"Salva." Robin hunched over, rising slowly. "What are you doing here?" He saw Chris, and Nottingham's body, and grabbed the bars of his cell. Wisps of smoke rose from his hands, and he pulled them away. "What the hell is this?"
She pretended surprise. "Why, vengeance, my lord. Not, perhaps, as my lord Nottingham originally envisioned it, but I think he will be satisfied with the alternative I have provided."
"You, allying yourself with Nottingham?"
"He did promise to bring the manuscript to me—something you would never have done." The contessa glanced at Nottingham. "I have been waiting a very long time to find it. Now I may go to England and obtain justice for my sister."
"Your sister."
"You never met Beatrice, did you? Of course not. You are still breathing." Salva's eyes took on a strange cast. "For all the sins heaped upon her head, she was an innocent, my lord. A lamb sacrificed by the Kyn so that they might bathe in her tears. Well, I will give them tears. I will make them drown in them."
"Salva, you are making no sense."
"Do I not make myself clear? I shall have justice," she said. "I shall punish the seven men responsible for murdering my Beatrice."
"Richard and the seigneurs." Robin shook his head. "You know that they did only what had to be done."
"You dare say that to me." She stopped screaming and turned to smile at Chris. "You should know how fond Lord Locksley is of abducting women. He took Lord Nottingham's betrothed, the maiden Marian, on the night before they were to be married. He spirited her all the way to Scotland, where he raped her and left her in a convent. She died bearing his bastard."
Robin hit the bars again, this time with his body.
Chris recoiled, both from the sound of Robin's flesh burning and the smile on the contessa's face. "You're insane."
"Ask him," Salva said. "You should have some time to reminisce before Nottingham awakes."
"My lady, after the jardin wars I brought your husband's body home," Robin said, his body still, his voice calm and clear. "I have never asked anything of you in return for that favor. I ask it now. Take Agent Renshaw out of here and put her on a plane for America. She can do nothing to interfere with your plans. No one would believe her."
Chris turned her head. "I'm not leaving you—"
"Shut up, you idiot mortal," he said to her. "You have been nothing but trouble to me." He looked at the contessa. "Bind me and put me in the cage with Nottingham. He will still have his vengeance."
"There is something I never told you, caro," Salva walked over to Robin's cell. "I did not send only my husband to fight for Richard during the jardin wars. I sent my lover, Caesar, as well." She smiled at the guard holding the manuscript. "Caesar remained steadfast at my husband's side, right up until the moment when the fighting was at its worst. When he had the chance to cut off dear Arno's head, as I had instructed him to."
Robin's strong arm shot through the bars, grabbing for her throat, but the contessa glided out of reach.
"I do owe you a debt for bringing back the absolute proof of Caesar's love and devotion for me," Salva continued. "That is why you are not in the cage with Nottingham."
"You can't leave us here like this," Chris said. "Please. What do you want?"
"My legacy." Salva pulled on a pair of latex gloves, taking the manuscript from Caesar and opening it to the middle. Without warning she tore the ancient book in half, splitting it down the center of the spine. As Chris cringed at the wanton destruction, the contessa peeled back the binding cover and revealed a small niche. From it she carefully removed a little stone vial sealed with red wax.
"There you are." She transferred the vial to a crystal box, in which it fit snugly. She held up the box to admire the vial. "Beautiful, is it not? It contains my sister Beatrice's last tears."
"God, no." Robin sounded sick. "Salva, you must destroy that vial."
"My lord, why would I throw away my sister's legacy? She promised them to me. She vowed that if they came for her, she would hide them in the book." The contessa's eyes became unfocused. "Only humans got to the book before I did, and sold it for a handful of gold, never knowing the real treasure she had hidden inside it."
Chris saw Robin's eyes flash copper. "Salva, you cannot do this. You know what can happen if you open that vial. You were there. You know how many died." When she didn't respond, he shouted, "Listen to me."
The contessa stared blindly at him. "I promised her that I would. If they came for her. And they did." She drew a rosary out of her bodice and kissed the dangling cross. "This time it is on their heads." She laughed as she closed her fist over the beads, and tiny shards of broken glass began to fall to the floor. "All of them."
She didn't look at him as she mounted the steps, her men trailing behind her.
"Salva, for God's sake," Robin shouted after her.Only the light, lilting sound of the contessa's laughter drifted back down to them.
Since arriving at Geoffrey's estate, Nicola Jefferson had spent half of her waking hours on the ward, at first making her own rounds to check on the new arrivals. Once Alex had ascertained that the girl wasn't squeamish, she had drafted her as a nursing assistant and put her to work.
After meeting with Richard, Alex went down to the ward to talk to the Nick about tracking the missing Kyn. She found her changing Blanche's dressings and listening to the Kyn female talk about Gabriel, whom she had known for six hundred years longer than Nick.
Alex helped her finish changing the dressings, and worked on the next several patients with her, chatting casually about the procedures she used on them. After a while she realized the younger woman was barely paying attention to her, and looked as if she wanted to punch out a guard.
"Let's take a break and get some fresh air." Alex pulled off her lab coat and headed for the lift. She glanced over her shoulder when Nick didn't follow. "Come on, kid. We both need it."
Nick scowled. "I'm not a kid, and I don't need a mother."
"That's good, because I don't want an immortal teenager with a chip on her shoulder calling me 'Mom.'" Alex kept going.
Nick reluctantly followed her onto the lift and out of the mansion. Alex walked down the cobblestone path to the apricot orchard, where the delicious fragrance of ripening fruit perfumed the air.
"This guy Geoff has a thing for apricots," Nick observed.
"Michael's the same way about lavender, and I'm betting Gabriel's talked about planting some juniper back at your farm." She nodded when Nick gave her a startled look. "They like to smell us even when we're not around."
A smile tugged at the corner of Nick's mouth. "Glad I didn't end up with a scent like horse manure or burnt plastic."
Alex nodded. "Speaking of the extra crispy, if the patients are starting to get to you, you should take a couple nights off from ward duty."
The younger girl turned away. "I'm fine."
Alex stopped to pick an apricot and brought it to her nose. "God, I miss food, don't you? I mean, I love the superpowers, the autohealing thing, and the great sex, but sometimes I just want a pound bag of M&M's so bad I could scream. How about you?"
Nick eyed her. "If you're going to lecture me about my bad attitude, Doc, let's pretend that you did and I'll head back to the ward."
"I didn't want it, either, Nick." Alex rolled the golden fruit between her palms. "And, for the record, my attitude sucks much worse than yours. In fact, I could give you some pointers, if you want."
Nick's mouth twisted. "Give me a few years. I'll catch up."
"Thing is," Alex said, "I'll never kiss your ass or 'my lady' you to death. I'm like you. I never had a choice."
Nick fell silent for a few minutes, and then finally said, "I'm okay. It's mostly the Vampire King. He's been getting on my nerves. Always watching me. I can tell he is, even with the hood covering the goods."
"He's a nosy bastard." Alex squelched a surge of guilt. "Anything else on your mind?"
Nicola kicked a stone across the grass. "Richard wants to make Gabriel a sig-lord or whatever. Put him in charge of a nest."
"Really." Alex wasn't surprised; Gabriel had been one of Richard's most trusted lieutenants before he'd been abducted and tortured by the Brethren. "Did Gabe talk to you about it?"
"No. The Vampire King came to see Gabriel last night, and they thought I was sleeping. He offered him territory in the north, near my farm. Gabriel said no, but the way he sounded…" She hunched her shoulders. "I think he really wants things the way they were. You know, living in the big house, having the servants, wall-to-wall art and swords and warriors and shit."
"But you don't."
Nick stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Doesn't matter what I want. It's his life. He's never going to be satisfied with a life on the road; I've seen that. The guy needs roots. Kyn roots. If making him happy means letting him go, I let him go."
"You can't do it, Nick."
"Watch me." Her eyes glittered.
"When we were in Ireland, and Gabriel thought you'd died in his arms," Alex said, "he asked Michael to kill him. When Michael refused, he asked for a knife so he could do it himself. That's how much he loves you."
She glared at Alex. "You don't get it, do you? I'm not like you and Braxtyn and the other fang-chicks. I can't do this shit. The Kyn took everything away from me. My parents. My home. My whole life. Every time I look at one of you, I remember. So I can't pretend none of that happened just because I got stuck with fangs. Not even for Gabriel."