Shadow Rites

“She has spoken to me, but the English words are confused and make little sense, except for the punishments she will mete out to one she calls Jane Yellow Rock. It is an odd name, and I thought it was confusion too, until you arrived to visit with me. You are she?”

I belatedly realized that I had been rude by vamp standards and dipped deep for some formal phrases that would fix things. “Forgive me.” That was always a good one to start out with. “I hadn’t expected to see Ming Zoya of Mearkanis Clan so healed and well. I’m Jane Yellowrock, Enforcer, along with Derek Lee”—I indicated the man at the door—“for Leo Pellissier, Blood Master of New Orleans and the greater Southeast, with the exception of Florida. And this is my business partner in Yellowrock Securities, Eli Younger.”

“Two humans in such positions of power?”

“We have our uses, ma’am,” Eli said, snark subdued but strong on his scent.

“There was no offense intended.”

Eli gave her a light nod. “No offense taken, ma’am.” A bald-faced lie.

Ming gifted him with a slight smile. “With the exception of Florida,” she quoted. “Leo has spread his borders.”

I thought about the current events Ming had missed out on. I wanted answers, so maybe a little chatty quid pro quo would grease the wheels of an info exchange. “The Master of the City of Atlanta, Lucas de Allyon, created a vampire plague and infected several small holdings across the United States, then took them over without proper Blood Challenge. He was securing and expanding his power base against the protocols of the Vampira Carta. He came to New Orleans and challenged Leo. His Enforcer and I fought and the challenger died. Then I killed Lucas de Allyon in combat when he attacked outside the protocols of the Vampira Carta. Leo freed the masters de Allyon had infected, and his lab found a cure, which he offered freely.”

Ming had watched me raptly as I spoke, her black eyes seeming calm and at rest, the way a kung fu master seems at rest just before he lops your head off with his bare hands. “Leo has never done anything for free,” she said. “Much has transpired since I was taken.”

“About that,” I said before she could come up with questions about her clan. “Do you know who took you? Who held you? And what they were doing with you? What happened?”

Ming’s lips turned up, but the expression never touched her eyes. “What do you know of my blood-servants, Benjamin and Riccard?”

So much for me steering the conversation.

Eli said, “My brother ran a search on them. They disappeared when you did.”

Ming’s face didn’t change, but her scent did. Sorrow. Grief. And what might be stoicism. “And my heir?”

And here we go with the clan stuff I was trying to avoid. “Your heir, Rafael Torrez, took over, aligned with a female vampire from Clan St. Martin.” I pointed at my archenemy. “He started practicing black magic with the Damours, and was taking part in a blood-magic ceremony with witch children to sacrifice. He died at the hands of two of his men.” I indicated Derek.

Ming inclined her head to show she had heard, her gaze on Adrianna. Her black eyes slowly, very, very slowly, vamped out. But her fangs were still up in her head, which meant she was in total control, far from what I had expected. Adrianna, however, vamped out fast and threw herself at the mesh that held her. Twisted steel mesh was a poor substitute for silver-plated steel, but it held her.

“I see,” Ming said. “Rafael betrayed our clan and turned against the Master of the City. With that one?”

“Yes,” I said.

“And you did not take her head?”

“I’ve killed her any number of times, including the time Rafe died, but Leo keeps bringing her back. Something about the European Vamps making a trip here soon. Or soon in vamp time. This century maybe.”

Ming went silent, letting that settle inside while she watched Adrianna, who might have been listening. With my peripheral vision, I saw the other vamp throw herself onto the beanbag and stretch like a cat, her eyes on my partner, trying to attract Eli’s attention, her fangs out and her boobs nearly so. Eli ignored her antics. Realizing that only Ming was actively watching her, Adrianna stuck out her tongue.

Ming said, “Rafael deserved his true-death. Leo and I will discuss the woman. If she bonded with my heir, who was then Blood Master of Clan Mearkanis, then she is mine to claim.” Which was news to me, but was probably covered in the Carta or one of its codicils.

“Rafael’s betrayal and death. How badly did they affect my clan?” Ming asked.

This was the sticky part, but I had a feeling that Ming Zoya had already guessed, just from my greeting to her, and was likely to prefer truth over anything else. Still, I spoke softly and with a grieving tone in my voice when I said, “A vampire war followed. Clan Mearkanis was disbanded following the conflict, as were three other clans who rebelled against Leo. Because it was believed that you were true-dead, your clan home was given to the witches in recompense for the Damour blood-family killing their children.”

Ming drew in a breath, things taking place in the darkness of her eyes—calculations and games and machinations and politics. She said, “This is of interest. I thank you for the candid responses, no matter how distressing the reception. My sister is overly concerned about my state of mind, and underconcerned about my need for information. Your words will be useful during my discussions with the Master of the City.”