“I did what I did to protect the one I love,” Martin spoke as he stepped into the study.
“Oh, you have just opened a whole new door of piss-me-off is what you did,” I spun around so fast he stepped back. “How could you, Martin?”
“How could I not do whatever I could to stop you from dying this night? There will be too many, Renee. You are putting all of our people in harm’s way.”
“Don’t you say that…don’t you ever say that! These are my people and I would never stab them in the back the way you did me.” I turned back around and looked at Jacob. “What do I do to take this off?”
“You can only mask his mark by taking in others.”
“Are you saying that I have to drink from more of you to get rid of his…” I paused.
“Odor,” Derek smirked.
“Yeah, what Derek said.”
“You can look at it as finally marking those who follow you,” Cates added, walking up to me and going down on one knee. It was then that I heard Martin going back up the staircase. “You need but take a small amount.”
“Is this really necessary?” I asked all who were in the room.
“If you wish to join us in taking down the two heads of this great city, it is.” Jacob walked up behind Cates and put both hands on his shoulders.
They each stood in line. I looked down at Cates, fear gripping my stomach so harshly that I felt that I would be ill at any moment. Cates reached around and moved his hair and then leaned his head to the side, exposing his neck to me. My eyes rose to find Jacob looking back at me. He nodded once, then looked down at the matter at hand. I smoothed my hand over Cates’ arm as I bent over, then I sank my fangs into the pulsating invitation. I only took a small amount; swallowing twice, maybe three times, before I felt Jacob’s hand on my back. By the time I had reached Tanda, the last, I was so full I thought for sure I would burst at the first foul scent that we passed.
“I belong to you twice as much now,” Tanda smiled, holding her neck where I had marked her.
“How do y’all know I don’t smell like Martin anymore?”
“You smell like a mass of your kind and no longer just one, Renee,” Fala answered from the foyer. “I do not believe any night creature would be able to decipher your count when you are only one.”
“Wouldn’t that be a giveaway itself? Surely there isn’t a lot of breeders walking around with a load of their follower’s blood hangin’ around in their body.”
“And the slang begins,” Jacob said with one side of his mouth raised in an evil grin. “That is a true statement, my young Renee. However…every old breeder there will be bloated with the blood of slave and normals alike. The more show of power they have, the better to secure their years trade around London.”
“Will these older breeders be bringing some of this trade to the gala?” Derek asked.
“They bring their trade no matter where they go. But, none are allowed to bring them into the homes of the higher land owners of London without a personal invitation. That only happens if the gifts they offer are up to standards of the mistress or master of the manor,” Cates explained, taking Tammy into his arms.
“Okay, then another question. Will these breeders know that the blood in me is the ones walking with me? And before you say it Jacob, I already know it’s just another stupid question.”
“I was going to say that your questions are starting to have a great deal of meaning, right up until you added the last. And to answer it, no, they will not know unless the older breeders have tasted us on a more recent visit. To my knowledge, they have not.”
“We need to be there before midnight to see all who are going in. I want to make sure to see how many we stand against in the event that things do not go as we plan,” Cates added, then kissed Tammy’s hand before joining Jacob and myself.
“Does everyone have their weapons?”
“I should go have Martin show me where he keeps his weapons room,” Jacob said, glancing over at me, then down at the floor.
“Go ahead if you think we’ll need them, I can’t go with you right now.”
It was one of the many times that Jacob gave me his disappointed stares as he walked past me and up the staircase to find out where our gracious host had gone. He had a small study on the second floor in one of the bedrooms where he stayed for hours throughout the night while we were out. A few moments later Jacob came back down with Martin close behind. They both went into the sitting room across from where we all stood in the study and closed the double doors.
“I guess your maker doesn’t care to share his secrets with the rest of us,” Sydney verbally observed.
“He can keep them, for now. And yes, I love him, but that was a sneaky move.” I fumed as I grabbed Brandon’s blade that Derek had given me and did my best to slide it down in the pocket that Tanda had sewn into my dress. “This is never gonna work.”
“There’s a small opening at the bottom of your pocket to slip the end of the blade through, Renee. It will rest comfortably on your leg as you walk. I will bind the sheath to your leg if you will calm down enough to get the blade into the opening,” Tanda smiled as she touched my elbow.
“I am calm, I’m just extremely pissed right now,” I winked, then found the hole and slid the sheath of my blade through with ease. “Wow, once you get that tied in place this will work perfect.”
“I am a good seamstress, when I have the proper things that one needs to mend with.”
“I’m not so bad myself,” Sydney said, getting everyone’s attention. “What? Men can sew too, ya know. I was born and practically raised on the boat, so my mom was the only teacher I had when I wasn’t helping my dad with running the boat.”
“You were born on the open water?” I asked.
“Yep, right outside of Sydney, Australia. That’s why my name is spelled the way it is.”
“And how does one spell your name, young Sydney?” Cates asked with a look of confusion on his face.
“With a ‘Y’ instead of an ‘I’ like some would say a girl’s name is spelled. Believe me, I got made fun of plenty when I did go to school in the states.”
“Normals are a weird group of creatures indeed. Breeders would never put so much thought into a person’s name. If your maker chose to name you after the name of a place then so be it. Who has the right to say otherwise?” Cates said as he slid his black blade down the inside of the top of the back of his vest.
“The farmers have arrived,” Fala announced from the front door.
“You’ve already paid them?” I asked, looking at Cates.
“Before Jacob and I dressed…” he paused gesturing at himself, “in this. We made our way to their stay and paid for the delivery of what we discussed. Why, did you also want to be involved in that?”
“Don’t you go getting all pissy with me too, Cates. I get enough of that with those two hiding in the other room. And why do you think they had to go in there alone anyway?”
“You are the mistress of all but the one who has marked you. Why do you not just storm in the room and find out for yourself.” I spun and glared at the closed doors as if my thoughts could burst them open all on their own. But nothing happened so I spun back on Cates. “Hey, it was just a thought.”
“The less you know, the better,” Garvin interrupted.
“What do you mean?” Derek stood taking Tanda by the hand.
“What he means is, if we were to be taken by those we mean to take down,” Cates lowered his eyes then looked over at me, “the torture to his valuable’s whereabouts would be the first they would want information on. Your pain would be secondary.”
Our conversation came to a halt when a knock sounded on the front door. Fala looked in at Cates, and then he and Garvin walked over, while Fala stepped back into the study with us. We all stood in silence as Cates explained that we were on our way out to a party at one of the gatherings in the London Square somewhere downtown. I was finding out quickly that Cates was a man of many talents, and could turn a tale better than Pa around a campfire any day of the week. It brought a soft, warm glow to my very dark heart. Once they had stepped out into what Martin called the ‘courtyard’ he and Jacob opened the doors to the room across from the study.