Cool Hand (8 page)

“This is my sanctuary gift to you. I have heard the Assembly argued about the Athanate that infused my Mistress: forgotten Panethus hiding in jungles of South America; outcast Basilikos; lost Theokos. All wrong.”

“They were rogue, wherever they’d come from,” I said.

Her eyes stayed fixed on mine. “Hmm. That may be important, or not.”

“So? What are you saying?” Bian was getting impatient.

“That my Mistress was infused by an old, old House. A House lost to the world for two and a half thousand years. If I were still Carpathian, I would say welcome back. I would go down on bended knee and say welcome back House Chrysos, the Golden House, the lost House of Carpathia.”

Mayhem, predictably.

Bian hadn’t even heard of Chrysos, but a Carpathian spy in Denver was enough to worry her.

Naryn had heard of them, but from what I could make out, what he’d heard lifted them into the realm of myth. He seemed unsure whether Yelena was telling the truth.

The more they asked, the more Yelena clammed up. She wouldn’t answer in Athanate at all, and from her point of view, this was something she needed to discuss with me as her House first.

I was in the awkward position of defending her until I knew what it all meant for us.

Of course I had questions, too. Would the connection to House Chrysos affect my crusis mania? Did it explain why I’d become hybrid? Was there anything I could do that would help me get over crusis quickly and with more control?

I’d ask them as soon as I could, but that wasn’t going to happen right now.

Eventually, Naryn sent a message to Skylur and he told Bian to bring me in to see him. Now.

Yelena was to be left with my House, not brought to Haven.

Downstairs, I took Yelena’s arm as we left the building, Nick following us.

Across the lot, Pia got out of the car, nervous at the sudden appearance of Yelena with me. Julie was already standing outside, hand with pistol hidden in her jacket pocket, and scanning the area. Jen was stuck inside the car, no doubt fuming, but Julie could be quite adamant about security protocols.

I waved at them and stopped. This was unfair on the others, but I had no choice but to leave Yelena with them as their first introduction. Before I did that, though, there was stuff I wanted to get straight with Yelena. “Do you believe everything you said to Naryn about Panethus?”

“Not exactly.” For the first time, she wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I apologize, Mistress. I allowed Diakon Naryn’s attitude to provoke me.”

I snorted. “Works for me too. And tell me you aren’t two and a half thousand years old.”

“No.” She understood my question immediately, which was a good sign. “All the scent marques of every major House are kept in the Library of Hutsul. We’re not allowed out into the world without being able to identify every one of them, including the ones everyone thinks are lost, like Chrysos.”

“And you didn’t know until now?”

“No. I felt something when we fought in the park, and later when we were chasing you. There is a feel to your marque, not like other Panethus or Basilikos. But I didn’t think anything more until we were standing so close.”

“So I’m supposed to be House Chrysos?”

She shook her head. “Not unless the Domain officially adopts you as Carpathian.” A hint of a smile twitched the corners of her mouth. “And although my…former House and association in Carpathia would welcome you, others would not.”

“Okay. Well, good. I like being Farrell and I’ve got more than enough to handle at the moment. The rest will have to wait until later, when I get finished with Naryn.” I had a million questions to ask, not least of which was how do you ‘lose’ a House, but the Diakon had been quite specific. I go to see him
now
.

I turned and poked a finger into Nick’s chest. “Are you her kin?”

Yelena’s eyes darkened again. Nick pushed his hands deep into his pockets and hunched his shoulders.

“I can’t provide the right Blood.”

“Neither can Alex for me. Come on, Skinwalker, in or out? And what about Ursula?”

“It’s complicated.”

I laughed. “Tell me about it. What about House Farrell, or Pack Deauville if you want to think of it like that?”

Nick’s eyes slipped focus and he was looking far away. “I spent my life hiding what I am because none of the other Were trust skinwalkers. It’s not easy. You’re…different, but you need to be sure as well.”

That surprised me. As far as I was concerned a skinwalker was a kind of Were, and I’d been expecting the usual Were enthusiasm.
Hell yeah
, or something. High fives. Then again, there was something far more deliberate and thoughtful about Nick.

“Aspirant then,” I said. “Ursula?”

His eyes came back to me—beautiful brown, patterned like old walnut furniture, and as secretive as his eukori.

“You really need to talk this through with Larimer.”

“You’re telling me. So looking forward to it.” I sighed and turned back to walk to the car. “I’m going to have to leave you with Pia to explain how the House works while I go crawl to Naryn. But first rule, Yelena, is that I’m Amber, not Mistress.”

“There are things I need to tell you…Amber.” She touched my arm.

“Well, we’ll do it with the others. I don’t keep secrets from my House.”

“It’s maybe not a good thing to do it too openly, too quick—”

“I understand that. But I want to be open with the rest of the House.”

She glanced quickly, nervously, over at Pia. Was she having as much trouble reading me as I was reading her? Was she genuine? A huge advantage for my little House? A curse? A gift horse?

I squared up, right in front of her. “Listen to me, Dancing Girl. I’ve made my commitment to you, just the same as I have to every other member of my House: Athanate, Were, Adept and human. Don’t abuse that and nothing you’ve done or been should be a problem. I expect honesty, not just to me, but to everyone in the House. You’ll be judged on what you do from now on, not back whenever.”

She nodded.

“And that honesty will include the reason you stayed here in Denver and decided to try and get adopted. If I believe what you say about that, I’ll start to really trust you.”

She nodded again.

Then she tilted her head back and offered me her throat.

I’d laughed about Skylur and Felix both wanting me to do that for them. Now that it was offered to me, the shock of the gesture rang through my body. My Athanate had formed a bond with Yelena as I’d spoken that oath, but this seemed to cement it in place.

It was too intense to handle now. I turned and pulled her with me to meet the gang.

Pia’s eyes widened as she caught the Matlal marque. Julie, sensitive to Pia’s signals, suddenly had her Sig out, not quite pointed at Yelena, but ready.

“Calm down, everyone,” I said. “I’m sorry to spring this on you, but it’s as much of a surprise to me as it is to you. This is Yelena Vylkove, the newest member of House Farrell, and formerly a Carpathian spy in Basilikos.”

Yelena gave a little bow. “Greeting to House Farrell.” Her voice had gone husky.

Pia recovered first. She stepped forward and spoke stiffly. “Pia Shirazi. Be welcome to House Farrell, Yelena Vylkove.”

Not
twice welcome.
I wasn’t an expert, but as I gauged it, she was being minimally polite.

It’s not all my fault,
I wanted to say.
I didn’t realize what oath I was using.

But I
had
wanted to give her sanctuary, and I
had
realized there might be more of a problem here.

When I was a sergeant in Ops 4-10, I’d been trained up to the point where I could rely on my instincts. Becoming an Athanate, then hybrid, then an Athanate House meant that my instincts were no longer safe. The trouble was, the Were side of me
liked
instinct, and as I’d shown a couple of times today, the Athanate side
liked
acquiring interesting members to my House.

Yelena and Pia exchanged stiff Athanate neck kisses.

Jen got out of the car, ignoring Julie’s glare.

“Jennifer Kingslund, kin-Farrell.” She put her hands on Yelena’s upper arm. There was the tiniest hesitation as she leaned forward for the neck kiss, but whatever she saw seemed to decide her. “Twice welcome, Yelena.”

They kissed necks, even though it wasn’t the official Athanate custom for kin.

I could see the surprise in Yelena’s eyes as she processed Jen’s scent, and I could imagine what was going through her head.
Kin? Unbitten?

Olivia didn’t have any problem with Yelena; she just trusted the judgment that Nick and I had both made: “Olivia Todd. The Were don’t do formal much. I guess Pack Deauville, and kin-Farrell? Welcome anyway.”

I cleared my throat. “Ahh, no. Kin-Farrell means something more specific. Just House Farrell is fine.”

Olivia ducked her head and blushed.

“Julie Alverson, security. Hi.” Julie stuck her hand out. Minus the Sig, thankfully.

I tried not to grin. No neck kissing for Julie.

Yelena took the hand. I caught the quick flare of her nose again.

“And Nick Gray, who you all know already,” I said to try and lessen the tension a bit. “Altau would prefer everyone to be in little Athanate boxes, so I’ll be calling Nick and Olivia Aspirants.”

Julie persuaded Jen to get back in the car. We were reasonably sure there weren’t any more Matlal in Denver, but that wouldn’t be much comfort if we got shot. Nick stayed outside with Julie to help keep the whole area under observation.

I gave Bian a wait-one-minute wave. She tapped her watch and frowned while I climbed in.

Pia was in the driver’s seat; Olivia, Yelena, Jen and I were in the back.

Yelena’s eyes were roaming over the shopping. The
Tenero e Intime
bags had to be on top, naturally. There was no judgment in her face, though, just a slight bewilderment.

I could imagine her asking herself what she’d landed in. Tough—she was in it now.

“Okay, practical things. Have you got documentation? American ID?”

Yelena nodded and pulled a passport and driver’s license from her jacket pocket. I wasn’t an expert, but I’d seen my share of fake documentation. These looked good.

I handed them back.

“Have you fed enough recently?” Her reactions made me suspect not.

“No.” Her voice was strained.

Her eyes slipped to the side. Jen. Julie. Maybe even Olivia, not fully Were. None of them bitten.

It was very quiet in the car. Jen understood exactly what we were talking about.

Yelena had fed on Nick recently. Away from the confusion of smells in the apartment, I could tell she’d bitten him. But whatever it was in Blood that Athanate needed, Were couldn’t provide enough of it.

A problem I would have to face with Alex in the future.

Today’s problem was much sharper: Yelena needed Blood, now or soon. Pia’s kin were already supplying Pia and David, and they weren’t enough for those two, let alone another Athanate.

In a normal Athanate House, there were expectations of kin. The Master or Mistress of the House had Blood rights on everyone, including the kin. In fact, it was expected for him or her to exercise those rights regularly, to confirm the marque. Individual Athanate might bond, like Pia and David, and share kin. A Mentor would share kin with his or her Aspirants. Any kin might be called on in an emergency. Or when a new member arrived.

And of course, with Athanate, Blood and sex twined together. When was I going to pick that thorny knot apart, and how complex did it make this situation?

Echoes of Yelena’s rant against Naryn rolled around in my head. In theory, in any Panethus House, a kin could refuse. That wasn’t good enough for me. I’d had Pia working on a charter for House Farrell, where it said explicitly that kin chose to give Blood, or not, and the same for sex.

How should I treat Yelena?

I could tell her to go off and find her own Blood. She’d survived in Denver doing just that, and I wasn’t worried about her running off. She could have done that at any time. Instead, she’d stopped feeding on unknowing humans. Even more important than that to me, she was in House Farrell now. To send her out would give a completely wrong message.

“It’s a fundamental principle in House Farrell that kin are informed and consenting,” I said.
Gods, I sounded like some pompous lecturer.
“Not drunk, high, dosed with pheromones, ordered by me, or plain compelled.”

Yelena nodded acceptance.

I was expecting some kind of push back, but all I got from her was a look full of patience and trust. She was expecting me to sort this out.

Jen and Olivia both started to speak at the same time and stopped. They laughed in embarrassment, and Olivia got back in first.

“No, Jen, you’re doing so much already, and…well. Time I did something, even though I’m half wolf. This one’s on me.” She slid across the seats, trying to make a joke of it, but the stress making her voice harsh. “Bite me, babe.”

Joke or not, Yelena’s eyes went dark and glittery, her face paled and her lungs began to labor. Her arm slipped sensuously around Olivia, whose eyes went wide. Yelena half-turned, pulling Olivia closer. Her breath rushed through lips that had gone soft in anticipation. Fangs appeared in her open mouth. Olivia looked at them as if hypnotized.

Oh, hell, it’s going to happen right now. What if something goes wrong? Even if nothing goes wrong, what the hell am I going to tell Ricky?