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I’d fallen asleep with her, trusting her not to murder me in my sleep, and I’d awakened beside a dead-to-the-world vampire.
Could I leave the room without putting her at risk? I didn’t know. I sat up, saw a handwritten note on the sidetable, and reached for it.
Ryan,
If you need to leave, please call Evan and let him know, so he can be certain the doors are locked behind you. If you can stay, perhaps we can play a third game of chess before we have to go out into the world and see to our jobs. I’d tell you when I’m likely to rise, but I have a feeling you already know, so I won’t insult you by doing so. You’re welcome to anything in my refrigerator. Please make yourself at home.
Never in my life has a powerful vampire trusted me with their life while the dawn took them. It touched me all the way down to my toes. She’d let me into one of her personal spaces, and she trusted me not to kill her while she was completely defenseless.
I had things to do, but I’d slept until one o’clock, so I likely only had a few hours until she rose. I found a variety of sodas and juices in her refrigerator, along with a tray of cold cuts, boiled eggs, and fruit. It hadn’t been in the fridge the night before, which meant she’d ordered it so I’d have something to eat when I woke. Again, I was touched.
I sat with the plate at her little table and looked through my messages. Chrystle had sent some videos for me to look through, and had managed to snag some correspondence from one of the Concilio vampires I suspected was part of the whole skinner bullshit. Nothing was said that confirmed it for me, but much of what was said seemed nonsensical, which meant they were speaking in code since they knew they weren’t on an encrypted connection. I couldn’t act on it, but it certainly meant something. If I only knew what that might be.
Etta had provided the perfect meal for me, from an energy perspective — eggs and meat and simple carbs. Granted, it was the perfect meal for shapeshifters as well, and likely most humans. Vampires are known for keeping their blood sources healthy. Nutritionists should probably talk to them about how they go about doing so, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.
I was looking through the detailed analysis of a problem brewing in North Georgia when Etta rose, and I turned my phone off and twisted to talk to her, but remained silent when I sensed someone telepathing her.
The look on her face told me all I needed to know, but seconds later, she verified by telling me, “Marco needs me to go with him to deal with Kelsey.”
Drake Security had brought a young vampire in, one Marco was ultimately responsible for as her Master, but Drake was handling the day-to-day task of making sure she was safe around humans and shapeshifters. She’d gained control much quicker than expected, and she’d made the trip from Australia to the U.S. without a Master. Most vampires a hundred years older than her wouldn’t have made it without being comatose and nearly dead upon arrival, but I’d watched from a distance, and she was still sitting up and talking upon arrival. She’d stumbled when she stood, but she’d been alert and able to walk under her own power. This vampire was going to be formidable in a few centuries.
I lifted my brows, waiting to see if Etta would tell me what had happened.
“Kelsey went up a power level while fucking two of the shapeshifters responsible for overseeing her, and things went sideways. Everyone’s fine, but she’ll need a strong vampire overseeing her until she gains control with the new power level.”
Vampires are brutal with young vampires who lose control, not because they’re worried about human life, but because the Concilio punishes the vampire responsible for the newly-turned vampire should their charge put The Secret at risk.
* * * *
Etta
It goes against every cell of my being to be aboveground while the sun reigns. I’ve managed to avoid doing so for most of my life, but Marco commanded me into a lightproof bag, which would be carried to a limo waiting for me in the garage. A secure compartment in the limo would hold us, so we’d have the protection of that compartment plus the bags we were in — made of layers of material he assured me would survive knives, bullets, and car accidents. I knew all of this, along with the fact they’d survived a few plane crashes, so a car crash should be a piece of cake, but I still didn’t like it.
But my master ordered it, so I allowed Evan and another eagle to zip me into the lightproof bag without comment. I said my goodbyes to Ryan and sent him on his way before doing so, however.
Eventually, the limo pulled into another garage, where I assumed my Master would get in, but he ordered me out of the limo, and I was shown a stronghold in Homewood I felt certain was more secure than some of the Concilio’s safe places.
“Should all hell break loose while I’m on the premises, it’s important you be able to honestly tell our people I’m safest remaining in place, rather than risking a move to a more secure location,” Marco told me.
“I expected that would be the case, since this is where Cora will house the children in her pack, and her caretaker wolves, but this is an exceptionally safe space.” I looked to Cora. “Your secret is safe with me.”
She grinned. “And I’m sure it isn’t lost on you that you have no idea how you were brought underground, so while you’ve seen the space, you’d have a hard time finding it again. I trust Marco, and he trusts you, but this is still a work in progress.”
I nodded. “I appreciate how big of an ask just showing me this much was.”
“I’ve asked Cora to spend five contiguous days and nights with me at the coterie house,” Marco told me. “My people need to be more comfortable with her, and I’d like all of my safe places to be available to her.”
She’d been in and out of the coterie house on Long Island enough, most of our people were already comfortable with her, but I understood where he was going with this, and I approved. “I’ll spend as much time as possible on the premises while you’re with us,” I told Cora. “If you need anything at all, you’ll only need to telepath me. From the simplest question about protocol, to a full-blown SOS, I will be available.”
“I appreciate that,” Cora told me. “I’ve spent enough nights in the coterie house in New York, I feel I know what I’m agreeing to, but it’s always good to have powerful allies.”
I sensed Marco’s thoughts without him needing to say a thing, and I told her, “I look forward to moving from ally to friend.”
Cora looked at Marco and back to me. “As do I. Marco tells me you didn’t have a chance to feed before he called you to him, and I have a young wolf who’s volunteered to be a meal.”
Marco laughed. “He’s volunteered to be a fuck and feed, dear Cora. It’s important you get the wording right. He wants to fuck the pretty vampire.”
She rolled her eyes. “The young man is waiting for you in the armory. He wants to fuck a vampire on the worktable, surrounded by guns. I’m of a mind to allow this particular fantasy, assuming you’re okay with it, so I’ll leave the negotiations of where and how up to the two of you. A bedroom has been made available as well, if you aren’t comfortable in the armory.”
