by Talyn Scott
“She’s not of any Coven,” Oycher said as he stepped into the room. His sunset eyes glaring at the Gryph until the winged vampire removed his hand. “And you will not threaten her.”
“She wears the traitor’s mark.”
“Get out of my territory, Gryph,” Oycher shot back as Scarlett’s body seemed to go boneless, but Oycher took her weight. “And never come back here threatening our females again.”
With a soft rustling of wings, the Gryph quietly made his way from Scarlett’s house.
When she made to go after Sage and Roman, Oycher tightened his hold on her. “Come here, Isla,” he said to his gorgeous wife. “Take care of Scarlett for me.”
Isla nodded after giving him a quick kiss. “Don’t worry about her. Do what you need to do for Roman and Sage. We’ll be waiting right here when you get back.”
He stopped at the doorway and looked over his shoulder. “Call Dr. Holt or even Mason Ruyter if she needs anything for shock. And get Terje over here.”
“I’ve got this,” Isla put her arm around Scarlett’s shoulders. “We females are stronger than you think.”
“I think nothing of the contrary.” He winked at her as he disappeared into a flowing mist.
Isla turned around and gripped both of Scarlett’s shoulders, her tiny fangs lowering a fraction as she seemed to be counting to ten. She tilted her head as if listening for something far away.
“What is it?” Scarlett asked in a trembling voice, her tears sliding down her cheeks.
“Hang on.” She tilted her head again, her blue-black hair sliding over her shoulder. “Yeah, they’re out of hearing range.”
“And?”
Isla dropped her hands and grabbed her cellphone, hitting the numbers. “Master Fedor,” she inquired of someone on the other end. “I’ve been requested to feed Prince Volos.”
Scarlett’s head snapped up.
“No, you can’t just send anyone this time,” Isla said with a wince. “Volos wants you to escort me and a new Donor we’ve acquired for training, personally. I know; I know. It’s not the thing for the Master Gryph to do, but we’ve had a lot of trouble down here. One of our own Vojaks was just taken for execution and things are tense. I have no idea why I got the orders before you did. I’ll hold on why you go question Volos, though. I know how much he likes that sort of thing.” Her lips lifted with a cautious smile. “Oh, so you’re already in our realm? Good, see you in a minute.”
Scarlett scrubbed at her face. “I’m the new Donor, I take it. Won’t this Master Fedor sniff me out?”
“He’s a Gryph not a hunter, so no.” She shrugged. “Sorry, but if there’s any hope of saving your males before sunrise, it’ll be with Prince Volos himself. And there’s no faster way of getting you to the top of the monarchy than this.” She tapped her throat over her pulse point. “Blood speaks.”
“You’re going to get into so much trouble, Isla,” Scarlett stressed. “Won’t he punish you or Oycher?”
“Oh, Volos will punish me, but it’s far better than letting Sage and Roman die.” Her eyes burned with tears. “Sage is my guardian, you know.”
“What does that mean in your world?”
“It means he always has my back.” She yanked Scarlett through the door way. “So this time, I have his back.”
“What the hell is that sound?”
“Fedor’s wings. Let’s go.”
Chapter 17
“I am the only one who summons my Donors!” Volos stormed into his private drawing room, eyes of butterscotch lava locking onto Isladora. “And I did not summon you.”
“Pardon, Sire?” Master Gryph Fedor dared to interrupt Volos’ tirade.
“I fed from another Donor this morning.” Volos glided until he stepped toe-to-toe with Isla. “What games do you play?”
“I’ve never been stupid enough to play any game with you,” she lied. “Why would I start now, and risk our arrangement?”
Volos’ gaze dropped to Isladora’s throat, her graceful neck covered with Oycher’s rubies. “You interrupted me.”
To understand the power of him, one would merely need to stand in his proximity. It leaped from his skin, reaching out to stroke or dismantle anything it chose to touch. Part of Scarlett wanted to hide in the corner until he went away. The other part of her was grossly intrigued. Scarlett knew he sensed her presence, too, could feel him reading her while he tore Isla a new one.
“I interrupted you?” Isla stepped back, only to have Volos match her footwork.
“Oh, yes,” he breathed as his eyes turned smoldering. “Since you are mated, shall I take out my frustrations on your friend?”
In the next second, Volos had Scarlett against the fireplace mantle, his fangs against her throat.
“Sire,” Master Fedor interrupted, “Scarlett is not a Donor.”
“Fedor just saved your life.” Volos retracted his fangs and nuzzled Scarlett’s throat, his tongue licking a trail until his mouth landed at her ear. “You should thank him now.”
“Thank you,” Scarlett croaked, “Master Fedor.”
Inclining his head, Fedor offered, “I will accept punishment for this deception, Sire.”
“You will not accept any punishments, Master Fedor, but will dole them out.” His hand came up, his fingers threading though her hair. “Have you ever been lashed, Scarlett?”
Scarlett could do nothing but shake her head frantically.
Volos leaned into her, his mouth trailing beneath her chin, inhaling, inhaling, and inhaling until… “Ah, I see what’s happening. I smell Sage and Roman Noskov on you.”
“Yes, P-prince Volos.”
“You claim me as your prince,” he said, his opposite hand wrapping around her waist, “yet you are not vampire.”
“Not yet.”
His mouth curved, but she wouldn’t call it a smile. “Do you understand, Scarlett, how words change lives?”
Scarlett was a paralegal. Of course, she understood how words spoken or written transformed mortals lives every day. Lawbreakers went to jail. In the vampire world, immortals considered any vows unbreakable. Unlike lawbreakers, however, vow breakers usually died brutally, and with an eager, attending audience.
“I’m only beginning to understand the actual world in which I was born.” She stayed completely honest, not wanting to risk anything for compromising Sage and Roman. “But I want you as my liege.”
“I’m not foolish enough to believe you want my protection for yourself, Scarlett, but for your mercenary mates who killed a Lovec of mine.”
“Believe me,” Scarlett argued. “I want all the protection I can get. For my mates, certainly, but also for myself… and my future children.” Her hand found her stomach. She wanted to one day have Roman and Sage’s kids. In this dangerous world, they needed security and safety right along with love and understanding.
“You granted her protection thirty years ago, Sire,” Isladora spoke up. “The day you allowed Bestra Rudavin to take Scarlett into his family’s home and raise her as his sister.”
He pulled away from Scarlett, but cupped her elbow and urged her back towards Isladora. “What are you talking about?”
Isla wiped her sweaty palms on her dress and reached for the satchel, courtesy of Bestra, full of documents regarding Scarlett’s birth. As any smart attorney, he’d kept everything. And although Scarlett couldn’t make out those papers, the language nothing from human origin. Volos pulled out a few pages and flipped through them quickly, his eyebrows going higher by the second.
“We rushed here without anyone translating for us.”
“Rushed here?” Volos gave a look to the Gryph. “Master Fedor is known for his speed.”
Clearly skeptical and irritated, Volos gestured for Isla and Scarlett to sit. In old world charm, he waited until they did so before he took a chair behind a gold embossed desk. This, Scarlett found odd. He respected women with old chivalry, yet he’d just backed her against a mantle while thoroughly invading her perso
nal space. But it wasn’t prudent to her longevity to point out the prince of vampires flaws.
Ten pages later, Volos slowed down, appraising a document twice over. “You were born in my realm,” his voice drilled through the quietness of the room, “in my very home.”
Isla leaned forward, her hand gripping his desk. “Scarlett was born in your castle?”
“Yes.” He lifted a page of oddly colored parchment, of which a bronze and crimson seal glimmered at the bottom. Next to the seal shone a grand and sprawling signature written in a rust.
“Is that blood?” Scarlett blurted before accepting the document from his outstretched hand.
“My son’s blood, yes,” he replied. “How do humans sign their documents, in withering ink?”
“They do.” Scarlett blinked away from the intensity of his stare and studied the parchment. Tiny feet were stamped at the top, but, thankfully, not in blood. She traced her finger over her tiny toes, then squinted at words she couldn’t begin to make out. If only Sage were here to tell her of her past, instead of pulling it from Volos’ lips.
“Apparently, your mother belonged to my son, Extol, as one of his Donors,” he explained casually as he thumbed through more documents.
“I was told that she killed herself.”
“Yes, she’s buried in front of the Donor’s hall.”
Scarlett took a fortifying breath and asked, “Is your son my father?”
“No, and consider yourself lucky.” His eyes flipped up to hers, his power a scary, awesome thing. “Extol was nothing more than a disease on this monarchy, a halfling bastard I couldn’t begin to heal. He fractured so completely that he,” Volos stopped, then softened his voice. “Your father isn’t listed here. But at least Extol did one thing right, allowing this transaction.” He tapped a document with his index finger. “It says here that once the Lovci deemed you were not a Donor, Bestra Rudavin, in fact, adopted you. I see that you have no siblings, and there’s no other mention of your biological father, if that concerns you. But from your scent, he was entirely human. And since your mother lived in court, the only humans allowed are Donors. Odd that you turned out without the blood for my kind.”
“All I care about right now, is that my mates are up for execution,” she blurted.
Slowly, he placed all papers aside and leaned in his chair, his fingers moving to steeple beneath his chin. “Mercenaries get no chances. Lovec killers get no chances.” He glared at Isla. “So if Isladora implied that I would excuse your intended mates’ criminal records because your mother served the Dynasty, then you have been fed false hope.”
Isladora cleared her throat. “I must do something. If it weren’t for Sage, I wouldn’t have made it.”
“You mean that if it weren’t for someone hiring Sage and his mercenaries for millions of dollars, you would still be serving another court.”
“From the beginning, I shouldn’t have been in any court.”
“We’ve been around this a few times too many, Isladora.” Volos sighed. “Even though you were illegally taken — ”
“Forgive me, Sire,” Isla corrected, wiping a tear. “But I was abducted while attending school. Illegally taken makes it sound like someone jaywalked downtown. And even though you and I disagree on what constitutes fair treatment of Donors and the gilded cages in which they live, I think you’re still fair… sometimes.” She fisted her hands on her lap. “I’m starting to hope that you see humans as more than walking, talking vending machines, or bedtime toys.”
Volos bared his fangs. “I find myself suddenly parched.”
Isla stilled in the way cats do before they pounce, but to her credit, she didn’t make a mad dash for the door. “It is always my honor to feed you, Sire,” she offered in clipped tones.
He licked the front of his teeth. “So you still understand your place here?”
“Yes, a privileged place.”
“Then, we’re agreeing on something?”
“Yes, sire.”
“Very well, I have many dignitaries arriving this evening.” He pointed to the door. “Since you were so eager to come here and feed me, you’ll attend our gathering in the grande dining room to offer your vein for my dinner.”
“Very well.” Isla stood and reached for the papers, but he flattened his hand on them. “Go to the Donor hall and find something red and flowing to wear.” He added with a dangerous smile, “You don’t know this yet, but I tend to feed messily when I’m pissed off.”
Her mouth a grim line, Isladora offered her hand to Scarlett.
“Do not worry about Scarlett.” Volos stood. “Master Fedor will escort her home. That is, after we have a private chat.”
When the door closed behind Isla, Volos walked around the desk and sat on the ledge. It was such a human gesture. She figured it was entirely manufactured to make him appear more approachable, which was laughable.
“When vampires live for untold years, they accumulate unimaginable wealth. Most utilize it well. Others? They hire mercenaries to break my laws.”
“Last week, Edik took a female forcefully. Not for your monarchy, but for himself, maybe for one of his blood clubs,” she added. “If you pretend those things aren’t happening — ”
“I never pretend anything of the sort.”
“But those laws you guard so readily are protecting Gryphs and Lovci who use your name to commit illegal atrocities. They’re worse than any mercenary because they’re on the wrong side of the law. Sage and Roman aren’t. And the dead Lovec, Vun, was trying to take me for himself. He was chomping at my throat until Sage got him off me.”
“I have no witness for what happened to Vun except for where his body was found and whose blade was found in him. As far as law abiding mercenaries go, many are also staying on the wrong side of the law,” he argued patiently. “Your Sage and Roman might not be tempted by tainted money; I have no idea. But others are, and they commit crimes that would make underworld blood clubs look like a human’s church on Sunday.”
Defeat hit her square in the heart, but Scarlett sucked up her tears. “So you’re the highest authority to which I can argue my case, and you’re shooting me down.”
“Not exactly.” He brought another document from the file. “Your mother was brought to my realm, courtesy of Vampyr Vojak Sage Noskov. According to these documents, on the day she arrived, Scarlett - as was also her name — arrived with ten other Donors. Sage and Roman presented them to court, begging for their care and placement. They’d previously been abused and malnourished while in the hands of blood club peddlers.”
“Sage rescued my mother?” She lifted fingertips to her forehead, rubbing. “He never told me.”
“I doubt he wanted you to know how your mother suffered, before she arrived here.”
“Yet she still suffered under your son’s hand, or she wouldn’t have killed herself.”
He tapped another pile of documents that had been on the desk when Scarlett and Isladora arrived. “That’s one of the reasons I’m considering a stay of execution for Roman and Sage.”
“You would really consider it?”
“Contrary to what you may think, I never execute any vampire without extensive knowledge of his or her works, especially a rare Vampyr Vojak. I’ve discovered that your mother’s grouping wasn’t the only recovery Sage and Roman made for the Dynasty. So far, I’ve counted more than one hundred Donors saved and brought to court by them.”
“Were all of them suffering prior to coming here?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Without thinking, she dared, “Then you’re not protecting them.”
Master Fedor shook his head, giving her an ‘I can’t save you from your own stupidity’ look.
But to Fedor and Scarlett’s complete shock, Volos admitted, “You’re absolutely right. Unless they are inside my court, I’m unable to protect them. These past couple of years, I have made whatever retributions for what some of my greedy underlings have done.”
“
But prevention is the key.”
“Yes,” Volos agreed. “Therefore, I’m stepping up my efforts with Donors.”
“You could make headway by imprisoning Edik.”
“So far, I only have hearsay,” Volos replied. “The only two witnesses who say Edik is involved are deemed mercenaries and are awaiting execution.”
“But - ”
“You may not think I answer to anyone, but I do — to my people.” He lifted a hand, almost helplessly. “I can’t execute one vampire and look the other way for another, no matter what good came from their illegal exploits.”
“In the human court of law, we’re given time to gather more evidence.”
“I’m familiar with your human judicial system, was around before it took root.” He shrugged with an elegant lift of his shoulders. “So that’s where this stay of execution comes in. Let’s just say I will release them on bond for twenty-four hours.”
“Twenty-four hours!” Scarlett sputtered, her heart dropping to her knees. “Edik is — ”
“Then we can forget it.”
Shit! “No, twenty-four hours, I’ll take anything.” She chewed her lip, thinking. “Can you let me talk to Sage or Roman? On my own, I doubt I have enough money for your required bond.”
A booming laugh sounded from the corner, Fedor’s topaz eyes gleaming right along with his laughter.
Volos shushed him, “She knows nothing of our world. Pipe down, Fedor.” To Scarlett he explained, “It would mean nothing for Sage and Roman to lose money. My subjects would also find that prospect laughable. What I would need is a surefire reason for them to return here in twenty-four hours, even if they have not acquired any acceptable evidence for which to free them of my death sentence.”
It’s as though he hit Scarlett upside the head. “I’m the bond, huh?”
Chapter 18
“He seriously couldn’t have even given us a week?” Scarlett nagged Master Fedor as they walked down a long corridor flanked by Gryph Younglings. Some of them raising eyebrows at the way Scarlett addressed their Master Gryph, but she had no time to worry over etiquette, because time was literally running out. “What’s this twenty-four hour business?”
