Chapter 12

Syreena awoke to pain and bliss.

The former was caused by her arm, the splinted limb hurting more as it healed than it had originally. The latter was because she was surrounded by the warmth and arms of her mate. She turned toward him, sliding her body over his with a long sigh. He stirred instantly from his sleep, seeking for the softness of her face with his lips and the touch of graceful fingers.

Without opening his eyes, he traced the shape of her features, his fingertips moving slowly over her chin, cheeks, brows, and then soft eyelashes. By the time he touched her lips again, he could feel her gentle smile.

“I could get very used to this,” she told him on a reverent whisper.

“I think you are going to have to,” he rejoined with a low chuckle. “You will not be waking beside anyone else for the rest of your life.”

“That is quite an extended promise, Prince Damien,” she observed, her eyes flicking open to look up into his. She was also growing used to the magnificent depth in his midnight blue eyes. Sometimes, she felt as though he looked into parts of her even she could not see. Then he would say something that only reinforced that idea all the more.

“One I intend to keep, Princess Syreena,” he said quietly, punctuating the solemn oath of his words with the lingering seal of his mouth.

Syreena tried to move more aggressively against him as the kiss changed and grew in intimacy and intensity, but he placed a restraining hand above her right breast and pushed her away gently.

“You need rest and healing, sweetling, not lovemaking,” he tenderly scolded her.

“It doesn’t hurt,” she argued, capturing his mouth before he could formulate a further protest.

He pushed her away once more, giving her a look full of reprimand. “You are a liar,” he accused her.

“Well, it doesn’t hurt much, then,” she edited impatiently. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of my own capabilities?”

“Because the idea of causing you pain is detestable, Syreena. I might add that pitting my good intentions against my overwhelming need for you is terribly unfair and inconsiderate of you.”

Syreena sighed and her bottom lip plumped out in a little pout of dejection. “I suppose so, if you look at it that way. Forgive me?”

“Always,” he assured her, giving her another kiss to make it official. “Especially when I must move on to more difficult topics than making love to you.”

“Such as?”

“I hardly know where to start.” He sighed with brutal honesty as he settled back again. He ran an absent hand over his whiskers, his entire expression morphing into the seriousness he had promised.

“Then may I?”

Damien arched an eyebrow in curious invitation.

“Let us begin with Jasmine,” she said.

“Yes. Jasmine.” Damien reached to flick a finger down her cheek. “What can I do that will satisfy you both? I am at a loss for a solution at present.”

“I can only tell you what I would prefer you not do with her,” Syreena answered. “Do not feed from her ever again. I could never bear her scent permeating you like that. I am not certain I could be held accountable for my actions if I were faced with such a thing. I never thought I would be jealous, but I suppose I am.”

“No more or less than I would be. I have no intention of feeding off another female again, unless it is some kind of dire emergency. It would be like you allowing another Vampire to drink from you. I am positive my reaction would be possessive and probably violent.”

“Well, we seem to be agreed on these things so far. What exactly do you wish me to tell you about Jasmine? I will not tell you to stop being friends with her. I understand that would be like asking my sister to renounce her friendship with Anya. They grew up together. They are like sisters. I understand that it is similar between you and Jasmine.”

“Except Anya is gracious in her acceptance of your arrival in Siena’s life and your elevation to a position above her in importance and perhaps even love as well as loyalty. Jasmine … I think Jasmine is incapable of that generosity.”

“Because she feels threatened. Wewill have to find a way to make her understand that it is not my intention to cast her to the wolves.”

“No,” Damien said, shaking his head. “It can have nothing to do with you. She would be insulted if she felt you were deigning to tolerate her presence. The friendship will remain, but it will have to be Jas’s decision whether she stays under my roof or not. I would hate to lose her. She is a skilled hunter. Second only to me, I believe.”

“You could use her skills to protect our territory,” Syreena agreed. “I have a feeling we will need a great deal of protection.”

“I will need to recall my entourage shortly. We will have encapsulated privacy in our suite, of course, but the household will be much different in dynamic than you have seen it to be once they all return.”

“How many?”

“Six, besides us. Two household servants, two guards, Jasmine, who is to me what you are to Siena, and Stephan, who loosely serves as my Commander in times of war. Mostly he is a friend. Of course, Horatio, who is Jasmine’s brother, by the way, and Kelsey are always welcome when their diplomatic duties release them from the foreign courts. These are my most trusted friends. My family, if you will. We have traveled centuries together.”

“Well, I suppose we will not be making love in the kitchen again anytime soon.” She chuckled.

“I am certain they couldn’t care less if we do.” Damien laughed in return. “Come to think of it, you may find things a tad too liberal for your tastes. You are rather conservative, for a Lycanthrope.”

“Then there will have to be adjustments on both our parts, I imagine. We will find a way to make this work. So long as I can be accepted, the rest is minor details.”

“Agreed.” Damien was silent for a long moment. “As for acceptance, I believe those who are loyal to me will find their way. Those who oppose me just for the sake of argument will kick up a fuss, but it will die down. It is those who resent my power or covet it who concern me. I am not comfortable with the idea of you mending from broken bones on a regular basis.”

“It will be less likely as I learn what to expect, who to trust, and how to sense the tricks your people use for deception. In my studies I have learned that any advantage can be circumvented with learning, time, and skill.”

“Am I to hope you do not get killed in the meantime?” Damien queried, a bit more harshly than he had intended.

“Now who is it who has not considered the results of his actions before making his choice?” she asked, sitting up and looking down at him. “Are you regretting me already?”

“I am regretting my position, Syreena, nothing more,” he assured her. “I have held this mantle for a very long time, and as a dominant male with no family or dependents to consider, it was a much easier choice to take the risks involved. And no,” he interrupted when he saw the cloud that crossed her features, “I do not consider you dependent, nor do I regret my choices. I am merely considering the changes in my path as it lies before me. I once walked it alone. It makes sense to move aside slightly to share it with you by my side from this point on. By doing so, my view changes or I walk a different edge, but I would much rather have the company. One can go mad with none but themselves for company on such a very long road, Syreena.”

That was a concept Syreena understood. However, she also realized he was trying to tell her something else with the metaphor.

“You are considering abdication, aren’t you?” she asked bluntly.

Damien was silent as he toyed absently with her hair and his inner thoughts.

“Damien, your people have thrived under your rule. You are used to being a leader. Can you honestly live in a society where you will have little to no say in how it evolves? You have known nothing else for over six hundred years. You were the youngest Vampire ever to attain a throne. You are the longest surviving monarch in all Vampiric history. You have also managed to keep peace not only within your people, but with most of the Nightwalkers as well.”

“With a few arrogant exceptions,” he corrected with a chuckle.

“It seems Noah has forgiven your war with his people, and I think everyone gets into scuffles with Shadowdwellers. They are impossible to understand.”

“So were we all, once upon a time,” he reminded her. He looked deeply into her bicolored eyes for a very long time. “So you wish me to maintain my throne? I think you just enjoy being a Princess.”

“I think I am used to being one. I think I know what it means to rule and,” she gave him a wink, “co-rule a species.”

“And if you come to rule with me, my love, what becomes of your sister’s heiress?”

“She is the one who abdicates. Damien, Lycanthropes will never accept this. Siena thinks I have not realized that, but I do. They will not accept two foreign males married onto their soil and into the monarchy. One is the limit of their tolerance. This has been my home for fifteen years, but it will never mean to me what it does to Siena. I will not risk her throne with the potential for rebellion. If I marry into foreign soil, it can be used as … as a sort of propaganda. Marry off royal blood of one clan to the royal blood of another for the sake of never-ending peace. Something like that. So long as you do not have one foot on their throne, they will find it easy to celebrate our … to celebrate us.”

“You can say it, you know,” he told her softly, those ceaseless fingers roaming the length of her cheek slowly. “Our marriage. You may speak of it as a foregone conclusion, Syreena, because we both know that it is.”

“Vampires do not marry,” she reminded him.

“Vampires do not marry now,” he corrected. “We did once. Our ceremonies are much like other Nightwalker ceremonies, actually. We have only grown too spoiled and whimsical in our selfishness to find it of much use or meaning. For me, I have found both use and meaning. In you, beloved.”

“Beloved,” she repeated softly. “You are my beloved, Damien. I have not told you that, but I feel it with all of my heart.”

“I already know. I have felt your heart in our every kiss and touch. I would be foolish to mistake it.”

“Mmm, I wish I had your confidence.” She sighed, snuggling up to him tightly. “I do not mean about us. I have come to see the source you see when you see the inevitability in us. However, I have not been easy or forthcoming in my expression of my feelings. Yetyou believe in them so absolutely. You seem to know them even before I do.”

“It is only because in my lifetime I have learned how to divine truth from confusion. You will, too, one day, when you have lived so long.” He hesitated a moment, then turned to kiss her forehead. “You did not say if you wished to wed me, Syreena.”

To his discomfort, she laughed at him. Her humor was hard and rollicking, even to the point of kicking out her heels, and grasping her injured arm as the vibration of her giggles caused her pain.

“So much for Mr. Confidence.” She snickered with delight. “What happened to ‘you may speak of it as a foregone conclusion’?” As she quoted him, she mocked the depth of his voice and the common gestures in his airs. She was laughing so hard that she made him chuckle as she reached to dash tears from her brimming eyes.

“You are an ungrateful little brat,” he admonished her.

“Because I dare to laugh at you, my Prince? Such are the things you will suffer if you think to marry a Princess who knows not to be so very impressed by title alone.” She eased off her humor at his expense. “You make impressions and impacts in other ways, my love. I would not worry overmuch.”

His reaction to her words was an instantaneous smile. He snuggled down with her again in immediate satisfaction.

“Say that again,” he demanded in a whisper against her ear. “If you only knew the delight it gives me …”

“My love,” she repeated softly, allowing herself the warmth of a blush. “My love. My lord, if you wish it. I would have no future if it did not include you, Damien. I knew that when I came to you. Probably long before I acknowledged it. I will always remember your surety, though. It will never leave me.”

“Just as I have learned to appreciate your care of thought. You waited for certainty so you would not cause anyone more injury than you had to. I understand that now.”

She raised her chin to his deeply affectionate kiss, smiling against his lips just before he parted from her.

“Is there anything further you wished to discuss?” she asked him. “Is there anything that troubles you still?”

“Actually, there are two further issues. We will need to mark these as our first joint decisions as rulers.”

“It sounds serious.”

“Only partly. First, I wish to find a way to repay Windsong and Lyric for all they have done for us both. Normally I would suggest a fashionable gathering, but it would not be something they would enjoy.”

“So make it a friendly gathering. In a very large place, but only with those Nightwalkers they would feel safe and familiar around. Make it a very specific honor, and yet give them the opportunity to accept or decline without any fear of insult.”

“Perhaps a wedding?” he suggested, seeing where she was headed immediately.

“Yes. Takethe focus off them. They would beself-conscious if it was a gathering centered around them. So we shall center it around us. To be invited to the Vampire Prince’s marriage will be an astounding honor to them.”

“Perhaps with Noah as host, in his home. It is certainly large and familiar surroundings. It is an organized and safe environment which the Demon King has complete control of. It is an advantage which, I am afraid to say, my home will lack once news of this marriage gets about.”

“With only our immediate family attending. And I do include Jasmine in that, of course.”

“I know you do.”

“And the second matter?” she prompted. “The more serious one, I take it. The first was rather benign.”

“It is. The second matter is Ruth. She escaped from her infractions against you as she has escaped repeatedly over these many instances of pain and even death. She must be found and punished, if not stopped entirely. She only grows more powerful the longer she remains out there. I think it is time she was hunted in earnest, a joint effort, like the Nightwalker Library. It concerns us all and we all have a responsibility to it.”

“I have long been in agreement with that. Each of us uses our own resources in the effort, but rarely do we consider joining them in a permanent effort to capture her once and for all. She is mad. Youcan see it in her eyes and feel it with every ounce of your being. Mad and evil are the worst of combinations.”

“Add to it intelligence and great power and you have the reason why she has slipped through our fingers time and again.”

“I believe she is the larger threat,” Damien said as he paced slowly across the Great Room of the castle of the Demon King. “If we split amongst ourselves searching for her, and then split again our focus between her and the magicusers, we weaken ourselves and leave ourselves terribly vulnerable. I think this is why we have been failing to stop her all of this time. She has crossed over, taking on dual cultures, and now has twice the access to power because of it. We too must combine cultures.”

Damien paused to look at the circle of Nightwalker leaders sitting around him, listening intently as he voiced his opinion. The gathering was unprecedented. Every known Nightwalker species in the world was represented, and it had only take twenty-four hours to gather them.

Then again, it had taken thousands of years.

There was Siena and Elijah, Queen and Consort of the Lycanthropes; Noah, King of all Demons; Hawk, a Mistral Bard, and Windsong the Mistral Siren, who were among the eldest and most respected of their kind; Isabella, the first of the Druids to emerge from dormancy; and, much to everyone’s surprise, Malaya and Tristan, the two High Chancellors of the Shadowdwellers.

Though the Shadowdwellers were often extended overtures of peace and social invitation, Damien could not recall them ever responding before. They were the reason why the room was so dim, only the fire in the fireplace and a few selectively placed candles set about. Their sensitivity to light of any kind was well known. They were the most singular curiosity of all the visiting dignitaries. They were a striking, medium-skinned people, their features a breathtaking combination of Middle Eastern exotic and American Indian strength. Both of them had capes of straight black hair that gleamed like polished onyx and stunning eyes to match.

To Syreena, they had a level of sophistication in their air that she had not been expecting. The male moved with the same careless grace that Damien always did. He wore long, loose clothing over a surprisingly fit and tall body structure. She could tell he was lean and athletic for a purpose, that he had been specifically crafted for flexibility and speed of movement. She did not know how she knew, but she felt it with every instinct she owned.

The female also was built with long grace, like a prima ballerina whose figure was cut to accent the length of her legs, arms, and neck. She was adorned in the simple elegance of a black sari with black embroidery, in addition to a snug, midriff-baring shirt of a blue so dark it almost matched Damien’s eyes. There were simple pieces of gold jewelry that included a thin ring around her pinkie, a superfine chain holding an onyx pendant around her neck, and a delicate piercing through her nose that led back to a matching clasp in her ear with a gentle sweep of an even thinner chain. The arc of that chain accented the lower curve of her highly defined cheek, and heavy lines of kohl enhanced the frames of both her eyes in such a way that they seemed to leap out with penetrating beauty.

They were nothing like Syreena had expected in both looks and manners. Perhaps this unexpected aura of culture and class was what allowed them to position themselves for the mischiefthey were reputable for, but she could not imagine how anyone could have all of the appearance of something, and none of the actuality. That was probably na?ve of her, she thought as she looked back to the man who was going to be counting on her wisdom in the coming future. She could not afford the luxury of such na?veté.

“We too must combine cultures,” Damien repeated softly as he thought out loud before them. “Not just one or two, but all of them. Every Nightwalker here is now in danger from Ruth’s plotting, I am convinced of it. She has attacked Demon, Druid, and Lycanthrope already and now has been seen in Mistral territory.”

“And yesterday she struck Vampire territory.”

Damien and every dignitary in the room turned toward Jasmine when she made the damning statement. The Prince was immediately concerned. He had thought her safe at their home. He could tell by her appearance, however, that her safety had been in question.

“Jasmine, what happened?”

Damien ignored the others in the room and hurried over to her. She looked like she was ready to pass out. It was a state of weakness Damien was not used to seeing in her and it was enough to rattle him. He immediately began to search her for any other signs of damage.

“No, no, I am fine,” she said, though she took his arm for support. “Merely tired, as well as being in desperate need of a hunt. Luckily I ran into Horatio outside and did not have to sneak in. I honestly do not think I would have had it in me.”

“I take it you saw Ruth.”

Jasmine looked up at the Demon King after he addressed her. As usual, he got right to the point. She did not blame him. Ruth was by far the most serious kind of business.

“I just spent the better part of the night in her company. She arrived around eleven and left an hour after dawn. I believe her departure time was planned so she would be assured that I could not follow her.”

“Oh, my God,” the Druid Isabella exclaimed. Isabella knew firsthand what five minutes in Ruth’s company could do to a person. She couldn’t conceive what could be done to a body when it spent as much time in threat as Jasmine had just laid claim to.

But although there were a variety of such reactions going through those who knew Ruth best, the only one that made a real impact on Jasmine was Syreena’s. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that the Princess had gone pale, but other than that the Lycanthrope remained still and quiet.

If it had not been already too late, Jasmine might have had time to respect that quiet stoicism.

But it was too late.

None of them knew it, however.

At least, not yet.

“Jasmine, have a seat and explain this to us,” Damien encouraged her, looking her over yet again for signs of injury. He was puzzled. How could she have met with Ruth and escaped her relatively unharmed? He was grateful that she had, but he had seen what Ruth had done to Syreena with only a few hours of time on her hands. To spend nearly eight hours with Ruth and survive untouched? It was nothing short of miraculous.

“Let me start by saying that everything you told me about Ruth is basically a lie, Damien. At least, it is now,” she added when she saw his reactive expression. “She is ten times more powerful than you warned me about. She kept me imprisoned all of that time with nothing but the force of her mind. I have never felt anything like it. Everything I know, she now knows.” She looked to the Lycanthrope Queen. “That includes the location of the Library, I am afraid.”

“Sweet Goddess! Jinaeri ! If it is as you say, she is woefully underprotected! There are only a few guards and whichever Nightwalkers are there …”

“That is why I rushed to your territory as fast as I could. You can relax, Siena,” Jasmine eased her, holding up a weary hand and gesturing back to her seat. “I found Anya, the General of your Elite army, and she is handling it. She is the one who told me where to find you all.” Jasmine looked up at Damien. “I do not know what happened after that. If Ruth can travel in daylight or teleport that entire distance, it is likely to be much too late.”

“There is nothing any of us can do about it now.” Elijah spoke up softly, his hand going to his wife’s shoulder and easing her back into her seat. “Ruth had the entire day to do her damage. I believe she is more than strong enough to fight off the lethargy that affects us during daytime, but she cannot possibly resist it for long. Let’s hope she waited until dusk to cause trouble. Either way, it’s already over by now.”

“Elijah, I cannot just sit here and—”

“Running pell-mell to the Library could very well be exactly what Ruth wants, Siena.” Elijah made her sharply aware of that, trying to keep his serious tone from sounding like he was scolding her. It would not be right to chastise her in such a way before so many dignitaries. “She let Jasmine go, relatively unharmed by the look of it, for a reason. That reason could be so that she raises an alarm that sends us all into one of her traps.”

“I do not understand.” Malaya spoke up for the first time. It had the impact of getting everyone’s immediate attention, especially Jasmine, who had not even taken note of their remarkable presence. “Forgive me,” the Shadowdweller apologized in an exotic, dulcet accent. “I do not mean to interrupt this thing of great importance. However, I do not understand why a Demon renegade is attacking Vampires. Or Lycanthropes, for that matter.”

Noah’s sigh was the beginning of the necessary response. “Malaya … that is a long story that involves the disjointed reasoning of a madwoman.”

“No, Noah, it does not.” Jasmine cleared her throat. “It is a mistake to think there is no method to Ruth’s madness. When she spoke to me, though there was that affectation of madness, her logic and her intellect were frighteningly intact. Maybe previously she boasted with half-empty threats, but now … now it is clear she has a plan of great depth and detail and she has been methodically carrying it out for some time.”

“Jasmine is correct,” Elijah added with dawning understanding. “We have been bumping into her accidentally over the past few months in the least expected places, at the least expected times, doing things we have no explanation for. However, if you put all of this together …”

“She is in search of something.” Syreena sighed softly. “We knew she was looking for the Library when we found it purely by luck after finding her in Lycanthrope territory doing what looked like an archaeological excavation.”

“The Black Tome. She was after that enormous black magic-user’s compendium in the Library,” Jasmine agreed. “She said it herself.”

“Which she very likely has by now! Sweet Goddess,” Syreena uttered with fear and outrage, “you were right, Noah, we should have burned it!”

“Mmm,” Noah speculated, his green-gray eyes flicking over to the distraught and horrified expression on Isabella’s face. She had been the one to argue against that, and no doubt she was feeling extremely guilty for it.

But Noah took immediate mercy on her. “We can do so now if we like,” he said calmly. “It is downstairs.”

“It’s where?”

That response and similar exclamations battered him from all around.

“In the Demon library,” he clarified. “Siena and I discussed it a long time ago and decided it should be in a much safer place once the Library was going to open. Especially because Ruth was sniffing about for it. I made haste to do so as soon as possible, especially after what happened to you, Syreena.”

“But I saw it there just a couple of days ago,” Jasmine argued.

“Of course you did. It would not be wise to tell frequent visitors to the Library what had happened to it, just in case Ruth found the place and started scanning their minds. I know my enemy, Jasmine. I replaced it with a black compendium exactly like it, except that one is full of”—he lifted one corner of his mouth in a grin—“I believe I will call them Demon limericks.”

Jasmine’s mouth fell open in surprise, Isabella gasped and choked on a laugh of relief, but most of all, the Shadowdwellers began to chuckle in earnest. Syreena looked at them, saw their dark eyes sparkling in ready delight and their white smiles flashing wildly. It was clear they were perfectly delighted by Noah’s mischief against his enemy. It was worthy of even their admiration.

“Well played. Well played indeed,” the male pronounced, his deep voice projecting his humor around the entire Great Hall. “So this Ruth has likely stolen a volume of naughty rhymes instead of the powerful book she intended.”

“I only hope she realizes it after she has absconded with it, and not before,” Noah said, his smile fading. “I would hate to think of her becoming angry and taking it out on those she might have left alive otherwise.”

“Elijah is right, Noah, you cannot change what Ruth has done or be responsible for what she will do from now until the time we find the way to stop her,” Damien said. “It is a waste of time and a destruction of very necessary morale to dwell on what we do not have the power to stop just now.”

“Meanwhile, the important thing is your actions managed to keep the cursed volume out of her hands,” Jasmine said thoughtfully. “She believes the use of it by herself and other Nightwalkers is the way it should be, that magic destroyed humans or faltered in their hands because they were too weak to manage it. She thinks Nightwalkers can manage it without losing control of it, without becoming evil.”

“Bullshit,” Elijah barked shortly. “Has she taken a whiff of herself lately? She smells like a garbage scow. That is the way all evil persons smell to us, especially those tainted by magic.”

“She is one of them now, so she does not notice it as we do,” Siena said.

“There is more,” Jasmine interjected quietly. “There is someone else.”

“Someone else?” Noah asked sharply, his head turning with a snap to look at her. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means that she told me, when she offered me a place in her growing party of mayhem makers, that she already has ‘a right-hand man’. It was clear what she meant. She has turned another Nightwalker to her perspective. I do not know who or how, but it sounded like a very serious development.”

“I should think so! Damn her straight to hell!” Elijah growled ferociously. “Two of them! And if she turns one, then she will be looking for others.”

“She will,” Jasmine agreed. “She realizes humans are too weak to defeat you, that she needs Nightwalkers on her side. Nightwalkers using magic that makes them more powerful. That is why she let me go, Damien. She wanted me to tell you this. She wanted you all to know you were no longer going to succeed at defeating her followers with such ease.”

“It’s a mental ploy,” Noah agreed with a grim nod. “She is trying to make us afraid. Fear will undermine our strength.”

“It’s working,” Isabella said with a shudder.

The discussion continued, but Jasmine turned to tug Damien closer and whispered into his ear. The Prince excused himself momentarily and led Jasmine away by her arm. Syreena watched them go and tried not to feel slighted by the clearly secretive manner of their departure. She had told herself she would not do things like that, that she would allow him to carry out his friendship with Jasmine in any way he saw fit, save the small conditions she had already discussed with him.

She kept telling herself that as she watched them walk out into the garden.