It wasn’t a bad idea. The Cacciatori were the only vampires allowed to venture outside the walls of the Sotto, but they did not often venture outside the vicinity of Renata’s rule. It was rare that any Cacciatori traveled on lands not ruled by their ruler. If it was to be done, it could be, as clans were not allowed to be at war with one another, but safe passage somehow had to be established.
“Now what are we going to do?” I asked.
“The Elders should be awake now,” Vasco said.
“So they should,” Renata said. “Vito, Vittoria.”
They stepped forward in unison.
“Yes, m’lady?” Vittoria asked.
“Gather the Elders.”
*
We left the banquet hall for the Underlings that required sustenance and met instead in Renata’s private sitting room. We drank the blood of the Donatore from a heated earthenware pitcher. As there was no electricity in the Sotto, the pitcher sat on a stand above a dancing flame to keep its contents warm. Renata sat in her chair, her long legs crossed while she idly nursed her glass.
Severiano downed his glass and reached for the pitcher to pour himself another. It was a task that, had an Underling been present, would’ve been required of them.
A task I once would’ve been required to do.
But my days as an Underling had passed. Though the chair brought close to Renata’s was more modest in appearance, I sat beside her now and not on the floor at her feet.
Severiano’s hawk-like features drew quizzical, as if he wanted to ask a question. Smartly, he didn’t. He waited for Renata to proceed with explanations.
And whilst we waited in silence, Gaspare shot darts at me with his eyes. He’d become incredibly fond of doing that.
Vasco handed me a glass and I took it, sipping the restored life of the Donatore. It tasted no different, which surprised me somehow. It seemed like being terribly dismembered should have some effect.
“Dante is missing,” Renata said at last.
“Missing how?” Lorrenzo asked. Alessandra placed a hand idly on his thigh in what appeared to be a warning of sorts. Both were quite afraid when it came to Renata. Then again, both had seen what she was capable of.
I looked to Gaspare. I couldn’t help myself. He had been publicly tortured by Renata for openly attacking me in court when I was undergoing the trials to become an Elder. He glared at me.
Unfortunately, age does not always result in maturity.
They were still not happy, those Elders who had voted against me. Rosabella kept sparing glances at Anatharic and Iliaria, who stood on the outside edges of the room, both a part of and apart from the conversation. Vito and Vittoria had taken up the long couch to dine, for they too needed to feed.
In a calm voice, Renata explained the day’s events, making an idle gesture with her hand as she beckoned Dominique to step forward and explain his side of what had transpired.
Rosabella raised her brows when he was finished. “And this comes as a surprise to you, Padrona? Your own pet keeps one of them in her bed.”
I felt Iliaria stir behind me and move toward the center of the room closer to where we sat. Renata raised a pale hand to halt her.
“Remember your place among the Rosso Lussuria, Rosabella,” Renata said dangerously. “I am queen here, not you.” She tilted her head slightly. “Or do you need reminding?”
“I do not need reminding, Padrona.”
“So I thought.” Renata turned away. “Severiano, my huntsman, gather the Cacciatori. We know not yet where they’ve taken Dante, but we will discover.”
Severiano placed his empty glass on the table and slipped from his seat to his knees. “As my queen wills.” He bowed his head in a measure of respect.
“You really suppose we’ll find him using the Cacciatori? For centuries, the Cacciatori have only hunted human prey,” Lorrenzo said.
Severiano raised his head then, his gaze keen and alert, his features as sharp and stoic as the bird of prey they mimicked. “You doubt my abilities, brother?”
“Powers not used develop rust.”
Renata stood and everyone in the room fell silent. Sognare, who hadn’t said a word the entire time, began paying more attention to her, his thin lips drawn in a tight line above his long beard.
“By all means,” Renata said, “if you wish to argue, do so amongst yourselves, but do not let it distract you from the task at hand, gentlemen. You are Elders and Cacciatori, and you’ve prey to hunt.”
“I will go with them,” Alessandra said.
“And I.” Vasco nodded.
Nirena took a long sip of her drink. She arched a pale brow when everyone turned to her. “Is it really a question?”
So it was decided. Rosabella did not offer to go, which didn’t surprise me. Gaspare enlisted himself as part of the hunting party, and Sognare did not offer to go. With his gray hair and wrinkled skin, he appeared to be the oldest among us, and though he was vampire, Sognare’s powers were more of the mental variety. I had never known him to be much of a physical fighter.
When the Rosso Lussuria established the Sotto on American soil, the area was chosen carefully. We were near enough to the humans to hunt them, should we ever need to, and far enough away not to be noticed. For decades, the Delisle family had tended to the nearby stables we used when we needed to go into the human world. The vampires that rode out as the Cacciatori were Elders and old enough to remember the world when horseback was the preferred method of travel.
I should know, for it was how they had taken me.
All Elders, aside from Vasco, left to prepare for the hunt. Dominique, being Renata’s guard, would stay with us.
Something doesn’t feel right, Cuinn.
Aye, he said, I feel it too.
If the Dracule can travel between the realms with the same ease the Stregha have, surely, our chances of finding Dante are slim.
That is what I reckon. I’ve been trying to understand, Epiphany. They attack your Donatore, your food stores, and your queen’s guardsmen…
What do you think?
In my mind, Cuinn offered a fox’s equivalent of a shrug, his head dipping below the line of his shoulder blades.
I think they’re targeting your queen. Think about it, he said.
I’m bloody trying! But it doesn’t make sense, Cuinn. None of this does. They did not harm Dominique. Why would they take Dante?
Bait.
I turned to find the face that went with that voice. Renata touched my hand. She covered my palm with hers.
Bait, Epiphany.
Out loud, I said, “Vasco, don’t go.”
“I have to,” he said, his gaze compassionate. “It is my duty, Epiphany. I am the best swordsman among the Rosso Lussuria. I must go.”
“You needn’t go if it’s a trap.”
“If we have any hopes of uncovering Dante’s whereabouts, I must.”
I stood too abruptly. “You’ve known all along that this is a trap?”
“I will go with them to even the ssscore,” Anatharic said. He crawled around the side of the couch so that I could have a better view of him. Though, as large as the Dracule were, both in human and their more animal form, they were hard to miss with or without furniture in front of them.
“And I will stay here, with you and your queen.” A hand touched my shoulder. Iliaria’s touch sent a tendril of warmth tingling down my arm to hum in the flowing black lines of her mark.
I felt like a fool. How could I have not seen it? But how could we be so certain it was a trap?
’Tis the only thing that makes sense, Piph. Like as not, they’ll expect your queen to be among the hunting party.
“And if they don’t, Cuinn? What if they expect Renata to be here?” I turned to her. “Why do we not ride out with them, then? Surely, the higher our numbers, the better?”
“You think in terms of war, Epiphany. One must think strategically. The Dracule are a strategic lot, as you’ve seen. We mustn’t show our hands to
o soon,” Iliaria said.
“She is a vampire queen, Epiphany, not a human king that holds the front lines charging into battle. Part of the reason we are Elders is to be the first line of defense for the clan,” Vasco said. “For our queen. If we die, the queen must carry on for the rest of the clan.”
“Anatharic will stay close to him,” Iliaria said.
Anatharic turned his feline face to her. “Ssshe can sssummon me ssshould anything happen.”
Renata touched my wrist and her fingers circled my skin like silken shackles. “Our options are sorely limited, cara mia. If it is a trap, walking into it is the only way to find out.”
I sighed heavily and fell back into my chair.
Inamorato or no, Renata was queen, and I had little say when it came to her decisions.
“What would make any of you think we’d find them in the human world in the first place?” I grumbled.
It was Iliaria who said, “They’ll be waiting for our move. They attacked your humans in hopes of destroying them all and forcing your hand to hunt.”
“And so we wait here, twiddling our thumbs, while the others put their lives at risk?”
“No,” Vasco said, “you wait here where you are safe.”
“I take it if I ask, I can’t go?”
“Would you really leave me?” Renata asked.
I gazed at her for several long moments. I knew what she intended with her words and they hit their mark.
I couldn’t leave her alone, not after what had happened earlier.
“No.”
Renata touched a stray curl of my hair and tucked it behind my ear in tender affection. “You are my consort,” she whispered. “What makes you think you would not be valuable to the Dracule were they to get their hands on you?”
“Indeed,” Iliaria said. “If I was to lure you out to expose yourself, taking your consort would be one way to do such a thing.”
“So you see, Epiphany, you, as well, must remain under guard.”
“Well, I don’t like it.”
“And you think I do?” Renata asked, continuing to toy with my hair in a distracting manner. She wound a spray of it around her finger and tugged lightly. “This is what it means to be a ruler,” she said almost idly, tracing the side of my neck, “with every crown comes the weight of it.”
“Under these circumstances,” Iliaria knelt before me, her gaze intense and sincere, “a ruler must remain idle and protected.”
“While the Elders risk themselves in a silly ploy that we’re not even sure will work,” I said.
“They know what they risk, Epiphany.”
“What some of them risk.” I shook my head, thinking of those Elders who had not volunteered to travel among the Cacciatori’s band.
“Let the court deal with them,” Renata said. “They know they will not be held in high esteem for their lack of action.”
Vasco came to me then. He took my hands in his as he knelt before me. “Do you lack confidence in me, sorella?”
“No, Vasco. I care for your safety, though.”
“Then believe me when I tell you I will return to you.” He grinned wickedly. “You tasted my memories once. You know what I am capable of.”
It was true that I had once tasted Vasco’s memories. He’d given them to me as a gift before I’d dueled with Gaspare, for he was a far better swordsman than Gaspare. It was rumored he was the best among the Rosso Lussuria. With the Wall of Swords available at our disposal, it said something of his skill, for most of the Elders knew some sword work.
It soothed me, but only somewhat. The knowledge that Damokles had evaded capture not once, but twice now, was still there.
I nodded, having nothing more to say, at least, nothing that would’ve been a comfort to him.
Vasco rose when the door to Renata’s private sitting chambers opened. Severiano bowed his head. “All is ready, Padrona.”
“I will return.” He stooped to kiss my cheek. “I promise.”
With that, he left to join the Cacciatori. Silently, I prayed to whatever Gods listening that his promise was one he would keep.
Chapter Four
I am a lover, not a fighter, as the saying goes. Silly as it may sound, I have seen the midst of battle. I have heard the ringing of steel on steel and seen the faces of treachery and rage. I have seen the blood of conflict anoint swords and pool from bodies.
I have watched the light slip from a traitor’s eyes while I thrust a sword through his heart and found that there is little in killing that pleases me.
But sitting in Renata’s bedchambers, I did not know which was worse: battle or the tedium of waiting. Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl. The Cacciatori would return before sunrise; in that, they had little choice. Exactly when before sunrise was a mystery.
I shut my eyes. If they did not return by sunrise, it would indicate that something had gone terribly wrong with their plan.
“Epiphany,” Renata called to me. She took a seat at the circular glass table. “Bring the board and pieces.”
I reacted mostly out of instinct, rising from her great bed and opening the wooden cabinet doors to retrieve the game. I set about setting it up, grateful to have something to do, even if it was nothing more than a minor distraction from my worry.
I caught Iliaria watching me with an expression of perplexity.
Renata gestured for me to sit and we began to play. Iliaria moved closer to watch over my shoulder as Renata moved a milky white playing piece closer to mine. She took her time about it, seeming to have an endless patience with the game. She always did.
There was no way I was going to win. I never did, unless she let me, but I certainly had improved in the years that we’d been playing.
Renata had always told me I was too quick to sacrifice pieces. Much of the time, my attention wavered and I cared little about winning. This game, I was not so impulsive. I completely submerged myself in the distraction it provided.
Iliaria placed a hand on my shoulder when I was about to place my crystal knight on a square on the playing board.
“You are cheating, Dracule,” Renata said, offering a half smile.
Whether Iliaria was trying to guide my attention or not, Cuinn took the opportunity to help me out.
Wrong move, Piph. Try the rook.
I saw it then, Renata’s white bishop perfectly aligned to seize my knight.
I took his advice, using my rook to eliminate the threat.
“Cheating?” Iliaria asked. “How so?”
Renata narrowed her eyes knowingly.
“Three against one?” she asked. “That is how you intend to play this game, is it?”
I mumbled a quick apology and she laughed.
Renata leaned back in her chair with a look of challenge and mischief. “By all means,” she motioned toward the board, “consult your counsel.” She inclined with a wicked smile. “If you think you will win against me, Epiphany.”
You willing to test that, o’queen ?
Renata mused, “How shall we sweeten the reward, hmm? What does the victor of this game receive?”
“What do you want?” I asked.
She touched my cheek and heat rose to my face. “Mmm, well, I already have you. That leaves little to ask for, doesn’t it?”
I swallowed around my echoing pulse. “What you mean is that I’m already willing to do anything you ask of me, thus you have little to achieve by beating me in a game of chess other than a certain sense of satisfaction?”
She gave a sweetly cutting smile. “Precisely.”
“Finding a reason to retreat?” Iliaria asked, a tinge of teasing in her tone.
“No,” Renata said. “I will play a game against the three of you. We’ll merely decide upon a boon at a later time. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” Iliaria said.
I thought Renata would ask to begin the game anew, but she did not. We played against her, the three of us, and it turned out to be quite a lengthy game. Cuinn and Iliaria bega
n doing most of the work. One would think of a party of three against one that the larger party would have the upper hand. We didn’t, considering Iliaria and Cuinn were at odds with each other every time our turn came. When I took Cuinn’s advice, Iliaria complained. When I took Iliaria’s advice, Cuinn cursed up a storm until my ears rang.
Renata sat in her chair, thoroughly amused as our mess unraveled while she took piece after piece until our king was left with little defense.
In the end, she won as she had predicted.
And I daresay, out of the three of us, Cuinn was the least happy about it. He rambled off in my head about if only ye’d done this and if only ye’d done that.
Take comfort in the knowledge that whatever boon she asks will be of me, not you, Cuinn.
With that, he ceased.
After our game, time crept by sluggishly again. I sighed, returning to recline in Renata’s bed while she and Iliaria conversed in hushed voices. They spoke of the Dracule. Iliaria suspected Damokles was trying to assemble a following among them, if he hadn’t done so already, and that the Rosso Lussuria was but one of the many clans he was targeting.
“If that’s true, then surely we should find out for ourselves if any of the other clans have had similar experiences or attacks?” I said.
“Indeed, cara mia. You are correct. We should endeavor to find out if this is simply an affront to our clan or vampires as a whole.” She rose to open the door to a small cabinet nearby and retrieved a leather case from inside. She opened it and unraveled the scroll within, spreading it across the table.
I had no idea how we would go about such a thing, for clans in general had very little contact with one another. That’s not to say that we were at cross-purposes, only that we tended to keep to ourselves. I was again uncertain as to how safe passage would be established.
Renata spoke, reading my thoughts. “Under certain circumstances, a ruler is allowed to move between the clans and seek sanctuary if they need to do so.”
“So you couldn’t send an ambassador?” I asked. “You would have to go yourself?”
“Yes.”
“If Anatharic and I were to take you to visit one of the clans, would you be allowed to assemble a small party?”
Summoning Shadows: A Rosso Lussuria Vampire Novel Page 6
