"I wantit on the record that I had nothing to do with this, nor did my new bride, the Councilwoman Borgia. And, I want it stated in blood." Nuit held out his wrist and winced when the crest struck him, drawing blood. "From here, do as you like. While you undertake this unthinkable act, we will be topside dining inNew Orleans at sunset. Once you are done, by all means, we will come back to council to pay our utmost respect to the legendary lady, scandalous as this liaison may be."
Yonnie stood, walked over to the table, and tapped the crest. "Then I'm out, too." He looked down at the crest as it struck him and drew back. "I ain't party to this one. And you can call me back when you're done and she's all installed and shit. Because if it's bad enough for Nuit's horny ass to pass on an installation witness of Dracula's wife, hey, who am I? I ain't as old as none of you rat bastards-but I ain't crazy. C'mon, man, you trying to raise Liz?"
"She is no longer Dracula's wife!" Sebastian spat back. "She'll be Councilwoman Bathory, under my installation bite."
Nuit nodded. "And this is what the late Count will track through the fires of hell to find the source of."
"He cannot be raised! It was part of my agreement with Lilith!"
"Ah . . ." Nuit said. "But, insofar as we are indeed at the end of days, and should the Dark Lord at some point need to supersede that negotiation for the benefit of the empire . . . and thus figure out a way to raise that particular resource to use at his disposal . . ." Nuit shook his head. "Not good.Tres mal."
"That won't happen; he won't need to raise him if we do our job." Sebastian lifted his chin and folded his arms.
Nuit held up his hands before his chest. "As I said earlier, I just want it on the record-in blood, what my position in all of this was.Nothing."
"Hey . . ." Yonnie said, beginning to walk toward the door. "You ain't gotta tell a brother twice. I'm out, you crazy, and we all know how shit goes down here."
"You boys are no fun at all," Lilith said, laughing.
"Let me ask you one question then, Lilith," Nuit said, extending his elbow to Lucrezia. He waited until his new bride took it and then released a slow, calm breath.
Lilith smiled and waited with her arms folded.
"Are you insane enough to help with the installation?"
"Will I f**k her when she comes out of the throne? Be direct, Fallon." Lilith's smile was sly and seductive.
"Oui.That is my question."
All eyes went to Lilith, who paused and then threw her head back and laughed.
"Hell no!Are you insane?"
WE AIN'T HAVING IT
CHAPTER SEVEN
Yonnie hurried down the beach, turning the dilemma over and over again in his mind. Now that he'd sent Val to the Neteru compound, how was he going to get word to her? If he still had the image of where it was, he could simply mind-stun a passing human to go deliver the message. But that posed two problems: one, it would leave a human witness that could easily be traced, and two, Val might not believe them or say the wrong thing . . . might even accidentally ice them, for that matter.
Time was also his enemy. There was a very narrow window during which he could play this hand. Nuit would be off doing his new bride and probably feeding for several hours; Lilith and crazy-ass Sebastian would be resurrecting Dracula's wife, then installing her. But after that, who knew what could jump off.
This afternoon, however, if time was his mortal enemy, good fortune was his best friend. Val was busily combing the shoreline as though she'd lost something.
"I thought I told you to go where it was safe?"
She snapped her attention toward him and placed both hands on her hips. "I am a warrior. I do not hide from battles. My long sword and bow . . . my quiver, are gone. I must find these before taking temporary refuge in my Neterus' compound. I should be there as an added sentry in their army, not a burden that they must protect."
Yonnie slapped his forehead and let out his breath hard. "I concealed your weapons, boo. Like I said, you can't just go walking down the beach with blades and bows and shit. Offhand, I don't know what the laws are in this state, but you can't carry weapons out in the open without a permit, in any event-least not since the eighteenth century, aw'ight?"
She lifted her chin and folded her arms over her chest.
"Look. I know you ain'tno punk," he said, growing weary. "Coward," he corrected, when it was clear that she didn't know what he'd meant. "And I'll give you back your weapons, but I'm gonna have to do them like I did your wings-make it so you can walk with them without others knowing they're on you. But if you set them down, you'll have to remember where you laid them.Deal?"
A wide, sparkling smile was her answer and then her body relaxed.
"Okay, now that we got that out of the way, here's the thing." He hesitated and looked around. "I went somewhere that is really dangerous just now.Got some inside knowledge that you have to get to Carlos and D."
"You infiltrated the enemy camp . . ." she murmured in awe. "I would be honored to be a messenger."