“My name is Dakota Frost, but I doubt I’m on the guest list,” I told the maitre d’, tucking my gloves into my helmet. “I’m just here to see Lord Transomnia.”
The Stone Rose Sanctuary was plantation-style rather than Victorian, new rather than old; but everything else was as I expected. A valet did indeed whisk my Vespa and Bud’s Volvo away, a doorman opened a door onto a plush red foyer, where a black-garbed maitre d’ ushered Bud off to join his party before returning his attention to me. He stared at me, not really seeming to comprehend. Apparently I wasn’t dressed fancy enough to overcome the language barrier.
“Lord… Transomnia?” the thin, hawkish man asked. His face was lined, and he had a long shag of graying hair, almost a mullet; but his eyebrows were dark and his eyes sharp, making him look far younger. “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that name.”
“Really?” I said, hopes falling. But this place had been here for at least six months, back when Transomnia had been trying to hide from Valentine by playing junior wharf rat at the Oakdale Clan. At least one of his people had been here. “What about the Lady Nyissa?”
At her name, the maitre d’ rankled. Jackpot. “The proprietor of the Sanctuary,” he said crisply, “prefers her privacy. The Stone Rose Cafe has a policy not to mention her, or her associates, by name. If you are a client of the club, however-”
“As I said, I’m not a diner or a client,” I said, glancing around the foyer. “I’m here on personal business with one of the associates of the proprietor of the Sanctuary.”
The front door opened, and a charming older couple walked in, a cheerful, vaguely Asian man and an older woman with hair strikingly dyed half black, half blond. She smiled at me, then murmured to her companion, and a gold nose ring sparkled as she turned her head. Interesting.
“ Please, ” the maitre d’ said quietly. “Are you a friend of the proprietor?”
“No, I’m her worst enemy,” I said, and the headache I’d been nursing suddenly got a little worse-probably the effect of the Sanctuary Stone. Interesting. “Well, technically, the worst enemy of her master, the Lord, uh, ‘T’. I called ahead. They should be expecting me.”
The maitre d’ stared at me, then the new couple. He raised his hand to them for a moment’s grace, then leaned forward to me. “Ma’am,” he whispered, “the proprietor and her associates are not… disposed… at this time-”
“I understand they may not be up yet,” I said, smiling. Messing with this guy was turning out to be quite fun. “I can wait in the throne room like last time.”
“Theme rooms are reserved for clients,” the maitre d’ said, his confusion and reluctance shifting into stern suspicion. “If you would like to reserve one on an ad hoc basis-”
“Excuse me,” said a dark-suited man, stepping out of a side room to catch the maitre d’ by the elbow. “The Lady informs me we have another, um, trespassing situation, like we did a couple of weeks back, so the guards will need to-”
“Hi,” I said, waving my fingers at him cheerfully.
The dark-suited man looked up at me briefly and did a double-take. “Holy sh-” he said, hand going to his breast pocket, then freezing there as he caught sight of the couple behind me. His eyes flickered between me and the couple. He made a strangled noise.
“Dakota Frost,” I said, even more cheerfully. “We met in the van last week?”
“What-yeah,” he said, relaxing slightly, hand still inside his jacket. “Uh… yeah.”
“I can wait in the throne room until you guys figure out how to fit me into your schedule.”
“Uh… yeah,” he said. He couldn’t take his eyes off my tattoos. “Let’s do that.”
“Should I put up my hands?” I asked.
His eyes flickered again to the couple. “No, but… put the gloves and helmet back on.”
“Uh, sure,” I said. “I guess I am more dangerous naked.”
I wished I had a picture of the maitre d’s mortified look as the older couple laughed. I smiled at them, popped my gloves back on, then the helmet.
“I hope you guys enjoy your meal this evening,” I said.
“Oh, we’re not here for dinner,” the woman said, smiling. “We’re here for the club.”
And with that last word, it hit me. That was how vampires made their money: prostitution. Vampires were dark, edgy and attractive, and their bite was damn near orgasmic. That vampires traded in sex didn’t surprise me, but there was more to it than that: there was the club, the clients,-and despite their trash talk, Transomnia’s band of vamps had done little more than scare me. After the initial assault, they hadn’t done me physical harm.
The reactions of the guards seemed to confirm my perception of their reluctance. In a side room, three surrounded me while the first man searched me thoroughly, but not a one of them drew a gun. That was encouraging. That they were all packing, not so much.
“Damn, she’s taller than she looked in the video,” one of the new guards said.
“And throws a hell of a punch, too,” said another, bearded guard, glaring at me-and I recognized him as the tough bruiser who’d attacked me first on my last trip to Blood Rock. He looked considerably different cleaned up and in a suit. “For a girl, that is.”
The new guard chuckled, and I glared. “Would you like a demonstration?”
“Settle down,” the first guard said, as he finished patting me down.
“I told you, I’m not armed,” I said. “Not so much as a toothpick.”
“We’ll see about that,” he said, pulling out an airport-style scanning wand. It made a wzzowing noise as he ran it over my jacket, and he pulled my cell phone out of my pocket.
“Do not turn that on,” I said. “I’m on the run. The police can track you with that.”
His mouth quirked up. “You really think they’re tracking you?”
“Certain,” I said. “My source in the DEI called to warn me.”
“ You have a source in the DEI?” he said, laughing.
“Ex-boyfriend,” I said.
His face hardened. “Ah,” he said. “Good contact to have.”
The bearded guard cleared his throat. “This is nuts,” he said. “We should just-”
“We should just what?” the first guard said sharply.
“Eat right, and practice clean living,” I said.
“Unbelievable,” the first guard said, motioning with his hand.
I kept the same smile plastered on my face that I’d had since walking in the door. They had kicked the shit out of me earlier. But I was here to ask for help, so I sat on my anger.
They led me down a winding stairway, then down a well-appointed corridor with many doors on each side. And then I was back in the throne room I’d seen before: dark curtains, elegant couches, the same metal chair in a lowered area of flagstones, and the same steps rising to a medieval style throne… and behind it, the Sanctuary Stone-wailing.
This was magic I understood: a single resonator inscribed with graphomantic runes, charged up by the intersection of three ley lines, and activated by blood magic. The great disc of stone was humming, glowing red, brightening visibly as I approached. The guards clearly could see it-the first one actually looked shocked-but clearly only I had trouble looking at it. I wondered if this is what vampires felt looking at crosses.
And then I realized the Stone did work on the same principle as crosses and vampires: it was feeding my own hostility back to me. But I didn’t need to be hostile to Transomnia, didn’t want to be hostile to him. I was coming to him for a favor, but after all he and his had done, it was hard to let go of the anger.
How had Saffron defused that cross, with something like a breathing exercise? What had Darren and Rory said about breathing? The bridge between your conscious and unconscious? I drew in a breath, let it out. Let it go. The Stone began to calm. I felt for the thread of anger, released it. The throbbing glow faded; the sound receded, as did my headache.
“That’s better, now,” I said, stepping forward to stand before the throne.
“Holy living fuck,” the bearded guard said. “Did she just turn off our early warning system by breathing? ”
“Something like that,” I said, smiling. I was forcing the smile, but I held onto it, forced myself to try to believe it. They still looked wary, so to head them off before they decided to club me or something, I said, “Relax. It only works if I mean you no harm.”
Now that I could think, I glanced around: rich curtains, muted lighting, and comfortable chaise lounges, each with a view of the pit where I stood. The chamber shifted in my eyes from the throne room of a citadel of vampires to a performance space in a well-appointed private dungeon. Of course, I knew that in Saffron’s case, those were one and the same.
All this wasn’t the work of Transomnia. It couldn’t have been; it was being built while he was ostensibly the thrall of Mirabilus, and playing flunky of Calaphase. That meant that, like the maitre d’ had implied, technically, this was Nyissa’s pad.
Transomnia wasn’t setting up a criminal empire in the backwoods of Georgia. He was laying low from the police at Nyissa’s bondage-and-discipline bed-and-breakfast.
“Weren’t you just here?” a female voice purred. “Didn’t you pledge not to come back?”
I turned, and as expected, saw Nyissa, the deliciously pale, green-eyed, purple haired vampire who had threatened me before, leaning against the throne, twirling the metal poker she carried as if it was a riding crop. Can you say DOM-in-a-trix? “I had no-one else to turn to.”
“ You need our help?” came a male voice. The goateed vampire I had seen last time now stepped out from behind the other side of the throne. He didn’t quite fit the B amp;D B amp;B theme, but then he might be one of Transomnia’s imports rather than Nyissa’s co-dom. “Really?”
“Not precisely,” I said. “I need to speak to Arcturus, my old master. So I’m here to beg permission to return to Blood Rock.”
“Here to beg? Wonderful,” Transomnia said just behind me. I flinched as he stepped around me and climbed the steps to the throne, where the Stone was glowing again. “Absolutely wonderful. Please, have a seat in the chair. But where’s your suit, Dakota Frost?”
“She did look good in it,” Nyissa purred, glancing curiously at the Stone.
“My… suit?” I said, calming my breath. Then I remembered the awful getup they’d stuck me in when they’d first brought me here. I started to hit back with a smart remark, then realized the truth was even better. “Probably burned to a crisp when my car exploded.”
And then I pulled off my helmet. The vampires and thralls immediately snarled, and one of the guards reached for me. “Oh, relax, everybody,” I said, setting the helmet on the floor beside me. “I can’t hear in that thing. You don’t like it, shoot me. I’m not here to fight.”
“Such insolence,” the goateed vamp said. “We do not permit that here-”
“And yet she speaks the truth,” Nyissa said, surprised, seemingly at herself. “I don’t think she could even stand before the Stone if she meant us harm.”
“Whether she means us harm or not, she cannot speak to us this way.”
“Enough,” Transomnia said firmly. “Everyone, shut up, unless I owe you my life.”
All the other vamps and thralls froze, uncertain, and Transomnia said, even more firmly, “That means, everyone except Dakota Frost. Please, sit down. How did you find us?”
“Google Maps,” I said, sitting. There were choked laughs, and I shook my head. “You were threatened by my visit-and you had the Stone. That meant you were close to the center of Blood Rock. This room, on the other hand, is large, and underground, and perhaps new. Most of Blood Rock is small, single-storied, and falling apart. Really, it wasn’t that hard.”
“Do the police know?” he said.
“I didn’t tell them where you are,” I said, raising my hand. “But you made me late for a court appointment, and the judge made me make a statement to the police.”
“Damnit,” Transomnia hissed. “Frost, we had a deal-”
“They know what happened to me,” I said, raising my hand, “but not what I deduced from it. If they haven’t found you already, they’re probably not looking. Tracking down the crazy story of a murder suspect is probably the last thing on the police’s agenda.”
“A murder suspect?” Transomnia said. “ You? ”
“Valentine,” I said.
“Valentine!” Nyissa hissed. “How could they accuse you of murdering that sick fuck?”
“No good deed goes unpunished,” Transomnia said, frowning. “There is no way they could know what really happened in that room. I took the security tapes.”
“Of course you did. So it’s my word against a dead man,” I said, rubbing my forehead. “A national hero-look, could you please turn that off? It’s giving me a headache.”
“Turn… off?” Transomnia said, baffled-then he looked back at the Stone, which was humming and glowing again. “But if you do not mean us harm, then why-”
“If you think I’m not pissed off at being charged for murder, you don’t know me.”
Transomnia laughed. “I don’t think I know you,” he said, “but do it.”
“My Lord,” Nyissa said, protesting.
“Oh, come on, unbanish me already. The spell takes, like, a minute. You can always rebanish me later,” I said. Nyissa glanced at Transomnia, who nodded. Then she tromped up the stairs and began waving her hand over the Stone. Almost immediately, my head felt better. “If you please,” I said, “I need to mention some names you’ve asked me not to.”
Transomnia’s eyes gleamed red. “Go on,” he said.
“Calaphase is dead,” I said, and Transomnia’s mouth quirked up into a smile, then faded into a frown. “Murdered by magic graffiti, along with Revenance and one or maybe two more vampires of the Oakdale Clan. The Gentry has reported-oh, heck, I’ve lost count… ”
Transomnia’s face grew carefully neutral as I continued. Nyissa finished her spell and the Stone faded into quiet silence, and yet still I kept going through the list of attacks. Nyissa herself pretended to scowl as she descended the steps towards me, but I could see she was spooked.
“The werehouse itself was destroyed by magic graffiti, as was the Candlestick Apartment complex,” I said, racking my brain for any other incidents. “Oh, that last one was part of an attack on me personally, the second in as many days-”
“And yet none of this has touched the House Beyond Sleep, or any of the other clans or houses outside the Perimeter,” Transomnia said thoughtfully. “Why have you brought all this to my doorstep, Dakota Frost? To spread the curse to us?”
“ No, ” I said. “Look, my friends are dying. I’ve got to stop this, but I have no leads. The police know nothing. Despite weeks of hunting, I’ve learned next to nothing. I need to speak to someone who has real hidden knowledge. I need to speak to Arcturus.”
“And I’ve forbidden you to come to Blood Rock,” Transomnia said slowly, “so you came to me… to ask for safe passage?”
“For permission, like a good little girl,” Nyissa laughed, sitting down on the chair arm so her thigh closed the cuff on my wrist with a sudden clank. “How delightfully obsequious.”
“Unbelievable,” Transomnia said, as Nyissa stretched her poker out and closed the cuff over my other wrist. “You could have tried to sneak past us, ran straight to Arcturus-”
“Oh, that worked so well last time,” I said, clanking my wrists experimentally. The cuffs were not locked-but then she glared, and I sat still. “Your little stunt nearly cost me my child. ”
“What?” Transomnia asked sharply. “You don’t mean… Stray?”
“No-yes, oh, never mind, I’ll explain later,” I said. “The point is, you’re being used. Zinaga, Arcturus’ current apprentice, wants him to herself. So she ratted me to you, you made me miss my appointment with him, and that got me on Arcturus’ shit list-”
“Back up. Ratted you out… to us? ” Transomnia said, raising an eyebrow-then raising his eyes to Nyissa, who shifted on the arm of the chair. “And again, you did not think to tell me your contact with the skindancers was the master’s current apprentice?”
“When you sent me here, you ordered me to establish relationships with the locals,” Nyissa said. “And we have both survived by keeping our associates compartmentalized.”
“True enough. So, Dakota Frost,” Transomnia said, eyes returning to me, “what can you offer me in exchange for permission to visit your old master?”
“I didn’t come here just to ask for permission,” I said, and confusion spread among the vampires. “I want a favor too-and I can’t offer you anything worth what I’m asking.”
Transomnia scowled, and his eyes glowed red. “What favor? Out with it.”
“Return the Sanctuary Stone,” I said, “and make peace with the tattooed in Blood Rock.”
Deal with the Devil
Transomnia sat there stunned for a moment. “You want me to what? ”
“Rescind the ban on skindancers and their ink in Blood Rock,” I said, watching his eyes glow brighter and his lip curl into a snarl. “And return the Sanctuary Stone-”
“What? No. No!” Nyissa said. “The Stone is mine. ”
“Return it to the Stonegrinders,” I repeated, “and let Arcturus know I’m behind it.”
I flinched back as the other vampires snarled at me and Transomnia just glared. It was easier not to look him in the eyes. He was a vampire, after all. It wasn’t safe to look in his eyes. It was easier to look away, to admit that I feared his gaze, that he had me cowed, damn it.
So I looked up and held his gaze, and immediately his eyes blazed. I started to flinch as I felt his aura expanding, challenging my shields; but that’s as far as it went: my hackles didn’t rise; my knuckles didn’t tingle. Apparently the scary vampire mojo could go off like a reflex.
“I’m sorry, Dakota, I didn’t quite catch that,” Transomnia said, fangs fully visible. “It sounded like you just asked me to roll over before a magician of the brand that enslaved me, and open my gates to his legions. Perhaps I misheard you. Care to run it by me again?”
“All right,” I said. “Arcturus is deadly serious about his shit list. I’m in Coventry or something, which basically means I’m exiled until he feels he’s pissed on me enough. Even with your permission, I need to get back into his good graces, or he’ll just turn me away.”
Transomnia stared at me, then laughed. “And so he will turn you away.”
“With our permission, of course,” Nyissa said, sweetly with an edge of venom.
“ Zinaga will turn me away,” I said, uncomfortable with her so close, “and then promptly rat me out. If she finds out you’ve given your permission, she’ll just turn to Steyn, and I’ll be lucky if he just arrests me. Steyn’s more of a piece of work than you guys are. I need to bring the both of them something which will make them take me back into their good graces.”
“I will not return the Sanctuary Stone,” Nyissa growled in my ear, and I leaned away from her, best I could in the chair. “This is the Stone’s home. I built this place for it.
“I thought… the Stonegrinder’s Grove was its home,” I said, still leaning away.
“The Grove!” Nyissa said, leaning back in disgust. “It’s three miles from the Rock! It barely works there! I didn’t design it for that distance! I only gave it to them for safekeeping.”
“But clearly, Dakota didn’t know that, because the Stonegrinders did not tell her,” Transomnia said. “Remember the trouble we had retrieving it from the Grove.”
“Rescuing it, you mean,” Nyissa hissed. “Treated my work like their birthright -”
“I’m sorry!” I said, trying to raise my hands, only to have them clank against the cuffs. “I wouldn’t have asked had I known it was yours. My request for a treaty still stands, though.”
The vampires were silent for a minute, and then Gregor laughed. “Very well,” he said. “What does that sound like, my Lord? A four-pint request?”
“No,” Nyissa said. Gregor was amused, but she was still angry. “No amount of blood, no matter how sweet, is worth shifting the balance of power.”
“And yet we must consider the suggestion, once heard,” Transomnia said.
“Why?” Gregor said, followed a half second later by, “… my Lord?”
“This is a vampire court,” Transomnia said, steepling his fingers. “There are protocols to be observed when supplicants petition us. All right, Dakota Frost. You had to know we wouldn’t take this well. I assume you had a good reason for asking. Let’s hear your argument.”
“People are dying,” I said. “ Vampires are dying-”
“Yes, yes, and you’re the only one who is fighting it, or can stop it?” Nyissa said, and I looked sidelong at her. “You bring us this ridiculous story of remote attacks on other vampires by graffiti, of all things, and then ask us to turn our backs on the real threat right here.”
“And yet, we had heard of the disturbing attacks on other vampires,” Transomnia said pleasantly. “Now why is it, Nyissa, that when you argue with her I feel like taking her side-her my worst enemy, and you my most loyal servant?”
While she froze, I leapt in. “No, my master is the last best hope to stop it. He’s a real old-school magician with hidden knowledge, and we need to get him involved. So I need you to do him a favor on my behalf, something spectacular, so he’ll forget I… I blew him off.”
Nyissa looked at me with sharp amusement. “To make him forget you stripped your mastermark, you mean,” she said, eyes narrowing at me. “According to Zinaga, Arcturus considers it a personal insult. Our favor would need to be spectacular indeed.”
“Honoring her request would be spectacular… and in the apprentice’s interests as well,” Transomnia mused. “It would make it unlikely she would rat you out to the authorities.”
“Can we not order the apprentice to silence?” Gregor asked.
“Threats to the apprentice will not endear us to the master,” Nyissa said, “and are not likely to be effective. Zinaga’s powers are growing.”
“Look, this… plague affects all of us,” I said. “And, yes, I am effectively the only one fighting it. The police are tripping over themselves because they can’t involve magicians in the investigation. The Consulate can’t help because they’re vampires, and this stuff will eat them alive. Even you can’t help-directly. But you can help me try.”
Transomnia frowned. “Assuming I wanted to help you fight this plague,” he said, “why should I allow an army of my enemies to flourish in my stronghold?”
“They aren’t your enemies. You, personally, have a bad history with skindancers,” I said. “So you banned skindancing magic here. But this town is known for its tattooing, and by acting like gangsters, you’ve pissed off a townful of people, half of whom have magical powers.”
“What does that matter?” Gregor said. “We have the Sanctuary Stone-”
“It’s a burglar alarm, not a defense system,” I said. “If Nyissa built it, she knows.”
“We… we could still take them,” Nyissa said, resentful and almost… pouting?
“I know you’re vampires,” I said, trying to remain patient, trying to remain calm with her on the arm of my chair. “You’re tough, experienced and powerful. You might win the battle, but if it came to that, you’d almost certainly lose the war-you’d have to flee Blood Rock.”
“Well, aren’t you the peacemaker,” Transomnia said, still smiling pleasantly, but more mocking. “Shooting for a secretary of state position in the new administration?” The vampires laughed at me, and I said nothing. “Do you have any suggestions, Dakota Frost?”
“Start with an olive branch to Arcturus,” I said. “I need him in this fight, and more importantly, we all need to be on the same side. Send him the message that you’re laying off the ban on exposed tattoos, that you’re willing to talk. He’s respected in Blood Rock.”
“Would you like Nyissa to deliver this olive branch for you?” Transomnia said.
“Me?” Nyissa said, standing. “My Lord, what have I done to deserve-”
“Nyissa,” Transomnia said. His voice was strangely… gentle, almost like he was dancing around a difficult subject. “You may not be powerful, but your personality is strong. No one will mistake delivering a message for weakness. I want the townspeople to start thinking of you as an authority figure, and not just the pretty madam of the brothel.”
“I was right. This is a brothel, a B amp;D B amp;B,” I said. Were all the vampires like this? Little things Calaphase had said started to add up-all the dates he went on, how cagey he was about his source of income. Even some things Saffron said now sounded suspect; did she have a stable of human clients as well? “For what it’s worth… I’m sorry you have to live this way.”
“Don’t be,” Transomnia said. “Hiding here beats being a lackey for a serial killer.”
“Or running a protection racket,” Nyissa said.
“Like the Oakdale Clan was running with the werehouse,” I said.
“No,” Transomnia said. “We served a valuable function, keeping the werekin hidden. I picked the Clan… I picked Calaphase because he was an honorable man.”
“Yes, he was,” I said, eyes tearing up a little. “You made a good choice.”
Transomnia’s eyes narrowed. He rose from the throne and walked down to me. I squirmed in my chair, trembling, as he turned aside my head to stare at my neck. My heart started beating in my chest as he kept staring at my bite marks.
Finally I said, “It’s not an open invitation.”
Transomnia smiled, full fangs, and I looked away. “Look at me,” he said.
Unwillingly I looked up, eyes off center from his glowing red pupils. All the other vamps were staring down at me hungrily. Now that they had started to think of me as willing meat, you could see them calculating how they might get their own bite of the pie.
“How did you get that wound, Frost?” Transomnia said, relishing the moment.
“I seduced Calaphase,” I said, and Transomnia flinched. “Then he got carried away.”
“ You seduced-” Transomnia began, scowling-and then his face softened. “You seduced him, he bit you… and then he died right in front of you.”
“The same night,” I said, staring at the floor. “That same hour. He saved my life, then had the blood sucked right out of him by magic graffiti.”
Transomnia stood there. “I wanted to kill him,” he said, his hand falling to my shoulder. “Just like I wanted to kill you for causing my exile from the clan. You’ll never know how much. Being the thrall of Mirabilus was… horrible. You saw how I acted under his geas.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. Mirabilus skinned his victims alive-and Transomnia had acted like his sick little protege while under his spell. I couldn’t imagine what he’d made Transomnia do-and didn’t want to. “I never meant to get you kicked out.”
“Calaphase was attracted to you and overreacted,” Transomnia said. “But how could he have known what exile would do to me? I couldn’t betray Mirabilus’s secrets, not even with Calaphase’s aura protecting me from the worst of the geas. I don’t blame him… anymore.”
His hand squeezed my shoulder. I shuddered at that easy familiarity. I didn’t like him that close, either physically or emotionally. But… some part of me appreciated that brief second of comfort. Transomnia wasn’t just someone who assaulted me, or who had hurt my daughter. He was someone who knew Calaphase and regretted his passing.
Transomnia released me, then turned and ascended to his borrowed throne. “No matter our disagreements,” he said, sitting, “I do not think I can let him go unavenged.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” I said quietly. “How are we going to do that?”
“Thanks to you, Dakota Frost,” Transomnia said, “I’m going to do nothing. I’m now known to the police as the dangerous minion of a serial killer, rather than third flunky to the left in an obscure vampire biker gang. I can’t even go by name in public anymore.”
I swallowed. I would never know everything Transomnia had lost. “So… ”
“So I am going to let you do this for me,” Transomnia said. “Let you, you understand? I will allow you to return to Blood Rock, and even extend an olive branch to your old master, so you may learn what you need to learn to fight this thing. But this is a favor I am doing for you.”
After a moment, I nodded. “I understand. Thank you, Lord Transomnia.”
Transomnia stared at me for a long time, then his mouth quirked up in a smile. “If I do this thing for you, one day I may ask you for a favor,” he said, miming a hoarse old Italian accent. “That day may never come-”
I laughed-I couldn’t help myself. I quickly choked it off, hoping not to piss him off; but while the other vampires were unamused I could see that the guards found it quite funny. Finally I managed, “One wish at your command, Don Transomnia.”
“Excellent,” Transomnia said. “Get her a token.”
Nyissa sighed, climbing the steps. “Yes, of course, my Lord.”
“She’s still the enemy,” Gregor said, somewhat perplexed. “ They’re still the enemy.”
“Oh, shut up, Gregor,” Nyissa said. “Why do we keep you around?”
“I seem to recall I’m good with figures,” he replied.
“If Arcturus can help her, Frost’s next step will likely be to go to the Consulates for aid,” Transomnia said, very calmly, lecturing without sounding like he was talking to a child. “If she petitions with our backing, and the Vampire Queen accepts her help, our standing will be enhanced, and this overture can be followed by another. If they do not, we can plan accordingly. So we shall give her a token to remove any doubt about our backing for Frost.”
“I hate to say this, Trans,” I said, flipping open the cuffs and standing as Nyissa stepped behind the throne. “I really do. But being in charge has done well for you.”
“And getting the shit kicked out of you has done the same,” he responded. “You’ve developed quite the backbone to go along with that bravado.”
Nyissa returned with a small gold amulet on a chain and held it out to Transomnia. “What did I say?” he asked. “Give it to her.” When she hesitated again, he said, glancing at me, “Lady Nyissa, Dakota is
… family now, so I’ll tolerate this. But if she was a representative of the Consulates, or, the dark night forbid it, the Gentry… ”
Nyissa straightened. “I understand,” she said. “You could not be so lenient.”
“ I was going to say, we must present a united front,” Transomnia said. “If discord leads to actual harm, however… I assure you, I cannot show lenience.”
Nyissa walked down the steps of the throne to stand before me. “Please accept the sign of the House Beyond Sleep, Dakota Frost.”
“Thank you, Lady Nyissa,” I said, taking the chain and slipping it around my neck. “Far more convenient than the sign of the House of Saffron, and classier than a laminated ID card.”
“Calaphase didn’t give you one of those silly things, did he?” Transomnia asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “About the only thing I have left from him.”
Transomnia frowned. “Go in peace, Dakota Frost,” he said. “Talk to your old master, make your case to the Consulates, the Gentry, to whomever you have to, and the House Beyond Sleep will protect you, for what good that will do. But remember one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“The balance sheet has changed, Dakota Frost,” Transomnia said. “Now, you owe me.”