Veryl fixed me with a look that he meant to be scary. “There are people who don’t want to waste your abilities on bullshit kills. What you have is valuable, and it makes you valuable. Do you understand?”
This was interesting. “I do. Please, go on. I’d like to hear more about these mystery people.”
“There’s nothing more to know. Information is given on a need to know basis.” He shrugged as if there was nothing more to it.
“Well, I need to know why I’ve gone from killing idiot vampires to humans with power. I smell a rat. Can a human really have enough power to make the big, bad monsters afraid?”
“Yes.” Kale spoke up, drawing my attention to him. “You were one once. There are more out there, Alexa, and some of them won’t think twice about using that power against us.”
I shook my head and frowned in confusion. “Food and foe? Seriously?”
“It’s not quite that simple, Alexa.” Veryl’s expression was bored, as if he couldn’t bear to bother with me. “If you really want to push the subject, there are other people you can talk to. Although, I wouldn’t recommend it. Not if you want to avoid having them take more interest in you than they have already.”
The way he said it chilled me. It set off warning bells in my head, and I wondered what I was really involved in. And more importantly, could I get out if I wanted to? This was something I needed to know more about. Not from Veryl though, clearly.
“Alright. So what’s the bottom line here? What is it you want me to do?”
Veryl eyed me like he couldn’t tell if I was f**king with him or not. “There’s a woman. A traitor. She was one of ours, and now she’s working to expose us. All of us.”
“So? What are her reasons? Did anybody bother to find that out before issuing a kill order?” I was being a pain in the ass, I knew, but it was impossible to resist.
“She’s skilled in black magic, Alexa!” Veryl suddenly oozed menace. “She can drop a vampire with little more than the right words. Do you really want someone walking around with the ability to do that? Someone who believes we should all be hunted down one by one?”
“I won’t kill innocents, Veryl. That’s my only stipulation. I’m serious.”
“I can guarantee you that you’ve never killed an innocent. No such thing.” He sounded pretty much like every vampire I knew. It didn’t come as a surprise to hear him speak that way. “Kale will be with you. I wouldn’t send you alone, human target or otherwise.”
Kale killing humans? Oh, that was terrific. It also explained a lot.
“Fine.” I stood up and looked down at Veryl where he sat behind the desk. “I’ll do it. But now you’ve made me suspicious. I don’t like that. You’d better not be feeding me another line of bullshit. You haven’t quite always had my best interests in mind over the years.”
“You see it that way because you refuse to realize that I have withheld some things from you for a reason. For your own good. You’re bull-headed, Alexa. That’s one of the things I like about you. It keeps you hard enough to do your job, but it will get you into trouble if you aren’t careful.”
I gaped at him, momentarily flustered. “My own good? How was keeping Raoul’s secret for my own good? Seems to me that it was so that you’d have some control over me. Kiss those days goodbye.”
Veryl waved a dismissive hand at me. “Whatever. You should go. Call me when it’s done.”
That was it. He turned his attention to his computer and went about his business as if I wasn’t even there. Normally, that would have been enough to push me past the boiling point. My temper was short enough with Veryl that I considered laying into him, again. He was purposely trying to avoid further discussion about hiding Raoul’s true role in slaughtering my parents and infecting me. I couldn’t blame Veryl; that fight was over, and I’d had a lot of time to say my piece. However, that wasn’t what kept my mouth shut right then. No, it was the slightest trickle of apprehension rolling off him.
Spinning on my heel, I left his office with a self-satisfied smile and Kale hot on my heels. Veryl wasn’t comfortable with me anymore, and I knew why. My power had grown in the last year, along with my connections. I wouldn’t make the mistake of thinking higher of myself than was accurate. I knew I wasn’t the big bad that some were. Still, something about me scared Veryl, and that was reassuring. Of course, something about him scared me, too. I didn’t trust him, and I didn’t know who his, our, employers really were. Something told me I didn’t want to know.
I stormed out of the building with one goal in mind: to get out of the place before I blew it off its foundation. Kale didn’t let me get more than a few steps ahead of him. I slammed the door open and strode outside, aching to throw a few punches.
“Alexa, wait. I know you’re pissed, and you probably have a lot to-,”