Roman wasn’t at home, but I knew where to find him. He was at the Seattle Vampire Nexus. My daughter was there, as well. I had never meant to sire another vampire, but Erin had been our friend, and she ended up collateral damage when Dredge hunted me down. He left her for me, nearly dead, and the only choices we had were either to let her die, or I could turn her. So I offered her the chance to become a vampire. I didn’t want to do it, but it was her choice, and I capitulated. And now she worked for Roman in the security division. She was good at her job and I was proud of her for integrating so seamlessly into the vampire community. It hadn’t been an easy road, but she had managed it.
I hustled through the doors and over to the receptionist’s desk. The building was actually a mansion that had belonged to Sassy Branson, a vampire who had been a friend of mine until her inner predator took over and I had to make good on a promise to destroy her. Doing so had been one of the hardest tasks I’d ever faced, and even now I hated thinking about it.
The secretary glanced up and immediately recognized me. I was consort to the Regent. It stood the vamps in the area good fortune to know who I was.
“Lord Roman is in his office. I’ll buzz ahead that you’re on the way in, Lady Menolly.”
I still wasn’t used to the “Lady” business, but that was okay. I swung around behind the desk and headed for the office. As I entered the room, once again, Roman’s sense of style overwhelmed me. He loved lavish. Opulent for him was over the top for me. Antique letter openers and original Monets and one-of-a-kind porcelain sculptures were scattered around like a cloud of beautiful clutter. When I was at his place, or in his office, I often felt like I was in the middle of a treasure chest filled with disparate but exquisite items. I wouldn’t call him a hoarder, but he was definitely on the road to starring in a bad reality TV show.
Roman, son of Blood Wyne, the Queen of the Vampire Nation, was behind his desk. His long brown hair hung in a neat ponytail, not a wisp out of place, and he was so old that his eyes were almost entirely white. He had a long, regal nose, and I knew from experience that beneath the black turtleneck and neat black trousers were a number of long scars—legacies of his life as a warrior prince from thousands of years back. Roman was an ancient vampire, and how he had managed to keep his inner predator in check eluded me. It was a rare feat for someone his age.
He had re-sired me to break another bond that was proving dangerous, and I felt the tug of allegiance pull on me. As I entered the room, shutting the door behind me, he rose and was at my side in a whisper of movement. He pulled me to him and lightly pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“My darling Menolly, I returned not an hour ago from visiting Mother. I’m so glad you decided to come welcome me home.” He glanced at the very large, ornate grandfather clock sitting in the corner. “But it’s so late. Shouldn’t you be home, just in case? What’s going on?” Every time he visited Blood Wyne, he came home sounding like Prince Charming.
I gave him a light peck on the cheek. “We have a problem. I need your help.”
He stepped back, glanced at my face, and shook his head. The pretense of graciousness dropped and the prince was gone. He was just Roman again. “What’s going on? What happened since I left?”
I started to explain, a rush of words forming on my lips, and then I just collapsed in one of the nearby chairs, leaning my elbows on my knees, staring at the floor. “We’re at war.” I mumbled the words, not wanting to hear myself say them aloud.
“What?” He sat beside me, not touching me, not offering any comfort or care. His voice was measured, but clear. His behavior was precisely what I needed. He knew me well enough by now to know that if he tried to comfort me, I might not be able to keep it together.
I paused to collect myself, then straightened my shoulders. “We’re at war. Telazhar has figured out how to get his army over here. So far, his incursions are on the smaller side, but we think it’s only a matter of time before he is able to send larger contingents, and then we’ll be screwed. Once he’s over here with his armies, he can work on breaking open the portals to the Sub-Realms so Shadow Wing can come through. We’ve been fighting nonstop every night for the past two weeks. The insurgents are growing in number each time.”
“So it has finally come to this.” Roman eased back in his seat, crossing his legs. He examined his nails, but I knew it wasn’t a stalling technique or a brush-off. When Roman thought things over, he often engaged in behavior that seemed dismissive, but it was just him allowing his brain time to process and plan. While he was thinking, I stood and headed for the door.
“I’m going to see Erin. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I paused, my hand on the doorknob. “Roman, I need you to align the vampires with the Supes. We need backup out there. I would have asked for it before you got back, but this . . . this is big. I must know if you’re behind us in this.” And with that, I slipped out the door. Giving Roman the space to plan would be a better use of my energy than sitting there wheedling. And I wasn’t the begging kind.