The Battle of the Trees - Sword, Ring, and Crown Book Two

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Who are you?" I said before I was crowded around by my friends.

"My name is Simon. If you recall, I sent you a message that I would be coming to see you. I couldn't help but overhear the sad matter of your court member's passing, and I hoped I might be of assistance."

"Right, I was supposed to meet you here at the temple. I'm sorry, but I can't let you come with us."

He bowed slightly and spoke Vietnamese to the other two people. His escorts nodded in understanding, but the female vampire looked angry about it. She rattled back at him in Vietnamese, and then he turned to me. "My mistress, Katarina, asks if you're going to go in there without a plan."

No. I had a plan. I would use his weaknesses to strike a bargain to get Ciaran back. I wasn't sure the necklace and hairpin I had in my mother's box were the ones he was looking for, but it was worth a shot to use them as collateral. It was a thin plan since I didn't know how to use the knowledge weakness. What did I have to play with that weakness?

"I've got a plan. It's a crappy plan, but it's all I got going right now. If you have some secret knowledge that I can use as extra collateral, I might be willing to take one of you with us, but not all of you. "

There was more discussion, then Simon said, "If Nian desires knowledge, do you suppose gossip will suffice?"

Hmmm. It might. If Nian had to know everything, that might make Nian a gossip. "It might... what do you got?"

He shook his head. "I will be happy to share if you take me with you."

"What about recipes, Matty?" Dominic cut in with a sharp look at Simon. "He doesn't know my secret manicotti recipe, and he's bothered me about it for years when he'd come in with Aisa to see my dad."

That felt like it would work, but would it be enough? "Do you have any other recipes he doesn't know?"

Dominic shook his head, and we both slumped with disappointment. That wouldn't be enough. If Nian were the gossip hound that Aisa said he was, then we'd need more than a recipe to save Ciaran from him. I studied the beautiful male vampire for a few seconds as he waited with complete ease. He looked as if we were only discussing what movie to watch after a lunch date with friends.

Nevermind. It wasn't like we had any time to figure something else out. "Are you sure your news is better than Dominic's manicotti recipe?"

"Yes."

"Okay fine. You can come but the other two stay. Now, what's the gossip?"

"Now wait a minute--" the female vampire protested.

"Mistress Katarina, it's fine." He glanced at the woman, who then glared at me. She didn't look like the kind to enjoy being shut up. She was a supple reed of a woman, easily over six feet tall, with straight, gunmetal gray hair that brushed against her hips as she shook her head in disgust. Her hard, narrow eyes were a deep blue, the shade of ultramarine watercolor straight out of the tube, and they were speaking all sorts of mayhem at me.

Grumbles from my friends met this decision, but none of them disagreed because really, what other ideas did we have? What didn't a tree that had been around since the beginning of time know?

Nothing, that's what.

" The elder vampires are dying off from some sickness that causes insanity in its early stages, and the young vampires have no guidance and are making newly born daily."

"What?? How many??"

"Thousands... the humans have taken notice and are working out how to kill us off. The result of knowing about us has unveiled the presence of many other supernatural races," the third vampire said. He looked like a smaller version of Simon, but his hair was shorter, only falling to his shoulders, and his features were harder and more chiseled. However, a family resemblance made me wonder if they were related.