Daniel, not exactly fast on the uptake but not stupid, either, laid the knife on the cutting board and wiped his hands on his apron. “She said you’d been teaching her. You know I’m no good in the kitchen, so I asked her to show me.”
I loomed closer to Jessica until she was practically scooting up onto the counter. “I’d like to see that.”
Daniel slid the cutting board over.
“Not that knife,” I said, moving back a fraction of an inch so Jessica could reach for one of the regular knives.
She turned around to face the cutting board, her short hair falling forward and obscuring her face, and began to slice.
“Wrong,” I said, moving in from the side and rearranging her grip on both the tomato and the knife. I braced her knife hand and moved the blade the proper way, feeling some of her Blessed power begin to move into my fingers.
I’ll admit: I was angry.
So I didn’t just let it sting and spiral its way up my arms. I let her thorny red vampire magic set its hooks—and then Ipulled, not passively receiving but actively drawing the power away.
Jessica gasped. “What are you—”
I kept my grip and finished, leaving a perfectly cut tomato slice behind. “Don’t. Touch. My knife,” I said. I picked up my special blade and tenderly wiped the steel with a clean side towel.
Jessica patted herself down as if she’d lost her keys. “What did you do to me?”
“I reminded you who’s in charge.”
Fury lit her eyes. “You’re not in charge of me.”
I carefully replaced my knife in its case. “Is that so? Who’s in charge of you, then?”
Her gaze flicked uncertainly to Daniel. “Heis the Lord of the Blessed.”
I closed the case and latched it. Then I looked at Jessica. “And who turned the Lord of the Blessed?”
She looked down at the floor and mumbled something.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
Daniel opened his mouth as if to say something, but I held up a finger.
“You did,” Jessica said.
“Then if he’s not doing his job… I will. Capisce?”
She nodded.
“Take five.” I turned my back on her and returned the case to its cabinet. When I turned around again, Jessica was gone, the front door was swinging shut, and Daniel was staring at me.
“Little harsh, don’t you think?”
“Take that apron off, I can’t hear you when you look ridiculous.”
He pulled it off and tossed it on the counter. “I saw what you did to her.”
“So?”
“You didn’t need to do that.”
“Oh, no? If you don’t show their kind who’s boss, they’ll walk all over you.”
“There is no ‘they’ anymore. I’m ‘they.’”
