Dark Seduction (Vampire Royals of New York #2) - Sarah Piper Page 0,10
Mr. Duchanes. But Alexei Rogozin? He has other aspirations.”
Rogozin. Just as Dorian had suspected.
Rogozin was currently number two among the greater demonic crime families, but if he could convince enough dark witches to fall in line, and they could turn up the tap on the flow of demons, and Rogozin united them all under the common cause of eradicating vampires and anyone else who got in his way…
“Many demons, many dark witches, all loyal to him,” Chernikov said, confirming Dorian’s fears. “This is Rogozin’s perfect world order. And he’s using traitor vampires to help build it.”
“House Duchanes,” Dorian grumbled.
“For now. But as soon as Rogozin is happy, he has no more use for Duchanes or any vampires.”
“No, I’d imagine he doesn’t.”
It all made sense—everything from Duchanes attacking Chernikov’s demons in Central Park the night of the Salvatore auction, to his bid for Armitage holdings, to his sirelings’ attack on Charlotte at the fundraiser, to last night’s brutality. Even the attempted alliance was fake—a move Dorian now realized was backed not only by the other vampires of his house, but by Rogozin’s organization as well.
An organization whose leader—if Chernikov was right—wanted to wipe vampires off the map.
Chernikov raised his coffee cup and gave a single nod. “So you see, this is mutual problem, like you say. We have common interests. Keep our city in check, keep humans from discovering us, run our separate territories in best way we see fit, keep Rogozin from hostile takeover. Yes?”
“On all of that, we’re in agreement.”
“Perhaps we should make deal.”
Dorian sighed. He couldn’t imagine a worse idea.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t imagine a better one, either. As he’d told his brothers in Charlotte’s penthouse last night, his war was with Duchanes, not Chernikov. And while he didn’t particularly trust the demons, he saw no reason to make an enemy of the most powerful one in the city, nor to allow him to be seduced by vampires eager to see Dorian’s head on the proverbial pike.
Or Charlotte’s.
The thought sobered him, despite his promises to eradicate thoughts of her from his mind.
As much as he hated to admit it, Aiden was right. Duchanes was completely unhinged. They couldn’t simply leave the woman to fend for herself; even if she did have some kind of connection to Rogozin, it clearly wasn’t preventing Duchanes from harming her. Dorian needed to make arrangements for Gabriel to bring her and Sasha back to Ravenswood, where they could be kept safe from further attacks.
As to her deceit… Dorian would settle on a fitting punishment later.
Right now, he needed to gather his allies—even the unsavory ones.
Especially the unsavory ones.
“And if we enter into this devil’s bargain together,” Dorian said, “what are you proposing?”
“I use my network to track Rogozin’s activities, keep watch on dark witches, and tell you about vampires asking for demon favors, shitting on crown.”
“And in return? What is it you ask of House Redthorne this time, Nikolai?”
The demon’s eyes glittered. “Two things.”
“Name your price.”
“I want access to Manhattan.”
“Absolutely out of the question.”
“My territory is—what is saying?” He puffed out his cheeks and patted his midsection. “Busting at seams.”
“Manhattan is vampire territory. If I allow your demons access, we risk unsettling a very delicate balance—one that could have the rest of the factions revolting.”
“You are clever and powerful, vampire king. I’m confident you can find way to make this happen. And if not?” Chernikov shrugged like it was no skin off his back either way. “Then deal is off, and we watch Alexei Rogozin and his puppet Renault Duchanes take over our city, and delicate balance explodes like nuclear missile.”
Dorian hated being outmaneuvered, but at the moment, he was dangerously low on bargaining chips, and Chernikov was right. Left unchecked, Rogozin could do a lot more damage than a few Chernikov demons setting up shop in Manhattan.
“I’ll grant you limited access for a trial period of one month,” Dorian finally said. “Weekends only. Your men will maintain the utmost discretion, avoid poaching anyone under the age of thirty, and make the terms of every agreement clear from the onset. No more fine print.”
Chernikov nodded. “And after one month, we revisit a longer option.”
“Done. What’s the second demand? You said there were two.”
“I want only what was promised long ago, by your father.”
“And we’re back to the bloody statue.” Dorian pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering if he could ever endure a demon meeting without getting a fucking headache. “Nikolai, how did you and my father come to meet?”