Influential Magic (10 page)

“Answers,” I said.

He leaned back into the chair. “Relax, Wil. There’s no rush.”

I narrowed my eyes, a torrent of obscenities forming on my lips.

David nodded to Link. “He’s going to shift if you don’t control your agitation.”

Link jumped off the couch, his eyes gold. He was vibrating and moments from shifting. I could let him, but if he decided to attack David, I wasn’t sure I could stop him. My agitation fed Link, and he wasn’t old enough to control it. I took a deep, cleansing breath, tucked my wings close to my back, and waited. After Link visibly calmed, I turned my attention back to David. “Start talking or next time, I’ll let him have you.”

He glanced at Link. The dog settled on the carpet, keeping his eyes trained on the vampire. “All right. What do you want to know?”

Why you broke up with me
. “Do you know anything about my brother’s death?”

He shook his head. “I don’t. And if I did, I’d do everything in my power to get you the truth of what happened.”

The familiar sincerity in his voice shot pangs of regret through my heart. I forced myself to ignore it. “Fine. Why did you tell Allcot about your deal with the Void?”

David stood and moved in front of me. He kneeled, his blue eyes staring intently into mine. “There’s only one reason I agreed to be a double agent.” He reached out as if to take my hand but seemed to think better of it and pulled back.

“To save your ass?”

His face transformed, full of worry. “To protect you. And to do that, I need Eadric’s help.”

***

“Do you believe him?” Phoebe asked from her spot at the kitchen table.

I grabbed a slice of pizza and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Which part?”

“I don’t see how he’d know anything about Beau’s murder since he wasn’t a vampire then.”

“True.” Phoebe sipped from her favorite solid-black coffee mug.

“But he works for Cryrique, one of the most powerful vampire corporations in the world. He could’ve heard something. Or found out something.”

“I doubt he has those kinds of connections,” she said.

I stared at my plate. Phoebe had a point. Being a newly turned vamp meant he’d have entry-level status. No one tells the new kid secrets. “You’re right.”

She reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “At least now you have a place to start.”

The steel I found in her eyes somehow strengthened my resolve. Phoebe would exhaust every lead, no matter how obscure, until we found Beau’s killer. She had a brother she’d lay down her life for. What she didn’t know was how soul-wrenching it was to lose one. I prayed she never found out.

“We’ll get answers,” Phoebe said. “I promise.”

I gave her a slight smile. “Damn right. But if the blood-sucker in the other room thinks I believe a word he says, he lost his mind in the change.”

Phoebe’s eyebrows rose. “The blood-sucker?”

Raising an eyebrow of my own, I tilted my head. “Since when do you stick up for David?”

“I don’t. But he was important to you once and vice versa. Don’t you think it’s at least possible he told Allcot about being a double agent because he’s trying to protect you?” She tapped her fingers on the table. “Think about it. If his boss found out he’d been hiding that information, David would be dead and so would you. This way he can claim loyalty to Allcot while controlling the information he passes to him.”

“You really believe that?”

“What I believe isn’t as important as what you believe. But I do think it’s possible.”

“So I should give him the benefit of the doubt?” Skeptical didn’t even begin to describe my tone. I didn’t for a minute believe David had any loyalty to me or any reason at all to worry about my safety. If he cared, where the hell had he been? And to claim he was only protecting me? Right. Going double agent and working two powerful entities against each other was a surefire way to end up shackled to a boulder at the bottom of the Mississippi. Not that it would kill him now that he had changed. But it would hurt. A lot.

“A good agent considers all angles,” Phoebe reasoned.

“Whatever. I still can’t trust him.” I stifled a yawn.

“Go get some rest. I’ll clean up.”

“Thanks, but I won’t be able to sleep with him awake.”

Phoebe retreated into the heart of the kitchen, pulled a bag out of the freezer, and then reached for a grinder above the refrigerator. “If you’re going to keep vamp hours, you’re going to need a little stimulation.”

I grinned, spotting the Fated Cupcake logo on the package of Mocha in Motion, a blend of coffee and cocoa beans infused with natural energy magic. Guaranteed to keep me awake for hours, the stuff was better than speed and not at all addictive. It was one of my more brilliant creations.

A few minutes later, with an on-the-go cup in one hand and my phone in the other, I found David in the living room. “Let’s go.”

He looked up from a battered book. “Where?”

I grabbed my keys. “Work.”

David hovered over my shoulder as I unlocked the door to my bakery. My inner vampire detector squeezed my chest, and it started to throb.

I turned. “Can you give me some space?”

He shot me an irritated look but backed up a few paces.

Despite him moving away, the pain intensified, making me wince. Something was very wrong.

“What is it?” David took a step closer but froze when my knees buckled.

“I can’t breathe,” I wheezed. “What are you doing different?”

“Nothing, I—”

A blond-haired male figure jumped from the roof, landing inches to my right. I stumbled backward, barely avoiding a collision with David.

Instead, he reached out, catching me by the shoulders, his vampire reflexes steadying me. I barely recognized the sting from David’s vampire touch before he shoved me out of the way and leapt in front of me, snarling.

My arms burned and I struggled to inhale, but that didn’t stop me from stepping forward to stand next to David.

“What are you doing?” he asked me, his voice low.

“Finding out what this vampire wants.” I turned to the stalker. “Want to tell me what the hell you were doing on my roof?”

The vamp reached out, nearly connecting with my arm, but David jumped between us, throwing a punch that sent the intruder scrambling back.

My wings twitched. Holy vampire wars. I backed up, deciding David could take this one. No way was I getting mixed up in some crazy vampire crap.

My stalker straightened, black eyes slanted as he stared David down. “Step aside, young one. That faery is my property.”

“Property?” I laughed and started coughing when I couldn’t get enough air in my lungs. In vampire language, property meant humans who had been turned or were slated to be turned into vampires. Otherwise known as children. “Faeries can’t be turned. It’s physically impossible.”

“Willow, go inside,” David said. He glanced back in my direction for just a moment, but long enough for me to notice the flicker of fear crossing his features.

“Not without you.” I took a step closer, unwilling to leave him. It was stupid. I didn’t have any physical advantage against either of them. I didn’t even have Link. We’d left him at the house.

“Now,” David warned.

The tone of his voice had me reaching for the unlocked door, but his vicious growl made me spin in shock.

He leapt, catching the other vampire by his neck. A loud snap crackled through the night, and David sank his teeth into the broken neck of the howling vampire.

Time stood still. I watched in horror as blood seeped into David’s mouth. The other vamp, despite his broken neck, grappled for purchase, clawing at David’s hands. David gripped tighter. The attacker gurgled, his eyes popping out of his chiseled, white face. His body spasmed and finally went limp.

David took one last gulp and threw the vampire backward. “Don’t ever come near her again.”

The vamp stumbled, but his quick feet kept him from sprawling out into the deserted street. His head flopped to one side, crooked and unnatural.

Disgusting. I made no attempt to hide the horror that no doubt was written all over my face.

The vamp’s eyes stared right into mine. With a slow smile, he brought both hands up and in one quick movement his head was sitting on his shoulders right where it should be. He adjusted it slightly to the left. His smile blossomed to a grin. “You didn’t think it was that easy to kill a vampire, did you?”

I gaped. Of course I knew a broken neck didn’t kill vampires. I just hadn’t known it wouldn’t hurt more…or at the very least wound them for longer than a few minutes.

“Leave,” David snarled.

“For now.”

“I’ll kill you next time.”

The blond vampire’s eyes turned from black to red as he glared at David. “Not likely.” He half-bowed in my direction. “Soon, my little faery princess.”

Before either of us could respond, he vanished into the night.

“Who was that? And why was he calling me his little faery princess?” My wings fluttered, and I rose a few inches off the ground.

“I think he works for the vampire who targeted you for abduction. That was his way of making sure I knew he was laying a claim.”

“But faeries can’t turn vampire,” I insisted.

David shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. They want you. That was their way of staking their territory.”

“I’m not anyone’s territory.” I curled my hands into fists as my wings fluttered faster.

David held the door to my shop open. “I’m not the one you have to convince.”

***

Yawning, I grabbed my phone and checked for new messages. Again. Not one phone call or text since the night before. I tossed it back on the desk and shuffled into the kitchen.

Damn it, Tal. Where the hell are you?
Worry inched its way into my chest. He never went anywhere without his phone. And I couldn’t imagine him ignoring my message. If anyone was more dedicated to finding the truth of Beau’s death than I was, it was Talisen—the one man I knew I could count on. The familiar ache I’d lived with the last four years blossomed, and I had to fight down sheer panic.

He’s fine. Someone would have called if…

I couldn’t finish the thought. If anything happened to him, it would be like losing Beau all over again. I shook my head. No sense in being melodramatic; he wasn’t the one in danger. He’d call as soon as he could. He’d better.

Rummaging through the fridge, I scoured for something to settle my stomach. The Mocha in Motion had kept me up all night while I worked in the lab at The Fated Cupcake, but it left me queasy. Or was that caused by watching David drink the blood of another vampire?

The blood trickling down David’s mouth kept flashing in my mind, and I passed on the waffle Phoebe offered to cook.

Steel-cut oats would do the trick. I hoped. With the microwave set to high, I skipped the Mocha in Motion and settled on a cup of herbal tea—the regular kind, no magic. I needed a clear head to think. While my enhanced goodies didn’t necessarily impair brain function, they did sometimes give me a high, accompanying whatever magical ability they were supposed to enhance. Because my magic was used in the ingredients, the high usually came in the form of an adrenaline rush, causing me to overlook important details. Details I needed to focus on before David woke up.

I glanced out the window, noted the late afternoon sun, and opened the case file Maude had given me the day before. I scanned the document, my attention narrowing in on David’s statement.
A rumor has been circulating in the vampire community of a plot to abduct Agent Rhoswen. No concrete suspects
. Why would any vampire want to abduct me? I didn’t taste good, thanks to my Sunshine drink. Influence? Was that it? My favorite band—Incubus for a Day—started singing from my room, interrupting my thoughts. “It’s about time, Tal.” I ran for my iPhone and sighed when I read the screen—it was my roommate. “Hey, Phoebs.”