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Kit yawned and wished that she had bought a cup of coffee at the airport. Next time she’d insist on booking her own flight, one that left and arrived at a reasonable hour instead of the red eye that the vampires preferred. She was wavering with fatigue by the time the Council adjourned. The council members filed out.
Holzhausen, the Vampire Guild Leader, was last to leave the meeting room, gathering his papers into a briefcase with one hand. Kit followed him silently to his office, wrinkling her nose as she tried to identify the smell.
“Good morning, Melbourne.”
“Good morning, boss.” Kit wished she could have postponed this meeting until after a meal and a nap. She felt queasy from lacking both. “May I ask what the smell is?”
“Smell? Ah yes, the new carpet. We have been doing some renovating.” He gestured towards the blue carpet, exactly the same as the old one, but not faded. “Please sit down and tell me about your visit with our colony in Red Rock.”
He had a calm voice, but Kit knew him well enough to suspect the Council meeting must not have gone well. He wouldn’t be any happier when he heard her report. She told him of Steel Fang’s gang, and about the ward, about the numbers Rivera had casually (foolishly) given her. Holzhausen leaned back and tapped his lips as he listened.
“He believes they are killing people, but there’s just no proof. On Sunday, Dayrunner Rivera and I tried to find reports of missing or mysteriously murdered people, but we didn’t find anything. El Patron was disappointed, as you can well imagine, sir.”
“El Patron.” Half his mouth went up at the mention of Fain’s title. “My source assures me that El Patron’s grip on Red Rock is tenuous, at best. Do you believe that accurate?”
“Boss?” Kit had been blinking with fatigue, but this unusual question made her raise her eyes to meet her boss. Was it a rhetorical question? A test of how much of a yes man she was? She was too tired to deal with vampire politics.
“I am asking your opinion, Melbourne. Is Fain in danger of losing his hold over Red Rock?”
“No, sir. He believes that he will have complete control over the territory once he rousts the last nest.”
“And yet he protests that he cannot accept more of my Guild into his colony?”
“Red Rock claims a population of five thousand humans, though I saw signs of new growth. There are close to a dozen vampires now—”
“A dozen?”
“Yes, sir. Steel Fang has been breeding like a, like a ...” a yawn cut off her metaphor. “Sorry.”
“Like a rogue?” Holzhausen asked.
She nodded. “Red Rock isn’t as liberal as Seabingen is, and they’ve been having to drive to Phoenix to find hosts kinky enough to give blood to strangers. Fain has at least managed to secure a position of authority at the local Red Cross, so they have access to the HIV and hepatitis rejects. He said without that, some of the fledglings would have starved. He’s got the hospital contacts too. You know he’s still working as an ER nurse, sir?”
Holzhausen nodded and pulled out a folder from his desk. “Councilman Albers informed that he was working at the hospital.”
Fain was over a century old and still hadn’t retired. He had lost respect from the other vampires because of his ‘day job,’ but Kit admired him for it. She thought that still working full time when you were almost three times the retirement age showed a great work ethic.
“There are benefits to having a job, sir. Having access to blood, for one. And he makes human friends, human contacts, which will be invaluable to him politically, once the rogues are gone.”
Holzhausen held a palm up to stop her, without looking up from the notes he was writing on the back of a manila folder. “Melbourne, you do not have to defend him to me.”
Kit pressed her lips together. What was the mantra he always pressed on her? Never defend, never explain. Both made you look weak.
“Fain has mentioned nothing to me of a desire to return to Seabingen, although my sources tell me he has not yet sold his condo here. Has he hinted to you of discontent? Of a desire to resign?”
“No, sir, but ...”
“Speak frankly, Melbourne.” This was Holzhausen’s subtle way of promising not to get angry at bad news.
“Boss, I think trying to replace him would be a disaster.”
“Trying?” Holzhausen asked.
“Yes, sir. First of all, he has loyal followers. And he’s a good leader, as far as I can see. He is the undisputed leader of the Guild of Red Rock. Kaltenbach is his rock-solid supporter.”
And she hadn’t forgotten Fain’s offer, and her promise. Holzhausen would have to know. Maybe she could just tell him later, casually, when they were both in a better mood. Or should she just get it over with? Damn Fain for making her promise. Was her face green despite the glamour, and would Holzhausen attribute her unease to the morning sickness? She’d have to tell him. If he found out from someone else first ... these vampires held grudges like a terrier held rats. The baby in her womb would graduate college before she heard the end of it. But Fain wouldn’t tell anyone, would he? No, someone would know, someone would talk. It was too risky to keep mum.
“Well, Melbourne? Is there something else?” Holzhausen handed back the manila folder and raised an eyebrow at her.
“Yes, sir.” Damn her face. Why couldn’t she learn to hide her emotions?
Holzhausen waited for her to speak.
She took a breath and released it. “El Patron of Red Rock asks the Guild Leader of Seabingen what price he would accept for me.”
She closed her eyes as a wave of nausea overcame her. Should have kept some crackers in her purse. Better yet, she should have ‘accidentally’ missed the flight so they could be having this discussion later, or not at all.
“My answer is no. Do you desire to move to Arizona, Melbourne?” There was a hint of anger in his voice. A hint of anger in that cool Prussian vampire meant a chasm of rage underneath.
“No, sir. I refused him. He made me promise to give you that message. He believes that if you ordered me to move to Arizona, I would.”
“He thinks I would sell you? As if you were an athlete? He does not have the funding to match your salary. You are suggesting I should grant you a raise to ensure it stays that way?” He smiled, but she didn’t know if he was joking or not. “What did he offer you?”
“Nothing I wanted.”
Holzhausen stood from the desk and walked around, lifting her chin gently to look at her face. It was a gesture neither menacing nor affectionate, but insistent. Never look into a vampire’s eyes, they tell you, and with Holzhausen, it was a good idea. He was mage enough to compel almost anyone, sometimes as long as half an hour. She looked into his eyes anyway, more afraid of appearing rude than of being ensorcelled. “What did he offer you?”
“I refused him, sir.”
“Melbourne, answer my question.” He still held her chin between his fingers tightly enough that it began to hurt and lifted so their eyes met. He was angry, terribly angry, she could almost feel the fury coming off of him in waves. Holzhausen wouldn’t hurt her, right? Rollercoasters are sturdy, planes are safer than cars, that deadly green mamba is behind thick glass? “What did he offer you?”
She was so tired, she did not want to deal with this right now, but the truth had a way of worming up, like a body in a shallow grave. Kit sighed. “He offered to sire me, and he offered me a place on his council.”
“He offered to sire you.” The chin lifted higher, until she was on her toes.
“Yes, sir.” And this is why she didn’t want to tell him.
“What sort of game are you playing with me, Melbourne?”
“None, sir.” This was getting ridiculous.
“You expect me to believe he offered to sire you, and a place on his council, and you simply refused?”
“You don’t believe he offered, or you don’t believe I refused?” Kit clipped each word with an acidic vitriol which surprised both of them. “Either way, you insult me, sir. I have never lied to you and I am not lying now.”
He blinked, and let go of her chin abruptly, fury banking once again under his typical gentlemanly air. “Forgive me, Melbourne. I have been uncivil.” He caught her elbow as she rocked back on her heels. “Of course your loyalty and honesty are not in question.”
“I accept your apology, sir.” Kit broke eye contact. “I’m sorry for my tone.”
He gathered the papers into the folder and handed them to her. “Here is your list of tasks for the day. I may have need of you this evening. Please be available. Otherwise, I will see you an hour before dawn tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kit felt the bone-deep weariness of sleep deprivation, stress, and a grape-sized fetus draining her energy, so the last thing she wanted was to see Councilman Leblanc standing in the hallway. The vampire was fish-belly pale with a lean frame, which was about the nicest thing you could say about him. He’d never had a kind word for her, and she wished he would follow Glavin and William’s lead of giving her the cut direct.
“Well, well,” Councilman Leblanc said as she walked out into the hallway leading from Holzhausen’s office to the Guild House exit. “Sounds like our leader’s pet kitten has claws.”
“Good evening, Councilman,” she said, biting back all the responses which would get her backhanded into a concussion, her fake-cheerful tone ruined by the snarl of contempt she couldn’t quite hide when she saw him.
She barely knew how she made it home. It was one of those nights where the car seemed to know the way. Kit rubbed her chin and checked it in the mirror when she pulled into the garage at her house. He hadn’t left a mark, but she could feel it. Damn Fain for putting her into that position. A sleepless night on the redeye, and a day of work to catch up on, and then she had to meet Holzhausen that evening. How much sleep could she get and still get her work done before sunset? At least it was summer, so sunset came late.
She slipped as quietly inside as she could, locking her sidearm in the gun safe by the door. She felt wide awake now, gone past exhaustion and lightheaded into wired and empty. Kaa was in the other room, asleep on his perch. She could feel the sleeping crow’s presence, wondering why he was inside again. Maybe that owl had come back.
She picked up a stack of mail, leafing through for anything interesting. In the middle of the stack, she found a thick black envelope with silver calligraphy on it. It had been sealed with a wax seal, also in silver. Inside was another envelope, that useless piece of tissue paper they used to protect the engraving, and a small RSVP card.
Fenwick wrapped his arms around her from behind. He kissed her head. “You just get back?”
“Had to go to the Guild House,” she said, leaning back as she pulled the invitation out of the card. “Mary Branning requests the honor of your presence at ... It doesn’t say plus one. Do you think that’s an oversight, or am I supposed to go alone?”
“Wedding?”
“A wake. I’ve never been invited to one before. You wanna go?” Kit could feel her husband’s lips kissing silently down the side of her neck. “It’s for Jessi Mitchell. She was at the barbecue. I can find out if I can bring you.”
“I’ll go if you want me to, but you know it’s not my thing.”
“I have no idea what to wear,” Kit said. “They’re such sticklers for tradition. I’m sure to mess it up if I just guess.”
“Can’t you ask one of the Guild?”
“Norwicki could give me advice, though if she hasn’t been invited, it will be awkward. Maybe I could ask Branning? Is that weird to ask the hostess? Waterson is even more clueless than I am when it comes to clothes; she always wears hot pink. Maybe Siang? I don’t know her very well though, just through Morales.”
“What about Councilman Albers? Didn’t you say she’s friendly with you? Ask her for advice.”
“I’m sure Holzhausen would be ticked off if he found out I talked to Fain’s sire now that those two are having a pissing contest. He doesn’t trust her as it is.”
“He doesn’t get to decide who you talk to.” Fenwick picked her up, carrying her as easily as a child. “We should probably go to bed.”
Kit wrapped her arms around her husband.
“You smell like Fain,” he rumbled, bringing his face down between her breasts. “Should I be jealous?”
She leaned back, running her fingers through his hair and kissing the top of his head. “He’s on my shit list right now.” Her shoes landed with a thump at the foot of the bed.
“Kaa’s been preening obsessively. He does that when you’re worried. What happened?” He ran his hands up under her skirt and slid her underwear down, letting his fingers caress her thigh slowly. “What did he do to you?”
“Tried to bribe me to ditch my boss and move to Arizona,” she said. “I’ll tell you the whole story in the morning.”
“It’s already morning. Tell Fain if he lets you get hurt again, I’m going to fly down there and—”
She cut him off with a long, deep kiss, running her tongue over his normal, fang-less teeth. Much better than Fain. Much better. “Do you want to have sex, or do you want to talk about that asshole? Because I’m not going to be in the mood if he’s in bed with us.”
Fenwick showed her which he preferred.