talk. He’s respected in Blood Rock.”
“Would you like Nyissa to deliver this olive branch for you?” Transomnia said.
“Me?” Nyissa said, standing. “My Lord, what have I done to deserve-”
“Nyissa,” Transomnia said. His voice was strangely… gentle, almost like he was dancing around a difficult subject. “You may not be powerful, but your personality is strong. No one will mistake delivering a message for weakness. I want the townspeople to start thinking of you as an authority figure, and not just the pretty madam of the brothel.”
“I was right. This is a brothel, a B amp;D B amp;B,” I said. Were all the vampires like this? Little things Calaphase had said started to add up-all the dates he went on, how cagey he was about his source of income. Even some things Saffron said now sounded suspect; did she have a stable of human clients as well? “For what it’s worth… I’m sorry you have to live this way.”
“Don’t be,” Transomnia said. “Hiding here beats being a lackey for a serial killer.”
“Or running a protection racket,” Nyissa said.
“Like the Oakdale Clan was running with the werehouse,” I said.
“No,” Transomnia said. “We served a valuable function, keeping the werekin hidden. I picked the Clan… I picked Calaphase because he was an honorable man.”
“Yes, he was,” I said, eyes tearing up a little. “You made a good choice.”
Transomnia’s eyes narrowed. He rose from the throne and walked down to me. I squirmed in my chair, trembling, as he turned aside my head to stare at my neck. My heart started beating in my chest as he kept staring at my bite marks.
Finally I said, “It’s not an open invitation.”
Transomnia smiled, full fangs, and I looked away. “Look at me,” he said.
Unwillingly I looked up, eyes off center from his glowing red pupils. All the other vamps were staring down at me hungrily. Now that they had started to think of me as willing meat, you could see them calculating how they might get their own bite of the pie.
“How did you get that wound, Frost?” Transomnia said, relishing the moment.
“I seduced Calaphase,” I said, and Transomnia flinched. “Then he got carried away.”
“ You seduced-” Transomnia began, scowling-and then his face softened. “You seduced him, he bit you… and then he died right in front of you.”
“The same night,” I said, staring at the floor. “That same hour. He saved my life, then had the blood sucked right out of him by magic graffiti.”
Transomnia stood there. “I wanted to kill him,” he said, his hand falling to my shoulder. “Just like I wanted to kill you for causing my exile from the clan. You’ll never know how much. Being the thrall of Mirabilus was… horrible. You saw how I acted under his geas.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. Mirabilus skinned his victims alive-and Transomnia had acted like his sick little protege while under his spell. I couldn’t imagine what he’d made Transomnia do-and didn’t want to. “I never meant to get you kicked out.”
“Calaphase was attracted to you and overreacted,” Transomnia said. “But how could he have known what exile would do to me? I couldn’t betray Mirabilus’s secrets, not even with Calaphase’s aura protecting me from the worst of the geas. I don’t blame him… anymore.”
His hand squeezed my shoulder. I shuddered at that easy familiarity. I didn’t like him that close, either physically or emotionally. But… some part of me appreciated that brief second of comfort. Transomnia wasn’t just someone who assaulted me, or who had hurt my daughter. He was someone who knew Calaphase and regretted his passing.
Transomnia released me, then turned and ascended to his borrowed throne. “No matter our disagreements,” he said, sitting, “I do not think I can let him go unavenged.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” I said quietly. “How are we going to do that?”
“Thanks to you, Dakota Frost,” Transomnia said, “I’m going to do nothing. I’m now known to the police as the dangerous minion of a serial killer, rather than third flunky to the left in an obscure vampire biker gang. I can’t even go by name in public anymore.”
I swallowed. I would never know everything Transomnia had lost. “So… ”
“So I am going to let you do this for me,” Transomnia said. “Let you, you understand? I will allow you to return to Blood Rock, and even extend an olive branch to your old master, so you may learn what you need to learn to fight this thing. But this is a favor I am doing for you.”
After a moment, I nodded. “I understand. Thank you, Lord Transomnia.”
Transomnia stared at me for a long time, then his mouth quirked up in a smile. “If I do this thing for you, one day I may ask you for a favor,” he said, miming a hoarse old Italian accent. “That day may never come-”
I laughed-I couldn’t help myself. I quickly choked it off, hoping not to piss him off; but while the other vampires were unamused I could see that the guards found it quite funny. Finally I managed, “One wish at your command, Don Transomnia.”
“Excellent,” Transomnia said. “Get her a token.”
Nyissa sighed, climbing the steps. “Yes, of course, my Lord.”
“She’s still the enemy,” Gregor said, somewhat perplexed. “ They’re still the enemy.”
“Oh, shut up, Gregor,” Nyissa said. “Why do we keep you around?”
“I seem to recall I’m good with figures,” he replied.
“If Arcturus can help her, Frost’s next step will likely be to go to the Consulates for aid,” Transomnia said, very calmly, lecturing without sounding like he was talking to a child. “If she petitions with our backing, and the Vampire Queen accepts her help, our standing will be enhanced, and this overture can be followed by another. If they do not, we can plan accordingly. So we shall give her a token to remove any doubt about our backing for Frost.”
“I hate to say this, Trans,” I said, flipping open the cuffs and standing as Nyissa stepped behind the throne. “I really do. But being in charge has done well for you.”
“And getting the shit kicked out of you has done the same,” he responded. “You’ve developed quite the backbone to go along with that bravado.”
Nyissa returned with a small gold amulet on a chain and held it out to Transomnia. “What did I say?” he asked. “Give it to her.” When she hesitated again, he said, glancing at me, “Lady Nyissa, Dakota is
… family now, so I’ll tolerate this. But if she was a representative of the Consulates, or, the dark night forbid it, the Gentry… ”
Nyissa straightened. “I understand,” she said. “You could not be so lenient.”
“ I was going to say, we must present a united front,” Transomnia said. “If discord leads to actual harm, however… I assure you, I cannot show lenience.”
Nyissa walked down the steps of the throne to stand before me. “Please accept the sign of the House Beyond Sleep, Dakota Frost.”
“Thank you, Lady Nyissa,” I said, taking the chain and slipping it around my neck. “Far more convenient than the sign of the House of Saffron, and classier than a laminated ID card.”
“Calaphase didn’t give you one of those silly things, did he?” Transomnia asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “About the only thing I have left from him.”
Transomnia frowned. “Go in peace, Dakota Frost,” he said. “Talk to your old master, make your case to the Consulates, the Gentry, to whomever you have to, and the House Beyond Sleep will protect you, for what good that will do. But remember one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“The balance sheet has changed, Dakota Frost,” Transomnia said. “Now, you owe me.”
A Drop of Blood and a Quarter
The limo slid through the hairpin turns and rickety bridges of Blood Rock. I sat in the rear seat, staring forward, at Nyissa, who sat opposite me, green eyes blazing, her shag of violet hair shimmering against her
