"The plot thickens," Caldenia said.
"It was an assassination." Arland bared his fangs. "That in itself is weak. What vampire needs to hire an assassin? But more importantly, it was designed to create a rift between Krahr and Gron. You have no idea how long we had worked on that joint offensive. This entire situation is a hissot."
"What does that mean?" Sean asked.
"A knot of poisonous snakes that is epic in its vileness." Frustration vibrated in Arland's voice. "Two seasons of planning, gone. There are fifty thousand Krahr followers demanding the guilty be punished, whoever they are, and about as many Gron cohorts placed on alert because their leadership thinks we are preparing to invade them in retaliation. It isn't enough for the dahaka to die. We must find who hired him. He could be working for our enemies, for some third party, perhaps even for Gron. This is the reason my uncle was injured. He wasn't trying to kill the dahaka. He was trying to capture him."
Sean leaned forward. "I saw what it did to your uncle's men. Trust me, we don't have the resources to hold it."
"Spoken like a sergeant," Arland said.
Sean gave him a flat stare.
"Don't get me wrong, sergeants are the backbone of the army. A good one is worth his weight in gold. But they do not concern themselves with the bigger picture. It's not just about revenge. It's about the stability of two Houses. The dahaka must be taken alive."
Sean crossed his arms.
"By myself, I'm outmatched," Arland said. "However, we share common interests. You want the dahaka gone from your planet and so do I. Together we have a fighting chance."
"We don't have enough people to capture it," Sean said. "This is a simple fact. If you think about it for a moment, you'll come to the same conclusion."
"We could lure it onto the inn grounds."
"It won't work," I said.
"What makes you so sure, my lady?" Arland asked.
"I spoke to it."
The vampire stared at me. I'd seen this precise expression on Sean's face before.
"When was this?" Arland asked quietly.
"When Sean brought Lord Soren in. I felt a disturbance, went outside, and saw it on the lamppost. We had a conversation."
"And you didn't feel the need to tell me?" Arland asked.
"No."
Sean already knew --he'd seen the dahaka running away. But since the vampires hadn't been forthcoming with information, I'd kept it to myself.
Arland opened his mouth, but no words came out. Some sort of monumental struggle seemed to take place. Finally some words emerged. "That was extremely unwise."
"Not telling me your purpose on this planet was even more so."
Sean smiled his handsome-devil smile.
Arland considered it. "Very well. That I deserved."
Sean looked at me. "I've been meaning to ask you, what did it want?"
"Lord Soren."
Sean frowned. "Why?"
"Bonus," Caldenia murmured.
We looked at her. She waved her hand with an elegant flourish. "Ignore me."
"The dahaka struck me as smart and vicious. It holds us in complete contempt --it called me meat. But it didn't attack and none of its stalkers made a serious effort to rush the inn. It knows what I am, and it's very careful not to enter the grounds."
"Could you restrain it if it did?" Arland asked.
"On the grounds, possibly. In the house, definitely. But it's not likely to let itself be lured to the inn."
Arland rocked back and exhaled, venting frustration. "There has to be a way to trap it. With all due respect, you are just an innkeeper, my lady. You have no experience with hunting prey."
Okay, then. Glad we decided to clear that up.
"Perhaps we could flush him out," Arland said.
"Not without attracting attention," Sean said. "Attention is the last thing we need."
"Agreed." The vampire bared his fangs.
They stared at each other, then looked at me.
I shrugged. "I'm not a mighty hunter. I'm just a Southern belle who stays home, bakes cookies, and possibly serves mighty hunters iced tea if they happen to drop by."
Arland blinked.
"You broke it, you fix it," Sean said.
The vampire leaned forward and focused on me. His eyes turned warm, and a charming, self-deprecating smile lit his face.
Wow.
"I didn't choose my words tactfully, my lady. I'm only a man, after all, and a solider, unskilled in the way of polite society. I've dedicated myself to the service of my House. My business is that of blood and slaughter, and I haven't been fortunate enough to be refined by a woman's gentle touch."
Sean coughed into his fist. One of the coughs sounded suspiciously like "bullshit."
"I ask humbly for your forgiveness. I neither deserve nor expect it and therefore appeal only to your compassion. Should I be fortunate enough to be forgiven, I promise to never repeat my transgression."
Unfortunately for Arland, I had encountered a few vampires before. "A vampire of a different House once told me something very similar. He even knelt on one knee while he said it."
"Did you forgive him?" Arland hit me with another smile. Vampire smiles should really be outlawed.
"While I was busy thinking it over, he leapt at me and tried to break my neck with his teeth, so no." I'd been fifteen years old at the time and it was an excellent lesson in vampire manners. Despite their beautiful faces, their religion, their ceremonies, their charm, vampires were predators. If you forgot it even for a second, you risked your life, because they always remembered.
Arland opened his mouth.
"I'm not upset with you, my lord. I just have no ideas on how to trap the dahaka. Or how to kill it."
"May I have some tea?" Caldenia asked.
"Of course." I went in the kitchen and took her favorite mug from the cabinet.
"Would a high-power rifle do it?" Sean asked.
"What sort of rifle?" Arland asked.
"Stealth Recon Scout," Sean said.
"Does it fire a metal projectile?"
"Yes."
"How fast?"
"Fast enough to kill a man from two thousand yards away."
"I don't believe so." Arland grimaced. "The dahaka is likely to have magnetic disrupters in addition to armor, helmet, and an extremely thick skull."
I brought a cup of Lemon Zinger to Caldenia. She accepted it with a nod.
"We could try an armor-piercing round," Sean said.