“Marvelous place you have here. Trulymagnifique,” he said, giving a chef’s kiss. “So much potential. I almost trussed you up until one of my subjects brought this cage to my attention. Convenient, is it not?” Sparrow rested both palms on his walking stick. His smile gave me chills. He was decent looking, but there was something dead in his eyes when he smiled. “How are you enjoying your new life? Or should I say… afterlife? If only you’d taken my offer. Pity.”
“You said we had ten days.”
“Yes, but rumor has it your organization is conspiring against me. I needed more information. That changes things. Now you’ve given up your only chance to reclaim your powers.”
I gripped the bars above me and casually leaned to one side. “You’re underestimating me, birdman. Is that why you surround yourself with Vampires? Because you want to be one? You look the part. Maybe you should ask one of them to turn you.”
“Even if it would work, I have no desire to be a Vampire.” Sparrow tapped the bars with his cane. “What a conundrum.”
I needed to figure out his insecurities, and fast. Once his emotions clouded his judgment, mistakes would be made.
“Isn’t kidnapping beneath you?” I asked, judging the aristocrat he so desperately wanted to be. “Caging an unarmed woman is a little barbaric, something only a lowlife would do. If you wanted to speak to me, your Vampy little goon could have just asked. I would have come voluntarily, and we could have discussed this over drinks.”
He stepped closer. “Is that so?”
“Locking me up sends a negative message to your followers. They’ll think you’re afraid of me.” I leaned forward. “Are you? Afraid of me?”
“Careful with that one,” Lenore said, striding to his side. “She’s a conniving little crossbreed.”
I blanched and let go of the bars above. Seeing Lenore here wasn’t entirely shocking. But how the hell did she know I was a crossbreed? I kept my cool, waiting to see what else she said.
Lenore removed her white gloves and stuffed them in the pockets of her ivory cloak, the oversized hood covering her head. Given her change in attire, she’d clearly sold her soul to break the curse. Her slacks and blouse matched, and the only color she wore was the gold-and-ruby brooch that Viktor must have given her. Sparrow and Lenore looked like opposites on a chessboard.
She gave me a sparkling grin. “Did you really think you could keep secrets from me? Dear, oh dear. You aren’t the bright one I took you for. I know, Raven.I know. ”
Viktor would have never told her about us. Either she’d charmed him, or she somehow found out when burying me. I wouldn’t have gone down without a fight, so maybe I had shown her my fangs.
The gloves were off. “Is that why you buried me? You found out I was a crossbreed?”
Her melodic laugh made me want to throw something at her head. Like a bowling ball or an axe. “You must really think me a foolish person. I buried you because you were in my way. You’re either with me or against me, and I don’t have time for obstacles. It’s a shame really. I think we could have been a strong match, but you’re too young and green. Christian and I work well together—we always have. But you reveal a weakness in him that I simply won’t accept.”
“By weakness, you mean loyalty. He’s not jumping to the snap of your fingers anymore, and that’s why you think getting me out of the picture will fix things. You’re wrong. Christian isn’t the same man you once knew.”
She admired the brooch pinned to her cloak. “No one completely changes. Not really. It would only take a small nudge to get him to follow me again.”
“You hear that, Sparrow? Your bride-to-be is scheming to create loyal subjects of her own. Hope you like sleeping with one eye open.”
He slanted his eyes toward her.
Lenore clutched his arm. “Darling, that was all in the past. I have no use for him anymore.”
Sothatwas his button—loyalty. The older immortals seemed to value it above all else.
“She’s a master manipulator,” I added, hoping to sow a seed of doubt. “She’ll reel you in, make you feel special, and then bam! The next thing you know, you’re in a coffin six feet under. That’s how she works. Isn’t that right, Lenore? You can’t deny it. You’ve already done it twice, and look at how fast you dropped Viktor for another opportunity. Who knows how many people you’ve stepped on to get to the top?” Then I looked at Sparrow again. “She doesn’t see you as a leader or a king. You’re just a stepping-stone to her.”
Lenore speared me with her black eyes, but I only caught it in periphery since I was avoiding direct eye contact with her. “She’s nothing but an instigator. I don’t know why you insist on keeping this mongrel.”
“Because I need to question her,” he said, his tone chastising. “You told me they were conspiring, and she may have information.”
I glanced down at my nails. “Whose idea was it for Lenore to come in here while you’re talking business? Yours or hers?”
He tapped his cane on the floor. “As it stands, I happen to need a Vampire who can charm you. Lenore was available.”
I faced the window. “Good luck trying.”
Lenore’s voice drew closer. “I can peel off your eyelids if that makes it easier.”
“There’s no going back now. Once a traitor, always a traitor.”
