Blade to the Keep (9 page)

Chapter Nine

She bowed, never taking her eyes from Recht as she did. He’d chosen the medieval training sword for their first round. Though not sharp like the real thing, the weight was remarkably close, it felt the same in her hand. And it would still hurt if she let her guard down enough to get a shot to the ribs.

“Let’s see what you’ve learned, little goddess, shall we?” He circled her slowly as she let herself fall fully into the exercise. Her focus never left him and the way he moved as she kept him from getting behind her. It had been years since she’d been on the training floor with him. She’d forgotten how he leaned ever so slightly to the right just before he struck out.

She managed to dodge all but a glancing blow, but it was enough to drill that reminder into her brain. Enough that she feinted with her sword and kicked at his knees, knocking him back a few steps.

He grinned at her. “Good to know you remember this isn’t about just the weapon in your hands, but your entire body as a weapon. Each bruise you give me makes me proud of you.”

“You’re weird.”

“I’m a Vampire.”

“Same thing,” she muttered as she ducked a blow before arching away from a follow-up.

They were far better matched than they’d been when she was a young girl, strong and eager to learn, but not fully owning her power.

Now, as they ducked and dodged, punched, kicked and struck with the practice swords, each made the other work for every single point of contact. Occasionally she’d really kick the shit out of him and he’d laugh, delighted.

That he was so clearly proud and impressed moved her in ways she didn’t want to acknowledge, but couldn’t avoid.

They moved to broadswords, the muscles in her arms screaming even as the work and clean sweat helped her think about just exactly the kind of crazy shit that was happening. She was convinced the appearance of Victoriana and the ploy with bringing all those people in direct opposition to Theo’s orders was a feint. Smoke and mirrors while the real threat waited in the wings.

She heard the doors open, and the efficient gait approaching the practice mats she knew was David.

Recht never took his eyes from her as they finished the round. Never had the last three minutes of a bout seemed like years, but each blow that came toward her seemed to be in slow motion as her speed kicked into high hear. He didn’t make contact with her a single time, though when the buzzer sounded, she relaxed slightly and he kicked her feet out from under her.

She landed on her ass, the breath rushing from her.

“Never take your attention away from the enemy.” He said it as he held a hand out to bring her back to her feet. “Especially now.”

“Anything you want to share?” She looked over her shoulder to David, letting him know she’d be with him momentarily before walking with Recht to the weapons racks on the other side of the room.

“Nothing I think you’re not already aware of.” He bowed before taking her hands and kissing her knuckles. “You’ve done well. You’re faster than me. You need to keep working on your agility. You’ll be back here the same time tomorrow and we’ll work on that. Trust your gut.”

He bowed again and left as she headed back to David.

“I’m sorry to interrupt.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s fine. We were nearly done, and my arms are so tired I feel like they might fall off. Glad we don’t fight with broadswords anymore. What’s up?”

He sighed and she echoed the sound. “Go on, we’re relatively alone in here.”

“Hunter Corp. has sent someone. He’s asked to see you immediately.”

“Is that so? Why wasn’t I informed of this? Who is it?”

“It’s Roth Wesslyian.”

Ugh.

“I should have seen that one coming. I lit into Valerie last night after the way she acted. Of course she called home to cry about me. He’s her mom’s boyfriend.”

He was also a Full Partner of more than thirty years with Hunter Corp. and had an established power base. He was a snooty prick who thought he was better than other people in Hunter Corp. because his family had some title or other. He was an earl or a baron or some shit she didn’t care about.

“Please let him know I’m in meetings for two hours. I need to get ready for those. He can meet with me right before dinner. I have about fifteen minutes.”

“He’s not going to like that.”

“Yes, well, I’m all about reshaping paradigms. I’m a busy person. He can’t just fly in here and expect me to drop my actual job to hold his hand while he has to give me a frown-filled lecture about his girlfriend’s dumbass daughter.”

David allowed himself a small smile before he got himself back together.

They went up the back stairs to her rooms. “He can’t get past the guards up here anyway. There’s another plus of being up here. I’m going to shower and then I truly do have a meeting right after that. I’ll also need you taking notes.”

“By the way, I’ve got all the materials you said you’d need.”

Of course he did.

* * *

Clive wasn’t in charge of the committee, Paola was. So he came in and sat where he could keep an eye on the room without too much hardship. He liked watching people’s expressions when they spoke. Vampires were excellent liars, but most beings couldn’t lie with their eyes, and so he’d made it a habit to look at people when they talked so he could gauge their veracity.

Alice came in and placed a stack of folders in front of him. “Top three are home business, the rest concern this meeting.”

He looked to the stack and back to Alice. She gave a small shrug. “There’ve been proposals to change the membership of the committee.”

Great.

“I’ll wait while you sign the papers in the top folders.”

He held off a sigh and slid the folders she’d indicated in front of him. Atop the first sheet of paper was a note that read,
She’s in the practice room with Recht
. He folded the note and put it in his pocket and signed all the other papers where she’d indicated before handing the folders back her way.

“Thank you for your thoroughness.”

She winked at him and moved to sit behind him where the other valets and assistants sat in case they were needed.

He wasn’t surprised to see a petition from Victoriana, Collette and Marcilius for a voting seat on the Treaty committee.

Not if he could help it.

Paola started precisely on time, not pausing for anyone who might not be present. He also knew that if they asked questions about what they might have missed due to lateness, she’d flay them. Maybe even literally. Which might be fun to watch.

“We have much business to get to, so let’s skip all the nonsense.”

“I hope you don’t include humbly seeking a place at the table nonsense, Paola.” Victoriana smiled, showing her incisors.

“I do, as it happens.” Paola turned herself to face Victoriana fully. “I’m sure while you’ve spent time flitting all over Europe stirring trouble, it never occurred to you to contact this body to ask for access. But we have an established process.”

“I didn’t know who to contact. Just because we’re not as involved in Nation politics as some doesn’t make our views less important. I’m asking now.”

“You cannot have a voting position. Those belong to the Scions. However, I am not opposed to giving you a place at the table to speak your concerns.” Takahiro looked down the table at the other Scions.

Clive knew Takahiro was on the fence, leaning toward a no vote, but he had a point about letting Victoriana speak. Better there than in their official meetings with the Hunters.

He held his tongue though, letting Paola make that final call. It was her committee and he thought she handled this Blood Front business better than most.

“Here’s what I’m inclined to do. You may address this body with your concerns. But if you pull anything like you did last night at dinner, there will be a reckoning. I earned my place, and you and your Blood Front will not challenge that in public or I will take you up on it and end you. Am I clear?”

Victoriana narrowed her eyes. “Are you so sure you’d win, Paola?”

Paola looked bored, but utterly serious at the same time. “Everyone in this room knows the answer to that, so stop wasting time with this ridiculous display and accept my terms or get out.”

Victoriana accepted with a small nod.

“Then say what you need to because we have an agenda to follow.”

“We have given enough to the Hunters. That’s our bottom line. We have given them permission to murder us for being what we are. That’s bad enough. We should be casting the Treaty aside, not giving them even more excuses to hunt and kill us. We need blood to exist. There are
billions
of humans. There are thousands of us and even less Hunters. Why do we always have to put humans first? Before our own survival?”

Marcilius remained in the background, but now Collette spoke. “We have been around as long as humans and yet we have less rights. And each time we allow the Hunter Corporation to amend the Treaty, we have even less. And for what? The death of humans their own people don’t even care about.”

Clive sighed but didn’t interrupt. He’d say his piece when the time came.

All of this appealed to the inborn sense of superiority Vampires had. They were better than humans. Clive didn’t care one way or the other about humans, to be honest, but he cared about keeping their existence quiet. He cared about keeping profits up and trouble down. Tangling with humans never, ever ended well for them. Despite Vampires being stronger and faster, humans had daytime when Vampires were helpless.

Eventually they would have to come out. It was simply too curious and connected a world not to happen. And if Vampires were smart—and they were—they’d make sure when they did that it wasn’t connected to something humans had to fear and react against. There’d be enough of that as it was.

“The Blood Front simply wants to underline the sovereignty of the Vampire race. We don’t need our leashes held. Humans are food, and the Hunter Corporation isn’t fit to police our survival.” Victoriana sat back with a serene smile.

“I don’t much care for evangelists.” Clive spoke, straightening the edge of the stack of folders. “We went to war once and we were nearly eradicated.”

“That was then. War now would end a different way. We have more technology now.” Victoriana waved it away like it meant nothing.

Warren snorted. “This is all fanciful fiction. We can cling to the fantasy that Vampires will rule the face of the planet and hold humans as blood slaves, but the reality is, humans have more technology now too. And they have daylight. And? I don’t want to fucking fight another war. You weren’t there, Victoriana, but I was. Many of our brothers and sisters died. Many of us lost everything. I have plenty now. A full staff of humans to feed from. A successful and profitable business, real estate holdings and above all safety. No one is hunting me. No one hunts my children. The cost of war is easy to write off when one never has to fight.”

Several of the others at the table who’d been swayed, even a little, by Victoriana sobered at that last bit from Warren. Being Scions, most of them had been old enough to have seen the ravages of the war. Most of them had lost loved ones, and many of the survivors had spent a great deal of time having to rebuild what they’d had before the war had come.

Clive’s father lost a brother, his father and his first wife. All over Europe there were markers that meant nothing to most, but were mourning stones for Vampires who’d lost family during the war.

Clive had always worked well with Warren in situations like this, so he picked up right where Warren had left off. “It’s not a matter of humans deserving or not deserving protection. It’s a matter of being realistic here. We have a vested interest in the Treaty. For our own survival.”

“But that doesn’t mean we have to let this amendment pass!” Victoriana hit the table with her fist, and Clive barely resisted rolling his eyes.

“If you’re done, we have things to discuss.” Paola stood and the Scions at the table shifted their attention, ready to get to work.

“I’d like to hear what the other Scions think.” Collette showed her teeth to Paola, who was on her in a flash, her nails digging into the skin of Collette’s throat, a bright red trickle of blood against the pale skin.

Every Vampire in the room went very still as the scent of blood, old and rich, hit the air. It wasn’t so much that this sort of infighting was unusual; it happened with great frequency any time they all got together. But it was a clearly stupid thing to do on Collette’s part. She had no chance whatsoever in a challenge with a being as old and powerful as Paola.

Paula, incisors fully out, waves of violence washing from her through the room, got nose-to-nose with her prey. “You need to understand your place before it kills you true.” Paola pushed herself to standing and shoved the chair back, sending Collette to the floor with a clatter. “You’ve registered your opinion and now that is over. I will let you know if we require anything further from you.”

Rage flowed over Victoriana’s face. “You go too far.”

Paola focused all that rage and power on Victoriana then. “Is that so? I have not lived this long to tolerate the insolence of children who do not know their betters. If you have a problem with how far I went, you can take me on yourself, or take it up with The First.”

“He can’t be trusted in this. He’s clearly taking the side of humans because of his freak daughter.”

“Oh, so you do have a voice.” Clive turned his attention to Marcilius. “I wasn’t sure since you’re acting the lapdog these days. Your lack of discipline is appalling. You dare to speak of your leader that way? You? To a table full of Scions? Pray tell, Marcilius, what exactly have you contributed to the Nation other than mewling and complaining? Hm? Victoriana isn’t old enough to have fought in the war, but you were. And yet, you were nowhere to be found. I have nothing to learn from cowards. The First rules, ever, to protect the Nation. Your silly rabblerousing over Rowan Summerwaite shows your ignorance.”

“Says the man who’s buried in her cunt every chance he gets.” Marcilius barely had it out of his mouth before Alice had the other Vampire off the ground and against the wall at his back.