Cool Hand Page 7

  Yelena had gone very still. “If you didn’t understand,” she said slowly, looking down, “I do not think it is binding. I release you.”

  That made me smile. I wasn’t the only one who could make grand gestures.

  I stepped in front of her and waited till her eyes rose to meet mine. They were gray, like slate in the rain. Wary, watchful. Not scared. That was something to keep in mind. Bian’s reputation intimidated people, but not this woman.

  “I don’t release you,” I said.

  She was keeping her face carefully blank, but she dropped her eyes again and nodded.

  “What would make you syndesmon?” I said.

  “Only the Domain of Carpathia can elect syndesmon.”

  The Domain. That meant all of them. A political issue right there I’d need to know about if I was to understand exactly what I’d just accepted into my House.

  Naryn had kept his silence, and I wondered what to make of that. It’d been him who stopped Bian. Did he see some advantage here?

  Bian wasn’t happy with his intervention.

  How to move this forward?

  I turned back so I was standing half in front of Yelena.

  “You say you didn’t use the Matlal toru,” Bian said, and the katana wove its hypnotic path lower again. “How could you avoid it?”

  “I said I hadn’t fed from the children. In Mexico, at the Matlal ranch where I was based in Sonora, there were no child toru. Those at Bow Creek were from his headquarters in Yucatán. For his use, and his lieutenants.”

  “But you fed from toru in Sonora?”

  “I did.”

  The words made the room feel colder. In truth, I wasn’t sure which made me feel worse, Basilikos for being monsters and feeding from the fear of their human Blood slaves, or a Carpathian spy who could go along with the practices to disguise her true origin.

  The briefings I’d had so far hadn’t progressed to telling me how Carpathians treated their human Blood donors. I wasn’t sure anyone in Altau knew anything beyond old tales. And old tales in Athanate terms meant really old.

  Yelena didn’t seem to think feeding from toru was so bad. As House Farrell, that upset me, but it was something I would have to explore later.

  “And here, in Denver?” Bian continued. “If you didn’t use the toru, how have you survived?”

  “None of the team at this apartment used the toru. We were the first to be here, in deep hiding. We had to make our own secret arrangements to begin. Then, once the rest arrived, there would have been too much traffic out to Bow Creek. We had small jobs that gave us chances with marai.” She paused. “With humans.”

  She’d slipped into using a Basilikos name for humans. Marai. It was the Athanate word for cattle which didn’t belong to anyone. I wondered if that showed how deep that Basilikos mindset had gone. I knew about working undercover from my time in Ops 4-10—the danger that the way you had to behave became the way you believed.

  “What about you specifically?” Bian wasn’t going to let her evade the question. “What did you do and where?”

  Bian waited. I felt Yelena look at me, but I didn’t offer support. I understood what Bian was doing—putting her under pressure, trying to catch Yelena in a lie.

  “I was…a dancer at a club called Platinum Eye, not far from here.”

  A dancer. Could mean anything.

  “That gives you money,” Bian said. “What about Blood? You couldn’t risk biting people in the club.”

  “No.” Yelena turned her head away. “Sometimes, men at the club wanted a date.”

  Bian just stared at her until she went on, her voice getting more accented and harsher with anger. “Yes, I worked as a whore. Is that what you want to hear? Men who were visiting Denver, men who had too much to drink. They took me to their hotels and paid me. They got what they wanted; I got what I needed. Was honest exchange. No killing.”

  “And afterwards, they remembered nothing about being bitten?”

  “Of course.”

  I tried to watch Nick as well. He didn’t look as if this was new to him, but that wasn’t the only thing I was looking for. He’d known the places to look. He understood the way hidden teams of Athanate would need to operate, what choices they’d have. The skinwalker was full of secrets.

  “So much for Blood,” Naryn said. “What about Rahaimon?”

  Yelena’s face was frozen, but her eyes grew even more angry. Still, she looked first at me. “He uses the Athanate word. You know it?”

  I did. Athanate fed from humans, not just their Blood, but also their emotions. That’s what Rahaimon meant. This was the big difference between Panethus and Basilikos. Panethus loved their kin and fed on that love returned. Basilikos despised humans and fed on fear and hate.

  That’s what I’d been told.

  Naryn seemed to be trying to get Yelena on the defensive. Whatever he expected, she wasn’t going to take a backwards step. She got progressively angrier as she spoke.

  “Yes. I fed. Lust and ecstasy are easy to cause, like fear and hate. And next you will ask me if I have fed on fear. You want me to lie? They are all frightened at the start. I cannot help that. I fed on it, as any Athanate would. Rahaimon does not make difference between love and fear. Even your kin are afraid sometimes. Tell me this is not true. Tell me you do not feed on it. You train Aspirants how to hold new kin on their first bite to stop them struggling in panic and tearing their flesh when your fangs are in the neck. You Panethus make such a virtue of your kin and their love for you. The truth is that it is easier to make your kin love you than fear you for a long time. Your great virtue is simple practicality.”

  Bian’s katana had returned to her side. Something in what Yelena had said, or the way she’d said it, had convinced Bian.

  Not Naryn.

  “It might seem so, from the outside,” he said. “Tell me, Carpathian, what way do you think humans would choose?”

  “What choice do kin have? You say you don’t compel, but you do. Not with telergy, not force, but with the promise of long life and pleasure and desire.”

  Yelena had moved forward until she stood shoulder to shoulder with me. I put out my arm to stop her. Any further forward and Bian might reevaluate where that katana should be.

  “What’s the difference?” Yelena said. “Why does one way make a monster and the other does not?”

  “Enough,” I murmured. I was surprised when she subsided and slipped back behind me.

  “Sorry, Mistress,” she whispered.

  A warm pulse of pleasure ran through me at her complete acceptance of my authority.

  When she’d come through that window, I’d sensed danger from her. Now, her presence behind me was comforting. My Athanate had overridden my normal caution.

  “Interesting philosophical questions,” Bian said. The edge had gone from her voice. Her katana, however, still had the same fine edge to it and it hadn’t gone away yet.

  “It isn’t philosophy,” I said. “For Emergence, there is only what will be acceptable and what will not. New truths.”

  Bian’s eyes flicked to mine.

  “Speaking of which, has Vylkove told the truth, Bian?” Naryn said.

  “I’m no Truth Sensor, but I don’t think she’s lied.”

  “She hasn’t,” I said.

  They looked at me skeptically.

  “I acknowledge your new member provisionally,” Naryn said. “We’re overdue for a long talk, House Farrell. Bian will bring you here. You better introduce your House to its new Matlal addition, then come to Haven and explain yourself.”

  Naryn’s gaze went past my shoulder. His face remained blank and he said something in Athanate.

  Yelena cleared her throat. “He’s asking for a gift. It was traditional for petitioners who came for sanctuary to bring some sign of their good intentions.”

  “You’re in my House now,” I said. “But I guess you were hoping for sanctuary when you came in. If you had something prepared you might as well tell
him.”

  I looked over my shoulder at her. She was very close. There was a frown marring her face.

  “I did, but…” she stopped.

  “What?” Bian said.

  Yelena’s eyes came up to mine. The dark had chased the gray out.

  “It’s okay,” I said.

  She leaned forward, her nose flaring. A chill spread across my chest.

  “Please,” she said. Her head tilted slightly, reaching.

  I managed to keep still. It wasn’t easy. I couldn’t be sure whether it was Were or Athanate that was so concerned at letting her near my unprotected neck, but my body tensed. I overruled it. Yelena was House.

  “No harm, Mistress,” she whispered. The tip of her nose touched my skin and she inhaled slowly. Without my willing it, my eukori reached out and touched hers.

  Eukori was always there. The part of an Athanate’s marque that I felt in my head was the edge of eukori. With my House, I’d touched deeper. The bonds between us had allowed our eukori to merge. And with Jen and Alex, there were no boundaries. It had been as if our eukori became one.

  Yelena’s eukori was open to me. She was like lazy smoke, swirling around. Strangely familiar.

  Then she rocked back on her heels, looking dizzy. Her eyes had become black river stone, dark as wells, glossy as sunlight on still water. What was she seeing? I sensed her fangs had manifested, but she kept her mouth closed.

  “What?” Bian said again.

  “It was difficult to be sure,” she said. She opened her mouth. Fangs glinted and disappeared. Maybe that was Carpathian custom, to show good intentions. A little shiver went down my spine. What on earth was this all about?

  She squeezed her eyes tight shut and then blinked and looked at Bian.

  “This is my sanctuary gift to you. I have heard the Assembly argued about the Athanate that infused my Mistress: forgotten Panethus hiding in jungles of South America; outcast Basilikos; lost Theokos. All wrong.”

  “They were rogue, wherever they’d come from,” I said.

  Her eyes stayed fixed on mine. “Hmm. That may be important, or not.”

  “So? What are you saying?” Bian was getting impatient.

  “That my Mistress was infused by an old, old House. A House lost to the world for two and a half thousand years. If I were still Carpathian, I would say welcome back. I would go down on bended knee and say welcome back House Chrysos, the Golden House, the lost House of Carpathia.”

  Chapter 10

  Mayhem, predictably.

  Bian hadn’t even heard of Chrysos, but a Carpathian spy in Denver was enough to worry her.

  Naryn had heard of them, but from what I could make out, what he’d heard lifted them into the realm of myth. He seemed unsure whether Yelena was telling the truth.

  The more they asked, the more Yelena clammed up. She wouldn’t answer in Athanate at all, and from her point of view, this was something she needed to discuss with me as her House first.

  I was in the awkward position of defending her until I knew what it all meant for us.

  Of course I had questions, too. Would the connection to House Chrysos affect my crusis mania? Did it explain why I’d become hybrid? Was there anything I could do that would help me get over crusis quickly and with more control?

  I’d ask them as soon as I could, but that wasn’t going to happen right now.

  Eventually, Naryn sent a message to Skylur and he told Bian to bring me in to see him. Now.

  Yelena was to be left with my House, not brought to Haven.

  Downstairs, I took Yelena’s arm as we left the building, Nick following us.

  Across the lot, Pia got out of the car, nervous at the sudden appearance of Yelena with me. Julie was already standing outside, hand with pistol hidden in her jacket pocket, and scanning the area. Jen was stuck inside the car, no doubt fuming, but Julie could be quite adamant about security protocols.

  I waved at them and stopped. This was unfair on the others, but I had no choice but to leave Yelena with them as their first introduction. Before I did that, though, there was stuff I wanted to get straight with Yelena. “Do you believe everything you said to Naryn about Panethus?”

  “Not exactly.” For the first time, she wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I apologize, Mistress. I allowed Diakon Naryn’s attitude to provoke me.”

  I snorted. “Works for me too. And tell me you aren’t two and a half thousand years old.”

  “No.” She understood my question immediately, which was a good sign. “All the scent marques of every major House are kept in the Library of Hutsul. We’re not allowed out into the world without being able to identify every one of them, including the ones everyone thinks are lost, like Chrysos.”

  “And you didn’t know until now?”

  “No. I felt something when we fought in the park, and later when we were chasing you. There is a feel to your marque, not like other Panethus or Basilikos. But I didn’t think anything more until we were standing so close.”

  “So I’m supposed to be House Chrysos?”

  She shook her head. “Not unless the Domain officially adopts you as Carpathian.” A hint of a smile twitched the corners of her mouth. “And although my…former House and association in Carpathia would welcome you, others would not.”

  “Okay. Well, good. I like being Farrell and I’ve got more than enough to handle at the moment. The rest will have to wait until later, when I get finished with Naryn.” I had a million questions to ask, not least of which was how do you ‘lose’ a House, but the Diakon had been quite specific. I go to see him now.

  I turned and poked a finger into Nick’s chest. “Are you her kin?”

  Yelena’s eyes darkened again. Nick pushed his hands deep into his pockets and hunched his shoulders.

  “I can’t provide the right Blood.”

  “Neither can Alex for me. Come on, Skinwalker, in or out? And what about Ursula?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  I laughed. “Tell me about it. What about House Farrell, or Pack Deauville if you want to think of it like that?”

  Nick’s eyes slipped focus and he was looking far away. “I spent my life hiding what I am because none of the other Were trust skinwalkers. It’s not easy. You’re…different, but you need to be sure as well.”

  That surprised me. As far as I was concerned a skinwalker was a kind of Were, and I’d been expecting the usual Were enthusiasm. Hell yeah, or something. High fives. Then again, there was something far more deliberate and thoughtful about Nick.

  “Aspirant then,” I said. “Ursula?”

  His eyes came back to me—beautiful brown, patterned like old walnut furniture, and as secretive as his eukori.

  “You really need to talk this through with Larimer.”

  “You’re telling me. So looking forward to it.” I sighed and turned back to walk to the car. “I’m going to have to leave you with Pia to explain how the House works while I go crawl to Naryn. But first rule, Yelena, is that I’m Amber, not Mistress.”

  “There are things I need to tell you…Amber.” She touched my arm.

  “Well, we’ll do it with the others. I don’t keep secrets from my House.”

  “It’s maybe not a good thing to do it too openly, too quick—”

  “I understand that. But I want to be open with the rest of the House.”

  She glanced quickly, nervously, over at Pia. Was she having as much trouble reading me as I was reading her? Was she genuine? A huge advantage for my little House? A curse? A gift horse?

  I squared up, right in front of her. “Listen to me, Dancing Girl. I’ve made my commitment to you, just the same as I have to every other member of my House: Athanate, Were, Adept and human. Don’t abuse that and nothing you’ve done or been should be a problem. I expect honesty, not just to me, but to everyone in the House. You’ll be judged on what you do from now on, not back whenever.”

  She nodded.

  “And that honesty will include the reason you stayed h
ere in Denver and decided to try and get adopted. If I believe what you say about that, I’ll start to really trust you.”

  She nodded again.

  Then she tilted her head back and offered me her throat.

  I’d laughed about Skylur and Felix both wanting me to do that for them. Now that it was offered to me, the shock of the gesture rang through my body. My Athanate had formed a bond with Yelena as I’d spoken that oath, but this seemed to cement it in place.

  It was too intense to handle now. I turned and pulled her with me to meet the gang.

  Pia’s eyes widened as she caught the Matlal marque. Julie, sensitive to Pia’s signals, suddenly had her Sig out, not quite pointed at Yelena, but ready.

  “Calm down, everyone,” I said. “I’m sorry to spring this on you, but it’s as much of a surprise to me as it is to you. This is Yelena Vylkove, the newest member of House Farrell, and formerly a Carpathian spy in Basilikos.”

  Yelena gave a little bow. “Greeting to House Farrell.” Her voice had gone husky.

  Pia recovered first. She stepped forward and spoke stiffly. “Pia Shirazi. Be welcome to House Farrell, Yelena Vylkove.”

  Not twice welcome. I wasn’t an expert, but as I gauged it, she was being minimally polite.

  It’s not all my fault, I wanted to say. I didn’t realize what oath I was using.

  But I had wanted to give her sanctuary, and I had realized there might be more of a problem here.

  When I was a sergeant in Ops 4-10, I’d been trained up to the point where I could rely on my instincts. Becoming an Athanate, then hybrid, then an Athanate House meant that my instincts were no longer safe. The trouble was, the Were side of me liked instinct, and as I’d shown a couple of times today, the Athanate side liked acquiring interesting members to my House.

  Yelena and Pia exchanged stiff Athanate neck kisses.

  Jen got out of the car, ignoring Julie’s glare.

  “Jennifer Kingslund, kin-Farrell.” She put her hands on Yelena’s upper arm. There was the tiniest hesitation as she leaned forward for the neck kiss, but whatever she saw seemed to decide her. “Twice welcome, Yelena.”

  They kissed necks, even though it wasn’t the official Athanate custom for kin.