Blood Royal

"She claimed she had another dream and wandered to the upper level, where she drank some water. I convinced her to go back to bed." Roff watched Gavin carefully for signs of anger; he knew to leave should a vampire became uncontrollable. Gavin sighed instead.



"I do not understand how or why this is happening. Please continue to watch her and make sure she returns to my bed. When the werewolf arrives, he can assist you in this."



"Of course," Roff nodded to Gavin, quite happy that the vampire hadn't gotten angry.



Winkler arrived two hours later and Lissa had only been awake for an hour, moving about sluggishly while she drank her usual amount of blood. "Lissa," Gavin lectured, "it would ease my fears if you will promise not to wander around should you rise during daylight hours."



* * *



I looked up at Gavin's face; he was standing on the other side of the refrigerator door as I was placing my unused third of a unit back in the fridge. "I'm not going shopping or jogging down the street, if that's what you're worried about," I said. "The light is a little bright to my eyes; I don't think I can just walk out in it without blinding myself or something. All I do is talk to Roff or whoever is awake."



"Ask the wolf to find a pair of dark sunglasses for you, cara," Gavin said. "This way, you may sit and talk with Roff and your eyes will be protected."



My mouth dropped open—I know it did. Gavin, making a good suggestion instead of cursing in multiple languages and chastising me for going upstairs during daylight? Unheard of. "Uh, okay. I'll see if Winkler will mind getting some for me."



The doorbell rang upstairs and Roff came down a few minutes later, followed by Winkler, Dalroy and Rhett. Where were we going to put everybody? I even said that out loud, I think.



"Lissa, we have already discussed this on the phone with Charles and Winkler while you slept late," Gavin smiled. "The home in Nichols Hills is still vacant and Winkler has secured it for us to use again. There is plenty of room there for everyone. Also, Anthony's mother and stepfather are coming for a brief visit; they will meet us here first. Radomir, Lorenzo and Thaddeus will be joining us as quickly as they can arrive; they are flying here on the Council's jet."



"Holy crap," I muttered. Our numbers were getting huge. "Does Tony know his mother is coming?"



"He has been informed—René has taken him shopping so he may buy a gift for her."



"Ah." That's why I hadn't seen either of them. Winkler came over, grinned at me and leaned down to give me a peck on the cheek.



"Babies are fine, we had a doctor's visit yesterday," he informed me before I could ask.



"Good," I patted his back before turning to say hello to Dalroy and Rhett.



"Do you think you could get me back to that restaurant that had the good chicken fry?" Winkler said, his nearly black eyes twinkling.



"I can get you back there, but they stop serving at nine, dude," I poked Winkler in the ribs. It was past that already. "Maybe we can take you in the next few days and Tony's mother and step-dad can go with you."



"Sounds good. In the meantime, I need to eat something. We went straight to the airport after Rhett and Dalroy woke. I haven't had a chance to eat, yet."



"Jeez, Winkler, you could cave in," I teased. "Roff, do you have something suitable for tall, dark and furry, here?"



"I have a steak I can grill for him," Roff nodded. "I cooked chicken earlier; he may have the leftovers while I prepare his meal."



"I'll deal with that," Winkler nodded and followed Roff up the stairs. I trailed behind him with Rhett, Dalroy and Gavin right behind me. Winkler got reheated chicken while Roff slapped a steak under the broiler. "I like it rare," Winkler offered. Roff nodded and threw some vegetables together for Winkler. Winkler was perfectly happy with his steak; Roff left it bloody, just as Winkler prefers. We were talking and watching Winkler devour his meal when Tony and René came back.



"Mom and Dad should be here any time," Tony said, showing me a pair of earrings he'd gotten for his mother. His step-dad was getting a gift certificate from a popular sporting goods store.



"These are nice, Tony," I admired the earrings inside a small jeweler's box. They sparkled with rubies and diamonds—and not small ones, either. René had spent some money, looked like. Tony had to give up his bank account and credit cards; everybody thought he was dead. René was providing for him, as a normal sire should. If he didn't have one already, René was probably arranging for Tony to have a credit card with his new name on it—Anthony Rockland. I hated that he had to give up Hancock; I liked that name.



The doorbell rang and Tony was up like a shot. René went with him to answer the door. Worriedly I searched Gavin's face; I hoped René knew to be circumspect; Tony's mother believed him dead until she'd learned differently, so this was a reunion. Gavin must have been on my wavelength; he nodded slightly to me. I released the breath I was holding.



Corinne Alford was introduced to me, as was Tony's stepdad, Lucas Alford. Deryn resembled his dad, I noticed. Both had dark hair, brown eyes and a straight nose. Corinne had black hair like Tony's, and blue eyes, where Tony had gray. And she wasn't his mother. I knew that the minute she walked into the room. Everett Hancock didn't have a drop of Elemaiyan blood, so Tony had to get it from someone else. At first, I figured that Corinne had an affair with someone who did have the blood. Now I knew better. At least one of Tony's parents had been of Elemaiyan descent; it just wasn't Everett Hancock or Corinne Alford.



I wasn't about to tell Tony that Corinne wasn't his mother. He loved her. Big time. And she loved him. I wasn't going to ruin that. I might tell Wlodek if he asked, or Merrill, but that's it. Tony didn't deserve the upset. Had Corinne wanted him to know, she would have told him.



"We're moving to another part of the city, so there will be room for all of us," Winkler informed Lucas Alford. Lucas was more than happy to meet the Dallas Packmaster; he was Second for the Denver Pack and he and Winkler were knee-deep in werewolf politics and intrigue in no time. Gavin and I gathered our things together while the others talked; Winkler had rented an SUV, so it and the van would carry all our things to the house in Nichols Hills.



Rhett and Dalroy were set to provide security for us at night; Winkler was going to watch things during the day. Winkler would guard us with help from Lucas while he was here, and he'd arranged to bring in a wolf from the Oklahoma City pack when Lucas went home. Oklahoma City had a werewolf Pack. I never knew, honestly. Winkler had to clear things with the local Packmaster—not just for this time, but the time before as well. It was courtesy to let the local Pack know you were in the area if you were a visiting werewolf.



We loaded up after an hour or so and Winkler and Gavin drove. Gavin remembers everything, and he clearly remembered the way to the mansion. I sat up front with him; René and Roff rode with us in the back seat of the van. "This is quite adequate," René remarked as we drove through the mansion's gates. He was right. The mansion covered the better part of half a block with a high brick wall surrounding it. Gavin and I had walked the perimeter of that wall many times.



"Gavin, what did you do with your paychecks from Winkler?" I asked. He'd been paid, just as I had.



Gavin laughed. "I never cashed them," he replied. "And once I took you with me, I'm sure Winkler canceled them."



"I ought to smack both of you," I grumped.



"I believe I'd like to see that," René observed.



"Stick around," I said. René laughed, this time.



"We would like our guesthouse," Gavin announced when Winkler tried to set us up in the main house. Winkler frowned slightly but didn't argue. Gavin was revisiting the past; doing now what he hadn't been able before. He placed our bags in the room he'd taken during our previous stay, which was slightly larger than the other bedroom over the garage. Roff took the other bedroom so he could be close to me. He unloaded all his groceries inside the small kitchen and seemed more than happy with his space. He also went to bed shortly after everything was put away. Gavin's cell rang—it was Radomir.



"Radomir is on his way with Lorenzo and Thaddeus," Gavin informed me after ending the call. I knew already; I'd overheard the conversation and Gavin had given out the new address. Radomir showed up twenty minutes later, so Gavin and I went to help them unload. Winkler was still awake, thank goodness, and handed out bedrooms to the new arrivals. Radomir was placed on the third floor, next to Thaddeus and Lorenzo. Radomir would be watching them, I knew, in case there was any trouble. I wasn't getting any bad vibes off them and my skin didn't itch, so I was confident they were okay.



"Have you had dinner?" I asked as Thaddeus and Lorenzo explored the ground floor of the mansion. It was tastefully decorated and had abstract art on the walls. They'd eaten already; they'd brought a supply of blood in two good-sized coolers and those were promptly unloaded in a refrigerator inside the game room upstairs.



"Father wishes to speak to you privately," Radomir informed me quietly; he'd sought me out. I'd put a late-night snack together for Winkler in the main kitchen while Gavin helped René with another of Tony's lessons. I think it involved fighting more than one vampire at a time. I hadn't gotten that lesson, I recalled.



"All right," I nodded at Radomir and pulled out my cell phone. I'd never been to the roof of this house so I misted upward, going right through the roof and settling down to have my conversation with Wlodek.



"Hi, Charles," I said when he answered the phone.



"Lissa! We miss you," he said.



"Is that the royal we?" I teased.



"If it includes me, then the answer is yes," Wlodek had taken the phone away from Charles. I guess I was going to have to get used to the fact that they were both in Merrill's basement, with Charles's office right next to Wlodek. And had that been a joke on Wlodek's part? Well, the sun was going to rise at midnight next time.



"Hello, Honored One," I said.



"You could call me father. You are my youngest and prettiest, after all." Oh, lord.



"I may be your youngest, but Flavio has the prettiest title all locked up," I replied. That made Wlodek chuckle.



"I will be sure and tell him this; he has been a bit depressed lately."



"The most beautiful man on the face of the earth is feeling depressed? Whatever for?" I almost snorted. Almost.



"He feels responsible for nearly killing a certain little Queen," Wlodek replied. I wanted to refute that statement. I didn't. I couldn't say for sure how Flavio felt since I didn't know him that well. What I did remember is that he and Merrill both had been as tight-lipped as bivalves on the way back to London after the big brouhaha in New Mexico.



"Then tell him to stop," I said.



"Perhaps you should tell him yourself. He refuses to listen to me. Radomir has his number if you feel charitable sometime soon."



"Oh, right, I'm supposed to just call him out of the blue and tell him to stop being depressed because I say so and I mean it?" I asked in disbelief.



"I think he might appreciate that more than you know," Wlodek replied. "Now, on to other business. Have you been introduced to Anthony's mother, yet?"



"Yes," my voice was suddenly glum.



"Is she his mother?"



My silence for several seconds probably told Wlodek what he wanted to know, but I answered his question verbally anyway. "No, father. She is not." It was Wlodek's turn not to speak for several seconds. More than likely it was because I'd called him father, rather than the other information.



"Well," he sighed after a moment. "Well. It will not be a good idea to attempt to pry the truth loose at this point, and it may harm Anthony as well, should this information become public. I can trust you to keep this to yourself, my daughter?"



"Of course you can," I grumbled. I hadn't wanted to tell him, even. Unless he asked me point blank, that is. I think he knew that. We hung up shortly after that so I misted through the roof and into the house, where I went looking for Radomir.



"Radomir, the Honored One told me that you could give me Flavio's phone number," I said. I'd found him in the hall on the way to his bedroom.