The Vampire Queen's Servant (41 page)

I think Lord Richard is
mightily disappointed, my lady. I suspect he would have liked you to entertain
a suit from him.

I was lucky enough to
survive one marriage in a millennium. I'm not strong enough to survive two.

You're very strong, my lady.
I have the bruises.

She'd kept part of her mind open
to Jacob for much of this night so he could follow her thoughts and understand
more about her guests and the politics involved. He'd been quiet and listening
without comment for the most part, but now she bit the inside of her cheek to
hide a smile. He had an amazing aptitude for the mind play. Thomas had needed
far more time to accustom himself to the feel of her in his head, to overcome
the seasick feeling. After only a few days, Jacob interacted with her easily on
the link. But true to his promise on that vulnerable night, he did not try to
probe her mind, so she did not have to expend energy to ensure her shields were
holding against him. She knew she could trust his word on that, as much as she
knew she could trust he'd rebel against her in other ways because it was in his
nature, no matter his resolve.

She looked forward to it.

"I'm working on the Delilah
virus."

Lyssa's gaze sharpened on Brian.
"I thought you were pursuing your latest degree."

"I am, my lady. But I'm
also here to work with the scientists at Tuscaloosa Techco on the virus. We
were fortunate. One victim of it—the Russian vampire—agreed to be preserved.
I'm bringing his body here because they've agreed at Techco to help with the
research. Truth, I may get so immersed in it, I may put off the degree another
decade. Thirteen vampires in five years…" He looked pensively into his
blood-laced wine. "There are not many of us. It strikes without
discretion. It can take someone as exalted as yourself, my lady." He
sketched a bow in Lyssa's direction. "Or someone barely out of boyhood
that no one would miss, like myself."

Tara lifted a brow. "Sounds
more like those thirteen should have been far more careful. Why should we
expend effort on vampires who have unscrupulous and careless dietary habits?
It's a weeding out, in my opinion. Darwinian."

Brian's expression hardened, but
before he could find words, Richard spoke. "Easy to say, love, until you
have it. I visited with Antonio a month before he succumbed. Headaches,
vomiting of blood, sudden weakness at very inopportune and unpredictable
moments. Those aren't even the worst of the symptoms at the end." He
grimaced. "I can only imagine what that body you're carrying looks
like."

Jacob, I think we need more
wine.

There's not an empty glass,
my lady.

Go to the kitchen.

No.

"Jacob," she spoke out
loud, drawing their attention. "We're ready for the next course. Only I've
decided I'd like it on the Tannen plates instead of the Dresden. Please go
supervise that personally. You know how particular I am about the Tannen."

She was fairly certain she heard
his teeth grind together. Richard raised a brow. While she assumed her servant
hadn't reached out to choke her, there apparently was some evidence in Jacob's
face of the struggle going on between them. She would not attempt to cover it
or dissemble. That would be worse, suggesting she thought she needed to cover
his disobedience rather than handle it.

"Jacob." A ripple of
menace emanated from her. "I will not ask twice."

Her coldness swept over her
guests. The vampires were old enough to weather it, though they immediately
became still, watchful. Richard's servant, a tall black woman named Seanna
who'd been with him thirty years but looked as if he'd made her his servant
when she was barely out of girlhood, shuddered, but fought to control the
reaction and remain impassive. Liam, the blond male behind Tara, almost
mirrored her. However, the two of them stilled almost simultaneously, likely
steadied by a mind touch from their Master and Mistress. Brian's servant Debra
was a thin blonde woman who looked as if her main purpose was to serve as his
lab assistant. She appeared the most shaken of the three, telling Lyssa she was
the youngest, or that Brian kept her sequestered in labs more than he took her
to ritual duties at vampire functions.

"My lady." Jacob's
voice was cordial, no inflection, but the anger and frustration in his mind hit
her like the blast from a furnace.
But you do yourself no service, hiding
this from me
.

She met his gaze as he came
around her chair and bowed, his blue eyes cool. He left them for the kitchen.

"I can't believe you chose
an Irishman, Lady Lyssa," Tara commented. "Overly sentimental one
moment. Absolutely bullheaded the next. They take everything too seriously or
not at all. Laugh and cry equally easily. He's not really appropriate material
for a human servant, is he? Though I will say, he's very easy on the eyes. I
can understand your desire to have something for bedsport, as dynamic as Rex
was."

Lyssa noted she did not mention
Thomas at all. Carnal's reference to him at the mall had been considered highly
inappropriate, but of course Carnal's entire presence had been inappropriate.
It would be assumed Lyssa wouldn't wish to speak or even think about the
servant who had purportedly killed her husband. However, most vampires also
wouldn't venture into the subject of her preferences in the bedroom so
directly. It wasn't the first time Tara had sought a more intimate footing.
Sometimes Lyssa wondered if the woman simply desired friendship with another
female vampire, not having much opportunity for a peer in her own territory.
But it was far more likely that Tara was seeking the advantages of a
familiarity with someone of Lyssa's rank.

"He is appropriate to my
needs," Lyssa said mildly. "Just very young. He doesn't understand
his place yet. We all know how easy it can be to forget that sometimes."

The woman stopped, her wineglass
poised just below her lips. As Lyssa waited silently, she swallowed, set down
the glass. "My apologies, Lady Lyssa, if my comments were too
familiar."

Lyssa turned her attention back
to Brian. "Have there been any advances with Delilah?"

"The lab I worked in out of
Egypt had some very intriguing results. That's another reason I've come here.
The Tuscaloosa lab has some correlating data. We think if we run some tests
together… Well, we'll see. If it's successful, we hope to have a cautiously
optimistic report for the Council Gathering. Having the preserved body gives us
a unique situation. We can study many things about ourselves we haven't
resolved yet. Sensitivity to sunlight, our need to sleep during daylight hours.
What our internal organs are like, the composition of our blood… There's more
to be gained than just insight into the virus."

"I wish you well, then.
Humans are our food source, Tara." Lyssa glanced toward the woman as the
catering staff returned to replace the soup bowls with the main course,
suitably arranged on the Tannen. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jacob
reenter the room and take his position behind her again. "If we can't rely
on them without worry of this disease, then we must address the issue before it
threatens our extinction. There are only a few thousand of us in the entire
world, that we know about."

She could have raised the issue
that born vampires had been declining in percentage with each decade, which
came with the implication of the weaknesses of made vampires. But given that
she sat at the table with two made vampires who already felt a mild
competitiveness toward Brian because of the privileges his origin afforded him,
she decided to curb that thought. After all, it was intended to be an amicable
gathering.

"Richard, Tara. Have you
made arrangements for Brian?"

For the next few moments, she
listened to them explain how he would be quartered in Tuscaloosa, in enough
detail to assure her they'd prepared adequately to integrate him into the
community. As they discussed that and other matters mostly related to their
mutual business interests, she watched Tara and Richard shift, exchange looks,
giving appraising looks to Brian's young servant. And to Lyssa's.

They understood there was a
ritual to such events. The formality of a meal, conversation, an update on
business concerns. Then, as the moon began to wax, there would be the desire
for a performance. For pleasure.

She'd also noticed Tara and
Richard's servants studying Jacob closely. She knew there was a kinship between
human servants of sorts, and a new one in the upper ranks was always of
interest. Brian's servant was too young to understand the nuances. In fact, she
wasn't sure Brian himself understood the rituals involved in a vampire social
event like this, but she was about to enlighten him and his young servant, for
Jacob needed the lesson as well.

The desserts were laid out.
Jacob's choice of brownies with raspberry sauce, timed to come out of the oven
right now with their wonderful aroma, unwittingly stoked the anticipation of
sensual delights. Tara inhaled the brownie and put the raspberry sauce on the
tip of her tongue with an expression of absolute reverence that made Lyssa
smile. Decadence, chocolate. Candlelight flickering and four very attractive
servants awaiting their bidding. One who had openly defied her, giving her the
perfect opening to segue into the entertainment the vampires would expect.

Richard watched Tara with
similar amusement. "I think the female relationship with chocolate
transcends the species barrier. I have a German shepherd at home, a bitch that
adores it. Her mate has no interest in it at all." Tara made a face at
him, and he smiled affectionately in return before he shifted his attention to
Brian. "Lady Lyssa is being very diplomatic tonight, Dr. Morris. From past
conversations I've had with her, I don't think she necessarily believes in
researching vampire weaknesses."

Richard enjoyed teasing Lyssa on
her politics, and she'd known him long enough that he'd earned the right, but
it didn't stop her from narrowing her eyes at him. He was less affected than
Tara, however, and just gave her a charming grin as he signaled one of the
caterers for more wine.

"You don't believe it's important
to research things like the effect of sunlight on our bodies, Lady Lyssa? Or
Ennui?" Brian asked, his expression earnest and puzzled. "If we could
discover a chemical way to curtail it, to retain the zest for life? What if we
could figure out a way to walk in daylight? Wouldn't you like to feel the
warmth of the sun on your body without pain? Or discard the lethargy that comes
upon us when the sun is at its zenith?"

Goodness, he was overflowing
with enthusiasm for his work. She had to suppress amusement, for she knew he'd
think she was laughing at him.

"I believe there's a
balance." Lyssa placed a bite of the brownie in her mouth. The taste
exploded through all of her senses. The desire to chew, swallow and keep eating
more was almost unbearable, even though she knew she couldn't digest it, would
never feel full or satisfied from it. Jacob's pleasure in her approval of it
was satisfying on a different, more disturbing level. She put down her fork.
"As far as we know, vampires are immortal. If nothing adverse happens to
them, they live forever. Again, as far as we know. Yet at a certain age, many
begin to lose the will, the interest in life. Who's to say that's not
Divinity's way of telling us it's our time to die? That we are mortal, just not
in the way that other species are? Perhaps we're more like the members of
aboriginal tribes who simply know when it's time to lie down and let the soul
go. We do fancy ourselves enlightened, after all."

"But you've not experienced
the Ennui, Lady Lyssa." Richard tapped his fingers on the table.
"Again, no disrespect, but perhaps as I told my Tara, it's easy to shrug
off the need for a cure when you don't have the disease. Not having experienced
when the soul of you wants to live, but the rest of you is heedless."

"Perhaps," she said in
a neutral tone. "But while survival is important, it should never be
considered more important than other things. Honor, integrity. Dignity. As any
of us at this table know, a species that abandons those priorities in favor of
survival becomes a mob with no rules but savagery. That savagery can run
rampant in a lab even more quickly than in a dark alley, because it can be more
quickly justified as being for the greater good."

Brian frowned, but before he
could speak, Richard chuckled. "I won't argue with the convictions of our
greatest matriarch, even if I think her ideas might be a bit
old-fashioned." He winked at Lyssa as she arched a brow. "Regardless,
my timing is pathetic. It's dessert and time to enjoy ourselves, not darken our
minds with these types of thoughts. Lady Lyssa, are you up to a game of
challenge or am I now out of favor, rushing your itinerary for our
evening?"

"I'm quite ready for it,
Lord Richard. You are only out of favor insomuch as your implication of a
woman's age. I expect you to make amends with your challenge. Let's address the
last piece of business before us, which I think will dovetail nicely into that.
Brian, are you willing to accept my mark to remain in my Region, knowing it
will always be with you?"

Brian hesitated, which
immediately captured her attention and sharpened the focus of the other two
vampires at the table. "I am, my lady," he spoke carefully. "But
first I must ask. Do you approve of the work I'm here to do?"