Waterlocked: An Elemental World Novella (12 page)

She was his. His own. His love. His mate.

Forever.

As she dressed later, he heard her ask, “How are we playing this?”

He was stretched out on the bed. It took her ages to prepare for the night, so he was watching her. She usually dressed in her own rooms, but he was putting an end to that. Watching Gemma was highly entertaining.

Frilly, impractical undergarments that he wanted to take off as soon as she put them on. A loose silk dress that only hinted at her delicate curves. Complicated twists and turns with her hair. Just how many pins did she use? He’d have to pull them all out and count later.

“We play it as it is. We were on our honeymoon and were attacked unexpectedly. Who do you think will be there?”

“I’m vacillating between one of her envoys who was in London—”

“That Guillermo chap?”

“Mmhmm. Either him or someone pulling his strings. There were five sent to us. More than necessary for a simple trade negotiation. I’m wondering if Leonor sent three and whoever orchestrated this sent the rest.”

“For what purpose?” He had his own ideas but wanted to know what she was thinking.

“She’s being felt out, but by who? Is it someone from outside her organization who’s using one of her people? Or is this internal? I suppose we’ll find out tonight. Have you called London yet?”

“As soon as we get into town.”

“Do you think Leonor knows?”

“About someone trying to cause problems? I’d be shocked if she didn’t. She doesn’t trust anyone, even her own children.”

“It will be interesting to see how she plays this. She knew we were coming?”

“I sent a message when I decided to bring you here. Thought I’d combine a little business with pleasure. Plus, Leonor’s always fun for a visit.”

“She is. I’m looking forward to spending some time with her after we clear up this unpleasantness.”

Terry grinned. Leave it to Gemma to see the big picture. Wipe out enemies at nightfall, then enjoy a drink with friends at midnight. She’d probably try to fit in a bit of shopping if the boutiques hadn’t all closed.

By the time he rose, she was putting on a touch of makeup. She didn’t need much. She’d been turned quite young and her complexion was a pale cream with just a touch of roses in her cheeks from her bloody feast two nights before.

And his blood.

He hardened just at the thought. He could feel himself in her blood. A new awareness of her, along with the new feelings. It was subtle, a connection that would only grow with years, but it was there. A living, pulsing reminder of her in him, and him in her. Thank God they had eternity. He’d never get enough.

He bent down and nipped at her neck before he began to dress. “Let’s get this over with. We have far more pleasurable things to do.”

She gave him a smile, fangs long and gleaming in her mouth. “As you wish, my lord.”

Forget her careful preparations; he tackled her. “Bloody hell, Gem. We’re never going to leave this room if you keep saying things like that.”

He could hear their “guest” as soon as he turned onto the road leading to their house. There was only one vampire in the library—a smart move if he wanted Terry and Gemma to hold off attack. Terry heard their housekeeper, Luisa, offering him a drink.

“It’s Guillermo,” Gemma murmured.

“The ambassador?” Well, Terry grimaced, that explained how they found Carl. “Do you hear anyone else?” Her senses were stronger than his.

“There’s another vampire down by the dock. Two behind the house. And... a human sitting in the entry hall.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes.”

Terry nodded. Between him, Gemma, and Luisa, they could easily take care of the threat, but Guillermo would know that, too. Still, he’d come, so he must have wanted to talk. Terry felt Gemma slide her hand in his.

“What night was Leonor expecting us?”

“Probably not till tomorrow, but...”

He didn’t need to say it. They were in the Rias. Very little went on unobserved. It was both a threat and a protection. Everyone had spies, which made it nearly impossible to hide, but also very difficult to catch someone by surprise. If Guillermo knew they were there, then Leonor did, too.

Terry and Gemma strode up the front steps of their Spanish home, buzzing through the entry so they came face to face with their guest, who was sipping brandy from a cut crystal glass.

“Buenas noches, Señor y Señora.”

“And a good evening to you,” Terry said as he sat, pulling Gemma down to his side on the silk-covered chaise. “Luisa, please get Gemma and I our usual drinks.”

“Si, Señor Ramsay.” Luisa slipped from the room, a tiny figure in an unobtrusive grey dress. She was a fairly young, but terribly efficient, vampire who ran their home in Muros year-round. Luisa’s looks were more than deceiving. And so far, she had proven loyal.

“So, Guillermo, how can we help you this evening? You’re looking well since we left you in London.” Gemma’s voice was carefully neutral as Terry sized up his prey. The other vampire looked studiously calm, dressed in a pale linen suit that matched Terry’s. It was the standard uniform for immortals vacationing in the Rias.

“I had heard that you sailed into complications while coming from England. I am happy to see you safe in your home, Señora Melcombe.”

“Oh?” Gemma was all innocence. “How did you hear of our excitement, Guillermo? Surely only the one who had given out our information would know of the unsuccessful attack.”

Terry grinned. No beating around the bush for his girl.

Guillermo didn’t lose a beat. “Unfortunately, I had the information too late to warn you. When I heard of the order from Leonor, I was shocked, naturally. But I was not supposed to know of it. She knew I thought of you and Señor Ramsay as reliable allies for Spain. Wonderful trading partners worthy of closer alliance. It grieved me that Leonor had taken such a step to remove you from power, but I am relieved to know she failed in her attempt. Your loss would be felt through all of Europe. Indeed, the entire immortal world.”

“Too true.” Terry reached out for the blood wine that Luisa offered him. It was an older batch, but still not unpleasant. He saw Guillermo’s eyes widen at the strangely dark port. “If anything were to happen to us, the power vacuum would be felt in far more than just England, wouldn’t it?”

Guillermo said, “It is for that reason I have come. To both beg your pardon for my lady’s actions and ask for your help. Leonor has become an unreliable ally and leader. There are rumors she has lost control of the Portuguese coast. Her allies in the Spanish court are divided and her power has waned. She is obviously becoming rash to make decisions such as the one to attack you and your lovely wife.”

Idiot. Could he have been more obvious? Guillermo was definitely not working for Leonor. So who...

“It’s horrible,” Gemma said, “to be faced with these dilemmas. To be forced to part allegiance with those you thought you could trust.”

“Sad indeed.” Terry patted Gemma’s knee as he caught Luisa’s eye. She was moving toward the door of the library. “But a choice between your own survival and that of someone you once considered a friend is really no choice at all.”

“Survival,” Guillermo said, his fangs dropping a little, “must always come first. Do I have your support, Señor Ramsay?”

“Let’s not be hasty.” He sipped his blood wine and linked his fingers with Gemma’s. “I need to know what your current situation is, Guillermo.”

“I have no desire to remain under the aegis of a waning leader,” he said. “I have been cultivating my own allies for some time.”

Well, isn’t that interesting?

“Is that so?” Gemma latched onto his statement. “So were those your allies in England with you? Or Leonor’s?”

“I may have suggested a few additions to the initial trade party,” Guillermo said with a twisted smile. “Leonor was happy to hear my suggestions.”

“Surely a sign of her growing weakness,” Gemma added with a look of regret. “To not realize how such a large trade party would be viewed.”

Terry said, “We were suspicious as soon as we met you.”

“I had hoped to put you on your guard.”

Terry grinned. “I just bet you did.”

Guillermo cocked his head. “To warn you, of course. I hoped to cultivate an alliance between us. I knew Leonor did not value your relationship as she should. And then I heard of the ordered attack on the Conquest. After knowing that she would send others to kill you in such a manner... I simply cannot, in good conscience, remain at her side.”

“So you’re coming to us for protection?”

“I’m coming to offer you an alternative.”

And now we get to the heart of it. Terry took another sip of wine. Stale. Yes, the newer batch was much better. “Do tell, Guillermo. What kind of alternative could you offer my wife and I? Yourself? How many allies do you bring with you? You’re a trade envoy. A second lieutenant, if my information is correct.”

“It is not only myself that I bring. I do have allies of my own, Señor Ramsay.”

He leaned back in the chaise, the picture of relaxation as Gemma lounged against him. “What kind of allies?”

“Those who think ahead. Who look to the future. Too long have our kind been in the shadows, Señor. We are the gods of old. We should be kings over humanity, not hiding away, content to play by their rules.”

“Why should we have much to do with them at all?” Gemma asked. “They’re our food source. We have little to do with them unless we must.”

Terry tried not to snort when he imagined the look on Wilhelmina’s face if she heard Gemma just then. He imagined the secretary would stake her employer herself.

“The human world encroaches into our own more every decade. Technology will force us to deal with them eventually. My allies are those who wish to harness humans and put them in their rightful place. Why should we be the ones hiding?”

It was the same imperialistic mumbo-jumbo his sire warned him about two hundred years before. Terry tried not to sigh. There would always be those of their kind who saw humans, not as a related species, but as an inferior one. It was hard not to, at times. But Terry was young enough to remember what it had been to be human, and he purposefully kept close enough to mortals to remind himself. So did Gemma, whether she realized it or not.

Those of their kind who remained mixed with the mortal world were better survivors. More adaptable. They could function and hide and prosper in ways the more segregated could not. Further, humanity was growing stronger every day. To him, that meant adaptation. Evolution. To others? It meant biting back. Annoying, really.

“My allies foresee a time when humanity is ruled by us, as they should be. Then we will control them and their technology, not the other way round. As I said, they think ahead.”

“It sounds as if they think backward, if you’d ask my opinion.”

Guillermo’s eyes flashed. “If that is your opinion, Señor—”

“It is both our opinion,” Gemma said. “Do you think us so fickle that we would part ways with an ally who has remained in favor for far longer than you have lived?”

“She ordered an attack on you. She does not trust you.” Amnis crackled in the room as the water vampire began to lose control.

“No, she didn’t.” Terry set down his drink. “You did.”

“I did no such—”

“Maybe if you appreciated the human’s technology a bit more, you’d realize we’ve already been on the phone to London, Guillermo.” Terry stood as the other vampire jumped to his feet. “Maybe you’d realize that my head of security has already investigated the death of Carl Stanton. Maybe you’d realize he kept records of your meeting in his electronic organizer.”

Guillermo bared his fangs and started toward the door, only to be halted by the tiny form of Luisa, who stood in front of it, a bloody dagger in her hand and fangs bared.

“Luisa, have the others been dispatched?” Gemma asked.

“Si, Señora.” She brought the blade up and licked at a drop of blood. “I left the human alive for later.”

“He may have nothing to do with Guillermo’s betrayal. We’ll question him, but leave his fate to Leonor,” Terry added.

The Spaniard stood frozen in the middle of the room. “Leonor will hear of this. You have started a war.”

Terry roared in laughter. “You can’t have it both ways, boy! Do you think she’ll believe your word over ours? With what has happened here tonight?”

Guillermo sneered. “You know nothing. Do you know who I—”

“Who you are?” Gemma broke in. “Of course we do. I only grieve that my old friend has to face the decision you have forced on her. I hear her coming right now, in fact.”

The look of horror on the vampire’s face could not be hidden. His eyes darted around the room, but Terry only said quietly, “Try it. Luisa is very quick with the knife, you know. She used to perform on stage.”

The round-faced immortal beamed from the doorway as Guillermo shifted his eyes toward the windows. Luisa edged closer as Terry felt Leonor’s energy approaching.

“Luisa,” Gemma said, “would you be so kind as to greet our guest and her entourage at the door? Please see if they’d like any refreshment.”

Luisa bowed slightly and backed away. Guillermo started to edge toward the door again.

“Do try,” Gemma said, at his side in the blink of an eye. “Killing you would be worth ruining this dress.”

Terry saw Guillermo trying to muster his courage. “When Leonor—”

“When I what?” The Spanish noblewoman entered the room with not even a whisper. She leaned against the wall and edged the library door closed with the tip of one designer heel. Gemma backed away. “When I arrive? Do finish your sentence, Guillermo, for I am here.”

“Leonor,” Terry said. “Welcome. Has Luisa taken care of you?”

The stunning woman raised a single eyebrow. “Luisa has taken care of quite a lot this evening, including me.”

Gemma stood to greet the Spanish leader. “Leonor. How are you?”

“I am sad, my friend. How true it is: To be forced to part allegiance with those you thought you could trust is sad, indeed.”

Guillermo lurched toward her. “
Madre—
”

In a blur, she had him by the throat, fangs bared and wine-colored nails cutting into her child’s neck. “Do not call me your mother,” she spat in Spanish. “Did you think I would not know of your trifling attempts? I am only sorry that my friends were pulled into this. You have shamed me. Shamed my court with your petty manipulations and delusions of grandeur.”