I turned back to Benvair. “I’m sorry. I interrupted you. You were saying?”
She looked as though she was deciding whether or not to let it slide. Thankfully, she continued her thought. “So, it seems as though we’re looking for a vampire with enhanced gifts, a shifter with a magical lineage, or a member of the fae.”
“One who doesn’t have a scent trail,” I added.
Tapping her finger on her lips, she considered. “The fae rarely remember they have noses. They are magical beings who can do almost anything. Scent is beneath them. Shifters sniff. The fae are too good for that,” Benvair snapped. “The idea that one not only thought about his scent but did something to cover it seems far-fetched to me.”
“And whatever it is,” I said, “it has the ability to hide in plain sight. Clive and the other vampires heard something on the roof. Clive went up and found nothing—didn’t see, didn’t sense, and didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary. Can you think of any type of being who can do that?”
Alec growled low in the back of his throat. We all turned to him. He shook his head as though trying to dislodge an unwanted thought.
“I remembered something.” He gestured to my plate. “You eat while I talk.”
I didn’t need to be told twice.
“I’m not good with time,” Alec began. “I was down in that cell forever. Maybe a few years ago, I was awake while everyone around me slept.”
“Why?” Coco asked, her food forgotten.
He stared at the fork in his hand for a moment, clearly uncomfortable. “I was in a lot of pain. I’m good at disassociating, so normally I could still sleep, but not that time. Anyway, I knew the sights and sounds. I knew when guards changed shifts, when she’d come down, when food was delivered. It was quiet. Well, no. It was never completely quiet. There were snores, and grunts, and farts, but it was a down time when nothing was happening. Most slept. Some zoned out.
“I was on the ground, staring down the dark passage between cells, trying to force my mind past the pain when he appeared. I hadn’t heard him coming down the steps. Even vampires make some noise: the grit of dirt on the soles of their shoes, something. I’m never surprised. Living as I was, I became hyperaware of any movement, any sound around me. He didn’t walk down those stairs. I know he didn’t.
“The silhouette of a man appeared at the end of the row, a shadow in darkness. He stopped at each cell, seemed to study who was inside, and then moved on soundlessly. When he got to mine, I turned my head and looked up.”
Alec swallowed, his anxiety rising. “He was emaciated. Eyes sunken. Lips pulled back from blackened teeth. What stood out to me, though, was that his skin was dark, like mine. Most of the vampires and fae I saw were white—well, fae are usually more gold or sometimes green, but you get what I mean. This guy had skin like mine.
“He stared down at me, shook his head, and then moved on. I watched him. When he got to the cell with the troll, he roared, just like a troll does, and then smashed the cell bars. The troll in the cell shot out into the passage, roaring and bouncing off the bars, racing for the stairs. Other cells were broken open and more prisoners ran or limped out. The guards came and it was chaos, people getting beaten bloody, but also prisoners running out.
“My cell was at the end of the passage. No one came near it. No one broke it open. I just watched the brutal beatings from the stone floor of my cell.” He paused. “What I just realized is that the face he’d shown me as he looked down at me was my own. I hadn’t seen myself in a mirror since I was eight. After I was rescued and we were in Drake keep, I saw myself for the first time in twenty years and I panicked. It was the same as that man who’d started the riot. He’d stared down at me that night, wearing my face.”
FIFTEEN
And to Think, I Used to Love Churros
Coco made a sound. It was a whine so quiet, I doubt Owen even heard it. Benvair reached out and took her granddaughter’s hand.
Alec, still lost in the memory, stared at the table. “I don’t know what he was.”
“Could you identify his scent?” George’s gaze cut back and forth between his siblings.
They were all trying to pretend like everything was okay. It wasn’t, but just like Alec had tried to normalize Jade’s snarling, George was trying to communicate that remembering was okay, that Alec was safe now.
Alec shook his head. “My nose had been broken. I couldn’t smell anything.”
Coco made the sound again and this time, it broke through Alec’s memories.
He turned to her and gave her a sad smile. “I’m fine now.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Grandfather would have said it was character building.”
Benvair cleared her throat and told him, “No. He wouldn’t have.”
Alec wiped his mouth with his napkin and stood. “I’m going to get dessert. Owen and I made it last night.” He motioned to his sister. “Come help me.”
After they left, we were quiet, lost in our own thoughts. Benvair stared up at the ceiling and blinked before reaching for her wine.
George went to the buffet on the side of the room to retrieve the wine bottle, then filled Benvair’s glass before splitting what was left with Owen.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done this.” I’d ruined their evening. I’d expected to see anger or disgust in Benvair’s eyes, but I found neither.
