Page 53 of Queen of Darkness
Not that I could stand for that long anyway. But I have to try.
An eternity passed before there was movement. I heard a muffled voice, and then, once again, there was silence.
“Well?” I challenged sharply. “Did they tell you that it’s good? That it’s all there?”
Mr. Orrin clasped his hands in front of him. Something about the way he did it told me he wasn’t happy.
“Good,” I growled, swaying heavily, though there wasn’t a breeze in the room.
I was just that weak.
“It appears that you have, somehow, succeeded, Miss Alustria,” he said reluctantly. “The terms of your Blood Letter have been filled. It has been revoked.”
“Thank you,” I said, meaning it.
“You must remember that this doesn’t mean another cannot be placed on you,” he added.
“I know,” I said.But I’m not going to give her the chance.
“So, what will you do now that it’s lifted?” he asked.
I glared into the darkness. “Probably something even stupider than this.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Jo.”
I looked up to see Vir approaching. He walked up to the bed—his bed, technically, though I had commandeered it during my convalescence. Not by choice. I’d stumbled out of the Bounty Hunter Guild’s offices and woken up in it. Since then, I’d tried to take the couch, but two gods and a twelve-hundred-year-old vampire were hard to resist when they told you to shut up and stay in bed.
So, I did as commanded, and I stayed in bed. Truthfully, I was too weak to resist, even mentally. Today was the first day I was feeling up to moving around. Although I was drinking blood regularly, it was a slow process not only to recharge my body but also to heal it from all the damage I’d done by draining it nearly to death.
“Hi,” I said as Vir took a seat nearby. “I’ve been meaning to thank you, by the way. For holding on as long as you did while I was out.”
“You are most welcome.”
Vir bowed his head, acknowledging that for nearly sixteenhours, he’d maintained a healing trance around me until I finally woke on my own and could feed on blood. His was the groan that I’d heard upon waking. Apparently, he’d passed out, but I didn’t recall that much, to his dignity’s thanks, I’m sure.
“Hopefully, by tomorrow, I’ll be ready to go,” I said. “At least I can give you and Dani the bed back. I feel like such an intruder.”
“You aren’t,” Vir said, raising a hand, stopping my protests. “And that is not why I came to see you either.”
I noted the lack of humor in his voice, the solemnness in his eyes.
Ah, shit. Here it comes.
“You want to know about the rings,” I said with a sigh.
Vir nodded.
There was no avoiding it. I was surprised that Aaron hadn’t informed him about it. Then again, maybe Vir hadn’t asked, deciding to wait until I was alive enough to ask me. That was more his style.
“I needed information on how to beat the Blood Letter,” I said. “I got it.”
“And the rings?”
“My payment,” I said softly, having a hard time meeting his eyes.
“You did not lose them?”
