Blade to the Keep

  Rowan took one and sat back, letting the rich flavor of the dark chocolate and raspberry please her senses. “These are really good.”

  “Yes. I think so too.”

  “The bundles you made yesterday, can I ask you a few questions?”

  Dina nodded.

  “When I came back to get more for the Vampires and the rest of the humans with Hunter Corp., you said something about how they would break down the magic used to open the sleeper up to the nightmares.”

  “Yes. Exactly.”

  “So, if they were just bad dreams from being here in the Keep with a big scary Vampire boss with a dungeon and a scary future of a possible war brewing, would the bundles have worked? I mean, were they like to protect you from bad dreams no matter how you got them, or promoting deep, dreamless sleep or what?”

  “They were magic. Made to repel magic. They wouldn’t have worked on everyone if they’d simply been herbs to help with sleep. I have those too, but from what you said, it was more than that. He knows, The First, that I have magical talents. My family has been here so long that our energies and power are, I don’t know how to say it right, but my power is strong here. Those bundles were a way for me to unplug whatever was giving the nightmares. Like a lamp would stop working if I took the plug from the wall socket.”

  Rowan nodded. “That’s what I thought. I want you to know before I do this, but I’m going to make it public. The nightmares being a magic issue I mean.”

  “You should.” Dina sniffed, clearly offended. “This is a violation of the rules. How can you trust the process if it’s left open to this sort of interference? If you need me to explain anything, you know where I am.”

  “I didn’t say this before.” Pausing at the door before she left the office, Rowan swallowed hard. “But you made my life here better more times than I can count. And you did it sometimes at great risk. I want you to know it made a difference and I never forgot it.”

  Dina teared up as she pulled Rowan into a hug. “I’ve loved you like my own. Broke my heart when you left, but I understood. And now you’re back and you won’t let it go so long before you visit again, right?”

  “I just agreed to come back at the end of summer.”

  Dina beamed. “And you’ll bring your handsome Scion too? I used to wonder who on earth was right for you. He’s a good one. Won’t stand for any of your nonsense, but he won’t say boo when you have to do what you have to do for your job either. And he’s right handsome.”

  Rowan laughed. “He’ll do, yes. His people are divided about me. He doesn’t seem to care, though. My people are suspicious, and none of that seems to matter. Don’t tell him, but I’m sort of sweet on him.”

  Dina shook her head as they went back out into the main kitchen area. “Go on, you. I’ll be here if you need me. We’re making cinnamon rolls for brunch. You’d better not leave without saying your farewells.”

  “Of course not. Thank you.”

  She went upstairs to read over the information Carey had sent before returning downstairs where she knew people waited.

  * * *

  Clive saw her and moved in like a sexy shark. She couldn’t help but stare at him. He was delicious. Utterly. He wore a navy suit with a pinstripe. She loved him in pinstripes.

  His shirt was another sort of blue that complemented the deep navy of the suit, and his tie was yellow. It should have been ridiculous but it worked perfectly.

  His hair was perfect too. And when he smiled at her, his incisors were only slightly distended. It sent a thrill through her to know in an hour or two she’d be rolling around naked with him.

  “You look like you’ve been up to something sneaky, Hunter.” He gave her a raised brow, and she really wanted to kiss it. Damn hormones.

  “I’m always up to something sneaky, Scion.”

  “One of your best qualities when I’m not the target.” He paused as he reached her. “I’m not, am I?”

  That made her laugh. “Your paranoia is delightful, and if I had the time I would love to make you worried and get that line between your eyes when you pretend you’re not agitated by me and I’m not getting to you. But you’re not my target. Tonight.”

  “I’m going to have to get Botox for that wrinkle between my eyes, you know. I didn’t have it before you came into my life.”

  “You came into my life, Scion. And I bet you had that line when you were an eight-year-old baby Vampire prince or whatever. You’re a frowny worrier, Clive Stewart. You look agitated when someone wears a pocket square slightly off-kilter.”

  “Well, for heaven’s sake, it’s not that hard—” He stopped talking as she snickered. “I bet I have that line right now.”

  She nodded but leaned in very close to whisper, “Later I’ll lick it and a few other places to see if we can get you relaxed.”

  He hummed his pleasure. “That’s far better. Now, do you want to tell me what you’re up to?”

  “I’m gonna be spilling truth tea, Scion.”

  “What would that be, you know, if you were speaking to someone who didn’t learn language from reality television and the internet?”

  “We’re all going to have a little talk about magic and breaking the rules.”

  Realization dawned in his eyes. “All right then, let’s get this over with. I’ll do my best not to let you get attacked when you go, yet again, poking one of the most powerful Vampires walking the earth.”

  “She needs to be taken out, but that’s not my job right now.”

  “As if she won’t see this for the threat you mean it to be.”

  “I have a gift, Scion. I would be silly to hide it.”

  Rowan entered the great room where most of the attendees had gathered. She rang the bell, a ceremonial way to gather everyone. Celesse stood at her side with David just behind her.

  Rex stood nearby with Roth, and she sent the latter a quelling glare. If he made any trouble, she’d chew him up and spit him out.

  Theo glided in and sat in a swanky wingback chair looking every bit like a king. “I suppose you’ll tell me what this is about?”

  She nodded. “You already know.”

  “Lucky for you.” He waved a hand, indicating she move along.

  Within a few minutes the entire group had gathered there in the room, some looking rather unhappy at the prospect.

  “The most important issue first. The Treaty committee wants you to know we passed the revised Amendment and it is now in force. The updated Treaty is available online already, but should also be available to be printed out. The hard copies kept here and at the various Motherhouses will be updated within seven days. Thank you to everyone who participated in the process. I know there was a lot of work that happened before we even convened, and I appreciate all your effort.”

  Most of the faces in the room looked pleased, or at the very least not angry. Even Takahiro didn’t look mad. But Enyo, well, she was fuming. Seething with frustrated rage that she didn’t get her way.

  “I do very much believe this small adjustment will work for both Vampire and Hunter to protect the secret and the well-being of humanity.”

  Now Rowan planned to lob another grenade Enyo’s way.

  “Aside from that, I have another reason for assembling you all here. Yesterday, before you went to your daytime rest, you had some little red cloth bundles delivered to your rooms. I know some of you refused to use them, but I wanted to address their purpose. You’ve all been spoken to either by me or someone else, regarding the fact that nearly all the Vampires and humans who’ve attended this Joint Tribunal has had nightmares. So I asked around. I was told by many people who’d attended meetings for more than a few years that while there is always the basic level of infighting and fang measuring that happens every time we all get together, this particular meeting has been far m
ore hostile and fraught than the others.”

  “Just what is your point?” Enyo spoke and didn’t even manage to sound innocent.

  “I’d be making it right now if you hadn’t interrupted me.”

  “You’re insolent.”

  “So? Be quiet. My point is that the common denominator when I spoke to people was nightmares. Vampires, who we know don’t dream in the common sense of the word, have been disturbed while resting. Tormented with horrifying images. Humans too. Disturbing your rest resulted in a bunch of attendees who are short-tempered, ill-rested and cranky. This, in turn, fed into the hostility displayed by Hunter and Vampire alike during the meeting.

  “There are rules we’re all beholden to, and one of them is that no one is allowed to use magic to interfere with the meeting. This has happened.”

  “Do you have proof?” Paola asked. Rowan wasn’t offended; she knew she’d have to prove such a claim. She couldn’t prove the who, but she definitely could prove what happened.

  “I do have proof the nightmares were of magical origin. The bundles that were provided gave you relief, didn’t they?”

  She looked around, registering all the nods.

  “They would not have worked otherwise. Not on all of you. The bundles were anti-magical. So not like chamomile to drink in tea, but created to counteract magic work that would have dug into your subconscious and given you the bad dreams. Magic was used. And it was used to disrupt this meeting.”

  Enyo sniffed like she was offended. “How do we know you’re not the problem? You claim it was your magic that solved the problem. Maybe it was your magic that created the problem.”

  “Actually, it wasn’t my magic that solved the problem. I merely identified that a bunch of individual problems made up one large one, which leads anyone with half a brain to realize there was an effort from outside directed at the people involved in the meeting. That’s part of my job, so I simply pulled together all the data and clues and went from there.

  “Personally? I have little to no magical talent and no motivation to mess up my first Joint Tribunal where I was proposing an amendment to the Treaty.” She shrugged. “This type of magic isn’t something I can do. And to be honest, if I could, I’d have used it for something awesome instead of lame like bad dreams.” Never hurt to poke at Enyo. Rowan couldn’t prove it was her, though she did have a number of circumstantial things pointing in her direction.

  “Well, I don’t feel that we can rely on your word for this.”

  Rowan laughed, she couldn’t help it. “Is that so?”

  Warren shook his head. “I don’t care what Enyo wants. This is petty and stupid, and she’s not a member of the Joint Tribunal in any case. The point is, there was some sort of magical interference here and that’s a violation of the rules.”

  “Do you have an idea as to who is behind it?” Paola asked.

  “I do. But not enough proof at this point.”

  “Then why bring it up?”

  “Because this is an important issue. A deep breach of the rules of conduct for these meetings and everyone here should realize they’ve been tampered with. I don’t know about you, but that bothers me a great deal.”

  “Who exactly do we owe our thanks to for counteracting this magic?” Enyo smirked.

  “One of The First’s staff.”

  “No offense meant, Tages, but how can we trust this paltry information she provides?”

  “Ovilius will be fine from now on. The woman Rowan refers to has been in service to me since she was born. As were her father and mother and their parents and grandparents and so on. Her siblings are also in my service. She happens to have a powerful magical gift and uses it to protect members of my household. I never had reason to imagine she’d have to use those gifts in such a manner, but I have spoken with her myself and I’m satisfied with her veracity.”

  There was no way even one as powerful as Enyo could argue with Theo, so she didn’t.

  But that didn’t mean she was done, of course. “If you won’t say who did it, I fail to see why this is important to reveal to us in such a dramatic fashion.”

  Rowan allowed one eyebrow to rise. “It’s quite possibly not the only way you fail. The rules have been breached. People have been tampered with, and they all have a right to know. I will continue to investigate this and report back what I find. And, to anticipate any accusations of impropriety, if the Nation wishes to have someone work with me that would be fine.”

  Warren lifted a finger. “I’ll help.”

  Thank goodness for that. She imagined Enyo volunteering and then having to pull some sort of I’d rather it be a Scion thing out of her hat.

  “Before I leave we’ll connect on some details.”

  Warren nodded. “Fine.”

  “Cozy.” Enyo’s smile was brittle, and it pleased Rowan to see.

  “That’s really it. I want to thank everyone for their hard work, regardless of your position on the amendment. Congratulations on a job well done in the face of many obstacles. If you have any questions or concerns, you know where to find me. Otherwise, I’ll be seeing most of you again in November in Paris for the next meeting.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Clive gave her such a look, and she began to make her excuses to get out of there so she could rock his world. There were four hours until sunrise, which gave them plenty of time for multiple rounds.

  But then she caught sight of Recht, who indicated he needed to speak with her.

  “I’ll be in shortly,” she murmured to Clive, who gave her a raised brow.

  “We have hours and hours, Hunter. Don’t let’s waste time, hm?”

  Trying not to blush, she excused herself and headed in Recht’s direction.

  “What are you up to, little goddess?”

  “We voted the amendment in, I had a few clarifying questions for Dina, and then I informed everyone of the magical interference they’ve suffered this week.”

  “Can you prove it’s Enyo?”

  “How did you know I suspected her?”

  He smiled at her. “Come take a walk with me.”

  She took his arm and let him lead her from the main hall and up toward her rooms and Theo’s quarters.

  “Come to my room, we can speak there without worry.”

  “Is this your way of getting me into your room so you can make a pass, Recht?”

  He laughed. “Sweetest, if I did try, you should believe that I’d leave you so sated you’d never look at your Scion again. However, you’re my family. Like a little sister, so it would be too uncomfortable to even contemplate such a thing.”

  She went into his sitting room when he opened the door for her. He had a view of the mountains rising above the back of the Keep. “Sit, please.”

  She did. Weapons of all sorts hung from his walls or snugged up in racks of all types. “This is pretty insanely impressive.” Rowan knew better than to wonder if he could use them all. She knew he could and most likely was a master of all.

  “I serve him and should anything happen, I need all the tools possible to defend him.” Recht raised one shoulder as he settled in across from her. “You did well tonight.”

  Pride warmed her. “Thank you. I messed up a few times. My back will take a while to truly heal, and my shoulder will be sore awhile.”

  “You drop your arm sometimes right before you strike. You need to be aware of it. It’s lazy, and if she had been older she could have used it to really hurt you.”

  “She was old enough.”

  He snorted. “Rowan, Enyo will not quit until she destroys you. The amendment passed because of you and the way you never gave up. You bested her champion. One you goaded her into seconding for. The First is clearly on your side. The Scions like you better. You are a better Vampire than her own cadre are. You
are smart and skillful, and you exposed her little magical trick.”

  “Heard that, did you?”

  “Benefit of saying nothing is that you hear everything. And I’m not the only one who heard her tone and defensiveness when she was not named as a suspect at all. She’s...she’s old. Older than any others you’d come up against, most likely.”

  “I know that much. Though I don’t know a whole lot. What can you tell me?”

  “Bits and pieces. You should know your father has been...prevented from speaking on her origins.”

  “Yeah, I got that one today. Who was her maker?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never heard a single rumor, though certainly there’s speculation. In the beginning, in the years between your father’s birth and when Enyo first shows up in our history, there were several old ones. All of them were his children, those he’d made. They were strong. Ran together at times, though they scattered to the winds for most of the year. It must have been one of them. I know it’s not Flavius. But there was Larth, Ranazu and Alba. Each of the three was gone by the first or second century, current era.”

  “But, of course, if Theo can’t speak to it, who’s left to do so if she won’t? They’re all dead now.”

  Recht nodded. “Vampires like to create their own mythology. Many of us who were not born to Vampire parents took being made as a second chance. To rise from the ashes of our humanity and be something more.”

  Yeah, yeah, she’d heard this speech a few times. And from one such as Recht she respected and understood it. But many others just used it as theater to seem more important than they actually were.

  “I hate flying blind. I know she’s got some magical skills. I know there have been other Vampires who had magic in the past.”

  “All of them were powerful. One of them nearly killed The First a thousand years ago.”

  “Really? I’ve never heard this story. Tell me, please.”

  “Vampires with magic usually were human before they were made. And the transformation does something to their power. Increases it. It’s why during the war with the Hunters, you had to bring in full-blooded sorcerers. Our magic users were too strong for anyone who merely dabbled. This witch felt spurned by The First, and she nearly killed him as they woke for the night. It was my father who saved him. My father who died.”