“She may have information,” I said to Vivien in a soothing voice.
Osiris had trapped Qwynn in a column of extra-dimensional hellfire for what must have felt like eons to her. She’d paid for her sins, and I did not receive any further report as to her treachery. I could only assume she’d had no more useful information to give if Osiris had not extracted it from her.
But maybe Galina was right. Qwynn was our only living, direct connection to the puppet master behind all this. She could know something important without being aware of it.
Vivien vibrated with anger, her fiery gaze meeting mine. “She’s responsible for forcing me to feed on Jamal. This bitch made me almost kill him.”
It was true. Qwynn had been guilty of manipulating events to force Vivien to drink from Miranda’s son. The price for saving Jamal entailed Vivien binding herself to me.
“Jamal is alive and safe. Miranda doesn’t hold you responsible.”
“She ruined my life,” Vivien seethed. “If it weren’t for her, I would still be human.”
The blow came without warning. Suddenly, so much more made sense.
I took a step back, filling in the rest. If it weren’t for Qwynn, Vivien wouldn’t be a vampire. Vivien wouldn’t be immortal, forced to drink my blood. She wouldn’t have to deal with the gods. She wouldn’t be bound to me.
How could she ever love me when she’d been forced into this life?
I was all but acutely aware of how her life had spun on its axis, and even though we filled our days with pleasure, she’d never say she loved me back.
Even if she said she loved me one day, would it be because she had no choice but to spend an eternity with me? Did it strip her of options, and I simply awaited the erosion of time on her will to give into my territorial whim?
Vivien’s focus still didn’t stray from Qwynn while I somersaulted over my thoughts. Finally, those sea-glass eyes met mine, and I saw the surprise register in them. I quickly cleared my expression of whatever had been there.
Vivien valued freedom more than anything, and I suddenly saw with complete clarity what a fool I’d been to think I could usurp that desire.
Bianca jumped up, putting herself in the middle of the powder keg, ready to blow.
“Okay.” She clapped her hands. “Qwynn, sit over there, and Vivien come stand over here with me and Grim.” She linked her arms through mine and Vivien’s, leading us to the other side of the lounge.
“Do you always have to try to fix everything?” Fallon growled in Bianca’s direction.
Bianca shot him a scathing look. “I thought that was your job, Mr. Mind Eraser.”
Qwynn sat over by Galina, crossing one leg over the other. The movement alone had brought empires to ruin, but all of my being was focused on Vivien. The line of her body was wild with rage. If Bianca let go of Vivien, she’d likely fly across the room to tear Qwynn to pieces.
“You weren’t smart enough to come up with this idea,” Galina said to Qwynn. “Sure, we know you yearn for”—her cat-like eyes flicked toward me— “power. So what possessed you to bring sekhors back into the mix?”
It was true. Qwynn extracted blood from the Original to create the first sekhor in thousands of years. She’d chosen a psychopath to help her make an army of sekhors, but we’d stopped them. Osiris trapped Qwynn in a column of fire as punishment, literally putting her through hell, but he still did not learn the one responsible.
Qwynn licked her lips, slowly, deliberately, buying time. “I was first approached by a mortal who’d been worshiping. I turned down the offer in the beginning, but more vessels came to me, speaking of the grand change and all I had to gain from a new world order.”
Her gaze studiously remained off me, but we all knew what she felt she’d gain. A spot by my side again.
“Did you ever try to follow them? Try to discover who was responsible?” I asked.
Qwynn lifted her Bambi eyelashes at me. Bianca tightened her grip on my arm, and I wondered if it was for my benefit or to keep Vivien at bay.
“No,” she said, simply. Staring at me, she radiated every bit of longing and seduction she possessed. But I knew it wasn’t me she missed. She missed having the most powerful god wrapped around her finger.
“Why the hell not?” Fallon asked.
“Because.” Qwynn shrugged. “It didn’t interest me.”
“And one of them told you how to make sekhors again?” Galina asked, her intent focus on Qwynn.
She nodded. “Yes. I was told to find the first, and we could bring back vampires.”
