Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
G wil knew that if there’d been an alternative, Hyax would have chosen to brew there rather than at Solivatus’s lab.
He’d never been to this particular property, as far as he knew, Solivatus owned several houses, but this Georgian townhouse was nestled in a quiet street in Pimlico.
Gwil doubted the neighbours had any idea what went on next door, given the gardens on either side alluded to human family life with swing sets and paddling pools.
Hyax was busy chopping ingredients, a number of which Gwil wouldn’t have been able to identify even if the reward had been a blow job. Solivatus had shown them to the lab and Hyax had been grudgingly impressed, but not enough to warrant allowing Solivatus to watch him brew.
“Can I do anything to help?” Gwil asked, perched on a stool at the side of the lab bench.
“Not really. To be honest, I just need to concentrate.” Hyax glanced up at him. “You could go and spend some time with Solivatus.”
Solivatus was becoming a more frequent part of his afterlife, and Gwil hadn’t been sure how Hyax would react to him spending more time with his sire. “If you’re okay with that.”
“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I weren’t. I don’t trust him more than I would any other vampire, present company excepted, but I’m not going to act like a jealous arsehole because you’re speaking to your sire. If he hadn’t turned you, you wouldn’t be here, so I have that to thank him for.”
This was huge progress. Hyax had moments of being more highly strung than the string section of an orchestra. “I’ll go find him then. Text me if you need something.”
“This part should take about an hour. Then I’ll need to add your blood and then let it steep.”
A maid greeted him as he left the lab. “Can I help you, sir?”
“I’m looking for Solivatus.”
“Right this way.”
The lab took up most of the ground floor, and he followed her upstairs and into a sitting room that was more of the standard fare for a property of its ilk. Solivatus looked up from the newspaper he was reading on a sofa.
“Is our favourite prince well catered for?”
“He’s good and wants to be left to brew.”
“We can’t have you distracting him.” Solivatus waved at one of the chairs. “Do sit, although if you could pour me a drink first, I’d appreciate it. Help yourself.”
Solivatus had a collection of decanters on a sideboard. Bloods of various types, including a Parisien, which was his favourite and a 34 vintage, which would no doubt be stellar. He poured two glasses, handing one to Solivatus before sitting.
“Thanks for letting him brew here.”
“I was surprised he wouldn’t have his own lab, to be honest.”
“He does, just this potion has something about it that makes it more potent for the containment level of the place he usually uses.”
“I didn’t ask before, but will you tell me what it’s for? I hate not knowing things.”
“I’m surprised Prince Simon didn’t tell you.”
“I’m not in the business of questioning the needs of a Dark Viscount. Especially when they’re a vampire-fae.”
Gwil found it difficult to say no to Solivatus.
There was a bond between a vampire and their sire that blurred boundaries.
He’d already spoken to Hyax about what he should do if he were asked directly.
Solivatus wasn’t insisting, and Gwil could say no, but he was glad this wasn’t a fight he would have to have.
“They need to create a really big portal. The potion will facilitate Hyax being able to do so, but also let the others add in their magic to support him.”
“That does beg the question of why someone needs to open a portal so big that Hyax was willing to let you feed off him to create the potion.”
Gwil hadn’t left much of a mark behind when he’d fed from Hyax.
It had been a heady experience, beyond his fantasies of how amazing it could be, but he didn’t think it would’ve been obvious they’d done something of the sort.
Hyax was even wearing a turtleneck jumper, though Gwil thought it unnecessary.
“For someone who claims they didn’t know much about what’s going on, you seem to have a lot of insight. ”
“Not really; more the ingredient list led me to the conclusion you just confirmed. There are only a couple of things that combination of ingredients could mean, but given the way you two work together, it wasn’t exactly a great leap of logic.”
“I need to go bleed into the cauldron after, so I guess that would have made it obvious.”
Solivatus chuckled. “Just a little. What are you moving?”
He’d already told Solivatus most of the plan; he might as well continue. “A dragon, a big one. We think it’s a hibernating Rex.”
“Fucking hell.” He’d never seen Solivatus so shocked. “Please tell me you’re taking the piss.”
“Unfortunately not.”
“That’ll explain why Hyax allowed you to have a pre-marital nibble. I figured he might be game on your wedding night, but not before.”
Gwil wasn’t going to continue that direction of conversation. “Big dragon needs a big portal, and the portal needs a special potion.”
“Moving something that size would take a lot of energy. I know our two princes are powerful, but are they enough? It’s not just throwing a load of magic about but directing it, since it sounds like you know where to send Old Scaly Face.”
Solivatus was old, several centuries old, which meant he had seen and done things that meant he could draw the right conclusion quicker and more accurate than most. He’d been surprised by the dragon, but not enough to distract him from asking his questions.
“There’s a third. I’ve not met him yet. All I know is he’s an elf called Chris.”
Chris seemed too mundane a name for an elf, but that was the least of his concerns.
“Oh, Chris. He’s the boyfriend, well, husband or bondmate or whatever the cool kids are calling it, of Jack Webb.
” He chuckled. “He’s a light elf, living at Crofton Hall.
Ben Redbourn’s not been too forthcoming about him, but Sebastian Hewel said Chris has his protection, so I guess there must be something special about him. ”
Gwil thought Hyax might know more, but he hadn’t asked and Hyax hadn’t volunteered the information. This Chris bloke would be acting as navigator. Gwil had put that down to him being an elf and where they were dumping the dragon was somewhere in or near the elf realm.
“I reckon with the three of them, they should have enough juice to pull this off,” Gwil said, but he didn’t have more to add, not knowing the details of the magic bits, which he wouldn’t have understood.
“I imagine it’ll be quite something to watch, but at the same time, I don’t think I’d want to be close enough to be eaten by a dragon who’s pissed off because he’d been woken up.”
“We can’t leave it where it is. Besides, I’ve had to inform Goya, and he’ll use any reason to fuck me over. He’s even insisting on being present—fuckwit.”
“You two are ridiculous.” Solivatus tutted. “Are you sure you shouldn’t just fuck and get it out of your systems?”
“Fuck off. Why would I touch Dog Face when I literally have one of the most beautiful men in the city as a partner?” He held up his hand. “Do not suggest a threesome.”
Solivatus smirked. “You’re so easy to wind up. But I have heard a few things in the last couple of days that I think will make you happy.”
Solivatus’s ability to collect information was only superseded by Copperpipe’s, and so Gwil was intrigued to hear what he had to say. And he was glad for a change in the topic of conversation. “Go on.”
“Hoffman has filed a new patent for a stabilising excipient. It’s a man-made version of golashe.”
“The chalk shit he was buying off the Elementa?”
“Yes.”
Hyax had told him his mother had heard the mining had stopped, but their thoughts had been that it was either a temporary cessation or the activities had relocated to a new location.
If Hoffman had perfected the additive he’d been working on, it would make sense that he would no longer need the golashe from the fae.
“Then we could infer that his contract with the Elementa would have come to an end.”
“I’d say so. Which means the reasoning behind Hyax’s marriage had been made moot. Time to consult with a decent divorce lawyer.”
He didn’t think it would be that straightforward. “We need to factor in face-saving and fae politics. There’s no way Hyax would be able to unleash the great strop he’d love to do and flounce off.”
“From my limited knowledge, I understand that the divorce proceedings for the fae aren’t particularly complex.”
If Hyax were an average fae and not a royal prince, Solivatus would have a decent argument. “Nothing about royal fae is simple. I’m not saying he can’t divorce, but he’d need to find the right excuse that was fit for public consumption.”
“I’m sure you can come up with something. I reckon a bit of outside interference might be welcome for once. Now you’re a favourite of several current and future Vampire Council members, it could be made known that Hyax’s marriage might be an insult since Hyax is your Eternal.”
“We’ve not used that term to describe our relationship.”
“Then I suggest you start. Tongues will wag, and a gentle pressure could be exerted.”
This wasn’t something he could agree to without speaking to Hyax, but Solivatus’s idea had merit and could offer an alternative option. “Let me discuss the premise with Hyax. There might be more concern about vampire interference than a massive public blow-up.”
“I’ve offered a suggestion. Let me know if you’d like me to action anything. Just say the word and your boyfriend could be a step closer to being your husband.”
He wanted to marry Hyax. Being the Prince’s Beloved was important to the fae, but as a vampire, it didn’t have the same gravitas. “I’ll get back to you.”
“I’m assuming you’ve discussed making him a widower.”
They’d not said it directly, at least not without joking. “Best not to cause a war between the tribes. They frown on murdering each other.”
“Thought I’d check.”
Gwil’s phone pinged before he could reply.
Hyax: Get your arse back here. Time for you to bleed.
“I’ve been called.”
Solivatus raised his glass. “Good luck. It’s not every day a vampire bleeds.”