out.”
Perseus said nothing, only bared his fangs, and left, moving away from us, Zane beside him. Danial sat back down.
Theoron grew antsy before too much time had passed, his usual easygoing mood turning irritable. Samuel used that opportunity to bring out a young woman, who he presented to Theoron. “Drink your fill, little Prince.”
Theoron looked at me, bewildered.
Danial stood. “Samuel, in my son’s best interests, please demonstrate he has nothing to fear.”
“Not afraid,” Theoron whispered to me. “Why—”
“Shh,” I said.
Samuel drank from the woman, then faced us, proffering her bloodied wrist. Before I could react, Theoron lunged, sinking his fangs into her wrist with a growl. She let out a shriek, and tried to pull back. Samuel stopped her, keeping her wrist immobile as Theoron ravaged it. She began to cry.
“Enough,” Danial commanded, grabbing Theoron and prying him off the woman. Samuel nodded, then led the frightened, sobbing woman away, passing her off to one of his guards. As I cleaned up Theoron’s face with a wet nap, his fangs receded, becoming their normal human size. No one else had spoken, but the energy level of the room had risen exponentially.
It was time to leave. I turned to Danial. “Why don’t you have Terian teleport—?”
“Shit,” Brian said under his breath. “Look who just walked in.”
Chapter Eighteen
Devlin stood at the entrance to the room, dressed in black finery, complete with a long cape, and as always, his high leather boots. He was breathtaking, shining like the moon itself. He was scanning the room, Titus beside him.
I had the sudden urge to run to him, got partway up, then sank back down in the chair very, very slowly. Giving anything away in front of so many people would be stupid and dangerous. What was he doing here? Did his presence mean his plan had failed?
I needed to talk to Danial alone. “Danial, let’s dance.”
Danial nodded, and took my hand. “Come.”
I handed Theoron to Terian. He took him, giving me a cool glance. Danial led me to the dance floor. Slowly, we swept from one end of the dance floor to the other.
“I didn’t expect him,” I said pointedly, hoping he knew who I meant.
Danial nodded. “I’m surprised, too. I hope he behaves. We don’t need a scene with him and Theo, tonight of all nights.”
“There won’t be any scene,” I said with finality. “Theo and I are done.”
“Then why is he still wearing the ring?” Danial replied. “I’m sure she requested he take it off.”
“I can’t imagine—”
Then there was a tap on Danial’s shoulder. Devlin stood there.
“Speak of the Devil,” Danial said darkly, glaring at Devlin pointedly.
Devlin’s golden eyes were all for me. “Can I take her from you?” he said seductively, glancing to Danial meaningfully.
“No,” Danial replied just as meaningfully. “Wait your turn, Dalcon.”
“Fine, Racklan,” Devlin grinned. “I’ll expect you to give her to me when the song ends.” He stepped away to watch us from the edge of the dance floor, Titus beside him.
“What should I do?” I said worriedly. “I think his plan fell through. He was adamant that no one know about us.”
“The most he’ll do is get you out of here via Titus. He may be expecting an imminent attack. Follow his lead.” The song ended, and Danial kissed my hand, then handed it to Devlin, who’d come up beside us. “One song,” Danial said in a warning tone.
“I’ll only need one,” Devlin said arrogantly. My stomach twisted as he led me to the middle of the dance floor.
“There’s no music,” I hissed at him. “What are you doing, Dev?”
“Wait and see,” he said with a wide smile, walking a little way off.
I turned from him, and began walking away. Abruptly, the orchestra started playing, and Devlin began to sing.
I turned back to him in utter horror, crimson from head to toe. There was no imminent attack. They were playing “Point of No Return” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s play, Phantom of the Opera.
“You’ve already succumbed to me, drop your defenses, completely succumb to me,” Devlin sang, slowly stalking toward me.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. I stood there, transfixed like a deer in headlights.
“Past all thought of ‘if’ or ‘when,’ no use resisting...”
I turned from him, looking for Danial. He was watching angrily, but only nodded to me. Devlin stopped singing, but the music went on. I took a deep breath and looked away from him, beginning to sing. My voice was clear and strong. All those lessons with Devlin had paid off.
Devlin’s eyes were liquid gold, lust pouring off his body like water. As our voices joined, he pulled me close. “The bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn. We’ve passed the point of no return.”
My heart was beating fast, his heart beating just as fast behind me. I trembled in his grip, remembering how he had felt just hours ago, what we had done together. The sweet smell of him was heady, intoxicating.
The orchestra began again softly.
Oh, shit...
“Say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime. Save me, lead me from my solitude,” Devlin’s melodious voice echoed in the silent room for everyone to hear. “Say you want me with you here beside you,” he sang, turning me to look in my eyes. “Anywhere you go, let me go too. Sarelle, that’s all I ask of you,” he sang, a smile forming on his face as he finished. The orchestra stopped abruptly, and there was utter silence.
I looked at him standing there, so clearly pleased with himself, like the cat that ate the cream, and anger roared through me. With vengeful eyes, I took a deep breath and sang, “Pitiful creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known?”
His eyes went wide with shock, and it pleased me utterly, that he knew what was coming, and had no power, none at all, to stop me.
“God give me courage to show you, you are not alone.” Grasping my courage with angry hands, I kissed Devlin with ravenous hunger. I drew back, a triumphant smile on my lips.
Devlin’s eyes were melting pools of fire, and he was no longer smiling.
Danial’s voice rang out. “Bravo! Bravo!” He was walking toward us quickly, and clapping loudly. Others followed his lead after a few seconds.
“Your performance was as wonderful as we planned,” Danial lied smoothly. “My thanks again to you for your help in teaching my Oathed One to sing.”
“The pleasure was all mine,” Devlin said seductively.
“We must be going,” Danial said, motioning to Terian, Theo and Brian. “It was—”
“Go?” A voice repeated in sarcasm. “You can go, if you wish.” Perseus appeared at the crowd’s edge. “Your son may also. But Sarelle is staying here.”
Theo growled, and Terian put his hand on his gun.
“Come now,” Samuel said, taking a stance beside Perseus. “We don’t need to upset anyone.”
“Yes,” Zane said, coming to stand on Perseus’s other side. “Perhaps we do.”
Danial faced them. “Is there some problem?” he said almost casually. “We have been more than generous with our time—”
“Yes,” Perseus said curtly. “We have seen the miracle you have worked with Sarelle, this child that is half human and half vampire. We knew that she could no longer have children. Because of that, we were content for her to live out her life as she saw fit.”
Damn Stephen and his medical papers.
“We know now that she can again bear children. We do not intend to let her waste herself with a were.”
Theo snarled at that insult. Both Terian and he took aim. Danial had not moved.
“It’s not your business,” I said loudly. “Who I’m with is my choice.”
“You are Oathed to Danial, Sarelle,” Samuel said, giving me a narrow look. “It is his choice, not yours.”
Danial stepped in front of me protectively. “You are right, she is mine, Samuel, and I alone decide what is best for her. She has given me a child, made the impossible a reality I can touch and love. If I choose to let her have another man’s child, or to have no more children, it is my choice and mine only. You have no say in it!”
“Danial,” Samuel said cajolingly. “We need to have Sarelle try again, this time with a different vampire and to document everything. We need to know how it was done, why it worked with her where for hundreds of years it has failed. We need to know if it can work with a different vampire as the father.”
This was worse than a nightmare. “You swore no harm would come to me,” I said harshly. “How dare you stand there and tell me to break my Oath?”
“Danial will see the light to amend your Oath, I’m sure,” Perseus said, matter of fact. “And so will you,” Zane said with a suggestive smile in his dark eyes, “When you are beneath me.”
I was shocked into silence, flushing.
“You three stand against me,” Danial said calmly. “What say you, Michael?”
Michael, whom I had not met before, came forward calmly. He looked ordinary enough, with light brown hair and eyes, and a full beard. From him I got none of the excitement that seemed to surround all the other vampires here.
“I am here only because my position demands it,” he said softly, his words clipped with some unfamiliar accent. “I have no interest in making my own dhamphir with her, if it is even possible to do a second time, which I truly don’t believe.” Michael looked disdainfully at Zane, Perseus and Samuel. “I abstain from the proceedings.” He turned, and went back to whatever section of the room he had come from.
Zane, Perseus, and Samuel stood unmoving in a wall before Danial.
“I will not agree to this,” Danial said, forcefully breaking the silence. “You have no right under our laws to take Sarelle from me, or force us to accept another man in our bed, one I do not authorize or invite, one which Sarelle refuses!”
“This child has changed the laws,” Zane said in a low tone. “How can you be so selfish, to keep this gift for yourself alone?”
“She is only a human,” Perseus said, eyeing me coldly. “Her wishes are not paramount.”
“Stop,” Samuel said, glaring at Perseus. “Sar, no one will harm you, and you may have anything you want, anything at all, if you do this for us. All we are asking for is a year of your life, maybe less. You want to be with Danial, fine, go back to him when it is done. You want your werecougar waiting for you when you return, it will be done. But you must do this for us.”
“How dare you!” Danial shouted. “I am her Oathed One, and a Ruler of a country in my own right! The law is on my side, and even if it was not, I’d not let anyone touch one hair on her head without my permission. If one of you three tries to, you are dead!”
There was absolute silence. No one moved.
Samuel fixed Danial with a steely glare. “You do not have the power to stop us, Danial. And if you do not concede her, you will be the one who is dead.”
Samuel looked at me, raw desire for what I could give him in his eyes. I braced for attack, my arms tightening around Theoron, who began to wail.
“You are forgetting Ebediah,” a melodious voice said. “He has a say, as Canada’s Ruler.”
Devlin walked up, and stood directly in front of Samuel, a serene smile on his face.
“He is not here—” Samuel said, glancing over at him.
“Nor will he be!” Devlin said loudly, smirking.
Samuel’s mouth dropped open, but no words came out.
“You bastard,” Perseus said, his eyes widening. “You’ll burn for this!”
“You’re bluffing, you has-been,” Zane said, sneering. He took a step toward Devlin.
“Ah, now, you need to learn respect for your elders,” Devlin said and shoved him. His blow sent Zane all the way across the room to crash into the wall. He stayed there, stunned, some of his bones clearly broken.
“You drained him,” Samuel said, aghast. “You drained Ebediah.”
“Him, and his lover,” Devlin said, still grinning. “They were almost the same age.”
Titus came up beside Danial, a ball of that glowing blue fire in each hand. Blackness engulfed me suddenly, as Theoron’s wail became a scream of terror. A whip cracked unexpectedly, the crowd scrambling to get out of its path. Lash walked up to stand beside us, drawing his knife with his left hand.
I gaped a
t him. Where the hell was his gun? We faced vampires...
“You do not have enough power, even with what you stole from Ebediah and Sola,” Perseus said through clenched teeth. “Not even you and Danial combined are a match for the three of us, especially with so few guards—”
Lash struck with his whip, making Perseus’s guard at his side flinch backward, barely evading the whistling leather.
“You may be number one, but that doesn’t mean much,” Perseus said, baring his fangs at Lash. “I have fifty guards here, some of them flanking you as we speak—”
Lash turned in a smooth motion and threw his knife. It hit a large man square in the chest. He began shrieking, black blood pouring from the wound, then collapsed.
“Anyone else?” Lash hissed in the dead quiet. He went to the twitching body, then pulled out the knife. The body began to collapse in on itself, eerie blue flames slowly eating it from within. The crowd moved back quickly, leaving Perseus and Samuel standing alone before us.
“Do you want a war, Samuel?” Devlin said, his words a caress. “It’s true you may take her if you attack in mass. But you know me. You know that won’t be the end of it!” He grew louder. “I’ll be your enemy forever after! And I have so many other ways to get to you and more especially, those you love! Such as your sweet Olivia, back in Madrid? Or gentle Gwendolyn, or Beatrice? You want me to visit one of them some night, when she is alone, Samuel? Ah, the things I could do to her in just one night! And after, she would never be the same—”
“Enough!” Samuel shouted, his face white. “What do you propose, Devlin?”
“I lay claim to Sarelle,” Devlin said, taking my hand. “I’ll not share her with you!”
“You who’ve bedded countless women,” Zane said painfully, as he walked to rejoin Samuel. “What concern is this of yours?”
“I am making it my concern,” Devlin replied. “Though everyone else here cowers at your feet, I will not stand by and see evil done to innocents in my home domain.” He glanced at me, then back to Samuel. “Someone must. It’s time I was that someone again.”
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