Burning Both Ends

“Arianna—”

“I’m sorry. I should have warned you long ago, when it might have made a difference.” She tried to pull her hands away, but Andreas held on tightly.

He was quiet for a moment. “I wish you had trusted me sooner, Arianna, but we are in this together. I do not believe your legend is entirely responsible, and even a powerful witch cannot stop fate. I grant you the ability to share in this fashion is unexpected and rather disturbing, but I believe it can also be a gift. Like any ability, it must be developed and controlled.”

“It’s still partly my fault,” she said, stubbornly refusing to accept fate as an excuse.

“Fault? I thought you were going to insist on taking credit.”

Ari heard the lightness in his voice; her gaze rose to his face and found the beginning of a smile.

“I like to think my charming ways had something to do with it.”

“So maybe this is your fault after all,” she said, unable to resist his mood.

Andreas kissed the top of her head. “There is no fault. Whatever brought us together, the bond has been there a long time. Perhaps from the first night we met. If tonight was any indication, it is growing stronger. Our magical defenses are no longer protecting us from one another. At least not under extreme emotions. We need to work on that. I am no more willing than you to have our magics sharing so freely.”

Ari pulled away so she could see his face. “How do we stop it?”

“We begin by strengthening our blocking. Eventually we will test the limits of this shared power, but not tonight or anytime soon. Not until we can control it. It would be wise to learn more about your legend, but my own history may be part of this puzzle.”

“Your history? But we’re not formally joined by a vampire bond. How can we share your abilities?” Bonded vampire couples, who had entered a formal, documented bonding ceremony, were committed for life. Among other things, the human partner shared a vampire’s strength, an extended life, and some capacity to sense their mate’s emotions.

“An excellent question which we shall explore, along with other possibilities. I believe we are in unchartered territory. Quite a new experience for me.” His voice was upbeat, exuding a lack of concern with the situation.

She wasn’t convinced but loved him for trying. He had to be thinking about the changes this would make in both their lives. They’d have to struggle to maintain their independence from one another, to control the magic. It would be hard to work on control once she returned to Olde Town, but maybe it would be a good thing for them to be apart. She was suddenly very tired.

“The legend is recorded in my family Book of Shadows. I’ll study it as soon as I get home, and I’ll talk with Rosalina, our family seer. I’ll find out everything I can.”

And she would. She was through with the denial. She’d try to see it from his point of view, a new power to be controlled and used. Yeah, maybe. It was still pretty scary. She thought back to the scene she’d witnessed in her dream state and shivered. What would she have seen and felt if Lilith hadn’t woken her?

“Are the three rogues dead?” She concentrated on the question, not the imagery.

“Yes.”

“Lilith woke me shortly after the fight started.”

His face showed relief. “I am thankful for that, although it did not last long.”

“The bodies, or maybe bones by now, are they lying around for someone’s dog to find?” Decomposition was rapid in vamps. A matter of minutes or hours, depending on their true age. She’d rather dwell on these details than talk about how the vamps died or how Andreas felt about it. She already had too much information on that score.

“Give us more credit than that. The bodies were hidden. By now nature will have taken care of the problem.”

“What happened after the fight?”

“We came here to discuss the situation. Being cautious about what information we chose to share and with whom, we used the excuse of negotiating a treaty. In fact, Raphael has already pledged his loyalty. To verify our story, he called his two lieutenants to join us. Marta and Russell met us at the door, and it was only a few minutes later that you arrived.”

“If the treaty negotiation wasn’t real, why was everyone so tense?”

He tightened his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. “The challenges, the spies. An air of suspicion hangs over everything and everybody. Every person in the room was dealing with his or her own dark thoughts. Marta and Russell, and perhaps his lieutenants, knew we had not told them everything. Marta was angry. I was trying to dispel everyone’s fears.” He chuckled and Ari looked up at him. Laughter danced in his eyes. “That hope was out the door the moment you and Lilith came busting in ready to shoot someone. On the positive side, I think we can count on Raphael’s lieutenants to spread the word that the witch is back.”

“Oh, stop laughing. I wasn’t going to hurt anybody. Not unless I had to.” She straightened to look at him more directly. “But what about the other masters who left the court?”

“We will hear from them soon, no doubt.”

“That’s who Raphael meant when he said my return might delay them.” Ari was thinking out loud, trying to put the pieces together. “They’re afraid of the witch fire?”

“They respect your ability, yes, but it is not that simple. Their ambitions have been stirred. They won’t abandon those plans easily.”

“They're still going to try to kill you?"

“Perhaps.”

“Then why didn’t you hunt and kill them like the others? Isn’t that the vampire way?” Her voice had an edge. She hadn’t shaken the scene in the park. It had been so primal.

Andreas drew back. “They had not committed murder. Surely you see the difference. Are you upset about the rogues’ deaths? What would you have us do—allow them to hunt humans?”

“No, of course not. They were destined for execution as soon as they killed the first human, but you could have let the Magic Council handle it.”

“And lose the respect of my court?”

Ari gave him a long look while she thought about it. What would she have done? She dropped her gaze. “OK, I get it, but what are you going to do about them?”

“Nothing, for now. They may be rebelling against me, but they haven’t killed anyone. A chance remains to negotiate.” His fingers gently began to rub the tense muscles at the back of her neck.

Ari tilted her head just enough to see his face. “Do you really believe that?”

“Let us say, I am hopeful. If I keep killing vampires who oppose me, how am I any different than Sebastian was?”

Chapter Sixteen

Early the next morning while Andreas and the rest of the vampires slept, Russell, Lilith and Ari left the compound and met Zoe for coffee. No one in the small coffee shop paid much attention to the group, and after a while, Ari shook off the feeling of being watched that followed her everywhere she went inside the compound.

She’d asked her friends to join her, because…well, because she needed their help. She needed more information than Andreas had given her, and she wanted some non-vampire opinions. There had to be a way to head off the bloody confrontations that seemed inevitable. She wanted a solution that might not occur to the vamps, who usually thought in terms of blood and death.

She gave her companions the abbreviated version of what Andreas had told her. Nothing about the personal stuff, of course. With the killers now dead, Zoe said she would find a diplomatic way to close her case on the human deaths. The Magic Council was used to secrets, and they were free to read between the lines.

“So what about the other challenges for the vampire crown?” Zoe asked. “Will Andreas have to defeat them all? If all four challenge him, will they work together or alone?”

“We don’t know,” Ari admitted. “Andreas still hopes to negotiate a treaty, but I’m not counting on it.”

“I thought challenges were a nice word for assassination attempts.” Zoe paused with the coffee cup halfway to her mouth. “No warning. No negotiations. Sneak attacks.”

“That’s how Sebastian acted when he went after Prince Daron, hiding behind his would-be assassins,” Ari agreed. “But apparently it doesn’t always work that way.”

“They sent a messenger to deliver the news this time,” Russell said. “Gabe said it was an old-world courtesy thing.”

“What?” Ari gaped at him. “They already issued the formal challenges?” She fumed with temper. The arrogant bastards! And Andreas hadn’t told her.

“They sent someone to tell Andreas they were going to kill him?” Zoe sounded incredulous.

“Not in those exact words, but something like that. I saw it happen. A werefox came into the audience room, bowed, and read from a piece of paper. Something about being required to defend his crown against each of them at an appointed time and place. Then he handed Andreas a paper that had been signed by the seven rebels and left.” Russell’s mouth quirked. “I guess we can forget about three of them. But Gabe told me the wording is ambiguous enough that they might attack together or one after another, until they wear him down. There don’t seem to be any rules to follow.”

“Then why can’t we prevent this? No rules for them, no rules for us,” Ari declared. “And just to be sure they don’t do something sneaky, we’ll see that he’s never alone.”

“Yeah, that should help. But I’m more worried about an attack while the vampires are asleep. Sebastian tried that, and these are his people.” Russell gave her a sheepish look. “I know I’m paranoid, but can we trust any of the lycanthropes in this compound? Sebastian recruited them all. I wanted to kick them out, but Andreas refused. Every one of them knows where the vampires sleep.”

“How many are there?” Zoe asked.

“Maybe four dozen, possibly a few more.”