Ferris Braden [Beyond the Marius Brothers 6] (8 page)

BOOK: Ferris Braden [Beyond the Marius Brothers 6]
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* * * *

The next morning Rylan was a wreck. We did everything we could to keep him distracted, including but not limited to a few blow jobs after dragging him somewhere private. Onah and I understood. The fate of his people rested with the High Council meeting that morning and the outcome.

I was actually
relieved
when his phone started ringing with calls from contractors and possible cargo planes to rent. But I winced when my phone rang and I saw it was Desmond’s number.

“I couldn’t get Rylan on the line so I’m assuming he’s on his phone,” he said by way of greeting. “You need to get him down here to speak to the High Council. It’s not going how we thought it would.”

“What do you mean?” I asked as I motioned for Onah to get the car by driving a pretend wheel.
“They want him to sign an agreement on how much blood his people will provide and make it so if things change and they won’t give it, they’re back out on their asses,” Desmond grumbled. “It was different with the wolves. They’re seen as strong and fast, an asset. The fact that margays shift into a tiny cat is clouding their judgment. Warn him that this is going to be hairy.”
“On it. Please, Desmond, just stall them and Rylan will be fabulously persuasive.”
“I’ll do my best. Elena’s chewing into them right now.” I hung up with him and grabbed Rylan’s hand, my mate still talking away on the phone as he looked at me as if I was mad. Just as we got outside, Onah pulled up with my SUV and we traded spots. He got in the back as Rylan climbed in the front. I took off as soon as everyone was strapped in and while I wasn’t going a hundred miles per hour as Rylan had in his little sports car… It was pretty damn close to that number.
“What is going on?” Ry asked me the moment he was off the phone.
“Desmond called, there’s a problem.” I quickly outlined what Desmond had told me.
“I need a gun,” he replied. I glanced at him in shock, accidentally swerving the SUV onto the shoulder before getting it back on the road.
“You are
not
shooting anyone!” I exclaimed.
“No, not to shoot them,” he chuckled, rolling his eyes. “To prove a point about what kind of assets we can be.”
“Okay, I’ll grab one from the gun hold when we get there,” I agreed quietly, meeting Onah’s gaze in the rearview mirror. He simply shrugged. Hell if I knew what was going on either.
It was a nerve-wracking forty-minute drive but when we finally pulled up to the Council’s compound, I was almost jittery. We quickly hopped out and I showed them where the gun hold was. Rylan picked out what he wanted and I signed it out.
When we got to the Council’s official courtroom, Onah took over, having grown up with a monarchy and knowing what to do.
He knocked sharply three times and opened the door. “King Rylan Zeev of the margays.” Rylan gave him a grateful nod and strolled right in, the gun tucked into the back of his dress pants.
“Thank you for coming, King Rylan,” Elena said loudly as she stood.
“You invited him?” Councilman Abbot growled. “How are we supposed to have a
private
meeting and discuss this openly with him here?”
“You can still discuss it openly, Councilman,” Rylan answered smoothly. “I am simply here to be a firsthand source to any and all questions you might have. If you wish me to step outside after I’m done to make your final points and decision, I would understand that completely. I simply agreed with Councilwoman Marius that since I hadn’t the chance to tell her all that my people can bring to your coven, it would be difficult to paint an accurate picture.”
“I didn’t know there was more,” the Councilman hedged as his expression changed to something more curious.
“Do you always show your full hand when dealing with people you aren’t sure are your friends?” Rylan asked with a chuckle. “The vampires haven’t thrived by giving away all their secrets. The only thing I ask is until we come to a decision that everything I say be kept in the strictest of confidences.”
They all glanced at each other and nodded. “You have our agreement to that, your highness,” Desmond said with a slight smile. “What didn’t we know to tell the High Council?”
Rylan smiled and grabbed a pen from a nearby table and walked toward the far wall, pausing when he saw Queen Magdalena. “My apologies, your highness. I didn’t know you would be here or I would have greeted you formally.”
“Since we are now part of this coven, I was given a High Council seat,” she explained, giving Rylan a wink. “We’re past formalities, my dear Rylan.”
“I’m glad you feel that way. I can’t stand such protocols once becoming friends with someone.”
“You’re not like your father,” Councilman James hedged as he glanced between them.
“No,” Rylan chuckled, shaking his head. “My father, god grant him peace, was pompous and elitist. He was a good man who cared greatly for his people and loved his family but a few hundred years of being treated like the bottom of the food chain by other supernaturals drove him to start seeing things differently. We argued on many things, including the fact we were so secluded and stayed out of the fight against enemies.”
“You believed that demons were a threat to you as well?” Elena asked, already having known the answer.
“I believe that what is a threat against anyone in our world is a threat against all, Councilwoman.” She nodded her approval and he walked over to the wall, marking it with the pen. I couldn’t even see the dot he’d put on there given I was about fifty feet away.
Rylan ran across the room, moving faster than I’d ever seen a shifter go.
“We heard you were faster than the wolves,” Councilman James said with wide eyes. “I couldn’t even see you. One minute you were there and then you were across the room.”
“We’re small but we are the fastest breed of shifter there is,” he explained before turning to Onah and me. “How many demons did I kill yesterday?”
“Dozens,” I answered, shocked at the point he was keeping up. “I lost count but I would say as many as I did. You were accurate in every shot and your gun handling excellent.”
“Thank you, my mate.” He gave me a smile and in a flash, pulled out the gun, aiming it faster than I could see, and fired until the clip was empty. We all watched as bullet after bullet struck the
exact
same spot on the wall. “None of you could see that dot I put on there, could you?”
“No, and I’m not all that far away,” Desmond said, his eyes wide. “You could see it?”
“Margays have hypervision, so just like vampires have a gift they can use as they want, we have some. I saw it like it was right in front of me when I focused and used my vision like that.”
“Impressive but I’m not sure that would be a benefit, Rylan,” Queen Magdalena said slowly. “I’m assuming there’s more to your point.”
“Always, your highness.” He gave her a wink and smiled as he moved back into the center of their seats so they could all see him. “My mate said my weapons handling was impressive.” He glanced over to me then. “How much training do you think I’ve had with guns? We went to the gun hold and I picked this one up, knew how to check it, and turn on the safety, right?”
I thought about that for a moment, realizing there was a point he wanted me to make so I went with complete honesty. “I’ve seen warriors after they complete training handle a weapon like that. You’ve been taught well.”
“I haven’t been taught at all, my dear mate,” Rylan chuckled, giving me a wink. “Yesterday was the first time I picked up a gun.”
“That’s not possible,” I gasped, my eyes going wide.
“It is when you can look at something mechanical and simply ‘get it.’ It’s just how our brains work along with our sight. I can look at a computer, open it up, and it’s exactly what I saw in my mind when I see it.” He faced the High Council again. “I was told about your ultraviolet bullets and security. You show that to one of my people and we can improve on it with barely a thought.
“We’re very artistic and with that comes a certain degree of thinking outside the box. We play with something, like a puzzle, until it’s more effective. We just didn’t know about the ability to harness sunlight.” He took a deep breath before saying his next point. “I met with Bas and his grandmother last night because Onah had told Ferris and I that the demons are starting to kidnap shifters.”
“Yes, we know about that and his honor was supposed to discuss something with us today but the issue of whether to let your people in our coven last night or not came first,” Councilman Abbot said curiously. “What do you know about that?”
“I know why they aren’t going after the wolves,” Rylan drawled. “Certain shifters’ blood, and I won’t tell you which ones and betray their confidence without speaking to them first, allows demons to walk in the sun. The effect wears off as their blood leaves their system and they won’t be able to walk down the Vegas strip in the middle of the day, but they won’t burst into flames from the sun.
“It’s a good point to bring up since you really won’t want my people falling into their hands and losing that advantage over them. That’s what I was discussing with Barnabas last night, at great personal risk. My father didn’t want anyone to know because if it was common knowledge with the vampires and if there was a traitor or someone turned demon, then we’d be the first ones they’d come after. You want us on your side.”
“That sounded like a vague threat,” Councilman James accused. “Are you saying if we don’t let you in the coven you’ll make a deal with the demons?”
“They just murdered my parents and people who I grew up with, my best friend and godson included,” Rylan said with a growl. “I’m not going anywhere near the demons unless it’s to kill them. If that’s how you took my comment, it was not my intention but don’t you accuse me of being willing to align with those monsters.”
“I’m sorry, you’re right. I just thought the implication of a threat was in your tone.”
“No, I don’t threaten to get my way.” Rylan took a deep breath and calmed back down. “Are there any other questions?”

Chapter 8
Rylan

“We were considering letting your people into our coven and providing security if you agree to a certain amount of blood donation. A safe amount of course and we’d need to discuss it with Dr. Johnson as to what that means, but nothing that leaves your people weak or hurting,” Councilman James said easily. “It would be a contract of your providing the blood to be in our coven and if it stopped, the contract would end and you would no longer be allowed here.”

“First off, I could buy land around here and build no matter what you decide,” I said darkly, rage boiling inside of me even though I’d been aware of what they’d wanted. “The Queen has already offered help in any form so if we had problems, her warriors would come to our aid. Is that not what we discussed, your highness?”

“Yes, yes we did, King Rylan,” she answered, smiling widely. I wanted to pump my fist in the air.
“But here I am, going through the proper channels, making sure to not step on any toes, and offering something from my people to help the community. And you’re going to treat us like
food
?”
“That’s not what I said—”
“No, sir, but you know very well that’s what you’re asking. We provide the amount of blood
you
specify or we’re out. That’s not a community. That’s not how a pack or coven works if we are to survive the threat on all of us. We would gain safety being in your coven and just as we benefit I wanted to make sure you as a people did too. I thought up a way to make your warriors stronger as your own doctor has tried.
“You were told that our blood doesn’t have the libido side effect and now you want to
require
it of us like cattle providing meat. I will not degrade my people like that and nor should I be asked to. We have other covens offering us a place with them for all that we bring to the table. You have a coven of artists that just joined your ranks, did you not?”
“Yes we did,” Elena agreed, her expression approving of how I was handling this.
“Ask me one of the
many
ways my people make their fortunes?”
“I’ll play,” the Queen chuckled. “How are your people so wealthy, King Rylan?”
“We own most of the art galleries around the world, taking different names for them but all under several corporations. My people are artistic and we sell what we create. I personally have a multimillion-dollar deal with Ikea to provide them with my photographs that they turn into prints. They sell by the thousands because of the eye I have and the way I can see things. We have sculptors that can make a perfect replica of anyone here in a day.
“Do you have any idea how much an art collector pays for such a thing? My mother’s Italian landscapes went for five figures a painting and if she got the whim over a weekend, she could create dozens of them. That’s who my people are. And they are loyal. Pompous at times, and not without pride, but the moment I asked them if they’d be willing to donate blood to help the fight we were now entering with the demons they had only one question.”
I looked to Ferris then, hoping he would stand up for me when I needed him. It was silly to even have wondered. My mate would do the right thing and was loyal to a fault the way I’d witnessed some people treating him.
“Their only concern was whether we’d look at them as only food or not. I assured them that vampires were better than that, more appreciative and noble than that. But apparently I was wrong and with all due respect, the High Council is forgetting one major point.”
“What’s that, Ferris?” Councilman Abbot asked hesitantly, not sure where this conversation was heading.
“The King is my mate. He’s already part of this coven under our laws.”
“That’s not the debate, Ferris. We recognize him as your mate and he’s welcome. This is about
all
his people who want sanctuary.”
I smiled widely at him, that smile promising that he was going to be rewarded later. “Might I see this law? I wonder something.”
“Of course you can,” Elena answered quickly before someone else could deny me. I needed to know one thing before I tried a different approach. I didn’t want to burn this bridge that had been created with some of the coven already. She stood and walked over to a row of bookshelves, reading the sides for a moment, and pulled one out. As she walked to me, she flipped through it and glanced over some pages before smiling. “Here is the section in our laws about mates automatically becoming part of any coven the vampire resides in.”
“Thank you, Elena. Oh, and I heard Remus say he accidently broke one of your favorite vases. Bevin is a wonderful glassblower and the designs he comes up with would complement any room. I’m sure he’d love to show you his collection at the palace when we go to pack it up.”
“I do like well-crafted vases and glasswork,” she agreed, giving me a wink. “Thank you, your highness. That’s very kind of you.”
“Says the woman who welcomes sixty people in her home at the drop of a hat. You’re amazing, Elena.” I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before accepting the book from her. I looked it over for a moment, desperate to find what I needed. My eyes practically bugged out of my head with what I found instead. I couldn’t help my reaction, joy filling me in epic proportions. I threw back my head and laughed until I had to set the book down and grabbed my sides.
“What is so funny?” Councilman James growled. I tried to calm down but every time I took a breath, I’d just start laughing again.
Elena shrugged and went back to the book. “I don’t know. It says,
anyone mated to a vampire and consummated the mating will be allowed into the vampire’s home coven. Along with the mate, any family said mate might have, not limited to blood-related children, but also anyone that is deemed dependent on said mate.

“I’m King,” I gasped as I wiped tears out of my eyes. I took another deep breath before explaining. “All my people are dependent on me as your people depend on your High Council. This whole meeting is a moot point. My people are already in your coven, our mating has been consummated.”
“Why is that still so funny?” Elena asked me as the rest of the High Council whispered.
“Because I was looking to see if your laws covered my baby brother. Worse case I would give you or the Queen guardianship over him if I had to leave with my people to check out our other options. And then I read that,” I answered.
“You’d give up your own brother?” Bas asked, hushing everyone else with a wave of his hand. “Why?”
“Because Queen Magdalena and Elena Marius gave my brother a look I knew well, having seen it on my own mother’s face many times. They would protect Paolo with their very lives if it came down to that. I would as well, but if we find another home, there will be growing pains and I wouldn’t have the immediate support I’ve found here. Yes, I’d temporarily give him up to make sure he was safe. I love him and that means doing whatever is necessary to make sure he lives.”
“Anyone want to deny a King with that kind of devotion and his people into our coven?” Bas asked, smiling like the cat who ate the canary. Everyone shook their heads and some seemed relieved that the issue was over. “Good. King Rylan, I hereby decree that you and any of your people who wish to reside in this coven as full members of the community can. Welcome, Ry.”
“Thanks, Bas. And my offer to supply your warriors with blood still stands.”
“Why would you do that when our own laws let you into this coven?” Councilman James asked, looking at me with a whole new respect.
“Because I meant what I said about community. For all my people’s faults, we believe in pack. There is nothing we won’t give to help someone in our pack and our blood can help the people we are to live and fight side by side with. And I will grant Brian and Banning O’Hagan the additional land they need to keep providing food to this coven now that your numbers have more than doubled.”
And just like that, it was over.
We stuck around for a little bit, mostly thanking Elena, Desmond, Queen Magdalena, and Bas for their help. After that, the next madness began. As Ferris drove to the farm I wanted to buy, I was emailing the heads of the packs of my people, letting them know what had happened. I also got several e-mails from Desmond’s friends that my people were welcome to join their covens.
I’d have to look into each of those covens, but for now, I gave the packs closest to those covens permission to approach them. Of course, I added that I wanted to be kept in the loop on what was going on and to let me know of any issues immediately.
When we got to the farm, I smiled at the nice older couple who were kind enough to not balk at the fact that we just
dropped
in and didn’t even call.
“Again, I apologize for coming unannounced. When your neighbors told me you might be selling your land, they didn’t mention an asking price.”
“The man we talked to at the realtor’s office told us we should ask for a million two,” he answered. “But we haven’t signed with them yet so we’d be willing to go slightly lower to not have to pay the commission fee.”
I nodded, appreciating their honesty and knowing that was still low for the worth of this land given it was very fertile from the crops we’d seen. “May I ask why you’re selling? I can see you’ve put a lot of love into the land and your home.”
“Our son died overseas last year,” the woman whispered. “We were always going to give it to him but now there’s no one. His wife doesn’t want it, and we can’t keep it going until our grandson
might
want it.”
“I’m very sorry for your loss,” I said gently. “I lost my parents recently. That’s why I’m moving. The warring going on has left my home unsafe for my people.”
“Are you like the nice boys with the fangs?” she asked as if it was no big deal. I almost fell off my chair as my head snapped to Ferris. He shook his, signaling they weren’t in the loop. “Oh please. I’ve lived on this land all my life. Most of the town knows about the vampires but they’re not the ones of legend and they’re some of the nicest people we’ve ever met. We won’t ever tell anyone.”
“I’m not a vampire. I’m a margay shifter, but yes, that’s why. The same enemy the vampires fight slaughtered my parents yesterday. I need to move my people and keep them safe.”
“I’m sorry for you. No one should ever have to go through losing someone they loved like that. I like the idea of our land helping people who need refuge, but I need to know if you will still use it for farming. It’s such good, nutrient-rich land, that it seems a waste to only build on it,” the man asked hesitantly.
“Part of it I’m going to give to the vineyard next door. There will be extensive gardens as my mother had and lots of the land will be kept intact because we’re a people of nature and need to run. Basically I’m going to try and recreate the palace my parents had in Italy as much as I can here without drawing too much suspicion.”
“Good, that sets our minds at ease. Is the price acceptable or should we talk turkey?”
“No, it’s not enough. I’ll give you three million and you can set up your grandson for life after you travel and enjoy the world after working so hard all your lives.” They both stared at me with wide eyes for several minutes and I felt the need to squirm. “Or, if you want to. It was just a suggestion.”
“This isn’t a prank?” she whispered and I realized the shock was for the money.
“No, ma’am. I’ll call your attorney and have the money wired in an escrow account in five minutes if you want.”
“Oh we won’t be ready to move right away.”
“Take all the time you need. This part of the property I was going to give to your neighbors anyways. I was hoping for a tour for the rest of your land to see the best building site. You don’t have to leave now as long as we can start building and getting crews out here.”
They shared a glance and smiled at me. “We have a deal.”
We shook on it and then the man gave us a quick tour. I found the perfect site, by a large stream, and smiled. My mother would have loved this place.
When that was done, I called my lawyer and gave him the contact name and number of their lawyer and said I wanted it done immediately so the couple knew this was a real deal. After that it was a flurry of setting up appointments with builders and warning them it would be a very fast, immediate, and large project even though winter was coming.
Then we stopped over at Brian and Banning’s and told them what I was doing. I apologized for having eavesdropped but since I didn’t know them then, it wasn’t like I’d been doing it to buy the land out from under them. They were very gracious about it and happy to have the extra land they needed.
Next it was a meeting with the survivors from the attack on the palace telling them everything that was going on. I named Bevin my advisor, much to his shock. His first order of business was to coordinate the packing of the palace with our people and the Queen’s help.
After that, I went to go check on my brother, thanking Cynthia once again for her help. I’d have to get a full-time nanny because there was no way I’d be able to take care of him like he needed and be King and be a good mate. It just wasn’t happening. I asked Elena Marius if she wouldn’t mind asking around if anyone with experience was looking for the work. She agreed and by then it was so far past lunch, I realized my stomach and head hurt.
I hadn’t even gotten breakfast. We ate and checked in with everyone, making sure there were no issues. But then I was exhausted. Like bone-weary, mind-numbingly exhausted and I ended up falling asleep at the table in the middle of a conversation with my mates and checking e-mail. Smooth move, I know.

BOOK: Ferris Braden [Beyond the Marius Brothers 6]
8.25Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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