Blood Domination (Blood Destiny #4)

by Connie Suttle

  "What gifts are those?" I looked into Kifirin's dark eyes.

  "They have the ability to world-walk, between the gates. They can also relocate, but that is a limited gift. A few have mindspeech or the ability to shield or glamour. Fewer still have shape-shifting abilities. The rarest of all have either foresight or the ability to turn to mist as you call it, and the rarest of the misters are capable of turning others to mist with them." Kifirin was watching my face as he described the Elemaiyan gifts.

  "Can any of the misters see other misters? While they're mist themselves?" I had to know and Kifirin seemed so knowledgeable about them.

  "Ah, there you have hit upon it," he smiled. "I knew this about you already, m'hala. Only the most powerful among them have ever had that gift, and none of the full or half-bloods possesses it in this time frame. The Elemaiya, both Bright and Dark, have revealed their shortsightedness by upholding their laws on the dilution of the race. The gifts still come to those less than half, and they are too blind to see it."

  "But how did I come by that blood?" My mother never said anything about this—if she knew about it, that is.

  "Avilepha, someday soon, perhaps, one who knows will tell you. It is not my information to give. Come; let us walk among them—they will know not to harm us." Kifirin took my hand and we wandered toward the lights.

  Two guards stood with tall, sharply pointed pikes at the entrance to the camp, and I didn't miss the gasps as they pulled aside and bowed as we walked past them. The Bright Elemaiya were not very tall as a whole—I didn't see any of them that stood more than five-ten or so, with most shorter than that. They were also slender of build, with ears that were slightly pointed. I thought they were lovely to look upon, with pale, clear skin and mostly blue or vivid green eyes. Their hair colors ranged from blond to dark brown, with reds here and there, most of it hanging down in long braids to their waists or below.

  "May we offer you food and drink?" A female had come to stand before us, a crystal cup in her hands, which she offered to Kifirin.

  "Queen Friesianna," Kifirin acknowledged her, but neither bowed nor debased himself in any way. He gripped my elbow, letting me know to remain upright as well. Kifirin accepted the cup with his other hand, drank a little and then passed the goblet back to the Queen. I got her scent, along with all the others I'd been getting. It was a different spice and one I now recognized a little—Henri and Gervais had it in a small amount, as did Robert. I could only assume that Robert's brother, Albert, had it as well. The others that had it, surprisingly enough, were Merrill and Gabron. Gabron had been telling me the truth about them, and that made me wonder just how often the Elemaiya had children with a human.

  "I beg you to introduce your companion," the Queen was speaking again as she took the cup from Kifirin.

  "I do not choose to do so," Kifirin snorted a bit and a tiny curl of smoke came from his nostrils. The man had to be a furnace on the inside. The Queen took that as a sign that he was displeased, backing off a little. "We merely wished to look upon your kind, and we have done so." Kifirin folded space again, pulling me away from the Bright Elemaiya.

  "These will not offer anything but they will cower, just the same," Kifirin said, pulling me through a second meadow. This one had recently been mowed and stacks of hay lay here and there. This world not only smelled different, it was in a different season. The Dark Elemaiya didn't have their encampment so brightly lit, but Kifirin led me toward it purposely. The moment we passed the guards at the perimeter, I smelled it. These beings held a portion of the taint that Saxom's misters had. I knew these had the potential for evil within them, like a seed that could sprout at any time with deadly results.

  The Dark Elemaiya weren't much different from the Bright ones of their kind—in appearance, anyway. It was the scent of them and the darkness in their spirits that I recognized.

  "Have we displeased you, High Lord?" One of the inhabitants came and bowed low before Kifirin. He kept an eye on Kifirin and on me while he bowed.

  "No more than your Bright kin, King Baltis," Kifirin replied.

  "We will not change our laws," the Dark Elemaiya lifted from his bow.

  "That is your choice," Kifirin replied and we folded space again.

  * * *

  "René, the human who was compelled to murder Aubrey is now dead," Gavin accepted the glass of wine that Devlin held out to him. He and René sat at a small table in Gavin's kitchen. René had agreed to meet Gavin at Gavin's apartment in London. Devlin sat down with a sigh to sip his own glass of wine and looked mournfully at René. René, as Devlin's sire, reached out and rubbed Devlin's shoulders lightly.

  "Dare I hope that you accomplished this for us?" René asked calmly, sipping from his own glass.

  "I did," Gavin gave the barest of nods.

  "Then I thank you, cousin."

  "There is something else," Gavin said. "The human did this at Xenides' bidding. She said that Xenides learned that you were hunting him, René. He had Aubrey killed as a message to you."

  René cursed softly; first in Latin, and then in French. "I should know better than to convey my intentions to anyone," he breathed. René had no desire to reveal his conversation with Wlodek regarding Aubrey's death—even Gavin had no idea how closely René worked with Wlodek at times. Instead, he turned his head to stare at Gavin's kitchen walls. The room had not been updated in more than four decades. "You should allow your little rose to update your dwelling, cousin," René observed.

  "René, do not avoid the subject. Either stop hunting Xenides, or let everyone think you have stopped hunting Xenides." Gavin forced his cousin's attention to return to the business at hand. "After he is dead and turned to ash, I will allow Lissa to do whatever she likes with this place and will permit you to help her select the décor, if she is willing."

  "Will you truly allow me to speak with her?" René was surprised.

  "Only if she wishes. She was very afraid of you, René."

  "I know this and that was not my intention. Much has happened between us, but she was gracious and amusing afterward, don't you think? The French King would have loved her."

  "The French King would have died when he put his hands on her," Gavin growled.

  "Cousin, I did not intend to raise your ire."

  "The fucking French King is dead! Why are you even discussing this?" Devlin rose from the table in an agitated manner and stalked off.

  "Cousin, we should go," René rose from his seat as well. "I thank you for what you did."

  "Cousin, if you get wind of Xenides, I would appreciate the information," Gavin said. "All of us would very much like to see him die."

  "But I want the satisfaction of seeing him die first-hand, cousin." René walked out of Gavin's kitchen.

  * * *

  "Merrill, I'm sorry I couldn't call earlier, but Hafer is so suspicious, he'll hardly allow me out of his sight." Daniel Carey spoke on his cell while standing on a street corner. He'd left his hotel room and now stood next to a convenience store in London. "I had to tell him I ran out of shaving cream to get away."

  Daniel Carey had only recently been transferred to Hafer, at Hafer's request. Shirley Walker was holding Daniel's Second position in the Corpus Christi Pack in the hopes he'd be transferred back. Daniel not only flew planes for the Navy but he'd also operated undercover in the past, under Hafer's command. Hafer asked for him personally and Daniel had no reasonable excuse to refuse. He'd met Merrill four years earlier when the Saxom treachery occurred in south Texas. Daniel and Merrill remained in contact ever since. The minute Daniel learned that Hafer was after Lissa, he'd notified Merrill.

  "That's not a problem; Lissa is away at the moment, helping out our special friends." Merrill and Daniel had both assisted in the destruction of Saxom's demon army, with the aid of the Saa Thalarr.

  "So, even if Hafer could move heaven and earth, he still might not find her?" Daniel almost laughed aloud. He'd met Lissa briefly, when she worked with William Winkler. He hadn't tried to get
close; he didn't want to raise Winkler's suspicions. Daniel also didn't want to get Lissa killed and hadn't informed Merrill either, until later. Merrill understood his reasons very well—he'd have been obligated to inform the Council, although Gavin already had her under surveillance.

  "He won't find her at the moment," Merrill answered. "She isn't scheduled to be back for a few days, at least."

  "Good," Daniel replied, hanging up.

  * * *

  "You're not the first one to ask those questions," the bartender at the pub informed the vampire. "I don't know of anyone fitting that description that lives around here and I know everybody, I think. You might want to ask over in Chatham, or Gravesend, there are loads of farms and manors scattered about. They may be travelin' over there to do their business." The bartender wiped the bar off with a cloth as the vampire watched.

  "I'll do that," the vampire responded. He'd laid compulsion for the man to tell the truth and the man didn't know anything. He went to his companion, who rose from the booth to go. Ilaisaane left earlier; she hadn't given them any helpful information at all.

  "I got a call—Llewellyn and Xenides' latest girl have disappeared," Quentin dropped the obligatory tip onto the table before walking away from it.

  Julius, his companion, snorted. "Probably ran off together, if this is the same Llewellyn I know."

  "Xenides suspects the same and says he really doesn't care, he'll just find another girl. This one was getting out of hand anyway and he was already planning to kill her." They'd stepped outside the pub; no one else was around to listen in on the conversation. "He just won't get the blood, that's all." They climbed into their rented vehicle, preparing to find a resting place for the day.

  "What about Llewellyn?" Julius asked.

  "Xenides says to kill him, if we see him."

  "With pleasure," Julius smiled in the darkness and started the car.

  Chapter 9

  Bad news waited for me when I woke. Dragon pulled me down on the sofa and nearly sat on me as Karzac, who'd arrived home early for a change, turned the sound on for the news. "Yes, vampires are no longer a myth," the newscaster announced as footage was shown, over and over again, of Briden, with cuffs on his wrists and ankles, being forced from a building—Blue Desire—and then screaming and jerking as the rising sun burned him to ash.

  "No!" I shouted, struggling against Dragon, but he held on too tightly and whatever he was doing kept me from turning to mist. I was crying before it was all over. "Please tell me they didn't force information from him. Please tell me that," I wept. Gabron and the others were in the caves under Blue Desire and Briden had held that information.

  "They were unable to get past the compulsion laid on him," Karzac muttered angrily, turning off the program. "Three others were also dragged out and burned; now the entire city is hunting vampire."

  "Poor Briden," I was still wiping tears when Dragon let me go. "Where are they looking? Have they found any?" I was set to go to the rescue if that happened.

  "All of them have disappeared; underground, most likely. Most of the brothels in the city have closed—none of the population realized that vampires were running those businesses." Dragon was scowling even more than usual. "I shut the classes down early—people were afraid to walk home in the dark."

  "So they think that vampires are just going to kill people now, since they've suddenly been discovered among them?" I said sarcastically.

  "They'll come to their senses as soon as Solar Red stops goading them and spreading wild rumors," Karzac mumbled.

  "And how many are going to die in the meantime?" I whirled to face him. "The vampire population is small. By design. Poor Briden." I headed back toward my bedroom, slamming the door behind me.

  I dressed; I'd gone out before still in my pajamas. I wanted to pay Gabron a visit, to make sure he was all right. I misted away before Dragon could stop me, too.

  "Gabron?" He was sitting on the sofa in his library, his head in his hands.

  "Lissa, they burned my child."

  "I know, honey. It was all over the news." I went to sit beside him, rubbing his back a little.

  "Have you ever been burned Lissa?" He turned blood-red eyes to me.

  "Yes. I almost died that way. Intentionally." Gabron drew in a breath before wrapping his arms around me and weeping. I misted both of us away after a while, to the banks of the river where I'd been throwing stones the night before. I don't think Gabron understood the English when I sang When the River Meets the Sea for him, so I translated it afterward. A large boat came down the river while we sat in silence afterward.

  "Those are Solar Red priests on the deck," Gabron stood to get a better look as the ship floated past.

  "So much the better, my friend," I said, turning to mist and turning Gabron with me. He was with me as I turned the large boat and all its occupants to mist and then floated it high above the land nearby, finding the largest and rockiest expanse I could before rising at least five hundred feet and dropping it. The boat hitting the rocky surface made a terrible noise, the metal of the hull groaning, rending and tearing as it struck the ground. A tremendous cloud of rock and dark earth rose around it; some of the stone fragments and dirt hitting the river, it spewed outward so far. None of those sailing aboard the vessel survived, and with only my claws visible, I scraped out a ghostly message on the now half-buried hull. The vampires are not the problem; I wrote in the Refizani language and then misted Gabron back to his library.

  I expected a lecture from Dragon and Karzac when I returned to the apartment, but Dragon drew me into a fierce embrace and kissed the top of my head instead. We all watched the news as the authorities and the news crews arrived at the ship, and the message I left was broadcast everywhere. Even several highly placed government officials came out and said the same thing. "Think about it," one of them pointed out. "These creatures, according to legend, were once of our race. Have you heard of them before? Have you been attacked by them before? There is no evidence of this, yet Solar Red are now trying to divert the attention away from themselves, finding a new enemy for you to hate. I hope you all sit down and think seriously about this before hunting down others. I was personally horrified when I saw those poor creatures burn. What was their crime? Is there evidence against them? Never have I seen the Refizani people exact revenge on someone who may very well be innocent. Show me the crime that any of these committed and we will look into the matter. I am much more interested in the tales that the six children from the city of Limrok are telling. They were all held inside the dungeons of the Solar Red temple; we have found evidence of them within those cells. What was the temple's purpose in holding children? Even our Vice-Governor is healing from wounds he claims he received at the hands of Solar Red priests. Whoever is killing these Solar Red monsters, and yes, I am calling them monsters, is a hero, in my mind. We have all become afraid to speak out against them, but that time must end. We must rise up as a people and demand that they leave our planet. They have no place here. Their beliefs are not ours. Do you worship at their temple? What have these priests done for you, other than make you afraid?" The man was standing behind an official-looking podium, making this speech.

  "That is the Governor of the Realm," Karzac said softly.

  "Can we have him, when you're done?" I asked. "Personally, I think he needs a bodyguard or ten." Dragon and Karzac went to bed shortly after that, while I stayed up for a while. Kifirin showed up out of nowhere to keep me company. This time I didn’t hold back, huddling against him when he sat down on the sofa next to me.

  "Avilepha," he put his arm around me to hold me close. I let my forehead drop against his shoulder—his body was warm and comforting. "Lissa," he said after a while, speaking softly, "did you know that a Queen of Le-Ath Veronis always had a small circle of advisors around her, all of whom were her lovers? I have seen as many as twelve in that role, in addition to the comesuli that served her."

  "Did she love all of them?"

  "They—the
re have been several Queens. And yes, they did. One even had two King Vampires in her circle."

  "Gabron is one of those, isn't he?"

  "As is your surrogate sire." That almost made me gasp.

  "You know about him?" I asked.

  "Avilepha, I have done all my research where you are concerned." That reply made me want to ask him what he was, but wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer. I watched Kifirin smile. "Kiss me," he said softly, and lowered his head to take my lips with his. His mind invaded mine, just as his tongue invaded my mouth. I drowned in him, almost. His desire was mine—his thoughts were mine. I learned what avilepha meant. He'd been calling me my love, the whole time I'd known him.

  "I do not intend to displace your other lover," he said, breaking the kiss. "When I place my claiming marks it will be painful, but it will only happen the one time, hala avilepha. A vampire's skin will not scar, except from my claiming. My marks will show everyone that you are mine." I blinked up at him in a stupor, almost, from what he was doing to me. The kiss had left me boneless; a lump of clay in his hands, with no will of my own.

  "Come, lean down just a little," he held my neck in one of his hands, and then cradled my cheek against his chest, holding me securely. I watched in a detached manner as the skin on his arms darkened; it was nearly black and covered with scales before it stopped changing. He then he blew a hot breath on the back of my neck, right over the nape. I was comfortable, relaxed, actually, and totally unprepared for what happened next.

  Large canines, upper and lower, gripped the back of my neck, their razor-sharp length sinking into my flesh until they nearly surrounded my spine. I cried out with the pain of it. It will be over soon, he soothed mentally. Try to relax, do not struggle. Your little spine should not be damaged. My fingers were curling and uncurling in my lap; I was held back somehow from forming claws or turning to mist. Hush, it is nearly done, he sent as I whimpered from the agony. My neck was on fire and the sensation ran the length of my spine. The pain renewed itself when Kifirin removed his teeth; I cried out again, and attempted to fight my way out of his lap. He wasn't having it, gathering me up instead and kissing my neck, touching it with fingers that were now cool, taking the pain away. Somehow an ice pack appeared in one of his hands and he held it against my nape.