“No,” Janice said abruptly.
“You don’t seem to understand,” Kristoff said, wrapping his arm around my waist. “Pia is not asking. She is telling you what it will take in order for her to turn over these two reapers.”
Mattias rubbed his head on my hip.
“You will turn them over because that is part of the agreement,” Janice said slowly.
“I’m changing that,” I said simply. “Now in order to get them, I want to know where Alec is.”
“Alec?” She frowned and glanced at her husband.
He shook his head, shrugging.
“Alec Darwin. He’s a vampire who was in Iceland two months ago. He disappeared not long after I went home.”
“Why do you care?” Janice asked.
I thought for a few seconds of lying, but I’d done enough indulging in half-truths for the day. “I had a relationship with him at one time, and although it’s over, I am concerned for his well-being.”
“Relationship?” Janice asked, horrified. “You gave yourself to a vampire?”
“Pia was not a Zorya at the time,” Kristoff said, taking us all a bit by surprise.
“That’s right,” I agreed. “And we weren’t together for very long, but I still would like to know what’s happened to him.”
“I’m sure he’s dead by now,” Janice said with malicious enjoyment. She bared her teeth. “If he is in the power of the governors, then he has been cleansed.”
“So they’d take him to the Brotherhood headquarters?” I asked.
Janice looked sullenly at her husband when he answered, “Most likely. That’s where the big storage facility is, you see. Where they keep the vampires before they are cleansed.”
I felt a bit sick to my stomach at the thought of such a thing.
Beside me, pain spiked through Kristoff. I leaned into him, offering him wordless comfort.
“Do not tell her any more,” Janice ground out through her teeth. “You have said enough.”
“Alec may well be dead,” I said calmly as he tensed up again. “But I’d like to hear that from Frederic himself.”
“Monsieur Robert does not wish to speak to you,” Janice said, whipping out her cell phone before she remembered that it wouldn’t work in Europe. She jammed it back into her bag. “But if you demand proof of that yourself, I will call the Brotherhood headquarters. I will use this phone.” She gestured to the phone next to Kristjana.
“Be my guest. Mattias, come along. Rick, can I offer you some coffee while we wait for Janice?”
Beloved, these are reapers, Kristoff protested as he followed Mattias and me out of the room and into the living area. You do not offer them beverages.
You may not, but I do. I like Rick. He’s not at all snarky like his wife. Besides, he said he was a historian, and I’d like to know more about the Brotherhood.
Why? he asked quickly.
Just curious about how they got started going after you guys. “So, Rick, you’re a historian, right? You must know a lot about the origins of the Brotherhood. How do you like your coffee?”
“Black is fine,” he said, sitting down on the couch next to where I parked Mattias, giving me a bit of a bemused look. Kristoff sat gingerly on the chair next to him, eyeing long fingers of sunlight as they spilled onto the highly polished oak floor. “And I know something about it, but unfortunately not a lot. The archives dealing with the history of the Brotherhood really only included resources that cover the time after the Lodi Congress.”
The what?
It is the name given to the body that organized the first hunt of Dark Ones.
“Huh. I know they used to just deal with helping dead folk, but then something happened to switch their attention to vampires. What exactly was that?” I asked, giving Mattias a cup before taking one for myself and plopping down on the arm of Kristoff’s chair.
Kristoff shifted uncomfortably. The finger of sunlight was creeping ever closer to our feet.
“It’s a little hard to piece together precisely, but I gather that there was a Bavarian Zorya who killed a vampire’s mate in a jealous fit. The vampire, in revenge, slaughtered both the Zorya and her husband, the sacristan for that area. The Brotherhood was so outraged at their deaths, it started a movement to cleanse the darkness that threatened to consume not just Brotherhood members, but all who stood in the way of the vampires.”
“A vampire started it?” I asked, finding it hard to believe.
Kristoff swore in Italian, fortunately only in my head. I had to admit I agreed with his sentiment. What do you bet there’s more to the story than that? I asked him.
There is.
I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye. That sounded like more than just a general condemnation of the reapers. Do you know how the Brotherhood got started on their vendetta against you guys?
All who hunt the reapers are familiar with their history.
Good, then you can tell me what happened. “Are you absolutely sure that a vampire started it?” I asked.
“Without a doubt, yes. I’ve seen the primary sources.”
“I’m surprised primary sources survived so long.” Kristoff?
Why do you care how the war started? It’s ending it that I care about.
Rick said as he set down his coffee, “There is only one that I’ve seen. Or, rather, seen photocopies of. It is a diary that mentions the origin of the Lodi Congress.”
I was a bit surprised at Kristoff’s snappish tone but kept my smile serene. “Fascinating stuff. I wonder-”
“I have spoken to the director,” Janice announced with a dramatic wave of her hand as she entered the room. Judging by the gloating smile on her face, she was enjoying every moment of this. “The director, as I told you, has no desire to speak with you personally, and asked me to inform you that your agreement to the original terms is binding, and is not open to amendment. Further, he was appalled and shocked to hear how you’ve been abusing the priestess and sacristan, and asked me to tell you that separate charges may be made on those accounts.”
No surprise there, I said. But we got what we wanted.
They didn’t confirm that they have Alec, Beloved.
They didn’t deny it, either, and thanks to Rick, we now know where he would be likely to be held.
“We will take them now,” Janice said, gesturing to her husband. “I just pray to the goddess that they will survive your abuses without permanent damage.”
“Mattias, how would you like to go to Los Angeles?” I asked as she and Rick went into Kristjana’s room.
He thought for a moment. “Would I?”
“Yes, you would. You’d have fun there, and meet new people, and see new things.”
“New things are good. Are you going?”
I leaned forward to whisper in his ear, “Not right now. Don’t tell anyone, but I will be there soon, and I’ll see you then.”
“Piaaaa,” he said, his eyes filled with adoration. He turned his head to kiss me, but I jumped back. He smacked his lips a couple of times at me. “Good-bye kiss?”
“No,” Kristoff said, slamming Mattias’s bag into his arms, sending him staggering back a couple of steps. “Don’t let the door hit you on the-”
“Kristoff!” I glared at him. You don’t have to be rude to him! He can’t help being like a gigantic human puppy when he’s under the influence of my womanly wiles.
He might not be able to help it, but I’m tired of him always trying to fondle you.
Jealousy ill becomes you when it concerns someone light-bound. “The doctor says she should be out for another hour or so,” I told Rick as he emerged from the room with a limp Kristjana in his arms. “But she should be fine. Go with Janice and Rick, Mattias. They will take you to LA.”
“I am going with Janice and Rick,” he repeated, following them to the door. “I will be good.”
“I’m sure you will,” I said, standing at the door to the suite and waving at Mattias until the door of the elevator closed on them. I slumped against the wall, relieved to be rid of the stress of keeping Mattias under control. “Whew. That’s done. I can feed you now. I know you’re hungry, and we should have a few minutes before we have to go spirit hunting-”