"You are aware you've only made me stronger?"

He laughed and the hair on her arms stood up.

"I am. Not that you needed it. Oh." He waved a hand. "These Vampires have a general fear of you. The ones who live here and saw you raised understand your ferocity. Their fear is based on knowledge. The ones from outside, like my Scions? Well, you've taught them a number of lessons." He shrugged. "You are aware that the best lessons are often learned by blood. Your little humans from Hunter Corp." He sniffed, sneering. "One of them has lodged a complaint accusing me of favoritism."

This was news to Rowan, though she didn't react. Politics had begun and she put away her affection for him and pulled on her mantle as Vessel and Liaison.

He smirked her way, but approval edged the expression. Above all, he'd taught her politics and she played them well. "You have no reaction to that?"

"I do. But you know what it is. In any case, it matters not. I am what I am, and I am eminently suited to this position. What anyone thinks of this is of no matter to me."

"That they do not stand behind you aggrieves me."

They did stand behind her or she wouldn't be there. Hunter Corp. knew her worth and the wounded feelings of someone like Valerie and her little minions didn't matter at all in the big picture. But none of those things were going to be said between her and Theo.

"I am here. I sit at the head of the table." She didn't need to point out that the Nation was populated by punk-a.s.s whiners who pulled the same sort of silly c.r.a.p Valerie did, and they were ignored too. He knew it. He tested her and tried to derail her now. He hadn't risen to where he'd sat for centuries without a great deal of skill. He had far more than she ever would. But neither would she let him toy with her.

She countered, keeping her tone casual. "What of these rogues and the blood barrier?"

His gaze lit, amused and interested. "You make an old man like me so proud of what you've become, Petal. As for the rogue? We'll save such discussion for the table or I'll be accused of negotiation with you. But I will underline, of course, that it is not within the purview of the Treaty for Hunters to make all our choices. We have stood independent longer than the Hunter Corporation has been in existence. We do not need your governance."

"You do when your rogues hunt humans and leave their dead bodies for all to see. You risk your own exposure and we will not move to stop that. As you rightfully point out, we do not govern you, only the Treaty."

"You can hardly call the entire Vampire Nation to task for the work of one Vampire. A rogue, as you well know."

She crossed her legs, keeping her back straight and a firm grip on her calm.

"I can, actually, call the Nation to task for the unchecked actions of a rogue that resulted in the murder of multiple humans. And I'd hasten to add, the holding back of the incredibly relevant information regarding the breaking of the blood barrier with blood tinged with crystal meth only added to the overall problem. A problem Hunter Corp. was forced to solve because the Vampire Nation did not police its own effectively."

"And yet you sit here, alive, because of Vampires."

"No. I sit here alive after an attack by a Vampire who was not handled by the Nation. I tracked him. I found him. I ran him to ground, and I killed him." She raised a brow at him. "Though certainly appreciative my foster father was in the area and lent me a great deal of his strength to survive the rather severe injuries I incurred in delivering the death sentence the Vampire Phineas Bolger had earned."

"Seeing you so damaged made me want to burn the world to the ground."

As scary a thought as it was, it still made her warm inside.

There was a knock at the door, and without thinking, Rowan stood to deal with whatever it was. Halfway there, she turned back to him and met his satisfied smile. Vampire, yes. Male? That too. Utterly.

"Go on, Petal. You know what I'd find important enough. Otherwise I might spoil our lovely tea by having to discipline someone."

Yes, it would be nice to not see someone get flailed b.l.o.o.d.y before she'd even had dinner.

She went to the door and Enzo stood there with a serene expression. She rolled her eyes at him before inviting him in. If anyone knew what Theo would be interrupted for it was Enzo, who'd taken over Rowan's position nearly fifteen years before.

"Pardon my interruption." Enzo went to one knee, his wrist showed, head bowed.

Theo sighed, agitation rife in the sound. "Go on."

"Victoriana and Marcilius have arrived with a rather large cadre."

"How many?"

"Fourteen."

The room went icy cold and it took every last ounce of Rowan's control not to shrink away when Theo unfolded himself from the settee and stood with quiet, graceful menace.

"I told them they could have two attendants each. How many are human?"

"They brought ten humans. The fourteen number I gave you was Vampires."

"They brought twenty-four people into my Keep when they were forbidden to do so?"

Rowan's heart beat so fast she had to wrench her emotions away from herself or drown in them. Being there was an important reminder. The Vampires she dealt with regularly were powerful, yes, but nothing she came into contact with could get close to Theo's output of fear and power. It rushed from him like a hard rain.

All those times he'd taught her lessons, left her bleeding as she'd failed to distance herself from the furry animal part of her humanity, had been important because she drew on it then and thanked the G.o.ddess she wasn't on the receiving end of it.

She shielded, hard. He'd taught her that. She filtered it all away until nothing remained but a hard sh.e.l.l. A Vessel to a being that was just as strong and fearsome.

It was then she felt the scalding hot power rush through her and realized the G.o.ddess had been testing her too.

He looked up at her, c.o.c.king his head, his eyes glowing with power. It was very clear Theo did not like Her in his s.p.a.ce. In his daughter.

He spoke in their original language. "You were not invited, G.o.ddess. Take your leave from my daughter."

She replied. Or rather, She replied. In the same ancient words. Warning him to watch himself near Her Vessel. "She is mine, Vampire. My Vessel and I will go as I please."

Theo took a step closer, taking a deep breath of the power radiating from Rowan.

"This is not entirely you, Brigid. My child is in there. This is her strength."

"At last you understand. It is always her strength."

Enzo kept his gaze on the floor the entire time-Rowan knew to keep himself out of Theo's attention-a familiar place in Rowan's memories. Brigid sensed Rowan's worry for Enzo and her need to keep him out of the line of Theo's fire, and eased back some. Enough that Rowan was again able to think clearly.

She placed herself between Theo and Enzo to keep Theo's attention on her. "Vater, I will take my leave as it's clear you have some problems to deal with."

Her voice remained calm and she was proud of herself.

He growled and the hair on the back of her neck rose in response. "They will pay for this too. My daughter and I were having a cup of tea, and now I must deal with this ridiculous nonsense instead! I should put every last one of them on a pike and let the crows eat their eyes."

Coming from anyone else on the planet, Rowan would have thought the comments were overkill. But from Theo she knew they were simply something he'd already considered. Something she'd seen with her own eyes once when she was eleven and one of the neighboring Vampire rulers had overstepped his bounds.

"Come here and kiss my cheeks then, Petal. Recht, a.s.semble the others."

She moved to him and kissed each cheek and let him squeeze her hands. She wanted to be gone from that room as soon as possible, but until she said a proper goodbye she couldn't.

"I will see you in several hours for dinner. Naturally you will be next to me at the table." He waved her out the door as Recht and the rest of The Five came in on eerily silent feet.

Her father's lieutenants, utterly feared and for good reason. Only one of them ever spoke in public, Nadir. She knew they all had voices, of course. They'd all trained her and even had protected her when they could. But outside the walls and to anyone but the immediate members of Theo's retinue, they spoke not a word.

She didn't envy Victoriana and Marcilius. Neither did she know who they were. They clearly thought they had enough juice to disobey Theo. In and of itself that was enough to make sure she knew who they were before she sat down to dinner later.

Anyone who'd flout The First so openly and on his ground was insane, powerful, spoiling for a fight or all three. Stupid of them to think they could get away with anything of this type. It might be the Joint Tribunal, but Theo wouldn't hesitate to cull their numbers to what he'd said they could bring originally and that culling would be b.l.o.o.d.y. He did nothing idly. He'd be teaching these Vampires a lesson and one they wouldn't soon forget.

Chapter Five.

Clive woke as the sun slipped down below the horizon. He got cleaned up and dressed. Carefully chose the suit and tie he'd wear to dinner. But that wasn't for another few hours.

In the meantime he'd wear the modern equivalent of court clothes. Business casual, he supposed the humans called it now.

By the time he'd finished and had entered the main room adjoining his sleeping chamber, Alice, his a.s.sistant, had entered the room.

"Before I send in your donor, I thought I'd let you know Rowan has safely arrived. She's been here a few hours already. Took tea with the First. She's in the library just now."

He'd already been thinking of her, of course, as he often did upon waking. In all his years-and he had more than a few centuries under his belt-there had never been anyone like Rowan Summerwaite.

He'd fought it when the first sight of her had been a shot to his solar plexus. There were plenty of women out there who spoke without a snarl. Women who didn't view him with suspicion and at times outright hostility. Easy, sweet-natured women who received his attentions with gracious grat.i.tude.

Rowan was not easy or sweet natured. Not gracious. Rowan was magnificent in ways none could ever be. Each time she let him in just a little was a moment of triumph. She was fire. Dangerous, sharp-edged at times. But she called him on his bulls.h.i.t, and they had more chemistry than he'd ever imagined possible. She excited him. Fascinated him, as well.

No doubt she was a challenge in every way. But he was far too old to deny to himself that he was in love with the Hunter who carried a G.o.ddess inside her.

He'd been alive centuries, so the pa.s.sage of time was different for him. Two weeks was the blink an eye. But without Rowan's voice, the smell of her magic, that flash of red hair and the spark of chemistry they ignited each time they were near, it had felt like a year. He'd missed her. They both had incredibly busy lives and demanding positions. They would be apart often enough. But for the first time since they'd started seeing one another, he felt her absence acutely.

He knew, too, that coming back to the Keep would have her off balance. He smiled inwardly, knowing she'd be extra p.r.i.c.kly and that he'd have some scratches down his back because of it.

Not that he minded.

Still, he turned his attention away from Rowan in his bed, naked and writhing, to his a.s.sistant, who gave him a knowing smirk.

"Thank you for the update."

"He's put her in his personal wing." Alice slid a folder in front of him and he began to sign where she'd indicated on several sheets.

Though Clive was surprised, he said nothing about that. He wondered how the rest of the Hunters would feel. Those Vampires here would most likely be used to her, but the visiting Vampires might not be so accepting.

He nearly felt sorry for those who would feel compelled to come at her in some way. She had learned, from the most brutal being walking the earth, how to make a point.

Alice spoke again, interrupting his thoughts. "I also may have seen the seating chart for this evening's dinner. She's at his right hand."

He kept his sigh internal. That would likely be a silly, feather-fluffing nightmare. Vampires were so tied up in hierarchy and rank, and if the First put her at a higher position than other Scions, he had no doubt there'd be pouts and fits of pique.

Then again, the First may have done it just to see if anyone would dare act out in front of him about something like that. It was common knowledge, after all, that he considered Rowan his daughter and she had Protected status.

She'd most likely find it amusing, and in that case, Clive would have her back and settle in to watch. He knew this amendment to the Treaty was incredibly important to her, and he looked forward to seeing her in action.

"Thank you. Please do come to me with anything else of the like. Send my donor in and then can you check in with China to be sure there's nothing pressing?"

Alice nodded and left the room.

He fed well from a donor, took care of some paperwork and headed to the library to find Rowan, but of course was waylaid three times on his way through the Keep.

By the time he arrived at the library, there was far more activity, as it was full dark and all the Vampires had awakened and were moving around the Keep to ready for the first meetings and the dinner to be held in several hours.

There were others in the elegant, two-story s.p.a.ce, working at various computer terminals, but her energy tugged at him immediately and he headed to where she sat, a notepad on her lap while she peered at a computer screen.

Her hair seemed to glitter with magic, deep red, held back away from her face to expose features he'd been enchanted by from the first time he laid eyes on her.

Compelling. Not precisely pretty, but unique. Beautiful in a way he'd rarely ever seen before. There was no one else like Rowan. And she was his. p.r.i.c.kly, defensive, infuriating, loyal, fierce and possessing a sense of duty and honor that rendered her utterly irresistible to him.

"Ms. Summerwaite."

She looked up, her happiness at the sight of him clear on her face. A gift for her to be unguarded in that moment with him.

"Scion. You're looking well."

Satisfied by her attentions, he bent to kiss her right there in front of everyone. He called on his control to keep it short and sweet, though he wanted to feast on lips he hadn't tasted in weeks.

When he drew away, she nipped his bottom lip, hard, but he liked it and she knew it.

"You know," she said as he pulled a chair out to settle next to her, "why don't you guys ever have normal names like Fred or Sarah Jane? Why is it always stupid c.r.a.p like Victoriana? It's like they read every horrible vampire novel ever and then live the pages."

His attention sharpened. "Where did you hear that name?"

"Why?"

Of course it could never be easy with her. Other people simply answered when he asked them questions.

He sighed. "Why must you make everything so difficult? Answer the question. Where did you hear that name?"

She narrowed her gaze at him, her energy rising between them hot against his skin. He didn't stop the upward cant of his mouth into a smile and she snarled. This shot straight to his c.o.c.k and reminded him how she would snarl at him in bed sometimes.

She got very close to him, her voice low. "Oh my G.o.d, you're thinking about s.e.x right now, aren't you?" She socked his arm. "Stop that."

"Never. I've long since given up questioning why your crude and testy behavior makes my body react the way it does." To underline that, he stole another kiss and she let him. "You're becoming easy for me, Hunter. The name?"

She snorted. "She's here. With some dingus named Marcilius. I bet he has a frilly lace cravat and wears velvet."

Despite his best intentions, he laughed before getting serious again. "Don't make light of her or of Marcilius."