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Questions I definitely couldn’t ask someone who could not just killmein a snap but was a total stranger on top of that.
“It’s good to meet you,” I said with a quick smile. “Thank you for taking the time.”
The woman studied me intently enough that my pulse stuttered. “What is this about? The Deadly Rose indicated that you had a time-sensitive issue to discuss with me.”
Augh, why had Mom phrased it that way? Of course, maybe the Blood Hunter wouldn’t have shown up at all otherwise.
She sure got straight to the point. There was none of Beckett’s friendly warmth here.
Who would have thought I’d find myself wishing for another brunch with the Storm instead?
“It isn’t really one specific issue,” I said quickly, summoning the talking points Mom had coached me on. “But we’re on the cusp of making some major changes with some of our dealings. It’s an ideal time to build on our existing alliances and form new ones.”
The Blood Hunter continued to eye me with a slightly skeptical expression. I had to fight the urge to shrink inside my blouse.
I was the Deadly Rose’s daughter. I could be a force to be reckoned with too.
Never mind that I didn’t actually want to be forcing a conversation like this on Mom’s behalf. What unholy terror would Mom unleash on the world if she got her way and transformed the whole structure of the Devil’s Dozen?
After a long enough silence that I was itching to fidget, the Blood Hunter rested her hands on the table. “And she wants an alliance with me? Why didn’t she meet with me herself?”
Thankfully, Mom had covered her expected approach to that subject in depth. Admitting the truth wouldn’t have gotten her what she wanted.
I lifted my chin. “I’ll be taking over more and more authority within the Deadly Rose empire in the coming years.”If I can’t get myself the fuck out of this hell. “Since we’re both relatively new to this kind of work, she figured you and I might have more common ground. If you’d prefer to speak to her directly—”
The Blood Hunter shook her head with a jerk. “This is fine. Is that your whole pitch? What would we be allying on?”
I motioned vaguely with my hands, hoping I didn’t look as uneasy as I felt. “We could create more of a partnership between our empires. Combine some of our business interests. Work together against any threats. More people on your side can’t be a bad thing, right?”
The woman across from me blinked slowly, pensively. “Depends on the friend. I’ve held the title of the Blood Hunter for years now, though. Is there something happening right now that’s brought on this overture?”
“I’ve recently come of age to take on more responsibility,” I said. “It’s gotten my mother thinking about the ways our world could benefit from fresh ideas, a shift in the old habits and patterns. Reaching out to the colleagues she respects most is part of that.”
I couldn’t tell if the Blood Hunter appreciated or even believed that my mother might respect her. She flicked her thumb over her lips and then fixed me with an even more penetrating stare.
“Are any of the things you’re sayingyourideas, or are you just parroting what the Deadly Rose told you to say? She doesn’t seem to have much respect for you if she’s hanging around just a couple of blocks away, monitoring you.”
A chill ran down my back. I’d known Mom was staked out in her car not far from the café, waiting for me to report back, but she’d been subtle about it. The Blood Hunter wasn’t supposed to have noticed.
But she had, somehow or other. How could I explain that away when I was supposed to be claiming that Mom had put all this authority in my hands?
And if the Blood Hunter had picked up on that covert fact, what else did she know that we hadn’t expected her to?
I hesitated with my lips parted, my throat aching with the honest answer I couldn’t give. I didn’t want to pretend I was wholeheartedly behind Mom’s deeper treachery either, especially if this woman already suspected something was up.
Before I could fumble out a response, the Blood Hunter stood up with a rasp of her chair’s legs against the floor. “That’s enough of an answer. I’m not interested in all the complicated internal politics of the Devil’s Dozen. You can tell your mother I’d prefer to simply be left alone.”
With that, she strode out of the café, not even sparing me a backward glance.
A waitress breezed by, giving me a puzzled glance, and my face flushed with embarrassment. Who knew what she’d made of my oddly brief meet-up?
I gulped the last of the coffee I’d ordered while I was waiting, left a ten on the table that was more than twice my actual bill, and slipped out of the café a few minutes after the Blood Hunter had left. There was no sign of her outside, but it was impossible to know how she might be keeping an eye on us still.
Well, there was nothing to do but trudge back to Mom and make my disappointing report.
I took a couple of turns and crossed a crowded parking lot to where Mom had told me the sedan would be waiting. The Blood Hunter hadn’t even been wrong, had she? Here I was, dutifully trotting back to my mother whose plans I wanted nothing to do with, like I was a puppy being brought to heel.
But the Blood Hunter had no idea what I had at stake. My nails dug into the meat of my palms hard enough to leave marks.
