Out for Blood (41 page)

He didn’t answer, just pushed her gently toward the exit again. She dropped her smile as soon as he was behind her. There was no question death would be woven through the hours that lay ahead of them, only which one of them would be ensnared by it first.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

T
atiana looked up as Octavian entered the suite. “The nobles have begun to arrive.” He came to where Tatiana sat rocking Lilith and kissed both their cheeks. He’d been ever so amenable lately. Almost careful. It was enough to make her wonder if he was up to something. “Where’s Daciana?”

“I imagine breaking in her new comar.”

“Ah, yes, Lord Syler asked me how that had gone. I assured him everything was fine. I hope that was the case?”

“It was.” She kept her eyes on him until he seemed uneasy. “What have you been up to?”

“Up to? Nothing, just making sure this evening will go as smoothly as possible.” He smiled unconvincingly. “Your needs are always my first concern.”

She raised one brow. “You’re planning something.”

“What? No.” He swallowed.

She shook her head. “Don’t lie to me. I can sense it.” She shook her finger at him. “I hate surprises.
Hate
them. I want no grand gesture this evening, understood? If anything happens outside of what’s been scripted, I will hold you personally accountable.”

He nodded vigorously. “Yes, absolutely, nothing outside what’s planned.” He exhaled unnecessarily and relaxed a bit. “Back to the subject of comars—have you seen Damian recently?”

She bounced Lilith lightly, causing her to giggle. “I’ve been sharing Daci’s comar, but I did look in on Damian. His bruises are completely healed. He’ll be in fine shape for the ball.” Especially since she’d taken care of adding a little sedative to his evening meal.

Octavian nodded. “Excellent. I’ll be sure he’s dressed and ready.” He tapped a finger on the arm of the chair. “Lord Syler also mentioned you’d spoken to him about when you’re to be announced?”

“I did.” She brushed the soft cotton of Lilith’s day gown. “I don’t want us to enter until the majority of the nobles are here. At least two hours in should do it, don’t you think?”

He took the chair across from her and wiggled his fingers at Lilith. “Two hours from now they’ll be chomping at the bit to see you.”

She laughed. “We both know they’re here to see my daughter.”

He looked at her. “Yes, but I promise you that’s not the only reason. Word of Svetla’s death and the ancient one’s declaration have spread. Besides that, you are the first female Dominus. The nobility know your name but not your face, and with your reputation, they very much want to know who you are. The crowd will be thick this evening. I imagine you’ll be inundated with gifts, offers of assistance… a great number of things I’ll have no control to stop.” He sat back, his eyes worried. “Prepare yourself.”

“I won’t hold you accountable for those things.” He was definitely planning something. Or had been.

“Thank you. Still, you and Lilith are my primary concerns. It’s my job to make sure every possibility has been examined.”

She set Lilith on the floor to play with her blocks. “How is security?”

“Tight. I’ve walked the perimeters and watched some of the nobility being checked in. No one who doesn’t belong will get through.” He snorted. “Not that anyone will try. Who would be foolish enough to invade a large gathering of powerful vampires? No one I can think of.”

She nodded, listening but watching Lilith more intently. “That’s very true. I’m sure the comarré is busy mourning Malkolm.” She glanced up. “Which reminds me, pay attention to those you speak with tonight. My first project after we return home is to put a team together to go to Paradise City and retrieve the ring of sorrows and the comarré once and for all. I’ve decided I will not set foot in that city again, but with the position and power I now hold, I don’t need to, nor do I wish to be separated from Lilith. I want a good group, ten or twelve strong, loyal nobles who will put this matter to rest for me. We can handpick them from the crowd this evening.”

“I will pay close attention. I’m sure you’ll have many volunteers.” He offered a hand to Lilith, who was trying to pull herself up using the edge of the small table next to his chair. “There you go, my darling.” He smiled at Tatiana. “Amazing how fast she’s growing. I expect she’ll be talking before long.”

“I can’t wait for that.” She smiled down at Lilith. “Are you going to talk to Mama, my darling? Can you say
Mama
, sweetheart? Mama?”

Lilith laughed and waved bye-bye.

Octavian stood. “I believe I’ll go make sure Damian is ready, then come back and get dressed myself. That way I can watch Lilith while you’re occupied.”

“Excellent.” She smiled as he left, then kneeled on the floor beside Lilith. “We are lucky to have Octavian, aren’t we, my sweet? So long as he doesn’t do something foolish.” She kissed Lilith’s fingers, then sat and began stacking the blocks Lilith had been ignoring.

When they were five high, Lilith clapped her hands, then shoved them down and giggled as they crashed to the ground. Twice more, Tatiana built the tower and twice more, Lilith toppled it.

Tatiana sat back and tried to ignore the buried remnants of her Roma soul. This was
not
an omen.
Not
a sign of things to come. Lilith was just a child and all children liked to destroy things.

Didn’t they?

“I can’t believe it’s over.” Fi, freshly showered, sat on the padded table while Barasa did his doctor thing and wrapped her torso into a compression garment. She’d told him a pain shot wasn’t necessary, but he’d insisted. Good thing, too, because the cuts on her face had stung like a mother when he’d cleaned them. Now, though, the meds had kicked in and she barely noticed her cracked ribs anymore. In fact, she felt about as good as she remembered feeling in a long time.

“Well, believe it. You’re the pride leader’s mate fair and square.” He didn’t look at her while he spoke, just kept his eyes fixed to his work.

“How did I do it, though? I barely touched her.” Fi closed her eyes to help her brain work and started tilting backward.

“Whoa, there.” Barasa righted her. “You need to sleep for a while, let your body heal.”

“I told you, I can go ghost and do that.”

He caught her gaze and shook his head. “How can your physical body heal while you’re a ghost? I don’t think it works that way.”

“What do you know about ghosts?” The urge to sleep was pretty freaking strong. Maybe she’d just lie down right here. “What kind of a cat are you?”

“I know about ghosts because—I’m a tiger. I did a year of residency at a hospital that specialized in othernatural patients and—”

“A tiger? That’s so cool. Lemme see.”

A knock interrupted them and the door opened. Doc stuck his head in. “How’s my girl?”

“Pretty looped on pain meds,” Barasa answered.

Fi heard a squeal, then realized the noise had come out of her. “Hiya, baby! Hey, did you know Barasa’s a tiger?”

Doc laughed. “Yeah, I know that.” He looked at Barasa again. “She going to be okay?”

“A hundred percent. Just get her into bed and make her stay there for a few days. She’ll be sore and bruised for at least a week. Her ribs are only cracked, not broken, but they’ll take a good four to six weeks to heal completely.” He smiled sheepishly. “So no unnecessary activity.”

“He means no sex,” Fi whispered loudly.

“Yeah,” Doc said. “I knew that, too.”

Fi pointed at him and kept whispering. “You should tell Barasa about your fire problem. He worked at a ghost hospital. He might know how to fix that.”

Doc’s expression froze; then he covered with a laugh. “Cripes, those drugs sure are doing a number on her, huh? Better get her to bed. I’ll just—”

“So it’s true?” Barasa asked.

Doc’s eyes glittered gold. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Barasa put his hands up. “You think you can’t trust me? I’ve been on your side since you got here. I helped train Fiona.” He muttered something else Fi couldn’t make out.

“What?” Fi asked, but the two men didn’t seem to be paying attention to her anymore. “What did you say?” she asked again. Maybe he’d said something about Heaven. Wait, Heaven was dead. How exactly had a human defeated a varcolai? Fi couldn’t make it work in her head.

Doc’s jaw popped to one side. “Yes, it’s true. But as long as I keep a small dose of K in my system, it seems to hold the flames at bay.”

“K?” Barasa’s mouth dropped. “Ketamine is one of the most dangerous things our kind can ingest.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Doc said. “One bad experience with it was enough, but I didn’t know what else to do. I don’t want to hurt anyone, especially not Fi. Who was I going to turn to for help? The witch responsible is dead.”

Barasa leaned against the exam table. Fi leaned over and sniffed him. He slanted his eyes at her, one brow raised in question.

“I just wanted to see if you smelled like a tiger.”

With a shake of his head, Barasa turned back to Doc. “The witch is dead, but the power of her spell remains? When’s the last time you saw the fire?”

“The night Sinjin died.”

Fi leaned over again, resting against Barasa’s shoulder. “He went up like a marshmallow on a camp fire.”

“Fi.” Doc shot her a look she knew well. It meant zip it.

“The men in my family tend to be shamans. I took it a little further, but I can tell you there’s a good chance her spell’s worn off and you aren’t even aware of it. Stop taking the ketamine immediately. Then let’s see—”

Fi yawned loudly. Any minute now she was going to pass out; she could feel it. She sat up and tapped Barasa on the shoulder. “Will you turn into a tiger now? I really need to go to sleep.”

Barasa sighed and handed Doc a prescription bottle. “For pain, if she needs them. By the time she wakes up, the ketamine should be out of your system. Both of you come back then.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

C
reek wasn’t sure what surprised him more—Annika’s willingness to sit with his grandmother or his willingness to let her. Martin was there, too, not that the old man was any protection against the basilisk’s power. Creek should have pushed harder for Mawmaw to see a doctor, but she’d insisted that was a waste of money over a few bruises. She could take care of herself.

Stubborn woman.

Well, he’d be done with his errand soon enough and then Annika could go back to KM headquarters or wherever it was she lived, and the rest of them could get on with their lives. And he could shower. And sleep. His body ached in a thousand different spots from Yahla pecking at him, but at least he’d been able to change into a clean, undamaged T-shirt at Mawmaw’s.

Couldn’t exactly visit the mayor in a holey shirt covered in blood. He rolled the V-Rod up to her gate. Especially when she was probably still in bed. He knew the mayor wasn’t a late sleeper, but the sun had only been up a few minutes. Even Lola probably didn’t start her day that early.

He killed the engine, pulled his helmet off, and stood where the security camera could see him. The intercom crackled to life. “What’s your business?”

“I’m Thomas Creek, special advisor to the mayor. I have an urgent, private matter to speak to her about.” Like how he’d been possessed by a mythological woman and how the curfew was a really bad idea. The intercom went silent and he dropped his head. How was he going to explain to Chrysabelle that he was partially responsible for Mal’s death? If she’d even see him. After his last visit there, he couldn’t blame her if she never spoke to him again.

He had to find a way to end his service to the KM. Annika wasn’t such a bad boss, but she only delivered his directives. Whoever was making the orders was also making his life hell. And he was about damn done with that.

The gates swung open. He hopped on the bike, started it up, and drove through. Maybe the mayor was awake after all. He parked in the drive in front of her house and walked to the door. He didn’t recognize the security guard. “Thomas Creek to see the mayor.”