Instead of the drawing room, Freyda led us to the eastern wing of the mansion and down a set of wide stairs to a subterranean floor. We passed through the infamous gallery. I kept my eyes down, my steps sure and straight. Even just absorbing the space from my peripheral vision, it was worse than I expected. The walls and floors, covered in glossy, vivid white tiles, shone so brightly under the fluorescents it hurt my eyes. Patches of dried blood and indiscriminate bodily fluids stood out starkly against the bright of the surrounds. I did lift my head to look as we passed the last cell. The vampire strung up against the wall was unconscious, emaciated. The only thing between us was a pane of glass so clear it were as if I could reach out and touch him.
After the horror of the gallery, Freyda's office looked far less imposing and far milder than I expected. She sat herself in a high wingback chair while Sigrid and Eric stood at either shoulder. Rather than a window behind her, an enormous impressionist painting of a sunlit garden was mounted on the wall. The colors were striking, flowers dotted in streaks of blue and pink.
"Very well," she said. "I am waiting."
"The gold has been located," Thalia said, ripping the bandaid off for me. I tried to not give her a sharp look. Somehow over the course of the previous evening and this one, Thalia had transformed from bodyguard to fellow detective.
"Is this true?" Freyda asked Sigrid.
Sigrid's eyes widened slightly. "This is the first I've heard of it. I doubt that very much."
"Doubt this," Thalia said, and removed a gold bar from inside her jacket. She placed it on the table, her hand burning upon contact with the bar. The skin bubbled and sizzled. Thalia didn't bother flinching as her skin burned. She simply stepped back and crossed her hands behind her back again.
"What on earth…" Freyda said. She stood and used the end of a fountain pen to push at the bullion bar. It slid smoothly along the finished mahogany desk, not damaging any of the inanimate objects around it. She touched a finger against the bar and it fizzled, burning. Her hand darted away.
"It's spelled," I said. "In fact the location where the gold is hidden is spelled. Not only does it burn us, it causes us to forget… So we can't actually tell you where it is." I looked to Sigrid when I spoke, trying to gauge her reaction.
"That is unexpected," Sigrid said, her pointed features neutral. I narrowed my eyes in her direction and held out my good hand to Thalia. Thalia placed the tablet computer into my waiting palm, and I put it down on Freyda's desk, quickly navigating through to the photo gallery.
"The gold is hidden on the palace property."
"Here?" Freyda questioned, a line of consternation forming between her brows.
"I thought you were unable to tell us where it was," Sigrid said, folding her arms across her chest.
"I meant I am unable to recall where it was. An important distinction from being unable to tell you. I had been investigating the palace grounds and the next day knew I'd forgotten something when I saw my burned fingers and couldn't remember how I'd gotten the burns. I retraced my steps until I worked out where I'd been. I went back again, took notes and photos. Kind of like Memento."
"Memento?" Freyda said.
"A movie," Eric supplied. "The protagonist has no short-term memory and leaves notes in order to solve the mystery of his wife's murder."
"Anyway," I said after a brief, irritable flash in Eric's direction. "Your majesty, you will find the gold in a small hut at the northern boundary of the property in the woods."
I wasn't sure what kind of response I was expecting. Perhaps, gratefulness or maybe a sigh of relief. Instead, she nodded slightly. "Very well. Who stole it?"
I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet. "Uh, that's the more complex part."
She lifted her hand to quieten me and turned to Joshua. "Call the witches," she said. "Bring them out here. Have them examine the magic guarding the gold. See if they can extinguish it in order to retrieve it all."
"On to it, your majesty." Joshua strode from the room and all eyes turned back to me. I swallowed nervously. I was supremely aware of the fact that I was now the only human in a room full of powerful vamps.
"I have a feeling they will have no issues," I said.
Sigrid scoffed. "What makes you so sure?"
"Oh, I don't know," I retorted. "How much gold did you give them to complete the job to begin with?"
Freyda twisted in her seat to face Sigrid. "What does she mean by that, Siggy?" Her voice was different, colored by a distinct accent, the pet name familiar on her tongue. Sigrid eyeballed daggers my way and I smiled, moving to sit in one of seats that faced Freyda's desk. I winced as I settled, my hands complaining bitterly with the hint of any jarring movement.
"I admit, I struggled to work it out," I said. "Who would go to such enormous effort to steal gold, only to keep it right under the Queen's nose? And to what end? Anyone who wanted the gold for themselves simply would've taken it and disappeared—or at least moved the gold out of the state, or even out of the country, not closer to you, your Majesty."
Freyda watched me expectantly.
"So what kind of person would keep gold on the palace grounds?" I continued. "Only one answer seemed to make sense… What's the name of that principle?" I looked to Thalia, but she made no effort to engage with my banter, so I shrugged lightly. "It's the one that says the simplest conclusion is the most likely."
"Occam's Razor," Freyda said sitting back down and resting her head against the back of the chair. Her pretty features settled into an appraising expression, and her fingers rapped thoughtfully against the tabletop. "Lex parsimoniae. When competing with multiple hypothetical answers to a problem, one should select the one that makes the fewest assumptions."
"Yes. Exactly." I hadn't heard it explained in such a manner, but it worked for my spiel. "It's completely nonsensical to think that a thief would steal the money only to move it here and store it and then steal it again later or—well, I don't even know. Too many whys and what ifs. I can't even imagine a scenario where that would make sense. It seemed to me something different happened."
"Which is what?"
"What if the person stealing the gold didn't actually want the gold for themselves. Instead, their intent wasn't to steal it for their own needs, but rather to take the gold from you, your majesty. And where best to hide it but right under your nose?"
"Why steal it if they didn't want to keep it?" she asked.
"To destabilize your rule. Someone close to you, I imagine. Someone who has an axe to grind. Or maybe for someone with less significant motives. Hurt feelings, perhaps?"
Freyda's drumming fingers stopped, mid movement. She twitched her index finger and before I could blink, Eric had Sigrid up against a wall, Sigrid snarling back at him.
"You have no idea what you're talking about, you dimwitted breather," Sigrid spat at me.
Even from underneath the depths of my pain and emotional fatigue, I still found enough amusement in her comment to laugh.
"Oh, really?" I opened my mouth tapped my eyetooth with my finger. "I noticed fairly quickly you had only a single fang in your mouth, Sigrid. I'd be willing to bet your matching fang on the otherside is still growing in. Eric, didn't you once tell me that fangs are pulled as punishment? That the younger you are the longer it takes to heal and regrow body parts?"
Eric agreed, not bothering to take his eyes from his detainee.
"So, I couldn't help but wonder, who else would have authority to pull the fang of the kingdom's investigator other than the Queen herself? And how you must've done something so bad or behaved in such a way that the Queen had to make a show of your punishment. Judging by what I just saw, the fang has only partially regrown … So how long would that take? Maybe slightly more than two years? I'm not sure exactly what happened for you to be punished so, but can't imagine it was anything small."
Sigrid hissed, her face twisting and feral. I turned to Christof, reasonably confident now that my hypothesis was correct.
"And didn't you leave for another court just after Eric arrived? Your parting, to me, seems like quite a huge life-event for y'all. Since, from what I can gather, you, Sigrid and the Queen were joined at the hip since y'all were turned. Three siblings, joined at the hip, one gets married, another punished, and the third cast out to a different court. That had to have stung."
"What are you insinuating, Sookie?" Freyda asked.
"I'm not insinuiating. I have a question for the vampire."
"Very well, get to it," she said, she waved a hand for me to go on.
"Do you handle the Queen's investments?" I asked Christof.
Christof narrowed his eyes at me. "No longer."
"But you advise her, do you not? I hear you were once a keen financier."
"Yes, I have offered financial advice."
"He still does, on occasion," Freyda said.
I noted Eric's surprise. I smiled coldly at Freyda. "So now I do insinuate."
"Insinuate what?" Freyda's angry facade was slipping, and I saw a barest hint of shock. She was blind-sided.
"His advice was bunk, your majesty."
"It is the nature of the stock market, of investments," said Christof. "The world is going through economic crisis. We are in recession. Of course investments are failing." Christof's role her in finances had been a hunch, but I had to admit that it did make sense that he could've acted in good faith and failed, thanks to the lousy economic climate. But it was just as likely that he was mad at her too and purposefully making choices that would undermine her wealth. Vampires were a petty bunch.
"It's almost as if they suddenly realized they were in a precarious financial position two years ago," I said to Thalia. "Perhaps they were counting on some big windfall that unexpectedly fell through. And then had to rely on acquiring funds through unconventional means."
From the corner of the room, Eric's head spun; but rather than combust on the spot under the strength of his fiery stare, I just decided to keep my gaze decidedly trained straight ahead.
"A rational explanation," Thalia replied with dispassion.
I turned to Christof. "Instead of landing a big windfall, y'all got nothing. Other than shafted by your own sibling. Whose idea was it that you move to the Dakota court? I bet it was Freyda's."
"Enough," Freyda snarled. "I've heard enough."
"I really don't think she likes my insinuations now," I told Thalia.
"What insinuations?" Freyda cried.
"She insinuates that young vampires have more self-interest than sense," said Thalia to Freyda, speaking to her like she were a child. "Rather than work to establish your kingdom over time, you wish to rush and obtain funds by any means necessary. Even if illegally."
As Thalia spoke, she moved to stand at my shoulder, much the way Eric and Sigrid had earlier stood at Freyda's.
Freyda launched to her feet, hands curled like claws. "You dare speak to a Queen in such a way?" she snarled.
"I know you're working for the North Dakota court," I continued speaking to Christof, "but I'm almost 100% positive the money the Queen is laundering is coming through you, somehow. She was forced into a corner financially so she sent you where she could find some cash and quick."
Christof managed to look somewhat uncomfortable but tilted his chin a little as if to say 'So?' while Freyda made a show of spluttering about accusations of money laundering.
"She used you, planted you in fertile ground, as a means of extra income. Or maybe it's a mutual back scratch with North Dakota. And the gold was her backup plan, if it all fell through."
"Drug use is rife in North Dakota with the oil boom," Thalia added. "I asked contacts. Heard rumors of V circulating through reservations like wildfire. Spreading through the cities. A single ounce from the right vampire? Worth thousands. The North Dokota monarchy seem to be doing very little to address the V crisis. In fact, nothing."
"And this is what you align yourself with?" I said to Eric and made a sound of disgust.
"What is she saying?" Freyda spat, as Christof began yelling his objections.
"The money you're laundering through the state comes from V you're helping sell in North Dakota."
"Treasonous!" Sigrid yelled.
"Hardly," I said, turning my attention to Sigrid. "And you're one to talk. You were the one to steal the gold. To destabilize the kingdom. I wasn't 100% sure why, at least not until this evening."
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Sigrid snarled. "You are—" Her words cut off, strangled to silence by Eric, whose broad hand crushed her vocal cords.
"Stop speaking," Eric said almost cheerfully. He seemed to be enjoying this. "I'm done with hearing you talk now."
"It all clicked, Sigrid, when I saw you watching Eric and Freyda dance. I'd recognize the look of a jilted woman anywhere." Bill with Lorena, Eric with Freyda, and then Sam with Josie. I was deeply familiar. "What was it? You wanted Freyda to need you again, since she cast your aside? Since she relegated you to the role of investigator once Eric arrived? So you stole her financial backbone. What were you planning? To return it to her so she'd be grateful and then you'd win her back?"
Freyda waved her hand to Eric, who immediately released Sigrid from where she was pinned against the wall. Eric twisted in his spot to stare hard at me, but it was Freyda's reaction that caught my attention. Emotion passed across her features, a rapid rotation of shock and hurt and anger. It was proof of the humanity I'd seen glimpses of in those photo albums.
"Siggy…" Freyda said softly, she stood and moved to her side.
Sigrid knocked her away. "You think I was heartbroken?" she spat at Freyda. "I wanted to destroy you! You meet this smiling swine," she said gesturing to Eric. "And forget Christof and I? Forget the words, the struggle, the blood we shed to build your kingdom? Our kingdom! You send our brother to launder blood money? You disgusting bitch! I don't want you to need me. You are nothing to me! I want your kingdom to fail!"
Freyda let out a roar and punched Sigrid, shattering her nose. They began fighting viciously and then Christof jumped between the three. The trio moved so quickly I couldn't tell if he was trying to keep them apart or joining in on the fight. It was like a Looney Tunes cartoon fight.
Thalia grabbed me and zipped me out of the room, I yelled out in shock and pain from the force of the movement on my hand. We were out in the hall, the door to Freyda's office slamming shut behind us.
"What did you do that for?" I cried, clutching my hand to my chest. The pain… Dear Lord, the pain. Shock and adrenalin was quickly wearing off. My knees wanted to buckle.
"They are either about to fuck or fight," Thalia said, holding me up hard by the arm. "Or both. Time for you to leave. You've earned your pay check."
I sighed and nodded weakly. Fine. I had said my bit. Time for vampires to be vampires. I trailed after Thalia up the wide hallway.
It was all revenge, I mused. That was what Sigrid wanted. To destabilize Oklahoma and destroy Freyda's reign from within. I bet she spread the rumors about the money laundering and Oklahoma's precarious financial position in the palace. Like a spoiled child that smashes her sibling's tower of wooden blocks because she is denied attention. I wondered if it was a two-part plan? First destablise her rule and then what…? Takeover? How would that even be possible with Eric by Freyda's side? I couldn't quite get a feel for Christof and his role in it. Maybe he was waiting in the wings to trip Freyda up as she remained busy putting out fires. Or maybe he was bitter about being sent away and just wanted to make her hurt too.
Thalia and I slowly walked back to our suite, first back through the gallery, and then through the central portion of the mansion. Thalia glowered and hissed at anyone who dared shoot a curious glance my way. It was an effective deterrent, especially amongst the younger vampires. I was at my limit. The night was done and so was I.
The party was still rolling, however, and my shields were completely shot. I collected stray thoughts of donors, they were either inebriated, or glamoured. A young human couple strolled past under the arms of a vampire I recognized from Stan's kingdom. He was a familiar face I'd seen at that fateful party in Dallas.
This whole experience had been a completely unpleasant time warp. A time warp that served to remind me of how far removed my life back home was from this... this existence.
I had to stop myself from collapsing with relief when I got back to the settee in my suite. I lowered myself slowly with a pained moan and leaned back, kicking off my heels. I finally dared take a look at my hand. The back of my hand had puffed and swollen like I was suffering an allergic reaction, but it was my fingers, the index and middle that made me want to weep. They bent at a slightly unnatural angle to the right, the skin on my middle knuckle scraped off. I bit back a whimper at the thought of having a doctor straighten it.
A knock sounded at the door and Thalia allowed Joshua to enter.
"How are you?" he asked me, he pressed some pain relief into my good hand, and I chased the pills down with water, not even bothering to ask what they were.
"Thrilled that this job is over."
He nodded, staring at my hand with a worrying disquiet. "Is that Eric's work?"
"No," I said with a slight shake of my head.
"Then how?"
I didn't bother answering. I just didn't want to. It was hard enough to admit even to myself that I'd been so foolish. Foolish like an animal walking willingly into a bear trap then having the gall to be surprised that the only way to escape was through chewing its own damn leg off.
We shared a long, uncomfortable look.
"What's going to happen to Sigrid?" I said. I gathered from his thoughts he was apprised of the developments with Sigrid and Christof.
Joshua shrugged. "Who knows. Freyda is rarely sentimental but…"
"But it's her sister and brother."
He nodded.
The pain meds seemed to kick in a little while after Joshua left. I retreated to my room and closed the door. I stood at the mirror, slowly using a facial wipe to scrub the makeup from my face. I was trying to absorb enormity of the evening's events. Felipe. Freyda. Eric. Sigrid. Eric and Freyda as they floated across the dance floor…
"What are you wearing?" Thalia asked appearing suddenly behind my shoulder. Her hair, previously pinned back was now down, dark ringlets lining her chiseled cheekbones. She regarded my outfit with palpable distaste.
"My pyjamas." I said. My nightie was striped and flannel. "Why?"
"We are leaving. Are your things packed?"
"What? No." My evening gown was crumpled on the floor at my feet, my things still unpacked and spread about my room. "I figured we'd be leaving tomorrow night." And I was planning on taking my butt straight down to an urgent care first in the morning to have my hand sorted out.
"Our tickets are booked. You have three minutes to be packed and ready."
I lifted my hand. "If you think I can be ready in three minutes with this thing, then you have grossly misjudged the speed with which injured humans can function."
"Drink my blood, then."
I recoiled, the makeup wipe slipping from my fingers. "Sorry—what now?"
She bristled, her narrow shoulders straightening a little.
"I am old. You will not require much."
I opened my mouth. Then closed it. And then opened it again. I… I was shocked. Words failed me completely. I shook my head instead. No way, no how. No blood.
And, further, what the hell?!
Vampire blood was considered sacred, the older moreso. And as far as old vampires went, and Thalia was as old as Methuselah. Literally. Why would she offer it to me as if it were nothing? As if I would consider it nothing?! I vividly remembered the lingering effects of vampire blood and I wanted nothing to do with it, broken hand or not.
With my mute response, Thalia's eyes hardened, gray and cold as steel. She turned and exited the room.
• •
Anubis Flight 383 taxied along the runway, and I leaned back watching as the orange lights of the airport sped past and began to blur. A moment later, the wheels lifted from the ground and we rose. I curled a little into my seat, taking in the views with my breath held. It didn't matter how many times I flew, it still seemed to defy logic that these huge hunks of metal could somehow become airborne. Funny how that made less sense to me than the fact a 3000-year-old Ancient Greek vampire was riding along next to me.
The twinkling lights of Oklahoma City were aweing. It was a sprawling city, the cars moving like little brightly lit ants scurrying through the curving lines of the highways. Goodbye Oklahoma, I thought, I hope to never see you again. The view was so wide, so broad. Tiny Sookie travelling in a tube of metal and human invention hundreds and then thousands of feet above sea level. Compared to the rest of the world, it was easy to see how a person could feel inconsequential. Insignificant.
Except… I didn't feel inconsequential. My throbbing hand was a pulsing reminder of the crap I'd dragged up from the past and dragged myself through yet again. I couldn't escape it even from here. I'd needed the money. Shamefully so. The livelihood of good people lay upon my shoulders. If I had to do it again, I'd choose to. But at the same time, I wasn't sure it was worth it.
I shifted in my seat, trying in vain to get comfortable. My damned hand wouldn't have any of that. It throbbed and taunted me regardless of how I sat or how I rested it. The stewards when seating me of course hadn't even blinked at my injured state, particularly with my vampire escort leading me to my seat. I guess working for Anubis they'd probably seen it all, most of it worse.
I let myself wallow as Oklahoma City disappeared from view behind us, as a vampire birthday party and a bitter ex disappeared from view forever.
The moment the fasten seatbelt sign switched off, I was unbuckled and made my way to the restroom. I needed to blow my nose, clean up any remnants of tear-stained make up and leave this chapter of my life behind me to gather dust.
I pushed the toilet door open and was suddenly thrust forward. I stumbled before catching myself on the sink. I looked up in alarm to see Thalia behind me in the reflection of the mirror.
"What are you doing?" I hissed. She slammed the door shut behind me, engaging the lock.
"Enough of this," she snapped, turning to me. "You will accept my blood. This," she spat, gesturing to my hand, "Will get you nowhere. Willing suffering, for what? To matyr yourself for a vampire who gave you up years ago?"
I recoiled as if slapped.
"Get away from me," I said slowly, angrily. I stood straight, ready to push her out of the way and make my way out of the cramped restroom. This had nothing to do with her. And nothing to do with Eric. Who was she to try question my motives? Matyr myself? Who did she think she was?
"And how will you work?" she continued "Are you not a publican? How will you tend your bar with a broken hand."
"That's none of your damn business," I said. Though it wasn't exactly something I had really given much thought to until now… My hand would be strapped, the fingers reset. Crap. I wouldn't be pulling beers anytime soon and dealing with paperwork with a busted hand couldn't be any easier.
She moved quickly, her speed too fast for the human eye and I was pressed against the back wall, the toilet pressing digging into my calves, making my knees partially collapse. Her teeth were bloody and her wrist was pressed to my mouth. I cried out and pushed her away, but she was like a utility pole, unmovable. For all my fighting, I couldn't budge her. She held me in place for only the briefest of moments but it was enough for me to capture an unwanted, unsolicited mouthful of her blood.
She released me and stepped back, her fangs stills bared. I spat into the sink. Thalia growled. It was too late, most of the blood had already slipped down my throat. It couldn't have been much, but for someone of Thalia's age, it was significant. Its taste was rich and deep, like the scent of warm, damp earth after a long rain.
"What did you do?" I said. Shock wavered my voice.
"If you behave like an infant, expect to be treated like one."
She left me standing in the restroom.
Thalia was old. Her blood potent. By the time I got back to my seat, I could feel my hand knitting, my fatigue abating. Thalia was in her seat, eyes closed. Downtime.
I wrapped myself in my complimentary blanket and sat back down. I couldn't begin to guess her motivations. I curled up in my seat facing the window so I could turn my back to her. I pressed the blanket against my face, fisting it hard against my mouth so I could quietly weep.