Steel Victory (Steel Empire Book 1) (6 page)

It was going to be a fun evening.

Soon after sunset the next evening, Victory drove out to Jarimis University. She still had some time before the dean was expecting her, so after parking near the administration building, she took a few minutes to wander over to the Garden of Remembrance that overlooked the river. Various friends over the years had described the gorgeous sunsets over the Agios River. Mikelos even taped one onto a vid-disk for her a few years ago, but her family informed her that it could only truly be experienced in person. The river was just as beautiful by starlight, however.

Even she donned tank tops in summer weather this warm, and a light breeze brushed over Victory’s bare shoulders as she wound her way through the garden. Water splashed in a small fountain, the stone spout in the shape of Toria’s rapier. She knelt at the edge of the basin and ran one hand over the bronze plaque—Victory’s personal contribution to the garden established by the college.

IN HONOR AND LOVING MEMORY OF JARIMIS

BELOVED PROGENY AND FRIEND

A sudden flash of memory.
Jarimis standing before her, arms wide to encompass the river and surrounding land. His tousled black hair made even wilder by the wind blowing off the water. “Like my new project?” he said. “It’s time I stopped trying to be a mercenary like you.”

Laughter interrupted her reverie, and she raised her head in time to see a trio of students attending summer classes wander into the garden from the direction of the history and social sciences building. A blanket hung over the young man’s shoulder and the girls clutched paper bags that clinked to her vampiric hearing. They must be cutting down to the shore for the traditional student pastime.

The three froze when they saw her. Victory rose to her feet and smiled at them, careful not to show fang. But they returned hesitant looks. Then, the young man said, “You’re Victory, aren’t you?”

“So somebody did actually attend my orientation lecture,” Victory said, hoping the teasing note in her voice would relax them. Every fall, Victory gave the same short talk Jarimis used to make about the importance of education in this post-Wasteland era, also including a brief speech on the university founder’s life.

Their nervousness at stumbling upon Limani’s Master of the City seemed to fade. The young man even gifted her with a tentative smile. “I’m a History major, so I thought your talk was really interesting. I’ve been to some of your other lectures, too. You’re a good storyteller.”

Unexpected, but welcome, praise for her skill as a guest lecturer in the History department. “Thanks.” Then she made an offer that surprised even her. “If you ever want to get together and talk about anything specific, just ask my daughter or Dean Joensen. They’ll get you in touch with me.”

He flushed. “That would be awesome. Um, it was nice to meet you.” His two companions fidgeted beside him, not as comfortable conversing with Victory.

“Have a good evening!” she called after them. Speaking of the dean—Victory dug her old pocket watch out of her jeans and saw it was about time for her meeting. After one last sweeping look over the now-deserted garden, she cut through the bushes in the direction of Lena’s office.

“Victory!”

Dean Joenson waved Victory over. As she approached, the dean grasped the railing and rose from her seat on the main steps of the building.

“You’re looking well, Lena.” After accepting a hug, Victory studied the woman with a critical eye. “Arthritis acting up again?”

“As always,” Lena said. “Though it’s not as bad as it could be. I’m not looking forward to the humidity later in the summer. And you’re lucky I was going to sleep in before the council meeting tomorrow night anyway. Else you’d never had gotten me out so late.”

“I’ve said time and again that I don’t mind if the meetings are during the day,” Victory said. She took Lena’s arm, and the two women headed toward the parking lot.

“Yes, but then you’d be stuck in the council building during daylight hours.” Lena paused as Victory unlocked the town-car and held open the passenger door. “After the werepanther attack a few years ago, you annoyed the clerks endlessly until you could safely leave. I don’t think they’d stand to have you around on a regular basis.”

“It’s true,” Victory said. She pushed the ignition button, and the electric engine hummed to life. She pulled out of the parking spot, remembering to turn on the headlights when she caught up to another town-car in front of her. While she could see with almost perfect clarity at night, the rest of the city, with the exception of perhaps the eldest werecreatures, could not.

Deciding the true purpose of their meeting could wait a bit longer, Victory asked after Lena’s son in Calverton. The women made small talk about their families during the trip into downtown Limani, enjoying the chance to catch up. Victory realized that aside from hurried greetings before and after the biweekly council meetings, they had not had the chance to truly talk for over two years.

Not bothering to hide down the street, Victory pulled into a parking spot in front of Café Lizzette. Emily Fabbri might have gotten away with throwing a young warrior-mage out of her restaurant, regardless of the mage in question’s parentage, but she could not risk pulling the same trick with fellow councilmembers. This late in the evening, many of the diners were university students. They knew their dean, and Victory was almost as recognizable.

“That’s interesting.” Lena pointed toward the music shop. Propped in the window was a handwritten sign:
No Nonhumans Please
.

Victory cut the town-car’s engine and sat forward, comparing the two signs. “That’s not interesting. That’s a really bad sign.” Her voice contained a hint of snarl at the end, despite her inadvertent pun. “This crazy idea of Fabbri’s is spreading. Also, Mikelos is going to be really pissed off. That’s where he buys all his sheet music.”

Lena laid a hand on Victory’s arm. “I know you probably want to go marching in there like your daughter did. But please remember that we must be the stronger side in this situation.”

Her grip tightened on the steering wheel. “I know how to be good.”

“Yes, but please do.” Lena patted her shoulder. “Ready to go in?”

“Not much point in putting it off, is there?” She helped Lena out of the town-car, handing the keys over to the other woman with a wink. “Just in case.”

They entered the restaurant accompanied by a blue flash of light. Victory hadn’t heard such ominous bells since walking into a bar populated by vampire-phobic werewolves a few decades ago in Fort Caroline, the capital of the southern Roman Colonies.

This time, hostility filled just a few of the stares. Her own hackles were up, and she wished for the days when the wild world remained a good enough excuse to wear her sword everywhere. With the possible exception of the two werepanthers in a booth toward the back—she thought she recognized them from the incident a few years ago—she was many times stronger and decades more experienced than anyone in the room. Having a solid blade in her hand would have reassured her. But in this situation, carrying a weapon would get her barred from the restaurant sooner than her blood.

While Victory surveyed the room, Lena handled the pleasantries. The first obstacle, getting into the restaurant at all, was crossed when the dean greeted the young waiter by name and asked how his finals had gone. Confronted with such familiar authority, he’d had no choice but to lead the two women toward a booth in the back. It did not escape Victory’s notice that he placed them right next to the werepanthers, and that all of the surrounding booths and tables sat empty. The rest of the diners were seated in the front of the restaurant. They both acknowledged the fact in silence. Victory was irked. Lena seemed more thoughtful.

The waiter took their coffee orders—cream and sugar for Lena, black for Victory—and handed them menus. Instead of heading into the kitchen, however, he disappeared into a side office after promising to come back for their orders.

“Off to warn Fabbri already,” Victory said. “And I was actually hoping to enjoy dessert before things went to hell.” Just because her body couldn’t gain any nutrients from regular food didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy the sweet stuff on occasion.

Lena stared past Victory, her lips pursed. “Don’t be too offended, but I don’t think he recognized you. It was probably the blue light when you walked in.” She closed her eyes. “And speak of the devil. Looks like we don’t even get our coffee tonight.”

Victory twisted in her seat in time to see Emily Fabbri marching across the floor between empty tables. Their fellow councilwoman stopped at their booth, her eyes shooting daggers. “Can I
help
you, ladies?” she spat.

No, not daggers. Long spears. With vicious barbed ends, and possibly poison. Victory made a show of surveying her menu. After shutting it, she smiled back up at Fabbri, intentionally showing fang. The human woman hid a flinch, but Victory didn’t miss the slight tension of her body. “Yes, thank you. I’ll have a slice of your carrot cake. Cream cheese icing, I hope?”

Fabbri placed both hands flat on the table and drew forward, invading Victory’s personal space in an attempt to recover ground. Victory’s estimate of the human lowered another few notches. She never saw signs of intelligence in antagonizing a vampire. Fabbri’s attempt at intimidation fell flat as her gaze slid across Victory’s left cheek, unable or unwilling to meet her eyes.

“Otherwise, I’ll take one of your apple turnovers,” Victory said, ignoring Fabbri’s hostility.

“Look, you beast,” Fabbri said. At that derogatory comment, the werepanthers at the next booth both turned to look. “It’s obvious where your ‘daughter’ gets her stupidity from since apparently neither of you could read the sign on the door.”

It took just a gentle push with one fingertip against Fabbri’s shoulder to move her out of Victory’s personal space. “I’m going to ignore that insult to my daughter and ask you to never get that close to me again. Your breath leaves much to be desired to those with heightened senses of smell.” Lena kicked her foot under the table, warning her to play nice. “By the way,” Victory said. “You are aware the two young ladies in the booth next to ours are panthers? Having trouble reading your own sign?” Her last sentence dripped with more sarcasm than she had intended, but the woman was too easy to goad. Lena could berate her for it later, but right now she would have her fun.

A slight flush reddened Fabbri’s cheeks. “They were let in while I was running an errand outside of the restaurant. That waitress has already been let go.”

Lena had observed the heated exchange without comment, but this forced her to put in her two cents. “You fired her?”

“Of course I did.” Fabbri sniffed her disdain. “The girl could obviously not be trusted to keep the unsavory elements of Limani out of my restaurant. I run a respectable establishment.”

Relaxing against the padded booth, Victory caught the restaurant owner’s eyes with her own. This time Fabbri did flinch away. “And you were able to tell that the two ladies behind me were werepanthers, how exactly? I know I have these silly fangs to give me away, but it’s not like werecreatures have tails while in their human form.”

In a stiff voice, Fabbri said, “One of my assistant managers recognized them from a dance class. Since they were already halfway through their meal, I allowed them to stay.”

“Only so you could collect their bill at the end of their dinner.” Lena’s tone dared Fabbri to argue.

“At least be consistent in your prejudiced policies, Fabbri,” Victory said. “Otherwise no one will respect you.”

“That’s it.” Fabbri stepped back from the table and pointed at the door. Her raised voice attracted the attention of most of the diners in the restaurant. “Get the hell off my property. Or I’ll call the police.”

“I’m insulted!” Victory’s sarcasm was on full force, maturity be damned. “You’d preemptively call the police on my daughter, a partially trained warrior-mage, but not on me, the vampire Master of the City. Lena, shouldn’t I be insulted?”

“You should definitely be insulted,” Lena said. “I don’t believe Ms. Fabbri has the proper respect for your strength.”

“Is that supposed to be a threat?” Fabbri said. “Because I will call the authorities and have both of you arrested.”

Victory slid out of the booth. “Don’t bother. We’d be long gone before they got here anyway.” She held a hand out to Lena, who levered herself to her feet. Pitching her voice so it carried to the rest of the diners with attentions riveted on the unfolding scene, Victory said, “Have a good evening, Ms. Fabbri. Next time, we’ll be sure to come back when you do have fresh carrot cake. I was so looking forward to it.”

She walked past the tables and toward the entrance. Victory was sure the poison-barbed long spears had now turned wooden and fought each other for a place through her heart. She imagined Fabbri smashing a chair and attacking her with one of the table legs, but then dismissed the image as too direct for the human’s subtle hatred. Evidenced by her call to the police when confronted with an angry Toria, she was much happier allowing others to do her dirty work.

Soon they were ensconced back in the town-car. Victory was deep in thought, frustrated by the woman she was forced to work with.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Lena said. “You didn’t even lose your temper.”

“Oh, it was tempting.” Straightening in her seat, Victory scrubbed her face a few times. “I am not looking forward to facing her tomorrow night.”

“Neither am I. Shall we make some calls in the morning?”

“If you take Daliana and Lorus, I’ll get in touch with Max, Tristan, and Genevieve,” Victory said.

Lena could handle the representatives of Limani’s elves and other werecreatures. Victory would deal with the head of Limani’s Mercenary Guild and the much higher-strung wolf and panther representatives. The panthers were still touchy regarding politics, terrified of losing their hard-won council position.

“Not a problem.”

“I want to call Tristan before it gets too late,” Victory said, turning the key in the ignition, “and I’ll see whether I can get Toria or Kane to call Max for me. Ugh, it’s going to be an early day tomorrow.”

She caught Lena’s small smile, then pulled back into the street. At this point, she just wanted to go home and gather her family for a much-needed conference. Now that she had firsthand evidence of Fabbri’s behavior, she wanted to compare notes with Toria and get Mikelos and Asaron’s thoughts on the situation.

Perhaps it had been a blessing in disguise when the werepanthers had rallied years ago. No time to think then, just to act. She and Asaron had grabbed their swords and headed for the trees to stop the major wave of fighters. Mikelos, Toria, and Kane had held the house and defeated the ringleader who hunted for Victory’s blood. Then, the enemy had been clear. Now, things were much more muddled.