I showed him my fangs. “I do, but I know you have a copy.”
No way was I leaving them in his possession. This was the first and last time he took a joyride in Gwyneth.
The slowness with which he reached into his back pocket spoke of reluctance. He withdrew the keys and tossed them my way. “Too bad. I had fun driving her.”
I caught them. “She’d better be in the same condition you found her in.”
“Don’t worry, Aileen. I was a total gentleman.” He wiggled into a better position on the lounge. “I parked her at the Gargoyle, if you’re wondering.”
The Gargoyle was Thomas’s base of operations. A gothic-esque mansion near downtown, it served as home for those who held positions in his court. The clan Matriarch’s and Patriarchs also had a room for those occasions where meetings ran long and they needed shelter from the day.
Anton’s distracted gaze made me forget some of my irritation as I tried to discover what had caught his attention.
A woman who looked young enough to be in college stood nearby. Her blond hair hung in a glossy sheet around her face.
“You still haven’t cut Miriam loose?” I asked, trying to classify the chaotic mix of emotions that filled me at the sight of her.
Guilt blended with resignation.
Miriam was a witch, and I’d never been able to determine if she was ally or foe.
What I did know was that her association with me brought her to the attention of the vampires. She was too useful to kill so Anton tied her to him with a method that was more binding than the one they used on companions.
She was his creature now. Compelled to follow his orders in a form of indenture that looked a lot like slavery to me.
“Do you feel sorry for her?” Anton’s dark eyes read the answer in my face. “You shouldn’t. That woman is far more evil than you give her credit for.”
I frowned. Somehow, I doubted that justified what he’d done to her.
Anton sat upright and leaned forward with an intent expression. “Did you ever wonder why she barely looks in her twenties despite being decades older than you?”
“I thought her power sustained her.”
Anton shook his head. “That would only be true if she stayed off the thorn strewn path.”
My confusion must have shown because he gave a humorless chuckle.
“Sacrifice, Aileen. Child sacrifice.” He reclined in the chair, resuming his earlier bored pose. “As long as that witch lives, she’ll never be out of my control.”
“How are you so certain that’s what she did?”
“Let’s just say I know witches.” There was a hard look on Anton’s face as he glanced away from me.
There was a story, there. One I wasn’t sure I had the right to pry into.
Anton wasn’t like Nathan. He wasn’t my buddy. More of an acquaintance.
There was a difference.
Miriam wasn’t my biggest fan. And I was pretty sure she’d tried to kill me once. No matter what she’d claimed to the contrary at the time. She’d also passed information to my enemies which almost led to my death.
It made it hard to stick my neck out for her. And if what Anton claimed was true, I wouldn’t want to.
A commotion from nearby caught my attention.
A woman in a dress that left most of her arms and shoulders bare, struggled in the grip of a man who looked like a reject from a costume drama.
Recognizing the human as someone I knew, I found my feet.
