‘Which is why we’re wary about tonight,’ my father adds. ‘Even though I do believe they’d like a truce. I think they just want to live.’ A shadow crosses his face. ‘I understand that.’
I blow out a breath. ‘So do I. But what do Raven want?’
‘We’ll see what they have to say and?—’
‘I don’t know what I want.’ My mother’s cool voice cuts across my father’s and I’m reminded, once again, that she’s the head of Raven, not him. ‘They almost killed you, Aleks! Took Emelia from us and would have killed her if she hadn’t escaped.’ Her voice shakes. She’s angry. It’s not surprising, when you think about it. My father was badly injured in a bomb attack; only the efforts of our blood dancers stopped him from being incinerated in the light. Several other vampires died, including the Lion prince, Daniel. And I was kidnapped. Such things wouldn’t be brushed off so easily, not with her.
‘Nonetheless, they have surrendered. We need to hear them out, at least.’ My father puts his arm around my mother, kissing her satin hair. ‘Peace, my love. We hold the power here.’
She relaxes into his embrace, her hand on his cheek. ‘If I had lost either of you…’ she murmurs, a catch in her voice.
‘Yet you did not.’ My father’s golden gaze is as soft as I’ve ever seen it. ‘We’re here, all of us together as it should be. And we’ll put an end to this, finally, tonight.’
I clear my throat. ‘So that’s what we want. An ending.’ I hadn’t imagined anything else, but I need to be sure what they mean by that. ‘A peaceful one, right?’
My father nods. ‘Yes. And, while your mother and I will be doing the negotiating, you have a voice as well. If there’s something you feel needs saying, say it. You are the next Raven, and this is as much to do with you as it is with anyone else.’
Good. Not that they could have stopped me speaking up. ‘When will they get here?’
‘Midnight.’
‘Do we need to go over anything else beforehand?’ I know there’s something else. I can feel it.
My parents exchange a look, my mother shaking her head slightly. My father stares her down, then puts his hand on my shoulder. ‘There is something that we?—’
‘My lord?’
The moment scatters, all of us turning. A tall vampire, broad-shouldered, stands at the doorway to the library. His lustrous shoulder-length dark hair is partly tied back from his handsome face, and he’s wearing black chain mail moulded to his muscular form, the silver Raven crest blazoned on the chest. A long curving sword is sheathed at his side, a slender slice of darkness.
‘Varin!’ My father gets to his feet, glancing at the gilded clock on the mantel above the fire. ‘Is it that time already?’
The vampire bows. ‘It is, my lord.’
I glance at my mother. Her mouth tightens, a line between her brows as my father embraces her then comes to me, dropping a soft kiss on my hair. ‘Don’t worry about tonight. We have it all in hand.’
‘But—’
With a whoosh, my father and the chain-mail clad vampire are gone, cool air curling in their wake. I turn to my mother. ‘Who was that?’
‘Oh, no one.’ At my frown she relents. ‘Varin is a sword-master, from India. He and your father have been friends for years, fought together in many wars.’
‘And he’s visiting us because…?’
My mother pauses. I can almost see her thinking. ‘Your father felt he was out of practice, as he doesn’t fight with his sword anymore. So, he asked Varin to come and spar with him.’
Yeah. Sure. I’m sure my father just decided one day, out of the blue, that he needed to start using his sword again. I hold my mother’s gaze, until she looks away.
And there it is.
‘What aren’t you telling me?’
‘It’s nothing.’
Oh, so it’s something, then. I wait.
‘It’s just, with what happened to Mistral. His sons are talking of reviving the Challenge.’
ChapterFive
