Blood Wyne (39 page)
“Speaking of the Demon Underground, I’ve seen it.” Again, with Vanzir’s help, I outlined what we’d found below the surface. Once again, Delilah looked like she was seriously thinking of throttling Vanzir.
“You didn’t think to
tell us
about it? You didn’t tell them that the shadow men were guardians? You put everybody at risk—” She hung her head, and when she raised it, I could see Panther staring through her eyes.
tell us
about it? You didn’t tell them that the shadow men were guardians? You put everybody at risk—” She hung her head, and when she raised it, I could see Panther staring through her eyes.
“Pull it in, babe. Pull it in—Vanzir has reasons. Maybe not the best, but he does have reasons. Remember, we watch every thought about him. You don’t want to do something that cannot be undone.” The soul binder around Vanzir’s neck allowed us to kill him with a single directed and prolonged thought. I waited until her breathing softened.
Iris frowned. “You know . . . let me check something.” She stood and crossed to Vanzir, placing her hands on his shoulders and closing her eyes. After a few moments, she stood back, staring at him. “It’s gone.
The soul binder is gone.
”
The soul binder is gone.
”
He hung his head again and crossed his arms. “Yeah, I know. It vanished when my powers vanished. I’m free of your Subjugation spell.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I’ve been trying to defend you, to keep Delilah from killing you with her anger.” I pushed to my feet, staring at him from across the table. “Vanzir, what the fuck’s going on?”
“And what would you have done if I’d told you?” He stood and leaned across the table. A smug look clouded his face, but beneath it, I could see the hints of worry. “When your sister’s goddess stripped away my powers, the soul binder went with it. I’m free. But I’m still here. After what happened with Camille, I know it’s going to be hard to trust me again, but I’m still here and I’m willing to stay and play by your rules.”
I gazed into his eyes. The whirling kaleidoscope flickered by, a never-ending parade of indescribable colors. “You’re still willing to fight with us, even without your powers? Even though you aren’t bound to us?”
He nodded. “Even more so now. This is my choice. I owe it to Camille for what I did to her. I owe it to you for the fact that you spared me. I may have kept the Demon Underground secret, but they’re all against Shadow Wing, so really, did it harm you? Does it have anything to do with your war against the Unraveller?”
Delilah answered for me. “No. No, it doesn’t . . . but from now on, you be straight with us. We may not be able to put you under a death threat about it, but we can certainly kill you with our hands rather than our minds.”
Vanzir smiled then, dropping back into his chair and crossing one leg. “Puddy-tat, I would expect nothing less than that. I’m in, if the big lizard doesn’t tear me to shreds. Camille . . .” A pained look crossed his face. “I’ll always regret what I did, but some things cannot be undone. She and I knew that . . . at the end.”
The room was silent for a moment, then I slowly told them about everything that had happened with Morio and my blood, and how Wade and I had chased Charles through the tunnel and the explosion. By the time I was done, we were all exhausted.
“Camille said she’ll be home later today,” Iris said, clearing the teacups and saucers from the table. “Let’s hope things look up from here out.”
“Yeah,” I said, heading toward my lair. Delilah and Shade had retired to their rooms upstairs. Vanzir was gone, out to the shed. “Iris, does it feel like things are falling apart to you?”
She shook her head, slowly. “No, dear, things are simply evolving. Rest. Let go of the day. Tomorrow night things may seem brighter. Go now and sleep.”
And, taking her words as gospel, because I couldn’t afford not to, I obeyed.
CHAPTER 23
When I woke, I could hear the commotion all the way down in my lair. I threw back my covers, slipped into jeans and a blue turtleneck, pulled on my boots, and headed upstairs. The noise didn’t sound like it was coming from the kitchen, so I took a chance and slipped through the hidden entrance to my nest. I was right. Whatever was going on was confined to the living room.
I raced in to find that Smoky had returned. For a moment I thought he was going after Vanzir, but the dream-chaser demon was nowhere in sight. Smoky was ranting, and Camille and Trillian were trying to calm him down.
“Hey, bro, good to see you. What the fuck’s all the commotion about? Where’s Roz?”
“Rozurial is resting.” The six-four dragon turned to me, and his eyes could have frozen my heart if it had been still beating. “My father, that’s what the commotion is about.”
Camille looked petrified. She gave me a slow shake of the head. “Hyto . . . he tried to kill Smoky’s mother and when the guards caught him and put a spell of banishment on him, the last thing he said was that he’s coming to punish the one responsible.”
“Meaning Camille.” Smoky’s hair was up in arms, too, it seemed, the ankle-length tendrils coiling and snapping through the air like wild silver whips. His arms were around her shoulders, holding her to him. He wouldn’t even let Trillian near her.
“My father will die before he ever puts a single finger on my wife,” he said with a growl.
I’d never seen such a horrific look on his face, not even when Camille was in danger from our enemies. His dragon energy swirled around him, a mist of white with silver sparkles, and he looked ten seconds away from transforming. Which would totally trash the house, if he did.
“He tried to kill my mother, and for that alone, he must die. But if he thinks he can touch my wife, I will rip his throat out, I will emasculate and eviscerate him, and then toss him over the highest mountain in the land.”
I blinked. He wasn’t kidding.
“Is your mother okay?”
Smoky gazed at me, his face a frozen sculpture. “She is. She is more powerful than Hyto, and she cast him down. My brothers and sisters wing-strapped him until help could arrive. Ever since she denied him in front of the Council, he’s apparently been planning her death. If he sets foot in the Dragon Reaches again, he will be tortured and put to death.”
I glanced at Camille, who was looking absolutely petrified. Nothing like being on a dragon’s shit list, that was for sure.
The thought of fighting dragons was certainly enough to cow me. “It must be a terrible sight, dragon against dragon.”
Smoky gave me a subtle nod. “It is a terrifying spectacle. An actual fight between dragons can ravage the country for miles around. Some young males who do not want to accept their place in the hierarchy bear scorch scars across their bellies and backs for life.” He let out a long breath. “But we will address this later. What’s going on? Where’s Morio?”
“Fox Boy almost got himself killed,” Trillian said softly. “We’ve had one hell of a time the past couple of days.”
“Sharah says he can come home tomorrow, but he’ll be out of the action for a couple of months. Delilah, just as you’re coming off bed rest, he’s going on it. Menolly’s blood saved his life, but he’s not going to be doing much of anything for a while.” Camille glanced up at Smoky anxiously. “Please, treat him with care—we almost lost him to a hungry ghost.”
Smoky gave her a kiss on the head. “Understood, my love.”
“At least the killer’s gone,” I started to say, but my cell phone jangled. I glanced at the ID.
Roman.
“Excuse me, I need to take this.”
Roman.
“Excuse me, I need to take this.”
Moving to one side, I answered.
“You still want in on taking Terrance down?”
“Yes.”
“Then be ready. My limo will pick you up in ten minutes. My driver is on the way. Dress for speed and action.”
“Need any other help?”
Roman laughed. “No, my dear. This is for you and me. Alone.” And he hung up. I stared at the phone. Once again, I had to go into battle without my sisters, and it felt odd. Lonely, even. But this was not my call to make, so I decided to make the best of it.
“I have to go. Vampire business with Roman.”
“You sure you don’t need help?” Camille gave me the soft doe eyes that usually cajoled me into letting her take part in whatever I was doing. But this time . . .
“I wish you could—I’ve missed having you with me. But you stay and help Iris get ready for Morio’s return. He’ll need a bed set up and everything else . . . and you and Smoky may want to . . .”
Smoky let out a loud guffaw. “That we do.”
Camille cleared her throat. “I’m actually pretty tired. Let’s get Morio’s bed ready, and then we’ll see about anything else.”
As I headed toward the door, it occurred to me that our lives were slowly peeling off. We were still united, still had each others’ backs, but we were finding our own ways in the world, as well. Someday, perhaps we wouldn’t be living together like this. What then? Where would we go? Unaccountably saddened, I headed out the door to wait on the porch.
A moment later, the door opened and Camille slipped out on the porch. She shivered under Smoky’s heavy white trench, which dragged on the floor, and pulled it around her shoulders as she sat on the porch swing beside me.
She glanced at the fine white mist of snow leisurely drifting down. “Winters are getting harder here.”
“Yeah, they are.”
“Why are you upset? I know things have been rough lately, but they’ll work out.” She slid one hand over to hold my own. “I promise, I won’t let Smoky kill Vanzir.”
“Isn’t that Delilah’s job? To bring on the ridiculous optimism?” But even as I said it, I felt a little lift. Camille’s hand felt warm and alive, and thoroughly welcome in the cold night. The chill didn’t bother me—I was as cold as the frozen snow—but sometimes even the pretense of warmth brought bloom to the spirit.
“What’s wrong?”
I ducked my head. “Everything is changing. So much flies in at us. Delilah and Shade watch
Jerry Springer
together. He’s bored by it, but he does it because he loves her. That . . .” I was almost ashamed to admit I was jealous of him.
Jerry Springer
together. He’s bored by it, but he does it because he loves her. That . . .” I was almost ashamed to admit I was jealous of him.
“Was your job until he showed up?” She grinned.
Nodding, I didn’t answer. It was embarrassing to be jealous of her boyfriend. But Kitten and I didn’t get much time to spend together, and it seemed she’d been so thoroughly caught up in her new romance that she’d barely had the chance to hang out with me lately.
“The sparks will fade to a passionate ember, and she will come up for air again. Look at me—three men. I must have been unbearable for the longest time.” She cleared her throat. “What else?”
I gazed into the sky. The colors of silver and white merged on the skyline and it was difficult to tell where the cloud cover ended and the ground began. “We’re moving apart, aren’t we? Look—I’m waiting to go out with Roman to trounce Terrance. And you and Delilah aren’t coming with me. Wade and Chase and I took care of Charles.”
“Silly girl!” Camille stood up and the coat slid off her shoulders to the floor. Hands on her hips, she shook her head. “Listen to me and listen good. I couldn’t be there—not with Morio in the hospital. And Delilah’s not allowed to fight again yet. You think we would have missed the action if there hadn’t been a good reason? I’d love to go out with you tonight but I’m exhausted, and with Smoky just home . . . besides . . .” She sat down with a thud. “I need to make sure nobody tells him about Vanzir and me yet. You and I both know Smoky would kill him, and I’m not sure what he’d do to me.”
“To you? It wasn’t your choice.”
“Technically, it was. I could have let him feed on my magic. But I think Smoky would decide either sin was worth killing for. I have to impress on him first just how traumatic and horrifying the event was—for
both
of us, not just me. Then, he might understand.” She shrugged. “And if not, then Vanzir can at least run without the soul binder killing him. And he’d have to run long and hard to get away from Smoky’s wrath.”
both
of us, not just me. Then, he might understand.” She shrugged. “And if not, then Vanzir can at least run without the soul binder killing him. And he’d have to run long and hard to get away from Smoky’s wrath.”
I turned to her and took her hands. “What do you think about that? Vanzir is no longer under our control. I’m not sure what to think about that.”
“Me either, but he’s in pretty deep with the Demon Underground and I think that may come in handy. He seems to want to stay.” She hung her head. “If I could have it to do all over again, I’d come up those rungs, iron or not.”
I didn’t know how to ask the next question but finally decided just to blurt it out. “Was he . . . was it painful? Did he hurt you?”
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