After several flights of stairs and numerous dark, heavily carpeted corridors, Iris stopped at a door marked 403, opened it with a modern hotel-style key card, and left them to settle in, with the promise that feeders were on the way, and food and drink would be arriving soon for the non-Vampires.
Gabi knew that Kyle and Athena would be feeling the same sense of disquiet that she was. Being surrounded by hundreds, possibly thousands, of unknown Vampires had kicked every nerve into a state of high alert. Their apartment was a suite of several rooms, all opening onto a communal living area furnished with tables, chairs, comfortable sofas and wing-back chairs. The place was cold, but a huge fireplace stood ready with kindling and firewood in the communal room, and Nathan went over to light it. On one of two tables lay a formal-looking invitation alongside a large, colourful floral arrangement. How prosaic, Gabi thought.
"We have twenty minutes," Julius told her after picking up the invitation. "We are being given a hearing. They have opted to go the official route and put us on trial. They’re obviously concerned about how this could turn out in the eyes of other Masters.” His eyes went distant for a moment as he processed this approach. “Only Gabrielle, Alexander and I will be attending the hearing," he told the rest of them. "They’ll inform us of the allegations against us, and we’ll be told what punishment may be considered if the allegations are proved to be true. We’ll then be told what time tomorrow we’ll be able to put our own case forward."
"What do the rest of us do?" Kyle asked.
"Stay here," he said firmly. "You and Athena in particular. You don’t officially belong to my Clan, so your safety is tenuous until the Princeps officially give us incolumitas."
"What does that mean?" Kyle demanded.
"It essentially means safety. It's an order of protection over us while we’re here and on trial. It prevents other factions from attempting to take matters into their own hands. It is treason to harm someone under protection of incolumitas. Punishment, if found guilty, is death." He pursed his lips. "If they aren't trying to play games with us, they should issue the decree tonight, but this is the Princeps' Court; they have been known to do as they please. I wouldn't put it past some of those here to jump the gun and try to strike us before the decree is issued."
Caspian moved impatiently. "Ju…ah, Sire," he amended quickly. "I request permission to make contact with some associates. I believe it will be in our best interests if I find out what has happened since my departure."
Julius fastened his gaze on his newest Clan member, his eyes boring into the Spaniard. "Only if one of the others goes with you." It was plain in his voice; he didn't trust the Spaniard.
A muscle twitched in the other Vampire's jaw, but his face remained passive. "Of course, Sire." His tone was one very short step shy of patronising. "I'm sure Fergus would like to reacquaint himself with the court."
The expression on Fergus's face said that he would rather pull his own toenails out with a pair of forceps, but he grunted acceptance without comment. Caspian smiled benignly, but Gabi caught the cold glint in his eye.
"Watch what you say in here. The walls have ears," Julius warned. "Only let in the feeders." In the spirit of his own advice, he didn't say anything further.
Quentin had done a recon of the rooms and put everyone's luggage into place. There was to be no arguing over bedroom choice, apparently. She and Julius had been assigned the largest and most opulent of the rooms. A gigantic four-poster dominated the centre of the room, hung thickly with rich velvet curtains and a heavy, embroidered bedspread. Gabi divested herself of the warm coat and made a quick trip to the en-suite bathroom in the room with her toiletry bag. Julius was in the room when she came out.
"Ready?" he asked her.
"No," she replied honestly. "Let's go."
Gabi convinced Razor to stay at the apartment. It had taken a bit of effort; he was as anxious as the rest of them. Iris waited for them at the end of the corridor, and she simply fell into step in front of them. Julius followed her wordlessly. The four of them trailed her down a wide wooden staircase until they reached a landing. Turning right, they came across a female Vampire standing on one side of the landing, as though admiring the view out of the ornate French doors. She spun, as though surprised by their approach, and gasped a little. Gabi assessed her quickly: young for a Vampire, no more than a hundred and fifty and with no noticeable power. Gabi relaxed; this Vamp was no threat.
The other woman made a little 'O' with her mouth, and then a smile bright enough to light an airport runway lit her face. "Julius," she exclaimed in a little shriek.
Gabi switched from Vamp assessment to female assessment as the Vampire rushed towards them. Her petite frame was swathed in a beautiful, floor-length gown of rich satin, her ample bosom almost indecently exposed by the plunging neckline of the sapphire-blue dress. Dainty gold shoes barely touched the ground as she moved, and gold jewellery glittered from her neck, ears, wrists and fingers. A mass of bouncing blonde curls cascaded down her shoulders and framed her pale, pretty features.
She came to a very abrupt halt before reaching Julius. The cold steel of Nex's blade pressed against the bare skin of her chest, drawing a thin line of red where the tip touched. Gabi had moved between the woman and Julius without conscious thought. As reality caught up with her, she realised she may just have made some kind of humungous faux pas. Whoops. Too late now.
"Amelia," Julius greeted the stunned Vampire.
The woman moved her wide, shocked gaze from the sword to Julius, her mouth still gaping open.
"Meet my consort, Gabrielle." Julius didn't move to stay her sword arm, but simply stood calmly behind her and waited.
Gabi didn't move either, waiting to see what Amelia did. It took the Vampire a full second to stop looking like a floundering fish and shut her mouth. Alexander was making strange noises behind them, as though he was choking on something. Gabi thought it might be a stifled laugh.
"Your…your…your…" Amelia seemed stuck as her eyes finally took in Gabi.
Gabi frowned and removed Nex from the spot over her heart. "Is there something wrong with her?" she asked Julius in an aside, though the other woman could clearly hear her. Alexander's choking grew worse. Yes, it was definitely some kind of laugh, but Gabi didn't take her eyes off Amelia to check.
"I think Amelia is just a little shocked. You have that effect on people sometimes," Julius said in a stage whisper. Then he said in a more normal tone, "Gabrielle, meet Amelia. Belle of all balls at the Princeps' Court and most eligible of bachelorettes."
Amelia blinked and pulled herself together, her gaze now raking Gabi from head to toe and, by the snooty expression, finding her wanting. "Is she always this rude?" she demanded, addressing Julius and forcing her haughty smile to turn simpering.
Gabi rolled her eyes.
"I'm afraid we're in a hurry, Amelia. The Princeps are waiting for us," Julius explained, though Gabi was sure Amelia would know all of this. It was exactly why she'd been waiting in ambush right where they would walk. "Perhaps we'll see you later." He put his arm around Gabi's waist and forcefully pushed her to follow Iris, who was waiting at the entrance to yet another corridor.
Gabi reluctantly stowed Nex in the sheath down her back and allowed herself to be guided. She couldn't resist a quick look back as they reached the far end of the landing. Amelia was watching them go, a narrow-eyed glare trained on Gabi.
"Oh, Hellcat." Alexander was actually wiping his eyes. "How did we ever live without you?" His question was rhetorical; Gabi ignored him.
Several wood-panelled, oil-painting-bedecked passages later, they arrived at a pair of large, carved, dark wood doors. Etched fleurs-de-lis clashed with heraldic lions and royal crowns. Gabi's study of the door was brought to an end when Iris swung both doors open and stepped back, allowing them to enter. Gabi was now more certain than ever that they were in a genuine castle, not some modern-day, fanciful replica. A real, medieval castle.
The space be
yond the doors was too big to be called a room, and yet too small to be a ballroom. She recalled Julius speaking of the Princeps' Hall. Now she understood. Rich orange walls were broken up by elegant marble columns, which held up the impressive marble beams, on which an astoundingly beautiful ceiling perched. Carvings of cherubs and nephilim stood out in relief against their golden background. They mingled and entwined, wielding swords and arrows and glaring at the occasional gargoyle.
Julius touched her arm, and she blinked, remembering where she was and that she needed to be alert. She studied the long marble table on the far side of the hall and idly wondered what it would take to break it. It must surely weigh tons. Twelve wood and marble chairs with thick padded cushions in a variety of colour combinations stood at attention behind the table. The chairs were well spaced apart, as though the occupants wouldn't want to touch each other. The three of them walked closer to the table, her boot heels clicking loudly against the stone floor, the Vampires making no noise. Julius brought them to a stop about ten feet from it.
They'd barely stopped moving when a door behind the table swung open, and a horde of Vampires poured through. Gabi tensed, and Julius put a warning hand on her sword arm. She'd got lucky with Amelia, she obviously wasn't a Princep, but they were now about to meet Vampire royalty. She tried to bring her hammering heart under control.
Twenty-four. That was the number of Vampires who'd come through the door, mostly male. For a moment Gabi was confused. Then the Vampires moved to stand directly behind the chairs, two to a chair. Suddenly she understood. These were bodyguards, two for each Princep. Now it made sense that she was allowed into the Hall armed with Nex. Julius had said they were each allowed one ceremonial weapon. Three against thirty-six, twelve of them of the most powerful Vampires in the world, what did they have to be worried about? The guards stood at attention, utterly motionless and staring straight ahead, not acknowledging the strangers in the Hall.
The slight swish of clothing was the only warning that the Princeps were on their way. They came in single file, led by a female who, for all intents and purposes, could've been someone's grandmother. Appearing in her sixties, her hair in soft grey curls and wearing a modern beige suit and pale blue cardigan, she wouldn't have raised alarm bells in a kindergarten, but the power radiating around her was obvious to Gabi. She estimated the woman to be at least three times as old as Julius. This had to be Oleksandra, the only Princep Prime left. She looked the three of them over before moving to her seat near the centre of the table. She didn't smile or speak, simply waited for one of her guards to move the chair slightly so she could sit more easily.
The rest of them filed in more quickly and took their seats. A few talked amongst themselves. There were three stand-outs in the group. A stunningly beautiful woman with a mane of chestnut brown hair, dressed in chic designer clothes and enough make-up to hide the normal pale gleam of her skin. Behind her entered a man with black hair; dark, come-to-bed eyes; and a sexy, sultry smile. He had looks that would turn the head of a female corpse. Santiago, the Colombian, she put a name to him from Caspian's description, a description that hadn't done him any justice. Gabi was finding it hard not to stare at him. The last of the Princeps to enter looked still to be in his teens, exuding a James Dean-like air and sporting ripped denims, grunge T-shirt, designer sunglasses and Goth boots. His pale blond hair looked baby-fine, and his cherubic features hadn't had time to completely lose their childlike softness.
It was only when he took his seat on the far left and pulled off his sunglasses so that Gabi got a look at his eyes that his true age became obvious. This had to be Benedict, the Vampire-Magus. The magnitude of the power swirling around him was enough to make Gabi gasp, the sheer force of it making it hard for her to breathe. It felt as though some mischievous god had taken a rainbow, spliced it into a lightning bolt and attached it to a tornado, then leashed it to this most unlikely of Vampires. The weight of the years of his existence was so heavy she couldn't tell if he was five hundred or five thousand years old. Just when she felt she couldn't take any more, as though she was losing her grip on consciousness, he idly dropped his sunglasses back into place, and the storm calmed to the speed and danger of a child's merry-go-round.
Gabi caught her breath and felt Julius's alarm as his hand went under her arm to keep her from swaying. She quickly collected herself and looked up to find eleven pairs of eyes on her. Benedict was now paying attention to one of his boots, which he’d unceremoniously planted on the marble table in front of him as he slouched in his seat. Gabi wouldn't have been surprised to see him take out a piece of gum and start chewing. She wondered how often people underestimated him. Often enough that it had become a game to him.
A male Vampire stood from his seat on Oleksandra's left. Grey-haired, with matching moustache and goatee, the man appeared in his mid-fifties, his face on the verge of developing jowls and sad, bloodhound-style bags under his eyes. He was dressed in some kind of traditional garb: beige, loose-fitting trousers tucked into brown, leather boots and a loose white shirt covered by beaded long vest in deep red and royal blue. Gabi would've guessed at Polish. Rifling through her recent education of all things Princep, Gabi figured this had to be Eliasz. The tall, slightly masculine, blonde woman to his left must be his consort, Klara. Her eyes were hard and uncompromising as she studied Gabi with the intensity of a hawk looking over a sparrow.
"Good evening and welcome, Master Julius," the man said, his accent thick and clearly Eastern European. "At your request we will conduct all proceedings in English so that your guests may understand fully what is being said."
"Thank you, Eliasz," Julius said, confirming Gabi's guess.
"Would you please introduce us to your companions, Julius," Eliasz asked, still standing.
"Of course." Julius at his most civil. "This is my second in command, Alexander. Some of you would have met him at my Master ceremony."
Alexander gave them all a bland, emotionless smile.
"And this is Gabrielle." He turned to her and smiled. "My consort."
She smiled back, masking her trepidation.
There were a few sharp intakes of breath, and some of the patronising smiles vanished.
"Ah," Eliasz said, then collected himself. "We were not aware that you had taken a consort, Julius, especially not one as unusual as Lady Gabrielle."
"Gabrielle and I were joined recently," Julius said mildly, extending his wrist to show off his bracelet and lifting Gabi's hand to expose her bracelet as well.
Some of the Princeps were talking quietly, urgently amongst themselves. Benedict merely smiled a lazy, self-satisfied grin. The woman next to him also seemed to approve. Her blonde hair caught up in an intricate plait, she had ice-blue eyes and was painfully thin with almost no womanly curves. She didn't have as many Vamp years as the rest of them, probably only a few decades more than Julius, but her power felt dark, heavy and oppressive. Alive, like a hungry python. This could only be Cassandra, the one with the touch of death. Gabi had to control a shudder as she tried not to think of Cassandra's 'gift'.
"Hush, hush," Eliasz called for quiet.
Oleksandra was watching Julius with a look that seemed to say 'well played'. The consort revelation had shaken them. Gabi just hoped that was a good thing. By the look Klara was directing at them, they’d at least thwarted something she had planned.
"Well, congratulations, Master Julius, Lady Gabrielle." Eliasz inclined his head; ever the diplomat, it seemed. "We are always pleased to hear of a new joining."
Julius shifted slightly, as though uncomfortable, and Gabi was suddenly aware of the brush of some kind of power, soft and insidious. She followed the tendrils of unpleasantness back to the beautiful woman with the chestnut hair. Gabi wracked her memory, trying to put a name to her. This couldn't be Fianna the warrior; it had to be Helene. That's right, Helene, the English beauty. Whatever she was trying to do was making Julius uncomfortable, but he wasn't using his own power to deflect her attack. Gabi mo
ved slightly, grabbing the other woman's attention and earning a poisonous glare for her trouble.
"May I be presumptuous enough to ask who stood as witness for you during the ceremony?" Eliasz asked. Checking if it was legitimate, Gabi figured.
"Master Dragos was close by, as it happens, so I asked him to bear witness for us," Julius answered, his pleasant smile never wavering. "He was also kind enough to witness an oath of fealty for me. I have recently welcomed a new member into my Clan."
"Do we perhaps know your newest Clan member?" Eliasz looked as though he already feared the answer.
"I'm sure some of you are familiar with Caspian. He has spent some time here at court."
The muttering started up again just as the door behind the Princeps opened once more and two men entered. They were twins. They walked calmly but purposefully around the back of the line of Princeps and their bodyguards and took up a standing position next to the Princep seated on the far right, an Arabic man who Gabi remembered went by the name Faruq.
The twins were identical as far as Gabi could tell, right down to their height and shoe size. Dressed identically as well, entirely in black: black silk shirts, black ties, and well-tailored, black suits, topped with, were those cloaks or capes? They reminded Gabi more of Sherlock Holmes than Dracula, so maybe they were cloaks. Either way, their getup just emphasised their light ginger hair and pale complexions. These two were not Vampires, Gabi realised as they fixed their gazes on her. Julius tensed next to her as Eliasz turned to the newcomers, treating them with the same wary respect she'd seen actors show adult, male lions on movie sets. Bizarre behaviour considering the apparent youth of the two men. They didn't look older than twenty-one or twenty-two, but in this world, looks were not to be trusted.
"Ah, Gemini. Welcome," Eliasz said. "We did not expect you to join us this evening."
"We would not miss,"
"Meeting the first Dhampir,"
"Known to exist in,"
"Over a thousand years," they said, speaking in turns, seamlessly completing sentences without ever speaking at the same time. Gabi immediately wanted to crack their heads together.
A Cold Day in Hell (The Hellcat Series) Page 15
