The Queen Is Dead (The Immortal Empire) (31 page)

“I ate a heart.”

“I know.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “Did it make you feel better at all?”

“A bit. Originally I thought I’d come here and shag you senseless.”

“A splendid notion. Had I known, I would have kicked everyone out much sooner.”

I covered his hand with mine. “I love you.”

“I know that too.”

Of course he did. He knew me better than I did. I moved my head so I could look up at him. “I thought you might like to hear me say it.”

The strong lines of his face were relaxed, the skin around his eyes crinkled in a smile. “I do at that.”

But I wasn’t done. “You know no matter what,
you
always
have my support, and the goblins’ too, if I have any sway over them.” I couldn’t say the same extended to the entire pack, but I could give him my loyalty regardless.

He kissed my forehead. “And you have mine. Come, let’s get cleaned up.”

We showered together, and had a needy encounter under the spray of hot water. ofmy forehea I needed his strength right then, and I didn’t care if that made me vulnerable. If I couldn’t be vulnerable with him, I was shit out of luck.

“Are you really going to banish Sheridan?” I asked as we towelled off.

“Rather than kill him? Yes. I can’t afford to look weak in front of the pack. It’s a fair punishment.”

“But he’s your friend.”

Vex shrugged. “I can’t let that matter in such decisions. I have to do what’s right for the pack. He would have killed me if he could.”

That was a big if. I’d never seen anyone who could fight like Vex. He’d even defeated Church once, and Church had been a fantastic fighter. Until I had him killed, that is.

But Vex’s words made me think of my father and what he’d said about never being able to claim his grandchild. Taking Dede’s baby had been beyond wrong. More than cruel. But giving the child to Ainsley had protected the boy somewhat. He wouldn’t be poked and prodded in a lab, and Dede hadn’t been forced to undergo examinations of her own. Putting my mother in an asylum had protected her, as well as me–for the most part. Morally I was opposed to almost everything my father had done where his children were concerned, but it could have turned out worse, I suppose. Out of a list of bad decisions, he’d chosen the least awful.

Would I forgive him? Perhaps. Probably. I would never again trust him, though.

“Do you reckon I made the wrong choice?” Vex asked, pulling on a pair of clean trousers. He’d obviously taken my silence as disapproval, given the slight edge of defensiveness in his voice. Maybe I was hatters, but that peevish tone made me smile. He wasn’t perfect after all.

I watched the muscles in his back ripple as he moved. “No. I think you did the right thing.” I pulled my clothes on over my clean skin. I hated putting dirty clothes back on, but I didn’t have anything of mine in Vex’s wardrobe. I should probably remedy that.

I wasn’t ready to move in with him, appealing as the idea was. I’d be too tempted to hide behind him, and I felt as though most of my life had been spent hiding. Certainly many truths had been hidden from me, and I was done with that. I’d uncovered things I wished I hadn’t, learned things I didn’t want to know, but there was something rotten going on in Britain, and now that I’d stuck my finger in it, I had to dig to the bottom.

Another reason not to move in, I realised as we went downstairs in search of food, was that the pack treated the place like their own private club. All the full-bloods had their own houses, but a few of them were playing billiards in the gaming room, while others made use of the library. Halvies milled about as well–Protectorate employees there because their aristos were, the rest Vex’s staff and half-bloods with nowhere else to be. I couldn’t imagine Queen V allowing halvies to hang about the palace. And other than me, I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to spend time with the goblins.

“I don’t remember there being quite so many wolves here before,” I commented as we entered the dining room.

“Waxes and wanes,” was his reply. “Any time you were going to be here I made certain they all knew not to be.”

Thoughtful, but still not something I wanted to deal with. For now, Vex and I would continue as we had been–me with my space, and him with his. No need to make the pack resent me more than they already did. There was no need to rush anything–it wasn’t as though wet anue as were going to get married or spend the rest of our very long lives together. I didn’t even know if my life expectancy was the same as an aristo’s or still that of a halvie.

We were just finishing up a meal of fresh bread, sharp cheese and salty meats when a commotion rose from the front of the house.

Vex and I exchanged glances, both of us rising to our feet. We had guests, and the whole house was in turmoil.

“MacLaughlin!” someone shouted, but Vex was already on his way, me at his heels.

I smelled my sister before I saw her familiar blue hair. She was covered in blood that was not her own, holding another halvie upright. It was that halvie whose blood she wore. The poor girl was in bad shape–bleeding from multiple wounds and… I sniffed. Tetracycline.

Another were-halvie I recognised as a friend of Fee’s–Ian–was wounded as well, though not as badly. All five of the halvies who had burst into the house were bloodied and dirty–and the four who were conscious enough to talk were trying to do so over the top of one another.

Ophelia spotted me and headed straight towards me. “Human League attack,” she said as Vex took her wounded
friend into his arms. “We were having a laugh at a pub, minding our own business, when a couple of hueys armed with automatics barged in and started shooting the place up.”

“Albert’s fangs,” I responded. “That’s ballsy. Was anyone else hurt?” By now, Vex had started to walk away with the girl and everyone followed him–Ophelia and me included.

“A few humans nicked with debris, but it was our table they attacked. We managed to take cover, but Annalise had already been shot. I don’t know if the whole thing lasted even a minute.”

“You’re sure it was the League?”

She shot me a dry look as we climbed the wide staircase. “They used tetracycline bullets and shouted something about death to all freaks. Come to think of it, perhaps it was the Templars.”

I scowled, more because that blatantly sarcastic remark was something I might have said than because I was offended. As far as I knew, the Knights Templar hadn’t existed in England for centuries. “You okay, then?”

She didn’t look at me, but gave a stiff nod. “I won’t lie, I’ve spent a lot of time with humans. I’ve got a lot of human friends. I never expected to be on the opposite end of a gun from one, you know?”

Yes, I did. I never expected Church to turn on me. “You knew the shooters?”

She nodded. “One of them.” Then, for my ears only, “She tried to join us several months ago. Juliet turned her away. Thought she was too unhinged.”

“She’d know,” I drawled.

“Bloody bastards are trying to start a war,” she commented with a disbelieving shake of her head.

“I thought that’s what you wanted.”

Fee turned to me at the top of the stairs, strands of blue sticking to the blood on her face. We stood back so the others could pass by us. “We just want to end the bullshit. A democracy or something. These fanatics want our blood and they won’t stop until we’re all dead.”

A shiver ran down my spine, and I’m not afraid to admit it. We of plagued blood were powerful and strong, but we had limitations. As far as I knew, I was the only one able to stand daylight for any amount of time. Tuntaid to ahe humans outnumbered us by a vast margin, and if they were armed with silver and tetracycline, and attacked during the day, we were royally fucked–literally and figuratively.

But that was only if the entire human population rose up. I had to believe there were at least some who wouldn’t be keen on taking the risk.

My rotary rang. Fee nodded at me and left to join the others who had followed Vex and the wounded girl. One of the halvies who brushed by me had a medical kit and what looked like an old-fashioned transfusion set.

“Yeah?”

“Xandy? It’s Penny.”

One of the last people I expected. “Dearest, now’s not a good time.”

“Oh. Sorry. It’s just that I don’t have a lift home from work and I’ve heard there’s been some League violence tonight. I reckon a girl like myself might make a tempting target.”

I closed my eyes. She was right, and Penny’s blood was not something I wanted to have on my hands or my conscience.

“Isn’t Avery there?” I asked, grasping at a last straw.

“No, she left.”

“Why the fuck would she do that?”

All it took was a split-second hesitation for me to know that something wasn’t right. Penny rarely hesitated. “Xandy, I need you to come and get me.”

There was no mistaking the tremor in her voice. Shit. It was the betties, I just knew it.

“Sit tight. I’ll come round as soon as I can.” I disconnected, and stomped down the corridor towards the room into which Vex had taken the girl, only to meet him coming out.

“Is she all right?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Not sure. We’ve got to get the silver out of her, then flush the poison from her system, but she’s young and strong, so hopefully that will be on our side.”

“Penny rang–I think something’s up at the club. Do you mind?”

“No. Go get her. Where’s the Butler?”

“Fang me.” I’d forgotten the motorrad wasn’t parked outside. “Down Street.”

“I’ll drive you. Annalise is in good hands. Nothing I can do for the poor mite other than stay out of the way of those who can help her.”

“You don’t have to do that.” But he was already on his way down the stairs. I had to hurry to keep up.

We took the Panther because it was the most readily available of his vehicles, which included a horse-drawn carriage. He had me at Down Street in record time.

“Come back to the keep when you’re done,” he instructed. “I want you where I can see you.”

I smiled. “Love you too. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Bring Penny. She shouldn’t be alone. If there’s trouble, call me.”

I agreed, and gave him a kiss before sliding out of the motor carriage. I didn’t even take the time to watch him drive away before hopping on the Butler.

The wail of sirens cut through the night in Westminster. I spied a news van as well. Special Branch would be all over the pub where the shooting had taken place, and ambulances would be on their way to help injured human patrons. I hoped they caught the hatters arseholes responsible.

I was very happy that Fee hadn’t been hurt. I could admit that now that there was some physical distance between us. As much as she rubbed me up the wrong way at times, she was my sister, and I was honestly beginning to think of her with a degree of fondness, despite disagreeing where our mother’s aspirations were concerned.

Freak Show was quiet when I arrived. The club closed at four in the morning–late enough for human partiers and early enough for full-bloods to get home before dawn. There were a few staff left, cleaning up and closing the place down for the day, and a couple of drunken humans huddled in the door lighting fags before staggering off down the street. I pulled into the alley and into the back courtyard.

Penny didn’t immediately come out, so I turned the key in the ignition and let the motorrad rumble into silence. Before climbing off, I sent a quick digigram and looked up at the camera watching the courtyard. I waved at it, calmed by the knowledge that my goblins were watching, then dismounted and ran up the steps, knocking hard on the door. I should have been more gentle–my knuckles left marks.

“I just have to grab my bag,” Penny said when she yanked the door open. Her eyes were wide, fearful. When she rolled them upwards, I knew we were not alone. “Come on in.”

I stepped over the threshold, reaching for the dagger in my corset. It was eerily quiet. I’d never been here when it was this empty.

“Vex wants us to stay at his place,” I said as I followed her to the office. If there was someone waiting to make trouble, he or she might think twice if they knew we’d be missed. “He wants us where he can see us, apparently.”

Penny had stopped in the centre of the room and stood with her shoulders slumped and head low. Any second I expected her elaborate lavender wig to slide right off. “Penny? What’s the matter?” As if I didn’t already know–I could smell their stink the moment I crossed the threshold.

She turned, facing me with an expression that screamed of guilt and remorse, and fear. “I’m sorry, Xandra. They told me they’d kill Val if I didn’t ring you.”

The hair on the back of my neck rose, alerting me to danger. I whirled around, dagger slicing through the air, and betty flesh. I dodged to the side
to avoid arterial spray. Penny wasn’t quite as quick and ended up with crimson splatter on her wig. The betty fell to the floor, twitching out the remainder of his life.

Immediately I turned on the other one as two more came through the door. At least they’d sent enough to make it interesting.

A lank-haired blonde woman with black lumps on her neck raised her arm. I swore when I saw the gun in her hand and lunged for her throat.