Agata opened the door when Estelle arrived, so quickly that she must have been waiting right by it. For a moment the two women stared at each other, then Agata bent her head and swept her arm open as she stepped back.
“Did you enjoy the night?” asked Estelle as she walked in. Agata wore plain black pants and a black V-necked shirt. Her red hair was tied up in a low ponytail that emphasized the greenish tone of her skin, as though she spent too much time inside.
“No.” Agata stood near a chair and laid her hand on its back. “It was a waste of time. Wavena showed a lack of control over her people that was troubling.”
“What?”
“One attempted to touch me.” Agata’s voice didn’t change.
“That shouldn’t have happened. Describe who it was and I can look into it.”
Agata stared her down. “I took care of it.”
Dear God. Estelle made a mental note to check the medical facilities. She tried not to glance down at Agata’s hands but it was like they were magnetic. She’d been told the lithu had claws and Agata’s nails were indeed sharpened to points. Estelle hadn’t heard any yelling so maybe the altercation happened after she’d left. Well, the vamp who had antagonized Agata only got what they richly deserved. Perhaps that would serve as a warning to others who felt her deputy would be an easy mark.
“Okay. Do you have any coffee?” Priorities.
“I drink water.”
“Right, but do you have any?” They had a rough morning coming up and Estelle needed caffeine, even if Agata the Pure refused to sully herself with the poison.
Agata led the way to the kitchen. She moved with exacting precision, making Estelle feel more than a bit clumsy as she put the coffeemaker on. Would it be better to talk about generic topics, she wondered? Break the ice? Or go straight for the big stuff? The first, she decided. “Have you been to Florida before?”
“No.”
“Do you like it?”
“No.”
“Where did you come from?”
“We travel.”
This was like twenty questions. The coffeemaker beeped; Estelle poured herself a cup and burned her mouth taking a gulp. The pain was almost pleasant compared to this conversation. She allowed herself a brief inner sigh. She and Cressida hadn’t been best friends but they could at least carry on a dialogue. Might as well jump to business.
“What has Queen Wavena told you about what’s happening today?”
“I would go with you to meet the Ancients.” Agata said the final word with respect.
Estelle leaned forward. “You’re interested in this part of the job?”
“You have the only vampire Ancients.”
They did and it was a huge burden. Still, Wavena had said she would rather the Ancients be under their control than trust the eastern queens. Also, they had originally come from Wavena’s clan group. “There’s information you need to know before we go.”
“I’m sure I can deal with it.”
Estelle pretended not to hear. “Their location is confidential. If Wavena didn’t make it clear, you are not to relay this information to your people.”
“I was told.”
Estelle caught the ambiguity. “You will not share this information, correct?”
A pause. “I will not.”
It was a minor triumph to get her to say it. “We are two of four people who know their location. The other two are Raoul Montega, the head librarian, and Wavena.”
“Why?”
“Safety. Ever since a seneschal went in and brought the Ancient Paulina out in his mind, we’ve taken precautions to limit exposure to one at a time. That way the unaffected person can control the situation.” That was the last time any of the Ancients had pulled out of their deep sleep.
“You should have done it before to prevent the escape in the first place.”
“Easy enough to say now,” snapped Estelle.
She finished her coffee. She’d planned to walk Agata through what to expect before they left but fuck that. If she wanted to be a bitch, she could figure it out for herself when they were there.
“I see now why I was sent here.”
It was probably going to be insulting but Estelle had to ask. “Why?”
“To keep an eye on you,” Agata said. “With the control you have over the Ancients, you need to be monitored to ensure you do your duty.”
You are the seneschal major, Estelle reminded herself. You are supposed to be powerful. In control. Thoughtful in your responses. You will deal with this on your own and not go running to Wavena to complain about the clown she’s saddled you with.
“Wow. Okay.” It was as charitable a response as she could manage and, frankly, quite restrained under the circumstances. “Then let’s go.”
* * * *
Stephan had heard Estelle pause at his door earlier that morning and had stared at it until her steps sounded down the hall. Whether he was hoping for her to come in or walk on, he couldn’t say.
Now, showered and dressed, he was ready to face the world, or at least the world within the vampire queen’s palace. The court had the strange, deserted feel that a place gets after a party. He walked through the high halls, wondering if it was possible to call a cab.
“Ambassador. Ambassador.”
It took a moment for Stephan to remember that was probably him. A young, slight man stood in a doorway, beckoning.
“Queen Wavena would like to know if you could see her before you leave,” he said. “We’ll get a car ready to take you back to your residence.”
Stephan followed the man, who was wearing jeans so tight they looked painful, through another set of rooms, these ones bustling with people draping tables with blue and green ribbons. “Another party?”
His escort slowed until they were side-by-side. “We use the palace as a place for humans to rent for events. It helps establish our cover.”
They turned down a smaller, private hall that ended in a locked security door. Behind it was a beautifully decorated suite. Red flowers covered every available space but they were strangely bereft of fragrance. He would have expected blooms that vibrant to drip with perfume.
Wavena sat at a small desk between two windows and rose when she saw him. “Did you have a good time last night?” she asked. “I saw you speaking to Nadia.”
“I was. It was an experience.”
“She’s something else,” the queen said cheerfully. “A good person for you to watch if you want to understand why so many of my people are going to the Dawning.”
“Raoul mentioned they were related.”
“To his dismay. She’s as rude to him as she is to the rest of us.”
“Neither of them were fans of my people.”
The queen’s lips thinned. “I hope they weren’t out of line.”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle but tell me more about Raoul.”
“What do you want to know?”
What did he want to know? Whether he was to be trusted, but that was a little blunt. “Has he been librarian long?”
“Ten years. It’s an important position and he’s done well. He’s ambitious, naturally, and I’ve been considering him for my council. He’s already taken on a few high-profile projects.”
The aide knocked on the door. “Your next meeting is here, your majesty.”
“Tell her five minutes.” Wavena came from around the desk and motioned him to a set of chairs. “Sit. I called you in for a reason. You’ll need to explain about Agata to Eric when you return today.”
Today? He wouldn’t leave until after he saw Estelle.
“We are having some,” the queen paused, “internal difficulties right now. With the eastern queens.”
Stephan waited.
“We haven’t had dealings with the lithu for centuries,” she said
. “There was bad blood on both sides and it has become toxic through the generations. With the Dawning, we no longer have the luxury of hate.”
“Are they losing people as well?”
“More than we are.” Wavena frowned. “I send them a message every year. It’s a tradition we’ve continued since the split. They never responded until eight months ago.”
“That’s before we started getting reports of people missing.”
“Correct, but since then I’ve gradually learned more about them. They keep close tabs on their people. It’s possible that we’ve had the same thing but haven’t noticed or assumed that people who have disappeared did so voluntarily.”
“What happened between you and the lithu originally?”
She touched one of the red flowers with the tip of her finger. “A mistake turned into a crisis we never addressed. A lithu princess was supposed to marry a vampire king and she changed her mind when she found out he was a brutal killer. He caused pain to the humans he fed from, instead of leading them into sleep or pleasure, and then killed them.”
“That’s it?”
“It was enough for him. He was furious. He tortured and killed her before slaughtering her entire family, which was the ruling line at the time.”
“Agata is a peace offering?”
“I would consider her more a liaison. The lithu don’t like us. We don’t like them. She will be reporting back, familiarizing them with how we function.”
“Why?”
“We might need their assistance in this war, for one. As well, this has gone on too long. I don’t want my legacy to be the continuation of this blind hatred. If they are willing to take one step toward us, I will take two.”
“Surely there’s a better way to do that than appoint her as Estelle’s deputy?”
Wavena took his query without rancor. “No. They insisted. Estelle is untested, but she’s a strong, capable and extremely hardworking leader. Cressida and her teachers said she was one of the best to pass through the seneschal training. She should have no problem with Agata.”
That made sense. “Who is Agata among her people?”
“What they call an advisor. She’s been trained in a similar fashion to Estelle.” She hesitated. “They should complement each other.”
“Should?”
Wavena sighed. “If they don’t kill each other.”
Chapter 16
The compound where the Ancients were held was a half-hour away. The drive was conducted in complete silence. Estelle considered and decided against conversation openers such as the weather, what it was like to be a lithu and why the hell Agata had agreed to come here in the first place. As the quiet dragged on, Estelle clenched her teeth to avoid chattering away. If this was a power play, she wasn’t going to lose.
After another ten minutes, she turned on the radio, feeling she’d given ground but not much. The Top 40 music took some of the tension off. Agata sat upright against the seat, not a hair out of place and hands on her lap. She stared straight ahead and Estelle wasn’t totally sure she blinked.
The lithu must be fun at parties.
Estelle tried to fight back the discomfort Agata’s self-contained confidence raised in her. Her deputy was obviously smart and appeared more than competent. She’d been able to deal with the vampires at last night’s ceremony and come out on top. How would Estelle have coped if she was in the same situation with the lithu?
Not as well.
Another ten minutes passed and not a word.
Fine. I will be the bigger person here. Wavena trusted the lithu enough to make this peach Estelle’s deputy and Estelle would follow her lead. Stephan was right when he said she was biased. What did she actually know of Agata’s people? Perhaps if she shared more about herself, Agata would reciprocate. Wasn’t that the social contract? Quid pro quo?
Start small. Business. She cleared her throat. “Did Wavena detail your new role?”
“Yes.”
“Let me go over it again. We enforce Wavena’s word, law and decisions. All our enforcement bodies report to us. We make the military decisions. Think of us as commanders in chief.”
Commanders in chief with a lot of paperwork. Despite the late night with Stephan, she’d spent the first two hours of the day dealing with the everyday administration. Thank God she had assistants.
“She told me this,” Agata said dismissively.
Solider on. Estelle’s monologue about Wavena’s forces, challenges and expectations lasted through the remainder of the drive. They passed Brother Road, and it reminded her of Felix. Her mother had already called twice today and she’d let both go to voicemail to deal with later. “Tell me about what you know of the Dawning. What have they done among your people?”
“We’re investigating.”
Quid pro quo, Estelle chanted inwardly. “We’ve had people taken and so have the masquerada.”
“As have we.”
“We suspect we have some traitors, well-funded ones.”
“As do we.”
“I want them identified.” Estelle pulled into a road marked Private. They were close now.
This piqued Agata’s attention. “Will you kill them?”
Estelle considered this. “It depends how useful they are. I may have some followed and use others to spread misinformation. If they are of no use to me, I may imprison them until I’m sure they are irrelevant. I may kill them eventually.”
Her deputy tilted her head slightly to the side. “I would do the same.”
They were getting somewhere. Finally. “Almost here.”
Agata assessed the small building in front of them. “There is no security here.” She sounded disapproving.
“None that you’ve seen, but every vehicle is monitored and there are heat sensors to catch foot traffic. A security team works out of a nearby bunker.”
“What will happen when we arrive?”
Estelle decided to feel pleased Agata showed an interest in what was coming and ignore the demanding tone. Agata didn’t even know her well enough to dislike her. Her distaste was for Estelle as a vampire. That was all. It would be easier to cope if that’s what she let herself believe.
She doesn’t respect you. Why would she? Look at her and look at you, trying so hard to not mess up. No wonder Wavena wanted her as deputy. She’s like Cressida. Confident.
Estelle did her best to not bang her head against the steering wheel to block out the negativity looping through her mind. She started talking to try to focus herself.
“Ceremony is probably an exaggeration of what’s going to happen.” Estelle parked and the two women climbed out of the car. “It’s a check that everything is as it should be and so you can familiarize yourself with the place.”
“They are monitored. Shouldn’t you know?”
Estelle tossed her car keys in her bag. “We monitor their physical bodies including brainwaves but we also do physical checks.”
“Adding redundancy in the system.”
“Yes.”
“Do they communicate?”
Only by general creepiness. “No.”
“I’m sure the redundancy can be set up remotely as well. Too many visits to this location will raise suspicions.”
“You’re free to get that set up in your role as deputy,” said Estelle. Ha. Take that.
“I will.”
“Good. Remember not to raise the pull off the electrical grids or increase the amount of data we use. That would be like painting a big arrow right to them.”
Agata sniffed but said nothing.
Estelle tapped in her code then did it again to show Agata. The lithu barely glanced at her fingers, but Estelle knew she’d committed it to memory. At least Agata was intelligent. To have to deal with this attitude plus stupidity would have sent her over the edge.
&nbs
p; She paused on the threshold, willing herself to be strong, especially in front of Agata.
Then, with a deep breath, she walked into the Ancients’ lair.
* * * *
Wavena had made it clear she and Eric considered the visit over by telling Stephan that he’d been booked on an afternoon flight back to Canada. The suspicious part of him wondered if the queen knew what had happened between him and Estelle—he had to avoid thinking about it in public because of the effect the memories had on him—and wanted to put some distance between the two of them.
The car dropped him off at the residence and he quietly changed his flight to the next day. No way was he leaving Florida without saying goodbye to Estelle. Not after last night.
He sent her a quick text and then headed to the library. His luck was in and Raoul met him at the entrance, a book tucked under his arm.
“A good time last night, ambassador?” Raoul’s smirk put a dirty spin on the words but Stephan didn’t bite.
“Excellent. Lady Nadia was most amusing.”
“I can honestly say I have never heard those words together.”
“It was a lie.”
Raoul snorted. “Of course it was. My aunt is quite a character and she enjoys playing the bitter old crone.”
“Not an attitude unusual among the party last night.”
“You mean about Agata.”
Stephan smiled. Raoul moved away to sort through some tattered books that lay on his desk. “I think we might be of help to each other,” the librarian said.
“How so?” He wasn’t taken in by the vampire’s new attitude.
“You need information. I want something from Eric.”
“I can get information about the lithu from Estelle.” Stephan yawned.
Raoul gave him a shrewd look. “That’s not what you want to know,” he said. “You want to know about the Dawning.”
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