Chapter 4
Tobias
Tobias pulled a small dagger from a pocket inside his jacket. He dragged it slowly across his palm until rivulets of blood began to trickle down his arm.
Instantaneously, Kitty appeared in the room. When she realized nobody was in danger, she growled under a breath. “Are you kidding me, Martelli? I was finally winning the fucking game.”
“Guardian angel,” Christo announced proudly.
“Kitty?” Althea breathed. “You’re an angel now?”
Her brows lifted. “Oh, hey, what are you doing here?”
Tobias looked from one to the other. “Of course you two already know each other.”
“Keep your panties on, Martelli. I should tell Lyla you’re here. She would love to see you.” Kitty dematerialized, and came back with Lyla, Lori, and Vixen.
“Mortal servants one, three, and six. Plus, demon ally,” Christo said smugly.
“Would you shut up?” Tobias hissed at him.
“Can we really trust him?” Althea asked Lyla.
On one hand, being validated would be fantastic. On the other, the fact she trusted Lyla’s opinion more than his, pissed Tobias off.
“You underestimate him,” Lyla said, her Scandinavian accent a strong contrast to Althea’s Southern drawl. “He is much more than what he seems.”
“Six servants?” Althea cast a side glance at Tobias as though she expected him to try to take back the allegation.
“Oh yes,” Lyla laughed. “Though The Immortal Trinity is the thing you should be impressed by. He can be arrogant and irritating sometimes, but if you are looking for safety and protection, you could do no better in this realm.” She smirked at Tobias, who smirked back.
Beside her, Lori and Vixen watched Althea with interest.
“Fine.” Althea rolled her eyes. “If you have these females in your corner, I’m in. What are your terms?”
He’d been so busy focusing on getting her to agree, Tobias had forgotten this was an actual negotiation. He couldn’t just oath her for free, there had to be a price, or it would seem suspicious.
“If you take my oath, you will serve as my enforcer, and you will train one of my newbie vamps who is showing promise. In return I offer you and your entourage of thirty-three vampires, protection within the bounds of my kingdom, the State of New York.”
“Male or female?”
“Would you really base your decision on gender?” Will asked, curiosity lurking in his arctic-blue gaze.
“Yes. It would be an insult to my females.”
Somewhere in the room, a cellphone began to buzz. It was coming from Althea. She stared at the vibrating pocket as if she’d forgotten she even owned a phone. With great reluctance, she extracted it and looked at the screen.
“Fuck. It’s Marquez.”
“And?” Tobias kept his face expressionless.
“Arghhh.” Althea pinched at the bridge of her nose. “Fine, but if your baby vamp thinks his dick is taking up residence with me or any of my females, I will cut it off. Best you warn him.”
“Charming.” Rion muttered.
“Christo, go find me some feeders,” Tobias ordered. He rolled back a sleeve and allowed his fangs to elongate. Scoring a wrist, he offered it to Althea.
Her eyes widened. “Right here? Now?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I had no idea you had a more pressing engagement. Yes now, before I bleed all over the damned carpet.”
Kitty clapped a palm to her forehead. “Ugh. Vampires…”
“We should return to the penthouse,” Lyla suggested. “We are not needed here.”
Kitty nodded, and all four females left.
Althea took his wrist and began to drink. After a couple of mouthfuls, she stopped and recited the terms Tobias had set down.
“That’s great, keep drinking.” Tobias pushed his arm to her a second time.
“What?” She studied his wrist as if she’d walked into some sort of trap. “Surely that was enough? How are you going to oath the rest of us if I drink it all?”
“That will be unnecessary,” Rion said smoothly. They are tied to you. If you oath yourself to Tobias, they become his by default.”
“Well, shit,” she breathed. “I didn’t know you had enough power to do it like that.” With much less aggression, she took his wrist again and started to drink. After a moment or two, she raised her gaze to meet his.
“I’ll let you know when to stop,” he said quietly.
Though she continued feeding, her smirk was unmistakable. As he felt individual connections ignite with each of her vampires, he couldn’t help but wonder what sort of shit-storm they’d started.
“Relax Tobias. We are doing the best we can under extraordinary circumstances. Gaining more minions will only increase your powerbase. With the additional immortals you have amassed at your side, we can survive this.”
Tobias steeled his expression for the sake of Althea, but Rion’s silent declaration helped a little.
“We’re in unchartered waters, you know?”
“I do. However, doubt has no place in your heart.” The demon cleared his throat and addressed the others in the room. “I shall check on the vampires and the hounds.”
Rion
Instead of transporting himself directly from Tobias’ office to the storage room, Rion decided to use the hallway instead. He wanted time to think and the walk would afford him that.
He had to constantly remind himself how much younger Tobias was than he and Will.
The male could be fearless and certainly didn’t lack in power.
But, as he’d claimed, they were in unchartered waters.
They’d barely had time to catch a breath since returning from the ordeal in Hell.
Now, Tobias had been thrust under an even greater spotlight he hadn’t asked for and didn’t want.
It was so much more than the burden that came with the throne of New York.
On some level, Rion felt responsible. The quest to save him had cost both Tobias and Will considerably.
Despite this, he felt no guilt, only gratitude.
Confidence surged through him. They hadn’t been through everything they had, to fail now.
No matter what Marquez decided to do, or what wrath he sought to wage upon them, Rion had faith they would come out on top.
Tobias’ faltering could not become apparent to those beneath him. If anyone thought for a moment he was afraid, this empire would all crumble at the first hurdle.
It shall be my responsibility to prevent such an atrocity from coming to pass.
The moment Rion stepped into the storage room; he could sense the unease. The hounds were standing at attention, facing inward toward the circle of vampires. The vampires themselves appeared frightened, standing as close as possible to the hounds without leaving their invisible prison.
Something has occurred in the center of that group. What could unsettle them to this degree?
“We have done nothing wrong!” A vampire shouted.
He frowned. “No accusations have been made. Of what do you speak?”
“We came here to warn you of our king’s intentions, and we are being executed like criminals,” said another. “What trickery is this?”
“Executed? Who has been executed?”
After a brief hesitation, the vampires parted to reveal a dead female in the center of their formation. Rion’s brows knit together.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
“I felt the bond with my king disintegrate,” said the one who had alerted him to the death.
“Then, a new bond formed with someone else. I’m guessing Mr. Martelli?
Others had this happen, too. Before we’d all been converted, Mila took a dagger from her coat and staked herself.
She must have been under some kind of glamour. ”
Rion’s gaze moved to the leader of the hellhounds. Lemures shook his head, denying any hound involvement. Since nobody else had been present with enough power to force execution, he could draw only one conclusion.
“Perhaps she feared the ramifications of conversion,” he mused.
“Never!” The female declared vehemently. “I am Althea’s delegate and I take charge in her absence. It is my job to know everything about the females under our protection. None our females would self-terminate. They know Althea and I always act in their best interests. They trust us.”
Rion looked her up and down. The leather pants and cream-colored silk top screamed Vera Wang, and her high-end jewelry spoke of class.
Long black hair had been drawn back tightly from her face, into a knotted bun, pinned with a beaded accessory.
Her dark complexion held the luminous undertones of great skincare, evident despite her makeup.
“What is your name, vampire?”
Her eyes narrowed, but for some reason she appeared to trust Rion. “Keziah.”
“I am Rion Le Roux.” He gave a polite nod. “Whatever has transpired here has nothing to do with Tobias Martelli, or anyone affiliated with his Kiss.”
“What about them?” She pointed to the hounds. “I’ve heard they have abilities.”
“They do, but you have my word, they are not involved in anything nefarious.”
Rion stepped between the hounds and into the cluster of vampires, who shrank back at once.
He ignored this, and placed his focus on the expired female sprawled on the floor.
It was impossible to gain any insight. The staking had pierced the heart precisely and completely.
There would be no coming back from that.
“Martelli,” Rion said telepathically. “We need you here.”
“I’m not done. For some reason I can’t claim one of the vamps. Althea is freaking out. I’m just feeding and I’ll try again.”
He arose and dusted off his trousers. “That is why you must come. She has expired.”
“What? What the fuck is going on over there?”
“I cannot yet be certain.” With an audible sigh, Rion’s gaze pulled away from the deceased, to rest upon Keziah. “Mr. Martelli will join us presently.”
“How can you know that?” She asked, eyes clouded with suspicion. “What kind of game are you playing?”
“We do not require speech to communicate. We need not even be in the same room.”
Keziah’s eyes widened. “Telepathy? Damn…”
Moments later, Tobias, Christo, and Althea materialized, courtesy of Will. Tobias hadn’t even paused his feeding to make the short journey; Will’s arm pressed to his lips. Rion could only hope the angel’s blood could sustain Tobias long enough to get to the bottom of this shit-show.
Keziah gasped. “You feed from angels?”
The words did not register for Althea. She ran straight into the cluster of vampires, where she sank to her knees beside the dead, already aware of her expiration. A long moan tore free of her throat. “What has happened? Who did this?”
“She did it to herself,” a timid-looking vampire said.
“What games are you playing, Martelli?” Althea glared at him.
Tobias licked Will’s wound closed and steeled his expression. “I know nothing about this, but we will get to the bottom of it.
“You promised you would protect us!” She shouted.
“Whatever this is, happened before I managed to bond with her.” Tobias said testily. “How am I supposed to know anyone is in need of protection before that occurs?”
“Don’t you think it’s odd that all the vampires you’ve already bonded are safe?” Will folded both arms over his chest, studying the bodies from afar. “The only one you hadn’t bonded is the one who passed on.”
“Mila didn’t pass on; she staked herself like it was some sort of suicide pact!” Keziah glowered at him.
“It is most concerning,” Rion agreed.
“Did Marquez do this?” Christo asked, looking to Tobias for answers.
“Not possible,” came the reply. “No matter how strong his glamour might be, he couldn’t do it from outside of this room, and most definitely not all the way from Florida.”
“Well, what are we going to do about it? How do we know the rest of us are safe?” Althea demanded.
“As long as I am okay, you’re okay,” Tobias said gruffly. “If I’m not? Then, you can worry.”
“Christo, why don’t you give these vampires a tour of the club and the palace,” Rion said. “Assign them places to sleep. Keziah and Althea can liaise with us regarding this matter.”
The vampire king nodded his approval. The females exchanged uneasy glances, before looking to Althea for guidance.
“Yeah, do what he said,” she confirmed. “I’ve got your backs.”