He looked at Cammie, then back at Donna. “I’d do my best to be a good little vampire. The Venari are no joke.”
Cammie tipped her head in a very I told you so kind of way.
Donna rolled her eyes. “All right. Let’s find out where Fitzy lives.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Turned out, Fitzhugh lived in the Upper East Side version of Wellman Towers called Montevetro. Donna knew enough Italian to make out that the name kind of sort of meant “mountain of glass.” Seemed mostly fitting for the angular glass and metal monolith that probably cost God’s salary to buy into and looked like some kind of modern Danish saltshaker.
Charlie had told them the New York governorship owned the top three floors.
Donna tried not to let it bother her that Fitzy had one more floor than she did, but she couldn’t fake it. That extra floor bristled. But then, with an ego his size, he probably needed the space.
Or he was overcompensating.
Temo had driven them but dropped Cammie off a few blocks away so she wouldn’t be connected to them. Once they’d arrived in Fitzhugh’s neighborhood, Temo had parked on the side of Fitzhugh’s building. They could see into the lobby, but the doorman’s back was to them.
Temo moved to sit in the back with Donna as well. The SUV’s dark-tinted windows would keep them from being seen.
It was early evening, but the city was relatively quiet. Donna thought that might change if anyone looked too closely at Camille.
She’d dressed in her battle gear again. Leather pants, chain mail shirt with the cross, sword strapped to her hip, crossbow on her back, and this time, a leather cowl pulled up to hide her face. The cowl felt vaguely like a cross between her nun’s wimple and an executioner’s hood.
It was a total mood. One that was clearly meant to intimidate. But would it work on Fitzhugh? He was so cocksure, Donna had her doubts.
Temo had also fitted Cammie with an earpiece, like the one he’d given Donna for the raid, so they’d be able to hear the conversation. It would also give Cammie a way to call for help should she need it. She’d assured them she wouldn’t, but Donna didn’t trust Fitzhugh one iota, so if nothing else, it made her feel better.
“Here she comes,” Donna said.
Cammie strode through the lobby doors like she owned the place and had just decided to tear it down. She went straight to the front desk. “Hawke Fitzhugh.”
The doorman got to his feet. His back was to Temo and Donna, but his voice had a wariness to it. He already sounded smarter than Fitzhugh. “And you are?”
“A reckoning. Get him down here now.”
“Miss, ma’am, I need your name and—”
A gleam of light and Cammie’s sword was at the man’s throat. “Fitzhugh. Now. I won’t ask again.”
Donna sat up straighter. “Mary and Joseph. I didn’t know she could move that fast.”
Temo nodded. “You should have seen her at the raid. Your sister’s got skills, boss.”
“She did try to tell me that.”
The doorman had the phone in his hand. “Governor Fitzhugh? There’s someone in the lobby who’d like to speak to you. Yes, sir. I don’t think so. Very good, sir.”
He put the phone to his chest. “He’s unable to come down, but if you leave your name and number—”
“I will burn the building down if he’s not in this lobby in two minutes.”
An audible gulp could be heard. The doorman put the phone back to his ear. “Sir, if you could just come down… Yes, sir, I understand that, but…as you wish.”
The phone returned to his chest. “Governor Fitzhugh is unable to—”
With her other hand, Cammie whipped out the crossbow. The end of the notched arrow burst into flames a split second before she shot it into the wall next to him. It twanged home in an enormous oil painting hanging there, setting it on fire.
“Governor Fitzhugh, get down here now, or I will file a complaint against you with the co-op.” The doorman slammed the phone down and grabbed a fire extinguisher from under the desk. As he went to work putting out the growing inferno, Cammie returned both her weapons to their rightful places.
Donna’s mouth was open. She looked at Temo. “You’re seeing this, too, right? She just shot a flaming arrow into that painting?”
He nodded. “She did. Good thing she didn’t break those out during the raid. Remind me never to get on her bad side.”
“I hear you.”
A soft ding brought their attention back to the lobby. The elevator had arrived.
A moment later, Fitzhugh walked into the middle of the lobby. He was in sweatpants, a faded T-shirt, and bedroom slippers, which made him look more like someone’s grumpy dad than the vampire playboy he loved to play at. Granted, the slippers were Gucci, but still.
Donna lifted her phone and took a few pictures. “Wait until Charlie sees him in that getup.”
Fitzhugh took a quick look at the smoldering painting. He managed not to react too much. He put his hands on his hips and stared at Cammie. “What’s this all about?”
Cammie approached him. “I am a noble knight of the Venari, and I have come to issue you a warning, Hawke Fitzhugh.”
He swallowed and dropped his hands to his sides. Then he raised his chin slightly. “So what? The Venari don’t scare me.”
Cammie made a slight hand movement, and a ball of fire exploded at Fitzhugh’s feet. He lurched away. She kept talking. “Pay attention, vampire. This warning won’t be repeated. Your behavior is being monitored. Your actions and decisions may have less-than-desirable consequences.”
“My actions and decisions?” He barked out a weak laugh. “You’re bluffing. You don’t have a clue what—”
“You have contacted the Immortus Concilio twice in as many days, have you not?”
He blinked, but said nothing.
“As you know, the Venari never bluff.”
He scowled at her. “I’ve had enough of this. You can tell whoever sent you that they need to stay out of my business. Out of all vampire business.”
Then he turned and strode back to the elevators.
Cammie stared after him. “Mind yourself, vampire. If I have to return, it will not end well for you. And ashes make such a mess.”
He spun around and gave her the finger.
She faked a lunge toward him. He jerked back with a whimper and ran into the wall behind him.
Cammie walked out. Donna couldn’t see her face thanks to the leather hood, but Donna had to guess she was smiling. That had been a pretty impressive display. Cammie headed away from the building, back the way she’d come.
Temo hopped out and got back into the driver’s seat. A few minutes later, he pulled alongside Cammie.
He came to a stop, and she got in, pushing her cowl off her face. “That definitely gave him something to think about.”
“Well, it gave me a lot to think about. That was very impressive. I had no idea.”
Cammie shrugged. “There’s more, but that seemed like enough. Not sure this matters, but he reeked of French perfume, so he either had a woman upstairs or had just been with one. More likely, she was upstairs. Which might explain his reluctance to come down.”
“Doesn’t surprise me. He likes his companionship.” Temo looked at them in the rearview mirror. “What I want to know is how you did that flaming arrow.”
“There’s a trigger switch that ignites the tips of a certain kind of our arrows.” Cammie stripped off the crossbow and sword and leaned over the seat to put them in the back before buckling in. “I preloaded a fiery one in anticipation of needing it. I could have used it as just an arrow too.”
Donna shook her head. “That’s ingenious.”
“The Venari have a lot of tricks.” Cammie stared out the window. “Keep all that between us, though, all right? I might not be Venari any longer, but that’s on me, not them. And I don’t need to burn any bridges. No wordplay intended.”
“Not a peep,” Temo said.
>
“None,” Donna answered.
“Thanks.” Cammie leaned back now that she could without the encumbrance of the crossbow. “I guess we’ll see soon enough if that worked. Are you still going to share your secret?”
“Why? Do you think I shouldn’t now?”
Cammie was silent for a bit. “He’s a slimeball. I’m a little worried what he’d do with that information. But then again, maybe it would get him to back off. Hard to say.”
“Yeah, I don’t know. He won’t like it. I’m sure about that. But again, don’t you think it might make him a little more leery of coming after me?”
Cammie pursed her lips in thought. “He wasn’t nearly as afraid of me as he should have been. Which means he’s either stupid or has more tricks up his sleeve.”
Temo snorted. “I vote stupid.”
“I don’t know,” Donna said. “He seems to do basically anything he wants without fear of retribution. Not saying what you did back there won’t be effective, but then again…”
Cammie nodded. “I have my doubts too. It’s like he thinks he’s untouchable.”
“He definitely thinks that,” Temo said. “Look how he acted at Francine’s party.”
Donna’s mind started working. “Should I file a complaint against him for that? The way he basically tried to disparage me at the party? Is there any kind of code of ethics for the governors?”
Temo shrugged. “Charlie would know that. That’s her department. But I’ve never heard of anything like that.”
Cammie twisted toward Donna. “You know you can file a complaint with the Venari. It’s considered a pretty scummy thing to do for one vampire to turn in another, but it happens a lot more than you’d guess. No one ever talks about it, that’s all.”
“It does sound pretty scummy. But then, you just acted like a Venari to intimidate him on my behalf, so…maybe I’ve already crossed that line.”
“Hey, what’s a little playacting in the name of peace?”
Donna gave her sister a look. “Except Fitzhugh doesn’t know you aren’t Venari.”
“That was the point.” Cammie tipped her head back and closed her eyes. “We’ll see tomorrow if it worked, I suppose.”
Donna nodded slowly. “Maybe by the time Pierce and I get back from the funeral, Fitzhugh will have pulled his complaints. Or at least one of them. That would be something.”
Temo glanced up. “Am I driving you to that, boss?”
“You don’t have to. Pierce can drive.”
“If I drove you, I could go too.”
“Do you want to come with us? You’re welcome to.”
He nodded. “I think Charlie would too. It’s a good idea to show support. The wolves turned out in a big way. I know Rico is one of theirs, but even so, they really gave us numbers.”
“That, they did. Without them, we would have been hosed. It would be great if you both came.”
Cammie yawned. “I’ll stay at the penthouse. There are a few wolves who might take exception to a Venari attending. Namely those who have extremely close relationships with vampires.”
“That’s all right,” Donna said. “Rixaline won’t be going either. She can’t. Daylight. And that works out, because I’m not crazy about her being alone in the apartment anyway.”
“You don’t trust her?”
“It’s more about her being a teenager at this point. I don’t trust them. Not that she’s given me a reason to think she’d do something dumb.” Donna laughed. “Speaking of, remember that time Joe Jr. convinced Christina she was adopted?”
Cammie grinned and rolled her eyes. “Or the time she used a pair of his underwear for her science fair project?”
Temo chuckled.
Donna sighed. “I’m glad they’re such good friends now. There was a time when I wasn’t so sure that would ever happen.”
Cammie nodded. “Too bad Dad didn’t stick around to see what great grandkids he ended up with.”
“Yeah, well, I was twelve, and you were fourteen. I don’t think grandkids factored into his decision to ghost us.” Her phone chimed. She checked the screen to see a text from Charlie. She read it, then shared the info. “Hey, Charlie says LV just messaged her to say Ishalan is awake, and his first words were to ask how Temo was.”
Temo let out a soft breath. “How about that? Maybe being part of a team was good for him.”
She texted Charlie back. Thanks, I’ll tell him. Home soon. Then she put her phone away. “You going to go see him?”
“I could. After the funeral.”
“Maybe not a bad idea. It would be a nice thing to do. And it would certainly keep your relationship strong. No telling when we might need a fae ally again.”
“Right.” Temo nodded. “I’ll make sure it happens.”
Donna settled back after that, her mind stuck on the fae and the prospect of who would become their king. Or queen. She wasn’t sure how the politics of all that worked in the fae world, but they’d have to have a leader soon.
Just like the vampires. She hoped that whoever was chosen to succeed Artemis would be level-headed and smart and fair. That definitely left Fitzhugh out.
But she didn’t know enough about the other governors to wish for one of them specifically. Her hand went to her crucifix. All she could do was hope and pray.
Then her mind went back to Fitzhugh and the problems he was causing. If Cammie’s attempt to rein him in didn’t work, Donna would have to come up with a new plan.
Or…what? Would the council remove her from her position if they found her guilty? Or would they pass the same sentence on her that they’d passed on Claudette? Death.
Donna wrapped her arms around herself. If that happened, she was in serious trouble, because unlike Claudette, she had no one to pardon her. And with Artemis gone, no one in power was on her side.
Death wasn’t an outcome she could accept. Not with her kids to think about.
Her only choice would be to run.
Chapter Twenty-five
For the funeral, Donna topped her simple black dress with a long black coat, finishing the outfit with low heels. She’d also added a single strand of pearls and a pair of diamond-stud earrings, keeping things understated and respectful.
She adjusted her coat as she got out of the car, dark sunglasses protecting her eyes from the sun’s sharp glare.
At Pierce’s suggestion, he held a large black umbrella over her to give the impression she wasn’t completely at ease being out in the sun, but she was glad for it. The sun seemed brighter than she remembered, and there was very little cloud cover.
Temo and Charlie, now out of the SUV as well, joined them.
“Ready?” Pierce asked.
She nodded. The sleeve of her jacket hid the single iron bracelet she had, a reminder that she needed to get a replacement for the one she’d pressed into Rico’s hand at the stronghold.
The cemetery overflowed with mourners. A strange thing to find comfort in, but Donna did all the same. It was such a testament to the strength of the wolves’ commitment to one another, and if that wasn’t comforting, what was?
With Pierce next to her and Temo and Charlie behind them, they approached the graveside gathering. She stopped by a large cluster of evergreens. “This is close enough, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” Pierce said. He closed the umbrella now that they were in shade.
“I would like to offer my condolences to LV and Toni.” Donna scanned the crowd for the two women, finding them quickly. “I’ll be right back.”
She headed toward them. A tall, handsome man joined them as she approached, causing her to suck in a breath. Rico. He looked good, all things considered. Maybe like he could use another day or two of rest, but the fact that he was at the funeral was so him.
She knew he’d have been miserable if they’d kept him away.
He looked up and saw her. And smiled. He said something to his mother, then started in Donna’s direction.
He met her halfway, t
aking her hand as soon as he reached her. “It was nice of you to come. Means a lot to my mother and grandmother, I can tell you that.” He glanced at Pierce, Temo, and Charlie, still under the tree. He gave them a wave. “It was nice of all of you.”
Pierce waved back.
“Of course.” Donna smiled. “It was the least we could do.”
Rico stared at her like he was searching for words. “Thank you for…everything.”
She wondered if that’s really what he’d wanted to say. Or if he wasn’t willing to speak plainly in front of all these people. “You would have done the same for me.”
He nodded. “I would have.” He dug into the pocket of his suit. “This belongs to you.” He laid the other iron bracelet on her palm. “Can we talk soon?”
“Sure. You know how to find me.” She slipped the bracelet onto her bare wrist.
“I do.” He hesitated, just looking at her. “I need to go speak to the family.”
“And I need to speak to your mother and grandmother.”
“I’ll see you soon, then. I’m very sorry about Artemis.”
She gazed up at him, wondering what was going on that he wanted to talk to her. “Thank you.”
He left, and she continued on to Toni and LV, waiting her turn to speak to them.
Toni smiled at her when the crowd broke. “Governor. Thank you for coming.”
“I’m so sorry for the loss of your pack member.”
“Thank you.”
LV joined them. “Good to see you, Governor.”
“You, too, Alpha Medina.”
“The fae we were caring for disappeared last night. Left a note of thanks, but that was it. He’s gone.”
Donna glanced back at Temo. He was talking to some pack members. “I’ll let Temo know. He was hoping to visit Ishalan after the ceremony, to keep things strong between us.”
LV nodded. “Wise. But no longer possible.”
“He must have been feeling better.”
Toni shrugged. “I don’t know much about fae, but they must heal fast. We had a doctor taking care of him, and according to Dr. Ritter, Ishalan had several broken bones, badly torn wings, multiple contusions, and a deep cut across his cheek. I don’t know what he looked like before he left, but I can’t imagine all of that had healed.”
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