Page 69 of Across the Sapphire Sea
“Why do you wish to speak with Elias?” asked Ash. “I am the delegate, and the risk should be mine. Elias is young and inexperienced. I would protect him.”
“He is the only one among your number that I can trust to answer my questions honestly,” Sachi explained. “No harm will come to him while he is under my protection.”
Ash searched her face, then nodded to Remy.
“You may pass,” said Remy.
“Thank you.” Sachi glanced to Laurence. “Please keep his lover from following.”
Laurence took Valeri’s shoulders firmly in hand. Valeri struggled, but Sachi pulled Elias through Remy’s arc before he could break free.
She addressed the other Vartija. “Show our guests to the east wing and leave them in peace so that Remegius does not tire himself out.”
“Elias,” cried Valeri from the other side of Remy’s barrier. His face was the picture of panic.
“I’ll be fine. Behave yourself.” Elias would probably pay for that admonishment later, but he couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment. All of this was Valeri’s fault and could have been avoided if he’d been honest. Their group would never have agreed to steal a person, and that Valeri believed they would proved how out of touch he was with whatever was left of his tattered humanity.
Elias wasn’t sure what he could say to Sachi to plead their case, but he wanted the chance to try.
Sachi’s elegant brows arched. “Shall we?”
“Please,” said Elias.
17
Valeri, Present, 1432 Common Era
Fuming and more frightened than he’d been in his entire life—which was saying something as he’d lived through the likes of Fedor as a sire—Valeri paced the salon from one end to the other.
“Please,” said Ash. “You must sit down and speak with us. This tantrum you’re throwing will not help our situation or get Elias back.”
“I can’t believe you let her take him,” Valeri snarled. “I gave you the answer and you threw it away!”
“I believe he is safe with the woman. Come, sit.” Ash gestured to the chair across from his.
They’d been put in a parlor-style room, perhaps one used for gatherings—that is if these beings,The Vartija, ever used to have gatherings before they went absolutely insane and started killing visitors.
With thick stone walls and the incessant thrumming noise, they could speak quietly without much risk of being overheard. Furniture arranged in a circle dominated the center of the room. Tables with art and vases nearly as tall as a grown man decorated the corners. Tapestries hung on the walls.
Valeri ignored all of it as he stormed angrily back and forth.
“Leave him,” said Laurence. “He’s useless. We must come up with a solution between us.”
“Useless,” Valeri growled. “We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me!”
“Precisely,” said Remy from his place at Laurence’s side. “And Elias would be safe. But you withheld vital information and now we are prisoners. Instead of making allies, we’ve made adversaries. If anyone is hurt or killed, you’re to blame.”
Ash held up his hands, fingers spread wide. “Stop this. With any luck there will be time to argue later. We need to go over our options, and for that, we need Valeri’s cooperation. He still knows more than the rest of us, starting with, what did you mean when you called the women half-breeds?”
Valeri stopped his pacing, crossed his arms over his chest, and resigned to tell them everything. “Mixed bloods. I wasn’t certain the legends were true until I laid eyes on Isla for the first time. You’ve seen them for yourselves. Surely you can tell they’re something else. Something beyond vampire.”
Aella nodded. “Yes, they’re different. All three of the women possess some sort of magic I’m unfamiliar with. What else do you know?”
“During my time with the nomadic tribes, the Breodun, I found their keeper of records. Their scrolls said—”
“They let you read their scrolls?” asked Laurence, his tone skeptical.
Valeri’s gaze snapped to Laurence. “Do you want to know or not?”
