Blood Games (Chicagoland Vampires 10)

“I don’t like her,” Lindsey said, sidling beside me. “But that dress is a ten.”

“Reluctantly agreed,” I said, clinking my glass lightly against hers.

“How will this play out?” I asked Ethan.

He sipped from his glass. “First will be the ‘May’ speech,” he said. “Then the crowning and oath swearing by the GP members. And then she’ll have an opportunity to speak to her subjects.”

Envy tinged his voice. He wanted the job, the opportunity to lead, the chance to improve supernaturals’ lives.

I linked an arm through his. “And then she gets the unenviable task of making something good of the GP.”

On my other side, Amit chuckled. “You are right, Merit. That is no enviable task.”

Another man in a tuxedo walked to Darius’s chair, offered a crimson velvet pillow, on which was placed a silver crown laden with glimmering diamonds and rubies, and a long fluted scepter topped by a ruby the size of a golf ball.

“Spare no expense,” I murmured, as Darius picked up the crown jewels and dismissed the servant.

He stood, and Nicole did the same, walking toward him so they stood in the middle of the semicircle.

“Place a hand on your heart,” he said. “The source of life.”

She did.

“You’ve been voted regent of the vampires ruled by the Greenwich Presidium. Do you promise to protect them, to serve them, and to place them above all others?”

“I do.”

To my surprise, that was apparently the extent of the oath. It didn’t escape my notice that Novitiates and Masters said longer and more involved oaths than the leader of vampires.

“May you rule with wisdom and justice. May your rule be eternal. May you provide abundant treasures for your vampires. May you protect them wholly from all creatures living and dead.”

That, I presumed, was the “May” speech.

Nicole nodded, accepted the scepter Darius handed her, and leaned forward so Darius could place the crown on her head.

When she bore the jewels, he stepped back, leaving Nicole in the spotlight. And the deed was done. For a moment, Nicole stood silently, staring down at the scepter in her hand, her thumb tracing the smooth curve of the ruby.

Then she lifted dark eyes to the camera. “I thank those who challenged me for their dedication to this office. I thank the Houses who voted for me for their loyalty and belief in my rule. I thank the Masters of the Houses for their service to their vampires and this organization for two centuries. And I thank those who came before me on the Greenwich Presidium.

“For my first act as head of the GP . . .” She paused, took a breath, and exhaled through pursed lips. And we all leaned forward a little bit.

“. . . I hereby abolish it.”

The remaining GP members burst into argument. The crowd in the ballroom erupted with shock, filling the room with sound.

Ethan’s eyes widened, mostly with curiosity.

“What in God’s name . . . ,” Malik murmured, gaze fixed on the screen.

“Well, well, well,” Amit said with a Cheshire smile.

“I will have order,” Nicole said, with enough push behind the word that even I stood a little straighter.

It was effective. The crowd in the ballroom quieted immediately.

“The GP is antiquated,” Nicole said. “American and European vampires lack the connection they once had—culturally, politically, economically. It is time for a change.

“This is our Declaration of Independence,” she said. “The GP is no more. European vampires can decide how to rule themselves, as should be, and I leave to them how they would control their affairs. I give up any authority to rule the European houses. They should decide their ruler for themselves.”

More outbursts until she spoke again. “As for America,” she began again, and silence fell, “we need no queen and no king. Our existence was announced to the world more than a year ago, and not once have we convened to discuss it. That’s what we need: frank discussion. The opportunity to plan, to discuss. We need to take control of our new destiny . . . and we can do that most effectively together. Effective today, I call into creation the Assembly of American Masters, consisting of the Master of each American House—including Cadogan House.”

Every pair of eyes in the room flew to Ethan, to the widening of his eyes, the parting of his lips, the shock in his expression.

“Each House will have an equal vote, and each Master will share the responsibility of shaping our mutual future. If there are any American Masters who decline to serve their vampires, their Houses, their country, they should speak now.”

“This will never work.” The camera panned to Edmund’s face. “If you segregate us now, you create only more division among vampires. The world is getting smaller, and you’re ignoring it.”

“No,” Nicole calmly said, as if utterly unperturbed. “I’m respecting the boundaries that exist, not those that existed two hundred years ago. The world is changing. Humans know about us, technology continues to march along, and we cannot afford to pretend that all is the same.

“I’ve spoken my piece,” Nicole said. “I was duly tested and elected, and these are my decisions. We will provide sufficient time to address the legal and financial formalities of our division.” She glanced around at her colleagues. “But as for Europe, I shall leave you to govern yourselves.”

Having gotten in the last words, Nicole turned, peach silk sweeping at her feet, and walked to the edge of the room and out the door again, her bodyguards behind her.

For a moment, the throne room went silent. The other members of the GP stared at one another, evaluating, strategizing, anticipating. The things vampires did best.

With slow deliberation and the bearing of a queen, Lakshmi took a seat, her fingers curving over the arms of the chair. Chin tilted, she slid glances to the rest of the GP.

“If we are to rule ourselves, the American Houses can have no interest in it.” She looked directly at the camera, and the screen went dark.

The dramatics of the Greenwich Presidium were no longer our concern.

Silence fell in the ballroom, and we all turned to look at Ethan, whose gaze was still on the darkened screen. There was pride in his eyes, excitement. But also no little suspicion.

Yes, Nicole had just given him power, but by doing so she’d made a new set of allies—every American Master. Every colleague in her new Assembly. And she’d need their support: Not all vampires would take kindly to her plan to so neatly divide the world and wealth.