Over an hour later, I was luxuriating in a jacuzzi tub in a suite just down the hall from where Sebastian had taken over one of the casino’s penthouses for his stint in Vegas.And for a chaser had rented out the rest of the floor to accommodate all the family members who had come with him.And there were a lot of them, making it a bit crowded in here despite the expansive accommodations.
My home was also a bit crowded these days, but it was a lot quieter and more familiar, and I would have vastly preferred to be doing this there.But we couldn’t go back, not tonight.Not when nobody knew what was going on, whether the members of Rand who had gotten away would be showing up in force, or whether my mysterious assailants would try for a little revenge.
Well, assailant.The other two were dead, one having been a snack for the vamp, who had courteously accepted my thanks with his victim’s blood still ringing his mouth, and the other was missing a torso after my spell ate through most of it.But the leader had gotten away, and despite every vamp and Were in the place attempting to track him, he’d left no sign.
So, we were getting a staycation at Dante’s, at least for tonight.And by we, I meant everybody, including my little clan.Some of Sebastian’s people had been relocated to rooms on a lower floor to accommodate us, which would have led to more bickering, except that everybody was tiptoeing around him right now and being nice to me.
Verynice.It was honestly a bit creepy.But knowing Weres, it wouldn’t last, so I decided to enjoy it while I could.
Meanwhile, Sebastian’s ranting could be heard even this far away.I couldn’t make out distinct words from down the hall and through a number of intervening doors, but the general sentiment was clear.Thebardricwas… displeased.
The door to the bathroom opened, and Cyrus stuck his head in.“Are you decent?”
“No.”
“Good.”He came in and sat on the side of the tub, which was big enough for two.But when I offered to make room, he declined with a sigh.“I’ll be needed shortly.”
“How bad is it?”
Something heavy was thrown against a wall down the hall, and some glass shattered.Cyrus winced slightly.“Bad.He has to put on a show for the clan elders, who are literally about to come out of their skins—”
“And is that all this is?”Because yes, Weres liked to see some savagery from their leadership, especially in times of stress, but this had been going on for a while.The bill for damages was going to be a bitch.
“No.It’s… no.”He didn’t elaborate, and after one look at his grim expression, I didn’t ask.“I was only able to get away for a moment because we need everything you can tell us about that mage.”
“I already gave you that.”It was why I’d only started my bath a few minutes ago, despite being covered in blood, much of it mine.I’d had to be checked out by Arnou’s healer and then debriefed by Ulmer, who had done so while still in wolf form and with blood on his breath.And then I’d had to get everybody settled into their rooms before I had a moment to myself.
Or not, I thought, as the door opened again.
“You ask her yet?”Ulmer’s human head stuck around the frame.
“Get out!”Cyrus snarled and threw a towel at him.
It was a measure of how loyal Ulmer was to the two brothers that Cyrus could get away with that, not that it worked.
Ulmer pulled the towel off his face and tossed it aside.“’Cause thebardricwants to know—”
“I know what he wants!”
“Then ask her,” Ulmer said, coming in and filling the doorway.
Cyrus looked like a man who was about to chew on some old werewolf ass, until I grabbed another towel and his arm at the same time.“Leave it.”
“Damn it, you’ve been through enough tonight!And this old bastard already had a chance—”
“To ask like three things,” Ulmer growled.“And stop acting like a goddamned human who needs to protect the little woman.Your woman is fine—”
“She is not fine!”Cyrus snapped.“You saw—”
“Yeah, I saw her eat that moron Bleddyn for dinner and have dessert of a mage or two—”
“One,” I said, wrapping myself in the massive towel.Whatever else you could say about Dante’s, they didn’t stint on the linens.“A vamp got the other.”
“Yeah, and the third got away.And that’s the problem—”
“You aren’t finished yet,” Cyrus said to me angrily as I started to get out of the tub.
“The blood’s off,” I said, which was true—mostly.Some had dried, and I’d been trying a soak to loosen it so that it wouldn’t take any more hide when it finally came free.But so much for that.“And Ulmer isn’t going away, and Sebastian isn’t going to calm down until we give them what they want,” I added, which Cyrus already knew.
