Blue-Blooded Vamp (28 page)

The mancy continued scanning the page. His finger scrolled down the names for a moment before he stopped. “I’ll be damned.” He kept his eyes on the page while Tristan started explaining.

“Birch was the highest ranking Pythian Guard under Orpheus at the time, so he was with us in Los Angeles.” He sighed. “The night I was attacked, a vampire showed up on my doorstep. This was shortly after Lavinia discovered my affair with Phoebe, but of course I didn’t know we’d been found out yet. The fighting was furious but I somehow managed to kill him.

“I ran, figuring Lavinia had sent the assassin after me.” His hands tightened on the desk. “I ran into Birch on my way to find Orpheus. At first he pretended to want to help,
but the instant I turned my back he attack me. After I killed him and dumped his body in the Hudson, I ran. Eventually Orpheus found me, but I was convinced he was there to murder me, too.”

“Why?” Adam asked.

“What would you think? Birch was a friend of mine. The only thing I could figure was that Lavinia and Ameritat had decided to kill both Phoebe and me as punishment for breaking the Black Covenant.”

“You thought your own mother wanted you dead?” I asked.

“Once Orpheus convinced me he was on my side, he swore I was wrong and said that maybe Birch had gone bad. I didn’t believe him and demanded he help me escape to Europe.” He nodded. “It was only later that I realized the vampire was sent by Lavinia but that Birch worked for the Caste.”

Adam scrubbed his hands over his face. “Okay, so maybe Valva wasn’t lying about what happened in the past. But we have no way to know if her predictions for the future are accurate. You said it yourself—prophecies are slippery, and in our experience, so is Valva. Not to mention, how can we be sure Lilith wasn’t just fucking with you?”

“Why would she do that?”

I crossed my arms. “Because deities are assholes. They enjoy screwing with our lives and watching us squirm.”

“What do you know about deities?” Tristan demanded.

I glanced at Adam. He shook his head. I knew he didn’t think this was the time to tell Tristan about my deal with Asclepius, but the perverse part of me wanted to. After the bombshells he’d dropped, I wanted to share one of my own. However, if I told him now, it’d be impossible to convince him Nyx’s death was an accident later.

“Because,” I began, and paused. Adam shot me a worried look, but I ignored him. “The gods are always manipulating things behind the scenes. So when you tell me that Valva brought you a message from Lilith, I’m immediately suspicious about her motives.”

Tristan fell silent. He watched me with a speculative glance, as if he was questioning my motives, too. Finally, he said, “Let’s assume for a moment that you’re correct.”

“She is,” Adam said.

Tristan ignored him. “What’s our move? Cain is still out there.”

“First,” Adam said. “We need to get Rhea here. She needs to know what’s going on. Besides, she also believes Sabina is the Chosen and I have a feeling you’ll trust her word more than ours.”

My father sighed. “Okay.” There was a phone on his desk. He lifted the receiver and handed it to Adam. “This line’s secure. Get her here ASAP. The longer we delay making a plan, the more the risk of Cain finding us.”

Adam nodded and dialed. While he spoke to Rhea, Tristan turned to me. He opened his mouth to say something, but a female voice interrupted. “Tristan?”

We both looked up to see Nyx and Valva standing at the top of the steps. Valva’s eyes were red rimmed and puffy. She wouldn’t look directly at me, which was fine because my gaze was glued on Nyx. And Tristan’s narrowed gaze was on Valva.

“Valva has something to say to you.”

Adam hung up the phone. “Rhea’s on her way. She’ll manifest in the courtyard.”

I nodded, but my eyes were still swiveling between Tristan and Valva.

“Tristy…,” Valva began.

He looked away from her. “Sabina, why don’t you and Adam go meet Rhea. We’ll all convene in the living room upstairs.”

Without comment, Adam and I made hasty progress to the door.

As we approached Nyx and Valva, the demon glared at me. Dismissing her, I glanced at Nyx and saw something golden wink from the V of her shirt. My eyes widened, realizing I was seeing the top of the magical vest. I jerked my gaze away as if staring too long might singe my corneas.

Something in my gaze must have startled Nyx. Her smiled faltered and she stepped aside, pulling the edges of her shirt together. I nodded as I passed but couldn’t look her in the eye.

Asclepius’s deadline hung over both our heads like an executioner’s ax, but only one of us was aware of the danger. But I couldn’t do anything about that situation until I had a chance to talk to Adam so we could figure out all the angles. In the meantime, I prayed Rhea would be able to convince Tristan to listen to reason.

I
f Rhea felt one ounce of relief or nostalgia at seeing Tristan in the flesh for the first time in almost fifty-five years, she didn’t betray it. Instead, she marched onto the scene like a short, silver-haired general.

We were in the meeting room, which I’d taken to calling the War Room. Tristan tried to take the reins of the meeting early on, but Rhea was having none of it. “Adam, tell me what you know.”

What followed was an hour-long rehash of recent events interspersed with bickering and shouting from both our side and Tristan’s team, as well as the occasional whine from Valva.

Finally, Rhea executed an ear-piercing whistle. “All right,” she said once everyone shut up. “Valva?”

The demon crossed her arms and raised a bitchy brow.

“Are you certain that the Chosen can kill Cain?”

“Yes. Mom also said that we needed to be sure Cain didn’t kill Tristan’s progeny because then we’d be stuck with Cain for eternity.”

“Did she say ‘progeny’ or did she speak of Maisie by name?”

Valva squinted, trying to remember.

“You told me the Chosen would be capable of powerful magic, remember?” Tristan prompted.

Valva frowned. “Yes, but I never used Maisie’s name.”

“You did,” Tristan said. Then he paused and frowned. “Didn’t you?”

She shook her head. “No. Mom just said I should reveal that you are the father of the Chosen. She didn’t tell me which twin would fulfill the prophecy.”

Rhea turned to Tristan with an incredulous expression. “Wait, are you saying you just assumed it was Maisie?”

Everyone turned to stare at Tristan. His cheeks burned but he crossed his arms and frowned at Rhea. But I could see the guilt, the doubt in his eyes.

“I don’t believe this.” I threw up my hands. “Do you have any idea how much time we’ve wasted because of your fucking assumption?”

“Sabina,” Rhea said in a low, warning tone.

“Now hold on,” Tristan said, his voice rising. “Just because she didn’t use Maisie’s name doesn’t mean she wasn’t the Chosen. I may not have been in Maisie’s and Sabina’s lives, but I am not unaware of their histories.”

I frowned. “What? You spied on us?”

“I prefer to think of it as benevolent observing.” He nodded to his team. “And based on the information my team gathered, I believe that of the two of you, Maisie was more likely to be the Chosen.”

I crossed my arms. “Based on what, exactly?”

“Sabina, your sister was a respected leader of her race. In addition to her skills as an Oracle, she was an expert diplomat and powerful in several magical disciplines. She
was trained by my mother, who was one of the most beloved leaders of the mage race for almost two millennia.”

“That’s all true,” Rhea said. “But Sabina is a Chthonic mage. I trained her myself and some of the feats she’s managed far surpassed Maisie’s own powers.”

“Which she’s had only, what, six months to develop? Before that she spent all her time carrying out Lavinia Kane’s death orders,” Tristan said. “I’m sorry but I’m hard-pressed to believe the Chosen is someone who spent her life shedding the blood of those she was destined to rule.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but he wasn’t too far off base.

“Yeah,” Horus chimed in. “Remember what she did to poor Thomas.”

I frowned. “Who?”

“Thirty years ago, I tried to have my team gather intel on you. I sent Thomas, a mage on our team, to follow you and snap some pictures. One night, you caught him spying on you and challenged him.”

“When?”

“It was just after you finished Enforcer school.”

I shook my head. “I don’t remember.”

“I’m fairly certain you didn’t take the time for proper introductions before you shot him.”

My mouth fell open. “I… I don’t know what to say.”

Tristan tilted his chin. “There’s nothing to say. He got careless and you caught him. Given your profession, he should have been more careful. But needless to say, I didn’t want to risk any more of my people trying to find out more about you. I already knew enough.”

Silence descended over the room as we all absorbed this information. I glanced guiltily at the rest of Tristan’s team. Nyx’s expression was solemn but free of judgment. Calyx
wouldn’t meet my eyes. Horus looked like he wanted to punch me.

“But don’t you see?” Adam said finally. “It’s precisely because of Sabina’s former profession that it makes more sense that she’d be the one who’ll kill Cain. Gods keep her, but Maisie didn’t have the stomach for murder.”

I jerked my head in time to see Adam’s face flush. While he wasn’t wrong, we were both remembering how easily murder came to my sister under Cain’s influence.

“Killing Cain is only the final test of the Chosen,” Tristan said. “Once that test is passed, the Chosen will become the New Lilith who will unite all the dark races. Which I think we can all agree would be a challenge for Sabina given her history of anger issues and the fact that she’s created enemies in every dark race in existence with her killing.”

I’d had it. I wasn’t going to stand there and try to convince this man of my worth. I had a job to do and I was going to get it done with or without Tristan’s help. Time to throw down an ultimatum.

“Like it or not, Maisie isn’t here.
I
am.” I thumped my chest with my thumb. “I survived all of Cain’s attacks thus far. I have the Chthonic magic, the weapons skills, and the combat experience.” I paused to let that sink in before I delivered the ace up my sleeve. “And I am the one who bears the twin stars of the Chosen on my back.”

Tristan raised a brow. “Are you willing to bet your life on the chance you’re really her?”

That stopped me. I’d spent so many months denying any suggestion I might be the prophesized New Lilith. I hated the idea that fate could chose my path for me. On the other hand, I wanted Cain dead more than I wanted to be the mistress of my destiny or whatever. In fact, in a way, I decided that pursuing the idea of being the Chosen felt a lot
like grabbing fate by the throat and forcing her to meet my needs. “I’m willing to do anything to end Cain,” I said. “If that means proving I am the Chosen to you and to Lilith and to anyone else who demands it, then I’ll do it.”

Tristan laughed, a harsh, mocking sound. “Tough words. One wonders, though, if you have the skills to back them up.”

“Sabina is a total badass,” Giguhl said. “She’s got more skill in her pinkie than anyone in this room.”

Calyx snorted dismissively and Horus cracked his knuckles. I ignored them and held Tristan’s challenging gaze.

“Well, Sabina? Are you willing to put your money where your demon’s mouth is?”

I raised my chin. “You throwing down a gauntlet, old man?”

He didn’t answer immediately. Just kind of watched me for any signs of doubt or weakness.

“That’s an excellent idea, actually,” Rhea said.

My gaze jerked to my mentor. “Huh?”

“A test,” Tristan said, his tone speculative. He looked at Rhea. “What do you have in mind?”

Rhea nodded. “Whatever it takes for you to believe Sabina is the Chosen.”

Part of me—the proud part—was insulted by the very idea. But the perverse part loved the chance to surprise him. Tristan Graecus needed to see I was a force to be reckoned with. The more I thought about it, the more I loved the idea of seeing the look on his face when I forced him to admit he was wrong.

Tristan crossed his arms and pinched his bottom lip methodically as he considered her suggestion. “It won’t be easy.”

I flashed my fangs. “I’d be insulted if it was.”