Fatal Circle (6 page)

Nana sank into the chair. “No.”

“That’s what the old witch said was all the trouble. Why would you go ahead and do whatever that is?” Johnny asked.

“It means she’d be the witch at the beck and call of the vampire, before all his court,” Sam answered.

Johnny shook his head. “No way.”

“Johnny.”

“She said his grip was crushingly tight on you! He’s reeling you in more! Can’t you see that?”

My nails raked through my hair. I needed to tell him the truth
now
. But not in front of Nana and Sam.

“She
will
be safe there, in his house,” Samson said.

“Safe? Surrounded by bloodsuckers?”

“Safe from the fairies,” Sam clarified.

Johnny exuded defiance. “How is it safer there than here with the wards?”

“The vampire’s house is surrounded by asphalt and is made of iron. Two things the fairies can’t tolerate. Here, twenty acres of rural farmland. Fairy heaven.”

Their conversation was fast enough it kept me from interrupting. Johnny ended it by snatching the phone and smacking it closed. I think he wanted to throw it across the room, but he knew it couldn’t get too far from me. He handed it to me almost reluctantly.

“It’ll have to be a public ceremony,” I said to Nana.

“Oh, my god,” Johnny cut in. “He does have a hold on you!”

“He does not! She said that to make the rest of what she said convincing. If you’ll let me explain it to you—”

Nana interrupted, “A public ceremony is dangerous, Seph.”

My head was reeling.

“Sam just said she’d be safe there. Do you mean she’s not?” I could count on Johnny to jump on any angle that might keep me from Menessos.

Nana answered, “Not all the Lustrata’s enemies are fey.”

“Maybe we can use this,” I said, “to draw those enemies out.” I bit my lip, considering. “But Nana, as soon as we make the announcement, you have to go to the press and make it public that you’re renouncing me over it.”

Before she could protest, Johnny did. “No one will care about that! What grandmother wouldn’t renounce her granddaughter when she becomes the Erus-thingy-witch of a vampire?”

“If the fairies believe we’ve had a falling-out,” I said, “they’ll be less inclined to try any repeat kidnappings.”

Nana snorted and crushed the filter into the ashtray. “The fairies won’t believe, ‘Oh, I’m so disappointed in her, I never want to see her again.’ It’s too simple.”

A lump rose in my throat trying to keep me from saying what had to come next. I swallowed down. “They’ll believe it if you out me to the media.” That silenced them both. “The true identity of the Lustrata, to those in the know, will be revealed.”

“You didn’t want that,” Nana said.

“Which is why it’ll work.”

“No.” Nana shook her head. “You’re not just saying, ‘Hey, here’s your chance!’ to Menessos’s enemies and human opposition in general. You’re telling the Lustrata’s enemies where to find you and opening the doors.”

“But it’s shutting the doors on you and Beverley becoming leverage used to get at me.”

“That’s
too
dangerous, Red.” Johnny’s voice was tight. “That could get you killed.”

“Exactly. It’s not information Nana would give lightly. It should be proof enough that we are truly through with each other. She’s practically inviting someone to kill me.”

She smacked the arm of the chair. “I won’t do it!”

“Nana, you have to.”
Goddess, I hope I know what I’m doing.
“It’s the only way to buy your safety and Beverley’s.”

“Buying our lives with yours is too high a price.” Nana sank back into the cushiony chair. “Going public is the last thing you wanted,” she croaked softly. “Now you’re giving it up to make yourself a target.”

Her tone left me squeezing back sudden burning tears. “I’m the one taking action, it should be my risk. Not yours. I’ll give it up gladly because that’s better than you or Beverley getting hurt.” My voice had gotten husky. “The advantage of making myself the target is
knowing
I’m the target. Believe me, I’ll be taking down names.”

Johnny crossed his arms. “I won’t cut you off. I won’t abandon you. I have no ties for them to exploit.”

I had to be honest. “Your career with the band could be ruined.”

He paused, but just for a second. “I don’t care. That Tarot reading Demeter did weeks ago said I’d have to sacrifice something in order to gain something else of greater value.” He gripped my arms as Menessos had done in the cellar. “I pick you.”

His gesture, too, was sincere, and I felt protected
by
him, not protective
of
him. I expected the Domn Lup to ably protect himself as well as me.

“How can you be sure about this?” Johnny squeezed just a little more.

“The witches have absolutely no presence in Menessos’s haven.” I slid the protrepticus into my pocket. “So whether it was an Elder or a contestant, they’re cut off from me and that will keep me from being an easy target.”

“Red, the witches don’t worry me.”

“They should. Many of them fear the Lustrata will make things worse for witches. They’ll work hard to stop that from happening. Someone has already taken action, sharing info with the fairies. When I’m inducted into the vampire’s court, that’s a ceremony they have no cause to want to see. If any of them show up, we’ll know something is awry.”

“Yeah, I know you can handle that. But the vamp will have all the time in the world to manipulate you. Can’t you be safe without having
another
tie to him?”

“Johnny, please trust me, he does not have a hold on me.” I tried to let him see in my expression how valid that statement was. “This is a minimal tie, considering. And I have to talk to you about the stain. It’s different than you think it is.” The fewer people who knew it was a hex, the better. “Perhaps upstairs?”

He brightened considerably. “Alone in your bedroom?” He leaned down for a kiss.

“Sheesh.” Nana stood and shuffled off to the kitchen with her ashtray.

Johnny’s lips were soft, but he hadn’t shaved this morning. The stubble was rough on my skin in a good way. My fingers trailed over his cheeks. When the kiss ended, he said, “I am your protector. Where you go, I go.”

“You’d follow me to Menessos’s court?”

“I’d follow you into hell, Persephone.”

My thoughts ran to Nana’s Tarot reading he’d mentioned. Hermes was the Magician on the last card, the final outcome. The Magician was an inner guide that sometimes directs one to perilous and wearisome places, but only to point out the potential one has.

“Havens probably have rules like covens and dens do. No matter what, we’ll find a way for you to be there. My acceptance of the title will be subject to your acceptance there, too.” In one version of the mythology, it was Hermes who rescued Persephone from the underworld where she was the prisoner of Hades. Maybe Johnny would be the one to get me out.

“Actually,” came Menessos’s voice from the hallway. “The Erus Veneficus is allowed a pet.”

CHAPTER SIX

“How the hell—” Johnny sputtered. “Didn’t that old witch tuck you in before she left?”

“As a matter of fact”—Menessos gave him a sly smile—“she did not.”

“The sun’s up!”

“But behind those thick rain clouds.” Menessos wiped at his wet shoulders. As if on cue, lightning cracked like a whip and a boom of thunder echoed. The rain responded: the light sprinkle became a downpour.

“Fucking great,” Johnny muttered.

He must have thought Menessos was making a display of his power. And boyfriends generally didn’t like other guys showing off in front of their girls.
Yup. I used the B-word.

“I will have my people make the announcement immediately.” Menessos ran a hand over his rain-damp hair; the waves had tightened into curls. “I’ll see to it they commence preparations immediately. May I use your phone? The battery seems to have died on my cell phone.”

“In the kitchen.” I pointed. He walked down the hall.

Johnny turned his back to the painting over the fireplace and crossed his arms.

“I won’t let him reduce you to a pet,” I said.

“There has to be a way around this. Living with him can’t be the only solution.” His jaw was set. “The waere aren’t a part of this at all. You’d be safer with them, a neutral party. Besides, they owe you. You’ve kenneled anyone who ever needed it.”

“Opening my cellar door to protect people on the outside isn’t the same as asking the waere to shield me from the fey.”

“She’s right, Johnny,” Nana said. She must have vacated the kitchen when the vampire entered. “Waerewolves have no investment in this. Staying out of it costs them nothing, while aiding her might cost them a great deal.”

Johnny rolled his shoulders and let his arms straighten until his stance held less tension, but I saw it for what it was: a
pose
. “I could declare myself the Domn Lup.”

It was not a suggestion he made carelessly, so I considered it. But my heart knew it wasn’t the answer. “That would still only end with forcing them into a situation that would cost them.” Before anything else interrupted my telling him what he needed to be told, I moved toward the stairs. “Come on. Help me pack.”

My bed was still made from yesterday. The box the costume had arrived in still lay open on it. With a light shove, I pushed the box onto the pillows. I dug my suitcase from the closet and plopped it onto the bed, unzipping it open. The underwear from the dresser would go in first.
Mustn’t forget clean undies.

Johnny shut the bedroom door behind him. “You’re really going to pack up and move in with the vamp, just like that?”

“You packed up to avoid having to drive Nana’s LeSabre.”

“Touché. But guess what I took the kid to the bus stop in?”

I tossed cotton panties into the suitcase and strolled up to Johnny. “Thank you for that.” I curled one finger into the belt loop of his pants. “Let’s be clear: moving ‘in with the vampire’ and ‘into the vampire’s haven’ aren’t the same things. And, it’s temporary.” I tugged gently on the belt loop. “You are coming, right?”

“Nope.”

I went wide-eyed.

“I mean, what you’re fondling and tugging on is only my belt loop and that’s not nearly sensitive enough to make me—”

“Johnny. You know what I meant.”

He grinned. “Of course I’m coming with you.”

To continue the double entendres, I added, “I don’t mind coming first.”

“Oooo, nice one.”

“Score,” I said. “One to one.”

He pretended to chalk our points onto an air scoreboard. “Let the innuendo wars begin.”

“Bring it on.”

His arms encircled me and he whispered in my ear, “I’ll always put your needs first.”

I would’ve relished his embrace, but— “Hey” I said, shying out of the hug while letting my hands linger at his waist, “I need to tell you something. I’ve been neglecting telling you because the fewer people who know, the better. This is the first time I’ve had a chance to tell you. I can trust you to keep a secret, right?”

He straightened defensively. “Is there any reason to think you can’t?”

“You did steal and replace a certain magic stake, a decision that led to Sam’s death and Nana and Beverley’s abduction.”

Duly reprimanded, he relaxed his posture again. “It seemed like the right thing to do and for the right reason, Red. I had nothing to do with what Sam chose to do.”

It was a valid point. “No matter what, you can’t reveal this. Ever. Even if it seems like the right thing to do.”

“Okay.”

“Swear it.”

Johnny snorted. “I haven’t heard it yet.”

“
Swear
it.”

“Fine. I swear I won’t ever reveal the secret you’re about to tell me. Unless it has something to do with Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance, Jim Morrison’s death, or events on the infamous grassy knoll.”

That was probably as good an oath as I’d ever get. “Do you remember when I told you that I’d figured out my troublesome issue with the stain?”

“Yup. You told me not to ‘let any stab of jealousy wound me.’” He semisang the words I’d used. I poked him in the ribs. “What? I used it in some lyrics.”

I should have known.
I squeezed his waist with my fingers. He was so solid and firm muscled. I regretted Menessos’s interrupting us last night. “When I took Vivian’s stake into my hands . . .” I considered telling him the whole of it, but I’d put off these words too long already.
Short version
. “I flipped the binding. I didn’t know it at first, but it’s become very clear. Menessos isn’t my master. I’m his.”

Johnny blinked at me as that sank in. “You mean—”

“Yeah,” I said when he didn’t go on. “I’m not stained, so I’m not going to be manipulated by him. He’s hexed. I have power over him.”

Johnny launched into laughter. “Then there’s no need for you to become that tiara-wearing heiress-thing.”

“E-R-U-S. Air-oose. And, actually, there is. We have to keep everyone else thinking that he’s the master.”

“Why?”

“The fairies will want to hold him responsible for my actions anyway. If he’s the master, he’s responsible for my actions. It serves the purpose. And it’s my charge to keep things in balance, including the vampire balance. He’s perceived as a very powerful master. If he’s outmastered . . . you see all the trouble that would follow?”

“Sure, but why should we care if his cronies know you’re even more powerful than he is? That benefits you.”

“Lower vampires with a desire to move up might challenge him. It could cause an unending parade of challenges—”

“So?”

“So that wouldn’t help the balance.”

“Pendulum’s gotta swing, Red. Things may be better when the smoke of charred vamp bodies clears.”

I ignored the jibe. “Still, I’m his master, Johnny. I’m responsible for his safety, like I am for Beverley’s.”

“Uh-uh,” he said firmly. “Not ‘like’ Beverley’s. She’s a kid. He’s a master vamp. He can take care of himself.”

“The fey are going to try to kill him. I can’t sit idly by and let that happen. I can do something about it. I’m the Lustrata, I’m supposed to do something about it.”