I stared at her, wondering at her soft, sad tone, but Claudia knew better than to look into my eyes and let me see what she was really feeling. Annoyance spurted through me. That was the problem with letting people in on your secrets, especially your magic and what you could do with it. They started figuring out ways to get around your Talents. I liked knowing what other people were feeling—it had helped me stay alive this long.
Talking about my mom was another one of those things that made me uncomfortable, so I wandered over to a bookcase that took up one wall of the library. All sorts of pretty knickknacks gleamed on the shelves—porcelain keepsake boxes, sterling silver letter openers, crystal picture frames. I scanned the items, wondering if I might pocket one or two while Claudia wasn’t watching and use them for my game with Mo. I might ostensibly be going straight these days, but it was good to keep in practice. You never knew when a pair of light fingers might help you out of a sticky situation.
So I bent down, pretending to admire a photo of my mom with a blond woman I didn’t recognize. There were lots of shots of my mom in here, since she’d been a member of the Family for years before she’d left Cloudburst Falls. But she seemed especially happy in this photo, grinning at the blond woman as if the two of them were good friends.
“See anything you like?” Claudia called out.
As I turned to face her, I dropped my hand down by my side and palmed a small jet statue shaped like a lochness, complete with sapphire eyes and several small tentacles, off one of the shelves.
I shrugged and slid the statue into my pants pocket. “Nothing that would interest Mo.”
Claudia scowled. As part of my agreeing to work for the Sinclairs, I’d forced Claudia to appoint Mo as the Family broker, the person responsible for, well, brokering all the Family’s business deals. Claudia and Mo had some history I didn’t know about, but she seemed to almost openly loathe him at times, while he enjoyed needling her like it was his new favorite sport.
I leaned my elbow on one of the bookcase shelves, knocking a few pictures out of alignment. Claudia’s nose wrinkled. She was almost as fussy about things being in place in her library as Reginald was about the rest of the mansion looking up to snuff. I grinned. I liked annoying her. It wasn’t smart, but it was the only bit of rebellion I could get away with, since I was stuck here for the next year.
Providing I lived that long, of course.
“Where are we with the Draconis?” Claudia said. “Have you heard anything new?”
Everyone was always interested in gossip about the other Families, especially the Draconis, since they were our main rivals. But Claudia had even more reason than others to be concerned about them. A few weeks ago, I’d used my soulsight on Victor Draconi, and I’d realized that he was plotting against Claudia and all the other Families.
Something big.
Something dangerous.
Something deadly.
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” I said. “We ran into Blake and Deah today, but all they were interested in was crowing about how Deah’s going to win the tournament again this year; especially since there was another girl there, Katia Volkov.”
Claudia nodded. “That’s to be expected this time of year. I doubt that even Victor would try something before the tournament, since it’s such a big draw and moneymaker for everyone in town, mortals and magicks alike. He’ll wait until afterward to put his plan into motion, whatever it is.”
She rubbed her forehead as though it was aching. I didn’t have to use my soulsight to see the tension pinching her face. Whatever Victor was up to, it worried Claudia more than anything else. And she had good reason. I’d seen into the black, rotten depths of Victor Draconi, and the only thing that beat in his dark heart was cold, cruel calculation—and his icy desire to destroy Claudia and all the other Families.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and Victor will let something slip during the tournament,” she said. “At the very least, I can see who he meets with and talks to. That might tell us something about what he’s planning.”
“Yeah. About the tournament.”
She arched her eyebrows.
“Why did you pick me to compete? I thought we had an agreement. I would be your eyes and ears and find out everything I could about the Draconis. Kind of hard to be a spy when you’re the center of attention.”
“Because I think you can win it.”
I snorted. “Bullshit. Devon has just as good a chance to win as I do. So does Vance, for that matter. So what’s the real reason?”
Claudia paused a moment, considering her answer. “Because your mother was the only person that Victor was ever truly afraid of.”
Her soft words punched me in the gut, but I didn’t let any of my hurt and heartache show. “He certainly didn’t seem to be afraid when he cut her to pieces.”
Claudia stared at me, her green eyes blazing with conviction. “Victor was always afraid of Serena—of her sight magic, of her fighting skills, and especially of her ways of communicating with the monsters.”
“And what does all that have to do with picking me for the tournament?”
“I want him to know there’s someone else he should be afraid of.”