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“Foolish girl. Did you choose to let Peyton live? Did you decide who to kill? You come at his beck and call. You are the council’s dog. Sig has used you to achieve his ends and he would keep using you for whatever pleases him. You should thank me for releasing you. ”
“You’re just as guilty as he is. ”
She laughed, clapping her hands together with delight. “You think there is anything approaching equality in the Tribunal? Sig is lord and master, and don’t let yourself think any differently. ”
“So this is all about him?”
Daria sighed, exasperated. “It’s about power. ”
“You have power. ”
“But I am still bound to obey him. ” Her face contorted with anger and became momentarily hideous.
“What did the protected vampires have to do with it? And Holden?”
“Chancery was an easy target. I had another vampire bring forth evidence against him and accuse him of the slayings. Sig was forced to issue the warrant, but assigning it to you wasn’t my idea. That was pure Sig. Until right now I’d thought he was being cruel, but now I see it was another controlling move on his part. And a clever one at that. You came quite close to the truth. ”
I dared not look out the window to see if the owl was still there, but I hoped he had taken wing. Daria had said more than enough.
“And the vampires?” I inclined my head to the less scary of the two.
“Elders. Their power was incredible. I was able to drink from them and take that power into myself. They have begun to fade the more I feed, but they are still bound to me as long as they live. ”
“They’re still alive?” I was appalled. No creature should have to live in the state of decay the ghouls were in. They were prisoners in their own bodies.
“A sort of living, I suppose. Somewhere between this life and the next. If they feed, their strength goes to me, so sadly they have begun to show a little wear. ” She gave a reproachful smirk to the more disfigured of the two. “All for a good cause, though. ”
The ghost nodded weakly.
Nolan let out a fearful, quivering whimper.
“You’re insane,” I told her.
“I prefer to think of myself as resourceful. ”
“You’re going to challenge Sig for leadership of the Tribunal, aren’t you?”
“And I’m going to win. ” Her eyes flashed. “The only way to advance is to kill the one ahead of you in a declared fight. Before this he would have destroyed me, but now he won’t know what hit him. Sig will die. ”
“Who’s the fool now?”
Her features tightened, and Noriko moved to attack again. Once more she was stopped.
“Your dedication to him is admirable, Secret. Like a dog, you would die to protect him. But if your master cared so much about you, then why is he not here to keep it from happening?”
I didn’t have a clever comeback for her.
“That’s what I thought. Your usefulness is at an end. With you out of the picture, nothing stands in my way. ”
Outside the window I heard a flap of wings. I was apparently the only one to notice.
“Noriko, I’ve grown tired of the half-breed and your associates. The time has come. ”
“The time has come for what?” Nolan finally found the courage to speak.
“For you all to die, of course. ”
Daria may have called me a well-trained dog, but if that wasn’t the pot calling the kettle whipped, I didn’t know what was. Noriko watched her master leave with the two vampire ghosts, then trained her blade on me with an altogether-too-creepy smirk.
