A Cursed Bloodline (WG 4) (18 page)

A cellphone rang from inside the overturned Yukon. Shayna crawled in to retrieve it. It was Koda, and guess what? He was pissed. “Baby, where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you all night.”

“I’m sorry, puppy. Emme called Taran and me at the store to tell us Celia was in trouble.”

There was a pause. “Did she hurt herself again?”

I caught traces of movement in the background. Wherever Koda was, he wasn’t alone. I swore under my breath, hating that everyone believed I’d fallen over the edge into masochistic territory.

Shayna dug a wood chip from her hair and continued unaffected. “Oh, no, nothing like that. She and Misha were attacked by shape-shifters.”

“What?”

“Now, puppy, calm down. I hit the one with your ride twice when she was a
T. rex
and Taran set her on fire. I have to tell you, dinosaurs are hardy things. Each time I stabbed it—”

“You fought a shape-shifter?”

Shayna sighed. “No, honey. I fought two. The problem was, we couldn’t bring the other one down once it became a pterodactyl.”

“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

She grinned into the phone. “Now, puppy, you know perfectly well that
weres
don’t get heart attacks.”

“You know what I mean! What were you thinking, taking on something so powerful?”

Koda’s growls thundered through the line, but Shayna remained calm and spoke to him like they were discussing a TV show, not my eff’d-up life. “Well, I couldn’t exactly let her eat Celia. Anyway, we’re safe now. Emme cracked the shifter’s head with a rock and Celia squashed the brain. The problem is, the other one flew away with Misha, and now the vampires have adopted Celia as, like, their mom.”

More growls rumbled from Koda and the other wolves with him. Aric’s voice boomed over the snarls. “Find out exactly where they are and tell Shayna we’re on our way.”

I gritted my teeth. For his safety, he couldn’t come down here. “No. The matter has already been taken care of. There’s no need to come.”

The ferocity in Aric’s voice made Emme step back from the phone. “This isn’t your decision, Celia. A shape-shifter has attacked in our territory. As guardians of the earth we’re required to investigate the matter.”

I stormed to where Shayna held out the phone. “The destruction has been blamed on an earthquake. We’re safe. The only crisis at hand is that Misha has been taken.”

“I’m only coming to ensure no human has or will be harmed. Don’t fool yourself into thinking I care about you or your damn fiancé!”

Aric’s hostile tone and words were a punch to my gut that robbed me of my breath. I paused and stared stupidly at the touch screen. “Don’t worry, Aric,” I told him quietly. “I realize my safety is no longer your concern.”

Emme reached out to me. I stepped away and started rounding up the vampires. If I stood there I would cry, from frustration, hurt, fear, and anger—mostly anger. I was trying, damnit. And nothing was working in my favor.

Taran yanked the cellphone from Shayna’s grasp. “You’re an asshole, Aric. Don’t you ever talk to my sister like that again!”

Aric growled. “Wake up, Taran. She’s not your sister anymore. She’s turned into some goddamn vampiress.”

Shayna’s head whipped back and forth between me and the phone. “Dude, cut it out. She can hear you!”

“Do you think I care? Do yourself a favor, forget the Mistress of the Night and tell me where you are!”

I tried to ignore the arguments that ensued, an impossible task since it involved me. Taran and Koda were both upset at Aric for yelling at Shayna. Koda made it clear, Leader or not, that Shayna was his mate and he would defend her. Taran swore at him for snapping at Shayna and ripped him a new one for the way he’d treated me.

Hank’s approach gave me an excuse to focus elsewhere. “The vehicles have been removed, Celia. All of the witnesses have been located and their memories altered. Are you ready to return to the manor?”

“I’d like a group of vampires to stay here and guard my sisters. Tell them to return to the house as soon as the
weres
arrive. I don’t want any problems between them.”

“Very well.” Hank led me to a town car and opened the door before walking back to give the vamps their orders and returning with Emme. She slipped into the front with him. Maria and Agnes placed themselves on either side of me, assuming their role as my bodyguards.

I took in Maria’s and Edith’s tense stances. “How many vampires did we lose?”

Hank huffed. “Including the master? Seventeen.”

Emme gasped. “Sixteen vampires lost—and we only stopped one shape-shifter?”

I leaned my head back and tried not to beg God to kill me. “Agnes, how many shape-shifters are there?”

Agnes adjusted her librarian glasses, falling into academic mode. “Seven known by name. But it’s rumored there are as many as twenty.”

My voice squeaked. “Do they often fight together?”

“Only if they share a common goal.”

I looked at her then. “Like killing me?”

Agnes stared straight ahead, refusing to meet my gaze. So, not a good sign. “For the most part they rule their territories independently of each other.”

Emme swiveled to face me. “They came for you. Didn’t they, Celia?”

“I guess, but I’m not sure why.”

Hank watched me through the rearview mirror. “It seems they want a blood sacrifice for one or more of their deities.”

There was no masking the terror in Emme’s face. “Why Celia?”

Maria grew impatient with Emme’s naïveté. “Isn’t it obvious? Celia is strong. In killing her de shape-shifter will leech her power. Since de shape-shifter failed to take her, he’ll sacrifice our master instead.”

“But they’ll continue to hunt Celia, won’t they?”

Hank nodded. “Especially now that they’ve seen the depths of her strength.”

A few tears rolled down Emme’s cheeks. She wiped them with her hand and then turned back toward the front. It must have really sucked having me for a sister.

I rubbed my arms, feeling cold. “Misha is still alive.” I don’t know how I knew, I just did.

Agnes lowered her head. “Yes. We still feel him, too.”

Hank tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Can you sense where he is?” I shook my head. “Celia, use the
call
he gave you to find him. You’ve done it before. You can do it again.”

I hadn’t mastered the reverse speed dial. The few times it worked was more by chance than skill. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on Misha, but only darkness shadowed my mind.

Maria touched my shoulder. “Do you see anything?”

“Not a thing.”

She wiped her face irritably. “He’s probably in too much pain to contact you. De bastards will pay for our master’s suffering.”

Hank sped through the opening metal gates and over the stone bridge. Danny and Chang raced down the steps, with Ying-Ying floating in lotus pose behind them. I sprinted past them and toward Misha’s office with Agnes and Maria at my heels. “Get me Uri on the phone. We have to get Misha back.”

Chapter Sixteen

Uri took Misha’s kidnapping as badly as I knew he would. Fury and agony accentuated every syllable of his words.
“My son! The evil ones have my son!”

His anguish was heartbreaking and caused the Catholic schoolgirls to break down. Except that wouldn’t help Misha, I needed him to focus. “Tell me how to get him back.”

He worked to rein in his sorrow. “With the shape-shifters involved, we need the Alliance behind us. I’m in Sweden, but I shall contact the current leaders.” He sighed. “In the meantime, I need to entrust you with Misha’s family.”

“Yes, Uri. I’ll look after them.”

“And his home.”

“Yes, I know. I’ll take care of the house.”

“And all of his real estate.”

“Er, okay.”

“And the companies.”

“Companies?”

“Of course. You cannot allow the bankruptcy of a twenty-billion-
dollar empire in Misha’s absence.”

I waited for Uri to laugh and tell me he was only joking. He didn’t. So of course I flipped out. “You’re putting me in charge of a twenty-
billion-
dollar business? Are you nuts? I can’t keep track of my ATM receipts!”

Uri’s contemptuousness quickly pimp-punched his misery. “Celia, my son chose you as his bride for many reasons. If your strength and intelligence failed to rival his, he wouldn’t have bothered to entertain your company.”

I screamed into the speakerphone. “But why do I have to run his entire domain? Can’t you handle that?”

“Celia, as head of the House of Aleksandr, it is important that you assume complete charge, if for nothing else, for the sake of appearances. Once Misha’s rivals become aware of his absence, they will plot to take control of his family and his empire. The sooner they sense weakness, the sooner they shall strike. Do not fail him.”

“Thanks for the pep talk, Uri,” I grumbled, but he’d already hung up.

Emme and Danny had sat in on my phone call with Uri. I thought their eyes would literally launch out of their heads and little people would climb out waving white flags. They were scared stupid and none of this was even their problem. The Catholic schoolgirls, Tim, and Hank remained unusually tight-lipped. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “What exactly did Uri mean when he said Misha’s rivals will plot to take control of his family?”

Hank stepped forward, his jaw clenched tight enough to snap bone. “It means the current masters will conspire to kill you so we, and all that’s his, will become theirs.”

My expression must have been priceless, because Hank stepped back. “That’s fantastic, because, you see, not enough supernatural predators want me dead!”

Emme rose slowly. “I’ll call Shayna and Taran. We’ll protect you, Celia. Don’t worry.”

Liz shoved her hands on her hips and loomed over her. “That’s
our
job. She may be your sister, but she’s our mistress now. We’re strong. We’ll handle it!”

Emme’s face reddened, but my little sister met Liz with equal force. “If you’re all so strong, then why can’t one of you take over as head of the family?”

Good point. Why the hell did it have to be me?

Liz hissed at her. And although she knew better than to attack Emme, both Hank and Danny moved to her side. I held a hand out. “Liz, back off. She’s not familiar with your ways.”

Liz withdrew her fangs, but it did nothing to squelch her temper. “It’s not that we couldn’t fight a master, it’s that we couldn’t win. It takes a master or another powerful being to kill one. That’s why ours selected Celia to take his place. Only she can protect us.”

I drummed my fingers against the desk. “Does Misha have any masters under his control?”

The vamps all shook their heads. Hank furrowed his brows. “Why?”

Maria answered for me. “She’s worried someone in de family will turn against her.”

“Yup.” I leaned back in the leather seat that was more like a throne than an office chair. The thought of the vampires betraying me had crossed my mind. “Still, if something does happen to me, I’d want one of Misha’s own to take over—one strong enough to face another master.”

“There are no other masters,” Hank answered. “Once a vampire is created, his or her status is immediately known. The elder master then either kills the newer one for power or releases him to begin his own dynasty. Either way, they don’t continue on in the same household.”

Interesting
. “So technically Uri could have killed Misha upon recognizing his master status.”

Tim ran his hand over his shaved head. “Yes, like he had so many others before him. However, Grandmaster Uri was always fond of our master, even before he
turned
him vampire. He saw his potential and gifted him a small piece of his fortune. Our master in turn transformed his and the Grand Master’s businesses into a vast empire.”

Danny stood and paced, unable to remain still. “What about the age of the vampire? Doesn’t that factor into his strength? If there are no masters available, maybe Celia can appoint the oldest in Misha’s keep.”

Liz whipped out the file she kept tucked into her tiny plaid skirt and passed it over her claws. “Age adds to our strength and makes us harder to kill. That’s why a vampire older than two hundred years requires both a stake through the heart and decapitation. Otherwise she could still regenerate. Despite age, no mere vamp can match the strength of a master.” She shrugged. “Besides, the oldest among us were devoured by the shifters.”

I looked across the vast expanse of Misha’s office to the closed door. “Edith, go get Michael. I’d like him here.” She stood there as if she hadn’t understood my request. “Edith, get Michael.” She didn’t move.
“Edith.”

Before I could ding her in the head with a paperweight, Michael knocked and poked his head in. “You wish to see me, Celia?”

Okay
…“Did you hear me call you?”

Michael crossed the room and stood at parade rest before the desk. “No. But as our mistress, whatever you desire of us is merely a thought away.”

Someone else knocked. Chef entered, pushing a rolling tray filled with Philly cheesesteaks and onion rings. He set a plate in front of me and poured me a tall glass of ice water. “Here iz the meal you desired,” he said in his thick French accent. “I shall return with your milkshakes. Did you decide on cherry vanilla or blackberry?”