by M. Cheykota
“I understand.” A questioning look crosses Luke’s face, but he asks nothing.
Kayle unobtrusively scans Luke’s thoughts. Images of Christien appear in Luke’s mind. “If you have any questions about our master, now is the time to ask them.”
“Very well.” Luke sits up straighter in his chair. “Is it true that Christien is now tête de ligne of Hassan and Devan’s lignes de sang?”
“You already know that is true. What is it you really want to know?” Kayle asks suspiciously.
“Exactly how powerful is he?” Luke asks without equivocation.
Kayle raises an eyebrow and the corners of his lips turn into a smirk as a response.
“Christien was able to kill his own sire and mine relatively easy.” Luke states. “It should have been nearly impossible for him to defeat two têtes de lignes de sang as powerful as Hassan and Devan.”
“Some say it should have been impossible for him to defeat Hassan’s master vampires when he was a mere fledgling, but he managed that feat easily enough.” Kayle shrugs. “All that you need to know right now is that he is a good and fair master. His get serves him loyally by choice, not by force. He is unlike any other master I have ever met. That is another reason why Phedora’s betrayal comes as such a surprise to us both. Anyone who truly knows Christien knows that he is a relatively peaceful master. Although he is old, he does not act as most other older vampires do.”
“Even though Devan was not as cruel master as Hassan was, he was not a merciful sire. He was a harsh and ambitious ruler. What should I expect from my new master?” Luke asks curiously.
“Expect our master to do as he promises and protect his get with his life. He may seem gentle as a master, but do not mistake kindness as weakness. He can be ruthless, as you have already seen when it is necessary. The most important thing you need to know is loyalty is extremely crucial to everyone in our get. Anyone who is not loyal to our master and mistress should not expect a fate as simple as death.”
Luke exhales in relief and smiles.
“If you have no further questions, I must go tell Christien what I have learned from Phedora.” Kayle growls as Phedora’s betrayal returns fresh in his mind. “Do not fail our master, Luke. You do not want me to pay you a visit so soon after dealing with Dora.”
Leaving Luke sitting at the bar, Kayle glides through the house soundlessly to Christien’s bedroom, leaving Luke to think about his parting words.
Chapter 20
Nodding at the guards standing outside Christien’s bedroom, Kayle leans against the wall in the hallway with his arms crossed, waiting for Christien to come out of his bedroom. There is no doubt in Kayle’s mind that the guards have instructions to notify Christien if he showed up outside his bedroom door.
Only a few seconds pass before the bedroom door silently opens and Christien, wearing only silk pajama bottoms, joins him in the hallway.
Kayle feels Christien’s gentle inquiry against his mind and drops his mental barriers, allowing Christien to read from his mind all he learned from Phedora.
Christien manages to make it down the hallway before venting his frustration.
“How Kayle? How could she have done this to me? To us?” Christien paces in a tight circle in the dark family room. “Is life in y get so unsatisfying that one of my most trusted would seek another master known to be blood thirsty and heinous in her behavior as a master than to be part of my get?”
“There were obviously other things going on in Dora’s mind. I don’t think it was you as a master to whom she was rebelling. You are a great master to serve. Her treachery was directed at you personally, even though she failed to see the impact to our get.” Kayle replies strongly.
“Tell me about the book. Have you seen it before?” Christien asks Kayle curiously.
“No. It caught my attention because it looks very old. I was merely curious about its origin.”
“I agree. The book looks very old. I wonder from whom she obtained it. It looks nothing like any vampire book I have ever seen before.” Christien remarks with slight interest. “Although I have never seen that book before, the symbols on the front of the book seem familiar somehow.”
“Perhaps when we speak to Lenair, you can ask her about the book. If Phedora was able to view it on display, it must be in a centralized location and have little importance.”
“Regardless of my piqued interest about the book, we have other concerns to address right now.” Christien sighs. “If Phedora’s memories are true, it is very possible that Lenair may take the opportunity to attack me now when my get is being restructured and my attention is divided between my get and the Vampire Council. If Lenair does not require an invitation to enter my home, I want precautions setup now to secure the house. I want the security detail on Jessica doubled until I am confident my family is safe.”
Concerned for Jessica and their unborn child, Christien and Kayle return to Christien’s bedroom to check on her. Upon their approach, they look around in concern when they notice the guards stationed outside Christien’s bedroom are gone.
Immediately, Christien searches for his link to the guards and finds their links severed. Panicking, he opens his bedroom door to find the bedcovers mussed, but empty.
“Christien!” Kayle calls out to him worriedly.
After a brief, but thorough scan of the room, Christien knows that Jessica is not hiding. He notices one of his bedroom windows is open before he looks over at Kayle, now standing beside him.
Kayle shows Christien the handful of vampire ash in his hand before allowing it to fall to the tiled floor. Brushing the remaining ash on his jeans, he approaches the window, taking in his surroundings.
“The room is intact and I smell no blood. She didn’t fight so they must have rendered her unconscious before escaping through the window with her.” Kayle speculates as he sniffs the air. “I’ll ask Roman to put some wolves on her trail while we pay a visit to Lenair.”
“I’m going after Jessica.” Christien states vehemently while grabbing a pair of comfortable slacks from his closet, changing into them quickly. “You can go speak to Lenair.”
“Christien…” Kayle, recognizing his master’s distress, doesn’t try to reason with him. Instead, he decides to speak to Roman about trailing her scent while it is still fresh.
Christien is fully dressed and putting on shoes when Roman, plus two additional werewolves in wolf form, storm into the room. The large wolves immediately go to the bed, sniffing deeply while Roman approaches Christien.
“We will find her Christien. Despite our reservations, Jess is more than capable of defending herself. She’s going to be pissed as hell that someone managed to get a drop on her.” Roman chuckles lightly to ease Christien’s worry. “When she wakes up, I feel sorry for her captors.”
Christien watches the two wolves leave the bed and sniff around the room.
“These are the best trackers I have with me.” Roman explains, nodding at the wolves. “We are going to find out where she is and cut her loose. You should go with Kayle and handle your business. If I need your assistance, I will call. You should know by now that I don’t take risks when it comes to family. Jess is like my little sister. Let me find her while you go scare the shit out of Lenair.”
“It may be Lenair that has her.” Christien states while continuing to watch the wolves. “Or, it could be someone from Hassan’s get I missed, Devan’s get wanting to get even, or the Vampire Council…”
“Christien.” Roman interrupts him just as the wolves reach the window and make a noise. “We don’t have time for speculations. My wolves have all they need from the room and they are ready to go. The sooner we leave, the faster she’ll be back here.”
Christien stands and walks with Roman to the window. The two wolves jump through silently, landing delicately in the grassy area outside.
“We’ll bring her back. I’ll call or text you when I know more. We need to go before the wind scatters her scent.” Roman do
esn’t wait for Christien’s response before he follows the wolves out the window, jogging behind them.
“If Lenair has anything to do with Jessica’s disappearance, I will have her head.” Christien growls at Kayle.
“That is, if Jess doesn’t take it before you have the opportunity.” Kayle says amusingly on his way out the room.
“Good point.” Christien follows. “Gather a group of strong vampires to accompany us to Lenair’s lair. Scan their minds and make sure they are loyal to our get. I’ve had enough surprises tonight and I want things with Lenair taken care of before I meet with the Vampire Council.”
One of Christien’s vampires rounds the corner and nearly runs into Kayle. “Oh, Master!”
“What is it?” Christien barks back at him.
“I’ve been trying to reach you, but I could not get through.” The vampire quickly explains.
Christien frowns when he realizes that he has his mental shields locked down tight. He relaxes his shields a little to receive a flood of communication requests.
“What’s going on?” Christien asks, raising his shields to stop the buzzing of voices in his head.
“Lenair and a group of vampires arrived minutes ago. She is requesting an audience with you.” The vampire answers in a rush.
Christien blinks in surprise and looks over at Kayle to see a matching stunned expression on his face. “Would Lenair truly be so bold as to take Jessica, and then come to my home to gloat?”
Kayle shrugs, shaking off his surprise. “Where are Lenair and her vampires now?”
The vampire lowers his head submissively. “We could not prevent her from entering the house. She was too powerful. She said she would wait for you in the family room. None of us issued an invitation, so we don’t know…”
“It’s alright. We know who issued Lenair an invitation.” Christien waves away the vampire’s worry and turns to Kayle. “I want strong vampires in the room while we are meeting with her. See that an equally strong vampire from our get matches each one of hers.”
Kayle nods and enters the mind of the vampire that delivered the message to gain as much information about the vampires that came with Lenair as possible. Christien returns to his room and changes his casual wear to a fine suit.
While Christien is changing his clothes, Kayle secures Alex and the children in the basement vault with guards, verifies there are vampires patrolling the estate grounds, and fills the family room with vampires as Christien requested.
Kayle goes to his bedroom to change his clothes from jeans and a t-shirt to a nice pale blue dress shirt and dark blue dress pants. Christien enters Kayle’s bedroom as Kayle is putting on his shoes.
Not bothering to use words, Kayle projects to Christien all he has done in preparation of their meeting with Lenair. Christien nods approvingly and waits near the door for Kayle to join him.
When they step into the hallway, four large werewolves in their wolf forms greet them. Christien’s lips twitch in amusement when the wolves divide into twos to walk at Christien and Kayle’s sides.
“Roman must have given his wolves instructions before he left.” Kayle muses to Christien telepathically.
“Having wolves at our sides will definitely catch Lenair off guard. She may wonder if there are other wolves at our disposal.” Christien sends back to Kayle.
“We should wisely use their presence to our advantage then.” Kayle replies right before they enter the family room filled with vampires.
Christien adopts a cold expression as he scans the room and locks eyes on Lenair.
Lenair’s white-blonde hair stands out like a beacon in the room of mostly dark haired men and women. Only Kayle’s hair color is closest to the color of hers. Her pale blue eyes turn to Christien and a light sneer forms on her face before she can change it into a cordial smile.
“You have a lot of nerve entering my home without an expressed invitation by me, not to mention you have a small army of vampires escorting you, Lenair. What do you want?” Christien barks boldly, not bothering to pretend diplomacy.
Lenair’s cold sneer returns as she stares back at him.
The wolves at Christien’s side growl menacing and shift their stances, drawing her attention to them.
Christien watches Lenair’s gaze fall to the wolves at his sides. A flash of slight trepidation shows in her eyes before they return icy to meet his gaze.
“I have come to congratulate you personally on your success in conquering Devan and his get. You have impressed me with your swift and cunning battle tactics. I do hope the information I gave your deuxième was helpful?”
Christien grits his teeth in annoyance. “If you are here about an alliance, I am afraid I do not have the time right now to discuss the terms of our co-ruling of France.”
Christien has to fight back a smile when he sees Lenair flinch slightly when he mentions co-ruling France with her. Lenair’s jaw twitches slightly in her attempts to hide her irritation.
Within seconds, she regains her icy demeanor. “I know that you have spent little time in France over the past few centuries. Much has changed over the years. I have heard you are fond of the United States and have chosen to make the United States your home.”
“I understand Phedora gave you that impression.” Christien states boldly, subtly informing Lenair that he knows where she was receiving her information.
Lenair blinks rapidly. She suddenly feels wary about how much Christien may know of her plans. Her eyes dart back to the two werewolves at his sides glaring back at her before glancing around the room at Christien’s vampires surrounding hers. She finally notices that Phedora is not among them.
Dropping all pretenses, Lenair crosses her legs and lounges in the sitting chair. “With Devan and his get now out of my way, I want to rule France, alone.”
Christien crosses his arms defiantly. “Why should I hand over to you my half of France to rule?”
Lenair allows a small amount of her power to leak out of her, causing the hair on Christien’s arms to stand up as the air becomes electrically charged. “You have no interest in what goes on here in France. Do you truly wish to take on me and my get in order to hold on to something that you really do not want?”
“You are correct, Lenair. I have no interest in ruling France, but as a master vampire of a growing get, and newly made tête de ligne de sang of Devan ligne de sang, I have a responsibility to the vampires of my line to offer them my protection in my territories. Giving you all that I have obtained will leave my vampires without a homeland.” Christien shakes his head. “In addition, you have nothing to offer worth me willing to give up all I’ve gained tonight, just to allow you to rule France alone.”
A cold, calculating smile spreads across Lenair’s face. “Oh, I think I do have something you want.”
Christien instantly knows by Lenair’s demeanor that she is responsible for Jessica’s disappearance. The knowledge that Lenair is responsible for Jessica’s abduction does not surprise him as much as Lenair boldly admitting to him that she took his mate.
“If you harm my mate in any way, you will truly understand what it is like to feel my fury!” Christien warns Lenair while allowing his power to trickle over her.
The wolves at his side understand his anger and shuffle anxiously beside him with their golden eyes fixed on Lenair. A low growl comes from the wolf to Christien’s right.
Kayle steps forward to stand beside Christien. “Where have you taken my master’s mate? Release her now before my master becomes your enemy. I will not be as patient with you if you force me to ask again.”
“Halt your attack. The human was unharmed during her capture. I only wished to use her…”
“Release her now!” Christien’s demand cuts off her response.
Christien and Kayle both unleash their power simultaneously, locking all of Lenair’s vampires in place where they stand, without giving any of them the opportunity to react to an attack on their tête de ligne de sang.
&nb
sp; Lenair’s eyes widen anxiously when her eyes meet Christien’s that are now swirling like mercury from his power release.
Christien growls irritably when he hears his cell phone ring in his pocket.
Chapter 21
I wake up bleary eyed and groggy. My vision finally clears after blinking several times and swiping the sleep from my eyes. Looking around the room, nothing looks familiar. For a moment, I wonder if Christien might have moved me to another room in his house before memories of what happened flood back into my conscious.
I remember hearing a soft thud waking me up slowly before a hand covers my nose and mouth. The strong smell of chloroform floods my lungs before I can think to hold my breath. My arms and legs go numb as I watch with droopy eyes Christien’s vampires enter the room and turn to ashes before they could assess what is happening in the room. I remember trying to push away the strong hand over my face, but my hands are heavy and won’t do what I want them to do. My eyelids continuously close over my eyes in long intervals, but they do not close fully before I catch the unfamiliar silver streaks in the eyes of my vampire captor.
Now, wide awake and pissed at myself for allowing a vampire to gain an advantage over me, I throw off the covers and climb out of the plain, twin bed I am in to look around the room.
The small ten by then room feels more like a cell and a small bedroom. Undecorated with only a bare bulb in the middle of the ceiling for light, I realize quickly that I have nothing to use for a weapon. With the thought of weapons on my mind, I search my hair for the silver stakes I usually keep in it.
The bun in my hair, which usually keeps my hair out of my eyes, is loose, but still intact. I don’t feel anything in my hair right away due to its thickness, so my hope begins to wither away when I feel the familiar burn when my fingers touch silver. Eagerly, I unravel my bun, which allows a single silver stake to drop on the ground.
