Strife: Hidden Book Four (6 page)

“Really going to see her, Mistress?” Dahael said, ears drooping a little.

“Yes. I have to. Besides, I want to see who Shanti’s working for. I’ve put this off too long.”

“Already been a long crazy day,” she said, taking my hand gently in her gnarled ones. “Rest. Exhaust yourself, that thing takes over,” she said, and I knew she was referring to the darkness, sitting smug inside me, enjoying the pain I was still in after using my powers.

“Just this one last thing. And then I will go home and rest,” I promised her.

“And eat food like a normal person,” she said, putting her hands on her hips.

I smiled. “Don’t push it.”

Chapter Three

By the time it was dark, I’d rescued two Normals from a house fire and broken up a handful of fights on my way from Seven and Kelly to Palmer Woods, which was where the vampire queen lived. I’d also managed to stop hurting from using my powers, which was a bonus. It was taking longer to recover after using them, and no matter how many times I promised myself I wouldn’t, I ended up using them anyway. Part of it was habit; I’d been using my mind control powers since I was seventeen. Part of it was laziness. I could make someone tell me what I wanted to know without using them, but that took a lot of threatening and sometimes a lot of punching and it was just so much easier to take what I wanted by using my powers.

I am well aware of how evil that sounds.

That has been pretty much everyone’s fear from the beginning. I know it stressed the hell out of Nain, especially early on. What would happen if I went bad? What damage could I cause if I ever decided to use my abilities for my own gain instead of for protecting others? And I know, even when I use my powers for noble purposes, that I’m walking a thin line between good and evil. Part of me believes that the things I do are never right, that it’s not okay to violate someone’s mind, to force my way in and take what I want. And there’s guilt there, for sure. But I try to weigh it against the lives I’m potentially saving by learning what I do. Most of the time, the balance tips toward “well, I don’t hate myself for this.”

And sometimes, I forget to feel guilty about what I’m doing. That scares me more than anything else. I’m reaching the point where control and violence have become commonplace, and the woman I was before I met Nain, the one who never killed, the one who turned criminals over to the police like a good little vigilante… well. She’s mostly gone now. Too many deaths and too much darkness. And there’s really no going back. Not now.

I shook my head in irritation as I drove through the streets of Palmer Woods, looking for the mansion where the vampires lived. I was becoming melancholy in my old age.

As I maneuvered the Barracuda through the streets of well-kept homes and clipped hedges, I thought about what I actually knew about vampires. Not a whole lot, actually. The vampires I’d come up against, the ones who caused trouble in the city, were always loners. I’d never dealt with a nest or family or whatever the hell they call themselves of vampires. And there’s not a lot that makes me personally afraid anymore, but the idea of walking into a house full of strong vampires is one of them. I’d been very stupid and over-confident early on, flush with the beginnings of understanding my powers, and charged into a vampire’s house, where I’d nearly been drained to death. I can still feel the slowing of my heart, the sluggishness that comes from feeling your life drain slowly from your body. And this was one of those situations in which using my powers would be a terrible, awful idea. I bleed every time I use even a little bit of power. And from what I understand, my blood is kind of awesome, as far as vampires are concerned. So starting to bleed in a house full of vampires would be a really dumb thing to do.

No powers, I reminded myself for the fortieth time as I pulled up the long, winding driveway toward the sprawling Tudor, its gray stone facade lit with floodlights. My first thought was to wonder how the hell the vampire queen had gotten the money to afford something like this, and then I reminded myself that Nain was a multi-millionaire, just from being around for so damn long. Three hundred years worth of saving adds up, I guess. And while he didn't actually work a traditional job anymore, he’d told me that early on he worked factory jobs and things like that until he could afford a place to live, and he’d bought the loft back when it really was industrial mostly with an eye to reselling it for more money later on.

So basically, Nain had been one of those real-estate flippers before there was even a thing. He bought property in Midtown and Downtown, waited until property prices rose, then he sold everything off, a little at a time. He ended up holding onto the loft because he liked it. As far as I knew, he still had a few buildings in Midtown he was holding onto.

And why am I thinking about my ex-husband right now? I chided myself. I got out of the car and looked around. I was surprised there weren't any guards around. Of course, it could just be that I didn’t see them. I could definitely feel plenty of vampires around. A little shiver went up my spine and I started regretting deciding to visit. I could have put it off longer.

I shoved the thought away, squared my shoulders, and knocked on the massive front doors. They were dark wood, heavily varnished. The whole house was impressive, but also definitely gave off some horror movie vibes.

A moment later, the door opened, and I looked up into the face of what I could immediately feel was a very powerful vampire. He was maybe a little shorter than Nain, so six-two or so. Built like a bull; broad shoulders, thick neck. His head was shaved, and his skin was a golden honey color that did a good job of hiding the whole undead bloodsucker thing. He had light grayish-green eyes, a strong, square jaw.

“Angel,” he said, and his voice was low and smooth.

“I’m sorry for coming unannounced. But I really need to speak to Queen Rayna.”

He looked me over. “You should have called ahead. The queen is busy this evening. As I’m sure you can understand.”

“And you are?”

“Ronan. I’m her head of security.”

“Well, Ronan. There’s a whole lot of shit going on, and I need to talk to her. We can do this the easy way, where you just show me in and I spend ten minutes of her time getting her up to speed. Or we can do it the hard way, where I rematerialize in your nice little house and find her myself. If I do that, I’m gonna be in a bad mood and somebody might get hurt.”

He watched me. “Never took you for a thug, Angel.”

“I only am when it really matters.”

His face was expressionless. “She really is busy tonight.”

“I really don’t care. I’ve left her alone all this time. Nain has left her alone all this time. Both he and chief Jones have been stupidly accepting of this whole ‘Queen Rayna is very private’ bullshit while she’s taken control. I am not Nain, and I’m sure the hell not Jones. Patience and understanding are not two of my strong points.”

We stood, measuring each other up. I poked at his mind a little, found his mental shields very strong. I approved. Too many supernaturals left their mental state up to chance, relying on brute force instead.

So says she who smashes first. Anyway.

“Could you really get in here like that?” he finally asked, and I nodded.

“I’d rather not. I respect what Queen Rayna has done for the city. She’s taken a huge burden off of our teams by handling the vampire problems. And I can even respect that she needed to go it alone early on so she wouldn’t look weak in front of your people. I get it. But she’s in control now, and it’s time for her to get to know her counterparts in this city. It makes a hell of a lot more sense for all of us to work together than it is to not know what everyone else is doing.”

He smirked. “As if you all don’t have people watching us.”

“As if you don’t have us under surveillance as well.”

He just watched me. There was no point in denying it. Even if Nain and I hadn’t spotted them ourselves, Shanti had let us know they were there. “Shanti tells you things, I guess?”

“Shanti doesn’t tell me nearly as much as I’d like to know. And I have refrained from pressing her because I know she values her position in your organization.”

“She is very disciplined. I understand she owes a lot of that to your team.”

“And to herself. She’s a strong woman.”

“May I ask who trained her? She is extremely well-trained for someone her age,” Ronan said.

“The credit for that goes to Brennan,” I said.

“The shifter on the demon’s team?” I nodded.

“And where did he learn to fight like that? The number of weapons she’s more than capable with is astounding. Her fighting style is enviable,” Ronan pressed.

“All I know about that is that he traveled extensively for several years in his twenties and he’s said that he developed an interest in martial arts and other forms of combat during that time. He’s always learning something new, it seems like,” I said, shrugging.

“The Nain Rouge was lucky he decided to return here then and rejoin his team,” he said.

“We all are,” I said, trying to maintain my patience. Small talk is not my strong point, but I was determined not to act like a jerk. Diplomacy is not really my thing, but sometimes it had to be.

“Ronan, there’s shit going on that we’re going to need to work together on. I don’t doubt you’ve noticed that things out there are getting worse.”

After a slight hesitation, he nodded.

“Okay. Well, I know why they’re worse. And I know who’s doing it. And for us all to be safe, and keep innocents safe, it only makes sense that we’re on the same page. She can spare fifteen minutes for that, I’m sure.”

“She does not want to look like she’s under your thumb,” he said quietly. “This is all new. Her position is still tenuous.”

“I understand that. And she will be treated as a partner and ally. And if you know anything at all about me, you know I am devoted to my allies.”

“I do. Come on in,” he said, waving me inside. I stopped myself from sighing in relief. That would look weak. I walked past Ronan and into the foyer. The white marble flooring reflected the light from the ornate chandelier above, and dark wood accented the stairway banisters and trim of the room. The house had kind of a medieval feel to it that almost made me laugh. It was like being in some kind of cheesy vampire movie, except that the vampire in question looked more like a cover model for
Muscle & Fitness
magazine and less like Dracula. He walked through an archway to the left, and I followed him. I dropped my mental shields so I could pick up any thoughts around me. Especially any thoughts related to drinking from me.

Fine. Vampires give me the heebie-jeebies. Whatever. The only one who didn’t was Shanti. It was something I was working on.

As I followed Ronan through a formal sitting room and then down a long hallway, I tried to pay close attention to the interior of the house. I was glad Ronan hadn’t called my bluff earlier. I could have probably made my way into the foyer behind him, but because I’d never been inside the queen’s home, I had almost zero chance of getting into one of the rooms. I had to see a place before I could rematerialize there. Details mattered. I focused on the woodwork, the leaded glass windows, the heavy chandeliers and sconces on the walls. The ice-slick marble floors throughout this part of the house. If I ever needed to make my way in, now I could.

Not that I planned on it. But you never know.

Finally, Ronan reached a set of double doors and knocked. I heard a quiet voice say “come in,” and Ronan gestured for me to wait a second. I nodded, even though I was starting to feel antsy again. All of this being nice was testing my patience, and the thing inside was starting to become restless as well. As if I needed more to worry about.

Ronan came back and waved me in. The room I entered was a vast improvement on the rest of the house. It had the same white walls and heavy woodwork, but the floor in here was a dark wood, and an area rug softened that. There were a couple of sofas, layered with pillows and throws, and a coffee table stacked with books. A fire crackled cheerfully in the large stone fireplace with its heavy wood mantle. Standing near it was a powerful vampire. I could feel it immediately. More powerful than Ronan, but not by a ton. I glanced between the two of them. She had the same skin tone the same grayish-green eyes. She had a bit of squareness to her jaw as well, but while it made Ronan look like more of a brute, it just made her look strong. Her long dark hair flowed down her back in waves, and she wore jeans and a Detroit Red Wings t-shirt. Which was totally not what I was expecting royalty to be wearing, but vampires are just different.

“Angel, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Rayna,” she said, holding out her hand to me. I took it, nodded.

“It’s nice to meet you as well. Thanks for seeing me.”

She smiled. “Honestly, I was surprised you didn’t come before now.”

I didn’t really know what to say to that, so I just nodded. “I won’t take up much of your time. There is a situation I thought you should know about, and I’m here to ask your assistance.”

She watched me. “We don’t believe in involving ourselves with other supernaturals.”