Chapter 26
Rion
Rion awoke in an unfamiliar bedroom to find Lori cuddled up against him.
Judging by the décor, they had to be in the palace somewhere.
The previous night’s events flashed through his mind, prompting a number of questions.
Did they succeed? Was Tobias okay? And the most disconcerting, how in the hell was he awake?
If memory served him correctly, this should not have been possible. His immortal abilities had been depleted, causing him to pass out. It was the closest one could come to losing their mortal body and having to regenerate.
It should have been impossible to just wake up. Not without feeding, but I would know if that had occurred. Fatigue was not present at all. It didn’t make sense.
Lori stirred beside him. Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled up at him for a moment. Then, she came to the same realization he had.
“How are you awake? I was going to make you feed, but then I thought I might be more use to you if I slept for a bit first.”
A shadow passed over his expression. “I am not certain how this happened. Might I assume we were successful in our endeavor?”
“Yeah, Marquez is on board.”
“I should like to speak to Tobias. Perhaps something else occurred after we went to bed.”
She picked her phone up off the nightstand and looked at the screen-clock. “He’s probably not out of the Fade yet, but it shouldn’t be long.”
“I will go there now. It might be wise to check on him.”
“All right, love. Your clothes are over there on the chair.”
He nodded and began to put them on. “When I return, we will find something to eat. I would suggest breakfast, but since it is late afternoon…”
“So, you’re really all right?”
He grinned and came back to the bed to kiss her. “I am fine. I will see you soon.”
Rion materialized in Tobias’ bedchamber to find the male spread-eagled on the bed, naked. Other than the bottom sheet he was lying on, not a scrap of bedding was in sight.
“Have mercy,” he spluttered, turning away. That was certainly more than I needed to see. He strode to the closet and rifled around amongst the clothes.
“Can I help you?” Tobias’ less than thrilled tone came from the direction of the bed.
“I was trying to locate a robe for you.”
“What the hell are you doing in here, and where the fuck are my blankets?”
“Tone down your rage, I simply came to ensure you were well after the previous night’s events.”
“Was I alone when you got here?”
Rion’s brows arched in unison. “Yes, why?”
Tobias coughed. “Uh, no reason.”
“I would greatly appreciate it if you would put some clothes on.”
Muttering and mumbling, Tobias stalked over to the closet, prompting Rion to sidestep out of the way.
Suspicion had well and truly put down roots in Rion’s subconscious. “After everything we went through, are you telling me you brought a female back here and had your own little celebration?”
“Nobody said that,” he responded quickly.
“I was not born yesterday.” Rion gave him an unimpressed look.
“I have things to do,” Tobias said testily. “You can stand there and judge, or you can join me.”
“My, but we are dramatic this morning.”
“Yeah, sorry to steal your thunder.” Tobias marched out of the bedchamber and headed in the direction of the throne room.
Sucking in a breath and coaxing himself not to react to Tobias’ bad mood, Rion followed.
The vampire king threw open both double doors and froze. Rion stepped into the doorway and took in the scene before him, or lack thereof.
“Might I assume this room was not empty when you left it last night?” He asked.
Tobias nodded. “All of the angels were still passed out on the floor. The servants were too, all except for Lori and Vixen. Plus, the mortals I fed from. Where did they all go?”
“Could the angels have revived them?”
“Maybe, but that seems unlikely. Even once they woke, they wouldn’t have been at full capacity. Surely, they’d have gone back to the Outer Realms to finish recuperating?”
Rion sighed. “Well, how else would you explain this?”
“I–” Tobias didn’t finish as raised voices could be heard, one of them Kitty’s.
Both males exchanged a concerned glance and hurried to investigate. In one of the palace’s many living areas, they found Kyriel and Kitty having a disagreement. Kitty was wrapped up in an armful of sheets and blankets, clearly naked beneath it all.
“Your bedding, I presume?” Rion muttered amidst a thunderous expression.
“Uh, yep. There it is.”
“We will speak of this later,” Rion projected, in a tone that suggested he had no intention of employing any sort of propriety involving words.
Kitty turned at the sound of their voices and clapped a palm to her forehead. “Well, this is just perfect.”
“I simply wish to discuss this,” Kyriel urged, desperation leaking from every pore.
“Well, I don’t. Now that you have someone else to hurl judgment at, I’ll be on my way.” With that, Kitty gathered up the bedding and flashed out.
Rion and Tobias exchanged surprised glances.
“What happened?” he asked his mother.
“Mr. Martelli told me Kitty had a bedroom here. I wanted to check on her, and thought it might be a safe opportunity for us to meet after all this time. I was most unprepared to find her in bed with a vampire.”
Beside him, Rion felt Tobias’ posture stiffen.
“Tobias is not a stranger to you, Kyriel,” he said.
“Did you know they were copulating?” She asked him.
“No, this is as much a surprise to me as it is to you.”
“Are you not angered by such a revelation?” Her astonishment surprised him.
“Of course I am, furious in fact, but not because he is Undead.”
“You’ve been a part of our quest from the moment we decided to retrieve Rion from the eighth lower realm,” Tobias said to Kyriel. “This includes what I’ve been trying to achieve more recently. How can you suddenly be upset about who I am?”
“I was involved to ensure Kitty’s safety. I did not sign up for the preservation of the Undead as a species. Did you not notice I was absent for your antics with the original kings?”
Rion had noticed, but assumed she’d been reassigned. “You have waited two millennia to meet your daughter, and you are willing to cast her aside for this?”
“No.” Kyriel wiped away a tear. “But everything I endured cannot have been for nothing.”
“It was not,” Rion said with gentleness. “You gained two children. Perhaps that was your purpose all along?”
“Look,” Tobias continued. “Things are different now. The Outer Realms exist, which never would have happened without you. It was a good change, and a necessary one.”
“Vampires should never have been created!”
“And yet, they were,” Rion said. “Surely the best path forward is one with minimal bloodshed, and the least possible loss of life?”
“I know who you used to be,” Kyriel hissed at Tobias. “Nothing you do in the present can erase your past.”
All of a sudden, despite the anger he fought to suppress, Rion felt incredibly protective of his chosen brother. “Tobias Martelli is a thousand times the male Marquez will ever be, and yet you gave him your daughter to raise.”
“I did not choose that!” She shouted.
Her eyes were haunted with the memory of traumas she had never successfully buried. Rion knew she hadn’t wanted to be separated from either of her children, that much was true. It had been the eighth lord and Lyla trying to navigate an impossible path forward which did not involve Kitty’s death.
It had also been the bargaining chip in the blood agreement with the original kings. Raise Kitty safely in secrecy, and receive emancipation from the Kingdom of Chaos and Wrath, the eighth lower level.
“How can you use such a thing against me?” Kyriel started crying again.
Tobias threw up both hands. “Let’s all calm down a little.”
“I must go,” she mumbled, before dematerializing.
“Find Kitty,” Rion instructed coolly. “I shall call a meeting of the inner circle, along with Westergaard and Marquez.”
“We’re just going to plow ahead as if all of that never happened?” Tobias gestured to the empty space where Kyriel had stood.
“Yes. We have greater priorities. Once those have been tended to appropriately, I assure you we will revisit this mess you have created. Meet me at the penthouse once your task is complete.”
“Must we invite Marquez?” Tobias groaned.
“He took your oath, so yes, we must. Meet me at the penthouse once your task is complete.”
Tobias
The first place he decided to look for Kitty was his bedchamber. His bedding had been balled up into a huge pile in the center of the mattress, but she wasn’t there and neither were her clothes.
He checked the bathroom just be on the safe side, and sat down in the infamous armchair to gather his thoughts. Though he knew it was likely to result in an earful, he bit into a wrist to draw blood. She appeared right away.
“Are you kidding me, Martelli? You couldn’t let me have ten minutes to scream and break things?”
“Oh, is that what you were doing? Don’t let me stop you.”
Her mood disintegrated. “What?”
He pointed to a vase on a dresser. “I’ve always hated that thing. Have at it.”
Slowly, she turned to look at it. “You want me to break your vase?”
“If it’ll help, sure. While you’re at it, you could beat this chair to death. You’ve never liked it much.”
Her mouth opened and closed a few times. “Are you mocking me?”
“Nope.”
He blurred over to the dresser and grabbed the vase, which he launched at the wall. She flashed out and appeared just in time to catch it before it hit.
“You can’t just break things!”
With a brow quirked in question, he strode over. “One rule for you, and another for me, hmm? I see how it is.”
“You are mocking me!” She threw the vase at him.
“I take it this means you don’t want to talk about it?” He said as he ducked. The vase smashed against the wall, scattering the pieces across the floor.
She stared at the mess and let out a growl of frustration.
Still struggling to hide a grin, he moved even closer, until their bodies were almost touching. She heaved a sigh of defeat and gazed up at him with a pout.
“It’s okay to be mad, it was a shitty reunion.”
She opened her mouth to protest and he held up a finger to silence her. “It’s okay to be mad, but distraction is better.”
He leaned in and kissed her. The tension left her body immediately, and she melted into his embrace. When the kiss ended, her face turned to the side until her cheek rested against his shirt-clad torso.
“After reading her journal, I was so looking forward to meeting her,” she whispered.
“I know. Hopefully once the shock wears off, she’ll realize she made a mistake.”
“First impressions matter to me. I’m done.”
With a hand on each of her shoulders, he placed a small distance between them. “I hope you don’t mean that, but if you do, I’ll respect it.”
“Thank you. Now, don’t you have a bazillion things to do? Namely, people to resurrect?”
“Yeah, while I was in the Fade, someone else took care of that. We’re about to have an inner circle meeting at the penthouse. Will you join us?”
“Yeah, I’d better. Someone has to keep you on your toes.”