Blood Royal (Page 65)

"She loves you, Gavin, or you wouldn’t have been able to hold onto her this long," Charles spoke up. "Although all this might have been handled with a bit more finesse and tact. Honored One, we only deal with males on assignments. You’ve never had a female to send out—not really. I’ve read Sarita’s files. She chose her own targets and went after them. She accepted information from you but you didn’t control her. Not like this." Charles blinked at Wlodek, surprised at his own outburst.

Wlodek glanced at Merrill before turning back to Charles. "Young Charles, I had not realized you’d gone through all the files. You are correct, but Sarita is not a subject to bring up with me."

"Of course not, Honored One." Charles hung his head in embarrassment.

"Sarita was never as gifted as Lissa." Gavin spoke again. "Are we still planning to make the announcement at the Annual Meeting, though Xenides is still out there?"

"I believe so. He must realize that he is going against a Queen. We have crippled him now, as he is turning to the Elemaiya for help with this instead of depending solely on vampires. We are backing him into a corner. The idea that she is still susceptible to compulsion has outlived its usefulness. We will send the message that she is strong—very strong—and willfully hunting him and any minions that remain." Wlodek nodded at Charles. "Come, Charles. We have work to do."

Gavin watched as Wlodek strode toward the doorway inside the pantry. Charles closed it behind him as they made their way down the stairs. "Lissa will be angry if she comes back at all." Gavin muttered.

"She’ll come back—Franklin is still here," Tony observed. "I don’t think she’ll abandon him, even if she wants to leave the rest of us behind."

* * *

Rain dripped off dead leaves as I huddled against the oak’s trunk, the icy drops falling down past my collar and making me shiver as I sat there. The sobs had quieted to hiccups now. My emotions had run from anger to sorrow to depression and back to anger. How could they do this? How? Were they so devoid of love or any other emotion that they didn’t recognize it in other people? I failed to understand any of this. Right then, I think I hated all of them.

"Hate is a strong word." Griffin stood beneath my tree. "I know you don’t truly hate Gavin. Or Tony. I can’t say for sure about Merrill and Wlodek. Poor Charles has no choice but to obey—he is too young."

"They knew what would happen." My voice was sullen and angry.

"They knew—in a way. Their mistake was in thinking they might make it up to you afterward. That you are a child that can be placated with promises or the lure of possessions. You haven’t believed in promises for a very long time, have you, little girl? As for possessions, those mean very little to you. They should have realized this by now." Griffin had his face turned up to me. I wiped tears off my cheeks with my right hand while holding onto the trunk of the oak tree with my left. Why did I think I even needed that security? I could turn to mist if I fell. It comforted me, somehow, to have an arm wrapped around something solid.

"Lissa," Griffin went on, "you’ll want to be at the Annual Meeting. Xenides is still out there and you must cooperate as much as you can with Wlodek and the others until he is eliminated. That seems to be your quest. After that, perhaps your decisions will be your own. I know that you will certainly have more leverage if you can take him down. Come back with me now, Lissa. You don’t have to talk to any of the others if that is what you want. Find a dress, hold your head up and go to the Annual Meeting. Find out where Xenides is and dispense justice. That is the only way to bring any semblance of peace to the vampire race on Earth. Come back with me, little girl. Franklin needs you."

His last statement was what got me out of the tree. I think I sobbed as I dropped out of it, too. Franklin. He’d lost his mate. Not just a close friend—a mate. How much pain had he suffered? Merrill and Wlodek had more than likely stopped him from communicating with me and that made me even angrier. He’d gone through this with support from Merrill only. Merrill was definitely on my shit list.

"I can get myself home." I didn’t allow Griffin to touch my arm. I was still out of sorts with him—he’d manipulated my birth, after all. I was the answer, he’d said, to so many problems. Well, that didn’t make me feel special. Not one little bitty bit.

"Very well," Griffin sighed and disappeared.

* * *

"Don’t bother trying to talk your way out of this," I flung out an arm at Gavin. Merrill was close behind him when I’d appeared in the kitchen after misting home. "Where’s Franklin?" I asked, heading toward his suite.

"Sleeping," Merrill replied softly. "He’ll wake in four hours."

"Good. I’ll see him then. In the meantime, leave me the f**k alone." I walked away from all of them.

* * *

"Father, we can’t get through to her. None of us can." Charles placed a glass of wine in front of Flavio and sat beside him at the kitchen island.

"Child, this is not your fault," Flavio sipped his wine. "I was angry with father because he withheld the information that she was a Queen. He still has not informed the rest of the Council. They may be angry as well, although my sire believes his reasoning to be sound."

"The Council will never admit they’re angry," Charles looked away.

"Of course not. It is the way we are taught—to be friends and enemies during our lengthy lives."

"I think Lissa has a right to be angry over this. She wanted to say goodbye." Charles still refused to look at his vampire sire.

"Child, while I agree with you on this, things of that nature are a luxury that we as vampires do not receive. I wish it could have been otherwise. We will need her in the coming days and we do not desire her enmity."

* * *

"Frank?" I had a milkshake ready when he woke. Franklin raised a hand to his face, rubbing his eyes and sighing.

"Lissa?" Franklin blinked at me. There was such sadness in his eyes I almost started crying again.

"Frankie, I brought you a milkshake; it’s strawberry—your favorite," I said. "How are you feeling?"

"Awful."

"I know, honey. I am so sorry." Franklin reached out to take my hand and surprised me by kissing it. I helped him sit up in bed before handing the shake over.

"He never woke after the first week," Franklin sighed and sipped his shake.

"Frankie, that’s awful," I reached out and smoothed his hair back.