Free The Last Guardian Rises (The Last Keeper's Daughter) by Rebecca Trogner Page A

him. “The reason you’ve been avoiding me.”
    “Just work.”
    “Hmm. So work is why you watch me swim sometimes, but when I get out of the pool you’re gone.”
    “A momentary break in my dull day to watch a beautiful mermaid.” This time he didn’t stop himself from cupping her face with his hand. Her hair, soft and silken, brushed against his knuckles. Just this once and never again, he told himself as he ran his thumb over her lower lip, plump and inviting as the berries he’d picked as a child. “Now, I must go.”
    Before she could protest, he left and closed the door behind him. Gods forgive, but one day I may forget what I am.

Krieger
    Self-appointed King Grigori was the last to take his place at the round table. He was a trim, youthful man with soft brown hair and eyes that reminded Krieger of a deer. There was nothing harsh or rough or human about him. There was no fear either. He was why everyone was here, he should be a little anxious, but he showed not one sign of anxiety as he casually took his seat, like he’d been here on numerous occasions before.
    The six Royal Houses were now in attendance, closed off at the base of the castle inside a cavernous room. There were no wall hangings or items of interest, only two roaring fireplaces at either end of the long rectangular shaped space with candle-lit candelabras on the table and chandeliers above.
    With no Elder to look to, there was an uneasy silence. Their eyes all said the same thing. Who should start the meeting?
    Krieger inwardly groaned when King Carlos, the last Spanish Hapsburg, awkwardly pushed his chair back from the table and lifted his hulk of a body to lean against the table. He ruled South and Central America along with Mexico. His territory was large, but sparsely populated with Others and vampires. The Inquisitions and a still highly superstitious human population made his area less desirable.
    “Now that we are all here…” Carlos eyed Grigori. “I propose that we start with the demise of the Elder.”
    “Carlos,” Queen Merneith of Africa said softly. She remained seated with her hands placed face down on the wooden table. “We have already agreed on an agenda.”
    “I was not told this.” Carlos’ eyes narrowed. “Is my claim to Spain on this agenda? The Elder was going to cede it to me. By rights it should be mine.”
    King Beline flared his fangs but said nothing. Whenever he had the chance Carlos brought up Spain. It was an old and tiresome protest. It would take war to separate Beline from any of his European territory.
    Queen Pao was turned vampire in her fifties, in a time when most humans died in their late twenties. China, Japan, and Indonesia were her territories and she’d ruled over them for close to a thousand years. Hers was the longest reign of all the vampires in attendance, and she had no patience for Carlos’ constant whining. “Unless you’d rather discuss the three vampires you’ve made in the last four months.” She tapped her talon of a fingernail on the table. “Didn’t we agree that no new vampires were to be sired without council approval?” She flashed her blackened teeth at him, stained from betel chewing before she was turned. “Then let us follow our agenda and discuss the death of Queen Ekaterina of Russia.” She turned her perpetually bloodshot eyes on Grigori. “And your rise to power.”
    “Surely such awe-inspiring beings as you would not fear me.” Grigori had a honeyed voice to go along with his passive exterior. “As I have communicated, the queen did not die by my hand. It is my understanding that King Krieger’s brother helped Ekaterina to her final death.”
    “Henry was out of his mind when I saw him last. He spoke of witches who drank vampire blood who spelled him and the queen. It was they who killed her.” What Krieger said was not entirely true, but who was here to contradict him? “The witches, are they not now your advisors?”
    “Do you not have a witch, a