For once there was no hostility radiating from him, just a calm consideration as if he saw something the others had missed.
That was hard for me to believe. Of Liam’s enforcers, Daniel knew me the least. He should have been the least likely to stare at me as if he guessed at exactly what I was going through.
“The man’s current name was Frederick Mayer. Formerly of clan Davinish, now of clan Glaise.”
“Aiden’s clan?” Liam lifted his head.
Makoto frowned as he stared at the tablet.“Seems so.”
“Two clans, neither likely to assassinate the master of the city,” Anton said.
“Perhaps Thomas wasn’t their target,” I said.
All eyes turned to me. I didn’t move, even as I found myself under the regard of several predators capable of turning me into mincemeat.
“Why do you say that?” Liam asked.
“We assumed Thomas was the target because he was the destination of the attack,” I said, working through a theory that had been tickling at the back of my mind.“But he wasn’t the only one there.”
“That’s ridiculous. We know the Fae are responsible,” Anton said.“It only makes sense that they were after Thomas.”
“What would have happened if one of the Fae had been hit in the crossfire?” I asked.
I thought the fact that they used vampire puppets a very telling one.
“They would have expected a weregild to honor their dead—we would have been required to pay some form of recompense. The master would have had no choice but to give into their demands,” Daniel rumbled.
“What would be the purpose of that?” Anton asked.“They don’t view gold or wealth in the same way we do, and we have nothing of magical value to them.”
Liam seemed contemplative.“Either way, we can’t discount any theory.”
Anton grimaced.
“What can you tell us about how they died?” Liam asked.
Joseph stirred and bent closer to the bodies. I pushed my personal issues to the back burner and stepped forward. There was a job to be done, and as tempting as it was to find a deep dark hole and burrow down for the foreseeable future, that wasn’t who I was. Who I was trying to be.
I was stronger than that. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
“Are you sure they’re dead?” I asked, joining Liam beside the bodies. I didn’t spare him any attention, treating his presence like a piece of furniture as I concentrated on what Joseph was doing.
Vampires technically didn’t need a heartbeat. Not really. We could go for long periods without one.
The first timeI’d woken to discover my heart not functioning, or just so slowly my heartbeat was practically nonexistent,I’d panicked. It had taken me a while to get used to the lack. After time, I found it usually only stopped when I went too long between feedings.
It was the same with breathing. I could hold my breath for an indefinite amount of time. If I wanted to, I could probably sit on the bottom of the ocean for a year without moving.
“Pretty sure,” Joseph said, not displaying any impatience at my question.
I lifted my eyebrows. Pretty sure wasn’t a“yes”.
“Their essence has fled, leaving their bodies inert,” he explained.
I noticed he didn’t use the word soul. Before my undeath,I’d never concerned myself about the state of my soul, but now I had to wonder. Did I have one? Was a single act, one that wasn’t even my choice, enough to cost me the intangible, yet essential part needed to keep me human?
“I still don’t understand how they died,” Anton complained.“We’re not human, something like a few convulsions shouldn’t have been enough to do this.”
“Normally you would be right,” Joseph said, his expression holding a peculiar light as if he relished the mystery.“In this instance, that convulsion effectively snuffed out the source of their magic. It killed them.”
