Conclave (Vampire Conclave: Book 3), page 17
“A wager,” Janus says before looking over at Mira. “Tomorrow is the battle royale, correct?”
Mira nods her head. “Yes. At noon.”
“Perfect,” Janus practically purrs. “Then I propose we make a bet on the outcome. If one of our champions wins the battle, you will stop harassing us about this issue and leave us to live the lives we want. However, if one of your four champions win, we will go along with whatever you come up with to transform us back into human beings. Is that agreeable to everyone? I’m not really sure we can make this any fairer.”
Julian takes a few seconds to consider Janus’s offer before asking all present, “Do any of you have an objection to Janus’s wager on the battle?”
Sophie looks over at Janus with an angry, questioning look, like she can’t believe he’s actually willing to give in like this. I see Janus silently mouth the words “trust me” to her. She shakes her head like she thinks he’s crazy, but she inevitably says, “I agree to the terms of battle.”
“I will also go along with it,” Mira says.
And like the true follower he is, Adrian says, “I agree too.”
I get the distinct feeling that Janus has something sinister planned for the battle to ensure his side wins. I break down the wall I was using to shield myself from everyone’s feelings and instantly intercept Janus’s deceitfulness with my empathic ability. Of course, I can’t prove that he intends to cheat in some way. It would simply be my word against his.
All the vampires present eventually agree to the plan, but I have a strong feeling none of us will enjoy the outcome of the battle tomorrow. Now I’m worried about Nadia’s safety. I know she’s an excellent fighter. She’s proven that to me in her sparring matches with Julian, but I have no way of knowing exactly who Janus and Sophie will use to fight for them in the tournament. I get the feeling from Janus that he believes he’s already won and that his wager will simply force Julian to keep his word and never bring this subject up again. There seems to be zero doubt in his mind that he will come out victorious tomorrow.
And that worries me. It worries me a lot.
“Does anyone have something else they would like to discuss while we’re all together?” Mira asks as she stands from her seat. When no one says anything, she continues. “As is our tradition at these meetings, I would like for us all to go around and introduce our companions to each other. Since most of us haven’t seen one another since the last conclave, we’ve all had a changing of the guard, as it were. Julian, since you’re already standing, why don’t you officially introduce Sarah to everyone?”
Mira sits down, and Julian walks over to our table. He stretches out a hand not only to indicate that I should stand next to him, but to also help me up from my seat.
“As you all know, Sarah Marcel is new not only to being a companion and all that involves, but new to our world and all the creatures who live in it. She is also heir to the alfar house of Moonshade and will be their queen after her aunt either passes away or steps down from the throne.”
“Are you joking, Julian?” Sophie asks, looking flabbergasted by the news.
“I’m quite serious,” Julian tells her as he looks over at Mira. “I thought you would have warned them about Sarah’s heritage.”
Mira shakes her head. “I did think about it, but then I decided it would be more fun to watch them learn the truth from you. And I was right.”
“What are you saying? She’s like a princess or something?” Janus asks, looking bewildered by the notion.
“She is a princess,” Julian states. “She’s alfar royalty.”
“Does that mean she has a Valengard detail?” Sophie asks excitedly. “Will one of them be fighting for you tomorrow?”
After Sophie asks her question, I immediately feel Janus begin to panic, even though his expression remains the same, giving nothing of his true feelings away to the others. He wasn’t counting on us to have a Valengard fighting on our side, and now he’s worried that the bargain he just made was a foolhardy one. I hate to be the one to tell him, but he’s absolutely right. His mistake will hopefully work in our favor, no matter what mischief he may have up his sleeve. Actually, it makes me wonder why Mira agreed to the terms of battle. She knew Nadia would be fighting for us, yet she didn’t warn Janus or decline to accept the outcome of the battle. Her behavior is odd, but it also gives me hope that the sister Julian once knew is still inside Mira helping her make wise decisions.
“Yes,” Julian says, answering Sophie’s question, “we will have a Valengard fighting as our champion. In fact, she’s their best one.”
Sophie isn’t as good as Janus when it comes to hiding her true feelings. Her shock at this news is mirrored on her face in a way that’s almost comical. With a slack jaw and bulging eyes, she says, “And you didn’t tell us this before we made the bargain?”
Julian smiles. “Why would I?”
I want to giggle, but I don’t. My good manners take over because I was taught not to kick someone when they’re down. I was also taught not to kick a hornets’ nest, but I think it’s a little too late for that. I can feel Janus’s panic quickly turn to rage as if his anger is as easy to flip on as a light switch.
He quickly stands from his seat and points an accusing finger at Julian.
“You tricked us!” he yells, practically foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog with his wrath.
Julian lets go of my hand as he faces Janus fully. He looks like he’s preparing to fight the other vampire if it comes down to that.
“I didn’t trick you,” Julian says in a deadly calm voice. “You could have asked at any time who our champion in the battle royale would be, but you didn’t. As usual, you simply ran headlong into something without thinking it through first. It’s no wonder you are the way you are.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” Sophie demands, also standing from her seat to confront Julian.
“It means that if you and Janus had stopped to consider what drinking the blood of an innocent, instead of your companion, would do to you, perhaps neither of you would be the way you are today.”
“You always call us monsters for what we do,” Janus says, “but you can be just as bad as us. How do you justify taking blood from a woman you supposedly have fallen in love with? Does it turn you on to drink her blood while the two of you have sex?” Janus looks down at Daisy as she gazes up at him adoringly. “I know it does me. Sometimes, I become so hungry, I have to go out and find someone else to fully quench my thirst.” Janus looks back at Julian. “But you don’t have that luxury, do you, Julian? Your holier-than-thou attitude restricts who you can feed from, and poor Sarah ends up having to bear the brunt of your hunger.”
“Don’t you dare try to speak for me,” I tell Janus, feeling my own anger suddenly emerge. “You know nothing about me or what I like or don’t like. Julian doesn’t do anything to me that I don’t want him to, and I can’t think of any circumstance when I would ask him not to drink from me. I gain almost as much as he does from the experience.”
I just knocked Janus’s anger up a notch, but I don’t care. I couldn’t just stand here and let him try to guilt trip Julian. I’ve already told him how much I like it when he drinks from me after we make love, and I want to make sure Julian understands what I told him was the truth. I do enjoy it, and I don’t want him to stop doing it just because of Janus and his twisted sense of morality.
I can see Janus’s jaw muscles clenching, like he wants to make an angry retort, but he finally sits down and doesn’t say anything else to bait Julian into a fight. Sophie sits as well, clearly showing who wears the pants in their little group of insane vampires.
Julian and I sit back down in our chairs at the table while Petru stands to introduce Nathaniel to the others. I barely hear what he says because I’m more interested in Janus’s feelings at the moment. He may be worried about coming out victorious in the battle royale now, but he still has hope. I just don’t know why.
After Petru, Evie introduces Winifred, but it seems a bit short, like she doesn’t want to say too much to the others about her. I find it a little odd, but quickly forget about it when it’s Filip’s turn. The pretty blonde woman sitting beside him has yet to utter a single word. I can tell that she’s a shy creature by nature and is more than willing to allow Filip to take the lead. She stands when he does as he makes the introduction, and it’s the first time I notice the material of her dress is a light brown.
“This is Madeline Moreau,” Filip says. “Her mother, Jacqueline, passed away last year from an unexpected heart attack. She is a brilliant editor of my latest unpublished novels and quite a good writer in her own right. It is my most fervent wish she be allowed the freedom to publish her stories in her own name one day, and this talk of a cure to our malady gives me hope that she’ll be able to reach her full potential soon and show her brilliance and beauty off to the world without the added burden of being my companion.”
“It’s not a burden,” Madeline protests with a soft French accent, touching Filip on the arm to stress her words. “I’ve always considered it a privilege.”
“Here, here!” Janus commends heartily. “At least she understands her place in the world, Filip, and appreciates it for what it is: a great honor.”
Filip scowls at Janus. “I don’t consider it a great honor that I have to ingest her blood in order to stay alive and injure her body every time I do it.”
“Pfft, she heals quickly enough,” Sophie scoffs. “It’s not as if the damage is permanent.”
“But it’s still something only an animal would do,” Filip replies heatedly. “You and Janus may revel in your lack of morals and common decency, but there are at least a few of us who haven’t forgotten what it used to be like to be human.”
“Humanity is overrated,” Janus says derisively. “I feel sorry for them, actually. Restrained by so many rules and never having much fun. They’re like little hamsters in a cage being forced to run around in their wheels and perform the same tasks day in and day out. Can you imagine going back to a human existence of working and taking care of a family?”
“Just because you’ve always been lazy,” Filip says scathingly, “doesn’t mean that the rest of us are. If you cared about your companion at all, you would want to free her from the shackles of our lives.”
“Are you sure you aren’t human?” Janus asks scathingly, saying the word “human” as if being one is more of a curse than being a vampire. “You whine just like one already.”
“Why don’t we move on?” Mira suggests, standing from her chair as she prepares to introduce Constance to everyone. Constance acts like she’s going to stand up also, but Mira places a gentle hand on her shoulder to stop her from performing such an action. “I would rather you sat and conserved your energy.” Mira looks around at us all and says, “Constance Dorrell has been my companion since her father’s death about five years ago. She decided not to marry the father of her child in order to spare him from having to live in our world.”
“A wise decision on her part, if you ask me,” Filip comments.
“I don’t believe anyone did,” Adrian tells his fellow vampire contemptuously.
“Constance,” Mira continues, choosing to ignore both Filip’s and Adrian’s interruption, “is a brilliant artist. If we do find a way to break the bond between us and our companion, I hope she will at least remain my friend.”
I have to say, I didn’t expect such a heartfelt appeal from Julian’s sister. It’s further proof of how deep her feelings run for Constance, making her companion’s betrayal all that more poignant. I watch as Constance raises a hand to touch Mira on the arm.
“I will always be your friend,” Constance tells her with a pained expression on her face. Could it be that she’s second-guessing her request to me to take her child to Alfheim and shield her from Mira’s influence? I won’t know that for sure until I’m able to speak with her in private, but I have no idea how to do that without being overheard by the other vampires. I’ll simply have to keep an eye out for an opening to talk with her.
Mira sits down and glances in Adrian’s direction as an unspoken signal that he should speak next.
Adrian scrapes his chair against the stone floor as he stands.
“This is Daniel Bartran,” he says as Daniel stands by his side. “He’s rather unremarkable as humans go, but his blood tastes good.”
Adrian sits back down, leaving Daniel standing alone. My friend looks down at his companion and simply shakes his head in dismay. I don’t get the feeling he’s upset by Adrian’s brusque and rather crude words to describe him. In a way, I think he expected it. Daniel retakes his seat without saying a word.
Sophie stands up next and tugs on the chain around her companion’s neck as a silent command that he needs to stand by her side like a dog on a leash.
“This is Thomas,” she says. “He doesn’t have a last name because people don’t usually give their pets surnames.”
“You’re disgusting, Sophie,” Petru says disdainfully. “He isn’t a pet. He’s a human being for goodness’s sake. You owe your life to him.”
Sophie smiles grimly at Petru. “Every companion is simply a bag of blood for us to use as we see fit. If you want to pretend that yours is something special to you, go right ahead, but I refuse to be a hypocrite and call mine anything more than a tamed animal.”
Sophie sits down and yanks Thomas’s chain in a silent command for him to resume his seat as well.
That only leaves Janus to introduce his companion, whom he’s already called Daisy a few times during this meeting.
Janus and Daisy stand together in one fluid motion as if the action has been practiced many times before now.
“This is Daisy Quinn,” Janus says, as he looks at his companion with ravenous eyes. “Normally, I don’t feed from my companions except for the first bite to complete the bonding ceremony, but Daisy changed all that when she became my companion and I tasted her blood for the very first time. Now,” he says as he takes a few steps to stand behind Daisy, “she’s all I can think about.”
I watch in morbid fascination as Janus slides his arms around Daisy’s waist before reaching up to grasp both of her breasts with his hands. He lowers his head near the base of her neck and inhales deeply as he begins to knead her breasts in front of us all without an ounce of shame. Daisy closes her eyes and begins to moan in pleasure just as Janus opens his mouth and bites her.
“Enough!” Julian says angrily, slamming our table with his fist so hard it collapses to the stone floor of the veranda.
Janus raises his head from Daisy’s throat and smiles at Julian with a bloody, toothy grin.
“Oh, come now, Julian,” he mocks as he continues to fondle Daisy’s body in front of us, causing her to moan louder and breathe harder. I see her lean her back against Janus’s chest, obviously enjoying his physical attention and craving more of it. “You act as if you haven’t done this exact same thing with your own companion. Don’t be such a righteous hypocrite. You know as well as I do how compliant a companion can be while they’re lying underneath you, begging you to give them more pleasure.”
“Daisy isn’t old enough to understand how you’re manipulating her,” Julian contends, attempting to be the voice of reason. “She’s still a child, Janus.”
“No, I’m not,” Daisy says, as she opens her eyes and looks over at Julian. “I’m a woman who knows exactly what she wants and takes it.”
“You’re only sixteen,” Julian points out.
“If it makes you feel any better, I’m almost seventeen,” Daisy informs us. “Even though I’m young, I probably know more about giving a man pleasure than your companion does. Would you like a private demonstration?”
Janus begins to laugh wildly at Daisy’s brazen daring.
“What did I tell you?” he practically cackles. “She’s quite a handful in and out of bed, but I definitely prefer it when she’s sitting on top of me naked.”
“Wild stallions are meant to be ridden hard,” Daisy croons as she turns around to face Janus. “Why don’t we ditch these losers and go somewhere else so you can finish what you started here?”
Janus picks Daisy up and sits her on the table in front of them.
“Or we could just do it right here,” he suggests, leaning into her as if he intends to take her right in front of us.
I see Daisy shake her head slowly as she reaches a hand out to grope Janus through his slacks.
“No,” she says to him breathlessly, “they don’t deserve such a good show. Plus, I discovered a few new tricks today that I want to show you. It’s amazing what you can learn on the Internet.”
Janus smiles at Daisy just before his wings unexpectedly emerge from his back. Without another word to anyone, he grabs her around the waist and flies off into the night’s sky with her tightly in his arms.
I breathe a sigh of relief when they’re gone as the tension among the other vampires slowly dissipates.
“Well,” Mira says as she stands from her chair, “I suppose that concludes our first meeting. I’ll see you all here tomorrow for the battle royale between our champions.”
Taking this as our cue to leave her house, we all stand up.
“I always knew Janus was a sick bastard,” Filip says as he rises from his chair, “but taking that child as a lover is a new low, even for him.”
“He wasn’t always this way,” Julian says. “You remember how he used to be—quiet as a dormouse and never saying a word to anyone unless he was spoken to first.”
“Really?” I ask in surprise. “I can’t imagine him acting that way.”
“He was a completely different man when he was human,” Julian tells me. “If we can find a way to return his humanity to him, I think it will take him a very long time to reconcile with the things he’s done as a vampire.”
“If he even has a soul to be saved anymore,” Evie points out.
“I doubt he does,” Petru adds with certainty. “If there is one left, it’s probably as dark as coal by now.”
