Page 145 of Vampire's Choice

“Asva, should I send for refreshments?”

“No.” Asva’s contemptuous gaze passed over Garron. “I don’t need a human to wait upon me. I’ll say what I wish to say and go. If I don’t wish to answer questions, I won’t.”

“You requested the Truth Vessel,” Kaela noted.

“To verify what I tell you isn’t a lie.”

“Very well. Say your peace.”

“Not long ago, I shared a campfire with a fellow Trad. Grollner. He’s a clever male. He sometimes speaks in riddles to discern the sharpness of others around him, to test their mettle. To play games.”

Once settled into his discourse, Asva’s cadence was like a college professor’s, an odd contrast to the rest of him. He glanced around and shifted, as if gauging what would happen if he had to vault off the balcony and fling himself toward the rocks below. He wasn’t at ease here, but Ruth couldn’t tell if it was the company, or concern about his own kind finding out he’d met with the California overlord.

Some of both, I think. Merc shifted closer behind her. The strands of hair blowing in front of her face settled. She’d been giving thought to braiding it, but she didn’t want the creepy vampire’s eyes on her while she lifted her arms to do the personal task, so the block was appreciated.

“There were several others there that night,” Asva continued. “I joined them while they were discussing a matter of common interest. They stopped talking about it, but Grollner wanted to throw me hints. He said we often fight like wild animals, a clean fight, for territory or food. While he said that’s as it should be, if we want more room to live that life, we’ll have to also become chess players. Working when needed with enemies, and choosing more complicated strategies.”

“You believe he’s allied himself with someone in my world?” Kaela asked.

“Trads do not ally ourselves with anyone outside of Trads. If we choose a partnership with vampires who like their comforts,” his gaze traveled the room, exuding that scorn, “it is because of a temporary benefit to us, and because the partner has the power to serve our purposes.”

“Are other races out of the question?” Kaela pressed for more.

“No one with power is out of the question, but a vampire alliance is the most likely scenario. You at least share our blood.”

Garron was watching the Trad, and the Trad noticed. “He offends me with his stare. If he does not wish to lose his eyes, he should exhibit the proper respect I assume you have trained into him.”

Tension thrummed across the balcony, but after a long moment, Garron gave his lady a slight bow and lowered his gaze. Making it clear he'd done it at her behest, not out of respect for the Trad.

“You came here because something worried you, vampire,” Merc said. “Something that will affect the Trad world, because you don’t give a fuck about Lady Kaela’s. Do I need to reduce your brain matter to soup and sort through it to get the information she needs?”

Merc’s willingness to deliver on the threat was obvious. The vampire’s cheeks paled, and that furtive, jump-off-the-balcony look increased.

Can you do that?

Technically it would be more Jell-O than soup, but I didn’t know if he’d get the cultural reference.

Ruth was not going to laugh. For one thing, no matter the outward calm, everyone on the balcony, including herself, was ready for a fight if the Trad made a wrong move.

“Grollner said the player who sees past the limits of the chess board has the advantage.” Asva dropped the scornful posturing. “The board is a false perimeter. Beyond it are the pieces already in play. A two-opponent game might be three, two against one, with one unaware.”

“So there is an alliance.” Kaela leaned forward, her expression intent. “What else did he say?”

“He asked if I’d ever wondered why there was a king and queen on the board, but no prince or princess. I told him the king and queen are too busy with their battles. They have no time to procreate. He laughed, and said, ‘They keep them off the board, hidden, so they are protected. But that puts them out of reach of the army. Ironically, the closer they are to danger, the further they are from harm.”

A modified Lord of the Rings movie quote. Grollner was apparently hiding a DVD player in his off-the-grid treehouse.

Merc’s hand tightened on her shoulder. “How do you know he’s not just fucking with you?” he asked.

“After he shared it, he sat back and said, ‘Let the dying fortune teller figure that one out. It will be too late when she does. And that will be the end of her.’”

Asva smiled.

Ruth’s chair scraped over the concrete, tumbling to its side with the force of her ejection from it. She lifted Asva by the shirt front and slammed him against the wall of the house. She’d wanted to dangle him over the rail, but the force of her anger might have broken it loose, plunging them both into the sea. After they bounced off all the sharp rocks along the way.

Kaela pulled her off the Trad as Merc held Asva back, keeping him from retaliating. Garron stood between the two women and the Trad, additional reinforcement for Merc.

“She is not dying,” Ruth snapped over Kaela’s shoulder. “She’ll be alive long after you’re rotting worm food.”

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