“Fine!” Tilda screeched. “Fine, yes…he can bring you. All right? Stop this at once!”
Mary quieted gradually, her red sparkles over her head returning to a happy glimmer. With a quiet smile growing on her face, she threaded her fingers through Tucker’s and led him through the parted crowd toward the stairs.
“Well now.” Tilda watched her daughter and Tucker walk away with a mixture of dread and shock on her face. “Pleasantries are out of the way, I suppose. On with the meeting.”
The tension remained in Elias’s back and shoulders until he and Roksana were safely inside the upstairs office with the door locked. Thankfully, her intention to toss Roksana to the wolves had obviously been forgotten in the uproar, but he wasn’t letting his guard down for a single second. Not until they were free of this place and she was safe in his arms.
Tilda’s office was decorated like it belonged in a Victorian mansion. All the furniture was miniature, ornate and cluttered, the walls hung with side profile paintings of people in period clothing, and classical music played lightly from a record player in the corner.
Mary and Tucker had entered the office in front of them, taking a seat on a plush bench to the side of Tilda’s desk, Mary pressed tightly to Tucker’s side. He appeared caught between alarm and disbelief over his own luck.
Remembering his role as captor, Elias caught Roksana’s wrists behind her back, propelling her toward a leather couch on the far wall of the large office. He stopped short when Tilda snorted and waved a floppy hand at him. “You can drop the ruse now, Mister Broody and Damaged. The jig is up.”
Roksana’s pulse leapt against his fingertips, but his expression didn’t change. “I’m sorry?”
Tilda sat down behind a feminine, antique desk and lit a cigarette, blowing out a thin cloud of smoke. “Perhaps you weren’t aware of the ungodly roar you let out when I handed her over to the slayers?” She laughed without moving a single one of her facial muscles. “Your prisoner, she is not.”
“Mother talks like Yoda when she’s stressed,” Mary piped up with a stage whisper, scooting even closer into Tucker’s side and patting him happily on the knee. “Stressed she talks Yoda like Mother.” She frowned. “I don’t think I’m doing it right.”
“Yes, you are,” Tucker rasped, staring down at the crown of Mary’s head.
Tilda diverted Elias’s attention when she nodded at Roksana and asked, “Is the traitor slayer your mate?”
“I’ve had enough of her being called that.”
“I’m going to take that as a yes,” Tilda said, narrowing her eyes. “You’re very lucky I’ve been forced to switch my allegiances or I’d mount your heads on my wall.”
“You’d try,” Elias and Roksana said at the same time.
Tilda sighed. “Do take a seat. My neck is forming a crick.”
Keeping a wary eye on the fae, Elias guided Roksana to the leather couch and sat her down, positioning his body between her and Tilda. “We brought you the marriage decree,” Elias said. “We’ll exchange it for the game piece and be on our way.”
With the cigarette perched in the corner of her mouth, Tilda unlocked a slim desk drawer and removed a stuffed red envelope. “This is what you seek.” She drummed her fingers on the envelope. “Who will you bring this to? Out of curiosity.”
“My mother,” Roksana said, craning her neck to see past Elias. “Inessa. The Queen of Shadows.”
Tilda showed no reaction. “Very well. Then I shall consider this valuable information my last service to the slayers. We’ve had a good run, but beckoned by greener pastures I am.”
“I don’t understand,” Roksana said.
“It’s Yoda-speak,” Mary explained brightly.
Roksana nodded, though the young woman obviously couldn’t see her. “Yes, but I don’t understand what you mean by this being your last service to the slayers.”
Tilda took her time answering. “The fae have long been an ally of the slayers. Though we were reluctant at first, it became necessary to form a united front against the vampires. You see, we are much fewer in number. Our influence in the underworld is not what it used to be. We do have value, however.” Her skin pulsed with a dull glow. “Our abilities made us a threat to the vampires. Thus, we went into league with the slayers.”
“For protection,” Roksana guessed, her brows drawing together. “What has changed?”
“Why, there is a new vampire king. Haven’t you heard?” Tilda stubbed out her cigarette and lit a fresh one. “Not a fan. His peaceful practices have stirred the hornets’ nest and now there is an uprising in the States. There are now two vampire contingents and I no longer have faith in the slayers’ ability to make our alliance worthwhile.”
The back of Elias’s neck tightened, trepidation lining his stomach. “You’re forming an alliance with the vampires that rise against the king?”