Gavin was beginning to realize what kind of chaos might come—Saxom had arranged for his vampire children to surface in the event of his death, in order to extract a terrible vengeance. Tampering with the influenza vaccine would have caused worldwide death and devastation had the tainted doses been shipped and administered.
"Lissa is doing well," Merrill sighed. "I heard from someone yesterday that she is performing above expectations." Merrill wasn't about to say that he'd gotten his information from Adam and Kiarra instead of Griffin.
"She always does that," Gavin muttered.
"I watch her, sometimes, and I know it irritates her greatly that she cannot make her own decisions," Merrill observed.
"It may have been different if her turning sire had been there from the beginning, placing proper compulsion for her to accept the five year confinement. Instead, she was free for several months without the benefit of a sire's instruction or supervision." Gavin set aside the folder of information he'd been studying. He and Merrill were in Barcelona; Xenides had been sighted there briefly and they were hoping to pick up his trail.
"I wonder if he placed any compulsion at all while she was turning," Merrill mused. "Do the Council's records reflect if any members asked that question?"
"I haven't seen them," Gavin said. "Perhaps we should look into that, if Wlodek permits. I only read through Lissa's files, not those of Sergio Velenci."
"I also did not look at his or Edward's," Merrill agreed. "And I have asked Charles to contact the appropriate sources in the U.S., to see if he can obtain her medical records when she was a child."
"You wish to delve further into the abuse at the hands of her father?"
"Among other things," Merrill agreed.
"Will you allow me to see what you find?"
"Of course. Perhaps it will help us know her better."
* * *
"Mr. Hoffman, you understand that this information is personal and confidential," Jennifer Stanfield informed Charles. She'd worked for Gerald Michaels for thirty years as his legal secretary, but Gerald was getting quite old and would be retiring soon. Charles offered a tidy sum of money for the records from Gerald Michaels' legal representation of Howard Graham, Lissa's father. Charles told Ms. Stanfield that he was writing a book about Howard Graham as a fictional account. The fifty thousand he'd offered her, with half paid in advance helped make up her mind swiftly. The files were copied while she worked late and she'd just put the box in the mail, marked for next day delivery to a post box in London. She felt better that the duplicate files were leaving the country, after all.
"The rest of your fee will be delivered in two days," Charles assured her, hanging up. Charles learned that Gerald Michaels had obtained all of Lissa's and her mother's medical records before Howard Graham's case had gone to trial. Mr. Michaels didn't obtain all of them legally, either—he'd paid for some of them under the table. This was a big case for Gerald Michaels and it was a major coup for him that Howard Graham had avoided the death penalty. Charles would have the information by the following evening.
* * *
"Child, you should come with me, I think," René studied Aubrey's face carefully. "It may not be safe here—after all, I expect Bartholomew to carry my message to Xenides swiftly."
"Father, I don't believe I'm in danger," Aubrey replied. "And this is my native country, after all. I'd like to stay for a time, should you permit."
"Of course I permit," René sighed. "I only worry for you." René and Aubrey sat on the wide porch outside René's villa in Spain, watching a sliver of moon rise over the trees. René didn't often visit the villa; he'd bought it a century before so Aubrey could comfortably stay in his country of origin.
Bartholomew had been in Barcelona briefly and René still knew how to contact him. Bartholomew dealt in information—for a fee, of course, and had contacts everywhere. René had no doubt that Xenides would have the information soon—René was claiming Blood Vendetta against Xenides for the death of Aurelius, his and Gavin's sire. René desired to see Xenides die at his hand. Aurelius had been respected by all vampires. Aurelius, Wlodek, Merrill and a handful of others had laid the groundwork for the current laws governing the race. He'd been a founding member of the Council, but his death had come shortly after its creation. René wanted to growl every time he thought of his sire's murder, and cursed himself for doing the odd theft for Xenides. All arranged through Bartholomew, of course.
"I leave tomorrow evening, child," René turned back to Aubrey. "Think on this. I will be happy to have you accompany me when I go."
"Father, I want to stay," Aubrey said.
"Very well," René sighed. "I will go back to England alone. I have additional arrangements to make. Others may lead me to Xenides; therefore I must make appropriate contacts."
* * *
"The festival of the god will be celebrated by Solar Red in three weeks," the journalist said, using the temple as a backdrop for her newscast. "The High Priest claims that the god himself may come for the ritual. As yet, the ceremony has not been described. We are attempting to obtain information."
"Great," I muttered as I sucked on a unit of blood. "Nothing like holding a ritual and nobody knows what to wear."
I retraced my steps from the night before and started asking for directions—I intended to find Gabron and ask if he knew anything about the upcoming Solar Red shindig. There was no indication what the business might be that was listed on Gabron's card, and I admitted to myself that I wanted to see this. After all, I'd never seen a vampire with a business card before. What I got, however, was plenty of stares and a snicker or two as helpful Refizani citizens pointed in what I hoped was the proper direction. What had Gabron gotten me into? Was this a trick of some sort? The front of the building was tasteful; I couldn't see anything wrong with it and two men were walking inside ahead of me when I stepped through the door. I learned right away what the snickers and stares were for—naked women wandered through a marble entryway or lounged around in suggestive underwear on chaises. The vestibule was circular, with a narrow doorway opposite the entry that led down a hall. More women, naked and semi-clothed, lazed in doorways spaced evenly down that hall. Well, I'd walked straight into a whorehouse. It made me think of Winkler for a moment.
The male vampire sitting behind a desk lifted an eyebrow when I walked in, while the two men who'd preceded me struck up a conversation with two of the women. Maybe the men were regulars; how was I to know?
"I'm not sure we can help you here," the vampire was now walking toward me. He only stood a bit taller than I did, with red hair and a dusting of freckles across his nose. His blue eyes were his nicest feature. "The Over-Under House is five blocks away," he informed me, "and you'd more than likely be happier with what they offer, so I'd suggest," and that's as far as he got—he'd come close enough to catch my scent, drawing in a sharp breath. I thought he was going to fall on the floor and gasp like a landed mackerel.
"Briden, what's wrong?" One of the naked females came over and rubbed suggestively against the vampire. I figured she might be a regular blood donor, with some of those gallon pins tucked away in her jewelry box.
"Leska, I need to take this one to Gabron."
"We don't need any new girls," Leska pouted.
"Honey, I won't ever be a new girl. Or an old girl," I said. "If I'd known what this place was before I walked into it, I'd have stayed out." I almost turned and walked out right then.
"No, please, Gabron will be quite upset if he learns you left without speaking with him," Briden reached out to take my arm. I avoided his hand easily.
"Please, follow me," he was begging, now.
"Lead the way," I sighed, reluctance and unhappiness evident in my voice. Leska frowned at me as Briden led me down the hallway. In addition to the women posing suggestively in doorways, we walked past several rooms with closed doors. With my vampire hearing, there was no doubt as to what was going on behind those doors. Normally I didn't have a problem with this
sort of thing, as long as the female enjoyed her profession and I know many do. Gabron could have warned me, I think, before handing over a business card. This wasn't a place I felt comfortable walking into.
"Gabron, you have a visitor," Briden said softly after tapping on the last door at the end of the hall.
"Come," Gabron said, so Briden opened the door and ushered me inside. Well, now what? I was hoping to find other vampires, not a building full of hookers.
"Sir," I said, leveling my gaze on Gabron, "I'm actually sorry I came, so I won't take up your time." I turned to go. Briden appeared to be greatly disappointed.
"Don't you want to know about the Blood Council?" Gabron asked softly.
"If it's anything like the Council I'm familiar with, then the answer is no," I said, turning back to give Gabron an assessing stare.
"We are meeting in less than an hour," he said. "You may go as my guest and then we will discuss differences and similarities," he offered, touching fingertips together while he studied me with hooded eyes.
"And if I go to this meeting, do I have assurances that I will get out again?"
"You are distrustful."
"You know it," I said. "So far, I haven't met too many people who have done anything to earn or keep my trust. I'm sorry if that offends you."
"Little Queen, all I ask is that you attend a meeting with me. You may make your own decisions, always."
"You have no idea whether I'm a Queen or not," I said. The idiots back home certainly didn't know it and I wasn't going to disabuse them of that notion. All I needed was for them to declare me rogue again and send Gavin or one of the others after me. Actually, since Gavin shared my bed when he was home, all he'd have to do is flex those claws of his a little while I was asleep; he went to sleep later and woke earlier than I did.
"Lissa, then. It was not my intention to offend."
"Fine. I'll go to the meeting," I grumped. I was a little out of sorts, I think.
"That is all I ask. May we get you anything? Do you require blood? I can send someone in for you."
"No. I've had dinner," I held out a hand, politely refusing Gabron's offer.
"Briden, get someone else to handle the front desk," Gabron ordered. Briden nodded and walked out the door. "Please sit," Gabron offered a chair. I really didn't want to sit or do anything else except get the hell out of there, but I held my temper and my tongue and sat down.
"This is a good front for us," Gabron said, looking over a ledger on his desk and entering amounts on it from slips of paper at the side. "We own several such as this across the city. Brothels are legal here and we adhere to strict health and safety codes. All our females and males choose this profession and are not coerced."
"I'm not judging your business; I'm just questioning my motives for being inside it."
"If you want a massage, your mate may give you one, but if you want something done by a trained therapist, you seek one out," he said, writing down more numbers. He wasn't looking at me while he said this.
"Are we talking massages, here?" I lifted an eyebrow.
"No, we are talking sex," he said.
"Just so we're clear," I returned. The corner of his mouth twitched a little. "And I wasn't looking for sex when I walked through the door. I was looking for you."
"Would that you were looking for both," he sighed. I snorted at his answer.
Briden returned, opening and closing the door softly. "Briden, will you bring Lissa when it is time?" Gabron asked, rising from his seat, lifting a nice jacket off the back of his chair and slipping it over his shoulders.
"Of course," Briden nodded at Gabron. Gabron left the office.
As soon as Gabron was out of hearing, Briden turned to me. "I've never seen a female vampire," he said softly. "Who turned you?" He sat down in the chair next to mine.
"He's dead," I said. "And he wasn't from here anyway."
"You didn't kill him, did you?" Briden was nearly aghast at the thought.
"No. I watched while he was executed, though. He didn't take responsibility for me and where I come from, that's a crime."
"Here, too," Briden muttered. "He wouldn't accept responsibility for you? In our culture, any number of experienced sires would have paid him if he agreed to hand you over to them. Any female turned would be a major gift to the race itself. Are females common on your world?"
"No, not common at all," I shook my head.
"Yet he refused to act as your sire?"
"It's a long story," I said.
"I would very much like to hear it, but we should go now," Briden said, rising from the chair beside me. I stood and followed him out the door. Briden led me through a locked door at the end of the hall and then down another, dimly lit hall toward a dead end. Jumping lightly as we reached the back wall, (he must have touched a button somewhere) the wall itself slid aside. After we walked through, the wall slid quickly back in place. Not as fast as the doors on some of those sci-fi movies, but I wasn't sure how they did that to begin with.
Steep steps led downward; it would take a vampire to manage those stairs. We were in total darkness the entire way and only a vampire would see the narrow steps or manage the leaps across strategically placed chasms. The place was deep, I knew that, and we reached a cave eventually. Wondering if vampires everywhere had a cave stashed away for meetings, I followed Briden inside it.
This cave blew me away. The Council's cave outside London was good sized, but this could hold a real crowd. It was built like the old Greek theatres, in a bowl-shape with stone seats circling around and chairs and a table on the round stage at the bottom. I imagined that the acoustics were very good, too, so I didn’t say anything as Briden led me inside. Heads turned and I heard gasps as he led me downward to one of the lower levels of seats.
Every vampire in the city had to be there, and there were many of them. I estimated at least a thousand. Were they all invited to the meetings? Our Council would have a conniption if somebody from the outside wanted in. We sat in the third row and the stage was still empty when we took our seats. Things quieted after a bit while eleven vampires made their way onto the round, stone stage and took their seats at the table. Gabron was last and he sat in the center. Figures. There were so many vampires around me that I'd have to get closer to the eleven sitting at the table to sort out scents. I already had Gabron's.
Two vampire assistants walked onto the dais and placed communication devices in front of the Council members. One assistant stepped forward and announced the first order of business to the crowd—an application for a vampire to marry a human. I was seeing something much like the companion vote on Earth, except these laws were a bit different. The vampire himself sat on the first row and he rose when asked.
"This is your third human marriage, is it not?" A Council member asked. Gabron seemed content to listen.
"Yes. My other two marriages have been successful; you should have the information there. My last wife died at the age of two hundred fourteen. Her death certificate, listing natural causes, is submitted."
"We see this; this was twenty-seven years ago, is that correct?"
"Yes. I have been in mourning for a while and at first did not think to take another wife."
"Did the last one ever ask you to attempt the turn?"
"No, Eminence. She did not wish it, as she knew what the results were likely to be."
The Council member merely nodded—nobody else asked any questions. "Have the records on the female been reviewed?" Gabron spoke now. The others all said yes. "Very well, the vote will be taken." A large screen lit up over the Council, each member tapped in a vote, and all of their votes were listed, right beside their names. That was different. They were all in favor, looked like. If Vilmos had been brought before the Council to give testimony on Earth regarding his companion, a lot of things might have been avoided, I think.
There was other business—fines were levied against one of the brothels because two of the girls decided to do a little work outsid
e the walls, as the Council termed it. The girls had been fired and compulsion was laid. The one who'd laid the compulsions stood (he was also on the first row) and testified that the girls would not be releasing secrets. There were a few Refizani-owned brothels but I got the idea that they were not nearly as good as the ones the vamps had. I had three guesses as to what might have happened to the two girls if they hadn't had compulsion laid and two of those guesses wouldn't be needed.
A few other things were on the agenda—mostly things that didn't matter—and then the heavy stuff came. A vampire was led out in cuffs. No chains, just cuffs, and one of his two guards (they were huge) held a thin metal wand. The prisoner hissed at the Council so the wand was pointed, causing the cuffs to light up. The prisoner dropped to his knees, howling in pain. That made me wonder just what those cuffs might be and how they worked. The prisoner struggled to his feet afterward when commanded, choosing to stand quietly in a designated spot on the dais. I doubted he wanted more pain from the cuffs he wore. Auburn hair hung in thick ropes down his back while deep-set eyes stared angrily at the Council, his mouth set in a cruel sneer. Not the kind of guy you wanted to approach in a bar, that's for sure.
"Hartolz, you have been brought before us, accused of killing among the population as well as aiding Solar Red. This resulted in the deaths of three priests at our detector's hands so that our race might be protected—not just from the population but from the temple as well. How do you answer these charges? Remember to speak the truth." Gabron had stood for this one, placing compulsion. It reminded me a bit of what Merrill could do.
"They offered much money," Hartolz growled. "And a place as a priest afterward. They promised me blood and frequent sacrifices."
"Hartolz, I see that your last prison stay did nothing toward your rehabilitation," Gabron said, sitting down. "Does anyone else wish to ask questions? There were no questions from the Council and without realizing, I had my hand in the air.
Blood Domination (Blood Destiny #4) Page 7
