Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
The next evening, after meeting with Dominic on the potential vampires to lead their new mentorship program, Kendrick exited the library and nearly ran into Genevieve.
She was wearing one of her new frocks and looked very fetching, even as she frowned at the card in her hand.
“We have callers,” she said, handing him the card.
“Montmorency.” He fingered the card in thought. “I know him, I think.”
“A good knowing or a bad knowing?”
“His name was on Etienne’s list.” Kendrick exchanged a look with Genevieve. “Where are they?”
“Mr. MacPherson’s put him and his wife in the newly furnished receiving room.”
“What a good thing we’ve acquired new furniture.” He offered Genevieve his arm and they proceeded into the receiving room.
Mr. Weston Montmorency was a tall, angular man in perhaps his mid-sixties.
His hair and beard had been blond once but now had lightened to almost gray, and his face was lined with age.
Sharp and canny eyes combined with the prominent set of his nose gave him the appearance of a raptor scanning for prey.
Mrs. Montmorency, on the other hand, was a small, plump young woman with a pretty face and curling strawberry-blond ringlets.
She looked like a young girl about to have her first season.
She seemed like a highly incongruous mate for such a gentleman unless the union had been founded on money and land.
But of course, it hadn’t been, for they were both vampires.
“I am so pleased to meet you, Your Majesty.” Mrs. Montmorency twinkled at Genevieve.
Genevieve smiled politely, probably aware that this woman would not have given her a greeting on the street a month ago. “How do you, Mrs. Montmorency?”
“We wanted to pay a call to offer our congratulations on your newlywed status,” Mrs. Montmorency said, settling onto the divan with a rustle of skirts. She glanced at the door and back again.
“How kind,” Genevieve murmured.
Her husband squared his shoulders. “And also to inquire as to the changes you are making among the Ossuary rabble, Kendrick. It isn’t wise to give them a very long rope, you know.”
“Oh? Why is that?” Kendrick asked, sounding bored.
“They might get above themselves. They are lower class.”
“I have always wondered where that perception comes from,” Genevieve said conversationally. “Human society is built upon the rock of wealth and family. Vampire society seems to be built upon age and deception.”
“Deception?” Montmorency echoed, with a sharp look between Kendrick and Genevieve. Kendrick merely sat back in his chair and smiled a little.
Genevieve explained, “If you’ve only lived a handful of years as a vampire, everyone remembers who turned you and where you came from.
You start with nothing, ripped from your human bonds.
It’s only when those older die off or you outlive your peers that you gain respectability and class.
Because now you are older than those you deem ‘rabble.’”
“You cannot age into respectability.” Montmorency shot another look at Kendrick. “Is that what all this surveying has been about? I’ve been presented with a bill,” he said, producing the offensive document and rattling the sheet.
Kendrick raised an eyebrow. “You don’t believe it’s accurate?”
“It’s a damned disgrace! What have I got to do with ‘Ossuary upkeep’?” He scoffed.
“You don’t believe makers are responsible for their dependents?”
“What?” Montmorency said, his eyes popping.
“According to those we’ve surveyed so far, we’ve found seven vampires who were turned by you or your wife, sir,” Kendrick said. “Three with an active blood bond. We’ve calculated what you owe them.”
“Owe? Owe?”
“What my husband means to say,” Mrs. Montmorency said hurriedly, “is that shouldn’t they make their own way in the world? How will doling out handouts encourage them to abandon their shiftless nature?”
“How does turning them and abandoning them to their own devices serve them?” Genevieve said tightly. “Leaving them penned up in the Ossuary, leashed by your commands—”
Montmorency looked from her to Kendrick. “Think what sort of a precedent you are setting,” he warned, shaking his finger warningly. “You may find support waning if you institute these policies.”
“Is that a threat?” Kendrick asked mildly.
The Montmorencys paused. The wife stepped into the breach. “Sire,” she said in a particularly sweet tone. Only those with a good ear could hear the venom under it. “Please pardon my husband. The pressures of this age weigh on him. It was concern for the future that made him speak out of turn.”
“Madam, I understand fear of change. But staying in a broken system is its own kind of death.”
Genevieve said firmly, “Vampires cannot be allowed to turn and abandon humans with impunity. That is why we have instituted a turning ban and have put oversight of blood bonds into place.”
Montmorency opened his mouth, but Kendrick drawled, “My wife is quite right, Montmorency.” His eyes glittered. “For one thing, it looks suspicious.”
Silence descended on the room.
In the stillness, Kendrick stood and planted himself in front of the fireplace, holding his hands out to the fire in the grate, though he did not need the flame to warm him.
“After all, you went out of your way to turn them.” He spun around and nailed the other vampire with his gaze.
“It makes us question whether or not you obtained their consent. Whether or not you applied to the ruler of the Ossuary for consent.”
“The Draugodrottin did not require it,” Mrs. Montmorency said in her tinkly voice.
Kendrick smiled at her, all teeth. “We do. It also makes us question your goal in turning them, if not to bring them into your own household. I’m curious.”
She didn’t move a muscle.
“It’s something we like to mull over. A little thought exercise, positing different vampire motivations.
Perhaps you are thinking of setting up your own little kingdom in the Ossuary.
Your own power base, if you will. But that, of course, would be akin to a contestation of rulership.
” He fingered the sword that was never far from his side, even now. “Wouldn’t it?”
They did not have any response to that.
Genevieve spread her hands. “Mr. Montmorency, if you don’t wish to make restitution to your dependents, we have a very simple solution to make sure everyone contributes fairly to what you term ‘Ossuary upkeep.’”
“What is that?” Montmorency said, drumming his fingers on his knee.
“Taxes.”
As the Montmorencys recoiled, Genevieve raised an eyebrow. “Well, we clearly can’t depend on good Christian charity, can we? Either way, we will not turn a blind eye to the less fortunate among us anymore.”
Kendrick just smiled. “What you may not understand about my wife, Montmorency, is that she was one of the Ossuary ‘rabble,’ and a more industrious woman I have never met.”
Mrs. Montmorency jumped into the breach. “How romantic,” she breathed, “that you met in such a way.”
“I think so, since she saved my life,” Kendrick said. He turned his head and met Genevieve’s wide eyes.
The Montmorencys pulled up abruptly.
“Genevieve was the one to warn me of the assassination attempts against me. A true heroine.” Kendrick smiled. “How could I not be captivated?”
“Assassination attempts,” Montmorency said, attempting to regain control of the conversation. “You see, the rabble are not to be trusted!”
“Most of the attempts came from Rupert’s power group, who were very much not rabble.
Joseph has confirmed which had dependents and which did not and has seized their unclaimed assets.
They were in truth very well off in vampire terms. Stupidity is not limited by class.
” Kendrick smiled again, but this time it was all teeth.
Once they had bidden the Montmorencys a firm adieu, Kendrick wrapped his arm around Genevieve’s shoulders. “Well, I think that went well.”
“It was certainly interesting,” Genevieve admitted.
“I thought we’d get some ‘helpful’ visits sooner or later. He just couldn’t help himself, could he?” Kendrick mused.
“What on earth was she doing? Her neck was on a swivel, did you notice that? Who did she expect to come through the door?”
“Refreshments,” Kendrick said dryly.
“But we don’t—” Genevieve broke off, arrested. “She expected human refreshments?”
“I would put money on it.”
“She really expected a human to walk through the door and let her bite them? Or perhaps bleed into a teacup to be a bit more proper?” Genevieve’s tone wavered between outraged and flabbergasted.
“I think they are the type of vampires to maintain a connection to the human world in order to puppeteer people and events to their liking,” Kendrick said. “But they certainly don’t view humans as beings of worth.”
“Goodness, there are more like them?” She sounded only half-joking.
“I’m sure.”
They exchanged a look.
“You want to do something about that, don’t you?” Kendrick smiled.
“Well, we will need to check on any humans who are a part of their households. I don’t know how to do that yet, but…”
“You will,” he assured her.
Genevieve bit her lip. “Thank you for what you said. About me being a…heroine.”
“It was true,” he said, taking her hand. “My wife is an astoundingly capable woman, and I am blessed to be married to her.” He bent his head and kissed her, laving his tongue over the lip she had been worrying, soothing away the hurt.
Genevieve wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. “I like it when you call me your wife,” she whispered in his ear. Kendrick could feel her smile against his cheek.
“I am thankful that it is true.”