Nerissa caught my mood. She snickered. “Vanzir’s going to be a daddy. That just seems so bizarre to me that I can’t imagine what the hell their kid’s going to be like. Confused, for one thing. But . . .” She paused. “Camille will have to move a lot quicker than if she were going at Samhain, like originally planned.”
I winced. “I know, and one simply does not say no to one’s goddess.” I stared into the night, watching the houses flicker past. Some had lights, others were dark. Seattle was a city of late-night techies, yet it wasn’t that much of a party town after dark. It was a beautiful place, though, and my sisters and I had fully adopted it as our home. Now everything was shifting. With a pang, I realized this whole thing with Roman meant I wouldn’t be moving back to Otherworld. Which was precisely enough to make me long to do so.
As I pulled into the driveway and cut the motor, Nerissa turned to me.
“Well, here we are. I guess it’s time we go in and drop the bombshell on them.”
I laughed. “Well, I suppose there are worse things than hearing that your sister and her wife are about to become members of the nobility. Okay, let’s go deliver yet another buttload of news guaranteed to make their jaws drop.”
And so, we headed inside, dressed to kill and with news that would . . . probably not thrill.
Chapter 12
Our news went over like a lead balloon. But there had been so many lead balloons lately that this was just one more on the pile of sinking slag.
“You have got to be kidding.” Delilah looked horrified. “What guarantee do you have that Roman and his mother aren’t out to get rid of Nerissa from your life?”
Nerissa dropped into the nearest vacant chair. “Because I made him swear blood allegiance with me and that gives me the right to kill him if he tries.” She went on to explain—in a much more sanitized version—about them becoming blood-oath kin. I kept my mouth shut. She was doing a better job than I would have of making it sound like the necessary thing to do.
“Think about it,” she added. “The vampires will be on our side. The Supes and vamps united means a lot more force to counter the groups like the Earthborn Brethren and Freedom’s Angels. Divided, we are only so strong. But if we put up a united front, and if we work with the groups like the United Worlds Church, we can drive the hate groups out of town. I’m a great liaison between the vampire world and the Supe world, given that I’m married to a vampire, but being married to the Prince of Vampires? Together, Menolly and I will have so much power.”
“True. Being married to the son of the vampire queen would be a coup, even though you aren’t in line for the throne. Because you’re married to the woman who will be in line to become vampire queen.” Camille nodded thoughtfully. “It might work, at that. And, you have to admit, if you’re married to Roman, you’re a lot safer from the vampires who might be out to get Menolly. Wearing a crown invites assassination attempts from the outsiders, but if I know anything about vampire culture, once you’re both actually married to him, it should shut down the whining about Menolly being his consort.”
“Yeah.” Roz smirked. “They’ll be too damned afraid to bitch.”
“Point.” I edged my way onto the arm of the chair, draping an arm around Nerissa’s shoulders. “Vampires don’t work on a reward basis as much as other creatures. Fear and respect are much more effective than coaxing them to play nice.”
But all that didn’t matter. The fact was, we had agreed to do it, and I really didn’t have that much of a choice. Blood Wyne was the Queen. I was a vampire, even though I was half-Fae, and as long as I lived Earthside, I would have to listen to her if I expected to be part of the Vampire Nation. Being on the outside? Not the best option.
Smoky unexpectedly took my side. “She and Nerissa make valid points. Consider this: Camille, did you consult all of us before agreeing to take the throne of Dusk and Twilight?”
She shook her head. “True that. What the Moon Mother asks of me, I have to do, regardless of what anybody else thinks.”
“And Delilah, you are following the path set out for you by the Autumn Lord. Do we have a right to stop you from that?” Smoky turned his impassive gaze to Kitten, who gave him a tight shake of the head.
“I get your point. I get it. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.” She let out a long sigh. “I just . . . I don’t know why it bothers me. It’s not like I have a premonition and I really do like Roman. At first I thought he might be up to something, but he’s come through more than once. It’s just . . . so much is changing, so fast.” She sounded a little lost.
And then I knew. I knew why she was upset. “I know why it bothers you, Kitten. We’re all beginning to go our separate ways. Camille will be moving out to Talamh Lonrach Oll next month. Nerissa and I will be moving in with Roman. After all these years, we’ll be leading separate lives.”