Hearts At Stake

chapter 9

Solange

Saturday evening, sunset

That night every single one of my brothers was in a foul mood. My parents were worse.

“We have some leads,” my father said tightly from where he stood by the fireplace. “Though not nearly as much as I’d like.”

My mom was wearing her leather vest, the one with all the hidden compartments. Not a good sign. She only wore it for serious hunting or ass-kicking.

“Your father and I have to follow them, as will Hyacinth and your uncles.” Aunt Hyacinth might have been off to track assassins, but she still looked stylish in her riding habit and jet cameo. Her only concession was a pair of pointy granny boots instead of silk dancing slippers. “Geoffrey is in his lab with the Hypnos sample. Ruby is . . . indisposed.” Which was a polite way of putting it. “Bruno will patrol with his men.” Mom looked at my brothers. “Every single one of you will stay here and look after your sister. Except for Sebastian, who’s already left on an errand.”

I gaped at her, horrified. “Mom, no.” My brothers were insufferable enough as it was. Six of them duty bound to follow me would make us all crazy. Lucy cringed sympathetically.

Mom glanced at me. “Solange, you have to take this seriously.”

“Mom, I do. You know I do. But you don’t have brothers, you don’t know.”

Logan contrived to look off ended. “We’re wonderful brothers.”

The others ignored me, nodding solemnly at our parents. I groaned. I was going to have to get Lucy to break all of their noses before the night was through. Good thing she’d had so much practice. It wasn’t that I was ungrateful or didn’t adore my brothers— it was just that Drake men were arrogant, unbending, and liberally laced with white-knight complexes, especially when it came to their baby sister. I watched my mom strap her scabbard on, the leather strap between her breasts, the sword at her shoulder. It made me feel small, frustrated, useless. I couldn’t even Google bounties or Helios-Ra because I’d find nothing but gaming Web sites and bad movie clips. I admit I had already Googled Kieran, but nothing came up.

I followed them to the basement stairs. They’d take the underground tunnels that connected all the farms, with exits in the forest and out near the town, as well as farther into the mountains.

“Maybe you shouldn’t go.” I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if they were hurt on my account. Dad put his hand on my shoulder. He wasn’t tall, but he had the solid, regal bearing of a medieval king.

“We’ll be fine,” he assured me, and I nearly believed him. I watched them go, feeling utterly wretched when I heard the heavy steel door clang shut. My brothers positioned themselves in a half circle around me, staring.

This was already a disaster.

“All right.” Lucy shouldered her way to my side and made a waving motion as if they were annoying flies. “Shoo!” She narrowed her eyes. “I said shoo.”

They dispersed, mostly startled into moving. Only Logan remained, leaning casually against the wall.

“Darling, I’m not some insect to be chased away.”

“Darling?” She snorted amiably. “You’re not ninety years old, either.”

He straightened. “I’m charming,” he informed her. “And women like endearments.”

“Women know you just can’t remember their names, but they like your pretty face enough not to care. Now give your sister some space before she short-circuits.”

He winked at her before sauntering away. She winked back. I knew they were trying to keep the mood light for my sake.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. You know how I love to boss your brothers around. Let’s go upstairs.”

I waited until we were safely ensconced in my room with the stereo playing loudly to cover our voices.

“How are we going to do this?” I asked. “I can’t believe Mom and Dad sicced them all on me.”

“It’s okay, we can totally do this.” She started to pace between my desk and the closet door. “We just have to keep them distracted somehow.” She paused. “Connor will be on his computer all night. Maybe we could ask him to track Kieran down online, keep him busy.”

“That’ll definitely work. And maybe you could try convincing the others to watch a movie or something? Make it sound like I’m sulking and just want to be left alone?”

She nodded. “Brilliant. I’ll be right back.”

She wasn’t gone long, and by the time she came back I could hear the sounds of some action movie on the television in the far family room. It was conveniently on the other side of the house from the sunroom, which had a door to the backyard.

“I made it really loud,” she informed me proudly. “Logan looked a little suspicious but he’s watching it. Connor’s online and Nicholas was up in his room, so I thought it was probably safest to leave him there. If he’s brooding, it could buy us some time.”

I shook my head. “No amount of brooding or distraction will keep him off our trail.”

She snorted. “As long as we act suspicious, he’ll follow us for a while without saying anything and think it’s his idea. Besides, it might be good to have a little vampire instinct on our side.”

“You’re kind of evil, you know that?” I grinned at her.

“I’ve been practicing,” she shot back with her own grin. “So are you ready to do this?”

I nodded, pulling on a black sweater so I’d blend into the shadows better. “You know this is definitely one of our dumber ideas?”

“Please, would you rather sit around here and worry?”

“Hell, no. Let’s go.”

“That’s what I thought.” She poked her head out the window. “I don’t think we can climb down from here.”

“Not without you falling on your head.” I pulled her away. “I’ve seen you in gym remember?”

“Hey, you don’t even go to my school.”

“In that class you had at the park, that time you tripped on your shoelace and took out a row of girls in pink shorts.”

“Oh.” She made a face. “Right.”

“We’ll use the back stairs and go through the sunroom.”

For some reason we had to stifle giggles as we crept down the stairs. I felt like I was in some bad silent movie. Lucy clutched my hand and we used the movie’s car chase to cover our movements. My brothers were still young enough that they shouldn’t be able to distinguish our heartbeats over that kind of volume, even if they thought they could.

The backyard was dark—we remembered to avoid the motion-sensor light. We stayed low, moved quickly.

“How do we know we can trust him?” Lucy worried, not sounding quite as confident and cavalier now that we were getting closer to the edge of the forest.

“I think we can.” I didn’t know why I thought that, I just did.

“Oh man, is it wrong that now I really hope Nicholas is following us?”

I shook my head mutely. I was kind of hoping the same thing. Vampire hearing would be an advantage right now. We crouched in a thicket and waited. My palms were damp. Lucy fidgeted anxiously. Even the crickets sounded sinister.

The crack of a twig underfoot had us clinging to each other.

“Solange? Lucy?”

Lucy popped up, scowling. “You scared the hell out of me.”

Kieran jerked back. “Likewise.”

I stood up much more slowly, wondering why I felt shy. This totally wasn’t the time. He looked at me for a long moment, then nodded. Lucy stared at him, then at me. If she said anything I was going to kill her. She pursed her lips but mercifully stayed silent, instead staring over his shoulder suspiciously.

“You don’t have to do that,” he told her. “I’m alone.”

“Forgive me if I don’t entirely trust your motives,” she shot back grimly. “You tried to kill my best friend.”

“I did not!” he exclaimed hotly. Lucy had the ability to make most guys revert to being ten years old. That should’ve been in their stupid field guide. “She wasn’t even out in the garden.”

“Technicality,” Lucy grumbled. “You came for the bounty.”

“Yeah. It’s my job.”

“You should get a new one. Your boss sucks.”

“Here’s your book,” I said quietly, handing him the guide before they started to pull each other’s hair.

“Thanks.” Neither of us said anything else. I was starting to hope Lucy would snap at him again, when he finally glanced away. “Why’d you want to meet?”

“You have to know we didn’t break the treaty.”

“Look, like I told your mental friend here, I don’t make the rules. I just graduated. And anyway, isn’t it all part of your coup? To be queen?”

“Is that what they’re telling you?”

“You don’t want to be queen?”

“No,” I said emphatically. “I don’t. Look, I’m the first girl born to the House of Drake. That’s all. It’s only a big deal because of people like you. I didn’t ask for this.”

“Then don’t let them turn you into a vampire.”

“Oh, sure, she’ll just die instead,” Lucy said waspishly. “Nice plan.”

He blinked at me. “You really would? That’s not a myth about the ancient families?”

“No, it’s not a myth. And I really don’t want my family being hunted because of me. Can’t you do anything?” I wasn’t sure why I was asking him for help; I only knew that we really had no other options. I had to do something and this was it. Problem was, he didn’t look entirely convinced. “If you really believe we should be hunted down, why don’t you just kill me now?” I took a step closer to him, opening my arms.

“Don’t be stupid.” He took a startled step back, as if I was the one covered in weapons.

“Why not? It’s what you do, isn’t it?”

“It’s not like that. Besides, you’re human. Mostly.”

“For now. Does that mean you’ll kill me after my birthday?”

“No! Maybe. I don’t know. I just want to find the one who killed my dad.”

“You were so convinced it was one of us.” I stepped even closer, could see the way his pupils dilated.

“Solange,” Lucy said nervously.

I didn’t look away from Kieran. “So go ahead.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Nicholas stalked out of the woods, fuming. I was half-surprised smoke wasn’t coming out of his ears. Kieran reached for one of the stakes on his belt.

“Don’t,” I said, stepping in front of him. “Please.”

“Solange, get inside,” Nicholas ordered through his teeth, forcibly lifting Lucy up off the ground and setting her out of his way when she tried to stop him. She clung to his arm like a monkey.

“We know what we’re doing,” she insisted, her feet dragging in the long grass. “Stop it, Nicholas.”

“We won’t bother you again,” I told Kieran, and for some reason my voice came out sounding sad. I turned away from him. “Nick, let’s go.”

I marched across the field knowing Nicholas would follow me, no matter how much he wanted to hang around to punch Kieran.

I didn’t look back to see what Kieran was doing.

Logan was in the back garden when we got back to the house.

“I knew something was up with you two,” he said, seething.

“They had a secret date with Kieran frigging Black,” Nicholas informed him stonily.

“Oh, it wasn’t like that,” Lucy retorted. “Give me a break.”

“What is wrong with you?” Logan’s mouth dropped open. I pushed past him to go inside and then wished I hadn’t. Quinn, Connor, Marcus, and Duncan were waiting in the sunroom, and each of them started yelling at once. Lucy winced, stepping up beside me.

“She’s fine,” she said. “She’s fine!” She yelled at the top of her lungs. My brothers paused. The sudden silence was broken by a bell ringing from the basement. Quinn and Connor took off at a run. By the time we stepped into the hall toward the kitchen, they were already leading someone up the steps.

“London,” I said in surprise. She was a distant cousin and we rarely saw her. She was slim and pale and looked just like her name, with black hair so sleek it always looked as if she’d been walking in the rain. There were silver studs in her ears, seventeen at last count, one in her nose, and another in her left eyebrow. She wore tight black clothing, as always. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

“You’ve been summoned.”

“Our parents aren’t here,” I said.

“I know,” she replied. “It’s not your parents who’ve been summoned, only you.”

“By who?”

“Madame Veronique.”

I stepped back. “I don’t want to go.”

“You can’t exactly refuse.”

“Why does she want to see me?” Veronique never saw any of us before the bloodchange. Ever.

“Why do you think?” London’s fangs were out, not because she was angry— she was always angry— but because she refused to be anything but what she was. She sneered at Lucy. It was a constant source of irritation that Lucy was mostly immune to her pheromones. “That has to stay here.” London didn’t approve of Lucy, never had. She thought mortals were too fragile for friendship, for the strength required to carry our secret. And she hated that she’d been every bit as mortal as Lucy before she was turned three years ago.

“As if I want to hang around you for a single second longer than absolutely necessary,” Lucy snapped. I knew she was lying; she’d been desperate to get a look at Veronique for years now. Under the bravado and temper she was disappointed. Her pulse must have sped up, because London smirked. Nicholas licked his lips.

Marcus whistled between his teeth. “Bad luck, Sol. Veronique’s terrifying.”

Lucy stomped on his foot. “You’re not helping.”

“Why’d she send you?” Quinn frowned at London. “You’re still one of Lady Natasha’s ladies-in-waiting, aren’t you?”

She nodded stiffly. Her divided loyalties were a sore spot with everyone. “I serve Veronique first, like everyone else in our family.”

“That doesn’t explain why she sent you.”

“Because Veronique isn’t the only one who’s summoned Solange. Lady Natasha has too. Once Veronique heard Solange was being called to the royal court, she wanted the first visit.”

“Crap.” My eyes widened. “Both of them? Tonight?”

“Solange can’t go now,” Nicholas said. “It isn’t safe.”

London quirked an eyebrow. “You know as well as I do that it isn’t a request. Just be grateful I was already in the area so Lady Nastasha didn’t need to send one of her Araksaka boys.” The Araksaka were feared. Every single one of them wore Lady Natasha’s royal tattoo on their faces. They were her private army and answered only to her. Ever. And they were utterly ruthless about it; not only killing but torturing as well.

“Hell,” Quinn muttered.

“Fine.” I wiped my hands off on my pants. “Let’s get this over with.”

London shook her head. “You are not going dressed like that.” I blinked down at my T-shirt and cargos, which only had one smear of dried clay on the cuff. “You’d be laughed out of the Hall. And Lady Natasha’d be insulted, having granted you a temporary reprieve from exile. Not to mention what Veronique would do.”

“Shouldn’t have exiled the Drakes in the first place,” Lucy muttered.

“She had to, because of the prophecy. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Give me a break.” Lucy visibly bristled at the disdain in London’s voice. “I probably know more about your own history than you do. The prophecy was recorded during the reign of Henry the Eighth, after he cut off Anne Boleyn’s head. Some old madwoman in Scotland went into a trance and babbled about a blood-born Drake woman ruling over the tribes, and when Solange was born you all freaked out about it, including Lady Natasha.” She looked proud of herself. “See? I totally get it. Although, I don’t get why she’s not Queen Natasha instead of Lady Natasha? Wouldn’t that make more sense?”

“She hasn’t had a coronation,” Logan explained. “She’s technically not queen, because we technically don’t have queens. We have autonomous tribes and civil wars and a love of tradition.”

“So what’s the big deal about Solange stealing her crown then? If it’s all semantics?”

“The tribes are letting Lady Natasha play queen because she used to be part of the Host and she knows their ways. And she claimed power back in the twenties, before any of us were even born and a Drake daughter wasn’t even an issue. Drake women were discouraged from court but not outright exiled until Solange was born.”

“She sounds like a piece of work.”

“She’s the first to have ties strong enough even to hope to rule. She’s kind of our best bet if we want to stop all the infighting and control the Hel-Blar. ”

“Until Solange,” Nicholas added grimly.

“Exactly.” Logan nodded. “Half the courts would defect to Solange if given the chance. Natasha might be our best bet, but she’s also a power-hungry cow and still totally obsessed with Montmartre. Everyone knows that.”

“I don’t want her stupid crown,” I muttered. I hated all this talk of prophecies and politics. As if I even wanted to be queen.

“Why didn’t she exile you too?” Lucy asked London.

“I’m not really a Drake.” London looked annoyed at having to answer the question.

“Are so.” I frowned at her. She just shrugged.

“It’s different for me. Anyway, you should be grateful for the exile. She could have just had Solange killed at birth, you know.”

“And make her a martyr?” Connor asked. “Or draw Veronique out and have to deal with her wrath? Or have it look as if she might not believe herself to be the rightful queen after all?”

“She is the rightful queen,” London insisted. She turned to me. “But you’re the only Drake daughter born, not made.”

“I know what I am, London.”

“Well, then. Start looking the part.”

“So now it’s a fashion show, too?” I grumbled, following London and Lucy to my room. London went straight to my closet, made a face.

“Solange, honestly.”

“What?”

“You can’t wear any of this.”

“She can wear something of mine,” Lucy suggested. “I have better taste.”

Lucy, notorious for overpacking, pulled a dress out of her bag. It was more like a silk slip with lace on the hem and loops of beaded fringe she’d sewn to the straps. It was the exact color of red wine.

“It’ll have to do,” London said grudgingly.

I changed quickly, nerves fluttering in my belly. Dressing up like I was going to a high school dance was making me even more anxious. I put on a pair of Chinese slippers and the silver bracelet Hyacinth had given me last year.

My brothers lined up in the foyer, each wearing his best clothes. Sebastian was even wearing a suit. Logan was the only one who hadn’t had to change. He was always stylish.

“You’re not all coming with us,” I said, pausing on the bottom step.

“Damn right we are,” Connor said.

“What about Lucy? You heard what Mom said.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said from behind me on the landing. “Don’t worry about me.”

I glared at my brothers mutinously. “We are not leaving her here alone.”

Nicholas pushed away from the wall. “I’m staying.”

“You don’t have to,” Lucy muttered.

“Good,” I said, ignoring her. My mouth was dry. “Let’s go.”