Page 14 of Tryst or Treat (Season’s Readings #3)

L ucian?” Vlad answered the office phone. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong per se, but whispers have reached my ears,” his old friend said. “I felt you should be made aware of them.”

“Whispers of what?” Vlad sat at his desk, wondering what one of his greatest allies learned that he hadn’t.

“That’s the thing. We aren’t sure, but something is coming. Something dangerous, yet the more I search for answers, the less I find. The streets are teeming with unrest, but nothing is clear.”

“So, you’re calling me with news of nothing?” Vlad asked, annoyance rippling through him at what this pointless call had interrupted.

“Vlad, I’ve known you for a long time,” Lucian said. “When have I ever called you with nothing?”

“Never,” Vlad conceded.

“I wanted to warn you,” Lucian said. “Of what, I don’t know, but I feel it in the air, in the tension of the wind. Uneasiness is rippling through the ranks, and you should be prepared.”

“How have these rumors not reached me?” Vlad asked. “Nothing escapes my ears.”

“That’s the other reason I called,” Lucian said, his voice suddenly hesitant. “And I say this with the utmost respect and greatest hesitation.”

“Spit it out.”

“Your wife. This uneasiness whispers her name.”

“My wife?” Vlad’s defensiveness boiled over, and he had to force himself to loosen his grip on the phone before he shattered it as his mind flickered to her attack. “Is she in danger?”

“I’m not sure. Nothing is definite. Only that her name is whispered in the shadows. Whether she’s in danger or she is the source of the threats, I cannot say. Your wife is Rowena’s only child, and her mother kept her well-guarded. Little is known about the girl, but one thing we’re certain of is her power. Rowena wouldn’t declare her daughter her heir unless she was a witch of unmatched strength.”

Vlad’s mind flicked to Belladonna’s hangover brew. It was a simple potion, one most witches could conjure blindfolded, but his wards blocked all magic. Spells, hexes, potions. All of it was impossible within his walls, yet his wife had brewed a potion in his kitchen as easily as she brewed her morning coffee. How powerful was she that she could bypass his defenses?

“Belladonna is safe in the mansion,” Vlad said. “And she wouldn’t betray me.”

The moment the words left his mouth, his memory recalled Gabriel’s insults at the club. His son had been moments away from marrying the witch, and he would’ve gone through with it if his father hadn’t stepped in. The rumors that reached Vlad’s ears in Europe promised Gabriel loved her, yet his son’s hatred of Belladonna was visceral. He didn’t care for her. He never had. His wedding had been to serve a different purpose, and icy dread pooled in Vlad’s gut. Gabriel’s change occurred after the witch had moved into this house. A house with protection against magic, meaning any spell Belladonna had cast over his son would’ve evaporated. Had she hexed Gabriel to coerce him into marrying her? Was her interest in his family a power play coming from Rowena herself?

“I hope she won’t, but you welcomed the enemy into your home,” Lucian said. “And before you get defensive, I’m not saying this to question your judgment or your decisions. You’ve been the greatest leader our kind has seen in centuries, but this peace treaty with the coven can’t erase hundreds of years of violence and animosity. You married our enemy’s daughter, and while I want to trust that you know what you’re doing, there’s a chance that your wife is the force behind these whispers. She also might be the victim. Your marriage has angered many on both sides, and while I hope she isn’t the threat, you are where my loyalties lie. Most wouldn’t tell you this to your face, but it’s why I called. Something is coming, and somehow your wife is involved. I’m just not sure if she’s the target or the instigator.”

“I wouldn’t allow most to speak to me like this,” Vlad said, and Lucian chuckled. “But you’re a good and loyal friend, so I appreciate the heads up. I’ll look into these rumors.”

“If you need anything, let me know,” Lucian said. “And for what it’s worth, congratulations to you and your new wife.”

“Thank you. We’ll talk soon.” Vlad hung up the phone and ran a hand through his hair. It unnerved him he hadn’t heard so much as a hint of what his friend was warning. Was Lucian part of the problem, calling him to encourage paranoia? Was Belladonna a beautiful Trojan Horse, slipping inconspicuously behind their ranks to destroy the vampires once and for all? Had he become the negligent leader he’d purged from their race decades ago?

Vlad stood up and stormed from the office in search of his wife. He’d spent most of his days avoiding her, hoping she would come to him when she was ready, but maybe it was time he kept a better eye on the witch in their midst. She’d been drugged with a pill version of the wards that prevented magic, yet she’d woken up with only a hangover. He hadn’t told her the truth about the drugs because he hadn’t wanted to terrify her, but witches didn’t walk away from those unaffected. Her magic had to be incredibly resilient to resist wards within her body. And not only had she resisted it, she’d recovered the strength to brew a potion in a matter of hours.

Vlad cursed under his breath. Why had he brought this woman into his house? How could he have been so impulsive? He never acted without careful calculation. He never let women blind him. Not even his love for Gabriel’s mother had pushed him to act so irrationally. If he was smart, he would interrogate Belladonna, but as he searched the house for his young wife, he found it impossible to believe she was the enemy. He refused to consider she was the mastermind behind whatever evil was spreading through their underworld, which left only one option. She was in danger.

What’s going on?” Vlad asked a guard as he passed the door to the courtyard. The vampire was standing watch, but his body was angled awkwardly, his sight not where it should be. Only the most competent vampires guarded his home, but this man acted like he'd forgotten how to use a window.

“Sir.” The vampire nodded respectfully and then shifted his weight, his eyes flicking toward the pool without actually looking outside. The windows were UV-treated, meaning he and his men could enjoy the sunlight while inside, but this guard was acting like the glass was poison. Had Belladonna somehow stripped his home of its protection? Lucian’s phone call from the other day nagged at him. Is that what she’d been using her solitary hours for?

After her attack, they’d settled into a new normal. She tortured him endlessly, but the malice had left her actions. Her spite no longer felt like a punishment but rather a reward, and she’d stopped ignoring him. He wouldn’t call their newfound harmony a marriage, but they’d established a friendship he cherished. He found himself asking about the cats, which led to him asking about her day, which turned into him asking about herself. Their conversations were deepening, and the more he learned about his wife, the more he liked her. What was more, she seemed to like him. Her office visits grew more frequent, and unlike before when she merely strode past his door, she now wandered inside to sit on his desk in her too-short shorts and ask him about nothing. Her questions never really had a point. It seemed she simply wanted to listen to him talk, so he obliged her. He had centuries of stories to tell, and Belladonna enjoyed every one. She pretended she didn’t care how his tales ended, but he saw the truth in her eyes. His history excited her. She used the guise of teasing him to cover up her sudden desire to chat, but he didn’t mind. Her tears and anger had stopped, and she was filling his home with her joy. They’d yet to do anything a normal couple would, like eat meals together or have purposeful communication. Their discussions were born from roundabout encounters, pranks, or utter ridiculousness, but she was changing around him. He was changing around her. He was becoming friends with his wife, which was why he was confused about the sunlight. All this progress. All these days of venturing—albeit slowly—into new relationship waters, and she was suddenly trying to burn his men? Had his refusal to heed Lucian’s warning cost him his house?

Vlad stepped forward and reached an experimental finger into the sunshine, but only cool air greeted him. His windows worked, so why on earth was this man acting like he didn’t know?—

Vlad froze, his body going impossibly still when he saw it, and with a growled threat, he spoke loud enough for all the guards on this floor to hear.

“Get out.”