by Viola Grace
“So, I would go straight to queen, no messing around as a countess for a while?”
He pulled her in close and steered her to one of the displays. “You are a very funny woman. I would raise you to empress, but you would get too big for your britches.”
She snorted, and they continued their tour of the exhibit as well as the museum’s own collection of vampire artifacts.
The DeMonstres were in attendance, and Leo found Sophia, cornering her as soon as it was polite to do so.
“Leo, you look amazing!”
Leo blushed. “You are one to talk, you look like jailbait.”
Sophia was wearing a daringly cut sapphire cocktail dress. She sighed despondently. “I know. I swear I actually saw a guy look me over and then smack himself for thinking whatever he was thinking.”
Leo laughed. She couldn’t help it, most women would kill to look young forever, and Sophia was cursed with it. Her mother, Lillian, and father, Gerard, had the hopeless look of those devotedly in love as they swayed to the music of the live band.
“I want to look like that one day.” Leo wasn’t sure if she said it or Sophia said it.
“I think you are about to have your chance.” Sophia chuckled.
Leo looked in the direction that Sophia had her head turned, and Matthias was making his way through the crowd toward her.
Part of her wanted to hide, she even darted a glance around, but he was next to her in a moment.
“Leonora, would you care to dance?” He held out his hand.
Leo’s heart started pounding at the image of him, his hair sliding over his ear and just the hint of fang showing as he smiled. “I am not very good.”
“You will improve with practice.”
She turned to Sophia and excused herself before taking Matthias’s arm and heading toward the dance area.
A few other couples were swaying together, but when Matthias took the floor, they all gave them some space.
He decorously put one hand on her waist, she placed her hand on his arm, just like she had learned in junior high, and he gently gripped her other hand in his. They swayed.
This time, it wasn’t in front of a bunch of vampires who had other things on their minds. This time, he was displaying her to all members of Redbird City society. This dance was serious.
She fought her urge to sprint for the door and looked into his eyes, relaxing at his expression. He wasn’t going to let her do anything stupid.
That meant more to her than she could say, and she tried to put that into her eyes.
He smiled slowly, and they began to step a little faster, turning and moving around the other dancers with the most graceful of motions. Leo enjoyed the dancing and blanked her mind to any negative thoughts about her own skills. His were enough for both of them.
She felt her tiny clutch buzz, and she ignored it. This was so much more fun.
The waltz that they were dancing was definitely seductive. She couldn’t imagine trying a tango. She might melt directly into a puddle right then.
When the dance was over, they stopped and applauded the musicians with the rest of the audience. Leo smiled as Matthias kissed her hands one at a time.
The director whisked him off for some information on one of the displays, and Leo returned to Sophia. “Sorry about that. Duty called.”
“And now I just hope that I find a guy I can look at like you and Matthias look at each other. That would make me ecstatic.”
Leo blushed. “Was it that bad?”
“It was amazing. I think someone caught it on film.” Sophia wagged her eyebrows. “I think I see the photographer. Let me go check.”
Leo stood by herself and used the opportunity to check her phone. An image of her sister and Melody bound and tied together filled the screen.
The next text said, Come alone or I kill them both.
Leo’s heart started pounding, but she turned and headed for the exit.
She pressed the summoner and checked the time. It was a zero count, which meant he was already there.
She looked around and saw Nathaniel. He was staring at the gridlock surrounding his vehicle and raising his hands in frustration.
She stalked up to him. “Nathaniel, find me any kind of vehicle. It’s an emergency.”
He took in her expression, and he glanced around. “That will do.”
One of the photographers had brought his motorcycle to the gala, and he was only too happy to loan the bike to the mayor’s apprentice for the night, provided that she let him get one picture of her on it.
She agreed, pasted a smile on her face, straddled the bike with her dress hiked up, and when he had the pictures he wanted, Nathaniel interrupted and handed her a backpack with a familiar handle sticking out the back. She slipped it on her back, fired up the bike and roared off.
Chapter Eighteen
The photo had been taken with Minny on the old couch, so she had been lured back home.
Matthias said he had put something in place to protect the house, but he hadn’t shared the details with Leo.
She drove the bike as fast as she could without ditching it and finally roared up to her sister’s previous home.
She paused and removed the bat, ditching the backpack and turning off the motorcycle before heading up the stairs.
She could smell blood the moment she stepped through the door. Leo walked into the living room, and there was Robert, sitting in the leather chair, blood on his mouth and jaw, his white shirt gleaming in the darkness.
“Oh, Leo. You were late, so I had a snack. It seems I have solved my problem.”
The bodies of Minny and Melody were discarded to either side of the chair, but there was something wrong.
Leo tasted the layer of magic in the home. She also knew for a fact that Minny and Melody were safe at home, because she had just gotten a midnight-feeding photo.
“Well, Robert. It looks like you ignored the pass that Matthias offered to your nest’s queen.”
He went from sinister sneering to slightly unsure. “What?”
“Oh, yes. She was given authorization to offer you dispensation for your offspring. You could have just left Minny and Melly alone.” Her voice hitched, but it was rage and not grief.
“My queen said I had to kill them, so I did.”
“Good to know. I will pass that along to Matthias. I am sure that Shaline will learn her lesson at his hands.”
Robert stood and approached her. “It is convenient that you dressed for your funeral, Leo.”
She saw it in slow motion. He formed claws with his hand, and he swiped at her. She didn’t flinch; she lifted up the bat and caught his attack.
She let him attack. She wanted to make absolutely sure that he thought her sister was dead.
When they were out of the living room and in the dining room, she swung the bat. The lightest tap from her sent him spinning into the wall. She waited until he charged her again, and she struck him again.
He began to heal after every strike, but after the third, the healing stopped. At that point, she reached for the butcher knife that Minny had always kept under the kitchen table for defense, and as neatly as she could, she severed his head.
“Excuse me, he is dead now.”
The two attacked bodies shifted, and the woman lifted the baby in her arms. “You knew we were zombies?”
“I have met with the deputy mayor a few times. I recognized the feeling. Thank you so much for your help.”
The woman smiled. “Mayor Matthias gave us a good start on life after life. His only caveat was for us to wear these faces until the vampire came for us. His glamour caster was a master. Even I didn’t recognize myself.”
Leo nodded, and she continued to hold the head by the hair.
“Let me get you a bag for that.”
In a few minutes, she had formally introduced herself to the zombie family, gotten a text from Nathaniel that he was waiting for her i
n the drive.
She thanked Emily and Nora before taking her bat and her party favour out of the house.
She was dripping with blood and looked at the limo with trepidation.
Nathaniel gave her the news. “Matthias is still waiting for you at the party. There is a second gown in the back of the limo, and you have twenty minutes and all the mirrors you can find to clean up.”
“What do I do with the head?”
“I will take care of it.”
Since there was a spare dress, she wiped herself off on the one she was wearing and crawled into the back of the limo.
She unzipped quickly, finding the wet wipes and working quickly on any part of her that would touch the new gown.
There were plenty of spots she had missed, but she would have to go back to the party and excuse herself to the ladies’ room.
She wriggled into the copy of the dress, checked her necklace and did up the back buttons that kept it above her tailbone.
She still had six blocks left, so she scrubbed at her arms and hands.
When the limo pulled up, she was a little rumpled but not horribly. To her shock, Nathaniel pulled up next to the limo, riding the motorcycle.
Well, there definitely were more than one of him.
He gave the cycle back to the photographer and then helped her out of the car and into the party. She passed security and found Matthias in a moment.
She smiled slightly as she passed some shifters and a few vampires. When she reached Matthias, anyone with enhanced senses knew she smelled of blood.
He inclined his head and took her aside. “Where did you go?”
“Couldn’t you feel it? I took care of Robert. Removing his head will do it, right?”
“Definitely.” He frowned. “I did not feel any panic, any alarm from you.”
“Probably because that is not what was going through my mind. Nice work with the zombies.”
He inclined his head. “Thank you. Considering what else is going on, I was a slightly irritated when I realized you had left.”
“What else is going on?”
“The nest is being destroyed. The queen had proven herself unreliable. Her view exceeded her reach.”
The quiet meetings, the heavy security and the appearance of both Nathaniels was a little clearer. “I see.”
“So, imagine my emotions when I found out you had left the party. I will be dealing with Nathaniel when we return to the manor.”
Leo straightened. “You will not.”
“You will deal with him?”
She poked him in the chest. “I went. I chose to do it. I asked him to get me a vehicle. You are the one who insisted on my learning all types of bikes. Blame yourself.”
“Wow, you really took it around and aimed it at me. Nicely done.” Matthias looked surprisingly amused.
“Thanks. I have worked with men before. Aiming responsibility at you seemed the wisest course.”
He sighed and lifted her chin with two fingers. “You are a trial.”
“And yet, you keep me nearby.” She leaned up and kissed him quickly.
“I find it comforting to contain your spontaneity. It gives me something to distract myself.”
She laughed and looked around. They were standing next to a sacrificial mask made of gold with the neck exposed. It was a first feeding mask of ancient vampires. They would stake down a victim, and the mask kept them from being distracted by the person they were consuming.
From what Matthias was telling her, he kept her around because he was bored. He needed a distraction, and she was it.
Leo laughed. “Glad to be of service. Now, shall we return to your adoring public?”
“Stay at my side, or I will chain you to me the next time we go out.” He pulled her against him, and she could feel every inch of his body under the fabric. Her hormones hummed to life at the contact.
“Understood.” She ran her hands under the jacket of his tux.
He shivered slightly and caught her hands. “Don’t tease.”
“Not a tease, just a reminder that me not being chained leaves a lot of possibilities.” She patted his chest and pulled her hands out.
He straightened his shoulders, she took his arm and they returned to the party.
Leo hummed some of the music in the limo on the way home. Matthias cuddled her against him and stroked her hair as the car wound its way through the nearly empty streets.
“So, where do you keep the limo?”
He chuckled. “In the same garage as the bikes. You never know when you need to make an impression.”
She nodded. “I can confirm that. Well, what happens to the vampires that weren’t under the queen’s thrall?”
“They will be given the opportunity to join the nest of the new king or queen.”
“You will invite a new vampire into your territory?”
He laughed. “I don’t have time to monitor them myself. Cleaning out the nest will show my resolution. I gave her enough time to change her mind. She refused to bow to my commands. This is the price for peace.”
She nodded. “So, vampire life isn’t worth much to you. Good to know.”
“Taken vampires are either not given a choice or become vampires in pursuit of power. Either way, they are not beings that can be trusted.”
“What about Octavia?”
“Who? Oh, Regick and Zora’s new addition. She is now a given vampire.”
Leo cleared her throat. “She was Olvadi’s second in command for years. She would be a good choice as the new queen.”
“Leo, are you playing politics?”
“Maybe. Just taking it out for a spin.” And Octavia was the only vampire that Leo knew with no ties to another community.
“Good idea. I will contact her in the morning. After all those years in the dark, I am betting that she gets up to watch every dawn.”
They went through the checkpoint at the gate, and Nathaniel drove them up to the manor. He opened the door, and Matthias stepped out before turning to ease Leo out into the cool predawn air.
With a swift move, he lifted her in his arms and carried her into the manor. She draped her arm around his neck for balance, and he carried her into the manor with all the grace of a man who had swept more than one woman off her feet.
She whispered as he walked, “If you didn’t think I would go after Robert, why did you have a second dress with Nathaniel?”
Matthias smirked, “I wanted to be prepared for any eventuality.”
“Were you a boy scout?”
He chortled. “No, but I consumed an eagle scout once. That, however, is a tale for another time. For now, I am trying to be romantic.”
Leo giggled at the blunt description of his motives and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Perhaps the fifth glass of champagne had been a bad idea.
It was his room tonight, and the skylight let the stars fade as the dawn crept over them.
Leo draped her arms around his neck as he knelt with her impaled on his lap. He lifted and lowered her slowly, and once again, she was spun into his past.
Songs of love ran through her mind, each as sweet as the one before. The emotion in his mind was genuine, and it was aimed toward her.
As the light around them brightened, she held onto him, clutched at him and bit him gently. It was a slow and deliberate ending to a very trying day.
Chapter Nineteen
“Leo, you are on the front of the daily paper!” Minny burst in, and Leo looked at her with bleary eyes.
Leo sat up and looked at Minny. “How did we get into my room?”
Matthias wrapped an arm around her hips and pulled her toward him. “You said you would get on top if I gave you home-court advantage.”
Minny was standing in the doorway, shocked. “The butler said I could just come right in.”
Dorn came in after her and brought a tray for Leo, setting it on the small table. “I included a cup for you
r sister, Ms. Wicks.”
Leo kissed Matthias quickly, grabbed the sheet and wrapped it around her, leaving him naked.
“Sit, Minny. Tell me what you are talking about.” Leo poured a cup of hot coffee and simply inhaled it for a minute.
Minny was staring at the large, naked vampire in her sister’s bed.
Leo snapped her fingers. “Hello, Minuet!”
Minny nodded toward Matthias. “Naked.”
“That is his problem. He is the ancient one; he can figure out how to get dressed.”
Matthias got to his feet, sauntered over to Leo and pried the sheet out of her hands. He kissed her as he pulled away her covering and wrapped it around his own hips.
He leaned back and tapped her nose with one finger. “See? I figured it out.”
He wandered into her bathroom, and the shower started up.
Minny looked around and grabbed Leo’s robe. “Uh, does that hurt?”
Leo looked down and spotted the bruise on her rib. “I didn’t even feel it. It must have happened in the... altercation last night.”
Leo slid the robe on and tied it, sitting at her tiny table. “So, what was it that you wanted me to see?”
Minny shook her head and came back to herself. “Did you see this? You are on the front page and above the fold. Is that the necklace?”
Leo touched her throat, and the necklace was still there. “Yeah, it is. Apparently, it is an ancient artifact. It took a bit for Matthias to get it on me, so I am guessing there is a catch to the catch.”
“Are you reading the article?”
Mayor’s New Apprentice Catalyst for War.
Leo blinked. “Oh. Well, not really.”
She skimmed the article, and it said that it was her presence in the mayor’s manor that had instigated the eradication of the queen’s nest.
“Did you really do that? Why would you do something like that, Leo?”
Leo sipped at her coffee. “It wasn’t me. The queen wanted you dead and told Robert that he couldn’t be a proper drone unless he killed you and Melody. Matthias had already authorized Melody. There was no issue. She wanted you dead, so she defied Matthias. That set a whole shit storm of events into motion.”