Honoria Ravena (18 page)

Zarek’s eyebrow shot up. “And I thought you’d gotten soft.”

The king’s slight smile turned into a grin. “Never. The only reason the Watchers guard me is they’ve had nothing better to do for a century than worry like old hens over my every movement. Thank the gods Dorian’s alive. When the war really gets going with him, it should be a good old time.”

Zarek rolled his eyes. “Well, I doubt he’ll be involved in this little battle. And may I remind you that Dorian almost executed you last time you encountered him.”

Macon pursed his lips. “Shut up. You’ll worry the guards.”

The bar’s doors were kicked open so hard they banged against the wall.

“Let me go, you fuckers!”

Two burly vampires entered, dragging a third between them. He was shirtless and streaked with dirt. His jean shorts were tattered. He was lean but muscular, like he hadn’t been feeding properly.

All the teasing fun immediately left Macon’s face. He pulled the sunglasses off, revealing dead gray eyes. A shiver worked its way down my spine. I was so glad that look wasn’t for me.

The guards plopped their prisoner on the ground and joined the others.

The dirty brunet glared up at Macon. “Four against one is not a fair fight, asshole.”

“Little brother, I didn’t want to play fair dragging you back here. I wanted the job done.”

I spoke up. “I’m guessing this is Jeremy?”

“How the fuck do you know me, bitch?”

“Wow, I think I know why Dara wants nothing to do with him. He’s very pleasant.”

Macon glared at me. “Shut up now, Regan.”

He turned his attention back to Jeremy while I glowered at his back.

“Dorian is back, Jeremy.”

Jeremy shook his head. “No.”

“Yes, and I want Dara on our side in the fight against him.”

Jeremy snarled. “I don’t want to go anywhere near that bitch. Send Gabriel, she likes him.”

“Tried that. You’re going.” He glanced at the guards who’d brought him in. “Take him upstairs and clean him up. And get some blood in him will you, before he starts snacking on people in the middle of the street?”

“Macon!”

“I don’t want to hear it. You children have fought for too long, and I tolerated it, because you weren’t hurting anyone but yourselves. Now I need you both, so you’re going to fuck and make up.”

“If screwing her was just about her body, I’d be all for it. Unfortunately, she’s got a mind and a waspish personality.” He leaned around Macon to glare at Zarek. “You really shouldn’t turn vampire hunters.”

Zarek grinned. “I’ve learned my lesson.”

“You’re happy now, you won’t be forever.”

Zarek’s eyes narrowed. “I’m older than you, boy. I know what I’m doing.”

Jeremy’s laughter was filled with derision.

Macon snapped at the guards, “Take him out of here.”

“I’m going to kick your ass for this, Macon!”

He sank into a chair. “Blah, blah, blah, I’ve heard that before. So, Zarek, what’s the plan?”

I arched an eyebrow. “You’re going to let someone else direct this little fight?”

“Yes. I might be king, but Zarek is about two hundred years older than me and has done a lot more warring in his time. Besides, this is his turf. His fight. I’m just here for the fun.”

Zarek cleared his throat. “The plan is simple. It’s cliché, but we attack at dawn. While we are at a slight disadvantage in the sunlight, the enemy can barely function. Battle to the death.”

“Until dawn, I suggest my Watchers rest and feed. Some of them are coming in from different jobs around this continent. The ones stationed internationally are headed our way after they complete their assignments. I want all my ducklings home to fight here. I’m about to piss on their party and make them all fight in pairs. Some will even be in teams. If I don’t get them back before I spill the news, they’ll avoid coming home for as long as they can. They’re not into group participation.”

Zarek laughed. “Well, have fun rounding them up. I’m sure a few here have overheard you and are currently texting behind their backs.”

Macon shook his head. “I hate technology.”

“Anyway, this building is large, but not all of them can have separate rooms. In fact, most will probably have to sleep here in the bar.”

One of the men gave a sigh of contentment. “That’s all right with me. I’ve been sleeping on the ground while hunting this rogue werewolf. At least I’ll be indoors out of the rain and away from alligators. Florida’s swamps are fucking hell.”

A stern looking woman with short-cropped hair crossed her arms over her chest. “You big pussy. I’ve been sleeping in worse places than alligator-infested Everglades—”

Macon clapped his hands together once. “Hey, whiny babies! I didn’t ask your opinions. Do your boasting and bitching later. Go shower, sleep, get laid, do something. You should be preparing for the coming fight. Dismissed.”

The chatter started as the Watchers broke into groups and dispersed. I decided I liked this ragtag group of vampires. They boasted and slapped each other. It was like being back in the midst of a giant vampire hunting party.

Laedan glared at Macon. “You’re sure these werewolves are rogues?”

Macon nodded. “They’re all kills you sanctioned yourself. I don’t assign a Watcher unless I have a kill order signed by you. Rest assured, Laedan, your people are not being unfairly prosecuted. Zarek put a stop to that.” He turned his attention to my brother and me. “But there are other things we need to discuss.”

Zarek sighed and rubbed his forehead. “What now, Macon?”

“These vampire hunters you’ve turned are your responsibility. If they continue to kill vampires without a kill order, they will be executed, and you will be fined. They cannot leave your custody unless they’re coming to work for me as Watchers.”

Rage burned through me. “How dare you! I’m not five. I’m in the custody of no one.”

Macon’s face went blank, but I saw fury blaze in his eyes. “You’ve killed enough vampires that if I gave a decree to kill you, not one of my Watchers would hesitate. I didn’t have to let you live, but I respect Zarek, so I’m leaving you alone, if you stay with him. If you’re outside this county without him, my Watchers can kill you legally and not even Zarek can protest.” He leaned forward in his chair. “Now, you can choose to serve me. You’d be killing vampires, but only those whom I tell you to. And only if your master agrees.”

I glanced at my “master.” Amusement swam in his eyes, and his lips twitched like he was holding in a smile.

“You bastard. You knew he would do this, didn’t you?”

A close-lipped smile broke free. “I suspected. Similar things have happened to people who threaten Macon’s kingdom. Your dear Nathan, for example.” He glanced at Macon. “As for your proposition, Jason can be a Watcher if he pleases, but she’s mine. And please tell your Watchers that if they want to kill her, that’s their choice, but I would prefer it if she were brought back to me. That will hold some weight with most of them and hopefully keep her from getting killed.”

“You don’t expect her to stay put.”

“Are you watching her? She’s trembling with rage. She’s squeezing her fist so tight her knuckles are white. I’m waiting for her to take a swing at me.”

I unclenched my fists. I hadn’t realized I’d tensed up enough to shake.

“Oh, the hands popped open.” He flipped some hair behind my shoulder. “Good girl.”

I glared at him from the corner of my eye. I couldn’t even look directly at him. “You really don’t want to touch me right now.”

He groaned. “What’s the difference, Regan? I wasn’t going to let you go anyway, and you know it.”

“Yes, but there was always the option of escape. Now I’ll be killed if I leave the county without you. I hate you, Zarek.”

Macon smiled cruelly. “Well, I would be nice to him if I were you. If Zarek reports good behavior, maybe this limitation will be lifted. It’s all up to him, so I would try to play nice if I were you.”

I shot to my feet and walked away. If I stayed, I was going to kill them both.

“Laedan, go with her,” Zarek snapped.

“I don’t want Laedan with me,” I shouted over my shoulder.

I started upstairs. When I reached the landing, Laedan caught up with me.

He grabbed my elbow and I rounded on him. “Look, I really don’t want to see anyone right now. I want to be alone so I don’t kill someone.”

“And I’ll respect that after I show you something.”

He took my hand and pulled me in the opposite direction of Zarek’s room.

“Where are we going?”

“My room.”

“Uh—”

“Not for anything dirty. Like I said, I have something you need to see.”

We stopped at the door at the far end of the hallway. Laedan twisted the knob and pushed it open. It only opened enough to let one person slither through. He slipped in first.

“Come on. Hurry up.”

I started to slide my body through the crack. “Why the fuck doesn’t this door open all the way?”

“Uh…you’ll see.”

I managed to get through the door and immediately tripped over something. Laedan grabbed me before I hit the ground and set me back on my feet.

I glanced around. The only furniture he had was a king-size bed and a large L-shaped desk with two computers on it. There was a very large plasma flat-screen hanging on the wall. There were books stacked everywhere, which was what I’d tripped over.

There was a backpack on the floor with several pads of paper and books stacked around it. The parts of the floor that weren’t covered in books were covered in clothes, including the space behind the door. The garbage can was overflowing with fast food bags, and a pizza box sat on the foot of the bed.

“Does the EPA know Zarek keeps a garbage dump up here?”

“Ha ha. Zarek pays for college, so I went back not too long ago. It’s my last semester.”

“And that’s supposed to excuse the dirty laundry and garbage?”

He glanced down at the floor, scratched the back of his neck, and pushed some laundry to the side with his foot. “Well, no. I’m just a slob. But it explains the books.”

Laedan didn’t bother kicking things out of his way as he walked to the closet; he just stepped on it all. He managed to open the closet door with surprising ease and reached for the top shelf. He pulled down a medium-sized picture and clutched it to his chest.

“Do you know how Zarek and I met?”

“No.”

“Well, Zarek was a real asshole when I met him. He was hitting on a woman, and she wasn’t interested. As you know, he’s a little pushy, and I was more than a little wasted so I decked him. And boy was he pissed. But you know how he is. He likes anyone with the balls to stand up to him. He needed someone to run his bar on the days he didn’t want to.”

“At first I said no, I was going through…this thing.” He shook his head roughly, and I opened my mouth to ask him about it. He held up his hands. “I don’t want to talk about it. This story isn’t about me anyway. Running this bar is damned good job. I was trying to start a wereanimal resistance, and I had no money or resources. No education. So eventually I accepted. As I got to know him, I saw just how much of a bitter bastard he was. And then one day I found this picture.”

He turned the picture around. It was a small painting of a stunning woman. She was dressed in a fluffy red and maroon dress. The corset squished her boobs up high. Her pretty blonde hair was piled on her head, and the strands that hung down were in perfect little ringlet curls. She had on a small maroon hat with two red feathers sticking out of it.

“At first, he was so pissed. He snatched the picture from me and shoved me out of his room. He stayed up there for two days without coming down to feed or check on the bar. When I went up to check on him, he was just sitting in bed, with that picture in his lap. He threw a glass of brandy at my head and told me to get the fuck out and—”

I interrupted. “I thought vampires couldn’t get drunk.”

He looked thoughtful for a second. “It takes a lot of booze, so much that I don’t think he was drunk. And Zarek is so ancient he could probably drown himself in a pool of hundred-proof and just get a little buzz. But maybe he was wishing he could. Hoping he could.”

He shook his head. “I was deeply confused. This guy had been a cold, hard bastard the entire time I’d known him, but he was having a meltdown over a picture that was centuries old. So the second day, I went in and yanked the picture out of his hands and put it face down on the bed.” He raked his hands through his hair. “Zarek just sighed and banged his head against the headboard. He said thanks and told me to leave. I told him no, not till he explained.

“I was truly afraid for my life at that moment. He’d never looked at me with that much hatred. Not even after I knocked him flat on his ass with that punch. But he calmed after a minute and grudgingly explained.”

Laedan walked to the bed and lay down. He patted the spot next to him. I lay down next to him with a sigh. I was exhausted.

“He’d fallen in love with a young French noblewoman, not long before the revolution. She was so sweet and innocent. She loved life and was very sympathetic to the plight of the commoners, though she didn’t know much about their problems. He decided he couldn’t turn her. It was her humanity that he loved. He still married her. He figured eventually he’d get up the nerve to tell her what he was and turn her.”

He sighed. “He never got the chance to explain. Some thugs broke into their house while he wasn’t home and nearly raped her to death her. They meant to kill her, but they hadn’t. He came home and found her dying on the floor and asked her if she wanted to be a vampire. Panicked and probably a little delirious, she said yes. Things were terrible. She’d been violated. She was broken inside, and she just wasn’t strong enough to heal.