Page 27 of Claiming the Dhampir

I pulled back my shoulders and turned to face my enemy. They couldn’t possibly be anything other than that. Brance and another man stood where I’d been kneeling a few moments ago. Alyssa was a few feet behind him, and six more fae lined the wall next to the door behind her.

Nine fae.

Nine sadistic assholes who need to die, Mir stated.

I smiled, knowing there was nothing nice about it. Mir stayed on the sidelines, waiting. Now that I knew my eyes changed colors with her presence, we’d have to be careful.

Like I’m not already walking the tightrope from hell!

Let’s refocus some of that anger and frustration, I said. We have the perfect targets.

Agreed.

I focused all my attention on the man I suspected was in charge. “You’re sick,” I said to Brance. “I thought Conrad was bad, but this goes beyond his depravity.”

Brance’s smug look faltered for a moment. The man next to him shifted his weight from one foot to the other, but his facial expression didn’t change.

“I know what you are,” Brance said. “Your control is astonishing, but it changes nothing.”

I laughed. “You’ve convinced yourself that you know what I am,” I countered. “You’re nothing more than an ignorant fool who believed someone else’s lies.”

The man next to him shifted again. I glanced over Brance’s shoulder at Alyssa. She scowled at the back of his head, not noticing that I watched her. Had she twisted her words when she said she didn’t trust him? Yes, she said she may have made a mistake. She brilliantly evaded any lies with the may have.

“My information came from the fae,” Brance spat. “Even though we are masters at evading the truth, we still cannot lie.”

I tapped my lip pretending to contemplate his statement. Could it be this simple to discredit him? I was half fae, and nothing stopped me from lying. I didn’t know where he got his information from, but it didn’t hurt to confirm.

“Was your informant full fae or a half-breed?” I asked.

“I don’t see how that matters,” he replied.

“It’s obvious. Half breeds can say whatever they want.”

Brance glared at me. Alyssa sucked in a deep breath and choked on it. The man next to Brance turned and looked at him. The remaining fae by the door glanced at each other with questioning looks. I laughed again.

“Oh my God! You’re not serious, are you?” I asked. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know?” When I didn’t get a reply, I laughed even harder. “Okay, okay. This entire room is black not white. None of you are truly fae. You’re just pretending. Nathan is not a vampire, and I’m a fairytale princess.”

Whispers of disbelief echoed around the room. Did they seriously not know that a half-breed could lie? Or had Brance not confirmed that his informant was a full-blooded fae? Shouldn’t he be able to tell? I had no idea.

A tiny tug on my mate bond drew my attention to Kenrid. He smiled at me, and my heart melted. Especially now that I knew how special his smile was.

A sharper tug made me grimace until I realized it wasn’t Kenrid. Damon was close by. I could feel his magic racing through our bond. I reached out for him and hit a wall of anger. I flinched at the intensity of his rage. If he showed up like that, none of the fae would survive.

“Let them go,” I demanded, turning back to Brance. “Your little stunt didn’t work. You’ve only succeeded in making yourself look like an idiot. Again.”

“Brance?” Alyssa stepped up to his side. When he didn’t look at her, she poked him. “I can’t believe you didn’t vet your source. I sacrificed everything because you promised you had a way to get us home.”

Brance slapped her hand away and snarled at me. “I know what you are! I can see it in your eyes.”

I blinked several times. Had I let my control slip? Yes, a couple of times. Was Brance the only one who noticed? It didn’t really matter. I had to convince them that Brance had lost his marbles. I didn’t think it’d be that hard to do.

“You’re so caught up in this delusion that you can’t see what’s right in front of you,” I said, waving my arm in Nathan’s direction. “I’m standing next to a bleeding vampire. Not just any vampire, but a master vampire. I just found out about the supernatural world a couple months ago. But every story I’ve heard about the dhampir says they’re monsters. None of them would be standing here having a conversation with you.”

I let my arm fall to my side, but I refused to look at Nathan. I couldn’t for all kinds of reasons. Even though the memories of my killing spree at Conrad’s were hazy, I knew it was really hard to kill a vampire. I wasn’t sure if Nathan’s body could heal fast enough to save him. I was scared that he’d lost too much blood to recover. The thought of losing him hurt.

“I’m not the monster in this room,” I said. “You are. You’ve tortured two innocent men. Men who gave you a home and a community. This is how you repay them?”

“Release the prince,” Alyssa commanded, still glaring at Brance.

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