Damien (36 page)
“But you are not an amateur,” she reminded him.
“Yes, but you are a very skilled shapechanger and it is clear that I did not inherit that from you intrinsically.”
“Actually, perhaps you have. Not every detail, mind you, but it does take several decades before a shapechanger can change with the ease you showed only a day or so after discovering you could do so. You are quite good at the changing skill, even doing it on the fly tonight, which very few can do. Behaving true to avian form, that is an entirely different skill.”
“So perhaps you can project powerful illusions, but you may need a great deal of time and practice before you can see through them yourself.”
“Exactly! Oh…really?” she asked, sounding instantly dejected. “They are two different skills?”
“I am afraid so, sweetling.” He chuckled. “But if you teach me how to land, I think I can teach you how to see through some pretty strong illusions.”
She smiled at that, taking her wrist from his hands and going back to her task as she grinned happily. “I think I will like this ability. For a while, I was worried I might sprout fangs.”
“Worried? I was hoping,” he countered, giving her a sideways look and a mischievous lift to his eyebrows.
“Pervert,” she chuckled. “Do you ever think about anything besides sex?”
“With you sitting this close to me naked? I hardly think it is possible.”
“Stop it,” she scolded him, slapping away the hand he started to slide up her thigh. “I am covered in blood and battle, not to mention the fact that I may very well still be mad at you. I have not decided yet.”
“What part of being covered in blood is supposed to make you unattractive to a Vampire?” he asked teasingly.
“The part where it’s the blood of a corrupted Vampire using black magic,” she reminded him.
“Ah. Excellent point.”
Then he shoved aside her hands and in a single movement scooped her into his arms and rose off the bed. He carried her into the adjoining bath, ignoring her protests about his high-handed treatment of her.
“You are arguing as if you do not want to take a bath,” he pointed out, “when I know that you do.”
“Why do you always make it sound like you have divined some great mystery of my mind? I pretty much just said as much,” she said dryly, pushing away from him slightly when he set her on her feet and leaned over to start the water in the old claw-footed tub.
“Unfortunately, the water will be cold. The heating systems are in need of repair, I am told,” he warned her. “Though I imagine it will bother me far more than it will you.”
“I can have water boiled and brought up for you,” she said simply, stepping into the tub lightly, giving herself a moment to adjust herself to the promised chill once her toes had taken its measure. Syreena sat down and stretched out, allowing the clean water to creep up over her skin slowly as the bath filled.
Instead of leaving her, Damien knelt down beside her on the tiled floor, folding his arms across the near lip of the iron tub and bringing his gaze level to hers. The sound of the water splashing into itself was strong for a few minutes, and then he broke it.
“I am truly sorry if I worried you.”
Syreena sighed softly, drawing a lip between nibbling teeth for a moment as she thought a little before responding. Her habitual care in all her responses had become charming to him, and a strong reflection of who she was, so an inner smile blossomed beneath his skin as he watched her.
“That is not the point, Damien,” she said softly. “You broke a promise to me. That is what upsets me most. And I feel I need to remind you that I only asked you not to do something reckless, not that you could not approach me and tell me if you had an entirely new argument and purpose. I would not have been happy about letting you and Jasmine go, but I would have preferred to know than not. It would have saved all of us this trouble tonight if you had merely told me where you were going and why. You promised to consider my feelings, and all you considered was that if we discussed it, I would countermand your desires and attempt to keep you from doing what you wanted to do.
“In truth, Damien, I would have seen the logic behind it as well as the risk. I have always been able to see both sides of an issue. I do wish you would have thought, even for a moment, to give me credit for that. Instead, you snuck off behind my back.”
“As I said, I am not accustomed to answering to another,” he said quietly.
“It is not answering to me,” she said sharply, then reigned in her flash of temper with a breath. “I am not out to curb you or leash you into obedience, Damien. That would destroy the very essences of what attracts me to you, of what holds my heart captive. I only want this to be a fully reciprocal partnership. I know you are capable of it. I see it every time you and Jasmine bend your heads together. I also know it will take time for us to reach the same level of familiarity and comfort you share with her, but I expected you to at least remember the principle of trying from one hour to the next.” Syreena sighed, running damp hands back through her hair. “This is sounding like a lecture, like I am scolding a child, and I do not mean to make it that way.”
“I imagine that is because we are still learning how to communicate with one another, Syreena. I am taking no offense. You have a right to your frustration with me. You do not make an unreasonable request here. I know you would have shown me far more consideration than I showed you. And you are right; it took the breadth of a day before I acted against the decision we had made together. I owe you an apology for that as well.”
“And there is fault with me here as well,” she said, waving off the apology with an acceptance that would do the least damage to his pride. “I flew off half-cocked myself, giving in to my temper, heedless of the danger I was causing, just so I could say my piece.”
“That is very true,” he agreed with readiness that clearly bordered on humorous.
“Oh, hush up and help me wash this stuff off of me.”
She softened the command with a kiss on his nearby lips, smiling halfway through the exchange until she had to break off a giggle.
“You know, I may have created a monster,” he mused, reaching out to push back a strand of hair straggling over her nose. “You are beginning to get quite bossy about what you want.”
“Well, I am afraid you will have to live with that,” she informed him.
“I think I can manage that, sweetling,” he promised her.
“Then I think you are right, Damien. I think we may actually be able to make this work after all.”
Jasmine sat off in the shadows, not necessarily sulking, but not exactly joining in with the festive actions going on a short distance away from where she stood.
Damien had actually done it.
He had wed himself to the Lycanthrope Princess.
Now Princess of the Vampires, her other throne put on the back burner, a promise of abdication given to her people on the event of the birth of Siena’s first child. It had been a gesture meant to placate them for marrying into another race, but the lack of Lycanthropic attendance spoke volumes about how well the match was being accepted.
There were even those whom Damien considered reasonably close comrades who had not deigned to attend the marriage. This did not really surprise any of those who had decided to wish the union of the two Nightwalker houses of royalty well. It was a breach of too many deeply engrained taboos, buried in Vampire psyche for generation upon generation. The only thing that saved them from a civil war or an uprising of protest was the writings from the Library they had found to confirm Jasmine’s previous claims about the ritual that was older than those taboos.
Even so, the couple had waited until spring to join, waiting until their domestic policing system had reached beyond its initial organization stages. A wise choice, really. The timing had been selected carefully so that the information justifying the wedding would come after the security network meant to keep Vampire behavior in check was firmly in place. There had been clues before then, of course, because Damien and Syreena had kept house together publicly in the increasingly growing court. However, any reactions from
that
had been Jasmine’s and Stephan’s job to handle.
Jasmine smiled at the thought.
It had certainly kept her from being bored. It was strange how something she felt so little agreement with personally could actually give her a sudden feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction of purpose. Court intrigues of the Vampire variety were definitely keeping her on her toes. Not to mention the ripples that were flowing outward into all Nightwalker communities as the entire political atmosphere began to change with dramatic publicity.
Needless to say, it was making for a busy, volatile time.
That pleased her.
What did not please her as much was the silence from the realm of the traitors. There was no sign of them, as usual. Not even as the security net expanded over the continents. There was no way of knowing if Nico was alive or dead. There was no clue as to what Ruth’s next tactic was going to be. They still had no idea what she had been up to in the first place, and Jasmine suspected that the Demon female was only going to become more careful even as she became more powerful. Jasmine had exploited her weaknesses, and in doing so had set her on guard to them. In the end, it could very well have made things much worse.
However, even if Nico had managed once again to survive, it would take a long time in a state of torpor before he would be able to rise again and cause further trouble with Ruth. Jasmine suspected they might get lucky and have the time they needed to grow stronger themselves before they would have to face the duo as a real threat once again. She had to give that much to the Lycanthrope Princess. Her actions and battle skills could very well have bought them some valuable time.
“If the wedding displeases you so, why have you come?”
Jasmine roused from her inner thoughts to look at the female who had addressed her. She dismissed her immediate surprise at being found in the stealth of the shadows when she realized it was Malaya, the Shadowdweller Chancellor. Her breed lived in the shadows even more than Vampires did, so it made sense that she would be able to detect Jasmine in spite of her best skulking abilities.
“I have gotten over my initial displeasure,” Jasmine said with a simple shrug as Malaya joined her in the shadows. “I cannot affect jubilance, however. Although, I will admit to being glad that Damien is happy.”
“I have tried to place myself in your perspective,” the Chancellor said with soft thoughtfulness. “How would I feel if my brother, co-ruler of our species, were to wed outside of our breed?”
“And have you had much success with this?” Jasmine queried.
“Yes. I have realized that we are not Vampires, therefore I cannot begin to put myself in your place even if it were to come true.”
Jasmine chuckled at her wry wisdom. She saw her smile flash in the dark.
“I know even less about your people than you do mine,” Jasmine admitted, “so I would have equal lack of luck.”
“I do know a perfect match when I see one, however,” she countered. “To battle against such a thing would be like holding out your hand to ward off a tidal wave. It is a battle against the inevitable, and a foolish position to take.”
“Very true,” Jasmine agreed. “And so, you have answered your own initial question.”
“I suppose I have,” she said after a moment of thought. “I have met the new child of Demon prophecy. The newborn of the King’s sister. It is believed by them that he will bring new power to the Demons.”
“Which means a lifetime of being closely protected. Ruth knows of the prophecy as well as any Demon, and she will seek ways of getting it for herself if she can. The little boy
and
his counterpart, the girl child who was born to the Enforcers will both learn to walk on a fine line of danger. Why anyone would give birth in such volatile times, exposing their young to such peril, is completely beyond me.”
“Apparently your ruler does not agree with your assessments.”
Jasmine lifted a brow in surprise. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean the Princess is clearly in a breeding cycle, and your Prince does not behave like a mate who will be keeping from her bed the next couple of weeks.”
Jasmine’s gaze instantly flashed to the newly wedded couple that Malaya had indicated with a nod of her head. Damien was, quite literally, all over his new bride. His hands were roaming her figure with public hunger, his mouth leaned close to her ear and was saying or doing something that had her in squirms and giggles. Syreena was not behaving within her usual conservative borders, either. From the placement of her hands and the insinuating rubbing of her body against the Prince’s, it was clear what she had on her mind, and damn the fact that there were clusters of witnesses all around.
“It is Beltane,” she argued softly. “And they are newly wed. Everyone gets a little…freer than usual on this night.”
“You are looking with your eyes, Vampire. I am looking with much deeper senses. I promise you, she is in heat, and if they head along this path very often these next weeks, there will be a child soon. The first of its kind, too. At least, the first in many millennia. The child of a Vampire and a Lycanthrope. One has to wonder…”
“Please,” she held up a hand to ward off her speculations. “My stomach is already turning. Do not make it any worse!”
“You do not like children?”
“I hated being a child. I dislike the complications a child of theirs will cause, also. But it is a waste to speculate over the future. Nothing is ever certain. It may be that time has erased the compatibility required to bring offspring between the races.”
Jasmine sighed. “Do not be discouraged,” the Chancellor murmured gently near her ear. “Your life promises to be one of excitement and fulfillment, whether Damien is a part of it or not.”
Jasmine turned her head to look at her again, laughing with a short, clear burst of sarcasm. “You clearly do not know me very well.”
“No, but I know the future in ways other Nightwalkers never can.”
Jasmine’s eyes widened with shock and surprise, but the Chancellor silenced her surging queries and demands with a single finger to her lips.
“This is not information we share with outsiders, but I share it with you for a reason. Your sadness of the past is rooted further in history than you realize, and your future happiness will depend greatly on the extreme despair of another as well. But yours is a special destiny, and it begins here, today, with this ceremony. I have no specifics, so do not ask me. I just thought it would make you look more kindly on your present situation if you knew that Damien and Syreena will one day be directly responsible for the life you will one day come to know.”
Jasmine was speechless. All she could do was blink blankly as she watched the other woman move away from her with a smooth, gliding grace that reminded her so much of the way Damien moved.
After a minute, she allowed herself to look back at the deliriously happy and overtly affectionate couple whom she had lived with the past few months. They had managed to learn to live with each other, even learning to respect each other’s contributions.
Perhaps, just perhaps, they might begin to find something more than that as well one day.
Of course, that was entirely up to Jasmine, and she rather preferred to cause just a little more trouble for the woman who had stolen away the best man she knew before she would give in to her inclinations to grudgingly like her.