11. Eleven

eleven

Choosing not to dwell, I threw back the covers and got out of bed. If Liam wanted to play the mysterious card, fine. It wasn’t the first time he’d been purposefully enigmatic. It was something he and his nephew had in common. Their flair for the dramatic. No doubt I’d find out what he meant by all that sooner or later.

Probably at the worst possible time.

Naked, I padded over to the set of luggage that had been delivered to my room.

I didn’t bother with formality, choosing a soft pair of yoga pants that were flared at the bottom and a loose shirt that read “Lazy Weekend” on the front. My clothes in my arms, I headed to the bathroom where I set the bundle on the counter by the sink before turning on the shower for the second time that day.

Steam filled the air as I examined my reflection in the mirror. My face looked flushed with life. In large part due to the volume of blood I’d consumed over the last few hours. The fact that blood belonged to a vampire as old and powerful as Liam worked in my favor, giving me an extra little boost.

My hair was lush and glossy with health. The lights of the bathroom picking up the reddish tint in the brown. Grayish blue eyes peered out of strong features.

I wasn’t a bad looking woman. In fact, I could be quite attractive when I put my mind to it. Maybe not vampire-level attractive but I’d say I cleaned up nice.

However, my goal wasn’t to admire myself in the mirror.

Dropping into my other sight, I watched as magic spread across my vision. At its center, the hazy outline of my form.

Looking into my magic was like peering up at a brilliant night sky. Utter black smattered with the glitter of stars.

Like the last time I’d done this, there was a blot of darkness taking up one corner of the sky. Its velvety depths extending deeper, blotting out the twinkling lights.

“What are you?”

I was afraid of the answer, unsure what the abyss that had shown up shortly after I’d swallowed Ahrun’s madness meant.

It had only grown since then. A little more each day.

What if I was the next to devolve?

The bite of my nails digging into the palms of my hands brought me back to the present. Shaking away my fears, I forced myself to look away from the patch of darkness to examine the rest of my body.

A suspicion had been growing in the back of my mind. There was something I wasn’t remembering. A hole where something important should be. Every time I tried to figure it out, my thoughts scattered in a thousand directions.

Three times I forgot what I was doing as I looked myself over.

I got lucky on my last attempt because I happened to be staring right at the tiny speck of magic when it activated.

I felt it this time when a foreign power attempted to interfere with my thoughts.

Nothing was wrong, it whispered. I was simply tired and imagining things. I should go back to bed and rest.

Now aware of its presence, my magic quickly smothered it.

Suddenly I could think again. My thoughts crystal clear and my own.

“What is this?” I whispered, leaning closer to the mirror for a better look.

There on my shoulder was a scrap of magic. It clung to my skin with gossamer thin strands, looking like it might flit away at any moment.

It shimmered. Iridescent. Greens and yellows intertwined.

I recognized the flavor of that magic. I should, since she’d shot me with pixie dust infused with it enough times.

“What did you do, Inara?” I whispered, meeting my gaze in the mirror with a sick horror.

This was the source of the nagging feeling I’d gotten when I’d been talking to Liam. The reason I’d felt like I was forgetting something.

Because I was. Because my friend had put a spell on me to make me forget about her and Baran’s visit.

Half an hour later, I left my room to head downstairs.

The house Thomas had rented—at least I assumed he’d rented and not bought it—was a two-story palatial mansion. Windows were everywhere. Mercifully tinted to keep out the harmful rays of the sun.

We were well outside the city. The view offering nothing but vistas of rolling hills and desert landscape. The yard around the house was filled with cacti and other desert plants. Directly behind the house, a long, narrow pool, the sun glittering off its waters, beckoned.

There was a person in that pool. Dressed in a bikini, sunglasses covering half her face and floating on a blow-up swan.

Deborah.

“I guess you got your wish about that pool.”

Good for her.

I left the window and headed downstairs.

If opulence was a style, this place was its defining triumph.

Tall ceilings made everything seem more massive than it already was. Black was the dominant accent throughout, working well with the creams and whites that made up the rest of the house. Expensive gold lighting fixtures hung from the high ceilings.

I’d just reached the open concept main floor when I stumbled to a halt at the sight of a very familiar vampire seated in one of the armchairs by the window with a view of the backyard and hills behind the house.

“Ahrun.”

Son of a bitch.

Feeling a little betrayed, my gaze landed on the vampire seated next to him. “This was why you were acting so weird earlier.”

Liam smirked at me as he sipped from the wine glass in his hand, letting me put together all the pieces on my own.

His hair was a little wet at the ends, showing that he’d taken a shower sometime since leaving me.

“You never planned to move into my house,” I realized.

Of course not. This had all been a trick to guide me along the path Ahrun wanted.

And I’d been the idiot who fell for it.

I collapsed onto the couch facing them. “No wonder Thomas was so accommodating when I asked for a ride.”

He’d probably realized Ahrun’s visit was a manipulation tactic.

“Well played, Ahrun. Simply excellent.” There was a bite in my tone that conveyed the full extent of my sarcasm.

To my surprise, I glanced over to find Liam staring at Ahrun with a hard expression. Was that anger I saw? Frustration?

Surely not.

“I know what you want to say.” Ahrun closed his book to look at Liam. “She wasn’t safe there anymore. It’s better to face what’s coming head on rather than trying to hide her away.”

“Is that what your gift is telling you?” Liam bit out.

“It’s what common sense tells me. If you weren’t allowing your emotions to blind you, you would know that too.”

Oof. Low blow.

Seeing Liam’s jaw beginning to tick, I waved a hand between the two. “Hey, there. It’s me. The person you’re discussing like they’re not even in the room. Why don’t we bring me into the conversation?”

“Does she know what you two are doing here?” Liam asked in a carefully neutral voice.

I dropped my hand. It was like talking to a brick wall.

Ahrun glanced up as Thomas entered the room. “I thought that conversation was best broached once all of us were present.” Ahrun gave Thomas a pleasant smile. “Please—join us.”

There was a guarded look on Thomas’s face as he met my eyes.

Yeah, buddy. I knew everything.

“You can forget about those family dinners,” I warned.

Thomas detoured to the liquor cart kept in the corner of the room. “Then I guess you’ll be getting a new roommate after all. Your home is smaller and less luxurious than my sire is accustomed to, but I’m sure he’ll manage.”

“You must admit it’s only fair considering the dinners you attend with your mortal family.” Ahrun pretended to look thoughtful as Thomas put a massive spherical ice cube into a glass and picked up a decanter filled with amber liquid. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but Connor is usually present for those, is he not?”

I pretended not to notice Thomas’s sudden interest as I squinted at Ahrun. “You’ve been spying on me.”

One side of Thomas’s lips quirked up before he went back to pouring his drink. Once he’d finished, he fixed another drink before heading toward us.

“It’s adorable that you ever thought I’d stopped,” Ahrun crooned.

Liam took the drink Thomas handed him with a grateful nod before pinning me with a look. “Why didn’t I get an invitation to one of those dinners? Are you ashamed of me?”

“The first time you met my mother you used compulsion on her. You figure out why I might be a little hesitant to bring you back around.”

In reality, it had more to do with the fact that I wasn’t sure how Dad would receive his presence. Mom might not understand the liberties he’d taken, but Dad would. There might be a few hard feelings as a result. For how even-tempered Dad normally was, he could hold a mean grudge.

“Liam is upset with me,” Ahrun informed Thomas as my sire took a seat on the other side of the couch.

Thomas lifted his glass to his lips. “Is he?”

“He feels we’ve needlessly endangered your youngest.”

“Ah.” Thomas crossed his legs. “He is rather protective of her.”

I glared at the three of them. “Excuse me—still in the room.”

Liam covered his smile, looking away.

I eyed the drink in Thomas’s hands, wishing I had one. Maybe not bourbon or Scotch or whatever it was they were drinking but something.

“What’s the big deal about Vegas anyways?” I asked grumpily.

“The council is here.” Ice clinked in Liam’s glass as he tapped one finger against the rim. “We have no idea why.”

“Given your recent absences of late, I’m surprised you’re aware of that fact,” Thomas said.

My eyebrows climbed. Definitely a few hard feelings there.

Liam’s face was calm as he addressed Thomas. “You can have no complaints. I’ve made sure to keep abreast of the situation during my sabbatical.”

“Ah, yes. Your enforcers. I can’t tell you how pleased it makes me to know they come running to you with everything.”

“Is there a problem, deartháir ?”

A tense silence fell as they glared at each other.

“Shouldn’t you guys have gotten an invitation?” I asked.

I might not be sure exactly what was going on, but I had a feeling I didn’t want to be present for whatever fight was about to go down.

“You’re the head of the council, aren’t you?” I asked Ahrun. “How could they hold a meeting without you present?”

I may not have been an expert, but even I knew that.

“A most excellent observation, my dear,” Ahrun praised.

Oh goody. The annoying ancient approved.

“Would either of my boys like to educate our youngest?”

Reluctantly, Thomas withdrew his gaze from Liam. “They’re claiming it’s a coincidence they’re all here in this city at the same time.”

“That’s a mighty big coincidence.”

Did they think Ahrun and the others were that dumb?

Hearing my thought, Ahrun smiled, the utter lack of emotion in his expression. “It would seem so.”

I gave him an irritated look. I told you to stay out of my head .

Immediately after sending that thought to him, I added trees and boulders to the forest I used as my mental defense. Not that it was likely to do anything. Ahrun seemed to have no problem subverting even my best attempt at safeguarding my mind.

“Given this city’s status as neutral territory and how people travel from all over to visit, it’s a difficult claim to disprove,” Ahrun explained.

“How did you figure out they were all going to be here?” I asked.

Dumb question.

“Let me guess. More spying.”

“Don’t you prefer to call it surveillance,” Ahrun murmured.

“You couldn’t have heard me say that to Caroline.”

Unless he was clinging to the roof of the car like a bat, there was no way he could have eavesdropped. Right?

“As for the why—we know why,” Ahrun said, ignoring my statement to level a pointed look on the other two.

Liam shook his head at his father, his expression stubborn. “We don’t. Not for sure.”

“My dear boy, you’ve seen enough of these to recognize the signs. They’re planning a coup—and it’s our family they hope to put on the chopping block.”

“I thought you took care of that,” I said uneasily.

“I did, but it seems they were left unsatisfied with the way I handled things. Vitus has been whispering in people’s ears. They’ve been listening.” Ahrun’s glance at Thomas and Liam held a note of wistfulness. “Honestly, it would be simpler to do away with the old and build something entirely new.”

He was talking about the complete extermination of the council, I realized with a sense of horror.

Ahrun rolled his eyes at his sons’ flat expressions. “Of course, I won’t go that route since I already promised we’d try things your way. I’m just saying it would be easier on everyone.” To me, “They’re so sensitive.”

I could see why. What Ahrun was suggesting would result in a bloodbath the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the dark ages. Any attempt to clean house would have to extend far beyond the council members themselves. It’d include all those loyal to them. Their yearlings and all those they’d changed over the years. Any administrators or secretaries. Then there were the enforcers. Most of whom were acquaintances of Liam’s. He’d served with them. Trained with them. I had a feeling he called a few of them friends.

That’s if their actions didn’t spark a war among vampires.

Some masters would fight for more territory and power in the vacuum the council’s absence would leave.

Others, because they would see it as their best hope of survival.

The violence wouldn’t stop with just vampires either. It would spill into other species as well. Each group trying to take advantage of the chaos to claim a bigger piece of the pie.

“We’ve been over this already,” Thomas said tiredly. “This isn’t the old world. You can’t handle things in the same way. This era is too interconnected. A war on that scale would draw notice from humans.”

That was something no one wanted. As weak as they were, humans had the advantage of numbers. They were also a skittish lot with a tendency to overreact. Who was to say some idiot wouldn’t lob a nuke at a city or country, never realizing the supes they were so scared of were also right in their backyard.

“Yes, yes. So you’ve explained. That’s why I decided to give you a chance to handle this with that diplomacy you’re so fond of.” Ahrun’s head tilted as the affability drained from his features, leaving behind the deadly vampire that was so feared by the majority of the world. “As long as they don’t cross my bottom line, that is. I won’t hold myself back if that happens.”

The dark tone in his voice was chilling. Made all the more so due to how serious Thomas and Liam’s faces were. Like they’d witnessed such a thing before.

Ahrun smiled in a lightning-fast shift back to his role of genial patriarch.

It was too late though. I’d seen far enough beneath the mask to know that the vampire in front of me could never be considered safe or harmless.

“But I trust it won’t come to that,” Ahrun murmured.

Hiding my shaking hands, I spoke into the resulting silence. “As interesting as all that was—” I meant scary “—it doesn’t explain why you wanted me here.”

Compared to the rest of them, I was the weak link in a line that allowed Ahrun to draw power from the number of descendants he and his progeny had made. I would be the first person to be targeted if somebody was planning a coup.

Ahrun’s features held amusement as he lifted an arrogant eyebrow at me. “Weren’t you coming anyway?”

I flushed. “You couldn’t have known that.”

“Are you sure?”

I wasn’t certain of anything when it came to this vampire. He made Liam and Thomas look like open books.

“Either way, it’s too late to send you home.” Thomas tilted the glass he held before lifting it to take a sip. “Too many witnesses saw your spectacle last night.”

Spectacle? Hardly.

It was nothing more than dancing. Maybe some gambling. And a whole lot of drunken foolery.

I was sure Vegas had seen worse. Hell, I’d done worse on my last trip here as a human.

“And whose fault is that?” I asked.

“No one twisted your arm to go out for drinks. That was all you.”

“I like how I’m getting the blame when it was Nathan and Anton’s idea to visit the Playground in the first place.”

Thomas pretended not to hear. “Since that boat has already left the dock, so to speak, you can just keep playing the obedient yearling.”

“I notice you’re not adding Connor to this.”

Thomas smoothed nonexistent wrinkles from the expensive fabric of his pants. “My son has a bit of a reputation. No one will think twice about his absence.”

I narrowed my eyes at Thomas, getting the sense that he was hiding something from me. Always before, Connor and I were something of a package deal. If I attended an event as Thomas’s yearling, he came too. He was overprotective in that way. Though a part of me wondered if this wasn’t Thomas and Connor’s way of using me as a bridge between them, allowing them to interact without either having to take a step back from the positions they’d taken.

“No need to worry, my dear. The most you’ll have to do is show your face a few times. It’ll be easy,” Ahrun assured me.

Nothing was ever that easy when it came to vampires. Particularly not those at the highest echelons of our society.

“One other thing, my darling.” Ahrun waited until I looked at him. “Do you know where your father is?”

My lips parted, words escaping me.

“In Columbus,” I somehow managed, clamping down on my emotions. “At this time of night, he and my mom are probably preparing dinner.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

What did they know?

Liam’s emotionless facade cracked, the look in his eyes suddenly penetrating as if he sensed my turmoil.

“Don’t play stupid,” Ahrun warned. “What would I care about your mortal family? I meant the man whose seed from which you sprung. What do they call it in this era? Oh yes, your biological father.”

Oh, thank God. Brin. He was talking about Brin.

My lungs started working again. Dad was safe. They didn’t know.

Yet, an unhelpful part of me whispered.

Liam had realized something though.

“Why the sudden interest in Brin’s whereabouts? This wouldn’t have anything to do with what you told me earlier, would it?” I asked, speaking to Liam.

“You already discussed this with her?” Thomas asked, giving him a sidelong look. “How strange you’d brief my youngest before me.”

The charged feeling in the air made me extremely conscious of the fact that I was in a room full of apex predators. Each deadlier than the last.

Liam flicked Thomas an unamused look.

I sank further into the couch, uncomfortable with the knowledge that I was the reason behind their fight.

When I looked at Ahrun, it was to find him staring at me, one eyebrow quirked.

This is what comes of insisting on remaining on the outside looking in. If you were to fully embrace your status as Thomas’s yearling and a member of his clan, Liam’s loyalty to the both of you would not be so strained. Things will only get worse the longer you waffle.

My eyes narrowed, the conversation sounding suspiciously like one we’d had before.

They should call you Lucifer , I thought at Ahrun.

He was as silver tongued as the devil was reported to be. Preying on a person’s insecurities to get what he wanted.

Who do you think those stories are based on? Ahrun thought with a chuckle. A little game of mine, tempting the righteous to reveal their true selves.

I stared blankly at Ahrun. That wasn’t possible.

I’m not solely responsible for the idea of Satan, of course, Ahrun continued. There really is a Lucifer. It’s just the truth differs quite a bit from the fiction written in humanity’s holy books.

With a shake of my head, I firmly stuffed the conversation in a box titled “Things we don’t need to think about ever again.”

Just in time as a commotion came from the top of the stairs.

Nathan leaned over the banister, grinning at me. “For someone who went as hard as you did last night, I’m surprised to find you conscious. I thought for sure you’d be down for a few days.”

I glared up at him. “No thanks to you.”

Nathan chuckled, bounding down the stairs as another enforcer ghosted into the room from outside.

I nodded a greeting at Eric, the quietest of Liam’s enforcers.

He inclined his head before taking up a station along the perimeter of the room. Ever vigilant. That was Eric. I don’t think I’d ever seen him let down his guard.

Despite that, he was one of my favorites. Maybe because he didn’t feel the need to talk all the time.

Nathan hopped over the couch, landing on the cushion next to me.

Thomas gave him an irritated look as he steadied the drink Nathan had almost knocked over.

“You look good, A.” Nathan rubbed the top of my head. “Not like death at all.”

I ducked out of reach, planting a foot in his side and kicking. “Asshole.”

It was no use. My attempt to dislodge him from the couch was met with failure.

Nathan got a strange look on his face before snatching my left hand up in his. “Nice bling, A. Where’d you get it?”

My gaze latched onto the sparkly rock sitting in a rose gold setting on my ring finger. I don’t know how I hadn’t noticed it until now. Denial, maybe. My preoccupation with the changes taking place within me. Whatever you wanted to call it, I’d missed something that was quite literally right under my nose.

My horrified gaze found Liam’s.

“Took you long enough.” Liam said, lifting his drink to his lips.

I held up the hand with the heavy as fuck rock. How the hell had I managed to miss its presence?

Denial. That was it. Pure self-hypnosis.

“We are not married.”

Maybe if I said it emphatically enough, it would make it true.

“The marriage certificate I have says otherwise,” Liam murmured.

I gaped.

He did not just say that. He didn’t.

“This isn’t happening,” I muttered.

I couldn’t be married and not remember. There had to be some type of rule about that.

Unbidden, images of a chapel and a big foot dressed as Elvis rose in my mind.

“No,” I moaned.

Lurching across Nathan’s lap, I snatched Thomas’s drink out of his hand and downed it. The alcohol burned down my throat, setting fire to my belly.

“How did this happen?” I hissed at Liam, forgetting our audience for a moment.

Liam looked down at the glass in his hand, his lips curving in a soft smile of reminiscence. “You placed a bet. You were quite insistent on it actually.”

Now that he said it, I did have a memory of standing at a table and placing my chips somewhere. He’d asked if I was sure.

Oh God. I’d said yes.

“The marriage was my part of the wager should I win.”

“What would you have had to pay if you lost?” I asked, forgetting my anger for a moment.

Liam drained the rest of his drink. “Nothing I wasn’t willing to part with.”

That wasn’t an answer, I wanted to say, but couldn’t. The look on his face stole my breath. Far too intimate for present company. The promise there made me wish my memories of last night weren’t so foggy.

“I think it’s best if you remember that on your own,” Liam murmured.

I cleared my throat, my body feeling suddenly flushed. “Why follow through on the wager? You must have realized I was in no state to agree.”

There were certain things you should never do while under the influence. Marriage was a big one.

“Bets made in the Playground are magically binding,” Nathan supplied. “You don’t want to know the consequences if you break your word.”

That reminded me.

“Ouch.” Nathan held the arm I swatted. “What was that for?”

“You should have stopped me!”

“The magic of the dance exposes our innermost desires. I couldn’t have been the voice of reason even if I’d tried.” Nathan slung an arm behind me on the couch. “Besides I wasn’t even there, the magic whisked you away. Liam had to give into its sway to keep up with you.”

His explanation gave me pause. I shot an uncertain glance at Liam. If what Nathan said was true, it put an unexpected spin on the situation. One that I would have to think deeply about. But later. When I no longer felt like a rabbit whose foot was caught in a trap.

“I appreciate that. More than you know.” I met Liam’s eyes, letting him see my sincerity. I might not know exactly how I felt about this, but I wouldn’t dismiss what he’d done to make sure I didn’t fall too deeply under the Playground’s sway. “But we will fix this.”

I’d never given much thought to marriage, but if I had, I certainly wouldn’t have wanted it to be in a Vegas chapel while under magical influence.

“We’ll see,” Liam murmured.

“No, we won’t.”

One way or another this marriage was going to be annulled. Otherwise, my mother really might kill me this time.