"For Jaenelle," Daemon said.
"For Jaenelle," Lucivar agreed. "And for you."
Daemon looked up and met Lucivar's eyes…and saw things he hadn't been sure he'd ever see again. Love. Understanding. Acceptance.
And for you. Those three words healed the last of the rift between them.
"Thank you," Daemon said, his voice husky.
Lucivar reached across the table. Daemon locked hands with his brother. They didn't say anything. They didn't need to.
Finally, reluctantly, Daemon eased back. "I'd like you to take Jaenelle to the Hall. I'll ask Father to come to the Hall to free you up in case there's more than one battlefield. I don't think it will come to that, but…"
Lucivar nodded. "I'll contact Marian and ask her to come to the Hall to keep Jaenelle company." He waited a beat. "What about Surreal?"
"I'll find Surreal."
Lucivar pushed away from the table. "In that case, let's get this done."
Daemon waited until Lucivar and Jaenelle were on their way to the Hall before trying to contact Surreal. The staff had cleaned off the dining room table and brought him a fresh cup and another pot of coffee.
Pouring a cup, he sent a call on a Gray psychic thread, aimed toward a mind he knew well. *Surreal?*
*What?*
The surly tone relieved him enough to make him smile. *Are you all right?*
*I'm… fine.*
*Where are you?*
*Country house. Don't think it's that far away from Amdarh.*
*Are you sure you're all right? You sound breathless.*
*Damn… ax… is dull.*
Daemon raised an eyebrow. *Do I want to know what you're doing with an ax?*
*Have you had breakfast?*
*I've eaten.*
*Then you don't want to know.*
He sipped his coffee while he considered how to respond to that.
*In a few hours, I might have some information for you,* Surreal said.
*I know who's behind the rumors.*
*Well… shit.* A pause. *Guess I'll finish this anyway.*
*Do you need help?*
*Do you?*
*No.*
*Then I'll take care of my business, and you take care of yours. I'll be back in Amdarh late tonight.*
Taking a last sip of coffee, Daemon left the dining room. Since Surreal didn't need his help, he'd take care of the next errand.
After he and Saetan had settled in comfortable chairs in one of the Keep's smaller sitting rooms, Daemon got to the point.
"I have business to take care of in Amdarh. Until it's done, I would appreciate it if you would stay at the Hall…at least for part of the time."
"To protect Jaenelle?" Saetan asked softly.
Daemon nodded.
"What about Lucivar?"
"He'll be there. So will Kaelas and Ladvarian. But…"
"But?"
Daemon looked into his father's golden eyes. "But they aren't you."
Saetan inclined his head. "Understood."
No questions about his business, no comment about why an Arcerian cat and an Eyrien Warlord Prince wouldn't be sufficient protection. There was no need. He was, after all, his father's mirror.
"Anything else?"
Daemon hesitated. Who else could he ask? "I…There was something I wanted to say to Jaenelle… in the Old Tongue. But it didn't come out as I intended."
Saetan raised an eyebrow. "What did you say?"
Daemon hesitated, then said the words.
" 'I eat cow brains'?" Saetan burst out laughing.
Since there was nothing else he could do, he sat back to wait out his father's amusement. So he waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally, he sighed. It could have been worse. There could have been witnesses. No matter what else was said about him, he did not want to be known as the man who had reduced the High Lord of Hell to giggles.
"I'm sorry," Saetan gasped. Calling in a handkerchief, he wiped his eyes. "I can imagine the response to that."
"I'm sure you can," Daemon said dryly.
With effort, Saetan regained his composure. "So, what were you trying to say?"
Daemon took a deep breath, let it out slowly…and told him.
Great. Wonderful. He'd not only made the High Lord giggle, he'd made the man blush.
"I see." Saetan cleared his throat. "I'm… not sure that can be said in the Old Tongue. Let me think about it and see if I can come up with something that would let Jaenelle know she…"
"Is everything," Daemon finished quietly. "She is everything."
Saetan smiled. "Yes. She is everything."
Fourteen
Shivering, Lektra called in a shawl and wrapped it around herself. So cold. So terribly cold. But no one else seemed to notice except Roxie, who had retreated to her room.
Tavey was dead. Viciously murdered. Lady Zhara's Master of the Guard had come earlier that morning to tell her the body had been found…and to ask questions. Even through her shock and dismay, she'd realized the Master didn't care who had killed Tavey. After all, there was no law against murder among the Blood. No, he'd come to the town house as a courtesy…and to find out if Tavey's death foreshadowed a danger to his Queen.
She couldn't tell him what he wanted to know, and she wasn't about to tell him anything else. What could she say? She didn't actually know Tavey had talked to Daemon. And why would her beautiful love kill a man who was offering him a way out of an unwanted marriage? Besides, Daemon had been trained to be a lover, not a warrior.
So it had to have been someone else, someone who didn't want Daemon free of his ties to Jaenelle Angelline.
A warrior. Like Lucivar Yaslana. Maybe Daemon had already left the parlor by the time Tavey got there. Maybe Tavey had found Lucivar in the narlor and had blurted out his little speech thinking that telling Daemon's brother was easier than telling Daemon himself. But Lucivar was an Eyrien warrior. Brutal. Savage. Roxie had told her over and over how mean Lucivar had been to her, threatening to kill her once he got tired of bedding her, forcing her to flee her home and family in Ebon Rih so that he could marry some hearth witch nobody.
Yes, Lucivar Yaslana wouldn't have thought twice about killing Tavey. After all, killing was what he did. Why not force Daemon into continuing to play nursemaid so that he wouldn't have to take care of Jaenelle?
She walked over to the window, intending to look out, but something shuddered through her, making her back away.
There was something outside, waiting for her. Something dangerous. Something deadly. Something cold.
Shivering violently, Lektra hurried to the other side of the room, away from the windows, away from whatever was out there.
As long as she stayed inside, she was safe. Whatever it was couldn't get in, couldn't harm her. As long as she stayed inside.
Wrapped in Black shields that prevented the rest of the Blood from detecting his presence, Daemon watched the town house across the street. Lady Lektra's town house. Easy enough to find the root of all the rumors once he'd known where to look…and if it hadn't been for the Warlord at the party last night, he never would have looked in her direction. He'd probably seen her at a party or some other public gathering, maybe had even danced with her, a transient partner in one of those country dances. But he didn't remember her. The face he'd pulled from the Warlord's mind meant nothing to him.
Lektra's friend, however, did have a connection to him. Or, at least, to his brother. How unfortunate for her.
Smiling, Daemon walked away. His prey wouldn't go anywhere. The spells he'd wrapped around the town house would make sure of that. Whenever Lektra or Roxie got near a window or door leading outside, they would feel certain something deadly waited for them beyond those doors and windows…