"Davidson?" Vienne asked, perking up and fixing her attention on the guard. "Fetch the human, I'll see them here."
The guard departed and reluctantly I pulled away from Vienne. I had intended to carry her off to the bedroom to apologize in a less conventional way than words, so the timing was not great. I did not complain, though, because if Davidson sent a human, she would need to talk to them, and I was curious as well.
As my fury had died down, Drak's words had seemed more reasonable. I was no good to anyone dead, but I could still work towards my human goals in this cold state. Still, whenever I remembered what I was, from the thousand small reminders each night, anger filled me at Drak for the betrayal. It did not matter that a part of me understood he had done it for Vienne.
I hated leeches, I hated being a bloodsucking leech, but I also contradictorily wanted to protect her. I was conflicted, which was the basic norm since she had yanked me into her life.
No matter my feelings, realistically there was no way to regain my former human life no matter how much I wanted to. I could either stake myself, or I could make the best of the situation and stake more vampires.
The second option was far more appealing, although a part of me was surprised to realize that. A year ago, I likely as not would have staked myself out of spite to my sire. Not now. Bloodsuckers ranged from rabid monsters like Jack to benign like—well, I would have said Drak before he turned me, but I was not feeling particularly generous to that bloodsucker at the moment—many of the leeches who were my allies.
The door opened and a guard ushered a human inside. He seemed reasonably healthy, but there were dark circles around his eyes and two bite marks on his exposed flesh.
"Come forward, human," Vienne said with almost a singsong tone, although she was not compelling him, merely acting like the enticing female she was. He looked nervous, but his eyes still managed to run over her. I could not even feel jealous, I just felt bad for the poor guy who would obviously throw himself into her web if given half the chance.
I glanced at her. Would she want to elicit a jealous response from me? No doubt the idea would delight her. If I ever did feel that way, I'd have to hide it from her. The last thing I wanted was her running around flirting with every male in the vicinity because she found my reaction amusing.
Life with her was never going to be easy. There would always be a need for strategy. A smart man would leave and never look back.
"What's your name?" she asked.
As he spoke, his eyes finally flicked to me. It was pretty obvious that he did not find me nearly as terrifyingly alluring as Vienne, although his eyes shifted around nervously. "I'm Curtis, and I've come from Master Davidson to bring you a message, Mistress Vienne."
"Oh? And what would that be?" she raised an eyebrow and pretended she was not curious about what information Davidson thought was important enough to send a human along. I did not let my smile at her act reach my face.
"Two matters require your attention. The council is planning another attack, this time with siege weapons. They've been hastily constructing such since their last failed attack and this time they intend to knock down your defenses before they try to overrun you."
Vienne pondered. "I wonder what the best way to counter them would be... Flaming arrows? Drone attacks?"
"Drones?" the human asked.
She sighed. "Ingenious little flying machines, sort of like miniature airplanes. I don't know how to describe them. I really should have turned some engineers and so forth into vampires when I had a chance. Where did my standards get me? In the exact same place, but with less industry experts."
The messenger looked unsure what he was supposed to say after her little spontaneous rant. "Go on," I said, putting the human out of his confused misery.
Vienne's lips curled as if she were amused that I had run interference for the human.
"The second matter is that Master Davidson can get you in to the capital."
"What?" Vienne asked, sounding breathless. I was surprised too, and the idea was great, but there was no way this could be so easy.
"What's the catch?" I asked.
"No catch. Although you don't have much time."
"Why not?" she asked.
"Master Davidson believes he and Mistress Naomi will not be a part of the council for much longer, and he can make no guarantees about what he will be able to do after that."
"Why won't he be on the council?" she asked.
"There's an upcoming vote in two days about reducing the total number of seats in the council, in light of recent events. And his position was already shaky."
"That might make sense for the now vacant seats," she mused, "But Davidson is still there. They don't know for a fact that he's playing both sides, but I suppose even the remaining councillors have enough mental faculties to figure out he's probably not the most loyal to their cause."
"That's what he believes. Master Davidson has explained that nothing has been explicitly stated, but he's fairly certain they know what's coming. He said something about you telling him to listen to rumours?"
Vienne smirked at that. "Ah, yes. And I am immensely flattered that he listened to me considering half of his shaky situation is half of my doing, since I spent so much time undermining him."
The man looked at her uneasily, as if he was afraid to agree with her.
"I assume you can't return to Davidson, now?"
"No, I'm to coordinate with you about getting inside, and lead you in." He glanced at her nervously.
She clapped her hands to get the guards' attention. "Take Curtis and get him settled in, and set up an emergency planning meeting."
"Yes, Mistress."
She rolled her eyes and turned back to me. "Jamie, I am infinitely glad that we have reached an accord, but I have to go."
"Are you sure we can trust him?" I interrupted before she could go on.
"No. Of course not. And we shall have to plan properly for a double cross, this time. But, if we can get into the capital where most of the councillors are holing up, we can finish this quickly."
I frowned. I was not convinced. "I'm coming to the meeting."
She cringed a bit at my assertion. "Jamie, I have no objection to that, but by the time we've gathered everyone together, you'll be dead to the world and will have to be carried to bed."
I swore. Freaking bloodsucker's weakness, there was nothing I could do about it.
"I promise that I shall tell you everything this evening."
"Fine," I said, although it was hardly fine at all. I wanted to be involved in every stage. Our last excursion had gotten me half killed, and it was entirely possible this one would finish the job. I could even accept that, but it wasn't only my life riding on what we were doing. It was all the fighters, and the potential freedom of a lot of humans. And Vienne. I did not want to see her harmed.
* * * * *
I resentfully went to bed and was quickly pulled into a nothingness that held me as if I no longer existed. As I came back to myself, everything rushed towards me, along with a hunger I did not like to acknowledge, but I had no choice but to sate to avoid an even worse fate.
Opening my eyes, the overwhelming details of the room rushed in at me. The improvement in my vision was not quite the shock of the first time I had opened my eyes, but it was still jarring. I sat up, and glanced in the direction of a guard who had apparently been assigned to watch over me.
Being guarded while I slept—or whatever it was—by some guy I barely knew was frigging weird.
Memories of the morning's conversation hit me. "Where's Vienne?" I asked him.
"I'm not sure. The Mistress went to a meeting when she awoke, but now..."
Of course, nothing could ever be easy with her. "Don't worry, I'll find her myself."
"Very good, Master."
"Don't ever call me that," I said more forcefully than I should have, considering he was a human and I was not anymore.
"Apologies." His response was quick. His heart rate had increased, had I intimidated him so easily?
"You don't have to apologize, either," I said, intentionally forcing myself to sound relaxed. "Just treat me like you would have before."
"Yes, sir."
Ignoring the guard's response, I was on my way. I was the same person, except I was not, my craving thirst reminded me. I should go and feed before I looked for her, I didn't want to put the humans at risk by testing my self-control. When my hunger was sated, I almost felt entirely human. When it was not...
Striding from the room into the main chambers, the guards opened the door to let me out. I did not enjoy the special treatment, but arguing seemed pointless, and it was sometimes convenient, if nothing else.
The dining room that had once fed Vienne's guards had been converted into a place to feed vampires, although many of her favourites were still here. Jeffry was sitting with Marcel and they both had cups.
"Want to come train with us after you've fed, Little Leech?" Marcel asked. He still sounded like a braying mutt, but not nearly as hostile as he used to. It sounded like a genuine offer.
I spared him something between a grin and a grimace. "Maybe later. I have something to do first, Agro." I could use more practice to acclimate to the changes of my new nature. I still sometimes moved too fast or used too much strength. Drak had assured me everything would feel natural in time, but time was not something we really had the luxury of right now.
Grabbing a large mug, I poured coffee and added blood. Vienne had been correct; it was better warm, although I noted that not everyone seemed to care as much as she did.
I drank my cup, and then another. Would this empty craving inside me ever be filled? I was about to get up and get a third, when a soft voice spoke.
"Jamie?"
The tremulous words hit me like a spear through my chest. The voice was familiar, too familiar for this world, and this place. I had not heard the voice outside my dreams in a decade. So familiar, but also so different. I spun around to look at her face, green eyes in a heart shaped face surrounded by blond hair.
"Angelique?"
"Jamie! It really is you!" she said, throwing herself into my arms. "You're alive!"
The shocked joy in her voice mirrored my own. I had never really expected to see my sister again.
"How did you survive?" I asked her. She was still holding onto me with a grip that probably would have hurt if I had still been human. The truth slammed me in the face. She was cool; she was like me, no longer human. The thought ached, but I was overjoyed that she was, against all odds, not dead, at least not entirely.
"I was a feeder slave for a while, before my sire decided she wanted a new eternal plaything," she said, the first note of bitterness entering her voice.
"I'll kill her," I said, and I meant it entirely.
She released me just enough to look at my face and wiped her eyes. "It's too late for that, I hear," she said, smiling a bit vindictively, with an expression I had never seen on my gentle sister before. A lot had happened since she and Candace were dragged away. I wanted to ask about our other sister, but a part of me feared that I already knew the answer.
"So, what happened to you?" she asked, inspecting me the way I was inspecting her. "You don't look like my baby brother anymore, you look older than me. How long ago were you turned?"
"Very recently."
She scowled. "Who did it? I can't imagine a world in which you would happily become a leech."
"You're not wrong."
"Who was it?"
"No need to get all protective for me, Ange. I'll be fine." I would learn to ignore the nagging emptiness, the stillness, the dark appetite. Clearly Angelique had done it somehow, I could, too.
She did not look like she was going to let it go. "But Jamie—"
"It'll be fine, sis, I promise. We were ambushed, and I was dying. It was the only way."
"I was told that humans got a choice, here."
"We—they do. It's complicated. But how did you end up here?"
She smiled a bit. Her moods shifted more quickly than they had when we were young and human. "I had fled north to escape my sire, and had made a little home up there, hiding amongst a few humans who traded me their blood in exchange for my muscle," she said, flexing her skinny arm playfully. "I heard rumours that a hybrid group was making a move against the council, and I decided to come and see if I could have my revenge. A few of my human friends came along, too. I'll introduce you later." She grappled me again.
"Damn, you're strong," I complained jokingly as she let go.
"Darn straight, kiddo."
"Good thing I'm already turned or you'd be doing it to save my life after you crushed me."
She scoffed. "I would obviously have been more careful with human you."
I hadn't been this happy in years, and for the first time I was glad that Drak had turned me, because I would never have gotten the chance to see Angelique again if he had not.
"So, how did you get here?"
"Well, after... After we were separated, I managed to kill the leech who was dragging me off, and I wandered around until I met my mentor. He trained me, and then I started hunting the leech who killed Melissa."
My sister narrowed her eyes at me. "You went hunting vampires? As a human?"
"Yes."
"You're such an idiot."
"I didn't get killed doing it, did I?" I was not going to tell her how close I had come on more than one occasion. I wasn't such a fool as to walk face first into that lecture.
She sighed. "Did you get him?"
"I did. Took a few tries to find him."
"Just how many vampires did you kill?" she asked, not impressed.
"Before or after I joined the rebellion?"
She gave me another dirty look, a nostalgic expression of childhood. "You know what? I don't even want to know."
"I'm not sure if my count is accurate anymore, anyway. My memories of my last fight are a bit fuzzy."
She scowled again and shoved my shoulder playfully. "You're such an idiot."
I shrugged. "So, anyway, before I got the demon Jack, I got myself caught, was in the council slave pens, and then Vienne bought me from there."
"Vienne, huh? I've heard a lot about that one. She's either the worst demon of them all or a human lover? But I do approve of the whole getting rid of the council thing, so here I am."
"You really hate the council. How come?"
She paused. "Well, my sire was on the council. And Candace..."
Shit. I could guess what was coming.
"Candace was killed by another one of the members."
"Who killed her?"
"It doesn't matter. He's dead, too." Another cruel smirk. We had both been changed by what had happened to us over the years.
"I still want to know."
"Councillor Magnus killed her."
"And who turned you?"
"Councillor Willow."
"I was there when they both died."
Those familiar green eyes met mine. "Tell me about it."