"I am already resigned and actually chose her for him." Sebastian smiled as Lilith sat down in her throne carefully, watching him with the element of surprise subtly shaping her expression.
"Now I am intrigued," she said, taking up her golden blood goblet and sipping from it slowly. "If you chose such a luscious candidate for Fallon, whom you openly abhor . . . then this next candidate must be very special."
"She is," Sebastian admitted quietly, standing and robing in one lithe motion. He began to pace with his hands behind his back. "Initially I thought of Wu Zetian from the sixth century . . . for her power-"
"Oh, hell no!"Lilithscreeched, standing and sloshing blood. "That bitch and I would literally lock horns in chambers from the onset." Lilith set down her goblet and folded her arms over her chest as Sebastian gazed at her, seeming amused. "While I definitely admire her ruthlessness . . . to murder one's own infant daughter just to frame the Empress with the crime in order to take her husband, not to mention to ultimately depose her own sons to rule an empire-thatI can respect. But her ambitions would be-"
"Unmanageable. That is why I'm not suggesting her."
Lilith shook her head and arched an eyebrow. "Toy with me again, Sebastian, and I might turn ugly this afternoon."
He walked to his throne and sat. Lilith raked him with her gaze.
"The thought of this candidate is so titillating that it's given you an erection . . . oh, this one I must know immediately."
"Elizabeth. I want Vlad'sElizabeth ."
Lilith's eyes widened as she covered her mouth. "You are insane! And I love it!"
"Vlad the Impaler, our own Dracula, made her his mate a hundred years beyond his death-she is fromHungary, Lilith. She is from my same earth, the same Carpathians . . . her hair deep brunette, her features like fine porcelain, oh, Lilith," he said, standing and beginning to pace again. "Fallon cannot have her if I raise her for you. Do you know her triumphs?"
Sebastian stopped at the table's edge and closed his eyes with a shudder. "She murdered over fifty virgins andbathed in their blood . . . records at her trial said she'd tortured six hundred and fifty maidens in Castle Csejthe within the province of Transylvania. Her woman servant, Dorothea Szentes, was a witch-Lilith, this candidate knows black magic from the original chasm of Dracula's lair. Then the human betrayers walled this gorgeous, brilliant blood hunter in her bedroom lair within her own castle. They literally put her behind brick dust and mortar, surrounded her with prayer lines so she could not feed, and they allowed her to starve to death. It was an atrocity,a blight on the history of vampirism!"
"Let me think about this," Lilith said with a smirk.
Sebastian dropped to his knees. "Lilith, I have never begged you for anything such as this . . . but she even bit the skin off their faces."
"You know Fallon is a superior lover to you, correct?" Lilith shrugged.
"ButElizabeth is more of a sadist than a sexual being-that's why I want her!"
"Dracula was an excellent lover-insanely creative . . . I was at his coronation." Lilith pressed a finger to her lips for a moment. "Two issues trouble me. One, she may really resent that you aren't her dead husband when she awakens, which gets us right back to the dissension dilemma. Two, Fallon has more of Dracula's style, and she may ultimately go to him of her own volition."
"Not if you help me," Sebastiansaid, his eyes desperate. "You could enhance my capacities . . . you know my failings."
"You must really want her, my friend, to strike such a deal like that one in hell."
"I do . . . I have fantasized about her since she was created." He looked at Lilith without blinking and spoke inDananu . "Name your price."
"Let me get back to you with a rain check-I want an open ticket to claim what I desire later," she murmured inDananu , staring at his groin.
"Done."
Lilith tilted her head. "Lucrezia is a better match for him . . . but to raise Liz Bathory without her mate will create such a stir, politically. By rights, Vlad, for all his valor, should be raised, but-"
"Since when have you been politically correct, Lilith?" Sebastian stood and swept over to his throne, fuming. "He was finally defeated and turned to ash. To the victor goes the spoils of war, and I still stand in the end of days! I have dreamt of her,lusted for her,for centuries . . . but no one would dare cross Vlad while he was in power. I can raise her, as well as her sorceress."
"Oh, now, calm yourself. I just wanted to see you beg . . . of course I approve. Just don't forget you owe me." Lilith sat down with a flourish. "But my next question is a very simple one, as my goal is still to keep down all dissension at council, like I said. What about Yolando? You know he's had two mates ripped from him very recently; you don't think this will cause unnecessary challenges at the table? And although he is somewhat more traditional in style . . . my, my, my, he is a natural wonder. MightElizabeth take it in her head to-"
"Fuck him," Sebastian snarled, and then took a healthy swig from his goblet. "He doesn't do sadists and she doesn't do vampires with a predilection for humans after what she's been through. There are only two open seats at council, and he's not old enough to appreciate the beauties of the past. Besides, Yolando likes to indulge in cheap human vanities inTijuana , last I'd heard. Let him pick one of them to turn."
The storage area in the back of Phat G's joint was just barely large enough to hold the team. Jose caught a metal rack of canned goods and BBQ sauce before it fell. The scent of grilled meats filled the air as they exited the pantry into the galley kitchen in the back. A massive, ebony-hued chef wielding a butcher's knife and hacking beef ribs glanced up, but never stopped chopping.
"What's up, family?"
"It's all you, Mo," Carlos said, pounding fists with the chef.
Fry cooks, grill chefs, and waitresses nodded to the team, and the Guardians took in the stainless-steel environment that was loaded with razor-sharp cutlery and interesting panels that drew J.L.'s attention.