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Rhiannon slowly held up her hand.
Regina laughed. "You have a question?"
"Yes," she said, softly. "We have some information on the Indigo Court, but there's so much we still don't know about them. They kidnapped my mother. Do you know what they want with her?"
Geoffrey stood, pacing behind his chair. After a moment, he let out a hollow sigh that had no breath behind it. "We have our suspicions. The members of the Vampire Nation generally don't pretend to be fond of most mortals. We--true vampires--abide by the Treaty of Supernatural Conduct because it allows us to live alongside your kind without being hunted except by those bearing grudges. But we do abide by the treaty--except for the rogues--and we honor our promises. The Indigo Court . . ." He paused and glanced at Regina.
"The Vampiric Fae are chaotic, far more chaotic than we are," she said, after a moment. "You may think us arrogant, but trust me, the world of the Indigo Court is far more dangerous than ours. They honor no treaty, no promises, and consider themselves above every rule except their own. They feed on blood and they feed on magic."
"Where we strive to find some compromise to walk among the living, they seek to make the living their slaves," Geoffrey said. "They hate us. We are their makers and they will never forgive us for being first to walk among the living dead. So they seek those with strength to ever add to their court, in order to eventually destroy us."
While I knew the feeling was mutual, I decided to keep my mouth shut.
"We have a long history--" Regina paused as the door opened and Lannan Altos walked in. "Brother--you're back."
After an exaggerated bow in our direction, he handed a manila envelope to her. She kissed him deeply, tongue and all. I blinked. They'd apparently taken their brother-sister relationship to a whole new level.
"You're lovers? But you're related!" Leo blinked as the words burst out of his lips.
They looked at him, and Regina laughed. "Oh, truly, even the magic-born can seem so human at times. Yes, we are lovers, and yes, we are brother and sister. We are also best of friends and mated to rule over our family line."
Leo gulped out an "Oh."
"Any more questions?" she asked.
I decided to chance it. "Yes, actually. On that subject . . . if you are brother and sister, and mated, then why isn't Lannan an emissary, too?"
As she shook the papers out of the envelope and handed them to me, she shrugged. "The Crimson Queen doesn't care for my brother."
I quickly glanced at Lannan, hoping her answer hadn't brought up baggage he might be happy to take out on us, but he just let out a low laugh.
"True, very true. Regina is the mistress of courtly attendance. I do not suffer sycophants and toadies, and you must be diplomatic in order to do what my sister does. I am far from diplomatic."
Geoffrey let out a snort. "Lannan, you are the epitome of politeness when you choose to be and the biggest ass in the world when you choose to be. To work for the Queen," he added, "one must put aside one's ego and submit one's will directly to our beloved liege. And that, you will never do. You want to be cock of the walk, my friend."
Lannan shrugged and cracked a smile. "Can you blame me? I bow to no man, though I answer to the Queen when I must. I answer only to myself at all other times. And," he turned to Regina, "to my love." He reached out and brushed her fingertips with his and an audible spark broke the silence.
At that moment, they both swiveled their heads to look at me and I suddenly felt like fresh meat on the hoof. I quickly buried my nose in the contracts. They were clearly written, though I noticed one loophole that stipulated if I should fail to report to them daily, the Crimson Court had the right to "administer remedy." I also noticed they were offering me twenty-five hundred dollars a month to report to them on whatever I found out. Not bad money, for a job that didn't require eight-to-five or asking, "Do you want fries with that?"
"I'm not sure what this means, but it could mean, oh, so many things." I pointed to the clause. "What kind of remedies are you talking about?" Actually, I had some idea, thanks to skimming through A History of the Vampire Nation. "The wording on this has to change somehow."
Regina glanced at it, then looked at Geoffrey. "Actually, nothing has to change, but perhaps we can amend it. There must be some guarantee she will not default or neglect her duties."
Lannan leaned his elbows on the back of Regina's chair. "Word it so that for every day she misses sending her report--which can be via e-mail if she likes--she must spend an hour with me, and I, alone, will be allowed to punish her during that time."
A chill went down my back. "What kind of punishment?"
He stared at me. "Whatever punishment I choose."
"No blood," Rhiannon said. "You will not take blood from her. And you can't maim her."
Regina gave Lannan a long look and a veiled smile crossed her face. "Lannan would never maim such a lovely young woman."
"Wait." I caught my breath, feeling the world hedge in around me just a little bit more. The only way to avoid accepting their deal would be to leave town, but even then, they'd hunt me down. As she reached for the papers, I pulled them away from her.
"The part about helping us with my aunt--it's not in the contract. I ask again: Can you help us rescue my aunt and our friend Peyton? If I'm going to sign something that puts my life in danger, I have to make more than a couple grand a month for it."
Regina and Lannan looked at each other, then at Geoffrey. I had the distinct feeling they were conferring without us hearing a word.
