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Chapter 7
Leif treated me better than I thought he ought to, considering the crimes he’d brought me in for. It wasn’t like I could deny the murders, either. Even if Leif hadn’t had surveillance footage of the attack—as he’d claimed—Mrak had told me what had happened. I’dseenthe evidence all over my clothes.
I was processed quickly and given a simple jumpsuit to change into, after which they took all of my personal items and left me in an interview room alone. The room was empty, save for a table with two chairs. Leif had sat me in one of them and anchored my handcuffs to the table with a long chain—long enough, thankfully, that I could sit back andattemptto relax.
Even though we’d very obviously ended up at a police station full of actual uniformed officers, my brain refused to let me believe this was anything but a trap. As the minutes ticked by with me alone in this room, my thoughts and anxiety spinning out of control, I was beginning to think that maybe Lazarus himself would stroll through the only door into or out of this cramped, dark space. At this point, even that wouldn’t have surprised me.
But no. It was just me, four solid walls, and some furniture. There wasn’t even a mirror that could be two-way.
They must have been extremely confident in these magic-bonding handcuffs. And Leif must have been really sure I wasn’t actually a murderer, that last night had been self-defense. Which was good because that’s exactly what had happened.
Well. I hadn’t murderedthosetwo men. There was, somewhere in this city, a few blocks of entirely burnt buildings and vampire husks that’d been my fault. But they’d deserved it. Every last one of those vampires in Lazarus’s community had earned that fate.
I ungracefully threw myself back against the chair and tried to forcibly calm my breathing. For whatever reason, Leif seemed to care about me. Probably just for the sword he’d commissioned, but the care was still there.Thathad wrung genuine in his eyes. And that was the thing about living in a place like the feeding community. You learned to read people and supernaturals, and to do so quickly and accurately. So, while I was more than confident Leif had several secrets going on, the part about him caring what happened to me here was true.
This wasn’t a trap. I knew that. My bones knew it. But my mind and my past simply refused to let me accept it. They warred as I sat there alone, trying to breathe evenly.
“Aisling.”
I bolted upright. “Mrak! There was a ward—”
“Be silent.”A sense of urgency washed over me.“I’m confident you are being watched.”
Considering they’d booked me for murder—yeah, I was being watched. But I kept the thoughts to myself and nodded in a small motion. Leif must have walked far enough away that the ward no longer affected Mrak.
“I need you to leave,”came Mrak’s next words as his presence coiled around me like snaking tendrils. I relaxed into his ethereal embrace, happy to have him at my side again.
“Can’t,” I all but whispered. This was a police station. One didn’t simply walk out of it alive when booked for murder. Besides, with these magic-binding cuffs on, I was powerless. Just a woman bound to a table with a thick chain. I wasn’t going anywhere unless Mrak broke me out of it.
Mrak’s ethereal tendrils slipped over my lips. Not firm, not keeping me from breathing or talking, but the message was clear. Suddenly, I was glad for the ability not to see him. Because if I couldn’t and we had a pact, there was no chance anyone else could see him, either.
“There is a camera in the corner of the room, Aisling. It’s watching you. So while I can talk to you, I wouldn’t recommend responding.”
What would Leif or the other police offers really do? I mean, sure, appearing crazy probably wouldn’t help the self-defense plea Leif had mentioned. But if it let me talk to the one entity in this world I actually trusted, then so be it.
I let out a shaky breath and nodded. Fine. I’d play along. Although I supposed this confirmed my theory that Mrak couldn’t read my thoughts. Otherwise, this wouldn’t have been necessary. Part of me was happy for it, though. After a decade of having zero control over my life and body, at least my mind was my own.
“I couldn’t reach you in your workshop earlier,”came Mrak’s voice as his ethereal tendrils retreated from my lips.“I sensed your fear. But every time I tried to reach you, I was shoved away, like in the alleyway. That man having a ward explains it. And the sword.”
Why did Leif and the men from last night have wards that held Mrak at bay?
“I believe this Leif man to be more than he appears,”Mrak said as I reached the same conclusion.“A ward against me is difficult to come by. Now that’s three demon hunters.”
Personally, I thought Mrak and I had been through harder times. Plenty of other things in life were more difficult to come by than a magical ward.
That sparked a thought. I tried to imagine the design of the sword Leif had wanted commissioned. The runes along its blade. Had any of them been the same ward against Mrak?
Think, Aisling. Think.
That would explain Mrak’s extreme reaction. The way he’d shut me out of the conversation and control over my own body. But why, then, hadn’t Mrak just simply told me that was the issue?
Maybe because he doesn’t want you knowing a way to shuthimout.
The thought felt sinful. Like I shouldn’t even have thought of a way to remove Mrak from my life when I’d already made a pact to keep him in it. And yet, the thought swirled anyway. Was Mrak afraid of losing me? Or losing control?
Weren’t weallafraid of losing control?
“Aisling, come back to me.”Mrak’s form shifted closer. His ethereal tendrils slid over my arms and legs in a loving embrace. Truth be told, I almost preferred them to hands and fingers. With these endless tendrils, it felt as though Mrak was everywhere at once, even if he wasn’t physically here and visible before me in a corporeal form.
