Crimson Truth (Onyx Assassins 4)

Looked like someone had pissed her off already, and if I had to guess…

Yep, Jocelyn strode in after her mother, dressed in black leather pants and a teal, V-necked shirt that plunged right where I shouldn’t be looking. Damn, that woman was beautiful. More trouble than she was worth, but achingly beautiful.

“You’re late,” Luka barked at Genevieve as she took her seat.

“I’ve been busy,” she answered with a shrug and a serene smile that grated on my very last nerve. Jocelyn might annoy the shit out of me, but I would rather have been locked in a pit of venomous vipers than to be left alone for five minutes with her mother. The woman had cost me my only brother.

“Let’s get down to business,” Alek started. “I can assume Jocelyn has already told you why we’re gathered tonight?”

The surprised and furious look Genevieve shot her oldest daughter clearly said Jocelyn hadn’t.

My respect for Jocelyn went up another notch. To offer aid had been one thing, but to keep what was no doubt lucrative information from her own kind was another.

“Let’s assume I don’t know why you’ve called this Conclave,” Genevieve said with a smile I didn’t trust for one second. The woman never fell over the line and outright lied in my presence—she was too smart for that, but she had a way of playing with words that often skirted the truth.

Alek explained the situation with as little emotion as possible, sticking to the facts of what had happened and our current lack of information. It was a damning confession about our blatant failure of security, but a necessary admission.

“Damn,” Luka said with a low whistle. “What do you need from us?”

“Besides better guards for the females in your care?” Xavier snapped, leaning forward slightly. There was a hum of power coming off his skin—ancient, dark, and more than a little unsettling. The rest of us in the room rented our power for as long as we walked the earth, but Xavier owned his outright.

Alek ignored the barb and turned to Luka. “I need permission for my Assassins to search your territories for clues.”

“You knew about this?” Genevieve hissed at Jocelyn.

“Considering I was with her, of course I knew!” she snapped back, her cheeks flushing pink with anger. “I’ve even been trying to help them, but I can’t get a fix on her.”

“You...what?” Genevieve shrieked, white light bursting from her skin. Jocelyn’s eyes flared, but she didn’t step back, only raised her chin.

It was clearly a witch matter, so why did I have an almost uncontrollable need to put myself between the queen and her heir? Because she’s helping you. That’s all.

The other witch aide stepped forward and whispered in the queen’s ear, and the light dimmed, but there was a promise of retribution in the monarch’s eyes.

“Genevieve?” Alek asked, his hands relaxed on the arms of his chair. He was doing a damn good job of keeping his cool.

Genevieve snorted. “Absolutely not. There’s no way you’re searching the lands of the covens. While the terms of the treaty give your order the right to dispense justice on our lands on behalf of this Conclave, it certainly doesn’t give you access to my lands for your little hunt.”

My hands curled into fists. Naturally, she’d be the one to keep us out just because she could. The witches had always held their society, culture and secrets close.

“Have something to hide Genevieve?” Xavier challenged, arching an eyebrow at the white-haired queen. “Demon lands are at your disposal, Alek, provided that you agree to an escort at all times. Not every demon is as...civilized as I am.”

“That’s saying something,” Ajax muttered under his breath.

I pressed my lips into a thin line to keep from smiling.

“Lycan lands are yours to search,” Luka agreed, his aides nodding with him.

“Human territory, too,” Patrick joined in.

Every head turned toward Genevieve.

She sighed, and her hair rippled around her as if caught on a breeze. “Fine, fine. If you want to search my lands, then go ahead. You have until the new moon. I’m not opening the door to a vampire occupation.” Her head tilted in thought. “And while we’re being so neighborly, why don’t you just take my daughter to aid you in your search?”

Jocelyn blanched.

“I’m sorry?” Alek’s spine straightened.

“Take Jocelyn. She has a natural gift at tracking and…” her lips twisted into a sneering smile, “ferreting out secrets.”

“Mother—” Jocelyn began.

“Silence!” Genevieve hissed. “If you felt they were worthy of your aid before, then certainly that hasn’t changed. You’ll do as you’re bid, girl.”

My jaw ticked at the insult. Jocelyn was a fully grown woman, years beyond childhood. Sure, maybe she was considered a youngling by the standards of our immortal race, but she had achieved majority by lycan, human, and even witch standards.

“Take her,” Genevieve said to Alek, her smile turning sweet. “You asked once if she could spend the night in vampire territory and now I’m telling you to think of her as one of your own until your dear sister is found. I promise she will not disappoint you.”