William’s shock at Cirrian’s appearance quickly moved to anger. Then switched to something that landed between shame and indignation.
He wouldn’t speak. Cirrian stalked over to the console several feet from where William remained secured by a force that made Cirrian’s face strain as he held him there. He placed the bracelet next to the trinkets.
He picked up the previous gift William had given me, a flute from his last trip. “This reveals the true face of anyone who touches it.” Cirrian tossed it onto the table. He picked up my favorite hand-carved statue, which I loved for its intricate detail and the vibrant colors that complemented the neutral tones of the room.
“I believe this is from Namibia.” He looked at William for confirmation, whose face remained a mask of withheld information. When he turned to me, I nodded. I rememberedWilliam telling me he’d gone there, since it wasn’t a typical destination. But pulling any information about the visit was useless, and I’d chalked it up to house business.
Cirrian went over three other items: a wooden bracelet, a mask, a talisman. Cirrian was able to name the origin of some. “The markings on them are sigils for a spell, and your name is etched on all of them. What you believed to be thoughtful gifts were spells attuned to you.”
My face must have shown my disbelief because Cirrian snapped his head in William’s direction, who had given up struggling against the magical hold. His only recourse was a glare that promised brutal retribution and baring his fangs like weapons.
“Tell her!” Cirrian commanded.
William scoffed. “Why don’t you tell me what you are first?” he demanded of me. His anger softened into disappointment. “Raynard told me what you did to him. You made him human and then undid it.”
As I fumed over his deception, guilt crept in. Heart pounding, my mouth grew dry, making the explanation lodge in my throat. His flashes of hurt pulled at my emotions, and I debated whether to disclose what I was to him.
“I didn’t undo it. He just reverted when I stopped feeding him,” I explained. That tidbit of information did nothing to assuage William’s concern. His scowl deepened and his eyes sharpened on me like I was a problem that needed his immediate attention. In some ways, he was right.
“Release him,” I said to Cirrian.
Cirrian’s rigid expression grew even harder. After several contemplative minutes, he snatched his magical hold from William, who looked from Cirrian to me, his mouth opening to speak but snapping shut.
“Will you leave us?” I asked Cirrian softly.
“No.”
I closed my eyes and inhaled several calming breaths, trying to shrug off the hostile air filling the room.
“No.”
Inching closer to Cirrian, I whispered, “It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a request.”
He immediately looked at William. He leaned in to me, his warm breath breezing against my lips. “Must I remind you that we are as one? Your life is not your own.”
Positive that William overheard him despite his pretense that he wasn’t listening, I said, “I’ll be fine. William won’t hurt me.” With a confidence level of under forty percent, I was surprised how confident I sounded.
After several more minutes of hesitation, Cirrian snatched up the grimoire and disappeared.
“So he never left,” William surmised, seemingly adding that to the list of lies of omission, secrets, and questionable aspects about my life.
“It’s a long story.”
“I have time.”
“I don’t,” I countered.
“What are you?”
“I just discovered I’m an ashinwa,” I revealed.
His eyes widened, and any clemency he’d considered extending was gone. William knew more about the purveyors of magic than any other vampire. I wondered if it was the result of his relationship with the kinborn witches. I had to quell the urge to ask him what he knew of them, because everything I knew about them had come from Cirrian. From the set of William’s jaw and the ire in his eyes, we’d spiraled far from a civil exchange of information.
“And you didn’t think to tell me that!”
“I didn’t know. My magic is locked, and what happened with Raynard was an accident. I was just trying to save him.”
“And you used your ashinwa magic to do so.”
