She blinked. “Wait. Why are they objecting to that?”
“They’re claiming that he’s the one who set up all this stuff about the Seer and got Charles to believe it through his Vampiric mind powers.”
“You’re fucking kidding me.”
“Nope. They’re going to demand blood debt.”
“Shit.” She ran her hands through her hair. “What do we do?”
“I’ll be here.” Jaden hung up his phone. “Akane’s on her way over. She knows what’s going on and she’s going to confirm that the hit on Charles was sanctioned.”
“This is just so fucked up,” Moira complained.
“Tell me about it.” Duncan took hold of them and began steering them toward the bathroom. “Showers all around. My darlings, we need to look our best.”
“We need to let Ian and Mrs. Pagett know. How many are coming, Duncan?”
“All of the clan currently in Nebraska.”
She stopped. “How many would that be?”
“About twenty.”
“Shit.”
Jaden began to drag her forward. “That’s maybe a tenth. The Malmayne clan is world-wide.”
Duncan grabbed their toothbrushes and handed them around. “The rest of the family will attend via satellite feed.”
She squealed when Jaden’s hand slapped her ass. “So let’s get moving. Nobody gets to see my mates in the buff except me.”
Moira rolled her eyes and brushed her teeth. This week just keeps getting better and better.
Duncan settled in behind his desk and stared at the twenty relatives lining the room. Of course Henri was there, fawning over the weeping daughters of Charles. Both Cecelia and Constance bore the Malmayne stamp of blonde hair and willowy figures, reminding him of his sister.
Duncan shuddered. One Kaitlynn had been bad enough.
Moira had made sure she was seated with Akane, off to one side and out of the line of fire. The dragoness seemed completely out of place with her Asian features, but her highly fashionable clothes declared her a force to be reckoned with, at least as far as the rest of the clan would be concerned. They still seemed confused as to the role she was going to play in this meeting. Duncan had every intention of enlightening them.
He rapped his knuckles on the desk. Even though the sound had been quiet the clan immediately quieted down except for the sniffling of the two women.
It was obvious Henri hoped to control this meeting. The man stepped forward, ready to confront him. There was a gleam in his eye that told Duncan he was enjoying what he thought he was about to do.
Duncan smiled. Henri was in for the shock of his pampered, pompous life. “We’re called here today to deal with the fact that The Hob called an inquiry into the doings of Clan Malmayne.” There was a hiss of indrawn breath, but far less shock than Duncan was comfortable with. “His Blades, after careful investigation, determined that Charles Malmayne was working with one or more agents of the Black to force the Dunne family into an unwanted alliance.”
“Unwanted by whom?” Constance asked. As the eldest daughter she stood the best chance of being chosen for an alliance marriage now that Kaitlynn was dead.
“Unwanted by the Dunne Charles hoped to force. Leo Dunne is in a truebond and unwilling to contemplate a second marriage. His bonded wife is also adamant that no other marriage will take place, thus insuring that it would be impossible and unwanted.” Duncan steepled his fingers and watched his clan members carefully. Some still seemed shocked, but the majority of them stared at him with blank faces. “The Malmayne-Dunne marriage contract has been fulfilled by myself.” He held up his hand when Henri tried to complain. “I will hear no more on Moira’s unsuitability. She is a Dunne child.” He said that deliberately, watching the reactions of his relatives. Jaden was listening in the security room, watching the reactions of those who were not on American soil. They planned on keeping each other informed through their bond. “The subject of my mating with Moira is hereby closed.”
“The bond is incomplete,” Cecelia piped up. “Therefore the contract has not been fulfilled.”
Duncan smiled. “Moira requested that the Vows be said with her family standing as witness. That has been arranged.” Something he’d seen to just after Jaden assassinated Charles for his crimes. Sean hadn’t been surprised in the least, and Aileen had been ecstatic. All that was left to do was be there, on the Dunne farm, ready to speak and seal their bond for eternity. “I assure you, our bond is complete. And that is the last time I will talk about my mating with Moira.”
“Then what about the rumors that you also mated with the vampire?”
Duncan kept his expression coolly amused, but he could tell that this was where things got tricky. The disdain most Seelie Sidhe held vampires in would work against him here. Moira was marginally acceptable to them; Jaden would not be. Not that he gave a flying fuck. “That would be correct.” The gasps of outrage were louder this time; never had a White Court Sidhe mated a vampire. “I have the great good pleasure of having been blessed with a tribond.”
Some of the Malmaynes moved restlessly at that, most of them with disapproving expressions.
“Isn’t Jaden the one who killed Charles?” Henri shook his head and tsk’d. “How exactly does that work? I understand Charles was going to challenge you for leadership of the Malmayne clan. How convenient for you that he was executed after your pet vampire accused him of collusion with the Black.”
“Are you saying that I have a Blade in my pocket, Henri?”
Henri threw his arms wide. “What Blade? I don’t see your…I’m sorry, Robin’s Blade here.”
Akane stood up, straightening out her Donna Karan skirt. “Did you want to speak to a Blade, Henri Malmayne?” Those odd eyes of hers, one so dark, the other so light, pinned Henri like a bug to a mat. The coldness radiating off the dragoness was intimidating. “That can be arranged.”
Duncan bowed his head toward Akane. “Allow me to present Dame Akane Russo, Knight of The Gray Court and Oberon’s Blade.”
“She’s a Blade?” one of the younger Malmaynes whispered. The respect and awe in the young woman’s voice had Duncan damn near smiling.
“Yes, Letitia, Akane is a Blade.” Duncan turned back to Henri, all amusement gone. “She was there when Charles’s powrie attacked the Dunne farm.”
“One of them was identified as having been in Charles’s house prior to the attack. Duncan confirmed that Charles was working with the Black through Charles’s own words. Files on Charles’s computer confirmed that he had, indeed, been in frequent contact with the lord of the redcaps and a known agent of the Dark Queen herself.” Akane spoke as if she’d been there and witnessed everything. Duncan was positive no one would question her. “Sentence was passed by Lord Malmayne and approved by Robin Goodfellow. The execution was carried out by my partner, Jaden Blackthorn.”
No one would dare question an order by the Hob. To do so invited his attention and not many people could handle that. Duncan thought about that for a second, and realized there was only one who could handle Robin’s undivided attention. Oberon held Robin’s loyalty in a way no one else could.
Akane tilted her head, the movement sinuous and somehow inhuman. “Any questions?”
“Who will pay for my father’s death?” Cecelia shouted despite her sister’s attempts to shush her. “That filthy, half-breed vampire dared lay his hands on a Malmayne! Glorianna will hear of this, and I guarantee you she will side with us.”
Oh, shit. There was the thorn in his side, the hidden pinch, that Charles’s children would seek blood debt through the Queen and Court. It was well known that Glorianna hated vampires with a passion. The only reason she hadn’t demanded that he turn Jaden over to her was the fact that Jaden had clearly aligned himself with the Gray Court, taking himself out of her jurisdiction. “Jaden is of the Gray and a Blade, Cecelia. He performed his duties as he was required to by both my decree and that of the Hob. Glorianna holds no sway over him.”