Dina Horst was, like Rowan had been, a human born and bred to serve the Nation. The kitchen manager, she'd seen plenty of people come and go over the years, but she'd gone out of her way to spoil Rowan in whatever ways she could. They'd never spoken of the things Rowan endured. No one would have questioned Theo anyway. But those lemon shortbread cookies, an extra helping of this or that, spending the morning in the kitchen helping roll out dough so Dina could mother her some, these were the bright spots of Rowan's childhood.

While she had told no one she was leaving, she had left a note for Dina, hidden well, but in a place she knew would be found at some point, apologizing for leaving and thanking Dina for her kindnesses.

Kitchen staff bustled all around as Rowan strolled through the s.p.a.ce and tried to wall back the flash flood of memory.

"Oh! Rowan!" Charles, one of Enzo's uncles, saw her and dried his hands as he moved to her and pulled her into a hug. "What a sight you are!"

She hugged him back, truly pleased at seeing him. Pleased more still that he'd reacted this way instead of being angry she'd left the way she had.

"A good one?"

He set her back and looked her over. "Yes. A very good one. You're looking well. We were all so worried when The First told us about what happened to you in Las Vegas. He said you'd nearly died."

"I'm too cranky to let myself get killed by a junkie Vampire, Charles. I would have survived without Theo's help. But it would have taken me a lot longer to recover."

"Then we should be very glad indeed he was there."

Rowan looked to her left where Dina had approached. She smiled and Dina snorted, and pulled her into an embrace that brought her childhood racing through her. Tears threatened and she held them back though it was a very close thing.

Dina saw it and smiled. "Hush. You're here and he helped you, which was good for you both."

"I'm sorry I didn't come through earlier. I had some shortbread when I took tea with him earlier. He said you'd made them for me. They were magnificent as usual."

Dina beamed. "Of course they were. But I'm glad you liked them. I'll send you home with some too. I'm making your favorite tonight, by the way. Roasted chicken. There'll be asparagus from the gardens. Pear tarts too. Some sole with almonds. Potato galettes. Some wanted hoity-toity food none would have eaten. But The First told me to make what you'd like best."

Rowan didn't know what to do with that. So she pretended it wasn't a big deal.

"I'm going to gain fifteen pounds while I'm here. I can see that now."

"Good. You can stand it. I'll be sure to send up a good breakfast for when you wake up too. Crepes stuffed with ham and wild mushrooms."

"Yum. I'll eat it down here if you don't mind. I have meetings with my people all during the daylight and they're in another wing so I'll come down and eat before I start my day."

That had been the exact right thing to say. Dina's smile widened, as did several others all around.

"What would you like me to send in to the meetings during the day then?"

She gave Dina some menu ideas, remembering Celesse had an allergy to citrus of some kinds. She accepted more hugs and after more thanks and a whispered, "Thank you for your note" from Dina, she headed out and toward her rooms to get ready.

Celesse was walking through the large front entry at the same time. "Rowan. I'm glad you arrived safely. The snow has gotten worse."

It seemed that a great deal of her life had been populated by complicated relationships and Celesse was no different. Celesse had been her first trainer when she'd arrived at the Motherhouse in Paris. She'd taught Rowan a great deal. There was no denying how much she owed the woman standing before her.

At the same time, she'd rendered Rowan into a thing, a weapon against the Vampires instead of a person. It was the wrong thing and had nearly driven Rowan from the Hunter Corporation in despair. Susan had saved her, had treated her like the confused young woman she was. Had been a mother figure to her in addition to teaching Rowan the fine arts of killing and Hunter politics.

Rowan had left Paris and settled in London. Her power had shifted from Celesse's base to Susan's and there'd been residual bitterness. Celesse supported Rowan, but she made Rowan work harder for it than most would have. It had earned Rowan's grudging respect, but there would always be some awkwardness between them.

"Yes, thanks. I got here a bit before you did. I had some business in town at the shrine." She paused. "Can we speak privately a moment?"

Celesse's gaze sharpened. "Yes, of course."

There weren't a lot of places they wouldn't be overheard so she led Celesse up to her rooms.

"These are lovely." Celesse sat across from Rowan in a pretty corner nook.

Rowan didn't know how to reply to that. So she didn't. "I think we're going to be dealing with a rift in the Nation."

She told Celesse what little she knew and also her suspicions about what it meant. "I have to dig some more, but I wanted to give you a heads-up before the dinner. I'm going to get Carey on it now so he can be working while we're here. It could be nothing of any consequence but..."

"You know them better than any of us do. I trust your intuition. You can use my staff, as well. I'll let them know David might be contacting them. We've set up a works.p.a.ce already." Celesse sighed. "You understand your being up here is going to be a problem."

"I understand my being up here is a problem for Valerie. Do you care? It's no secret who I am. What I was. It's certainly no hardship for the Hunter Corp. to use that to its advantage, as it is right this very moment. I am here because this is where I lived for nearly sixteen years of my life. I am at that table for that reason. I have access of a sort Hunter Corp. would never, ever have in a million years were I not a partner there. I will not pretend any of that away because Valerie Portman and her compatriots would let their petty jealousies drag us onto a path that would be disastrous for humanity and the Nation, as well."

Celesse tucked her hair behind an ear. "I don't care, no. Though your room is far nicer, I've seen the scars on your back. I'd prefer where I am to being here the way you had to get here. Hunter Corp. believes in your appropriateness for this position. And for the most part I believe you are absolutely capable of holding this chair far better than anyone else. I have more concerns about your romantic entanglement with the Scion. People far more steadfast have fallen away from their duties because of love."

Rowan didn't tell Celesse that it was Clive who'd given her the information. It wasn't up to her to share that, and she wanted to protect Clive as her source the way she protected all of her sources.

"I trust that should you see such a trend, you'll act. Unless and until that happens, my love life is my business."

Celesse nodded. "All right then." She stood. "I need to get dressed for dinner. Valerie has been sent to a meeting she believes is incredibly important, so I'm sure she'll brief me about it."

Rowan raised one brow and Celesse cracked a smile. They both knew it was a time waster.

"I support your aims here, Rowan. I trust that you know the way with these Vampires better than the rest of us. I'll do my best to keep everyone in line."

Rowan nodded her thanks.

Once Celesse had left, Rowan made a call to her second-in-command back in Las Vegas, Carey. He ran her office and was her information wrangler and IT guru. She gave him names and some basic info and he got to work.

Vampires held on to information. Information was power, and they loved having power. Yes, they gossiped as any being that long-lived would do. But they didn't have tabloid-style info about their pasts. Theo told her lots of things about Vampire politics. Of the history of the Nation and those who built it. But she didn't know much off hand about this or that Vampire unless she'd dealt with them personally or they'd been young enough to have been chronicled by Hunter Corp.

The older ones? Well, they did all kinds of awful stuff before accurate written history. Still, if it was in written form anywhere, Carey would find it.

Then she went through to her room to get dressed.

Chapter Seven.

He found her holding a gla.s.s of wine, her head c.o.c.ked as she listened carefully to what the Vampire across from her was saying before replying.

"Well, yes, I understand that. But the issue isn't one of we do what we want, grrr."

Clive approached, stifling a grin at what she'd just said. That was when he noticed she wore a pair of earrings he'd given her and he gave up hiding the smile. It pleased him to see her wearing something he'd gifted her with. Vampires were a possessive bunch. It marked her as his in some sense. Even if no one else but him knew the source of the earrings. He knew.

He took a gla.s.s from a tray, exchanging it for the empty in her hand. "You looked like you needed a new one." He turned to the Vampire she was speaking to. Warren Farrelly, the Scion who held Europe. "Warren."

"Clive. I was just expressing to Rowan my discomfort in allowing Hunter Corp. the ability to police our population over so minor an issue."

"Minor?" Rowan's voice went cold and sharp. "Perhaps finding the bodies in the desert, savaged, broken and left for all to see, has given me a different perspective. But your so-called minor issue brought the human authorities down around my ears. Your minor issue brought the deaths of four human women and nearly exposed your existence to the humans. I handled it. Not you. Not the Nation. Hunter Corp. killed your rogue, Warren. Minor or not, the facts indicate that the problem is significant enough to wreak havoc on your population."

Clive cringed inside because he'd had a very similar conversation with her back when she'd found out he'd known about the blood barrier being broken for crystal meth and hadn't told her.

"I'm not saying it's not an issue we shouldn't take care of. I'm disputing that it's you who has to do it."

"But that's moot. You know why? Because you didn't deal with it. I found him. I killed him. The Nation didn't. I don't want to babysit the Nation. I have a big enough job. But this is clearly within the purview of the Treaty."

"Clive, this happened in your territory. What is your position?"

"The Nation is well and truly capable of handling rogues. We know this is an issue at this point. In fact, it was our data that the Hunter used when it came to tracking this rogue down."

"After it was sandbagged for two very integral weeks," she countered.

"This is an internal Nation matter." In truth, he wasn't opposed to the amendment she was proposing. But that didn't mean he didn't plan to make her work for it.

"I beg to differ. The Nation didn't handle the human authorities when they started asking about just what made those murders different. I saved Nation a.s.s when you could have easily been exposed by your own ego and game playing. The issue isn't letting Hunter Corp. police you at all. But making sure Hunter Corp. has the tools to handle things when you don't."

"It's not an issue at all."

Rowan turned toward the voice. Victoriana stood there with Collette at her side.

Rowan smiled, but it was a cold, hard smile. A smile he'd seen on The First's face a few times. His c.o.c.k seemed to like that smile just fine, sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d that it was.

"And you are?" Rowan's imperiousness was firmly in place.

"Victoriana Meath. And this is Collette Hardy." Victoriana tried to ensnare Rowan with her gaze. Clive felt the flow of her magic and braced himself for Rowan's response.

"I think you'll find your bag of tricks doesn't work on me. Of course, you probably know that since it's actually a violation of the Treaty for you to attempt to glamour a human. So we'll go on ahead and pretend that was just your way of saying h.e.l.lo, shall we?"

"Darling, you didn't mention how amusing your Rowan was when we spoke earlier." Collette stepped forward and petted his arm.

Clive stepped back enough to remove her touch.

Rowan's control was ironclad, Clive had to give her that. She didn't rise to the comment in any way. Instead she turned back to Warren as if they hadn't been interrupted at all. "I do understand that you'd prefer for it to be an internal Nation matter. And I'm not even opposed to having it be handled as such in most cases. But that does not eradicate the need to have it spelled out. So there are no mistakes or misunderstandings."

She and Warren walked away, deep in discussion, and Clive did a slow clap of appreciation in his head. He planned to show her just how much he appreciated her political prowess later on after dinner and behind a locked door.

"Rude."

He turned to Victoriana. "I appreciate your self-actualization." And then he walked away, heading toward another knot of people.

Once they'd been called in to dinner, Clive settled in across the table. He at Theo's left hand and Rowan at Theo's right. She shot him a look. And he smiled serenely, but he did cut his eyes to the left. Just for a moment. He had something to tell her about the Vampire who'd been with Victoriana, that much was clear.

The b.i.t.c.h who'd petted him like she had a right to. Who'd then laughed as she tried to imply she and Clive had more than a conversation earlier that evening. Rowan didn't know who the Vampire was, but she knew who she was to Clive, and that trumped whatever this twit thought she had to say.

Warren had expressed his deep disdain for Victoriana, and he'd hedged around this Collette. Enough that it had been pretty obvious to Rowan that Collette and Clive had been a thing at some point.

Which she wasn't bothered about. He was centuries old. He was powerful and gorgeous too. Of course there were women in his past. He didn't even give Collette a second glance, and Rowan knew him pretty well by that point. If she'd meant anything to him still, he'd have interacted with her.

But Collette had made that comment about "his Rowan" and intimated they'd discussed her, so there was that.

People shot her looks from the other end of the table and she wanted to laugh at how many egos must have been blowing up all over the place. Vampires were hierarchy obsessed and she'd just thrown a wrench into that.

Well, Theo had. She managed not to look over at him, but she bet he was amused. He loved messing with people.

Victoriana was waaaaay down at the far end of the table. Below the Hunters. Might as well have had a kids' table to stick her and her little crew at. Rowan wanted very much to wave, but kept herself under control. After all, she was there at the head of the table. That was enough.

Theo stood and all conversation stopped.

"Tomorrow evening we will officially begin the meeting of the Joint Tribunal. Until then, I do hope you take the time to rest up, get yourselves briefed on the issues at hand and get to know one another a little. I'd like to welcome those humans from Hunter Corporation. The new liaison and someone well-known to the people who live here at my Keep. Rowan Summerwaite."

Oh, he was diabolical.

Rowan nodded down the table. Attempting to remain calm when she wanted to stand up and smack him for making a big deal of things. He'd done it on purpose, though, so he had a reason. He never did anything idly.

"Rowan is accompanied by others from Hunter Corp." He indicated Celesse, Valerie and the seven other official representatives from HC. None merited a mention by name. She was sure she'd hear about that later too.

"My Scions are here this evening. Clive Stewart, who holds North America. Takahiro Okada, who holds Russia, Asia and Eastern Europe. Warren Farrelly, who holds Europe. Tahar Elmaleh, who holds Africa and the Middle East. And Paola Castel, who holds South America."

There were other important Vampires attending. Other cadres from different regions, but by only introducing his Scions, Theo was underlining the existing hierarchy. It was also a subtle bit of weight thrown her way because several of those Scions were Vampires who liked and respected her.

He raised a gla.s.s. His obviously filled with blood, as were several others. Rowan picked hers up, filled with a rather delightful cabernet. "To a fruitful meeting and open minds."

She noted whose gla.s.ses were not raised or were done so reluctantly as she sipped. Theo sat and raised a finger, and food began to come out from the kitchens.

As servers began to fill plates and a mouthwatering scent filled the air, Rowan smiled to herself at the sight of one of her favorites after another. It was virtually a banquet of foods she loved as a child.

"Spetzle too?" She couldn't resist forking some up before the next platter of food came.

"You're pleased?"

She looked up from her plate to Theo. "Very much." She wanted to fill her plate and take it to her rooms to have private time with it.

He nodded. "Cook will be happy to know that."

He looked pretty happy too. But she left that alone.

"Your rooms are to your liking?"