30. Novak
Chapter 30
Novak
A human waitress in a slinky, short dress approached me with a tray. “Can I get you a blood cocktail, sir?”
“No, thank you.”
She slipped away just as demurely as she’d approached, leaving me alone in the VIP loft of Pulse Point nightclub, one of Blood ‘til Dawn’s many businesses. I glanced at my watch, knowing full well that their lateness was a power move. As if they didn’t make me jump through enough hoops just to set up this meeting. All I could do was grit my teeth and show that I was willing to play ball.
At long last, three dark figures ascended the stairs, red smoke of darakt wafting all around them like a cloud. Thorne’s face became clear in the dim club lights first, shadows making his cheekbones and jaw more pronounced. He was flanked by Rhain and Cyan.
I didn’t get up to greet them and they showed no expectation of it, taking seats on the sofa across from me. Blood ‘til Dawn, with its humble roots, was not a clan of formalities and social gestures even after taking the ruling seat. Secretly, I’d always admired that about them.
“So, are congratulations in order?” Thorne had already finished his first darakt cigarette and lit up a fresh one. “Have you knocked up Carpe Noctem’s daughter yet?”
On either side of him, Rhain and Cyan tensed. If it was possible for Blood ‘til Dawn to hate a clan more than mine, it was definitely Carpe Noctem. Cyan especially looked like he was holding himself back from throttling me.
“Nothing came of that deal,” I said. “I had a change of heart and broke it off. Permanently. There’s nothing Baros has that would benefit me.”
Thorne’s brows lifted slightly. Whether it was genuine surprise or his usual sarcasm, I couldn’t tell. “So you’ve lost the chance for an heir and the brusang who fell in love with you. Must be rough.”
“You still made the deal in the first place,” Rhain pointed out. “You had intentions of challenging us, of taking property that is rightfully ours. Who’s to say you won’t change your mind again?”
I straightened in my seat, folding my hands in front of me. “You’re right. I did make that deal, fully intending to work with Carpe Noctem and challenge you for ruling clan once we claimed the Crown region and gathered enough support. The heir I would have made with Inessa would have tied me to Carpe Noctem for the long haul.”
“And you changed your mind because… ?” The question came from Cyan, scowling like he didn’t expect a real answer.
“Because of Amy,” I said, looking at him squarely. “I didn’t just fall for her. I found out she’s my blood mate.”
Cyan narrowed his eyes. “That’s not possible.”
“It is possible and the truth.”
He shook his head. “It’s too rare to happen again this soon. Tavi and I are the first blood mate pairing in almost twenty years.”
I shrugged. “Maybe Temkra has blessed both of you, and us by association.”
Cyan glared daggers at me. “I’m nothing like you, Novak. You kept your deal with Carpe Noctem hidden from her. Who betrays their blood mate like that?”
My head cocked to the side. “I seem to remember you having a colorful reputation before settling down with Tavia. You didn’t exactly discriminate where your blood sources came from, did you?”
A twitch of his mouth was the only warning before Cyan shot up and lunged at me. Rhain, moving impressively fast for his size, stopped him with a hand to his chest.
“Easy,” the bigger vampire said. “He’s trying to get under your skin. Don’t give him that.”
Rhain all but forced Cyan back to his seat. The mated vampire was huffing and puffing with anger, but stayed put.
“Do you need to step out?” Thorne asked, barely looking at him.
“No, I’m good,” Cyan said.
“You sure?”
“Yes.” Cyan’s glare was molten on me. “I’ll stay civil as long as he does.”
“My apologies,” I offered. “I should’ve known you’d be… sensitive about your past.”
“Watch your mouth,” Cyan hissed through his teeth. “You know who’s sensitive? Amy. Nothing wrong with it, but you hurt someone who feels pain very deeply. My mate wants to string you up by your balls, said it would ensure you never get that heir you desperately wanted. Honestly, I don’t see why I should stop her.”
I almost nodded my agreement. Tavia was fiercely, almost violently protective of Amy. With how badly I fucked up, I was relieved to know she still had support. A friend and the entire ruling clan to help her.
But what I planned to offer was hopefully more useful than my mutilated genitals.
“Did you demand this meeting for an actual reason or just to poke Cyan’s bear?” Thorne stubbed out his darakt cigarette and lit up another. Cyan lit up too, eager to take the edge off his temper. The human waitress came by with a drink on her tray and set it in front of Rhain.
“I no longer claim Rathka’s Order as my clan,” I said. “I want to remove myself from that lineage, and everything associated with it.”
This time, Thorne’s eyebrows lifted in genuine surprise. “You want to renounce your clan?”
“I understand it’s unprecedented, but I’m willing to cooperate with whatever methods you decide to make this official and legal.” I reached inside my jacket and pulled out a folded letter, placing it on the low table between me and the three of them. “That’s my formal renouncement. In that letter, I’ve also condemned the cruelties and abuses that my ancestors committed upon yours. I’ve listed out the ones I know of. If there’s more you’d like me to add, I’d be happy to.”
Thorne said nothing as he unfolded the letter, his two clansmen leaning in to read over his shoulder. When he reached the end, the slightest smile quirked his mouth as his gaze lifted to me.
“Novak, formerly of Rathka’s Order, now extinct.” He read aloud my signature at the bottom.
“I haven’t chosen a new clan name yet, but I can amend the letter when I do.”
“You’re really willing to let the proud name of your ancestors die out? Our memories are long, Novak, but everything that dies is eventually forgotten.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Why?” Thorne demanded with narrowed eyes.
I shifted in my seat, at first unsure of how personal I should get, but then remembered Amy’s bravery. Not only in showing me her physical scars but trusting me enough to let her guard down and be vulnerable. I ached without her presence in my cold, lonely house, but I could still draw on her for inspiration.
For her, I had to lay it all out on the line.
“I spent my whole life trying to live up to the standards of Rathka’s Order, even after they all wasted away from the Curse,” I said. “Countless hours running tests, trying to bend magic, science, and medicine to my will so that I could cure them. Because surely a cure would elevate me past a useless second son in my father’s eyes. And if I had an heir on the way, even better. The clan would surely be restored to its former glory, and I would have the love and respect of my family.”
My gaze fell to the table. “Amy made me realize I was trying to win the approval of ghosts, that I was stuck in the past like an insane person, doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. The truth I didn’t want to face was that my family never cared. The first two hundred years of my life proved that. It didn’t matter that I had three doctorate degrees, learned to read and write faster than my brother, and brought our clan out of the dark ages with modern technology. No matter what I did, I was never good enough for them. So you see, Thorne,” I lifted my head, meeting the gazes across from me, “I was never truly part of Rathka’s Order to begin with. And I’m happy to let a cruel, abusive legacy become extinct.”
Thorne leaned back, his expression pensive. Rhain also looked thoughtful, his gaze cast to the side. Only Cyan regarded me with suspicion.
“So you want the go-ahead to start a new clan and renounce your old one,” he summarized. “Anything else?”
“No, but I would like to offer a few tokens of good faith. In the future, maybe we can consider ourselves allies.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Thorne scoffed. “What does a now clan-less vampire have to offer us?”
“Amy mentioned you took blood samples of the Marrowers who attacked Sapien,” I said. “I have the equipment to analyze blood for draitrium and other substances.”
“We already know they were on draitrium,” Rhain growled.
“Yes, and I can get a much closer look at the molecular structure of the drug in the bloodstream. I’ve already identified four different varieties in the tests I’ve run. If I can match your blood to one of them, I can probably tell you where it comes from. At least, which dealers.”
Thorne’s fists closed on his knees, his lips flattening. I knew he felt responsible for the attack on Tavia and Amy’s old community. As head of the ruling clan, he was tasked to protect it. Finding out who drugged the Marrowers and set them loose would go a long way toward preventing another attack.
“Is there a way to verify that your tests aren’t bullshit?” he asked after long consideration.
“I’m the only one in Sanguine who knows how the equipment works. But you’re welcome to come watch me run the tests. I can explain everything step-by-step.”
Rhain crossed his arms. “I don’t like it. Renouncing Rathka’s Order is a nice gesture, but we still don’t know if we can trust you.”
“I understand.” I leaned forward, resting my forearms on my knees. “So I have one more thing to offer. It’s simple in concept but will be very complex in terms of execution.”
“Please,” Thorne drawled with a barely concealed eyeroll. “I’m shaking with anticipation.”
A weighted breath left my lungs. “I’ll convince Carpe Noctem to release Kalix.”
Silence filled the loft. The three vampires stared at me in abject disbelief. Cyan went pale. If I had my facts straight, he’d been the closest to Kalix, and might have even been present when Kalix murdered Baros’s father, the former head of Carpe Noctem.
“You’re full of shit.” Cyan spoke first. “You’re not going to ally with us by promising pie-in-the-sky shit that’s not possible.”
“I’m completely serious,” I said, hoping he could hear the earnestness in my voice. “It won’t be easy, but if we handle this carefully, it is possible.”
“Nobody knows if he’s even alive.” Cyan’s voice cracked with emotion and Thorne placed a reassuring hand on his back. “And even if he is, Baros must be pissed you broke off the deal, so how do you expect to pull this off?”
“He is alive. I have a source inside Carpe Noctem who’s helping.”
“Who?” Rhain demanded.
“I promised to keep them safe. Their identity getting out could?—”
“It’s Inessa, the daughter.” Thorne casually lit up another cigarette.
Rhain and Cyan’s heads whipped to face him while I stared in shock.
“What? How do you know?”
“She’s my source too. Been slipping me information about Carpe Noctem for about a decade. We’ve been talking about breaking Kal out for the past year.” Red smoke wisped from the corners of Thorne’s mouth. “She was actually gonna help me ruin you if you went through with the deal.” His heavy-lidded gaze slid over to me. “Good thing you had a change of heart, didn’t you?”
“I’m still not convinced,” Rhain cut in before I could respond. “Why test the blood? Why try to free Kalix? It just sounds to me like you’re trying really hard to convince us that you’re good and trustworthy.” He took a long sip of his drink, eyeballing me over the rim. “And I don’t trust ass-kissers.”
“Consider it a small retribution for everything my ancestors did to yours,” I said. “I never condoned what they did, especially with the draitrium and the werewolves. It wasn’t just wrong, but horrific to treat other vampires like that. Aligning myself with you won’t undo what happened, but I do hope it can lead to healing and collaboration between my new clan and yours.”
Thorne gave a slow nod, like he was intently absorbing everything I said.
“Honestly,” I rubbed my jaw, “I’ve always held a secret admiration for Blood ‘til Dawn. I could never tell my family of course, so I kept it to myself. You’ve fought and scrapped and bled for every ounce of power you have. From what I’ve seen, you do your best to wield it responsibly. And,” I sighed, feeling the weight of grief and despair settle over me, “you’re Amy’s clan, the family protecting her. I miss her more than I can express, but I respect the lengths you’re going to in order to keep her safe. Even if she and I don’t work out, you’re a good clan that looks out for your own and she’s lucky to have you.”
The silence from the other side of the table was contemplative now, not quite as tinged with suspicion or shock.
“What will you do without her blood?” Cyan broke the silence with an intense expression. “As blood mates, you’ll both suffer if you cannot feed from each other.”
I nodded, grinding my teeth and hating the thought of Amy suffering like the first day I met her. “If she’s done with me for good, maybe one of you can broker extracting my blood for her. I’ll give it freely. I don’t need her blood in exchange.”
Cyan cocked his head with a skeptical look. “It’s hell, drinking blood that’s not your mate’s.”
“I know.” My gaze held his. “I’ll suffer through it, but she doesn’t deserve to.”
His chin lifted, his expression one of muted surprise, but he didn’t comment further.
Thorne stubbed out the last of his cigarette and stood up. “We’ll be in touch after discussing this with more of our people.”
I rose to my feet after the other two vampires did. “Thank you for meeting with me.”
Thorne let out a dry huff of breath. “We’ll see. Until next time, Rathka’s Order. Or whoever you are now.”
With those parting words, the three of them turned and left.