Yonnie looked at his Rolex-it was more for show, since he already knew what time it was. "You wanna be more specific, since a brother has places to go and people to see?"
"We're filling two council seats," Nuit said coolly, leaning forward and making a tent with his fingers before his mouth. "Vampire Council Law of the Dark Realms dictates that all existing councilmen must be witness to the installation process, unless dispatched to do otherwise by their current Chairman . . . and I guarantee you,brother, you will not want to miss this."
Now they had his attention. Carlos and D definitely needed to know about a one-third expansion of the Vampire Council. More important for him, it also meant two more bastards he'd have to maneuver around just to stay alive. Yonnie pulled his cuffs down and strolled over to his throne, grabbing a goblet off the table, but hesitated.
"Although we are daywalkers," Nuit said coolly with a disdainful sniff, making Sebastian chuckle, "you may find that black blood doesn't mix well with blueberry pancakes or whatever else you've consumed. Like fine wine, the pure essence of life is best savored on an empty stomach and with a clean blood palate. However, suit yourself,monami . I'm only informing you out of gentlemanly courtesy . . . given that we will have two new members at council, whom I assume you'd rather not see you in a weakened state unbecoming to a senior councilman."
Yonnie stared at Nuit's arrogant smile and then looked down into his goblet as though poison were in it. Ego warred with common sense. If Nuit was warning him, then there was something really foul about to go down. Nuit didn't do courtesy.
"Then as they say in your nativeNew Orleans , let the good times roll." Yonnie lifted his goblet but sat down in his throne without drinking from it.
To raise a glass in a toast and not drink from it was akin to flipping Nuit the bird. But oddly, rather than take the bait, Nuit simply smiled like a man with an ace up his sleeve. Yonnie set his goblet down with precision and sat back. It was now a tense visual standoff until Lilith appeared.
"I hope you boys have been playing nicely together while I was gone?" Lilith smiled as she sashayed over to her throne, subtly nodding to Sebastian and Nuit.
Yonnie stared at her and her smile grew. He was on the outside of their collusion, and that was a dangerous place to be.
Inhaling deeply, Lilith laughed. "Blueberry pancakes, Yonnie?"
"I've wanted some since I was a kid," he said flatly, his gaze on her deadly.
"Don't be so touchy," she said, her good mood making him more wary. She dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand, clearly bored with it in light of her other news. "I know what Sebastian was doing during his first morning . . . now I smell what you've been doing, Yonnie-eating at some pancake emporium. Fallon . . . tell me, have you been a good boy?"
Yonnie watched Fallon sit back, his slender fingers laced beneath his chin. From the corner of his eye, he watched Sebastian lean forward ever-so-slightly. The games had begun.
"Your husband, our Dark Lord, is beyond genius," Fallon began calmly, and then took a graceful bow from where he was seated. "By him attacking the male Neteru's father-seer in a cathedral, this presented yet another opportunity for our side."
Lilith arched an eyebrow. Sebastian offered Nuit a respectful nod. Yonnie remained as still as stone, listening.
"This is my specialty . . . understanding the whims and weaknesses of Carlos Rivera. As I'm sure your husband knew, what he sent the priest would fry a human mind. But, for someone such as Carlos, who had seen the depths of decadence from a Vampire Council throne, these images were mild, by comparison. Therefore, in his heroism, the Neteru would go in, take the images from the old man-as much as possible, and jettison them away."
Lilith released an evil chuckle. "Best coke I've had in a while."
"Precisely," Nuit crooned. "But the part that is of true note is that said attack only infuriated the Neteru. The frustration of not being able to retaliate is causing the old dark vapor within him to rise."
"Yes, yes," Lilith said dismissively. "We know all about it. That was Lu's plan. Piss him off so badly that he breaks another seal . . . blah, blah,blah ."
"But the darkness that is beginning to envelop his silver life-force pulse is visible." Nuit sat back with a triumphant smile, waiting a moment to allow the concept to sink in. "Essentially, he's got a GPS locator on him from our side. Therefore, as long as he's not inside a place that is additionally prayer-barriered to us, we can see him. Soon, as the rage further implodes, we'll be able to pick up the white-hot dark signal as though he were beeping on radar."
Lilith lifted her goblet slowly, raised it in Nuit's direction, and then took a sip from it. "Touch�, Fallon . . . this is precisely why you are a member of council."
He lifted his goblet toward her, bowed slightly, and took a sip. "And since the male and female Neteru are linked under the one-flesh marriage clause-if he's detectable, she's detectable . . . and because I was aware that one of the Guardians, her best friend from her old life, I believe, had a child . . . I knew that after the Dark Lord breached a cathedral and attacked her husband's father-seer, Damali would go to the preventive rescue of that at-risk child. That, dearLilith, is how I spent my first morning in the sun after centuries of darkness-in your service, as always."
Nuit looked at Yonnie with a scowl. "I was not eating blueberry pancakes to destroy my vampire palate. Nor was I out trying to get laid by human blood carriers." He turned away from Yonnie to stare at Lilith, raising his goblet. "I was at work for the empire, advancing our unholy cause, attempting to drive a further wedge in the male Neteru's mind by making him know that his family-every far-flung member of it-willnever be safe. That will enrage a man such as Carlos Rivera, to the point where he might as well have a neon target on his back. It will also ultimately send him over the edge into urban ride-or-die mode, as he used to call it, and that will have cataclysmic results."
Lilith set down her goblet and clapped in a slowly, seductive pulse. "Bravo, Nuit. As always, your treachery completes me." She turned to Sebastian. "You see why I said he is such a good match for your first choice.She thinks like that, as well. Both are of theschoolofMachiavelli ." Lilith clucked her tongue. "I so miss him, too."
Yonnie ignored Nuit but keyed in on the word "she," now staring at Sebastian. Dissecting the information quickly, he had to get word out as soon as it was possible. Nuit hadn't lied. That shit that just went down would take Carlos dark in a heartbeat. Now he understood some of why he hadn't been able to get to his boy. No wonder he'd put up additional barriers at the homestead.Made sense that Carlos and his family had to be behind clerical walls or in a Guardian safe house somewhere.
"Yes, I agree with Nuit's approach to time well spent," Sebastian said, oblivious to Yonnie's inner turmoil. He sat up taller, his tone haughty. "While some people were simply indulging their childhood appetites, I was advancing the cause of the empire as well. My research into viable candidates that had not been slain by a Neteru blade yielded rare gems. Lilith, my hope is that my suggestions have been accepted for induction to council."
"He gets to choose both candidates?" Nuit said, losing his former reserve. While his tone was calm and even, his body was tense. "I had a few candidates in mind, myself . . . hence my earlier comment to Yonnie that he would not want to miss this induction." Nuit stared at Sebastian with a lethal gaze for a moment before taking his petition back to Lilith. "I assure you that my knowledge base of female candidates throughout antiquity isvast . Are you certain he isqualified to make such a critical selection?"
"In this case," Lilith said, baiting Nuit. "But you will like his selections, I'm sure."
Nuit made a tent in front of his mouth. "Is that due process? I deliver you access to our arch-nemeses, while he only does mere research, and Yolando eats pancakes. Lilith, to say that I am concerned and object is an understatement."
"If I deliver you Lucrezia Borgia, do you still object?" Sebastian asked with a wry smile, and then sipped from his goblet.