Vlad gestured toward the counter as fear washed through me. What did he know?
“Coffee is fine,” I muttered. The remaining vampire, the girl, had trailed us into the shop, and she went to the counter to get it.
“What is the demon looking for?” I asked with an even voice.
Vlad pulled out a chair at a small table and waited for me to sit. “I thought maybe you could tell me.”
I lowered into the seat as nervous flutters filled my stomach. There was no way to know if he was playing dumb or honestly didn’t know. I’d heard this man made politics and manipulation seem like an art, and I was horribly unprepared for a face-to-face grilling.
My thoughts drifted to Darius. I should’ve waited for him on that street corner. He would have known how to deal with Vlad. This was one time I was totally fine with being saved. Actually, hoping for it.
“I came here expecting the level-four demon that had been summoned,” I said. “I have no idea why a stronger demon showed up instead.”
“From what we surmise, this demon intruded on the summons. It had an agenda, and by taking the summons, it had willing participants to aid it in its pursuit.”
“I didn’t know that was possible.”
“If the demon is powerful enough to travel independently in the Brink, it certainly is. So tell me…” His smile wasn’t as disarming as he’d probably meant it to be. “What is Agnon searching for?”
“Agnon? That’s the demon’s name?”
He nodded. There was an opportunistic gleam in his eyes, and another wave of fear washed over me.
This was bad. I needed to get out of here.
And, of course, it was at that moment that my coffee arrived. Vlad got one, too, before the vampire lackey headed outside.
At least I only had one vampire to contend with if things went sour. Granted, that one vampire was probably too much for me to handle without burning down the coffee shop, but I’d definitely give it the ol’ college try. Seattle had plenty of coffee shops; they wouldn’t miss one.
“I really have no idea, Vlad,” I said, wrapping my hands around the warmth of the paper cup. “Like I said, I was brought here to track down a few mages who were sacrificing people in order to call a level-four demon. This new situation is as surprising to me as it is to you.Surprising, and daunting. I’m going to have to rely on my mage friends to banish it.”
He studied me in silence, his dark eyes holding mine. Suddenly, I was overcome with an intense urge to crumble at his feet and beg to reveal all I knew. I could feel it weighing on my shoulders and churning my guts. I didn’t know if this was some special superpower of his, or just the desire to buckle under his obvious expectations, but it was potent.
Vlad took a slow sip of coffee before carefully setting his cup back onto the table. “What would you say if I told you that theaswangyou defeated started its journey in Northern California, and made a beeline from there to New Orleans? Straight to your house.”
I felt my brow lower as I tried to process what he’d said. “Huh?”
I didn’t quite get there.
“I was sure Darius knew about that. No matter.” He leaned back and crossed an ankle over his knee. “I see he has taken your blood.”
I flinched, but stopped myself from reaching for my neck. A vampire’s saliva healed the bite wound pretty quickly. Teamed with my healing capabilities, I knew that mark, and any others, were long gone.
“I promised Roger that Darius could take from me if he needed to, that’s all,” I said. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
His smile spoke volumes. He knew Darius and I had gotten a lot more intimate than the mere taking of blood.
That was embarrassing.
“As of late, Darius has made a habit of guarding you very closely,” Vlad went on. “You, and any information about you. Any records regarding your past or present have been hidden or destroyed. Even that which should be public record. For a vampire who has always relished having no ties from which he can’t immediately walk away, I find this curious. And now a demon shows up on the surface, looking for something it appears to value highly, and you just happen to show up at the same place, nearly at the same time. All these elements are a recipe for a hearty soup.”
“I don’t know much about soup, but Darius just wants what he can’t have. That’s the long and short of it. He wants to control me, and I want to stab him with sharp things.”
Vlad took another sip of coffee, his eyes still glued to mine. It felt like he was peeling back the front of my forehead to get a peek at my thoughts. I felt completely naked. Utterly exposed to his prying.
If I stayed here, I was bound to reveal something I didn’t want to.
How many times do you need to come to that conclusion before you stand up and walk out, idiot?
