Page 24 of Shadow's End

“I am not at liberty to speak of that which passed between my maker and my mother?—”

“How convenient,” I drawled.

“But if it is truth you seek,” she continued, ignoring my comment, “then at least some of it can be found in the next cavern, with that which waits.”

“Meaning the souls of those you and your fellow vamps murdered? Or your leashed demon?”

“I have never been overly concerned with souls—they are troublesome creatures at best, and for the most part deserving of what came to them.”

Anger surged. “None of those people in there?—”

“A few did.” She shrugged, an eloquent gesture that again reminded me of Maelle. “But as wolves hunt for food, so must we.”

A chill ran through me. Though her words contained no actual threat, it was nevertheless a gentle reminder that the chaos they’d already inflicted on the O’Connor pack could very easily be repeated—this time with vampires rather than a basilisk.

The wild magic pulsed through me, and I ached, truly ached, to unleash it. To capture this bitch and drag her back to her mother to deal with. But my psi senses continued to urge caution.

I shifted uneasily from one foot to another, and that’s when I caught it—the faint flicker of a spell. I narrowed my gaze and studied it. It was intricately woven, with multiple layers of protection spells threaded through it, and what looked to be some sort of capture spell. Beyond them, sitting much deeper in the heart of the multi-layered spell, were thick and ominous-looking threads that had a chill tripping across my skin even if I was too far away to see what they were—and I had no desire to get any closer and find out the hard way.

I swallowed heavily against increasing trepidation, although, rather weirdly, my fear seemed to be easing. Whatever was happening here, it presented no immediate threat to me. “Why are you waiting here, Jaqueline? You can’t have known we would find this place.”

She raised an eyebrow, a cool, almost contemptuous smile playing around her lush red lips. She’d fed recently. Very recently. Which didn’t mean she wouldn’t be tempted to take asip from me if the opportunity presented itself, but it did at least lessen the chance of her hunger getting the better of her.

“You forget we have a greater understanding of my mother’s ways than you ever could or would.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

Her playful contempt increased, and once again I saw Maelle. “Did you not find Roger via some possession my mother gave you?”

I frowned. “Yes, but my psychometry?—”

“Was guided. Maelle has always known where to find Roger. He is a part of her—a product of her own flesh in a way more basic than even me.”

“You can’t get much more basic than giving birth to a child, and you are that, not him.”

She raised a mocking eyebrow. “He dined on her flesh and bound himself to her for eternity. I did not. It made him hers in a manner I never will be.”

At least that meant what we’d been told about thralls was true. “That doesn’t explain your statement that my psi seeking was guided.”

“The item you were given was not his but rather hers. When you opened your mind to her possession, she simply used it to show you where he was.”

If Jaqueline was right—if Maellehadguided my seeking, despite the presence of our entwined protection circles and without me ever suspecting something was off—that was fucking scary.

“Maelle couldn’t have known what else lies in that cavern.”

“In that, you are very wrong, as you will no doubt soon discover. But you also forget that she sees through his eyes and knows full well her demon is leashed to her thrall. I would wager she did not mention that fact, and you had no idea it existed until you reached the cavern’s entrance.”

“Herdemon? You didn’t conjure it?”

“No. We are not the reason it has come to this reservation, though we are the reason it is tethered here. You need to understand exactly what you’re dealing with. It is not us you need to fear.”

“Say the women who have repeatedly threatened to kill us all if we got in the way of their vengeance.”

“That warning still holds. Step back, and you will be safe. We are not after you.” She paused. “Although it is undoubtedly true that you have an intriguing way with the wild magic that should not exist, and which would be interesting to … sample.”

Over my dead body. But I well and truly kept that thought to myself. No need to tempt evil more than she already was. “If what you are saying is correct?—”

“And it is, I assure you.”

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