Page 7 of Ever Dark Academy: Vol. 3
Dani spoke up and said with a touch of frost, “Mairead, we don’t ask or answer those questions.”
“Why not?” Mairead put her hands on her hips.
“Because it’s personal,” Ryder growled. “And none of your business.”
That seemed to shut the conversation down as Ryder glared at everyone. Dani and Ryder’s eyes then met. They flashed brilliant silver in almost a challenge. Grayson gritted his teeth.
Their statements to Mairead were and weren’t true. It wasn’t that people didn’t talk about who was going to turn them. But he was a special case. Though Dani wasn’t aware he knew he was Ashyr, she already wanted to be the one to turn him, but feared he would wish Ryder to when he did discover it. Neither had said anything out loud. Not yet. But he hadn’t said anything either. Oh, he had ideas about who he wanted to turn him. But he understood all the dangers of it too. The complications. There were so many complications, but he had always been able to turn those to his and Daemon’s advantage. He’d do so now. But the last thing he needed was for Dani and Ryder to be on opposite sides of things.
Yet another talk I need to have.
“So Weryn is accepting fledglings then?” Mairead obviously wasn’t cowed enough.
Could anything cow her?
Ryder looked at her with cool, unblinking silver eyes. “We’ll see.”
“So you speak for the Weryn then?” Mairead continued. Grayson had to bite back an inappropriate grin. Mairead was truly without fear. Whether it was courage or stupidity he didn’t know. “Because there was that other Vampire who was giving Grayson a hard time the other night. He’s a Weryn too.”
No one said anything for long moments. She was talking about Lawson.
“If you ask me, he seemed like a jerk,” Mairead huffed.
“No one asked you, Mairead,” Amara muttered.
“Oh, please! You didn’t see it because you were off doing an interview. It was bad. He was bad,” Mairead insisted.
She was right.
“And I didn’t have a chance to thank you both for looking out for me,” Grayson said. “You’re right, Mairead. Lawson was bad.” His gaze met Ryder's, who was filled with pain. “But it’s been handled. He’s been handled. He can’t hurt anyone now.”
“Well, that’s good. I mean I know you’re Vampires and all, but he seemed…” Mairead shook her head. “Not the right type.”
As aggravating as Mairead could be, one thing that Grayson knew about her--or was learning about her--was that she was often right. She could read who people were. She couldn’t read--or perhaps simply didn’t want to--social cues, but she ferreted out the truth of people.
Maybe she can be useful against the Sect of Dawn. I don’t sense any of those constructs in her, but I might actually have to be holding her with my gift to be sure, Grayson thought.
“I speak for the Weryn,” Ryder answered finally, his voice a low, gruff, growl.
“Well, then maybe you’d sit for an interview,” Mairead said, looking absurdly happy about it.
“An interview?” Grayson drew his eyebrows together.
She bobbed her head. “Didn’t you know? I was an investigative reporter before. I guess I still am.” She shrugged. “I’m trying to gather information on each of the Bloodlines and share it with the other students.”
“Really?” Grayson snorted. “I would have thought you’d keep that information to yourself. To get a leg up on everyone. You did say this was a competition.”
Mairead grinned. “It is. But that’s the good thing about facts. They can invite or repel.”
“So you will tell other students repellant facts about the Bloodlines that you wish to be a part of to eliminate your competition?” Dani asked.
“Facts are facts.” Mairead shrugged, but she was smiling. “Do you really want someone in your Bloodline that simply accepts what others tell them and doesn't investigate themselves? I think not.”
Dani blinked as if Mairead perplexed her to no end. Or maybe she was just exhausted by Mairead’s patter.
“I’m curious to hear all that you’ve learned, Mairead,” Grayson told her.
Her eyebrows shot up. “Really? Why? You want more options than you already have?”
