Page 86 of B Negative

That earned me a small laugh.

“I did. But that doesn’t mean I want you holding back.”

I eyed him. Was he trying to trick me into revealing something crucial? Something I hadn’t thought of? “Look, you can’t expect the people you pay to give you a neutral opinion on the quality of their work. If I talk with the firm and make sure everything is as it should be with the building materials, then we can be sure of it.”

As Claudia explained briefly, ordinary objects can only hold so much magic. I didn’t want Titus Tower crumbling because they hadn’t double checked their vendors or materials.

“But you can trust the cove witches to tell you why Sunsiray lost her life?”

“You know exactly why it’s different, Titus.”

The king sat back down, a smile curving the corners of his mouth. “Please, Ms. Vaughn, enlighten me.”

“Uh, OK, well, for starters, Julian pays his people well for their services. He doesn’t force them to undercut each other.”

“What does that have to do with—”

“I’m getting to it. When people feel valued, when they’re paid well for their work, the need to do shady shit decreases drastically.”

“Go on,” Titus murmured.

“The slate used on the steps was faulty. Now, if Julian had undervalued or underpaid the witches performing the spell, they might be tempted to recoup that money somewhere else, say with a low-rate material or a sketchy supplier. Someone who doesn’t care as much about the quality of the materials, only how quickly they can make a buck.”

Titus leaned forward, neutral gaze on me. “Ms. Vaughn, what you’re describing is simply the cost of capitalism. It is the world we live in.”

I knew that well.

Too well.

But I couldn’t tell him without outing myself.

Couldn’t explain how I knew exactly what it felt like to not be valued enough to make a living wage. I couldn’t describe what my mother went through. Because a born vampire would never come from an impoverished, bible-thumping single mom.

“All I’m saying is have someone else check out the witch architect’s story. Please.”

Titus leaned back, folding his arms behind his head. “What a nice trinket that is ‘round your neck, Ms. Vaughn. Is it new?”

I caught the knowing look in his eye before he’d cleared it away.

He noticed. He knew something was different. How much, I couldn’t be sure.

“I assumed you’d just grown stronger since being on the Cypress City diet. But now I see you’ve had a bit of magical assistance. Is that what prompted this meeting? You wanted to test how well it worked?”

“No, not really. It was a nice bonus, though.”

“I will have a neutral witch evaluate the spells on the tower if it will make you happy.”

“Thank you, Titus. It would.”

“Now if there’s nothing else—”

“Actually, there’s one more thing.”

Titus didn’t hide his long-suffering sigh. “Go on.”

“I’d like to hear your side of what happened with the wolves years ago.”

Titus’s gaze hardened, going cold once more. He didn’t speak.

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