Raina knew all too well that the worst was not so much what her friend had already survived, but rather the emotional fallout that would remain. She would likely need months, even years of therapy to work through this experience. Jasmine would never again be the same shy yet energetic and spunky young woman that Raina remembered from years ago. Dante Giovanni had effectively tormented that girl to death.
However, with enough support and guidance, the Jasmine that would live on in her place would be able to start over, to begin anew, and to move on, hopefully to find her way toward happiness and a sense of inner peace. She could never fully repay Jasmine the debt she owed her for bravely coming forward as an informant, but Raina swore that she would be there for her every step of the way. She would nurse her through the healing of her wounds, aid her in any way possible during her Change, and guide her as she adapted to her new life as a vampire. And she would make sure that Jasmine understood that she would never again be alone, that Raina would always be there
Samantha was terribly pained with guilt over what Jasmine had gone through, particularly for the fact that her deviation from their agreed plan had likely resulted in Jasmine’s abduction. Jasmine, however, stubbornly blamed herself for what she had endured because she had put herself in that position in the first place. According to Jasmine, what Dante Giovanni had done to her was something that would have inevitably occurred at some point anyhow, regardless of Samantha’s actions.
Dante Giovanni had been a serial killer of sorts, a fact that was absolutely confirmed within the following days as divers searching for his body at the bottom of the lake also found other bodies that had been bound, wrapped, and weighted. In all, the remains of four females were recovered from the bottom of the lake, all victims of Dante Giovanni that had been disposed of in the same manner: wrapped in a tarp, bound with rope, and weighted by concrete blocks. These were only the victims he had chosen to dispose of in this one particular location and in this one method of choice; authorities were still unsure as to exactly how many women, in total, Dante Giovanni had killed over the years. As his attack upon Brenna several years prior had demonstrated, his violence had not been limited strictly to those women with whom he had steady relationships, and few (if any) of his surviving victims had ever come forward to report his crimes. Police conservatively estimated that Dante Giovanni had killed about ten women, including those upon whom he had forced the Change and then legally murdered as his bloodspawn. Alas, it was likely there were many others whose deaths would never be linked to him by forensic evidence, so the true number of women he had killed in his lifetime could very well have doubled or even tripled that figure.
Jasmine was taken to a local hospital and treated for her injuries before being placed in an isolated room while she underwent her Change. Raina stayed with her as much as she could, comforting her as best she could while she underwent the week-long Change that made her a Commoner. They had much to discuss, such as Jasmine’s future life as a vampire and her willing commitment to join the House of Fallamhain as Raina’s attendant. There was one crucial detail, though, that Jasmine shared with Raina almost immediately when they were first allowed to speak alone. This one vital bit of information was terrible, infuriating, and disheartening to Raina, but it somehow came as little of a shock: Dante Giovanni had not, after all, been solely responsible for the first assassination plot.
* * * *
Chapter Twenty-Nine
London, England
When Raina stepped in through the front doors of the Fallamhain Estate, the House of Fallamhain was not to be found awaiting her immediately inside as would normally be expected. It was broad daylight, almost high noon. Raina had booked her flight with the expectation that she would arrive before dawn, but her connecting trans-Atlantic flight out of New York City had been delayed by inclement weather. It wasn’t much of a bother for anyone but Lady Jasmine Fallamhain, the only photosensitive of the three Fallamhain vampires that arrived with Simon. Jasmine was able to cope by applying a heavy dose of sun block, wearing some dark, large sunglasses, and covering up with a red hooded velvet cloak that had once belonged to Lady Sophie … and, before her, that same cloak had belonged to Lady Mary.
The lack of an immediate reception was understandable. Duke Marco Fallamhain was the only individual awaiting them, standing patiently in front of the closed double doors that led into the Fallamhain Estate’s immense dining hall. He was dressed in a white Victorian-style shirt and black slacks with a simple black leather belt about his waist, and his long blonde hair was tied back neatly in a tail. He looked uncharacteristically formal on this occasion, the only exception being his black leather biker-style steel-toed boots. Just as the case had been with Thomas, it was perhaps hopeless to ask Marco to give up his heavy-metal style completely for the sake of formality, no matter the occasion. It didn’t bother Raina in the least, though, only serving as an irritant to Lady Olivia … which made it a positive detail to Raina, as she similarly delighted in rebelling against her advisor’s overly conservative sense of style.
As Simon closed the door behind them and Raina approached, Duke Marco ceremoniously dropped to one knee and bowed his head low to acknowledge her. Raina stopped directly in front of him and looked down upon him with her hands loosely at her sides, letting out a slow, soft sigh. She had dreaded this hour, this inevitable and necessary return. While this was perhaps the least difficult and challenging event she had anticipated, it was anything but pleasant.
“Arise, my duke,” Raina instructed him. “You needn’t lower yourself before me.”
“I have been a fool, your grace,” he answered, keeping his head down. “I have betrayed your trust. I have made you unhappy.”
Raina shook her head, briefly glancing over her shoulder back to Duchess Samantha and Lady Jasmine. Neither of them responded with anything more than blank, silent stares without answers. Raina had explained to them what had happened. They both understood Raina’s options, but neither of them had any idea how she intended to punish Marco for his infidelity. Simon was the only person with whom Raina had discussed her intentions, having only just done so during the drive back from the airport when the two of them, alone, had shared one of the two sedans that had ferried them home. He gave the barest hint of a nod to Raina, being careful to keep the expression upon his face completely neutral.
Turning back to him, Raina said, “What you have done is a personal matter. We may discuss it later in private. For now, Marco, I am asking you to greet me as my consort.”
He lifted his head to look up at her upon hearing his actual name being used. Raina had decided before leaving America that she was through with calling him Loki. It was his nickname and, to her, it was something of a pet name. They were no longer going to be together on those terms. The love was gone, their passion destroyed. Their personal relationship was over. She was within her rights to make her severance from him absolute and mortal, but Raina was not going to kill him for what he had done. He would remain her consort in title only, and her association with him henceforth would be strictly professional.
Marco reached for her right hand and she extended it slightly in offering, allowing him to dryly kiss the back of her knuckles. At one time, even that subtle gesture would have sent her heart aflutter. He was still incredibly handsome, still very physically attractive … but that was all. She could have forgiven him so completely and absolutely that they still could have been lovers, but it was not something with which Raina was comfortable. She did not want to vie with another woman for a man’s heart. In her position, understanding the nature of her own bloodline as she did, Raina could have forgiven and even overlooked a strictly physical affair between Marco and anyone else, male or female. But knowing that Marco’s relationship with Lady Svetlana had involved much more than just sex, and that it had existed even before Raina had met either of them … no. She could not … no … she would not compete with that.
Marco stood and they locked stares for a moment o
r two before Raina finally allowed herself the barest hint of a smile.
“It’s good to see you again,” she admitted.
He nodded lightly. “I am happy to see you, too. I was afraid that you would not come back.”
“I had no choice,” Raina told him with a more liberal smile. “All of my good clothes are still here.”
Marco smiled thinly at that. Raina stepped aside and formally introduced him to Duchess Samantha Fallamhain, her newest bloodspawn and chosen heiress, and to Lady Jasmine Fallamhain, her personal attendant. He offered a formal bow to each of them and then turned slightly to grab both knobs of the dining hall doors as his icy blue eyes met Raina’s directly once again.
“Everyone that you invited is here,” he informed her in a low voice before pulling open the doors broadly.
She thanked him with a silent nod as he stood aside. Raina stepped into the dining hall with the soft clacking of her heels upon the polished antique hardwood floor. Almost in perfect unison, the long banquet table of individuals awaiting her pushed back their chairs slightly to stand and turn to acknowledge her presence. Raina strode into the dining hall with the same exhibition of confidence and royalty that she had exhibited during her last gathering of the IVC … although this time, the look confidence that she wore was genuine and not a mere act.
Dressed in what had once belonged to Duvessa but had since been resized to fit Raina’s shorter frame, she approached in a flowing white gown with a plunging V-shaped neckline and an open back, complemented by a pair of elbow-length, fingerless white silk gloves. Her hair was bound up in a half-bun with a few accenting strands hanging on either side of her face just ahead of her prominent, elf-like High Court ears.
Additionally, the white silk sash and folding lockback knife she had tucked into it at the left side of her waist were new details. She had recently commissioned the forging of yet another silver-plated sword, something shorter than a traditional katana and much more practical for close-quarters fighting and daily carry. Until that sword was completed, she had elected to begin wearing an absurdly large but wickedly effective fighting knife, a Cold Steel Espada XL. The knife was essentially a folding sword modeled after the Spanish navaja, a full sixteen inches in total length with a blade over seven inches long and a grip large enough to easily facilitate a two-handed grip that permitted Raina to use it as a short sword. This same knife was also being worn by both Duchess Samantha and Lady Jasmine.
Samantha’s heels clicked along at a pace slower than Raina’s, as her longer legs allowed her to take much broader strides, while Jasmine’s footfalls were nearly silent from the simple red flats she had chosen to go with her blood-red cloak and dress. Samantha was, as ever, dressed in unrelieved black from head to toe, though she had forgone her usual classical American style of attire in favor of one of her very modern business suits and skirts. She had piled her hair high and tight with a pair of black chopsticks thrust into the hairstyle to help keep it in place, similarly and proudly baring her new High Court features. A pair of dark stockings and a necklace with an ankh of white gold completed the outfit. Jasmine was quite lovely in her own right, but Raina could see that many of the eyes of those in attendance drifted immediately from the Grand Duchess to her newest bloodspawn, stricken by her dark allure and her stunning green eyes, made all the more vibrant by heavy eyeliner and the dark eye shadow that added contrast.
Lady Olivia stood at the head of the table, dressed in her usual professional and unoffending gray business suit and skirt. She was flanked on either side by all nine of the remaining Elders of the IVC … including Duchess Serenity, who seemed to be regarding Raina with quiet dread and barely restrained anxiety.
Extending an arm in her direction, Lady Olivia declared, “Grand Duchess Raina, Mistress of the House of Fallamhain and Fountainhead of the Fallamhain bloodline.”
All of the Elders bowed their heads briefly as Raina approached the table and rounded its left side, deliberately choosing the side upon which Duchess Serenity stood. As she neared the Elder and that stunningly beautiful blonde lifted her head, Raina narrowed her eyes at her slightly. The subtle gesture actually made Serenity cringe just a little. Her fear was so raw and vivid as Raina passed the glowing High Court vampire that she could almost taste it. Raina continued past her without slowing her pace, taking her place at the head of the table while Lady Olivia stood aside with a welcoming nod and smile. Raina gave Olivia just the barest courtesy of a nod before turning toward the table of Elders and holding her hands up and apart, gesturing for them to be seated. Like a church congregation, the Elders took their seats in unison just as they had arisen, but Raina remained standing as Samantha and Jasmine took their places on either side of her.
“I’d like to thank all of you for coming today, and I appreciate your patience in waiting past dawn for my arrival,” Raina told them in a clear voice that echoed slightly in the immense hall. “While this is, in fact, the second time in a row that I have kept you all waiting, this time it was because my flight was delayed by weather … and unfortunately, I cannot legally kill the weatherman.”
There were a few subtle, barely-amused chuckles in response to that. This would certainly be a tough audience if Raina ever chose to take an entirely humorous approach to addressing them, but fortunately she had no intentions of attempting to make this into a laugh-fest. This was strictly for the sake of formalities and business … ugly, bloody business.
“First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to our two newest additions to the House of Fallamhain: Duchess Samantha Fallamhain and Lady Jasmine Fallamhain. As I am sure you are all aware, I have bestowed the Communion of Blood upon both in full view of the public so as to mark their inclusion into my House,” she explained calmly. “Thus, one of the reasons which I have requested your presence today is to submit for your approval the nomination of Duchess Samantha Fallamhain as my successor by blood right as Grand Duchess. In this age of information we now live in, I’m sure you all have had more than enough time in advance to learn about Samantha’s background, her qualifications, and the bravery of her actions in actual combat. So … if there is anyone here that protests this nomination, or anyone that wishes to question her qualifications to serve as my successor, let them speak freely now without fear of reprisal.”
As soon as Raina’s voice ceased to echo, absolute silence and stillness fell over the hall like a damp blanket. She scanned her eyes from one end of the table’s gathering to the other. Not a single person appeared to show any sort of keen interest in offering an objection of any sort. Serenity was the only individual that chose to avert her gaze, instead choosing to stare at the table while everyone else without exception seemed to either quietly smile to, gawk at, or otherwise politely admire the newest addition to the ranks of the High Court.
There was something about Samantha that they immediately liked, something they appreciated so much more than they ever had when they had first met Raina – the way she carried herself, her style of dress, or perhaps simply the raw gothic beauty of her pale, alabaster white skin, natural raven-black hair, and stunningly bright green eyes. Raina was not jealous, but rather quite relieved that nobody offered the slightest hint of a remonstration on this occasion, a stark contrast to when Raina had presented herself for the first time to these same Elders only months ago. There were no angry exchanges, no accusations, and no insulting remarks about Samantha’s race, her background, or the circumstances of her Change.
Perhaps it was simply a matter of respect more than superficial factors like ethnicity or social status. Given Raina’s inevitable switch toward addressing the IVC, as a whole, with a more authoritative, no-nonsense, and firm presence, and because she had been baptized by fire several times over through recent violence, they no longer were able to look down upon her as “a Commoner hiding under a High Court skin,” as one of them had once mockingly tagged her. They respected her for what she was, the Grand Duchess, their leader. The fact tha
t they had all witnessed her quell Duchess Camille’s vehement protests by striking her down with relative ease probably didn’t hurt her case, either. They knew better than to cross her. Finally, the idea that her word was law no longer seemed like an empty sentiment of irrelevant ceremony.
“Questions? Comments? Anyone?” Raina finally asked after what felt like a full minute of absolute silence. She was met with more silence and only a few shrugs. “Very well, then. As Grand Duchess, let my decree stand as law that upon my death or abdication, Duchess Samantha Fallamhain shall henceforth…”
“Your grace!” Serenity suddenly interrupted with a raised hand.
Raina regarded her with a raised eyebrow. “Yes, Duchess Serenity?”
“Forgive my interruption,” she said, “but did you say … upon your abdication?”
“Yes, I did,” Raina confirmed, leaning upon the edge of the immensely heavy, antique wooden table with both hands. “Nowhere has it ever been written that I, as Grand Duchess, am not within my rights to stand aside and allow another to take my place. In fact, that is listed quite clearly in the Code.”
The Darkest Colors- Exsanguinations Page 59
