Flesh And Blood: House of Comarre: Book Two (House of Comarre 2) (32 page)

‘I understand.’

Argent stood. ‘Good. Because I would hate for your sister to lose her scholarship.’

‘So would I.’ Just like he’d hate to serve the rest of his sentence for a brand-new murder. He ground his teeth together to keep from saying something he’d regret.

‘Very well.’ Argent slid the cargo door open. The sun hung low in the afternoon sky. ‘I’ll be in touch.’

‘I’m sure you will.’ Creek nodded his good-bye, glad to get the shifter out of his space so he could crash for a few and be rested for tonight’s hunt. He’d have to stay away from Chrysabelle’s for a few days, no matter how much he wanted to see her. Long enough for Argent to get bored and move on.

With a shiver, Argent switched to his dragon form, spread his massive wings, and disappeared into the sky.

Dominic stared through Katsumi’s helioglazed windows at the dying sun. The time was nearly at hand. He turned to face her. She lay prone on her bed. They’d decided her own apartment was the best place to perform the navitas, lest anything should go wrong. ‘This is your last chance to leave things as they are.’

‘No.’ She shook her head and reached for Dominic’s hand. ‘I want this change. I accept that permanent death is a possibility and madness a risk. I am willing.’

He nodded, coming to her side and taking her hand. ‘Your instinct will be to fight me, especially as death enters your body. You must give in. Die completely. Or there will be no rebirth.’

‘I understand.’ She was pale, her face devoid of its usual makeup. Instead of one of her high-necked gowns, she wore a simple robe that bared her throat. The finely drawn petals of a chrysanthemum peeked out from among her myriad of tattoos. She trembled.

‘Don’t be afraid,
cara mia
. I’m here with you.’ He offered her a smile and squeezed her hand.

Her eyes went liquid as she squeezed them shut and tipped her head back to expose her neck. ‘Please. Now.’

‘Patience. I cannot begin until the sun sets.’ He watched the ball of killing light sink. At last, it touched the horizon. Without
another word, Dominic shifted his face and plunged his fangs into her neck. She jerked, but made no sound as she held her arms at her sides. He drank, sampling each swallow for the bitter dregs of death. She cried out as her fringe life drew to a close, bowing against the bed, struggling with the nearness of the end. At last the taste of dust and carbon and burned sugar crossed Dominic’s tongue. He pulled away.

Katsumi lay gray and limp. Working quickly before she went to ash, he scored his wrist and forced it against her mouth, flexing his fist to pump the blood. ‘With this blood, I make you flesh of my flesh.’

But she didn’t move.

‘Drink,’ he urged her. ‘Drink.’

Still nothing. Why had he done this? Why had he agreed to this foolishness? The gash on his wrist closed. He tore it open again and put it to her mouth. ‘
Dai
,’ he begged. ‘Live.’

He opened her mouth farther with his fingers, making sure the blood was getting down her throat. Her skin was cold and powdery to the touch. He cursed himself. He had lost Maris, now he was going to lose Katsumi as well.

The sun slipped lower, the last of its orange light bronzing her lifeless form. He opened the vein on his wrist a third time and tried to feed her again. If he couldn’t revive her before the sun set completely …

The apartment door burst open and Ronan barreled through. He looked from Katsumi to Dominic. His hand strayed to the knife secured to his belt. ‘What happened? What have you done to her?’

‘Nothing.’ How
stupido
to think he could perform navitas. He’d never seen it done, only understood it from the texts he’d studied ages ago. Before he’d offered to turn Maris. Why had
he been such a fool? He pulled Katsumi into his arms and held her, petting her hair to assuage the distress of what he’d done. Any second now she would disintegrate in his arms. Gone forever.

Instead, she coughed. A hard shudder wrenched her body as she coughed again. Her eyes opened. They were as bright silver as a new lira. She cried out as her face shifted, her hands coming up to clutch her cheeks.

Ronan, mouth slightly open, stepped back, shaking his head. ‘Fringe can’t do that. What did you do to her?’

Katsumi cleared her throat and ran her tongue across her new, longer fangs. She laughed, her eyes sparkling, then kissed Dominic on the mouth. ‘Navitas,’ she whispered to Ronan, kissing Dominic again. ‘I am no longer fringe.’

The smile on Dominic’s face caused his cheeks to ache. ‘No,
cara mia
, you are nobility now. House of St. Germain.’ He kissed her back. ‘How do you feel?’

‘Like I could devour a small nation.’

He rose from the bed. ‘Get dressed and we’ll go to the club and you can have your fill of any comar you wish.’

‘Wonderful.’ She slid off the bed on the other side and dashed into her closet. A second later she stuck her head out, yelled, ‘Welcome back, Ronan,’ and then ducked back inside.

The fringe lamely raised his hand, then let it drop to his side. He palmed the crown of his head. ‘I didn’t even know that was possible.’

Dominic crossed his arms. ‘Don’t ask. I have no intention of ever doing that again.’

Ronan snorted and lost his blank expression. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t. Nobility is the last thing I want.’

‘Is that so?’

‘Yeah.’ He jerked his thumb at his chest. ‘I’m the bloody new king of the fringe.’

Ronan was too brash to lead anything more than a parade. Dominic didn’t like the idea of him in charge of a good portion of his workforce and customer base. He cocked one eyebrow. ‘I wasn’t aware the fringe had a king.’

Ronan grinned. ‘They do now.’

T
atiana paced anxiously. Patience was not one of her virtues. Two days was enough time to get to Corvinestri, gather more Nothos, and return. She wanted Nasir back so she could send her new Nothos out, then begin Octavian’s transformation. Her plan was perfection. She’d already set the stage, had all her props in place. The thought of what Octavian might become, of how much better he would be, how endlessly loyal … She laughed at her own cunning.

But until that happened, she needed the shifter girl alive. Not that Tatiana had any desire to take the guise of Mia upon herself again. Rot it all, but if that were her life, she’d have walked into the sun ages ago. Bartender. How humiliating.

Outside, a car door slammed. Then another. At last.

She hurried to the great room and stopped at the sight of the vampire standing there. She bowed to allow herself a moment to cleanse the rage from her expression. This was
not
part of her plan. ‘Lord Ivan, I did not expect you.’

‘Didn’t you?’ A faint bruising marked his left eye and cheek. Only a blow from one of the Castus could mark a
vampire of Ivan’s age. ‘How long was I supposed to wait for you to make things right? The ancient ones are not pleased and neither am I.’

Nasir strolled in behind Ivan. Octavian followed next, his arms laden with bags. He shot her an apologetic look. As if there were something he could have done to keep Lord Ivan from coming. Denying that blighty ratbag could mean death for a kine like Octavian. But that would all change very soon.

She nodded, but inside, acid boiled in her belly. ‘I am on the verge of setting things right. I just needed a few more Nothos.’

He stalked closer. ‘How exactly did you go through a dozen of them?’

‘I’m not sure. They just never returned.’

He rolled his eyes. ‘This kind of incompetence is unbecoming, Tatiana.’

‘Incompetence?’ Some of the acid erupted. ‘Should I have babysat them? Held their ugly little hands until they got the job done right? We use Nothos because they normally accomplish the tasks they are sent to do without supervision.’

‘You forget your place.’ His hand seized her throat and tightened, crushing her larynx. ‘Speak to me that way again and I will cut off your other hand.’

Octavian’s eyes bulged. Nasir had the bloody gall to look pleased.

‘Yes, my lord.’ She dropped her gaze, realizing too late that Nasir had been Ivan’s puppet from the beginning, meant to keep tabs on her. How had she not seen that sooner? That weasel would get his. ‘Forgive me. I am as upset at my failure as you are.’

He released her, brushing his palms against each other as though he’d dirtied himself. ‘What plan do you have to remedy this?’

To kill every last one that opposed her. ‘I have a scrap of the anathema’s clothing. I will give it to the Nothos and release them. Malkolm will either lead them to the girl, or his capture will draw the girl to us. Either way, success is at hand.’

Lord Ivan nodded, stroked his chin. ‘Very good. Carry on.’ He snapped his fingers at Octavian. ‘Put my bags in the best room, then give my driver directions into town.’

With scowling eyes, Octavian clicked his heels together and headed upstairs. She hated Lord Ivan’s treatment of her pet. Octavian was hers to command.

Lord Ivan turned back to Tatiana. ‘I shall be taking your car and going into the city. They say Americans are the other white meat.’ He laughed wickedly. ‘I intend to find out. I’ll expect progress when I return.’

‘Yes, my lord.’ There would be progress, but not the kind he’d expected. Pompous old fool. She happily watched him leave, then gave Nasir the sweetest smile she could manage. No point in tipping him off. ‘I’m so glad you’re back. I missed you terribly.’

His dark brows lifted. ‘You did?’

‘Of course.’ She swatted him playfully on the arm. ‘Let me go deal with the Nothos, then I’ll meet you upstairs and show you just how much.’

His face went positively electric. ‘I’ll be waiting.’

‘Preferably on the bed and undressed?’

He laughed. ‘That’s my girl.’ He kissed her and dashed up the stairs, passing Octavian on the way down. Anger contorted her manservant’s face. Sweet Hades, she adored that kine far more than was prudent.

She put a finger to her lips and shook her head, indicating he shouldn’t say anything out of line. ‘Show me where the Nothos are.’

He led her to the guesthouse, where the gruesome beasts were already destroying what their brothers hadn’t. A few of them paused to train their yellow eyes on Octavian.

‘Food?’ the closest one asked, coming closer to the kine. Octavian ducked behind her.

‘No,’ she snarled. Malformed idiots. ‘Pay attention.’ She pulled the scrap of fabric from Malkolm’s jacket out of her pocket and held it aloft. ‘Trace this scent to the vampire it belongs to, then follow him until his path crosses that of the comarré your useless brothers couldn’t track down. Bring her back to me alive. Understood? Not half dead. Not partially devoured. Alive.’

Heads nodded in unison. One sneezed, spraying mucus across his brothers. Bloody hell, they were repulsive creatures. ‘If you cannot capture the girl without fighting, then don’t. I need you alive as well. Come back and get me and I’ll take her alive. Any breach of my instructions and I will personally hunt you down and disembowel you.’ Filthy beasts.

She tossed the fabric into their gathered midst. They descended upon it like the ravening beasts they were. ‘Octavian, open the door and get behind it.’

He nodded, his gaze never leaving the Nothos. As soon as he was protected, she shouted, ‘Go!’ and pointed out the door.

The Nothos streamed into the night, whining and chuffing, their clawed hands and feet tearing up the flooring and leaving gouges in the cobblestone drive. The last one melted into the dark like a wisp of smoke.

‘It’s safe now.’

Octavian came out from behind the door. ‘I cannot abide those creatures.’

‘No one can. But they serve a purpose.’ She looked around.
Lamps lay shattered, sofas upended, curtains shredded. They were creatures of destruction, true to their twisted roots.

He sniffed. ‘I will do what I can to straighten things, my lady.’

‘Don’t bother.’ She stared at him, studying the man she saw before her. The time was right. Perhaps overdue. ‘I have a much more important task for you.’

‘My lady?’

She held out her hand to him. ‘I need you to die.’

Creek stayed away from Chrysabelle’s for almost two and a half days, just to be sure Argent wasn’t hovering nearby. No matter what power this ring had, no matter if she chose to give it up or keep it, Creek wanted her safe.