Steel Victory (Steel Empire Book 1) (5 page)

Now that was too much. “Lord over what?” Toria said. “When has a nonhuman
ever affected your life in any drastic way?”

“I joined the council so that I could prevent them from abusing their power. But instead I found it was already too late.” Her neglect to answer the question did not escape Toria’s notice.

“Too late for what?” The woman made less and less sense. “How did you even get elected to the council when you obviously have no idea how it’s run?”

“I know exactly how it’s run—by representatives of a minority of the population who hold a majority of the power.”

The bell above the door jangled when a new patron entered the restaurant, but Toria paid the new arrival no heed. She didn’t have the patience to remind Fabbri that those minority representatives cast votes worth half those of the human district representatives. Every high school civics student knew that. “If you’re this nuts, the council’s going to kick you out ’cause of your own stupidity.” She started when a heavy hand landed on her right shoulder. She twisted her head, startled to see one of Limani’s finest frowning down at her.

“What seems to be the problem here?” For once, the phrase didn’t seem quite so cliché. The police officer looked stern.

Fabbri beamed at him. “Thank goodness you arrived in time, officer,” she said. “As you heard, this young woman entered my establishment to threaten me.”

Toria’s temper itched to spill out, but she bit her tongue. She’d been set up. The charm had alerted Fabbri, who must have called the cops before she even left her office.

His hand felt heavier on her shoulder, fingers digging into her skin. “I did indeed hear that. Perhaps the young lady and I need to have a talk about respect. And your name is?”

“She’s Toria Connor.” Fabbri answered before Toria could even open her mouth. “She’s the daughter of the Master of the City.”

Frown deepening even more, the officer said, “I see. The daughter of such an upstanding member of the city should understand that she needs to set a good example for her peers.”

“Then I will leave her in your capable hands, sir.” Now Fabbri was just was simpering. “I need to attend to my customers.”

Toria was disgusted. Her hands clenched into fists, and she fought back every instinct to throw up a shield and repel the policeman.

“Of course, ma’am.” His grip tightened another fraction on Toria’s shoulder. “Allow me to escort her out.”

The grip released, and he nudged her forward. Toria held her head high as she preceded the cop toward the exit. Paige the waitress stood in her spot next to the menus, jaw hanging open. Toria ignored her.

First she almost blew up her apartment. And now she might get arrested. At least Kane was outside, not in here with her stupidity.

Mama is going to kill me.

Kane had come to Toria’s rescue, as usual, and scrounged up both the best and worst possible adult to get her out of this mess. Dr. Lena Joensen, dean of Jarimis University, where Toria and Kane had both just finished their sophomore years. She was the second dean of Limani’s local university, personally picked to succeed the founder, Victory’s progeny Jarimis. And since Jarimis University included students from both the British and Roman colonies, the dean maintained one of the unelected city council seats along with Victory. She’d also taken a personal interest in the education of the young pair. When Kane had showed up at the small police station with Dean Joensen in tow, the police released Toria into her care after a lecture on “appropriate public behavior” and “representing her mother in public.”

Now Toria and Kane leaned against each other on a bench outside the station while the dean finished filling out paperwork inside. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t been arrested, the damage was done. The few cops and visitors in the station now knew the Master of the City’s daughter had been there. Rumors would spread.

“Thanks, hon,” Toria said after soaking in her partner’s calming presence.

He tilted his head and kissed her temple. “Still couldn’t reach Victory or Mikelos at the house.”

At last, Dean Joensen exited the station and sank onto the bench on Toria’s other side. Toria forced herself to look at the dean. But the older woman stared across the parking lot, her expression unreadable, as she brushed an errant silver lock behind her ear.

“Um . . . I’m sorry?” Toria knew it wasn’t enough. Another potential rumor: Dean Joensen bailed out a simple university student because she was the daughter of the Master of the City. Talk about favoritism. “I didn’t mean to lose my temper. But she set me up.”

“No harm done, Toria. You’re not in any permanent trouble.”

“People will talk.”

“So let them talk. We can hope the smart ones will wonder what happened and see the sign on the restaurant.” Dean Joensen patted Toria’s knee. “And that those same smart ones will start to rethink who they have elected to Limani’s ruling council.”

Now she began to get it. “You don’t like her either, do you? That’s why you came when Kane called.”

“I was given a seat on the city council after I became dean of Jarimis University,”
Dean Joensen said. “Because so many of the students are citizens of the Roman and British Empires. I’m their voice while they live in our city, another check on Limani’s neutral position between the two colonies. Jarimis never sat on the council because Victory already had a seat, and many people couldn’t distinguish Jarimis the dean from Jarimis the vampire. I’ve always followed your mother’s example of quiet neutrality. But I wasn’t about to ignore Kane’s call for help. I suppose I’ve finally backed myself into a corner.”

“Because your spot on the council is permanent.” Toria compared her recent experience with scattered memories. “Mama has complained about that same thing. It looks like you guys have a lot of power because you weren’t elected, but at the same time, you can’t make too many waves because otherwise you’ll be accused of abusing your power. That’s what Ms. Fabbri was harping about.”

“Exactly.”

“You would have come for any student who called,” Kane said.

“But not two students such as yourselves. Not Limani’s warrior-mage pair, who happen to both be children of current and former councilmembers,” Dean Joensen said. “Did you know that Victory and I have only seen each other once outside of the council chamber since Jarimis died? For your parents’ funeral, Kane.”

“Have things gotten so bad that two councilmembers can’t even socialize without suspicion?” Kane said. “Mom and Victory used to see each other all the time, even before Toria and I bonded.”

“The problems picked up when your parents passed away. You both have taken Legacy of the Modern World, yes?”

Toria and Kane heaved identical sighs. “Yeah,” Toria said, “we got it out of the way our first semester.”

Dean Joensen laughed. She knew full well that Toria preferred her science courses and that Kane would live in the literature department if he could. “Not your favorite class, was it?”

“Give me a scientific equation any day,” Toria said. “Don’t ask me why some jerk two hundred years ago did what he did.”

“I’ll try not to,” Dean Joensen said. “But you know why the existence of Limani is so important.”

The small city-state of Limani on the New Continent had been founded as a Greek colony, modeled after the multiple Greek city-states that funded the expedition. Less than ten years later, the last major Roman expansion had swallowed all vestiges of the independent Greek cities. Now either empire to the north or south could use their colonial forces to take over the city by moving in a few battalions of soldiers and announcing they were now in control. Limani’s regular military defense consisted of the handful of civic police officers, the small branch of the local Mercenary’s Guild dedicated to Limani independence, and one former mercenary playing politics as the Master of the City.

But the tiny city-state acted as a neutral zone between the two territories. The city was situated where the safe zone outside the Wasteland bottle-necked at the coast between the north and south, barely fifty miles away. Any hostile act by either side could once again result in all-out destruction, with Limani at ground zero.

Toria could have recited all of that by rote, but instead compressed the speech into “Limani acts as the barrier between the two colonies. What does that have to do with you and Mama not spending time together? Didn’t the council even play poker games a long time ago?”

“Once upon a time. Your mother took money from the other members on a regular basis,” Dean Joensen said. “Her constant winnings were the reason they eventually stopped. Jarimis warned me when I first took my seat on the council, but I still found out the hard way.” She rose to her feet and faced Toria and Kane. “You will tell Victory what happened today?”

“Oh, she’ll know,” Kane said.

“Anything in particular you want me to pass along?” Toria asked.

“Tell her what happened to you today. Tell her what type of person Limani has elected to rule it, and that we need to do something about it.”

Now Toria wished she had paid more attention to Victory whenever her mother spoke of the council. Fabbri had been elected with two other new councilmembers. Were either of them also spreading this hate through the city? They still needed to find the mage who had charmed Café Lizzette. “We’re with you,” Toria said.

Victory wasn’t sure what woke her first—the last of the sun’s rays setting over the forest or Mikelos’ shout from outside their makeshift shelter. She scrambled to her feet after Asaron and ducked out from the tarp behind him in the dimming evening light.

Asaron drew his basket-hilted sword, the Schiavona he had wielded for hundreds of years, and took up position next to Mikelos. Her daywalker already braced himself with the pistol readied, though pointed at the ground. Victory heard another crash through the nearby underbrush. Mikelos glanced back at her and twitched his head toward where her sword leaned against a tree. She snagged it and drew the blade in time to hear a familiar shout.

“It’s just us!” her daughter called out. “Don’t shoot!”

Victory and Asaron lowered their swords and Mikelos barked out a laugh. “Stealthy you are not, daughter!”

The tall form of her foster son, Kane Nalamas, ducked under a low branch and emerged into view, followed by her adopted daughter. “That was kind of the point,” Kane said. “Didn’t feel like getting skewered today.”

He staggered when Asaron clapped him on the shoulder. “Good call, boy,” Asaron said. “A good skewering is never fun.”

Victory lowered her sword and embraced Toria. “How did you even find us?”

“Tracking spell in the hilt of my sword,” Toria said, pointing at their small shelter. “I can find that thing down to a three-square-foot radius.”

“It’s true,” Kane said. “We’ve played scavenger hunt with it a few times, and even mage shields can’t hide it from her. As for how we knew you were out here, we went by the house looking for you and found a rather frantic message on your answering machine from the customs master.”

“So we headed to Merc HQ and grabbed long-distance wheels, enabled the tracking spell, and headed out for the rescue,” Toria said. “The SUV is back on the road, less than a mile away from here.”

“That’s my girl,” Victory said, squeezing Toria’s shoulders again. “I wasn’t looking forward to the walk.”

Asaron ducked back into their shelter and returned with Toria’s sword. “I believe this is yours, Granddaughter.”

Toria made grabby hands at the weapon and all but hugged it when Asaron relinquished it to her. “Thanks again, Grandpa. I owe you one. Speaking of.” Toria reached into her backpack and pulled out two canteens that she handed to Asaron and Victory. Asaron popped the cap of the charmed bottled and chugged down the preserved blood. Once drained, Victory handed over her own bottle and he repeated the process. She could wait. Her sire had had a rough few days.

“Let’s head home,” Mikelos said, accepting a bottle of water from Kane’s pack. “Have to call Rhaavi and tell him we owe someone a boat.”

“Indeed,” Victory said. “Did we miss anything today?” Toria did not hide a dramatic flinch.

“Well,” Kane said. “You could say that.”

“You did
what
?”

Her mother’s demand echoed off the tile floor of the large kitchen. Next to Toria, Mikelos rubbed his ear. All five of the family gathered around the table while Toria, Kane, and Mikelos ate a late pasta dinner and Victory and Asaron nursed mugs of blood.

“Um, can I ask which one you’re most mad at before I start defending myself?” Toria refused to be too put out. If Victory had really been angry, she would have stormed off to cool down on her own. Instead, her mother seemed more in shock than anything else. Understandable.

Victory shook her head in slow disbelief. “Burning down your apartment, I can understand. You’ve done worse.”

“Almost burning down the apartment.” Even while admitting to the havoc she wreaked, it still wasn’t fair to say Toria had done any real damage.

“Okay, almost burning down the apartment,” Victory said. “No, what concerns me more is that little stunt at the restaurant.”

“It was a bit of a drastic measure, Toria,” Mikelos said.

Toria jumped to her own defense. “It’s not my fault the lady was a jerk to me. And I had no idea she would call the cops the second I walked into the place.”

“Ooh, scary mage alert!” Kane’s quip caused a ripple of laughter, breaking the tension around the table.

Her mother matched her smile. “You’re right, love. The police involvement was not necessarily your fault. But it might have been something you’d suspect.”

“But nothing bad happened,” Toria said. “I wasn’t arrested. Nothing went on any sort of record. And by her actions, Emily Fabbri proved in front of everyone in her restaurant that she is prejudiced to the point of extremism.”

“And the question we must now ask is exactly how far she will take that prejudice,” Victory said.

“When’s your next council meeting?” Asaron said.

“Two nights from now.” Victory tilted her chair back. “Half an hour after sunset. Which means I believe I will be calling on Dean Joensen tomorrow evening.” She stole a sip of Mikelos’ beer. “And afterward, perhaps some coffee at Café Lizzette might be nice.”