Page 2 of Fated Exile

I'd almost pity her, if I didn't hate her worthless guts.

But she's not going to give up information easily. So I decide to take a leap of faith and find out what she might know. If she's determined to stay tight-lipped, maybe a bluff will make her reconsider her options.

"I know that there's a witch around,” I tell her confidently, the look in her face confirming what I already suspected. "You got through our borders and all the way to the Mating Circle, coming from the direction of the mountains. That's not something you could've done without a little witchcraft on your side."

The vampire's eyes flash with shock and fear. "You won't get anything from me."

"Won't I?"

Ambrosia twists beneath me, so I pin her arms down into the ground. My fingernails shift into claws as I dig into her wrists, but she barely flinches, doesn't even react to the pain.

The only thing that seems to have gotten through to her is knowledge. So I lean close to her, hovering my lips near her face, and murmur in a low voice, "I'm a powerful hybrid, as you know. I can just tear the information out of your mind with my abilities. It'll be unpleasant... and slow. I thought you might want to make this fast for both of us, but clearly not."

As I reach my awareness out and dip my magic towards her mind, she recoils from me, eyes wide and wild. In a high-pitched voice she shrieks, "No, no, don't! You'll kill me. I can't say anything at all—I'll die just like Demetri if I do."

I pause, licking my lips at this new information. It could all be a bluff. She sounds like she's telling the truth, but I don't know if I trust my instincts. Glancing around me, I meet Lance's steady gaze, and he gives me a slow, sure nod. We're on our way to finding out who's behind all this; I just need to push a little more, and we'll have useful information.

"This person whose influence you're under..." Meeting Ambrosia's gaze, I do my best to feel confident and sure of myself, channeling to calm and even tempered personality Lance brings to every situation. "You can't tell mehername?"

The vampire's eyes widen, confirming that I guessed correctly. The voice in my head is the same witch who helped hide the vampires from our protections. "If I try to say her name, I'll die. There's no way around it. I can't even spit out the first syllable—that's what Demetri tried. So you might as well kill me now, because anything else is useless."

Her mouth curves up wickedly with the last sentence, and I know she thinks she has us cornered. Either we kill her—something that I imagine many have tried and failed to do in her long life—or we push her to give us information until the spell wrapped around her kills her.

If I narrow my eyes, I can almost see the threads of the spell woven beneath the surface of her skin. It's hidden cleverly, nearly invisible to my eyes, and I'm not experienced enough with witchcraft to know precisely what I'm looking at. There's no denying that it's there, though, and Demetri's head unnaturally twisting at a deadly angle couldn't have been anything but magic.

Ambrosia said she can'ttellus the name of the witch who's been helping the vampire covens all this time. That doesn't mean she can't do other things.

"Tell me, Ambrosia—can youleadus somewhere?" Looking down at her, I smirk as the gears turn in her head, and dismay crosses her face. "I think that maybe you can. Witches don't share their true name easily, since it makes them the target of long-distance magic. But a location—that's not something anyone can stop you from approaching."

"And if I refuse?"

Lance steps up, eyes hard, while all around us the wolves begin to growl. "We'll peel you apart pieces by piece, burn the bits in front of you, curse your body to never regenerate, and let the vultures feast on your innards."

Her eyes widen. It's a horrifying thing to do to someone, but then again, vampires aren't reallysomeone.Such a punishment has been enacted before—both on wolf outcasts, and on vampires whose coven needed a violent lesson. Usually, it takes both the strength of a werewolf and the spells of a witch to pull it off, which is why Ambrosia looks at me with horrified eyes as soon as Lance suggests it.

I'm not sure Icoulddo it. The spells to curse vampires aren't ones I know, even after delving into the curse books Kieran lent me from his aunt. But Ambrosia doesn't know that, as the bead of nervous sweat that rolls down her forehead makes clear.

"I'm not supposed to go against her in any way," she says in a small voice, the bravado draining out of her. "I can't fight her, hurt her, or—or refuse to do as she's ordered."

"Has she ordered you never to return to her lair?"

"No..."

"And if you were followed there?" I prompt, narrowing my eyes. "If you heard no one following you, saw nothing, and simplyaccidentallyled a pack of werewolves to her door?"

In an unhappy voice, she says, "That part of the curse has never been clarified. It could do nothing—or be very dangerous."

"Than that's exactly what you'll do," I tell her, grimacing as I sit up and wipe her strange, thick blood off my nails. "Run on home to Mommy, and the adults will talk about what you've done."

Ambrosia's eyes narrow. "So you really think you can takeheron?"

I have no idea who or whatsheis, and Ambrosia knows that, which is why she's needling me. It almost works. The newness of everything is like a burr in my shoe, needling at me: I've onlyjustreturned home, barely found my pack, haven't mated with anyone yet, and have known the truth of my birth for mere days, not months.

But I won't let her see me fall into self-consciousness. Lance takes a menacing step forward and comes to stand beside me, which helps. So do the growls emanating from the throats of the wolves all around us.

"Lead away, fearless one," I tell the vampire, shooting a wolfish smile in her direction. "You'll find out pretty quickly that I'm not one to be messed with."

Arching a brow, Ambrosia snorts—but turns away from me imperiously, hiking up her long black skirts and doing exactly what I said.

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