Night's Honor (Elder Races #7)(23)

Well, of course there was a catch.

It was an idyllic scene, with Vampyres. Or at least one courteous, yet quite autocratic Vampyre.

Tucking in her chin and wrapping her jacket close, she strolled down the beach and let the stress of the day melt away.

A shout came from some distance, and she turned to look behind her. A man stood at the top of the bluff. As she watched, he leaped down the stairs and raced toward her.

It was Raoul. When he came near, she said defensively, “Did I do something wrong? Diego said I could walk the beach.”

“Usually, you can, but not tonight.” Raoul’s voice was grim. “Get back to the house now. Run.”

Her heart kicked. Man, her adrenal system had been overworked for days now. Jogging along the sand while he kept pace beside her, she panted, “What’s wrong?”

“We’re getting company.”

He didn’t say anything else until they reached the attendants’ house. When she turned to ask him questions, he opened the door, put a hand to her back and propelled her inside.

She went without resisting. After experiencing his calm, unflappable behavior earlier, his attitude now seriously scared her.

The other attendants had gathered in the large living room, some sitting and others standing. It was the first time she had seen all eleven together. Everyone watched Raoul, expressions tense.

Without preamble, he said, “The council has broken off for the night. Melisande is coming to stay here until tomorrow evening, and Justine is coming with her.”

While Tess didn’t recognize either name, she watched a ripple of reaction pass through the others.

Diego said sharply, “Justine. She’s coming here?”

“Correct.” Raoul turned to Jordan. “Justine usually travels with two attendants, and Melisande will have a couple of bodyguards with her, which means you’ll be preparing food for at least five people.” He said to everyone else, “Only senior staff is allowed outside this house until they leave. Tess, the senior staff is Diego, Jordan and his assistant Peter, Angelica and her assistant Enrique, and myself.”

“I’ll get weapons,” Diego said.

Weapons? Tess tilted her head. For houseguests?

Another of the young men—Marc, she thought his name was—said, “I’ll help.”

“Hurry,” Raoul said.

The two raced out the door.

Raoul turned to Tess. “I know you don’t understand what’s going on, but you don’t have to understand to follow orders.”

“Someone dangerous is coming,” she said dryly. “I got that much.”

“Yes. Melisande is the Light Fae heir. She’s being accompanied by a very old Vampyre who sits on the Nightkind council. Be clear about this—Justine is an enemy. The only reason why Xavier would allow her on the property is because he wouldn’t have had any other choice.”

She gave him a jerky nod. “Got it.”

“The rest of you, go over the protocol with Tess.” He strode out, and Angelica, Jordan and two others followed him.

Slowly Tess eased out of her jacket while she eyed the others who were left. Aside from her, there were four young men. The door opened, and Marc came inside, carrying several handguns that he passed out to the others.

She raised her eyebrows. “You didn’t bring a handgun for me?”

He looked at her. “Do you know how to shoot?”

Her mouth tightened. “No, but I can learn fast when I have enough incentive.”

He shook his head. “Raoul didn’t say anything about arming an untried, unknown trainee who could be a danger to herself and others. If you’ve never fired a gun before, you’re not getting one from me. Besides, this is all just a precaution.”

She ground her teeth a moment before she replied, “It looks like a pretty serious precaution to me.”

“Of course it is. Justine has never been here before, and she’s dangerous, but trust me, Xavier is too. She’ll have two attendants, but we have twelve people, all of whom know how to handle themselves, except for you. Plus the Light Fae princess will be here, along with her attendants and bodyguards. It would be very foolish for Justine or any of her people to get violent. In fact, it would be tantamount to a public declaration of civil war. Frankly, the greatest risk is for her to try to mesmerize one of us and pump us for information.”

Tapping a foot, she thought through what Marc had said. He sounded intelligent and remarkably educated, and he’d certainly delivered a good, concise overview of the situation, but something didn’t add up.

If everyone—except her—knew how to handle themselves, why did they all have to stay hidden behind closed windows and doors? If they were using this as a rationale, shouldn’t she be the only one who needed to be cloistered?

But she didn’t want to question Marc too closely, or come across as too challenging. He wasn’t in charge and he hadn’t created the rules. He was only telling her what he was supposed to, and she didn’t want to start an argument on her first night.

“Fine,” she said. “Raoul said you guys would go over protocol with me.”

“It’s simple,” Marc told her. “It’s standard protocol for everyone to be armed when a hostile entity is on the property. When you’re trained and this comes up again, you’ll be armed too. Raoul said senior staff will handle this, so we stay in, lock up the house, and we don’t invite anybody in. No Vampyres, and no visiting humans. Nobody gets inside. We close all the window coverings, and we keep them shut—day and night—until we’re told we can open them again. Aside from that, we sit tight and relax.”