Chapter 37 #2
It was a minute before she pulled back, confusion furrowing her brow. “Wait. I didn’t think you spoke to the other vampires much. Would they support you if you told them about the Order?”
“I doubt they’d care at all,” Antoine admitted. “But our friend Mr. Alexander doesn’t know that, does he?”
Cally grinned, pushed him back into the bed, then climbed on top.
*
“Tobias has increased the number of thralls at his estate,” Noah said.
Antoine raised an eyebrow. “So soon?”
“It’s been a week since Nico… disappeared.” Noah balanced his tablet on his knee and gestured with his free hand. “Frankly, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner.”
“But that means Tobias had an interest in Nico.” Antoine rose from behind his desk, and walked to the window of his study. It had become something of a ritual, meeting here rather than the living room, as if this were the war room.
The thought made him want to scoff; they weren’t prepared for a war.
“They were both Minh’s lackeys,” Belle commented from the sofa in the corner, where she sat with her legs up. She was in jeans and a hoodie again, and it was her second visit since the night they’d rescued Eve, but Antoine hadn’t yet figured out how to say no to her.
“I didn’t expect them to keep that connection after Minh’s death.” Antoine frowned as he looked outside. “What of our own thralls? Have you moved those who were on Nico to Roberto?”
“Yes.” Noah’s chair creaked as he shifted his weight. “Though it’s been difficult to get close. There are a lot of thralls at his estate.”
“That’s his bloodline.”
“I know, but he’s also been playing host to one vampire after another.”
“Courtiers coming to pay homage to their new king,” Belle scoffed. “Maybe that’s why you’ve heard so little from him.”
“He might not even know you’ve escaped,” Noah said. “It’s only been two weeks.”
“You should still assume some of his thralls are watching you.”
“With respect, Lady Belle,” Noah said with careful deference, “why would he bother with a house he believes is empty?”
Antoine answered first. “He has the numbers to spare. Plus, something has alarmed Tobias.”
“True.” Noah made a note on his tablet. “We could use more thralls of our own.”
Antoine grimaced at his reflection. “Eighteen is enough.”
“Eighteen is not enough,” Belle retorted.
Noah scratched at his neck with the end of his stylus. “Perhaps we could replace those who were lost fighting Minh?”
“I have no desire to make more.” And Cally wouldn’t want me to.
“Six here, three at Nico’s, four at Roberto’s. That leaves only five for the whole of our territory.”
“His territory,” Belle said sharply. “Not yours.”
Antoine replied as if she hadn’t spoken. “We don’t need six here. You and Zoey, Tom and Joseph. That’ll do.”
“Only four here?” Noah’s tone conveyed his disapproval. “What about asking Gabe?”
“No chance.”
“You don’t trust him?” Belle asked with amusement.
Antoine let out a slow breath. “I do, but this isn’t his fight.”
Noah cleared his throat. “He would help anyway.”
“I said no.”
Noah made a point of scrubbing out a line with his stylus. “Got it. Undermanned and with the house insufficiently protected, because you won’t recruit or ask your friends for help.”
Belle made a noise. “I wouldn’t let him speak to me like that.”
“I asked him to be candid,” Antoine told her. “I don’t want a yes-man.” He braced his fists against the desk, and addressed Noah. “But we’re not trying to match their thralls, we’re taking on—”
He broke off as quiet footsteps sounded outside the room, and a moment later Cally walked in, hair tousled from sleep, barefoot in a short white robe. Antoine checked the time, surprised to see it was only half past midnight.
“Are you all right? Couldn’t sleep?”
She paused when she saw Belle, then came around the desk and pressed herself to his side. “I missed you.” Noah studiously averted his gaze, while Belle watched openly. “What are you doing?”
“Just making plans.”
“Oh? What kind of plans?” Her gaze fell to the map of Boston on the desk, Tobias, Nico, and Roberto’s houses ringed with a black circle.
“Thrall movements, equipment, things like that,” Antoine said lightly.
Cally slipped from his side to better look at the map. “This is the Curia house.” She pointed to the estate in Weston. “And this is Nico’s.” She frowned, turning to him, her tone guarded. “Antoine?”
“She is fun, this one,” Belle commented from her corner, wiggling her toes on the sofa.
Antoine ignored her, focusing on Cally. “We did discuss this.”
“I know,” she said sharply. She swallowed, glanced at Belle, then dropped her voice. “But I thought we agreed you would include me.”
“You are usually asleep, ma chérie. I did not wish to disturb you.”
She crossed her arms, her chin coming up. “Then wake me up, Antoine,” she said, her voice cooler. “This is too important.”
“It’s still early,” he added. “There’s nothing yet to do.”
“That’s not the point, and you know it.”
He pressed his lips together. “Roberto is… not like Nico. He is powerful. If he were to—”
“We agreed we would do this together. Didn’t we?”
“We agreed that even for a warrior like you, this may be too great a challenge.”
“Not as a warrior, as a witch.” Her eyes flashed. “I have magic now.”
Antoine reached for her hand, wishing the audience for this didn’t include Belle. Cally let him take it, though her posture was stiff. “I have never doubted your strength, mon amour. But your witchcraft is still in its infancy.”
“I can cast a spell that keeps him asleep. You could—”
“Not if he’s awake you can’t, and I would need to be awake too.”
“Eve and I are working through the books. There are spells that could make a difference.”
“Would you need to be near to cast them?”
She hesitated. “Yes.”
Antoine gave her hand a squeeze. “I want you safe, and being near Roberto is not safe. Please, ma chérie, leave this to me. I could not bear the thought of anything happening to you.”
“And what of something happening to you?” she shot back. “I spent three weeks lying alone in our bed, not knowing if you would ever return to me. Unable to breathe because…” She flicked her eyes toward Noah and Belle, then clenched her jaw.
“I’m not going to take risks,” he told her.
Belle scoffed, the sound sharp and clear, and they both tensed.
Antoine met Cally’s gaze. “Let’s talk later.”
“Fine,” she said, biting off the word. “But we’re not done.”
He nodded. “I know.”
She gave him another look, then turned on her heel, her short robe bouncing with the movement.
He watched her walk out, the door closing firmly behind her, then let slip a sigh.
Noah was right; he should’ve told her. But then she would want to be involved, and that was a sure way to get her killed. No, this way was better.
“You let both chattel and thrall talk to you as if they were your equals,” Belle observed, but her tone lacked the disdain he’d expected, and instead reflected her curiosity.
“She is my equal,” Antoine said, leaning on the desk, his gaze on the map. Why was Belle here? Had she come to somehow… learn? That seemed unlikely. Had he missed a cue? But he’d been distracted by Cally.
Noah cleared his throat. “Uh, we were talking about getting some more thralls.”
They’d covered that already. But if Noah was still pushing, maybe he had a point.
“Keep Diego and Scott here at the house,” Antoine replied, resigned. “I will consider recruiting some more.”
A soft chime sounded from the desk intercom, and he pressed the button irritably. “What is it, Marcel?”
“I apologize for disturbing you, sir, but there are visitors here.” His voice was carefully neutral. “Two vampires await you in the living room.”
“You let them in?”
“They carry a message from the Curia, sir. Your orders were—”
“Yes, I recall.” Antoine cut him off, knowing the new vampires would hear. “Very well. I’ll be down shortly.”
He looked across at Belle, who swung her legs off the sofa, interest in her eyes. “Well, you were right,” he said grimly. “Roberto does know I’m back. He thinks I will come when he calls.”
“You have no choice. He is still the resident Curia member.” A small shrug. “Refuse, and you will give him the excuse he wants.”
“Attend, and I’ll be at his mercy.”
“Oui, mon amour. But he doesn’t know I’m still here.” She smiled with a hint of fangs. “Shall we take my car?”