Chapter 10 #2
“Yes.” She drew the word out slowly, with caution. “His blood can cure life-threatening wounds. It can rid a bloodstream of poison…he’s saved many lives.”
“And not just the lives of vampires,” Davorin grunted, running his tongue along the point of his sharp fang.
“Really?” Atlas ignored his intimidation tactics, more intrigued by this new information. “And when he uses his blood to heal another, it doesn’t turn them?”
“No.” Valaina shook her head, morphing back into the prim Eldress of the Morvayne. “I imagine it has something to do with his maker.”
Atlas leaned forward, resting one elbow on his knee, and running his thumb along his jaw. “Who’s his maker?”
Davorin stomped back over to Valaina’s side, pinning Atlas with a heated glare. “You have a lot of questions, Your Highness.”
“The more I understand, the easier it will be to find out who has taken Khiran, and why.” Atlas kept his focus on Valaina when he spoke, but he didn’t miss the way Davorin bristled at the slight out of the corner of his eye.
“Khiran’s maker is Lothaire, an ancient elder from the Stravoka clan.” Valaina stole a quick look out the window before returning her attention to Atlas. Already the stars were winking out and a hue of violet was painting the sky. “He hails from the Northernlands.”
It was Caedian who spoke next, stepping further into the reception room. The silver of his eyes was clouded with apprehension. “So, Elder Lothaire is still alive?”
Valaina’s eyes flicked to Caedian, and those lips of hers lifted into a feminine smile. “Very much so, Captain Trivaris.”
If Caedian wasn’t careful, Davorin would be after him next.
“And why,” Atlas asked, drawing Valaina’s attention away from his captain, “do you think Lothaire has some effect on Khiran’s blood?”
Valaina’s seductive smile vanished. Her expression shifted to one of solemnity, she closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, the icy blue burned like fire. “Because Lothaire is fae.”
Atlas gaped at the Eldress.
He snapped his mouth shut, shared a fleeting look of “what the fuck” with Caedian whose face reflected the same shock and disbelief. Atlas pinched the bridge of his nose, replaying her words in his mind. “Let me make sure I’m following you. Lothaire…is a fae vampire?”
“Fae vampire. Vampire fae. It’s all the same thing, really.” Valaina shrugged, then held out her hand. Davorin clasped it readily, lifting her to her feet. “But yes, that is correct, Your Highness.”
Atlas couldn’t believe it. He didn’t think such a thing was possible.
A vampire fae ? Not in all his hundreds of years of study and education, of poring over lore and traditions, had he ever read about a faerie vampire.
It was absurd. Worse, it was slightly terrifying.
He imagined this Lothaire would be damn near unstoppable in terms of magic and strength.
“Will you help us find Khiran, Your Imperial Highness?” Valaina turned her alluring smile on him, but that charm had faded when Davorin threatened to cut off his cock. “He’s incredibly important to our clan.”
“I’ll help in any way I can, Eldress.” He stood, dipped his head in a show of respect, half listening, half thinking the disappearing immortals were becoming a more troublesome situation than he’d originally thought.
“Good.” Valaina moved closer to Davorin, the nearness of her mate somehow amplifying her power. “Because if not, we will search for him on our own and kill anyone who stands in our way.”
“I’d expect nothing less.” Atlas flashed her one of his most devastating grins. “But there is no need for bloodshed…yet.”
Valaina curtsied. Davorin bowed. And then they blurred from sight, disappearing into the night before the first rays of sunlight could catch them.
Atlas raked his hands through his hair, then spun to face Caedian. “A fucking vampire fae? Have you ever heard of such a thing?”
“No, Your Highness.” Caedian worried his bottom lip, looking more than unsettled by the wealth of newly uncovered information. “Never.”
“Bleeding skies. How does that even happen?” Atlas walked over to the long table on the far wall, where bottles of liquor and empty glasses waited patiently to be enjoyed.
He poured a hefty amount of honeyfire for himself and then another for his captain.
“It sounds like something out of one of the horror novels my mother used to read.”
“Indeed, it does,” Caedian agreed.
They clinked their glasses together.
“ Dravska. ”
Atlas nodded once. “ Dravska. ”
Caedian downed his shot, then replaced the small glass on the table. “I’m afraid I have more slightly unfortunate news for you, Your Highness.”
The smoky sweet liquor burned Atlas’s throat, doing little to ease the swell of agitation gnawing away at him. “Lovely. What now?”
“Per your orders, I sent a scouting group of my three best soldiers to track Everinne and keep an eye on her.”
A sinking sensation seized Atlas’s gut. The alcohol turned rancid and his heart dropped.
“What did they discover?” he asked, dreading the answer.
“The good news is, she found employment.” Caedian shifted on his feet, uneasy. “The bad news is she’s working at the Mystic Obscura.”
“ What ?” Rage bubbled to the surface and his grip on the glass tightened until he thought it would shatter in his fist. “The Mystic Obscura is by invitation only, and the cost to get in is…”
Not something he would want her to pay. In this life or the next.
Fuck.
Atlas threw the glass against the far wall and it exploded, raining down like broken shards of ice. “How did she get in? How did she even find the place?”
It wasn’t easily done. The Mystic Obscura was hidden behind a heavy wall of glamour. One had to already know where they were going to even get there.
Caedian’s deep umber skin turned ashen. “That’s where the bad news gets worse, Your Highness.”
Great.
“Out with it, Captain,” Atlas growled.
“She was brought there by Jarek Zima.” Caedian’s voice grew cold. Brittle. “The demon summoner.”
“Fucking skies.”
Atlas seethed. He’d told her to stay away from Jarek, trusted that she wouldn’t be so fucking stupid.
Fury ravaged him. He was pissed at her for being so mindlessly careless and furious with himself for not doing more to stop it.
The Mystic Obscura was no place for her.
Not to entertain, and certainly not to work.
He knew firsthand what it was like inside those magical walls, he knew what they did behind those glamoured curtains.
Atlas stormed out of the reception room, heading for the far end of his wing. Opening one hand, he summoned a sleek black helmet. He would take his arcanic volt , the two-wheeled vehicle would get him to her apartment faster than even his wings.
“Your Highness!” Caedian called out after him. “Where are you going?”
“To talk some sense into Everinne.” Atlas spared his captain a glance, his anger mounting with each passing second. “Before her brother finds out what she’s done.”