Page 64 of Bewitched By a Vampire

He would bide his time, and he would form a plan.

He willed Lilian to hold on and wait for him. He wouldn’t fail her again.

He would save her from these vile witches.

Chapter 16

“You’ve done well, Lilian,” Beatrice said as she seated herself behind her desk in her pale violet office.

The arched windows on either side of her black leather wingback chair allowed light to stream into the room and had Lilian’s thoughts drifting to Night. She hoped he was somewhere dark, safe from the sun.

Normally, Beatrice’s soft voice inspired calm in Lilian, but not this time. As she looked at the fair-haired elder of her coven, she felt only fear.

“When I contacted you, I was told to continue with the mission. What changed?” Lilian remained with her back rod-straight and her hands folded in front of her hips, as was expected of someone of her position when she was speaking with the leader of their coven.

It didn’t stop the two elders seated to the left and right of Beatrice from eyeing her as if she was out of line by asking that and questioning the coven’s head witch. The brunette, Maryon, looked borderline suspicious and Lilian had to fight to rein in the urge to glare at her as she recalled the way the witch had stood on Night’s back to pin him down.

“It was not me who responded to the message. The handler responsible has been reprimanded for not bringing the message to me. As soon as I heard you were in danger, I used the tracking spell to find you.” Beatrice leaned forwards, her grey eyes sincere, and Lilian wanted to mention that she had been in danger the entire operation.

This witch before her had ordered her to become a slave to a vampire. What about that wasn’t dangerous? It was certainly life-altering. She’d only had her sense of duty and vague promises of finding a way to break the bond to keep her going throughout her mission, and in the end, it hadn’t been enough.

She had run, and she feared Beatrice knew that and it was the reason she had come to get her at last.

Petra brushed her silver hair over her shoulders, her blue eyes bright and her German accent lending a hard edge to her words as she said, “But you have succeeded in your mission in a roundabout sort of way.”

Lilian frowned at her. “Pardon me?”

Beatrice leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers. “The vampire. Bastian. You have helped us capture him, and now we will be able to take his blood and you can see whether he was responsible for the attack—”

“That’s not Bastian. It’s his brother, Night,” she blurted and immediately regretted it when Beatrice’s eyes narrowed and Petra perked up, sitting forwards in her chair.

“Night Van der Garde,” Petra murmured, her gaze sharpening in a way that rang alarm bells in Lilian’s head.

Those alarm bells grew louder when Petra looked at Beatrice and the coven leader said, “Youhavedone well.”

She barely leashed the desire to say something. Not that she was sure what to say. The way the three women looked at each other had her feeling desperate though. They were plotting something.

Did they intend to use Night to lure Bastian to his doom?

“You will question Night Van der Garde for us.” Beatrice’s tone brooked no argument. “You are close to him and he has been asking for you. He is concerned about your welfare and wishes to see you. When he does, he will be relieved and you will have your opportunity to question him.”

Night was worried about her? That warmed her, but it left her cold at the same time. She had gone from one mission involving a Van der Garde to another, and this time there was more at stake. If she asked Night about his brother and family, and whatever Beatrice wanted her to ask him, and then Night discovered she was with these witches, he would be hurt. He would feel as if she had used him.

And she would have.

She didn’t want to hurt him like that.

“You seem reluctant.” Maryon stared at her, quietly studying her, and Lilian knew from the cold edge her dark eyes gained that she had seen straight through her and knew the reason she didn’t want to comply with their new orders. Her lips tilted into a ghost of a smile, one that was chilling. “Shall we tell you a story about your vampire, Lilian?”

Lilian frowned at her. They knew about Night? She wanted to know what they knew, but at the same time, she feared it. The look in Maryon’s eyes said that whatever she knew about Night, it would change the way Lilian looked at him, and the witch liked the idea of that.

Maryon wanted to hurt her.

To destroy her feelings for Night.

She waited, aware that she wasn’t going to be given a choice. They were going to tell her whatever damning tale of Night they knew and she was going to be forced to listen to it.

It was Beatrice who spoke.

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