Crouching Vampire, Hidden Fang do-7

by Кейти Макалистер

  “There is also the possibility that they do, in fact, have information regarding Alec’s whereabouts,” he added.

  “That, at least, I think we can clear up.” I turned my attention on Mattias. Beside me, Kristoff stiffened. “Mattias, you told me once that since I was a Zorya, you were obliged by Brotherhood laws to honor any demands I made of you. You will now answer me truthfully-do you know anything about Alec’s disappearance?”

  Mattias’s normally sunny expression turned petulant. “It is not right for you to ask me such in front of the evil ones.”

  “Do you know anything about Alec?” I repeated.

  His expression was sullen for a good minute. “No.”

  I relaxed. “Then why did you tell the vampires you knew Kristoff and I were responsible for Alec disappearing?”

  I thought for a moment that he wasn’t going to answer, but he finally did. “The evil ones would not bring you to me as I asked!” he answered, waving his hands around in expressive unhappiness. “I knew that you would come to rescue me if they would allow you in. Therefore, I said what needed to be said in order for them to summon you to me.”

  Kristoff muttered a rude word under his breath, exchanging glares with Mattias when the latter heard it.

  I looked back at Christian. “I rest my case.”

  “This proves nothing,” Sebastian said, waving away Mattias’s confession. “They are working together to confuse us.”

  “I believe,” Christian said slowly, with deliberation, “the charges against you precipitated by the sacristan’s original statement will require further investigation.”

  I found a little smile. “That means you’ll let Kristoff go.”

  “No.”

  My spirits, which had been frolicking around happily, stumbled to a stop. “What?”

  Christian shook his head. “We will investigate further. Once we know the truth of the situation, then we’ll act.”

  “That is not acceptable!” I said, slamming my hand down on the table. “I’m not going to let you do this to us!”

  “You’re a Zorya,” Mattias said with a gleam in his eye. “Use the power of the light to smite them.”

  Sebastian rounded the table to stand near me, obviously prepared to spring if necessary.

  Kristoff growled deep in his chest and leaped to his feet.

  I jumped up to stop him from doing anything rash. That was impressive. Can you bark, too?

  The look he gave me should have dropped me dead on the spot, but for some reason, I just found it amusing.

  “I would be very unhappy if you smote Christian,” Allie said calmly, her hand on her husband’s arm. “Tempted though I am to see you use this mysterious moon power. But it’s probably best if you don’t.”

  She’s not the only one who’s tempted , I told Kristoff. I don’t suppose if I distracted everyone, you could grab Mattias and escape?

  No.

  Too bad. I have a horrible feeling we’re going to have to do something drastic to get out of here. I just wish I knew what happened to Alec, whether the Brotherhood really has him, or if he’s off doing something covert. He said nothing to you after that night?

  He said a few things, but they are not worth repeating, Kristoff answered, reluctance evident in the brush of his mind against mine.

  He was your friend, wasn’t he? I mean, he wouldn’t knowingly leave you in a situation like this?

  We have an extensive history, and yes, I’ve considered him my friend.

  Then why are you suddenly worried? I turned to face him, peering deep into his eyes. You’re hiding something , I said with a sudden realization . I can feel it. You’re holding something back, hiding it from me. Is that why you refused to speak to me this way?

  Everyone has things they wish to keep private , he said stiffly, and gently but firmly pushed me out of his mind.

  I was shaken to my very soul by a sudden, horrible fear that the man I thought I’d known never really existed.

  “As I see it, there are two choices we can make,” Christian said, nodding toward us.

  I took a step closer to Kristoff. Stop looking at me like that. I can’t help it if it makes me feel better standing next to you. Safety in numbers and all that.

  Kristoff made an inarticulate noise of disagreement, but he reached out, wrapped an arm around my waist, and hauled me up until I was pressed against him, a defiant look on his face as he eyed the other vampires.

  Allie beamed at us.

  “Our first option is to incarcerate both of you until such time as one of you three-Pia, Kristoff, or the sacristan-decides to be forthcoming with information regarding the whereabouts of Alec, at which point due justice will be meted out.”

  “They will torture you just as they will me!” Mattias shouted. “You see what this has come to, wife? It is the end!”

  “Oh, stop it!” I snapped, at my wit’s end with him. “You’re not hurt at all, so you can just stop your belly-aching! No one has tortured you, although right now, I certainly wouldn’t blame them if they did.”

  Mattias’s eyes opened wide. “Wife!”

  “And stop calling me that!” I was so frustrated, I could have screamed.

  “Why don’t you simply light-bind him if you’re tired of his constant whining?” Rowan asked.

  Mattias gasped. “She wouldn’t!”

  “Light-bind?” I asked, confused by his use of the term. “What’s that?”

  “You’re a Zorya. He’s a sacristan,” Rowan said, just as if that explained everything.

  “Er . . .” I looked at Kristoff for help. He avoided my eye.

  “Do not listen to them, wife,” Mattias said hastily, his eye fixed sternly upon me. “They do not know of what they speak. There is no way you can enslave my mind. That is an old wives’ tale, nothing more.”

  I pursed my lips as I looked at him. “There’s a way to enslave his mind? Would that make him shut up about being tortured?”

  “Of course,” Christian answered with a shrug.

  “Do not listen to the evil ones, Pia. They are trying to confuse you, and to divide our joined strength.”

  “How do I do it?” I asked, my gaze still speculatively on Mattias.

  He tried to get to his feet, but Rowan pushed him back down in the chair before answering. “You are a Zorya, yes? You wield light. The light is what dazzles reapers, bemusing their minds and leaving them open to your command.”

  “Wow. How come Summoners don’t get some sort of brainwashing skill like that?” Allie asked, looking a bit disgruntled. “I think I went into the wrong line of work.”

  “Wife, I insist that you cease listening to these devils,” Mattias said with an arrogance that was the last straw.

  I summoned up a ball of light and held it for a moment, imagining it bending Mattias to my will before tossing it at him. The ball exploded around his head, swirling slowly around it in a corona of glittering, silver light. It glowed as it slowly revolved, fading away after a few seconds until all that was left was a vague look in Mattias’s blue eyes.

  “Mattias?” I asked, concerned that I might have done some harm to his vision.

  “Yes?”

  “Are you all right?”

  “I’m quite fine, thank you.”

  He looked at peace, a mild expression on his face.

  “The vampires are going to torture you now, all right?” I asked, seeing if he really was bedazzled, as they claimed he would be.

  “That’s fine. Or would you prefer I torture myself?”

  “Er . . . no. You don’t need to do that,” I said, a little taken aback. “You don’t mind if they set your hair on fire, do you?”

  “No, that’s fine,” he answered, uncharacteristically agreeable. “Unless, of course, it’s any trouble to you, in which case I would be happy to do it myself. Which would you prefer?”

  “I’ll get back to you on that.” I turned to Christian, demanding, “Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me about this before?”<
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  He shrugged again. “I assumed you knew. You are, after all, a Zorya.”

  “One who hasn’t been around the Brotherhood block,” I pointed out, watching Mattias. He was humming softly to himself, his body language relaxed and happy. “How long will he stay like that?”

  “Him? Probably a couple of hours,” Rowan said with a disgusted look. “The weaker the mind, the easier it is to light-bind.”

  “Glory hallelujah,” I murmured, trying to wrap my brain around the idea of such a thing. “Can I do that to anyone?”

  Allie laughed. “I was just wondering the same thing.”

  Christian hesitated for a second before admitting, “I understand you can, although reapers, as worshipers of the light you wield, are supposedly more susceptible. I assume it has a much shorter duration on someone who is not a reaper, or one who has a very strong presence of mind. And as you can see, the effect on someone who already has a tie to you can be quite . . . profound.”

  Mattias made odd little whistling chirrups until I looked at him, at which point he simpered and said, “Pia, Pia, Pia!”

  “More like drunk than bedazzled,” I said, somewhat startled by his change in behavior.

  “It has been likened to that, yes,” Christian agreed.

  “Do you need a hug?” Mattias asked, his face scrunched up with worry. “You’re frowning. I should hug you. And then take off all your clothes and lick-”

  “No! No hugs! Or anything else. In fact, I’d like for you to just sit there quietly and not mention anything about torture or hugging. And stop doing that.”

  A rapt look came over his face as he stopped making loud kissing noises. He clasped his hands together as he answered, “I will lick you later.”

  I blinked at the offer. “Er . . . OK.”

  Kristoff shot me a look.

  “That is to say, no, thank you. Um . . . where were we?”

  “I love you,” Mattias told me.

  Everyone ignored him.

  “Christian was just saying that he could toss everyone in jail, but he’s not going to do that because it’s patently obvious that Pia and Kristoff haven’t been separated as part of a big, elaborate plan to not only siphon away funds from widows and orphans, but also to kidnap and hide Kristoff’s oldest and dearest friend, not to mention killing off an innocent woman who hadn’t even taken up the job of Zorya, because instead of archcriminals, they are instead victims of what seems to be a really nasty twist of fate,” Allie said, smiling at her husband. “So instead of damning them for something that was not their doing, you’re going to let them go on their way so they can try to live happily ever after, not that living with a Dark One is easy by any stretch of the imagination. Isn’t that right, snuggles?”

  “Our second option,” Christian said, trying to look stern, but I could have sworn his lips twitched a smidgen, “is to allow one of you to prove the innocence you so vehemently claim.”

  “One of us?” I asked, my stomach feeling as if it were made of lead. “Just one?”

  “How do you expect us to prove that?” Kristoff asked at the same time, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

  “I believe in this instance my usage of pronouns is confusing,” Christian answered. “My apologies. My intention is to allow Pia to prove both your and her innocence.”

  “All right,” I said without hesitating. “If it will end all of this nonsense, I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

  “Good.” Christian glanced at the other two vampires at his table. “Then it is the decision of this council to postpone the hearing until such time as Pia has located and freed Alec, and identified the person behind his abduction.”

  “What?” I almost shrieked. “Wait a second! How am I supposed to do that?”

  “You are a Zorya,” Sebastian said. “You are a member of the Brotherhood no matter if you decry them or not.”

  “That doesn’t mean they’re going to tell me anything if I march up and ask where they keep the captive vampires!”

  I could swear I heard Kristoff snicker, but when I glanced at him, his face was without expression.

  “You stand a better chance of gaining information from them than any of us do-without, that is, the use of those practices that you find objectionable.”

  “You do know what you are asking me to do, right? Here I am trying my darnedest to get out of the Brotherhood, and you guys want me to stay in so I can be some sort of super-secret double agent for you.”

  No one said anything for a moment. Even Allie looked a bit nonplussed.

  I turned to Kristoff. I don’t have a choice, do I?

  If there is another way, I don’t see it , he admitted.

  Great. Now I have to find Alec, when I have no idea where he is or what he’s doing. Guilt stabbed at me at the memory of Alec’s stricken expression when he realized I was Kristoff’s Beloved, not his.

  Kristoff, did Alec . . . That night, Alec was upset, wasn’t he?

  Again I sensed Kristoff’s reluctance to speak to me. His presence in my head was tentative and hesitant, and I felt once again a darkness within him, something he shielded me from seeing.

  That worried me more than anything.

  Yes.

  Do you think he would have done anything stupid?

  Suicidal, you mean? Kristoff turned that thought over a few times. I don’t believe he would. If you had turned out to be his Beloved and you were taken from him, he might, but not otherwise.

  Pain twisted inside me at his casual words. Alec might have felt despair at the thought of losing his Beloved, but Kristoff had managed quite well on his own for two whole months.

  Yes, nearly dying of starvation was my master plan all along .

  I stared at him, startled by both the amusement and the self-loathing in his mind.

  “Do you agree to our terms?” Christian asked, pulling my train of thought back to the present.

  I was torn. Part of me wanted nothing more than to figure out the mess that was my conflicted emotions toward Kristoff, but there were other things at stake. If I could find a way to locate Alec before I was de-Zoryaed for freeing Mattias and Kristjana, then everyone would be happy. The question was, could I pull off both tasks? “Yes, I agree,” I said at last, my shoulders slumping as I leaned into Kristoff, drawing comfort despite the horrible situation. “But only on the condition that Kristoff help me find Alec, and that you release Mattias and Kristjana to my custody.”

  “My first inclination would be to refuse both demands, but since Allegra would take issue with keeping Kristoff from his Beloved, we will accede to the first.”

  “If you expect me to get anything out of the Brotherhood people without having Mattias and Kristjana released-” I started to say.

  Christian gave me an odd look. “I expect you to do whatever is necessary to achieve your goal. I cannot authorize the release of the two reapers, however. You will have to find another way.”

  “There is no other way,” I protested. “I have to have Mattias and Kristjana.”

  “You may have me,” Mattias said, opening his arms. “I’m all yours. Take me!”

  “You cannot infiltrate the Brotherhood as our ‘supersecret double agent’ if you are no longer a Zorya,” Christian said with a hint of a smile.

  “But-”

  “It is too dangerous,” Sebastian said, getting to his feet when Christian rose and offered Allie a hand. “The sacristan must be held in custody. To have the two of you together and unattended is too risky.”

  “But if he’s this way, he’s not dangerous at all,” I said, gesturing toward Mattias.

  He blew me a kiss and waggled his eyebrows.

  Kristoff rolled his eyes.

  “As he is now? No. But what guarantee do we have that you will not lift the light-binding, or order him to do some act harmful to Dark Ones?” Sebastian countered.

  “You really don’t like me, do you?” I said, my hands on my hips as I faced him. Mattias got to his feet and mimicked me, hi
s hands on his hips as he glared at Sebastian. “What have I ever done to you?”

  Sebastian blinked in surprise, his expression disconcerted. “You are a Zorya.”

  “Move past that,” I said, too tired and jet-lagged to listen to the voice of reason warning me against an outburst. “Is it something about me personally you don’t like? Every time I come near you, you make a face like you smelled something bad!”

  “You make a face,” Mattias accused. “You do not want to lick the beauteous Pia!”

  Sebastian stammered out a nonanswer as Allie laughed. She came around the table, taking my arm. “Come on; I’ll go up to your room with you to make sure you guys will be comfy there. And while we’re on our way, I’ll explain to you about Dark Ones and this really obnoxious thing they have about Beloveds who aren’t their own smelling like roadkill.”

  “I will come with you,” Mattias said happily, bat-ting his eyelashes at me. “Pia, Pia, Pia.”

  “ Dio , he’s worse than he was before,” Kristoff muttered, elbowing Mattias aside when he tried to crowd me.

  Mattias blew Kristoff a kiss, causing the latter to look in horror at him.

  “Mattias, calm down and behave yourself,” I told him. “Rowan is going to take you to your room. I want you to be very nice to him and do as he says.”

  “I will be very nice to him,” Mattias repeated, beaming at Rowan. “He is pretty, too. Should I kiss him?”

  Rowan recoiled.

  “No kissing. Just go to sleep. No, not here. Sleep in your room.”

  Mattias left, waving madly as Rowan led him away.

  “It’s not going to cause his brain permanent damage to be like that, is it?” I asked, worried about Mattias’s extreme change in personality.

  “How could you tell if it did?” Kristoff muttered.

  “It will wear off in time,” Christian said, laughing. “Then it will be up to you whether or not you re-light-bind him, or let him return to his normal state.”

  Allie grinned. “I don’t know; I think he’s kind of cute this way. He reminds me of Antonio when he doesn’t have someone to lust after.”

  Christian heaved a martyred sigh and said to Kristoff, “I would like a word or two, if you don’t mind.”