“Replicating?” asked Miaoling in disbelief. “Like a virus?”
Estelle and Agata nodded vigorously on the screen.
“Why does he need to distribute himself?” asked Eric.
“We don’t know,” said Estelle. “Agata is interpreting this from images in my brother’s mind, and we connected it to the experience I had with Gustav, the imprisoned vampire in Cancun.”
“He might be trying to pre-empt the banishment spell,” said Miaoling, glancing at Caro. “Would that make sense to you?”
“Perhaps.” Caro looked thoughtful. “If he spreads out over a bunch of people, we won’t be able to banish all of him. Raoul, you’ve been working with Isindle. True?”
“Could be,” said Raoul. “It’s a true unknown. It’s never been done.”
Silence fell over the room as they all considered this. Stephan risked a glance at Estelle, who looked as wrecked as he felt, her lovely eyes shadowed and tired.
Perhaps it was time for them to talk, in person.
I won’t do it again. No matter what. Ever. That’s the best I can offer.
The conversation swirled around him and he brought his attention back to the meeting.
“Why is Yangzei holding them back?” demanded Caro. “All they have to do is march up to CNN, get a vampire to bite some news anchor, and there we go. They don’t need to have some sort of Armageddon battle.”
“That’s been bothering me too,” admitted Eric. He tossed the pencil down to the desk and picked up his coffee. “The only thing I can think of is that Yangzei isn’t ready, and before you ask ready for what, I don’t know the answer to that either.”
Caro reached out and touched Eric’s hand in a simple gesture that was enough to rip Stephan’s heart. A horrible arrow of envy struck him as he watched his oldest friend. Destiny had brought Eric and Caro together, the same sort of fate that he thought had brought him into Estelle’s orbit. Eric and Caro had been lucky to find in each other a partner to love and trust.
Had he as well? Could what he had with Estelle be salvaged? Is that what he wanted?
“We need to act,” said Agata. As usual, she sat with her chin straight and looked directly at the camera. “This détente, for lack of a better word, will not last for long.”
Beside her, Estelle nodded. “If this really is what Yangzei is doing, then we don’t know how many may be affected.” The two women were more comfortable with each other, and had finished each other’s thoughts during the meeting. Individually, they could be intimidating, but united, they gave off an aura of extreme competence. Wavena had been correct in her assessment.
A shuffle came from Raoul and he turned to see the vampire staring at the seneschals as though he’d never seen them before. Estelle was having a side conversation with Miaoling and didn’t notice Agata and Raoul lock gazes.
Raoul was the first to look away. Was this a sign that he was right about Raoul, and the librarian knew more than he was sharing? He’d asked Caro what she thought of Raoul, and she believed he was sincere. Perhaps he was, but Stephan would continue to watch him.
“What are you thinking?”
Estelle nodded for Agata to speak. “Are you planning to try that spell on our Ancients?” she asked.
“No,” said Caro. “I wouldn’t waste an asset like that, though we will need their strength when we find Yangzei.”
“Have the consequences changed? Whichever one you use to banish Yangzei will be destroyed as well?”
Caro nodded slowly. “I’m sorry.”
“We want to see this spell and run it by our own occultists,” said Agata.
“I’ve done a review.” Raoul’s voice was sharp.
“Excellent,” she said. “Then you can provide your report to them before they begin.”
“That’s fair,” said Caro. “Remember though, we might only have one chance at this.”
“We know. Bring the spell book here. We think we might be able to track Yangzei.”
“How?” asked Raoul, wide-eyed.
“We’ll share it when you’re here.” Agata looked around the table. “It might not work.”
“I’ll be there tomorrow,” announced Caro.
The meeting wound up and soon only Miaoling and Stephan were left in the room. She swung around in her chair, her long black whip of hair trailing behind her. “You going to Florida?”
“I’m not the ambassador,” said Stephan.
“That wasn’t my question. My question was whether you were going to Florida to talk to the woman you are in love with, or stay here in Toronto drooping like an overwatered flower.”
“A little unfair.”
“Life’s not fair, my friend.”
“She lied to me.”
“She did what she thought best in a bad situation. Have all of your decisions been perfect?” Miaoling’s dark gaze was steady.
“No.”
She sighed. “You know Cormac.”
Did he. “What about Cormac?”
“The man can be annoying. I know it. He knows it. There are times when he makes me so angry I want to throw him into the highest branches of one of those trees he loves.”
“I can see that.”
She went on as if he hadn’t spoken. “He’s also the heart of my soul and I would be diminished without him. I know you’re angry with Estelle, but all I’m asking is if you can see a future beyond that. If you can, and if you want it, then you’re going to have to take it.”
“What if she…”
“No guarantees in life, Stephan. Not for this. Not for anything.” She patted him on the shoulder—about as physical a gesture of support she gave—and left.
Of all the people in the world who knew about the blasted hell life could throw one in, it was him. How many people had he lost? Selene. His brother. His kin. Tom.
Could he bear to lose Estelle as well?
* * * *
Stephan stood with Caro in Wavena’s palace. With Miaoling’s words echoing in his ears—for once drowning out the voices of the multitude—he’d decided to come to Florida at the last minute. Eric hadn’t bothered to hide his relief that Stephan would be accompanying his consort.
“Obviously, she can take care of herself,” he’d said. “That’s not even a question.”
Since Caro was one of the most powerful masquerada in the world, and had been training with Mai’s security teams for the last year, this part was clear. Stephan had nodded.
“She might need another set of eyes and ears,” Eric said.
“I’ll be there for her, Eric.” The man wanted to make sure someone had Caro’s back. He understood that.
A small grin had cracked the Hierarch’s face. “Thanks.”
Caro had already called Eric to tell him they were there, and now she stood in the middle of the suite with her hands on her hips. “First things first. We need to check in with Wavena and Estelle.”
He checked his watch. “Morning might be better.” Thanks to a snafu with their flight and an early blizzard in Toronto, their flight had been delayed for hours.
“Agreed.” Caro yawned.
“What’s the plan for when we meet them, them?”
Caro gave him that stellar smile that was one of her trademarks. “You tell me.”
“You’re the ambassador.”
She hopped up on one of the stools lining the granite counter in the kitchen. “Stuff it. We both know the only reason I’m doing this is your resignation. I don’t mind, but I’ve been approaching this from a different angle and I don’t have the depth of knowledge you do.”
“I trust your judgment.”
“I trust my judgment as well but that doesn’t mean I’m closed to your ideas. So spill.”
Fine. “Did you notice what was happening around the palace? Here?”
“The preparations.”
“Yes.” The entire vibe of the palace had changed from the last time he was here. The guards were alert now, checking every individual as they came in and out, instead of their previous casual wave-throughs. There were far more vampires in uniform and fewer smiles. “I want to look around first. Want to come?”
She shook her head, looking longingly at the bedroom. “I’m wiped. Tell me if you find anything interesting.”
Stephan shut the door behind him, making sure he heard the click of the lock before he headed out to the gardens. His route took him over to where he’d sat with Estelle after her invocation but he avoided the paths they’d strolled together. To the east was a fountain with a few turtles lounging on the edge. He took a seat.
“You look pensive.” A soft voice interrupted his thoughts and Stephan spun around to see Estelle standing on the other side of the fountain. She wore a long black dress, as she had for her invocation, and looked so beautiful in the moonlight that he had to close his eyes.
Focus on work because he had no fucking idea what to say. “Thinking of Yangzei.”
“Ah.” She circled the fountain until she was closer. “Anything new?”
“No,” he said. “Nothing new.”
“I’m glad you came down.” She hesitated. “Should I leave you alone?”
He swallowed hard. “Why don’t we sit here?” he asked. “To talk.”
She sat down and turned to face him. Her hair was its usual black again and he felt relieved, as though that other Estelle, the one with light-colored hair, had been simply a nightmare version of the woman in front of him.
“My life was fairly sheltered,” she said. “I had my family. We moved to Florida so I could train. The teachers were tough but not cruel. I was good, fast to learn and strong. There was always a person there to catch me if I went too far.”
“It sounds nice.”
“It was. Until Cressida died, that’s all I knew.”
He hadn’t thought of that. At only a century old, Estelle had been protected from many of the problems of the past and the life she had known had been privileged and coddled.
“I’m not making excuses for myself,” she said. “I wanted to tell you. That’s it.”
She stood to leave and he couldn’t find the words to stop her until she was at the edge of the garden.
“What happened to me was real,” he said. “What I told you—it wasn’t a story of a past age. It’s real and I live it every day.”
She moved back onto the patio stone. “I know that now.”
“I don’t know the real you, Estelle. I thought I did.”
Estelle crossed her arms in front of her chest. “That’s the same thing I can say about you.”
“I can fix that.”
* * * *
Estelle blinked as a new man stood in front of her. This man was darker, thicker through the chest, and shorter. His hair was short and tight around his head, and his eyes dark as obsidian. “Are you…” she hesitated. “Is that you?”
“This is me. The physical real me. The me that was taken and beaten and stolen from his world.”
It was Stephan’s voice. Although she’d known that the masque she was most familiar with wasn’t necessarily his true self, she was shocked at her surprise. “Why don’t you look like this all the time?”
Then Stephan was back, taller and with those lit hazel eyes. “What I look like doesn’t matter.”
That wasn’t true. She knew it. “If it didn’t matter, then why don’t you keep to that persona? Your real self?”
There was a long silence and she wondered if she’d pushed him too far. When he’d come to Florida, she’d dared hope he was here to work out their differences. Even if she had pushed him, it was worth it to know where they both stood. It was time for honesty.
“Perhaps you’re right,” he said, the words deliberate. “I endured much as that man. Maybe too much. As Stephan I had a fresh chance.”
“A new you.”
“A new me?” He considered this. “A different me. Still damaged and hurt but with more hope.”
“What about now?” She could barely speak past the flutter in her throat.
“The same.” He stood and walked up to her. “What you did hurt because I loved you. I trusted you.”
He held up his hand before she could speak. “I’m not sure where we can go from here or if we should, but I want to try again. Slow. Very slow.”
“I can do that.” She paused. “You used the past tense, when you…said what you did right now.”
His eyes were sad. “I need to know for sure. I might have many faces, but I only have one heart.”
He leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek before he left. Should she go after him? She paused, uncertain. What could she accomplish by pushing him more? Forcing him to make a declaration now wouldn’t help. Telling him how she felt might be emotional blackmail. She was paralyzed. What was the right choice to make?
“Estelle.” Agata came up behind her. “I have the reports on the—”
“Not now.” That at least she knew. She needed a break. To think.
As Estelle turned to leave, Agata’s phone rang. The deputy answered it, then her eyes widened and she put it on speaker.
Estelle listened, at first not understanding the words.
“Repeat, we are under attack. Send reinforcements. What are your orders?”
“It’s the Dawning,” said Agata. “They’re at the crypt.”