However, somehow Meadow made it up the stairs without incident and stopped in front of the door to the parlor. She knocked, and a deep voice told her to enter.
After turning the knob, she opened the door and went inside. It took her a second to find Khan, who stood next to the fireplace on the opposite side of the room, leaning against the mantel.
He was tall and lean but not too thin, with broad shoulders. She couldn’t make out his eyes, but thought they might be dark brown. His black hair was nearly to his shoulder—overly long for the current fashion she’d seen today—and his skin was a medium brown.
But what stood out to her was how he was positioned as far away as possible from the door or any of the chairs. Had he planned that on purpose?
Khan spoke up. “Please shut the door and sit down, Miss Vale. We have much to discuss.”
Well, at least he wasn’t calling her ma’am, like some teenagers at the grocery store had started to do. Twenty-six wasn’tthatold.
She sat, rearranged her skirts, and folded her hands in her lap. Her brother and Nora had advised her to wait and allow Khan to speak first. While the whole idea of a fae witch lord was still weird to her, she wasn’t about to piss him off over something so minor. After all, this male would decide her fate in this time period.
He finally spoke again. “You’re wearing a training bracelet. Does that mean you’re not in control of your powers? And why? Did you not receive the necessary instruction?”
She nearly covered the bracelet on her wrist, but resisted. “How much has Yesenia told you about our father?”
“That he wished to sell the use of you and your brother’s powers to the highest bidder.”
Yesenia must trust Khan at least a little to tell him that. “Yes. And not long after my powers manifested at eighteen, my father decided my powers could make him rich, uncaring that I didn’t want to do what he planned. So Yesenia helped me escape into hiding. While she found a mentor of sorts for me, she wasn’t a teacher. And so I learned what I could, but something must be wrong with me because I can’t always control my magic. Not like River, or most fae witches, for that matter.”
He studied her for a few seconds, probably wondering what he would do with a defective fae witch, before replying, “Has a tracker ever assessed you?”
A tracker was a fae witch who, after touching another fae witch once, could locate them anywhere using magical ley lines. They also could determine a person’s powers, both main and secondary.
“Er, no. In my time, they’re rare and used by various militaries to track threats and spies. Usually someone with a secondary tracking ability assesses our magic.”
“So you don’t know if you have any secondary powers then.”
“No. Just the ability to control lust and desire.”
She bit her tongue from saying it was a shitty power and she wished she could have anything else, even if it meant she could only control spiders.
And she hated spiders.
Meadow fidgeted, her fingers gripping her skirt and releasing it as Khan continued to stare. Did he ever blink?
He finally replied, “My most skilled tracker will meet with you tomorrow to determine all of your powers, and then I will send you a magic teacher. Not the same one as Yesenia, since Rebecca’s experience with time-wielders is too valuable. However, you are not the first person to control lust and desire, and if you become skilled in wielding it, then it could become lucrative for you. Many will want to hire you, such as the two vampires you blooded.”
She barely had time to digest the Dark Lord’s words about getting a magic teacher before he brought up Laurie and Joseph. “Excuse me? What? They want me to help in their sex club?”
Had Khan’s lips just twitched, or had she imagined it?
Considering his voice was the same cool, firm tone as earlier, she must have. He said, “They run a pleasure house, one that fae witches have been hesitant to use. However, it is popular with shifters, vampires, and humans. And yes, having a fae witch on hand to stir and amplify lust on demand will help their business,and maybe even encourage some of our kind to use it, if you’re there.”
With so much happening over the last day, she hadn’t thought of that. Of course Laurie and Joseph would try to woo her—she’d probably be able to increase their profits.
Khan’s voice was a little more gentle when he said, “It may not be the only reason they wish to better know you, Meadow. However, it is something to keep in mind. Because the only way a fae witch can stay permanently in the vampire territory is to marry one, or in your case, two. Normally, I would give you two weeks to decide if that’s what you want. However, since your training will take up a lot of your time in the coming weeks, I will give you a month to freely enter and leave the vampire territory without having to ask my permission. Although you will need to check in with either Yesenia or Reika Riley, who is a half-fae witch and married to a half-vampire named Stone. They can verify what you say and let me know if something seems strange, such as if you’re being forced to do something against your will.”
She sat up straighter. “I have boundaries and won’t hesitate to tell Laurie or Joseph.”
It was something she’d learned to do. Because when her powers leaked out, if she didn’t stand strong, someone could’ve assaulted her.
Hence why she’d kept a baseball bat in her bedroom, for whenever her powers had leaked out.
Although they’d always stopped when she’d asked, come to think of it. Maybe she had a secondary power she didn’t know about?
Khan raised an eyebrow. “Ah, but I didn’t say it would be Laurence or Joseph that would make you do anything. Your powers are more powerful than you may realize, Meadow. Entire governments could be toppled if a male is convinced to sleep with the wrong person, especially since humans in this time arerather prudish, far more than we are. If your powers are strong enough, then paranormal-hating enemies wouldn’t hesitate to kidnap you and use you for who knows what purposes.”
