“Arms dealing, espionage, but mostly assassinations. That last one bit him in the ass.” Sean glanced at me. “Turn the page for me?”
“Next image,” I said.
A new Draziri appeared on the screen, this one old, his skin sagging and wrinkled, his long feather-hair a dark crimson. A gold design was etched into his forehead, a stylized shape of a bird with four wings spread.
“An onizeri?” I murmured. “He killed a high priest?”
Sean nodded.
Wow.
“I thought their society was a theocracy,” Arland said.
“It is,” Sean told him. “The high priests are guarded so well, they’re almost impossible to kill. When contracts on them pop up, the price is always outrageous. Usually nobody takes the bait and if someone does, they don’t come back.”
“So, he’s a renegade,” Caldenia said.
I startled. She had been so quiet, I forgot she was there.
“I didn’t know Wilmos dealt in assassinations,” I said.
“He doesn’t,” Sean said. “He deals in mercenary talent. He doesn’t walk in the shadows, but he knows where to look. Kiran Mrak has made himself quite a name in certain circles.”
“How much money did he make from that kill?” Maud asked.
“Enough to buy a lot of expensive toys,” Sean said. “But I don’t think he did it for money.”
“He did it out of pride,” Caldenia said.
Sean nodded. “He’s the only one on record in the last two hundred years who managed to pull it off. The last assassin who succeeded before Kiran was named Rookar Mrak za Ezara za Krala-Kric.”
“A relative,” Caldenia said.
“Great-grandfather,” Sean said.
“So it’s a family tradition,” Arland said. “Once every couple of generations they kill a holy man just to dissuade anyone from thinking they’ve wavered in their commitment to crime, murder, and blasphemy.”
“Pretty much,” Sean said. “Some of the families have been with the flock for generations. They’re very good at what they do. What I killed out there tonight was hired muscle. There was only one member of the flock among them and he left me a reminder to take them seriously.”
“In short, we’ve been targeted by a Draziri crime syndicate specializing in murder and willing to assassinate their own priests.” This was just getting better and better.
Maud leaned back and laughed.
I looked at her.
“You don’t do anything halfway,” she said.
“Question.” Arland raised his index finger. “Is he excommunicated?”
“Apparently, the Draziri don’t excommunicate, they condemn,” Sean said. “There are only two ways a Draziri can get into heaven and receive his wings in the afterlife. One requires an exemplary life and a lot of financial contributions. The second requires—”
“Death of a Hiru,” the Hiru said quietly.
“Yes,” Sean said. “Kiran is officially condemned to hell where, according to the Draziri holy texts, he will fall into darkness for eternity while snakes of fire rip his body to pieces, feeding on his insides. Everyone within his flock is condemned with him. All his followers, their spouses, their children, everyone is going to a bottomless hell, unless the flock kills a Hiru. If they manage to murder one, every member of the flock, even those who already died in pursuit of the Hiru, will be elevated to heaven.”
“That is a twisted religion,” Arland said.
When a vampire thought your religion went too far, you definitely had problems. “So, he’s desperate.”
Sean nodded. “Desperate, skilled, and well supplied. His people are motivated. He’ll be a pain to kill.”
Great.
“There is a silver lining to all of this,” Maud said. “We don’t have to worry about a full-scale invasion.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because Flock Wraith wants to be the one to kill the Hiru. They’ll keep it quiet. Otherwise they risk losing their target to some other flock. They’re doing this on their own.”
Small comfort. I turned to the Hiru. “Do you have anything to add? Anything that could help us?”
“They will stop at nothing to kill me,” the Hiru said. “They will run through fire. There is no obstacle you can put in their way that will deter them.”
The room fell silent.
“I don’t deal in fire,” I said. “It’s difficult to control and the inn doesn’t like it. But I’m excellent at creating a void field.”
Sean stared at me.
Arland coughed. “A void field requires a high efficiency nuclear reactor.”
“Or an inn with a skilled innkeeper,” Maud told him.
“You can do that?” Sean asked me.
“I already did it,” I told him. “I put it in place as soon as you made it in.”
Arland opened his mouth and closed it without saying a word.
The void field was difficult to maintain, but the area I needed to cover was relatively small and the peace summit had provided the inn with enough power to keep it up for the next few days.
“The void field will stop organic, inorganic, or energy based projectiles,” I said. “It won’t hurt you, but it won’t let you pass through either. Please be aware that none of you can leave the inn grounds. I think we should call it a night. Sleep well. You are safe here.”
Maud hugged me and went on to bed. Arland nodded to me and went to his room. The Hiru left as well.
Caldenia rose from her seat and approached Sean. “Be a dear. Get me everything you can on Kiran Mrak and his employees. And I do mean everything.”
Sean nodded.
“Good night.”
“Good night, Your Grace.”
She went on her way. Orro had disappeared, too. It was just me and Sean now. He got up and walked toward me, stopping just a few inches away.
“You trapped me in the inn,” he said.
“It’s for your own safety.”
“Are you worried about my safety?” There was a hint of a smile hiding in the corners of his mouth.
My heart was speeding up. Too much happened tonight. I wasn’t scared—not exactly—but anxiety ate at me. I had to protect us from the Draziri, and retrieve the rest of the Archivarius, and keep all this a secret. I wanted to stop thinking about it just for a few hours.
Sean stood in front of me, so close that if I reached out, I would touch him. It would feel so good to touch him. It would feel even better to be in bed with him. He would hold me. I knew exactly how it would feel. It would feel safe, warm, and right. If he got in bed with me, I would forget all about the Draziri and the Hiru.
I met his gaze. There was a forest in his eyes, a deep, dark wood and on its edge a wolf waited, wondering if I would coax him out.
It would be so easy. One step, and I could run my hands up his chest to his shoulders. I would throw my arms around him and kiss him, and he would come with me.
Did I want Sean because I wanted him or did I want him because I was scared and exhausted and wanted to feel safe? I couldn’t tell. I wasn’t sure. I needed to be sure.
I was an innkeeper. I always had it together. Saving Maud really got to me. Now wasn’t the time to come unglued. Sean deserved better. I deserved better.
“Good night, Sean.”
The wolf melted back into the woods. “It might have been,” Sean said.
CHAPTER 7
I stood in my kitchen and drank my first cup of coffee. There was nothing quite like that first cup of coffee. For some reason, it always tasted extra delicious.
Morning light streamed through the windows. No clouds dotted the clear sky. It was going to be a beautiful warm day, one of those wonderful days in Texas when nature forgot it was winter and pretended it was May instead.
I had already done my chores for the morning. I checked the perimeter. The Draziri had tried to punch a hole in my force field during the night, but got nowhere. Then I checked on Sean. He was up but still in his room and I didn’t want to intrude. I was a little abrupt last night and I didn’t know how to get around it, so I avoided him and instead went to spring poor Wing out of lock up.