House of Comarré Omnibus, page 108
part #0.50 of House of Comarré Series
“There are some things you shouldn’t know.” Like the full details about his work as a Kubai Mata, defender of mankind, killer of othernaturals, and enslaver of desperate mortal men.
She got out of her chair. Pip was on his feet a second later. “Yes, I know, it’s for my own protection.” She motioned with a tip of her head back toward the house. “Come inside. Let’s get this charm made.”
An hour later and missing a little blood, Creek rode away from his grandmother’s, the charm dangling from a leather cord around his neck. He’d promised to visit more often but knew that promise was emptier than he meant it to be. His life was unsettled, his time not his own, and judging by the flock of ravens overhead, none of that was about to change any time soon.
Chapter Three
Paradise City, New Florida
Madam Mayor?”
“Yes?” Lola Diaz-White looked at Valerie, her administrative assistant, and away from her inbox, currently overflowing with e-mails from citizens expressing their fear or in some cases harassment from their human neighbors or their disapproval of how she was handling the othernatural situation from both sides, or reminding her elections were less than a year away. It was enough to make her wonder if reelection was worth it.
“Alden Willamette is here to see you, and the police chief is still waiting.”
Willamette was a city councilman. No doubt he’d been getting the same kind of e-mails she had. He was a good man, honest, and one of her most stalwart supporters. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to stave off the headache building behind her eyes. “Send Alden in first.”
The man came in a few moments later, shutting the door behind him. “Lola.”
“Alden. Please, have a seat.”
He stayed standing. “I’m fine. This won’t take long. I’m sorry about this, I really am, but”—he reached into his suit jacket, pulled out an envelope, and laid it on her desk—“effective immediately, I’m resigning.”
Her jaw slacked. “You can’t just resign. It’s not like you can be replaced that easily.”
“I’m sorry. I am. I didn’t mean to do it this way. Things just came to a head these last few days. As of today, though, I’ve tied up all my loose ends.” With a labored sigh, he finally sat. A thousand emotions rolled through his eyes. “Lucinda’s fae. Three-quarters.”
Again, Lola’s jaw went south. She sat back slowly. His wife had always been unnaturally beautiful. His daughters, too. And there had always been… something curious about them. His revelation explained so much. “I understand you have a lot to deal with, but why does this mean you have to resign?”
He looked up, the only emotions left on his face anger and pain. “We’ve been married twenty-one years and she never bothered to tell me until the night of Halloween when she couldn’t keep it a secret any longer. Now she’s taking the girls and moving to New Orleans. Says it’s a haven city and the only safe place for them.” He ran a hand across his face. “Do you know there are three fringe vampires in our neighborhood? Three. They look at my girls like they’re sizing up their next kill. And Kaleigh—you know teenagers—she’s ready to fight every time she thinks her little sister is being threatened.” He stood and walked to the windows. “Lucinda’s right about moving them. She and I have a lot to work through, but my kids are the innocents here.”
“I understand that more than you know.” She joined him at the windows. Being mayor meant she had power, but Lola had never felt so helpless in her life. Despite her connections and her pull in this city, she was no closer to holding her grandchild in her arms. Her half-vampire grandchild.
He glanced at her, but she didn’t elaborate. Her grandchild was her business. “I’m sorry to see you go.”
“Thanks.” He frowned. “I’ll be here another day or two if you need me.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just take care of your family.”
He was quiet as he turned toward the door. Then he stopped. “You know, if I could become one of them, I would. It would make everything so much easier.”
The words startled her, because she’d begun to wonder the same thing. “You would?”
“Absolutely. They’re faster than us, stronger than us, they outlive us. Why would anyone not?”
“A varcolai killed my daughter.”
“Because your daughter was human. If she’d been othernatural, she’d have at least had a fighting chance.” He shook his head. “Face it. They’re superior. I’d rather join them than become a slave to them.” He held his hands up. “Mark my words. The tide will turn. Humans will become vampires as much as they can because that’s the only choice. Fae and varcolai will side against them. War will come if peace isn’t found first. Being in a haven city seems more and more like the only way a mortal like me will survive.”
She said nothing, just stayed at the windows after he shut the door behind him. His words slowly soaked into her. She turned and stared into her city. The fall of twilight meant the city looked almost normal, but during daylight it was impossible not to notice the damage left behind by Samhain night. The broken buildings and scorched streets were being repaired, but life would never be the same for any of them after that night. Would people desert her city if she couldn’t protect them?
She leaned her head against the glass. How could she protect her citizens when she was as vulnerable and human as they were?
Maybe Alden was on to something about humans becoming vampires. It was like he’d somehow sensed the small thoughts creeping into her mind. Her excursion this evening might help her make sense of it all. Maybe show her the right decision. Or present her with an opportunity. She already knew what her abuela would say.
“Mayor?”
At Police Chief Vernadetto’s voice, she turned. “What can I do for you?”
He gestured toward her desk with the hand that held his hat. “Did you read my report?”
“No, not yet. I’ve spent the day wading through e-mails and taking phone calls from concerned citizens. My apologies. Can you sum it up?” She went back to her desk, sat and began to dig out the paperwork.
He nodded. “Long story short, several of my night patrol teams have been repeatedly harassed—hunted, you might say—in the bayside area. To the point that they’ve all requested reassignment unless they’re allowed to use deadly force. Problem is, I can’t get any human officers to go down there.”
“And the teams that are being hunted? What are they? Varcolai?”
“Varcolai are the ones doing the harassing. My teams are all fringe.”
“Vampires? Being harassed?”
“Most nights the odds are twenty to two. Not even a vampire can deal with that many shifters.”
She shook her head. Her city was in deep. “What’s your solution?”
“Deadly force. Make an example.”
“And cause a riot.” She tapped her fingers on the desktop. “Pull whatever varcolai patrolmen you have and put them down there. Let them deal with their own kind.”
He nodded. “Will do.”
She was about to ask why he hadn’t done that already when Valerie buzzed the intercom. “John and Luke Havoc are here, ma’am.”
“Send them in.” She stood. “Chief, if you’ll excuse me, I have another matter to attend to.”
He nodded and left as John and Luke entered.
John dipped his head in greeting. “You sure you want to do this?”
“Positive.” A frisson of emotion zipped up Lola’s spine. “This child is my flesh and blood, my familia. There is no question about what I’m willing to do to get her back. None. And I owe it to Julia.”
“I get that. Family is important to us, too,” John answered. “You ready, then?”
“Yes. Let’s go.” She would have gone on her own if she didn’t recognize the foolishness in that.
“Wait,” Luke said. “I know I’m new to your employ, but I still have to tell you this is one of the dumbest things you could do.” John started to say something, but Luke held his hand out to silence him. “But if it were my kin, I’d do the exact same thing. I just don’t want you getting hurt. You have a city to run, after all.”
“A city in which both human and othernatural citizens are looking to me for guidance. If I show fear in this situation, what will they think? How will they take it if their mayor is too cowardly to face a vampire even if it means rescuing her grandchild? I must do this.”
Luke nodded. “I understand.”
She straightened a little, buoyed by his words. “He has no reason to hurt me. We are joined by blood now. We share a common interest.”
“He may see you as a threat,” John said. “And not to belabor the point, but he’s a vampire unlike any other. He can daywalk. He lives in a freaking abandoned church, a place no other vampire can comfortably set foot. He’s not predictable in any way.”
“Then we are alike in that manner, because I doubt he expects me to come to his door.”
“No one expects that,” Luke muttered.
“That’s the point,” she responded. “Now take me to Preacher’s.”
“Welcome, sir.” The butler bowed and moved to the side to let Doc enter his new home. Leaving the freighter behind wasn’t something Doc was completely ready to do, but since he’d killed Sinjin and become the Paradise City pride leader by default, moving into Sinjin’s old crib was kind of a requirement.
“Lose the sir,” Doc said, his gaze roaming the penthouse, trying to take in every bit of the lux joint at once.
“Yes, sir. Er, my apologies, si—” The butler stiffened, his face reddening.
“No worries.” Big worries, actually, but Doc wasn’t going to give the man grief for doing his job. Figured Sinjin had a butler. Man always did have a big feeling about himself.
The penthouse spelled that out pretty well, too. Made perfect sense this was where Sinjin had lived. Leopards liked height. Doc was no exception to that. What he didn’t like was everything else that came with this joint. Like the butler. Like being leader of the Paradise City feline varcolai pride. And being husband to Sinjin’s old lady. That last bit was not sitting well with Fi, not that anyone could expect it to. Doc had spent the last two days trying to calm her down, when he should have been here, figuring a way out of this mess.
Wasn’t like he’d planned on taking Sinjin out. Doc shook his head, no longer seeing the fully loaded pad around him but instead replaying the fight between him and Sinjin, the moves slowed down in his head, each punch, kick, roll, and grab like part of a choreographed dance that had gone horribly wrong when he’d suddenly gone up in flames and turned Sinjin into barbeque. The memory of that night brought a rush of heat to Doc’s skin. He popped another ketamine just to be safe.
Why the hell had Sinjin thought that framing the vampires for fake comarré deaths was a good idea? The beef between Sinjin and Dominic wasn’t a secret, but killing off Dominic’s counterfeit comarré was no way to go about settling things. Doc had no love for the vampire either, but those girls didn’t deserve to die for it. No one did. Except maybe Dominic.
Now the mayor had even more ammo against othernaturals, especially since the first fake comarré killed had been her daughter. Dammit. This was such a mess. Doc didn’t know where to start fixing things. When he hadn’t been calming Fi down, he’d been searching for a loophole that would free him from being pride leader, but he’d found nothing. If the pride leader challenged you and you took him on in a fight and killed him, you were the new pride leader. Plain and simple. Black and white. Done deal.
“Sir? I mean…” The butler cleared his throat. “How would you care to be addressed?”
“Doc is fine.” How much did a place like this cost anyway? Did the pride really have that kind of cash?
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable with that.”
Doc turned to the butler. “Look, I don’t feel comfortable having a butler, so we both need to compromise, you dig?”
The butler nodded.
“You have a name?”
“Isaiah.”
“Good name.” Doc nodded. “My grandmother would have approved.”
Isaiah smiled. “Thank you. May I call you Mr. Mays, perhaps?”
With a deep inhale, Doc shook his head. “You call me Mr. Mays and I’ll be looking for my father. How about you call me by my full name, Maddoc.”
“Such a civilized name for an alley cat,” a voice purred. Another feline presence filled the space, and Doc turned, his gaze landing on the person who’d caused the heartache in his relationship with Fi these past few days.
Isaiah gave her a little head bow, then held his hand out toward her as he addressed Doc. “Maddoc, this is Heaven Silva. Your wife.”
Chapter Four
Velimai’s mood hadn’t improved since Chrysabelle had thrown Mal out, so Chrysabelle walked outside to meet Creek after the guard at the front gate had called with his arrival. She perched on the fountain’s edge in the center of the circular drive, trailing her fingers through the water and listening for the sound of his motorcycle over the fountain’s gurgling.
The bike’s rumble preceded him and a few seconds later, he drove through the estate’s open gates and parked a few feet away. He climbed off the bike, set his helmet on the seat, and smiled. “It’s good to see you. You look healthy.”
“Good to see you, too. And I am healthy. I guess. What brings you by?” She had nothing against small talk, but her mind was elsewhere.
“Straight to it, then.” He sat beside her on the fountain’s wide ledge. “Look, this is hard for me to tell you, but try to remember at this point, I’m just the messenger. I want you to understand that.”
“Okay.” Had to be Kubai Mata business. Creek always seemed so apologetic about it. “What’s going on?”
“Samhain evening, my sector chief informed me that the Castus have the vampire child.”
She nodded. “We already know that.” She’d kicked Mal out and yet she’d just said we. Like the two of them were a unit.
He nodded. “I figured you did.” He worried a small hole near the knee of his jeans. “The KM want you to get the baby back.”
“Why me? Why don’t they send their own warriors in?”
“We’re too obvious. Too detectable. Nobles would scent us out immediately—if we even got past the city wards.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Those sacred brands? They make our blood smell sour. Ask Mal, he’ll tell you.”
She shook her head. “The KM has resources. They could figure something out.”
He sighed. “They have figured something out. That they want you to get the baby back. I’m sorry, Chrysabelle. I know you probably have no desire to go back there.”
She studied him. The bend of his mouth and the way he sat a little hunched over told her he wasn’t enjoying this. “And if I refuse?”
He dragged a hand over his Mohawk. “They’ll start by eliminating Mal.”
She laughed sharply. “If the nobility can’t kill him, I’d like to see the KM try.”
His gaze shifted and his voice lowered. “Then they’ll come after you. I’m powerless to stop them.”
Anger ripped through her. “I’ve done nothing to them. They have no reason to involve me in this.”
He sat back. “That’s not totally true. You haven’t returned the ring of sorrows to them.”
“Why should I even care about returning a ring to an organization I know so little about? If I even still had the ring.”
He stood and paced a few steps away. “I don’t know much about them either, and half of what I do know, I question.” He raised his hand as if to stop himself from talking.
“Then why keep working for them?”
He looked sideways, like someone might be watching. “I owe them, Chrysabelle. Big-time. For my freedom. For things they’ve done for my family.” He shook his head. “They own me. At least for a little while longer.”
“No one should be indebted like that.” Her anger with him defused. She understood exactly the position he was in. “You have to find a way out.”
He exhaled, his words quiet. “I can’t. Not yet.”
“Do they know what I’ve done with the ring?”
“No.”
She stood, ready to go back inside. “Then tell them.”
Something close to fear shadowed his eyes. “That’s calling down trouble.”
“I can handle it. And I want them to know they don’t control me. So tell them exactly what I did with their precious ring and that there’s nothing you can do about it. Then maybe they’ll leave you alone.”
“Nothing will make them leave me alone.” He spoke the words quietly, his tone resigned.
Her anger on his behalf grew. “In fact, tell them I want nothing to do with them and will consider them enemies if they contact me again.” She turned and headed back to the house.
“Chrysabelle—”
She spun back around. “I don’t mean you, Creek. You can contact me, but not on their behalf. I like you. You’ve been a good friend to me.” More than that. He’d saved her life more than once. Fought at her side. Kissed her. She tempered her anger for the sake of their friendship. “If the Kubai Mata want that child, they’ll need a new plan. I’m done being a pawn for the greater good.” She paused. “So should you.”
By the time she reached the front door, the sound of Creek’s motorcycle had already begun to fade. She slammed the door behind her and stormed into the kitchen. Her anger wasn’t completely at the KM for wanting her to do their bidding. No, much of it was at herself for pushing Mal away. Velimai glanced up from where she was setting plates of dinner on the table.
“That was Creek,” Chrysabelle said. Like Velimai hadn’t heard when the guard had called. She threw herself into one of the kitchen chairs, her temper darkening with each passing minute. Why was she so afraid of facing things? Why did Mal raise such emotion in her? Answering those questions meant coming to terms with what she was feeling. Something she was so not ready to do.
