Page 9 of Empire of Dark

“You are assuming she will be a delight.” His forefinger flicked out from the tumbler toward the mirror.

No. That was one thing I wasn’t assuming. Especially after my run-in with her last night.

I glanced over my shoulder at the woman. She’d moved on to inspect the books stacked on the low coffee table before the chintz sofa. “You are telling me she won’t be a delight? What are her powers?”

“She was born with speed and psychokinesis, among other things. And actually, she is a delight. I was just noting your penchant for assumptions.”

Psychokinesis.That was how she’d reached that stein that had crashed into my skull. I’d blinked and missed her drawing it into her hand from the table well out of her reach.

“My assumptions can be wrong, but they rarely are.” I moved to the bar and poured my own glass of cognac. “Her lineage is strong?”

Triaten nodded. “It is. A direct line to the original panthenites.”

“And you said she hasn’t been impregnated before?”

He shook his head and moved to sit on the thick arm of a black leather club chair, his look wandering about the library. “No.”

“Where has she been for that to happen—for your kind to allow that to happen? If she holds a direct line back and she’s a breeder, it is unheard of.”

His shoulders lifted. “That’s only because you haven’t heard of it. Maude has been at our Academy for the last hundred years. She never leaves it.”

A grunted scoff left my throat. “I find that hard to believe. She’s been there and there alone? How did Helen allow that?”

I was well aware of the power structure within the panthenites, and the elder, Helen, now had firm reign on the species. She’d directed the breeding program within the panthenites for centuries, and it was only because of her that the panthenites weren’t wiped from the face of the earth long ago.

Triaten paused, taking a sip from his glass. For a moment, he looked like he was going to hold his tongue, but then he continued. “Helen wasn’t given a choice. She didn’t know where Maude was.”

My eyebrows shot up. “You hid her?”

“I did what was necessary for the situation.” He sighed. “All you need to know is that Maude has been at the Academy, safe and secure—innocent. Sheltered from anyone with thoughts on breeding. She’s worked with the students at the Academy and none would think to touch her there.”

I nodded, my look drifting back to the woman.

Maude.

She’d sat, balancing on the edge of the middle cushion on the sofa as she’d pulled one of the books toward her, absorbedin the first pages. Though she’d left the hardcover on the table, not committed enough to pull it onto her lap. Yet she still flipped through it even as she stayed alert, her body taut, her eyes darting about every few seconds.

“She is more than I expected you would deliver to me.”

Triaten stood. “I said I would pay the debt. She is it.” He pointed again to the one-way mirror. “Though there is one caveat.”

My glare skewered him. “A caveat was not part of the deal, Triaten.”

“It is now.”

Staring at him, I sipped the brandy, letting my tongue wrap around the warmth of it. “What is it?”

He swallowed the rest of his drink and went to the bar, clinking the glass onto the marble counter. Turning to me, his jawline had set into an impenetrable line. “You do not rape her. It is the only way I will leave her here.”

I turned my head to the side, hiding my smile. “You do not need to worry on that accord. I’ve never had to resort to such a brutal act. Females come to my bed willingly.”

He coughed, his gaze swinging to me with his right eyebrow arched. “I can see you believe, with your powers of persuasion, that it will not be a problem.” His arms clasped over his chest. “But I would not think so highly of your skills. I recall another woman that was impervious to your charms.”

Of course. Of course he would go there.

I thought we were dancing lightly around the subject.

I slipped an easy smile onto my face. “Charlotte was, unfortunately, in love with another.” I nodded with my head toward the mirror. “I assume this one is not?”

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