Flesh and Blood

Mortalis hit the HOLD button on the elevator, then stepped out and approached the penthouse. Doc wondered if he’d be able to restrain the urge to accidentally break something once he got inside. Mortalis rapped the lion’s-head door knocker hanging off the set of bronze double doors. Once, twice, a pause, then a third time.

The door opened, revealing a slender, lavender-eyed female in a clingy black dress. Everything about her looked human, except for the lack of life in her unnaturally colored gaze and plasticky smooth skin. ‘Welcome.’ Her voice was an automated purr. ‘How may I help you?’

Chrysabelle leaned over to Doc and whispered, ‘What is that?’

‘That,’ Doc answered, not bothering to lower his voice, ‘is a symbot.’ When he’d still been in the business, he’d seen them at some of the homes of his wealthier clientele, but he hadn’t known Dominic had one. Made sense though. A lifeless android was the perfect companion for a lifeless vampire.

Mortalis cleared his throat. ‘Isabelle, I need to see Dominic.’

‘Of course.’ She smiled blankly and pivoted, extending her arm toward the room beyond. ‘Please come in.’

‘I need you to bring him here.’

‘One moment, please.’ Like the well-oiled machine she was, Isabelle disappeared into the apartment.

Mortalis glanced back.

‘We know,’ Doc said. ‘Let you do the talking.’

Chrysabelle reached out toward the fae but let her hand drop without touching him. ‘Mortalis, if Dominic fires you, you can come work for me.’

‘It’s not being fired I’m worried about.’

Footsteps interrupted them. Dominic. They heard his voice first.

‘Buonasera,’ he called out to Mortalis. ‘Why didn’t you come in?’ He came into view, Isabelle behind him. His expression went cold when he saw Doc. His gaze shifted to Chrysabelle, then to Mal, then back to Mortalis. ‘Why did you bring them here?’ He held a tense hand out toward Chrysabelle. ‘No offense, cara mia, but you must understand my need for protection.’

She stepped forward. ‘Of course, Dominic. That’s exactly why we came. Forgive Mortalis. I threatened him with harm if he didn’t bring us to you immediately.’

A strange light entered Dominic’s eyes. ‘You threatened him? With what?’

Mortalis cleared his throat. ‘It was nothing.’

Mal stepped out of the elevator. ‘She threatened to chop his horns off and shove them into a body cavity.’

Chrysabelle glared at Mal. ‘I never used the word shove.’

Dominic’s laughter interrupted them. ‘Bravo, bella. You are most assuredly your mother’s child.’ He sobered a bit. ‘If you needed to speak to me, why is it necessary for all of you to be here? Couldn’t you deliver the information to Mortalis and have him bring it to me?’

Chrysabelle shook her head. ‘Someone stole blood from me in your name, and Ronan ended up with it. That needs a face-to-face explanation.’

Doc wondered how Dominic managed not to react to that news. On the way over, she’d explained to the rest of them what had happened, and the severity of the situation had registered immediately. Had Dominic somehow already known? Maybe he’d given the blood to Ronan after all. Mal looked like he’d come to the same conclusion, judging by the cords tightening in his neck.

‘There are other, more private matters I need to speak to you about as well,’ she added. ‘Doc also has news you should hear.’

Yeah, and a small request for a vial or two of blood. Nothing major.

With obvious reluctance, Dominic stepped out of the way. ‘Come in, then, but if I find any of you have shared this location with anyone, you will see a side of me you do not like.’

Doc held back the response burning his tongue.

Many minutes later, when they were seated in Dominic’s surprisingly sleek living room, and Chrysabelle and Mal had finished explaining everything that had happened, Dominic finally looked shocked. ‘I would never ask you for blood. I know too well what is and what is not appropriate when it comes to comarré.’ He looked up for a moment as Isabelle refilled his wine. ‘Mortalis, you must find Leo and ask him for the details of the night he went to Chrysabelle’s. Who gave him the letter? Where did he deliver the blood?’

‘On it.’ Mortalis nodded. ‘What about Ronan and Katsumi?’

‘We can’t assume anything until we know more. I’ll talk to Katsumi first, then Ronan.’

Mal leaned back in an angular leather chair. ‘Both of them lie. How can you believe anything either of them says?’

Dominic waved a hand through the air. ‘I have ways.’

‘You mean drugs,’ Doc muttered. Dammit. That wasn’t going to help his case.

Dominic’s gaze arrowed in on him. ‘Perhaps now would be a good time for us to speak.’ He stood, palming the bowl of his wineglass. ‘Let’s go to the library, shall we?’ He lifted his glass toward Chrysabelle. ‘If you’ll excuse us.’ Without waiting for an answer, he headed out of the room.

Doc went after him, staying back until Dominic stopped and twisted the matte steel lever on a black lacquered door.

‘After you.’

Books – real books, not just digital copies – filled the floor-to-ceiling brushed steel bookshelves. Was there anything the man didn’t spend money on? Doc stood in the middle of the room and ignored the chairs. This was not a conversation you sat down for.