by Imogene Nix
“Cressida, I welcome the shelter of your house.”
With the initial formalities complete, they looked at each other. “You are aware of why I’m here?”
Cressida nodded at Caridad’s words. “I am. We have possibly located the third and ascertained what powers he has discovered. It’s umm…Daniel. Of the house—”
Caridad’s golden-green eyes stabbed her with their intensity. “Good. I wish to meet with him.”
A glance at Samra and a telepathic message relayed the need for Daniel to present himself at the house as quickly as possible. Her memory helpfully supplied images of the last time Caridad and Daniel had met. The questions she’d fielded. The interest she’d discerned. “You’ve seen him before.”
A wide grin split the face of her Liege. It made the cold weight in Cressida’s chest seem heavier. “He hasn’t taken a partner yet?” Caridad’s question put Cressida’s teeth on edge.
“No. At this point he’s busy taking instruction from Javed, Xavier and Selena.”
“Excellent. I will assess how that is coming along. I’d also like him relocated to this household from today.”
Cressida remembered all the other times Caridad had shown interest in nestlings, and how she’d used similar tactics before. They were memories that she wished to avoid. Endless nighttime strolls, moonlit picnics… A rush of jealousy seized her.
She wants him only as a warrior.
Cressida felt a flush of anger at Samra’s unspoken message. She knew the woman attempted to reassure her. The loss of control was not acceptable in a Councilor, she reminded herself.
With slow and studied motions, Cressida preceded Caridad to the suite she’d had prepared for the Overlord. “I have stocked the supply of blood wine you prefer as you requested.”
“Excellent. I will arrange myself here until Daniel arrives.” With that Caridad dismissed her.
Cressida withdrew from the room with a deep bow, then turned to see Samra waiting at her elbow. “He’s here?”
“He’s due here soon. Cressida…”
The hint of Samra’s fears lay just below the surface of her mind. Cressida didn’t want to think about how she would feel should Caridad choose to act on her interest in Daniel. That would open too many old wounds. “Not now and not here.”
Samra narrowed her gaze as Cressida turned and stalked down the hall and the stairs. Her office beckoned and she entered it, seeking sanctuary. The door banged after her and she gazed out over the night, hands braced on the glass as she tried to banish the emotions that welled.
Behind her there was movement, but she didn’t look. No doubt it was Samra, come to gather files, or—
Hands settled on her shoulders and she gasped in surprise. They were warm, burning her cool skin, and instinctively she knew it was Daniel. The urge to cover his hand with her own was like a siren’s call. She ignored it, curling her hands into hard fists.
“Cressida, we have to talk.” His tone was earnest and she trembled, while the whisper of his breath sent ripples sliding over her skin.
“Caridad is here. She needs to see you.” To her ears, her voice sounded hoarse.
“In a minute…” He curved his hands over her shoulders and she couldn’t hold back her moan of pleasure.
“Please…” She held her breath but his scent filled her, male and spicy. Her mind whirled. He pressed closer and she arched against him while her mind absorbed the feel of his hard body.
“Don’t turn me away.” With soft fingers he caressed her neck and she turned just enough to look into his eyes. Then he dipped his head.
The kiss was soft, a velvet touch, but the heat flared deep within her. Cressida’s eyes closed as she leaned in, the drugged sensation making them heavy.
Heaven.
For a moment she let herself float in the haze of sensations, before tugging away. Her hand shook as she raised it flat to his chest. The need to touch him was urgent. “Daniel…”
His face was tight when he looked at her. “Dammit, Cressida…”
“No. We have a job to do. So we’ll do it.” She gave a tiny nod, hoping to present a focused front. It was a sham, as her mind whirled with the knowledge that she could only push him aside so many times before he stopped coming back for more.
With an expletive he jerked back, spinning on his heel, and left the room, the door banging loudly behind him.
* * * *
In the foyer, Daniel stopped. His heart thudded in his chest. Why did Cressida have to make this harder than necessary? If the witch was right, they needed to settle this once and for all. “Bloody woman.”
“And which woman would that be?” He looked up, seeing a woman at the top of the steps. The light limned her, showing every lush curve to great effect, and he didn’t doubt she knew that.
Caridad! Great. That’s all I need. “Uh, Liege.” He bowed low while she chuckled, the sound echoing off the high ceilings.
“Come, Daniel. You and I have much to discuss.” He raised his head to see she’d made her way down the stairs and stood, watching him. “Come.” She extended her arm and he took it. “Show me the gardens while we talk.” She tugged him in the direction of the door, and Cressida’s guards bowed deeply as they made their way through the opening.
As they hurried down the steps he shed the last of his anger. The night air soothed the heat of his body, leaving him slightly chilled. The vampire at his side clutched him close. “What do you…?”
She simply shook her head and he breathed deep, expanding his lungs as he accepted that he was no longer in control of his destiny.
She towed him toward the rose garden and once there, in silence Caridad lowered herself onto the weathered marble bench, then patted the spot next to her. “Here, sit beside me. We have much to discuss.”
Daniel couldn’t possibly think what they had in common, or what she would feel the need to talk about with him, but she was the Overlord and he couldn’t afford to alienate her. With great care, he settled himself beside her. “What do you wish to know, Caridad?”
She swiveled a little on the seat and smiled broadly. “Tell me about your skills.”
He let his gaze settle on a rose. The reds had become almost black in the moonlight and he wondered where to even begin. “The witch, Selena, has said I’m a sorcerer. When the Matron came, she said I wasn’t a warlock, because I don’t use incantations. I’m fairly sure that surprised her.” He remembered the look on her face when Cressida had dismissed her and he felt a glow of success, but that dimmed and melted away as he considered where things had gone since then. “Apparently my skills are innate, though, triggered by the events that happened—”
“Yes, I understand all that. Have you discovered your limits?”
He turned to the woman beside him, surprised at her question.
Limits? He and Selena were working on the basics at the moment and she wanted to know his limits? “I-I don’t know.”
“She has taught you levitation?”
He nodded, remembering the dented and cracked cauldron in their practice room.
“Warding?”
“Yes. I believe she will be working with me on merged powers next. She gave me to understand that may be necessary…”
Caridad snorted. “That and much more besides.” For a moment silence stretched between them, before she fished around in her pocket and withdrew something. “Now hold out your hand, Daniel. I have something for you.”
In the moonlight she dropped a thin, discolored chain decorated with a tiny fairy into his hand. Caridad folded his fingers around it. “This was found at the slaughterhouse. I thought you might appreciate it.”
His heart stuttered. Could it be? It looked so much like the one she—his mother—had been wearing that very last day. The tiny brooch he’d saved for and bought with his father.
“How did you…?” He glanced up at her, for the first time noting the lines at the side of her mouth.
“There was a familiar sort of aura a
bout it. It’s taken some time for me to work out why, though, otherwise I would have returned it to you before now. Each person—human—has a sort of signature or aura that they exude. Perhaps it’s linked to the DNA. I really don’t know why it drew me, but when I entered that stall, I felt an urgency to pick it up. Anyway, I did.” She gave a tiny Gallic shrug.
“Aura? So you…?” He tried to understand what she was saying. She could read them by their auras?
“Daniel, I’m old. Only Creedar is older than me, but he’s somehow not retained or acquired any hint of humanity, whereas I…” She grimaced, and Daniel couldn’t ignore the tiny pang of pity at the exhaustion that showed on her face. “My skills and abilities have had time to mature in ways I can’t even begin to explain to you. I’ve been around so many people, tasted the essence of their blood or savored the vibrations they give off, that I’ve become wary, every action carefully. I must think carefully before responding, otherwise…” Her words died away.
“And this reminded you of me?”
Caridad curled her hand around his. “It did. I wanted to return it to you, but that wasn’t all I came to talk to you about, and that can wait for the moment.” Caridad nodded in the direction of the tiny necklace he held. “You gave it to your mother, didn’t you?”
Visions filled him of that long-ago birthday when he’d presented the gift to her. He saw her, clear as day, and the ragged thumping of his heart sped up. She’d been hung over and dressed haphazardly, hair standing in untidy tufts. He’d made her breakfast, so pleased he’d done something for her, and she’d sat down. He’d forgotten that she rarely ate. In hindsight he realized the hangovers usually had made her ill. On the plate in front of her, the bacon had sat untouched and congealing as she’d unwrapped the present, lying in the folds of blue tissue paper, tied with a cheery pink bow.
For a moment her face had paled, when she opened the lid, but then his mother had smiled and hugged him. He remembered the words she had spoken. ‘Thank you, Daniel. It’s the best gift ever’. She’d kissed him, and he remembered the papery feel of her skin. His grip on the pendant released slightly, exposing the links to the light.
His hand shook as he closed it around the old tarnished item once more. The memory of the following day left him with a lump in his throat.
“I gave it to her on her birthday. The day before she disappeared.”
“Ahh, I do apologize. It was not my intention to give you pain.”
“No. It’s…” Daniel had to clear his throat. “I’m glad you did. Now I have something to remember her by.”
Caridad smiled, and for a moment he wished he experienced some kind of attraction to her. He was sure she wouldn’t push him away as Cressida did. Then he jerked himself from the thought, knowing it was unworthy to feel such self-pity or to see Cressida’s action in that light. He focused on his hand.
“Then I hope…?”
He glanced in her direction as she spoke again. “Thank you, Caridad, this means a lot to me.”
She smiled and relaxed a little. “Good. Now I want to raise an idea with you.”
“What?” He would do just about anything right now. She’d given him back a memory of his mother that he could cherish and he owed her for that.
“I was thinking you should become a vampire.”
He stilled, every part of his body almost solid with shock, then he choked. “What? I can’t!” He stood and made to stride away but she flung out a hand, stopping him.
“You must consider, in order to defeat Creedar, you and those you fight will need to be equals. Consider the prophecy of three. It doesn’t say two and one.”
His blood froze as he weighed her words. Caridad stood and laid a light hand on his shoulder. “Consider it, Daniel. Now I think I’ll go inside. I have much to discuss with Cressida.”
The sound of her steps died away as he stood in the rose garden, clutching the pendant. He’d never wanted to be a vampire, but if she was right, if he embraced the future that seemed to stretch out before him…
Some distant but strident part of his brain wondered how Cressida would react? Will Cressida accept me then? It was little more than a whisper in his mind. That would surely make them equals on one level. Both vampires. Was that what he needed to do, in order for them to achieve the future he was sure they deserved?
He growled and stalked back in the direction of the house.
Chapter Four
“He’s gone, Cressida.”
Cressida knew Samra was frustrated with her. Hell, she was frustrated enough with herself! For a moment a sense of urgency grow before she shoved it away.
Right now she had bigger problems to focus on.
The cycle of kidnappings had begun again. This time in Hong Kong, with a newsreader and a well-known designer. The news agencies had caved to the Chinese government, keeping the situation quiet, and for once Cressida was pleased they’d intervened. But the news of the strengthening numbers in Creedar’s forces that Caridad had shared was beyond disturbing. Creedar had become far more blatant, almost daring them to act.
“He’s getting closer, Samra. The attacks on New Zealand and Australia were well-covered in the media. First he attacks those of high profile, then he lets the hysteria bank before attacking a nest. A prominent one.”
She stalked to the map on the wall, where she pointed. “Here, then here and finally here.” Her eyes scanned the multicolored outline, looking to see where he might attack next.
“Perhaps he’s goading us?” Samra made her way to stand beside Cressida.
For a moment Cressida wished she could snap her fingers and make things better. Fix the issues. If only it were that simple.
“No. There’s more to it. I wish we knew what.”
“Maybe there is no more. Maybe he wants to get even for—” Clearly lost for words, Samra loosed a short, guttural sound. “I don’t know. I mean, if he’s as clever as you say, he must realize that we have the third of the prophecy. Put that together with the knowledge that he and his people have failed once…”
“Maybe, Samra, but I wouldn’t be so sure that he has come to the same conclusions as us. He’s likely guessed we’ve found the third, but so far, he doesn’t seem aware of who the third is, does he? Unless someone has told him.”
They were missing a significant piece of the puzzle. The one that connected—
“Samra?” She whirled around to face her second.
“The latest attack… Was there anything that would make you think…?”
“Faex!”
Cressida’s eyebrows rose at Samra’s outburst. “Really? Samra, I haven’t heard you use that term in at least a century.” Her mirth died away when she noted the pale visage of her second. “What?”
“The attack on the house? When Celina and Javed were in Egypt? That timing was odd. Then the battle in the slaughterhouse… How did Creedar’s people know to have their guards there? And we thought Creedar had gone to ground, but he’s come back better equipped and more knowledgeable of the time. How?” Samra’s eyes glowed.
Everything Samra said was correct. Frighteningly so. Except it was clear Samra hadn’t bought into her assertions that there was a mole. “Now you see it. Someone passing on information.”
“It’s not just that, though. Clearly someone helped him to work out who he should be kidnapping and gave him the funds he required. We need to let Caridad know.”
The door opened. “I already know.”
Cressida shot the Overlord a keen look but she shrugged.
“Samra, you were thinking very loud. But yes, both Cressida and I have been aware of this for some time.”
Cressida slumped into her chair. “So, Samra. What do you think?”
Samra’s face was pale as she pondered the question. “I knew and kind of agreed with what you were saying, but the ramifications… I don’t know what we should be doing. I mean, I guess you have a plan, Cressida?”
Cressida shook her head. “No.”
Caridad took the seat opposite looking guileless, something Cressida was sure she practiced. “You catch the fly.”
“What? I don’t—” She bit her lip, hard. Felt the sting that settled the nerves that had been threatening to overwhelm her for weeks.
“Think about it. A fly buzzes around and touches everything. They flit from one thing to another. But to catch them, you need to set a trap. Do it right and the fly lands exactly where you want them.”
“And just how do I achieve that?”
“You bait the trap, my dear.” Caridad leaned in close and gave a tiny smile. “Oh, and Daniel is very cute. I think I might invite him to join my nest when this is all done.”
Cressida fought for control of the jealousy that raged. Caridad was watching her and for some reason she was sure this was a test, not that it wiped away the hot well of anger that churned in her gut.
“I’m afraid, when this is done, there will need to be a lot of things considered. That is but one.”
Caridad smiled and rose. “Indeed, that is true. Or partly so. I think I’ll retire now.”
Once the room was silent again Samra placed a large goblet in front of Cressida. “You aren’t really planning on letting her get her hooks into him, are you?”
“Oh, Samra, it may not be a case of what I want.” She bit her lip and nearly looked away, but that would have smacked of cowardice.
“Morologus es! He wants you and you want him. That’s the simple bit. But if you don’t act soon—”
“Stop it, Samra! Whatever my feelings, he’s a human and I’m not.” The snort from across the desk jabbed at her emotions. With a huff, Samra left the office and Cressida stared at the wall, hoping no one could hear her. “And I already have enough regrets and guilt. I don’t need more.”
* * * *
Walking into Javed’s office was like stepping into a baptism of fire. Daniel’s head whirled with the concept that Caridad believed he should change. Being a vampire wasn’t something he really wanted, though there would be side benefits. The swirling thoughts were both terrifying and seductive, he concluded.
