Blood Rights

Mal tugged her hand, motioning for her to sit. ‘We found the remains of two fringe and a Nothos on the perimeter.’

‘The fringe were mine. I sent them to protect her.’

‘They did a wretched job of it,’ Chrysabelle said, settling into the chair and adjusting her sacre again.

Dominic steepled his fingers. ‘They took down a Nothos. Not an easy task.’

She blew out through her nostrils. ‘My aunt is still gone.’

He peered over his hands. ‘What else do you know that might be of use?’

‘Tatiana is House of Tepes. The vampire with her was Bathory. He tried to use black magic on Velimai, but without an invitation his power couldn’t penetrate the house.’

‘How did Tatiana get in?’

Chrysabelle shook her head. ‘Apparently, she can mimic appearances.’

Dominic’s brow wrinkled. ‘No vampire has that power.’

‘Think harder.’ Chrysabelle stroked the silk covering the chair’s padded arm. The burgundy fabric was shot through with green and gold. ‘Higher up.’ She lifted her face then so she could watch his.

His eyes widened for the briefest of moments. ‘You think she’s aligned herself with … she wouldn’t.’

‘To get the power she wants? Of course she would. You don’t know her like I do.’

Dominic flexed his hands into fists, then gripped the arms of his chair. ‘This is your fault. If not for you and that ring—’

‘This is not her fault.’ Suddenly, Mal’s casual sprawl took on a predatory tension. He bent his head, gaze arrowed in on Dominic. ‘She could not have predicted what has happened. If you’re not going to help, say so. The sun will be up any minute.’

Dominic laughed with the prickly air of superiority. ‘The sun’s been up for half an hour. I pump certain things into the air system to suppress the internal clock.’

‘Vampires don’t breathe,’ Mal said.

‘It gets in through the skin.’ Dominic looked at Chrysabelle. ‘Why not just give Tatiana this ring?’

‘That’s the plan right now. Although … ’

Mal nodded. ‘Tell him.’

‘Tatiana wants to break the covenant. If this ring has anything to do with that … ’ Chrysabelle shook her head. ‘I don’t want to stand idly by and let her have her way either.’

If the news shocked Dominic, he didn’t show it. ‘She won’t break the covenant.’ He threw his hands up. ‘Maronna, the chaos it would unleash.’

‘She will, and you’re an idiot if you think otherwise.’ Chrysabelle rose and paced to the French doors. Anger flooded her veins, tightened her jaw and neck and shoulders. She forced a modicum of calm into her body before speaking again. ‘We’re wasting time. Maris is out there and needs our help.’

Dominic stood, shoving the ornate throne back across the floor with a loud scrape. Mal tensed, but Dominic’s attention belonged to Chrysabelle. ‘You will not talk to me that way.’

Mal unfolded to a standing position and slowly rolled his shoulders, a move that held a remarkable amount of menace. ‘She’ll talk to you any damn way she pleases. She knows these nobles and what they’re capable of better than either one of us. Are you going to help or not?’

Dominic pressed a button on his desk and spoke into a receiver. ‘Send Mortalis in.’ Then he answered Mal. ‘I will help in whatever way I can. Your comarré may not know this, but I loved her aunt very much. For Marissa I willingly turned my back on the House of St. Germain and became anathema, leaving with her after she won libertas.’

Chrysabelle saw Dominic with new eyes. ‘You’re the one Maris went through libertas for?’

‘Yes. I nursed her back to health, made money whatever way I could to provide for her. I did what I had to do, because I loved her. I still do.’

Chrysabelle snorted. ‘You’ve got a strange way of showing it.’

Dominic’s gaze steeled. ‘Ogni moneta ha due facce. Every coin has two faces. Perhaps you should ask your aunt what happened between us before you judge me.’

‘I’ll do that. If I ever see her again.’

A knock sounded, but not in the direction of the door they’d come through.

‘Come,’ Dominic called.

From the opposite side of the room, a new door opened. Mortalis strolled through and stopped beside Dominic’s desk. He nodded at Mal, then gave his attention over to Dominic.

‘Two noble vampires kidnapped Maris. They may have Nothos with them; we know they had at least one. We need to find them and get Maris back.’

‘I’ll start with the known safe houses, work from there.’ An unsettling smile broke over Mortalis’s face. He stroked one horn. ‘A Nothos, eh? Now that’s the kind of fight I like.’

What did Dominic have on the shadeux to get him to obey so readily? Chrysabelle looped her fingers through the sacre’s strap. ‘I thought you said the sun was up?’

‘It is,’ Dominic said.

She tipped her chin at Mortalis. ‘Then what good is he?’

Mortalis strummed his fingers over the hilt of a black-handled blade tucked into his belt. ‘The common belief that shadeux cannot abide sunlight is false. We cannot be seen when the sun rules the sky, but we may certainly travel beneath its rays.’ His six fingers stopped strumming and gripped the hilt. ‘You’d be wise to keep that knowledge to yourself.’