Page 82 of Blood of a Huntsman

Deceptions

"Antoine. Gretchen," Levi greeted the two closest vampires to him almost pleasantly. "It's been quite some time. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

The woman he'd called Gretchen, a slender blonde who looked like she might chew metal bars for kicks, bared her teeth. Bash wasn't surprised to discover that they were all filed into pointed fangs.

"Since when have the Beaufort slayers needed a reason to visit their master's keep?"

"Since Oldcrest was attacked last winter. Haven't you heard?"

The woman growled. Antoine, a handsome bald man who had been turned in his forties or fifties, put his hand on her arm, appeasing her on contact.

They could be intimate. Maybe. Possibly. Bash would have banked on another theory: Antoine had a gift of sort, a mind control thing similar to Chloe's whispering.

Gretchen didn't look like she was intimate with anyone.

"Yes, we have heard," the man said, turning to Levi. "But we've heard more pressing concerns, like you've arrested Anika Beaufort without notifying or asking her family’s permission. Our masters have reason to be concerned."

"I contacted Francois Beaufort according to our laws, and he made no reply expressing his concern. I believe he intends to attend the trial in London next week."

"Francois will have his niece now. She'll be in the custody of her family while we await the verdict of the trial, as is our way."

"Francois may have his niece if he comes to claim her himself. You know better than to think I would yield to a slayer."

Gretchen stepped forward.

Levi tilted his head toward her. "And what is the butcher of the Stormhales doing here? Any particular attachment to the Beaufort bitch?"

Bash couldn't help it: he grinned. Levi was seriously getting a rise out of them, but they weren't moving. Which meant they had orders.

"You've no honor," the woman spat. "Closing these gates isn't your right."

"No? I seem to recall, some hundred years ago, when the humans around here who believed they had a right to these lands put it up for sale. I recall writing and asking who was interested in financing this venture to ensure our history remained protected. And back then, the Beauforts, the Stormhales, and the Rosedeans believed that their funds would be better placed elsewhere, did they not?"

So that was why Levi was listed as the owner of Oldcrest. Bash had assumed it was some type of co-op deal with the rest of the royals, before.

"This is myhome. I've allowed you to keep your houses, but this is my home," he repeated. "Your masters have no authority here. And their minions, even less so."

He was hitting a nerve, judging by the crowd’s increasingly angry expressions.

"You will not let us pass."

"I won't."

"You will not let us recover Anika, a member of our household."

"I will not."

Antoine grinned. "You do realize this gives us leave to declare war on your house, Devil."

"I have written most of our laws, child. I know them better than you ever will. You may hold a siege. Good luck getting in without your key."

Lightning flashed above them, and the bald vampire grinned.

"No matter. We have another way in."

Bash's eyes widened, and he stepped forward. Right behind the line of slayers, a tall, handsome man with eyes he recognized had appeared, holding Catherine by the throat. He was ridiculous, dressed like a bloody knight, with a sword and all.

So much for trusting her brother.

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