I adjust my feet just a bit, let out a deep breath, and put everything I’ve got into this next stake. It embeds itself deeply into the center of the target.
“Again,” Ian encourages. “There are, as far as we know, twenty-seven Houses and heirs throughout the world. You’d think the number would fluctuate and grow every year, but vamps have a tendency of killing each other off for one reason or another. Politics aren’t much different in the supernatural world, but tempers tend to flare hotter and more deadly.”
“Not that you’re complaining,” I say as I launch another stake.
“Not that I’m complaining when they’re killing each other off,” Ian chuckles. “As you can probably guess now, Silent Bend has its very own—very broken—House of Royals.”
“What do you mean broken?” I ask, looking back at him.
“A House doesn’t get any respect, funding, or connections if it doesn’t have an actual Royal to govern it,” Ian says. He twirls a stake between his fingers, much like a drummer might with their sticks. His fingers never falter the entire time. “The House here hasn’t had a leader in years because the rightful heir refused to have anything to do with it.”
“Henry,” I breathe. Because in my gut, I just know.
“Bingo,” Ian says. He launches his stake at the target and it disappears halfway into it.
“A long time ago, Henry came to Silent Bend with his brother Elijah,” Ian starts back into the story that was cut off with teeth in my neck. I lost my copy of that article in the attack. “Henry had never had any interest in politics, but his brother did. Elijah brought with him a clan of his Born vampire buddies when they came to town. Both Conrath brothers established plantations, but Elijah also established a House.
“I don’t know all the details,” Ian says as the tosses a stake in the air and catches it again. “Really, no one does. Most are just legends and speculation and bedtime stories told to scare kids into never sneaking out of the house. But somehow Elijah was killed. After that, the House should have been Henry Conrath’s, but he refused to have anything to do with it. Something you should know about daddy dearest, is that no one knew a damn thing about him. He never left his Estate, as far as I know. And the House, at least most of them, they hated Henry for abandoning them. A Royal-less House is a shamed House.”
My head is already spinning. I remember the picture from the article, the one of the four bodies hanging from the tree in town. Elijah’s headstone.
And I finally realize why Ian and Rath were so anxious to get me away from Henry’s house. “So that’s why they’re going to come after me,” I say as my hands settle on my hips. My palms tingle as they break out into a sweat. “I’m part of this Royal line.”
“And that House is yours.” Ian launches another stake before walking over to retrieve the ones stuck in the target.
“I don’t want to be some queen of a tiny domain,” I say, shaking my head. “I mean, everyone in the House is a Born vampire, right?”
Ian nods. “They also control a few Bitten, as well.”
“No.” I shake my head. “I can’t rule or control, or whatever, a bunch of vampires who will probably just try to kill me.”
“It’s more political and complicated than that,” Ian says as he hands me a crossbow. He loads an arrow into it, puts my finger on the trigger, and points to a target fifty yards away. “The House may be broken without a true Royal, but they’re still limping along. Jasmine Veltora has been in charge of it for the past fifteen years. They might need you, but there’s no way she’s going to give control of the House to you.”
“Because why the hell wouldn’t it be that complicated,” I breathe, just as I pull the trigger. And the arrow lands dead center in the target.
“Holy shit,” Ian chuckles, his hands on his hips. “I think we found your weapon, Liv.”
I laugh, looking back at him and reaching for another arrow. I figure out how to notch it. Taking aim, letting my breath out slow, I squeeze the trigger. The arrow lands right next to the first.
“It sounds like I’m going to be a pawn in a very complicated world,” I say as I lower the crossbow.
“In not a great crowd,” Ian says. He reaches for the crossbow and loads another arrow. He takes aim and hits the furthest target dead center. “The House manipulates the entire town. There’s a reason no one goes out after dark, why the police never do anything about the attacks that happen all the time—Jasmine controls the mayor. They’ve got a group of willing Feeders who they’ve promised to turn someday. The House is running this town to hell and it won’t come back any time soon.”