I couldn’t believe what I was watching unfold before me. This was my worst nightmare coming to haunt me in reality. The ringing in my ears came back.
Belladonna’s fury was palpable, I could feel it coating the air. One of Vander’s knees crumbled, then the other and he hit the stone. The strain on his face was etched into every beautiful curve as he dropped his sword, and bent forward, gripping the steps. He bowed his head, but his knuckles turned white, his hands trembled.
Belladonna’s power.
“You do not come into our house and act like a fucking feral, Vander,” Quinton growled. “Get up.”
Vander’s shoulders shifted, tightened, and his arms shook harder. It was like he was fighting against an invisible force.
“Oh, you can’t,” Mars taunted. “Don’t ever come here again like you have the power to make demands of us.”
A small bit of hope sparked inside me. What if Vander was only being controlled by Belladonna? And the longer he was away from her, the less control she had.
Belladonna raised her chin. “I practically handed Dravyn to you on a platter tonight and you couldn’t get it done in Nighthaven where you should have. Now I have a mess to clean up.”
“It was supposed to happen tomorrow,outsidethe city. That’s what we agreed on.”
He’d planned an attack on our people withthem? I was going to be ill.
“What does it matter?” Belladonna snapped.
“It matters,” he growled. “First of all, I wasn’t ready for it. And look what happened. I couldn’t let Dravyn get away with taking my apprentice and showing her off to everyone here and do nothing. Everyone knows he bedded my sister, turned her, and then dumped her, so I can’t let that go either. It would make me weak.”
“I know why you wanted to kill Dravyn.” She sneered, jerking her arms free of the twins. “But why do you care about your apprentice? She’s a ducai, Vander.”
“She’s still mine.”
“Your source then?” Mars asked, cocking his head to the side. “Did she know your vampire ways before this night? Or is she losing her mind up in her cage?”
Vander looked up at the cages, starting with one that was not mine. I pulled back into the shadows before he could see me. “She knows, and yes, she’s my source.”
I raked my nails over my scalp. I wasn’t his blood source so that was a defensive move, even if he was a damn traitor. Was he protecting me, or Jaeda?
“Forget about that. You murdered my friend Seri when she and Darius came to you for a report. You’re not allowed to do that. You kill who I tell you to kill.”
Vander’s jaw muscles twitched. “I report in when I can to Dahlia or Adonis. You should have kept Seri out of my business.”
She hissed and clawed him across the face. Four angry red lines stretched across his cheek. The wild thing inside me reacted, wanted to make her suffer for that. Then she squatted down, gripped a handful of hair atop his head and kissed him. I recoiled, a mixture of fury and repulsion coursing through me.
He jerked back, upper lip snarled. “I was with my apprentice when they approached me, what was I supposed to do? Luckily it wasonlyher. My place in the League of Assassins is fragile at best. Any moment I could be found out, you know that. Why would you send anyone?”
“You’ve been avoiding even the wolves. We haven’t seen you in months,” Quinton shouted. “And no word on the daywalker spell you’re supposed to be looking for. This apprentice of yours is taking up too much of your time.”
“Trust me, I didn’t want an apprentice, but I wasn’t given a choice. I’m looking, but the mages don’t leave the spell lying around. I can’t go into the mages’ building, there are spells that would give me away as a vampire the moment I entered that place.”
My heart thundered so loud in my ears I had trouble hearing. He was looking for the spell for them? He couldn’t. Hewouldn’t. I slowly shook my head in disbelief. A cold sweat broke out over my body.
“And you still don’t know who performed the spell on you?” Mars asked, tucking his hands into his pockets.
“No. And like I said before, I can’t just ask around and give myself away. Whoever did it doesn’t want me to know. Clearly.”
“But it’s someone you trusted.” Belladonna stroked the side of his face like a lover might.
“It has to be. I just need more time.” He didn’t meet her eyes, it was like he stared past her. I knew him well enough to tell that her touch was unwanted. My traitorous heart began to ache for him. I mustn’t feel sorry for him.
“My precious Vander. Can I trust you?” Belladonna stood and stared down at him. “We still need you on the inside.”
He nodded. “Yes, my queen. I’m a vampire. There’s nothing left for me there.”
