The Bloodtruth Series (Box Set: Heiress of Lies, The Queen's Betrayal, Trials of Truth, A Heart's Deceit)

by Cege Smith

  Angeline could see that there was a lock on the door, but it looked old and rusted. She grasped the lock and pulled. A cry almost escaped her lips as it easily fell off into her hand. She held it up and looked at it in the light. Although rusted, it still appeared sturdy. She was dismayed to think that her wraith strength was responsible for the stroke of good fortune. She put it out of her mind.

  Grasping the door handle, she pushed. At first the door didn’t budge. She stepped back, considering. It was the middle of the night. She was in one of the oldest parts of the palace breaking into a room that hadn’t been touched in years poking around hoping to get lucky enough to find something that would help explain all of the things that were happening to her. It was sheer lunacy.

  But she didn’t have a better plan. So she rested her shoulder against the door and pushed with more effort. This time, the door moved just enough that she could see a sliver of space appear. It was complete darkness inside. She leaned into the door again. This time she was rewarded with it opening several more inches. She held the torch closer to the door, trying to see if she could make out anything inside, but there still wasn’t enough of the room exposed to make out anything but shadowed outlines in the gloom.

  Angeline swung her head to the right and left. There was no one lurking about that she could see. She took a deep breath and put her arm out straight with her palm flat against the door. Then she shoved hard, and the door opened far enough that she could slip through.

  Moonlight streamed down through a window high in the wall and the dust particles that had been disturbed drifted through the air. As she swung the torch around to survey the room, her mouth fell open. It wasn’t at all what she expected to find.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  As Connor entered the abandoned storefront that was Monroe’s acting base in Brebackerin, he felt a chill run down his spine. He came to a complete stop just inside the door. A reverberating wave of shock echoed in his mind, but it wasn’t his own thoughts that caused the strong emotion. Then it was gone. It was as though for just a few moments someone else had been in his mind. It had been a long time since that had happened, and he had an inkling of an idea of what it meant.

  “Hey,” Elvry snapped as she ran into his back and bounced back off. “I can see your manners haven’t improved. Let a lady through.”

  Connor shook his head to clear it. “When I see a lady, I will.” Still, he moved off to the side to allow Elvry to pass by him.

  She glared at him as she stalked into the room. “Well, aren’t we witty? C’mon. Monroe has more work for us before sunrise and time grows short.” She licked her lips, looking at the boy in Connor’s arms. “And we need to tuck that little angel in so he can get a good night’s rest as well.”

  She went to reach for the boy, but Connor deftly sidestepped her and made his way into the back room. Monroe was sitting at the table with a satisfied look on his face.

  “Connor, I’m delighted to see you decided to partake in the mission.”

  Elvry pushed past him into the room. “He took mine,” she whined.

  Monroe cocked an eyebrow at him and Connor shrugged. “Why bother trying to track one down myself? This one suited me just fine.”

  Monroe threw back his head and laughed.

  Elvry scowled. “Thanks for nothing, Monroe. Remember who is actually helping your cause here.” She swept out of the back of the room and disappeared.

  Monroe pointed at a small pile of blankets in the corner of the room by the fireplace. Connor could see that Monroe had lit a fire there. “You can put him there for now. I’m assuming you’ve compelled him to sleep?”

  “Yes, I thought it the most humane thing to do,” Connor said. He shut his mouth before he could say anything else that would give away his true feelings about what Monroe was doing. “Plus, we can’t have a bunch of small children crying for their mummies and drawing attention to us.” Monroe was studying him and it made Connor uncomfortable.

  Monroe rubbed his chin. “That is true. Barron and Viktor should be back with theirs soon enough.”

  “Elvry said that they were your assurance that the queen would agree to your plans. Is that true? Or do you intend to kill them anyway?” Connor was having a difficult time censoring his tone of voice. The whole situation made him sick.

  “It matters little,” Monroe said with a yawn. Either he didn’t pick up on Connor’s disapproval or he was ignoring it. Connor guessed it was the latter. Monroe had Connor right where he wanted him, and they both knew it. “Killing them now may actually be the more humane thing, if we want to use your rationale.”

  As Connor feared, there was more to Monroe’s plans beyond just sending Angeline a message to get her attention. “So what are you planning next?”

  “You know it’s not my style to brag,” Monroe said with an impish grin. “But rest assured that by the time we’re through here, the queen will be begging for the Master’s favor.”

  Connor was grateful that the boy still rested in his arms or else he would have gone for Monroe’s throat, even knowing that Monroe was stronger than he was. Instead, Connor went over to the fireplace and knelt down, moving the blankets about so that he could tuck the small boy inside and give him as much cushion against the hard floor as possible. The boy slipped free of his arms and into the makeshift bed, and soon was snuggling deep within the blanket folds. His blond curls splayed across the blanket. Connor felt himself wanting to stroke those curls, but he couldn’t tell if it was to comfort the boy or appease his beast. Connor curled his fingers into a fist and tapped it against his thigh before standing up.

  “So tell me, before tonight how long had it been since you’ve fed on human blood?” Monroe asked casually. His tone was a bit too casual for Connor’s taste and set off warning flags in his mind.

  The last time Connor drank human blood was the night that he fed on Angeline to suck the spider venom out of her bloodstream. His venom had snatched her from death’s grasp and turned her into a wraith. But he wasn’t about to tell Monroe that. “You know that I haven’t fed on human blood since I left the Master’s personal guard.”

  “You seem to have maintained your strength relatively well considering you’ve been feeding on weaker animal species. Needless to say, I’m surprised at how easily you took Elvry up on her offer earlier.”

  Connor realized that Monroe was suspicious of his intentions, which wasn’t a surprise. Monroe was suspicious of everyone, which served him well in his role as Chief Deputy. “Obviously I can adapt my feelings on the matter accordingly,” Connor said. “If feeding on human blood was all that you required to ascertain my continued loyalty to the Master I would gladly have done it eons ago just to get you to leave me alone.”

  “It was partly that, but I also needed to be sure that your abilities are at full strength,” Monroe said. “It will make the next time easier. Now awakened, your thirst will make sure you feed appropriately, which is good. We have work to do, and now that I can avail myself on your talents as well, I just needed confirmation that I had nothing to worry about on that account.”

  It was a little-known fact that if vampires did not feed regularly on human blood, their strength and stamina were diminished. It was still more than enough to be able to fight humans, but their strength could be depleted more rapidly. Connor also knew that a weakened vampire would never been able to stand up to one of his own kind at full strength. It was the conundrum that Connor now faced. He would do whatever was necessary to protect Angeline, and that meant that for now, he needed to be at full strength. Unfortunately, that also put him in the precarious position of having to feed on humans and still maintain a presence of mind of who he was. He knew from past experience that the more often he fed, the blurrier that line was going to become.

  “You need not concern yourself, Monroe,” Connor said. Even though his wounds from his earlier beating had healed, he still felt their phantom pains. The scary part for him was he knew that Monroe had gone easy on him
just to prove a point. If Monroe took it in his mind to be serious about the lesson, then Connor would be in big trouble.

  “Good. In that case, there is something that I would like you to do for me,” Monroe said.

  Connor didn’t think that he was going to like what Monroe was about to say. “Of course,” Connor said.

  “The queen’s Chief Advisor is no doubt having snit fits right now and trying to tattle on us to the Clan. We need to create a smoke screen to distract him for a short while.”

  He had to keep up pretenses, so he raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. “The Chief Advisor is Clan?”

  “The Clan has always kept the Robarts close,” Monroe said with a sneer. “Their arrogance knows no bounds.”

  Connor wasn’t surprised that Monroe was going to play a game of cat and mouse with Malin Baford. It was Monroe’s way. But if Monroe was focused on Malin, then that may allow Connor to slip under the radar and get to Angeline. The question for Connor, though, was if he did make it her side, he didn’t know if he would be able to leave her again.

  “What do you need me to do?” Connor asked.

  “We need to keep his attention on something other his duty to the Clan. I’ve heard rumors that the Chief Advisor is quite the ladies’ man.”

  Hearing about Angeline’s betrothed made Connor’s skin crawl. He knew that he should be pleased that Baford was a cad. He didn’t deserve Angeline. But at the same time, if Connor couldn’t be with her, then he wanted her to be with someone worthy. He didn’t want Angeline doomed to a marriage of convenience. Connor shook himself; he needed to stay focused on what Monroe was planning.

  “I appear to be the wrong gender for that request,” Connor said.

  Monroe laughed. “Indeed. Elvry will fit the bill quite nicely. But what I want is for you to be waiting in the wings at the opportune time to comfort the young queen when she discovers that her betrothed is not as noble as she no doubt has been led to believe. Your natural ability to pull bits from minds combined with compulsion will make you doubly persuasive. You can use her own logic to buoy the strength of what you tell her.”

  “What do you hope to accomplish with this? The queen has to marry in three days by law. I can’t see her letting a dalliance, embarrassing as it may be for her, to stop her from going through with it.” Connor knew that better than anyone. Angeline would let nothing get in the way of her hold on the throne.

  “Ah, but what would happen if someone put a bug in the queen’s ear that the law could be tossed out in the event of a particular kind of discovery?”

  “Does such a thing actually exist?” Connor’s hope for a way out leapt at the idea.

  Monroe crushed it just as quickly. “No, but the point is that you have to lead her to believe that such a loophole does exist. Compulsion will work nicely. When she confronts Baford with it, he’s going to be too busy doing damage control to even think about his precious Clan. Plus, he’d be embarrassed to do so. It would appear as if he didn’t have things as under control with his queen as I’m sure he’s leading them to believe.”

  “So what happens when three days pass and the queen isn’t married?”

  Monroe grinned. “By then, my friend, no one is going to be wondering about the royal wedding. Chaos and blood will reign and the Master will finally be able to take his place as the ruler of Altera—what he was denied three hundred years ago.”

  Connor’s mind was whirling. Everything seemed to be coming to a head. Allegiances forged hundreds of years ago were splintering and coming to an end. He wondered why it was all falling to pieces with Angeline’s reign. It didn’t seem fair. “You make it sound so easy,” Connor said.

  “Oh, it is that easy. The time of the vampire being subservient to the human is over. You should feel honored. You will have a front seat to witness it all and it will be glorious.”

  Connor was deeply troubled. Time was growing short and he had only half the puzzle pieces he needed. At that moment, Elvry entered the room. She had changed into a dress that could easily pass for a noblewoman’s finest attire. Connor’s mouth fell open as she curtsied to the two of them with her wide-eyed, innocent expression. He hated to admit that she looked good; too good.

  “Have you brought him up to date?” Elvry said sweetly.

  “Almost,” Monroe said. “Connor, you will escort Elvry to the palace. Stay out of the way until dusk. You’ll know when it’s time to do your part. Elvry will tell you what to say to the queen. A sweet whisper of compulsion into her ear at just the right time and everything will fall into place.”

  “You’ve just told me that the Chief Advisor is Clan. You don’t think he can detect a vampire when he sees one?” Connor said, trying to organize his thoughts. On one hand he jumped at the chance to be commanded to the palace. That should make it that much easier to find Angeline and protect her.

  But depending on what Monroe was planning, Connor was afraid that his own presence in the palace would put Monroe’s plan in jeopardy. If Connor’s involvement in Angeline’s kidnapping came to light, everything would fall down around both him and Angeline. Monroe would discover that Connor had turned Angeline into a wraith.

  Connor remembered the shock he had felt earlier and knew that was Angeline’s emotion, somehow being transmitted to him not only through his ability, but also through their blood bond. He had consumed so much of her blood trying to save her that he was more sensitive to her in general. If her wraith side was waking, her strength and natural psychic abilities would also be enhanced, which was a very bad sign. Everything from that point forward needed to be handled delicately.

  “I will handle the Chief Advisor,” Elvry said with a small smile. She was fondling a necklace that she had pulled from deep within her cleavage. “The vampires still have some old ways that just needed to be remembered. The poor boy won’t know what hit him.”

  Connor knew that the mock empathy was all for show. Elvry couldn’t wait to dig her claws in Malin Baford. Connor almost felt sorry for him. Connor shrugged and tried to appear nonchalant. “As long as I don’t end up with a stake through my heart, I guess I’ll just have to trust you.”

  Monroe looked amused. “These humans have grown weak. They are nothing compared to the warriors who fought at Alair Robart’s side three hundred years ago. I have no concerns with them.” Monroe sounded wistful at the time lost past.

  Feeling wholly unprepared for what he was about to walk into, Connor shifted his attention back to Elvry. “What’s next?”

  “We’re off to the palace,” Elvry said.

  Just as she pronounced this, Barron and Viktor walked through the door, each carrying a small child under each arm. The children’s limbs swayed back and forth almost sweeping the ground. Connor couldn’t see any obvious marks to indicate that the men had fed on them, but the brothers also weren’t taking any pains to not knock them around. Connor steeled himself to stay put and not move to take the children away from them.

  Monroe pointed at the corner where the child slept that Connor and Elvry had kidnapped. “Dump them over there.” The callousness of his voice made Connor’s blood boil.

  He didn’t want to leave the children in the company of the three vampires, but he had no choice. If he showed any inclination to try to protect the children, the others would turn on him in a heartbeat. He watched Barron and Viktor lumber across the room and roughly deposit each child on the blankets. He had to trust that as long as Monroe’s other plans were in progress, the children would be safe.

  “Let’s play some cards,” Barron said, dropping into a chair and slamming a bottle of whiskey onto the table that he pulled from his shirt. “We need to kill time until the real fun starts.”

  Viktor set his own bottle onto the table. Connor was relieved. Alcohol often served to abate the blood lust, and if they were employing those tactics, he would feel slightly better about leaving the children there.

  Elvry moved to his side and his eyes were drawn to her. He hated the idea that so
meone so beautiful could be so deadly. “Let’s go,” she said coolly.

  Connor followed her out the door. The sky was just starting to lighten in the east. He wondered what horrors this new day held for him.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  The room was much larger than it appeared from the small door that opened into it. Down either side of the room, large glass cases held objects that clearly had some kind of special significance. Angeline only wished she knew for what.

  She slowly made her way down the left side, peering into each case. The first one was much larger than most of the others and held a set of armor that glinted in a way that she had never seen before. The metal was almost black, very unlike the silver metal she was used too. Even though someone had obviously cared for the suit, there were still many dents and cracks marring its surface. This suit of armor had seen battle, likely many times.

  In the next case she saw a dagger. It appeared to be made out of the same kind of metal as the suit of armor and was almost as long as her forearm. The sharp point of the dagger was missing, and she could see a red stone inset into the blade’s handle. In the moonlight, the stone sparkled at her. She put her hands on either side of the glass and tried to raise it up, wanting to inspect the dagger closer, but to no avail. She frowned and wondered how one got inside the case, but she moved on.

  A heavy amulet was nestled on a bed of red crushed velvet in the next case. The markings on it were strange, and appeared to be in a language that she did not know. She felt the urge again to get inside the case. It was like the objects inside were singing to her. On the other side of the room, the cases contained other weapons that likely belonged to the suit’s owner. A sword, a shield, and matching headpiece all completed the pieces.