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“You can’t mean for me to talk to Terrance, too. He’s out for my blood. And I’m out for his.” I shook my head. The owner of the Fangtabula was as good as dead in my opinion—or he would be if I ever managed to catch him alone. He was the worst kind of vampire—total y given over to his predator side. Terrance was a sadist, a Dredge in the making.
“I’m not asking you to talk to him. I can handle Terrance. But young Wade, he has a good idea with his Vampires Anonymous group. I wil spare him if you persuade him to withdraw. But this must be done with discretion and finesse—you cannot tel him outright why you’re asking him to walk away from the election. And rest assured, there wil be other duties for you, in the future.”
He seemed convinced I was going to agree. Of course, considering who he was, he had every reason to assume my cooperation.
“What are you planning to do about Terrance?”
“I’m planning on shutting down the Fangtabula and executing al of its primary players. They feed on the unwil ing; they threaten to unbalance our negotiations with the breathers.”
Roman gently slid me off his lap and stood up, a crackle of energy racing around him as he drew on his power. Instinctively, I pul ed back. If I’d had a pulse to pound, it would be racing with fear.
“Terrance dares to chal enge my authority. Menol y, do you know exactly who I am?” He gave me a cold, calculating smile.
I shook my head, slowly, listening to the ivory beads in my cornrows jingling. “Just that you’re Roman . . . and that you have considerably more power than I first thought.”
“Oh, Menol y,” he said softly. “My dear Menol y. I am Roman, Lord of the Vampire Nation, eldest son of Blood Wyne—she who is Queen Mother of the Crimson Veil. And I’m heir to the throne.”
And then he began to laugh.
CHAPTER 5
“Blood Wyne?” This time, a chil did race down my spine—the kind of chil that doesn’t need temperature to back it up. I’d heard rumors of Blood Wyne, the infamous, horrific vampire queen whose name stretched back into obscurity. Whether vampirism started with her, or she was just the one to bring it to notice, Blood Wyne was the first vampire whose name had instil ed terror throughout the living and undead alike.
Long before the Great Divide, she had been known across the lands, but after the worlds ripped apart and the Fae split into factions, as humans began to claim the world for their own, Blood Wyne slipped into the shadows.
She was known stil , but had retreated into the corner like a spider, watching to see how the next few centuries would fal out. I’d heard of her, but like most of the vampires I’d met, I assumed she’d taken her place in the underworld. But the world had changed. Her people were coming out of the coffin. And apparently, the Queen of the Crimson Veil walked the hal s of the living dead once more.>I nodded. “Yes, but I don’t think she’s ful y realized how extensive a selection we have thanks to you.”
“Okay. For dessert, I prepared a few bottles that taste like cinnamon applesauce.”
“Thank you. You’re al right, you know that?” I grinned at my brother-in-law and then headed out to the porch, where Tavah was sitting on the swing. I slipped outside and closed the door behind me. As much as I liked her, I would never invite her in. Too much danger.
Myth and legend were right—to a point. Vampires needed an invitation to enter a private dwel ing. Unless the building was like the frat house our enemy Harold Young had owned, which had technical y been an arm of the university. Or a home-based business. Or a store or bar or other public venue. I wasn’t quite clear on how it al worked yet and somehow doubted I’d ever be ful y savvy.
The temperature had settled somewhere in the low thirties and promised to plummet even colder. The sky glimmered with that silvery sheen, and it was snowing again. The hours I’d spent in sleep had provided for a soft coating lining the tree branches and a scattering barely covering the grass. Now, by the looks of things, by morning we’d have a blanket of white stretching across the lawn.
“I need you to promise me confidentiality on this. It concerns another vampire. No gossiping, no tel ing tales to friends, no talking about this outside my earshot.”
Tavah was official y employed by Queen Asteria now, too. She’d been paid as an Earthside vamp by the OIA, but after we got our butts kicked out last month, she’d offered to move over to the Elfin Queen’s camp with us. So we took her up on it. She nodded her head.
“Of course. What’s going on?”
I outlined the basic problem. “I need you to act as Erin’s new foster mother when I’m not around, at least for now, til I can get matters settled. I’l take over her training, but I want to make sure she has someone to run to if she gets afraid or if something happens.”
Tavah let out a little hmm and cocked her head to the side. She was tal and lean like Delilah, with shoulder-length blond hair that tumbled down her back in a ponytail. She wore scant makeup and kept to herself a good deal. She was a bookworm, albeit dressed in jeans and cashmere. I’d learned enough about her to trust her, but I had the feeling she’d never let anybody in enough to be a good friend.
“I can do that,” she said after a moment. “It’s a lot of responsibility, but . . . yes, I’l be happy to help. You said you wanted me to take her shopping?”
I nodded. “She hates the things Sassy forces her to wear. Get her a few comfortable, neat outfits and for the sake of the gods, let her choose them. Then take her back to the bar and show her what needs to be done in terms of cleaning up. Also, pick up a twenty-five-inch TV, or something close, for one of the rooms upstairs, and an inexpensive laptop. Use the store credit card. Erin might as wel start working tonight—show her where to find the cleaning supplies and what to do. I’m going to be late. If there are any problems, cal my cel phone.”
Standing, I summoned my daughter. Al I had to do was reach out with my mind and cal her, she was stil so freshly turned—and she came running.
“Tavah’s taking you shopping, then back to the bar. She’s an older vampire, so she’l be able to help you if something happens.” Tavah was at least one hundred years old, that much I knew. “I’l see you there when I’m finished with my business.”
“Yes, Mistress.” Erin automatical y bent to kiss my hand, and I reluctantly al owed it. I’d never aspired to sire another vampire; I’d never aspired to control others, only to have power over my own life. Now, it seemed the responsibilities were growing and there was no turning my back on them.
As Tavah led her down the path toward the driveway, I watched them go. My daughter. How odd it felt on my tongue, especial y when my daughter had been in her late forties at her death. But I was her sire, and she was my responsibility, and we would be forever linked, no matter what happened in the future.
Roman lived in a fabulous house behind a gated drive, and his staff was scared shitless of him.
