Her smile was bitter.“BecauseI’m the only one with the power to stand up to that bitch.” A trace of uncomfortableness crossed her face.“And because Angela was her grandniece. She blames me for what happened to her. Almost as much as she blames you.”
I digested that.
“And them?” Liam indicated the two on the table.
“Unfortunate casualties in Sarah’s war,” Miriam said.
There were sounds of anger from the men around me.
“Sarah got the Fae here with promises of information on you,” Miriam said, a sly look on her face.
I blinked at her in surprise.“I find that hard to believe.”
Her smile turned taunting.“It’s true. The Fae have always been interested in those who can see through their glamours. When Sarah whispered in their ear the possibility of such a one being here, they came as soon as they could.”
I went still at that, not blinking as she held my stare.
“Why would Sarah think I had such an ability?” I probed.
Miriam’s expression told me my casualness wasn’t fooling her.“Because you never had a reaction to the tea.”
Tea? What tea? It took several seconds before I remembered. The first timeI’d met Sarah she served me tea. Both she and Miriam had looked expectant and then shocked after I drank it without experiencing any effects.
But that had been before the sorcerer’s spell gave me the ability to see magic. It shouldn’t have indicated existence of any abilities because I didn’t have them yet.
Unless this was another situation where that magic Joseph swore crouched deep inside me had reached out to turn everything wonky, just like when it interfered after Thomas’s bite transforming me into a vampire despite all odds.
“What was in the tea?” I asked.
She shrugged.“Just a little bit of this and that.”
“Anton, she’s all yours,” I said.
Anton didn’t budge—perhaps because I wasn’t the one holding his leash. It didn’t matter. Miriam believed my threat.
“It was a spell. It was supposed to make you amenable to our suggestions and denote how powerful you would become.”
There were angry sounds from the vampires around me.
Miriam hurried to continue.“It failed in its purpose. You had no reaction to it. There are only a few reasons for that. Sarah decided it was enough to convince the Fae you could see through a glamour, and if you couldn’t, she could always claim your lack of power messed with her reading.”
I digested that statement, feeling cold inside. Miriam had no idea how close that spell put her to the truth.
“She probably just messed up the spell anyway. Her magic has been slipping,” Miriam muttered.“Either way, their Fae lady was especially interested to hear of the hold you have over your enforcer. She seemed to have something special planned for the two of you.”
The sound that came from Liam tore from the deepest parts of him. He advanced on Miriam, his expression ferocious and enraged. She backed away from him, fear suddenly present as he grabbed her.
“Liam, no!”
He hesitated, his fangs poised above her throat as he looked over at me. There was only a small spark of intelligence there.
“We still need her,” I tried. Reason and logic were hard when fear and terror coated my insides. His loss of control reminded me of my own tenuous hold not long before.“She might have information that can be useful.”
Reason re-exerted itself and Liam relaxed, the harsh lines of his face turning cruel.“You’re right. There are many ways she can be assist us.”
He released his brutal hold on her and stepped back.“Anton.”
“With pleasure,” the other vampire said with a predatory smile.
