10
“I went by Albuquerque to pick up breakfast and drop off some cleaning supplies that I heard they needed,” the noble told us after we were in my private dining room with all of the people who should be there. “They’re very nice there and kind that we don’t speak English well—understand we’re guests. So we help too.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” I said when he seemed worried.
He nodded and let out a slow breath. “I heard one of the workers worry someone was missing. She said she was going to check and I followed after her—just to make sure, not intrude or be nosy. I was just going to stay outside the building. But she found the woman crying saying a vampire fed from her.”
“What?” I bit out, rage filling me.
He nodded. “I came right here and told you immediately. That is all I know. I swear.”
“Find Sundar and get who we need there,” I ordered people and went right for Kristof. “Come with us.”
“We will fix this,” Kristof comforted. “At least she’s alive.”
“What if she’s not his first victim or worse has happened?” I worried, voicing what we were all thinking.
“Then we will handle that too,” he promised.
Hopefully, we could.
People figured out something was up with a bunch of us showing up or some had already guessed the situation. There was a large group gathered by the women’s dorm, and I could feel the migraine already forming.
“You’re not taking her, you monsters,” someone bellowed as she moved out in front of the others.
I frowned and glanced around. “Taking her?”
Someone cleared their throat and I saw Vitor move closer. “They think you’re here to take the woman and deal with her so she can’t tell people what happened.”
I looked at the woman with horror. “What have I remotely done to make you even consider that? Accuse me of something so heinous?”
Someone snorted to my left and I mentally winced when I saw it was Chris, a bit worried with everything that had been going on.
“You’re way off base and don’t understand her at all. She’s here to find the vampire who did this and punish him. So let her. She’s the boss around here. She found out and immediately dropped everything to handle this and keep order. You owe her that for accepting her protection and then not having faith she’d keep her promise to keep order.”
The woman bristled. “She promised we weren’t food.”
That pissed me off. “I can’t control people. You all bitch about how much I control you now and don’t allow you to have weapons and to just do what you want. But you also want me to keep you safe. Well, what others want is to do bad things. I can’t make everyone never do bad things. I can punish them and I will.”
“Make a hole,” Kristof barked, people listening and immediately parting for us.
“Wait out here,” I told him, sighing when he gave me a look that it wasn’t happening. “You’re scary, my love, and she’s been through something traumatic.”
“We’re here,” Trisha said from behind us. “A few female noble vamps as well.”
“Good.” I nodded to Kristof that it was fine.
“We’ll protect her, and none of the humans are armed,” Trisha reminded them.
I nodded to a woman who waved to me and went over to her. I went inside the room and knelt in front of the woman who was still sniffling and mopping up her face. “I need to hear you say it.”
“A vampire fed from me,” she whispered. “He didn’t force me, but I didn’t feel I had a choice really.”
“She’s telling the truth,” a noble vamp I recognized from Kaitlin’s coven told me. “I have the same gift as Sundar.”
I muttered a thank-you and lowered my head to the human. “I am so, so sorry this happened to you. I will make it right and punish him. I swear it. Are you okay? Physically? Did he take too much or—”
“No, no , nothing like that. This wasn’t even—” She hugged me and let out a shaky breath, people gasping around us.
Yeah, I was shocked too thinking there was no chance she’d want to even touch a vampire right then.
“Some men just want to hurt us,” she rasped. “This wasn’t about your species or mine. He was pissed I only allowed my wrist. I don’t care about the blood. He was annoyed that was all he got this time , and next time he expected more services.”
He was dead. He was so fucking dead that… Dead.
I rubbed her back and apologized again and again, promising it was over and he would never hurt her or anyone again. Once she settled a bit, there was really only one thing I needed to know. “Who? Do you know who?”
“I don’t know his name. I’ve seen him around a few times.”
“I know his face too because he was around her yesterday,” another woman said. “He talked of Bahati once when he came for food. That’s one of the old coven leaders, right? You know how to find him from that?”
“Yes, she was, but—maybe,” I muttered as I glanced at Trisha.
“You have to go big, Inez,” she warned.
“Oh, he’s dead,” I chuckled darkly, ignoring the gasps around me. “Painfully.”
“Yeah, but to find him and make it clear this isn’t just for show,” Lara muttered. “And others will fight for the vision you share. Tell people to turn him in.”
“Yeah, but if people only turn him in for a reward, then do they really believe in the same vision, and then it’s hostility that they can’t trust each other,” Trisha worried.
“Do not leave her side,” I told them when it looked like they had more to say. I met the woman’s gaze. “I need you to be brave and identify him when we find him. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes, Princess.” She pursed her lips. “And I was going to report it. I just—I needed a minute and—”
“I know. Sometimes all the people with great hearing are really helpful even if they stick their noses in too much.” I helped her up and was glad when she was steady on her feet and confident when the right people were with her. “Walk me through what happened if you can.”
She let out a slow breath and nodded. It was basic. She’d seen him several times getting food and he’d been friendly. This morning she’d been walking over to set up for breakfast and he asked for her to help bring over something but then said he was actually thirsty. She said it was against the rules, but he laughed it off as done all of the time and no big deal.
He threw everything at her to gaslight her about how vampires were keeping her safe and she couldn’t even give him a bit of blood. He should really tell the people in charge of the place she was so unhelpful—everything to pressure her and the typical shit to make her feel she was the problem and he was reasonable.
So she caved and offered her wrist. He scoffed at that and wanted her neck, saying she needed to be more agreeable if she was going to stay.
All of the same bullshit I’d seen time and time again from the guards who were in charge of the settlements.
I met Kristof’s gaze when we were outside.
“We heard you,” he told me. “I ordered everyone from Bahati’s coven to come here. All of the vampires who can come here who are not on protection shifts right now. Everything stops. Everything.”
“Good.” I let everyone see me kiss his cheek in praise and went up to the dais that James had used the day before. Vampires started showing up fast, realizing something was really going on, but staying outside of the fenced area. I thought because they sensed tension, but Kristof nodded that it was him and he’d ordered it.
My husband was a smart man and getting all of the gifts from me because I couldn’t even think straight in my upset.
More and more arrived, and then tension kept building until what I thought was a fight broke out, but then I realized it was someone fighting being restrained.
“I will end you and take the chance it wasn’t you, git,” Cerdic growled. “Make way!”
No, that was Ceawlin who said that second part, both of them with blood on their faces and dragging three guys between them. There were a few women in their group and several other nobles of our coven—a few visiting ones.
“Silence!” I bellowed when everyone had too much to say about all of it. “Everyone shut the fuck up! And get the rest of everyone here. We are handling this right and publicly. Jaxon, I want you here too.”
“I’m here, My Princess,” he said from the group behind me, stepping up and closer.
I nodded. “Ask the victim if she can come among everyone and identify her attacker publicly.”
“None of us attacked a human,” one of the three vampires growled. “Never.”
“That’s true,” Sundar said as he moved up to Kristof.
I narrowed my eyes at the vampires. “ She was not willing. Fine, there’s an abuser because someone fucking coerced her and put pressure on her. And it was against the rules of my fucking coven. So you’re splitting hairs.” I smiled evilly at them. “Not so quick to say it wasn’t you now?”
Two glanced at each other and the one Cerdic was holding dipped his head to me. “I’ve not fed on a human in over a year, Princess Inez. I fought because suddenly Ceawlin came for us and he’s—we’ve had beef.”
“He speaks the truth,” Sundar confirmed.
“It wasn’t him,” a shaky female voice said from behind me. “It’s him in the red sweater.”
“You’re sure?” I checked, glancing at her over my shoulder.
She was. It was in her eyes.
“I’ll punish him,” I promised, not making her say it. “It’s your choice if you want to see it or not.”
“Punish me for what? ” the guy bellowed. “She offered me blood and—”
My power flared and a gash formed across his face. “Don’t lie to me, git.” I gave him a dangerous look. “Do not lie to Aether’s champion.”
“And do not speak to my wife like that again,” Cerdic warned, the one holding him.
“It wasn’t this one?” Ceawlin checked with the other one he was holding.
“No, it wasn’t me, Princess,” the guy said quickly. “It was like he said and we thought it was old beefs with Ceawlin.”
“It wasn’t him,” the human confirmed. “Though he has mooed at us.”
“You are banished from my coven,” I seethed, three gashes appearing across his body, blood spilling from him and taking him to his knees. I let out a slow breath and then stared out at all of the vampires around us. “We are no better than anyone else! Hear me on this! Hear me as Aether’s champion that our Goddess believes this!
“We are all Her children. She gave us strength and power to protect all of Her children. Our job was to keep the shifters and humans safe, and millions are fucking dead! We have failed in that job, and I will not allow us to keep failing. That is the point in all of this. We save as many of Aether’s children as we can. We live . We survive the apocalypse to live better lives.
“Not to make humans food and shifters our pets. By all the gods, hear me and believe me on this because I would rather wipe out all vampires before I allow that mindset to fester in my fucking coven.” I nodded when people couldn’t hide their shock. “No, I’m not kidding. I don’t bluff. And yes, I will do it. I will kill vampires to protect humans .”
“My Princess, you should know it was his sister who turned him in,” Cerdic informed me when I tried to get myself under control. He nodded when I did a double take, glancing at the two women with them.
“Speak,” I told the one closer to him.
She dipped her head to me. “He has grown increasingly disrespectful and full of himself. He was afraid of Bahati—we all were. But now he says things like this coven is run by men, men have learned better and will the bosses.”
“Shut up, you—”
“No!” she snapped. “I will not let you drag us all down with you. I will not stand by as you talk the same bullshit others have to us while paying lip service that women were really ever in charge! We all knew it was lies.” She met my gaze again. “My grandmother used to say that Bahati’s descent into madness started the day her older brother raped her because of his jealousy.”
“What?” I breathed.
She nodded. “That he couldn’t stand that she was special and he was just another noble, and as small men do, he used his strength against her and took what he thought he was owed. That broke her, and the result was so many suffered. Instead of protecting the one chosen to protect all of us and seeing his real role—”
I blinked and she backhanded the man, Ceawlin hurrying to drop the other guys and restrain her.
“You pressured that poor woman who was nice to you, you monster! She’s been nice to all of us after all we’ve all suffered. Zombies and crazies and—you barely do anything while boasting that women will now serve men as it should be. Aether is our Goddess and in charge. You have gone crazy because you cannot accept you are insignificant.
“Instead of working harder to become someone of substance, you will just take what you want. Act like it’s owed you and pressure people but not have the courage to stand up for what you think is right because you know it’s against the rules. You’re a coward and I’m ashamed of you. I’m not beneath you because I have breasts! ”
“Hear, hear,” several said loudly.
“And since I’m at the top and have breasts,” I chuckled darkly. “I say she’s right and my vote has the most weight here.” I moved closer to the man and studied his eyes. I shocked everyone by spitting in his face. “You’re a pig. There’s no regret in your eyes. Only anger. Only spite and rage.” I pointed to the woman. “You upset her.
“Another living person. You scared her and traumatized her. If you regretted it and realized you’d gone too far or could—maybe if this was some sort of smack upside the head that you had gone too far, but there’s no remorse in you. Only upset that we found out.” I was glad when I saw Tian there and went over to him, opening his jacket much to his surprise.
Because he always kept throwing knives on him. Sure enough, he had a vest with a dozen of them.
“I’ll give them back,” I promised as I pulled out four. I moved faster than most would think and stabbed the first in the guy’s gut. “Why did you think you would get away with this in my coven? Are you delusional or have others done this? Tell me if you heard this from someone else or I will make your death as painful as possible. By Aether, I promise it.”
And then I offered one of the knives to the woman he’d wronged.
She swallowed loudly but then met my gaze. “It’s not in me.”
I gave her a kind smile. “There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m a fighter. I’m not good at comforting. We can’t be all things.”
“You did a great job comforting me, Princess,” she argued. “This is—there aren’t words for the comfort you’re giving to every woman who has suffered at the hands of a man.”
Fair enough.
I nodded before turning to the guy and stabbing another knife in his shoulder. “Tell me.”
“I didn’t hear it from anyone,” he bit out. “She was easy. She giggled and flirted. She wanted me and—”
I stabbed him in the groin. “That is not for you to decide!” I backed away and looked out at everyone. “Hear me that consent will be given in this coven. At all levels. I don’t fucking care what you think . Nothing is implied or insinuated. You do not pressure people or imply they owe you. They owe you nothing .
“The only one people owe is me and mine , and you know what we ask? Not fucking sexual favors or blood. No, we ask people work and help. That’s it. Everyone works and helps. You do that or you’re out. You keep to my rules or you’re out. Or dead. Very dead. If that is unclear or you will not adhere to that— leave . Leave now! ”
“Have you fed from anyone else?” Cerdic asked the guy. He looked relieved when the guy said no and Sundar confirmed it.
“Do you know of anyone else feeding from any human of this coven?” Sundar asked, all of us sighing in relief when he said no and it was true.
Then that left only one thing.
“Did my husband tell you that feeding from humans wasn’t allowed in my coven?” I asked him. “Did Jaxon tell you that you were not allowed to touch any human in this coven and then we worked out the system with the shifters and that was the only way to feed?”
He didn’t want to answer, giving me a look to fuck off.
I chuckled darkly. “I will shock your heart and make it stop before restarting it and healing you. Do you have any idea how painful that is? I will do it again and again until your body—until I can’t even heal you. I will do it for kicks and train everyone—”
“Yes, he told me,” he seethed. “He told all of us, you stupid bitch.” He spit at me this time. “You kill me and all these guest vampires will revolt. They will overrun you and take this place and all you have for themselves before—”
The completely clear sky turned instantly dark as thunder and lightning started. Two bolts hit the fencing and electrified it.
I chuckled darkly, shock and fear in the faces of the vampires near us. “Yeah, don’t make threats like that against Aether’s champion. She doesn’t like it. She wants me to live to beat Her brother and win this war so life continues on Her planet.” I looked up and took in a long breath. “Thank you for your approval and blessing that I punish your child, Aether.
“I will carry out your will and protect the humans of this world as best as I can. Only those who stand with me and live according to your teachings will be allowed in my coven. I swear it.” I looked out at all of the vampires. “No feeding from humans. None. Some of you aren’t even doing enough to deserve the blood you’re getting and that fucking ends.
“Get your asses in gear or get the fuck out. And saying we won’t do it because we need people—we’ll close ranks. We have enough good vampires and shifters to protect what we have. We have more than fourteen covens of loyal allies. We’ll be fine. More than fine. You will have nothing and every bridge will be burned.
“We will just stop expanding. No more extras. No more putting things back online, but you will go back to no electricity living in the Stone Ages shitting in buckets and expired anything you can find in Europe because you won’t live here. Or South America. No, you’ll leave and have to avoid any coven I’m allied with like the others we’ve tossed out.
“So now we’re going to have an in-depth sit-down and get real ground rules in place because the shock of everything has passed. People will step the fuck up and earn the blessing of being in this coven that others would kill to be in and beg to be a part of or you’re gone.” I gave them a moment with that. “And never forget this moment.
“Because this is the price of feeding from a human.” I went over to the vampire and slit his throat deeply until his head about separated off his neck. I kept my hand fisting his hair so his body weighed the wound down and he couldn’t put pressure to even try and let it heal. “Never forget this moment and know that my rules aren’t lip service.
“They aren’t bullshit. Men do not run this coven, and I am not a puppet. My husbands support me as they should. I also practice what I preach, and shifters and humans advise me, are my right hands. Everyone is equal in my coven. I do not care if you are shifter, human, or vampire. I care if you are a good person and live with integrity.
“I care if you are a benefit to my coven and will peacefully live our ways.” I dropped the now-dead vampire. “Or if you’ll be a problem and hurt my people like this asshole and have to be dealt with. If anyone doubts my words—well, I suggest you don’t. Just don’t. I’ve given you no reason to doubt me or think that I won’t live up to them.
“But if you’re still stupid and think it’s all bluster or I’m putting on an act—leave. We don’t want you here, and you’re wasting our time which pisses me off. Some of you are really pissing me off. I’m not a cruel princess like you had and then you think me weak. So we have to be cruel or we’re weak? Are we the problem or are you?
“Be cruel and monsters or you walk all over us? Geez, I wonder if we become monsters to survive?” I glanced all around again. “So the choice is yours. Leave or get in line because I won’t become a monster to survive. Aether has made it clear that with Her support, this is another way—She wants more for Her daughters that She gives this much power to.
“That you all have failed in respecting and supporting us . I don’t care how things were done. There won’t be this court bullshit of lazy, pompous assholes who think they’re special or get perks. Everyone works or get out! The humans aren’t slaves or cows. The shifters aren’t pets. Vampires aren’t top of the food chain. The only one at the top is me, and I serve Aether! ”
“May the gods bless your vision, My Princess,” Cerdic said… As he lowered himself to one knee.
Darius said the same and did as well. Kristof saying it but moving behind me for protection, Vitor and a few others taking flanking positions just to be safe.
I was filled with hope when vampires all around the fence started doing the same even if they didn’t say “My Princess” but simply Princess or Princess Inez. Yeah, that was what they should do.
A few ran off though. I saw people nod that they caught it too.
They should leave… While we allowed it.
If they came back and started trouble though, they would get the same as the dead vampire at my feet.