“Silly goose.” Tatiana kissed Lilith’s nose. “Let’s go sit by the fountain and wait for Papa.” Octavian had promised to meet them in the garden after he took care of some things, but the sun would be up soon. Not that they were in any danger. The estate’s layout had been especially designed so that the gardens remained shaded for almost two hours after the sun rose. Still, she’d expected him to meet them sooner than this. She listened for him but picked up only the distant sound of a car approaching. It was too soon for the Elders and Dominus to be arriving, but if they were, Octavian would deal with them. He knew not to let anyone disturb her time with Lilith this evening.
She set Lilith on a patch of grass between the great tiered fountain and one of the surrounding marble benches, then sat to watch as the child dug her hands into the tufts of green.
Lilith crawled a little, then plopped down onto her backside. The movement made her laugh and Tatiana laughed along with her. She shook her head as she stared at her child in wonderment.
How different things had become since Lilith had entered her life. She pulled the locket loose from her blouse and opened it to study Sophia’s face. No one would ever replace her Sophia. No one. Lilith was not a replacement. Lilith was a second chance. She kissed the portrait, then clicked the locket shut and tucked it away.
Tatiana leaned back against the bench as Lilith crawled closer to where the edge of the grass met the pea gravel walkway. She plopped down again, squeeling in delight and showing off her tiny fangs as she looked to Tatiana for approval.
“Such a clever girl, aren’t you, my darling?” Tatiana smiled. She’d never had gardens before, but this was the Dominus estate and Ivan had spared no expense. From the night-blooming jasmine to the temperate warmth, layers of magic and wards shielded the gardens from the harsh Romanian winter and kept them evergreen and ever useful.
“Someday, my sweet, this will all be yours.”
Lilith didn’t look up from her game of mounding up the pea gravel on the grass.
Footsteps crunched on the gravel path behind them. Tatiana stood, preparing to welcome Octavian.
He wasn’t alone.
Her mouth opened and she ran out to meet them. “Daci. You’re back.”
“Tatiana!” Daci met her halfway and fell into her arms with a soft sob. “It’s so good to be home. You have no idea how awful it was.”
Tatiana pushed Daci to arm’s length and studied her. Daci’s gown was torn and dirty, and her face, although still beautiful, seemed washed in the pallor of stress. “Whatever happened? I was worried.”
Daci shook her head as if struggling against tears. “I tried to make my way into the comarré’s good graces by telling her I was seeking asylum, but she wasn’t home and her friends didn’t believe me. They locked me up in the hold of some dirty old ship and left your comar to guard me. It was awful.” She inhaled another sob. “Awful.”
“But you had the supplies I sent you with, right?”
“Yes.” Daci’s eyes brightened a little. “That’s how I escaped. At first I waited for them to come. I figured as soon as they opened the door, I’d make my move. But no one ever came. I heard voices, but never the comarré. Finally, I’d had enough. I used everything you gave me. The blasting cubes took out the metal doors, which knocked out the comar. Then I kept him that way with the sedatives. Made for a much quieter flight home, I assure you.”
Amazed, Tatiana looked at Daci more closely. “You brought him back with you?”
“Yes, of course.” She straightened. “He betrayed you. He must be dealt with. And I confess, I was dying of hunger after being held prisoner.”
Tatiana shook her head. “You are a remarkable woman, Daci. And a good friend.” As the sky above them lightened with the coming dawn, she hesitantly reached out to Daci and squeezed her arm, the gesture alien and yet somehow appropriate. Amazing how much being a mother again had changed her.
Octavian cleared his throat. “I’ve put Damian in the soundproofed rooms in the west wing. He’ll be fine there for as long as you wish. I’m sure Daciana would like to rest after her ordeal.”
“I would,” she agreed, stifling a yawn. “I haven’t had a decent daysleep since I left.”
Tatiana felt the need for sleep as well, but she wasn’t ready for this moment to end. She reached out to Octavian and Daci, pulling them both to her. She smiled at Octavian. “Isn’t it wonderful that Daci’s back with us?”
He nodded and slipped his arm around her waist. “Absolutely.” His gaze shifted to Daci. “Tatiana and I were very concerned about you.”
Daci smiled, but it didn’t last. “I have failed you, though, Tatiana. I was unable to capture the comarré.” She dipped her head and backed up a step. The sky behind her was golden with morning sun, but the house’s shadow covered them. “I am fully prepared to return and try again.”
“Nonsense.” Tatiana waved her hand through the air to dismiss the thought. “We’ll deal with the comarré soon enough, but not now. There are too many other things to attend to. After all, the four of us are a family now. We need you here.”
“The four of us?” Daci looked from Octavian to Tatiana. “I don’t understand.”
Tatiana smiled uncontrollably. “There’s someone you must meet. Come.” She walked back to where Lilith was playing, but Lilith was gone. “Lilith?” Panic bubbled in her gullet like acid.
She searched the garden’s shadowed depths. “Lilith!”
Octavian was at her side instantly. “Where was she?”
“Right here in the grass.” Tatiana pointed to the stark white pebbles scattered against the green turf.
“She can’t have gotten far.”
Daci joined them. “Who’s Lilith?”
“My—” Tatiana stopped cold as she found her child. Lilith crawled toward the far edge of the garden, her little fingers skating the dividing line between shade and bright sun. “Lilith, no!” She started forward, but Octavian caught her arm.
“Wait.”
She tore out of his grasp, almost snarling. “My child is in danger.”
“She’s not or I wouldn’t have stopped you.” A curious expression came over his face. “Look again.”
Tatiana turned her head. Lilith sat in the sunlight, her face tipped into the killing rays, clapping her hands and laughing. No smoke, no fire, no flames.
The sun had no effect on her.
“How… how is that possible?” Tatiana asked. The adrenaline left her in a whoosh, and a new sense of confusion took its place. She leaned against Octavian.
“I don’t know, except that with Lilith we should learn to expect the unexpected.”
Daci shook her head. “I don’t understand. Where did the baby come from?”
“The ancient ones gave her to me to rear. She’s the first vampire born into this life.”
Daci pointed. “You mean to tell me that child, sitting in the sun, was born a vampire. Is a vampire?”
“Remarkable, isn’t she?” Tatiana nodded, unable to take her eyes off the miracle before them.
“Bloody hell,” Daci whispered.
Octavian began to laugh softly. “Things just got a lot more interesting.”
Tatiana joined him, buoyed by the knowledge that her daughter was even more powerful than she could have imagined. “Kine or vampire, my child shall rule them all.”
Doc tapped his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, waiting for the light to change. Where the hell was Fi? He was running out of places to look. He’d gone after her when she’d slipped through the wall, but getting to ground level from the penthouse had taken too long. There’d been no sign of her. Not even in the uptown shopping district, one of her favorite places to walk and look at store windows.
He glanced in the rearview mirror at the entrance to Mephisto Island. No luck there either. He’d thought Fi might have gone to talk to Chrysabelle or Velimai, but Chrysabelle was already in bed and the wysper hadn’t seen Fi. The red flipped green and he took off t
oward Mal’s freighter.
The ketamine in his system had kept the flames from bursting off his skin when Heaven attacked Fi and had kept him from striking out even though it went against his upbringing to hit a woman. Protecting Fi was his main concern. Which is why he’d yelled at her to leave. Dammit. It had come out wrong. The anger in his voice had been at Heaven, not Fi, but he knew his woman. She was sensitive. Especially with all that was going on.
He had to find her, explain. Calm her down. Make sure things were okay between them. She was all right, wasn’t she? Fi was pretty good at taking care of herself. She was a ghost, after all. If someone threatened her, she could slip away easy. Unless they surprised her. Like Heaven. Nothing had stopped Fi from disappearing when he’d told her to, though.
He growled softly. The whole situation was a complete mess. He loved Fi so much he couldn’t fully explain it. What he’d said to her had been spoken in the heat of the moment. In the interest of keeping her safe and away from Heaven. He’d never banish Fi from his life, but he’d bet good money that was what she was thinking. Cripes. Why had she come to the penthouse? She had to have known that was a bad move. He shook his head as he maneuvered the car around a corner. Women could make a man fool crazy, although he could guess why she’d come. He missed Fi so much it hurt.
He couldn’t see a clear path for when they’d be together again either. The death of Brutus had complicated things even more. Doc understood why Mal had killed the lion-shifter. Doc would have done the same in that situation. But Chrysabelle’s magic resurrection had definitely screwed the pooch.
Speaking of pooches, Tec had promised to let Doc know if Fi showed up at Seven, not that Doc could figure any good reason she’d go there, but then what did he really know anymore? He’d once thought being unable to shift into any form but a house cat was the worst life could get.
Those were the days.
In another hour, the sun would be up. He should just about make it to the freighter before daysleep turned Mal into a comatose lump.
He stomped the gas. The sports car responded instantly, snapping Doc back into the seat as it leaped forward. At least Sinjin had good taste in cars. This machine was a helluva lot more fun to drive than Mal’s old beater. Fi would love the way this car took off.
His joy faded. He had to find her.
Forty-five minutes later, he slammed the door as he got back into the car and cursed into the air as dawn brightened the sky.
He’d been too late to talk to Mal, so he’d searched the freighter. It was the closest thing Fi had to a home, but there’d been no sign of her.
He punched the dashboard. The pride expected him to make a ruling about Brutus’s death today. The last thing he wanted to do was stop looking for Fi and go back to the penthouse and Heaven, but he didn’t need more problems piled on top of the ones he already had.
Reluctantly he turned the car around and headed home. Such as it was. The responsibility of being pride leader without Fi at his side… He shook his head as heat built along his tendons. Those kinds of thoughts weren’t helping. He reached into his jacket pocket, grabbed the little vial tucked there, popped the top open, then shook out a pill and swallowed it.
Numbing himself was the only way he was going to get through this without killing someone.
Chapter Fifteen
With Creek on the dais behind her, and John and the daytime security team positioned around the room, Lola walked to the podium to address the gathered press. She burned with an unsettled urgency to set the curfew in place. It was the right thing to do and exactly what her citizens needed. Creek had told her that repeatedly last night. Now it was all she could think about.
“Thank you for coming this morning on such short notice. I won’t waste your time.” She glanced at the notes Creek had helped her put together. “As you’re all aware, the recent troubles that have plagued this city are unlike anything we have seen before. We can no longer ignore words like shape-shifter and vampire. The creatures we once thought lived only in our nightmares now walk among us.”
The assembled press before her, a group known for its collective boisterousness, remained steadfastly fixed on her every word, microphones stretched forward to capture each one.
“Unlike many of the other nationalities who have flocked to our shores in hopes of asylum and sanctuary, these newly revealed othernaturals present a unique dilemma. Which of them can be trusted? Which of them should we fear?”
A few in the crowd shifted, casting glances at those around them.
“Some have already delineated themselves as friends of Paradise City. As the blogs and dailies have pointed out, my own security team has several varcolai on it. Our police force, our firefighters, and our paramedics all have othernaturals in their ranks. For the service of those men and women, we’re thankful.” She paused, watching the faces, trying to read them as she always did in situations like this.
“Among the rest of the population, however, many questions remain. To this end, I am instating a citywide curfew, effective immediately. From sundown to sunup, any othernatural caught breaking that curfew will be subject to disciplinary action.”
A sea of hands shot up before her and the barrage of questions began.
She leaned forward and spoke into the mike to be heard over the ruckus. “The only exceptions to this will be othernaturals in service to the city as I previously mentioned: our first responders, firefighters, law enforcement, and medical personnel. There will be some leniency for othernaturals employed by humans, but it will be on a case-by-case basis. You’ll all be issued a copy of the statement on your way out. Thank you for coming and have a good day.”
The blast of new questions hit her immediately, but she tucked her notes into her jacket pocket and backed away. A sense of calm came over her and the driving desire that had arisen in her last night finally felt sated. Her mission was accomplished. John blocked the crowd so she could exit. Creek jerked into step alongside her.
“Well done.”
“Are you sure? I still don’t know if—”
Creek grabbed her wrist as they walked. Again his touch gave her a weird shiver that also somehow calmed her. “It’s what needed to be done.”
She pulled her hand away, unsettled by the contact. “Yes, you’re right. But there will be backlash.” Nothing she said went without critical comment by some newspaper, television station, or website. It was part and parcel of being mayor. The elevator was open and waiting. Creek and John got on with her; then John punched the button for her office’s floor. He’d yet to make eye contact with her since the announcement, but it was hard to tell who he was looking at behind those dark shades.
Creek spoke as the doors slid closed. “Remind them that if this curfew had been in place sooner, your daughter and the two other girls wouldn’t have been killed.”
“Maybe they wouldn’t have.” The memory made her heart ache. “A curfew isn’t going to stop someone intent on killing.”
“It won’t,” John said quietly.
Creek canted his head to one side. “It will. Once an example has been made.”
She leaned against the wall and glanced at him. The smoked mirror interior reflected John’s large form and beside him, Creek’s slightly smaller one. But there was something odd about Creek’s reflection. It was distorted. Like another shadowy figure lay over the top of his. A figure with wings.
She squeezed her eyes shut, then looked again. The distortion was gone.
Creek stared at her, a disconcerting darkness in his eyes. “Are you all right, Madam Mayor? You don’t look like you feel well.”
“I feel fine, thank you. Just stress.” She forced a smile. “A day without stress is like a day without… well, I wouldn’t know. It’s been so long since I had a day without stress.”
The doors opened and John stuck his arm out to keep them from closing. “You should take some time off, ma’am.”
“I wish I could, John. Maybe when things have calmed down.”
She headed for her office.
Creek walked beside her, his hand on her elbow. “The curfew was a step in that direction.”
Lola nodded. “Absolutely.” Still, she couldn’t shake the sense of foreboding that hung over her like a flock of circling vultures. What was the saying? Darkest before the dawn? If that was true, she hoped dawn came fast.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find Fi.” Chrysabelle squeezed Doc’s arm, slightly amazed at how such a big man could fit into such a small car. “I know she’s got a temper, but she can’t stay away from you for long.”
“I don’t know about that. After what I said…” Doc shook his head, eyes scanning the road as he shifted gears. “I’m just hoping she’ll come out to talk to you.” He exhaled. “I could really use her company after the day I’ve had.”
“You want to talk about it? I know all about bad days.”
He snorted a laugh. “I guess you do.” He turned out of Mephisto Island and headed toward downtown. The late afternoon sun glinted off the bay surrounding the private island. “I had a council meeting today to discuss…” He glanced over at her. “Maybe I shouldn’t talk about this after all.”
“To discuss what happened with Mal and me the other night?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m really sorry about that.”
“Nothing for you to apologize for. Brutus shoulda kept his cool. Nothing would have happened if that cat had just held it together.”
Doc’s jaw ticked and she wondered if changing the subject was a better idea, but he kept talking.
“Didn’t help that Mal went nuts either.”
Chrysabelle nodded. “I agree, but if you’d been in his situation, if that had been Fi—”
He held up his hand. “Trust me, I get it.”
“So what was decided? Or can’t you tell me?”
He was quiet for a moment. “What was decided is that pride law stands and pride law says a life for a life. Technically that was satisfied, until word got out you weren’t dead.” His gaze flicked in her direction. “Not everyone believes it, by the way. Some of the pride thinks the wolves are trying to start things. Some think you’ve come back as a ghost.”
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