"Cara, he was only doing his duty."
"Yeah? If they were discussing a beating for you, do you think I'd just let them do it? They'd get an earful, I think. There would be no doubt in their minds as to what I thought of all of them, too."
"And that would mean a beating for you as well, cara."
"Then they could do both of us at once. Two for the price of one, don't you think?" I walked away from him. "Fucking Council," I grumbled.
"You have not had many good experiences with them," Gavin nodded. "Perhaps if you give them some time, they will win you over."
"That'll be the day," I snapped. "I don't even know their names—except for Flavio and Oluwa. I know those two. That's it."
"Then introduce yourself at the Annual Meeting this year," Gavin came to stand next to me, trying to coax me back into his arms. "They cannot refuse the introduction."
"Maybe I shouldn't know their names," I moved away from him again. "Do you like any of them?"
"I like a few, I think. The others I tolerate."
"That dark-haired female is a problem, Gavin. Trust me on that. Someday, Wlodek may have her standing in front of him." Gavin lifted an eyebrow at my statement, but didn't say anything. I didn't expect anything else—I was used to nobody listening to me. I sighed. "It sucks being a new vampire," I said, picking up my shampoo and soap and carrying them into the bathroom.
"Cara, the first five years are mandatory," Gavin came in to stand behind me. "While your first years seem to be more troubled than others, you have many important vampires watching you. You are extraordinary, Lissa. A Queen. Wlodek is holding off informing the full Council because of Xenides—you understand why he must continue to think your weakness is compulsion. When the Council and the race as a whole are informed there is a Queen again, that will be cause for celebration."
"Celebration my ass," I muttered. I didn't want a celebration. I just wanted to make decisions for myself.
"Don't you want others to recognize you for what you are?" Gavin sounded puzzled.
"Sheesh. No," I replied, tossing a hand helplessly. Honestly, whenever Kifirin started talking of rebuilding Le-Ath Veronis, I got chills, and not in a good way.
"Lissy?" Tony's voice sounded through the upper floor guesthouse. I guess he didn't want to surprise us in case we were in a compromising position.
"Tony, what do you want?" I headed toward the bedroom door. René was right behind Tony; Dalroy, Rhett, Winkler and newly appointed Director Bill Jennings were right behind René in our small sitting area.
"Lissa, Director Jennings has unfortunate news," René said. Gavin stepped up behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders.
"What is it?" I was suddenly terrified. Tony looked gray. Bill's face had lost most of its color.
"This was sent to the OSBI," Bill held out a photograph. OSBI—Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. My fingers shook as I took the photograph from Bill's hand. Gavin's arm around my waist was what kept me standing; the photograph was of Don's brother, David. He'd been killed; multiple stab wounds covered his torso and he'd been dumped on top of Don's grave, his neck bent at an unnatural angle as it rested against Don's headstone.
"Oh, dear God," I muttered, my hand covering my mouth. "Where's Sara?"
"We don't know," Bill said. "We received a typewritten note with this photograph. It says come to me or there will be more of the same."
"Lissa, the authorities don't have any leads. There weren't any fingerprints on the photograph or the note. Not even the envelope or the stamps." Tony had already discussed this with Bill, I could tell.
"Where was it mailed?" I was doing my best to keep from crying. David's body had been tossed carelessly onto Don's grave, his stab wounds likely from a vampire's claws. "How long has he been dead?" The photograph shook as I handed it back to Bill.
"He was killed somewhere nearby and thrown on the grave. We couldn't find shoe prints or other evidence," Bill said softly. "This happened two nights ago."
"Don's grave is at least twenty feet from the nearest road that runs through that cemetery," I wiped my cheeks. "Those fucking vampires threw him from the road so they wouldn't leave prints behind."
"We think that too; the coroner is certain that all broken bones were postmortem."
"Raona," Roff walked in the room. He'd been wandering outside; I smelled freshly mown grass and flowers about him. Roff had been exploring Winkler's four acres surrounding the house. He came straight to me now, wiping stubborn tears from my face.
"We're keeping this away from the media for now," Bill went on. "Of course, it was all done at night and nobody saw anything."
"Do you have surveillance cameras around the cemetery now?" Tony asked.
"Yes, but as you know, they probably won't go back there."
"Then how the hell am I supposed to come to them if I don’t know where they are?" I was getting angry, now. If I had any idea where Xenides was, he would be a very dead vampire as soon as I could make him so.
"Lissa, you will get that thought out of your head immediately," Gavin growled. "You will not be going to any of them. We will track them down and take care of this."
"Then why did you bring me?" I considered misting away from him.
"Because you're good at this, Lissy," Tony said. "You make intuitive leaps sometimes. Look what you did about those child killers in England."
"Uh-huh." I attempted to wiggle out of Gavin's arms.
"Raona, come with me," Roff took my arm and Gavin let me go. Roff led me to the bedroom and shut the door behind us.
"Don't join up with them," I pulled away from Roff.
"I know you are upset and they are not allowing you your full potential," Roff said. "A Queen protects her people. I think they are too afraid of losing you."
"Honey, I think I love you," I said, giving him a hug.
* * *
Bill motioned the others out the door and pulled them down the steps leading away from the guesthouse. "Mr. Hancock asked me not to give additional information to Lissa," Bill said, once they were inside Winkler's mansion. Winkler led them quietly into the kitchen, glad that Kellee was asleep. Trajan was now living with him, and he'd kept James and Leon on as bodyguards.
"We didn't give you the full contents of the note," Bill said, once they'd settled around the huge island. "They want Lissa to come to them in Kansas City. They've given a date and time; otherwise, they'll go after her cousins who live in the state. We have our doubts as to whether Sara Workman is still alive since they're threatening the cousins, now." Bill was thrown into a difficult situation immediately—there hadn't been an opportunity for him to ease into the job. His forehead was creased with worry; Rahim Alif could very well be with Xenides. In his experience, where one of them was in the past, the other hadn't been far away.
"What is the location?" Tony asked.
"They only gave coordinates. Latitude and longitude," Bill answered. "We've checked; that particular spot is a wooded area near Parkville, Missouri, located slightly north and west of Kansas City."
"Anything near there?" Winkler got in on the questioning.
"There's an underground business park nearby," Bill said. "They may be using that as a base; we're checking it now."
"You need to get Lissa up there, along with the rest of us to see if we can sniff any of them out," Gavin said. "What is the date?"
"They're being generous, they're giving us a month," Bill said, sounding puzzled.
"If we wrap this up quickly, we'll have time to return to France for the Annual Meeting," René observed. The meeting was to be held in France and was scheduled for the beginning of October.
"René, you have always been fonder of those gatherings than I," Gavin said.
"You work them, cousin," René reminded his only living relative. "I go to enjoy myself." He didn't bring Gavin's attention to the fact that he'd put in a bid for Lissa during the last meeting. Had Gavin not intervened, Lissa might be wed to him instead. Gavin would not appreciate the reminder; René was sure of that.
* * *
Albert sent a mental message to Everett Hancock. Can you hear me? he asked Anthony Hancock's father. Everett blinked at him instead.
"You must answer if you hear my mindspeech," Albert laid compulsion. Everett nodded. Albert tried again. Now do you hear me?
Everett sat there, unsure what Albert wanted him to do. Ken white was watching the one-sided exchange, feeling a bit bored. Albert was trying desperately to get Everett Hancock to answer. They'd held hope that the elder Hancock could hear Albert's mindspeech. The unfortunate truth, however, was that Everett Hancock seemed to be—as far as mindspeech was concerned, anyway—deaf as a post.
"We have tried for the past hour and he is unable to hear Albert's mindspeech," Chris Townsend relayed the message to Charles, who would pass it along to Wlodek. Wlodek was actually listening to the conversation. He took the phone from Charles.
"Take him to Oklahoma City," Wlodek instructed. "Introduce him to Lissa. She will have a message for me afterward." Wlodek handed the phone back to Charles. Charles gave the address of the safe house where Lissa could be found in Oklahoma before terminating the call.
Chris put the phone back in his pocket. "Looks like we're going to Oklahoma City," he sighed.
* * *
We were driving north on I-35 about nine in the evening, two days after I'd learned that Don's brother was dead. It was Thursday, August twenty-sixth; Gavin had bought Roff a nice watch with date and time displays, and taught Roff about telling time and using a calendar. Roff was happy with Gavin's instruction and was quite taken with the watch, reminding me in the mornings what day it was. I considered smacking Gavin and hiding the watch. Unfortunately, Roff never took it off—it was waterproof, too.
"There is a three-bedroom safe house reserved for us in Oklahoma City," Gavin informed me; he was driving the van Winkler lent us. It could seat up to nine people with room in the back for luggage. Tony and René sat behind us, with Roff in the back row. He didn't seem to mind. Bill had flown into Oklahoma City several hours ahead of us to continue his investigation. Winkler would be joining us in two days; he had business to see to before following us to Oklahoma. Dalroy and Rhett were planning to come with him as added protection. My cell phone rang as Gavin drove.
"Lissa?" Charles was on the other end.
"Hi, Charles, what's up?" I asked. I was glad to hear from him; I hadn't brought my laptop since Gavin had his. I could use it to send email—if I could get past his frown whenever I asked to borrow it, that is. He and Wlodek both forbade the use of my cell phone as a means to do email, saying it was much easier to lose a cell and they didn't want my contacts handed over to someone who'd managed to get their hands on my phone. They'd also discouraged me from taking my laptop. Therefore, I was forced to use Gavin's laptop as a means of electronic communication.
"The Honored One has instructed Chris Townsend and Ken White to catch up with you in Oklahoma City tomorrow evening," Charles informed me. "They are bringing someone with them. Wlodek wants to know whether you detect a kinship between this person and anyone else you may know."
