Page 56 of Love Bites
After nearly a month of trying to glean information, that finally seemed to get them somewhere.
The witch sitting across from Talon now in one of the private rooms in the back of the club—one of those that had comfortable arm-chairs and a table, not abed—seemed different from the witches Talon had met so far. For one, he wasn't dressed in flowing robes or other eccentric pieces of clothes that screamed both 'I command magic' and 'I'm so out of touch with today's society I can't even blend into a club for five minutes'. In fact, he would have looked fairly unremarkable—if it hadn’t been for his electric blue head of hair. He pushed a thickly rimmed pair of glasses up his nose and took a sip of the water he'd ordered while Talon tried to recall what his name was. Some one-syllable name that started with aP.
Puck, that was it. Even his name was unimpressive.
And yet, Talon could feel magical energy radiate off him. He'd always had a knack for sensing power in others. It was what had first made him notice Collin too. Puck didn't send the same signals Collin had, but there was definitely something going on behind that unassuming facade.
The truly powerful never needed to parade their powers in front of others.
"Aldrich let me know you required some information," Puck started the conversation, looking intently at Talon.
Talon cut right to the chase, pulling five photographs out of his coat pocket. Copies he'd made of the ones he'd found in the folders Collin's father had kept. "What do you know about people born with these runes as birthmarks?"
Puck considered the photographs for a long moment, studying each of them in turn. "These are dhampire marks. But you already knew that, didn't you?"
"I did. I also know that dhampires have witch blood in them."
This piece of information seemed to come as no surprise to Puck either. "I guess that's why you're asking witches for information. Makes sense."
"Do you have information?"
Puck traced the rim of his glass with one finger, a thoughtful expression on his face. Then he looked up at Talon. "I know many things, but I'm not sharing my knowledge for free."
"Of course not." Talon had suspected something like that. No witch with anything of value to say would go seek out a vampire to share that information out of the goodness of his heart. If this witch was willing to talk to Talon, it was because he hoped to gain something of value in return. Talon couldn't fault him for that. "What do you want?"
Puck spread the fingers of one hand out in front of him and looked at them. Talon noticed only now that he wore a different ring on each finger. "I get the feeling that you know one of these dhampire descendants," Puck said, choosing his words carefully. "Dhampire blood could be a powerful spell component, even if it's diluted."
"You're not getting his blood."
"So it's a male?" Puck grinned.
Talon silently cursed himself. He'd said too much. "That's of no concern to you because you're not meeting him."
"I thought you needed information."
"Even if I do, you named a price I'm not willing to pay. Who knows what sinister things you might do with his blood." Worst case scenario, it might give the witch power over Collin, and that was absolutely not happening.
"You're not willing to negotiate at all? I don't require a lot of blood. One vial would be enough."
"No, I'm afraid I'm not willing to negotiate." Talon stood from his armchair. "I'm sorry for wasting your time." He walked toward the door, but stopped when Puck sighed audibly.
"Okay, fine. I figured this wasn't going to work, but you can't blame a witch for trying."
Talon turned to him. "Are you willing to consider other forms of payment then?"
"I guess I'll have to." Puck shrugged. "I can see you have already fallen under the dhampire spell.” He studied Talon curiously. “I wonder if you're even aware what he's doing to you."
"What are you talking about?" Talon settled back down in the armchair, a little wary of whatever the witch might have to say. He didn't believe in all the unfavorable rumors that were spread about witches among the other vampires, like that they were all arrogant liars suffering from delusions of grandeur, but it paid to be cautious when talking to a complete stranger nonetheless.
Puck leaned back in his chair as if settling in for a good chat. "Do you know what created dhampires?"
"As I understand it, their creation involved a spell cast by a male witch so he could become pregnant from a vampire."
"While that is correct, that is not what I was asking." Puck smirked. Talon kind of wanted to wipe that expression off his face, but if he wanted to find out what the witch knew, he had to remain civil, which was really too bad. He'd wanted to put the witch in his place from the moment he'd expressed an interest in Collin's blood.
No one could have Collin's blood but him, andhehadn't even had a drop of it since they'd found out about the pregnancy. His thirst had gotten Collin in a dangerous situation once. He wasn't going to repeat that mistake, even if he missed drinking from Collin and his teeth itched in a weird way he hadn't even known teethcoulditch every time they kissed.
But Collin's blood was off limits to everyone for now. And with that, Talon made himself focus back on the conversation and the person he was talking to. "I'm afraid I don't understand your question."
