Page 19 of Hunted
I shook my head.“It was nothing.I fixed it.”I recalled the ward I had destroyed.And how I’d managed to re-draw it just like it had been before.At least...I thought I had.Hadn’t I?But...I didn’t know warding magic...
“Of course you did,” she said.“Because you’re a very well-adjusted involuntary vampire fledgling, and definitely not spiraling into insanity.And we can both trusteverythingthat comes out of your pretty lips.”
I pressed my fingers to my temple.“With all due respect.I’m not in the mood for this.I’m in no shape to banter and beat around the bush, or to be belittled and mocked.”
“Perfect.Neither am I.And I’m sorry formockingyou.It’s just how I show I care.”She reached into her pocket and pulled out a wrapped candy.Threw it at me.“Sanka found the ward Acacia used you to carve into the wall.A minor thing meant to weaken our defenses against her mind manipulation.He got rid of it.”
I caught the candy without looking, then glanced down to confirm it was just a normal strawberry candy.Nothing explosive or poisonous.
“She was just testing you—testing us.Seeing what she could get away with.”Robin let her head fall back, exposing her long, perfect throat in a way that made my inner monster sit up and take notice.“Don’t flagellate yourself over it, sweet thing.”
I unwrapped the candy and popped it into my suddenly dry mouth, trying not to recall the delicious burn of dragon blood on my tongue.What kind of alpha exposed her throat to a predator that way?Shehadto be doing this on purpose.
“I have resources,” she said softly, still not looking at me as she studied the fancy ceiling tiles.“Ones I’ve collected over the years to use when the time was right.Against the emperor.The syndicate.”
I glanced at her warily.“Acacia—” I started, but she waved it off.“Let her lurk and listen.Let her try to foil my attempts at freeing you.”She smiled, slow and dangerous, and full of predatory glee.“It’s a game, you see,” she purred.“I try to undo her little hold on you.She tries to stay one step ahead of me.The emperor dies either way, so we’ll get what we want in the end,” she said, lifting her head to stare directly into my eyes, the message clearly not for me, but for Acacia.“This just makes it more...fun.”
She dropped her head back over the arm of the chair and stared up at the ceiling, gesturing lazily toward me as she spoke.“A curse breaker,” she said airily.“I stole him from the syndicate shifters a while back.He owes me a favor.”She shrugged lazily.“I’m not sure if he can break a vampire blood bond, but we’ll give it a try, shall we?”
I sat up straighter.“Where?”
“Mmm...hidden.I’m not about to give awayallmy secrets, darling.”She sighed, as if horribly put out.“Iwassaving him for other things, but I’ll fetch him.Odd little man.He has the strangest green hair.And I understand he has a goat familiar named Chauncey.”
“...Of course he does,” I muttered, as if any of that information was pertinent.If I had to guess, I’d say she was making things up just to mess with Acacia, on the off chance the vampire were to go looking for this curse breaker.But my head was spinning with the more important, unspoken implications of this conversation.
A curse breaker.EvenIknew they were few and far between.Highly valued by people in power.And highly skilled at unweaving strong magic.
I stared at the beautiful, confusing dragon shifter who lounged across from me like a sleek cat soaking up the sun, relaxed but still ready to pounce.She was calling in a very valuable resource, one she had hoarded specifically to aid in her revenge against the emperor...and she was willing to waste this valuable asset on trying to save me.
She turned her head and met my eyes.Grinned.“Oh, don’t look at me like that, sweetheart.He could be either a genius or a complete hack, for all I know.I have no idea if it will even work.Blood bonds are probably quite different than standard, every day evil curses.”
I swallowed, trying to find my voice.“Robin—”
But she sat up, interrupting me.“No, no.Don’t go all mushy and adoring on me now, vampire.We both know I’m only doing this because it will make Ruya happy.And a happy omega is a great boon to an alpha shifter.”
That wasn’t the reason she was doing this.And it made me want to cry.Which certainly wouldn’t earn me any points in the eyes of this woman.
Seeing the imminent water works welling up in my eyes, she wrinkled her aristocratic nose and shook her head.“Using a curse breaker is probably overkill.But if you’re going to unravel a bond forged by a psychotic vampire with a god complex and a slave kink, you don’t go to your average hedge witch.”
I stared at her, still shocked by the enormity of the gift.And by what it meant that she was willing to not only tolerate my presence, but to do so much to help me.Yes, it would get rid of the spy in her court, so it wasn’t a completely altruistic gesture.And I had no doubt she’d gotten some pressure from Ruya and Sadavir to do something.But still, there were easier ways to get rid of the threat I posed—like simply killing me, for example.And...I knew nothing could make the dragon alpha before me do something she didn’t actuallywantto do.
“What’s the cost?”I asked.There was always a cost for strong magic, regardless of whether the man owed Robin a favor.Even as a former human, I knew that much.
“Oh, it’s probably steep,” she said, sobering.“Especially for someone like you.”Someone who wasn’t born a paranormal, she meant.An outsider forced into the magical world.A lesser member of their society.
I touched my chest, over the source of my slower-than-human heartbeat.My voice felt like sandpaper.“Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.”
She nodded once.“I had a feeling you’d say that.I’ll make contact.”
“Thank you,” I said.
She waved it off.“Don’t thank me until it works...and until you know if you’ll survive it.”
We sat in silence for a minute.Then Robin leaned forward, elbows on her knees.“How’s Sadavir?”
I blinked at her.“Why do you care?”
“I don’t.I just like watching your face do that twitchy thing when I bring him up.It’s amusing how everyone thinks neither of us can control ourselves if we even hear the other’s name.”She huffed.“Despite how it pains me to admit it of him, weareboth fully functioning adult shifters who have managed to not go on random murder sprees thus far in life.”
