Out for Blood (42 page)

The security guard tapped the radio at his hip. “They cleared you.” He knocked on the front door and a staff member opened it.

“Good morning, Mr. Creek.”

“Hilda. You’re up early.”

“So are you. The mayor isn’t awake yet, but I’ll get her. I’ve already told the kitchen staff to set breakfast out early. They’ll have coffee in the dining room if you want to wait in there.”

“Coffee sounds exactly like where I want to wait. Thank you.”

She pointed. “You know the way. I’ll have her in soon.”

He kept going as Hilda veered toward the mayor’s private wing. Lola might not be happy about being woken up early, but she really wasn’t going to be happy when he resigned and told her exactly what had happened. That curfew had to end.

He’d had one sip of coffee when Hilda came running in. “Help me, Mr. Creek. Something’s wrong with the mayor.” Her face crumpled. “I think she’s dead.”

“What?” He jumped out of his chair and ran down the hall to Lola’s bedroom. Her bed was empty. “Where is she?”

Hilda ran in behind him. “In the bathtub. I couldn’t wake her.”

He found her there in silk pajamas and wrapped in a comforter. She looked… different. Like she’d had a makeover. His fingers went to her throat. Ice cold and no pulse. “Damn it.” He leaned down and listened but even his heightened senses detected no breathing.

Hilda crossed herself and moaned. “Is she dead?”

Creek pushed one of Lola’s lids up. Her eye was silver. “Son of a—”

“What’s going on?”

Creek dropped her lid and stood to see who was talking. A young man in white pajama pants had wandered in behind Hilda. A few gold tattoos marked his skin and his blond hair showed dark roots. Double hell.

“Please, Mr. Creek. Is she dead?”

He frowned at the comar, then nodded at Hilda. “Yes. She is.”

Dominic handed them each a small metal plunger, then tapped the side of his neck. “Right into the aorta. The change will be fairly rapid and somewhat painful.”

“How painful is somewhat?” Mal asked. He didn’t care personally, but he wanted to know how much Chrysabelle would have to endure.
Sucker.

“It’s okay,” she said.

Was she reading his mind now?

“Let’s go,” Katsumi said. “We can’t leave the hangar until we’ve transformed.”

“She’s right.” Dominic stuck the plunger to his neck and pushed the button on the end. It made a small
whooshing
sound. He grimaced a second later but the expression didn’t last long. “There. How do I look?”

“The same damn way.” Mal frowned. “If this doesn’t work—”

“Look.” Chrysabelle pointed.

Dominic’s face began to shift as they watched. He looked like he was underwater. The strangeness passed, leaving behind the blended characteristics of both Dominic and the vampire he’d taken blood from.

Katsumi stuck the plunger to her neck. Within a minute, she, too, was transformed.

Mal pressed his plunger against his skin as Chrysabelle did the same. He watched as her familiar beauty faded into something much more pedestrian. Her gaze skimmed his face. “How do I look?” he asked.

Katsumi snorted indelicately. “I’d say it’s an improvement.”

“You look fine,” Chrysabelle said. “Tatiana will never know it’s you.”

“Unless she hears you speaking too much,” Dominic corrected. “If you talk to her, modulate your voice. And be careful that neither of you shows affection to each other. You are patron and comarré, not… whatever it is you have become.”

The words angered Mal for some reason. He knew Dominic wasn’t belittling his relationship with Chrysabelle, just warning them, but it still rankled. “We understand that.”

“
Bene
.” Dominic rapped his knuckles on the limo’s partition. “Let’s go.”

The fringe driver waved his hand, then gave a thumbs-up to Amery, who rolled the hangar doors back so both cars could head out. Solomon was in their car, but he sat up front with the driver. The cypher was as quiet as Mal remembered him. How Dominic had the fae in his employ was a mystery, just like how Mortalis had come to work for the vampire.

Chrysabelle squeezed his hand and Mal smiled at her, forgetting his insignificant concerns. They had enough to worry about as it was. “Ready?”

“Yes,” she answered. “We mingle, locate Damian and the baby. I talk to Damian and let him know his part. Then we regroup, make sure the plan still works, and revise as needed. Right now, Katsumi will be taking Damian out disguised as her comar.” She pointed at Katsumi and Dominic. “In theory, you three will be able to walk out the front door. You’ll fly out as soon as you return to the hangar. Mortalis will wait for us at the end of the tunnels.” She smiled. “Then he and Amery will fly us home.”

It sounded so easy. He knew it wouldn’t be.

Katsumi stared out the window into the night. Or maybe she was studying her new face. “How long will these disguises last?”

“Five hours. A little more, a little less.” Dominic tipped his hand back and forth like a scale. “Longer if you don’t drink any blood.”

“Not a problem.” Chrysabelle laughed. “You have the vial for Damian?”

Dominic patted his suit coat. “In my pocket. Hopefully your blood is similar enough to his that it works.” Lines framed his mouth. “You might be his sister, but you and the other comarré are female. I’m not entirely sure what he’ll end up looking like.”

Chrysabelle nodded. “I thought about that, too, but all you have to do is get him out the door and into the car.”

“We will,” Dominic assured her.

After that they settled into a tense silence. At last, they approached the gates. The driver stopped the car and Solomon got out, held the wards open long enough for both cars to get through, and then they were in the city.

It wasn’t so different from Corvinestri. Narrow cobblestone streets, buildings that looked like they’d been new a couple hundred centuries ago—some still bearing gas lamps—human inhabitants bent over by the fear of serving creatures that could kill them in the blink of an eye. And just like in Corvinestri, the landscape changed as they broke away from the human village and into the vampire estates. Open space was abundant, the well-lit buildings glimpsed behind high masonry walls and gated entrances were in pristine condition, the grounds impeccable.

The car slowed and drove through an enormous gate, already open, the word BATHORY scrolled in iron at the top. At the end of the long drive, they joined a line of cars waiting to be attended to.

Dominic watched as liveried servants came toward the limo. He turned back to them, lifted his chin, and said, “
In bocca al lupo
.”

“Exactly,” Mal replied. He knew Dominic meant to wish them good luck, but the words’ literal translation settled over him like a dark shroud. They were indeed about to be in the mouth of the wolf.

“No, no.” Dominic shook his head. “You must respond
crepi lupo
.” His brows arched and his gaze slanted toward the house. “For the wolf is about to die.”

Before Mal could say anything further, the doors were opened. The four of them got out and, with Dominic and Katsumi leading, made their way with a few other nobles to the mansion’s entrance.

A fringe vampire checked their invitation. Dominic had duplicated the one Creek had given to Chrysabelle so that each pair had one. The fringe scanned the invites and nodded. “Welcome to the House of Bathory’s Dominus ball. Enjoy your evening.”

And just like that, they were in.

From here on, he was Lord Moreau and Chrysabelle was Carissa. Dominic was Lord Santoro and Katsumi was Lady Kobayashi. Once they were through the main doors, they were directed through the house to the ballroom. The space was enormous, and in typical noble fashion, it was disgustingly overdone. Apparently the theme was the Garden of Eden. Mal tried not to roll his eyes, but it was hard.

Dominic stopped them near an enormous gilded cage filled with brilliantly colored macaws, most likely cloned. “Lord Moreau, if you’ll excuse Lady Kobayashi and me, there’s someone on the other side I must speak with.”

Mal nodded and tucked himself a little deeper into the surrounding jungle of potted palms and overwhelmingly fragrant tropical flowers. “Smells like a whorehouse in here.”

Beside and slightly behind him, Chrysabelle whispered, “And you would know that how?”

He ducked his head and forced himself not to smile. “Jealous already?”

“Just remember, I’m the only one of us adequately armed.”

That much was true. Dominic had a narrow blade hidden in his cane, and Katsumi’s hair was held up with a double-pronged six-inch
kanzashi
that looked like nothing more than an elaborate hairpin. All Mal had was a good length of garrote wire sewn into the lining of his coat. Chrysabelle’s pair of blades made her twice as armed as the rest of them. “Duly noted.”

They stood in silence for a while, observing, trying to determine where either of their targets might be.

“Maybe you should get a glass of blood,” Chrysabelle said. “Most of the nobles have one.”

“Dominic said drinking blood would shorten the life span of the injection.”

“Don’t drink it. Just hold it for effect.”

He nodded. “Fine, but not yet. This is a good spot.”

“I can get it for you. That would be my job anyway as your comarré.”

He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “How does it feel to be back here? You miss any of this?”

“Not in the slightest.” He felt her eyes on him. “Have I ever given you the impression that I had?”

“No. Not lately anyway. Maybe in the first few days after you’d left.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her give a tiny shake of her head. “When this is over”—her voice lowered—“I will put this life behind me once and for all.”

He tipped his head to see her better. The face wasn’t hers, but the expressions rang true and the look in her eyes held the strength of will he’d come to love about her. “You have plans?”

She smiled slightly and looked up from beneath her lashes at him. “Oh yes.” Her smile broadened for just a second. “And they include you.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

W
ith Lilith cradled in her arms, Tatiana stood beside Octavian and Daciana outside the closed ballroom doors. She turned to take one last look and make sure everything was as it should be. Their comarré, Damian, Saraphina, and the newly purchased Jonah stood a few feet behind them. Since Damian had been here at Lord Syler’s, his spirit seemed broken. Like he’d resigned himself to his position once again. Or maybe it was the sedatives she’d put into his food. She’d have to determine if he was worth keeping soon. She couldn’t very well drink his blood while he was doped up.

The doors opened a sliver and Lord Syler joined them. “It’s time to announce you. The ball has been under way for nearly two hours. Lady Tatiana, you’ll be pleased to know Lord Grigor is not in attendance.”

“That does please me.”

Lord Syler held his hand out toward the ballroom. “Are you ready for the nobility to meet Lilith and greet the newest member of the House of Tepes?”

She kissed Lilith’s head, now crowned with the diamond and amethyst band that perfectly complemented Tatiana’s gown. “I am.”

Somewhat pensively, he moved a step closer. “It’s my great pleasure to do this for you and the House of Tepes. I hope you know you can come to me, should you need anything.”

She dipped her head graciously. He was not nearly the overbearing bore Ivan had been. “Most gracious of you.”

He smiled. “Let us proceed, then.” At the nod of his head, the servants threw the doors wide and he entered the ballroom. Tatiana followed with Octavian at her side as consort, then Daciana as Elder and lastly, their comarré. Kosmina was inside already and would be nearby to take Lilith when Tatiana gave her the sign. She had no intention of keeping her daughter in front of the ogling nobility all evening.

The noise from the assembled crowd fell to a whispered hush as they walked through. The ballroom was enormous, as was the ballroom in her own estate, and tonight it was at capacity. Perhaps a thousand vampires. Perhaps more. She lifted her chin a little higher and kept a firm grip on Lilith, one hand curled around her body, the other on her head.

The dais had been set with a long banquet table. Syler’s elder, Edwin, was already in the chair to Syler’s left. He rose as they approached and greeted Tatiana with a short bow. She nodded in return. She didn’t know much about Edwin, but he seemed a levelheaded sort.

Lord Syler stood beside Edwin at the first of the large center chairs, while Tatiana stood beside the second. Octavian and Daciana filled in the next two spaces. The comarré settled into a row of seats at the very back of the dais where Syler’s and Edwin’s were already in attendance.

The ballroom was beautifully decorated with an abundance of live plants and animals and lighting that made it seem like a warm spring day. The Garden of Eden theme was something she’d personally approved. She sniffed once, reminded of her late Nehebkau. The albino cobra would have loved what Syler had done.