Hidden Trump (Bite Back 2) (8 page)

“Combination of circumstances?” Skylur looked at Diana.

She shrugged. “It can’t be just that. In all the centuries, that must have happened before. I’ve never heard of it resulting in a mixture like this.”

They fell silent, looking at each other.

“Why’s it so important?” I asked. Was this some purity issue with them?

“You’re full of puzzles and worries for us already,” Diana said. “Have you really passed through crusis without help? If you did, how did you have such a low level of the Blood? How was your Blood able to change David’s marque? What type of Athanate bit you?” She sighed. “Now, you’re adding Were to the mix.”

“Your reluctance to discuss how you were bitten leaves us guessing,” Skylur said. “I’m not prepared to base the safety of House Altau on a guess, nor can I leave you free in my mantle.”

Despite my best efforts, the demon got control of my voice. “You tell me why it’s so goddamn important, and maybe I’ll tell you what happened.”

It went quiet. Skylur’s eyes bored into me. “You forget yourself, House Farrell. It would be easy for me to get the answers I need from you. Biting you will not change
my
marque.”

I felt a chill spread down through me. If he drank my Blood, his Athanate senses would untangle the puzzle of what made me different. But something in me really didn’t want him to do that yet. Something that might be too fragile.

“And we may lose something,” Diana cut in, seeming to pick the thought from my head. Skylur snorted and steepled his fingers in front of his face again, but didn’t object as Diana went on. “It’s important because Panethus and Basilikos are more than just creeds, Amber, they are behavior patterns as well. Humans debate nature versus nurture, and so do we.”

More chills ran down my spine.

“Athanate tend to follow the behavior of those that infuse them,” she said. “Panethus create Panethus. But someone freshly bitten by Basilikos and kept in a Panethus House would also tend to turn to Panethus behavior.”

“But I don’t know what type bit me, and I haven’t been kept in any House.”

“Exactly. All our knowledge says that the most likely outcome for that is rogue. You’re not rogue. The second most likely outcome is Basilikos, simply because it’s easier to fall into that pattern of behavior.”

“So you’re sitting there waiting for me to—”

“Amber.” Diana’s calm tone stopped me.

No one else said anything. There was a coldness in my chest that wasn’t going to go away until this was settled, but there wasn’t anything they could do for me right now. And they were waiting for me to break the agreements I had made about keeping Ops 4-10 secret.

Crap. And worse, I had a suspicion they weren’t going to like the truth. But my links with Ops 4-10 were loosening. I couldn’t ever go back to them. I wouldn’t even get inside the gate without Obs grabbing me, and once they found out my Blood had changed again, I’d never get out. I’d spend the rest of my life in that cell.

This was another decision between a sure bad result and an uncertain one. I had to commit myself to the Athanate, and let go of my agreement with the army.

I took a breath and jumped.

“I was on a mission in South America when it happened, two years ago.” I studied their expressions. They all had their poker faces on, but a tenseness that appeared around Bian’s mouth told me that just South America was already bad news. “I don’t know what they were. They weren’t exactly wearing T-shirts with Basilikos printed on them. Matter of fact, they were dressed in nothing but loincloths. Both sides…” My voice came to a halt. My squad. Every one of them, except me, dead. I shook my head to clear it. “There was one of them left at the end and he got to me. Tore my throat open. Fed on me.”

“What did you do?” said Diana.

“I cut his freaking head off,” I snapped.

“Oh, my kinda gal,” said Bian, and she reached over to squeeze my shoulder.

Fang 4 came back in and held a quiet conversation in Athanate with Skylur. Diana sat still, watching me. What was going on behind those dark eyes?

Skylur finished and turned his attention back to us.

“We don’t have time to take this further now.” He nodded to Diana. “We will proceed cautiously. South America makes it likely that it was Basilikos. That’s one problem. And the infusion of Were is even worse.”

What?

“We’re not saying that Were are like Basilikos,” Diana said to me, “but their pure instinctive behavior is much closer to Basilikos than Panethus. This is something that I will be responsible for investigating. We want you as part of us, Amber, but every part of us affects the whole. We cannot take poison into the association, if that is what you are.”

She sat back. “We’ve all been on edge tonight. Some of that may be due to your marque. Not just the pheromones, the telergic element. We may be picking up subtle emanations of Were from you and reacting badly. We can’t have
that
in Haven.”

“We could isolate her,” Skylur said, shortly.

“Not ideal,” Diana said. “Better addressed after the Assembly.”

Skylur grunted and sat silently for a minute, his eyes hooded, before he spoke again.

“My responsibility tonight is settling the immediate issue arising.” He paused. “House Farrell, House Altau, attend.”

I stiffened.

“I imposed a ban on House Farrell Blood, on House Altau and all subsidiaries. The penalty for breaking the ban is death.”

Oh, shit!

Skylur waited.

A test. Please, he’s just testing me.

I clenched my fists and made myself remain sitting. Our eyes met. Whether I swore allegiance to him or not, he was the Athanate Master in Denver. He had power of life and death over me and over my House. And the actions of my House and repercussions of them were my responsibility. He needed to know I acknowledged that. I’d made my choice for the Athanate. I gritted my teeth and dropped my eyes.

“However, as an Aspirant of House Altau, David Thaler was unaware of the ban on your Blood imposed on House Altau, and unconscious at the time he fed. The penalty of death is put aside.”

Stop reacting.

I hadn’t even considered the ban when it happened. I realized all over again I needed to understand more about the Athanate and until I did, I was a danger to myself and everyone around me.

Skylur went on, “House Altau acknowledges the Blood debt of David Thaler to House Farrell. House Altau also acknowledges and agrees to the change of marque for Pia Shirazi and David Thaler, from Altau to Farrell. House Farrell accepts responsibility for mentoring errors committed by Pia Shirazi, and for dealing with any outcome arising.”

I could handle that. I would have to.

He wasn’t finished. “As an allied House, Farrell is required to inform Altau of significant security issues, and the failure to inform Altau of Farrell’s prior knowledge of an Aspirant falls under that. In recompense for this breach, the Blood debt is annulled, and House Farrell agrees to provide ten days’ work, of an unspecified nature, to House Altau.”

Ten days. Half a working month, free.
I could handle that, too. I’d have to, somehow. But he still wasn’t finished.

“Additionally, Shirazi and Thaler will be assigned back to Altau for a fortnight, barring exceptional circumstances. House Farrell will have access, but if in this time, their marque changes back, Farrell will acknowledge that change without dispute.”

No, mine!
I wanted to argue that, but I didn’t dare.

“Is this agreed?” he pressed me.

I cleared my throat. “Yes, House Altau.”

“So recorded,” Diana said, and my heart missed a beat.

Skylur spoke to Diana. “The ban on House Farrell Blood remains in place and is extended explicitly to Aspirants as well.” She nodded, and he continued. “We need to understand what’s happened here before anyone else is involved. Amber’s already scheduled to come in to get further briefings on Wednesday. That process needs to be increased as necessary.”

Diana nodded. “I’ll organize both and free up Bian. I’m not scheduled for anything essential until I leave.”

Leave?
I preferred Diana to Skylur, and I preferred Skylur when Diana was there to take the edge off him. I hoped she wasn’t away long.

“If you find the urge to bite is becoming significant, you will need to be at Haven, Amber,” Diana said, standing to go. “It is vital that we only progress on that under control. And on your Blood, swear, no more security problems.” Diana smiled a little. “At least until after the Assembly, and then you can show us where we need to tighten up.”

“On my Blood, I swear,” I answered, the words ringing in my head.

Damn. What about Larry? What about Adepts? Will they be security problems? Can’t talk about them now.

“Why not come to Haven now?” Diana asked. “Not in isolation, simply at one end of the house.”

That might have been intended as an instruction, just politely put, but I shook my head. “I’ll come in on Wednesday,” I said. I needed time to let all this settle. I needed something outside of Altau and the Athanate that I could cling to and still be me. And I needed to nail Hoben.

Diana lifted David effortlessly from the sofa. “Then I’ll see you on Wednesday.” I nodded. “You realize, Amber, your House will have needs of you?”

“Blood? Yeah, I guess so.” This was freaky. For all my casual reply, this set my stomach churning in confusion. On one level, I didn’t want to need or share Blood, on another my body thrilled at the thought of it.

“Yes, but not just Blood. Leadership, amongst other things. House Farrell is not merely a title. You now have two more concerns.”

I bowed my head. That much had been burned into me this evening.

Fang 4 killed all the lights, and Diana passed by me. Even in the dark, I saw her eyes looking at me, weighing me. I reached out to stroke David’s brow and silently promised I would come get him soon.

“Mistress.” Pia stood in front of me, her face betraying a war of emotion and instinct inside her. She slowly tilted her head, offering her neck in the Athanate way. I kissed her and let her kiss my neck back. It felt strange, a symbol of all the confused emotions we both had about this, and it was going to take a lot of getting used to.

Skylur paused to let Diana and Pia get to the car. Unlike Diana, his copper and cinnamon scent wasn’t soothing, but uncompromising. His eyes gleamed at me in the darkness. “Our arrangement is your only viable solution,” he said quietly. “And I am starting to have a problem with it. Every step on this path, there is a situation. This is not healthy. Fix it.”

He swept out.

Bastard.

Bian was helping Mykayla, who was still dizzy. She brushed close to me, giving my hand a quick squeeze as she passed. Her eyes glared at Skylur’s retreating back as he strode to the car.

I stood by the door in the darkened house for an age after they’d left, sagging against the doorframe, weak and reeling from the whole episode.

The house seemed incredibly empty without David and Pia.

Wednesday. The timeline to nail Hoben had become impossibly tight. I didn’t even know where he was yet. Jen was at risk already, and I couldn’t just let him run around free while I was caught up in the Assembly.

Meanwhile, the question they’d all been asking me, I was now asking myself. What the hell was I?

Chapter 8

I tidied up David’s room, putting the bedclothes through the washing machine and tossing the ruined clothes in the trash. I showered and changed, taking the chance to put some of my clothes through the wash as well. Anything to keep moving and avoid thinking.

I had to stop eventually and none of it had gone away.

What did it all mean for me? How likely was I to end up rogue or Basilikos? What would happen to David and Pia if I did? If we were allowed to exchange blood, would they change again to match my marque, and become part Were themselves? Was anything that I was still holding out on, Larry or my spirit guide, going to turn into something significant and get me into even more trouble?

That twisting sensation in my head when I’d stood up to Diana to protect David—something had crystallized inside in that moment, down at the level of my bones, what I was and where I stood. The Athanate suddenly made sense. Last week they’d called me House Farrell, but it had been an empty, meaningless title. Now I felt the connections, like physical ties, to David and Pia, to Skylur and Diana; my House, my obligations. Not the details, but the important things were just
there
; I had acquired hard-wired Athanate instincts. And because of the Were taint in my Blood I might be outcast. I couldn’t take Pia and David with me if that happened. I couldn’t even get angry at Skylur. He was like a general when some brand-new lieutenant had just made a horrendous error. He’d support me, but not at the expense of the rest of his troops.

Wonderful. I’d achieved enough understanding about the Athanate to agree they might need to sacrifice me.

Sighing, I got out Top’s letter and read it through again. Master Sergeant Gabriel Wells had died the week before. He’d been my touchstone, the person I’d felt I could share this sort of thing with, and this was his last letter and advice. It seemed eerily relevant to me now, especially on the personal side. And at least a hint of a way to take this forward came to me as I read and reread his words.

As well as his everyday advice—deal with what you can, when you can.

I was not going to get to sleep for a long time, so I got out my laptop and the police report on animal attacks that Tullah had given me and started to read it. I didn’t try to analyze the report; it was just a quick pass through to start. I hoped the brain cells put in some overtime while I was doing other things.

I discounted the report of the wolves that spoke in Russian, and the one about the big green dog in the blue spaceship. I wasn’t too sure about one that had a wolf sliding out from under a gravestone. Even with those aside, there were lots of things in the reports that concerned me.