Page 93 of What Fools These Immortals Be
I do not know how the magic that keeps me living truly works, but I know a stake to the heart finishes off a vampire well enough.
I open my mouth and drag in a ragged breath. “I really don’t know.”
“Guess.”
The pain begins to draw back, though my wrists are throbbing, aching like they’ve been rubbed raw.
“A… A handful,” I say. “Five or six?”
“Species?”
I don’t know what Asher is, truly, though I know Maurice and Vlad, who he occasionally mentioned, are both vampires. There are the two who looked after Kieran and his brother, years ago, too. Vasile mentioned them months ago. And Rook and Saide.
“Vampires. Humans.” Rook and Saide are gone, aren’t they? There’s no point in mentioning them.
Meilyr lets out a little hum, like that’s interesting to him. Does Augustine know of Rook and Saide? He shouldn’t. He wouldn’t have been in the city before they left.
“And their powers?”
“I don’t know that,” I say and mean it. I know Maurice has his magic, but the others…
The pain flares again, shooting up to my elbows, and I can’t help it; I let out a groan. Augustine huffs next to me like he’s laughing. I grit my teeth and glare at Meilyr.
“Why don’t you just ask them yourself?” I snap. “That’s got to be easier than asking me.”
“You would think so,” Meilyr agrees. The pain recedes all at once, though everything still aches. “And yet, it was far easier to take you from their clutches. They really are not as impressive as all that.”
He’s trying to taunt me, but I know better. I stare steadily at him, and after a moment or two, he huffs, sitting back.
“I dismissed that vampire when we first met, but he might be useful now. I thought he might come for you,” he says. “Perhaps we need to be more obvious about it.”
Maurice? I send out a fervent hope that he is not in London at all. Even if he is, he should not come for me. He has duties to attend to, and I am not human. The Hunters’ Council should come looking for me, not him.
“He won’t,” I say, and there’s a prickle at my wrists as Meilyr turns his attention to me again.
“Pardon?” He tilts his head to one side, a pointed ear sticking out through the curtain of his hair. “Whyever would he not?”
“The Wild Hunt deals with the fae,” I say, then shake my head. “Stops them from hurting humans. I’m not human.”
“Oh, but youwere.”
That doesn’t mean anything, I think, because they can’t help me now. Not here. I don’t know how they’ll evenfindme.
Meilyr looks at Augustine, expression now disdainful. “Take him back down. Then go leave a clue or two, would you? I will not hunt him down myself.”
Augustine nods, now apparently respectful, and drags me up by the back of my shirt. I stumble a little and feel Meilyr’s eyes on me all the way out the door.
I’m honestly surprised Augustine doesn’t gloat or try to hurt me as he shoves me back through the house. He takes off the cuffs once we’re at the top of the stairs, the selkie woman anxiously waiting. I don’t dare look at my wrists. They’ll heal, but how long before that starts to slow? How long before I need to feed?
“Lift it,” Augustine says, and she waves her hand, apparently removing the magical barrier that will keep me trapped down there.
“Down you go,” Augustine says into my ear, low and nasty, and that is all the warning I get before he shoves hard, and I fall down the stairs. I groan when I feel a rib crack, one shoulder wrenched from its socket and, at the top of the stairs, Augustine laughs. “I’ll make sure to let the little wolf know you couldn’t help him,” he says, and I clench my teeth but don’t try to get to my feet.
Augustine stalks off, but the selkie woman remains for a moment longer, staring down at me, before she waves her hand, and the magical barrier moves back into place. I let out a shakybreath when she closes the door. Enough light creeps under it that I can still see, but I like the shadows all the same.
“Are you all right?” a voice croaks and I don’t lift my head to see who it is. I know it’s Reijo, even though he sounds tired and broken.
“I will be,” I say.
