Something occurred to me. «You challenged? But you'd have to be a first-level master to do that.» I'd known Tomas was powerful, but this was a shock. That Louis-Cesar could hold a first-level master in thrall was a hell of a statement about his strength. I hadn't even known it was possible.
«Tomas is more than five hundred years old, mademoiselle. His mother was a high-ranking Incan noblewoman before the European invasion,» Louis-Cesar said carelessly. «She was forced by one of Pizarro's men, and Tomas was the result. He grew up in a time when a smallpox epidemic had killed many Incan nobles, leaving a vacuum of power. He organized some of the scattered tribes into a force to resist the Spanish advance, and thereby came to Alejandro's notice. Although a bastard, he—» Tomas gave a growl, and Louis-Cesar glanced at him. «I use the term technically, Tomas. If you recall, I, too, am a bastard.»
«That I am not likely to forget.»
The shimmering tides of power were back, stronger than before, and this time I got caught in the middle. It felt like two showers of scalding water had been flung at me, and I yelped. «Cut it out!»
«My apologies, mademoiselle.» Louis-Cesar inclined his head. «You are quite right. I will chastise my servant later.»
Tomas glared at him regally. «You will try.»
«Tomas!» Mircea and I said it at the same time, in the same exasperated tone.
Louis-Cesar shot him a warning look. «Be careful how you speak to me, Tomas. You do not wish me to make your punishment even more… thorough.»
«You are a child compared to me! I was already a master vampire before you were even made!»
Louis-Cesar smiled slightly, and his eyes flashed silver. «Not enough of one.»
Billy waved a pale hand in front of my face. «Are you listening to me? Breaking news here!»
I mouthed, «Later,» but he didn't go away.
«This is big, Cass! The Black Circle has kept the trade quiet by snatching witches who were fated to die young, in an accident or in the Inquisition or whatever. They could grab them at the last minute and sell them to the Fey without worrying that someone would miss them and report it. No one expected to see someone taken by the Inquisition again—they didn't acquit too many, you know? It was a neat trick to get around the treaty.»
«But how did they know?» How could anyone know ahead of time when someone was fated to die? Unless… Mircea gave me an odd look, and I smiled innocently at him. It was a mistake. Those sharp dark eyes flitted about the room, but even a master vamp can't see Billy.
«That witch you saved was snatched by a group of dark mages that same night,» Billy elaborated. «The gypsies have always stayed outside both circles, so I guess they figured they could take her without alerting the white knights.» I frowned. That still didn't explain how she ended up in our century, if people from her own time took her, but there was no way for me to ask.
Mircea intervened before things could heat up any further between the vamps. «May I remind you that while you are grandstanding, time ticks away and our chances with it? Your quarrel will wait; our business will not.»
«But la mademoiselle does not want to do it,» Louis-Cesar said, running a hand through his hair. It seemed to be a nervous habit. I noticed that his curls were darker than I remembered from my vision, or whatever it was. I wondered whether that was a trick of the light, or if hundreds of years out of the sun darkens auburn hair. «I was afraid of this. And we cannot force her.»
Mircea and I looked at him, then at each other. «Is he for real?» I couldn't help asking.
Mircea sighed. «He has always been that way; it is his only real flaw.» He smiled at me, and it was Tony's smile—his let's cut the crap and get down to business smile. It was the expression that reminded me of the job Mircea did for the Senate. He was the Consul's chief negotiator, and despite the rumors, he had not received the position because of the respect given his family name by vamps worldwide. They might be pleased to meet him for the prestige of it, something like a normal person getting to sit down with a favorite movie star, but it wouldn't cut him any slack at the bargaining table. No, Mircea had won the seat fair and square, by making the best deals of any representative the Senate had ever had. And that was with people he didn't know nearly as well as he knew me. «What will it take, dulceata? Security, money… Antonio's head on a silver charger?»
«That last one sounds tempting. But it's not enough.»
Mircea and I had skipped over the whole refusal thing and gone straight to haggling. There was no point in mentioning that Mircea would kill me if I said no. He would do it because he'd have no choice—if he didn't, the Consul would give someone else the job—and because he would be quick. Quicker than Jack. I didn't like the errand they had set me, but next to an evening with the Consul's bright-eyed boy, it was a picnic. But just because I had no other options didn't mean I shouldn't get as much for my services as possible. It was, after all, a seller's market. Who else were they going to get?