“Good riddance,” Petra said. “He seems like an ass.”
“I don’t think he’s an ass. He’s just . . . a vampire.”
Connor made a grumbling sound of agreement I wasn’t sure was flattering. “And what about that vampire?” he asked, gesturing with his glass toward Seri. She was standing on the lawn near the pool, a semicircle of supernaturals around her, watching as she posed like a model in an old Vogue ad. One foot forward, hands on her slender hips, shoulders tilted back.
“Vain or insecure?” Connor asked.
“Neither,” I said with a smile. “She just really likes that dress.” For reasons that still eluded me.
“Maybe you should give Dane a shove in her direction,” Petra suggested.
“No, thank you. I’m not playing matchmaker,” I said. And I didn’t need to, since Dane walked to her and made a courtly bow before pressing his lips to the back of her hand, which put a glowing smile on her face.
“Solves that problem,” Connor murmured, and took a drink.
“Four years, and your jokes aren’t any better. You should have practiced in the interim.”
“My jokes are just fine. But I have to work with the material I’m given.”
I rolled my eyes, and Petra and Theo shared a look.
“What?” Connor asked, gaze narrowed.
“Nothing at all,” Petra said, then tapped her glass against mine. “To supernaturals and friends.”
Glass shattered. For a second, I was afraid I’d put too much strength into the gesture and cracked our champagne flutes. But the noise had come from elsewhere.
“Get your hands off me.” A vampire’s voice, pitched high and angry, echoed across the yard.
I looked back. Tomas, the vampire who’d agreed with the fairies during the opening session of the peace talks, faced down Riley a few yards away. And there was hatred in Tomas’s eyes.
“You should step back, vamp,” Riley said. His expression was calm, but his eyes were just as hot as Tomas’s, magic swirling gold in his irises.
We reached the scuffle just as my father did.
“Problem?” he said, so that it was less a question than an order, a demand that any problem be immediately resolved.
“This animal attempted to strong-arm me.”
Riley’s expression was a mix of bafflement and sheer rage. “I didn’t lay a hand on you. You were about to run into me, you dick, and I put my hands out to keep you from making contact.”
“You’re all alike,” Tomas muttered. “Animals.”
“Tomas,” my father said, and the word was a warning. “You are a guest in this city and, for now, a guest in this House. But if you cannot find your manners, you’ll find yourself a guest of neither.”
“I don’t take ‘animal’ as an insult,” Riley said, gaze unwavering on Tomas. “But I don’t care to have my intentions questioned.”
“I’m surprised,” my father said, glancing at Tomas, “that, being a vampire, you’d find a shifter intimidating. You’ve your own strength, and you certainly don’t seem impressed by the Pack.”
Tomas’s eyes fired. “I am perfectly capable of handling myself, Sullivan. The fact that you’d take their side over mine confirms what the fae said. You’ve forgotten your loyalties.”
“Loyalties?” my father asked, a single eyebrow lifted. It was one of his favorite expressions, and this time it managed to convey both surprise and anger. “Cadogan House is allied with the North American Central Pack. Cadogan House is not allied with Casa Cardona, as you refused our offer. Moreover, despite our efforts to organize these peace talks—for the direct benefit of your vampires—you have done nothing but attempt to derail the process. I am very aware of with whom my loyalties lie, Tomas. And you’d do well to remember that.”
Furious magic pumped off Tomas in waves. But however petulant his behavior, he was at least smart enough to know when to fold. Facing down my father and his allies at my father’s House was apparently that time.
“We are not optimistic about this process or the intentions behind it,” he said, lifting his chin. “But the vampires of Catalonia are not cowards. We will not abandon this process to those who would seek to do us harm.”
He turned on his heel, his short black cape twirling as he moved, and stalked away.
The entire crowd seemed to exhale. As magic and the threat of violence faded, the other vampires drifted away.
My father looked at Riley. “I apologize for his behavior. I hope you know it does not represent the attitude of this House.”
Riley smiled, offered my father a hand. “He’s just a stuck-up asshole. I know you’re good people.” He looked at me and offered a wink that had Connor stiffening beside me, which just made Riley’s grin spread even more.
And with that, the crisis was averted and peace returned to the land.
Hunger I’d been ignoring for hours suddenly blossomed; I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten. “I’m going over there,” I said, pointing to the buffet. “And I strongly suggest no one get in my way.”
* * *
• • •
They didn’t get in the way. Instead, they followed me through the line, then over to a table where we could sit and eat—and I could keep an eye on Seri and Marion.
There’d been no other outbursts, no other hints of violence. I’d glimpsed a few fairies—in addition to all the other supernaturals my father had invited—but they’d mostly milled around like everyone else. Except they hadn’t eaten any of the food, but that was a cultural thing. Fairies only ate food they’d prepared themselves, because they didn’t trust what they called “Others” enough to share their grub. Ironic, given that fairies were historically known for their trickery and theft. Maybe they were projecting. Convinced Others would try to harm them, given the fairies’ penchant for doing just that.
We ate and chatted, and when the party began to wind down and Seri failed to stifle a yawn, I rose from the table.
“I’m going to go check on the Maison Dumas delegates. Looks like they’re about ready to go.”
“Couple of hours until dawn,” Theo said with a nod, checking his watch. “The party will probably be wrapping up pretty soon, anyway.”
“My father will politely begin to shoo them toward the door,” I agreed, then glanced at Petra. “It was good to see you again.”
“You, too, Lis. I hope we see more of you while you’re in town.”
“We’ll see how the talks go.” Because that would figure largely in whether I had free time.
I glanced at Connor, was prepared to offer a polite goodbye, but he was chatting with Tabby, who’d rejoined him when she’d given up on William Dearborn.
“He wouldn’t hear you, anyway,” Theo said with a grin.
“Can’t argue with that,” I said. I grabbed my glass and headed toward the empty tray standing at the edge of the tables.
The crowd was thinning some, delegates having returned to their Autos and hotels, the Cadogan vampires returning to their rooms upstairs.
I lost sight of Seri, turned a circle to find her again, and detected the scent that vampires were most familiar with.
Blood. And a lot of it.
I picked up my dress to keep the silk from dragging along the dewy grass of early morning, walked toward the brick patio that surrounded the House’s outdoor kitchen.
Tomas lay on the ground, blood soaking into the brick beneath him.
He’d been divested of his head, which lay two feet away from the rest of his body.
Standing over both, eyes wide, tuxedo shirt splattered with blood and clutching a blood-smeared knife, stood Riley Sixkiller.
TEN
I stared at the scene, tried to process what I was seeing. “Riley. What the hell—what did you do?”
My heart was racing, and not just because of the blood on the ground. The hunger was ruled, fortunately, by the part that had no interest in the blood of a dead man.
Riley looked at me, then down at the body, and his eyes went huge. “Elisa. What is—” And then he seemed to realize he was holding a knife and took two halting steps backward, as if he could simply walk away from it.
“Riley,” I said again, my throat so tight I could barely manage a whisper. “What did you do?”
Before he could answer, a scream split the air. I spun around, found a female vampire—one of the German delegates—shrieking behind me.