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“You want to put me in a Drake safe house?” Cora asked Nathan, and I could hear the incredulity in her voice. She’s used to guarding others, and she didn’t at all like the idea she might need protecting.
“Not yet, but it’s something we’ll need to consider. For now, I’d like to move the Fabulosa Trio up here, along with Kelsey, so they can help with security, and so Kelsey can keep an eye on our firewalls. Aaron will likely send Sophia and the kids to Faerie, which means we can probably convince him to hang out here as well.”
“If we’re looking at someone coming here to try to win the territory from me,” I said, “I can bring some of my strongest vampires to town.”
“I think it might be a good idea,” Venom said, “but we can’t expect Homewood to house us all.”
“It shouldn’t be a problem,” Kirsten said. “We built our home with the idea we might need to house an army at some point. We have the space. Those who come as food for the vampires will need to help out in other ways — the kitchen to help feed everyone, the armory to help load magazines and prepare other weaponry, or with any other skills they may have.
“I can ask Blaze to come help, but Augustus may insist on coming if he knows we’ll be up against the likes of Leonardo,” Ryan told us. “I can house the two of them, if they come.”
“That might be best if they’re here for a week or more,” Nathan told him, “but if it’s just a day or two, assuming Marco and his people aren’t antagonistic and are welcoming, we should be able to house a visiting vampire from another territory, and his companion, in an acceptable manner.”
“And Mitchell and I will need our own separate agreement if they bring him,” Cora said.
Mitchell was the alpha werewolf in their threesome, and while he’d been a big help in answering Cora’s questions about dating a vampire and semi-joining the pack and coterie, inviting him into Cora’s home would require some agreed upon boundaries.
“The power they can pull on from their threesome is one of the strongest I’ve felt,” Mordecai said. “Vampire, slayer, and shifter.”
“The strongest I’ve ever felt was the joining of a grizzly, a shark, and an eagle a few hundred years ago,” Nathan said. “The theory is that they represented three of the four elements — earth, water, and air. If someone could pull fire in as well? The foursome might be undefeatable.”
It immediately occurred to me that Kirsten’s powers could easily be called fire, while Nathan and Cora are likely earth. Etta and I could both fly, would that qualify us as air? We only needed water, if that were the case, but it was unlikely we’d find someone.
“I need to ask Marco and Etta a question,” Ryan said, and he met my gaze, then Etta’s. “It’s okay if either or both of you choose to answer me telepathically, though I believe the rest of the room would benefit from hearing the answer as well.” Ryan looked to me, then to Etta, and back to me. “Hypothetically speaking, if you had the opportunity, would you purchase a skin?”
“I would not,” Etta said without hesitation. “If it were possible to rent one, I might want to for a special occasion, but I can’t imagine it would come up more than once every decade or two — and that’s only if it can be safely done, so all side-effects are known for a fact to go away after a known and acceptable amount of time.”
“As Master of a vast territory, the answer isn’t as simple,” I said. “If, five hundred years from now, it’s necessary for a Master to own one in order to entice powerful people to oath to him and join his coterie, then I’ll have to do so, but I will absolutely make sure I can live with the ethics of the human who lost his or her life. The concept of having to provide the human as part of the purchase price has been floated, and I like this idea. The human can’t have been on serious drugs, and they have to be healthy enough they don’t die until the skin has been completely removed. This would keep most who are in the latter stages of cancer or some other fatal disease from being a candidate, but a non-addicted homeless person without family, who doesn’t yet know he or she has cancer, but I can scent it on them? I could live with the ethics of that, I think. Bottom line is that I’m not at all interested in owning such a suit for myself, and it’s possible I’d prefer to attract vampires to me who feel the same, but if for some reason it becomes necessary for a Master of a large territory to own one, I’d have to carefully consider all options.”
“For the record,” Ryan said, “if you decide you must buy one, then you and I will likely be at an impasse, but since you estimate that possibility to be more than a dozen decades away, I can treat the current situation as if you and Etta will not become embroiled in the trade. With that being said, the Slayers officially want to rid the world of these skins, but this appears to be a bell that can’t be unrung. The skins exist, so there will be negotiations around the circumstances under which they can be made, and likely rules around how and when they are worn, especially with the Celrau, and apparently also with Leonardo.” He winced. “I thought we’d be able to insist the human be a murderer or serial rapist, but it seems that won’t work, and I can’t imagine we’re going to be on board with any number of humans who’ve done no evil being sacrificed for this.”
Ryan looked at Etta. “Worst case scenario is that we find ourselves in another war between Strigorii and Slayers, but it would be worse this time, because the Slayers would be fighting both Strigorii and Celrau. Best case scenario is that we only declare war on the Celrau.”
“They’re doing this in other realms, though,” Kirsten said. “I have no idea how you’d go about tracking them down and wiping them out. Due to the Concilio’s edicts, there are more Celrau living in other worlds than there are on this one. You’re never going to be able to wipe them out.”
“We’re aware. I don’t have any answers; I’m just pointing out a serious problem.”
Kirsten met Ryan’s gaze and told him, “I can give you and Etta sanctuary on Alfheim, one or both of you, if it comes to it. I’m not sure whether you can use that as a negotiating point with your people or not — that if they go completely off the rails with something you can’t agree to, they’ll lose you during this battle — but if it helps, feel free to use it.”
“Thank you for that,” Ryan told Kirsten. “Truly. You’re a good friend, and it might help.”
“The concern,” Mordecai said, “is in putting a relatively intelligent animal, conditioned to kill on command, and comfortable with following orders — a German shepherd, for instance — into human skins. Imagine fifty of them, trained in the use of guns. An assault team.”
“I’d put my people against them,” Nathan said. “It wouldn’t be pretty in an ambush, but head-to-head? Nothing can replace the kind of training a seasoned soldier has been through, and even our operators who don’t come to us from the military would be able to successfully defeat such a team. Your hypothetical assault team would absolutely wipe out most police forces, though.”
“It isn’t hypothetical,” Mordecai said. “They aren’t trained well enough to be sent out just yet, but the Celrau aren’t bothered with ethics, or with how the slayers will react, since they believe their army will be able to wipe the slayers out.”
“Thank you for that,” Ryan told Mordecai.
“Don’t mention it,” Mordecai answered, and we all understood he meant it quite literally. He isn’t supposed to interfere in the affairs of men, so it was important none of us said we’d gotten the information from him.
“As it stands now, I think we’re all on at least okay footing?” Cora asked.
“Not great footing, but not terrible,” I told the room. “Shall we table discussion of the skins and move towards keeping Cora and Etta safe?”
Chapter 19
Cora
