Katila hooted in laughter. “Football! I can just imagine you tossing a foot around.”
“Not squeamish, eh?”
“Would I desire you for my queen if I was?” He leaned forward on his knees and waved at the silver beverage service on the table before him. “Coffee? Cookies? I'm sorry, I'm fresh out of body parts.”
I snorted despite myself. “Yeah, sure. I'll have some of both.”
“Good.” He poured a cup then slid it my way. “Help yourself to the cream and sugar.” Then he used a pair of silver tongs to pick up dainty cookies and set them on a dainty plate. “There you are.” He set the plate before me.
I fixed my coffee, took a sip, then ate a cookie. They were good, so I ate the rest. Katila put more on my plate without comment.
Thuh-thump!
It was all I could do not to flinch.
Thuh-thump!It came again. The heavy pounding came from my heart but it was a sign of something deeper. My magic! It was returning. I wasn't the same woman who had been controlled by the Death Dagger before. Now I had the Trinity Star. And you couldn't dampen it for long. At least not with an injection of cold death. Because beyond its nine points lay the Great Magics. The power that could create and destroy worlds. And one of the Great Nine Magics was Control.
One type of control fought another inside me. Even numb, my magic was still connected to the Great Nine. Protection, Love, Abundance, Beauty, Health, Transmutation, Control, Hate, and Acceptance. I didn't draw on them often. That was sort of our unspoken agreement. But when I needed them, really needed them, they were there for me.
“Vervain?”
“Huh?” I looked up from my coffee cup.
“I asked you a question.”
“Oh, sorry.” I cleared my throat and shook my head. “I don't care.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said,I don't care. I'm not answering any of your questions.”
“Why not?” Katila asked casually, his tone betraying none of the irritation I saw in his eyes. “What would it hurt to tell me what your favorite food is?”
Is that what he asked me? Damn, he really thought this was a date.
“Pizza,” I said. “No, steak. Well . . .” I grimaced. “No, it's donuts. I love most nuts, but donuts are the best kind of nut.”
“The best kind of nut.” He chuckled. “You're so funny.”
I stared at him. This is good. Just keep him amused, Vervain. Then we can fry his ass. Who am I even talking to? It's this kind of thinking that gets me in trouble. Stay humble, bitch!
“Why play these games?” I asked him. “Stealing the Ark, switching out its contents, abducting a fucking Pomeranian. Why?”
“Is that what I did?” Katila grinned.
“What did you do with Jehovah's stone tablets?”
“Nothing.” He shrugged.
“Just using them as a paperweight?”
“Sort of.”
Heat. In my chest. My heart pounded with more ease. The heat started to spread. It shouldn't be long now. I wouldn't need a sip from the GRAYEL to cleanse me this time. The Great Magic of Health would. If there was a god of gods, a true god, it was the Great Nine Magics, and they were answering my prayer.
Vervain, a masculine voice said in my head.
Al! Alaric!I shouted back mentally.
