by Christine Warren, Marjorie Liu, Caitlin Kittredge, Jenna Maclaine
I turned to see him reach into his coat pocket and pull out my necklace.
“I sent it to a friend of mine who’s a jeweler this morning and had the clasp fixed for you. It’s good as new now.”
Seeing him pull the chain and pendant from his pocket triggered a memory from the previous night. The demon had taken something off the dead body, hadn’t he? I had been in so much shock, I’d entirely forgotten about it until this moment.
“Warren,” I said, “did you see Michael take a gold amulet on a chain from the dead body last night? Or was that a hallucination?”
Warren thought for a moment. “No, I remember. I couldn’t see it clearly, but he did remove something from the body that shined in the moonlight. It could have been an amulet.”
That was why my magic hadn’t worked. I closed my eyes as I felt the anger rise inside me. The Ripper had a charm to protect him against magic. The last time I’d seen such a thing, I’d taken it off Sebastian’s neck.
“Damn that man to everlasting hell!” I shrieked.
“You don’t believe in hell,” Justine said dryly.
I glared at her. “That’s hardly the point.”
Living in such close quarters for so many years, it was easy to pick up each other’s phrases. It also meant that we knew each other well enough that when I turned and strode purposefully to the front door, they followed me without question. I jerked the door open just as Warden Grady raised his hand to knock. His eyes widened in surprise. Then he caught sight of the look on my face and took a hasty step back.
“Just the man I wanted to see,” I said, reaching out and grabbing him by the collar of his coat.
“What’s going on?” he asked as I dragged him back to his carriage.
“You’re going to take me to see the Regent,” I replied as I opened the carriage door.
Grady stopped and shrugged one shoulder, dislodging my grip on his coat.
“Wait just a minute now,” he said indignantly. “I’m not taking you anywhere until I know what’s happening. You said very specifically in Paris that you had absolutely no wish to see the Regent.”
I felt Devlin’s looming presence at my back. “The lady’s changed her mind, mate,” he said in that low, gravelly voice that could, on occasions such as this, be utterly terrifying. “Get in the carriage.”
For a moment, I thought Grady might challenge him, but wisely he gave in and nodded to the driver.
“Take us to the Regent’s estate,” he said, and we all climbed in.
The carriage lurched forward and we rode in silence until Justine leaned over and said softly, “I trust your judgment, Cin, but you are going to tell us at some point, are you not?”
I glanced sideways at her and then looked across the carriage at Devlin and Grady, who were regarding me expectantly.
“I have the answer to problem number three,” I said. “My magic didn’t work against the Ripper because he was wearing a talisman to protect him. A gold disc with what I’m sure we will find to be a ruby stone set in its center.”
Looks of comprehension dawned on Devlin and Justine, but Grady was at a loss.
“I still don’t understand,” he said, glancing at each of us in turn. “You saw the Ripper? Do you have this talisman? And where is Michael?”
“Do not,” Justine said, putting her hand up, “go any further with that line of questioning.”
For a few moments Grady looked even more confused, but when the expressions of disbelief and sympathy crossed his face, I knew he’d finally figured out what had happened. I was thankful for that because I truly didn’t want to have to say those words again.
“We have to figure out a way to get that amulet out of his possession,” I said.
“If we do that,” Grady asked, “then what?”
“Then I end this,” I replied.
Relief washed over him. “If that’s our objective, then why are we going to see the Regent?” he asked.
“Because Sebastian is responsible for this,” I said. “I’ve known it in my heart from the beginning.”
“You believe this because of the amulet?”
“First of all, that demon is in possession of a talisman that once belonged to Sebastian. Secondly, the Ripper said, and I quote, ‘Witch. He said you would come.’ ”
“Everyone knew you were coming,” Grady argued. “Any vampire he crossed paths with could have told him that.”
“Cin,” Devlin interrupted, “the warden does have a point. Perhaps we should allow you to cool down a bit before we proceed with this.”
“I won’t kill Sebastian. Not yet,” I said flatly. “But I know what he’s done. And he knows what he’s done.” I turned back to them and let them see the determination on my face. “And whether any of you like it or not, he and I are going to have a reckoning.”
Devlin’s eyes locked with mine, and we stared at each other for a long time. Finally, he nodded. “All right.”
ELEVEN
When the Ripper had started killing vampires, Sebastian and his court had moved from their London townhouse to a small estate just outside the city. The carriage ride was reasonably short, but infinitely longer than I would have liked. When we arrived, the drive to the manor house was lined with carriages, making it appear as though a society ball was in progress. I looked questioningly at Grady.
“It’s the blood whores, come to feed the court,” he said in response to my silent inquiry.
I opened the window and leaned out, counting the carriages between ours and the front door. There had to be at least ten. Flinging open the door, I bounded out and began to walk. I passed carriage after carriage filled with giggling girls and handsome young men, eager for the money and the pleasures that awaited them.
Two vampires, almost as tall and broad as Devlin, attempted to stop me at the door. Before I could even voice an objection, one of them noticed Grady, who had followed swiftly at my heels with Devlin and Justine.
“Good evening, Warden,” the vampire said respectfully.
“Good evening to you, Ben. These are my guests,” Grady announced.
“Of course, sir,” Ben replied and opened the doors.
I entered a house filled with more vampires and humans than one generally saw together. There were people lounging about in every open room, but the blood whores who had arrived before me were being escorted up the grand staircase, so I followed them. Wherever the blood was going, that’s where I would find Sebastian.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Grady hissed in my ear. “If all of this ends badly it will be my head, quite literally, that rolls for it.”
I paused at the top of the stairs and turned to him. “And if it goes as I plan, you could end up as Regent.”
I smiled at his shocked expression and proceeded through the doors of the second-floor ballroom. I had expected a pit of debauchery, but that’s not what I found. There was an orchestra playing, and people were laughing and dancing, like so many balls I had gone to in my youth, when I was human. I don’t know why I was surprised. Sebastian was a son of the aristocracy. Here, he would be in his element.
“Your name, miss?” a well-dressed man at my elbow asked.
For a moment I stared at him, not comprehending why he was asking. Then I realized that he was one of the Regent’s servants and it was his duty to announce the arrivals. Good lord, had it really been that many years since I’d been to a proper ball?
Then again, as I looked out over the crowd I realized that it wasn’t an exact imitation of a society ball. The dresses were quite risqué, and there didn’t seem to be a gentleman in the room who hadn’t lost several buttons on his shirt. The humans were easy to identify by the smudges of dried blood at their necks, or breasts, or wrists. It was like some sort of macabre Cyprians’ ball. I turned to the gentleman waiting for my name and almost laughed at the incongruity of it all. It was exactly the sort of thing I would expect of Sebastian.
“Cin Craven,” I finally replied.
/> He nodded, and turned to make the announcement.
“Cin Craven,” his voice rang out.
A hush fell over the ballroom as all eyes turned to me. Slowly and disjointedly, the orchestra ground to a halt. I took a step into the room as the servant called out Devlin and Justine’s names, and the throng of vampires and humans parted like the Red Sea. In a few brief moments I found myself standing not fifty feet from the man responsible for taking my lover from me.
Sebastian sat on a raised dais surrounded by a group of women. Though he had probably begun the evening impeccably dressed, his coat had been discarded and his vest and shirt were open to the waist. He looked much as he had the last time I’d seen him, though his curly black hair was longer, and he now sported a neatly trimmed beard. The beard detracted somewhat from his handsome, aristocratic features, but it lent him a slightly dangerous look. His brown eyes glittered when he saw me and he sat up straighter, watching me expectantly.
Four of Sebastian’s lieutenants stepped up on the dais, forming a semicircle around his throne-like chair. The women instinctively retreated, all save one. My eyes flicked over the men, dismissing them each in turn. They were bodyguards or lackeys, nothing more. It was the woman who intrigued me.
She was a vampire, and her position at his right hand declared her to be someone of importance, though I didn’t understand why. She had long, dark-blonde hair that hung in a messy tangle of curls down her back. Her face was so thickly painted with cosmetics that it almost looked like a mask. Never taking his eyes off me, Sebastian motioned to her and she leaned down as he whispered something. Glancing up at me, she pushed her mass of unkempt hair from her small, dark eyes. There was something in that look—excitement, perhaps—that I didn’t like.
She had been a lot older than most when she’d been turned. Her human years showed in the lines around her eyes and the creases at the corners of her wide, full lips. I wondered what value she had to Sebastian. I didn’t believe she was his consort. The Sebastian I knew was entirely too vain to tie himself to someone who looked like nothing more than a cheap prostitute.
At that moment, though, all thoughts of her fled as Sebastian’s gaze flicked over me, then Devlin, then Justine. With the three of us together, Michael’s absence was glaringly obvious. And Sebastian smiled victoriously. He knew … and my temper snapped. I crossed the expanse of the ballroom with a menacing stride, my eyes locked on Sebastian’s. As I reached the bottom step of the dais, the sliding metal sound of a sword being unsheathed snapped my attention to one of Sebastian’s lieutenants. I paused.
“Cin, how nice to see you again,” Sebastian said, his voice dripping with honeyed sweetness. “You are even more beautiful than I remembered.”
I glared at him. “And you’re still an evil son of a bitch.”
The lieutenant with the sword took a step forward, but Devlin and Justine pulled their own blades and flanked me.
“You might want to watch your tone,” Sebastian replied smugly. “Jonas has sworn his fealty to me and he is quite the best swordsman in the country.”
Devlin snorted in derision.
Sebastian glanced at him and then inclined his head to me. “With the exception of your husband, of course,” he said in a gracious tone. “But he doesn’t seem to be here, does he?”
Justine growled and started toward the dais, but I reached out and grabbed her sword arm, stopping her. I didn’t want this to degenerate into a brawl. Jonas moved to stand between Sebastian and me, his sword at the ready.
“My Regent has done nothing to warrant retribution by The Righteous,” Jonas said loudly, so that all the court could hear. “Unless you come bearing proof, you have no grounds on which to offer him violence.” His gaze flicked over Justine and me dismissively, perhaps because we were women, and settled on Devlin. “And if you intend him harm, you’re going to have to come through me.”
Devlin laughed. “Step up then, boy, if you think you can take me.”
Jonas was a well-built young man with auburn hair and eager green eyes. Whether or not he could back up Sebastian’s boast, he certainly looked prepared to try. Proving him wrong would take time I didn’t want to waste. I reached inside my coat and the other three lieutenants drew their swords, assuming that I was going for mine. Instead, I pulled the Smith & Wesson from the waistband of my breeches and in one smooth motion leveled it at Jonas and put a bullet through his heart.
He dropped like a stone, clutching his chest and screaming. Sebastian rose belligerently to his feet, his harlot shrank back against the wall, and his lieutenants stood dumbfounded just long enough for Devlin and Justine to advance on them and push them back. I leapt onto the dais, landing just in front of Sebastian and forcing him to fall backward into his chair. Bracing my hands on the arms of the throne, I leaned over until my face was mere inches from his.
“I am not the inexperienced girl I was when we last met, Sebastian,” I said softly, menacingly. “You have no idea the power I have. The stories you’ve heard about me—they’re all true. I could kill you with a thought. And when I do come for you, no one will be able to stop me.”
Sebastian glanced down at where Jonas was still lying on the floor, writhing and moaning. He’d live, but it would hurt like hell for a long time.
Louder, so that the court could hear me, I said, “I know what you’ve done, Sebastian.”
“You can’t prove anything,” he said, and there was fear in his voice.
I cocked my head to one side. “Now, see, an innocent man would ask what I was accusing him of. But you know, don’t you? You conspired with some witch or wizard to summon a demon to kill me. Or perhaps it’s still my power you want. Whatever your intentions were, Sebastian, I don’t believe even you would turn something like that loose on your own people. You’ve lost control of it and now it’s slaughtering your vampires. And it’s infected my husband. I will stop it and I will get the proof I need to satisfy the High King’s law. And when I do, I’ll be back … and you’ll pay for what you’ve done with your life.”
“There was a time when I wanted you,” he whispered. “But now I just want you to suffer.”
“Your wants haven’t interested me in nearly a hundred years, Sebastian,” I said simply, and with one last, contemptuous look, I turned and strode back through the ballroom.
Hushed whispers from the court followed me and I smiled. Whether or not I could prove Sebastian’s guilt, I had just placed the seeds of doubt in the heads of his vampires. He’d be lucky if he lived long enough for me to kill him.
When I reached the doors to the ballroom I glanced back, one last time. Sebastian was whispering furiously into the blonde woman’s ear, and from the way she was nodding in response it appeared that he was giving her orders. He was a cunning bastard, I’d give him that. I was certain he enjoyed being Regent, and he couldn’t afford for there to be any proof of his direct involvement in this. No, he would have gone through intermediaries. And I was practically positive that his harlot would lead me straight to the demon.
Grady was waiting by the door and I pulled him aside.
“The woman with Sebastian,” I said. “Who is she?”
He glanced across the room. “Barbara? She’s a ruthless bitch, one of the Regent’s lackeys.”
I nodded, thinking. She’s the one who does the things he won’t sully his hands to do.
“I need something that belongs to her. A piece of jewelry would work best, something personal. Can you get it for me?”
Grady nodded. “I think so.”
“Good. We’ll meet you at the end of the drive.”
He disappeared into the crowd just as Justine reached my side. She linked her arm with mine as we descended the stairs.
“You should have let us fight them, mon amie,” she complained. Much like Michael, she loved a good brawl.
I shrugged. “It was beneath us. Besides, we have a much bigger fight ahead of us.”
TWELVE
When we returned to the
house on Upper Brook Street, Ginny met us at the door, her face ashen. Warren stood behind her, looking grim.
“He was here,” Ginny said.
I grasped her by the shoulders. “Michael? Are you hurt? What happened?”
She shook her head. “No, we’re both fine. I never even saw him but … well, you’d better come look.”
We followed her up the stairs to the door of my bedroom. She paused with her hand on the knob.
“After dinner we went through the house, just like you said to, and checked the doors and windows again. When I looked in your room, the window was open. And—”
She swung the door open. The window was closed now and all of my things were just as I’d left them. The writing on the wall, however, was new. Painted in blood above my bed were the words “I love thee not, chaos is come again.” It was part of a line from Shakespeare. And it was in Michael’s handwriting.
“What does it mean?” Ginny asked.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” I said numbly.
“It must mean something,” Grady said. “Else why would he have done it?”
Just to torment me, I thought, imagining the man I loved writing such words to me.
“It’s from Othello,” Devlin added, saying what I already knew.
Justine walked into the room and ran one finger over the letters. The blood was still fresh enough to come away on her skin.
“It’s human,” she said.
“Didn’t Othello kill his wife?” Warren asked softly from the doorway.
Everyone fell silent, uncomfortably waiting for my response.
“Ginny,” I finally said, “could you please clean that up as best you can? If it’s stained the wall, Devlin and Justine can rearrange the furniture for you. Put the wardrobe over it. I don’t want Michael to see it when I bring him home.”
I turned to go, but Devlin caught my arm. “Where are you off to?” he asked, his dark eyes filled with concern.
I held up the silver ring that Grady had stolen from Barbara’s room. “I’m going to the library to cast a location spell.”
