Blood and Fire (26 page)

Ari let out the breath she’d been holding during this exchange. Yes, Mike would have called. As Daron’s chief of security, Mike had been in close contact with both Samuel and Russell since Ursula first appeared. The three lycanthropes, although from different races—werewolf, weretiger, and werelion—were friends and more than employees to Daron and Andreas. They could be trusted to stay on top of things.

Andreas nodded. “Very well. Thank you, Samuel. I will call him back. I assume you saw our volunteer recruits?”

“They’ve been on the street almost forty minutes waiting for you. I recognized Steffan, so I wasn’t worried. Would you like for me to coordinate with them?”

Andreas spared him a brief look. “Thank you. That would help.”

Samuel returned the look, employer and employee in perfect understanding of the work to be done; he opened a side door and stepped outside.

Instead of climbing the stairs to the first floor, Andreas punched in a security code on a heavy metal door at the back of the garage. It opened into an area that had served multiple purposes, from securing prisoners in the not-too-distant past to housing members of the vampire court during the recent lockdowns. When they entered a long hallway opening to sleeping quarters on both sides and a general living space at the end with sofas, armchairs, and dining area, Ari looked around in surprise. Big changes since she’d seen the space last. When was all this done?

She shot Andreas a questioning look.

“We have been busy. Welcome to our temporary quarters.” He opened the middle of three doors on the right. Dona came bounding to greet her; Bella blinked from the back of a large loveseat in a side entertainment area. An oversize bed decorated in ivory and gold dominated the room.

“I don’t get it. Are we on lockdown again?” She put a hand on her hip. “I’m not staying here while you go to the compound.”

“The compound is virtually empty. If Ursula goes there, she will find little to take revenge upon. Glorius and the nest leaders are scattered around the city and the caverns. Since we can defend the house as well as anywhere, Gabriel, Oliver, and those of my bloodline are across the hall. You and I will be staying here.”

That got her attention. Together? In the same room? All night? They had a long-standing agreement that she would never wake to find him
dead
next to her. They’d never actually slept in the same bed.

Andreas gave her an enigmatic look. “Make yourself at home. I will return as soon as I dispense with a few details. Your clothes and other belongings have already been moved.” He motioned for the others to follow him.

When she was alone, Ari crossed to the first of three interior doors. Her clothes hung on one side, his Armani collection on the other, in a huge walk-in closet. The next door led to a bathroom with a large shower. The third door was locked with a keypad. She thought about what numbers Andreas might pick that she would know and keyed in his birth year: 1786. She heard the release click, and the door slid open. The small room held nothing except a king-size cherrywood bed fitted in bedding of black silk.

Ari smiled. The master sleeping quarters. She kind of liked knowing he would be that close. She shut the door and heard the lock reengage.

She hurried into the shower and had finished rinsing the shampoo from her hair when the shower door slid open. “Are you coming in or just looking?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, I can only admire the scenery. I thought you might want to join me on the phone call to Canada.”

“You bet.” When he continued to stand there, she glanced at him. “Well? The sooner you leave, the sooner I’ll be there. Can you hand me a towel?”

“Ah,
cara mia
, I would rather not, but in the interest of time…” He threw her the towel and left.

Ari glanced thoughtfully at the closed door before winding her hair in the towel. When had she gotten so comfortable in his presence?

When she exited the bathroom five minutes later, she was dressed in her cotton jammies with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Andreas sat on her bed with a house phone beside him. He looked up, his eyes widening in surprise.

“Hey, what did you expect? It’s 1:30 in the morning. I’m planning to sleep soon.” She hopped on the bed and sat cross-legged.

His lips twitched as he punched in Daron’s number and put the phone on speaker. “It’s fortunate this isn’t on Skype.”

Before she could respond, she heard the Toronto prince’s deep voice.

“Andreas?” Daron’s tone was more clipped than usual.

“Yes, and Arianna is with me.”

“Good evening, Arianna. I will bring you both up to date.” Daron wasn’t wasting any time. “Ursula went after a weak target this time, an emergency staff of eleven. She killed everyone. Too many casualties, but it would have been worse if the princes weren’t staying together in the more heavily fortified courts. The remains we found—a few bones and ash—were scattered.”

“She tore them apart?” Ari interjected.

“Yes, an unnecessary show of violence.” Daron paused. “What made you ask? Did you anticipate her reaction?”

“I’d already heard, but I didn’t mean to interrupt. Please go on.”

Daron hesitated a moment, then continued. “We have watched Ursula’s plane, but she has not been near it recently. She must have found a secure place to hide during the day.”

“Canada is a big country to search,” Andreas said dryly. “Any idea where to start?”

“None. No one has spotted her in the last five days. I am mystified why she waited so long for this second attack.”

“I have a possible answer,” Ari offered.

“Which is?” Andreas gave her an odd look. “Did you learn something in Cincinnati?”

She nodded, then realized Daron couldn’t see her. “Yes, from the rogue witches,” she said, talking to the speakerphone. “Are you aware of the problem we have with a black witches’ coven?”

“Yes, Andreas told me. You went to Cincinnati to confront them.”

“Sort of. I haven’t had a chance to tell Andreas any of this,” she gave him an apologetic look, “but I found out the coven had a fight with Ursula the night of the first massacre.” She filled in the few details she knew. “Ursula may have been injured in some way, her powers depleted.”

“You think she has been recuperating,” Daron mused. “That could explain her inactivity, except she is a vampire. Most of us regain full power in one sleep cycle.”

“No matter how badly she was hurt? A couple of our vampires were so severely injured last year they took days, even weeks to recover.”

“But they were younger, weaker vampires, and Marcus was nearly mummified,” Andreas protested. “Ursula is thousands of years old.”

“Yeah, I know that, but these witches are powerful too. There were thirteen of them, and they can attack psychically from a distance, staying out of reach. More important, they are from Europe and have fought the O-Seven for centuries. If anyone knows how to hurt an enforcer, it would be this coven.”

“She has a point,” Andreas conceded.

“Yes. How does that help us?” When no one answered, Daron said, “Too bad the witches will not join forces with us.”

“Actually, they would,” Ari admitted quietly. “But the price is too high. They want me to join their cause, lend my magic to their dark witchcraft, and return with them to Europe.”

“A high price indeed,” Daron said. “Black magic taints the soul.”

“I assume you said no.” Andreas’s gaze was direct.

Ari nodded, understanding his concern. While Andreas had adapted well to vampire life, he still struggled with his belief that his soul was eternally cursed.

“Did she turn them down or not?” Daron demanded. “She cannot—.”

“She did,” Andreas interrupted, still watching her as if she might change her mind.

“A wise decision. But that brings us back to Ursula.” Daron heaved a deep sigh. “I see no alternative but to kill her. And it will not be easy. The O-Seven will be furious with us, but we cannot allow her to continue this slaughter. I am meeting with the princes shortly. I will call afterward, but I am out of ideas.”

Ari watched Andreas’s face as he disconnected. Daron had sounded so discouraged. “Guess I’d better get dressed after all. I assume we’re having a strategy meeting.”

“Yes, the conference room in twenty minutes.”

No one was late. The news of the second attack had already leaked throughout the vampire community. As his lieutenants sat around the table in the living area, Andreas delivered the latest details.

It wasn’t a comfortable meeting for Ari. The threat from Ursula had made everyone irritable, but other issues added to the tension. Glorius’s constant flirting with Andreas was getting on Ari’s nerves. In fact, she was on low boil. And this was her first meeting with Gabriel since she’d seen him kissing Claris. Perhaps due to their own stress, Glorius and Gabriel were both flaunting their behavior, as if to goad her. If that was their goal, it was working.

Ari clenched her fists under the table as Glorius rested her hand on Andreas’s arm for the third time.

“You worry too much, my prince,” the vampiress said in a soothing tone. “Why would Ursula come here? Riverdale is insignificant, far beneath her notice.”

“Au contraire.” Gabriel’s smile was wry, as he lapsed into one of the rare glimpses of his mother’s French upbringing. His fun-loving French expatriate grandmother had passed the language on to her daughter, who in turn had taught it to her son. He chose odd moments to show it off.

Gabriel stood, moved behind Andreas and Ari, and placed his hands on both chairs. “These two are why she’ll come here. The O-Seven is worried about what they did to Sebastian. Ursula will use the current rebellion as an excuse to eliminate them—if she can.”

Ari’s temper rushed to the surface. She pushed out of her chair and whirled to confront Gabriel. “Are you really blaming us for this?”

He looked confused. “That isn’t what I meant. I was stating the simple facts.”

“That isn’t how it sounded. If I’m such a liability, maybe I should leave.” She turned her head to glare at Oliver and Glorius. “Do you two agree with him?”

Now Andreas was on his feet. “Arianna, please. Let us not make the situation worse by fighting among ourselves. If you and Gabriel have issues, now is not the time.”

She wasn’t backing down. “I still want to know how the others feel. Well?”

Glorius shrugged. “It is what it is.”

Bitch.

Oliver took his time. “The O-Seven has had part of its focus on Riverdale since Daron settled here nine or ten years ago. Sebastian’s death reminded them of our existence and that we are growing stronger. It was inevitable.”

As she listened to Oliver’s measured words, some of Ari’s misdirected anger faded. She felt Andreas’s heavy gaze on her. “I’m going to get coffee. Can I bring anything else?”

Andreas asked her to bring glasses and two bottles of wine. She nodded as she left the room. She was tired—and irritable. Let them talk about her while she was gone. She needed a break and time to think about what Gabriel had said. Perhaps he was right that she’d placed the city in danger. That little gem of truth might take time to absorb.

Since the coffee pot had been turned off, emptied and cleaned, she brewed a fresh batch. She rustled around to find the glasses, selected two bottles of wine from the pantry rack—including the Chianti that was Andreas’s favorite, and found a tray to carry it all. By that time her anger had faded.

When she walked into Andreas’s study, the talking stopped. “Break time.” She flashed a tentative smile and set the wine bottles and glasses on the table, then took her own seat. “Do we have a plan?”

“We have decided that locating Ursula is our top priority.” Andreas paused, and everyone looked at Ari. “But our best chance at that may depend on you.”

“Me? How?”

“By going to the scene of the last attack. You may be able to pick up her trail or sense something else that we cannot.”

“I’ll try, but we have to make it a short trip. The rogue witches will be back, and I intend to be here when they come.” She offered a wry smile. “My bosses expect me to police Olde Town every once in a while.”

“I’ll guard Spirit Cave while you’re gone,” Glorius said.

Ari looked at her in surprise. Maybe the vampiress was more than an obnoxious flirt.

Glorius caught the look and returned a smirk. “It means Gabriel and Oliver will have to do all the rest. The house, the club, the compound, and deal with the nest leaders. The cave’s the easiest job.”

Ari wasn’t fooled. The vampiress had chosen the riskiest assignment where she might have to face the coven with little backup. No one mentioned that, and Andreas simply thanked her.

Glorius stood to leave. “I assume you’ll be going to Canada tomorrow tonight. What happens if you find Ursula?”

“Then we talk with Daron and the other princes. Arianna and I will not attempt to kill or capture her by ourselves.”

Glorius arched a delicate brow. “There will be no capturing of that one. But it’s good to know you won’t endanger yourself.” She swung her hips toward the door. “I’d hate to lose you, darling.”

Gabriel gave a snort of laughter. Oliver got up shaking his head as if he didn’t understand any of them and followed her out.

Ari looked at Gabriel. “You think that’s funny?”

“I do.” He studied her with a lazy look. “Still pissed about Claris?”

Andreas stood. “Dawn will be here in an hour, which gives the two of you a time limit to work out your issues. This is the last I want to hear on this particular subject.” He walked out and closed the door behind him.

Ari pushed her chair back to follow. “I already told you how I feel, Gabriel. There’s nothing more to say. Except…” She stood and looked down at him. “If you hurt her, I’ll never forgive you.”

“Ari—”

“Do you love her?”

He bolted upright in the chair. “Christ, I barely know her. What you saw…the kiss, it was our first, and we were caught up in the moment.”

“Do you kiss every woman you meet?”

“Not every woman.” He relaxed back in his seat again. “I haven’t kissed you yet. Not that I would try,” he added, seeing her sharp look. “Andreas would kill me.”