Forever Vampire (17 page)

V
AIL HASTENED
L
YRIC
from the ichor den. The rain had picked up and they scurried toward Leo's building. Both were silent regarding what they'd seen on the faery's neck. The Santiago crest? That stirred his suspicion.

He wasn't sure how Lyric would take it, but she must have her suspicions now. She'd grown up in the family. Surely nothing they did, or had done, could shock her.

On the other hand, she was on the run from that family. Obviously, she didn't agree with everything they did.

If he could get her to give him the gown he could hand it over to Rhys, and then…

And then? Well, he wasn't prepared to hand over Lyric. She was his.

Yes, his. Zett would never lay a single dust-laden finger on Lyric's flesh. As for Charish Santiago, he knew Lyric wanted to do what was best for her mother. And Lyric, well, she should be able to decide what she wanted to do in her life, not anyone else.

Not even him.

Which was why he wasn't about to tell her what he was thinking as they took the elevator up to her brother's place. She was smart. She'd figure out what her mother was up to.

As for her being his, well, he wanted her to give him a chance. But that was a decision only Lyric could make. Did she want him only for the fantasy, or was there something more, deeper?

After Lyric punched in a seven-digit code, the elevator doors slid open. This time, Vail stood behind her, but no arrows sprang out at him.

“Why didn't you punch in the code the first time we came here?” he asked as they stepped inside.

“It wouldn't have been as fun. And you'd never have known how serious my brother is about protecting what is his.”

“I might have if you'd simply told me.”

“Doubt it.” She strolled through the living room, headed for the guest bedroom. “I want to get this stuff off my eyes. I'll be right back.”

Sensing his lover's need for distance, Vail slouched onto an oversize leather chair, swinging a leg over an arm, and closed his eyes. It was almost dawn. He'd gotten enough sleep earlier, but he felt drained.

You know it's hunger. You wanted to sink your fangs into the faery's neck and feast on ichor. Now you'll have to go back, sooner rather than later
.

He wasn't feeling the jittery cravings yet, but soon…

Lyric sashayed into the room, hips swaying and legs
moving as if orchestrated for subtle allure. Maybe she was looking for closeness rather than distance?

“Hey, kitty. How'd you get such a sexy walk?”

“Must be my gymnastics training.”

“Whatever it's from, it's incredibly sexy. I could watch you walk all day. Is it something to do with the silks you've mentioned? What are silks?”

“Aerial silks,” she said, “are long strips of fabric that a person swings from and performs acrobatic moves on. It's a great workout. I do it whenever I need to think or lose myself from the world.”

“Sounds like something I need to take up. I used to swing like a monkey from the vines in Faery when I was small.”

“You Tarzan, me Jane?”

“Huh?”

“Sorry, a movie reference. You probably haven't seen too many of those.”

“Use the force, Luke!”

“Just the important one, then.”

Instead of sitting in the chair next to his, she sat on his lap and laid her head on his shoulder. Vail got an instant hard-on, but he didn't want the moment to go full speed into sex like it usually did, because he sensed she was out of sorts. Probably running through her brain right now what they'd seen in FaeryTown.

Breathing in her cherry jasmine scent, he noticed the weight of her breast against his chest, the slide of her leg across his. She was so real. Not flighty or vindictive like the faeries with whom he'd had relationships.

And she was like him.
If
he chose to accept he was vampire and not some fucked-up longtooth with a faery complex.

“So what does it mean?” Her pale eyes sought his.

The truth would earn her respect but, as well, her disdain. Her mother had lied to her. He would not do the same, no matter the consequences.

Vail kissed her forehead, lingering until he could no longer prolong the silence. “The only reason that faery, and probably others in the ichor den, would wear the Santiago crest is because they are owned by the Santiagos. I suspect your mother is trafficking in faeries with Zett, Lyric. It's the only conclusion. Makes more sense than Zett allowing a vampire into Faery to steal artifacts.”

She nodded, her gaze avoiding his. No denial?

“Half an hour ago,” she said, “I would have been angry and come to my mother's defense. She'd never do anything like that. But standing in the bathroom alone, thinking about it a moment, made me realize I can't deny my family has always been involved in underhanded and vicious dealings. And she's been so pressured lately.”

“By the fiancé?”

“Yes, Connor. But I don't understand how trafficking in faeries can further his plans to take over the Santiago clan.”

“He may not be involved. On the other hand, it may be profitable.”

“So you think my mother promised Zett the gown in return for faeries to put to work in the ichor den?”

He nodded and stroked her hair. “Maybe she did it to get away from the fiancé? Get some quick cash and start anew?”

“No, she loves him. Unfortunately.” She snuggled in closer, hooking an arm across his chest. “If your guess is true about the trafficking, that's a crime punishable by the Council. And the only people who know about it are you and me.”

Honest eyes studied his. Wondering, touching and knowing. He would give her honesty in return.

“I'm going to finish my job,” he said. “Zett has no right to the Seelie gown, nor do you. But I don't work for the Council. And I can't stop you from keeping secrets from me.”

“I've no more secrets. Promise. And I understand you have to do what you have to do. You won't report my mother?”

“No need to.”

“Then I will. Leo will stand beside me. It's not right. Sure, we're a family of thieves. And once in a while another bad guy gets hurt when dealing with the Santiagos. I love my mother. But participating in an illegal operation that harms innocent faeries? It makes me sick to think of it.”

“What do you care for the sidhe?”

“I've always been frightened of them. Of the addiction they bring with one bite. Because I fear something doesn't mean I wish it harm. They are living beings, like you and me. They've done nothing wrong.”

Vail swallowed and looked away from the sincerity in her eyes. He'd never taken a faery as a slave to
drink from and drain dry, but certainly he used them to maintain.

Maintain.
You still hiding behind that excuse? She's sees the truth of you, man. Own it
.

“How can we stop it?” she asked. “There's got to be a way.”

“As long as Zett hasn't received the gown, he's not going to hand over any faeries.”

“Yes, but for those who already live in FaeryTown to fulfill the sick pleasures of addicted vampires. How to help them?”

“I'm not sure. Aren't you concerned about yourself? Zett is after you.”

“Can we use this as leverage? We don't report him and he forgets I have a mark?”

“It's a tricky situation. I… Hell.”

“What?”

“I just had the thought I should talk to Cressida.”

“Your faery stepmother? Would she be on your side?”

“Not sure.” He turned the delicate May bells about his wrist. Another flower had fallen away. Two remained. “I can't return to Faery. It would be deemed a malicious affront to Zett, who banished me. Besides, I'm sure there are wards to keep me back.”

“You haven't tried to return?”

“Haven't had a reason in the few months I've been in the mortal realm. I left behind more bad memories than good.”

“About that banishment. What did you do to the guy? You said it had to do with a fox shifter?”

“Kit. I…shouldn't tell you this.” If anything would drive a wedge between them, it was the thing he had done in Faery.

“Be honest with me, Vail. You've told me about your father and wanting to kill him, which I don't agree with. What could be more hideous to hide?”

“It's not hideous. Kit, she…”

He grasped Lyric and squeezed her in a hug, wishing life were easier, that words were not required to gain trust, and actions could be his voice. They'd been his voice for Kit. And, much as he wished it could have been different, he didn't regret those actions.

“Was it a fight over a girl?” she guessed. “Between you and Zett?”

“Not so much a fight as a mastery.”

“That's sounds seedy. I don't understand the ways of Faery. But if you don't want to tell me, I understand.”

He sensed she would let it drop, but at the core of him, Vail wanted to release it, to bring her into his heart by granting her entrance to his most shameful secret.

Not shameful
. Depended on the mood he was in when he thought about it.

“Kit grew up with me,” he began, twisting a hank of Lyric's brown hair about his finger. “We'd both expected to be married off when we reached majority. Cressida never hid anything from me, and explained she'd taken me as a boon and the reasons for it, early on. Kit was excited about her husband-to-be. She'd met him. He was a wood sylph who gave her pretty
ribbons and composed songs about her. Some men are born natural romantics, I guess.”

“Had you met your fiancé?”

“No. Cressida had bargained for me before puberty, and you know what happened following. After discovering I was a bloodborn vampire she did a swell job of making me feel smaller than a worm, worthless, and generally a pariah.”

Lyric's hug deepened the warmth of their connection. Vail realized he felt safe with her, and that conclusion made him relax more. No one in this realm felt more like family to him than Lyric, and he would try to keep the bond now that he recognized it.

“There's a ritual Faery observes,” he said. “I've learned it mirrors a medieval mortal rite. When a couple is to be married, the lord of their particular Faery sect, in this case, the Midsummer branch of the Unseelies, has first right to the bride.”

“I don't understand?”

“That means the Lord of Midsummer Dark can have sex with the bride the night before her wedding, if he so chooses.”

“That's awful!”

“It is. But it is an accepted practice in the sidhe culture. And Kit, well, it wasn't so much she feared Zett—he isn't known as a tyrant who harms females—only she did not want him to be the man she gave her virginity to. And she couldn't risk going to her fiancé. He was an upright sidhe and abided by the rules, even if they weren't rules, but rather a shameful ritual.”

“Her fiancé wanted Zett to have her?”

“It's not that he wanted it to happen, only he would not speak against Zett.”

“What did she do? Oh, I don't want to think about it. How sad that happened to her.”

“Actually.” He kissed her forehead, and brushed aside the hair to trace behind her ear where the faery mark glowed. Wincing, because Zett had touched so many, and in ways Vail could not fathom, he continued. “Kit wanted her first time to be with someone she could trust, so she asked me. And I agreed, because I loved her. We made love as friends, not as lovers, but it was what she wanted, and I could not deny her.”

“That's strangely honorable of you.”

“Strange, certainly. I'm not sure how honorable. No matter that I gave Kit what she desired, the fact remains, I took away her husband's right to claim his wife.”

“But if you had not, Zett would have.”

“Yes.” He sighed. Sort of a Robin Hood of the maidenhood, he had figured at the time. Not something to be proud of.

Zett had been outraged when he'd gone to Kit's cabin that evening and found her bed empty. She and Vail had gone to the briarwood and had spent a few hours in each other's arms. They'd returned at dawn, when the wedding nuptials were to take place. Kit and her intended exchanged vows and danced about the toadstool ring.

Vail had, for a moment, thought they'd pulled one over on Zett. Until he was followed home and Zett's men entered forcibly behind him, tearing everything apart, including the clothes from Vail's body. Of
course, he hadn't bathed since making love with Kit and evidence remained of his climax, which an ugly demi-troll had sniffed out.

Zett had Vail, naked, brought to his quarters and beaten.

“So then Zett banished you?” Lyric asked.

Vail nodded, wiping away the image of his humiliation in the midst of a strangely bittersweet triumph. “Banished that instant. Forced to leave Faery with but the possessions I held at that moment.”

“Which were?”

“Nothing.” Not even his clothing. But she didn't need to hear that. It was too humiliating to speak.

Cressida had come to him, as he'd stood in the middle of a mortal forest, naked yet proud of what he'd done for Kit, and had given him the lily bracelet and wished him good stead.

At that moment he'd felt both the utter hatred Cressida had for him—the unwanted bloodborn had proved his lack of worth—and her love, for Cressida had understood his motivations behind sleeping with Kit and congratulated him for the rebuff against Zett.

Faeries. Ever contrary.

“Cressida gave me this.” He displayed the lily bracelet and Lyric touched it carefully. “May bells are supposed to protect me against my lacking glamour. When the last flower falls away, the bracelet has lost its power.”

“May bells? Looks like lily of the valley to me.”

“I believe that is another name for them.”

“So when all the flowers are gone she'll give you a new one?”