Dori’s hands curled into fists. “Well?” she snapped. “Do you want me, or do you want her?”
Tamina sat back on her heels. “There is no competition, you know that. I want you, of course, my sweetling. Always you.”
“Then we have a deal. Say it.”
Tamina sighed and shrugged a leather-clad shoulder. “I forgo the right of retribution in this instance.” She narrowed her eyes my way. “But touch what’s mine again, and youwillpay the price.”
I had no doubt she wasn’t just referring to Ruspin.
The hound watched me with dull eyes, resigned to his fate, and my stomach twisted. I didn’t want to leave him with the crazy bitch, but I’d come here for theLibra Veritas, and the best way to get to it was to fly beneath the radar. I couldn’t afford to get into a fight.
This couldn’t be my problem.
Even though it seemed I’d made a problem for Dori. Fuck…
Tamina plucked my jacket off Ruspin and threw it at me. “You can keep the blood. A gift from me.” She snapped her fingers at Ruspin. “Up! Now.”
The silver collar around his neck gleamed, and he jolted like he’d been shocked.
She turned on her heel and strode off, the tail of her long coat flapping about her calves.
Ruspin dragged himself upright, his breath shallow and fast, his brown eyes filled with absolution, as if to say,you tried your best, thank you. Then he turned and followed Tamina through the brush and toward the castle.
Clary exhaled shakily. “Wow, that was close.”
I bunched my jacket under my arm; it was too blood-soaked to wear now. “Who the fuck was that, and what exactly just happened?”
“That was Tamina Vayne,” Dori said wearily. “She’s Baobhan Sith royalty.”
I rifled through what I knew about her kind. Blood-drinking, matriarchal society with roots buried in folklore tied to a species called the Shining Ones. The Baobhan Sith were known for their heightened sexuality and lack of empathy. They took several lovers at a time to satiate their hunger for blood and sex, and from the sound of it, Dori had just agreed to be this bitch’s next meal.
I couldn’t let her do this. “Dori, I’ll speak to her and take the retribution.”
“No. You won’t,” Dori said. “I can handle Tamina. She won’t hurt me.”
“I can’t let you do that. What’s the retribution?” Whatever it was, I’d take that rather than let Dori go into the bloodsucker’s boudoir. I wouldn’t sleep tonight otherwise.
“The retribution can be anything that Tamina wants it to be,” Clary said. “And trust me, she’s inventive when it comes to inflicting pain.”
“Pain, I can handle. I have a high threshold.”
“Higher than a Therianthrope?” Dori asked with an incredulous snort.
I was about to say yes, because even though Therianthropes were renowned for their high pain tolerance, it was nothing compared to feeling no pain at all, but I bit back the admission. “Maybe notthathigh.”
“She’s brought them to their knees,” Clary said.
I could fake being in pain, pretend to pass out—let the bitch get her kicks—if it meant Dori didn’t have to sleep with her. “I want to try. I’ll speak to her and?—”
“It’s done,” Dori said firmly. “The deal is made and cannot be unmade.”
“As much as I hate that Dori has to do this, it’s better than the alternative,” Clary said. “Besides, I have an excellent tincture to aid sleep.” She dimpled in Dori’s direction. “Trust me, she’ll have the sweetest dreams.”
“Oh, I remember, and I was banking on it.” The two women bumped shoulders and set off toward the path.
Unease bloomed in my chest. “Why would you do this?” I jogged to catch up with them. “Why did you offer yourself to her for me? You barely know me, and Iblatantlydisregarded your warning about not touching the hound.”
She smiled and shook her head. “You’d do the same for me.”
