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Chapter Four
I found myself in the same place I had before—a dank, dark cave alit only with a few torches.
“We welcome the Nex Apparatus,” a deep voice said.
It seemed twelve years hadn’t taken my title away. I turned, my eyes adjusting to the gloom, and a shadow stepped away from the wall and into the light, his scarred face becoming visible. “Hey. Nice to meet you. Please call me Kelsey. Nex Apparatus is a lot.”
I’m used to meeting crazy-looking creatures. I’ve shaken hands with some creatures who didn’t actually have hands. More like talons or weird appendages. Despite what the new more demonic Liv would have you believe, I’m pretty low maintenance. I’m not a person who judges based on appearance.
So it didn’t bother me at all to reach out a hand to the primal I found in front of me.
“And you must call me Rufus.” He was a good foot and a half taller than me and wore what seemed to be some kind of formal robe. It was dark and would likely help him blend into the stone walls around him. The hood was back, draped around what seemed to be slender shoulders.
I often wonder if the dudes who did Voldemort’s makeup for the movies had encountered a primal before. It’s the no nose thing that’s the weirdest. The bald head and slightly pointed ears can be shrugged off, but the lack of a nose draws one’s attention. He took my hand gently and bowed in a courtly gesture. Most vampires look perfectly human until the need to do any of the three Fs—feed, fight, or fuck. Then the claws and fangs come out. But the primals always have theirs. They don’t recede into the body, protecting the vampire from human freak-outs. Hence the staying completely away from humans’ thing.
“We welcome you to the Atlanta nest, and we’re so pleased to have the king on the plane with us once again.” Rufus’s fangs gleamed in the low light, but he didn’t seem to have any trouble speaking around them. “It has been a hard twelve years, but we are proud to do our service to our culture.”
“And a great service you have done,” Trent replied.
Rufus let go of my hand, stepping back. “Please allow me to show you to the proper entrance of the nest. For obvious reasons, we guard it zealously.”
Eddie had a flashlight out. “Be careful, my mistress. It can be slippery down here, and I would not have you fall.”
I’d missed that little guy. I have to admit I’ve become far too used to having Eddie around. I hadn’t started out thinking I would get this cool butler person who organized my life and also happened to genuinely give a crap about me and my family.
Of course, if you’d asked me years ago if I’d have a family, I would have laughed. Before my time as the Nex Apparatus began, I didn’t think I would be alive at this point, much less surrounded by people who loved me. I reached out a hand. “You can guide me, my friend.”
Eddie squeezed my hand. “It would be my greatest pleasure.”
“Casey is already meeting with one of the chief librarians, and Fen and Evan are inside somewhere.” Trent took a position behind us, guarding our back. “Likely with Christopher and Rose.”
“Rose?” I asked and then remembered something Fen had told me earlier. “Is she the companion he married?”
“Yes.” Rufus took the lead, starting down a series of stairs. “Rose Beasley sought safety here when Myrddin the Pretender first took the crown. You must understand that the primals have always offered refuge to supernatural creatures who need it. Primal vampires are not the only beings you will encounter in the Under. In the past we have remained neutral when it comes to Council infighting. We have no deep ties to most of the classes of vampire, though we do much work with the academics.”
If anyone was comfortable in libraries, it was the academics. And I was comfortable around academics. That particular class of vampire has always had a strong relationship with the women of the supernatural world known as Hunters. Women like me. There was a reason Casey had been able to sense I needed space earlier today. He’d grown into his powers, and he’d been able to find a certain synch with me. Of course, I’d likely been broadcasting my need for emotional control quite loudly at the time. “So when Myrddin took the leash off the vampires the companions ran here? How did they know to come? Primals aren’t well known in the supernatural world. Very few vampires have even met a primal.”
I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t been sent to put one down. Of course I hadn’t known at the time Christopher Miller was a primal.
“We have friends in the human world,” Rufus explained. “Mostly scientists who know of our world and are trusted. When we learned of Myrddin’s attack on the Council, we sent word to those with protected status that they were welcome here and would receive safe passage.”
“Did the academics contact you?” I was curious how everything had gone down.
“Yes. Almost immediately.” Even though he was a few steps down from me, Rufus was still taller. “We have a network of mirrors that work here in the Under. Our nest is well protected, but we do need contact with the outside world. The academics set up a Fae mirror network for us long ago. Hugo Wells sent word that we should lock down our nest and be prepared to smuggle in refugees when we could. That was when we sent out the bat signal.”
Trent chuckled, but the words made me stop since up until this point Rufus seemed like a very old-school, refined vampire type. “I’m sorry? You have a bat signal?”
Rufus stopped and turned, an oddly sweet grin on his hollowed-out face. “It is a joke among us. Bats are close to our hearts and our physical beings.” His voice went low. “I am Batman.”
I had to laugh. “Now a sense of humor that includes pop culture references is not something I expected. You guys watch superhero movies?”
He returned to his long descent. “Of course. We enjoy entertainments of all kinds. I think you’ll find us quite accommodating. We live underground, but we try to keep up with the world. As I said, there are many non-primals living in the nest now, and they bring us vitality and a diversity I find invigorating. Our lives are long, and so much of before was spent in the darkness. It is good to surround ourselves with light. Welcome to our nest, Kelsey Owens.”
Ahead of me a set of doors swung open and warm light spilled over the stairs I stood on. Rufus walked inside, his taloned hand gracefully sweeping out to gesture to the grand foyer I found myself in front of.
“Like I would take you to sleep in a cave.” Trent snorted as he walked past me. He stopped on the last step. “You’ve spent far too much time with Devinshea. He spoiled you, baby.”
I had gotten used to a certain level of opulence and comfort. He was right about that. It didn’t look like I would be in a sleeping bag. The lobby of this nest of the primals looked like something out of Architectural Digest, with gleaming wood floors and a stunning chandelier overhead. There were flowers covering one of the walls, thick green vines and blooming purple flowers.
