The Cat Burglar - 9. Change of Clans

“What happened? Did someone shoot you?” I immediately realized what a stupid question I had just asked while I patted down Konstantin’s arm looking for a bullet hole. If someone had fired a shot during an event hosted by the head vampire of the city, security would be swarming the place by now, and people would panic, trying to flee the premises. Instead, most of them were staring at us, whispering curiously. The more cautious of them looked around anxiously and gave us a wide berth.

Konstantin was still gripping his arm, his face contorted with pain. All I could feel was wetness. He was losing too much blood.

Emil, Amir, and Van surrounded us, protecting us with their bodies against the unknown threat. Finally, Doc pushed me aside. Calmly, he raised Konstantin’s arm over his head to slow the bleeding, not that it helped much. Only the thick fabric of his suit coat was preventing blood from dripping on the floor by then. We had to get out of there. Konstantin needed to feed. Why didn’t he heal?

On top of it all, Legate fucking Gideon was resolutely parting the tittering crowd as if it were the Red Sea, surrounded by his soldiers, until he reached us. When he was close, he barked, “Follow me.” Ignoring every question, we were guided to a side room. Inside, Doc immediately pulled Konstantin’s coat off. The cloth and the entire sleeve were soaked.

Then the door flew open and banged against the wall. Within fractions of a second Gideon’s soldiers positioned themselves protectively around us. Amir and Emil had even gotten swords from somewhere. In the doorway stood Katherine Delacour, scanning the room with wild eyes. The moment she detected Konstantin, she swiftly dodged the swords until she was near him. “What happened? Who attacked you?” She narrowed her eyes and growled at us, ready to protect her bloodsong.

Konstantin stopped her. “They didn’t do anything, Kat.”

“Then who?” She shot glances at Gideon and the soldiers. “My clan?”

“No one attacked me.”

A soldier passed Doc a bottle. He ripped off the lid and poured water over Konstantin’s arm. After wiping repeatedly at the remnants of dried blood with another cloth, all that remained was damp, unblemished skin. The wound was already healed?

Konstantin slowly lifted his arm and rubbed it ferociously. “It’s gone....”

Doc dabbed Konstantin’s arm dry. “That explains a lot. But how could this happen?”

I didn’t understand what they were talking about. What explained a lot?

Katherine whispered, “The manifestation is gone.”

Then I saw it. The tattoo that had symbolized the blood oath had disappeared.

Gideon looked from one to the other, then nodded at the pile of bloodied, shredded clothes on the floor. “Do you mind explaining what happened here? It can’t have been an attack.”

“It wasn’t an attack.” Konstantin looked at Doc. “Do you have any idea?”

“There’s only one reason—” He turned to Gideon. “Has anything happened to Mother? Um...Elvira Night?”

The legate gritted his teeth. “I was just coming over to you to inform you that she met her second death tonight, but then you got— injured?”

After a brief moment of stunned silence, everyone, minus Gideon’s men, talked at once. Konstantin lifted his hand to stop us. “How? What happened?”

Gideon grimaced. “We don’t know yet how this was even possible, but somehow she managed to get out of her shackles and attacked the closest judge, Dufralin Ironwind.”

Konstantin’s head snapped up. “How is Dufralin? Do you need Sebastian’s assistance?”

“Thank you for the offer, but she is unharmed. The guards had everything under control. They killed her on the spot.” If he hadn’t sounded so smug, I might have praised their swift reaction. Judging by Emil’s expression, we were on the same page.

After he finally seemed to grasp the significance of what had happened, Konstantin’s expression became strangely blank. I longed to talk to him, ask him how he felt now that he was free from the blood oath he’d been forced into, but with this many people around it wasn’t the right place and time. Then I saw Katherine’s fingers brushing slightly over his hand—or at least not my place.

By making some hand gestures I didn’t know, Konstantin silently communicated with Emil, who immediately ushered the clan out of the room. “Konstantin is unharmed. Let’s get out of here; he needs to converse with Master Caspian’s legate.”

I didn’t move, although I didn’t like letting my brother go, but Emil instantly reassured me. “Don’t worry, we’ll be in a room close by; we won’t go back to the main hall.”

Gideon crossed his arms over his chest and raised his perfect blond eyebrows. “Well?”

“May I ask you to send your soldiers outside, before I answer your question?”

After a short moment, he sent his men away.

Konstantin ran a finger over his forearm where the tattoo had been wrapped around his wrist. “This is quickly explained. I was bound to Elvira Night by a blood oath my sire—brokered. After Elvira’s death, the oath is resolved, and its manifestation bled away.”

I swear I saw a brief flash of curiosity in the legate’s gaze before he nodded curtly. “Very well. I will inform Master Caspian accordingly. We need to think of an explanation for our guests though. Better to control the narrative than let them speculate.”

“We should remain as close as possible to the truth. A blood oath has been resolved.” Katherine snapped her fingers. “The end. You don’t have to explain its nature.”

“That won’t stop the speculating about it.” Gideon frowned.

“That can’t be helped. Let them talk; Katherine is right.” Konstantin took the clean shirt someone had placed on a chair nearby and dressed.

Gideon went through a side door and came back with a female vampire. “This is Sylvan. I took the liberty of having her prepare guestrooms for the three younglings. Master Caspian might want to talk to you, and they won’t be able to stay awake past sunrise.”

To my disappointment, Konstantin readily agreed with Gideon. Obviously, we wouldn’t talk about how he felt and what he thought would happen now after Mother’s second death.

“I’ll be going with you, Kavan. I want to speak to Nathan anyway and explain the situation to him.” Doc put his hand on my shoulder before he led me outside. After joining my brothers, we were shown a three-bedroom apartment, where I quickly fell asleep in my room. I hated they had been right.

I woke up to unfamiliar surroundings, then I remembered what had happened and wanted to talk to my brothers. I slipped from the bed, but my clothes were gone. Just when I had decided to go naked, a quiet knock sounded on my door.

“Come in!”

Sylvan came in carrying a tray. “I’m bringing your breakfast. Maria told me you prefer hot broth for breakfast and a mug of blood, A plus if possible.”

“Um… do you know what happened to my clothes?”

“They were dirty; June will bring you a new set in a minute. The shower is down the hall second door to the left. When you’re done, I am to bring you and your brother to the master’s study.”

“Thank you, Sylvan, but I’d like to talk to my brothers first.”

“Rylan is still sleeping in the room next to this.”

“And Nathan?”

“His sire brought him breakfast before they went together to Master Caspian’s study.”

“Oh. I think I’ll wait for Rylan to wake up by himself. It was a horrible day yesterday, he needs his sleep.”

“You know as his master, you can wake him, even when the sun isn’t entirely set?”

“I know that, but as I said, I think my childe needs his sleep.”

She looked at me warily. “Um, eh, the master is waiting—”

“That will be all, Sylvan. We’ll call you when we’re done.”

I didn’t know what had come over me. One didn’t ignore the summon of their master, but I felt indifferent anger since I heard Doc had come to pick up Nathan. Where was Konstantin? I drank the blood, then grabbed a robe hanging over a chair and headed to take a quick shower. On my way back to my room I took a brief look into Rylan’s room. He was still sleeping. Nathan’s room looked pristine as if he‘d never slept in there.

Back in my room, I found yet another suit and shirt. It fit better than the borrowed clothes from the day before. After I’d drunk my cooled-down broth, I went to Rylan’s room. Even though I had the feeling Sylvan was eager to bring me to Caspian’s study, I sat in a chair and decided to let Rylan sleep.

After he had his breakfast and was wearing fresh clothes too, I finally agreed for Sylvan to lead us to her master. She headed for the elevator, which brought us to the penthouse, and hastily knocked on a door, barely waiting for an answer before she opened it.

It seemed as if everyone was waiting for us. Caspian stood in front of a large floor-to-ceiling window. I could see the entire city gleaming in the sunlight. The colors were slightly off, I assumed because of the coating.

I bowed deeply to Caspian. Rylan mimicked me.

Konstantin stood slightly behind the master on his right side, scowling at me. I ignored him. On the other side Gideon leaned against the thick pane, and I swear I saw an amused twinkling in his eyes.

Almost the entire clan was assembled. Ry and I joined Doc and Nathan.

Caspian looked at us, lifting an eyebrow. “I think you already know this by now, but I’d like to explain the situation to you in more detail. Yesterday, your former leader Elvira Night tried to kill Judge Ironwind during her trial. The court guards dealt with her swiftly and finally. For you, the Night Clan, this means you need a new leader. The obvious choice would be Konstantin Navarro, your legate, but as he has accepted my offer to join my clan and take the position of my second legate, I decided to disband the Night Clan.” I was shocked. Why did Konstantin do this? What did this mean for my brothers and me?

After dropping the bomb, Caspian turned to Doc. “Sebastian, did you talk to your childe about my suggestions?”

Doc took a step forward. “Yes, Master Caspian, we decided to accept your generous offer. We will join your clan and work for you on the new project.”

What generous offer? Which new project? Nathan looked at Ry and me warily, probably only then understanding we had no clue what they were talking about.

It became clear to me that bringing him breakfast hadn’t been the only reason for Doc being at the guest quarters so early, but he had also talked to Nathan about a lot of things, like joining Caspian’s clan for example. My gaze found Konstantin, who still hadn’t moved, Katherine by his side now.

Caspian continued. “Max and Ava have decided to join the Delacour clan after hearing of your leader’s second death.”

I wasn’t exactly surprised by the news that they joined another clan, but the Delacour’s?

“That leaves you, Emil, and your soon-to-be childre, Martin and Maria. As I told you before, you’re very welcome to follow your legate and join us.”

So, he did know too. I was stunned by what was going on here.

Emil looked questioningly at his lovers, who quickly nodded. “Master Caspian, we happily follow our former legate’s example.”

Only Van, Amir, Ry, and I were left.

“Amir, Van, our army could use such capable and loyal soldiers as you. Do you, too, want to follow your former legate and his second and join us?”

Both stepped forward bowed and said at once, “I would be honored.”

I couldn’t believe this. Everyone had been asked to join the clan, including my fucking sire, but Ry and I stood there listening as if we were mere room decorations.

I didn’t know what to think about what was happening. I felt hurt and didn’t know how to react. There was no signal from Konstantin about what he wanted me to do; he just ignored me. Did I misunderstand the entire One Childe relationship? Suddenly I was so mad at him and all the other so-called friends and brothers, I wanted to scream. Instead, I bowed deeply, that was what everyone did, right? “Thank you for the information, Master Caspian. I guess my childe and I will be looking for a new clan then.” I elbowed my brother, and he bowed too. We were about to leave the room when I saw Caspian’s eyes widen, and he glared at Konstantin.

Finally, my sire reacted. “As my childe, you are expected to stay with me, of course.”

“Am I? If a vampire has their own childe they are considered of age, am I right?”

Konstantin frowned. “That’s correct.”

“It means they can decide for themselves and their childe as they see fit.”

Finally, it dawned on my sire where I had been going with my question. “You are far too young. You wouldn’t survive alone.”

I was furious. “That remains to be seen.”

“Enough of this nonsense!” Caspian growled. He held his hands out to me. “Kavan, I would be honored if you and your childe would accept my offer to join us. I know you and your talents will enhance my clan’s strength and diversity.”

I narrowed my eyes at Konstantin. “Thank you for this offer, Master Caspian, but allow me to discuss this with Rylan first. This is an important decision, and I think I should include him.” I grabbed my brother’s hand, and we left the room.

“What are you doing? Are you crazy? Even I know we would die without the support of a clan,” Rylan hissed at me as soon as I had closed the door.

“Konstantin is an asshole! He just assumed I would follow his lead like a dumb sheep. Doc, however, explained the new situation to Nathan. He asked for his opinion, even if it was only for show, it’s a sign of respect.”

“You have to understand this, after all the extensive negotiations with Master Caspian last night, your sire had only one need left: to fuck his bloodsong. I mean, he hadn’t seen her for a long time,” a voice drawled behind us. The fuck?

I turned around, and there stood the smirking asshole Gideon. “You!”

“Legate Konstantin has been blessed with not only one but two of the most sought-after gifts the fates can bestow on us.” He lifted his right hand and counted on his fingers, beginning with his thumb. “He found his bloodsong,” then continued with his forefinger “and his One Childe too. He probably needs some time to balance those and sort out his priorities.”

I balled my hands into fists and yelled, “I really hate you!”

I was instantly sorry I’d said this. It was stupid and over the top. He’d provoked me, and I reacted like the child he probably thought I was. He only mocked-saluted me, before turning on his heel, and going back into Caspian’s study.

“Well, fuck.”

Ry shook his head at me. “He got you jealous on purpose. What is wrong with this guy?”

“I don’t know. He always was an arrogant ass. He might be angry because Konstantin became legate in his clan.”

“Or, it’s something else.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember Shanna Kelly from school? She was totally into you and tried to get your attention by being a total bitch to you.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Yeah, that’s it. Charm the guy by being an insufferable Christmas tree.”

“Christmas tree?”

“Didn’t you see his jewelry?”

“Sometimes you’re an ass, brother of mine.” Ry slapped me upside the head. “Now, are you going to ask me for my opinion?”

I rolled my eyes. “Do you think we should join Caspian’s clan?”

“Yes, I think we should join Master Caspian’s clan.”

“And why did you call me an ass?”

“Think about it.”

While we were still bickering, Sylvan came to us and showed us our new home in the Silver Tower. It was a two-bedroom condo with a large, comfortable sitting room. The view was spectacular. Two sofas were placed perpendicular to each other, a square coffee table between them, with a matching love seat in front of a modernish fireplace. To top this, a huge TV was mounted above it. Two of the walls were covered with empty bookshelves.

When Sylvan was gone, Ry and I stood in front of the window and watched the city lights.

“This is insane.” My brother waved at our new home.

Each of our bedrooms had an ensuite bathroom and large walk-in closets. We both would probably never own enough clothes to fill even a part of them.

“I guess vampires accumulate tons of stuff during their long lives,” Ry mused beside me.

I snorted. “That’s why they need so much storage room?” I spread my arms, encompassing the condo. Sometimes I wondered if Ry could read my thoughts. We were always closer to each other than to Nate, who always was the prudent and level-headed one of us: no pranks and shenanigans, super ambitious, and good in school. Sometimes our mom had joked that there must have been a mix-up in the clinic, but that couldn’t have happened as he looked exactly like her.

“Those closets are totally overdone. Maybe I could put a desk inside mine.” Rylan frowned, pretending to actually consider this.

“Sure, but we already have an office-like room.”

“But we have to share it. How can I watch porn with you sitting right in front of me?”

“That’s why they gave us a laptop. You can watch porn in your bedroom.”

Then I remembered India’s weapon stash in my old room at the Night compound. I fished the phone Sylvan had given to me out of my pants pockets and called her.

She immediately answered. “Kavan, what can I do for you?”

“Do you think my brother and I could pick up our belongings from the Night Clan’s residence sometime?”

“When do you want to go? I can ask two soldiers to drive you over there. Do you need some bags?”

“Bags would be great, thank you.”

The house was guarded by Caspian’s soldiers. I was surprised they let us go into our rooms unsupervised.

First, I got India’s weapons out of hiding and put them on the bottom of three bags, and covered them with clothes. On top of one I placed the sword Konstantin had given to me along with the knives India had given to me.

The sword caught the eye of one of the soldiers when I left the room.

“That’s a very nice weapon.”

I saw he wanted to touch it, but refrained from doing so. One didn’t touch another vampire’s weapons without asking.

“Thank you, I got it from my sire.”

As Ry had only one bag, I gave him one of mine. Surprisingly, he didn’t complain.

As soon as Sylvan saw the weapons, she showed me a space in one of the closets in my bedroom where I could store them properly. Not India’s of course, those I hid the way I did in my old room. Trust had to be earned and at that moment I wasn’t so sure what to think of this new clan.

When I came back to the living room, I saw that Ry had put a framed picture of Mom and one of her vintage cameras on one of the shelves by the fireplace. I ran my finger over the camera’s case. “This is nice. Where did you get this?”

“I asked Konstantin to pick it up for me from the house.”

“Curious, he never told me.”

We had a very small kitchen, with some dishes, a fridge for broth and blood bags, and a microwave to heat those.

I was filling two mugs with blood when someone knocked on the door. I immediately knew who was waiting for us outside. “Konstantin.”

Rylan quickly got up from the sofa. “O-kay, I think I’ll be in my room. I can feed later.” He turned to me. “Oh, and K., listen to him before you explode in his face.”

He knew me too well. Sensing Konstantin being this close made me instantly furious. I had to calm my beast. So, I thoroughly picked out a bottle of red wine from the shelf beside the fridge. “Come in.”

Konstantin closed the door behind him but didn’t come closer.

“Do you want some wine?” I looked at the label. “I don’t know if this is any good, though.” I held the bottle out for him to look.

Only then, did he take a step into the kitchen. “It’s a good wine.”

I looked through the fridge, “O plus okay?”

“You know it’s my favorite.”

I carefully mixed the wine with the blood. “Your taste might have changed.” I passed him the glass.

He took it and sipped the mixture. “It’s good, and I haven’t.”

Before this could become any more awkward, I pointed at the sofas. “Do you want to sit down for a bit?”

“If I may.”

I sat down across from him.

He looked around. “You got a nice place.”

“Konstatin—”

He lifted his hands placatingly. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll get to the point. I’m here to apologize for my behavior, for how I handled or didn’t handle the situation.”

“The s i tu a ti on?”

“Look.” He bent forward, putting his glass on the table. “I could list a couple of reasons for why I did or did not do the right things: the resolution of the blood oath, Master Caspian’s surprising and generous offer—”

I inhaled, ready to interrupt him.

“—but I know you would call them mere excuses, and you’d probably be right.

“Honesty first. I was with Katherine instead of coming to you. I should have been there when you woke up and explained the situation to you...asked you for your opinion.”

“Like Doc did for Nathan?”

“Exactly, Doc always had better social skills than me.”

I leaned back and crossed my arms. “Social skills, huh? Sounds a bit impersonal to me. You could have said he cared more...” Konstantin flinched. “If you’d asked me- would my opinion have mattered? If I’d said I didn’t want you to take the position as Second Legate, would it have influenced your decision? Would you have declined the offer?”

He pulled some of his braids. “I would have at least taken your opinion into consideration.”

I raised my eyebrows. I wasn’t convinced. “So, why didn’t you come to me?”

Konstantin picked up the glass and swirled the blood-laced wine around. “I heard Gideon talking to you. He’s right when he said I am blessed by the fates granting me my bloodsong and my One Childe. Caspian offered me this great position. I wanted, needed, to talk to someone before I made the decision. Should I agree, or decline? It wouldn’t only affect me, but you and Katherine too. You and Kat are the most important people to me. And then I made a mistake. After talking to Master Caspian almost all night, you were already sleeping, and I did what I have always done, I went to Katherine. Instead of spending the night with her, I should have waited until you woke up, maybe feeding you, reassuring you of your position, and letting you know how important you are to me. And when my mistake became glaringly obvious after seeing how perfectly Doc handled everything, I made another. I ignored you, treated you like a stranger.” He hid his face behind his hands, rubbing it. “I was ashamed. I am ashamed. Kavan, you’re my One Childe, I love you. D-do you think you could find it in you to forgive me, be the better man?”

I admit this wasn’t what I had expected. In my mind, we would have an epic fight, yelling at each other, followed by an epic pout with no speaking and ignoring each other. Of course, Konstantin nipped this scenario in the bud. He apologized, apropos being the better man.

After sitting there for a long moment, I realized how relieved and happy I was.

“Do you want to feed?” we said at once. We did. I was damned lucky to have him as a sire.

And the day or night wasn’t over. After Konstantin was gone and I was on the way to my room, someone else knocked on the door. Fucking Katherine.

“What do you want?” I ripped the door open and narrowed my eyes at her.

She held my gaze and lifted her chin. “I came here to tell you it was my fault. I purposely seduced Konstantin. I wanted him to see only me and forget you.”

“Mission accomplished—for a while.” I didn’t invite her in.

Her gaze softened. “It was a pyrrhic victory. I hurt you, yes, but by doing that, I hurt him.” She took a step back. “I admit freely it will take time until I can accept that there is someone else in his life, someone he cares as much for as he does for me. He loves you.” With that, she blurred away at vampire speed.

“I know. And um… thank you for telling me.” Well, fuck. I didn’t think she heard me.