Blood Double (God Wars #1)(28)
*
"I know you had your hopes up, but there's little chance she has any Karathian blood. You know as well as I that our warlocks never visit Earth. It holds no appeal," Wylend accepted a glass of wine from a servant.
"I can't read her," Griffin shrugged. "But there's little chance she's anything other than a talented empath."
"It would have been so useful to have a Q'elindi in my court," Rylend murmured. "Still, I may borrow her from time to time; Teeg has already benefitted from her talent."
"Then do that. Borrow her. There's no need to support her in any way, after all. She's a new vampire and not allowed to take money for her services. A true Q'elindi always came at a great price."
*
"Boss?" Trajan stared at Ashe as Ashe studied his surroundings. "Why are we here?" Trajan continued.
"We have to put up a shield, but we have to make it so it's not apparent," Ashe murmured. "Nobody here can fold in and out, so that's a blessing. We'll have to do damage control, though, if anybody who can fold space tries to get onto the planet."
"You think Harifa Edus will be attacked." Trajan sighed as he studied the open field surrounding them. A forest lay in the distance, and Trajan knew it held deer and game in plenty, and was a favorite hunting ground on any full moon.
"I don't think, Traje. I know."
"Then we have to do it," Trajan nodded. "How close will they have to get before they know it's shielded?"
"Very close. This is delicate business, and I can't leave any evidence behind that I was here."
"Then let's get to it. How long will this take?"
"About ten days. At the least. I have to build this, layer by layer, and make it look like somebody else had a hand in building it."
"Subtle. I like it."
"Yeah. Me, too." Ashe flashed a wide grin in Trajan's direction. "It'll be worth it, too. Too bad I won't get to see their faces—if they have a face, that is, when it's discovered."
"Boss, I think you just scared holy heck out of me."
"I hope it scares holy heck out of the one or ones looking to destroy it."
"I guess we can't help the others, can we?"
"No. It's a punch in the gut, but this is the best we can do."
"Gotcha." Trajan hunched his shoulders and stared at the grass beneath his feet.
Chapter 7
Breanne's Journal
"Don't take it as an insult," Erland Morphis said as he dropped me off outside the Queen's suite. "It was only a guess on my part."
"Don't worry, I've dealt with worse disappointments," I informed him. "I know the intent behind his words."
"If you don't mind my asking, what was the intent?"
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"I've taken some blows in my life. I hope I can handle it."
"He didn't know. He has little knowledge and is afraid to show ignorance."
"I know that about him—I've known him all my life," Erland nodded. "He hates to show any weakness."
"Yeah. I expect you do know that," I nodded. "And we won't go into how that cost him the love of his life, or how Griffin's agreement with his father cost him his son."
"You saw all that, in such a short amount of time?" Erland blinked in astonishment.
"It's like speed-reading. Have you ever read a physical book, with pages?"
"Yes. I'm more than six thousand years old."
"True. Well, imagine that each person I see is a book, and that someone is flipping the pages—as fast as they can be flipped, so the book can be read. I can read that book faster than any pages can be flipped. It's a curse." I turned toward the Queen's door. "The Queen trusts you," I said, my back turned to Erland. "More than she trusts anyone. She knows you'll listen without passing judgment."
"How can you know that? You haven't met her."
"I've seen high resolution photographs of the Queen. Sometimes I can read those, just as easily as the real person. And I can read high definition images on a vid-screen or a comp-vid. It isn't hard. Goodnight, Lord Morphis."
"That's a little frightening, that talent you have, Breanne. Do you have a last name?"
"I don't have a true last name. My adopted name was Hayworth. I hated it."
"Then I'll stay with Breanne."
"Thank you."
"Good night, then."
"Good night, Lord Morphis."
*
Breanne's Journal
Cheedas caught me in the kitchen, filching blood substitute. I walked past him, my arms filled with bottles and refused to look at his face as he glared. He was vampire. I was vampire. It might be interesting to see if I might stuff him in the garbage chute before he could get away from me. I almost snickered as I stalked away from him.
My snicker cost me later, but it was worth it at the moment.
*
"Get up." I thought Gavin would toss me out of bed before I had time to open my eyes. I wanted to ask if his sire had treated him so badly. I didn't. I'd heard rumors that Aurelius was a sire's sire, and everyone trusted him. Surely he hadn't raised Gavin to be so cruel.