Chapter 37
Thirty-Seven
“Ah, the robe again.” Belle looked smug. “I do like you in that.”
Antoine paused with one foot inside the living room, regretting that he hadn’t found fresh clothes. But he hadn’t wanted to wake Cally. He turned and closed the door, composed his expression, then walked to his chair by the fire.
Belle sat in the other, legs crossed, her dress ripped in places and spattered dark in others. Antoine hoped there wasn’t any blood on the light fabric. Marcel would not be pleased.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said neutrally as he sat down, adjusting his robe so that it covered him.
She waved it away. “I expected you to take longer, and return smelling of sex.”
It was easier to let that one go. “Thank you for your help tonight.” He tried to keep his tone appropriate, despite how much the words stuck in his throat.
Her lips twitched. “Was that so difficult to say?”
“Well, vampires aren’t prone to forming alliances, are they?”
“Au contraire, mon amour. Vampires form alliances often enough, though I grant you don’t.” She paused. “Which brings me to an interesting point, now that you have entombed Nico.” She settled her hands in her lap. “Shall we talk about revenge?”
Antoine steepled his fingers beneath his chin. “What of it?”
“The chattel have a saying: ‘First, dig two graves.’”
“You think I will fail?”
“I think you are obsessed with Roberto.”
He inclined his head.
“Before we were interrupted earlier,” she continued, “we were discussing the need for caution.” She gave him a frank look. “How do you propose to take down a vampire two hundred years older than you?”
His eyebrows rose. “Two hundred? Yet earlier, you said my strength was maybe a third more than my age. So the gap—”
“—Is still significant, yes. And then there is his bloodline to consider. He has a lot of thralls.”
“And the ability to control his spawns.”
“True, but he would not risk what Minh did.” She curled her lip in distaste. “The Curia would punish him if he did.”
“They didn’t punish Minh.”
“Because you killed him.”
Antoine pressed his lips together in silent acceptance. “But he is a Curia member himself, now. Is he not above sanction?”
“Some rules don’t apply; others apply more so. He must lead by example, though it is true the Curia will ignore most of what he does.” She tapped the arm of her chair. “He knows this.”
“His bloodline is strong,” Antoine said. “What do we have that he does not?”
“He cannot fly like we can, and no other line influences chattel as effectively as ours.”
Useful skills, but not for this situation. Antoine thought for a moment. “Are there ways to unseat him?”
“Bien s?r, but they are not easy. He would have to err, and he is too smart for that.”
“A challenge?”
“Oui, but there needs to be grounds to deliver it, and you need to be able to win.”
“What if the other vampires in Boston lost faith in him?”
Belle smiled slowly. “What of it? He is not an elected official, he is a Curia member. The seat is his through power alone.”
“No, that’s not what I mean.” Antoine frowned as he thought it through. “If he could be weakened, he would worry about losing face. Maybe then he would make a mistake and offer an opportunity.”
“Something sufficiently public, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“Not yet,” Antoine admitted reluctantly. “His house is too well guarded, and he is too strong to take on directly. It is tempting to take a page from the chattel’s book and drop a bomb on it, but I don’t have a bomb, and it probably wouldn’t kill him anyway.”
“And less satisfying?” Belle looked amused.
“Very much so.”
She rose from her chair, smoothing down her dress. “I will head home. Our evening has been pleasant, if not what I had intended.”
Antoine stood too, surprised she was leaving of her own volition, having not made some obvious gain. It made him suspicious. “Thank you again.”
“Oh, I enjoyed it.” She graced him with a smile and a hint of her fangs, then sobered. “You know he will learn you have returned soon enough?”
“Yes.”
“And then what?”
Antoine shrugged. “And then nothing. Escaping his entombment ended my punishment.”
“But not his desire for revenge, n’est-ce pas?” She made a gesture that took him in. “Vampires bear grudges for decades, and you did kill Minh.”
“What can he do?” Antoine asked, dismissive. “He can’t directly get involved in the war you started in Boston.”
“Don’t be na?ve, mon amour. He is a man of power, and there are always ways.” She sniffed lightly. “You still need my help.”
“I don’t—”
“You do. I won’t have Roberto’s pettiness derail plans so long in the making.
” She nodded as if to herself. “Call me if there are problems.” She rattled off her phone number.
“But I will come and check on you from time to time.” She stepped in close and pressed her hand to his chest, fingertips resting against his skin in the V of his robe.
“You will need me again, before this is all done.”
“What can you do?” he asked. “Are you not also bound by the neutrality of the Curia?”
“Of course.” She smiled playfully, trailing her fingers across his chest as she turned away, hips swaying as she walked to the door. “But rules are just rules. Didn’t I teach you that?”
*
Cally sighed.
“That sounded heavy, ma chérie. Is something amiss?”
They were lying in bed, the sheets still damp from their lovemaking, her warmth pressed against him.
“I’m worried about my dad,” she said into his chest.
Antoine traced circles with his fingertips against the curve of her ass, his arm running the length of her back. “Why?”
“Darian told me they would wipe his 401k. I don’t know if they have—I’ve been too scared to call him and ask, and I’m not sure if he would tell me something like that. Plus, the Order knows where he lives.”
“Well, we can’t have that, can we?”
“But what can we do about it? It’s only a matter of time until they realize Darian is missing, and that’ll lead them to Nico, too.” She raised her head, propping her chin on him. “Doesn’t that bother you?”
“What, Nico? Not particularly. They’re not going to let him out, are they?” He slid her to the side and rose from the bed, padding naked across the room.
She watched him with open interest. “What are you doing?”
“Making a phone call.” He pulled Darian’s phone from the top drawer of the dresser, unlocked it with the pin Darian had so kindly agreed to share, and scrolled the contacts. “What did you say that man’s name was? Mr. Alexander?”
Cally sat up in the bed, clutching the duvet to her. “Wait. You’re going to call him?”
“I intended to, but there’s no listing for him.” Antoine paused. “Huh. One entry under ‘PV’. Remind me of that title?”
“Primus Vigil.”
“845 area code.” Antoine pulled up a browser and did a quick search. “That’s Hudson Valley. Sound about right?”
“Yes,” Cally said tentatively, her gaze reflecting her concern. “What are you going to say?”
“Going to wing it,” Antoine muttered, and dialed the number. It was 11:15 p.m., but he figured the call would be answered from this phone. It rang several times, then he was proven right.
“Darian,” an irritated voice said. “Do you know what time it is?”
“Yes, I do, and it’s not Darian.” Antoine flicked the call to speaker so Cally could hear. “I presume this is Mr. Alexander?”
A pause. “Who is this?”
“Anthony Du Pont. I’ll give you a moment to check my name.” Across the room, Cally bit her lip, eyes stark with apprehension. He winked at her and walked over, flopping down onto the bed with the phone between them.
“I know who you are. How did you get this… Why do you have Darian’s phone?”
“I imagine you can deduce that for yourself.”
Another pause. “Is he alive?”
“No.”
“Damn you,” Mr. Alexander said coldly. “Do you know what I will do to you?”
“You will do nothing to me.” Antoine drawled, bored.
“What you will do is listen. You want vampires dead in Boston, and on that our interests align. I will kill some for you. In return, you’ll stay away.
Beyond that, I don’t care what you do, except that if you come near me, Cally, Eve, or anyone important to us, I will find you.
If I catch so much of a hint of your presence in Boston, I won’t rest until every vampire knows of your existence.
How long do you think your Order will last, when you are no longer a secret? ”
The sound of Mr. Alexander nervously clearing his throat came from the phone’s speaker, but when he spoke again, it was with bluster. “You expect me to let you kill one of my senior operatives without consequence? I have an army of—”
“You’re not getting the message, are you?
” Antoine cut him off. “One more time. If you anger me, I will find you. I will kill you. I will find and kill every single member of your Order. The only reason I haven’t revealed your existence to other vampires is because you’re not important enough to matter.
But Darian made the mistake of taking something that was mine.
Are you going to repeat that mistake, Mr. Alexander? ”
Two heavy breaths came down the line. “I understand.”
“That’s a start. Now give me your confirmation that you will stay away.”
“Yes, damn it.” It sounded like a painful admission.
“I thought we’d come to an agreement.” Antoine winked at Cally.
“One other thing. You also threatened Cally’s father, which is inexcusable.
You may have already wiped his 401k. I don’t care either way, but in compensation for the anxiety you have caused, you will make an error in Mr. Davis’s favor, and add a zero to the end of the original balance.
Make sure it’s done within twenty-four hours, Mr. Alexander, because you don’t want me making a trip west. It’s a three-hour drive, and I would arrive… angry.”
Antoine killed the call, then tossed the phone off the bed.
“I love you so much,” Cally said, pressing herself into him. “Thank you, Antoine.”
“It was only what they deserved—” He broke off as she kissed him deeply.