Heir to the Coven (2 page)

“So the rumors are true?”

I chuckled. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”

Mercy was asking if I had joined Soong’s Order when I left this house decades ago. Membership was a secret. The story was if you knew someone belonged to the Order it was the last thing you knew because you were dead in the next second. The vampires’ elite guard was now the half-caste Elders’ group of assassins and their identities were kept a secret. The Soong, as members were called, drank vampire blood as their sole nourishment and had the ability to pass for full-blood vampires when the need arose. Since the war ended, there was a tentative agreement that the new vampire Council could call on the Order, but the Soong were no longer required to respond.

“Nastasha, where have you been all this time?”

“No place good Mercy.”

While we talked, we had walked towards Rainor’s door. The guard bowed his head to me as I passed by, Mercy waited in the hall. I had faced some tough situations in my life, but I don’t think anything ever made me as nervous as walking up to that bed did. What was he going to look like? Would he smile to see me after all this time? Was he mad about what I took with me when I left? I walked to his bedside and knelt with my head bowed. It was the appropriate greeting to give the coven Master and it gave me a few more moments to steel myself for what I was going to see.

“Rise, Natasha,” Rainor’s voice said. It was the same voice I had heard for years only slightly weaker.

I got to my feet and looked down at him. The skin had withered and the hair had grayed, but I could still see Rainor in that dying body. “Why didn’t you send for me sooner?”

“I tried, but you are not easy to find and what could you have done? You cannot hold back death my dear.”

“No, but I could have eased your burden.”

“You would have me believe you began the return process the instant you heard I was dying?”

I smirked. “No. My blood heard their whispers, wondering if I would return, so I asked around and found out the truth. I had a decision to make.”

“Good girl.”

“Bad girl.”

“Being both is not a bad thing Natasha.”

“But the bad girl is more fun.”

“Is it really? I think it’s just easier.”

“Is anything easy?”

Rainor laughed and it turned into a cough. I handed him the glass of water on his nightstand and waited. He said, “You’re not going to deflect me, my dear. I have a question that you will be required to answer before I turn the coven over to you.”

“Some questions really are best left unanswered.”

“Not this one.”

Time to change the subject. “May ask about the situation in the city, sir?”

“I’m dying, the vampires want to control the entire city and my coven is in a tizzy wondering if you’ll stick around to rule things or simply play clean up and leave once again.”

“I plan to start by playing clean up. Do you want me to meet with the vampires, let them know your heir is in place?”

“Yes. Take Kain with you, I know you don’t need him, but it will show them you are supported and protected.”

“As you wish.”

“Please Natasha, do try to behave yourself at the meeting.”

I grinned. “I promise not to kill any of them unless they come at me first.”

“That’s not exactly what I was talking about.”

I was not getting a good feeling about this. “Is Vincent opposed to my taking over?”

Vincent was the vampire Master in the city. He would have good reason not to want me in charge, I had killed a lot of his people and I had made a rather startling deal with his second shortly before I left that got me what I wanted, but made him look weak.

“Vincent is no longer their Master. About a week after you left, he was killed.”

“One of us killed him? Who?”

“Not one of us, his successor.”

Vampire rules of succession were a lot like half-caste ones. The next ruler had to kill the previous one unless the former Master died in battle. Oh, no. “Who took his throne?”

“Anton.”

Shit.

Chapter 2

Since the meeting with the vampires was set for the next night I spent the next day sleeping and unpacking. Kain met with me for an hour before the meeting to make sure I knew where things stood. Simple version: we ran everything to the river and they ran everything past that; no one’s people crossed that line without permission or a death wish. Things were going well, but could be going better since Rainor’s illness had kept his attention away from business.

“Ok, have the accountants and managers ready to meet tomorrow. I want to know what’s earning us money and what’s a drain on our resources.”

“Planning to sell?”

“I’ll run it by Rainor first, of course, but it’s bait cutting time. It sounds like we’re over extended and I’d rather have five outstanding businesses than ten mediocre ones.”

“Since when do you know business Tash?”

I smiled, but didn’t reply. Max came to say the car was ready. I picked up my fitted black leather jacket, slipped my arms into the sleeves and lifted my dark hair free from beneath the collar.

Kain said, “Think you’ve got enough leather on?”

So my pants were black leather too. And the corset over my red silk tank top. “You’re one to talk Kain, we match except for the red silk.”

“He’s going to comment.”

“Who?”

“You know who. He’s going to comment and you’re going to pop off.”

“I’ve learned not to pop off. I’m 109 years old!”

“Being in your eighties didn’t stop you, what’s another twenty years or so? There’s a pool going to see how long it takes until you hit him.”

“He’s our ally. Even when he wasn’t our ally I never hit him.”

“We’ll see.”

We were arguing about Anton. I had re-met Anton as an adult when I returned to the coven after an absence in the 1980s, but we had known each other when I was just a little girl. Lucius had turned Anton into a vampire 500 years ago and the jerk still liked to needle like a thirteen year old boy. I had had purple hair the last time our paths crossed. He called me a street urchin and I spit in his face. But I didn’t hit him. I pointed that out to Kain as we slid into the car. He only laughed.

Twenty minutes later we arrived at the meeting location. I’ll admit we didn’t exactly tell the vampires Rainor was sending a replacement. I was hoping to throw them a little. Through the tinted window I could see Anton sliding out his limo behind his three guards and glancing back at mine. I should have known he would sense me; he was always able to sense when I was near. He had not changed much in the two decades since I last saw him except his black hair was now short and worn in a spiky style. His black eyes still crackled with vitality and his face was still sharply gorgeous. He was dressed in a suit that screamed expensive.

Kain slid out first and held the door open for me. I could see him smirking as he saw Anton’s suit and glanced back at my leathers. I raised a brow at him and slid out. I heard the vampires hiss. They felt slighted Rainor had not come and those who recognized me were not pleased. I winked at them.

“Greetings cousins. Rainor could not be here tonight so he sent me as his second.”

A tall blonde vampire snarled. “We are not cousins!”

I raked him with my eyes. Being near any vampire gave me a prickling sensation, but a vampire who was Hadi I could feel a mile away and this one was not a Hadi. “No, we’re not related at all. Where did you find him Anton? The SPCA?”

The vampire growled.

Anton laughed. “Easy Tristan. Natasha likes to nettle and if she knows she can get to you she won’t stop.”

“A fine way to speak about your sister.” He hated when I called him my brother because he did not think of me in a familial way and no vampire liked to be reminded half-castes shared their illustrious blood.

“Do you see what I mean Tristan?”

Tristan said, “Yes Master.”

“Then you know you must restrain yourself or I will give you to her.”

Well that was unexpected. Anton was using me as a threat to keep his man in line and he was warning them there were consequences to slighting me. Very unexpected indeed. Damn. My manners were going to have to improve and I wanted to get a few more cuts in on him.

I inclined my head towards Anton, as the half-caste second should to the vampire Master now that we were all friends. “I take it my arrival was unexpected.”

“As you planned.”

“You need better spies then.”

“How is Rainor?”

The question was spoken with enough care and conviction I found myself wanting to answer honestly. But then Anton had once been my safe haven as a child and telling him my secrets had been a habit. This was going to be a very touchy working relationship. Oh, bad choice of words, I said to myself. “Our leader is being well taken care of and it is our hope that his path is an easy one.”

Anton raised a brow at me. I saw Kain’s mouth twitch when he realized where I must have gotten that habit from. Anton said, “Well spoken. It is not my wish to make any transitions harder. I came here tonight to offer Rainor my assistance with any matters he might not feel up to handling on his own, but I see he has a capable second at his side.”

The shock this statement gave the vampires with Anton was palpable. I think Kain’s jaw dropped for a second, but my own surprise was so great I really wasn’t paying that much attention. He was backing off?

Anton continued, “I know leadership is a new role for you Natasha, so I offer my services as a mentor should you need any guidance.”

Not backing off, regrouping. Same package new wrapping. I had my own plans. “Actually there is something I wanted to discuss with you. Tomorrow I plan to devote my time to going over our businesses. I want to know what we have and what we shouldn’t. Once I have a better grasp of our standing, I was thinking of trying something new. How would you feel about a joint venture?”

I had his attention. Anton took a step closer and Kain bristled. I held out my hand to keep the enforcer in his place. Anton said, “A joint venture?”

“Yes. This city has half-caste clubs and vampire clubs and the humans who aren’t vampire groupies pretty much gawk at both but stay away unless one of us pays one of their establishments a visit for kicks. We are missing out on a valuable cash crop. I want to capitalize on their curiosity about us. Why not open a club run by both of our people that allows anyone to enter? You don’t eat the clientele and we won’t kill you.”

Tristan laughed. “Master, this is absurd! There is no way we can share space with
them
and humans in the mix is simply a temptation for one of our brothers or sisters to slip so
they
can justify wiping us out.”

Anton’s white hand lashed out and Tristan was on the ground. If he had been human I doubt his neck would still be in one piece. “Who gave you leave to speak?” Anton’s eyes had gone red.

Tristan wiped blood from his mouth. “No one, Master.”

“Then hold your tongue or I will hold it for you.”

Tristan’s head bowed.

Anton turned his attention back to me. “An interesting suggestion Natasha. May I ask why you of all people want this meshing of societies?”

I had to be careful how I said this. “Because someone else maybe taking advantage of an opportunity we missed.”

“What have you heard?”

“There are rumors that someone is violating certain trade agreements. Quiet rumors, but ones that travel far.”

“Only if you have good ears.”

“Mine are excellent.”

Anton smirked. “From what I’ve heard, excellent could be an understatement.”

“Do you really want to know for sure?”

“No.”

Now it was my turn to smirk. “If we establish a better trust we can see if someone isn’t willing to play nice or if someone is trying to start a fight.”

“We can also keep an eye on those who like to get too close to things they shouldn’t. They are the ones that lead to trouble.”

“Exactly.”

“I will give this matter serious thought Natasha. I will let you know my decision.” Anton extended his hand.

It was a dodgy thing to shake a vampire’s hand. They all have claws and it gave them a really good chance to rake open your wrists. But my reflexes were as good as theirs and I had my own claws. I took his hand and shook it. “I look forward to hearing from you.”

Summoning Kain, I headed back towards the car. I didn’t look behind me, but I had the feeling Anton was looking at my ass as I walked away. Once we were inside, Kain asked, “What the hell was that about Tash?”

“I didn’t just come back to take over Kain. We have a big problem brewing and if you haven’t heard about it, it could be bigger than I thought.”

“How big?”

“The treaty has been violated and it happened in our city.”

Kain had no comeback for that one.

When the war began, we needed to be able to replace those we lost, so half-caste covens began abducting vampires, draining their blood and feeding it to our pregnant women or to willing pregnant human women. Needless to say the vampires did not like this and they made it part of the peace treaty that this “act of rape” as they called it be stopped. We had agreed only if, after 50 years of peace, they lifted their internal ban on making half-castes so vampires could willingly make them again. Three months before my return, a half-caste baby had been born in this city. The mother said she was kept in a room and fed blood by someone who had warm skin, but who was very strong, she had seen him rip a door off its hinges in a fit of rage.

It sounded like one of us was making half-castes again, especially when there were rumors of vampires in the city going missing and we weren’t supposed to be killing them for fun anymore. There were a lot of half-castes that were not happy with the peace so violating the treaty and increasing our numbers would benefit them, but the fact remained that vampires could swell their numbers in a few hours while it took us nine months and close to two decades to have a mature half-caste at full strength. It was incredibly stupid to spark a new war this way. But a vampire who hated the treaty could make a new half-caste and make the mother lie about her pre-birth experiences. And a vampire trying to spark a war was not a good thing either. Our Elders wanted the peace kept and their Council said they wanted the same. That meant we had to find out whose side was creating this problem and why before enough vampires disappeared that Anton had to act and everyone’s attention was drawn and it could not be ignored.