Night's Templar: A Vampire Queen Novel (Vampire Queen Series Book 13) (40 page)

He wondered what Niall’s response would have been if Uthe had wanted to take blood from her throat. Though drinking from the femoral was more sexually blatant, with the head between the servant’s legs and fangs sunk into the vein so close to the genitals, all vampires knew the throat had the most intimate implications. When a servant exposed his or her throat, the message was
I surrender. I am yours.

He thought of sinking his fangs into Keldwyn’s throat. There was also another message to it.
I nourish you. I care for you in a way no other can.

Alanna was an InhServ, like Mariela, but Alanna would never be reassigned again. She would live and die with these two, her only heart’s desire, and she’d more than earned it after her ordeal with Stephen. His gaze fell on those two rings, and he wondered what the inscriptions on them said.

“Can I give you nourishment, my lord?” Alanna made the formal request, prompting him.

He could hear and feel the pulsing of her veins, reminding him of his hunger. He unsheathed his fangs and Niall shifted. Evan shifted with him, but then a third factor intervened.

Keldwyn rose from the picnic table and moved so he was between Niall and Uthe. He was not blocking the vampires’ view of their servant, which would have been a tactical error, but he made it clear Niall was not advancing further. Niall showed fangs, and Kel’s expression transformed to the trademark cold look capable of raising the hairs even on Uthe’s neck.

“He outranks both of you, and he is well within his rights. His actions deserve your deference and respect, and he is treating her kindly. You will stand down and ease back, and not present a threat to him while he is feeding. Or I can show you how easy it is for a Fae to put a vampire down.”

Evan’s grip on Niall’s massive shoulder increased, a protection and steadying influence both. “He understands, Lord Keldwyn,” he said. “It is an effort to control bloodlust at this age, and she is very precious to us.” He pressed his body to Niall’s, his mouth close to the male’s ear. “She is fine,
neshama
. My sire has need of blood, and honors us by asking for it from our servant. He saved my life, nourished me through my change. She comes to no harm at his hands, and he has no designs upon her.”

Protocol allowed Uthe to take whatever he wished from Alanna. He could have her body on the picnic table in front of them. According to the way the law currently stood, he could even kill her in front of them, though ironically he would answer to the Council and be required to make compensation to
them
for taking the life of an InhServ, a valuable Council asset. But Evan was expecting his sire not to point those things out. In certain circumstances, Uthe would have, since made vampires usually needed more reminders of the way things were in the vampire world. This was not one of those times it was necessary, even if he’d been willing or interested in doing so.

Niall relaxed somewhat, head jerking in a tense nod. Evan’s calmness before Keldwyn’s threat indicated he’d expected nothing less. Niall might soon outstrip Evan in strength, but those three hundred years as Evan’s servant were still deeply ingrained in Niall.

Dominant, submissive, give, take, resistance, flow… There were so many ways it could go, and not just in the vampire world. Lifting Alanna’s wrist to his mouth, Uthe sank his fangs into the tender skin. As the blood filled his mouth, his body’s urgency began to ease, like a sigh of relief. Alanna kept her gaze lowered, her position one of obeisance as her training had taught her. He expected she was not so formal with her Masters. She was being so now to help Niall see the difference. She’d always been exceptional at the politics that commanded the vampire way of life.

As he drank, a hand clasped his shoulder, sliding over to the back of his head. He recognized Keldwyn’s touch. But when he glanced upward, he saw something he didn’t expect to see simmering in Keldwyn’s dark eyes.

Keldwyn didn’t like Alanna feeding him. Did the Fae realize he was having that reaction? Touching Uthe seemed to contain the reaction, but Uthe felt a weighted quality to that contact. Possessiveness.

He noticed Evan’s speculative look. Whereas for most vampires, the idea of a closer relationship between a Fae and a vampire would be met with everything from puzzlement to revulsion, he suspected the boy was doing cartwheels in his mind, imagining his future visits to the Fae world. Uthe expected Rhoswen could freeze that idea right out of Evan’s head, along with some other tender body parts.

He turned his attention back to the feeding. It took longer, because a sustenance feeding was three or four times as much blood as he would normally take from a servant. As he finished his meal, he pressed a chaste kiss to her wrist. “Thank you, my dear,” he said. “I appreciate your generosity.”

She nodded, a little wan from the blood loss. “It is what we are born to be, my lord.”

“At one time, I might have agreed with you.” He closed his hand over the rings on her fingers, squeezed gently. “Now I think what you are to Evan and Niall,
that
is what you were born to be.”

Perhaps it was the ultimate intent for all of them. He thought of what he’d heard in his head about love and breadcrumbs, and wondered again whose thought that had been. His own? Or had Kel said such a remarkable thing?

As Uthe released her, Evan stepped forward and helped her up, guiding her to Niall. She reached up to the Scot’s face. He responded with a twist of his lips and a brush of his mouth over hers that Uthe suspected would become far more demanding, as soon as the appropriate moment presented itself.

Though Evan had handled the situation as expected, from the look he swept over both the Scot and Alanna, Uthe expected the older vampire would be part of that re-claiming. Vampires didn’t quibble over issues of ownership, especially if heart and soul were involved.

Jacob had a T-shirt he wore occasionally when doing manual labor at the Savannah headquarters, or in the evening when relaxing with other servants. The words on it said: “If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it was always yours. If it doesn’t, hunt it down and kill it.” Uthe had often wondered if it was a tongue-in-cheek comment about his lady, the indomitable Lyssa, and the nature of vampires in general. Uthe didn’t disagree with it.

In the case of Evan, Alanna and Niall, whose balance of personalities and strengths could serve vampire kind as a whole, he fully supported their claim on one another. All three of them. Alanna was a submissive and a well-trained InhServ, but the way she touched Niall, how her eyes softened as she looked toward Evan, said she considered them hers also. As Keldwyn had said, servants could be just as protective of their vampires, and protectiveness went hand-in-hand with possessiveness, no matter how “inappropriate” that attitude might be.

“Why don’t you take Alanna inside to rest?” Evan suggested to Niall, his expression making it not a suggestion at all. “If you will excuse them, my lord.”

“Certainly.”

Niall acknowledged Uthe’s permission with a passable nod, and guided Alanna away from the table. When she swayed on her feet, he lifted her in his arms and took her inside, closing the door. She would rest and Niall would feed her to replenish herself. She would be all right.

Evan took a seat next to him. “You already are looking more restored, my lord. May I now ask what’s happening here? We heard that you took a leave from the Council. Is everything all right?”

Uthe reached out and brushed Evan’s thick hair back from his brow, an affectionate gesture that had the male’s brows rising. “When you were a sick human, do you remember I asked you what you could do with your art, if you had forever to pursue it?”

“I do.”

“When there is no time limit, miracles and marvels are possible. They’re still possible with more limited time periods, but…” Uthe shook his head. “My time is dwindling, Evan. There is a vital task I must complete, if it is within my power to finish it.”

“Then let us help you. Let us stay with you.” The younger vampire’s eyes turned to storm clouds. “You have watched over me for many years. It’s only right you give me the same privilege.”

“This is a task I must do alone.” When Evan’s gaze slid over to Keldwyn pointedly, Uthe knew that was too complicated to explain, so he went with the simplest version. “What I do, must be done in the Fae world, and I am required by the Queen to be bound to a guide.”

“Can he be trusted?”

Evan could be as diplomatic as the flow of water, but when loyalty was involved, he wasn’t much for pretenses. He sent Keldwyn a challenging look, but Uthe tapped his arm in admonishment.

“You will not disrespect the Council liaison, Evan. Should anything happen to me, I can assure you Lord Keldwyn will have done everything to prevent it that I allowed him to do. Do you trust me when I say this?”

Evan waited a long moment, sifting it, then he turned his attention back to Keldwyn. “My apologies, my lord. My sire is dear to me, and I do not know you.”

“It only increases my regard for you. You also didn’t trade on your concern to curry my favor and gain access to my world.”

A slow smile curled Evan’s lips, answered by a glint in Keldwyn’s eyes. “So you’ve shared that about me, have you?” Evan complained to Uthe.

“I figured it was best to give him a heads up before you did something foolish, like approach him on your own or send flattering letters, candy and flowers to Queen Rhoswen.”

“He did think of it,” Niall put in. He’d returned, and was standing a few feet from the table, arms crossed. Of course. While he would feed Alanna, their protection was his highest priority, and leaving Evan alone with another vampire and a Fae would take precedence now that Alanna was safely tucked away. “He just couldnae figure out the postal rate.”

“I get no respect from him since he became a vampire,” Evan said darkly. “I got precious little out of him when he wasn’t.”

“Perhaps if my lord Keldwyn is one day in a position to do me a favor, and his queen agrees, you will force him to follow you into the Fae world and it will make him more malleable,” Uthe pointed out.

Evan grinned as the Scot’s expression got predictably sour. “Your intuition is sound, my lord. I think Niall would rather face an army by himself than enter the Fae world. He’s certain reality will shift and we’ll never find our way back. Whereas I find that prospect not at all disconcerting.”

“Which shocks none of us,” Niall grumbled.

“One day you might go to the Fae world,” Uthe said, sobering. “But I will tell you something, Evan. You could see every marvel there and here, but it is in the art inspired by your feelings for Niall and Alanna that you will learn the scope of the universe. No matter where you go together or what you do, your hearts contain infinite creation. Correct? I am telling you something you already know.”

The sudden intensity of his words ended the jesting and brought that resolute look back to Evan’s countenance. He gripped Uthe’s hand. “You are
mishpacha
. Family. Father of my blood, my lord. Hearing you may not grace me with your presence again breaks my heart. I would do anything to help you. Please, let me aid you in this.”

“I cannot allow that, but your willingness to do so pleases me. You have surpassed my highest expectations, and I know you will continue to do so.” Uthe rose, drawing the vampire with him. This time, he initiated the embrace, holding him close, feeling his heart ache against the beat of the other male’s. “Know that I carry our bond with me wherever I go, and I am very proud of what you have made of yourself. Continue to explore your art, and wherever your interests take you. If the Lord has given you an immortal life, then honor me by taking full pleasure in it, and being the intelligent and compassionate man I know you to be. Who knows?” Uthe drew back. “You might yet one day sit on Council.”

“You tell me you care for me and yet you curse me,” Evan accused, a rueful smile tugging at his lips. But there were tears in his eyes. Jewish men were notoriously emotional. Being from German stock, Uthe shied away from open expressions of such things. But this time, he put his thumbs in the corners of Evan’s eyes, framing his face with his large hands, and absorbed the tears into his flesh. “Go with God,” Uthe murmured. “May His blessings always be upon you and those you love, so you will share eternity together.”

T
hey re-entered
the Fae world at the same portal. Keldwyn told Uthe the Shattered World was less than a day’s journey and that they would arrive there before nightfall. His mission was upon them at last, no further delays. Uthe had gone over all the possibilities he might face many times before this moment. Just like when he’d reviewed battle plans for Templars or vampires, there was a point at which further review was unnecessary. All that was left were prayer and meditation. Checking his horse, cleaning his weapons. Making casual conversation with his other brethren about simple things. There was no point in dwelling on what was ahead when all preparations had been made. The rest was in the hands of God, a matter of Fate or chance. Or capricious luck.

As they drew closer to their destination, the sun seemed to shift away from the horizon, as if it had slipped off a shelf and tumbled into a corner. The ground remained green but became more open, with less trees. Signs of animal, bird or Fae life dwindled. The sky turned light gray then darkened, like before a storm. But there was no texture to it, no clouds building against it to herald rain.

Then Uthe realized it wasn’t a sky at all. As they topped another in a series of ever-steepening hills, suddenly there was nothing left to climb. Uthe came to a halt at the unexpected landscape before them. It was…nothing. Behind them, under their feet, was the green grass. Much further back were the woodlands, the mirror bright streams, ponds and lakes that embellished a panoramic view of the Fae world. Ahead of them was grayness. No ground, no sky. His brain struggled to make sense of it, to look for a solid reference point. The hill on which they stood simply stopped in mid-air, as if bisected. He extended his arm to test the substance in front of him, but Keldwyn caught his wrist.

“It is best not to touch the gateway until we are ready to pass through it.”

“It looks like we’re stepping into nothing.”

“There is a reason the Shattered World is also called the Uncharted Plain. Nothing can be controlled or fathomed there. Throughout the years, Fae who believe they have figured it out go in, armed with their scrolls and their belief that they can make sense of it. None of those have ever returned. Yet.”

“But others have emerged?”

“A few, to give us what little information they could, much of it with no clear interpretation. It is always those who stumbled across the threshold through accident. They either remember nothing, or it’s a jumble of images and ideas. Some come out entirely mad, their minds destroyed. Reality and fantasy are defined by whatever magic rules the place.”

“You have your theories.” Uthe gave him a sidelong glance. “I expect you’ve studied everything you can find about it. It’s a puzzle, and those bother you.”

“Not bother. They challenge me.” Keldwyn tossed him an arch look, though. “Yes. Whenever magic is used, I think there are residual energies—waste, if you will. Perhaps places like the Shattered World are a dumping ground for such magics, which is why it made a good hiding place for your relics. In the Shattered World, there is no authority to control what lies there, as far as we know.”

Keldwyn considered him. “Which is why I find it remarkable that you can still feel the blood link with the demon and the Baptist, when even your bond with your servants has a limit of several thousand miles.”

“Shahnaz thought it was because of the way the magic of the demon combines with the power of the prophet, fueled by the purity of the innocent. Regardless, it’s allowed me to be sure the head has been unmolested all these years.”

Keldwyn shifted his attention to the gate. “You took a tremendous risk when you ingested blood from the head. The demon could have infected you with darkness.”

“The prayer and meditation have managed it over the years.” At Keldwyn’s surprised look, Uthe offered a faint smile. “What? You didn’t make that connection? Do I really seem that devout without proper motivation? And you consider yourself so smart.”

Keldwyn snorted. “You
are
devout, Lord Uthe. Do not try to ‘snow’ me, as Gideon might say.”

You do not fear death, yet you will kill your Master. As soon as you cross this threshold, it is certain. I will make sure he dies an agonizing death. But that doesn’t matter, does it? You won’t even remember him, let alone his pain.

It wasn’t the first time the demon had tried to ambush Uthe with violent, bloody images. He usually blocked them so that he barely felt the malevolence of the attempt, let alone saw the pictures, but the demon had hit him at a weak moment. As his mind filled with visions of Keldwyn being tortured in ways too horrific to even comprehend, his beautiful body torn apart, Uthe struggled to contain and vanquish the violent tornado of blood and screams.

“It is possible, once we pass through, that we will not end up in the same place,” Kel was saying. “I will have your word that you will find me before you proceed.”

“No. You shouldn’t even be going with me. Completing the task is my charge, and if I can’t—”

Keldwyn closed his hand on the pendant on Uthe’s neck and jerked it free, despite Uthe’s swift attempt to block him. The metal disk disappeared into Keldwyn’s clothing. “There. Since you need the sorceress’s weapon, then you will find me, if not for my own sake or yours, for the sake of your quest.”

He should wrestle the bastard to the ground, take it back. Only the knowledge that Keldwyn could probably glamor the thing into another galaxy stopped him, but he showed his fangs to prove his displeasure. Kel tossed him a kiss-my-oh-so-pretty-ass look in response.

“Damn it, Kel.” Out of pure frustration, Uthe punched him in the side. It took the Fae by surprise, and knocked him several feet to the right. When he narrowed his gaze, Uthe braced himself, but Kel’s mouth lost its tight look at whatever he saw in Uthe’s face.

“The demon is speaking to you, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Telling me you’re dead as soon as you cross with me. In a hundred terrible ways.” The demon had called Keldwyn Uthe’s Master, and he hadn’t denied it, had he? The thing was too connected to the deeper levels of his mind, to things even Uthe hadn’t yet acknowledged.

“Is that all?” Keldwyn looked amused. “In well over a thousand years, how many times have your enemies threatened you with ostentatious declarations about your impending death, my lord? And how hideous and painful they plan to make it?”

At Kel’s expectant expression, Uthe grimaced. “I once faced a Saracen who gave a five minute dissertation on how he’d tie me up in my intestines and feed my tongue to my mother before he fucked her to death. It made me glad I’d learned their language, just to hear how much thought he put into it.”

Keldwyn chuckled. “Queen Rhoswen has threatened me with death in so many ways I could have them archived. My personal favorite was when she said she would hack my arms and legs from my torso with a dull-edged knife and pin them to each corner of her throne room. She would then cut off my manhood and give it to the household staff to beat rugs. My head would be delivered to the Queen’s Guard and dumped in their latrine so they could shit on it until it decomposed. I told her I was honored that she considered my cock capable of maintaining enough size and rigidity after death that it would be of such use to the maids and, if that was the case, they might find other uses for it.”

Uthe stared at him, then he let out a rich, full-bodied belly laugh as cleansing as a surge of God’s pure light through his veins. Maybe that was what laughter was. “You’re lucky she didn’t do it.”

Keldwyn’s gaze had snapped to Uthe’s face as he began to laugh, and dwelled there until he subsided and discovered how closely the Fae was looking at him.

“What?”

“‘We altogether prohibit idle words and wicked bursts of laughter.’ So says your Rule. That might not be a wicked burst of laughter, but it certainly gave me wicked thoughts.”

Uthe blinked. “I will say a paternoster for us both, then, since I'm sure you will not.” They stood in front of the Shattered World, facing all manner of serious challenges, and Keldwyn was dwelling on laughter and pleasures of the flesh. He wanted to give him an exasperated look, but instead Uthe touched Keldwyn’s neck, following the line of it to his jaw, the side of his face, a drifting quest that had the Fae’s eyes flickering.

“You had a tattoo here the other day."

"And I can have it again." The design reappeared. Uthe noticed Keldwyn’s grimace, though.

"Does it hurt?"

"It has a momentary sting.” Keldwyn captured Uthe’s hand on his face. “I’ve never heard you laugh like that. You ease my heart, Varick. And lift it.”

Before Uthe’s surprised gaze, Kel pressed his lips to Uthe’s palm. When the Fae raised his head, he didn’t let go.

“You have wondered how much you can trust me, but you have known the answer to that for some time. It is only your mind you doubt, not your heart. But in case you harbor any further worries, I will say this to you. You said that the loss of Reghan destroyed my ability to love or be a Master to another. You were right. But you have resurrected the desire. Which is why I chose to take this journey with you, and why I intend to see it through with you to the end. If our fate is to wander the Shattered World forever afterward, then I shall have no discontent if we do so together. I am sure we can figure out how to have our chess games and argue Fae and vampire politics there as much as we have here.”

Uthe had no words to answer such a declaration, no gift big enough to match the Fae’s. He was a vampire beset with Ennui, charged with a quest that could cost both their lives. He should figure out a way to knock the Fae unconscious and go without him, but Kel would just follow him after he woke.

“As far as the politics,” Uthe said, his voice unsteady, “we’ll have just as much luck applying useful answers in the Shattered World as we do with the Vampire Council.”

“True enough. Though the term ‘shouting into a void’ will be quite literal there, I expect.”

“Agreed.” Uthe paused. “I would ask a favor, my lord. And your trust. Give me back the medallion. If the Shattered World is what you say it is, and the demon is clever as only evil can be, then those two together might ensure we never find one another, since the magic can only be used by me, because of the blood link.”

“So you think me having it might guarantee us being kept apart?”

“I do.”

“A compelling argument.” Keldwyn produced the medallion. He stepped closer, placing it back around Uthe’s neck, fusing the link he’d broken. “Very well. But before we make this step, you will drink from me once more. I know you just drank from Alanna, but my blood seemed to energize you last time. In case we are separated for some length of time, I want to know you have that extra resource.”

“Kel, there’s a way we can make sure we find one another. Except…” In light of the other challenges they faced, it seemed ridiculous to be hesitant about such a thing, but Uthe was unsure of Keldwyn’s reaction. He might not have brought up the topic at all, but Keldwyn’s unprecedented words, and the freely given offer of blood, summoned it to his lips. “I can mark you. It worked on Lyssa, when Jacob was a vampire and she lost all but the abilities her Fae blood gave her. We could do only the first mark, the geographical locator, the most innocuous of the three. However, if the power in the Shattered World is as strong as you say, a second mark would be best, because then we can speak in one another’s minds.

“You wouldn’t be a servant,” he hastened to say at Keldwyn’s sudden blank expression. “It wouldn’t be the third mark, which binds your mortality to mine. I could give you the blood mark the Region Masters and overlords give vampires in their territories, or the type given when we sire a vampire, but that may only work on other vampires, and it’s not as strong as what we use for servants.”

He stopped. He could tell nothing from Keldwyn’s expression. “It is simply an idea,” he said. “One that might not work. And if it did and we return, Brian could possibly reverse it. His experience with that thus far has been with vampires and human servants, though.”

He shouldn’t have brought it up. This was a high Fae Lord. It was a miracle he’d given Uthe blood once, let alone offered it twice. But damn it, he didn’t want Kel to be where he couldn’t aid him if needed. Uthe wasn’t going to let pride, fear of rejection or the damn Fae’s own ego stand in the way of protecting him however he could.

Keldwyn adjusted his stance so he was facing that gray miasma. “What am I to you, Lord Uthe?”

“An ally. A friend.” A friend he’d let deeper inside him than any other. “A warrior I’m honored to fight beside, on any field.”

“Word games, Lord Uthe. The two of us excel at playing them.” Keldwyn turned to face him fully, coming a step closer, the toes of one booted foot pressed against the side of Uthe’s. Keldwyn curled his fingers in the belt of Uthe’s tunic and held. “What am I to you, Lord Uthe?”

A miracle that had appeared when he needed it most, and not merely for the completion of this task. Someone willing to stand beside him as he faced the loss of his faculties, something he feared far worse than death, because of the decisions it would take out of his hands. Someone he could trust to make decisions for him when necessary, because Keldwyn understood his mind and needs as he understood his own.

He wished their minds were linked as a vampire’s was to a second mark, so he could have shared that. Some things couldn’t be spoken out loud in the same way they could be thought. Then Uthe thought of what the demon had said. He didn’t like that the demon had spoken the truth first, but that was what made a demon so dangerous. He knew how to use the truth to drag down the soul. But Uthe had the will to take it back, elevate it by owning it fully.

“You’re my lord Keldwyn. My lord.” He swallowed, somewhat amused by his sudden nervousness. The thread of tension between them was wound tight as they stood on more than one kind of precipice. “My Master.”

The reaction in Keldwyn’s face was indescribable, so beautiful it sent a bolt of pain through Uthe. It was as if speaking that one word had staked him through the chest and destroyed him, but only so he could rise from his own ashes to this. Then the Fae’s every facial muscle relaxed, Keldwyn’s eyes glowing with heat and his sensual lips parted. His body thrummed with energy against Uthe’s.