Lothaire (44 page)

Thaddeus waved that away. “That was early in the fight. After that, he took on an
army
of them, saving all our lives. And all the time he was trying to get back to you.”

Elizabeth’s smile faded. Lothaire could almost hear her thoughts:
Not trying to get back to
me.

“On the island, I was the one who suspected he had a lady,” Thaddeus continued. “When Lothaire got spacey, he’d murmur to me about his young Bride gazing up at him with fear, which, granted, is a little weird to hear—”

“I’ve returned,” Lothaire interrupted. They all jumped, heads whipping in his direction.

He hadn’t remembered telling Thaddeus those things.
Young? Fear?
Definitely not describing Saroya.

Have I always known deep down that Elizabeth is mine?

Her smile returned now. “Lothaire, you’re safe.”

As are you.
After last night’s tears—and this morning’s terror—she was happy to see him unharmed? “Of course.” To Thaddeus, he said, “You’ve made yourself at home.”

The boy gazed down at his beer. “Thought I’d hang out, maybe give you a hand guarding your lady.”

“Did you revive Elizabeth?”

“Just helped her along some.”

Lothaire gave him a curt nod. “A word, Hag.” He traced inside, tossing the vines on the counter.

She followed. “You secured them.”

Barely. The guards had been as vicious as he’d expected. Somehow he’d breached their defenses to face Nereus. . . .

As the god handed over the vines with relief, he asked Lothaire about his new Bride, the one Loreans everywhere were speculating about. “Is she anyone I know?”

“She’s no one,” Lothaire answered truthfully.

“I really thought you’d demand my firstborn.”

“As if I’d want your fucking guppy,” Lothaire drawled, tracing away before Nereus could strike him down.

“The stock is ready,” Hag said as she folded the vines into a bubbling pot. “Not that we need it now.” Was the fey slurring?

“How did Thaddeus bring her back?”

“He talked to her, telling her she was protected.
Amazing
how well she responded to something so simple. I imagine feeling safe is a novelty for her.”

Lothaire ignored her censorious tone, attributing it to the spirits, and focused on the outcome. Elizabeth was well, and Thaddeus had demonstrated loyalty yet again.

Maybe the halfling
could
be an ally of sorts. . . .

Now that Lothaire’s worry for Elizabeth had been alleviated, he could finally assess the battle this morning—and its ramifications.

Had that Dacian male truly been his cousin? What other living family did he have on the Dacian side?

Perhaps he
was
getting closer to finding that kingdom, to finding Serghei. He had to be if they’d targeted Lothaire’s Bride so aggressively.

Yet another enemy to contend with. After witnessing their skill with swords, Lothaire would not underestimate them.

And now that Tymur the Allegiant had been dispatched, political machinations among the vampires would ramp up once more. The Forbearers would likely make a play for the throne, led by the natural-born Kristoff—for whom Lothaire held a particularly lethal animosity, and who’d rebelled against the Horde in the past.

But Kristoff had forbidden his army to drink blood straight from the flesh—to forbear. Which violated one of the Horde’s two sacred tenets: the Thirst.

Aside from Kristoff there was one other contender, unlikely though she might be.

Much to analyze, moves to predict . . .

“I rolled to find Dorada, but she’s far removed from us at present,” Hag said.

“Very good,” he answered absently, only now remembering that he hadn’t predicted Tymur’s movements, hadn’t slain the vampire with his customary detachment. In defending Elizabeth, Lothaire had thrown away his greatest weapon, had relied on searing instinct.

She is mine.

Reading him so well, Hag said, “You know it’s
Elizabeth
now, do you not? Perhaps you won’t slit my throat to my spine if I speak of this?”

He’d been so arrogant during that conversation with Hag, dismissing the idea of a mortal Bride as absurd. He hadn’t even bothered to tell Hag exactly how ensnared he was with Saroya.

“How will you get Elizabeth to forget all you’ve done to her?” Hag asked. “She won’t be able to easily, if at all. Trust me on this.”

“Doesn’t matter if she’s my Bride. I can’t keep her. My plans must remain unchanged.”

Hag blinked at him. “You don’t intend . . . ? Lothaire, if you go through with this, it will destroy you.”

“I’ll be destroyed if I don’t fulfill these vows.”

“Your mother wouldn’t have wanted this for you.”

“You assume I speak of the vows I made to Ivana? Perhaps I foolishly made others—”

Elizabeth sauntered in. Tanned, barefoot, grinning in her short cutoffs.

So sexy his thoughts blanked for a long moment.

“Hey, Lothaire. Thad’s been telling us all about you. How heroic you are.” She sidled up to him with a hip-swinging gait that quickened his pulse. “And you went and got ash vines for me?”

Hag chose that moment to turn her stove to simmer and swerve out of the kitchen onto the deck.

Before he ever decided to reach for Elizabeth, Lothaire found his hands circling her waist. “So certain I did it for you?” he asked, lifting her to the counter.

“Uh-huh. You only needed to keep my body healthy. Not my mind.”

He eased his hips between her knees. “Perhaps you shouldn’t attribute characteristics to me that aren’t there.”

“And you should stop with the Lothaire-speak.” She raised her hand to his chest, making lazy swirls with her forefinger.

“What are you talking about?”

“You ask questions to get around lying. Or you say things like”—she imitated his accent—“ ‘perhaps you’ or ‘I’d surmise that you.’ Yeah, that’s right, vampire, I got your number.”

It disconcerted him how quickly she’d learned his tells, but he made his face impassive. “Did you worry for me today? In between tequila shots?”

She sighed. “And you also abruptly change the subject. In any case, I did worry about you, Leo.”

“What did you call me?”

“Your initials. Lothaire the Enemy of Old? Sounds like Lothaire the Wizard of Oz. Leo suits you better.”

His fingers dug into the counter on either side of her hips. “Enemy of Old is not just a name, it’s a designation. It takes bold strokes to survive in the Lore; I’ve
earned
the right to be called that.”

“Well, right now you’ve earned your nickname, too.”

“Why now?”

“I’m buzzed and you’re looking gorgeous and kissable. You needed a nickname.”

In all his life, no one had ever called him by one. Nor felt the casual ease to do so. “Why this . . . affection? Last night you were crying. Aren’t you angry that I took you to Helvita?”

“I grabbed you,” she admitted. “You started to disappear, so I tried to shake you awake.”

“Concern for me?” His spike of pleasure was overrun by irritation. “And yet I’d ordered you
not
to touch me. Why would you disobey me?”

“You called for me, repeatedly yelling my name.”

Then some part of him
had
known Elizabeth was his.

“And you’d told me that you could be killed if you traced in your sleep! After seeing the creatures awaitin’ you, I believe it.”

His shoulder muscles knotted. “What do you remember?”

“Jumbled bits up to a point, then nothing. Anyhow, I’m past it.”

“How could you possibly be?”

“I have something to look forward to.” In a solemn tone, she said, “I’ve decided, Leo, that I’m gonna keep you.”

Though everything within him was in turmoil, he calmly said, “Have you, then?”

“Even if you’ve been the biggest dick imaginable.”

He glowered at that. “Insolent chit.”

“I’m your Bride, aren’t I?”

“The idea of a mortal Bride is ridiculous.”
Even if the Bride in question makes me weak from wanting.

“I’m calling Lothaire-speak! You didn’t answer me.”

“How many times have I told you that you’re beneath me?”

Instead of being insulted, she smiled. “Should I call you hubby? Or vampire groom?”

Just when he was about to give her a set-down, she leaned in to whisper at his ear, “If you sip me, will you get tipsy?”

His body tensed. “One way to find out.”

“Then take me back to your bed and do really naughty things to me while you talk filth in my ear.”

He just stifled a growl.

On their way out, he quickly stopped at the deck to tell Thaddeus, “Hag will open a temporary portal for you to get home,
paren’
. Leave your phone number with her before you go. And of course, you will not give this location to anyone.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Lothaire.” But again, the boy refused to meet his eyes.

 40

S
omething’s different about you,” the vampire said as soon as they’d appeared in his room.

I figured out some things about myself.
“I can’t imagine.”
And about you.

He’d begun doing that predatory stalking thing around her. “If only I could lie so easily. I will find out your secret.”

Grasping for a change of subject, Ellie asked, “What were you dreaming of when you traced earlier?” then bit her tongue when she saw a glimpse of raw anguish in his eyes.

His expression grew shuttered. “A memory . . . one of my own. Something I do not want to speak of.”

She had a pretty good idea of what. “Fair enough.”

“You’re not going to press?”

“You’ll tell me when you’re ready,” she said.

This
really
seemed to please him. He snatched her close to nuzzle her hair. “You smell like salt, sun, and tequila. Exotic to one like me.” He inhaled deeply, as if he wanted to take her scent into him—

Suddenly his body jerked with tension, and he set her away. “Why do I still scent a trace of Thaddeus—even when we’re away from him?”

“I’m sure we hugged.” But she could feel her cheeks getting flushed. Was her heart speeding up?

“You’re . . .
lying
. Why would you lie, unless . . .” His eyes shot flame-red.

“No, Lothaire, it isn’t like that!”

“Tell me what it was like,” he said softly before roaring,
“or I’ll do murder!”

“I-I kissed him.”

“Then you’ve
killed
him.”

“Thad didn’t kiss me back! He was bewildered, just stood there. Afterward, he was mortified.”

“Then I’ll punish you more, slattern! I should string you up naked to a pole at the demon crossroads!” With a crazed bellow, he launched one of his fists into the wall, hitting it like a wrecking ball. The room shook. Another punch before he faced her, yelling, “Did you
touch
him?”

“No! In any case, why would you care? You keep telling me that
I
am not your Bride. Saroya is! What is one harmless kiss for a woman you’re gonna kill soon?”

“Tell me why you did it! Why in the fuck would you kiss him?”

“My reasons are my own!”

He laid his bleeding hand over her throat. “Tell me or I’ll wring your pretty little neck.”

Nothing had changed with Lothaire.
Nothing.
“You
can’t
.” She flailed from his grasp. “So take the needle off that record, vampire!”

“No, but I can kill your family! Shall I make you pick one relative over another to live?”

Oh, God, not them!
“Please don’t, Lothaire—”

He was already tracing her to the mountain.

“Take me back to the apartment, and I’ll tell you . . .” She trailed off when she saw that the place was like a ghost town.

No lights, no voices, no TVs going in any of the trailers on the entire mountain. The Peirce family had gotten themselves
lost.

“Where the hell are they?” he snapped, tracing her inside her old trailer.

The first time she’d been back since the night of the murders.

Belongings were strewn about. Mama had gotten them out in a hurry, and they’d clearly been gone a while.

Empty. Ellie checked a look of victory.

Lothaire swung his gaze on her, tracing her back outside to gaze down the lightless mountain. “Tell me where they are!”

“Gone.” She breathed deeply of the country air, squaring her shoulders. “They’re out of your reach forever.”

Back here on her mountain, she soaked up strength. This place had seen hundreds of years of struggle and hardship, of blood lost and pain found.

Right now, Ellie believed she’d been
honed
by life here, as if she’d just been waiting to go toe-to-toe with a fiend like Lothaire.

“Hmm.” She tapped her lip. “Can’t kill them. Can’t hurt me. Seems you’re holdin’ a shit hand of cards, Leo.”