A lot.
He shrugged again. “Then your partner.”
“He’s not my partner either,” she insisted, meeting his steady gaze. Her jaw tightened when he didn’t respond. “You don’t believe me?”
“I believe that I was sleeping in the supposed protection of Valen’s lair when I was attacked by unknown demons and a seer who claimed to be a friend to Peri Sanguis.”
She flinched, as if his words had cut her. “Peri isn’t my friend. She’s the sister of my heart.”
“That only makes your betrayal worse.”
She leaned forward, her eyes smoldering with a dark fire. “I didn’t betray her. I couldn’t. Not ever.”
Magic tingled in the air. Not a spell. Just the side effect of a pissed off mage.
“She knew about your plan to kidnap me?” he pressed.
“Of course not.” She made a sound of frustration. “I didn’t know about the plan to kidnap you.”
Micha spread his arms. “So this is all just a misunderstanding?”
Her jaw clenched, as if she was struggling not to send a spell hurtling in his direction. Then, with an effort, she smoothed her hands down the linen of her dress and regained command of her temper.
“Will you listen if I tell you what happened?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“That’s the same question I asked myself,” she retorted, clasping her hands together as the scent of laurel leaves filled the air. “Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.”
Micha leaned back, annoyed by the sudden urge to wrap his arm around Skye and assure her that everything was going to be okay.
It would be a very bad idea, he sternly told himself.
Not only was he trying hard not to trust her, but he also had no idea if things were going to be okay or not.
“Tell your story, but don’t expect sympathy,” he warned.
Her lips tightened, but she did as he commanded. “It started last night when I got a text from my father. He wanted to meet at the pub Under the Bridge.”
“Your father?” He didn’t disguise his disbelief. Demon bars were notorious for their violence, and a rabid prejudice against humans. “A brave choice.”
“My father was invited there,” she informed him. “He’s known about demons since he traded me to a horde of mercenaries to pay off his debt fifteen years ago.”
“Fifteen years ago?” Micha was genuinely shocked. “You were just a child.”
“A seer isn’t like most mages. It didn’t take a burst of wild magic to ignite my powers. My visions started when I was very young, although they were mere flashes at first. Just glimpses that were there and gone so fast I didn’t know what they meant.”
Micha considered her explanation. He hadn’t realized that a seer could see the future at such a young age. Most witches came into their powers after they matured enough to control their magic. And if he didn’t know, he doubted that it was common knowledge.
“How would the demons know about your visions?” he demanded.
“My mother was a fortune teller in a traveling carnival. She died when I was a baby, but my father realized that I’d inherited her talent, although at the time he didn’t realize mine would evolve into something different.” Her expression was emotionless, but Micha could feel the sense of betrayal that still festered inside her. “I took my mother’s place in the carnival when I was five. Eventually word got around that I was able to read the future despite my young age.” She hunched her shoulders. “That’s when the demons appeared and Howard traded me off like a used car.”
Micha narrowed his gaze. As far as sob stories went, this one was a heart-tugger. Only a monster wouldn’t be touched by her terrible fate.
Thankfully, vampires qualified as grade-A monsters.
“So you do work for demons,” he accused.