"What's that, Jos?" Arvil turned back to his chief.
"Black Mist and Solar Red are out to get the Queen Vampire," Jos paraphrased his prior statement.
"You're sure about this?"
"Absolutely. I wouldn't have brought it to you, otherwise."
"Do you have contacts? I might be willing to pay a little, just to hurry this up."
"I can put out an offer. If it is sufficient, I know Black Mist will be interested."
Arvil wanted to shiver at the mention of the Assassin's Guild. They weren't anyone to cheat or mess about with. Jos seemed sure of himself, however. "Fine, put the word out that fifty million will go to the one who can bring her down."
"That seems a reasonable sum," Jos grinned, his platinum caps gleaming in Arvil's artificial lamplight.
* * *
"He's offering fifty million?" Prylvis lifted an eyebrow at Viregruz's words.
"Yes. And it's to accomplish something we are already planning," Viregruz chuckled.
"What do you say, brother," Ringolar began, "to offering this amount to any would-be assassin out there—and letting them know that Black Mist is making the offer?"
"Are you suggesting that we make it look as if we don't want to dirty our hands with this, and allow anyone with the desire to put fifty million credits in their pocket to provide a distraction for us?" Prylvis wanted to laugh.
"That's exactly what I'm suggesting," Ringolar agreed. "Let them weary themselves fending off attempts by amateurs, while we plan the real assassination."
"Is it decided, then?" Viregruz asked.
"Oh, yes," Prylvis agreed.
* * *
I hadn't seen or heard from Roff for six days. I wanted to ask Flavio about him, but dreaded what I might learn if I did. I didn't Look, either, for the same reasons. Aurelius and Garde were flanking me as we walked down the hall toward the first Council meeting I'd attended in six weeks. The media wanted to come calling, too, and I just wasn't in the mood. They'd have to settle for the feed from the Council meeting.
Kyler was in her usual corner; she gave me a nod as I walked in with my escorts. Giff was depressed and refused to see anyone, and that wasn't doing her any good at all. I’d sent Rolfe to stay with her—I had other personal guards, after all, and Giff’s child was coming. There was no way around that. Kyler announced our business for the day—increasing security around the perimeter of Casino City. We'd beefed ours up; they needed to do the same.
Adam and Merrill had come, with most of the casino owners following suit. Some of those owners had transferred from Campiaa. Erland, Adam and Merrill had advised me on which applications to approve. Honestly, I hadn't been to Casino City since the first day it opened. I wanted to sigh as I looked over the crowd of vampires. Fifteen cities were now represented, and the members who'd died in the chaos earlier had already been replaced.
It was a well-known fact that solar-powered hovercraft provided transportation between the vampire cities and Lissia. Many Council members had drivers or assistants with them, now, posing as bodyguards. I can't say I blamed them—there hadn't been any guards except mine when vampires had died inside these walls. I wondered if we'd need a football stadium before it was over, just to seat the members and their hired muscle.
Giff wasn't the only one depressed, either. I automatically searched for Toff every time I sat at the dinner table. One of my favorite memories had been of Roff trying to get him to eat with a fork, while Toff had been busily shoving spaghetti into his mouth with his hands. That, however, was before Shala had tried to kill me; she'd staked Roff instead. And it was before Gabron showed his true colors. Briefly, I wondered where he was before putting him out of my mind.
"If we provide two-man hovercraft, we can patrol the walls faster and easier," a casino owner stood up in the back to make a suggestion. We were allowing all of them to speak today, since their taxes would be used to pay for this.
"Is there a feasibility study available?" I asked.
"We are putting one together," Adam said. I saw Crane and Dragon sitting next to Adam and Merrill—they'd folded in. They had a hefty interest in one of the casinos; they'd invested with Lynx, Russell and Will. Weldon, Martin, Daniel and David owned half of another one, with Radomir, Rush and Lisster. Yeah, members of the Saa Thalarr, including my new Crown Investigators, owned casinos.
"How quickly will we have the information?" I asked.
"In four days, I think," Adam replied
"Should we buy a couple of vehicles in the meantime, just to give it the practicality test?" I suggested.
"If you want," the casino owner who'd made the original suggestion was grinning.
"The crown will put up half the money," I said.
The next item on the agenda was how many wall climbers had been caught since the last meeting. That was a total of sixty-four. Too many.
"Are they doing it just so they can boast of it later?" someone asked.
"About half are," Lisster came in the room with a comp-vid that he handed off to Garde. Garde frowned at the message he was reading, and smoke curled from his nostrils. That wasn't upsetting or anything. I couldn't allow it to distract me, however, so we didn't interrupt the meeting.
* * *
"This is the message that was intercepted." Erland paced angrily inside my office. He referred to the message Lisster passed off to Garde during the Council meeting. Garde was there with Aurelius, Lisster, Radomir and Rush. In fact, all of my mates except Tony and Gavin had come. Thurlow, the Alliance representative, was also there. I hadn't taken the time to meet with him before. He seemed a patient sort, thankfully, and he was poring over the message, just as the rest of us were.
The message indicated that some sect that called itself Black Mist now had a bounty on my head. They were a clan of assassins that would accept money to off anybody. Well, if they were offering, it meant that somebody else had offered them more and they were farming out the work. Fuckers.
"I hear from reliable sources that Arvil San Gerxon may have put up part of the money," Erland said. I was beginning to learn that Erland worked as a spy for my grandfather. Oh, he kept that fact hidden very well; everybody thought Erland was wrapped up in Erland. Except he wasn't. Not really. I think that's why he had a casino on Campiaa, originally. What better place to hear rumors one might not get elsewhere? The criminal element certainly flowed through Campiaa. It made me wonder whom Erland still had there, working for him.