Twin points of agony pierced my throat, and I raged against his hand, biting down until I tasted his blood. I spat a mouthful down the front of my shirt, thanking my lack of boobs for once. With my arms free from the elbows down, I had enough movement to reach up and dip my fingers in the stain. I painted the same protective sigil I’d used against the watchmen on the back of my left hand.
Magic in the necromantic markers in his blood reacted, blasting out around me in a protective bubble, and the vampire was blown off me. Confident the ward would hold, I turned back and drew the same design on Linus’s cheek to protect him while I dealt with the vampire. As soon as Linus was as safe as I could make him, I shut his door and faced my attacker.
“You’re right about one thing.” Fury trembled in my voice. “I’m wide awake now, and I’m never going under again.”
“Big words, little girl.” He stood from a crouch, looking exactly as he had the first day he introduced himself, and he straightened as he licked his lips. “The Master is tired of waiting on you to come home.”
“What is that psycho’s deal?” I scanned the yard for signs of backup, but Taz was nowhere in sight, and I had no idea how long it would take the watchmen to arrive. “Home is here, and he’s not welcome in mine. Neither are you.”
Amusement glittered in his eyes. “You don’t remember at all, do you?”
“I remember being snatched off my porch and driven to an estate where vampires played dress-up with me like I was some kind of freaking doll. I remember being promised to Volkov like a prize mare ready for breeding, except that’s not the type of procreation he had in mind. I remember thinking one of the best days of my life was when I left that place, and him, behind me.”
“I warned him.” He tsked. “I told him you were too young when your mother ran, that necromancers don’t imprint on their elders the way vampires do, but he was convinced a hybrid would carry more vampiric traits than not. He believed you would remember your nursery, filled with all your dollies, but you didn’t. You didn’t even remember your nursemaid. It broke Lena’s heart.”
“What crazy are you spouting now?” The thunder of my pulse in my ears made hearing impossible. “I’m not a hybrid.”
“The necromancers use a much more egotistical term. I’m sure you’ve heard it bandied about by now.” His mirth swelled. “Goddess-touched, I believe is the term.”
No, no, no, no, no.
Maud would have…
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
When would I learn? Maud would have done whatever she felt would protect me. Even lie to my face.
“I see you running the calculations.” He chuckled. “You never knew your father. You barely knew your mother. The Master is all the family you’ve got left.”
“You’re lying,” I rasped. “Hybrids don’t exist. Goddess-touched necromancers are—”
“Abominations,” he informed me with a smile. “They were wiped out centuries ago. By your people. Given the chance, you think they won’t try again, starting with you?”
“The Society doesn’t waste resources.” I was one, whether I wanted to be or not.
“Your guardian died protecting your secret. Your Society murdered one of its own to get to you.”
“No.” Once I started shaking my head, I couldn’t stop denying it over and over. “It’s not possible.”
Maud had been invincible standing within Woolworth House, her magic at its apex while in her home.
And yet, she had fallen. And yet…and yet…and yet…
“You gotta learn to lie better than that if you want to survive this world.” His teeth glinted. “Your power is young, but the knowledge in your blood is ancient.”
A buzzing started in my ears. He knew. About the magic. About the sigils in my head. About me.
“Come with me.” He held out his hand. “Let me show you who you are. Let me take you where you belong. Let me protect you from the machinations of your mother’s people.” He curled his fingers in a c’mon gesture. “Stay with them, and they will own you. Once they grasp the breadth of your power, they will control you, or they will make certain no one else can.”
“How is the Master any different?” Fury swirled hot through my blood. “You’re all the same. You all want the same thing. I would rather trust the devil I know than the one who kept me drugged and locked in a room. At least the Society grants me the illusion of freedom.”
“An illusion is all you’ve got. The Grande Dame’s son lives on your property. His wraith shadows your every move.” The truth in his words cut deep. “But by all means, keep deluding yourself.”
“Oh, Goddess,” Amelie moaned from the safety of the doorway. “Grier.”
“Don’t you dare,” I growled when she darted onto the porch. “Stay inside the wards.”
“You get inside the wards,” she screamed, clutching the railing. “Now.”
Risking a glance back at Linus, I swallowed as my heart lurched at his still form. “I can’t leave him.”
“He’s not worth—”
“I won’t abandon him,” I snarled at her then whirled on the vampire. “You’re not taking me. I won’t be caged again.”
“The Master has been patient.” His fist clenched as he lowered his arm. “He wants you to come home.”
Anger erupted from my core, whiting out my conscious mind, and a new language unfurled in my head. Sigils passed through genetic memory from others like me. How else could they be branded in my mind?
The punctures in my throat had started healing, so I scratched at the scabs to reopen them, dipping my fingers in the sluggish blood. The ward separating me from him formed a thin shield of compressed air, magicked into impenetrability. The principle was the same as what Woolly used to insulate her doorway from uninvited guests.
I didn’t stop to wonder if I could do it, if it was even possible. I simply did as those instincts dictated, let that tug in my gut guide me as I drew a sigil in the air before me, right on the shield. And then I smacked it with my open palm.
Power blasted from the sigil in a wave that knocked him to the ground. “What did you do to Linus?”
There was no graceful landing this time, no crouch or mockery. Blood poured from a gash on his forehead and smudged the corner of his mouth. “You didn’t wonder why that student attacked Linus at Strophalos?”
“He wanted Linus out of the way,” I said, and heard the hollow ring to the words as I spoke them.
The pointlessness of the attack had left a bad taste in my mouth. The assassin lacked the skills to best Linus. I had given him the element of surprise by bringing him to Reardon’s classroom with me. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gotten close enough to Linus to scratch him, let alone skewer him with that blade of his.
A hairline scratch across Linus’s chest was all the guy managed before Linus gained the advantage.
The exchange began so suddenly and ended even faster. But had it been too quick? Too easy?
“He was an acolyte. He performed tasks for me, hoping to earn his immortality.” The vampire spat clotted blood on the grass. “He wasn’t a fighter, but he didn’t have to be. His blade was dipped in a slow-acting poison.” He struggled to his knees. “Your protector is dead. The toxin has been in his system too long. No one can save him.”
A pit opened in my gut, and rage howled through the abyss. I had to finish this, and fast, if I wanted to save Linus. I couldn’t believe the vampire, that it was hopeless. I had to try. “Where is the Master?”
The vampire cocked his head, listening. “What is that?”
The howls weren’t all rage as it turned out. Or at least they weren’t all mine.
The watchmen had arrived.
“Tell me where he is,” I bargained, “and I’ll call them off the hunt.”
I had no such power, but he didn’t need to know that.
“This isn’t over.” He pointed at me. “You can’t stay inside your wards forever.”
Lip curled up over his teeth, flashing fang at me, he ran for the trees bordering the property.
As much as my thighs twitched to pursue him, as much as I could taste the answers I would scrape off his tongue, Linus was more important.
A scaled beast with a golden ruff sped past me. Midas. Two more followed, allowing him the lead.