Blade to the Keep (4 page)

She took a deep breath and pushed the past away. It was touching that he cared, but she was a badass bitch and she needed to remember that if she expected anyone else to do the same. She squared her shoulders.

“I am the Vessel. I am a Hunter. I am the foster daughter of the First. I will survive.”

He bent to one knee, making her smile. “
Déesse
, I am yours to command. Always.”

She touched the top of his head, energy flowing between them. Calming him. Filling him with assurance she also had needed and received in turn. And things were all right by the time he stood.

“I’m going to get changed and have some tea with the First. You know where I am if you need me. I’ll have my phone, and Enzo will also be available. Rest while you can. I’m sure there’s porn on the televisions. Probably Vampire porn, though.”

The look of horror on his face made her laugh as she headed through to her rooms.

“They have such a thing?”

“Yes. Weird, huh?”

“I think I’ll read instead,” he murmured faintly, and she kept laughing until she came in to find her things being unpacked and placed in drawers and the closet. The room had not changed. Not even a tiny bit.

Drawings she’d done of the various household staff still sat in frames on the shelves. Her books remained in the floor-to-ceiling cases. A throw she’d used when she’d read near the fire on cold evenings lay folded neatly on the back of the wing chair she’d favored.

“He ordered it left exactly as you’d had it,” Enzo murmured from her left. So many contradictions, had Theo.

She picked up a leather-bound book of poetry. Pablo Neruda. She’d been reading it right before she’d left. It still had her bookmarks here and there.

“Would you like help changing from your road clothing,
vasallus
?”

Rowan blinked hard as she put the book back on the table in the sitting room. Enzo had opened the heavy draperies, and snow fell gently just on the other side of the glass. Calm and quiet. Cataline stood after she’d finished putting Rowan’s underpants away and looked her over critically.

It wasn’t so much the being examined, that was normal. Or that Rowan doubted she looked a little bit like a woman who’d been traveling that day. But the title, which she’d not heard in a long time.

“No one has called me that in many years. Rowan will do fine now, Cataline. You look well. I’m glad to see you.”

Vasallus
was the Latin word for vassal. It had been her title from birth. Enzo’s title now. She had been that once but she was no longer. And that did not make her sad.

She’d serve him tea, because she loved him in her own way. And because it was part of their relationship. But he did not own her, or her future. She was not his vassal.

The Goddess burned bright within Rowan’s belly, strengthening her.

Cataline, who’d been one of the servants on this wing since before Rowan had been born, nodded once. “As you wish. He did send some things for you to wear. If you would like.”

The look on her face told Rowan Cataline felt very strongly that one of the gowns should indeed be worn. And as she moved to the closet and saw them, Rowan agreed.

“The blue please.”

Enzo made a satisfied sound in the background. “I’ll wait for you in the sitting room.”

Rowan disrobed, not even thinking about the other woman in the room. Cataline had given her baths as a child. Had cleaned and bandaged up whatever needed tending to after Theo’s lessons.

“He’ll like this. I’m glad you’re wearing it.” Cataline helped her into the dress, doing the laces up the back. The sleeves were fitted but cut so her service mark on her wrist would show. “He’s been in a state this last week.”

Rowan froze, and Cataline smoothed her hands down the skirts. “No, not like that. He wants everything to be perfect. For you. Might I do your hair?”

In for a penny and all that. She nodded and Cataline steered her to sit in front of the vanity mirror near the windows. She ran the brush through Rowan’s hair and then began to fasten it back.

It was a quick job. Nothing too ornate. “The training rooms will be open for the visitors, but The First wanted me to inform you your old space is ready should you desire it. His lieutenants are all eager to work with you.”

Rowan laughed. “I bet. I hope you have plenty of soaking salts around.” They’d kick her ass for leaving just as much as they would to judge how much her skills had improved. “Thank you. For unpacking my things and for helping me get dressed.” She tipped her chin and Cataline waved it away.

“No thanks needed. It’s my job. Just because you ran off doesn’t mean you’re not still my job, young lady. You scared me half to death. We thought something bad had happened to you. It wasn’t right the way you left.”

Rowan let the woman speak. “I’m sorry to have worried you. But you know why I left. Everyone knew except me.” When she’d found out Theo had had her parents killed for breaking their law and being together, that he’d raised her as his own all those years and had let her think they’d died in an accident, it had been too much to bear. The betrayal of it had crashed into her life and she had nothing to do but leave.

“What difference would it have made to have told you? They loved you. But they broke the laws. He loves you so much. For years after you left—”

“Enough!” Enzo came in, anger on his features.

“No, it’s not enough. The girl should know.”

“I should have known lots of things. But that’s all past now. Theo and I—well, we’re trying. He was wrong. And everyone who knew and didn’t tell me was wrong. I was wrong for scaring you when I left. That’s a lot of wrong. But it’s also a long time ago.”

Cataline kissed her forehead. “If you need help when you finish, ring for me. The Scion of North America is here and asked to be told of your status when he awakens. He’s very handsome.”

And meddlesome.

“Let’s go. You know The First hates to be kept waiting when he wants his tea.”

Chapter Four

Enzo ushered her from the room, and they headed down the hall and up three steps to Theo’s apartments.

Recht, one of Theo’s lieutenants, stood at the doors. He smiled, lowering his chin in deference, and she repeated the gesture. She’d seen him three months before when he’d accompanied The First to Las Vegas, but seeing him here in his full House regalia was something else. He was regal and beautifully dangerous.

His deep black hair was captured back in a queue at the back of his neck, exposing features so breathtaking it nearly hurt to look on them too long. His lips, arrestingly lush, curved. His smile could be fetching, as it was just then. Sardonic at times. Cruel. Recht had been one of Theo’s guards for well over nine centuries. A master swordsman, he’d been the one to teach her how to use blades.

“We have an appointment on the practice floor. I hear tales of your prowess with your blessed blade, little goddess. I’ll want to see how well you’ve taken my training for myself.” Recht raised a brow, and she snorted an undignified laugh.

“I’ve had to agree to keep my blade sheathed unless I’m threatened here. But I can make do with one of your blades. You heal fast enough.”

He gave her a full-throated laugh. Something she knew very few others ever heard, as Theo’s guards were nearly totally silent around anyone else. Only one, Nadir, the sole female of the Five, spoke aloud in public. “Bold words for a little girl. I can’t wait to see proof of such a statement.”

She patted his arm.

“He’s in a good mood,” Recht said so quietly Rowan could have dreamed the words.

“I’ll leave you here. I’ll be around if you need me.” Enzo bowed and Rowan squared her shoulders and opened the doors to the antechamber, pushing the tea tray to the seating area near the fireplace.

The dim of the room reminded her that while Theo could be awake this early, he was still a Vampire and couldn’t be in direct sunlight. The heavy draperies were open, but the gauzy panels were closed. Light enough to see, but not enough to harm.

She thought about the temperature and stoked the fire a bit, knowing he preferred the room warmer. It only took moments to adjust to moving in a dress instead of her usual pants. She supposed some things you never really forgot.

Almonds
. His scent always came into a room before he did. A warning of sorts, as well as the calling card of a very old Vampire.

She turned to see her foster father come into the room, his long, pale hair loose as he walked. If Recht had been beautiful and regal, Theo was ethereal. Otherworldly. So exquisite to behold, the mere sight of him was enough to ensnare a human even without his trying.

Rowan loved to look at him, but only when he wasn’t aware of it. She’d often felt like Theo was a work of art. In some light he was so alien and feral it was hard to look at him. Other times he was achingly beautiful.

But when he focused on you, it was...difficult to think straight.

Allowing her gaze to skim over his face, she held her wrist in her other hand, turned out so her mark showed to him. Muscle memory. “
Vater.
”

He touched her head with so much gentleness she had to stifle a gasp. But tenderness rushed through her anyway.

“You look well, Petal. I’m pleased to see you in blue. Come and make me some tea. I’m chilled by the sudden snowfall. Did you bring it with you?”

“I bring tea, but the snow was here when I arrived. Please, sit, I’ll pour out.”

He took her hand and drew her along with him to where she’d pushed the tea cart.

His gaze went to the fireplace and a satisfied smile marked his mouth as she laid some cookies on a small plate and placed them before him on the table. She poured out exactly how she knew he liked it, placing the cup, handle perfectly positioned, next to the plate with the cookies and tended to her own tea.

“I will be displeased if you do not have cookies, Petal. Cook made them just for you.”

She smiled as she sipped her tea. They were indeed her favorites. Once he’d taken a sip she allowed herself three cookies. The delicate shortbread was rich and buttery with a slight hint of lemon.

“I’ll be sure to go to the kitchens to deliver my thanks in person.”

He nodded. “Cook will like that. The staff is more excited about your return than anyone else being here.” He drank his tea for a while before turning a gaze that missed nothing in her direction. “You’re healed from your ordeal with the rogue?”

“Ordeal” was a nice way of saying
that time you nearly got killed by a crazed
,
tweaker serial killer ancient Vampire
.

“Yes, thank you.” Between physical therapy and being the human Vessel for a goddess, she’d healed up the rather severe damage well. Then again, Theo had given her his blood to speed the healing.

“I can still smell my mark on you. It pleases me.”

Taking in so much of his blood had altered her. Already strong and fast, she was stronger and faster. Her night vision had sharpened. Three months had passed, and it showed no signs of wearing off or weakening. Rowan really wasn’t sure if it ever would.

But for the time being, she’d certainly take the plusses and use them to the fullest in this negotiation.

“Thank you for that, too.”

“You are precious to me. There’s nothing I wouldn’t have done to save your life.”

She looked at him over the rim of her cup. Fine, eggshell china older than any human alive. Hell, older than most Vampires. She knew the set they were using was one of his favorites. Russian. A gift from Pyotr Alexeyvich Romanov’s court, otherwise known as Peter the Great. Of course Theo hadn’t much liked Peter, declaring him
too liberal
, but he did love fine things so he’d kept the tea set.

“You are aware you’ve only made me stronger?”

He laughed and the hair on her arms stood up.

“I am. Not that you needed it. Oh.” He waved a hand. “These Vampires have a general fear of you. The ones who live here and saw you raised understand your ferocity. Their fear is based on knowledge. The ones from outside, like my Scions? Well, you’ve taught them a number of lessons.” He shrugged. “You are aware that the best lessons are often learned by blood. Your little humans from Hunter Corp.” He sniffed, sneering. “One of them has lodged a complaint accusing me of favoritism.”

This was news to Rowan, though she didn’t react. Politics had begun and she put away her affection for him and pulled on her mantle as Vessel and Liaison.

He smirked her way, but approval edged the expression. Above all, he’d taught her politics and she played them well. “You have no reaction to that?”

“I do. But you know what it is. In any case, it matters not. I am what I am, and I am eminently suited to this position. What anyone thinks of this is of no matter to me.”

“That they do not stand behind you aggrieves me.”

They did stand behind her or she wouldn’t be there. Hunter Corp. knew her worth and the wounded feelings of someone like Valerie and her little minions didn’t matter at all in the big picture. But none of those things were going to be said between her and Theo.

“I
am
here. I sit at the head of the table.” She didn’t need to point out that the Nation was populated by punk-ass whiners who pulled the same sort of silly crap Valerie did, and they were ignored too. He knew it. He tested her and tried to derail her now. He hadn’t risen to where he’d sat for centuries without a great deal of skill. He had far more than she ever would. But neither would she let him toy with her.

She countered, keeping her tone casual. “What of these rogues and the blood barrier?”

His gaze lit, amused and interested. “You make an old man like me so proud of what you’ve become, Petal. As for the rogue? We’ll save such discussion for the table or I’ll be accused of negotiation with you. But I will underline, of course, that it is not within the purview of the Treaty for Hunters to make all our choices. We have stood independent longer than the Hunter Corporation has been in existence. We do not need your
governance
.”

“You do when your rogues hunt humans and leave their dead bodies for all to see. You risk your own exposure and we will not move to stop that. As you rightfully point out, we do not govern you, only the Treaty.”

“You can hardly call the entire Vampire Nation to task for the work of one Vampire. A rogue, as you well know.”

She crossed her legs, keeping her back straight and a firm grip on her calm.

“I can, actually, call the Nation to task for the unchecked actions of a rogue that resulted in the murder of multiple humans. And I’d hasten to add, the holding back of the incredibly relevant information regarding the breaking of the blood barrier with blood tinged with crystal meth only added to the overall problem. A problem Hunter Corp. was forced to solve because the Vampire Nation did not police its own effectively.”

“And yet you sit here, alive, because of Vampires.”

“No. I sit here alive after an attack by a Vampire who was not handled by the Nation.
I
tracked him.
I
found him.
I
ran him to ground, and
I
killed him.” She raised a brow at him. “Though certainly appreciative my foster father was in the area and lent me a great deal of his strength to survive the rather severe injuries I incurred in delivering the death sentence the Vampire Phineas Bolger had earned.”

“Seeing you so damaged made me want to burn the world to the ground.”

As scary a thought as it was, it still made her warm inside.

There was a knock at the door, and without thinking, Rowan stood to deal with whatever it was. Halfway there, she turned back to him and met his satisfied smile. Vampire, yes. Male? That too. Utterly.

“Go on, Petal. You know what I’d find important enough. Otherwise I might spoil our lovely tea by having to discipline someone.”

Yes, it would be nice to not see someone get flailed bloody before she’d even had dinner.

She went to the door and Enzo stood there with a serene expression. She rolled her eyes at him before inviting him in. If anyone knew what Theo would be interrupted for it was Enzo, who’d taken over Rowan’s position nearly fifteen years before.

“Pardon my interruption.” Enzo went to one knee, his wrist showed, head bowed.

Theo sighed, agitation rife in the sound. “Go on.”

“Victoriana and Marcilius have arrived with a rather large cadre.”

“How many?”

“Fourteen.”

The room went icy cold and it took every last ounce of Rowan’s control not to shrink away when Theo unfolded himself from the settee and stood with quiet, graceful menace.

“I told them they could have two attendants each. How many are human?”

“They brought ten humans. The fourteen number I gave you was Vampires.”

“They brought
twenty-four
people into my Keep when they were forbidden to do so?”

Rowan’s heart beat so fast she had to wrench her emotions away from herself or drown in them. Being there was an important reminder. The Vampires she dealt with regularly were powerful, yes, but nothing she came into contact with could get close to Theo’s output of fear and power. It rushed from him like a hard rain.

All those times he’d taught her lessons, left her bleeding as she’d failed to distance herself from the furry animal part of her humanity, had been important because she drew on it then and thanked the Goddess she wasn’t on the receiving end of it.

She shielded, hard. He’d taught her that. She filtered it all away until nothing remained but a hard shell. A Vessel to a being that was just as strong and fearsome.

It was then she felt the scalding hot power rush through her and realized the Goddess had been testing her too.

He looked up at her, cocking his head, his eyes glowing with power. It was very clear Theo did not like Her in his space. In his daughter.

He spoke in their original language. “You were not invited, Goddess. Take your leave from my daughter.”

She replied. Or rather,
She
replied. In the same ancient words. Warning him to watch himself near Her Vessel. “
She is mine
,
Vampire.
My Vessel and I will go as I please.
”

Theo took a step closer, taking a deep breath of the power radiating from Rowan.

“This is not entirely you, Brigid. My child is in there. This is
her
strength.”

“
At last you understand.
It is
always
her strength.
”

Enzo kept his gaze on the floor the entire time—Rowan knew to keep himself out of Theo’s attention—a familiar place in Rowan’s memories. Brigid sensed Rowan’s worry for Enzo and her need to keep him out of the line of Theo’s fire, and eased back some. Enough that Rowan was again able to think clearly.

She placed herself between Theo and Enzo to keep Theo’s attention on her. “
Vater
, I will take my leave as it’s clear you have some problems to deal with.”

Her voice remained calm and she was proud of herself.

He growled and the hair on the back of her neck rose in response. “They will pay for this too. My daughter and I were having a cup of tea, and now I must deal with this ridiculous nonsense instead! I should put every last one of them on a pike and let the crows eat their eyes.”

Coming from anyone else on the planet, Rowan would have thought the comments were overkill. But from Theo she knew they were simply something he’d already considered. Something she’d seen with her own eyes once when she was eleven and one of the neighboring Vampire rulers had overstepped his bounds.

“Come here and kiss my cheeks then, Petal. Recht, assemble the others.”

She moved to him and kissed each cheek and let him squeeze her hands. She wanted to be gone from that room as soon as possible, but until she said a proper goodbye she couldn’t.

“I will see you in several hours for dinner. Naturally you will be next to me at the table.” He waved her out the door as Recht and the rest of The Five came in on eerily silent feet.