Kiss of the Dragon (31 page)

Yves answered straight away, either aware we were going to call or just plain luck. He smiled winningly at me, a genuinely happy expression crossing his handsome face. Today I could see he was wearing a T-shirt with the Eiffel Tower on it.

"Prophesied. Congratulations on your appointment to the Council. This is a truly momentous day for Nosferatins,
non?
"

I smiled back at him, it was hard not to. Yves just made you want to join in with his mood, no matter where you were or what you were about to discuss. He just drew you in.

"Yves, it's good to see you," I said and meant it.

"You too, Lucinda. You look radiant today." I stifled a snort of amusement. Yeah, that's me the fainting, vomiting, exhausted, weepy,
radiant
Nosferatin.

"Enough of the platitudes. I know you're just being a gentleman." He chuckled, but didn't correct me or insist his observations were correct. Oh well, better just get on with this then. "We have excellent news," I announced.

"You do? Thank the Goddess, the war has been won!"

"That would be excellent news, but no. I think you're aware that we are still heading unerringly towards a battle."

"Yes, word on the street is the ghouls are preparing to go into hiding. Either your Councillors have cornered them, or Rousseau's have." I didn't like the sound of that, so took a moment to relay the information to Michel.

"What else have you heard?" I asked, thinking perhaps I should get all the information I can before the shit hits the fan.

"Nothing of import. We were only made aware of the ghouls' mobilisation this evening. If it is Rousseau causing this mayhem, it would indicate he wishes to confront you on French soil, would it not?"

"We always suspected he would attack the
Palais
. Even though we are here and the
Palais
contains only a skeleton staff."

"
Oui
, it is to be expected. If he cannot vanquish you completely, he at least vanquishes your seat of power. It is a good tactical move," Yves remarked.

"Which is why Parisian Nosferatin aide is greatly received," I said quietly, hoping to remind him of the bigger picture.

"We will always fight at your side, Prophesied," Yves said with a small bow of his head. I hoped he really meant that. "So, what is the good news you spoke of?" he asked.

I decided to just get straight to the point. If I made a fuss of feeling uneasy, he'd feel it too. But if I was openly happy and eager to share, then hopefully that would set the tone. Murphy's law said otherwise, but I was giving it a damn good try anyway.

"Sophie has found a worthy kindred to join with. A powerful vampire and the Master of London City."

Yves eyes flicked from me to Sophie at my side and more importantly to Nero, who now placed
a hand on the Nosferatin's shoulder, sending a clear message to Yves. I watched as azure seeped into Yves' Arctic blue eyes. Yves was an old Nosferatin, he had colour changes in his eyes like Nero once did. Even though I couldn't feel his Light - and therefore his power - from here, I could see it. He had started to glow.

"
Sophie
," he said, "
dites-moi, ce que tu es fait?"

Switching to French was not a good sign. He knew I could not speak it. The odd word, here and there. But I simply had not had the time to learn Michel's native tongue. Again, I vowed to learn the bloody language.

He has asked her what she has done,
Michel supplied immediately. Groovy, in-built translator. And proof Michel was still in my head.
Always, get used to it.
I gave him a mental eye roll in reply.

Sophie chose to ignore the implied,
speak in French
, and answered in English. Good girl.

"I have chosen my kindred Nosferatu, Yves," she said simply. Head held high, eyes blazing bright. There was a hint of  pink in her cheeks, but her own Light was thrumming behind it. I was so very proud of her.

"This is intolerable," Yves said, his eyes returning to me. "She has joined with him, has she not?" How he guessed by just looking at them, I did not know. Maybe it was the way Nero stood; a menacing presence at her side, daring him to defy them. He acted as though she was already his, which she was.

I held Yves' gaze for several long seconds and then thought - as I am prone to do - to hell with this. There's a war brewing and Sophie loves Nero. The rest was irrelevant. But I am not without some restraint.

"I have one question for you, Yves. Will you oblige me with an answer?"

"You are the Prophesied," he said evenly. "Councillor of the
Iunctio.
What would you ask of me?"

So
not
the friendly reply I was hoping for.

"Do you believe she was happy with her betrothed Nosferatu?" I was gambling and I knew it. Sophie had hidden her problems from even Yves. No one knew what her betrothed had been like. She had willingly accepted her lot and never disclosed her fears. I was betting the French Nosferatins' alliance on Yves having a romantic heart and an observant eye.

I hoped I was a good judge of character.

Yves' gaze returned to Sophie, there was a flash of something there. Sadness? Regret? Sadness and regret that this would cause a rift between us? Or sadness and regret that he hadn't been the one to save Sophie from an eternity in hell?

"
Ce qui il a fait?
" Yves said softly and Michel whispered in my mind the translation,
what did he do?

Sophie did turn red at that, no more just-pink hue. Crimson flushed up her face and with her obvious embarrassment, Nero let out a low, protective growl. Yves watched the scene unfold and then rubbed a hand over his face as though weary with it all.

"It will cause immeasurable problems. Your family and his line have an accord," he said in a strained voice. I let a breath of air out on a long sigh at Yves' words. Accord: The non-breakable alliance.

Slowly Yves pulled a beautifully crafted stake from his pocket and started to turn it over in his palm. The lights of the room he was in caught its reflection, sending flashes of silver across the screen. The vampires with me all flinched. I don't think that was Yves' intent. He wasn't threatening anyone, he was simply calming his nerves and finding his resolve.

"
Je t'ai échoué, Sophie. Je placerai cette droite."
Then he reached forward, a determined expression on his face, and hit a button on his keyboard making the TV our end go blank.

Michel didn't offer up a translation, either gone from my mind or in deep thought. I turned to Sophie hoping to understand what had just happened, but a translation wasn't needed. Sophie was quietly crying into Nero's chest as though she had lost someone. And Nero looked stunned and equally relieved.

I was thinking Yves was about to kick some French vampire butt, to make up for missing how unhappy Sophie had been. I would have done the same thing in his position; the guilt of almost making her join with an unworthy vampire too much to ignore.

I just hoped Yves would survive the night.

The mood in the kitchen was sombre after that. I contacted Arthur and made sure his Nosferatins were up-to-date and prepared for any outcome, should the battle with Rousseau's Renegade Army come to London's streets. I needn't have bothered, because when I entered the parlour to touch base with the Council things were definitely afoot.

The Ambrosia and the Scribe were heading out the door as I walked in. Their guards on high alert, a sense of anticipation and determination on the air.
Sanguis Vitam
crackled in an excited mixture of blood lust and battle cries. I could tell, before anyone spoke, that they were heading off to war.

"Has the Interrogator struck?" I asked Michel, once the two Councillors had left.

"Your information regarding the ghouls has meant we need to move our plans forward," Michel said, coming over to me as soon as the parlour door was shut behind the exiting vampires. His hand was in my hair, brushing it back from my face the instant he made my side. His lips trailed over his
Sigillums
. He'd had enough control to wait for the Ambrosia and the Scribe to leave the house, but he couldn't wait for Gregor and his guards to leave the room.

I tipped my head back and gave him free access to my throat. A sure sign of trust to any vampire, and I hoped enough for his vampire-within to be content with for now. Michel needed all the help he could get maintaining control of his dragon-within. Gregor watched on with an impassive face, but I didn't doubt he was aware of what we were battling. The impending war with Avery was not our only fight right now.

It must have worked, because Michel merely inhaled my scent deeply, kissed his mark, and pulled back to look me in the eye. His face said it all. Gratitude, that I was making this easy, mixed with increasing alarm that it was conversely becoming harder to hold back his protective and possessive side. Not for the first time tonight I thought we might just be a little screwed.

And not the good kind. Unfortunately.

That thought made Michel smile and some of the tension left his frame. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and turned me to face Gregor.

"We will be leaving in an hour for the
Palais,
" Gregor advised, clearly quite happy to help Michel out too. Sometimes I was reminded of the history the two vampires shared. I truly believed they viewed each other as brothers. So much that they have experienced together. And so much that they have had to overcome to get back to this depth of trust again.

"Why not wait for him to attack here?" I asked. That had been the original plan. Draw him away from Paris, in order to protect the
Palais
. The
Palais
was not what made the
Iunctio
, it was merely its seat of power. And the Nosferatin and Nosferatu joining power that fuelled the
Iunctio
could not be found there either, that was mystically held by the Keeper in a parallel realm, similar to
Álfheimr
. But, the
Palais
was a symbol of the
Iunctio
, and it had been Michel's intention to keep it in one piece, for fear reaction to its destruction would cause great harm to the Nosferatu collective.

"The Keeper has failed to procure the Parisian ghouls' cooperation," Gregor went on, as Michel absently began to nuzzle my neck again. I wasn't sure if the level of concern inside me could increase any further. Imminent battle aside, Michel's heightening lack of control was about to undo me.

I ignored Michel and concentrated on Gregor, who's eyes were like a lifeline right now - and I think he knew it.

"Cooperation?" I asked, aware Gregor was using a euphemism for the compulsion they had intended on the ghouls. Gregor's lips twitched slightly at my deadpan query.

"They are already at Rousseau's command," Gregor confirmed what I feared.

"Damn." I muttered the understatement while allowing Michel to turn me in his arms, so my chest was crushed against his.

Get a grip, Michel!
I demanded in my head and sent him a little encouragement in the form of a swat of my Light.

He jerked back slightly, blinked several times and then growled low, his eyes flashing magenta
at me - the dragon-within biting back. I furrowed my brow at him and sent him another shot of Light to make him back the fuck down. It must have worked, or the dragon didn't like the sting of my Light, because Michel suddenly took several steps away from me and spun around to face the wall. His harshly bitten out, "
Merde!"
let us all know exactly where his head was right now.

Gregor kept talking as though nothing unusual had happened. "We do not want the
Palais
to fall and our intelligence, courtesy of Nero, suggests this is Rousseau's goal. To destroy the
Iunctio
completely, including its seat of power. He wishes to wipe it from the face of the Earth."

"But he'll know we'll come running to protect it," I pointed out, hugging myself because I suddenly felt empty without Michel's touch. "We're walking into a trap."

"Granted," Gregor agreed. "But it is also an opportunity for us to bring this to a head. If we hide out here any longer, his strength will only grow. We meet him now, before he gains too much purchase, we have a bigger chance of success."

I nodded, just as Michel turned around to look at us both.

"The
Palais
is important," Michel announced, joining the conversation finally and making me release a breath I hadn't known I was holding until then. "But it is not all that we are. I agree, we must meet him now, before it is too late. By I intend to use the
Palais
as bait. Not to be trapped by it."

"How so?" Gregor asked. Clearly this approach of Michel's hadn't been discussed when the other Councillors were still here.

Michel walked forward, his eyes trailing over my body, soaking me up with that one glance. I don't think he realised he was doing it. And I didn't realise, until too late, that I'd taken the steps necessary to bring me to his side. We both blinked at each other for a few seconds, realisation dawning that we'd acted without conscious thought. Michel swallowed visibly and I just swore out loud. This was getting ridiculously dangerous.

Gregor cleared his throat. "I think it might be wise for you both to keep some distance," he recommended.

"Do you not think I have thought of this?" Michel asked, sounding pained. "Do you honestly believe I would intentionally compromise her so?"

"I can take care of myself," I announced, slipping a hand in my jacket pocket to finger my stake. The action calmed me, but didn't replace the desire, the
need
, to be at Michel's side.

"You can't fight like this," Gregor persisted. "You'll be dust before she breathes her next breath."

Oh, so
not
what to say to an over-protective vampire.

Michel rounded on him, fangs down and growl rumbling through his chest. Before he flew across the table that separated Gregor and himself, I was standing between them. Stake out, Light pulsing a threatening beat in the room.

"He's right, Michel," I said steadily. "We can obviously function if we are just close enough to sense. But close enough to touch, is not an option. A minimum distance is needed." I hated suggesting this, I wanted to be as close to him as he obviously did to me. But I
did
seem to have a smidgeon more control than Michel, so I called on that now and forged ahead. "We stay connected telepathically, we use the Bond. But we keep our distance. We have to."

Michel looked strung out, more so than I had ever witnessed before. His fangs were still down, and eerie mauve tainted his beautiful eyes. The low rumbling growl of earlier hadn't ceased and his fists were clenched tightly at his side. He was hunched over too. As though he was trying to keep a beast inside. Every muscle on his body strained in an effort not to attack Gregor, or maybe simply to stop himself from enveloping me in his arms.

It had got worse since the last time I'd been in this room with him. Mere hours had past since then. This was escalating at an alarming speed. If he was this on edge now, how would he be tomorrow, the next night - a week from now? I held his gaze, willing him to win this battle with his vampire-within. Praying to Nut that this weakness would not consume us. That it would not mean our final deaths. How could we fight Avery, when the need to be together overruled all reasonable thought? When in the middle of a battle our concentration is shot to hell, with the thought that our mate might be harmed?

I was feeling overly protective of Michel too, more so than I had ever been in the past. But his compulsion to touch me, kiss me, bite me, was bigger than anything else in our world right then. And that was saying something, because we were about to face a vengeful, powerful Master Vampire. A Councillor with exceptionally talented and underhand skills. The fate of the
Iunctio
was teetering on the edge of a Dark abyss, and we were about to carelessly push it over, as we rushed headlong into each other's arms.

I slumped down onto a settee, feeling the enormity of the situation and the increasing futility of it all. How could we battle this? And battle Avery as well?

How could we possibly win?

"Michel," Gregor said firmly, pulling Michel's attention away from me and back on him. "I have pledged myself to your service." I hadn't heard Gregor speak like this before and I wasn't aware of any pledge. Other than the fact that Michel was his Champion, but this seemed to mean more than that. "Tell me what you need of me. Tell me how I can help."

"I can't let you protect her," Michel said slowly, as though forcing the words out from deep inside. "But I can't pull away without knowing she is protected enough."

"She has her
Tego Texi Tectum
," Gregor said. "And your sworn guards."

"Not enough," Michel gritted.

"I could call Samson here," I offered from my seat at Michel's back.

"Do it," Michel commanded, not turning towards me at all.

Samson and I had organised an emergency message. One cellphone text that let him know I needed him above all else. It was in case shit really hit the fan. Michel being imprisoned, for example. Something so catastrophic that my life was at serious risk. I was sure this compromised position Michel and I now were in qualified as a catastrophe. It had to be, because I wouldn't consider sending this message to Samson, if it wasn't really that bad. Because Samson would have to use the Ley Lines to get to me. Something that carried enormous risk, but meant he could be here within the hour.

My finger hovered over the preprogrammed text message, my stomach lurching inside, making me swallow back bile.

"Ma douce
," Michel groaned before me, having turned around when he sensed my distress.

"Do it, Lucinda. For all our sakes, press the fucking button," Gregor ground out, making Michel growl back in response.

I hit the send button with a slight jump in my seat, both at Gregor's insistent tone and Michel's possessive growl. I'd got used to Michel's many growls, but this one was new. It was animalistic, tortured, and made me want to bare my neck and other parts of my body for him to completely possess. A reaction that shocked me and turned me on, in equal measure. The shock won out, hence the button being depressed in record time.

I licked my lips nervously, purposely not looking at Michel, but a potted plant off to the side.

"Will that be enough?" Gregor asked, pulling Michel's attention again back on him and away from me.

"Possibly. Maybe. I..I am not sure," Michel said falteringly. The fact that Michel had considered Samson a suitable guard was promising though. Samson was a male vampire and I would have thought Michel wouldn't have wanted him here at all. But so was Sergei, and Michel didn't seem to have an issue with him either. Or M&M for that matter. I frowned, trying to work it out.

"Sergei and Samson are of your line, of your blood, so to speak," Michel said in a rough voice. "They are yours, my vampyre-within accepts they will only have your safety at heart. Marcus and Matthias have been sworn to protect you, above their own lives. The instruction is unbreakable. It has been sealed in blood. Blood is binding, both your line's blood and the blood used to swear Marcus and Matthias' allegiance. None of these males threaten my vampyre-within. But Gregor would."

"I can be blooded," Gregor said, his voice strong and sure. Accords use blood and they are unbreakable. Vampires never enter an accord without due consideration and care. Any blood exchange is permanent. So I had to assume, for Gregor to agree to this, he realised that it would be a permanent binding. Unbreakable. No backing out.

My eyes found Gregor's silver laced ones. The
Sigillum
, my
Sigillum,
he wore around them enhancing the platinum flecks inside. He held my gaze, fisted his hand over his chest and inclined his head. Not a true vampire bow of respect, but respectful all the same.

"That would work," Michel said slowly, I could feel a small amount of tension leaving his frame. "Do you wish to discuss it with Amisi first?" Michel asked, letting us all know that he was clearly still very much in control, because his dragon wouldn't have considered Amisi's wishes. He would have simply done what needed to be done to secure my safety first. My heart skipped a beat at Michel's words, at the love I felt for this man. For him to have considered Gregor and Amisi's relationship, proved just how much he loved them both. And I loved him even more for it.