Page 32 of Beneath the Watching

Ilya gave me a pointed look, darting his eyes at Mabel. “Lucky for you, you don’t have a beast after her.”

“He’s your friend, just take her from him.” Perhaps “friend” wasn’t the best term to describe the relationship between the two men. I’d never asked Ilya for the details behind the animosity between the two of them but guessed the majority ofthe issue was due to the woman in question. It was shocking their joint business ventures hadn’t gone up in flames yet.

Throughout our conversation, Mabel listened intently. I could sense how the words flowing between us captured her interest, even without her looking directly at our faces. While I couldn’t read her as I’d like, I could still feel the atmospheric shifts.

Admiration for her cunning rose within me. She didn’t miss a thing. Granted, the subject of our talk was unusual by human standards, but she was skilled in appearing her attention was placed elsewhere.

My friend grunted. “One day, I swear, I’m going to buy him out. If it's the last thing I do. He pays little attention as long as the money and food keep pouring in. It would serve him right.”

“You’ve been the one running it this whole time and our lives are much better for it.” If Ilya was smart, he would seize the company from his friend immediately and let the chips fall where they may.

Mabel continued to sit quietly, thumbing through an issue of National Geographic magazine. I shook my head lightly, thinking of Benjamin and James’s reading habits. Perhaps National Geographic was better than some of the rags they read but they’d be better off reading real books.

“We’ll get you a dark blue dress for tonight,” I said, keeping my gaze on her and thinking of her eyes. My train of thought had already left business and other trivial concerns behind and moved onto more important matters such as getting my woman used to being with me. And that meant I’d provide for her.

Mabel glanced up, a question briefly in her gaze before she nodded. “Okay.”

Good girl.

I must’ve smiled because when I looked at Ilya, he was pissed. I wasn’t my fault he’d chosen the most difficult womanhe could find and naturally, I wanted him to know my ward was obedient. He would do well to secure similar for himself.

“Lucian has been muttering about a possible substitute for Kiara, if things don’t pan out according to his wishes,” Ilya remarked after a moment. “But you can’t replace a Source so I can’t fail.”

Surprised, I whirled around. “What do you mean?” Would he let his own daughter go that easily? Kiara was an immense source of rare and very potent magic.

“I mean, he’s desperate.” My friend cast a glance at Mabel. She remained quiet, her eyes tracking over a page I couldn’t see. The issue was about giraffes according to the cover, but I doubted she’d absorbed a word describing the creatures.

As one of Lucian’s councilmen there was no question over my attendance at the event tonight, which was becoming more and more interesting. I was expected to be there. “We’ll keep to the back,” I answered his earlier statement.

Ilya stood up, tugging his suit jacket. “It won’t be smooth, but we’ll be victorious. Leave if you have to.”

“Do we have enough men?” I thought for a minute. “What of his own?”

Ilya chuckled. “I heard he invited the vampires, but they won’t interfere, they never do. They’ll just watch.”

Mabel’s face blanched and I smiled inwardly. She had a lot to learn. “Figures he’d invite the scum,” I replied.

My friend clasped my shoulder. “It’ll be messy but it's all going according to plan. Just keep her under control.” He nodded toward my woman, and I bristled. He damn well knew I’d keep her safe.

She waited until he walked out. “Vampires?”

They wouldn’t touch her, but she didn’t know that. “You have nothing to fear if you listen and obey me. You’ll stay by my side and do exactly what I tell you. Including keeping quiet.”

Her voice turned soft. “You haven’t told me why I’m here, why you brought me here.”

Between her and Ilya, I couldn’t get a moment to think. When it came to her, I didn’t even know where to start.

I’d start with her gown for the evening. Wrenching the door open, I stepped into the hallway. Benjamin stood sentry on one side of the entrance and Jack on the other, holding a tabloid open. The headline blared “killer snails attack ICU.” I rolled my eyes and snared the paper, tossing it to the floor. “Go into town and get Mabel a dress. Navy blue.”

Jack peered at the floor. “Just use your magic.”

Nobody was cooperative today, it seemed. “That would use too much energy right now. Why am I explaining myself to you?” I snarled. “Do what I tell you.” I needed all my reserves for the evening in case anything went wrong. As it were, I didn’t feed nearly often enough.

Back in my quarters, Mabel was eyeing me timidly. “I don’t have to go to this thing you have going on,” she said, carefully.

“For the life of me, I don’t know why everyone is questioning me today.” I found myself pacing, trying to envision the sequence of events for the evening and cover every contingency. If the lack of compliance of everyone around me was any indication, the night would be fraught with inconveniences.

I was thrown back to memories of my mother stealing energy from myself, Zyra, and our father. She’d use it to torture us, gaslight us, and maneuver her chess pieces at court, get us all to do whatever she wanted.

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