"Stay, Nix. I'll leave. You can continue talking to Cade." Rydstrom obviously thought he'd have more luck with Nix.
In general, Cade was considerably smoother with women than his brother was. Though Rydstrom did love to remind Cade what a "blathering idiot" he'd been the sole time he'd spoken with his fated female.
Admittedly, he hadn't been at the top of his game, but blathering idiot? Not in a million years.
Rydstrom indicated for the rest of the crew to go to the bar. Except for Rok, who gave a vile curse. "Summoned yet again," he grated, then began tracing.
Ballocks, there goes my ride. Neither Cade nor Rydstrom could trace any longer. They'd had that ability bound--a punishment for a failed coup.
I'm going to get Rydstrom's bloody crown back for him if it bloody kills me....
When it was only Cade and the Valkyrie, Nix said, "You'll be at the gathering this weekend, yes?"
He nodded. "How's the alliance shaping up?" He'd heard Nix had been actively steering this Accession. For her to take such an interest meant this one could be apocalyptic. Otherwise, Nix the Ever-Knowing would likely be out shopping, as Valkyrie fancied doing.
She said, "So far on our team, we have the Lykae, the Forbearers, the Furiae, the Wraiths, the noble fey, myriad demonarchies, the House of Witches, possibly the CIA, and probably a Colombian drug lord. The nymphs are straddling the fence."
Regin opened her mouth, but Nix cut her off. "That one's too easy, Reege."
The Valkyrie shrugged, her attention returning to an arm-wrestling match.
In a nonchalant tone, he asked Nix, "So you want to tell me about the leech?"
"I don't know if you can defeat this one," Nix said. "He's unspeakably powerful."
Cade gritted his teeth. "Then I only wish you'd seen what I did to my last enemy. And that was piss easy for me."
Nix peered at the ceiling, then down again with an expression of surprise. "Very nice. But I can't see what you did with his spine."
She could view the past as well? There'd been rumors.... "Made him try to crawl for it before I beheaded him." He immediately frowned. "What do you do when you pluck a spine?"
"The same. You can't improve on a classic. Oh, and speaking of getting a spine--how are things with your lady love, Cade?"
He drank, studying her over the rim of his mug. Nix can tell how I feel. She knows. Cade was notoriously brutal, a feared mercenary. Yet at times he found himself gut-sick with wanting his female, one who was too young and too human--the sole species forbidden to him.
Because the mortal wouldn't survive the initial claiming when he went demonic.
Cade no longer tried to deny that she was his, no longer bothered with his halfhearted pursuits of other females. Every time he saw her from the shadows, the certainty grew.
He wondered if Nix knew about the picture he kept beside his bed.
Nix smiled at that very moment; Cade swore. "Ever-knowing, Cade," she said softly.
Cade hiked his shoulders, pretending nonchalance. "Tell me about the vampire, or not, dove. But none of us really wants to be here."
"I'll tell you," Nix said, her gaze rapt on his horns. "But only if you let me lick your rock-hard horns--"
"Nix!" Regin's attention snapped back to this conversation.
Eyes wide, Nix cried, "Who said that?? I didn't say that! Oh, very well--the vampire's named Conrad Wroth. Best be careful with that one. He single-handedly took down Bothrops the Lich."
"That was Wroth?" He'd heard of the assassin before. Cade grudgingly admitted that the leech did nice work, dealing deaths with a unique, gruesome signature to them. Which was important in their line of business. "Where is he?"
"To find him, you need to trail the one who seeks him in sleep."
"Soothsayerese? I don't speak it," he said, but she didn't elaborate. "That's all you're going to divvy?"
"Wanna know more?" Nix raised her brows. "Then you should have let me lick your horns."
14
When Conrad's eyes slid shut, the muscles in his jaw tightening, Neomi realized he wasn't going to deny his brother's words.
Her lips parted. Never been with a woman? If Conrad had been attractive to her before, he'd just become irresistible. This man, with his tremendous body made for pleasing and protecting a woman, was a virgin.
Oh, but this revelation was a problem. Conrad--so secretive and proud--was plainly burning with embarrassment, restless in his chains. His arms were bulging so much, it was clear he was clenching his fists behind him. Her knowing this would be humiliating for him.
And his pride had already been taking a beating. She knew men, and she knew that any show of vulnerability in front of a woman they found attractive was crushing to them.
Her heart was breaking for him.
Murdoch frowned at Conrad's reaction. "Just think, if you found your Bride at the gathering, within a single week, you could be bedding her. Aren't you even curious about what it's like?"
His tone incensed, Conrad said, "Leave me."
"Things are heating up overseas--none of us will be back until late tomorrow. Do you want to drink before I go?"
Conrad began straining against his bonds, the muscles in his neck standing out with the effort. "Get out of my sight!" As he rocked to the side, she saw blood on the sheets from where the manacles were cutting into his wrists.
"Conrad, calm yourself." Murdoch stood. "I'm leaving."
When Murdoch disappeared, Neomi took a breath, then sidled closer to Conrad. Making her tone casual, she said, "You seem discomfited by this, but you shouldn't be. Et alors. Ce n'est pas grand-chose. It's not a big--"
"Get out."
"Conrad, your brother seems to believe you could soon find your Bride and bed her, but I think he's glossing over a major component--she needs to want you, too. I could teach you what women like. I could show you how to seduce her."
That just made him more furious.
She hurriedly said, "Listen, this is your room and I'll respect your privacy, but maybe tonight, I could just sit with you? I won't say a word. I just don't want to be alone--"
"And you know what I want." She'd noticed that his fangs seemed to sharpen with aggression--they did now. "So be a good girl, and promise me," he began in a low tone, before yelling, "that you'll get me a goddamned key!"
"You said you wanted to kill your brothers. You said you ached to."
"So?"
She made an impatient sound. "So, if I free you, you could just lie in wait and attack them here. I'd be an accessory to murder."
Looking as if he could happily throttle her, he said, "I wouldn't do it here."
She shook her head. "I won't even consider it until you vow not ever to harm them."
"Why would you want this?"
"I feel like I know them, and I think they're honorable men," she answered. "They don't deserve to die, especially not for trying to help you."
"If you don't get me the key, I swear, I'll torch this rotting heap!"
"Why do you say these things?" she cried.
"Because I mean what I say. Now, get out! And don't return without my key."
"This is my house--I don't have to leave!"
"Of course you wouldn't want to! I suppose that's your lot, to follow the living around like a pathetic lapdog."
"L-lapdog?" Had he truly just called her that?
"Exactly. Doing your tricks, begging for a crumb of attention. Stripping off your clothes."
She gasped, tempted to reacquaint him with the ceiling.
"Run along, ghostling. Unless I haven't tossed you enough scraps?"
With a last glare, she twisted and disappeared from the room. Damn him, she didn't want to be alone. Not tonight.
Why did men get so angry after showing a vulnerability? Why did it cost them so much to let down their armor? She couldn't care less that Conrad was a virgin. Well, that wasn't true, but she definitely wasn't reacting the way he would think.
What if I just return and te
ll him that I'm attracted to him--and that this information doesn't lessen the feeling?
So he could yell more at her? Insult her? Was she the type of woman who would rather get insulted than be alone?
Never.
Now what to do? Where to go? Conrad's comments resounded within her as she moped through the hallways of her home.
At the week's end, the brothers were all going out and she...wasn't. Neomi had loved going to gatherings, had adored getting dressed up. She'd loved anything with a social aspect.
She recalled all the fun things she'd done--beach bonfires at the gulf, houseboat parties on the Mississippi, celebrating Mardi Gras with other bons vivants, lively and hedonistic stage people.
One Fourth of July, she'd splashed in the fountain in Jackson Square. Under the heat of fireworks above and surrounded by the soft strains of jazz, she'd kissed a complete stranger--his lips had tasted of absinthe.
I used to be proud, too, the life of the party. No longer. Now she wasn't above begging like a pathetic dog for a crumb of attention.
Her mood picked up a fraction when she heard a voice downstairs. Murdoch hadn't left yet. She traced to him, finding him dialing on his cellular phone. She decided to see if his pockets held any more of those lovely hair combs.
"Pick up, Danii," he muttered. When Danii didn't, he slammed his fist into a wall. If another Wroth punches my house one more time...
He was so preoccupied that he never felt a thing when she rooted through his pocket--
And fished out a key.
For hours, Conrad had wanted to call her back.
Something about her expression had put him on edge. She'd had a look on her face as if she'd been sentenced to the gallows--part fear, part resignation. Her eyes had been so sad, so different from her earlier excited demeanor, such as when she'd been asking about mermaids, of all things.
It wasn't her fault she'd overheard Conrad's shaming secret, but he'd treated her as if it were--because he was sick of feeling powerless and impotent, sick of being both. He was just about to swallow his pride and call for her when he smelled lit candles and...starch?
His hackles rose. Something was happening, something she'd known was awaiting her. All she'd wanted to do was stay with him during the day, because she'd been afraid. Of what?
And he'd cruelly sent her away to be on her own. A bewildering type of panic welled inside him, so strong it left him shaken. He began sweating.
Neomi should never be afraid. Not while he had strength in his body.
His eyes widened when he heard music downstairs. Not right. This isn't right. He grew frenzied, rocking back and forth, yanking against his chains, leveraging all his strength against one arm. Again and again, he heaved...until he dislocated his shoulder with a pop.
This gave him just enough leeway to thread his hands under his feet and unlatch the tether from the bed. He stood, pounding his shoulder into the doorframe to force it back in place, then charged downstairs. Searching for the scent of roses, he came to the ballroom.
This area had been wrecked by age--and by Conrad. Yet now it appeared as it must have been eighty years ago. The marble floor was an unbroken gleam under the light of what seemed like a thousand candles. The interior was filled with fresh-cut roses, starched tablecloths, and obviously expensive furniture. That ghostly music sounded from no apparent source.
Surreal. This situation had all the makings of a hallucination. But he didn't believe it was. Then he saw her enter the room, looking as though she were in a trance. "Neomi?" She didn't answer, just began to dance.
She started slowly, somehow keeping her chest, head, and arms perfectly still, while her leg unfolded and she pivoted round. When the pace quickened, she began to sweep her arms, the movements precise yet fluid.
The way she moved was like silk, as though her arms were boneless. Stunned, he muttered, "Tantsija."
Even he recognized certain steps from classical ballet, but she infused them with sensuality. There was something...suggestive about the way she danced, as if she did it to attract a man.
It was working. When she moved, he felt.
Neomi appeared spectral at certain angles. But he'd still never seen anything so beautiful. Her skin was glowing, her pale lips like a bow. The smoky outlines around her eyes just made the blue irises stand out. Her cheeks only seemed sharper because of the shadows under them.
Her face was suffused with contentment, what looked like a nearly mindless joy. He was calmed watching her, his earlier frustrations soothed. Others' memories couldn't overcome his captivation with what he was seeing. They grew quieter with each second, and then, for the first time in centuries, they receded altogether.
A dead dancer with joy on her face made him feel...expectation. He had a sense of looking forward to something more with her--to watching her dance again, to talking with her.
Before, he'd been accepting of the fact that he would die soon, had believed he deserved it. He was a vampire, a being he'd been taught to hate all his life.
Now...he wasn't at all ready for the end. As he watched her, he thought, I might not be able to miss out on her.
He narrowed his eyes. I want...the dancer.
In the shower with her, he'd recognized she was special to him in some way. This evening the suspicion that she was his Bride had grown. Now he no longer denied it. She must not have blooded him because she wasn't technically alive.
Neomi's mine.
To have such a woman in his keeping...
For a chance with her, could he put away his plans for revenge--and his certainty that he would soon die?
She effortlessly twirled up on her toes, her black skirts and her long hair whipping around. So lovely his chest ached.
Yes, he could. She's mine. And I'll have her. There were obstacles, but he excelled at eliminating anything that stood in the way of what he wanted.
Soon her pace increased. She spun faster and faster. Not right. Outside, yellow lightning began to flash in front of the crescent moon, and the wind soon roared through the trees, raining leaves. The room slowly aged, decaying right before him. The music abruptly ended.
Rose petals littered the floor.
Conrad charged for her, unable to trace because of the chains. Before he could reach her, the pace quickened even more. "Neomi?"
The air grew heavier. Her expression changed, going from dreamy and seductive to terrified.
Once he reached her, he yelled, "Neomi, stop this!"
She didn't glance up, didn't seem able to. Her eyes were stark, her breaths ragged. When he tried to stay her, she passed right through him, making him shudder from a surge of electricity.
Every protective instinct in him screamed to life. Keep her safe...keep her close.
He couldn't. He roared with frustration when she moved through him again.
How long could she sustain this pace? Faster, twirling away from him, until...she vanished.
Turning in a slow circle, he bellowed, "Neomi!" But the sounds continued, sounds that he didn't want to identify: the wet scraping of bone; her scream--interrupted. Suddenly blood pooled out over the floor, soaking the petals.
Until they, too, disappeared.
15
He'd seen it. Somehow the vampire had gotten free.
When Conrad had begun yelling for her from all over the house, she'd evacuated from her studio to the bayou folly.
She planned to sleep out here, away from all the commotion. The crickets and owls were lulling, and a breeze blew. She couldn't feel it, but the cypress needles above her combed the wind, the sound sublime. She was just about to fall into reverie when he came upon her.
He stopped in his tracks, and his eyes briefly slid shut.
"What do you want?" Neomi murmured.
He wound around jutting cypress knees to reach her. "Are you injured?" he asked, crouching beside her, surveying her.
As much as she hated to admit it, his presence was comforting. "Don't be ridiculous, vampire. I can't
be injured." Yet her essence was depleted--it always was. And she was shaken from the relived pain. Being stabbed in the heart tended to do that to a person.
Much less when the knife twists... She shuddered. How much longer can I continue to endure this?
"What the hell was that back there?" When she shurgged, he said, "You're even paler than before, fainter."
"Am I to expect more insults, Conrad? You should know that I'm not one of those women who will take disdain over nothing." Had she sounded as if she was trying to convince herself? "I'd rather not converse with you."
"I don't want to insult you." He couldn't take his gaze from her, as if fearing she'd disappear again.
"You didn't want to be around me earlier. Perhaps now I don't want your company."
He studied her face. "I think...I think that you do."
"Cocky now? Le dement reveals a brand-new personality." She didn't like that he was right, or that he knew he was right. Maybe she was as pathetic as he'd deemed her. "How did you get loose?"
"Pulled my shoulder out," he said, his tone indicating this wasn't even worth a mention.
She quirked a brow. Intense man. "Naturellement."
"Come inside with me."
"You're ready to let the lapdog inside? And here I didn't even beg at the door. Why do you even care what happens with me?"
"I just...do. So return with me," he said. She could tell he wanted to snatch her arm and drag her in. "Dawn's coming."
She feigned tapping her chin. "Hmm, I never would have suspected if not for that big orange ball rising."
"If you won't come inside, then I have no choice but to stay with you here."
"What about the sun? Are you crazed--strike that. Are you a fool?"
"Tell me what happened tonight or come inside. One of the two."
"Allez au diable."
"Then I'm staying with you." He sank beside her, flaunting that stubborn mien.
"Then I'll leave."
"And go where?" he asked. "Is this where you usually go when you're not with me?"
"No, I'm out here because you wouldn't stop shouting in my house!" she snapped, at the end of her patience. "I don't know why this happens. At the same time every month, I dance. I can't stop it, can't control it. And then once I've danced my heart out, I get to have it stabbed. Month after month."