Herne handle the details of negotiation. The only woman the regent listens to is his wife, and the Queen.”
He stood, leading us to the door. We passed into the waiting room, where Eldris nodded to Wager as we left the office. I gave Wager a little wave. With a look of relief on his face, he shut the door behind us as we left.
“Are you taking us to the regent’s office?” I asked as we followed Eldris down the hallway. We were heading for an elevator, and as we entered the car, he pressed the button marked S4.
“No. I’m taking you to a conference room. No one ever enters the regent’s private offices unless they are part of the Vampire Nation.” Eldris glanced around Herne, who had placed himself between the vampire and me. “Ember, I know you’re a strong-willed woman, but let me give you some advice, and I mean this in all sincerity: Do not, under any circumstances, correct the regent. He has a short temper and very little time for those who offer unrequested advice.”
I glanced at Herne. “I’ll let you speak. Why did you insist I come, when you knew the regent doesn’t care for women?” I asked Eldris.
He smirked. “I enjoy your company?”
Herne gave him a steely gaze.
Eldris cleared his throat. “All right, then. No jokes. The regent may not care for women but he needs to know that you speak for the Wild Hunt. He needs to know that if it’s necessary, you can command authority for your agency.”
He fell silent as the elevator doors opened and he led us out. We were on sub-level 4, at sector eight. He turned to the right, leading us toward sector nine.
The fourth floor had a different feel. There were fewer shops here that catered to the living, more clubs and bars, few restaurants. There were still clothing stores and boutiques, but I also saw a number of kink clubs and they didn’t look as wholesome as those aboveground. In fact, the energy that oozed around this floor was slimy and damp, like a slug when you accidentally stepped on it barefoot. I shivered, drawing closer to Herne, who started to put his arm around my waist then stopped as I let out a moan as his fingers closed over the wound.
Eldris noticed. I saw him glance at me, then at Herne, then back at me. But he said nothing, just adopted a faint smile and turned back to the hall. We paused in front of a plain door with “4-A52” stenciled on it. Eldris tapped on the door and a slot at eye level opened. A moment later, the door opened.
There, guarding the opening, was a large, burly guard. I could tell he was a vampire—his eyes were shining and the tips of his fangs seemed unusually long, extending along the corners of his mouth. He was joined by a second man, equally as large and threatening. The first guard motioned to me.
I glanced at Eldris, a question in my eyes.
“He’s going to search you.” Eldris looked half delighted, half nerve-wracked. That the owner of Fire & Fang looked nervous was enough to make me skittish. But I had no choice, and Herne was here. So I stepped up, expecting to be patted down.
Instead, the guard pulled out a metal detector and wanded me. He stopped by my corset top and my coat. The wand beeped.
“Zippers,” I said.
He ran the handheld gadget around me and it beeped in all the right places, apparently, because he nodded and moved on to my boots, which also beeped at the grommets for the laces, but he ignored that. After a moment, he nodded for me to stand to the side.
When he had finished scanning Herne and Yutani, he looked at Eldris. “Wait for us in the lounge. I’ll notify you when it’s time to retrieve them.” The bouncer nodded to the nightclub across the corridor.
Eldris’s smooth demeanor vanished and he gave the bouncer a single nod before turning away and heading across the corridor.
The bouncer glanced at the three of us. “The regent awaits. Follow me.”
And so, falling in behind him, with the second guard behind us, we followed the vampire into the lair of Regent Dormant Reins.
Chapter Seventeen
The first thing I noticed was that the room was brighter than I expected, especially compared to the dim corridors of the sub-level. An overhead crystal chandelier illuminated the small but elegant chamber. It looked well used—rooms often had an abandoned