“Private vampire business. Up to the moment Sebastian questioned you, we had no proof our affairs affected the larger community.”
Vampires business. As if that explained everything, she thought. To him it might. Vampire society had been closed to outsiders for centuries. But, dammit, if she had known from the beginning, it might have helped. She released a weary sigh. If their current arrangement was going to work, they’d have to get beyond the past.
“I’m curious, Andreas. You work with werecreatures, even a halfling demon. Why no witches or other conjurers before now?”
Andreas’s eyebrows shot up. “I am surprised you have to ask. Have you no knowledge of the long-standing conflicts between the O-Seven and the Witches League? Their struggle for domination in the Old Country?”
“I’ve never even heard of the O-Seven. But what’s some fight in Europe got to do with your court or what you do over here?”
“It was not just ‘some fight.’ The council of the seven original vampires—who are thousands of years old, by the way—and the witches’ covens nearly destroyed one another in 1329. In my country, no witch would consider aligning with a vampire. With your abilities, she would be more likely to try to burn us out.”
“That seems harsh.” Ari shrugged. She couldn’t remember Great-Gran mentioning a special problem with the vampires. Except for them being violent predators, of course. For the witches, the feud must have stopped at the ocean. For the vampires, not so much. “So these old vamps are still holding a grudge, huh? Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”
She fell silent, losing interest in the O-Seven and focusing on the other things she’d heard tonight. Headlights from a passing car swept over them and highlighted the familiar surroundings. Another two blocks and they’d be on her street.
“Out of questions?” he asked.
“Just figuring out what I haven’t asked. It’s a lot to take in. The vamp who was killed, Frederick. How’d the killers get to him but not the rest of you?”
Andreas swung his head to look at Ari. “I don’t understand the question.”
“You live together, don’t you?”
“Lord, no. Occasionally we might stay at the compound, but that is unusual. We have our own homes. Frederick lived with a human consort who guarded his sleeping hours. She was killed during the attack. Shot three times. She hadn’t been tortured, so the killers knew exactly where to find his hidden chamber when they arrived.”
“And who would know that?”
Andreas shook his head. “It is not information freely shared.”
“Well, someone shared. The consort must have betrayed him. Unless…could another vampire bespell her? Force her to tell without using visible torture?”
“No, not possible.” His answer was decisive. “Frederick would have known immediately. Consorts are closely bound to their vampire mates. It would take someone very powerful indeed—someone as old as Sebastian himself—to overcome such resistance. The attempt would have destroyed her mind. And her willing betrayal is improbable,” he continued. “Consorts often die from the breaking of a bond. Such action would invite her own death. No, Ari, they were well mated. Their friends, including Victor, report she would have protected Frederick with her life. As apparently she tried to do.”
“Then how’d this happen?”
“I have no logical explanation.”
They had nearly reached Ari’s front door. She still hated these steps, enough to look for a new apartment when she found the time. She made an automatic scan of the bushes. If Andreas noticed, he didn’t mention it.
“I will be back at five o’clock,” he said. “To introduce you to the guards.” The vampire started down the steps.
“Andreas?”
He looked back.
“What about you? Who keeps you safe at home?”
A slow smile spread across his face, making his eyes glitter. “I have to wonder why you ask. Is this concern for my safety? Or that I might have a consort?”
Good question. She dropped her eyes and hedged. “Just curiosity.”
He chuckled softly. As he disappeared into the shadows, his voice floated back. “Have no fears, little witch.”
Which, of course, told her nothing.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Five faces stared at Ari with a mixture of reactions: hostility, curiosity, indifference. The guards would be a tough crowd to win over.
Promptly at 5:00 a.m. Andreas had escorted her to the vampire compound. He’d already told the guards of her pending arrival, and she could imagine how the news went over. A stranger was coming to take charge.
When she had walked into the security office at Andreas’s side, the guards were seated around a table with a deck of cards and poker chips