by Izzy Shows
“I clawed my way to the top to get this office, Ms. Sheach. I have quite a lot of blood on my hands, and I have no qualms about how it got there. I know what it’s like to live under a Baron.”
“Then I guess you know what it’s like to kill one too?” I lifted my chin, staring him dead in the eye. “Because I can’t imagine you got this position through negotiations if what you’re saying is true.”
He was quiet at that.
“You killed whoever was Baron before you. You may not have raised a rebellion to do that, but you know what it’s like to be dissatisfied and take matters into your own hands. That’s what’s happening out there right now.” I gestured towards the door. “You’re not getting any of your control back, if what those vampires said is any indication of the general mood. What we’re doing isn’t working.”
The clock ticked through an entire half a minute before he responded to me, during which I wanted to claw my own skin off just to have some sort of sound in the room.
“I see your point, but I disagree with you. What we’re doing is going to take time to take root. It isn’t something that’s going to create an overnight change. They’ll see that I control you, and you control them.”
“Except I killed three of them without your say-so.”
“Quite the contrary. You did exactly what I instructed you to do. I said that if one of them so much as had a traitorous thought, you would have permission to end their lives. These were clearly traitors, and in killing them, you executed my orders.”
I was astonished by the implications of that. He’d effectively made a pawn of me, and I was killing myself for not realizing that sooner.
Diego is going to murder me.
Nope, there was no reason for Diego to find out about this particular turn of events. I could keep this one to myself, so long as he didn’t ask me directly about it. I felt a little like Fred about that--I’d probably tell him if he asked, but otherwise, I was going to keep it to myself.
I’d never been a good liar.
“I can’t believe this shit,” I said at last, dragging a hand through my hair. “They’re not going to see it that way. They’re going to hear that someone died. Whoever sent them is going to whisper around to the right ears, and they’ll pass it along that the vampires died at my hand. Particulars will be left out, as to why they were around me in the first place, and it won’t be seen as an execution of traitors. It’ll somehow get spun into you losing control of me.”
His jaw set into a hard line. “You have your opinion as to how things will end, and I have mine. We’ll have to see who’s right about this.”
I wanted to rip his head off his body. He was being such an idiot! He’d said that he’d been in the thick of things before, that he knew what it was like, but clearly, he didn’t understand mob mentality. I knew first-hand what the whispers would be like. You didn’t hang around the homeless without hearing a thousand different variants of the same story, and you learned how to read between the lines and find the truth of it.
His vampires weren’t going to want to find the truth. The mob mentality was going to kick in, and they’d accept the most terrifying story--that the Hunter was slaughtering them at will, and there was nothing Dudley could do to protect them. He’d be seen as someone who had unleashed a plague upon them, and who couldn’t keep them safe.
A charismatic leader would step in and promise to protect them, would swear that he’d take care of this troublesome Hunter situation, and I’d be left having to wipe the floor with some overpowered vampire.
I could already see how this was going to play out, but the one thing I couldn’t seem to do was convince Dudley of that fact. I didn’t want to wait and see who was right about this. I knew it was going to be a bloody end, and I didn’t think innocents were going to make it out of this alive.
A sharp ringing sound filled the room, and I jerked in surprise.
Dudley’s eyes narrowed. He clearly didn’t appreciate the interruption.
“One second,” I said, then stepped to the back of the room and grabbed my phone out of my pocket. “Sheach.”
“Blair, where the hell are you?”
I winced at Diego’s tone. I’d known I was going to catch an earful about being late, but I’d been hoping he’d would hold the lecture until I got there.
“I’m just taking care of something. I’ll be there soon.”
“I swear by all that’s holy, Blair Sheach, if you aren’t here in five minutes, I’m going to have you running suicides.”
Ah. Now, that didn’t sound fun.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can, I promise. It’s probably not going to be five minutes, though.”
“And what the hell is so important that you’re missing training?”
I felt like such a shitheel. Just when I’d decided to take my training more seriously and submit to Diego’s seniority, I’d managed to muck it up by prioritizing the vampires over him. But what was I supposed to do when the entire city was under threat because of this?
I’d make it up to him somehow. Prove to him that I care about what he was doing for me.
“It’s nothing, really. I’m almost done. I’ll see you soon.”
“Blair--”
I didn’t wait to hear what he was going to say. I just clicked off the phone, wincing. He was going to be so mad.
“Who was that?”
I straightened my back, looking over my shoulder. “No one. I’ve got to go.”
“Ms. Sheach, may I remind you of your priorities?”
Yeah, no shit, Dudders. They’re skewed all over the place, and I’m trying to get them figured out. I don’t need you reminding me that I’ve got a million and one things on my plate right now.
“It’s under control, Dudley. Besides, I think we’re at the point in our conversation where we realize that neither of us is going to change the other’s mind. You’re never going to understand the way your vampires are thinking, so it’s about as logical to argue with you as it would be for me to scream at your wall.”
He seemed to absorb that information for a solid minute before he nodded curtly.
“Fine.”
That was all the permission I needed to leave.
Twenty Seven
It took longer than I would have liked to get to Diego’s house. I had to take the Underground because I’d left my car at his place, Weylyn was on a leash to pass accurately, and I got a thousand odd looks for my style of dress and the staff in my hand. I just knew Diego was going to rip me a new one when I got there.
I stood in front of his door, anxiously shifting my weight from side to side.
He opened the door a second later, and the look on his face spoke volumes.
“You’re late,” he said.
I ducked my head down. “I’m sorry. It was unavoidable, but I’m here now. And I promise--”
“Unavoidable? What were you doing?”
I peeked up at him and cringed at the look on his face. He knew exactly what I’d been doing; he just wanted me to say it out loud. I glanced over my shoulder at the street full of cars and the sidewalk packed with people. Diego lived in the middle of the city, which was definitely not a place to talk about the magical world on your doorstep.
He seemed to get the point when I looked back at him, and he stepped to the side to give me access to his house.
“Come in.”
Ah. Generous of him to invite me in, all things considered. Yes, we were supposed to train, and that would mean using my magic, but he could have been a dick about it and made me leave my magic at the door for a little while.
I stepped inside without comment, Weylyn less than a second behind me, and Diego shut the door.
“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?” His southern accent was particularly strong when he was pissed.
“I really don’t have an excuse that you’re going to accept, and I know that,” I said. “I had to see Dudley because I was attacked by vampires last night,
and it looks like this rebellion thing is going south fast. We needed to work out a new strategy, but he wouldn’t listen to me.”
The look on Diego’s face told me he wasn’t in the least bit surprised by this information.
“Nothing to say to that?” I tried for a joke.
“Sit down.”
Ach. Definitely not improving his mood, then. I walked into the living room, leaned my staff against the wall, and took a seat on his couch.
“Do you know how dangerous it is to be involved with vampires like you are? Your attack last night is only a minor indication of how bad things could get. You have no consideration for your own life, which I might remind you is all that protects this city from the forces that want to destroy it.”
My shoulders slumped. I wanted to argue with him, but I knew there was no point. It would only serve to anger him further.
“If you keep this up, what do you think is going to happen? I’ve got a news flash for you: you’re not going to stop a rebellion vampires are hell-bent on having.”
“You don’t know that!” I jerked my chin up to glare at him. “And I have to try. It’s all about working with the lesser of two evils. I know the vampires don’t care about the good of the city, and that it’s just a question of benefits right now, but I have to play the cards I’m dealt. It’s either this or leave it up to Dudley to take care of his situation. Oh, and by the way, he said if I back out now, he’ll report my dealings with vampires to the Order. So, I really don’t have a choice.”
“But if you’d used your head, you wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.”
I ground my teeth together, trying to keep control of my temper. “What would you have suggested I do?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe remove the offending vampires from the face of the Earth? That would certainly have settled the situation.”
“Ah, sure, let me just gather my army to take on all the vampires. Oh, wait--I don’t have one! You just don’t want to accept that there’s no good option here, and that working with the vampires to try to prevent a massacre was the best one I had.”
He looked so calm right now, which served only to infuriate me even more. It was like he and Dudley had perfected never giving away their emotions, and I didn’t know how they did it. My blood ran hot, and I lost my temper more times than I could count during any given day. It would certainly be handy to know how they did it, but at the moment I didn’t have much time to think about it.
“I can only see this ending horribly, Blair. Ignoring the reasons you got yourself into this mess, I don’t see how you’re going to get out of it with your life.” He sounded resigned now, as if he’d already accepted the fact that I was going to get myself killed.
My temper flared at that, and I jumped to my feet, hands clenched into fists at my sides. “It’s going to work out because I’m going to make it work out. You don’t know what’s going to happen. You can’t possibly know that. You just know what you think is going to happen. You don’t know what I can do!”
“I know you’re an impudent child who thinks she can control the world because she managed to take care of a few pests.”
“You’re just... You... UGH.” I turned my back on him, growling under my breath.
“That’s exactly my point. Your temper is what’s going to get you killed one day. You have no control.”
Instinct told me to turn around and scream my head off, to take him down a notch, but there was one rational part of my mind remaining, and it told me that that would only further prove his point. I forced my shoulders to relax and turned to face him.
“Fine. Then teach me control.”
Twenty Eight
A grunt was torn from my throat as I flew backwards across the ground, taking a big chunk of earth with me. Diego and I had returned to my house for combat practice after I’d suggested that he teach me control; apparently, meditation wasn’t what he’d had in mind.
I hadn’t complained, first because I loved combat practice, and then my pride had kicked in once I’d realized how horrible this combat practice was going to go.
Diego was pounding the shit out of me, and every time I tried to get the upper hand, I was slammed down again.
Biting my lip, I forced myself to my feet and glared at him.
No familiars allowed this time, so Weylyn couldn’t help me stand, but at the moment I was a woman filled with fury. I could stand on my own, thanks.
I pulled my arm back, called fire down to it, and hurled the ball of rage at him. He deflected it with ease, which just pissed me off even more, and raised his hands.
Vines wrapped around my ankles. I flexed and sent ice through my body, curling it around the vines that had claimed me and turning them brittle. It was easy to step out of them then.
Ice was a good magic to use for this particular fight. Fire was what I called on when I lost my temper, when I wanted to beat the shit out of something and watch it bleed. Ice took a hell of a lot more control, even if it was the element I was best at.
You could kill someone a lot better with ice than fire, but most people didn’t, because fire is much more accessible when you’re in a blind rage.
And most people are in a blind rage when they’re in the middle of a fight. Or at least, I usually was. I didn’t know about Diego. He seemed to always be in perfect control of himself, though he preferred earth magic.
He sent thorns flying at me, and instinct had me raising my hand, activating a fire shield that burned them to a crisp before they could reach me.
Damn it, I was supposed to be using my ice magic. What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I get it right this time?
Because you always use fire in a fight. You’ve trained your brain to associate the two, and now you’re stuck.
Oh, thanks, logical side. That’s so helpful when you’re in the thick of things!
Ugh.
The ground rolled beneath my feet, and I leapt into the air to avoid it, closing my eyes and calling on the ice to flow through my veins. The cold would focus me.
I twisted mid-air and sent a bolt of ice from my hand after Diego.
He seemed to fight a little more fair when I used my ice magic than when I used fire. Probably, he was picking up on the fact that--
I didn’t get to complete the thought, because when I landed on my feet, vines twisted around me and yanked me to the ground. Which was bucking beneath me, and as I tried to focus my vision, I saw rocks flying at me.
Oh, this so wasn’t fair.
I felt my temper flaring.
Calm down.
No, fuck this.
“Incendium!” Flames erupted around me, charring the earth beneath me and freeing me from the vines. I lurched to my feet and sent flames rushing from my hands, destroying the rock missiles.
I whirled in a circle, bringing a long line of fire with me, and sent it rushing at Diego.
A giant rock slammed me to the ground, knocking the breath out of me.
Gasping, I tried to do damage control. I shoved the rock off me, turned over so my weight was braced on my knees and arms, and dragged in breath after breath. It hurt like hell, and I knew I was going to have bruises for days, but so far, no broken bones.
That’s good, right?
I looked up, and Diego was standing over me.
“If you don’t learn control, you’re going to lose your head. Literally.”
Instinct told me to glare at him. I pushed that down as harshly as I could.
Diego was trying to teach me in the best way he knew how--or maybe he was letting a little bit of his anger bleed through into the lesson--but I needed to focus and figure out what exactly it was.
He was beating the shit out of me every time I lost my temper, which was probably the point.
I was losing my temper, and he was taking advantage of the situation, destroying me whenever it happened.
Gods, but the man hadn’t been this difficult to defeat the last time we’d fought one another
.
Suddenly, it was painfully clear how much he’d been holding back before. He had more power than I’d previously acknowledged. I should have known that. I’d read the man’s aura, but I’d been too focused on being impressed with myself that I hadn’t really analysed it.
This was what he meant. I had to be more aware of my surroundings and the people I was fighting.
I nodded, sucking breath after breath.
“I get it,” I said.
“Do you? Because you’re still losing your temper.”
“It’s a little hard.” Another sharp breath in. “When you’re in the middle of a fight.”
“That’s exactly when you need to have total control of yourself. When you’re fighting for your life. You need to know the move your enemy is going to make before he makes it, so you can deflect or attack in turn. You were so focused on what I’d done that you didn’t bother to figure out what I might do next.”
He was right, damn it. He didn’t have to keep hammering the point home.
“I know. I’ll work on it.”
“And another thing.”
I winced. “Yes?” What more did he have to complain about?
“It’s not so much a reflection on this fight, but from what I saw when you fought with Weylyn. You don’t seem to put much stock in what the people around you--fighting with you--are doing. You try to take on everything on your own.”
“I fight on my own,” I said, grunting. “That’s how it’s always been.”
He arched an eyebrow. “From what you’ve said about the friends you have--and the paladin who came to your rescue during the trials--you don’t need to.”
Well, fuck. I hadn’t realized that was where we were headed. Didn’t he understand that I didn’t want to endanger my friends by calling them into a fight? Yeah, fighting would probably be a hell of a lot easier if Raven and Emily were at my side. And Finn had been good when we fought the vampires together. But no, it was too dangerous for them.
They’ve been handling things a lot longer than you have. Emily’s been on her own for years now.
