A hushed murmur rustled through the ranks at my comment.
Good or bad? No idea. I swallowed back as much of the automatic fear response as possible, focusing on the proceedings.
“We’ll wait here,” Josie whispered.
“’Kay.” I stepped back beside her, surrounded by my crew.
A sinister growl slipped through the air, cutting off abruptly as Lalitta, Kyros’s second youngest sister, strode into the clearing. Dressed to the nines with 1950s flare, she altered her direction when she spotted me. She smiled, unwinding the scarf from around her wide hat before removing her cat-eye glasses with flourish.
“Lalitta,” I greeted in a low voice, hoping to convey the urge for her to stop being so fucking flamboyant.
She kissed me on both cheeks. “Basilia, sweet thing. How are you?”
Subtlety was a no-go. “Good. But you’re gonna have to shut up. The funeral is starting.”
The princess blanched, removing her hat. Her hair was perfect underneath. How the hell did she manage that?
“So sorry,” she called. “Do continue.”
Laurel was alone in appearing serene after the casual order. The princess was the sweetest of Kyros’s sisters. But she’d just established her position amongst those gathered with one word. Sometimes, forgetting her alpha status was too easy.
I cut a second look at her as Laurel started speaking.
The princess’s eyes were fixed straight ahead. But there! She darted a look to the trees and back. Yep, Lalitta was aware of Clan Fyrlia’s presence alright. And she still strode into the midst of Fyrlia’s fighting force, who could have orders to kill her. For all she’d known, this could turn into a blood bath.
Respect.
I took her hand, and her shoulders eased as I applied pressure, but she didn’t glance my way.
“… Twelve have departed our ranks,” Laurel was saying. “Too soon. For reasons and causes which are not our own.”
Oh, shit. She was going there with Lalitta in tow?
“—but as always, we come together in peace after,” she continued, her voice swelling. “We owe it to those we put to rest today. Twelve of our brothers and sisters. For as surely as we’re not connected by blood, we are each other’s only family as the centuries pass. We bury them with love. We remember them as Vissimo. As is our way, none shall leave this forest until only understanding and respect remains in their heart.”
My palms grew slick with sweat as the emotion of the surrounding Vissimo soared.
Did Laurel usually handle the eulogy?
The Fyrlia Indebted deferred to her authority, clearly, but I was willing to bet the vampire had offered to take this particular service after Lalitta’s request to be here.
I really hoped Laurel hadn’t gotten herself into trouble with that move.
The row of Vissimo at her back stood aside, and I trained my gaze on the twelve blanket-wrapped corpses in the gap.
To hear twelve were dead and to see twelve were dead…
I breathed thinly as a high-pitched whine rang in my ears.
“Where are the coffins?” Lalitta asked.
I clamped down on her hand but stopped at the glittering quality in Laurel’s eyes. Understanding coursed through me. That’s why she’d agreed to the princess being here.
This moment could be crucial to the future rights of the Indebted.
“They can’t afford coffins,” I replied, not bothering to lower my voice.
“What? Not at all?”
“How are they meant to pay for them?” I said, frowning at the painfully beautiful royal. “They’re forced to bury their dead in the asshole of Bluff City in blankets because the only way to afford a coffin would be to enslave themselves for longer. Would you want your family buried here, Lalitta? What if it was Francesca, Neelan, or Lionel in those blankets?”
The princess swallowed hard, blood welling in her eyes. “I’ll pay for coffins.”
“You think they want you to cover the bill?” I asked. I felt like ten kinds of butthole for being so relentless, but I wouldn’t have bothered if someone like Rory was here instead of her, so it was kind of a compliment.
The princess bowed her head. “No.”
I dropped her hand. “No, so don’t offend these Vissimo by offering.”
“Vissimo.” The word was passed around, alarm or surprise tinging the word.
Yeah, I’d decided not to use the word Indebted aloud any longer. Which was probably a massive faux pas.
I spoke louder. “I apologise, Laurel. Please continue.”
Laurel bowed low to me, and a second jerking ripple ran through the ranks.
Ugh. I didn’t like it when she bowed. That was the second time.
The reverence didn’t sit well with me because I wasn’t sure whether the gesture meant something more to vampires. If a human friend bowed to me, I’d assume they were drunk.
The vampires closest to Laurel lowered the twelve bodies into one large grave. A mass grave. The thought made me nauseous. Then again, these people weren’t dying nameless. They were being buried alongside their brethren, their comrades. Wherever they ended up, they’d have good company.
I wished my grandmother had someone with her in the ground instead of being alone in that white box with silver handles.
I closed my eyes, heart thumping as I clenched my fists.
“Are you remembering your grandmother, Miss Tetley?” Kelsea said.
Opening my eyes, I scanned her blood-streaked face. “Just wondering why good people die when so many douchebuckets are alive.”
She wiped her face. “It’s shit, huh?”
Lalitta dug in her bag and pulled out a packet of tissues. She glanced at me, and when I nodded, she reached around me, handing the tissues to Kelsea.
“Have I thanked you for saving me yet?” I said to cover Kelsea’s wariness as she took the tissues.
Her breath caught on a small laugh. “Only a million times.”
I’d think of a way to pay that debt someday.
There weren’t more speeches. Everyone paid their respects at the mass grave, some taking far longer than others, and then—without ceremony—the Indebted blurred away through the trees.
Back to slavery.
So fucking wrong. They should be given time to mourn.
I started out of the forest beside Lalitta, my crew trailing behind.
“Would you spend the rest of the afternoon with me, Miss Tetley?” The princess blurted when we reached the parking lot.
Whoa. Way to blindside a gal.
“Uh, thanks for the offer. Why?”
Lalitta wrinkled her cute button nose. “My siblings are on at me to do it.”
Well, she was honest at least—couldn’t say the same for Gerome. Or Rory. Or Kyros. Probably not Francesca, Neelan, or Pantsuit either. Lionel if the mood suited him perhaps. Meanwhile, Deirdre was too honest.
“They want you to screw with me to fuck with Kyros.” I bit back on a groan.
Her brow cleared. “Oh, you know. Great.”
Wait. “I’m not cool with that. Me and Kyros aren’t in the mood for bullshit.”
Lalitta stopped in front of her vehicle. The paint-chipped pick-up truck momentarily derailed my train of thought.
Did not see that coming.
“You’re wrong about my eldest brother,” she said, smiling.