Page 30 of Firedrake Betrayal
“The offer stands. But it cannot be removed any other way. She will cling to him forever, and the longer it goes on, the harder it will be to remove.” She looks at me, her amusement sliding away. “And the more danger she could do tohissoul.”
I imagine telling Patten he has the soul of a dead witch clinging to him.
“Don’t mention it to him,” I say. “He willnotthank you for it. Leave it with me. I’ll talk to him.”
I hadn’t thought I believed her, but I do. Meliah has nothing to gain in telling me this, even less to gain in putting herself in a position where Patten would attempt to kill her, and if she goes near him with a spell, hewilltry to kill her.
Which means I’ll have to think of a way to tell Patten. He trusts me, but convincing him a spell would be in his best interest is going to be a hard sell.
Hard, if not a downright impossible one.
When we get back to the house, Isaiah is standing in front of the window, peering into the street. There’s no sign of Patten.
“Where’s Patten?” I close the front door and nod at Meliah. “You can go see him.”
I needn’t have bothered telling her anything. She’s halfway across the room with her black pouch of witchy ingredients.
Isaiah lets the curtain fall. He looks pale. Paler than he did the day before, and it has to be because he hasn’t fed.
I need to talk to him about that soon.
“He went to the bar to see if he could learn anything about Jade or Atticus.”
“Alone?” I growl.
“It didn’t seem wise to leave him alone.” Isaiah nods toward Brennan’s room.
I lose a little of my anger, only because there’s no point in holding onto it. Patten is gone. I should have told him to stay put, but he knows as well as I do how dangerous Wilkerson is for us. I hadn’t thought I had needed to tell him. “When did he leave?”
“Not long after you. When he returns, I will look.”
“And will you feed while you’re out?”
He gives me an empty smile.
I lower my voice, not wanting Meliah to learn any more about us than necessary. She’s in the room with Brennan now. I can hear bottles clinking.
Meliah might have convinced me she’s able to use her witchy magic to fix whatever is poisoning Brennan. That doesn’t mean I trust her with all our secrets. “The last time you fed was one of those blood bags, and that was days ago. Why would someone steal your cooler of blood, and why aren’t you feeding any other way?”
When he doesn’t respond, I grip his shoulder and lean in close. “This isn’t me sticking my nose into your business. This is me beingworriedabout you.”
He loses his smile. “You have no reason to worry.”
“I have no reason to worry about a vampire going on a hunger strike?”
“I’m not on a hunger strike.” He brushes my hand away and smooths the creases from the fabric.
He’s not listening to me, and I’m not about to wait until he collapses, which, with how pale he is, won’t be long.
“Isaiah. You?—”
A key slides in the front door lock, and before the door blows open, Patten is cursing. “It’s like being an alien in this place. Oh, did you bring that witch back?” His eyes dip over my shoulder as he slams the door shut. “Because if you lost her on the way, I’d be good with that.”
I frown. “She’s here to heal Brennan.”
Patten sighs sadly. “Maybe he’ll accidentally blast her with fire and we’ll have one less witch in the world.”
As he steps out of his boots, I look for any shadows or signs of a dead witch’s soul clinging to him.
