I crossed my arms and glared at my father. Why the hell had I wanted to work with him again? Oh, right. I didn’t have a choice. But I suppose he was right. Blowing up at him now might convince him to change his mind and leave us there. Besides, I’d have plenty of time to convince him to work with us once we were in a safer place.
I forced my shoulders to relax and cranked my lips up into what I hoped was a genuine smile. Judging from Tristan’s dubious expression, I failed. Still, I forged ahead. “Lead the way, Dad.”
Chapter 18
When Tristan had said we were going to a farm, I expected something with wide-open fields and possibly a red barn. A few cows, maybe a tractor—that kind of thing. Instead, Tristan’s “farm” was really a gorgeous villa set among Tuscany’s rolling hills. The place looked like something from a sweeping period piece where the dashing Italian count sweeps his virgin bride away for a deflowering.
We materialized at the base of a hill. The villa sat above us like a genteel reminder of an era gone by. On our way up, we passed a small building on the right. From my brief glimpse, it seemed to be some sort of family chapel, judging from the small gold cross over the doorway, which was so low I’d have to duck to enter. Across the path from this squat building was a small rose garden. I’d have been charmed if I wasn’t so on edge.
Tristan and the vampire whose name I hadn’t gotten yet led the way. My senses were on high alert for signs of trouble. Only instead of finding any, they were overcome by the countryside’s deafening silence.
Beside me, Giguhl inhaled deeply. “The air smells weird.”
“You’ve been in the city too long,” Adam said. “What you’re smelling is fresh air.”
Giguhl’s nose wrinkled. “No, it’s not that.” He sniffed again. “I think it’s cow shit.”
Adam laughed. “Like I said, fresh country air.”
“Are you coming?” Tristan snapped from farther up the hill. Obviously he wasn’t as impressed by the idyllic setting. Part of me was starting to wonder if Tristan Graecus was ever impressed by anything.
At the top of the hill, we reached a gravel courtyard. Buildings surrounded the area—the manor house, a small brick structure filled with chairs and tables for gatherings, and another medium-sized building that I couldn’t identify without further investigation. Beyond the building, black shapes set against the near-dawn sky implied an orchard or copse of trees just beyond.
“Now for the introductions.” Tristan started at the far end of the line. “Horus and Calyx are our weapons experts.”
The male, Horus, was as wide as he was tall. The hilt of his sword jutted out from behind his dark red ponytail. Both the weapon and the shade of hair told me he was probably a few hundred years old. As for the fae, she was… surprising. Most female faeries were petite. She was certainly shorter than me, but her finely muscled frame made her appear taller. A quiver of arrows was strung to her back and she leaned against a longbow. They both nodded curt greetings.
Next, Tristan turned to the female vampire, who, judging from what I’d seen of her interaction with my father, was his right hand. Once again, I was struck by her beauty—the ivory skin and clear blue eyes seemed so out of place among this team of warriors. “And this is our scholar. If you need to know about dark races history, Nyx is your gal.”
I froze.
“Wait,” Adam said. “Nyx?” He shot me a sidelong glance.
The female nodded and smiled. “Don’t wear it out,” she said with a wink.
“Oh shit,” Giguhl breathed.
Tristan frowned. “Is something wrong?”
My mouth worked for a moment as I struggled to wrap my mind around the fact that the vampire Asclepius wanted me to kill worked with my father. But Adam put his arm around me and squeezed, a warning to keep quiet. “Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just an unusual name.”
Nyx laughed. “It’s a nickname. My real name is pretty pretentious, so I prefer Nyx.”
I opened my mouth to ask her real name, but Giguhl piped up. “Hey, Sabina, isn’t she the—”
“Thank you all,” Adam said louder than necessary to cover Giguhl’s potential blunder, “for your help tonight.”
The mancy elbowed me in the ribs because I was openly gawking at Nyx. “Oh, um, yes. Thanks.”
“Sun’s coming,” Tristan said. “We should all turn in. Nyx, can you show Sabina and her friends to their rooms?”
The vampire nodded. “This way, Miss Graecus.”
“She’s a Kane,” Tristan said.
Her cheeks heated. “Forgive me. Of course. Miss Kane.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “You can just call me Sabina.” I pointed to the mancy and the demon. “Adam and Giguhl,” I said, finally introducing them since Tristan had rudely left them out of the intros.
She smiled at the guys. “Yeah, we met earlier.”
I’d totally forgotten that Adam and Giguhl had somehow found Tristan and his team to come help me. I definitely needed to get that story from Adam once we were alone.
Nyx shook hands with each male anyway. I noticed she didn’t hesitate or flinch when shaking Giguhl’s claw. The fact that she treated Giguhl with the same respect she showed Adam and me was impressive. Classy move.
“If you’ll follow me?”
I glanced at Tristan, who’d stepped away to speak with Horus and Calyx. Judging by their alert postures, they were talking about something important. That worked for me. I wasn’t looking for some sort of warm farewell. Still, it rankled that he just handed us off to his underling and expected we’d do as we were told.
As we followed Nyx, I watched her chat amicably with Giguhl. Why in the hell couldn’t Asclepius have sent me to kill anyone else but someone on Tristan’s team? Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have too many moral qualms about killing her. I didn’t want to kill her, but I knew going into this mission I might have to make tough choices. And right then, Nyx was standing in the way of being clear and free of Asclepius’s debt.
No, it was more a strategic quandary. I was pretty sure making Asclepius happy would also screw up my plans to convince Tristan to let us help him catch Cain.
Maybe if I made it look like an accident, I thought. But wait, she had that stupid vest that made her immune to magical and mundane weapons. So I also had to figure out how to get her out of it—
“Sabina?” Nyx’s voice cut into my thoughts. I jerked my head up to look at her.
“Huh?”
“Everything okay?” She smiled genuinely, like she actually cared.
No. You’re fucking up my plans, lady.
I cleared my throat and forced a smile. “Peachy.”
Nyx took us the opposite direction from the villa and toward the orchard. As we walked, she chattered about the history of the estate. “This was originally Etruscan land. In fact, there’s a tomb in the villa’s basement.”
That certainly explained the tingle of awareness I felt the minute I stepped onto the property. I hoped the existence of a burial ground wouldn’t cause problems. I tended to have mishaps around graves. But maybe the fact that this particular one was pretty ancient would mean there’d be no accidental zombie summoning, like that time in New Orleans.
“… farmland until the church purchased it,” Nyx was saying.
We’d already passed the outbuildings I’d seen when we arrived and continued past a small garden. Hearty rosemary plants still thrived despite the chill. The piney scent perfumed the air.
“The villa was originally a convent and was used as a hospital for the aged and infirm. That’s why, in addition to the crypt in the basement, there’s also a cemetery through there.” She pointed toward a field on the right. She turned into the olive grove and waved us along. “Eventually a noble family bought the land and turned it into a country estate. But after a couple of centuries, the family fell on hard times and had to sell. Tristan got the place for next to nothing.”
She looked at me, as if waiting for me to confirm that Tristan was clever. I sent a lukewarm smile and nodded. “I’m surprised it’s so well maintained. When Tristan mentioned coming here, I had the impression it was deserted.”
“When you called Tristan a few days ago, he sent me ahead to get everything ready. I went back to join them after Tristan found out you weren’t…” She drifted off.
“Maisie,” I said.
She nodded, her expression apologetic.
Adam cleared his throat. “Forgive me, but how did you all survive when Cain woke?”
I paused, realizing I hadn’t had a chance to explain what few details Tristan had shared about that the night we met.
Nyx’s face fell. “We didn’t all survive. We lost six in the battle.”
We all fell silent as that sank in. Given the strength I’d seen in Tristan’s surviving team members, the fight must have been pretty fierce.
Nyx continued. “The only reason Tristan and the rest of us are alive is that we were out on a mission that night—luckily. If we’d been there, we’d be dead too. No doubt about it.”
“I’m sorry for your losses.” The words felt so inadequate even as they spilled out of my mouth. Having lost so many friends at Cain’s hands myself, I knew the rage they all must have felt.
Nyx nodded to accept my feeble consolation. “He wouldn’t have gotten so many of us if we’d seen it coming.” Her eyes darkened. “When we returned later that night, we found all the bodies. Luckily the cameras captured the entire thing. Or unluckily, I guess,” she laughed uncomfortably. “One second he was unconscious and the next he leapt off the table. He managed to take the guard by surprise and unarm him. Between the shock and knowing the consequences if he was mortally wounded, the team didn’t stand a chance. He cut through them like a hot knife through butter.” She shook her head. “The worst part is we have no idea how he managed to break Tristan’s spell. Only his blood should have been able to unlock it.”