Page 53 of Vampire's Choice
“Your senses did you credit,” Gundar told her. “You did well.”
“Yet the Trad still breached our perimeter,” Yvette snapped at him. “With a seasoned and veteran security team in place. Congratulations can wait. For anyone. Merc?”
“He knew where he was going,” Merc said. “It made more sense to allow him within the perimeter instead of killing him in the parking lot, because if we killed him there, we had no information on why he was here or who he was targeting. Clara is not the only one here with enemies.”
Yvette stared at him, but Merc didn’t flinch. His expression was a stone wall. It gave the energy between them a different charge, and not necessarily a good one.
“It’s a good analysis,” Marcellus said, breaking that look with a pointed emphasis that drew Yvette’s gaze back to him.
“It all happened fast, and the show was in process,” Dollar noted. “Up until he released the hallucinogen on Merc, we had it under control. Marcellus arrived in time to take care of that. Everyone’s training was up to snuff, my lady.”
“I see. Is that evaluation your call, Dollar?”
Dollar stiffened, braced for her ire, but he also proved he wasn’t a coward. “You pay for my experience, my lady. And my honesty. I meant no offense or presumption. Just wanted you to know that everyone performed to the best of their ability. If you feel the training’s lacking, I’ll get on whatever you think needs to be improved.”
“So why did he kill himself?” John Pierce asked. He stood next to Marcellus, arms crossed over his broad chest.
“Trads are zealots,” Yvette said. “He was outnumbered, and he wasn’t going to give up any info.”
“All of it was planned too well, though,” Ruth noted. “He knew she’d be alone. Knew their best chance to grab her was during the opening. They’ve scoped this with human help, probably hired help, so there was no Trad stench on them.”
“Trads despise humans,” Yvette said.
“Yes, but younger Trads see the benefit of using them as tools for their purposes,” Ruth responded. “Several years ago, Lord Brian discovered a Trad in his lab who’d assumed the guise of a “normal” vampire to get the information Brian had on vampire fertility.”
“Can we find one of these humans they used to recon the Circus?” Burt asked. “Get more info out of them?”
Ruth met Yvette’s gaze. The sorceress was giving her a speculative look, but at Burt’s question she gave Ruth permission to continue. “To stay consistent to their culture, if you want to call it that, when a human is done serving them, they kill them. But my guess is they wouldn’t know much even if you could find them. They were hired to scope out the Circus schedule. They wouldn’t be given access to any other part of the plan.”
“You know a great deal about them,” Dollar noted.
“I’ve heard them discussed at length by visitors to my father’s island. My father has collected what info there is, from Lord Brian’s science institute and other sources.”
At Yvette’s raised brow, Ruth qualified. “He has no desire to join them. But the Trads are like a different sect of vampires, living off the grid, refusing to have any interaction with humans except as food. My father was interested in their community, their social behavior, how they hunt and live.” She paused. “He also had a young daughter on an isolated island. He did everything possible to protect and inform me of their tactics.”
“Monsters.” Gundar spat on the ground. Yvette arched a brow at him, but the simmering sparks in her eyes said she didn’t disagree.
Dollar’s gaze shifted to Marcellus. “It may be time to revisit the idea of relocating Clara.”
“No.” Clara sat in a chair near Marcellus. She was tired, her makeup no longer successfully covering it, but her chin was set in a resolute jut. She laid a hand on the etched metal on Marcellus’s forearm.
“As long as Yvette agrees, this is where I stay. They can grab me anywhere, and this is the hardest place to pin down. It’s also where I have the most reinforcement. As Merc said, many of us here have enemies. We stand together against them. All of them.”
Marcellus’s expression was as forbidding as Ruth had ever seen it, but he touched Clara’s face with a gentle fingertip. “They can try to grab you anywhere,” he corrected.
A slight smile. “Yeah. They can try.” Clara turned toward Merc, and included Ruth in the sweep of her gaze. “Thank you both. I’m sorry either of you were harmed, but I’m very glad you were there and that all of you,” she gestured to the full security team, “do what you do as well as you do.”
She looked toward Yvette. “My lady, I know you have the last say on this. But as the target, I can say they did their job. I’m here, the bad guy is dead, and we have some more information.”
As Yvette inclined her head, several gold braids fell forward over her breasts, lifted in a black satin corset. “I’m glad you’re fine. But we evaluate every incursion into the Circus, beyond its success or failure. It’s how we remain as effective as possible at repelling them. If I determine someone needs a punishment for it getting as far as it did, that is my call.”
“Yes, my lady. But I hope that won’t be the case.” Clara paused. “It took a long time for me to believe what I just said, that this is the best place for me. I know it means people I care about are put in positions where they have to risk their lives on my behalf. Since I’m in danger no matter who I’m around, I’ve had to accept that being around those most equipped to handle it is the best scenario. It doesn’t mean I sleep well over it.”
“It’s our job, miss.” Dollar’s voice held a strong and determined note. “If you weren’t worth protecting with our lives, you wouldn’t be here. That’s how the Circus works.”
His gaze slid to Yvette, a check to make sure he hadn’t overstepped, but the slight incline of her regal head told him he hadn’t caused offense.
Clara’s eyes filled with tears, though she brushed them away. “Thank you, all of you. I’m going to bed. I should stay, but…”