“There’s another vampire down by the dock. Two behind the house. And... a human sitting in the entry hall.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
Terry nodded. Between him, Gemma, and Luisa, they could easily take care of the threat, but Guillermo would know that, too. Still, he’d come, so he must have wanted to talk. Terry felt Gemma slide her hand in his.
“What night was Leonor expecting us?”
“Probably not till tomorrow, but...”
He didn’t need to say it. They were in the Rias. Very little went on unobserved. It was both a threat and a protection. Everyone had spies, which made it nearly impossible to hide, but also very difficult to catch someone by surprise. If Guillermo knew they were there, then Leonor did, too.
Terry and Gemma strode up the front steps of their Spanish home, buzzing through the entry so they came face to face with their guest, who was sipping brandy from a cut crystal glass.
“Buenas noches, Señor y Señora.”
“And a good evening to you,” Terry said as he sat, pulling Gemma down to his side on the silk-covered chaise. “Luisa, please get Gemma and I our usual drinks.”
“Si, Señor Ramsay.” Luisa slipped from the room, a tiny figure in an unobtrusive grey dress. She was a fairly young, but terribly efficient, vampire who ran their home in Muros year-round. Luisa’s looks were more than deceiving. And so far, she had proven loyal.
“So, Guillermo, how can we help you this evening? You’re looking well since we left you in London.” Gemma’s voice was carefully neutral as Terry sized up his prey. The other vampire looked studiously calm, dressed in a pale linen suit that matched Terry’s. It was the standard uniform for immortals vacationing in the Rias.
“I had heard that you sailed into complications while coming from England. I am happy to see you safe in your home, Señora Melcombe.”
“Oh?” Gemma was all innocence. “How did you hear of our excitement, Guillermo? Surely only the one who had given out our information would know of the unsuccessful attack.”
Terry grinned. No beating around the bush for his girl.
Guillermo didn’t lose a beat. “Unfortunately, I had the information too late to warn you. When I heard of the order from Leonor, I was shocked, naturally. But I was not supposed to know of it. She knew I thought of you and Señor Ramsay as reliable allies for Spain. Wonderful trading partners worthy of closer alliance. It grieved me that Leonor had taken such a step to remove you from power, but I am relieved to know she failed in her attempt. Your loss would be felt through all of Europe. Indeed, the entire immortal world.”
“Too true.” Terry reached out for the blood wine that Luisa offered him. It was an older batch, but still not unpleasant. He saw Guillermo’s eyes widen at the strangely dark port. “If anything were to happen to us, the power vacuum would be felt in far more than just England, wouldn’t it?”
Guillermo said, “It is for that reason I have come. To both beg your pardon for my lady’s actions and ask for your help. Leonor has become an unreliable ally and leader. There are rumors she has lost control of the Portuguese coast. Her allies in the Spanish court are divided and her power has waned. She is obviously becoming rash to make decisions such as the one to attack you and your lovely wife.”
Idiot. Could he have been more obvious? Guillermo was definitely not working for Leonor. So who...
“It’s horrible,” Gemma said, “to be faced with these dilemmas. To be forced to part allegiance with those you thought you could trust.”
“Sad indeed.” Terry patted Gemma’s knee as he caught Luisa’s eye. She was moving toward the door of the library. “But a choice between your own survival and that of someone you once considered a friend is really no choice at all.”
“Survival,” Guillermo said, his fangs dropping a little, “must always come first. Do I have your support, Señor Ramsay?”
“Let’s not be hasty.” He sipped his blood wine and linked his fingers with Gemma’s. “I need to know what your current situation is, Guillermo.”
“I have no desire to remain under the aegis of a waning leader,” he said. “I have been cultivating my own allies for some time.”
Well, isn’t that interesting?
“Is that so?” Gemma latched onto his statement. “So were those your allies in England with you? Or Leonor’s?”
“I may have suggested a few additions to the initial trade party,” Guillermo said with a twisted smile. “Leonor was happy to hear my suggestions.”
“Surely a sign of her growing weakness,” Gemma added with a look of regret. “To not realize how such a large trade party would be viewed.”
Terry said, “We were suspicious as soon as we met you.”
“I had hoped to put you on your guard.”
Terry grinned. “I just bet you did.”
Guillermo cocked his head. “To warn you, of course. I hoped to cultivate an alliance between us. I knew Leonor did not value your relationship as she should. And then I heard of the ordered attack on the Conquest. After knowing that she would send others to kill you in such a manner... I simply cannot, in good conscience, remain at her side.”
“So you’re coming to us for protection?”
“I’m coming to offer you an alternative.”
And now we get to the heart of it. Terry took another sip of wine. Stale. Yes, the newer batch was much better. “Do tell, Guillermo. What kind of alternative could you offer my wife and I? Yourself? How many allies do you bring with you? You’re a trade envoy. A second lieutenant, if my information is correct.”
“It is not only myself that I bring. I do have allies of my own, Señor Ramsay.”
He leaned back in the chaise, the picture of relaxation as Gemma lounged against him. “What kind of allies?”
“Those who think ahead. Who look to the future. Too long have our kind been in the shadows, Señor. We are the gods of old. We should be kings over humanity, not hiding away, content to play by their rules.”
“Why should we have much to do with them at all?” Gemma asked. “They’re our food source. We have little to do with them unless we must.”
Terry tried not to snort when he imagined the look on Wilhelmina’s face if she heard Gemma just then. He imagined the secretary would stake her employer herself.
“The human world encroaches into our own more every decade. Technology will force us to deal with them eventually. My allies are those who wish to harness humans and put them in their rightful place. Why should we be the ones hiding?”
It was the same imperialistic mumbo-jumbo his sire warned him about two hundred years before. Terry tried not to sigh. There would always be those of their kind who saw humans, not as a related species, but as an inferior one. It was hard not to, at times. But Terry was young enough to remember what it had been to be human, and he purposefully kept close enough to mortals to remind himself. So did Gemma, whether she realized it or not.
Those of their kind who remained mixed with the mortal world were better survivors. More adaptable. They could function and hide and prosper in ways the more segregated could not. Further, humanity was growing stronger every day. To him, that meant adaptation. Evolution. To others? It meant biting back. Annoying, really.
“My allies foresee a time when humanity is ruled by us, as they should be. Then we will control them and their technology, not the other way round. As I said, they think ahead.”
“It sounds as if they think backward, if you’d ask my opinion.”
Guillermo’s eyes flashed. “If that is your opinion, Señor—”
“It is both our opinion,” Gemma said. “Do you think us so fickle that we would part ways with an ally who has remained in favor for far longer than you have lived?”
“She ordered an attack on you. She does not trust you.” Amnis crackled in the room as the water vampire began to lose control.
“No, she didn’t.” Terry set down his drink. “You did.”
“I
did no such—”
“Maybe if you appreciated the human’s technology a bit more, you’d realize we’ve already been on the phone to London, Guillermo.” Terry stood as the other vampire jumped to his feet. “Maybe you’d realize that my head of security has already investigated the death of Carl Stanton. Maybe you’d realize he kept records of your meeting in his electronic organizer.”
Guillermo bared his fangs and started toward the door, only to be halted by the tiny form of Luisa, who stood in front of it, a bloody dagger in her hand and fangs bared.
“Luisa, have the others been dispatched?” Gemma asked.
“Si, Señora.” She brought the blade up and licked at a drop of blood. “I left the human alive for later.”
“He may have nothing to do with Guillermo’s betrayal. We’ll question him, but leave his fate to Leonor,” Terry added.
The Spaniard stood frozen in the middle of the room. “Leonor will hear of this. You have started a war.”
Terry roared in laughter. “You can’t have it both ways, boy! Do you think she’ll believe your word over ours? With what has happened here tonight?”
Guillermo sneered. “You know nothing. Do you know who I—”
“Who you are?” Gemma broke in. “Of course we do. I only grieve that my old friend has to face the decision you have forced on her. I hear her coming right now, in fact.”
The look of horror on the vampire’s face could not be hidden. His eyes darted around the room, but Terry only said quietly, “Try it. Luisa is very quick with the knife, you know. She used to perform on stage.”
The round-faced immortal beamed from the doorway as Guillermo shifted his eyes toward the windows. Luisa edged closer as Terry felt Leonor’s energy approaching.
“Luisa,” Gemma said, “would you be so kind as to greet our guest and her entourage at the door? Please see if they’d like any refreshment.”
Luisa bowed slightly and backed away. Guillermo started to edge toward the door again.
“Do try,” Gemma said, at his side in the blink of an eye. “Killing you would be worth ruining this dress.”
Terry saw Guillermo trying to muster his courage. “When Leonor—”
“When I what?” The Spanish noblewoman entered the room with not even a whisper. She leaned against the wall and edged the library door closed with the tip of one designer heel. Gemma backed away. “When I arrive? Do finish your sentence, Guillermo, for I am here.”
“Leonor,” Terry said. “Welcome. Has Luisa taken care of you?”
The stunning woman raised a single eyebrow. “Luisa has taken care of quite a lot this evening, including me.”
Gemma stood to greet the Spanish leader. “Leonor. How are you?”
“I am sad, my friend. How true it is: To be forced to part allegiance with those you thought you could trust is sad, indeed.”
Guillermo lurched toward her. “Madre—”
In a blur, she had him by the throat, fangs bared and wine-colored nails cutting into her child’s neck. “Do not call me your mother,” she spat in Spanish. “Did you think I would not know of your trifling attempts? I am only sorry that my friends were pulled into this. You have shamed me. Shamed my court with your petty manipulations and delusions of grandeur.”
“Madre—Leonor... I can explain.” Guillermo forced out in a strangled voice.
“No, you cannot.” She lifted him higher. “I will extract every piece of information about these allies of yours. Then, my son, I will kill you.”
“You wouldn’t.” Guillermo’s voice came in a high desperate whine.
Leonor’s voice was tinged with sorrow. “You know I will.”
A crashing sound came from the hall, a shattering of glass, then suddenly, the room was filled with smoke.
“Tear gas!” Gemma yelled.
“Smoke grenades, too.” Terry snarled as the cloud filled the room. The gas did little to affect vampire breathing as they didn’t need oxygen, but it did cause the eyes to water and the scent was overwhelming to his sensitive nose. He heard Leonor hiss and drop Guillermo, but could see nothing as the grey smoke began to fill the room.
“Gemma?” he shouted.
“Luisa?” He heard her calling for the maid and bodyguard. “Luisa, where are you?”
A flurry of voices yelled in Spanish, some he recognized, some he did not. Terry’s only thought was for Gemma. Just as he was about to burst into a rage, he felt her grab his hand. The blood leapt in his veins as she pulled him closer.
“They’ve broken into the house,” she said. “I can’t see or hear—”
Just then, a frustrated scream rose from the clouded room and the sound of windows shattering broke through the confusion. Terry lunged toward the voice.
“Leonor!”
More glass shattered as vampires poured into the room. Terry recognized the small form of their housekeeper as she methodically went to each window, breaking it and clearing the room of smoke.
“Leonor?” Gemma shouted.
“I’m here.” Her voice was hoarse, but she was surrounded by four vampires dressed in dark grey suits. There was no Guillermo in sight. “Damn my arrogance. I should have brought my guard.”
“You had no way of knowing, my lady,” one murmured as he held out a handkerchief.
Terry looked back at Gemma, but his wife was already composing herself, dabbing at blood-tinged tears that stained her face and ordering Luisa to bring wine for their guests. Terry swiped at his face, brushing back the helping hands of their humans, who had come from the servants quarters upstairs.
Leonor coughed once more, then pushed away from her guards, stalking toward Terry. “What was that?”
“That was a very smart attack, Leonor. Whoever grabbed your child did not want him talking about what he knew.”
Gemma handed him a warm towel to wipe his face. “I heard no vampires approach. Did you?”
“No. All I felt was the normal human activity on the street.”
Leonor’s guard added, “And I sensed no danger from the boat until I heard you yell, my lady.”
“They used humans?” Leonor gaped. “Is it possible?”
“Smart, in a way,” Gemma said. “We usually don’t consider them as threats. And armed with the tear gas...”
“It was a well-planned attack.” Terry shrugged off the humans who were trying to be helpful and directed them to clean up the broken glass. “They didn’t try to attack any of us. They knew they’d lose. It was a grab. Surprise us. Throw the gas canisters. Grab Guillermo. He probably went willingly, thinking it was a rescue.”
Leonor’s face was grim. “I don’t imagine it was.”
“I agree,” Gemma said. “I very much doubt we will see your youngest again, Lea. I am so sorry.”
The flash of grief in her eyes was the only indication Terry saw of her loss. “He signed his own death warrant when he chose to work against me. I am only sorry I could not get more information from him. I am grateful for your loyalty, Gemma. And yours, Terrance. This will not be forgotten. Please excuse this horrid attack on your home. The repairs are my responsibility, of course.”
As Gemma and Leonor started on the polite noises of hostess and guest, Terry surveyed the room. The Spanish guards hovered around Gemma and their leader; Luisa directed the humans in the clean up of the glass and clearing the rooms. Fans were brought in, but quickly taken away when one of Leonor’s guards was revealed as a wind vampire.
Terry stood at the broken window, staring into the lights of the harbor that twinkled as live music drifted in from the bars and clubs in town. Just then, he saw a large yacht moving away from the dock, a lone figure standing on the deck, looking back at him.
“Gemma,” he called, and his mate rushed to his side.
“What is it, darling?”
He blinked, trying to see more of the boat, but the moon was only a sliver in the sky, and the pale grey silhouette was already obscured by the mist. “Not sure. Might be nothing. Is everyone well
?”
“Other than annoyed, Leonor is fine. It was obviously not an attack, only an extraction. Guillermo was being watched.”
“Apparently. He won’t be alive for long.”
“No, I doubt he will.”
He felt her energy slide along his a moment before she knit their fingers together. “Are you sure you’re all right? What were you looking at?”
He shrugged. “Probably nothing.”
Gemma cocked an eyebrow. “Possibly something?”
He smiled. “We’ll see, won’t we?”
“Whatever it is, I doubt we’ll be bored.”
“With you?” Terry threw an arm around her shoulder. “I can’t even imagine.”
Epilogue
Gemma found him in the large workshop in the Temple. It used to contain his sire’s old holding cells and interrogation rooms, but Terry had turned it into storage and workspace, maintaining the old water channels that led to the river.
“Terry?”
She heard the rasping sound as she entered the stairwell. His amnis reached out, touching hers for a moment, before beckoning her farther underground. She followed the sound to see him working on the shell of his new sailboat. His shirt was stripped off and he wore only a pair of work pants as he methodically planed and sanded the wood at human speed.
Gemma could tell he was thinking. Though it didn’t tire him, the routine of physical exertion was one way Terry had always chosen to quiet his thoughts so he could make sense of the jumble of information his immortal brain processed. Some vampires played chess. Gemma still rode horses. Terry built boats.
He paused and glanced up, beckoning her over with a finger. In the background, she could hear the water lapping in the underground canal.
Terry didn’t say a word, just took her hand and ran her fingers along the board he’d been sanding at the workbench. His amnis wrapped up her arm as she touched the soft wood, a tingle spreading from her fingertips, up the inside of her wrist, and over her shoulder until Terry’s energy was followed by the soft feel of his lips on the inside of her elbow.
“What—”
“Shhh,” he whispered, then he was leaning into her neck, a hint of stubble scraping against her collarbone as he kissed her.