Chapter 26

It felt as though a lifetime had passed, but it had only been five minutes when I returned to the ballroom. It was an act of mercy that Saul 'The Procurer' was there. He had brought what he dubbed the best dancers in the world. I had never been so happy to see that vampire in my whole life, and that included when I was four and wanted a unicorn for Christmas.

It hadn't been planned, but when Saul saw me his polite smiled turned radiant. It was almost brighter than his clothes, not an easy feat. He was wearing a velvety lemon-colored suit with a bright orange tie and neon blue undershirt. I talked to him about merchandise and he had plenty. He was even kind enough to offer to sell me a zombie for 30% off. It was going bad apparently.

Saul didn't have anything I wanted, but I spent time and money to keep my mind occupied. Every part me wanted to enter the minds of humans again and steal glimpses of Eric but I refrained. I was stronger than my nature and my sex. I only needed to endure for a little while longer. I had already activated the bugs I had Quinn plant. When I got home, I might be able to see Eric that way, from a safe distance.

Finally my dad was saying his farewells. That was my cue to exit and I took it. I was moving with Galleon toward the side exit when we were stopped by a handful of guards.

"Her Majesty Freyda has summoned you," One of them said.

"Be so kind as to repeat that," The Berserker growled with fangs out. "I did not hear."

The Berserker seemed to have materialized behind the speaker as he pressed the business end of a bladed gauntlet to his neck. There was no way the other vampire could utter another word without cutting himself, the blade was that close. He really was a madman. Galleon didn't care about his odds. All that mattered was how many he took with him. The Queen's messengers squared up and so did Heidi.

The threat of blood in the air was so thick I could barely think through it. I chuckled softly. My faux laugh made me the focal point.

"I know you are bored, Galleon, but you mustn't tease," I scolded gently. "They do not appreciate our desert sense of humor."

Heidi and I were the only ones who saw his confusion, but he released his almost-victim and returned to my side.

I smiled as I straightened the suit jacket of the other vampire he'd manhandled. "It would be my honor. Please," I said with a nod. "Do lead the way."

This was why my father raised me with impeccable manners. No matter the circumstance, showing respect always smoothed the situation. The vampire looked at me with less hostility than he did Galleon.

"Follow me."

I nodded again and did as instructed having no choice, and my guards came with. It was my guess that Heidi minded a hell of a lot more than Galleon. I was curious. I also hated to admit it, but I was eager for a chance to glimpse my tormenter, my love, my ex-husband. My heels echoed when we left the main court and moved onto a walkway that seemed to lead into the residential area. It was there she waited. Freyda. She was seated at a little patio table, alone. I was both disappointed and relieved.

"Good of you to come," She said in hello.

I curtsied. "It is an honor—"

"Enough," She interjected. "I care not for your airs. Forget that I am a queen. We are two females speaking freely."

"If that is her Majesty's wish," I qualified.

"It is," She replied.

I nodded but said nothing.

"I am the youngest queen in the New World, did you know that?"

Yes. "No."

She smiled, showing perfect little teeth that I wanted to kick in. "Lying to me when I have a map into your heart is in poor taste, Princess."

Further proof that she had been getting details of what I'd told Eric. It made me see red. It took everything I had to stay where I was. The thought of Eric telling her everything I'd told him about my life while they were or weren't in bed together was…

I swallowed back bile but nodded my head as if it her words had been nothing. "I should have seen what I presumed to be subterfuge to be truth, a farfetched truth, but truth. You were a human-Fae mutt reared in a nest of a vampire King. Of course you were well educated in vampire politics; Felipe wouldn't make such an oversight for his daughter."

So, she finally believed that I was more than a high ranking consort or a spy to the King. Yet she hadn't called off the wedding or given back what didn't belong to her.

"Before your mother's mother was even thought of, I was Queen and I knew I needed a powerful husband to fortify my rule. I wanted Eric, but Sophie-Anne would not part with her Sheriff, and I did not have the means to take him by force. When Ocella crossed my borders, patience met opportunity."

Ocella had paved the way. There was so much regret and anger but I didn't let it show. I just kept looking on as if I was getting an interesting history lesson.

"I know that you are…hurt, but do not take my actions personally," She concluded.

It was clear she was trying to make this sound like some kind of heart to heart, as if we were girlfriends and her actions had been nothing, blood under the bridge. That would be peachy, except it had been my blood, my tears, and my pain, so, not so much.

"Eric was the goal, you were the obstacle. Surely you understand simple cause and effect."

"I do," I said with a nod. "You coveted my husband. Knowing he was married, knowing he didn't want you, you conspired with his Maker knowing it would wound me. You cared nothing that it would have cost me my life when Ocella blew my cover. In fact, I think you banked on it."

She didn't have to answer. I saw it on her face. I was right. The Stackhouse farmhouse was burned down because of Eric. If I'd burned to death in it, Freyda would have won and that alone was reason to live forever.

"Forgive me for saying so, but from where I sit, Your Grace that feels extremely personal."

Her eyes narrowed. "It should not."

Freyda's expression was that of a person used to silencing another. It rang with threats of pain and her authority. No doubt that it was effective every place else, but I was no subject. I was an enemy with power of my own.

I waved my hand in a regal manner to dismiss her words. "It does, very much so," I said. "It is perception that makes reality, not the other way round."

"I am willing to offer reparations," She countered.

If I wasn't raised by vampires I would have flown off the handle and attacked her. Maybe that was the aim. She was offering to buy my husband from me, after the fact, just as she had no doubt offered Ocella some form of payment for his role. To both of them, Eric was nothing a piece of prime meat.

"Your money is meaningless to me." I told her politely. There wasn't enough of it in the world that would appease my rage or buy my love.

"It is done. He is my husband."

Then I had to ask. "Is that what you think this is? You think my father would make an enemy of you or anyone because they stole my boyfriend?"

Satisfaction, I felt it. Her pretty doll face contorted. I almost felt like smiling after I'd taken so many blows tonight. Freyda's eyes were green, but they were almost black as they narrowed in menace. Interesting.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "You do, don't you?"

I threw my hand over my mouth as if to hide a laugh. Meanwhile my eyes said that I was embarrassed for her. Her eyes were jet black now. It was clear that it was taking much for her not to attack. Good. I laughed outright then and my amusement wasn't feigned.

Her lips almost curled to show fang, but then she found her center. Her eyes dialed down, shifting from black to a murky green. That was not normal. I had no idea what to make of it. I kept talking in the hope that she would reveal more.

"If you think this is about Eric, it isn't."

Freyda gave a little more away as her fingers clenched into fists at her side. Her eyes darkened once again. What the hell? None of my confusion or preoccupation showed while I continued to twist the knife.

"I have seen what passes for loyalty and love with him. It isn't enough, not for me."

I couldn't force the lie through my lips and tell her she could have them. It could never be true even in a million years. Even if it was, I would free Eric from her and Ocella no matter what he thought or felt about it.

"What do you want then?" she spat.

From her clear tension, I knew that Freyda was very well aware that she had an angry vampire by the fang. That wasn't even the half of it. Soon she would start to suffer the liability that Alexei posed. She would be as surrounded as I was and there wouldn't be anything she could do. While she owned Eric on paper, she couldn't make him do anything by force without Ocella and he was a scumbag.

"Everything." I told her. I let the predator leak out of my eyes. Then I smiled sweetly while nodding my head. "I must go now for my father calls. It has truly been an honor."

I took the respectful three steps back, and curtseyed before I turned my back to her. I could feel her eyes on me. Her stare was such that the air in the corridor seemed to darken. I didn't look back. My steps didn't falter. I kept my head held high as I walked to my father. He arched a brow in question, but I smiled back and kissed his cheek as we left the venue. My exit was proper and befitting my rank. I left feeling stronger than when I had come in.

While my dad would attend the wedding of an enemy with a smile, he wouldn't let the sun find him there, despite the fact that he was a day walker. Our convoy led us to the airport where his jet was waiting. It was as if every regent who had attended Freyda's wedding refused to stay the day in her state.

Then again many of the royals who had attended were from Amun territory and they knew what I was. They knew what Eric was to me, and they were most likely expecting a bloodbath. They were wrong. The truth was that Freyda had already lost. She just didn't know it yet. There was a line but we were one of the first. Why was it that it came as no surprise that there was a bomb on my father's jet? As we got within firing range the sensors on my phone, my father's and my brother's went off simultaneously.

'Concentrated levels of Ammonium Nitrate detected: Vacate current location immediately.' The message was flashing in big bold red letters across my screen.

I didn't have to check with my brother and father to know that they were seeing the same message. My father looked as if someone had just committed some social faux pas that offended every sensibility he had. I knew then that whatever respect he had for Freyda was gone. That was good. I knew then that my father would allow me to do whatever I wished to her now. There was absolutely nothing or no one that could save her. On the other hand, Sai looked furious.

"Where is the respect?" Sai growled.

Then I had to laugh. I was actually amused. Not happy, but the fact that I was doing something complex allowed me to think about something other than my pain.

"Who in their right mind would fight you head on?" I said.

He cut me a look that said I did and often. I knew Sai would never hurt me badly; never mind kill me, but I guess there was something to be said that I sought him out for a fight. It was never painless. I laughed and he smiled which made Heidi inch away. He terrified her especially.

"What is the situation?" Victor asked looking from his phone. It made his frown pronounced because it told him nothing.

"Bomb on the jet," I replied absently.

I slid my phone under the jet and activated FIN from Sai's. It gave me a reading on the device and, from there I was able to read the schematics on the bomb. Ideally I would very much like to not have to take a taxi home.

"I will call around for daytime accommodations and alternate modes of transport," Victor said.

"No. You will smile," My father said. "You will remain in this hanger and we will socialize until the jet is ready or until the sun ends you."

I didn't feel bad for Victor, but I almost kind of sort of thought about it for a second. The fact that we were not advancing toward our ride was drawing attention. Other regents that were waiting for us to clear the runway were watching with open interest as we delayed. My father left with Victor, Sai and Galleon. He would talk about the party and when anyone asked, he would laugh off what had been an attempt on his life.

I was left with Bill and Heidi. The reason he had left me with these two was obvious. Of the people he had brought they were the lowest ranking. I could use them in whatever way I saw fit. It wouldn't come to that though, or so I hoped. If this bomb had been more sophisticated I could have defused it automatically. Freyda really did know all the details about me. This was made to be crude as to avoid detection. Had I been anyone else it would have worked.

"The timer is off," I declared.

"I had faith," Bill said. "I always have faith in you."

I don't know how my father had managed to acquire a vampire so young who was so loyal, but Bill had a one track mind.

"However," I said as if he hadn't spoken. "If someone is waiting and watching with a remote trigger in range, the bomb can be detonated. To remove the threat entirely, the bomb needs to be removed from the plane. That brings us to the earlier point of contention."

I watched while Heidi and Bill had that silent vampire communication. They were trying to decide who had the better odds of survival. If I had to guess, I would say it was Heidi, but she was the best tracker my father had and she couldn't be so easily replaced. On the other hand, Bill was the sole vampire my father trusted me with when I'd been injured and far from home. I couldn't decide between the two and dawn was near. I was running out of time.

"Bill, you will go," I ordered.

Without missing a beat he nodded. "Do you know the location?"

I faced Bill and held my hand open for his suit jacket and his tie as he relieved himself of both. It was a show of respect.

"There is a trick panel there," I pointed between the front and back wheels. "You need to rip it open, grab hold of the explosive and toss it as high up as you can and as far away as you are able."

He rolled up his sleeves and faced me. "A kiss," He said. "I have wanted that for years. I beg that you allow me this one thing."

I cupped his face and kissed him. I didn't feel anything or kiss with any passion, but it didn't matter. I was adding to the show for the sake of the regents who were riveted on every word. Bill kissed me and I let him have his way because there was very good chance he was about to be blown into a million crispy pieces. He deserved that much.

It was true that I was risking Bill's life, but if he managed to pull this off in front of present company he would be more than respected. He would earn more than a few stripes. It was moments such as these that took vampires and gave them a moniker that followed them forever. As I looked at Bill I knew he was willing to risk that. Also, if he lived, it would serve my end goal. By the time I arrived home Freyda would be the vampire that no one here wanted anything to do with. They would know that there was no place for her to go but down after attacking my father in such a manner.

We pulled apart and Bill didn't hesitate. He ghosted from my side. There had to be at least fifty vampires present. We all watched as Bill raced the speed of light. There was nothing vampires loved more than drama. Compton ripped the trick panel away and I saw the bomb detonate. He should have sacrificed the craft and pulled back, but he gave up both his hands and some of his chest instead. He tossed his bundle miles and miles into the sky. The exploding mass lit the night like a cannon. The debris rained down, but Heidi was there pulling Bill to safety from the wreckage. Galleon was kicking and punching away everything else. That was a vampire that seriously needed to take a sick day. He was nuts.

Heidi brought her wrists to Bill's fangs as she led him into the jet.

It was just as my father had taught me. 'Forever is a long time, mija, you will need currency, but your word and honor will carry the most weight of all.'

If Freyda had any friends left in this world, they weren't in the dozen or so regents who had witnessed her act of cowardice. To those who saw this, Freyda of Oklahoma was afraid of a fair fight. They wouldn't go near her now even if she paid them to in blood. Even if we'd staged this, it couldn't have been improved on.

My pain was still there, yet growing alongside it was a feeling of triumph that I knew well. I'd showed my tormentor that I wasn't afraid. Still, it was more than that; I had turned the tables. Freyda now knew what I was. She might not have shown me she was afraid, but she was certainly frightened enough to hastily plant a bomb on my father's jet. I would be lying if I said I was disappointed by her antics. I wasn't. The truth was I was going to destroy the Queen of Oklahoma, by my own chosen method. I fantasized about all the ways I would do so as the jet ferried me home.