They Come by Night (51 page)

My cheeks felt hot. “Please, call me Ty.”

“And I’m Afina, m’lord,” the first woman said. “I run the kitchen.” She curtseyed, which looked odd considering she was dressed in a skirt suit similar to the one the woman last night had worn.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“We’re so pleased to have you visiting us, m’lord!” a short blonde gushed.

Afina frowned at her before turning back to me. “Have you eaten, m’lord?”

I gave it up as a lost cause. “I had a couple of peaches out in the orchard, but I was hoping to make some eggs and toast.”

“I’ll make them for you!” the blonde announced, and she rushed first to the fridge and then to the counter.

“Sit.” Afina indicated the long table off in a corner; I hadn’t seen it the night before. “That is, if you don’t mind breaking your fast in the kitchen?”

“Why would I? I did last night.”

“You’re a guest of His Grace! You should have summoned us. We would have been more than happy to serve you.” She urged me toward the table.

“Thank you, but I didn’t want to bother anyone.” I also didn’t have a clue as to how I could possibly “summon” them. “Besides, I’ve been cooking for myself since Adam came for me.”

She frowned. “You should have been given a servant. It’s not fitting for a sabor of your caliber to have to do for himself. Next you’ll tell us you clean your house and make your bed.”

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘a sabor of my caliber,’ but I do. And that reminds me. I’m sorry I didn’t clean up last night.” If I’d been at home, I’d have put the bottle in the recycle bin and the plate in the dishwasher instead of leaving everything in the sink.

“You did more than enough.” She waved aside my apology. “Lia, is m’lord’s breakfast ready?”

The blonde carried a huge plate of fried eggs, sausages, and toast to the table.

“That was fast.”

“I just had to butter the toast and put together the platter.”

“Was this someone else’s breakfast?”

Lia waved my concerns aside. “Ciprian doesn’t mind.” She tossed her hair back over her shoulder and fluttered her lashes at a man who hovered in the doorway.

He smiled when he saw us looking his way and nodded vigorously. “Please, m’lord. You will honor me.”

Okay, the best thing to do was be gracious about this. “Thank you.” I turned to Lia. “Thank you too, Lia. This looks delicious.” And I had no idea how I was going to finish it all.

She gave me a coquettish smile. “I’ll pour you a cup of coffee, m’lord. How do you take it?”

“One sugar, please.”

“No milk?”

“I’d better skip it. I’m lactose intolerant, and I don’t have the enzyme supplement with me.” She looked blank, and I clarified, “Cow’s milk doesn’t agree with me.”

Afina gave her a poke. “Goat milk will do the trick. We’ll take care of you, m’lord.”

“I’ve never had it before.”

She stopped herself from patting my shoulder. “You’ll enjoy it.”

“M’lord.” Lia placed my coffee on the table and stood there giving me more coquettish smiles.

Afina frowned at her again. “Go make Ciprian his breakfast, and leave m’lord in peace! And then fill the goblets.” Lia pouted but scurried to obey her, and Afina gave a satisfied nod. “Now, enjoy your breakfast.” She smiled down at Mina. “I imagine this little beauty could do with some food as well. We roasted a chicken last night. Will that suit?”

“Yes, please.”

A glance at the clock showed me Adam should be up by now, and I knew he’d find me if he needed me. I settled in to eat breakfast.

“T
HIS WAS delicious,” I told Lia as I mopped up the last of the egg yolk, surprised I’d been able to finish the meal.

“And you liked the goat milk?”

“Yes, I did. I’ll have to see if I can find somewhere to buy it when I get home.”

She opened her mouth to suggest something, and Afina scowled at her. Fortunately, before World War III broke out in the rege’s kitchen, Silvio came bustling in. “Are the goblets ready? Ah, m’lord! There you are! His Grace and Duke Adam require your presence in the dining hall.” Afina handed him a tray with four goblets on it. He peered into them and then nodded in satisfaction, muttering something about the American wench. “If you’ll accompany me, please?”

Mina and I followed him down one hallway after another until we came to an enormous room. A table large enough to seat about forty people—vampyrs—took up just a small area of it. Mina went to explore the vast space.

The rege sat at the nearest end, with Adam to his right. On his immediate left was the brunette from last night. She didn’t look any happier than she had then. Beyond her, Raymond negligently rested a hip against the table. He looked at ease, but I knew him well enough to be aware of the coiled tension in his big body.

Silvio moved around the table smoothly, serving the rege and Adam first, and then the female vampyr and finally Raymond.

“You can’t keep me here!” The brunette’s accent made it obvious she was the “American wench” Silvio had been talking about.

“Of course he can.” Raymond nodded to acknowledge my presence before glaring at her. “He’s the rege!”

“And I’m an American citizen! Why should my vampyrs and I have to be ruled by you?” she snapped. Raymond growled and straightened. He took a step toward her, and she did a little growling herself. “Keep your enforcer under control!” she snarled at the rege.

“Raymond, sit down. Ms. Diamond, kindly remember you’re here only under my sufferance.”

She ground her teeth, but then she saw me and her eyes widened.

“Are you insane, letting a sabor in here? Stupid European vampyrs! He won’t be able to decide which one of us to love, and he’ll go mad! Wasn’t that the reason you gave for confining possession of them to your family, doling out use of them to your favorites?”

“It would behoove you to guard your tongue, woman.” The rege’s tone was mild, but it was clear: this vampyr was king, and anyone who crossed him did so at their own peril. “We wouldn’t have had to bring Tyrell to the citadel if you hadn’t tried to abduct him and then interfered with his dreams!”

Her nostrils flared, and she narrowed her gaze at me. “So you’re the sabor who’s caused all this uproar.”

“I don’t know about an uproar, but I’m Tyrell Small. And I wasn’t the one who tried to kidnap me.” I was miffed. She’d caused all this trouble, and she didn’t even know I was the sabor she wanted?

She ignored that. “You’re American.”

“Yes.”

“You should belong to American vampyrs.”

“I don’t want to be rude, ma’am, but I belong to myself.”

“You’re a sabor.” She curled her lip, revealing her fangs. “You belong to all of us.” She suddenly frowned. “And why aren’t you in love with one of us?”

“I am.” I sat next to my vampyr and smiled at him.

“Did you sleep well?” Adam asked as he took my hand.

“I was beside you, wasn’t I?”

“Yes, you were.” He brought my hand to his lips.

Silvio cleared his throat. “M’lord, shall I bring you some breakfast?”

“No, thanks. I’ve already eaten.”

“Very good, m’lord.”

Adam grinned into his goblet.

“What?” I demanded. “I keep telling them I’m not a m’lord, but they call me that anyway.”

“I’m so very fortunate.” He seemed pleased—why, I had no clue—but that pleased me. I bumped my shoulder against his and smiled at him.

“I don’t understand this!” Ms. Diamond was really unhappy. She stared at us as if she wasn’t sure what she was seeing.

The rege cleared his throat and shook his head. “I believe I’ve mentioned before that Tyrell is unique.”

How could I respond to that? I was just me. Mina finished her exploration and came to me, giving a small yip. I reached down for her, placed her on my lap, and fondled her ears.

The rege raised his goblet and sipped, but he kept his gaze on Ms. Diamond.

She sat back and brought her goblet to her lips. “Tolerable, for European blood.”

“I’m so pleased you approve.”

She ignored his sardonic tone and took another sip, then glanced at me. “Since the night you were brought to your home, you’ve fed three vampyrs… all European.” How did she know that? She turned to the rege. “When are his people going to get a taste of him?”

“All vampyrs are his people.” Before she could snap at him, he continued. “But I know what you’re saying. From what I understand, one of them already has.”

“What?”

“You’ve got the numbers wrong. He’s fed four.”

“Why wasn’t I informed?”

“I’m informing you now.”

She gritted her teeth. “Who? When?” Didn’t she believe him?

“Daniel Crist. Last night.” It almost sounded like something from
Clue
. Was he going to add, “In the bedroom?”

“Indeed? I’m unfamiliar with this vampyr.” Ms. Diamond set down her goblet and carefully blotted her mouth with a pristine white napkin, leaving a perfect image of her lips.

“That’s because until a number of weeks ago, he was saborese.”

She muttered something that sounded like a serious swearword. “I’m sick and tired of you toying with me, Mondragon. I’m leaving.”

“Not until His Grace says you can go,” Raymond informed her.

She pushed her chair back and rose slowly to her feet. God, she was tall! “I. Am. Leaving.”

Mina came to her feet on my lap. She wasn’t growling, but I could tell from the way her body vibrated it was just a matter of time.

“That wouldn’t be wise.” Adam ran an idle finger under Mina’s chin.

“Why wouldn’t it?” she snarled.

“What time is it here?”

She glanced at her watch, impatience in every line of her body. “It’s 9:37. So what?”

“And what time does that make it in America?”

“Two….” She closed her fingers around the edge of the table, and there was a crack as she broke it off. “Son of a bitch!”

“Yes. You’d be going home to broad daylight.”

“Goddamn Europe!”

“Adam will be taking Tyrell home in a few hours. You’re welcome to join them, if you’d like,” the rege murmured.

She was silent for a moment, then picked up her goblet, drained it, and slammed it down on the table. “It seems I have no choice.”

“Are you going to try to kidnap me again?”

“That depends on His Grace.” She snarled the title. “Are you going to give us a sabor of our own?”

“This is a new millennium, and we should move with the times.” The rege drummed his fingers on the table and gazed into space. “There is a set of twins….”

She straightened abruptly. “I’ve never heard of twin sabors before.”

“They’re not pureblood. And it will be ten years before they’re mature enough to feed a vampyr.”

She waved that away. Ten years was nothing more than the blink of an eye in the life span of vampyrs. “They would be for us alone?”

“Yes.” He glanced toward me, then said, “There are two conditions. Tyrell is to be left alone.”

“If we get the twins, that won’t be a problem. What’s the second condition?”

“You will treat them well. I believe you Americans have a phrase… kid gloves? That is how you’ll handle them. If you, as their… president?… can’t guarantee that, then I see no reason to continue this conversation.”

“Going on the assumption we agree with your conditions, what do we do in the intervening ten years?”

He smiled at her, and I hoped he’d never smile at me that way. “You’ll do as you’ve done.”

“I’ll need to speak to my people. America
is
a democracy,” she mocked lightly.

While she and the rege continued to taunt each other, I leaned toward Adam. “Kind of a coincidence, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“Those twins the rege was talking about? They wouldn’t be my brothers, would they?” He nodded, and I toyed with the seam on his shoulder. “Does their mother know?”

He stared at me thoughtfully but didn’t challenge the pronoun. She’d basically abandoned me, so I didn’t see a reason to acknowledge her as my mother. “She has no idea. Because they aren’t pureblooded, they weren’t born with the birthmark.”

“What’s she going to do when she finds out?”

“
If
she finds out. Our scientists are uncertain if their birthmarks will ever manifest themselves.”

“Okay, so
if
she does…?”

“We have day watchers keeping watch over them.”

“Would she really hurt them?”

“We won’t take that chance.”

“Will… will you go to them?” I looked away so he wouldn’t see how that tore at my heart.

“No.” He cupped my chin and turned my face toward him. “
Dragul meu
,” he said softly.

Relieved, I rubbed my cheek against his hand. “Will the day watchers tell the boys what’s going to happen when they turn eighteen?”

“No. That isn’t their responsibility. And it’s not yours either, Ty.”

“Well, I don’t even know where they live.” I didn’t say I was pretty sure I could find their address online. But Adam first came to me when I was sixteen, so there was plenty of time for my brothers to learn their destiny. I turned to the rege. “Excuse me, sir. Could I talk to you when you have a free minute?”

“Of course, Tyrell. What is it?”

“Um….” I glanced at Adam and then toward the door. “In private?”

“Tyrell.” Adam looked concerned, and I kissed his cheek.

“It’s okay. I’ll tell you about it later.” I put Mina down and got to my feet.

He worried his lower lip, but I squeezed his shoulder and walked out of the dining hall. The rege followed me.

“What is it, Tyrell?” he asked.

“I was thinking of changing my major from Mortuary Science to Genetics.”

“And you felt you needed to speak to me privately about this? All right, although I fail to see the necessity. This is your choice.”

“Y’see, I want to learn how to manipulate Adam’s semen and mine to make a baby.”

“How does Adam feel about this?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t brought it up to him, because I wanted to make sure you were okay with it first.”

“Why wouldn’t I be? Adam is my favorite nephew—and if you repeat that, I’ll deny it!”

“Well, I can understand that. He’s my favorite vampyr, and I don’t mind if you repeat that.” I grinned at him.