Chapter 44

"What will you do?" I asked the question mostly to break the silence as Kaz absorbed this news.
Ty shrugged. "I have a number of investments - real estate mostly. I can take a more direct hand in managing that if I don't come up with something more interesting." He gazed at Kaz. "I thought I'd stay here in Vegas for a little while."
"I'd like that," Kaz answered. "I have news too, though it's a lot less dramatic. I managed to swing some vacation time for the rest of this week. I'm off for the next four days."
"That's great," Ty and I caroled together.
I wrinkled my nose. "I feel like such a slacker - I have no news at all. All I did today was loll around at the spa."
"Notice that we're not complaining," Ty replied.
"Hell no. You just being here with us is more than enough," Kaz added, reaching over to squeeze my shoulder gently. "Though what we'd really like is to hear more about you. All we know is that you're originally French."
"It's not a cheerful story," I said with a grimace. "But if you're sure you want to spoil that marvelous meal with gloomy conversation, I guess I can tell it."
They shared a look then both scooted around the table until we were all on the same side, facing the fireplace. They edged close but didn't pin me in, already sensitive to my quirks. If I'd been the kind of girl who believed in happily ever after, I think that's the moment when I'd have fallen in love with both of them. Ty took one of my hands while Kaz leaned an arm behind me on the loveseat, idly toying with my hair.
"I was born outside Paris during the reign of Louis XIV to a family with too many titles and not enough money. I was the third daughter and there was nothing left for a dowry, so my parents gave me to the church when I was eight."
"You?" Kaz barked incredulously. "A nun? Ridiculous." His fingers tightened on my shoulder.
"Apparently that was the general consensus," I admitted. "One particular bishop took a liking to me. Let's just say he never quite bought into the whole celibacy thing. He was a distant cousin of the king, so he spent a lot of time at court dragging me along as his private 'attendant'." I used finger quotes to mark the last word.
"Please tell me he's also a vampire so I can go kill him," Ty said quietly.
I shook my head. "No, quite human, the poor dolt. Eventually he got caught with his fingers in the royal cookie jar - in other words, diddling the queen. They hung him for treason, and during the upheaval I got tossed out of the church. Fortunately for my continued survival, one of the noblemen had taken a fancy to me - by that I mean raping me in the palace courtyard where, of course, we were caught, cementing my status as a fallen woman. Antoine kept me on until he got tired of me then I was passed around like a trophy from this courtier to that one for several years. I was all of fifteen at the time of the bishop's execution."
A low, rumbling growl emerged from Kaz's throat.
"We can't go kill anyone?" Ty grumbled.
"Not really," I said with a bitter snort. "Eventually - I think I was twenty-two by that time - getting ancient for a courtesan - I was sold off to a visiting Russian noble. Gregor took me back to St. Petersburg. He's the one who turned me, just a couple years after that."
"And which one taught you to be afraid of restraints?" Ty's voice was soft but lethal.
"The bishop, at first. He liked sex but believed it was a sin, so there was a lot of 'penance' involved, mostly for me." I shuddered but kept going. "Gregor had similar tastes. He did like dangling me off the parapets of his castle when I tried to fight back."
"Which is why you're afraid of heights," Kaz added.
"Actually, that one was always there - Gregor just took advantage of it. Anyway, to make a long story short, I was with him for a long, long time, totally under his thumb. Among vampires, a sire can wield a lot of mental control over someone he turns. Eventually though, he managed to get himself killed by one of Napoleon's soldiers who took his head off with a sword during a nighttime sortie. When he died, his control over me broke and I scooped up as much cash and jewels as I could and lit out for America. I've been on my own ever since."
"Aww, sweetheart, I'm so sorry." Kaz laid his head on my shoulder and gave me a half hug with the arm around my back. "But I'm so glad you're here with us now."
"Me too," Ty whispered, bringing my hand to his lips to cover it in kisses. "You're an amazing woman. You know that, don't you?"
"I'm just a survivor," I said simply. "No more, no less."
"Was Danette your original name?" Kaz wondered. "It seems to suit you so perfectly."
"Lady Danielle des Champs," I replied. "My mother was also Danielle, so I was Danette for short."
"And you changed des Champs for DuBois - fields for woods."
"With a handful of other ones in between," I agreed. "What about you guys? Are your names your real ones?"
"Our first names are," Kaz told me. "Both of us. We've used fake ones before, but right now, oddball first names are accepted, so we've both gone back to them."
"The last names we just picked at random. Surnames don't really exist in Zendir society," Ty finished up.
"So, did you meet before or after you were both assigned as enforcers on Earth?"
"Before," they chorused.
Kaz chuckled and motioned for Ty to continue.
"We went through our training together," Ty added. "We've known each other for what - three hundred years or so?"
Kaz nodded. "About that."
I tipped my head. "So how old are you guys?" I had no idea how the Zendir aging process worked.
"Five hundred, give or take," Ty answered. "I had a couple other careers before my stint as an enforcer."
"I'm younger - just about three and a half centuries," Kaz added. "I guess that makes me the baby of our little triad."