by Ally Shields
She studied Andreas’s face, but his lean features and hooded eyes told so little. The vampires were still hiding something. She wanted to refuse—she had her own mission to find the wolves—but Andreas had played their ace in the hole. He’d asked for the Council’s help. What choice did he leave her? Hell, she could be such a sucker.
She looked at the city’s vampire leader. “You have my attention, your highness. Give it your best shot.”
Daron frowned, appealed to his lieutenant.
“I believe she wants you to make your proposal.”
“Ahh.” The prince’s mouth spread in a broad smile, revealing a flash of fangs. “Andreas tells me that money would not be sufficient, so I propose an exchange of services. You provide protection for the vampire compound from dawn to dusk. In return, the resources of this court and my first lieutenant will be at your disposal to assist with this problem of the wolves. I understand you already discussed some kind of joint working relationship.” Daron smiled again, and Ari wondered exactly what Andreas had said to him.
“I can relieve him of other responsibilities, when necessary,” Daron continued. “Increase his availability.” He waved a careless hand. “Of course, these arrangements will end as soon as the traitors are exposed.” He unfolded his large frame and stood. “Are those terms satisfactory, Ms. Calin?”
Unprecedented entry to the vampire court. Access to their resources. And the vampires would be indebted to the Council. More than satisfactory terms. But most important to Ari, Andreas would have to help her track the wolves.
She darted a glance at Andreas. She thought she’d seen a smile when Daron asked if the terms were satisfactory, but she asked anyway. “You comfortable with this?”
“My duties are whatever the prince says they are.”
That answer didn’t help much, but it raised another question. She turned to Daron. “How can you offer me one of your lieutenants right now? Don’t you need him here, protecting the court?”
Daron scowled and exchanged a look with Andreas.
“Fine,” she said in exasperation. “You’re still holding out, hiding something. It's your call. But in that case, I’m out of here.”
Andreas grabbed her arm before she got more than two steps. “I suggest we tell her the rest of it,” he said over his shoulder.
“Then do so.” The vampire prince dropped back into his chair.
Ari brushed Andreas’s hand away. “Well?”
“Solving one problem may solve both,” Andreas admitted. “The attacks on the court, the drug activities around town, all of it may be at Sebastian’s orders. The moment he met with you in Toronto, I feared his ambitions had caused him to look in our direction.”
“The drugs I get. But why attack your court? What does he gain?”
“I told you Daron and Sebastian were enemies.”
“You said they weren’t friendly,” she muttered. “That was the understatement of the day. If he’d go to this much trouble, this must be a feud of ginormous proportions.”
“I’m not sure what that means, but this is not a simple matter of bad blood between vampires.” Daron raised his voice in irritation. “Sebastian is after my court.”
Ari stared at him. “But he has Toronto. No offense, but why would he give up that for Riverdale?”
“Not instead of Toronto. He wants to add Riverdale to his control. Spread his influence and power,” Andreas said. “We suspect Sebastian is waging war, a challenge for the throne, without coming here or declaring himself. If he can set up a puppet leader, he would gain immense status, especially with those in Europe. And I think we can safely assume he has already selected the successor prince. Someone who will do as he dictates.”
“You’ve known this several days,” Ari said, her eyes filled with accusation. “When were you going to tell me?”
It was Daron who answered. “I asked him to wait.”
“Why? For how long? Until somebody else got killed?”
“Can the recriminations wait?” Andreas was getting angry. “You and I can discuss this later. Right now, we need to make decisions about moving forward.”
“Fine. I can hardly wait for our little talk.”
Daron looked at his lieutenant. The corners of the old vampire’s mouth quirked. “I am not sure I pay you enough.” He wiped the amusement from his face before he turned to Ari. “Does this mean you accept?”
Did it? In typical vampire fashion, both parts of this agreement benefited the vampires the most. But if they were right, someone in Riverdale had done terrible things in support of a madman’s ambitions. The deaths and violence needed a settling of scores. Ari wanted to be part of that. She’d felt the evil in Sebastian. If she had anything to say about it, that little toad would never control her town.
Ari lifted her chin and looked the vampire prince straight in the eye.
“Yeah, you have a deal.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Leaving the warehouse district, Ari and Andreas walked in the general direction of her apartment. She’d gotten over most of her snit, for the moment anyway.
“Are you really fine with being part of this deal?” she asked.
“I already promised to help you.”
“Yes, but offering and being ordered are different. What about the club?”
Andreas dismissed her concerns. “The club has an excellent staff. And Daron did not order this without my agreement. He isn’t the dictator you think, but we don’t have time to talk about the prince. Too many other things to explain before dawn arrives.”
Ari listened with rapt attention as Andreas revealed detail after detail about the secretive vampire court. He started with an overview of the current daylight guards: three werelions, a werewolf and a halfling demon. All five had worked with the vampires for years with no smudges on their loyalty. Ari perked up her ears when he said the halfling’s abilities included demon fire. She’d never met another being with fire ability, except Great-Gran. The demon part gave her a moment of hesitation—even a halfling could be evil—until she remembered she’d just agreed to protect a nest of vampires.
Without telling more than necessary, Andreas described the general layout of the compound. The security station inside the side door held a secret entrance to Prince Daron’s sleeping quarters. Beyond that hidden door was a complicated labyrinth of passageways.
“Without a map or detailed instructions, no one could locate the prince’s chambers. Not before they were discovered.”
“Then why do you need me?”
“We have a traitor. Someone may have revealed the path, drawn a map.”
Ari blinked. “But I thought the passage was secret. Who would know the way…other than you, Carmella and Lucien?”
Andreas shrugged. “Nest leaders, court personnel, guards, maybe a few tradesmen. Most of the chambers are only secret to the outside world. Not to vampires. Daron’s actual sleeping quarters are private but simple process of elimination could get you there if you already knew the layout. The entire complex is like a community center in some respects.”
“How many entrances? Rooms? Corridors?” Ari flung out her arms. “This must cover an entire city block. A rabbit warren.”
His lips twitched. “It is not as bad as that. There is only one way into the inner chambers. It is true,” he said in response to her sudden scowl. “Daron believes that one entrance is easier to defend. The court is heavily fortified at night. And if we are asleep,” he gave a rueful shrug, “what good is an escape route?”
“But that’s such a stupid idea!” She put up her hands at his sharp look. “Never mind. We’ll deal with it. But if one of the daylight guards is on the enemy payroll or someone else has talked, your only entrance and exit has been compromised.” She sighed. “Fine, I’ve got the basic set up. Tell me about the other incidents the prince mentioned.”
As Andreas talked, it didn’t take long for Ari to see some possible links between the court problems and the wolves. Daron�
�s attacker had been a deliveryman, a werewolf employed by the blood bank for less than three months. His background check turned out to be falsified, and they had no idea who he was. Six weeks before that Carmella had been ambushed by a vampire, another stranger to the Riverdale area. Three weeks later a wolf offered to pay, and pay well, for information on the vampire compound. The young vampire he attempted to bribe reported the incident, but by the time the wolf was located, he’d been shot to death. Again, he wasn’t a local. In typical vampire fashion, the body was hidden.
“If you had reported it, we might have run DNA or something,” she said as they crossed 10th Street and turned left onto a shaded boulevard.
“At the time, it seemed unimportant.”
Ari suddenly looked at him. “That’s what you were doing in Goshen Park when we first met. Following a suspicious wolf. As it turns out, you were right. I wonder if the kids interrupted a drug deal or a meeting with a local contact. Guess I should have killed Molyneux that night. You might have mentioned your earlier suspicions. You’ve kept a lot of secrets.”
“Private vampire business. Up to the moment Sebastian questioned you, we had no proof our affairs affected the larger community.”
Vampires business. As if that explained everything, she thought. To him it might. Vampire society had been closed to outsiders for centuries. But, dammit, if she had known from the beginning, it might have helped. She released a weary sigh. If their current arrangement was going to work, they’d have to get beyond the past.
“I’m curious, Andreas. You work with werecreatures, even a halfling demon. Why no witches or other conjurers before now?”
Andreas’s eyebrows shot up. “I am surprised you have to ask. Have you no knowledge of the long-standing conflicts between the O-Seven and the Witches League? Their struggle for domination in the Old Country?”
“I’ve never even heard of the O-Seven. But what’s some fight in Europe got to do with your court or what you do over here?”
“It was not just ‘some fight.’ The council of the seven original vampires—who are thousands of years old, by the way—and the witches’ covens nearly destroyed one another in 1329. In my country, no witch would consider aligning with a vampire. With your abilities, she would be more likely to try to burn us out.”
“That seems harsh.” Ari shrugged. She couldn’t remember Great-Gran mentioning a special problem with the vampires. Except for them being violent predators, of course. For the witches, the feud must have stopped at the ocean. For the vampires, not so much. “So these old vamps are still holding a grudge, huh? Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”
She fell silent, losing interest in the O-Seven and focusing on the other things she’d heard tonight. Headlights from a passing car swept over them and highlighted the familiar surroundings. Another two blocks and they’d be on her street.
“Out of questions?” he asked.
“Just figuring out what I haven’t asked. It’s a lot to take in. The vamp who was killed, Frederick. How’d the killers get to him but not the rest of you?”
Andreas swung his head to look at Ari. “I don’t understand the question.”
“You live together, don’t you?”
“Lord, no. Occasionally we might stay at the compound, but that is unusual. We have our own homes. Frederick lived with a human consort who guarded his sleeping hours. She was killed during the attack. Shot three times. She hadn’t been tortured, so the killers knew exactly where to find his hidden chamber when they arrived.”
“And who would know that?”
Andreas shook his head. “It is not information freely shared.”
“Well, someone shared. The consort must have betrayed him. Unless…could another vampire bespell her? Force her to tell without using visible torture?”
“No, not possible.” His answer was decisive. “Frederick would have known immediately. Consorts are closely bound to their vampire mates. It would take someone very powerful indeed—someone as old as Sebastian himself—to overcome such resistance. The attempt would have destroyed her mind. And her willing betrayal is improbable,” he continued. “Consorts often die from the breaking of a bond. Such action would invite her own death. No, Ari, they were well mated. Their friends, including Victor, report she would have protected Frederick with her life. As apparently she tried to do.”
“Then how’d this happen?”
“I have no logical explanation.”
They had nearly reached Ari’s front door. She still hated these steps, enough to look for a new apartment when she found the time. She made an automatic scan of the bushes. If Andreas noticed, he didn’t mention it.
“I will be back at five o’clock,” he said. “To introduce you to the guards.” The vampire started down the steps.
“Andreas?”
He looked back.
“What about you? Who keeps you safe at home?”
A slow smile spread across his face, making his eyes glitter. “I have to wonder why you ask. Is this concern for my safety? Or that I might have a consort?”
Good question. She dropped her eyes and hedged. “Just curiosity.”
He chuckled softly. As he disappeared into the shadows, his voice floated back. “Have no fears, little witch.”
Which, of course, told her nothing.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Five faces stared at Ari with a mixture of reactions: hostility, curiosity, indifference. The guards would be a tough crowd to win over.
Promptly at 5:00 a.m. Andreas had escorted her to the vampire compound. He’d already told the guards of her pending arrival, and she could imagine how the news went over. A stranger was coming to take charge.
When she had walked into the security office at Andreas’s side, the guards were seated around a table with a deck of cards and poker chips in the middle. A TV ran in the background. No one, except Ari, appeared to see anything wrong with this set up. Andreas made introductions to a silent audience, then left to get home before dawn.
Now Ari was on her own.
When the determined silence continued, she finally asked, “Interested in knowing why I’m here?” Not the most original beginning, but she had to start somewhere.
“Not particularly. Already figured it out. The vampires don’t trust us.” The speaker was Lilith, a werelion with short black hair, a pair of size D breasts, and deep angry lines creasing her face. She wore two semi-automatic handguns, one at the waist and the other in a shoulder holster.
“Any reason for them to lose trust in you?”
“No, not really.” Uncertainty flickered across Lilith’s face. “Well, maybe the attack on the prince. Which wasn’t our fault,” she muttered.
“Just let her tell us, Lil,” the werelion next to her said.
“Why else would she be here, Russell?” Lilith spat. “We aren’t so overworked we need another team member. And they put her in charge.” Lilith snorted in disgust.
“I only want to talk about this once, so pay attention,” Ari said, crossing the room and switching off the television. “Vamps don’t trust anyone. Except maybe other vamps. And never completely even then. Not you, not me. They’re suspicious and paranoid by nature. But if they thought you were a serious threat to the prince, do you really think you’d still be alive?”
She hoped a little plain talking would stop the bitching over their grievances and get them refocused on the job. Quickly.
“Frederick’s death is what brought me here. The vampires are facing an enemy that kills during daylight, and the next target could be the compound itself.” She let that sink in. “I’m here, on a temporary basis, because I’m the Guardian for this district and a practicing fire witch. I bring new skills to the group. Now you can get all bent out of shape if you want to, but somebody has to be in charge. For now, it’s me. If you have an issue with that, deal with it. I’ll be gone when this is over. In the meantime, our job is to make sure the bad guys don’t win. And to do that, we have to work together.”
Seconds ticked by, then Russell asked, “Do you play poker?” The cards made a soft slapping sound as he shuffled the deck.
Ari gave him a faint smile. “I know the difference between a straight and a flush.”
So her first day on the job started with poker. It broke the ice. Not that they became instant buddies, but the tension eased. Ari tried not to disgrace herself by stupid card play while sizing up her companions. They talked freely, except for the wolf, and by the time the game ended, Ari had a pretty good idea of the team’s individual strengths.
Russell was on the small side for a werelion but all muscle, even in human form. His movements were quick and smooth, very catlike. Not bad looking. Blondish-brown hair and somber, chestnut eyes. He was married to Lilith and her big guns. He admitted he knew some jujitsu, which drew laughter from his wife, who explained he held top status in four styles of martial arts.
The third werelion was Benny, a fair-haired, doe-eyed pretty boy with delicate features and a deadly stiletto. He was an outrageous flirt who Ari suspected didn’t discriminate between sexes or species. He had been friends with the werelion couple for twelve years.
Ari didn’t know what to make of Mike, a big, burly man, six foot three or a little more. Probably played college football. He was a werewolf, and his soft accent hinted of prior years in the Lone Star State. He didn’t have much to say, and after the second poker hand he wandered off into the other room and signed on the computer. Ari couldn’t ask about him while he was in hearing distance, so she filed a mental memo to ask Andreas.
The last guard intrigued her the most. She had never met a halfling demon before, but Maleban would never be mistaken for human. He was skeleton thin with a body always in motion. Brittle laugh, reddish complexion, spiky orange hair. Despite his exotic appearance, he was polite and painfully shy. Ari thought they’d get along. His bashful manner was oddly appealing. And he could breathe demon fire—a nice ace in the hole during a fight.
