I’d free the Indebted regardless of my situation. The only thing stopping me was the uncertainty of when the sixth exchange would occur. Until that happened, I wouldn’t rest easy.
Everything in the coming week could blow up in my face.
Ten days ago, I strutted into a situation I felt completely prepared for and it went to shit.
Now, I planned to strut into a situation I couldn’t possibly prepare for because it was now the only avenue left where Kyros and I might regain a semblance of what we’d once had.
For that, I’d do anything.
I regarded the woman across the desk. “I’m going to give everything I own in Bluff City to Clan Sundulus.”
Her mouth rounded.
Couldn’t blame her. There were more things that could go wrong with that than right. For one, I could only speak in formal situations if Kyros granted me permission. Then there was the tiny thing where I may not have enough assets to actually change the outcome.
I exhaled slowly. “If Kyros’s family goes down, it won’t be without me giving everything I have to stop it.”
“Mr Tetley has resumed work, but I believe it will take time for him to feel comfortable again,” Fred said.
I considered that. “I need to speak to him.”
Tommy gave him a modified version of what happened with Theodore, but that didn’t erase all of our fights since I first entered Kyros Sky. Her father definitely knew about them. He’d known me my entire life, but Tommy was his world.
Which was no doubt why he’d agreed to come back at all.
“That might be best, Miss Le Spyre,” Fred said, bowing.
He held a finger to his ear. “Lady Treena is pulling up, miss.”
I rose, making sure to keep the speed within human bounds. Fred’s reaction to my new additions was one that I was putting off.
I strode past him.
“Miss Le Spyre, is everything okay between you and your grandmother’s friends?” Fred asked as I reached the door.
Pausing, I glanced back at him. “They seem to think I’m a younger version of my grandmother, Fred. We’ve had some disagreements.”
Fred smiled.
“They expected you to play the game as your grandmother did?” he asked, shaking his head.
Stepping beside me, he drew the door open.
His brown eyes twinkled. “I predicted that you’d be every inch of the Head of Estate your grandmother was. In your own way. If your grandmother’s friends believed otherwise, that was their mistake. It sounds like they’re now aware of the distinction.”
My mouth dry, I walked from the room, his words bouncing around my head.
Fred featured in most of my memories on the estate. Maybe not as a part of the festivities—dinners and the like. The butler always popped in, ensuring things ran smoothly.
I’d spent five hours on the Ferris wheel. I read three books and packed up my grandmother’s suite. I endured terrible pep talks from Tommy and Laurel.
Yet with an errant compliment, Fred had convinced me of my path.
Reaching the lobby, I hastily smoothed my expression in preparation for the next onslaught.
Lady Treena’s chauffeur pulled around her gleaming steel-grey car. Before he could stride around to open her door, my grandmother’s best friend was out of the vehicle, champagne chute raised in the air.
Was she here as a representative of all the oldies or was this a personal visit?
This was old money I was dealing with. If they were on my side, this could be her digging for information on my loyalties. If they’d turned on me…
… Things were about to get ugly when I couldn’t afford—and didn’t want—them to get ugly.
“Basilia,” she said cheerfully.
The tightness around her mouth spoke otherwise.
“Aunt Treena,” I replied, gesturing to the house.
“No, no. Just here for a fleeting visit, I’m afraid.”
This woman was afraid of one thing and one thing only. Vissimo.
She took a fake sip of champagne, observing me.
I was glad to see my grandmother’s friend. Really glad. No matter what happened next, I had no intention of harming my oldies. Just as I had no intention to back down from what I’d said.
My choice was made.
The old woman hummed and reached into her purse, passing me her chute. As had been the way since I hit sixteen, I chugged the contents behind the curtain of my curls.
When I glanced back up, her expression had softened.
She held out an envelope.
I took it on autopilot, exchanging it for her chute.
Lady Treena held her hand to my cold cheek. “We hope to see you there, dear.”
I stared at the envelope as she got into her car and disappeared as swiftly as she’d come.
Hooking my thumb under the wax seal that only served to remind me of the last wax seal I’d pried open, I worked it free.
An invitation. To a soiree. Four days from now.
“And what that means, I have no idea.” Could be good. Could be a trap.
If all my oldies were there, however, it worked in perfectly with my plan. If Kyros deigned to show up in the next day. Attending their soiree during my thrall seemed like a recipe for disaster.
Hiccupping from the champagne I’d necked, I hustled inside. I had so much shit to do that sleep seriously wasn’t an option for me.
Entering the office again, I groaned at the stacks of paper from estate matters piling up while I disregarded everything for Ingenium. I had thirty-two emails in my inbox. Scratch that, that was if I just counted the emails requiring thoughtful responses.
All of it would have to wait.
Sliding open the desk drawer, I grabbed my Vissimo law book and the Ingenium rule book. Reading them had become a ritual. I’d memorised some parts by chanting them over and over when stressed out of my mind.
Knowing the rules of the game was everything. Of any game, whether surviving as part of the human working class or in a life-and-death vampire battle. Each time I’d lost, it was due to ignorance of the rules or uncertainty about the rules.
And sure, lack of experience too.
I was going up against people who had played Ingenium for one hundred and fifty years. They’d had two human lifespans living the rules of the game. By now, the complexities of this battle were second nature to them. Meanwhile, thus far, I’d had a crash course that barely skimmed the surface.
The door opened.
I didn’t budge my eyes from the chapter on the end cascade. “Fred, I may need you to take over estate tasks again for a few weeks. It’s piling up.”
Fred didn’t answer.
I blinked at the sudden thudding of my heart and jerked my head up.
Kyros entered the office, shutting the door before stalking around the room. His gaze darted to the book in my hands.
Shit.
Recovering from my shock, I set the manual on the low table without a word, face down in case he didn’t managed to catch the title.
“A bit of light reading?” he purred.
Yep, totally saw it.
“Kyros,” I greeted.
I crossed the room and turned on the noise-cancelling.
He froze, no doubt feeling the pop in his ears and the loss of one of his biggest senses.
“More secrets,” he muttered.
I ignored the comment, checking my phone.
11:00 a.m.
He strode behind my desk, scanning the contents there before reading the computer screen.
“You about done?” I said, folding my arms.
The vampire didn’t answer, completing his circle around the room. The act was an almost exact replica of King Julius when he entered Kyros’s home for the first time. With the king, I’d seen it as a protective thing.
With Kyros, I got the vibe I was on trial.
He stopped by the low table and turned the two books over, reading the titles.
I waited for him to demand answers. When he didn’t, I couldn’t resist saying, “You know I won’t rest until I find a solution to this.”
Despite the menacing entrance, a quick check told me much of his bitterness was gone. Instead, the bone-deep weariness was in the driver’s seat once more. Then again, would I sleep if nine of my family members could be dead in six days?
Ten, I corrected myself, recalling Kearra.
“You expect to find an answer in a handful of days, three of which you’ll spend in a thrall?” His green eyes bore into mine.
He was so angry at me. So disappointed and heartsick.
A perverse part of me didn’t care because my vampire was standing before me. My mate. Maybe for tonight, he could pretend I hadn’t signed his family’s death warrants, and I could pretend he’d forgiven me.
I lowered my arms. “You’re here for the sixth exchange?”
“Why else would I be here?”
Swallowing hurt, I cleared my throat. “Okay, how’s it going to work?”
“My siblings are outside. Once I’ve bitten you, they’ll retrieve me. I’ve spoken with Laurel. She will confine you in your quarters until the end of the thrall.”
I deflated.
I’d expected to spend the thrall with him again. Which was stupid of me, really. He didn’t even want to be here, but I’d hoped he might be unable to stay away.
He watched me with cold green eyes, and I stared at his slim black tie, thinking over all the times I’d dreamed of loosening it.
“The date for end cascade negotiations is set for the seventh,” he told me in a low voice.
I glanced up. Five days from now.
Fuck.
I’d read through the end cascade chapter of the Ingenium rule book enough times to know what he referred to by negotiations. Though the end cascade would be triggered, Fyrlia could spend months or years buying up the entirety of Bluff City. The rule book stated that the losing clan could call a meeting when the end cascade—the point of no return—was triggered. In exchange for surrendering on the spot, Sundulus could attempt to barter for some of the lives of the royal family.
Negotiating with King Mikael seemed like a useless pursuit. I’d managed to do so, but only because I gave him what he valued most. He’d all but won Ingenium now; there was no need for him to compromise on anything else. He’d waited for this moment for one hundred and fifty years.
“I see,” I whispered. For all their sakes, I hope Kearra was allowed to live. Surely even Mikael couldn’t be so ruthless.
Kyros stepped closer, and my stomach churned as I held myself back from running at him.
Our separation after the fifth exchange made me feel physically sick.
A whimper slipped between my teeth, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
“After the negotiations, I won’t be allowed to contact you,” Kyros said, his voice straining. “This is the last time we will see each other.”
No.
My chest rose and fell with my shallow breaths. “Maybe in time…”
I trailed off because we both knew that wouldn’t happen.
King Julius had been convinced. Or at least, he recognised a losing battle. Mikael would keep Kyros from me no matter the cost.
His gaze darkened. “Mikael may allow me to complete the mating ritual with you if I can’t be controlled, but he’ll never permit you to become Vissimo. He’ll try to break me over the next five or six decades and wait until you die and I lose control. Then I’ll be his weapon across the ages.”
Bile threatened to make an appearance as his words hit me with the force of a sledgehammer. “That’s his plan?”
Kyros nodded. “He practiced on the triplets. He’ll do the same for me.”
My hands curled into tight fists. “You’ll never be like them.”
A wrinkle appeared between his brows. “I used to fear losing control. It’s the greatest fear of most alphas. But in five days, most of my family will be dead. I yearn for the darkness losing control might bring.”
He wasn’t allowed to speak like that.
I did something I hadn’t dared to do since everything blew up in my face.
Resting my hands on his chest, I gripped the front of his shirt. “I know things between us are more messed up than they’ve ever been, Kyros, but please don’t give up. There’s a way out of this, I promise you.”
Never had the urge to admit everything been stronger.
Kyros glanced into my eyes, and his want, his fierce want rolled over me. I moaned, choking on a sob at the same time.
“This is the last time I’ll see you, Basilia,” he said, cupping my face. “As fucking furious as I am for what you did and what it will mean for my family, I can’t spend these last moments in anger. If this is the last memory I have of you, of us, then I must leave your betrayal at the door.”
I let go of his shirt to cover his hands, tears stinging my eyes. “We’ll find a way through this.”
He let me choke out the words, gaze rapt on my expression. He seemed to be waiting for my tears because he swept the salty droplets away the second they tumbled from my wet lashes.
Closing the distance, he dropped a whisper-soft kiss on the tops of my cheekbones. “Don’t cry, my beauty.”
If he wanted me to stop crying, that was the wrong thing to say. He kissed my lips as they trembled, slipping his warm tongue into my mouth in a bitter-sweet kiss that would torture me to the end of my days.
I clung to him, pulling him against my body as tightly as possible.
When we broke apart, we were both breathing hard.
“I may not be able to see you,” Kyros said hoarsely, resting his forehead against mine. “But I’ll always feel where you are. We’ll always know what the other is feeling. And sometimes, if we ever draw close enough, we might catch some of each other’s thoughts.”
Fresh tears coated my cheeks. The picture he painted was unbearable to contemplate. To be so close, to constantly feel the other and never touch them or look in their eyes. To live and die in that way.
“We need to run,” I stuttered. “Us. Your entire family. Everyone.”
He pressed kisses along my jaw and up to my temple, licking at my tears as he went. “We’d be hunted by all Vissimo.”
My chest seized in time to my soul-shaking sobs. “Ky—”
The vampire caught my chin, and I stared at him through wet lashes.
“My beauty,” he said in a voice so soft I had to lean forward. “Know that I’ll live for each of those moments. I’ll wake each night to feel your presence within me. The longing to hear your innermost thoughts will bring me joy across the decades. Live for me, my beauty, so that I may experience life through your heart.” He rested a hand between my breasts. “Through your soul.”
I couldn’t see him through the tears.
My words were barely intelligible. “I can’t lose you, Kyros. I’m so sorry for what I did.”
He pulled me against his chest. “This is not a time for apologies and regrets, true mate. They are meaningless with a bond such as ours.” He stroked my back. “Our blood sings. It will sing always, across the ages. Never forget that.”
Pulling back, I did my best to regain control of myself. He was right. If tonight was our last night, this wasn’t a time for tears and pain.
“Before we start,” he said, still stroking my back, “I have a few requests.”
Anything. “Tell me.”
“On the morning of the negotiations, you need to board a private plane with everyone you care about. I am sending all of my Indebted with you.”
That couldn’t happen.
“I want to stay here,” I countered.
His jaw clenched. “I need you away from Bluff City during negotiations. I need to know you’re safe. I can’t stop you from coming back—this is your home—but if you know what’s good for you and Tommy, you won’t ever return.”
Tommy.
He studied me intently. “For Tommy, Basilia. For
me.”
I didn’t argue the point further.
“Thank you, mate,” he whispered against my ear.
A shiver wracked my body. It was surprisingly easy to shove aside the demands of the blood bond when Kyros could be lost to me after this night. “There’s more?”
“Yes,” he said, peering at the books on the low table. “You may know this already, but when a human mate reaches the sixth exchange, they have the right to purchase Indebted. I know how you feel about their situation, but I urge you to consider taking on my Indebted after the sixth thrall. You have enough money, and they’ll be able to protect you where I cannot.”
He… was asking me to buy the Indebted. I’d operated in secret this entire time, and yet he was presenting me with a different version of the same plan.
Kyros pulled a slip of paper from his internal suit pocket and placed it on the table. “There are the details for the transfer. When the sixth thrall ends, I’ll make it known to the clan who handles administration for the Indebted. You won’t encounter resistance.”
I’d planned on using three of the Indebted as witnesses to grant my access per another clause, but Kyros was offering to do it directly. On the slip were bank details I’d already asked Laurel to secure.
I had so grossly underestimated this man.
Rising on tiptoes, I pressed a kiss against his lips, looping my arms around his neck. A growl ripped through his throat. “Thank you so much.”
“Basilia,” he sighed into my mouth.
I threaded my fingers through his toffee strands, pulling back.
“Mate,” I told him, not a flicker of humour in my voice. “True mate.”
They were different things. It felt insulting to call him anything less.
His growl ripped from his chest, and my skin flushed in response.
“I want to be inside you one last time,” Kyros said, chest heaving.
In reply, I lifted my sweater overhead, tossing my T-shirt after it before sliding my shorts down. Kyros didn’t look away, unmoving as I went to work on his shirt and pants.
Slowing to draw the moment out wasn’t an option as much as I yearned to do so.
“Inside,” I said hoarsely, freeing his erection.
How long we could draw out sex would be a test of both of our control. It wasn’t as if Kyros’s blood was a turn off for me at this point. With each exchange, the taste became sweeter, the texture like milk, soothing and heady. My mouth watered at the thought of biting into him.
Death Game: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 3) Page 21
