While I’m not feeling particularly confident, at least I know the steps of the plan by heart after we go through it a few times. Whether or not it will work… I don’t know. There are too many things beyond our control, which means too many things that could go wrong. The most important of these, of course, is Wolf’s sister.
She should arrive any minute.
Rylan and Malachi went hunting earlier, returning rosy-cheeked and brimming with health. They fed Wolf, but no one offered to feed me. I can feel the hunger stirring—I’ll have to eat again before we attack the compound—but I’m just grateful they’ve stopped trying to feed me human food. The very thought disgusts me. That revulsion which will worry me later, when I have time and energy to think about the implications. First, I have to focus on the threat directly in front of me.
Lizzie.
I don’t expect to feel her approach. It’s been so long since I’ve been around other vampires, and I certainly didn’t feel my father and his people break into the mountain home. This is different. Very different. I lift my head, turning in the direction of the sensation. It feels a bit like what I imagine all the water being sucked out before a tsunami hits feels like. “What is that?”
“Lizzie.” Wolf bites out her name. “She’s not bothering to shield. She wants us to know she’s coming.”
Without saying another word, we move into the living room. It’s got a clear view of both front and back doors. Malachi nudges me to the loveseat that backs a wall with no windows, and then pushes Wolf gently down next to me. “Let me and Rylan do the talking.”
“That won’t work and you know it.” Wolf’s voice shakes a little, but he’s more composed than he was this morning in the kitchen. “She won’t be satisfied with that.”
I place my hand on his thigh, a fierce protectiveness surging. If this vampire thinks she can come in here and harm those I care about, she’ll have to go through me to do it. I squeeze his thigh. “She will not touch you.” Something akin to power thrums through my voice. It feels strange, and all three of the men tense in response.
The door flies open before anyone has a chance to comment on it.
I don’t know what I expected of Wolf’s sister. Perhaps someone like him, who dresses in style that’s Victorian crossed with underground club scene. Someone who feels out of time. Someone fiercely beautiful and wildly unhinged.
The woman who walks through the door looks like a suburban housewife in her dark jeans, cream knit sweater, and knee-high boots. Her dark hair is pulled back into a perfect, sleek ponytail and her makeup is present, but tasteful. She’s wearing a floral headband. She’s attractive in a generic kind of way, but she doesn’t possess the kind of beauty that will stop people in their tracks. She’s devastatingly normal.
At least until I look into her icy blue eyes. There’s no warmth there, no soul.
She smiles, flashing fang. “Hello, baby brother.”
Wolf goes still beside me. “Lizzie.”
She surveys the room, her gaze flicks dismissively over Rylan before lingering on Malachi. “Interesting company you’re keeping these days.” Her grin never wavers. “Nice to see you out and about, Mal. Silly of you to fall into that trap in the first place.”
“Lizzie,” he rumbles. “You’d better be here to help, rather than cause unnecessary trouble.”
“I never cause trouble unnecessarily.” She finally looks at me, blue eyes assessing. “So this is the new girlfriend. Welcome to the family, sweet girl.” She takes one step toward me and laughs when all three men jolt. “Relax, lads. If I was going to kill her, I wouldn’t have walked through the front door.”
Rylan makes a vaguely snarling sound that shouldn’t have been able to come from a human mouth. “Don’t fuck with us, Lizzie.”
“Can’t blame a girl for having a little fun. Everyone is so tense.” She walks over to the chair where Malachi sits and props a hip against it. “Now, tell me who you want me to kill. I feel a tad bit guilty about the little fire incident last time we met, so I’m willing to play nice for the duration.” She feathers her fingers through Malachi’s long hair. “Besides, I couldn’t resist the temptation to see old friends.”
She’s toying with Wolf. Maybe with me, too. Testing. I might even appreciate how thoroughly she disrupted the room with a few short sentences if the stakes weren’t so damned high. “You’re not going to be able to kill anyone. We simply need you to shoot him in the throat.”
She turns those eerie eyes on me again. When I first met Wolf, his eyes spooked me. Compared to Lizzie, he seems downright welcoming and normal. It’s strange to realize that. Wolf has become known and familiar to me in our time together, but I don’t think that’s a possibility with his sister.
She’s fucking terrifying.
Lizzie stops playing with Malachi’s hair and straightens. “Explain. My baby brother was sparse on the details.”
I open my mouth, but Rylan beats me to the punch. It’s just as well. For whatever reason, Lizzie seems less interested in messing with him than with anyone else in the room. He leans forward. “We’re going to kill Cornelius Lancaster.”
She doesn’t seem shocked. She doesn’t react at all. “Big game you’re hunting. Even with my help, he’s likely to kill you all.” She laughs, a thread of madness in the sound. “I’m not getting close to that canny old bastard.”
“We don’t need or want you to get close.” Rylan points to the maps on the coffee table. He and Malachi found topographical ones somewhere, so they’ve overlaid those with my drawings to get a better idea of exactly what we’re working with. “You’re the best long-range attacker in this realm.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere.” She scans the map and then looks back at him. “Explain what you want. Then I’ll tell you my price.”
“You’ll be here.” He points to the X south of the compound. “It’s high enough that you’ll have a clear shot of the courtyard.” Rylan moves his finger to the drawn in compound. “Cornelius will be there. We need you to shoot him in the throat and put enough power behind it to destroy his vocal cords.”
“He’ll heal fast.”
“That’s our problem.”
More likely, that’s my problem, but I appreciate the sentiment. Even if I’m the one facing my father, we’re all in this together. I lean a little harder against Wolf. He hasn’t moved since Lizzie walked into the room, tracking her the way a mouse tracks a cat. It’s disconcerting in the extreme.
Rylan sits back. “Will you do it?”
“Sure.” She shrugs. “If Wolf comes home.”
I’m already shaking my head. “No. That’s out of the question.”
“Be quiet, little girl. The grownups are talking.” She turns to Rylan. “You swept him away after that little misunderstanding and it put me in a bad way with our mother. Wolf needs to come home.”
“No,” I say again. I start to stand, but Wolf clamps an arm around my waist and keeps me sitting. “No,” I repeat. “Whatever price you need, I’ll pay it. Anything else is out of the question.”
She raises an eyebrow, looking unimpressed. “What could you possibly offer me that’s worth the risk I’m taking? You’re a nobody. If you were someone, I would have heard of you by now.”
I’m not about to tell this dangerous woman that I’m a seraph. But that’s not the only bargaining chip I have. I catch Malachi’s eye and he gives a tight nod. He’ll follow my lead. Rylan and Wolf will follow his.
I gently disentangle myself from Wolf and stand. “I’m Cornelius’s daughter. His heir.”
She narrows her eyes. “You say that, and yet the fact remains that I haven’t heard of you. You could be anyone playing dress up.” Her eyes flare crimson for a beat before returning to their normal icy blue. “You don’t feel particularly powerful. Smells like bullshit from where I’m standing.”
“If you’re aware of that much about my father, then you’re aware of the stipulations about what it takes to become his heir.” A gamble, but she’s right. I have little in the way of bargaining power. If we succeed, that will change, but first I need to convince her.
Her gaze flicks to my stomach and her eyes flare crimson again. Lizzie shrugs. “So you’re pregnant. That doesn’t mean your story holds up. His children would be smart enough to get declared heir before they started sharpening their knives and aiming for that bastard’s back.”
“I prefer a more direct route.” I wave my hand at the three men. “My father has never seen power that he hasn’t tried to claim for his own. There’s a reason this is the stipulation to become his heir. If I try to do this the proper way, he’ll lock me up, take the baby and claim it as his own via one of his mistresses, and likely try to claim the father as well.” No need to tell her that he almost accomplished that goal already.
She studies each of the men in turn, finally landing on Wolf. “Is my brother the father?”
It’s tempting to lie, but I have a feeling she’ll know if I do. I shrug. “I don’t know who the father is at this point. We won’t know until I have the baby, and that will only happen if we survive what comes next.”
“Hmmm.” She taps a finger to her bottom lip, painted a perfect pale pink. “If you’re lying to me, I’ll take it poorly.”
I think I hear Wolf inhale sharply behind me, but I don’t look away from his sister. “I’m not lying.”
“So it seems. Not telling the full truth, but not lying.” She shrugs. “Ah well, if the little beast inside you is really Radu blood, then our mother will skin me alive if I don’t help now. Let me see.”
She starts for me, and both Malachi and Rylan jump to their feet. Lizzie smirks. “Relax, lads. I’ll just do a scan. Nothing sinister.” She reaches out and presses her fingertip to the back of my hand. A faint tingle goes through my entire body in a wave and she raises her eyebrows. “Interesting.”
“What?”
“You don’t seem the type to consort with demons, but there’s a faint…” She licks her lips, gaze distant. “Cute little shield. The embryo is fine. Powerful little bugger, but too early to know the flavor.” She refocuses on me. “I’m in. I’ll do what you ask.”
I don’t breathe a sigh of relief. This was only the first step, and I’m not naive enough to believe Lizzie until she actually shoots my father. “Your price?”
“If you’re successful in this cute little coup, you’ll owe the Radu family a favor.” Her smile goes knife-sharp. “And you will entertain us for a few days in your new compound.”
I don’t need to look at my men to recognize the trap. If—when—we succeed, that will put me at the head of the Lancaster bloodline. For better or worse, I will be a power whose choices mean something, affect the balance of our world. I lift my chin. It would be smarter to negotiate the favor away and entertain them while promising nothing, but I won’t do that to Wolf. He feels the same way about the rest of his family as he does about his sister. Having them in close proximity will be a hellish experience for him. I refuse to put him through it. “I will not be entertaining anyone in the foreseeable future, but I am willing to negotiate a favor, provided it does no harm to me, my men, or my people, either directly or indirectly.” Still too wide an offer, but I need her and she knows it.
Her grin widens. “Very well. A favor it is.” She turns back to the map. “Walk me through the nitty, gritty details.”
I sink back onto the couch as Rylan and Malachi launch into a brief overview of what they need from Lizzie. Fine tremors work their way through my body, the adrenaline letdown nearly making me sick to my stomach. Though I can’t hide my physical reaction to the confrontation, I refuse to give into it entirely while Lizzie is in the room.
Wolf laces his fingers through mine. Through the bond, I feel a wave of gratitude from him. I’m sure Malachi and Rylan will have thoughts about my choice later, but I can only do what I think is right. Rylan seems to have a complicated relationship with his family, but there’s no fear there. Malachi has no family left at all. Surely they wouldn’t expect me to throw Wolf to the, well, to the wolves?
I squeeze Wolf’s hand and listen as the other two men go through an abbreviated version of the plan. I note that they leave out a few key components. Smart. Really, we have no reason to trust Lizzie with all the details. The only thing she needs to know pertains to my father, the courtyard, and her long-distance attack.
She finally sits back and laughs a little. “This should be fun. When do we start?”
“At dawn.”
