14. They would pay for that. #2
“We do, and in the days before we left port, I worked to make it more robust than normal.” My father got up, retrieved his wallet from the nightstand, and pocketed his room key and phone.
“I’ve been working with Clarke about preparing for when we’re closer to Europe.
He’s made use of some of his less savory contacts to infiltrate the local piracy groups.
Money talks, especially among pirates, and we value Breckenan’s death a lot more than Breckenan values catching up with us.
He’s not a shipbuilder, nor is he an owner nor operator.
He’ll have to rent a ship—or ships. The legitimate companies will not work with him.
Clarke spearheaded sending out the alerts, including the warrants for Breckenan’s arrest in the United States.
Those warrants are sufficient to prevent most reputable companies from allowing him to hire them—and they’re likely to report him to the United States for tracking purposes.
We are attempting to involve international groups, but that’s a work in progress.
Clarke’s handling that along with the other team members who are not aboard the ship. ”
“And Mom?”
“Let’s just say I’m grateful Clarke is the one who has to deal with her right now.
She doesn’t just want to see Breckenan dead and gone.
She wants every trace of his fledgling empire eradicated.
At this stage, she’s out to make certain not a single remnant of his heritage remains.
I’m hoping that Clarke is capable of reining her in a little—so she will at least show some mercy on those turned against their will.
I suspect that will take her at least another week or two to accept. ”
I lifted a hand and rubbed at my temple. “Well, it’s clear where I got those tendencies from. Dare I ask what your approach is?”
“I will show mercy towards the victims and attempt to secure them justice—but they will learn to be proper vampires or perish. In some ways, my hand is even harsher than hers. She just doesn’t want the problem to have a hope of reviving once Breckenan is dead and gone.
” My father shrugged and opened the door.
A moment later, he laughed. “I’m sorry, Ben, but I’m going to be ending your play for a bit.
I need to borrow Pepper for a while. You’re welcome to accompany us, however, but you’re going to have to leave your stick here.
I don’t feel like discovering if my daughter will sprout feathers and flee through flight today. ”
In the hallway, my husband laughed. He poked his head into my father’s suite.
“After dropping Ben and making your escape, I requested that someone make you hot turkey sandwiches. I was going to do it myself, but I was told there were much better ways I could be making use of my time while on vacation. I feel you’ve earned another gravy volcano. ”
I headed to him, gave him a kiss, and stepped into the hallway to face my tormentor. “I am not sorry for escaping.”
Ben snickered, and he handed his stick over to my father, who tossed it into his suite. “I apologize for interrupting your evening, Charlie.”
“Don’t. Having her show up when dealing with life-threatening situations doesn’t bother me in the slightest. She’s way ahead of those sons of mine. They show up after dealing with the life-threatening situations, expecting me to nurse them back to health.”
My brothers, who came down the hall, protested my father’s words.
“You can’t win when he’s being like this,” I reminded my brothers. “Just let him have his fun. It’s probably the first time he’s actually had fun the entirety of my life. You have to ease him into it.”
My father sighed. “Nobody warned me the daughter would end up ruling over the sons with an iron fist and does not at all require their protection. Let this be a lesson, boys.”
Emerick waited for everyone to congregate in the hall before closing the door to my father’s suite. “Do you think vampires tend to favor having sons because were we to have daughters, our species would take over rather rapidly?”
My father’s smile, gentle and reminiscent, caught me by surprise.
“It is a matter of our culture and belief system. Back when I was young, women were the tools of creation; they ran the households, they addressed matters of barter—we had money, but money was something only used by merchants traveling to distant lands. We accumulated wealth through the collection of objects.” On the way to the elevator, he paused to gesture to a vase resting on a stand.
“Things like this, for example. We were a practical people, as that is what our lives demanded then. Owning something made solely to be admired was a serious display of wealth, power, and prosperity. My mother made things like this when she was ahead of everything, a rarity. She bartered away the ones she did not keep for herself for excess food, cloth, and other supplies. That meant my father toiled less in the fields. And so we prospered, all because she found a few extra hours to craft vases meant to be beautiful. For every four vases she made, she offered one up to the gods.”
“Dad is just being Dad, so don’t worry about his fussing,” Eugene informed me, and he pressed the button for the elevator, which pinged and opened.
He waited for me to step inside before adding, “He enjoys complaining that we were not born beautiful daughters, thus cursing him to deal with troublesome sons. He could have a thousand daughters and still not be content.”
My other brothers snickered.
“Daughters are expensive, Father. You got lucky and didn’t have to offer a dowry, as I stole Emerick fair and square. Had a dowry been needed, you would be crying over the lost funds.”
My father rolled his eyes and pressed the button to take us to the top deck. “We can discuss appropriate compensation for taking this troublesome daughter off my hands, Emerick. I’m sure she’s worth at least a nice cow.”
My spouse burst into laughter. “Perhaps a pet shelter? That way, she can help defenseless animals find good homes, and as we would be operating it, she would never have to worry about unwanted pets being killed. Investments in a good cattle farm might be wise; our arrangement with the Japanese won’t last forever. ”
“A farm designed to provide premium blood and cattle is viable; American bred Japanese cattle shares many of the same traits. We just need to hire the appropriate infusers for the magical elements that she benefits from. That’s truly the only difference between the Japanese Wagyu blood and the American bred Wagyu blood.
But a solid cattle operation would be wise—and a turkey farm. ”
“With big forests so my turkeys run wild and free and happy until they have their dinner date with destiny,” I requested.
“A humane turkey farm where you are stocked and your birds live in paradise is a reasonable request. I may do an operation for each type of livestock. I will put thought into this.”
My brothers sulked.
I raised a brow at them. “If you happened to be wed and providing our father with grandchildren, he would quite probably shower you with his favor.”
That earned me three scowls.
I smiled my sweetest smile. “I am happily wed and providing our father with an elaborate ceremony on board a ship I stole from him. How are you contributing to his grandchildren?”
My husband nudged me with his elbow. “How are we contributing to his grandchildren?”
“However often I want, whenever I want, however many times I want, and you will accept being used at my leisure,” I replied in my most solemn tone.
“As I don’t see any problems with this plan, okay. I will take steps and discuss the predisposition issues with your father sooner than anticipated, apparently.”
I shrugged. “We’ll figure it out. And if we have to take similar steps to what I endured because of misfortune, so be it.
The only thing we will change is that our child understands vampirism runs in the family and that we do as we do for good reason rather than out of prejudice.
” I frowned and furrowed my brows. “Dad, how did I not turn out prejudiced against vampires? I don’t understand. ”
“We’re terrible at being prejudiced,” my father admitted with a shrug.
“You heard me make snide comments, but whenever you did see a vampire, I would hold the door for them just like I would everybody else. You saw through the words and looked at the deeds. You just didn’t realize that was what was going on.
But your nature played a huge part of that.
You were more afraid of my disapproval than you ever were prejudiced against the preternatural.
I ultimately went the disapproval route more often than not.
” My father huffed and puffed before settling in to glower at my spouse.
“Please do something about that tendency.”
Emerick held his hands up in surrender. “I will attempt to correct any issues with disapproval.”
“Good.”
The elevator came to a halt, dinged, and released us, which likely spared my husband from a bad end at my father’s hands. “For the record, you don’t have to bribe Emerick. You’re already giving me what ?”
“A few mines, this ship, and a few other surprises I have in the works. There is a difference between providing for you and apologizing to your husband about the blatant assaults your endless pit of a stomach surely makes against his wallet.”
I sighed. “Just try to be sensible, Dad.”
“I am being sensible. I have been waiting for a long time to get to do this, and I’ve been putting a great deal of thought into the various ways I can make certain your brood can readily provide for you. Your brothers? Bah.”
I raised a brow at all three of my brothers. “Did Dad provide you with farms?”
They nodded, and Eugene shrugged. “We just got one farm that provides what we need to make our favorite foods. The dowry for a daughter is old tradition, and vampires really do go wild over it; daughters are so rare that our father really will be expected to be excessive. I’m still trying to figure out how he even had you!
None of the vampires anywhere near his age have ever had a daughter. ”
“I assassinated all the male sperm, thus proving my place. The only ones I kept I murdered after they did what I needed,” I replied, engaging Eugene in a staring contest. “Clearly, I was vicious from before conception.”
My father snickered. “We were blessed with good fortune. Once my uncles found out about you, they began contributing to your more traditional dowry.”
I blinked. “I have a traditional dowry?”
“I have been informed that my uncles will never forgive me if I do not give it to you appropriately, which means I need to know what breed of livestock you would like, as it will require being hauled by beasts of burden, which are part of your dowry.”
I questioned everything about my life. “Were there horses where you grew up?”
“We had horses, although they are not quite the same as what you are used to. They are considered a primitive breed.”
“The appropriate number of horses to safely carry this dowry of the closest breed you can get, please,” I requested. “Emerick, you’re in charge of finding them a house near our house.”
Emerick sighed. “Can ‘near’ be within two hours?”
“Only if we have a house where their house is, because if we’re traveling two hours to see the horses, we’re staying overnight,” I countered.
“I can make these arrangements,” he promised. “We will have a home near every farm we manage, however. I go to my operations once a year, and I prefer not to stay in a hotel unless it’s required.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Those properties better not be just staying around empty the rest of the time.”
“They don’t. They serve as vacation residences for members of the brood.”
I could work around that. “Sign me up for therapy regarding the dowry. I’m going to need it. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to accept it with grace without therapy.”
Emerick snickered. “It’s a good thing you aren’t accepting the dowry. I am. Those presents are for me . You just get to benefit from them. You’re just going to have to get your own presents out of your family, Mrs. Lowrance.”
“You’re getting the mines and the ship,” my father reminded me.
“But therapy is likely wise, especially once it sinks in that your dowry has a rather large monetary value. My uncles have been collecting pieces since my firstborn, waiting for the moment a daughter showed up. You’re going to need a large farm for a lot of horses, Emerick. ”
I sucked in a breath, and my eyes widened. “They’ve been doing what for how long?”
My father’s smile had a rather wicked edge. “You will see soon enough.”