“But you didn’t,” Lucidia said calmly. “I switched them. The real product of Kenzo’s affair was given to a human family in Portland, by the name of Wright, and grew up in complete isolation to our world.”
Darian let out a breath that reminded Lucidia of a dragon preparing to breath fire.
Lucidia continued. “I had never told anybody of my treason. I don’t know how Master Magnus discovered the child’s location, but he did, and he dispatched Reykon Thraxos to bring the girl to him, alive, to become his blood slave. I sabotaged their mission in order to prevent this from happening.”
“What does this have to do with your crimes against House Demonte?” Cain barked.
She didn’t even turn back to him. “Master Darian, Robin Wright is the illegitimate offspring of one your most trusted former slaves. That means that she is your property. Master Magnus can lay no claim to her.”
“You imbecile!” Reykon hissed at her, drawing her attention from the screen.
“Reykon!” Magnus said sharply.
Reykon sat, fists clenched, tense in his chair, but said nothing more.
Lucidia looked back to the screen, face devoid of expression. Darian’s eyes had fixed on Robin, now, looking at her with disdain. “If what you say is true, then I will have her executed in my court at once. After that, we will deal with you, Lucidia. I don’t take traitors lightly. I’m sure your father can speak to that.”
A pang of hatred and terror raced through Lucidia. “I am aware of the consequences, Master Darian.”
“No, believe me, you are not,” Darian said, his voice like a knife.
Lucidia’s face remained still. She’d achieved her goal; from this point, Godzilla and Mothra would duke it out while she could find a way to get Robin free.
Robin
At the outset of the call, she was very confused, and visually overwhelmed.
She’d been paraded through a room that was probably worth more money than she’d ever make in her lifetime and brought into a strangely modern conference area. They’d gone from Queen Isabelle’s throne hall to your average Hilton business center.
But hey, if that had been the weirdest thing she’d seen all day, it would have been a pretty good day for what she’d been through lately.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
Instead, she’d seen the conference room filled with more evil looking vampires that made her teeth itch. She and Reykon sat at the other end of the table, along with the three strongbloods that had derailed the rescue attempt. She was, once again, wedged up against the massive strongblood brute. His name was Alex, or something like that. She was pretty concussed when he’d shoved her in the prison cell.
The worst member was the vampire, Cain, sitting at the end, looking at her with a very intense gaze. It made her want to crawl into a hole. She only looked for a moment before focusing on the table in front of her. It seemed to be the only safe place to look.
There were more vampires on the TV screen. She tried to make sense of them and their conversations, but without more background information, it was nearly gibberish.
She understood two things about the strange meeting, and Reykon’s outburst. The first? Lucidia was in big trouble; as in, life threatening trouble. The second? Reykon was furious that she’d told Darian about Robin’s existence.
It was only when she realized the implication of Lucidia’s confession that she sided with Reykon.
That man, the silver-haired serpent that was decked out in purple, wanted her dead. Very dead. Permanently dead.
She looked over to Magnus, who was a whole other animal in and of himself. He was massive too, and brutish, and terrifying in a raw-strength kind of way. But at least he’d want to keep her alive. For a little bit, that was.
If she had to choose between two horrible fates, it made sense to choose the one that would keep her breathing the longest.
And now, she looked at Lucidia in a different light. What the hell was she thinking? Why try to save her just to throw her to the wolves? Well – not wolves – but you get the idea.
The fear that had dulled and slipped out of focus came rushing back in. She was in a dangerous place, full of dangerous creatures, and Lucidia Draxos had just put a massive target on her head.
Reykon
His fists seemed permanently stuck in their tense, clenched position. It took everything in him to not pound Lucidia’s face in.
Calm down, he told himself. The response had been inappropriate, even for the most dedicated strongblood. Robin was Magnus’s property, and nothing more than that. If she became more than that, he’d land himself in the precise situation that Lucidia now found herself in: circling the drain.
Her strategy was understandable – alert Darian of her crime, causing him to send a transport to get her back. No doubt Lucidia would attempt escape in transit. But telling Darian about Robin had been an idiotic move. She must have been banking on the fact that she’d escape and do it with enough skin on her back to intercept Reykon’s route for the second time and somehow get Robin to safety.
Just how the hell Lucidia was planning on protecting Robin when not one, but two vampire houses were after her? That was a mystery.
Stupid. Idiotic. Rash.
And it put Robin in immediate danger.
Reykon’s eyes were fixed on Darian, taking in the fury that lurked behind the vampire’s carefully constructed expression. House Xander was a cunning, strategic bunch. He thought of Robin falling into Darian’s hands and found his fists tightening even more, until his knuckles ached.
“Darian,” Magnus cautioned. “The girl is mine.”
“According to blood, which governs our delicate society, she is not. She should have been mine, twenty-five years ago. This injustice will be corrected.”
“Only if you plan on a war,” Magnus growled.
Damn. The W-word.
“You will hand Robin Wright to me, alive and well, along with my subject Lucidia Draxos. If you refuse this, I will unleash the entire force
