Chapter Five: A Job to Do

"She has a dhampir in her solar. Alone."

Coinneach's gorgeous countenance had a frown and sullen eyes on it. Had it been any other circumstance, Campbell would have teased his brother-in-law about it. However, Campbell had his own concerns.

The name of the famous and stunning Vampire Hunter known as D had reached them even in Lochland. Of course, he would be the one that Bronach would search after and bring here, as he picked up his black knight chess piece. He looked at the exquisitely carved obsidian in his hand before tracing the knight's helmet with his thumb.

Gwendolyn smiled from her place on the sofa, which had been dried by Isobel after the Faerie's little fit earlier. "Do not worry, my darling. I am sure that Bronach would not catch the attention of the Hunter upstairs. Besides, I believe that Isobel and Étiennette would most likely show the Hunter some hospitality later this evening."

"Are you fine with this, Angus?" Coinneach asked.

Campbell shrugged and finished his move, taking Coinneach's bishop. "Étiennette and Isobel can entertain anyone they wish if it doesn't interfere with their duties. They are not mine to command, Coinn."

"I know the two of them regularly take care of your special needs." Coinneach's voice was soft as he leaned forward towards Campbell.

Campbell shrugged as Coinneach picked up his rook and studied the board. "Morven has expressed interest in attending to me as well. Just Étiennette and Isobel's enthusiasm keeps her from doing so."

It is worth noting that the two of them are addicted to my kiss, he thought. He yielded his body to the pleasures the two Faeries offered, but his heart was still Caoilfhionn's. It will always be Caoilfhionn's.

"Well, they have someone new to play with in the Hunter." Gwendolyn stood up and walked over to the chess board. She frowned and lifted her hand to rest her knuckles under her chin. "I am sure after his long journey that their attention will be welcome."

They won't be what he wants, Campbell thought, keeping it to himself so he wouldn't add more worry to Coinneach's current anxiety. Bronach, despite her years, was still a maiden. Combined with being a Faerie, she was a dangerous temptation for anyone with Noble blood other than Campbell.

He knew why she kept her virginity; she had confided in him ages ago.

It was a simple reason, but a lovely one. One that the pleasure-seeking Faeries of the castle couldn't wrap their heads around. One that a romance loving Noble could understand all too well.

The right person hadn't shown up in her life yet.

I hope she knows what she's getting into with this Hunter.

Bronach poured water from the pitcher into the tea kettle before getting her pair of quilted hot pads. She slid the quilted, insulated mittens on her hands before sliding the kettle on the metal rod that hung just above the fire. She felt D's eyes on her with every movement she made and the urge to keep blushing was strong.

"You . . . would be a tempting thing, yes."

Does that mean he wants to drink from me? His little parasite was going to probably say something off-color before D clenched his fist on it. Am I tempting him just by being here?

"So, there have been five bodies found without heads and their bodies drained of blood." Bronach pulled off the hot pads and rested them on her desk for the moment.

D asked, "Where the bodies burned?"

"No, they're currently entombed at the local morgue." She shook her head as she looked at the teakettle; steam had started to rise from the spigot. She walked behind her desk to pick up an ornate wooden box she had there. It had three crows and knotwork for protection and prosperity carved onto the lid. She opened the box and pulled out a tea kettle, a little tin box with her favorite tea, and two teacups with matching saucers. The teacups were arranged on the desk, and she filled a teabag with the orange spice tea that her father had imported from the Capital for her.

A frown formed on D's face as he met her eyes. The dark blue was almost enough to drown in. "After I see them, I suggest burning them to prevent them from rising."

"They were beheaded though. Shouldn't that be enough prevention?" She pulled out a blue cloth wrapped cone and two spoons. "Sugar." She gestured at the blue cloth cone as she sat it on her desk.

"Victims of the Nobility can be very odd. I have seen victims come back from behind beheaded, just wandering aimlessly." D shrugged his broad shoulders as he looked at her tea set then back at her.

She blinked as she scraped some of the hard lump of sugar into her teacup with her spoon. "Just like chickens?"

"Except more dangerous." D's eyes narrowed with a frown.

Bronach lifted up the cone of hard sugar and tapped the spoon to it. "Sugar?"

"You didn't have to go to this trouble." He shook his head before gesturing to the teakettle on the hearth.

She grinned at him and scraped a tiny bit of sugar into his cup, much smaller than the amount she had given herself. "It brings out the flavor of oranges in the tea. I've been trapsing in freezing mud all day. You've been out in the rain all day. I promise this will help."

He grimaced, slightly, but she had caught it. He adjusted himself in his seat before standing up and taking off his sword. The long, curved weapon rested on the chair right in reach. He sank gracefully back into the firm cushions of Bronach's favorite piece of furniture.

"Then I will take some."

She smirked at him before putting the quilted pads back on her hands to remove the kettle from the fire. Steam billowed up from the spigot and filled the air. She poured the heated water into the teapot and almost instantly the smell of orange, cinnamon, and clove filled the room. "We take tea very seriously here."

"Faeries do?" D blinked before looking at her teapot and back up at her.

She laughed and shook her head. "No, people from Lochland. Or the Land of Angels. They're Scotland and England to me."

Damn, I should have gotten biscuits to bring up here. I'm being an awful host, aren't I? Bronach thought.

"The Fae here, they keep to the original names, don't they?" he asked.

Bronach shrugged and answered, "They keep the names before the cataclysm. Apparently, bringing these lands back from ruin was hard."

"This place is very different from the Frontier." D shook his head before crossing his legs.

She inhaled the sweet, spicy scent of the tea and sighed. "I want to see it."

"The Frontier? You're better off staying here." His voice was soft, and there was a sadness to it.

"I wanted to be the one to find and ask you to come here. Both Da and Uncle Angus threw an absolute fit at the idea." She sighed as she picked up her teacup, tracing her finger along the lip of the cup. The delicate ceramic had three crows painted on it, matching the box she kept it in.

Those dark blue eyes leveled on her. "They were right to. It's dangerous, and the people there fear things that are different than them."

"And I'd be ringing a dinner bell for any Noble that would have been in my vicinity." She smiled and it felt sharp to her as her eyes narrowed at her gorgeous guest.

D nodded. "Yes, you would have."

I can take care of myself, damn you, Bronach thought. "You cosmic wanker," was what she said.

"What?" He blinked at her with a frown that made him look both infuriating and endearing at the same time.

She picked up the teapot and poured the golden-brown fluid into each teacup. "Oh, this whole twaddle about me not being able to take care of myself. Protesting this to you isn't going to get me bloody anywhere."

"Nobility are completely different than Faerie." His frown deepened as he looked at her.

From his left hand, that hoarse voice said, "D, just shut up while you're ahead. Sorry sweetheart, this is all kind of new to him." Then the parasite chuckled.

"I have a name, and it's not 'sweetheart'." She raised her eyebrow as she handed D the teacup resting primly on its saucer.

Why do people I do not know always try to feed me? Do I look malnourished? I know I'm pale, but there's nothing I can do about that.

D took the teacup that his host presented to him. He eyed the three crows that were painted on the cup, complete with blue, green, and violet iridescence in their feathers. "Consider yourself lucky, at least it's not calling you 'baby'."

"I'm sorry I got pissy just now." Bronach brought her tea up to her lips, blowing on the steam rising from the cup. He noticed that her bottom lip was plumper than the top, giving her a slightly pouty appearance.

He nodded, still slightly bewildered about what he said offended her so much. Still, it's a nice change from being fawned over. Then he prepared to empty the contents of the tea when the first bit hit his tongue. It was hot, but he could taste oranges, cinnamon, and clove in the amber-brown liquid. He blinked before slowly sipping it, feeling it warm him from within.

"I told you that you'd feel better," she said with a smile.

D rested the saucer on the arm of the chair before wrapping his cool hands around the teacup to warm them. "You mentioned Fae that drank blood. What makes you think that this isn't one of them?"

"Dearg-Due normally don't behead their victims and there would have been signs of sexual activity if it was one of them." Her cheeks and ears flushed pink again as she looked away from him.

D asked, "Have you encountered one of them before?" I'm not sure I can pronounce that name properly.

The blonde nodded and looked back at him. "A couple of decades before, there was one that was feeding on people in Lochend. She was making a real nuisance of herself."

"You had to hunt her." D took another sip of tea as he watched her nod.

She looked down at her cup of tea with a sigh. "Dearg-Dues are very lonely. They often fall in love with someone they cannot have or doesn't love them back. So, they seduce others and drink their blood to sate the loneliness inside of them. Usually at the cost of the life of the person they drink from."

Compassion isn't something I get to see with other Hunters, D thought, wondering how she would have handled the plight of Charlotte Elbourne and Mayerling.

"She wasn't any different; she fell for some bloke that was happily married and expecting their first babe. She went around seducing and draining other men, leaving bloodless corpses in her wake. By the time I was called in, there had already been a handful of victims."

D looked at her and twisted the cup in his hands in a clockwise circle so it could warm the rest of his hands. "You did the right thing."

"Doing the right thing isn't always easy." She smiled up at him, a wistful look in her eyes.

D nodded. "No, it's not."

She rested her cup on her desk and stretched in her seat. "So, we need to talk about payment."

"We haven't confirmed a Noble yet." Except for Campbell, who's most likely addicted to Faerie blood and not interacting with the world outside of this castle after his wife's murder.

"You still traveled all the way from the Frontier to here. I should at least pay for your time and travel expenses." Bronach held up her hands in a gesture of surrender.

D eyed her and kept his left fist clenched. The thing was a good negotiator, but D was afraid that the parasite would ask for something like the Faerie girl's blood or virginity. Even if she had been as destitute as Doris, I doubt she'd offer her body as payment, D thought.

No, she'd find the culprit on her own and deal with it, no matter what the cost.

"A hundred-thousand dalas, does that sound fair?" Bronach asked, "Plus your travel expenses. I'll cover anything else while you're here."

D asked, "Do you want me to stay at the castle?"

"I would, but I don't know if that would be the best for you." The blonde grimaced and took a drink of her tea.

He tilted his head and took a drink himself, allowing himself the enjoyment of the warmth it brought. "What do you mean?"

"I'm worried about what Étiennette and Isobel will try to do to you." She was blushing again, the pink reaching the tips of her pointed ears.

D offered her a faint half-smile. "I can take care of myself."

"No, you don't understand what they can do. I'm pretty sure most of the time Uncle Angus just sits back and lets things happen because it's not worth the energy to try and fight them." She shook her head with a sigh.

He asked, "Your father allows this to happen?"

"I also think Uncle Angus allows it to happen so he could feel something other than grief." Violet eyes looked into her teacup, as if she was divining it for answers.