Hearing voices, she hastily composed herself, standing just as Enhard escorted Aliya and Fardon into the room. Without looking at her, Enhard explained courteously that they had wanted to meet the witch responsible for the death of the traitor. It was the last thing Victoria needed, but she forced herself to be civil and introduced herself. When she touched the woman's hand, the spark of energy between them did not go unnoticed, and Fardon eyed her with sharp interest.
"It's good to meet you," Aliya said smiling, her voice musical. "Do you mind if I ask how you ..." Victoria knew what she meant even before she finished her sentence. They wanted to know how she had killed the witch.
"I'm not entirely sure how, but I destroyed a crystal necklace she had," she said evasively, trying to avoid reliving the ugly memory of the witch's power running through her veins. Aliya nodded as if the simple explanation made sense.
"I see how that could be effective, considering that she was an exile and forbidden to wield magic," she said. "Are you self-taught?"
"My ... familiar helped with my training."
"And the compulsion in the meeting room? Where did you learn that?" Victoria was startled. "Don't worry. Some of us have natural gifts." Aliya smiled again, and Victoria felt her discomfort recede as quickly as it had come. Aliya's gift was clearly her ability to control emotions.
"You're a high-priestess?" Victoria asked. "You seem ... young."
A smile. "I am entering my fourth century as the liaison for relations with other societies, like the vampires, so not that young."
"And him?" Victoria asked, indicating the silent man at Aliya's side.
"Fardon is a Seer," she said. "He sees the unconscious mind of a person, and their true intent." At Victoria's confused look, she continued to explain. "A witch or wizard, or vampire for that matter, can block their conscious mind with the proper training but the unconscious part is more difficult to veil, just as it is also more difficult to interpret. Fardon sees what is hidden." She waved a hand to indicate where they were. "Which is also why he is here with me. If the vampires meant us harm, we would know it even before they did on a conscious level. We can't use offensive magic here, but we can teleport if we need to leave quickly."
Victoria nodded. It made sense that the vampires would have their own protective wards in place to inhibit a magical attack from the witch delegates. Smart.
"And what do you see then, with me?" Victoria directed her question at Fardon, who smiled at her boldness and then frowned soon after, his eyes widening.
Aliya was right, Victoria couldn't distinguish between her conscious and unconscious, but her blood certainly could. She let her energy flow, following the guidance of the blood magic, and kept her mind a blank slate. The harder Fardon focused, the more elusive what he was searching for became. She could feel his mounting frustration and smiled inside.
"I see nothing," he said after several minutes. He exchanged a baffled look with Aliya who had put a calming hand on his arm as if she'd also sensed his frustration. She watched Victoria circumspectly.
"That's impossible," she said slowly. "No, not impossible, but it would take a very accomplished witch to block Fardon. Not many can thwart his Seeing ability. And yet you do so effortlessly ... and untrained
"Maybe there's just nothing to see," Victoria said.
Fardon frowned. "There's always something to see!"
Victoria remained silent, and they stood staring at each other, at a curious impasse until a knock on the door interrupted them.
Christian walked into the room without waiting for an answer, clearly looking for Victoria. He took in the scene right away—Victoria's discomfort, Fardon's interest, and Aliya's frustration. As soon as Victoria saw him, he didn't miss the immediate darkening of her eyes or the walls that fell into place over them. He cursed Lucian's earlier revelation for the hundredth time.
"Will you please excuse us?" he said to Aliya and Fardon.
As Aliya left the room, she looked at Christian with a shuttered, speculative expression as if she had detected something transpiring between the two of them that had made her suddenly uneasy. She frowned but left as he'd asked.
Christian closed the door. He stared at Victoria where she sat on one of the chairs staring into space, steadfastly refusing to look at him.
"Tori, please talk to me," he said. "It was a long time ago, and it ended a long time ago."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Her voice was a whisper.
"Because it doesn't mean anything. You have to believe that."
"She still loves you, you know," she said finally, looking him in the eyes. "And I can never compete with that, Christian."
"Compete with what, exactly?" he said, detecting a strange finality in her voice.
"That she is a vampire, like you, that you gave a part of yourself to her. She is who she is because you chose her. She will always have that piece of you ... that I won't." Victoria pressed her hands to her face, her torment apparent. Christian knelt at her feet and took her hands in his. She tried to pull them away, but he held on tightly. "She doesn't want to let you go, I saw it in her eyes."
"Victoria, that doesn't matter. Do you know why?" he asked. "Because I let her go a long time ago. I don't want her. I want you. I love you."