Page 24

Deal

“ W hy did I agree to this?” Dani asked herself as much as Balthazar, Elgar or Caemorn. Oh, and a kitten had shown up, which was perched quite happily on Balthazar’s right shoulder. She was talking to it, too, she supposed.

They were just next door to where Ashyr-- Grayson , she corrected herself--was speaking to the Horys Vampire.

The palace had created a two-way mirror for them to view what was going on so they wouldn’t need a blow by blow description from Balthazar and Elgar.

But seeing was not the same as being there.

She took a step towards the door, ready to march back in there and keep Grayson safe. But she hesitated. He’d asked her if she believed in him, trusted him. She did, yet by going back in there, she would be showing that she didn’t.

Dani crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “I should be in there with him! You two should not have allowed this! You’re Immortals, too!”

That sounded childish. It was ridiculous on so many levels.

She knew she was bleating a bit like a lost sheep and she hadn’t done that in millennia.

But it was seeing Ashyr-- Grayson , she reminded herself, Grayson, for now --that was doing this.

It was all hope and love and fear smashed inside of her and whirling about like in a blender.

The other Ashyr Vampires had entrusted her to bring Grayson back to them in one piece. And it should have been easy.

Except for taking him to the Weryn Compound with Weryn. She winced. Or now to the Eyros Palace where he’s interrogating--on his own--a powerful, violent Vampire. Yes, brilliant plan, Dani! Gold stars all around!

“Grayson knows what he’s doing,” Caemorn answered as he picked off a piece of invisible lint from his silk coat. “And would he have let you stay in any case?”

She spun around. “He’s human right now! Fragile!”

“Still an Immortal. Your Immortal. He might not know it, but he acts it through and through,” Balthazar murmured, stroking his chin.

“Yes, but Ashyr was not like the two of you!” Dani said. And when they looked at her curiously, she explained, “He listened to everyone. There were no ranks. No inner circle. Everyone had a voice. He knew and understood each and every one of us.”

“That sounds exhausting when you can’t read minds,” Balthazar sighed.

“He took an interest! He didn’t find it tiring to know his own Bloodline!” Dani cried.

“I take an interest. Don’t I, Meffy? Yes, yes, I do,” Balthazar said to the kitten.

Dani pointed at Elgar. “Shouldn’t you be asking your fledgling that?”

“Meffy is Master’s special Childe.” Elgar smiled at the skull.

“Because Meffy doesn’t talk back! Or contradict whatever silly thing he thinks!” Dani shook her head.

“Meffy is very astute!” Balthazar frowned at her. “But so Ashyr’s interested in people. I dare say that’s not who Grayson is… or was . He needed to be invisible so no one noticed his powers.”

“He wasn’t invisible to Sam,” she said. “He listened and cared for the least of people.”

“That seems an unwise investment,” Caemorn sniffed.

“It wasn’t and it isn’t,” she said firmly.

“It’s fascinating to see how he’s changed in just a day though,” Balthazar mused as he watched Grayson. “Even his thought processes. I wonder if when he remembers who he is if he drops this Grayson persona altogether. It’s been a painful life. Why not forget it?”

“He didn’t deserve a hard life,” Dani said, a flare of anger lighting in her chest.

Caemorn shifted slightly, guiltily, she thought, and Balthazar’s eyes flickered to him, filled with concern that he quickly hid.

Kaly was responsible for so much death. He was responsible for Ashyr’s death.

Yet Kaly had never shown guilt before. She would have thought him incapable of it.

Even now when he hid his emotions behind a bland, blank look, she felt the guilt dripping off him.

Which was why she found she couldn’t hate him.

She felt none of the rage and hatred towards him that she had towards Kaly.

Caemorn was different. Eyros was different too.

They were totally different people from who they once were.

Grayson… he was so like he had always been.

And that’s why she had left the damned room!

She had to go back in. Stand by his side!

Back him up! He was exhausted after everything he’d done that day at the Ring.

What if he lost his grip on that garbage Horys Vampire?

“Grayson wants to be alone in there so she thinks he’s the only person interested in her,” Balthazar mused. “Plus, if she thinks he’s alone, she won’t be as careful.”

“Can’t she hear us?” Dani asked, waving a hand around them.

A wall did not block out a Vampire’s hearing and they could hear Grayson and the Horys Vampire quite fine. Balthazar shook his head and the kitten did too, in unison, or so it seemed to her. Was he controlling the kitten’s mind or were they really just that synced?

“The palace loves Master,” Elgar crooned to the skull as he stroked it with long fingers. “Does what he wants. She won’t even see the glass, because it's not there in the other room for her. But we see. We hear.”

Dani looked at the large nine by five foot glass “window”.

That wasn’t there in the other room? She knew the palaces changed based on an Immortal’s whims or needs, but this was surprising.

Yet things had been much more active in Nightvallen this time around.

King Daemon was more… awake? Aware? Tuned in?

Yes, probably all of those things. It was fascinating really.

And if she had Grayson out of danger, she could really come to appreciate it!

“What’s your name?” Grayson’s voice rose up and her head shot towards the “window”. “I’m tired of thinking about you as the ‘unknown Horys Vampire who works for the Sect of Dawn.’ It’s a little long.”

The unknown Horys Vampire who works for the Sect of Dawn sat up on the table and gave Grayson a lifted eyebrow at her naked body. She gestured to her nakedness.

“This your idea?” she asked, her voice a little husky.

Grayson’s eyes dropped down to her naked body then lifted them up again, looking completely unimpressed. “Bad personality. Wrong bits. So no , it’s not at all exciting.”

She laughed and shrugged. “I suppose one can’t be all things to all people. You can call me… Jill.”

“Okay, Jill .” Grayson’s voice made it clear that he didn’t think it was her real name.

“If you want to know the real me, you’ll have to get Balthazar in here.” She flashed a fangy smile. “He can rip it from my mind.”

She really does want an Eyros in her head. Grayson was right not to trust this at all.

“Oh, well, he’s not interested in you.” Grayson shrugged. “He’s off somewhere. Swanning about. Greeting students. Checking everything is going okay at the school. He’s got a lot of important things to do. And you’re not one of them.”

Jill’s expression went blank for a second, but then a coy smile spread across her fox-like face. “You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not. Why do you think I’m here by myself?” Grayson asked as he leaned his back against the wall and crossed his feet at the ankles. He appeared relaxed, loose, unconcerned .

Jill’s eyes narrowed. “Because you’re foolish.”

Grayson laughed easily and shook his head as if she were incredibly funny. “You didn’t even make that into a question! Well, maybe I am, but I’ve handled you twice . And, between us, well, it didn’t go well for you .”

“That was because I wasn’t ready for you and your little tricks.” Jill’s eyes narrowed more.

“Tricks. Games. It’s all just fun for you, right?” Grayson asked.

His smile was cold now. Arctic. Dani took a step towards the window. She could “see” what was going on in there so she might be able to hold Jill with her powers. Distance and obstructions--like the wall--made it more difficult but--

Balthazar put a hand on her shoulder. “He’s fine, Dani.”

“She’s going to attack him,” Dani’s voice was thick as her fangs were out.

“He knows. He wants her to,” Balthazar answered. “Don’t let your fear ruin his plan.”

So many things wanted to explode from her mouth at that moment. Things that she was sure he heard, because he glanced towards her and lifted an eyebrow.

“Now, that’s not very nice. And I don’t think my leg could bend that way,” Balthazar said. “But you know I’m right. Dani, you fought in the War. You made impossible choices. You know when something has to play out a certain way.”

“Why risk him?” Dani asked.

“He’s not at risk,” Caemorn answered.

“You don’t know that!” she cried. That whirling tornado of emotions was butting up against her common sense.

She was acting like a first year Childe, not one that was a Master several times over.

But it was Ashyr! Alive! So alive! Returned!

And she was leaving him in danger! She had to do something! This was madness!

“Do you know why I took out Ashyr first?” Caemorn asked in that cool, detached voice of his.

Her breath caught. He couldn’t be saying this to her! Not here! Not now! Talking about the War and how he had--

Caemorn turned towards her, looking beautiful and alien all at the same time.

“Because he was the biggest threat. Not just for his strength, but for his mind. I had to take him out before doing anything else, or he would have figured out a way to stop me far before my core self, Eyros and Seeyr did.”

Dani’s mouth opened, but no words came out at first, but then she said softly, hoarsely, “He would have destroyed you.”

“Yes, most likely. There might not have even been a War at all.” Caemorn slowly blinked those silver eyes at her. “The Sect of Dawn could be a worthy enemy, too, Dani. Will you scuttle his chance to stop them before they begin?”