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Pritkin complied without even an argument. The fight seemed to have gone out of him for the moment, and his voice was slightly hoarse. “The Pythia was the name of the ancient seer of Delphi, Apollo’s greatest temple. For two thousand years, the women selected for the position were considered the oracle of the world, with kings and emperors deciding policy based on their advice. The position lapsed with the decline of Greece, but the term is still used out of respect. It is the title of the world’s chief seer, a strong ally of the Circle. She is one of our chief assets, since nonhumans do not have the gift.”
“What does this have to do with me?”
“Every time a new Pythia is chosen, a sybil—our name for a true clairvoyant—is selected as her heir. She is carefully trained from childhood to understand the burden and how to bear it. The Pythia is old and her control of the power is failing. It should pass to her heir, but she was kidnapped by Rasputin and the Dark Circle more than six months ago.” His eyes looked haunted. “The Pythia’s power has passed in an unbroken tradition for thousands of years. But now, I fear for the succession. The heir must be dead. Why else would the power come to you, even in part? A rogue with no training, no understanding of what the position entails?”
Two words of that speech echoed in my brain. I stared at him in horror. “In part?! What the hell does that mean?” My voice had gotten shrill and I paused to calm down a little. “No way. Tell your Circle that I don’t want the job.”
“It is not a job. It is a calling. And the heir has no choice.”
“Like hell I don’t! You need to find this sybil person and get her back.” I looked at Tomas, and it was almost painful to do so. “And what did you use on his face? It isn’t healing.”
Rafe answered. “It was dragon’s blood, mia stella. Don’t worry, it will heal with time.” Tomas sent me a surprised look, as if he hadn’t expected me to care what happened to him, and I looked away. I noticed Mircea regarding me thoughtfully, and I put on as neutral a face as possible. Let them think whatever they liked. I would have been as concerned about anyone who got hurt trying to help me.
Pritkin spoke in a tired voice. “We have searched for her. For the last six months, we have done little else. The Pythia is very old and has had to carry the power far longer than she should have done. Her health is failing, and her control along with it. We understand the necessity for speed better than you, but our search has been in vain.”
I didn’t see the problem here. “Then appoint someone else heir.”
“I told you; it is not an appointed position. The power goes where it will, to whoever is most worthy, the ancient texts say. There should have been no contest. You are young and untrained, whereas our sybil has studied for years for the position. She was selected late, but she was trained well. We did not think you would be a rival…”
He stopped, too late, and I pounced. “You knew about me? How?”
The arrogance began to bleed back into his face. “Your entire line is tainted. Your mother was the same; you even look like her.”
“Wait a minute. You knew my mother? How?” He looked about thirty-five, maybe younger. So he wasn’t aging at normal speed, either, unless the Circle admitted its members at fifteen.
“She was the heir,” Pritkin told me, his lips thin with rage. “She had to be pure, untouched, as she knew very well. But she had an affair with your father, a vampire’s servant! And worse, she hid it from the Circle until she became pregnant with you and ran away with him. Who knows what would have happened to the power, had we let it fill an unclean vessel?”
“Unclean?” Okay, now I was pissed. “She was my mother!”
“She was unfit to be the heir! I can only be grateful we discovered her in time.”
“So, if someone’s not a virgin, they can’t be heir?”
“Exactly.” He smiled nastily at me. “Yet another reason you are disqualified.”
I didn’t bother to correct him. I was willing to bet that my sexual experience gave their pure-as-the-driven-snow sybil a run for her money, although not for the same reasons. Eugenie had guarded me like a hawk, and when I wasn’t with her, I was running for my life. I’d never trusted anyone enough to get that close. It also helped that most of the vamps at Tony’s had rivaled Alphonse in the looks department, and that they’d been warned off me anyway. The most temptation I’d experienced had been with Tomas, the Senate’s spy who had been feeding off me without permission, and Mircea, who was probably plotting some nefarious scheme. I have no taste in men.
“Let me get this straight. First you decide I’m a demon because of a power I didn’t ask for and don’t even understand. Then, when that falls through, you label me a fallen sybil and a ho. Am I missing something, or do you just not like me?”
Mircea laughed, and even Louis-
César’s lips twitched. Tomas either didn’t get the joke or wasn’t in a laughing mood. Pritkin, of course, was annoyed. “Everything you say only confirms my initial impression. You would be a disaster as Pythia.”
“The power doesn’t seem to care.”
“That is why the Circle exists, to intervene in these cases!” He glared at me, so fiercely that I flinched back before I could stop myself. “Haven’t you ever wondered why your mother named you Cassandra? It is our term for a fallen sybil, one who uses her power for ill instead of good. One allied with the Black Circle. One who might be able to summon ghosts and dark witches to fight for her, to possess humans like a demon, and to command a dark weapon so easily. The power will not be allowed to pass to someone like you!”
“And if it does?”
“It won’t.” It was emphatic enough that I mentally added another group to the long list of people who wanted me dead.
“The Senate will protect you,” Louis-César assured me.
I turned jaded eyes on him. “Sure it will. As long as I do whatever it wants.”
Mircea smirked at Louis-César’s expression. “She grew up at one of our courts. Did you really think she would not grasp the situation? Now remove the mage,” he ordered Raphael. “We will talk business with our Cassandra in private.” Pritkin was wrestled from the room, and I for one was glad to see him go. If I never met another war mage in my life, I’d count myself lucky. I waited to see what the Senate’s continued help was going to cost me.
“We will not turn you over to the Circle, mademoiselle.” Louis-César’s eyes, which were back to blue, shone with sincerity. I stared at him. Was he really that naive, or was it all part of the honorable-little-boy routine?
