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"Good morning to you too," she said sarcastically.
I raised an eyebrow at her. When she didn't respond, I gave her a bow and a smirk. "Good morning then."
It was her turn to raise an eyebrow at me.
"Viva," I said again. "Did you need something?" I delved, but couldn't tell what was on her mind. Her emotions were a tight web. I never sensed anyone like her before. She both intrigued me and made me nervous.
"As a matter of fact, I do." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Two things in fact."
I sighed. "All right." I gestured for her to step into the sanctuary courtyard and closed the door behind us. "The first?"
She fixed me with a firm look. "I was going to ask Dex, but since you're here—was Izzy sent away?"
"Yes," I said simply. My direct answer seemed to take her aback, but I didn't flinch. "I took her back to the train myself. In the company of the guy she screwed. Both seemed happy with the arrangement." Not precisely happy, more like pissed, but she'd had no choice in the matter. She could go to her lover's faction, or live amongst humans. Remaining in the Vault was not an option.
"Oh. I see." Viva looked disconcerted for a moment and gave a subtle shake of her head.
"You were expecting some other answer?" Maybe she thought we had Izzy killed and ate her for lunch. Witches seemed to think shifters were savages. We felt the same about them. The only difference was, we were probably right.
"No, I just . . ." Her brow creased. "Thank you for telling me."
"You're welcome. Now what was the other thing?"
She blinked. Apparently she'd forgotten there was something else. If she had, she remembered quickly.
"The scale," she blurted. "Why did you give it to Dex to give to me?"
"The dragon scale?" he asked.
"No, a fish scale," she replied sarcastically. "Yes, I mean the dragon scale."
I bit back a snort. I had certainly walked myself into that one. "I gave it to him because he never takes one," I replied. "I didn't know what he'd do with it afterward." I averted my eyes. I knew full well. In fact, I'd hoped that was what Dex would do. What had the scale done to her?
She lightly put a hand on my arm. Her touch felt like fire in my blood. It was all I could do not to shove her against a wall and fuck her silly.
"You're a crappy liar," she said. "Tell me why you really did it."
I found myself responding with words I had no intention of saying.
"Dragon scales contain residual power and someone with power—" I forced my mouth shut and grimaced. What had she done to me? And how?
I shook off her hand and stepped away, eyes on her, hand instinctively near my knife. "It's not nice to use power to make people speak."
She jerked her hand back. "What makes you think I did?"
I hesitated. I hadn't intended to catch her out, but now I had, I would have to deal with it.
"Those words weren't mine." I frowned. "I mean, they were, but that was something I would never speak of to—" I glanced around and rubbed my forehead with my fingertips.
"To a witch?" she suggested.
"Yeah." There was no point in sugarcoating it. She might be as lickable as fuck, but she was still a witch. The enemy, more or less. "The scale did something to you?"
She shrugged. "It glowed. That was all. Why? Was it supposed to kill me or something?"
That was a fair question.
"No," I said firmly. "Dragon scales are harmless if they aren't attached to a dragon. I wasn't sure if it would respond to you at all."
