Bad Blood (32 page)

She twisted to look at him, then quickly looked away. “You’re right. I didn’t mean it.”

He grabbed her arm. “Yes, you did. And I understand,
but feeling that way and saying it to me are two very different things.” He let her go, realizing that he was trembling and that she could feel it. “I have a bloody hard time controlling myself around you as it is.”

She tugged her robe back up and secured it. “I know. I shouldn’t have said it. Heat of the moment. Too much blood in my system. Won’t happen again.”

He stared at her, knowing he should keep his mouth closed but unable to. “The moment or the words?”

Pushing her sleeve up, she exposed her wrist. The next second she had the blade on her ring flicked out and was holding her arm over the glass. A sharp jab and blood flowed into the glass.

The dark, seductive aroma set him on fire, but he held still, waiting for her response. She didn’t say a word. “You’re not answering me?”

Without taking her gaze from what she was doing, she shook her head noncommittally. “I don’t know.” She sighed. “Maybe. Probably.”

“To which one?”

She bent her arm, pressing her thumb over the puncture mark, and stood. “You’d better drink that while it’s warm.” Then she walked away, leaving him unanswered.

He picked up the glass, the heat of her blood warming his hand immediately and making his jaw ache. As soon as he drank this, he’d get his answer, because there was still one kiss left.

T
atiana had sent Octavian to another part of the house while she waited alone in the living room. There was no need for him to witness whatever was about to happen, no need for him to be in harm’s way. Now that she was Dominus, the need to protect her small family had become a priority, regardless of how loyal Daci truly was. So far, she had done nothing to lose Tatiana’s trust, but her actions in Paradise City would go a long way toward cementing her place in Tatiana’s inner circle. She actually hoped Daci did well, and not just because Tatiana desperately wanted to close the comarré chapter of her life.

The hard truth was, Tatiana liked Daci. Maybe she wasn’t cut from exactly the same cloth, but they were very similar spirits. Letting someone in was dangerous, but then, she’d let Octavian in and up until a few weeks ago, he’d been a servant. Now he was her most trusted ally.

Her fingers worried the scrollwork on the chair’s carved arm. Had power made her soft? No, not soft. She was still capable of carrying out whatever had to be done. But power had shown her that she needed a few good people around her. Trusting Daci was a risk, but not such
a great one. Tatiana had been removing obstacles from her path since her formative human years. She lifted her metal hand, flipping her wrist out and transforming her fingers into blades, then back to fingers as she flicked them in toward her body. Removing obstacles now required less effort, but greater cunning.

Perhaps being Dominus would change her further. Mellow her. She laughed at the thought. If five centuries hadn’t mellowed her, nothing would.

The vile stench of brimstone and rotting flesh suffused the room, and the lamps grew dim as though something swallowed the light. She tucked her hands into her lap to keep from further digging her fingers into the chair’s arms. The Castus had arrived.

With great reverence for the creature who had just made her Dominus, she eased from her seat and kneeled without making eye contact. “My lord.” From her position near the floor, she could just see the crusted edges of his hooves.

His gnarled, raw-skinned hand appeared before her face.

She kissed his ring, careful not to touch his flesh.

“Arise, my child.”

She got to her feet, at last making eye contact briefly before looking down again. His penetrating gaze unsettled her. “Thank you, my lord, for your trust in me and for making me Dominus. I am humbled.”

“My child.” One curled nail tucked beneath her chin and lifted her head, forcing her to meet his eyes. “I saw promise in you the day you were turned.” He dropped his hand and began to pace, the shadows covering him from the waist down shifting with his movement like a funeral
shroud. “The ring…” He shook his head. “The ring is gone. Destroyed perhaps. I cannot sense its presence on this plane any longer.” He reached the fireplace and turned. “For that, we will punish the comarré whore who stole it, but for now, I have a greater mission for you.”

A greater mission? Trying to obtain the ring had almost cost her her life and had left her with a metal hand. “Yes, my lord.”

He smiled, a hideous stretching of skin that displayed an inhuman number of teeth. “Always willing. This is why I chose you.”

Had there been another who hadn’t been willing? They must not have lasted long. She tried to smile back, but in the face of his frightening glory, it was difficult to pretend even for her.

“Do you have someone around you whom you trust?”

Did he mean Daci or Octavian or both? If she said yes and either of them betrayed her, it could mean her death. No, it
would
mean her death. The Castus would not tolerate the betrayal. “Yes, my lord.”

“Good, because for this mission, you may need the help.” The shadows around him shifted. He raised a hand toward the door. The locks clicked shut. Then the shadows rose to cover him, completely blocking him from her view with a blackness that became an abyss in the middle of the room. Things moved within the abyss, dark, horrible things that stared back at her with red glinting eyes and open mouths.

The abyss closed. The shadows returned then drifted away. The Castus stood before her, a shadow-wrapped bundle in his arms. He held the bundle out to her. The shadows melted away.

His arms cradled a baby.

“Is… that a gift?” Newborn blood was supposedly delicious, but she’d been a mother once. That was a line even she wouldn’t cross.

“No, not a gift. This child is your mission. I want you to raise it for me.” He held the child out to her.

She took it reluctantly, and as she did, the child blinked and opened its mouth to cry.

Tiny pearl drop fangs gleamed between its lips.

Her own mouth opened in utter shock. “A vampire child? How is this possible?”

“It’s only half vampire. The other half is human. Until now, it wasn’t possible.”

She cradled the little vampling. How long had it been since the precious weight of a baby had filled her arms? A barrage of Sofia images clouded her brain and turned her eyes liquid. A baby. Of all things for the Castus to present her with, this was not one she would have ever guessed. “I’m again humbled by your faith in me.”

“You had a child, did you not?”

“Yes…” There was so much more to say and yet none of it did she wish to share with the Castus.

“Then raising this one should not be so difficult.”

“What’s its name?”

“Name?” He blinked. “Pick one. I do not care.”

No point in asking the sex of the child, then. “I will take the very best care of this charge.”

“I know. Because if you do not, I will kill you.” Smoke billowed up around him, increasing the stench of sulfur to almost unbearable levels. The Castus was gone.

The baby began to cry.

Lola stood behind the podium in the main foyer of city hall, the hastily gathered press waiting expectantly before her. She knew they thought they were here because of the three murdered women. They were going to be disappointed.

John Havoc’s brother, Luke, stood a few feet to her side. John had assured her he was a capable addition to her security team. Across from him was Chief Vernadetto, who’d been briefed on the way over but was only just grasping the reality of what was happening.

She took a breath and greeted the audience. “Thank you for coming today. My statement will be brief and only a few questions will be taken.” She glanced down at her notes, happy for the short respite from the glaring television camera lights. This announcement wouldn’t make her popular, but it might keep her city from dissolving into an irreparable nightmare. She hoped eventually the people would understand. She’d done her best to arrive at a compromise between what Creek wanted and what she thought would keep the citizens from rising up against her.

Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as she thought. She brought her head up and forced herself to look confident and mayoral. “A recent and credible threat against our city has made it necessary for all of tonight’s Halloween activities to be canceled and a curfew put in place.”

Murmurs of dissent rose from the press core. One person shouted out, “Miserable kids equal miserable parents, and parents vote.” Another: “What kind of threat? Is this because of the serial killer?” That comment brought more noise from the crowd.

She held her hands up, asking for peace to continue. She hated that they’d leaped right to the serial killer conclusion. That would only raise more panic.
“Trick-or-treating will be allowed from five p.m. to six-thirty p.m. Curfew begins at seven p.m. sharp. Any unauthorized persons out after that time will be considered dangerous and treated accordingly. Arrests will be made. Please understand that the Paradise City Police Department is handling this situation with all seriousness, and the safety of our citizens is their first priority. Help them do their job by staying inside. Thank you.”

A reporter from the
PC Pace
stuck his mike toward her. “Mayor White, is this threat because there’s a serial killer loose in Paradise City?”

She paused before leaning toward the microphone. “I cannot reveal anything that might damage the ongoing investigation, but I will say that this threat is of a homeland security nature.”

“Terrorism?” another reporter asked.

“We’re not labeling the threat in any way at this time.” She glanced at the chief. He nodded, having already agreed to back her decisions. She closed her remarks. “Thank you for your time.” With a cacophony of questions still raining down, she clicked off her lapel mike and stepped away from the podium.

Luke immediately moved between her and the crowd. “Your car’s waiting.”

“Thank you.” Luke and John could have been twins. Maybe they were. He went ahead of her, checking the exit before he let her out. The car idled at the sidewalk.

A group of kids, all in Halloween costumes, came charging around the corner. Luke put his hand out, holding her back.

“They’re just kids,” she scolded him.

A straggler in an odd little costume trailed behind the
rest. He veered toward them with a horrible laugh and a mouthful of teeth that looked surprisingly real. His tongue wagged out, eyes shimmering yellow.

Yellow? Before she could say anything, Luke pushed her toward the car. “Get inside.”

She stumbled, her hand making contact with the handle as the little beastie leaped toward Luke. He caught it by the throat. Its tail whipped out and opened a bloody line across his cheek. The next second, faster than she could follow, he had a dagger rammed up the creature’s sternum and was dropping it to the sidewalk.

It melted into a gooey, yellow-green puddle.

She took a step toward Luke. “That wasn’t a kid.”

“It might have been to start with, but by the time it got to us, it wasn’t anymore.” He stared at her, shaking his head slightly. “You should have canceled trick-or-treating, too.”

Creek had said cancel everything, but he didn’t understand what it took to run a city, to keep your constituents happy. “I didn’t think anything would happen until after dark.”

He glanced at the mess at his feet, then back at her. “Now you know better.” He stepped over the puddle and opened the car door. “Get in—you’re safer in there. We’re going straight to John and Creek, let them know what happened. You do know where they are, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Not exactly.

“Great. I just need to talk to maintenance, tell them not to let any of this get on their skin.”

She wanted to ask why but that could wait until later. “What was that thing? I mean, besides a formerly human child turned monster.”

“Goblin.” He shot a sideways look into the car’s interior.

She got in. The second he shut the door and headed back inside, she dialed her secretary. The office phones must be rattling the walls after that press conference.