“Agreed. Were I a Scion, I’d consider uniting with the others to force some sense into my brethren.” Nadir paused and continued. “My human staff knows to share everything pertinent with you if you need to contact me during daylight hours.” She paused again before saying, “I’ve been alive twice your lifetime and there have been worse moments. Moments where I knew there was no way to avoid bloodshed and death. This is not one of them. These Vampires have crossed so many lines they have done my work for me.”

  In other words, Nadir was going to end every single hope and dream of these lords even sooner thanks to their utter lack of control. Clive wasn’t sure he hoped Rowan got to the Vampires who threatened her people before the First did. Rowan would love the closure of ending them herself, but their leader would create punishments that would make the offending Vampires hurt for a very long time.

  “I must go. Rowan is calling,” Nadir said and disconnected.

  And after the ground the First had won by protecting Rowan the way he had after Carey had been killed, Clive was very worried his wife would never open herself up to her father again. And the First would deserve it because while he was not behind this recent communication, he’d allowed the interference to start with.

  Entirely preventable.

  Alice came in with several file folders and a cup of tea. “Paola would like a call from you on this matter. Warren sent along his assurance that where you fall on this issue, he is at your side. He’ll be in contact after sunset. I expect a lot of business will be happening right as half of you are waking up and the other half are going to daytime rest.”

  “Block my schedule off for ninety minutes at ten thirty. I’m about to see if I can entice my spouse to eat a meal with me. She won’t be going home so early though. Please arrange with the chef to create enough food for a dozen humans. I’ll take it over to her office with me.” His wife was food motivated during times of high stress, so it was a way to check in with her and be sure she was taking care of herself.

  His chef, a notoriously temperamental, very old Vampire who’d cooked for Clive’s grandfather, Malcolm, had taken a deep liking to Rowan. He loved cooking for her. Never missed an opportunity and often sent Clive home with different things he thought would please her.

  Rowan never understood why she inspired such devotion, but it was clear to Clive. She saw them. Those Vampires in service who put themselves into their work. She paused and appreciated it, complimented them on it, even in her gruff way. The Vampire elite might have negative feelings about the Hunter, but he rarely saw a situation where a cook or servant, an administrative assistant or whoever, didn’t leave an interaction with his wife without liking her even just a bit more than they had before they met her. Not all Vampires of course, some of them were dead after meeting her.

  * * *

  Rowan wanted to smile at the sight of Nadir’s face on the screen. A Vampire that old being so comfortable with modern technology wasn’t that common, but Nadir herself wasn’t that common.

  Which was good because Rowan wanted to see her face as they spoke. Wanted to get the full story she’d pick up. Clive insisted Nadir had no physical tells and Rowan didn’t bother to correct him. Nadir’s eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly when she was confused. Sometimes her right hand would twitch when she got very angry. And when she lied, there was sometimes the tiniest of lifts of her left shoulder.

  Clive had tells too. A slight tip of his head to the left. When he was being deceptive or evasive, he tapped his forefinger against his thumb. Exhausted by her nonsense, he pinched the bridge of his nose, but that wasn’t really a secret.

  Rowan got right to the point. “Hunter Corp. will not be issuing a public reply to this latest communication. It is beneath contempt. I am, however, calling you directly to register our response officially to the Nation. Wasting time is one thing. Putting an execution order out on Hunters violates the Treaty in three different ways. As with any other threat to the life or health of a Hunter by a Vampire, we will respond to protect our own. These Vampires have been put on our red list.” As in Hunters could consider killing any of these shitlords on sight as self-defense.

  Nadir opened her mouth and then shook her head. She tried again. “These self-titled lords are nothing. Bored Vampires sitting around saying the same things they have for millennia. Reacting to all the recent events that have cast the Nation in an unfavorable light. It’s not illegal to hate humans or Hunters.”

  Recent events that were their own damned fault.

  Rowan said after reminding herself not to let any of this be personal and failing, “You know I don’t give a raggedy fuck about second sons and their useless children sitting around in private clubs complaining in nasal tones about the cattle. Keeps them off the streets. That’s not what this is about and I’m far too impatient with Vampire games just now to play. Even with you, Nadir. These Vampires used official Nation channels to issue a death threat. Fix that or we will not attend the Joint Tribunal.”

  Nadir didn’t bother to hide her wince. “I am aware of the problem this creates between the Nation and Hunter Corp. and will rectify it.”

  “I’m watching closely and keeping very loose plans next week. And those Vampires who openly threatened Hunters have declared themselves enemies and will be dealt with. They’d better keep their heads down because we already know where two of them live. There’s a lot of hours between now and sunset. Who knows what could happen?”

  Nadir said, “Can you hold off on anything for twenty-four hours? It’s sunrise here, which means I’ll—and your father—be at rest until sunset in twelve hours.”

  The mention of Theo sent a flash of hurt through Rowan. This stunt weakened her politically. She had to act or risk losing the faith of those she was responsible for. And he hadn’t done a thing to stop it. He knew the personal toll the last six weeks had taken and he’d just let her take the hit. Without even a warning. At best he forgot, but it was more likely he got a kick out of messing with her. Not maliciously, but he was a narcissist, and his amusement would have been his focus, not her feelings.

  She couldn’t change him and expecting him to be something he simply was not created to be would never work. Worse, it would only end up with more pain.

  “This never should have happened. You and I both know it. That first response was a slap in the face. These dudes with visions of lord grandeur are suddenly up in business they do not have the experience to understand. They’ve inserted themselves into the process no one invited them to, and they were allowed to remain. In the forty-eight hours since, you could have ameliorated the damage. You did not.”

  Nadir opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. Rowan waited and ordered herself to rebuild her damned defenses or she was playing into the plans of her enemies.

  “Mistakes were made,” Nadir allowed. “Politics within the Nation are never as simple as they might seem, which is a fact you’re intimately familiar with. You are correct that they never should have been allowed to remain in the process. I made that call and now I will address it. I would not wish for this enmity between us. Not between the Nation and Hunter Corp. and not between you and me.”

  “I’ll give you twenty-four hours.” They’d need every last minute and they had no one to blame but themselves. “Unless they come for me or mine and that means all of Hunter Corp. In which case, they will be killed true.”

  Nadir inclined her chin slightly in acknowledgment and thanks. “I will take your offer of twenty-four hours with appreciation of the opportunity to repair this breach.”

  “I’ll speak with you again then.” She disconnected. It didn’t feel entirely safe to depend on anyone within the Nation, so she’d hold back with everyone but her spouse—who’d never allow such a thing anyway—and hope to be proven wrong.

  Then she spoke to David, “I need those dossiers. We run this hunt and unless the Nation handles it, these fuckers will die. Maybe even regardless. Special teams hold until we identify our targets. Loop Adaeze in. Her territory most likely contains at least one of these assholes.” Kano was the second-largest city in Nigeria and in Tahar’s territory. Chances were, more than one of the “lords” lived there. Adaeze had been a field Hunter for twenty years and had only recently taken on full-partner status within Hunter Corp. They needed to expand leadership roles so that a wider array of territories were represented. That was how Antony had been promoted. Russia was a gigantic territory and Ant knew it better than anyone else with his skill and experience. There were several others in the process at some level be it interviews or contract negotiation.

  Sometimes in the chaos of all the death and loss it was hard to remember that there were good things. Good people who wanted to help. Just months before Rowan’d been convinced she was going to have to leave Hunter Corp. behind and now she was at the helm, guiding it through the shallows, back out into safe waters. And that felt...right.

  A lot of the rest of her life was out of sync and full of violence and drama, but in this she had no doubts.

  What she wanted to do so much, so much her skin itched, was to call Theo and tell him off. Yell at him for putting her in such a position. Demand an apology for the way he just played with her like she was a doll, or a piece on a game board instead of the daughter he claimed to treasure so much.

  How many times in her life would she feel like little more than an object for someone else’s amusement? And how many more of those times would it be Theo who’d yet again done it?

  The darkened screen of her phone taunted her to slide her finger along it, wake it up, and tap the number of the phone in his sitting room. He’d be there, taking tea, slowing down. Sunrise wouldn’t affect him for at least a few more hours. Though he’d be stuck in his light-tight chambers until the sun fell so he’d have to sit in his fucked-up behavior until then.

  He’d set this in motion. If he’d let these shitlords have a personal audience so they could have whined at him and then fed them before sending them on their way none of this would be happening. He’d wanted her attention and instead of getting it like any normal being would, he only thought of himself. Displaying her at will to fit whatever grand play he had running in his imagination.

  It made her feel small. Invisible except for the mask she’d had to wear, one he’d designed. For long moments she was alone again, as she’d been before Clive. Before people who loved her and saw her. Understood her.

  She wanted to slap his face for making her feel this way again. Wanted to take him by the shoulders and shake him. Goddess, she wanted him to know what it felt like to be so utterly adrift with no one to help guide her to shore.

  But she couldn’t. Because though he was better than he’d been in months, Theo still walked too close to the edge of his sanity for her comfort. To call him and yell at him would feel good for the merest of breaths and then it would be horror. She couldn’t risk being the thing that pushed him over the edge into that dark, violent place that resulted in so much death and pain. He might harm those she cared about as retribution. Especially those who lived and worked in the Keep. He’d regret hurting them. After he regained his sanity once more. Maybe he’d apologize, but they’d still be maimed or dead. Or he’d lose his control in a place where their world would finally be exposed uncontrovertibly.

  It remained her responsibility to keep him in check for everyone’s sake. Even if it took pieces of her every time she had to put what she wanted or needed to the side. It seemed to be only her voice that was able to reach him when he began to wander. It seemed blasphemous to throw that away for a quick jolt of satisfaction for finally telling him just exactly what his sanity cost her.

  She wasn’t adrift anymore but if she hadn’t been for long years of her life, Rowan wouldn’t be who she was that day. She would always want to protect people and that was easier done when she accepted what was possible and let the fuck go of what never would be.

  * * *

  Clive sat straight in his chair as he focused on his bond with Rowan, not liking the anguish thrumming through it.

  Not danger or physical pain. But a throb, like a toothache.

  He quickly made arrangements to have the food delivered and set up at the Motherhouse and after a few words telling Alice where he was off to, he made his way to his wife, needing to see with his own eyes just what had upset her so.

  No one stopped him, though it was clear there was anxiety about his presence that felt more related to what the Nation had done than him personally. He didn’t much like even a small cooling of the friendliness he’d earned after a lot of time for the Hunter Corp. people to see—and trust—his intentions. He didn’t much like that it made a difference to him either. Before Rowan, he quite honestly wouldn’t have noticed one way or the other.

  Her door was closed but he knew she was inside. Knew she must have felt him approach the building. He tapped twice and upon a muffled come in, he opened and after one look at her expression, he stepped in quickly, closed the door at his back, and simply walked to her to draw her into a hug.

  “You’re here,” she said, her face pressed into his neck.

  “Of course I am. What’s wrong, love?” he asked.

  At that she began to cry, confusing him further. He wanted to fix it right then at that moment. He drew her to the couch and then settled her in his lap. She snuggled closer, burrowing herself against him. That she did so rather than resist his efforts was a victory and a heartbreak.

  He simply rubbed her back in wide, lazy circles, letting the tears rage through her.

  After a while, the storm of her emotion eased back. He handed her his handkerchief to dry her tears.

  She rolled her eyes and snorted and the grip on his heart lessened. “You always have handkerchiefs. It’s so perfect and gentlemanly.”

  “Shall I tell you a secret?” he asked before kissing her forehead.

  “I was going to make a rude crack. But I find myself very much wanting you to tell me a secret,” she said as she refolded the snowy white square.

  “I always wear one should you have need. It pleases me to know it’s in my pocket just in case.”

  She turned so she leaned back against the arm of the couch, lying across him, her ass still in his lap. Her face was tipped up, neck exposed with so much trust he’d never quite get over it.

  “It pleases you to take care of me,” she said, understanding him so well.

  “It pleases me to take care of you,” he agreed. “You, the partner I never thought to want because I had no idea any creature such as you could exist. That I should be so blessed by the universe that you are mine means it is my job to deserve you. If I’m to be getting husband credit here, note I also arranged for a late dinner to be set up in one of your conference rooms. Alice and David coordinated.”

  Tears sprang to her eyes. “You called me love. You came for me. You bring handkerchiefs just in case I need one. And we know how often someone had to scrub blood out of most of the ones you give me. And you feed me.” She sniffled and her bottom lip wobbled slightly.

  He cupped her cheek. “What’s wrong?”

  “I gave this speech earlier about remaining brutally impersonal when it came to dealing with the Nation over this threat situation. Partly to protect myself,” she said quickly, “but also because strategically it was best. And as I was talking to Nadir I just got so mad and sad and then really mad that I was sad. It was a whole thing and honestly I don’t have time for whole things, Clive!”

  He kissed her quickly.

  “And then after the call I just sat here thinking about it all and I wanted to call him and yell at him for creating this whole mess to start with. Destabilizing my leadership with my colleagues! Why? Because he’s a meddlesome old man who wants to fuck around when he isn’t getting as much attention as he thinks he’s entitled to.”

  Clive wasn’t surprised she’d hit that point. This was pure manipulation on her father’s part.

  “But I can’t,” she said, and her voice broke. “You know why I can’t say any of that. Why I need to get my shit back under control so I can absolutely be stern but utterly controlled when I deal with him. Because he’ll have to admit he was wrong, and he hates that, so my best bet is to let all his rage at being wrong fall on the heads of these Vampire lords. Otherwise he goes nuclear and I don’t want that either. As utterly fucked-up as it makes me, I don’t want him to hurt himself,” she whispered.

  He took a deep breath, thinking carefully on how to respond. Not to protect himself from the First, but to care for Rowan’s heart.

  “You’re right,” he said. “We both wish you did not have to bear such a weight on your shoulders. And we both know such wishes mean nothing when it comes to what is. What you are fated to be whether that is fair or not. I only know this is your gift and your curse. You hold him to the world because you are in it and at last he can be in your life once more. I cannot take this responsibility from you. But I will always help you bear it. And if that means a cry when you really just want to do violence, or a trip somewhere, an orgasm, anything I can do for you, darling Hunter, I will because you are mine.”

  “If the smell of garlic wasn’t making my stomach growl and there weren’t a bunch of people congregated around who’d hear you rutting upon me, I’d totally take you for a ride right now,” she teased. After a slow kiss she touched her forehead to his. “Thank you. For the food and the handkerchiefs and the way you must have rushed over here when you felt me through the bond.”

  “I love you,” he said simply.

  “David’s hovering out there,” she murmured, standing, and setting herself to rights.

  “He knows I’m here and we haven’t come out. He’s afraid we’re fighting or fucking,” Clive teased because she needed him to. “Let’s go eat.”