The Fabled (24 page)

“Brother. It has been so long since I last
saw you. We really must get together more often. I’ve missed
you.”

“I’ve missed you as well, sister.”

Sister? If she was his sister, I was his aunt
Fanny.

She reached up and ran her hands through his
hair before letting them rest on both of his shoulders. Yep, any
minute now Roman’s going to tell her that he has a date. Any minute
now.

“I was so upset to learn you chose an heir
without telling me. I had to learn from a practical stranger.”

“I’m sorry sister. It was a spur of the
moment opportunity.”

“Since when do you do anything
spontaneously?”

He smiled at her. “Since Sunny asked me to
turn him for her.”

She looked down her nose at me before
releasing Roman and taking a step back. “The Thief. I must give you
credit. You have a lot of gall showing up after what you did to my
beloved brother.”

I shrugged. “It’s funny. You seem to know all
about me but in all the times me and Roman spoke I didn’t even know
he had a sibling until a few nights ago.”

“Sunny, this is my sister, Desiree.”

Her eyes were narrowed at me. “Roman likes to
keep those he loves the most close to his chest.”

“I’m sure that’s the reason he never once
mentioned you.”

A Vampere walked up to Desiree and handed her
a drink. When he turned to look at me I knew I had more trouble
than Roman’s overly intimate sister.

“Oh, allow me to introduce my date for the
evening. This is Erik Roberson. Erik, this is my beautiful brother,
Roman. And, I think you’re familiar with Sunny here.”

Erik Roberson. That bitch brought Erik
Roberson to the party. She must have known I was coming. She
probably told him she would bring him if he would kill me while he
was here. After all, he’s threatened to do it before. His mate Ryan
was killing Humans brutally for fun. The council found out and sent
me after him. It was a pretty easy job. All I had to do was follow
the trail of dead bodies to his doorstep then I took his head. Erik
came in as the cleanup crew was finishing and I still happened to
be there looking for clues to where the other missing people might
be. There was a scuffle and Erik left promising to kill me the next
time he saw me.

Great. Here I am at a Vampere gathering and I
have no doubt that Vampere is going to try to kill me. If I let him
kill me, obviously that’s a bad plan. But if he attacks and I kill
him who knows what will happen. They may try to kill me for ruining
the festivities.

I did my best to smile as Erik looked at me
with intense hatred.

“Right. You were the lover of that serial
killer. You’re better off without him.”

Erik’s nostrils flared and I shrugged. It was
the truth. There was no evidence Erik was involved with the killing
of those Humans at all so he went free. If he was smart, he would
have moved on by now.

“You brought someone here you knew hated
Sunny?” Roman asked his sister.

She put on her innocent face and used the
opportunity to put her hand back on his arm. “Roman, no. I would
never do anything to jeopardize your date. I didn’t know about
their prior involvement until tonight as we were getting here.”

Roman shook her hand off. “If you’ll excuse
us, I have some other Vampere I need to talk to.”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me away.

“Roman, please,” his sister begged as we
walked away.

I looked back at her with a smile and a wink.
That bitch just made my list. Trust me, you don’t want to be on the
list.

We spent the next hour snob-hobbing with the
top-crop of the Vampere nation. Roman seemed to know them all well
and everyone we met made sure to congratulate him on choosing an
heir. Most were very intrigued by me and welcomed me into the fold,
so to speak. A few treated me with cold distance and even fewer
treated me with outright contempt. I just grinned and bared it for
the most part while counting down the minutes until I could escape
this place.

The only highlight of our time working the
crowd was when I ran into a familiar Vampere. Roman was talking to
some Lord so-and-so and I was bored to pieces so I told him I was
going to get a drink.

“Hey, Drake the Vampere.”

He had grabbed a champagne flute off the same
tray I did.

“The Thief. What a genuine pleasure.”

He bowed low. When he rose he added a
wink.

“One would wonder whether the Vampere
leader’s personal guard was here on business or pleasure.”

He smiled and moved slightly closer. “Who
said I was his personal guard?”

I just looked at him and he smiled
broader.

“Who says it can’t be both business and
pleasure?”

“Ah. Did Augustus tell you to keep an eye on
the psychotic killer?”

“He didn’t have to tell me to keep an eye on
you.”

“Because I’m so dangerous?”

He took a step closer and whispered in my
ear. “Because you’re so beautiful.”

I pulled back slightly to look at his eyes.
“You, Mr. Drake, are a dangerous man.”

“From what I hear you’re pretty dangerous
yourself.”

“There you are, love. It seems I can’t leave
you for five minutes without someone trying to get their hooks in
you.” Roman kissed me on the side of the neck before looking at
Drake. “Hello Drake. Trying to seduce my date?”

Drake smiled at him. “I wouldn’t think of
it.”

“Excellent. Come on, Sunshine. Augustus is
about to make an announcement.”

I shot Drake a “what can you do” look. “See
you around, Drake.”

“I certainly hope so.” He winked again before
disappearing into the crowd.

Augustus walked out onto the stage while the
band was taking a break.

“Thank you again for joining me tonight to
celebrate one of our greatest Vampere, the Roman. Alexander has
finally after almost a millennium of life chosen an heir. I’m sure
his sire would be proud. To Roman.” He held up his drink and
everyone followed with a room full of “To Roman.”

“We have a special treat for you tonight. The
Roman has brought the lovely Sunny Dubois with him and I would ask
Sunny to join me on stage now.”

WTF? Why does he want me on the stage? A
million scenarios ran through my head as I kissed Roman on the
cheek then slowly made my way to the stage. The crowd parted before
me like the red sea. They were probably try to prevent being
touched. Gods, I hope this old Vamp doesn’t try to kill me in front
of everyone. I would hate to have to kill him then fight my way out
of here. The odds weren’t exactly in my favor.

When I was on stage by him Augustus smiled at
me then turned back to the crowd.

“I would ask Sunny to do us the honor of
performing for us tonight. What do you thing Miss Dubois?”

He turned back to me questioningly.

“Um, sure, of course, I would be
honored.”

“Wonderful. I believe the piano is your
instrument of choice.” He pointed to the piano strategically placed
in the middle of the stage.

I nodded then walked over to the piano and
had a seat. What song do you play for a group of upper-class
Vampere? I thought about it and then decided to go with a classic.
Nothing sounds better on a piano than an Elton John song and
judging by the mic that was setup they expected me to play
something that I could sing to.

“Um, this is your song.” I left the rest to
be determined. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all.

I played the song and tried to send as much
happiness and good nature into it as I could muster. Afterward,
there was complete silence for a moment before the applauding
began. This crowd was just as lively as back at the club. I got off
the stool and walked around the piano before curtseying for the
crowd.

And, that’s when Erik decided to attack. I
really hadn’t expected him to do it so publicly but one moment I
was rising from my curtsey and the next a maddened Vamp was lunging
for my face. I managed to grab his throat with my left hand and his
right hand with my left, turned him and used his own momentum to
throw him to the floor of the stage. I began pulling his magic into
me and he punched me in the face with his left hand while I did so
I pulled on my store of Vamp magic and lifted him off the stage
before slamming him back down at Vamp-speed. His head bounced off
the floor but he still reached up and scratched my arm. He was
getting weaker by the second and he knew that so in one last ditch
effort he reached for my throat. I used Werewolf magic and squeezed
his neck until I heard the bones crack and his limbs went limp.
Well hell.

There was a split second where the entire
room was silent before the chaos started. Some were cheering on the
show, some were screaming in outrage while some were just freaked
out. I would fall under the last category but I wasn’t screaming.
Instead I just sat there looking at the Vamp I had killed. A hand
came into my vision and I expected it to be Roman’s so I grabbed it
and they helped me up. I turned to see Augustus standing there.

“Are you alright, Sunny?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

He turned to the crowd and I could see he
still had a mic in his hand. “That was quite a show. It’s not every
day you are able to see such entertainment. Thank you Sunny.”

Really? He’s thanking me for killing a Vamp.
I refused to say you’re welcome so instead I left the stage.
Augustus motioned toward the back of the stage and several Vamps
came forward to drag the body away while the band got back into
position.

Roman met me at the bottom of the steps
leading from the stage. “Are you alright?”

“She’s fine. Our little Thief is quite the
killer,” Augustus said from behind me.

Roman nodded. “Sir, I request the rights of
all of Erik Roberson’s holdings.”

“Why? It was I who brought him along for the
show,” Roman’s bitch of a sister said.

So she did bring him on purpose because she
knew I would be here.

“Desiree, you always bring the nicest
gifts.”

“I aim to please, Augustus.” She slid up
beside him and began kissing his neck.

Oh Gods. I think I might be sick.

“He attacked my guest and was subsequently
killed by my guest. In the laws of battle, any opponent killed by
me or one I consider to be mine is considered my kill. As his
killer I wish to claim his holdings.”

“Just earlier you said she wasn’t yours to
give.”

“She is not mine. She is merely my guest
therefore my responsibility for the evening.”

“Semantics, Roman. Very well, you can have
his holdings. Your little Thief earned it,” Augustus winked at
me.

Desiree stopped kissing Augustus’ neck and
began to pout.

“Don’t be saddened darling. I have a surprise
for you later.”

She smiled seductively and I wanted to puke
again.

“We will take our leave then, my lord. I
don’t believe Sunny is feeling like celebrating any longer.”

“Oh, yes. You must take care of the
abomination,” Desiree snarled.

“Please do take care of her Roman. Lucian
would have my head if anything were to happen to her,” Augustus
said to Roman then turned to me. “Sunny, as always, it was a true
pleasure to behold your beauty tonight.”

“Thank you for a most memorable evening,
Augustus. Desiree.”

I turned and walked off. That was as nice as
I could possibly be and to be honest I’m surprised I managed to be
that pleasant. Most memorable evening indeed. I won’t be forgetting
it anytime soon. Or that bitch Roman calls sister. Call me an
abomination will she. I’ll kick her ass to Timbuktu and back then
see who the abomination is.

“Are you going to stew the whole way home?”
Roman was standing beside me while we waited for the limo.

“I’m not stewing, I’m planning.”

“I truly feel sorry for those involved in
this plan.”

“You should.”

“Am I to be involved?”

I looked at him with one brow raised.

“Look on the bright side. I got approval for
Tristan. He will be welcomed into the Vampere nation.”

Oh my Gods what have I done to my beautiful
boy? I’ve cursed him to have to deal with this for the rest of his
days.

“Don’t look so horrified, Sunshine. I will
always protect what is mine.”

I looked at my arm where the scratches were
still visible. They were bleeding slightly but with luck there will
be minimal scaring.

“Really? Where the hell were you
tonight?”

“I wasn’t expecting such a public affair. I
will know better next time.”

“I sincerely hope you know that next time
will not involve me because it will be a cold day in hell before I
go to another Vampere soiree.”

He looked at my arm for a second. “Don’t
freak out?”

“Don’t freak out? Freak out about what?”

Roman bent down and licked up my arm. Taking
the blood and sealing the wounds at the same time. Vampere saliva
has healing abilities as well as a numbing solution. It won’t do
anything for internal bleeding unless you drank it but who wants to
drink Vamp spit. For exterior cuts it can work some miracles. My
cuts will be fully healed by the time I get home.

“
Not tonight. I’ve got a
headache.”

“So, your sister’s a real peach, huh?”

We were sitting in the back of the limo and I
was trying to massage away the pain that had begun pounding in my
head. Between taking the Witch’s magic this morning and the Vamp’s
tonight I felt like my head might explode.

“She is not without issues just like the rest
of us.”

“Oh, I would say she has more than her
share.”

“Her biggest fault is that she tries to
please everyone.”

“It sure looked like she wanted to please you
alright.”

“We are nothing but siblings, Sunshine.”