“You were right, Doctor,” Korvel said. “She died of…the poisoning.” He looked down at Simone. “But she has become Kyn.”
“We need a room,” Alexandra said to Richard. “And a lot less audience.”
Korvel carried Simone inside the castle and to his chambers. Once there, Alexandra chased out everyone, including Richard.
“I know this girl is not Kyndred, Alexandra,” the high lord warned. “I want to know what caused this to happen.”
“Absolutely. I’ll get right on that.” She shut the door in his face and bolted it. “Nosy jackass.”
Korvel glanced at her. “He can hear you through the door.”
“Why do you think I said it?” The doctor came over to the bed where Korvel had placed Simone, and set her case on the lamp table beside it. “Since no one has bothered to ask, how are you feeling?”
“I don’t know,” Simone admitted. “A little tired. Hungry. Mostly confused.”
“That’s par for the course.” Alexandra took out her stethoscope and used it to listen to her heart, then wrapped a blood pressure cuff around her right arm. “Korvel, how long did it take for her to die after I injected her?”
“Only a few minutes, just as you said.” He couldn’t stop looking at Simone. “Alexandra, what are you doing here?”
“Last night this voice got inside my head and said I had to come here.” She pulled the stethoscope from her ears. “When I told it to go to hell, it took over my body. Next thing I know, I’m on a plane. How long has she been in transition?”
“She was not. She was dead.”
“Her heart rate and BP say otherwise.” She put an electronic thermometer against Simone’s ear and then checked the display. “Borderline hypothermic, but Kyn-normal.” She removed a penlight from her coat. “Okay, sweetie, look at the annoying light for me. That’s it.”
Simone sat quietly through the examination, and the only time she flinched was when Alexandra produced a copper-tipped, open-ended syringe and some glass vials.
“I need to take a little blood now so I can use all the fancy equipment in my lab and see what’s going on inside you. All right?” When Simone nodded, she began to draw the samples.
Korvel looked over as Simone’s blood filled the first vial. “She handled both the scroll and the cross, Alexandra.”
“I know.” She exchanged vials.
He felt a surge of impatience. “They must have revived her.”
“I thought every human who touched them died. Which reminds me,” she said to Simone. “Were either of your parents Catholic, or maybe born in America?”
“I don’t think so,” Simone said. “My father was born in Garbia. Mother was a prostitute in Paris.”
“At least you had a two-legged mother. Evidently mine was a Petri dish in some mad scientist’s lab.” She saw Simone’s expression. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s not rudeness,” Simone told Korvel. “She is only trying to help.”
“He didn’t say a word,” Alexandra said, at the same time Korvel told her, “I didn’t speak.”
“You said the doctor should not speak so rudely to me. I heard you.” She looked from Korvel to Alexandra. “Didn’t you hear him?”
“She couldn’t,” Korvel said slowly. “I was thinking it.”
“It could be part of the bond between you two,” Alexandra said as she began packing up her case. “Sometimes Michael and I finish each other’s sentences. It’s probably best if you keep this to yourself,” she added. “Bond stuff is private.”
“You don’t believe any of that,” Simone said. “You also don’t want the high lord to know about this.” When the doctor didn’t reply, she got to her feet. “Why?”
Alexandra ignored the question. “Okay, we’ve got telepathy. Captain, we have to get her out of here. I suggest now. I’ve got the Learjet waiting on the mainland; she can come back to America with me.”
He nodded. “I am grateful for the generous offer, my lady. Would you give us a moment alone, please?”
She nodded, picked up her case, and left.
“Why must I leave now?” Simone asked. “I am one of you. You said I was.”
“Come here, love.” When she did, he swept her up and carried her to the large chair beside the hearth. “Alexandra’s Kyn ability allows her to read the minds of some of the Kyn. Before she changed, no Darkyn ever had that talent.” He took her hand in his. “But Alexandra’s ability is also limited. She can only read the thoughts of killers, or those planning to kill. If you could read my mind and hers, then it seems you have the ability to read any Kyn mind.”
“Why does that mean I have to leave you?”
“As Kyn you are now subject to Richard’s rule. If he discovers the nature of your talent, he will command you to remain here so he can make use of it.” He hesitated before he added, “There is someone who has the power to invade our minds and take control of our bodies. It has done this to the high lord tonight. He will not rest until he discovers who can do this—and once he learns of your ability, he will use you to find him.”
“I’m not leaving you, and he can’t use me.” She got to her feet. “It’s time to introduce the high lord to Helada.”
“Absolutely not,” he said flatly.
“I know what I’m doing.” She held out her hand. “Trust me, please.”
Korvel rose and took her by the shoulders. “You would have a good life in America. Alexandra would make sure of it.”
She smiled up at him. “Not without my husband.”
He tried to persuade her to change her mind as they walked from the room to Richard’s study, but Simone assured him she knew what she was doing.
Richard sat by the fire reading a book, and nodded as Korvel bowed and Simone dropped into an elegant curtsey. “You are recovered?”
“Yes, my lord.” She turned to Korvel. “Captain, would you perform the introductions?”
“My lord Tremayne, this is Simone Derien, sentinel sworn to the tresoran council, daughter of Derien of Château Niege, and the last surviving member of Cristophe Noir’s mortal bloodline.” When she gave him a pointed look, he reluctantly added, “She is also known as Helada.”
The book fell to the floor before Richard seemed to recover his composure. “I always suspected that Helada was mortal.”
“As I was, until today,” she agreed. “Dr. Keller says I have made the change. So now Helada is truly immortal.”
The high lord jumped to his feet. “The agreement was made with Cristophe’s mortal family. You no longer belong to them. You are mine.”
“I think the tresoran council will convince you otherwise.” She looked at Korvel. “My family took an oath to serve the council under the rule of lineage. For as long as there are Deriens, faith can never be broken.”
Richard uttered a low growl. “It was not meant to include mortals made Kyn.”
“Neither does it exclude them, my lord,” Simone said politely. “But perhaps we can renegotiate the terms.”
The high lord moved away from them, going to stand before the windows that overlooked his gardens. “What do you want?”
“Freedom,” she said simply.
“We are none of us free, my lady,” Richard advised her. “Nor will I allow the two of you to run about the continent. We have more than enough rogues to contend with presently.” His eyes shifted to Korvel. “This thing that spoke in our minds and controlled our limbs must be found. I will not tolerate such attacks. I expect you to lead the hunt.”
Korvel considered telling him about the shadowy presence he had seen both in Jamaica and on the other side of Simone’s funeral pyre. But if he revealed what he knew, Richard would never release him.
“I would not know where to look, and my hunting days are finished, my lord,” he said at last. “Lord Gabriel has offered me a place in his household. I would like to accept it.”
“Gabriel’s household consists of exactly one razor-tongued shrew, who has never made oath to anyone or anything,” the high lord said. “He refuses rule of Ireland, and so he has no territory, no stronghold, and no power.”
“When we join him, I will transfer ownership to him of my father’s properties, which are considerable,” Simone suggested. “I will also increase his household to fifty-three. I should have mentioned I have my own garrison.”
“Oh, of course you do.” Richard turned around and regarded Korvel. “And you. You swore to spend your life in service to me. In the hour when I need you most, when I depend on your loyalty, you disobey my orders and ignore your duties. Where is my due, Captain?”
“Your due?” Korvel’s hands curled into fists. “I made that oath as a mortal child, outcast and terrified. You preyed on my fears and took advantage of my despair.”
“I see you recall the wretched condition in which you came to me,” the high lord said. “A pity you have no gratitude for what I gave you in exchange for your service.”
“What you gave me? You made me your prisoner,” Korvel said. “My sentence, which should have lasted only a few dozen years, has continued for seven centuries and more. In all that time I have served you without question, my lord, even when I came to know what you did to me.”
Richard uttered a laugh. “And what did I do to you, boy, but save you from starving in the hedgerows?”
“You knew what was happening to you when you returned from the Holy Land. You played God when you decided that I should not die a mortal death. You abused my faith in that oath until you almost destroyed my sanity and my soul. But I will give you your due this one last time.” He drew his sword and thrust it into the floor between them. “My fate is yours. Release me or kill me.”