Hudson hissed back, the power of his dragon behind
him. It was a much meaner sound than the three vampires managed to make together.
“Oh, wow.” Austin looked between Hudson and the
vampires. He scooted a little closer to Kage. Was it his imagination, or were
things getting out of hand?
“What is the matter with you, Raven?” Li Li demanded.
“You know better than to threaten a mate. Especially a daemon’s mate. Especially
an Elder’s mate.”
“He’s still basically human.” Raven sneered as he
waved at Austin. “The bond and blood may give him some abilities and extend his
life, but take that away and he’s a regular human again.”
Kage stood up from the table.
“Oh, shit,” Austin muttered, grabbing at Kage’s hand. “Kage?”
“Don’t like what I say, Elder?” Raven asked. “Too bad.
You can’t unchange any type of were, or vampire, or a merperson. Once we give a
human our blood, they’re changed and no longer human. You can’t say that about
your mate. I’m not sure why he’s even here.”
Austin watched as the vampire’s eyes bled red. Huh.
So that’s true also. Their eyes really are red.
The lights in the restaurant flickered as the shadows
moved restlessly. Austin promptly forgot about the color of the vampire’s eyes.
Flickering lights weren’t good.
Really, really was not good. What Raven said
technically was not wrong, though. Kage couldn’t change Austin into a daemon.
Everyone there knew that. That wasn’t the problem.
It was Raven’s sneering tone. Austin had no idea what
bee Raven had in his bonnet about humans—especially since vampires couldn’t
survive without them—and he didn’t care. Kage was on the cusp of doing
something dramatic and no way could that be good.
“That’s enough.” Isadora gracefully moved to where Raven
sat. She placed her hand on his shoulder. “Master of the City, you are a guest
in my territory, yet you provoke another guest, and over their mate no less.
Tread carefully, vampire.”
Raven looked at her hand and froze. Long black nails
extended from the tips of her fingers.
Austin gasped then slapped his hand over his mouth. Oh
God, Isadora had partially shifted. Those elegant cheekbones of hers had swelled,
almost as if there was growth under the skin.
Austin guessed there was since now Isadora had black pincer-like
fangs situated on either side of her lips. Did the fangs make her cheekbones
swell?
Along each bulging cheekbone were three pair of little
black eyes. Right above her eyebrows, her forehead had thickened to a sagittal
crest.
There was also a set of black eyes on the crest. It
almost looked like she had black cables coming out of her head that intertwined
with her hair that was still in an updo. Her eyes looked like she had
cataracts.
She was terrifyingly beautiful and creepy as hell.
“Austin is your name, yes?” Isadora asked.
“Yes, ma’am.” Austin answered. Oh no. No, no, no, he
did not want her attention and all those eerie spider eyes on him.
Also? He didn’t know if Isadora had a title or what it
could be, but that woman demanded respect, and he was darned sure giving it to
her.
Kage tensed next to him, so Austin clambered to his
feet, still holding Kage’s hand. If Kage was about to pull them into the
shadows, he wanted to be prepared.
Isadora smiled, and Austin lost the fight not to shudder.
Good God. If she thought that was comforting, she was reeeeally wrong. Her
teeth were jagged like a shark’s.
“I like you. Now, be at peace, young one. No one means
you harm here, isn’t that right, Master of the City?” Isadora’s hand
tightened on Raven’s shoulder.
“Yes, yes. Of course not.” Raven spoke quickly. “I
apologize, Isadora.”
Isadora patted Raven’s shoulder. “Just because the
human you were feeding from decided to run off with a vampire from out of town
is no reason to abuse Kage’s lovely mate, who I think we can all agree is not
human. Isn’t that right, Master of the City?
Raven closed his eyes and then opened them again. They
were no longer red. He slumped in his seat. “Yes. Of course. I apologize,
Austin.”
“Um. Yeah. Thanks.” Yep, that was a totally
unenthusiastic reply, but oh well. Because of that asshole, he ended up seeing
something he hadn’t really wanted to see.
“Good. Good.” Releasing the vampire, Isadora strolled
back to the bar and picked up her wine glass. When she turned back, once more
she looked human.
Kage sat back down again, and Austin collapsed in his
seat. Apparently the crisis was over. He sighed in relief. No doubt about it,
he was going to have nightmares tonight.
Kage bowed his head in Isadora’s direction. “I too
apologize for abusing your generosity.”
“Thank you, Elder,” Isadora said.
Hudson placed his fist again is his heart and bowed
his head too. “Apologies, Isadora.”
“Thank you, King Hudson. No harm was—” Isadora frowned,
tilting her head. She sighed heavily. “I guess it was too good to last. Prepare
thyselves. We have company inbound.”
