Flesh And Blood: House of Comarre: Book Two (House of Comarre 2) (25 page)

He knocked at Dominic’s office door, not sure where else to start.

Doc opened it.

Not the person he’d expected to see, but apparently there was a lot of that going around today. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I could ask you the same thing, bro.’

‘Chrysabelle and I went to investigate those fringe deaths. Ran into a pack of Nothos on the wrong side of midnight. This was the closest shelter. You?’

‘Long story. Where’s Chrysabelle?’

‘I’m not sure.’ But he had an idea, which was the problem. A Mohawked slayer kind of problem.

‘You think she went back to the freighter?’

‘No.’ Call it a hunch.

‘Then why didn’t she come with—’

‘Out of the way.’ Mortalis pushed past Mal, a bound female form in his arms. ‘Help me get her unwrapped.’ He laid her on one of the couches and began to peel a layer of duct tape from the woman’s head.

‘Who is it?’ Mal asked.

‘Not sure. No one’s been reported missing. I’ve been helping out with security since Ronan disappeared and heard thumping coming from the storage room by Vanity. Found her.’ Every layer of tape Mortalis pulled off revealed another one. ‘If she’s a breather, she can’t have much time left.’

‘Stand back,’ Doc said. He popped a sharp claw from one finger and scored the casing down the middle.

‘Careful,’ Mortalis said.

‘I’m always careful with the ladies.’ Doc stood back. ‘I’ll unwrap her head while you two finish the body.’

Mortalis worked his fingers under one edge. ‘Take the other side, Mal.’

‘Got it.’ The tape was melded to the woman’s clothing, but he dug his fingers between the sticky layers. Together, he and Mortalis worked the tape loose.

‘Mother Bast,’ Doc whispered.

Mal looked up the same time Mortalis did.

Beneath the cocoon of duct tape lay a frightened and shivering Katsumi. Tear tracks streaked her eye makeup down the sides of her face and into her hair.

Mal shook his head. ‘That’s impossible. Katsumi was just in my bed.’

‘What?’ Doc and Mortalis both whipped around to look at him.

‘Not what you think.’ Mal grimaced. ‘And obviously it wasn’t Katsumi.’

She shook her head, forehead wrinkling in distress.

‘Then who? And why?’ Mortalis finished unwrapping the trembling fringe and helped her sit.

She clung to him, gripping his arm until her knuckles
whitened. She swallowed and tried to speak, but nothing came out. Her hand went to her throat.

‘Raw from screaming?’ Mortalis asked.

She nodded.

‘I’ll get you some tea.’ He looked at Mal. ‘Who was in your room?’

With a burning cold certainty, Mal knew how the woman in his bed had known just how to touch him to get the response she had, and how she had understood what the tease of fangs would do to him. Why he’d seen a flicker of silver in her eyes.

The name bit the tip of his tongue with a serpent’s venom, so he spat it out.

‘Tatiana.’

W
eak knocking roused Dominic. He’d been half awake anyway. He glanced at the clock. Six hours of daysleep. Hardly enough, but these days one took what one could get. He slipped out of bed, pulled a cashmere robe over his silk pajamas, and walked out to the sitting room.
‘Si.’

His manservant, Vertuccio, entered and bowed. ‘My lord, Ms. Tanaka is here to see you.’

‘
Si, si
. Send her in.’ Too bad Katsumi needed to be questioned. He was definitely
arrapato
– in the mood – but curse his libido, he had to find out about the letter sent to Chrysabelle and where the blood thusly attained had gone. If Katsumi was guilty, she’d have to be dealt with.

She walked in and all desire drained from his body. ‘
Porca vacca
, what has happened to you?’

A wreck of a woman stood before him. Katsumi’s makeup was tear-streaked. Her hair, always so sleekly bound, fell to her waist in a disheveled mess. And oddly enough, her skin and clothes bore a random pattern of thin lines of some kind of sticky residue. ‘What has happened? Are you all right?’

‘No.’ Her voice was terribly hoarse. He could have sworn she sniffed. Or perhaps that sound was a sob. Out of Katsumi?

He called Vertuccio back. ‘Bring tea and one of the better comars. Ask Jacqueline if you’re not sure.’

‘Very good, sir.’ Vertuccio went off to do as Dominic had commanded, shutting the sitting room door behind him.

Dominic took the large wingback chair across from the electric fireplace. He missed the smell and sound of a real fire, but for a vampire, real fire could also mean death. He contented himself with the artificial smoke smell and synthesized crackling. ‘So. Explain what has occurred.’

She relayed how she’d been overpowered, bound and gagged with duct tape, and left in the storage room. About the strange metallic limb that had transformed into a noose. How she’d screamed until she’d tasted her own blood. How she’d been sure of her death until Mortalis had found her. She wept softly and Dominic couldn’t remember a time when he’d seen Katsumi cry. Ever.

He nodded as she continued, going on to describe her captor. ‘Malkolm believes it was Tatiana.’

‘As do I.’ In fact, he’d expected it. Tatiana hadn’t seemed like the type to forgive and forget. ‘Chrysabelle sliced Tatiana’s hand off during the battle in Corvinestri, but she must have found someone from St. Germain to build her a new one. An adaptable metal hand such as you described could only be the work of an alchemist.’ But to have Maris’s killer here, in his club, in his home … The thought of Tatiana’s presence eroded his nerves until they felt raw and exposed. The killing urge rose up in him, as did a new understanding of what Katsumi had been through. She was fortunate to be alive. ‘I am deeply sorry you were subjected to this.’

A knock on the door interrupted them.

‘Enter.’

Vertuccio came in bearing a tea service on an antique sterling tray. Behind Vertuccio followed one of Seven’s best comars. Vertuccio set the exquisite tray down on the center table and gave a short bow. ‘Anything else, sir?’

‘Yes. I assume Mortalis is already searching the premises for Tatiana. I want a report from him as soon as possible.’

‘Very good, sir.’ Vertuccio backed out, closing the door as he went.

Dominic gestured to the comar. ‘You, sit beside Katsumi.’ Then he waved his hand from Katsumi to the comar. ‘Go on. Feed. You must fortify yourself. Regain your strength.’

She nodded as the comar offered up his wrist. She accepted it, her fangs descended, and with great delicacy, pierced his skin and drank. The comar shuddered with obvious pleasure.

Dominic helped himself to a glass of Brunello while he waited. He would feed soon enough, but until then, the rich, dark red wine was a close substitute for blood. He stared into the fire as he sipped, letting memories of life with Maris wash over him. They had been so happy, so full of joy, even if it had only been for a short season. He ached for her. The chance to see her, to speak to her once more … He sighed into his glass. He could not pass that up.

A few minutes later, Katsumi wiped the corners of her mouth with her knuckle, not that there was anything to wipe away. She had always been one of the most fastidious feeders he’d known. She bobbed her head at him. ‘Thank you. I do feel better.’

‘You may go,
grazie
.’ Dominic dismissed the comar and poured Katsumi a cup of tea. ‘You’ll be your old self in no time.’

She accepted the tea but didn’t drink. ‘That’s part of what I’d like to talk to you about.’

He raised a brow. ‘Go on.’

She set the cup and saucer down gently, head bent, chest pulled in like a guilty dog before its master. Her words were quiet, although the hoarseness had begun to diminish. ‘I don’t want to be the old me anymore. I’m tired of being fringe. I couldn’t protect myself against that woman because she was noble. She was stronger, more powerful … ’ She sighed deeply, her fingers interlacing tightly. ‘I want you to resire me. I want navitas.’

He’d wondered when she’d make this request. He’d been waiting for it, actually. Humans wanted to be vampires, fringe wanted to be noble, and nobles wanted the power of the ancients. No one was ever satisfied with what they had. He studied her plaintive face, longing bright in her eyes. ‘This is not an easy thing you ask of me.’

‘I know, but—’

‘No, you can’t know.’ He held his hand up. ‘And just because I am noble doesn’t mean I am skilled in this ritual. I have never performed navitas, never seen it performed, but I know it is not without risk. You could die. Succumb to madness.’ Like Tatiana. He swirled the wine in his glass. ‘I must think on it.’

‘I know the risks. I don’t care. I want to change my life.’

‘You want revenge and the power to carry it out.’

‘No, Dominic, I swear that’s not it.’ She shifted, leaning forward. ‘I am not the gentlest of fringe. I know that. I am difficult to get along with. Overly ambitious. Conniving. I cheat. I lie.’

A more perfect opportunity he could not imagine. ‘And steal?’ Her gaze dropped to her lap. ‘I can guess what this is about. Yes, and steal. But I’m done with that. I want to turn over a new
leaf. Put this life behind me and rise above my past. Become a better creature.’ Her eyes lifted to his. ‘A companion more worthy of you.’

But Dominic was not so easily swayed. ‘You sent Leo to Chrysabelle’s, didn’t you?’

Her fingers worried the fabric of her gown. ‘Yes.’ Her voice went low and soft. Almost repentant. ‘I am truly sorry, my lord.’

That honorific rarely crossed her lips. Might she genuinely desire change? ‘What was the point of stealing blood from her? And where is Leo?’ That fringe would definitely die. An example had to be made.

‘I don’t know where Leo is. As for the blood … ’ She sighed. ‘Malkolm has had comarré blood these last few weeks. He is much stronger than before. I needed the blood for Ronan, to ensure he would be strong enough to face Malkolm in the fight I had planned.’

‘Something else I would not have allowed.’ One offense after the other. He began to calculate a punishment that would suit.

‘Which is why I didn’t tell you. I knew you would have refused me. Again, my apologies.’

‘And what of Ronan? Mortalis tells me he’s been gone since the night of that fight.’

She sighed. ‘After the fight, I took Ronan to my apartment, did what I could for his injuries, then came back here. He was gone when I returned. I don’t know what’s become of him.’

‘Why was this fight between them so important?’

Again, she stared at her fingers. ‘The fight quadrupled the club’s take that night. I wanted to prove to you I could run this club.’ She hesitated. ‘I also stood to make a large sum for myself.’

He’d seen the books. The receipts from that night had been astronomical. ‘Are your accounts so dismal? I pay you well.’

‘You do.’ She shrugged. ‘But I am greedy. I like nice things. I wanted to live more like you do and less like … like a fringe.’

‘There is no automatic wealth that comes with nobility. Look at Malkolm. There are homeless in this city who live better.’ He’d paid to have her windows helioglazed. Sent Solomon to ward her apartment against intruders. But of course she wanted more. And didn’t care about the cost. ‘Ambition is one thing. Greed quite another.’

She stared at her hands, her mouth tightening then softening. ‘Forgive me.’

‘Did it occur to you that either Malkolm or Ronan could have lost their lives?’

‘Yes, and they knew it, too, but their past made the fight too hard to pass up.’ She stared into the fire. ‘Ronan was eager for it. Malkolm not so much.’

He rapped his fingers on the arm of the chair, contemplating all she’d told him. To say he was angry with her behavior was putting it lightly. ‘You forged my words. Stole from someone I consider as close as
famiglia
. Violated my trust – what little there was of that to begin with. Caused grave injury to someone I now consider a friend and almost killed another of my employees. One might say it would be well within my rights to mete out whatever punishment I deem fit.’