“Try,” Belle said, then gestured imperiously when Eve didn’t immediately jump into action.
Eve sighed. “Fine, whatever.” She could try, she would fail. At least then the ancient vampire would have no interest in her. She looked at Gabe. “Do you have a crystal or something? Rose quartz, obsidian…?” She felt stupid for asking; of course he wouldn’t.
“You don’t need that,” Belle said with disdain. “Mere props for tourists. If you are truly a witch, any focus would work just as well. A piece of glass, say.”
Gabe walked over with a crystal tumbler, almost too eager. She took it with reluctance, feeling like he was siding with Belle. But then she caught his expression, and the wary curiosity that darkened his green eyes.
“May I have a needle, please?” Eve asked. “Or something so I can prick my skin for blood.”
Gabe gently took her hand in his, closing his lips around one fingertip. His fang nicked her flesh, and she barely felt it.
“I suppose that works,” she muttered. She ran her finger over the tumbler she held, leaving a red smear, feeling slightly foolish, and thought of the focus chant Cally had used back in the Order’sstudy. But that seemed feeble, now that they had been working with Gaeilge.
It was all about intent, anyway.
She closed her eyes, trying to remember any phrase that would fit the moment, and focused. “Tugaim an solas chugam.” Literally, ‘I draw the light to me’. If that didn’t work, nothing would. At least then she’d be able to put this whole farce behind her, once and for all.Shewasn’t the witch here, no matter how much she wished she were. No, that was Cally.
Light bloomed bright enough to see even through her closed eyelids, and Gabe gasped beside her.
“Ah! How delightful,” Belle declared.
Eve opened her eyes to see every cut facet of the tumbler shining like a torch had been shoved inside. It was a little disco ball of proof—until it slipped from her numb fingers, hit the wood floor, and shattered into dozens of sparkling pieces.
“Well,” Eve said, and paused to draw a breath that didn’t want to come. She swallowed, staring first at the smashed shards, then at the cut on her finger, and the blood that marked her skin. “That’s… interesting.”
Gabe slowly lowered himself into the seat beside her, taking her hand in his like it was the most precious thing he’d ever held.
“Fatum coniunctum.” Belle smiled and leaned back, as if savoring a victory.
“Shared fate?” Gabe asked, his voice hushed. “What does that mean for us?”
“Why don’t you both get comfortable.” Belle slowly uncrossed and recrossed her legs, the simple movement managing to carry all her smug satisfaction. “I think it’s time you learned the secret of how vampires were made…”
