Throne of Oak (Maggie's Grove) (3 page)

Greer straightened slowly. When Ash called his weapon, the heart of the forest was in danger. “Ash?”

Ash shook his head, but he was glancing around, alert, ready for danger.

“C’mon, man. Give me more than that.”

Ash stared at Mina and sighed. “We need Selena.”

Greer snorted. “
You
need Selena. The rest of us need to stop hearing about how much you need Selena.”

Ash rolled his eyes. The tension between the two men was growing. Both were in love with women who were resisting their advances, and Mina feared they would go to drastic measures to get the women to acknowledge them. “I meant, there’s more going on here than Mina’s inability to heal.”

Mina stood and stretched. Her tree shivered behind her, both letting go of the remnants of the dream. “I should be over this by now.”

“You were viciously tortured. I don’t think a latte and a smile are going to ‘get you over it.’”

“The others are becoming restless. They want to come to you, see that you’re well.” Ash was staring into the forest, his expression grim. “We won’t be able to hold them back indefinitely.”

Greer grinned. “We told them they’d be allowed back into the Throne only when you said it was safe.”

Mina winced. She wasn’t surprised that the town’s dryads were becoming agitated. She’d ordered them to stay away, used her power over them to keep them from coming to her. She’d had Greer and Ash tell them that she wasn’t certain Terri’s taint was completely gone, and until she was certain her people were safe, they were to stay away.

In other words, she’d lied her ass off, but at least her people didn’t have to see her so weak and helpless. Better that they thought she was fighting the remnants of Terri than that she’d developed a horrendous case of agoraphobia. “Thank you for running interference for me.”

Ash smiled wearily. “That’s a given. You’re not just our Queen. You’re our sister.”

Greer examined his nails. “Speaking as a brother, you could let Dragos in. Maybe he could help.”

Oh, hell to the no. No way was she letting Dragos know she was so vulnerable, especially in the Throne. It was bad enough Amara was keeping him apprised of her progress. If she had to deal with him one-on-one, she’d...she’d...

Okay, she didn’t know what she’d do. But for now, she needed to stay far away from Dragos.

She had to be strong enough to save herself.

* * *

Dragos opened the door of his mansion, weary to the bone. He was so ready to retire for the day it wasn’t even funny. Parker had managed to relieve some of the doom and gloom he’d been experiencing, but once the younger vampire had returned to his home the depression had returned full force.

How was he going to get through to Mina?

“Good evening, master.”

He shook his head as his young Renfield, Edward Warren, did his best Igor impression. Dragos smiled, but his heart wasn’t in it. “That was terrible, Eddy.”

“I try, master.”

“Smart-ass. Your father was a great deal more respectful.” Eddy’s father, Aaron, had retired, leaving his only son to become Dragos’s Renfield. The boy had been practically isolated on Dragos’s estate ever since he’d been born. His unique gift had caused the boy untold problems when they tried putting him in public schools. Eddy had remained safe and secure in the mansion, under the watchful eyes of Aaron and Dragos, learning how to become a Renfield along with his normal lessons.

No one could be as proud of Eddy as Dragos was, not even Aaron. Eddy had taken to being a Renfield,
his
Renfield, like a duck to water. As he’d gotten older and learned to control his abilities he’d made some friends, good ones.

Dragos found he enjoyed having the group of teens messing up his mansion and blasting music all over the house.

He’d missed the laughter of children over the years. Eddy had brought that back.

“And boring. Don’t forget boring.” Eddy straightened up, his brown eyes twinkling, his hair flopping in his face. He looked like a juvenile delinquent, but was probably one of the smartest people Dragos had ever met. “Did I mention he called while you were asleep? He says, and I quote, Hawaii
rocks
.”

“More like you paraphrase.” Dragos sauntered into his office and settled behind his desk. “Correspondence?”

“In the mail.”

Dragos eyed the brat.

“So are the bills, and may I say it impresses me every single time I have to write out the electric bill. You are one seriously rich Methuselah.”

Methuselah? Oh, that stung. “And you are one bite away from no longer being a Renfield.”

“No way, no day. I ain’t ready to be coffin bait, thanks.” Eddy held the back of his hand to his forehead. “I’m far too pretty to die.”

Dragos cocked an eyebrow at the brat. “Besides, only the good die young.”

Eddy stuck his tongue out, and Dragos laughed. If it wasn’t for his Renfield, Dragos would have sunk into despair. But Eddy’s laid-back attitude and fearlessness in the face of his anger had kept Dragos from giving in on more than one occasion. It helped that Eddy had grown up around him, was familiar with the way Dragos acted. And Dragos’s beast recognized Eddy as its own, and protected him as if he were Dragos’s child.

Dragos was seriously contemplating changing him. He would be one of the few Dragos had changed, and none of his children currently lived in Maggie’s Grove. One had died in the Civil War. Another had taken up with a Spanish vampire and currently lived in Madrid, happy as a lark. She still sent him Christmas and birthday cards. The third...

Well. The third had chosen politics, and was currently in Europe, acting as the American vampiric ambassador to the European Council of Supernaturals, the ruling body whose laws and enforcement arm kept their nature hidden from the human world. Dragos was so proud of his son it wasn’t even funny.

If, and it was a big
if
, Eddy accepted the Kiss he would be a delight in the centuries to come. But that was something to discuss for the future. Eddy was still so young, barely twenty-one years old, and still had so much life ahead of him.

Dragos would make the boy his son in truth rather than just in his heart the moment Eddy said he wished for it. But Eddy had to want it, and Dragos refused to pressure him.

“By the way, you got one really weird piece of mail I think you should look at.”

“Oh?” Dragos often got “weird mail,” mostly from other vampires or older supernatural creatures who refused to use email. “Where did you leave it?”

Eddy pointed toward a silver tray on his desk. “Fair warning. It reeks.”

Dragos’s brows rose. Eddy was psychic, like a number of people who chose to become Renfields. His ability was psychometry, a fairly common and extremely useful ability in someone who guarded a vampire. With a simple touch he could read emotions, intent, and sometimes the past or the present off of objects or people. The stronger the emotion or the greater the danger, the more uncomfortable Eddy became. Worse, Eddy could sometimes feel extremely strong emotions, especially negative ones, saturating an object or person without ever touching them. If he’d refused to touch the letter, using the silver tray to hold it, it had to be bad. “I’ll take a look once you’re safely away.”

Eddy rolled his eyes. “Jeez. You pass out once, and suddenly you’re Weenie of the Year.”

“Yes, but you’re
my
weenie, and I expect you to stick around.”

Eddy grinned shyly. “You got it, boss.”

It was times like these Dragos remembered exactly how young Eddy was. He’d offered to send him to college, but Eddy had refused. Being a Renfield in Maggie’s Grove was an honorable profession, one Eddy had been proud to be accepted into.

Those who took up the mantel of day guardians were trained in how to take care of the town’s vampires, including their
sotiei
. And on those occasions when the beast reigned supreme, they were taught how to deal with their vampires when they’d gone too far to control themselves. Eddy had wanted to be a Renfield since he was a small boy, and when his father retired he’d stepped into the position with ease. He’d been a surprisingly good Renfield for a year now.

“Go.” Dragos waved toward the office door, determined that Eddy would suffer no ill effects from the letter. “You’ll know if the missive attempts to eat me.”

“Don’t joke about that.” Eddy turned on his heel and walked toward the door. “Remember that one witch?”

Dragos shuddered. “Don’t remind me. The paper cuts were in some
really
uncomfortable places.”

Eddy laughed, closing the door behind him.

Dragos reached for the envelope, aware that whatever had bothered Eddy wouldn’t be able to harm Dragos unless it was a spell, in which case Dragos would rather deal with the consequences without the psychic Renfield in the room. There wasn’t much Eddy could do against true magic. To a spell, he was just another frail human. Dragos would do much better on his own, where he didn’t have to worry about the boy.

There would be no need for precautions, just a separation between Eddy and the envelope.

He slit it open, prepared for anything. Or so he thought. When he saw the familiar signature he nearly leapt from his chair.

After all this time, why would they contact him
now
? They had been the ones to cast him out, to send him out into the world with nothing but the clothes on his back and a few coins he’d managed to pick from his jailor’s pockets. He had thought never to hear from them again. So why now, after all these centuries, had they chosen to contact him?

Fearful of his hunger, they’d driven him out, and unknowingly let the real monster win.

He picked up the missive carefully, as if it were a viper about to bite him, and scanned the contents. He let loose a rumbling growl as the tone registered.

As always, his father was arrogant to the point of rudeness, but that wasn’t entirely his fault. His father was older than most supernaturals, and the older they were the more likely they were to be aristocrats like Dragos’s father. The poorer European supernaturals did not fare well until after the founding of the New World colonies, and even then they had to contend with the natives, who took the colonization poorly.

Dragos had seen what was happening soon after emigrating, and had done the only thing he could think of to ease the tensions: created neutral ground. All supernaturals, regardless of origin, were welcome in Maggie’s Grove—even the darker elements of their society, so long as they obeyed the laws within the Grove. And it had worked, for the most part. On occasion Dragos had been forced to discipline a resident, and on fewer occasions he’d eliminated them. The residents began policing themselves, and soon Dragos was the ruler of their little town rather than the enforcer.

He much preferred it that way.

But now, after no contact from his father, the man was writing to him, demanding he allow one of his brothers onto his territory. The missive did not state why his brother’s presence was necessary. It merely ordered him to obey. Hell, the missive didn’t even say
which
brother would be sent his way.

“Fuck them.” Dragos lit the letter on fire and watched it burn. His whole family could rot in hell as far as he was concerned. They’d thrown him away long ago, exiled him from his clutch and his home, and he’d stayed gone. He wanted nothing to do with his former clutch or the family that threw him away for being different. As far as he was concerned Vasile and Trajan could rot in the old country along with their father, Prince Laurentiu.

He picked up the next sheet on his desk and groaned. It was about Monster Movie Night, a monthly get-together of all the supernaturals who were available at the time. He shook his head at the winner of this month’s vote for the town’s movie.

“
Frankenhooker
? This has got to be Eddy’s idea.”

“Nope! Parker’s!” Eddy shouted through the door.

Dragos growled, and Eddy’s laughter filled the room. “And I am to assume you had nothing to do with it?”

Eddy opened the door, stuck his head in the room, winked at Dragos, and closed the door again.

Dragos laid his head on his desk, trying desperately not to laugh. “I have got to keep those two away from one another.”

“Good luck with that!”

Dragos gave in to the laughter, and damn, it felt good.

Chapter Two

“Kate Hassell is here to see you, Mr. Ibanescu.”

Dragos winced. Eddy did
not
like Kate, not one little bit. The only time his Renfield had threatened to leave, to force him to find another Renfield, had been when Dragos had thought about moving Kate into the mansion. Dragos had backed down, much to Kate’s disgust. But there’d been no way he’d allow Eddy to feel Dragos’s house wasn’t Eddy’s home.

No matter how he’d cared for Kate, Eddy was
his
.

Now that Dragos had found his
sotiei
, moving Kate in was no longer an issue.

Eddy was going to adore Mina when they finally met, which Dragos prayed would be sooner rather than later. It had been a week since his flight with Parker, a week during which Mina had avoided him like the plague. If it weren’t for Amara emerging from her tree he might not even know that Mina was still hiding in her Throne, licking her wounds while doing her best to keep Iva’s yew alive.

Soon, it wouldn’t matter that Mina was still recovering. His beast would force him to her side, and then all hell would break loose.

“Dragos, do tell your boy to get out of my way.” Kate’s absent disdain for his Renfield was evident in her tone. As much as Eddy disliked Kate, Kate disliked Eddy more. She’d never forgiven him for talking Dragos into refusing to move Kate into the mansion.

Dragos bit back a growl. “Why are you here?” He nodded to Eddy, letting him know it was all right to leave. Eddy beat feet, leaving the doorway so quickly he almost knocked Kate’s purse out of her hands. The boy gasped, turned pale, and ran.

Interesting.

Kate’s slinky walk had once been a pleasure to behold, especially when she wore the tight skirts she so loved. Now he merely wondered what she hoped to gain. She only stalked him that way when she wanted something. She was dressed to impress in a tight navy blue sheath dress and gold heels that made her legs seem a mile long.

Too bad for Kate it no longer worked. He felt no attraction, no desire to give her anything more than a pleasant conversation and a quick exit from his home.

What the hell had he seen in her, anyway? She was cold, calculating, and bordering on black witchcraft.

Selena had cursed up a blue streak when she’d found out about his relationship with Kate, but he’d declared it an off-limits topic. It had taken only one push from Selena for him to practically write the doctor off, refusing to see her until she relented.

Nearly a year of coldness and aloofness whenever they had to meet forced her to give up her objections. Their relationship still hadn’t completely recovered, and Dragos was afraid it never would. The worst of it was, he’d been aware of Selena’s feelings for him, but she’d never been someone he viewed as a potential romantic partner. She was just too...too...

“Dragos?”

He sighed. The problem of Selena would have to wait. He had a much bigger one in front of him. He cocked an eyebrow at her. She hated when he did that. She said it made him look arrogant, and that was exactly the impression he wanted to give. “Kate.”

She sighed, the sound so put-upon Dragos had to hide a smile. “We had a date tonight, remember?”

Dragos scowled. No, he didn’t. He looked down at his calendar. Things had been slipping by him recently, but you’d think he’d remember making a date with a woman who wasn’t Mina. “We no longer have that kind of connection, Kate.”

Kate smiled, but he caught the subtle clench of her jaw. She reached for the fob attached to her purse—a little silver disk with some runes inscribed on it that smelled of cinnamon and ginger. She always worried at the damn thing when she got upset, claiming it calmed her. He could understand why. Cinnamon was one of his favorite scents, homey and sweet. “You promised me sushi and dancing, remember?”

Wait. There
was
something tickling at the back of his mind. Maybe he had he made a date with her?

“We agreed to this months ago. It’s the best night to celebrate our anniversary, what with everything else going on with the town council.”

Damn. It made sense, considering every other night this week was full of his mayoral duties, things that his assistants and Eddy couldn’t take care of. “I’d forgotten.” Not that it mattered. He knew now who his
sotiei
was. He wouldn’t be going anywhere with Kate.

No matter how tempting she was.

“I know, darling.” Kate ran her fingers down the front of his shirt. Dragos did his best to hide his shiver. Part of him loved the feel of her against him, her long legs wrapped around his waist as he plunged into her moist depths, fed off her sweet blood. Kate was an amazing lover, and had kept both of his hungers well satisfied.

His beast wanted to eat her face off for daring to touch him.

Dragos took a step back, aware he was moments away from harming her. “I think I need to cancel.”

She smiled up at him bravely. “I know we’ve been having problems, but isn’t there some way we can work things out?”

It broke his heart to hurt her, but he had no choice. “I—”

“Dragos?” Of all the people in the world to interrupt his tête-à-tête with Kate, it
would
be Selena Giannone. She scowled when she saw how closely he and Kate were standing together. “Oh. I guess I should give you the info on Mina later.”

Mina.

Mina.

Shit. Mina would rightfully kick his ass if she knew the thoughts he’d just had about Kate. He had to get rid of Kate, fast.

Dragos grabbed hold of Kate’s arm and dragged her to the door. “I think you need to leave.”

“Why? Because Selena said so?” Kate was scowling, and suddenly she was no longer attractive. The thought of drinking from her was nauseating rather than arousing. “We have a date!”

“You go and celebrate for me.” He shoved Kate, squawking in outrage, out of the door before pulling Selena in and slamming it shut. “Mina?”

Her brows rose. “That got your attention, didn’t it?”

At least she no longer looked at him with the gaze of a wounded deer whenever Mina’s name came up. Perhaps she was finally getting over her infatuation with him. He hoped so, for Ash’s sake. He liked the young dryad far too much to have Selena mooning over him and hurting one of the rulers of the forest. “How is she?”

“Your
sotiei
is a stubborn wench, I’ll grant you that.” Selena took a seat on the large leather loveseat he kept in the room. She slumped wearily, and Dragos wondered what she’d been up to. She didn’t have Mina’s scent on her, so she hadn’t been with his
sotiei
... At least not physically. “She’s doing her best to fight the nightmares, but she’s losing the battle. Ash and Greer are worried that Iva’s absence isn’t helping the situation.”

“Any word on Iva?” He leaned back against the edge of his desk and crossed his arms.

“No, and her tree is beginning to drop faster than the dryads can heal it.” Selena scrubbed her face. “Damn it. It won’t be long before a new Yew will be born.”

“Throwing off the balance of power in the Throne.” A newborn dryad was always weak, a child that had to grow along with his or her tree. He still didn’t understand why some trees spawned dryads and others didn’t. Perhaps Mina, as their Queen, knew. “The four of them went to school together, grew up together.” The loss of Iva would devastate all three ruling dryads.

Selena nodded. “And Mina considers them her brothers and sister. Losing Iva hurts more than the power balance, it hurts her personally.”

Then Dragos would have to see what he could do about it. Mina should not suffer, not even for a second. “I’ll see what I can find out. I have resources not even Mina knows about.”

She snorted, amused. “You have resources the president of the good old US of A would envy.”

The door creaked open. “Is it gone?”

Dragos rolled his eyes as Selena cackled. “Very funny, Eddy.”

Eddy entered the room, his eyes darting around nervously. He had some Oreos clutched in his hand, proof positive that he was worried about something. Eddy only got out the cookies when he was truly upset. “There’s something
very
wrong with Kate.”

Dragos, for all he’d broken up with the woman, still held some affection for her. They’d been lovers for years, after all. “Is she sick?”

Selena snorted in disgust even as Eddy shook his head. “Not that kind of wrong. I mean,
she’s
wrong.” Eddy, his face still pale, was shaking like a leaf. He shoved a whole cookie in his mouth.

Dragos was becoming alarmed. “Eddy?”

Eddy swallowed. “I think...”

“You think what?” Dragos led his Renfield over to a chair, forcing him to sit when it was obvious Eddy would fight him on it. Sometimes Eddy was far too stubborn for his own good, but Dragos would take care of him, whether he liked it or not.

Eddy bit his lip. “I think she’s gone to the black.”

“Not all black witches are evil, but...” Selena shrugged. “Yeah. I can see Kate going all Sith Lord on us.”

Dragos winced. Black witches—those practitioners who put their personal gain above anything else—were one of the most feared creatures in the world. Selfish and brutal in their attempts to satisfy all their cravings, dark practitioners lived for nothing and no one but themselves. White witches followed the Rede, which stated “An it harm none, do what ye will.” Gray witches straddled the fine line between the two, forever on the edge of teetering to one side or the other. The freedom to perform certain acts, or choose not to, was something the gray witches believed in wholeheartedly.

All witches were rooted deep into the earth, their power an extension of the cycle of life. All witches but one—the witch doctor. Selena’s connection to the spirit world gave her powers other witches envied, but it also gave her headaches no one else would wish on their worst enemy. Dragos had seen what happened when Selena pushed her gift.

Ash was going to have a fit when he finally saw
that
.

But Eddy’s word that Kate had turned to the black was disturbing. Kate had always been gray, just as Selena had always been white. She’d teetered close to the edge of both sides, but she’d never fallen, not that he’d seen.

“Shit.” That would explain some things, but not all of them. Was he the one who’d thrust her over the edge by breaking her heart? “Are you sure?”

Eddy shrugged, but he still hadn’t recovered his color. He was still far too pale for Dragos’s liking. “She’s never really been a Double-Stuff, but now she’s a Triple Double Chocolate threat.”

Dragos shook his head and tsk’d. “You and your cookies.”

Eddy gave him a weak smile. “Oreos are the food of the gods.”

Dragos could debate that till the cows came home, but as it had been centuries since he’d tasted a cookie he’d trust Eddy’s judgment. “We need to find out what, if anything, she’s up to.”

“Oh, she’s up to something, all right.” Selena crossed her legs and settled back, making herself at home. “The only question is, what?” She frowned. “And why did I sense an active spell when I opened the door?”

Dragos stared at the same door he’d thrust Kate through not fifteen minutes before, remembering the way his body had lit up when she’d touched him. Maybe there was something more going on here than a lingering desire for an old lover. “Now
that
is an interesting question.”

* * *

Mina stood at the edge of the Throne, her hands shaking, her gaze darting around. The overwhelming belief that she should not be here rooted her to the spot, unable to take a step forward.

Gods damn it. She was terrified to leave her home in the forest. Horrified at the thought of setting one foot outside the Throne. She was the gods-be-damned Queen of the Forest, and she couldn’t even touch leaf or branch if it was beyond the edge of her Throne.

She shouldn’t be feeling this way. Terri was gone, dead, her ashes in tiny sealed jars. Selena, one of the few outsiders Mina allowed into the Throne, had told her that Dragos was making sure those jars never again saw the light of day. Terri couldn’t hurt her, or anyone else, ever again.

And still, she couldn’t force herself to take that one tiny step that would allow her to leave the Throne.

“Mina.”

She screamed and clutched her chest.

Dragos, his eyes glowing red in the darkness, stepped out from the shadows of the trees. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

She stared at him, shocked to the core. The forest hadn’t whispered his presence to her. Not even Ash could sneak up on her unnoticed.

But here Dragos was, the forest content to let him pass unremarked, as if he belonged.

As if he were one with it, as she was.

Dragos stepped up to the line where the Throne began, leaving them toe-to-toe. He studied her closely. “You look tired,
draga mea
.”

She lifted her chin, hoping she looked regal and not arrogant. There was a fine line between the two, and Mina tried to not cross it.

Never let them see you sweat
,
Mina.

“What does that mean?”

He smiled softly. “It means ‘my darling.’”

“You can’t call me that.” Not now. Maybe not ever. If she was so weak she couldn’t even leave the Throne, how could she lead the dryads? How could she stand at his side as an equal?

He cocked one eyebrow. “Oh? Why not?”

She took a step back. “Because I can’t be yours.” She knew what a
sotiei
was, and Dragos was showing all the signs that she was his. It would harm him, to take her as his blood wife, the one being he could feed on for all his years. Her life span would expand, matching his, Mina dying when he did. She wasn’t certain why she believed so strongly that becoming his
sotiei
would ruin him, but the belief was rooted inside her heart. No. It was better to drive him away, make him leave. Neither of them would be hurt if he’d just go away. He cocked his head, the question clear in his expression. “Can’t...or won’t?”

She shook her head. If things had been different, she’d have allowed him into the Throne, given him time to court her so they could learn one another. Not all
sotiei
were lovers, but the best pairings were. Unfortunately, as attracted as she was to Dragos, she had her own problems to deal with. Becoming a blood wife wasn’t on the top of her list of things to do today.