“Because … I sort of worked for him a long time ago, and … and … fuck! This is just crazy,” she stammered. Hesitantly, meeting her eyes, Brenna finally confessed, “He’s my Maker.”
* * * *
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Are you asking me to kill him?”
Raina gaped at Duvessa for a second or two in shock. It wasn’t quite the reaction she had expected after having quietly drawn the Grand Duchess aside and relayed Brenna’s tale to her. Overcoming her shock, Raina shook her head anxiously.
“No, of course not,” she said. “I just…”
“Good … because I won’t,” the Grand Duchess interrupted curtly. “He is a valuable asset to me for a number of reasons. I will not be urged to slay him on account of something he may or may not have done some great deal of time ago.”
Raina stared at her as the beautiful redheaded High Court delicately sipped her gin martini, still stunned by her immediate and cold response.
“I … I never said anything about … killing anyone,” Raina stammered awkwardly. “I just thought that it was something you should know.”
She looked at her as though she were utterly baffled. “Why should something like that concern me?”
“Well … because it affects someone in your bloodline. I mean … yeah, I know she’s not directly from your bloodline, but she’s a part of the House of Fallamhain, and…”
“Shhh, Raina … dear, listen to me,” Duvessa interrupted her, placing a hand upon her shoulder. “What happened between Lady Brenna and whomever else before you both came to me is none of my concern. How she became a Commoner has absolutely no bearing whatsoever upon our present situation, or at least in this instance. Your Change was different because your Maker was my bloodspawn. As the Maker of your Maker, I am therefore responsible for Sebastian’s actions and the consequences of those actions. Mister Giovanni is of no blood or oath relation to me. He is a free agent, as far as the House of Fallamhain is concerned. The sins he has committed against others are between himself and those whom he may or may not have wronged.”
“May or may not have wronged?” Raina echoed. “Look, the man is Brenna’s Maker. There’s no question about it. If you don’t believe me, we could prove it with a DNA test and…”
Duvessa pointed a long, neatly-manicured nail right at Raina’s nose, silencing her. “Do not take that tone with me, child.”
Nodding submissively, Raina softly replied, “I meant no offense, your grace.”
“I know you did not, dear,” she said, softening her voice as quickly as it had sharpened. “You must learn to mind your words. Because you are new to this life, I can be a bit more forgiving. Others, however, you will find are far less understanding.” She paused, taking another sip of her drink. “At least it is good to know that Lady Brenna’s Maker is someone of respectable standing. I would have honestly figured her to be the bastard bloodspawn of a random back-alley hoodlum. Her Maker’s blood is rather noble for a Commoner.”
Raina watched her for a moment as Duvessa’s eyes scanned the crowd from where they stood outside on the pool patio. “Doesn’t it bother you at all that this guy attacked and raped Brenna before leaving her for dead in a trash bin?”
“Well, I must say that it comes as little of a surprise to me. He is as much a careless, heavy-handed pig as he is a skilled businessman,” she admitted with a shrug. Duvessa gestured with her drink to where Mr. Giovanni’s two blonde bimbos were standing. “Look at his choice of company. He selects women solely for their sex appeal, rather than their intellectual capacity or personality. I expect that one or both of those two insipid tarts will also become his bloodspawn soon. Either that, or they may simply disappear one day because of him. I’m sure it will simply be a matter of accident, either way. Men such as Mister Giovanni never learn from their mistakes. They don’t have to.”
“So, you’re okay with vampires attacking humans, then…?”
“No, of course not, dear,” she said immediately, “but that’s not my point. The simple fact is that I can’t be bothered to track down and slay every boogeyman from the childhood of everyone in the House of Fallamhain. You agreed to come into this House without condition, arising alive and new from your Communion of Blood. And your servant, Brenna, swore unconditionally to serve this House to the best of her ability for all of her remaining nights. It was to my understanding that you had already considered what these commitments entailed. I believed that you both are intelligent young ladies that were able to grasp that concept quite easily. Was I wrong to think as much?”
Raina looked away with a sigh, shaking her head. “No, your grace.”
“Good. Then I trust we can put these issues of the past behind us and carry on with matters in the present tense…?”
“Yes, your grace,” Raina agreed with a nod. “Although … I’m not so sure Brenna will be able to let it go so easily.”
“I can appreciate her frustration and desire for justice, but there is a time and a place for that. This particular evening is neither the time, nor the place. She will need to live and let live … even if only for now.”
“Does that mean you’ll do something about it later, though?”
Duvessa looked at her with a slightly annoyed expression. “I do not wish to be burdened with promised favors at this time. Has the thought of your own Maker’s death already slipped your mind, dear? How can you, on this night of all nights, be thinking of anything but the memory of dear Sebastian, or how you may avenge his death?”
The very thought nearly made Raina physically ill. Sebastian was worthy of neither vengeance nor fond remembrance. If anything, knowing now what she did about him, she would have much preferred to spit upon his rotting corpse … or to give him a “burial at sea” by unceremoniously flushing his ashes down a public toilet, if he had already been cremated.
“I’m sorry, your grace,” Raina apologized softly, trying to be as diplomatic as possible. “I did not mean to bring this up tonight. I understand that this party is being held to honor Duke Sebastian. I’m sorry if it sounds like I’m trying to draw your attention away from that. I can’t even imagine how you must be feeling right now, in light of everything that’s happened.”
Duvessa said nothing in reply to that. Instead, she simply narrowed her eyes at Raina slightly. Surely, the Grand Duchess could sense the relative lack of sincerity in Raina’s words. More likely, she could directly sense Raina’s emotions.
“But … I only just now found out about what happened between Brenna and Mr. Giovanni, and…”
“Raina … please, dear. No more,” Duvessa interrupted softly with a smile, gently touching a finger to her lips. “We will discuss this later. This is not a proper setting for this conversation. Too many open ears connected to loose lips, you know. I am surprised no one has yet asked why you are glowing so brightly. You’re making quite a spectacle of yourself.”
Reluctantly, she nodded in concession, looking down. Indeed, her skin was slightly aglow as a physical expression of her emotional state. It was still a fascinating, bizarre sight, but she tried not to allow herself to become too distracted by it. She tilted her head back and downed the remaining contents of her glass in one long pull. The amaretto was smooth, delicious, and icy, though its alcohol content had a slight burn to it that spread a warm tingle down her throat and into her belly. Duvessa lifted Raina’s face back in her own direction with a finger under her chin before giving her a quick, chaste kiss upon the lips. She licked her lips approvingly after they parted, apparently having tasted a bit of the amaretto. The way that Duvessa gently stroked her cheek and looked into her eyes in that moment somehow made Raina feel at ease immediately. The Grand Duchess seemed to radiate calmness and solace, much like the soft glow that had been showing upon Raina’s skin, a glow that now faded as her anxiety subsided. Duvessa was utterly confident, self-secure, and totally in control her own destiny. That sort of self-esteem had a tendency to rub off on Raina … or at least it did
now, being that she sensed Duvessa’s emotions as her own, especially when standing in such close proximity to her.
Ladies Svetlana and Noriko moved as one as they stepped away from where they’d stood near the wall and placed themselves on either side of Duvessa and Raina as the Senator approached. Raina was unsure of whether or not the two servants had any actual training to serve as protectors, or if their rehearsed response to a stranger’s approach was simply for the sake of appearance. Trained or not, they were naturally armed with vampiric strength and fangs, an able threat against anyone that might be foolish enough to try rushing at the Grand Duchess. Raina did not especially feel threatened by the Senator, anyhow, and William’s presence nearby was an additional reassurance.
“Your grace,” Senator Daniels began politely with a slight bow, “please forgive my disturbing you at this time. I understand you will soon be delivering your public eulogy for Duke Sebastian.”
“It’s quite all right, Senator. What do you wish?” the Grand Duchess replied with a well-practiced but genuinely beautiful, diplomatic smile.
“With your permission … and, of course, if it’s okay with her,” he said with a nod to Raina, “I would like to ask for a moment to speak privately with the Duchess.”
It took her a second, but Raina realized that by “The Duchess,” Senator Daniels was, of course, referring to her, rather than Duvessa. Why? The Grand Duchess eyed him almost suspiciously with a subtle tilt of her head, though she still held her smile. As Raina was beginning to learn, herself, the strange High Court gift/curse of emotional empathy did not extend to humans, or at least not this particular individual. The Duchess could only read his intentions by his body language and judge him with her own intuition.
“Why, dear Tommy … are we not already in a setting of privacy?” the Grand Duchess asked, gesturing with both arms to the largely unoccupied pool patio. Raina had slipped out with Duvessa and her servants to this area to speak with her while everyone else was still gathered inside the more comfortably air-conditioned house, although there were still a handful of well-dressed strangers milling about the outdoor area.
Senator Daniels offered his own political smile. “I mean no offense at all by saying so, your grace, but the matters which I need to discuss with the Duchess are of a personal legal nature. Specifically, they pertain to her recent, ah … transition.”
“By that, you mean her Change,” she suggested.
“Yes, of course,” he concurred with a ready nod. “The FBI has a few unanswered questions with regard to its own investigation into the matter. As a favor to them, and being a United States Senator, of course … they have asked if I could interview Duchess Raina briefly and pass this information on to them.”
“The FBI has ordered a United States Senator to conduct an investigation for them?” she asked suspiciously. “I’m not sure I understand why a member of Congress would be conducting business on behalf of the Executive Branch.”
“I agree, this is highly unusual, and I apologize for being vague, your grace. But I’m not at liberty to discuss specifics at this point in time.”
“Is she in some kind of trouble?”
The Senator waved it off with a chuckle, “Oh, no, no … of course not. She’s done nothing wrong, of course. They told me that they simply need to wrap up their investigation as soon as possible, and they just have a few loose ends to tie up, just a few details that they would like to have clarified. It won’t take long, your grace, I assure you. I will only need just a few minutes of her time.” And he again looked to Raina. “Again, with your consent…?”
Raina shrugged and looked to Duvessa. The Grand Duchess gave her a rather blank look for just a moment before smiling reassuringly and placing a hand upon her shoulder as she turned to the Senator.
“I’m sure she’ll be happy to answer any questions that you may have for her,” Duvessa answered confidently, more or less presenting Raina to him like a gift.
“Thank you, your grace,” he said with another slight bow of gratitude. Almost as an afterthought, he added, “He also asked that I speak with Lady Brenna as well, since this largely pertains to her involvement with Duchess Raina.”
“Of course, Senator. Oh, William?” she called, giving her beloved head of security a come-hither gesture. “Would you kindly escort the Duchess and her servant to speak with the Senator in private?”
He seemed to snap to life abruptly, like a robot whose power button had just been jabbed, and he straightened his suit jacket as he approached with a nod. “Yes, your grace.”
Senator Daniels had been approaching the door leading inside when he halted in his footsteps to turn and face the Grand Duchess once more.
“I, ah … will need to speak privately with each of them, of course,” the Senator said in what seemed to be protest. “This is part of a federal investigation. The interview may involve information that others may not necessarily be authorized to overhear.”
“Now, Tommy. How long have we known one another other? Almost ten years?” Duvessa chastised him gently with a smile. “You should know me well enough by now to realize that I cannot afford to let my sole heiress go off alone without a proper guard.”
“Yes, of course … but, ah…”
“William is the most trusted and able of my personal guard. He is not a gossiper, nor a member of the press. He knows well enough to mind his own affairs, if it is the issue of privacy to which you object.” She smiled to her favorite Commoner. “He already knows all of my own dirty little secrets, but he’s wise enough to know the importance of discretion. Don’t you, dear?”
William nodded to her with a blank, serious expression. He seemed almost on-edge this evening, whereas before he had been formal, but relaxed enough not to seem cold. His defenses were up. He was in full-on bodyguard mode. He was all business when he needed to be. It was no wonder Duvessa trusted him. His level of professionalism was truly outstanding. He wasn’t quite robotic, but he wasn’t far off from being an extremely well-disciplined guard dog. It may not have made him the friendliest of individuals, but at least it made his tendencies reliably predictable.
“I hope this is not a problem for you, Senator…?”
Reluctantly, the Senator clearly forced a smile and shook his head. “No problem at all, your grace. Thank you, again.”
Duvessa gave them both a consenting nod as Senator Daniels politely held open the patio door for her and gestured for her to enter the house. Somehow, Raina did not feel at ease about this. The last time she’d spoken with the Sheriff, it had been on less than pleasant terms. The guy seemed hell-bent on putting down the “vampire plague.” There were even rumors that he was officially in league with groups like the CROSS, or SAVIOR, and that his department’s general harsh treatment of vampires was his way of carrying out their anti-vampire rhetoric. He had refused to accept the official endorsement of either extremist group, particularly that of the CROSS, but probably only on the grounds that they were borderline terrorist organizations that would only bring negative publicity upon his campaign with their often violent actions. The CROSS was, after all, famous for being to vampires what Neo-Nazis were to Jews and the KKK were to blacks. SAVIOR was simply their more public image-friendly political cousin.
Brenna was standing just on the other side of the patio door, awaiting Raina. She quickly moved beside her and walked with her as they entered. “So, what’d she say?”
“She kind of blew it off and said we’d talk about it later,” Raina sighed.
“What? Are you fucking serious?” Brenna gasped. She glanced over her shoulder as Senator Daniels stepped past them and gave Raina an expectant look that urged her to follow. “What the hell’s going on?”
“It looks like we’re going to play another round of Twenty Questions with the authorities.”
“Again? Why?”
“I’m really very sorry for the inconvenience, ladies,” he told them, stepping backwards as he did so. “It will only take a few minutes,
I assure you.”
Raina took hold of Brenna’s hand to lead her along, finding her palm to be quite damp. She nodded toward the Senator. “Let’s just play along. The sooner we can get the authorities off our backs, the sooner we can get on with life.”
“Yeah,” Brenna scoffed as she followed, “easy for you to say.” And then, a moment later: “God, this is such utter bullshit.”
“Please, don’t make a scene,” she advised her softly as they passed a series of faces that all turned to look at them. “You know I can’t go over Duvessa’s head. She’s the one calling the shots, not me.”
“How can she just let something like that go?” Brenna demanded in a half-whisper, glancing to one side. “I mean, just look at that smug son of a bitch! He knows who I am! And he knows he’s getting away with it.”
“Just chill, okay? He hasn’t gotten away with anything yet.”
“Not if I get my hands on him, he won’t.”
As the reached the front door, Raina stopped and turned to face Brenna directly, meeting her gaze.
“Don’t. Okay? Just don’t even think about it,” Raina warned her sternly. “I tried to make her listen, but she shut me down, and she got really bitchy when I tried to push the issue. If you go off and do something on your own, she’ll have your head on a stick.”
“Hey, at this point, it would totally be worth it.”
“No,” Raina insisted, “it wouldn’t. Listen to me. Now is not a good time. Okay? Maybe later, but not right now.”
Brenna glared at her, shaking her head. “My sweet … you have no idea what it’s like. You don’t have a clue what I’m feeling right now.”
Raina rolled her eyes before pointing at her own elf-like ears. “Hello? High Court super powers! I know exactly what you’re feeling right now! I can sense emotions, remember?”
For a moment, Brenna looked almost embarrassed. “Oh, yeah…”
The Darkest Colors Page 45
