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Another knock sounded on the door. He set the trivet down and picked up the teapot as Tashi entered once again. He poured some tea into a small round cup without handles.
“I thought you might want to clean up.” Tashi placed a bowl and pitcher next to the tray and frowned at the plate of food. “You didn’t eat.”
“I was waiting for Neona. When is she coming?”
“Are you in a hurry to die?” Tashi gave him a wry look. “Neona’s with Freddie and Freya. They’re getting her ready for you. And making a big deal out of it.” She rolled her eyes. “They act like this is a wedding.”
His heart stilled. Would Neona see it that way? Could she accept a vampire for a husband? His groin tightened at the thought of a wedding night.
“But it is more like your funeral,” Tashi continued. “You shouldn’t have come here.”
“I’m in love with Neona. And I want to help you defeat Lord Liao.”
Tashi stiffened. “We don’t need your help.”
“You do. There are only six of you.”
Tashi winced. “You will never convince the queen to trust you.”
“I have to try.” Zoltan looked around the small house. He might be here several days. He needed to teleport back home and grab a supply of blood. And he needed to make plans with Angus. “How long will it take Neona to get here?”
Tashi shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“I should rest before she comes. Can you tell her to come in thirty minutes?”
“Do we look like we would own a clock?”
“Neona has a watch. I gave her one.”
Tashi’s eyes widened. “Really? Is it true what Freya said, that you brought gifts for us all?”
He nodded. “True. I’d like to be accepted here.”
“The queen will never accept a male here.” With a sigh, Tashi walked toward the door. “Some things never change.”
The sad tone of her voice made Zoltan suspect that she might be open to change. “Will you tell Neona?”
Tashi nodded. “Thirty minutes.” She left, closing the door behind her.
Zoltan grabbed his jacket and looked around as he prepared to teleport. The trivet. It was bothering him because he couldn’t tell what it was. He picked it up, checked the time on his watch, and teleported straight to the kitchen of his castle.
Howard had his wife pressed against the kitchen counter as he slipped a chocolate-covered strawberry into her mouth.
Zoltan dropped his bloody jacket and the black tile on the counter. “Sorry to interrupt.”
Howard jumped and turned. “What the—holy crap! What happened to you?”
Elsa choked and swallowed, her eyes watering. “Oh, my God! Do you need a doctor?”
“I’m fine.” Zoltan glanced down and winced. His bare chest was smeared with blood, and more blood had seeped through the bandages Neona had tied around him.
Howard gave him an incredulous look. “Why do you keep seeing that woman? She beat the crap out of you again!”
“No, she didn’t.” Zoltan motioned to the stab wound by his ribs. “Her mother did this. And it was one of her friends who shot me with an arrow.”
“And that makes it okay?” Howard scoffed. “I take it back. You’re not depressed. You’re insane.” He whipped out a cell phone. “I’m calling Mikhail. He has some medical supplies.”
“I don’t need doctoring.” Zoltan pulled a bottle of Blissky from the cabinet. “But do call Mikhail and Angus and anyone else who can come for a strategy meeting. We have to come up with a plan to help the women of Beyul-La.”
Howard frowned. “The same women who just treated you like a dartboard?”
“They’ll come around.” Zoltan poured a glass of Blissky and downed it. The blood gave him a jolt of energy, and the whisky took the edge off the pain. He grabbed the black tile. “Get everyone here now. I’ll be right back.”
“What? Where—”
Zoltan teleported to his office in Budapest. “Milan,” he called as he entered his assistant’s office.
Milan jumped to his feet. “Oh, my God! What happened to you?”
Zoltan shrugged, then grimaced from the pain of moving his shoulder.
“Sir!” Milan ran toward him. “Shall I call a doctor?”
“No, I’m fine. I’m in a hurry. I need to get back to something.”
“A battle?” Milan adjusted his glasses as he eyed the bandages. “Are you sure that’s wise, sir? If I might say so, you appear to be losing.”
Zoltan smiled. “I’m fine. How’s it going with the land deal?”
“Rajiv met with the government officials. He said they wanted an exorbitant amount, about ten million—”
“Send it. I need the deed right away.”
Milan gulped. “Yes, sir.”
“And see what you can find out about this.” Zoltan handed him the black mystery tile.
Milan frowned, turning it over in his hands. “What is it?”
“I don’t know. Send it to the lab at the university. The guys who investigated the arrow. And put a rush on it. I want to know by tomorrow night.”
“Yes, sir.”
“How’s business? Do you have everything under control?”
“Yes, sir!” Milan’s gaze shifted back to the bloody bandages. “How is your . . . vacation?”
“Great! See you later.” Zoltan teleported back to the kitchen.
Mikhail and his wife, Pamela, had arrived and were sitting at the table with Howard and Elsa. J.L. Wang was helping himself to a Bleer from the fridge, and Emma MacKay was pouring herself a glass of Blardonnay.
She gasped. “What happened to you?”
“I met the other warrior women of Beyul-La,” Zoltan explained. “Is Angus coming?”
“Yes, as soon as he finishes his interview with Franklin Chesterton.” Emma poured a second glass of Blardonnay and offered it to Zoltan. “I went with Angus, since my psychic powers are much stronger than his, probably because I was already telepathic before I was transformed. I was able to see that Franklin has quite a few memories of his childhood. Apparently he and his father discussed Beyul-La often.”
“That’s good.” Zoltan took a long drink of the mixture of synthetic blood and Chardonnay, then headed toward the table. “Shall we get started?”
“I brought a medicine kit,” Mikhail said. “Do you want a shot for the pain?”
“I’ll be fine.” Zoltan sat next to J.L. Wang.
J.L., aka Jin Long, had worked for the FBI before becoming a vampire. As an employee for MacKay S&I, he was in charge of security for the West Coast Coven, situated in his hometown of San Francisco. Recently he’d done some assignments in China, since he knew the language.
“We read Angus’s report,” J.L. said, “so we’re all up to date. Amazon women, hiding in a secret valley. Why? Are they scary looking?”
Zoltan shook his head. “Quite the contrary.”
“Did you figure out what Lord Liao wants from them?” Emma set the bottle of Blardonnay on the table along with her glass and took a seat.
Zoltan refilled his glass. “I believe so. The woman I’ve been seeing is Neona. She looks like she’s twenty-two, but she’s over two thousand years old. And her mother, the queen, is even older. I think she dates back to the Iron Age.”
A series of gasps went around the table.
“Holy crap,” Howard muttered. “And I thought you were old.”
Zoltan gave him a wry look. “They have a fountain of youth. Living Water, they call it. I haven’t seen it yet, but I believe it’s a pool in a cave.”
“So Lord Liao wants the fountain of youth?” Elsa asked. “But he’s a vampire. He’s already immortal.”
“I think he’s trying to prove his worth to Master Han,” Zoltan explained. “If they take control of the Living Water, then they could wield a tremendous amount of power over the mortal world.”
J.L. nodded. “Han could make mortal governments bend to his will.”
“No wonder the women of Beyul-La are so distrusting,” Emma said. “Whoever controls the Living Water could potentially control the world.”
