Flesh And Blood: House of Comarre: Book Two (House of Comarre 2) Painter, Kristen (historical books to read txt) 📖

That accomplished, Tatiana strolled toward Malkolm. She could almost see the wisps of anger curling off him. She stood before him, enjoying the heat of his gaze, letting his fury fuel her pleasure. ‘You realize if she’d given me the ring, none of this would be happening.’

‘You’ll never get it. And if you hurt her—’

‘It touches me that you care for the girl, but your affections are foolishly spent on a servant.’

His jaw was so tightly clenched, his words came out in a gravelly slur. ‘I will kill you.’

She laughed as she turned to face the witch, still preparing her craft. ‘Tell me exactly what this spell of yours will do.’

Bent over her work, the witch answered, ‘The spell I am going to perform will loose the magic holding my daughter, but not dissolve it.’ She finished the circle of earth she’d drawn around the stone statue and started adding crystals at measured intervals. ‘The magic is too powerful. It must be given a new place to rest instead.’

‘And that new home is to be?’ Tatiana leaned forward in an attempt to encourage the witch to explain things more fully.

‘The one who caused this.’ The witch stopped work on a second earth circle, sat back on her haunches, and pointed at the anathema who’d been holding the varcolai hostage. ‘Dominic.’

‘Maronna! You cannot mean for me to take your daughter’s place,’ Dominic said.

‘Why not?’ the witch asked. She shook her head, the beads and shells sewn into her white dreadlocks rattling. ‘It’s what you deserve.’

Dominic’s face contorted. ‘The only one who deserved retribution was your daughter, for perverting my goods. I will not take her place.’

‘No, you won’t,’ Tatiana interrupted. What a serendipitous opportunity. ‘Malkolm will.’ She nodded to the witch, gesturing with her metal fingers to her errant husband. ‘Use the other anathema.’

‘Like hell,’ Malkolm snarled. ‘I had nothing to do with this.’

The witch shook her head. ‘No, he didn’t. My beef is with Dominic. He did this to my Evie.’

Dominic began to mutter in Italian again. Tatiana stomped her foot. ‘Witch, you will do what I say.’ She charged toward Malkolm. ‘And you will do what I tell you or your whore will die. Octavian, bring me the girl.’

He came out from the kitchen with the comarré over his shoulder. The girl had regained consciousness, but he’d used electrical cords to bind her upper arms against her body while her legs were secured at the calves and thighs. Once again, Octavian proved his usefulness. He deposited the girl at Tatiana’s feet.

‘Did she have the ring?’

‘Not on her.’

Chrysabelle spat at Tatiana. ‘You’ll never get it. I’ll die before that happens.’

‘Yes, you will.’ Tatiana held her hand in the air and formed it into a thin, sharp blade. It gleamed in the light.

Malkolm stilled. ‘Don’t touch her. I’ll take Dominic’s place if you leave her alone.’

‘Just as I thought. How pathetic,’ Tatiana said. ‘Lord Ivan, would you be so kind as to escort my feeble ex-husband into his proper place?’

Ivan, still hefting the weapon he’d taken off the Mohawked kine, gave a short nod. ‘If it means this circus will be over sooner, then by all means.’ He stepped over the kine’s body and pointed the crossbow toward the unfinished circle. The kine reared up, yanked a blade from his boot, and jammed it into Ivan’s leg. With a yowl, Ivan twisted and pulled the bow’s trigger twice, putting a bolt through the kine’s shoulder and another through his thigh, pinning him to the floor. Cursing, he collapsed, unable to free himself.

‘Creek!’ the comarré cried out.

‘Bollocks,’ Ivan snarled, tugging the dagger from his thigh. ‘I could have sworn the kine was dead.’

So had Tatiana. He had no heartbeat or breath sounds. What human managed that? ‘Lord Ivan, if you could get Malkolm into the circle?’

‘Yes.’ He stared a second longer at the kine, now oozing the most bitter-scented blood Tatiana had ever smelled, before giving Malkolm a shove with the reloaded crossbow. ‘In you go.’

Malkolm refused to budge. ‘I owe you death.’

‘I’ll help you,’ the bleeding kine added.

Ivan sighed. ‘Such tedium.’ He goaded Malkolm with the bolt tip until he moved, and kept it up until Malkolm stood inside the circle of earth. ‘There,’ he said to the witch. ‘You have your pawn. Go about your business.’ Ivan kept the crossbow up and just at the edge of the magic circle as the witch finished her spell and placed her crystals.

Next, she extracted a vial of blood.

‘That’s mine,’ Dominic hissed.

Now in an almost trancelike state, the witch ignored him and added a drop of blood to each of the crystals, starting with the circle around her daughter.

Malkolm gazed at the comarré with such woeful eyes Tatiana thought she might lose her accounts right then and there. How had that lowly creature captured the affections of a man who’d once been the greatest fear of all five vampire families? It was as preposterous as the lamb seducing the lion. Malkolm should just eat her and get it over with. Bloody fool.

‘Per cruor quod terra, vita revert. Per cruor quod terra, vita revert. Per—’

‘Aliza,’ Malkolm hissed. ‘Don’t do this.’

‘Yes, Aliza,’ Tatiana crooned to the witch. ‘Do it.’

‘Cruor quod terra, vita revert.’ Aliza flicked a drop of blood onto the statue, then turned toward Malkolm. A brilliant white vapor leaked out of the statue. It reared back, reminding Tatiana of her late albino cobra, Nehebkau. Aliza dipped her finger in the blood and lifted it to shake a drop on Malkolm. The vapor shifted toward him as well. In a move faster than any human eye could follow, Malkolm jumped out of the circle, grabbed Ivan, and dropped him into it. Aliza released the drop of blood. It splattered Ivan’s chest.

The vapor struck, pouring into Ivan like quicksilver and catching him in a net of lightning. He opened his mouth to scream and froze that way. Lips curled back. Fangs extended. Hands clawing against the inevitable. Stone from head to toe.

Beside him, Aliza’s daughter,